Ed Kowalczyk: Life after Live

MANILA, Philippines - For Ed Kowalczyk, there’s certainly life after Live.

When he left the American alternative-rock band in 2009, he felt it was one of those things that had to happen.

“I definitely came to one of those end-of-chapter moments of my life where I had kind of lost my passion for (music) in a lot of ways and I realized that I had been doing it the same way with the same people for so many years,” the former Live frontman told The STAR in a phone interview last week.

“I really needed to change, and as soon as I embraced the idea of challenging myself for a solo career and engaging some new musicians, I just got a new breath of fresh air and new energy for it again. I’ve been going strong since.”

Ed wasn’t only the lead singer but also the main songwriter of Live, and together with his band, they became a massive success and gained a global following with eight full-length albums and total CD sales exceeding 20 million after breaking out in the mainstream scene in the mid-’90s. Live became famous for its ultra-melodic, arena-friendly, anthemic chart-toppers such as Lightning Crashes, I Alone, Selling The Drama, All Over You, I Walk The Line, etc. So for Ed to step away from that and strike it out on his own, naturally, the challenge was imposing but he wasn’t to be deterred.

“As an artist, you really have to go (with) your gut, you have to go with your passion, and the most important thing is my fans and I knew (I had to) continue to give them the performances and music they deserve,” he said.

“I would say it was challenging but I wouldn’t ever say that it was hard because I’m still making music and that’s anything but hard. That’s a lot of fun and joy... and I think that the new happiness and excitement is coming through in the new music, in the performances and so the fans do get to see that in my solo shows and they’re pleasantly surprised and relieved that it’s still such a great show.”

His first solo record, which he’s now promoting around the world, is aptly titled Alive because his music truly feels alive and and re-inspired. Ed got his groove back. “I would say it’s a new urgency in my music and I wouldn’t say it’s not new... It also reminds the people of the urgency that was in my music in the mid- to late ’90s,” he said.

As in his past works, his new music reflects his sense of spirituality, and in trying to reconcile this faith-inspired music with his very mainstream audience, he looks up to the Irish rock band U2 as model.

Ed said, “Yes, all of my music from the ’90s and also now, have always been songs that have spiritual message or content... but I’d like to think that I took a page out of the U2 book in the sense that I wanted the record to be inspired by my faith as a person, but I also always wanna make sure that my music can be enjoyed by anybody from any block of life, and that they could get something from it and I think I’ve achieved that.

“I feel that if a music is done well, whatever it is, people will know the difference of good in music and they will appreciate that.”

Asked what his songwriting process is like, Ed said, “Well, I like to just sit down (with) my guitar and go over different ideas, melodies and lyrics, and pick pieces out and kind of put them together and see what I come out with. I really allow the lyrics and melody to emerge together. I think what it does is it allows the songs to be interpreted in different ways.”

Take, for example, Lightning Crashes (that topped Billboard rock tracks in ’95), he wrote it with a very simple idea of telling a story about a verse and “just really following a thread and not really thinking too much about where I want it to go but just allowing the flow of it.” He believes the song has retained its relevance to this day because listeners can relate to it in different ways.

Asked about Selling the Drama and the rest of the songs he penned in Live’s smash debut Throwing the Copper (which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard 200 in ’95), which critics always refer to as Live’s best record, he related, “(It was a) very exciting time for me because I was learning to write songs... (But it was a time of deep questioning) you know, questioning authorities, and all the things I’ve grown up with (like) tradition, spirituality and all these things.”

“(I was) 22 years old and I skipped going to college to join the rock band. It was a very challenging time in my life but also very productive creatively because I really was just at the beginning of learning it, and sometimes the best things come when you don’t know what you’re doing,” added Ed, whose attraction to music and performance started when he was a kid participating in choirs and school plays.

Meanwhile, Ed will perform the greatest hits of Live and his songs from Alive, to be backed with a full band, in his back-to-back concert with another alternative act, Vertical Horizon, on April 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. It will be his first time to the country.

Ed’s actually been doing plenty of touring right now. This month alone, he’s been to Mexico, Singapore and will head for Europe after Manila.

Whenever he’s free though, he’s one busy daddy. He said, “I’m also busy raising three daughters... sleeping, eating, driving kids to school, wherein we listen to Adele on the car. My daughters love her! I like her, too. (Too bad) my family’s not coming with me, as my youngest is only one year old.”

“My older daughter has been to some of my shows and they understand a lot (about what I do) because the parents of their classmates and their teachers are always telling them how (they like my songs)... (My music) gives me some good points at school,” he laughed.

And it is people who continue to appreciate his music that keeps him going in the biz amid its current situation (CD sales are down, piracy is rampant, and seemingly more manufactured acts than real talents).

There’s also his simple love for making music, recording and performing. Then, there’s the challenge that music continues to throw at him.

He said, “It’s very challenging still. I still don’t feel like I know how to do it (perfectly). I think that the career continues to challenge me as a person, as a performer in every way. I agree that the music business in some way, is worst than ever and there are others out there that don’t inspire me. But I don’t really look at any of that, I have so many other wonderful things to focus on. I just stay focused on the things that I can change and the things that I can do something about, which is writing great songs and singing them the best I can.”

(Ed Kowalczyk Back-to-Back with Vertical Horizon is mounted by Ovation Productions with tickets priced at P4,500, P4,000, P3,500, P2,500, P1,500 and P500 and available at Ticketnet outlets located at SM Department Stores and at the Araneta Coliseum ticket office. For details, call 911-5555. After the twinbill concert, Vertical Horizon will perform at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.)