Bryan Adams has just come from the sound check at a Berlin charity gala when I accompany him to his dressing room for a chat. It’s just before Christmas, so the Canadian rock superstar and his band are performing their song “Christmas Time” for a good cause this evening. While it is primarily German celebrities from politics and show business who cavort and have their photos taken in front of the venue and in the foyer, Adams would prefer to skip the red carpet this evening. There is enough hype as it is, after all, he is currently on their “So Happy It Hurts” European tour.
Adams has a special connection to Berlin. He has launched a number of creative projects here, which we will talk about in detail in the course of the interview. Projects that have nothing to do with his musical work, but rather with his second mainstay, photography. But there is also a lot to discuss about Adams’ music, for example about his triple release “Live at the Royal Albert Hall”: Adams recorded his albums “Waking Up The Neighbors”, “Cuts Like A Knife” and “In the venerable London venue” Into The Fire”. Or about his future as an independent artist, because for the first time in his career the 64-year-old is not signed to a record company. So Adams is now an independent artist – albeit one who has (according to estimates) sold between 75 and 100 million albums.
Bryan, what makes the Royal Albert Hall so special?
The Royal Albert Hall is simply iconic. I attended concerts there long before I played there myself. I saw Cream there, John Fogerty, the George Harrison Tribute Concert, even George Michael. There is simply no place like it in the world. When the idea of a residency came up, I thought: How can we design every evening differently and make it special? So we came up with the idea of performing a different album every evening.
They chose “Waking Up The Neighbors,” “Cuts Like A Knife,” and “Into The Fire,” three albums from a few decades ago. How do you approach something like that – did you have to learn some songs again?
Oh, I definitely had to listen to it again and learn a lot of things again. We don’t even play most of the pieces anymore. I had to recall the lyrics and arrangements – and then think about how we wanted to rearrange the songs.
How did that go?
Well, after a few days we knew how we wanted to do it. But we had to go back to the rehearsal room with the pieces – something we don’t usually do.
When listening to the live albums, I noticed how good and fresh your voice still sounds. While some of your contemporaries have to tune down a semitone to keep up, you sound as good as ever.
Thank you for saying that. In 2000 we went on tour as a trio. I played bass back then. Back then we tuned everything down a semitone, but not because of my voice. But because Hendrix and Van Halen did that too. We thought it sounded heavier somehow. You can hear this on the recording of the Slane Castle concert and the Live at Budokan gigs. After these shows I did the Bare Bones Acoustic Tour – and the mood went back to the keys in which I wrote the pieces.
Is it important to you that your songs continue to develop even after many years? This happens on its own anyway. But we also know that fans prefer to hear the original, so we never stray too far from that.
Your band has long been a well-oiled machine.
Yes that is her. But each of us had to do our homework, especially with the pieces that we still play often. They should be true to the original, but also take into account how we sound today.
You had a camera team with you at the Royal Albert Hall – although you didn’t record everything in front of an audience. How did that happen?
We filmed all the albums in one day. It would have been too expensive to shoot there for three nights. We recorded two of the albums without an audience in an empty hall – and then we went on stage for the third album. Four hours of music in one day… I really needed a cup of tea afterward!
The live album has a great, spatial guitar sound.
I’m glad you noticed that. We hired a young engineer for the live albums, he’s just 26 years old. His name is Hayden Watson and he has a really great perspective on balance. The sound is largely thanks to him. What’s exciting is the spatial mixes for Apple, we mixed all the albums in ATMOS.
How do you divide guitar work with your guitarist Keith Scott?
I salute his magnificence! I usually play rhythm guitar, just because I’m a little better as a singer than as an instrumentalist. I use the guitar to support my voice. What I play never gets in the way of Keith’s licks. And especially not with singing, because my pieces are all built around my voice.
Keith and you have worked together for a long time, how would you describe him?
He is the most humble person I know. The guitar world has always overlooked Keith. But many famous guitarists often came to our concerts specifically because of Keith – and not to see me. Jeff Beck, Mick Ronson and Eddie Van Halen, for example. They all wanted to see Keith. I’d say he’s kind of the unsung hero of the guitar world.
It used to be primarily associated with a Fender Stratocaster – but now you’ll most often see it with a Gibson ES-295 Hollowbody.
Yes. I still play the Stratocaster live – but it has become more of my second guitar. The Gibson just has that certain something. You plug it in and it sounds fantastic. This has, among other things, to do with the P90 pickups, which are simply incredibly good. It’s just a better guitar for rhythm.
But they also play Gretsch guitars.
Yes, I have a 6120. That’s the same guitar that Scotty Moore played on the first Elvis records. I met Scott once and wanted to ask him to sign my guitar, but somehow I was too shy.
Have you ever had anything signed by other musicians?
Not from musicians, but when I had a photo shoot in New York, I called Irving Penn’s office and asked if he would sign a photo book for me. The lady at reception just said, ‘We’ll see if we can accommodate her for lunch.’
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