Eddie Skuller | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Oh, that is amazing. House where nobody lives. That is Eddie scholar, uh, performing the song, uh, by Tom, uh, Tom waits. And, um, that's from the new EP blind love. And we've got Eddie scholar joining us via restream. Eddie, are you there?

0:15 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm here.

0:16 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to the show. I love that. I love your voice though. Your performance on that is, uh, is just incredible. So congratulations on that. And we'll, um, we'll play another track from the EP at the end of our conversation, but, uh, great to have you on the show today. I've been looking forward to talking to you. And, uh, I love, and I, I love, you know, I listen to all four tracks and, um, I love the EP, um, blind love, of course, uh, your covers of, of these Tom Waits songs. And, um, I'll ask you the obvious question first, uh, what inspired you to do this, to make this EP?

0:47 Speaker 3: Uh, well, I, I am a songwriter, but I've never really been prolific. And, uh, when I have periods of writer's block, it's when I still have a desire to create something and to perform for people. So I've gone in and out of periods where I've written songs and then where I've done more covers. And also I've learned as I've gotten older to really trust my instincts. So when I was younger, I'd get crazy ideas and I didn't always follow them. But as I got older, sometimes I would go where the spark was.

1:24 Speaker 3: And it doesn't mean everything, you know, not everything's successful or works out, but I've learned to trust my instincts more. And I just got this idea. I've always admired Tom Waits, but I can't say that I was a fanatic, but I bought many of his albums and CDs over the years. And this idea came to me to check out his songs, maybe his songs. I didn't have anybody else in mind. It just came to me as Tom Waits. So I went on streaming and I just randomly picked a song. This is the truth. I just closed my eyes and pointed and it was Grapefruit Moon, which I was not familiar with from his debut album, Closing Time.

2:10 Speaker 3: And I wanted to see if I could just sing along. And not knowing the song, I pulled up the lyrics and just started to sing along. And I realized, because I was afraid with his approach and his wonderful performance and the way he presents the characters in his songs and the stories with the gravelly voice, I really was wondering, is this something I could even attempt to do in my smooth crooner kind of a voice? And I sang along to Great Moon and within the first verse of singing, I realized, oh yeah, I can do this.

2:46 Speaker 3: I just felt it. I just felt the lyric and the melody So then I quickly pulled together, there's a lot of songs of his that are more avant-garde and that I knew I couldn't really enhance with my approach. So I wanted to, I made a list of 70 songs. I went through his entire vast, his vast catalog. And I made a list of 70 songs that I realized I could probably do okay with based on lyric and melody and that. And then I, out of that, narrowed it down to 20 for a live show. and then pulled the EP together.

3:24 Speaker 3: So it really was without a lot of deep thought. Why am I doing Tom Waits and these songs? It came together very quickly. And as I said before, I'll get an idea, like a bolt of lightning, and I now just follow it. I just follow it. So far, luckily, this seems to be well-received. I've done a few live shows, and the audience seemed to really like it. And I was very apprehensive on a year ago. I debuted the show before we recorded the EP. And I really was apprehensive about how people would, you know, there's true weights fanatics out there and maybe it wouldn't be taken seriously, but it went over really well.

4:09 Speaker 3: And people seem to understand that I was really doing a tribute to his songwriting and not a tribute to his performance and in no way trying to do an imitation because that would fail. But in honoring the songwriting and bringing attention to it, I think I'm doing a service actually, because what I found is that people in the audience have told me they're really not familiar with his material. So with someone like me singing the songs and presenting it, I'm actually educating people about his artistry.

4:47 Speaker 3: A lot of the response I've gotten from friends and fans or whatever is, Oh, he has that gravelly voice. Like they know him as a performer, but no, I don't think they really know the songs and I've performed Jersey girl. There's a lot of people who still think that Springsteen.

5:06 Speaker 1: Wrote it because he made.

5:07 Speaker 3: It, you know, he it's familiar. It's familiar with Springsteen's version. Right. Downtown train hit was a big hit for Rod Stewart. And of course, all 55 was a big hit for the Eagles. So I don't think a lot of people identify even the, the mainstream hits with Tom Waits writing them, um, let alone all of the deep cuts, you know? So anyway, that makes it a really challenging and interesting, um, uh, project for me, you know?

5:40 Speaker 1: So, um, But to get to that final four, because you said the process of picking the songs actually came quickly, and it sounds like it was fairly intuitive, but to get to that final four for the EP, I mean, that must have been somewhat of a challenge, right? You started at, what, 70, you said was your original list, and then you get down to that final four. I mean, how hard was that part?

6:03 Speaker 3: I'm going to be really honest. It surprisingly was not difficult at all. again, it came very quick. I've never had this in my life where things come together this quickly. I usually, I'm the type of person that ruminates a lot. I lose a lot of sleep. I have to sleep on things, lose sleep for many nights, you know, before this, I didn't have that with any aspect of taking on this Tom Waits project at all. So the four songs, I was looking at my list of 20 that we narrowed down. The live show was about 20 songs and I, My wife really wanted me to cover Blind Love from his Rain Dogs album.

6:43 Speaker 3: And she really thought I would do well with Blind Love. And I didn't feel it at first. It has a country vibe on the original record. And I'm not much of a guitar player, but I'll use the guitar just to kind of work out arrangements. And I slowed it down a little bit. And I wiped out the country vibe. It gave it a little bit more of a slow indie rock feel. And when I was singing it, suddenly I felt the story. I was able to feel honest in presenting the song. So then that, you know, I was won over by that song.

7:19 Speaker 3: Downtown Train, I really wanted to give one song on the EP that people would know. Yeah. Throw them a bone. You know, people like something familiar. So I chose Downtown Train. But even that, I was a little apprehensive at first because it's so identified with Rod Stewart. But again... with the guitar, I slowed it down and was crooning over it, and it started to feel like me. It felt real, like I could sing it and do justice. House Where Nobody Lives that you just played, I think it's my favorite song of his from his Mule Variations album.

7:57 Speaker 3: I remember when the album came out, I really loved that song. And honestly, I don't know. I would assume many people are, but I've always been fascinated by abandoned homes. If I'm driving or walking by and, you know, you just see broken windows and overgrown weeds and, or boarded up windows, I really stop. And I've taken pictures of them over the years and fascinated by the stories that what, what, like what happened there, you know, like where did the people go? What was going on in their lives?

8:33 Speaker 3: How did it end up like this? I find it real. There's a sadness about it, but I'm really intrigued by, by abandoned homes and I still am. So that song that was, you know, kind of a no brainer. And then you can never hold back spring, just incredibly beautiful. And I really haven't, found anybody that knew that song. Um, it just was beautiful and beautiful to sing it. And, you know, he himself has covered Frank Sinatra's young at heart. And I found, I thought that this song was on that caliber of like a classic jazz pop ballad.

9:15 Speaker 3: Yeah. And, uh, you know, as, as like a young at heart. And then I realized he had actually covered young at heart. His The two songs have nothing to do with each other, but I felt like it could live as that caliber of a song. But it needed awareness. I don't think anybody knows it. So, I mean, honestly, very easy. I didn't sweat over the choice. And I had the same kind of experience with choosing the studio. You may not believe this, but it's the truth. I live in Jersey City, New Jersey, and there's a lot of great studios in New Jersey, recording studios in Brooklyn, Manhattan.

9:54 Speaker 3: Yeah. I had it in my, I got this idea came to me. I have no idea, but I wanted to record in a barn in upstate New York. I really don't know. Maybe I saw somebody else had done it. I don't know. And I, in my consciousness where the idea came from. Anyway, I Googled recording studio in a barn in upstate New York. And the first thing that came up was a studio called the chicken shack.

10:19 Speaker 1: Okay.

10:20 Speaker 3: In upstate New York. And I went to the website. I got a great feel from the website, the photos, the producer owner, Nick Kinsey. I looked up his work and I connected with his aesthetic. And I knew immediately that I wanted his aesthetic on, on this and his own, one of his own projects as an artist is called Connie and the Cunninghams. And I really love that album. And, um, We did a Zoom call and we related quickly. I didn't say much about what I was trying to do. I knew I wanted a slow meditative vibe and atmospheric.

11:01 Speaker 3: And I didn't want him to produce it too straight. I wanted him to put his aesthetic on it. And that's why there's some quirky sounds in that track he just played. So he was the right person in the right studio. But I think I chose it. within 90 seconds on Googling, you know, recording in a barn and it's called the chicken shack. And ironically, I've read that Tom Waits has recorded on the West coast in California. There's a studio that was also built out of originally like a chicken coop barn or something.

11:38 Speaker 3: So that was, that was an interesting coincidence.

11:42 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was reading that Tom Waits actually recorded Mule Variations, which you referred to earlier, at a chicken shack, which is interesting, or a former chicken ranch. Yeah, there is a certain— I mean, it's almost like the— if you believe in this, it sounds like through all of this, through every step of this project, the universe has kind of guided you and things have come together sort of intuitively— you know, you talked about, and I can relate to this. You talked about ruminating a lot, losing sleep over things, but, but this, this has all been so, you know, just like, you know, one thing to the next, to the next.

12:16 Speaker 1: And it's, it's all, you know, like you said, you just kind of had this idea that you wanted to record in a barn in upstate New York. And then, but you weren't sure why you just felt like that's what you wanted to do. And it made sense. And, you know, and then it all, that's how it all unfolds. And there's a, there's almost a destiny to it.

12:33 Speaker 3: Absolutely. And, again, I, yeah, I've never really, I didn't have to sweat over any detail, but I really did. As I was saying before, I've lost a lot of sleep over the years. Like, is this the right, am I in, am I in the right place? Am I, are the musicians the right players for me? Is there the right chemistry? It's very difficult. And this time, even the musicians that the crew that I brought in was so, was great because first of all, I, my son is a brilliant, guitarist and musician and songwriter and performer.

13:08 Speaker 3: And he's married now. We don't spend a lot of, you know, that kind of time together, but I brought him up to the studio. So we had a great time. He did the guitar. Jeremy Chatzky played upright bass, and I've known him for at least 20 years because I'm a guest singer with a tribute show in New York called The Losers Lounge, and he's the bass player. And he's played on Bruce Springsteen's records and with with a lot of big people. Oh, wow. He has an amazing reputation, but deservingly so. He's just great.

13:43 Speaker 3: And he's got a wonderful chemistry, great person to be around. Nick Kinsey, the producer, also plays. He's a drummer. And he's worked with a lot of people like M. Ward. And he also played some keyboards on it. OK. And then for the You Can Never Hold Back Spring, There's horns on the original track, but I wanted accordion. And I met this wonderful artist, performer, plays accordion, Ryder Cooley. And I've seen her band, which is a very cool band called the Dust Bowl Fairies. And I knew she lived upstate New York.

14:21 Speaker 3: So I was thrilled that she agreed to come to the studio and lend some accordion to that track. And it was recorded live, too, which was a first for me. I never sang live. live with a band in the same room, and that was a whole different kind of experience.

14:39 Speaker 1: That's an important detail, too, because there's no overdubs on the album, right? There's no vocal overdubs. It's what you hear is what happened, correct?

14:47 Speaker 3: Yeah. The first day was supposed to be scratch vocals for me, and the band would play live. There were some overdubs, a few, of guitar the next day and some keyboard stuff the next day, but basically the band played live in the same room together. And I was singing scratch vocals. In fact, I didn't even wear headphones because the band was kind of a quiet recording. We were all in the same room. And I just sang into a mic and didn't think the vocals were keepers. I was supposed to do my hard labor the second day when everyone else was home.

15:28 Speaker 3: And I know what that's like. That can be grueling because... You know, they like the first half of a line and they want you to re-sing the second half of a line. It can be grueling work, very taxing and tedious.

15:41 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.

15:43 Speaker 3: But when we went in the next day to record the real vocals, we were listening back. I think I tried to sing on something and Nick and I realized that I wasn't going to do any better than I did the day before. The emotion was there.

16:00 Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.

16:01 Speaker 3: And maybe there was something about not having the pressure of it being a real vocal, but we used the scratch vocals became the real deal. So I didn't punch anything. I didn't have to fix anything. So that was a lucky break, which meant that we got to mix sooner. So, you know, the project went a little faster than planned.

16:24 Speaker 1: That can happen, though, sometimes, too. You'll hear artists tell stories about how they have a demo for a song, and they go into the studio and they end up using... I mean, I can think of examples where an entire demo has ended up, after being properly mixed and so forth on an album, because what they were trying to do in the studio couldn't capture the magic of the original demo. So it's interesting. But again, that's another example, right, of just this whole thing just seems to... just seems to have been really intuitive for you.

16:56 Speaker 1: And so how long, so this EP obviously went pretty quick, like in terms of the recording sessions, how, how long did that take total in terms of days?

17:08 Speaker 3: We recorded for a day and a half in, in April. I went, I went in on my birthday as a birthday gift to myself to record. The second day, you know, we just did some, quick over once i once we realized i didn't have to sing and boy was i relieved i could just relax then yeah my son did a couple of guitar overdubs and then nick added um some quirky keyboard things he has a very cool vintage organ from the 70s called it i think it's called i don't want to say it wrong an octagon and that's what that's what made some of those real quirky sounds at the beginning and end of the last track you really hear it okay some some, some good gospel-y, uh, you know, key parts.

17:54 Speaker 1: Yeah.

17:55 Speaker 3: So yeah, it was pretty, it was a quick process. And by the afternoon we were mixing and I couldn't believe it. That wasn't supposed to happen.

18:01 Speaker 1: That's incredible. That's incredible.

18:03 Speaker 3: I can tell you, um, just something else quickly, if you want.

18:07 Speaker 1: Sure.

18:07 Speaker 3: There's, um, there's a couple of, um, parallels between with Tom Waits, a couple of coincidental stories, but the main one, and I told this in my show, is believe it or not, both of us, Tom Waits and I, we've both married women that were from Chicago, but we both coincidentally met them in New Jersey. Hence he wrote Jersey, Jersey girl inspired by his inspired by his future wife, Kathleen Brennan co-writes a lot of songs with him. And anyway, when my wife went to undergrad at university of, Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

18:51 Speaker 3: So she was home in Chicago. She was, she boarded a bus, sat down next to a woman. She was going from Chicago back to Madison, Wisconsin. She was sitting next to this woman who said that she was going to Madison to see Tom Waits concert. And Janice, who was, you know, I didn't know her then. She said, oh, I'm going back to school in Madison, but I'm also going tonight to the Tom Waits concert. And Kathleen said to her, I'm going to marry that man. So they rode a bus. They rode a bus together from Chicago to Madison.

19:27 Speaker 3: And then she didn't see her. She didn't see her again, except at the end of the concert. She saw her on the side of the stage after the show run up and give him a hug or something. I just thought that was a very odd, coincidental story.

19:40 Speaker 1: That is pretty cool, though. That's wild. That is wild. By the way, so getting to play with your son, your son's on the on the album have you worked with him before prior to making this ep ep i should say to be uh precise but had you worked with him before.

19:56 Speaker 2: Well musically um very little we've done we've done um we duetted once at this loser's lounge tribute in new york okay um He's actually produced, he has his own studio and he's produced.

20:14 Speaker 3: My vocals on some recordings, especially during the pandemic. And so, but we, we didn't, we didn't do something like this where it was a two day project. And we, we really had a good time after the first night of session, we went out into town and went to dinner and then the morning went out for breakfast and it was up in, you know, farmland. So we, we got a nice, some good, fresh country air the morning of the second day. So I think this was the first time we spent this much intensive time together doing a project, although it was very relaxed.

20:51 Speaker 3: And then when he, and when he was a teenager, I helped him sort of being like a, a dad manager, whatever you want to call that. And so, you know, he was a, a, a musician when he was a teenager. So, um, I kind of guided him through some things.

21:11 Speaker 1: Yeah.

21:12 Speaker 3: Yeah. Other than that, no, this was, this was, this was a great experience for us because as I said, he's, he's, he tours a lot and he's on the road.

21:19 Speaker 1: Okay.

21:19 Speaker 3: A lot of projects producing. And then he's, he just got married last year. So for us to spend two days together like that was, was really nice.

21:28 Speaker 1: Oh, I can imagine. I can imagine. I do want to circle back to, uh, just briefly, um, to, uh, the house where nobody lives because you had talked about, you know, abandoned homes and being kind of fascinated by that. And I know what you mean because I'll look to, you know, if I see one, I'll always... I'll have some of those same thoughts, you know, curious about it and how it got that way and who lived there and whatnot. But we should mention the video for it, the lyric video. There's a lot of footage that goes with what you described in the video of these homes.

21:58 Speaker 1: And I'm curious about... where that imagery came from, if that's footage or pictures that you took, or did you have help with that? Did somebody else make that? Because it really does, you know, watching the lyric video and hearing the song with it really does kind of take you there, for lack of a better way of putting it. But I'm curious about the video.

22:25 Speaker 3: I really appreciate that. I don't think You're the first person who has mentioned the video and appreciated it. I love it, actually, but it seems overlooked. The track seems to be the main point of interest. So I knew I didn't want to have a performing video. I wanted a lyric video so I could show the houses. So my wife and I drove around in our area and there are a number of buildings with, you know, windows boarded up or broken windows and overgrown weeds and all of that. But here it's a lot more congested.

23:02 Speaker 3: So the houses are close. So you might have an abandoned home, but you've got two, two homes on either side that are, that, that are not abandoned. And it was hard to visually just focus on the one home without getting without, cause they couldn't get far enough back. Um, And there was people in cars all the time. So I did take some footage myself, but I didn't use it in the video. Online, I found this site. I think it's Exploring Urban. Oh, my gosh. Now I forget the name. But it's a link on my YouTube video for the song.

23:40 Speaker 3: This guy, Cappy, down south, he shoots abandoned homes and mansions. And his footage is very sharp. and detailed, and he shoots all around the outside of the home and the property, but he also goes in these buildings that are often, the doors are just open, they're abandoned, and he goes in and shoots very interesting footage because many of these abandoned homes, and he knows the story of some of them, some of them were owned by doctors and families, sometimes all the furniture is there, and from years of the roof not being fixed, there might have been water and leaks, and there's mold growing, or you know, ceilings have fallen, but there's the sofas and it's all from over the decades.

24:25 Speaker 3: You can sort of see the 1960s furniture or earlier or the seventies. And some of them have even the dining room table is set up with wine glasses and China wear, but the people are long gone. Anyway, I reached out to him and asked if there's any way I could appropriate his footage for this video. Oh, And I didn't know if he'd give me permission or not. On his YouTube channel, he has 600 homes that he has shot.

24:54 Speaker 1: Oh, wow.

24:56 Speaker 3: Beautiful, incredible videos. It's fascinating. And he said, go for it, man. And that was it. It was that easy. So I reshot through a vintage film app his footage because I wanted it to be blurred out like a dream.

25:13 Speaker 1: Right.

25:14 Speaker 3: And I made it. more abstract and desaturated, washed out, a little bit blurred, so that you get the, you were able to get it, you get the vibe and feel of abandoned homes and overgrown weeds and broken windows without all of the crisp detail that's in his actual footage. So I was lucky to just appropriate it. And of course, down south, these mansions, they're on huge property. So he was able to get great footage without, cars and people walking in front or neighboring houses close by. So that's why his footage, original footage was appropriate for me to do that.

25:54 Speaker 3: But I wanted to make it dreamy and abstract and then put the lyrics over. So I appreciate what you said very much because I like the way the video turned out. I just haven't heard anybody else other than you comment on it. Oh, okay.

26:08 Speaker 1: Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Yeah, I encourage people to check it out. It's really cool, and I do like the aesthetic. And it absolutely works for the song, no doubt about it. Eddie Scholar, this has been wonderful. Thank you for joining us today. In a moment, when we wrap up, I think I'm going to play Downtown Train. I really love that one. Also, of course... um, from the EP, um, blind love. And, and this, of course, you know, it's funny too, cause you mentioned, uh, people might not necessarily know.

26:39 Speaker 1: Some people might not know that it was originally a Tom Waits song. I remember hearing it when I was a kid, you know, Rod Stewart's version and having no clue. Well, I was a kid, but you know, just having no clue that it was a cover, um, as, as is, uh, as is often the case with songs like that. But, um, but we'll, we'll probably close out with that. But, um, where's the best place for people to go online to keep up with everything that you're doing, whether it's anything related to this project or anything else that you're doing musically shows that you have coming up, et cetera, where should people go online?

27:11 Speaker 3: Absolutely. So my website is eddyskuller.com and I'm also on Facebook and Instagram. So, you know, and all, all of my music is on all of the, all the streaming sites, Spotify and Apple and what have you. So, so, wherever anybody wants to reach out and, um, you know, and if you hear it and you like it, like shoot me a message or something. I'd love to hear from people.

27:37 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, listen, I'm sure you're going to have more music in the future, so we will definitely have you back. We'll do this again, but, uh, Eddie scholar, thank you so much for joining us today, Matt.

27:48 Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed it.

27:50 Speaker 1: Oh, thank you. Me too. All right. We'll talk soon. Take care. Bye-bye.

27:55 Speaker 2: All right.

27:55 Speaker 1: There goes the great Eddie scholar. Be sure to check out the new EP, Blind Love. It is amazing. And we're going to close out the segment with another song from that. And again, you know, some of you, you know, if you're a Tom Waits fan, you might know the original, or you might remember the Rod Stewart version, which was, geez, what would that have been?

28:15 Speaker 3: Late 80s, maybe?

28:17 Speaker 1: But check this out. I really like Eddie Scholar's version of this song, personally. This is called Downtown Train from Blind Love.