Neil: Entrevista no Intellicencer

[André Gonzales]

Back in the limelight
Posted By DARRYL STERDAN


If you want to know Neil Peart's feelings about fame, just read the words toLimelight.

"Living on a lighted stage approaches the unreal," the Rush drummer and lyricist wrote in 1981. "One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact."

Nearly three decades later, the 57-year-old Peart hasn't changed his tune -- he's still uncomfortable inside stardom's gilded cage.

"All that fuss," the former St. Catharines boy sighs from his home in Santa Monica, Calif., where he lives most of the year with his second wife and their baby daughter. "I'm shy about all that fuss."

One thing Peart clearly doesn't shy away from: Work.

Over the years -- in addition to his main gig with singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson -- the celebrated and innovative percussionist has written four non-fiction books about his life, career and travels; released two full-length instructional drum videos; done cartoon voiceovers and film cameos; organized tribute albums and concerts to iconic drummer Buddy Rich; and regularly blogs, reviews books and even shares recipes on his website. Most recently, he recorded a drum-based version of the iconicThe Hockey Themefor TSN and shot a video to go with it, playing a custom-made kit bearing the insignias of all 30 NHL teams.

To publicize his latest project, the intensely private Peart -- who retreated more or less permanently from the media after the tragic deaths of his daughter and first wife in the late '90s -- emerged from hiding to talk with QMI Agency. And while he still shies away from personal questions, the personable ex-pat was happy to chat about everything from the future of Rush and the integrity of the album, to parenthood and pop music.

Some excerpts:

What's happening with Rush? I read on your blog that you were going to meet in November to discuss your future. What happened?

Well, in fact, we've just started working on new material. So we plan to get some writing and recording done. And we're considering doing everything this year -- maybe even a bit of touring. We are in action.

And we feel a bit liberated by the state of the music business. Even since 2006, when we started Snakes and Arrows,the album has become less significant in these times of iTunes and shuffle settings and whatnot. But perhaps we can take advantage of that and work in a whole different way. So we decided, when we did meet, that we're not constrained by the patterns of the past, where you spend a year writing and recording, and the next year touring. Anything's possible now; we can record a couple of songs and put them out and then go on tour if we want. So at this point, we're just embarking on writing, but keeping ourselves open to all those other possibilities. One of our early titles for this year was Research and Development. That's where we're at.

So you might start making music in smaller increments?

Or larger. I went to see a band called Porcupine Tree not long ago. And I was talking with (singer-guitarist) Steven Wilson. They just put out a 55- minute piece. That's a finger to the whole iTunes shuffle thing, and he intended it as such. And I thought, 'Yeah, that's another way of rebelling against it -- by just saying no.' There's too much lost in giving up the integrity of an album -- what it represents to you as a musician, and as a human being, for that matter. So I like that approach. That's very possible for a band like us. So there are no limitations; we might go big or we might go small.

Tell me about the new material -- are there songs, or is it just ideas at this point?

Oh, we just literally started. There's nothing to tell, really, except that we're doing it.

Rush's Neil Peart, who recently recorded a percussion-based version of The Hockey Theme, poses with a drum kit bearing the insignias of all 30 NHL teams.

Yours doesn't strike me as a band where someone comes in with an entire song. I imagine there's a lot of back and forth.

Remarkably so, yeah. We're so unique in that regard -- all three of us are equally involved. I tend just to give them a whole bunch of lyrics. I don't walk in and say, 'Here's the song I just wrote, what do you think?' I give them choices, and genuine opportunities to respond. Geddy and Alex are getting together now on the musical side, so I just sent them a whole bunch of lyrical ideas. Anything they respond to, I'll get inspired by. That's what I've found in the past; if Geddy says, 'I like these four lines,' that to me is great. It's not a rejection of the rest of it; it's that those four lines happened to reach him. So I'll build on that.

Would you ever consider downsizing your tour -- playing smaller venues with less gear and without the video screens?

We wouldn't want to. People say, 'Wouldn't you like to play a little club?' Nooo! We've played plenty of clubs with $20 worth of equipment and a cracked cymbal and all that. When you can do it better, why wouldn't you want to? The rear-screen projections are, I think, a beautiful part of the show, and they leave us free to concentrate on the musicianship. And we always loved that kind of production, growing up with bands that did it. So it's to us natural and desirable to deliver that kind of show, because we can. To me, less is not more. More is more. And more is better.

What else have you got going on? You often seem to have pots on different burners.

Well, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's to have just one. That's why I love the recent progress of events. We toured all through 2008, and then I did the Buddy Rich project, which was only one night, but just asThe Hockey Themeis only one minute of work, it's two months of preparation. I love preparation. I love rehearsing. Geddy always jokes that I'm the only person he knows who rehearses to rehearse. But before the band rehearses, I rehearse for a couple of weeks, so I'm ready and I've got the tempos locked. And right now the band is the project.

And you've got a new daughter to take up your time. Congratulations.

Yeah, there's always lots going on around my house.

Are you going to put her on the drum kit?

Whatever she wants (laughs).

How does being a father again change your priorities, vis-a-vis work?

I think the person you are is the parent you are, ideally. And one of my rules for parenthood is setting a good example. That means having a rich, fulfilling life. So time will tell, but I think my energy, ambition, obsessions, fixations, whatever -- those things don't change. Whatever happens, I'm still going to be in love with words and with music and want to express them.

He drums,he scores

Neil Peart is far more skilled with drumsticks than hockey sticks.

But when the Rush drummer was asked to record a new percussion-based version of The Hockey Themefor TSN, he came to play -- and gave 110%. Of course, what else would you expect from a St. Catharines boy who grew up loving the best game you can name? Even if he wasn't much of a player.

"I was a twiggy little thing," Peart says. "I put on skates and my ankles would just fold over, you know.

"At the same time, growing up in the '50s and '60s in St. Catharines, Ont., my dad took me to the St. Catharines Blackhawks games on Sunday night, and we had a backyard rink in our yard, and we played street hockey. And I just recently remembered the old table-top hockey games we had. And hockey cards! Putting hockey cards in the spokes of our bicycles. Hockey just imbued your life, no matter what. Even though, no, I couldn't play properly and didn't make a team."

Not until he became a rock star, anyway.

"When we were on tour around 1980 or so with the Max Webster guys, we would go play hockey after the show. We carried hockey gear and pads and everything with us, and we'd rent a little arena from midnight to 2 a.m. and go and play hockey. And I love the fact that we work in the same buildings as the NHL does. I laugh that we have the same office; just on different days.

"And Geddy and Alex grew up with Steve Shutt of the Montreal Canadiens, so during his years playing with them, there were a lot of times we'd meet up on the road in Atlanta or St. Louis and go to their game on a day off, or they'd come to our show. The number of cities I've been to hockey games in, never mind just playing in the buildings, has been a huge part of adult life."

These days, even though he spends more time in sunny Santa Monica than snowy St. Catharines, he's still a fan.

"I still keep a home in Quebec, and I love to be there in the wintertime -- sit down on a snowy evening and just watch a hockey game and take in all that Canadian-ness. Even the commercials; the whole thing to me is an IV of Canadian-ness that I really relish, and that helps keep that whole continuity of life alive for me."


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[MarceloNunes]

Então nós decidimos, que quando nos reecontrássemos, nós não estamos restritros aos padrões do passado.

YEAH! YEAH!! Rush é Rush o resto é bobagem!!!

Vocês já consideraram a idéia de dar uma diminuida na turnê -- Tocar em lugares menores, com menos equipamento e sem os videos passando nos telôes?

Nós não desejaríamos isto. As pessoas dizem :"Vocês não gostariam de tocar em um clube pequeno?" Nãããão! Nós já tocamos em clubes com equipamentos de vinte pila e pratos quebrados e esse esquema todo. Mas se você pode fazer melhor, então porque você não vai querer fazê-lo? As projeções são, eu penso, uma parte linda do show, e elas nos deixam livres para nos concentrar na musicalidade. E nós sempre amamos este tipo de produção crescemos curtindo bandas que faziam shows deste tipo. Então, para nós é natural e desejável apresentar este tipo de show, simplesmente porque a gente pode fazê-lo.

Aí ele mata a pau!!!

Para mim, menos não é mais. Mais é mais. E mais é melhor.

YEAH! YEAH!! É por isto que eu sou muito fã desses caras!!!

Mas falando sério agora: Acho que esta entrevista casa bem com um tema que tem sido comentado esses dias no RushIsABand. Recentemente foi lançado nas gringa um livro chamado "Rush, Rock Music and Middle Class: Dreamimg in Middletown". Este livro não é um livro biográfico do Rush mas sim um trabalho acadêmico de sociologia que, segundo as resenhas que eu lí, procura enquadrar a classe média (que sempre foi a principal consumidora de Rockn'Roll) dentro do contexto do Rock, e utiliza o Rush como exemplo iconográfico de uma banda de Rock de classe média.

Segundo o autor, o Rock sempre foi um fenômeno da classe proletária. O Rockstar é o esterótipo do artista sem berço, sem formação artística e inconformado que, através de sua criatividade para criar composições simples mas impactantes, emerge da classe proletária e se torna uma celebridade, porém problemática e instável, já que a origem de sua ascenção é justamente a sua condição pobre revoltado.

Já o Rush é apresentado num contexto de uma "banda de classe média", não pela condição financeira já que o Geddy e o Alex são filhos de famílias refugiadas pós II Guerra Mundial e o Neil, embora aparentemente tenha vindo de uma família um pouco menos necessitada, também passou até fome quando resolveu viver de música na Inglaterra. Mas sim pela atitude da banda. Pois vejamos.

Primeiro, os três são fãs de Rock. Fãs de verdade! Fanáticos! E não são fãs dos roqueiros, são fãs da música mesmo!! Haja visto por exemplo que o Neil relata no livro Travelling Music que quando adolescente ele assistiu as turnês do Quadrophenia e do Dark Side of the Moon da primeira fila (Ahh, que inveja!!), andava com um pedaço do prato do Keith Moon pendurado no pescoço mas nunca conheceu seu ídolo pessoalmente (mesmo depois que ele também já era famoso). O Geddy também conta que só se tornou amigo do Robert Plant porque crusou com ele num corredor de hotel em uma viagem de férias pela África no final dos anos 90. Ou ainda, quando através deste contato, o Alex conheceu o Jimmy Page ele se comportou como um moleque, desconfortávelmente ansioso, e não como a estrela de Rock que ele é.

Além disto, como eles amam a música, eles não estão nessa por serem 'deslocados'. Muito pelo contrário, eles sabem exatamente que bandeira defender: a bandeira do Rock como música de qualidade. Por isto eles se satisfazem fazendo o melhor. Considerando, por exemplo, a questão de quem merece o título de melhor baterista da história do Rock. Eunão tenho dúvida que não dá pra comparar a técnica do Neil com a genialidade de Keith Moon, John Bonham ou Ginger Baker. Mas pelo Neil ser um fã apaixonado e muito consciente do trabalho desses gênios, ele conseguiu dar sua contribuição histórica de refinamento técnico sem perder a essência dos seus mestres.

Por fim, a própria questão da reclusão da banda. Não é por acaso que, apesar de todos os perrengues da época do Caress of Steel, o único que não chegou ás bodas de prata em seu casamento, foi o que ficou viúvo. Eles vieram de baixo e estavam preparados para serem grandes. E não foi fácil: O pai do Geddy morreu por complicações dos maus tratos sofridos nos campos de concentração. Já o Alex teve filho aos 17 anos, foi expulso de casa pelo pai e teve que se virar pra sustentar sua jovem família. Pois ano que vem o Justin completa quarenta anos e o Sr. Alexandr e a Sra. Charlene Zivojnovich seguem muito bem casados. Eles não negam que fumam e bebem pra caramba, e até admitem utilizar algumas drogas ilícitas vez ou outra (o Neil já disse que é chegado num tapa na pantera), e o Alex já foi até preso por bebedeira, mas longe deste comportamento dar a tônica da relação da banda com a mídia.

Enfim, tô seco pra ler este livro! Mas o que fica claro desde já (e esta entrevista do Neil só reforça esta idéia) é que o Rush é a banda mais Bossa-Nova da história do Rock'n'Roll!!

:D:D

[Psico]

Mandou muito bem no post Marcelo!!!
Podemos dizer que são os rapazes mais certinhos do Rock and Roll Old School...