Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jan 18, 2007 15:26:25 GMT
Q&A with Robby Krieger
Gazette reporter Bernard Perusse interviewed Doors member Robby Krieger for a story published in The Gazette. This is the full transcript of the interview.
Gazette: Congratulations on the Doors' 40th anniversary.
Krieger: Ah (chuckles), OK. Thanks.
Gazette: The Doors recorded their first album when longevity in rock 'n' roll
was far from being a given. What kind of feelings do you have about the
group still being so important to people of all ages?
Krieger: Well, it's a great feeling, you know? Who knew? Who knew that those
albums that we made so long ago would still be viable to people? We never
thought about it in those days, never realized that it would last this long.
But then, when you think about it, why not? Look at Bach and Mozart and
those guys. People still listen to their music hundreds of years later.
Gazette: But rock 'n' roll had not come into its own at that point.
Krieger: Rock was still considered a flash-in-the-pan kind of thing. That's
because it was new. By the mid-'60s, it just started getting taken seriously,
after the Beatles did Sgt. Pepper and things like that. Before that, there
were too many things like Bobby Vee, stuff like that, you know? Not that I
don't like Bobby Vee (chuckles).
Gazette: No. Bobby Vee as a symbol is what you1re talking about.
Krieger: Yeah.
Gazette: The first Doors album still stands as one of the strongest debut
albums by a rock 'n' roll group. What do you see as the main elements of that
album's success?
Krieger: Well, mainly the songs. There are no bad songs. They're all good.
And it's not a concept album, by any means – but, in a way, it is, because
there's a mood created and it kind of sticks to it. The entire album, you
can listen to it at one time and not be distracted.
Gazette: You were virtually the sole author of Light My Fire. Does it ever
bother you that there was no credit to that effect on the record?
Krieger: It didn't bother me at the time, because at the time, everything
was credited as written by the Doors. Jim wanted it to be mysterious as to
who wrote the songs. But then, of course, everybody just figured that Jim
wrote everything (chuckles), because he was the famous one. So later on, it
kind of bugged me a little bit. But I think most people – well, maybe not
most people, but if you dig into the Doors at all , you're going to find out
who wrote which song. It doesn't really bug me.
Gazette: What was behind that idea of crediting the whole group?
Krieger: Like I said, Jim wanted it to be mysterious and he didn't want
people to know who wrote which song. He wanted it to be a group effort. And,
in a way, it was. Even though Jim or I might have written the words to this
particular song or that one, we all worked very hard on putting the songs
together and I think, had one member been different, the songs would have
turned out totally different. The group arranged the songs and that, in a
way, is almost as important as the writing.
Gazette: Your guitar style was among the most distinctive of the era. Did
your early interest in jazz come into play there? And, besides that, what
were some of the other influences on your playing?
Krieger: The main influence was flamenco, because that's what I played at
first. Before I played electric guitar, I played flamenco guitar - Spanish
stuff. Nylon strings. And I think that was a big influence on my rock 'n'
roll playing because, for one thing, I didn't use a pick. I used
fingerpicking, like you do in flamenco. It was a different sound. Plus, I
wanted to have a different sound than your ordinary rock n1 roll guy. So I
did everything I could to be different.
Gazette: And you brought that back front and center on Spanish Caravan?
Krieger: Uh-huh. Exactly. (chuckles).
Gazette: I understand The End is an edit of only two live takes. Is that
correct?
Krieger: That's right.
Gazette: When you see the CBC live version that comes with the remastered
album now, you can see the band nail the song live. Could you describe the
way the group interacted on long, complex pieces like that, which sound
improvised but, I take it, have a certain structure?
Krieger: The End started out just as a love song - a three-minute song that
Jim and I worked up when he stayed at my house one time. And it grew from
there. Every time we'd play it live, Jim would throw in a few more things.
Then I had the idea of making it more like a sitar kind of sound, more like
East Indian music. It just kind of grew as the days wore on, because we'd
play it every night almost. That's how a lot of songs got so long.
Gazette: What about the other musicians, with Ray and John? To what extent
was there improvisation or telepathic events happening on those tracks?
Krieger: Well, it was totally. We'd all played a little jazz and we knew how
that structure worked, so we knew how to improvise. And that was the fun
part, when you're on stage and you kind of go off on to a tangent and the
other guys have to follow you. And we were good at that, and we got good at
that.
Gazette: To what extent was Strange Days an extension of the first album?
Krieger: Strange Days and The Doors, the first album ... we had the songs
for those two albums worked up before we ever recorded anything. Those were
pretty much the sets that we did live, so we had all those songs together
and it was just a question of picking which ones were going to be on the
first album and which were going to be on the second.
Gazette: To your ears now, musically, do they fit together? Do you see any
difference in terms of the musical arrangements?
Krieger: Yeah, they're totally different. You wouldn't know that those songs
came from the same batch. On the second album, we had a lot more time to
screw around in the studio, and we had more time to work stuff up and change
it. On the first album, we didn't have the time or the money to do anything
in the studio very much, except turn the tape recorder on. So the songs were
very simple and most of them were one take or two takes. On the second
album, we got into rearranging some stuff - like, for instance, Moonlight
Drive. You can hear the old version on the box set and how the new version
changed. Actually, we were going to put Moonlight Drive out on the first
album, but we didn't like how the first version came out - even though
that's how we played it in person. It just didn't sound that good on tape.
So we came up with a new arrangement for it for the second album.
Gazette: As you look back on the six studio albums with the release of the
Perception box, where do you see Waiting for the Sun and The Soft Parade as
fitting in? They seem to stand apart a bit from the first two and the last
two. What are your memories of them?
Krieger: Waiting for the Sun, being the third album ... There's a thing
called the "third album syndrome." We kind of coined that phrase. You run
out of songs, basically. You're on the road all the time and you don't
really have time to write new songs so much, so you've got to write them in
the studio. That turned out to be a good thing, but it was very difficult
and that album was kind of like pulling teeth, even though, for instance,
Five to One, I think, is one of our best efforts - and that was just made up
in the studio. I had a few songs on it - Wintertime Love and - what was the
other one? - Yes, the River Knows that I wanted to do and then we finally
got to do them on that album, which was kind of neat. But I don't think that
album holds together as an album as well as some of the others, even though
there are great songs on that album. The next album, The Soft Parade, Jim,
because he was having problems with the law and drinking and stuff, he
hadn't been writing as much, so I started writing more stuff, so there were
more of my songs on The Soft Parade and then we had the idea to do the
strings and the horns and the orchestration stuff, which wasn't my idea. I
didn't like the idea, but (producer) Paul Rothchild seemed to think that we
had to keep up with the Beatles. And I must admit, I liked the end result on
most of the stuff. We had this guy Paul Harris, who arranged the stuff and I
kind of helped him out. He was a great arranger. He did The Thrill Is Gone
by B.B. King and other things. But at one point, I'd like to put the album
out without the strings and see how that sounds.
Gazette: It's hard to imagine Tell All the People or Touch Me without the
strings and brass and everything.
Krieger: (laughs). But it would be a nice thing wouldn't it?
Gazette: For sure. With The Soft Parade, of course, we begin to see those
individual writing credits, split between you and Jim for the first time.
Did that, in any way, affect personal dynamics within the group?
Krieger: Uh, no ... not really. It's funny, but when we were in the studio
working, doing whatever, I've never been in a situation since then that
worked so well. The four of us were just the perfect combination for getting
stuff done and recording songs. It was amazing. I've been in so many
different situations afterwards and it's just never quite been like that
again. We didn't realize at the time how great it was. But it was great to
work with those guys.
Gazette: What are your memories of recording Morrison Hotel?
Krieger: That was kind of a lot of fun. It was getting back to the basics
after The Soft Parade, on which we all realized that we had gone overboard
on the production. It was really getting back to songs and just having fun
in the studio. I think you can hear it coming through on those songs.
Gazette: What were the band's hopes after the release of L.A. Woman, before
Jim Morrison died? Where was the band at at that point?
Krieger: The game plan was that Jim was going to go to Paris, take a
vacation, whatever, and then we would continue. There was nothing else
beyond that. L.A. Woman started doing really well. Everybody loved it. That
made it a given that we were going to continue. People say "Ah, they were
going to quit after L.A. Woman because Jim went to Paris." That's just not
true at all. That would never have happened.
Gazette: What do you remember of your last conversation with him?
Krieger: I wish I could remember more of it, but I just remember him - it's
like you saw in the movie - he came into the studio and we were mixing the
L.A. Woman album and he gave us all a copy of his book, The Lords and the
New Creatures. And he was off to Paris. So it was like "Hey, man, have a
great time. And we'll see you when you get back."
Gazette: Were there any phone conversations after that?
Krieger: Yeah. He did get a hold of John one day. You'd have to ask John
about the exact conversation, but John told him about how the album was
doing and Jim definitely expressed interest in coming back and recording
some more.
Gazette: To what extent was it possible to really know this man?
Krieger: It was both. He was probably the easiest guy to know in the world
when you'd just meet him. You'd feel like you'd known him for years. But
then you'd never really get to know him, because he was so complex. He was
definitely a genius. But then, I don't think he knew himself, so how's
anybody else going to really know him?
Gazette: How close were you? What were your personal and working
relationship like?
Krieger: In the beginning, I was kind of like his baby brother, because I
was the youngest in the group, so he kind of treated me like a little
brother, and we did a lot of stuff together. He stayed at my house for a
couple of months. But then as he got more into the liquor and the craziness,
I just couldn't take that anymore and I had to distance myself from him. The
only time I would see him was when we were doing something.
Gazette: What strikes one listening to this box set is what the group
accomplished in such a short period of time. People take four years between
albums now and you produced all that stuff in about four years in the
studio. What do you see as the hallmark of the group's evolution in that
short time?
Krieger: I don't know. For one thing, I always remember Paul Rothchild
telling the three of us - John, Ray and I - "Hey guys, Jim Morrison may not
be around for too much longer, so let's record as much as we can." And that
was the truth. We hated to admit it, but we were always pushing the envelope
as far as recording. And actually, what else could we do? Because we
couldn't play that much. We did a lot of gigs, but we couldn't go out on
mammoth tours like some of the groups, because Jim was too nuts. He'd go
crazy after a week or so. So we had more time to do studio work. And Jim
loved being in the studio. That was his favourite thing, and it kind of kept
him out of trouble.
Gazette: After Jim Morrison died, the group recorded two albums under the
group name - Other Voices and Full Circle. They're not part of this reissue
series, but do you have any thoughts on those two records?
Krieger: Well, they are going to be reissued pretty quickly. I think there's
some good stuff on those records - even though Jim isn't there, obviously.
When Jim went to Paris, the three of us just continued to work up new songs,
thinking that Jim would come back one day and we would record `em. When he
died, we said "Shit, we1ve got all this stuff. Let's go ahead and record and
see what happens." And Jac Holzman, who owned Elektra Records, was real cool
about it and he gave us a nice record contract to do three albums, I think
it was, but after the second one, we just didn't get along anymore. Without
Jim, the balance was gone. The three of us were just peeling off in
different directions. After two albums, we hung it up.
Gazette: You and Ray have clashed legally with John Densmore regarding
touring under any name that includes the word "Doors." Where do things stand
right now (Dec. 13, 2006) with that?
Krieger: Right now, it's under appeal. As far as the name, nothing's really
going to happen for at least eight months. It just takes forever to do
anything in the courts. I thought The Doors of the 21st Century was a good
compromise, but apparently that wasn't good enough. So now we're Riders on
the Storm.
Gazette: One gets the impression that there's no insurmountable hostility
between the two of you and him. How do you see any chances of working
together or reaching some kind of common ground in the future?
Krieger: It's all up to John. Ray and I have said that we want him to play
with us and I know that the fans want to see the three of us play together.
To me, that's the important thing. We owe the fans. Hopefully, John will get
over his problems with Ray and me. We're ready to play with John any time.
Gazette: What about your solo career these days? Is the RKO (Robby Krieger
Organization) thing still going? What are your plans in that respect?
Krieger: It's kind of on hold, but I am actually working on an album.
There's actually some flamenco stuff in it - a kind of Spanish-flavoured
thing, with some orchestral stuff and flamenco guitar. Hopefully, that will
be out early next year.
Gazette: Where do you stand on things like downloadable Doors ringtones?
Krieger: That's the way of the future, I guess. You're not going to stop it,
so what the hell? It's harder and harder to get any airplay on the radio, so
you've got to look for different ways of getting the Doors out there in the
marketplace and ringtones, advertisements - if it's the right kind of
advertisements - I'm not against that stuff.
Gazette: Whatever it is, it seems to be working. You can see young kids at
bars - I have two - any night of the week and they might very well be
playing Roadhouse Blues at full blast.
Krieger: Well, there you are. That's a common denominator right there. But
where did they hear the Doors - from you or at the bar?
Gazette: Good question. Probably first from me, I guess.
Krieger: A lot of them, I think they just hear it on the radio or whatever
and it just seems to strike a chord in young people, just like it did back
in the '60s. That's why we're having a 40th anniversary.
Gazette: I seem to have used up my half hour. Thanks for being so generous
with your time.
Krieger: All right, man. Well, I hope we'll get up to Canada this year.
Bernard Perusse, Montreal Gazette
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Gazette reporter Bernard Perusse interviewed Doors member Robby Krieger for a story published in The Gazette. This is the full transcript of the interview.
Gazette: Congratulations on the Doors' 40th anniversary.
Krieger: Ah (chuckles), OK. Thanks.
Gazette: The Doors recorded their first album when longevity in rock 'n' roll
was far from being a given. What kind of feelings do you have about the
group still being so important to people of all ages?
Krieger: Well, it's a great feeling, you know? Who knew? Who knew that those
albums that we made so long ago would still be viable to people? We never
thought about it in those days, never realized that it would last this long.
But then, when you think about it, why not? Look at Bach and Mozart and
those guys. People still listen to their music hundreds of years later.
Gazette: But rock 'n' roll had not come into its own at that point.
Krieger: Rock was still considered a flash-in-the-pan kind of thing. That's
because it was new. By the mid-'60s, it just started getting taken seriously,
after the Beatles did Sgt. Pepper and things like that. Before that, there
were too many things like Bobby Vee, stuff like that, you know? Not that I
don't like Bobby Vee (chuckles).
Gazette: No. Bobby Vee as a symbol is what you1re talking about.
Krieger: Yeah.
Gazette: The first Doors album still stands as one of the strongest debut
albums by a rock 'n' roll group. What do you see as the main elements of that
album's success?
Krieger: Well, mainly the songs. There are no bad songs. They're all good.
And it's not a concept album, by any means – but, in a way, it is, because
there's a mood created and it kind of sticks to it. The entire album, you
can listen to it at one time and not be distracted.
Gazette: You were virtually the sole author of Light My Fire. Does it ever
bother you that there was no credit to that effect on the record?
Krieger: It didn't bother me at the time, because at the time, everything
was credited as written by the Doors. Jim wanted it to be mysterious as to
who wrote the songs. But then, of course, everybody just figured that Jim
wrote everything (chuckles), because he was the famous one. So later on, it
kind of bugged me a little bit. But I think most people – well, maybe not
most people, but if you dig into the Doors at all , you're going to find out
who wrote which song. It doesn't really bug me.
Gazette: What was behind that idea of crediting the whole group?
Krieger: Like I said, Jim wanted it to be mysterious and he didn't want
people to know who wrote which song. He wanted it to be a group effort. And,
in a way, it was. Even though Jim or I might have written the words to this
particular song or that one, we all worked very hard on putting the songs
together and I think, had one member been different, the songs would have
turned out totally different. The group arranged the songs and that, in a
way, is almost as important as the writing.
Gazette: Your guitar style was among the most distinctive of the era. Did
your early interest in jazz come into play there? And, besides that, what
were some of the other influences on your playing?
Krieger: The main influence was flamenco, because that's what I played at
first. Before I played electric guitar, I played flamenco guitar - Spanish
stuff. Nylon strings. And I think that was a big influence on my rock 'n'
roll playing because, for one thing, I didn't use a pick. I used
fingerpicking, like you do in flamenco. It was a different sound. Plus, I
wanted to have a different sound than your ordinary rock n1 roll guy. So I
did everything I could to be different.
Gazette: And you brought that back front and center on Spanish Caravan?
Krieger: Uh-huh. Exactly. (chuckles).
Gazette: I understand The End is an edit of only two live takes. Is that
correct?
Krieger: That's right.
Gazette: When you see the CBC live version that comes with the remastered
album now, you can see the band nail the song live. Could you describe the
way the group interacted on long, complex pieces like that, which sound
improvised but, I take it, have a certain structure?
Krieger: The End started out just as a love song - a three-minute song that
Jim and I worked up when he stayed at my house one time. And it grew from
there. Every time we'd play it live, Jim would throw in a few more things.
Then I had the idea of making it more like a sitar kind of sound, more like
East Indian music. It just kind of grew as the days wore on, because we'd
play it every night almost. That's how a lot of songs got so long.
Gazette: What about the other musicians, with Ray and John? To what extent
was there improvisation or telepathic events happening on those tracks?
Krieger: Well, it was totally. We'd all played a little jazz and we knew how
that structure worked, so we knew how to improvise. And that was the fun
part, when you're on stage and you kind of go off on to a tangent and the
other guys have to follow you. And we were good at that, and we got good at
that.
Gazette: To what extent was Strange Days an extension of the first album?
Krieger: Strange Days and The Doors, the first album ... we had the songs
for those two albums worked up before we ever recorded anything. Those were
pretty much the sets that we did live, so we had all those songs together
and it was just a question of picking which ones were going to be on the
first album and which were going to be on the second.
Gazette: To your ears now, musically, do they fit together? Do you see any
difference in terms of the musical arrangements?
Krieger: Yeah, they're totally different. You wouldn't know that those songs
came from the same batch. On the second album, we had a lot more time to
screw around in the studio, and we had more time to work stuff up and change
it. On the first album, we didn't have the time or the money to do anything
in the studio very much, except turn the tape recorder on. So the songs were
very simple and most of them were one take or two takes. On the second
album, we got into rearranging some stuff - like, for instance, Moonlight
Drive. You can hear the old version on the box set and how the new version
changed. Actually, we were going to put Moonlight Drive out on the first
album, but we didn't like how the first version came out - even though
that's how we played it in person. It just didn't sound that good on tape.
So we came up with a new arrangement for it for the second album.
Gazette: As you look back on the six studio albums with the release of the
Perception box, where do you see Waiting for the Sun and The Soft Parade as
fitting in? They seem to stand apart a bit from the first two and the last
two. What are your memories of them?
Krieger: Waiting for the Sun, being the third album ... There's a thing
called the "third album syndrome." We kind of coined that phrase. You run
out of songs, basically. You're on the road all the time and you don't
really have time to write new songs so much, so you've got to write them in
the studio. That turned out to be a good thing, but it was very difficult
and that album was kind of like pulling teeth, even though, for instance,
Five to One, I think, is one of our best efforts - and that was just made up
in the studio. I had a few songs on it - Wintertime Love and - what was the
other one? - Yes, the River Knows that I wanted to do and then we finally
got to do them on that album, which was kind of neat. But I don't think that
album holds together as an album as well as some of the others, even though
there are great songs on that album. The next album, The Soft Parade, Jim,
because he was having problems with the law and drinking and stuff, he
hadn't been writing as much, so I started writing more stuff, so there were
more of my songs on The Soft Parade and then we had the idea to do the
strings and the horns and the orchestration stuff, which wasn't my idea. I
didn't like the idea, but (producer) Paul Rothchild seemed to think that we
had to keep up with the Beatles. And I must admit, I liked the end result on
most of the stuff. We had this guy Paul Harris, who arranged the stuff and I
kind of helped him out. He was a great arranger. He did The Thrill Is Gone
by B.B. King and other things. But at one point, I'd like to put the album
out without the strings and see how that sounds.
Gazette: It's hard to imagine Tell All the People or Touch Me without the
strings and brass and everything.
Krieger: (laughs). But it would be a nice thing wouldn't it?
Gazette: For sure. With The Soft Parade, of course, we begin to see those
individual writing credits, split between you and Jim for the first time.
Did that, in any way, affect personal dynamics within the group?
Krieger: Uh, no ... not really. It's funny, but when we were in the studio
working, doing whatever, I've never been in a situation since then that
worked so well. The four of us were just the perfect combination for getting
stuff done and recording songs. It was amazing. I've been in so many
different situations afterwards and it's just never quite been like that
again. We didn't realize at the time how great it was. But it was great to
work with those guys.
Gazette: What are your memories of recording Morrison Hotel?
Krieger: That was kind of a lot of fun. It was getting back to the basics
after The Soft Parade, on which we all realized that we had gone overboard
on the production. It was really getting back to songs and just having fun
in the studio. I think you can hear it coming through on those songs.
Gazette: What were the band's hopes after the release of L.A. Woman, before
Jim Morrison died? Where was the band at at that point?
Krieger: The game plan was that Jim was going to go to Paris, take a
vacation, whatever, and then we would continue. There was nothing else
beyond that. L.A. Woman started doing really well. Everybody loved it. That
made it a given that we were going to continue. People say "Ah, they were
going to quit after L.A. Woman because Jim went to Paris." That's just not
true at all. That would never have happened.
Gazette: What do you remember of your last conversation with him?
Krieger: I wish I could remember more of it, but I just remember him - it's
like you saw in the movie - he came into the studio and we were mixing the
L.A. Woman album and he gave us all a copy of his book, The Lords and the
New Creatures. And he was off to Paris. So it was like "Hey, man, have a
great time. And we'll see you when you get back."
Gazette: Were there any phone conversations after that?
Krieger: Yeah. He did get a hold of John one day. You'd have to ask John
about the exact conversation, but John told him about how the album was
doing and Jim definitely expressed interest in coming back and recording
some more.
Gazette: To what extent was it possible to really know this man?
Krieger: It was both. He was probably the easiest guy to know in the world
when you'd just meet him. You'd feel like you'd known him for years. But
then you'd never really get to know him, because he was so complex. He was
definitely a genius. But then, I don't think he knew himself, so how's
anybody else going to really know him?
Gazette: How close were you? What were your personal and working
relationship like?
Krieger: In the beginning, I was kind of like his baby brother, because I
was the youngest in the group, so he kind of treated me like a little
brother, and we did a lot of stuff together. He stayed at my house for a
couple of months. But then as he got more into the liquor and the craziness,
I just couldn't take that anymore and I had to distance myself from him. The
only time I would see him was when we were doing something.
Gazette: What strikes one listening to this box set is what the group
accomplished in such a short period of time. People take four years between
albums now and you produced all that stuff in about four years in the
studio. What do you see as the hallmark of the group's evolution in that
short time?
Krieger: I don't know. For one thing, I always remember Paul Rothchild
telling the three of us - John, Ray and I - "Hey guys, Jim Morrison may not
be around for too much longer, so let's record as much as we can." And that
was the truth. We hated to admit it, but we were always pushing the envelope
as far as recording. And actually, what else could we do? Because we
couldn't play that much. We did a lot of gigs, but we couldn't go out on
mammoth tours like some of the groups, because Jim was too nuts. He'd go
crazy after a week or so. So we had more time to do studio work. And Jim
loved being in the studio. That was his favourite thing, and it kind of kept
him out of trouble.
Gazette: After Jim Morrison died, the group recorded two albums under the
group name - Other Voices and Full Circle. They're not part of this reissue
series, but do you have any thoughts on those two records?
Krieger: Well, they are going to be reissued pretty quickly. I think there's
some good stuff on those records - even though Jim isn't there, obviously.
When Jim went to Paris, the three of us just continued to work up new songs,
thinking that Jim would come back one day and we would record `em. When he
died, we said "Shit, we1ve got all this stuff. Let's go ahead and record and
see what happens." And Jac Holzman, who owned Elektra Records, was real cool
about it and he gave us a nice record contract to do three albums, I think
it was, but after the second one, we just didn't get along anymore. Without
Jim, the balance was gone. The three of us were just peeling off in
different directions. After two albums, we hung it up.
Gazette: You and Ray have clashed legally with John Densmore regarding
touring under any name that includes the word "Doors." Where do things stand
right now (Dec. 13, 2006) with that?
Krieger: Right now, it's under appeal. As far as the name, nothing's really
going to happen for at least eight months. It just takes forever to do
anything in the courts. I thought The Doors of the 21st Century was a good
compromise, but apparently that wasn't good enough. So now we're Riders on
the Storm.
Gazette: One gets the impression that there's no insurmountable hostility
between the two of you and him. How do you see any chances of working
together or reaching some kind of common ground in the future?
Krieger: It's all up to John. Ray and I have said that we want him to play
with us and I know that the fans want to see the three of us play together.
To me, that's the important thing. We owe the fans. Hopefully, John will get
over his problems with Ray and me. We're ready to play with John any time.
Gazette: What about your solo career these days? Is the RKO (Robby Krieger
Organization) thing still going? What are your plans in that respect?
Krieger: It's kind of on hold, but I am actually working on an album.
There's actually some flamenco stuff in it - a kind of Spanish-flavoured
thing, with some orchestral stuff and flamenco guitar. Hopefully, that will
be out early next year.
Gazette: Where do you stand on things like downloadable Doors ringtones?
Krieger: That's the way of the future, I guess. You're not going to stop it,
so what the hell? It's harder and harder to get any airplay on the radio, so
you've got to look for different ways of getting the Doors out there in the
marketplace and ringtones, advertisements - if it's the right kind of
advertisements - I'm not against that stuff.
Gazette: Whatever it is, it seems to be working. You can see young kids at
bars - I have two - any night of the week and they might very well be
playing Roadhouse Blues at full blast.
Krieger: Well, there you are. That's a common denominator right there. But
where did they hear the Doors - from you or at the bar?
Gazette: Good question. Probably first from me, I guess.
Krieger: A lot of them, I think they just hear it on the radio or whatever
and it just seems to strike a chord in young people, just like it did back
in the '60s. That's why we're having a 40th anniversary.
Gazette: I seem to have used up my half hour. Thanks for being so generous
with your time.
Krieger: All right, man. Well, I hope we'll get up to Canada this year.
Bernard Perusse, Montreal Gazette
Thursday, December 28, 2006