Getting Lucky With Benmont Tench (Interview)

As a member of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Benmont Tench has performed hundreds, if not thousands, of shows all over the planet, with most of the top names in rock & roll. But with the release of his first solo album, You Should Be So Lucky, Tench is venturing into known territory…recording his own songs and playing the front man at his own shows. When The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda spoke to Benmont Tench, he was preparing to play his very first full-length concert under his own name. Even so, he came across as calm and thoughtful. Listen here as Benmont Tench discusses the making of You Should Be So Lucky: 

Or, you can read a transcription of the interview with Benmont Tench here:

MD: Is this something that’s been a long time coming? Or is it a project that just sort of came up rather recently?

Benmont: Well the songs have been coming for a long time. I’ve written songs since I was a kid; but the idea of actually pulling the trigger on making a record came pretty quickly. My friend Glyn Johns who’s a wonderful record producer and a dear friend had broached the idea to me fifteen years ago or so. And I wasn’t ready. I thought it was a bit daunting. But the songs kept piling up. And since other friends of mine encouraged me and said no we like these songs. So I’d say we recorded it last January. And maybe two months before, three months before that I finally called Glyn up and took him up on it. So the culmination of it, the making of it was very quick.

MD: It was like ten or eleven days right?

Benmont: It was eleven days. From recording to mix and done.

MD: And that must be quite a difference in the way I imagine The Heartbreakers work.

Benmont: Well The Heartbreakers record songs quickly but we take our time in how long a period of time we have to sift over the songs because we have our own studio. We have a little rehearsal space that has a good recording set up and a good sounding room. So we can go back and say, “Not sure about that one let’s try it again”. But I literally had eleven days in which I had the studio, the producers and the musicians. So we had to go ahead and do it. It was really fun.

MD: For you being such a long time session man and side man what was it like finding yourself being the leader for a change?

Benmont: I thought it was going to be really scary. Because I’m pretty much a wall flower; I’m pretty shy. And I like being part of the ensemble. But as it turns out since I surrounded myself just with friends, with people who’d come over to my house and make some hamburgers or whatever and just sit around and talk and then play a little bit. That’s literally who I made the record with. Including Glyn; Glyn’s an old friend. So it was just like hanging out with a bunch of friends and playing some songs.

MD: So you’re saying you kind of hang around flipping burgers with Ringo and Tom Petty and Don Was?

Benmont: Ringo hasn’t been over to the house, try as I might. I think Tom’s been over. Not for a bit. But the other fellows on the record: Blake Mills, Jeremy Stacey, Ethan Johns, Don Was, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings certainly they’ve all hung out at the house. When you’re friends you spend time together.

MD: And I was curious as you have sat in on so many sessions. When you’re sitting in as the keyboard player do you take away things and go if that was my session I would do it differently. Or kind of oh that’s a good way to approach things. Did those things come into play when you were recording your own album?

Benmont: I try to just absorb and learn what whoever I’m playing with is trying to do and not let my inner control freak loose too much. And that way I can learn and bring things back to either The Heartbreakers. Yes I did learn things over the course of my life that I applied to this record. But the best thing that I learned and tried to apply was to step back. Which Glyn was very encouraging about. And just see what the band would do. The few times I said,”Why don’t we play it like this?”, it didn’t work out as well as when I would just sit back and say, “This is how the song goes; do what you want with it”.

MD: I guess it’s the key to having the right players in the right place and letting them do their own thing.

Benmont: It’s the right players. And it’s just really a fun way to work. The pressure’s off of you. I suppose it’s like casting a movie with really good actors. And the director can just look at the overview and doesn’t have to tell the actors individually how to read their lines.

MD: For a lot of folks this will be the first time they hear you sing when they hear this record. And for me the experience was kind of similar to when I first heard Robbie Roberston on his early solo albums back in the 80’s; I hadn’t heard him sing before. How did you approach vocalising at this point?

Benmont: I’ve done demos of songs but I’ve never thought of myself as a singer. I approached it as… I want to tell the song. I’m not trying to give great vocal performances because I’m not that kind of a singer. I just want to tell the songs. The point of the record was I thought the songs were good. I had encouragement from friends about the songs. And I wanted the songs to breathe and have a life and get the chance to be heard. It wasn’t about me being heard, it was about the songs. And that way I could just step back and just play the piano and sing at the same time. Because the vocals, save two tracks for the lead vocals are live. Most of the record is just live in the studio. So there wasn’t time to worry. You just try to tell the song and recognise the limits of your voice. I tell people I sing like Chet Baker if he couldn’t sing.

MD: (laughs) Interesting. Speaking of your keyboard playing I noticed on the first track Today I Took Your Picture Down that there’s piano and there’s organ. For me in the piano playing I heard similarities to what Charlie Rich might have done; kind of country-ish piano playing. And then the organ is more soul Booker T. I was wandering if those were influences on you at all.

Benmont: Absolutely. I love the way Charlie Rich plays. And I loved the way the great country piano players like Charlie Rich and Floyd Cramer played. Loved that since I was a child. And I’ve loved Booker T since I first heard him when I was about twelve or thirteen years old. You’re spot on with that.

MD: Does that stuff just become a part of how you’re playing? Do you aspire to play like them or do you just play and see what happens?

Benmont: Some of it I try to figure out. But generally I think I’ve just absorbed it over the course of my life. I listen to a lot of music. I have a large collection of vinyl. Always have some records at the house. And I have the radio on when the record players are going, listening to new stuff and old. So I think I just absorbed it.

MD: What kind of new stuff do you listen to? Anybody in particular?

Benmont: I’ve just been listening to the radio over here and there was a band called Typhoon that was good. There was a band, one called Courtenay Barnett who has a song out that I like. There are a lot. I saw the Unknown Mortal Orchestra on television over here. They were great. They were great. And Lorde of course; really just exceptionally gifted.

MD: And I notice that one person who has kind of has a presence on the record is Bob Dylan. You covered Duquesne Whistle and also his take on Corrina Corinna. Why did you decide to do those two tracks?

Benmont: Because they were really fun to do. And because my friends Gillian Welch and David Rawlings play the living daylights out of that kind of music. And it was kind of an excuse to play those songs with Gillian and David. I love both of those songs. They’re just really, really fun to play in different ways. Glyn Johns suggested that we have a couple of covers. And those were the ones that came immediately to mind. I love Bob’s stuff.

MD: And was there any consideration about getting Bob to play on them?

Benmont: No Bob’s busy.

MD: I’m sure he is.

Benmont: Bob’s really busy. And he’s already recorded them.

MD: One track that I found interesting was Wobbles which is an instrumental but it comes with lyrics provided. What was the deal with that? Was there originally going to be vocals and then you decided ah we’ll stay with the instrumental bit?

Benmont: No it had been an instrumental forever. It had always been intended as an instrumental. And after we recorded it and mixed it and the record was done I was sitting round the house one night and the lyrics just kind of showed up and the door and said, you should sing this. Since I like the lyrics I decided we should have the sing along version in print.

MD: That’s an interesting take on it.

Benmont: Yeah. Playing those and giving the audience the option of hearing it instrumentally or with the vocal.

MD: And the other song lyrically that was interesting was Like the Sun because I think you refer to Gill and David in there. And I assume that’s Gillian and David Rawlings. Maybe you can tell me a little bit about where that came from.

Benmont: Like the Sun I have a very dear friend named Julia in town. She’s a Los Angeles native. And I’ve been here for a very long time. And I enjoyed the city but I didn’t know it and I wasn’t in love with it. And she started saying to me come with me we’re driving this way, we’re driving that way. And she showed me all these hidden areas of Los Angeles that I had no idea about. It’s kind of about falling in love with Los Angeles through her eyes and just a capsule of a time period in Los Angeles; hanging out with my friends in Los Angeles. Sort of a love for Los Angeles.

MD: It seems like a city that you have to spend some time in to actually get to know I guess; on the surface it just seems like highways.

Benmont: It takes time and a car and good friends. When you find the people in Los Angeles you fall in love. There’s a lot of soul in Los Angeles. You have to turn the right corner and bump into it. If you just look at it from the surface…Polanski I think said, “Los Angeles is a beautiful city a night from a distance”. But at night up close it’s pretty fantastic. You just need to run with the right people. If you spent a little time here you’ll meet them.

MD: Getting back to song writing, you’ve worked with many amazing song writers over the years. Do you absorb anything from working with these folks? Are there things that you take? Do you see them working in the studio and see techniques that you apply to your own work?

Benmont: I do. And the main technique that I learned, if a technique is what it is, is watching Tom write, watching Tom Petty write sometimes in the studio off the top of his head and realising that sometimes the song is coming and you just get out of its way and you don’t get in its way. You just kind of show up. If you’re near a guitar or piano just start singing syllables and let the song come through. And you hone it and there are many ways to write a song. For me the best songs come to me instinctively. And I know that Tom also sits at home and works damn hard on songs but I’ve seen him write brilliant songs that just kind of show up out of thin air.

MD: Another great songwriter that came to mind was Randy Newman on the track Why Don’t You Quit Leaving Me Alone. Was he in your mind when you wrote that as well?

Benmont: Nobody’s in my mind when I write anything in particular. But I know that they’re somewhere in my heart and my psyche. Because I adore Randy Newman. I listen to him quite frequently. And when I was in my 20’s and 30’s he was on the turntable non-stop. So I absorbed a lot from Randy, I hope. Randy Newman is up in the pantheon of songwriters.

MD: And he’s also a pretty good keyboard player as well.

Benmont: I was going to say, he’s a wonderful piano player.

MD: Now you mentioned that you consider yourself something of a wallflower. I assume that you’re going to be doing some shows of your own to promote the record and back it up. Have you given much thought as to how you’re going to approach those?

Benmont: Well I played last week at the Grammy museum in Los Angeles solo for about 20,30 minutes just playing piano and guitar which was really fun. And that was the first time I had ever done more than two of my songs in a row in front of people. But tonight and for the next two nights in a club in Los Angeles called Largo, which is a wonderful musical hub, wonderful musical gathering place, I’m going to play with a band. Never done that. Never sung my songs with a band. So we’re going to kind of approach it I think like we approached it with the record which is, “Hey let us show you some songs”. Not try to come out and throw a few shapes on stage and pose and be tough guys. Just go hey let’s have some fun, let’s show you some songs.

MD: And are the folks in the band anyone who’s played on the record?

Benmont: Yes the folks on the band are Blake Mills and Ethan Johns on guitars who are on the record. And Jeremy Stacey who’s the drummer on the record. And the wonderful bass player named Sebastian Steinburg who isn’t on the record.

MD: Oh yes he’s played quite a bit with Neil Finn down here.

Benmont: Terrific, he’s terrific. So that’s the basic band. Have a few friends singing backup. The big names that are on the record I’m not anticipating them showing up. Happy to have them come down. They aren’t on the record because of their names by the way. They’re one the record because I like the way Tom plays bass and because no one can swing a tambourine like Ringo Starr.

MD: That’s right. Ringo got his first recording break, or opportunity playing the tambourine on Love Me Do.

Benmont: I’m going to twist Ryan Adams arm and see if he’ll come down and sing a little harmony but we’ll see.

MD: That’ll be cool. And then of course I think I’ve read that you’re in the process on working up a new Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album as well. Is that eminent?

Benmont: I think we’re almost done. You know I never believe it until I see it in the record sleeve or the CD case. But I think we’re almost done, we’re very close.

MD: And do you see yourself continuing your solo career? Putting out more albums, doing more shows after this is done doing its thing?

Benmont: Well I’m still writing so I don’t see any reason not to put another record out if I can get any takers. I don’t see any reason not to put another record out. If the songs are good enough. If I come up with ten good songs then I think the songs deserve a hearing then I’ll make another record. And the shows, tonight like I said, tonight’s the first time I’ve done an entire show-like over an hour’s worth of music fronting a band- and I might hate it you know. I might go,Get me out of here, I never want to do this again”. And I might get the bug and become the biggest diva and primadona you have ever seen.

MD: There you go. Next time we see you with The Heartbreakers you’ll be pushing Tom out of the way.

Benmont: Yeah, that’s going to happen! I’d like to play everywhere. I’m trying to figure out how I can go overseas. I would kill to come play New Zealand.

Click here to read The 13th Floor review of You Should Be So Lucky.