INTERVIEW: Richard X. Heyman
- Al Muzer
Hippie psychedelia, sensitive singer-songwriters, doo wop, rap, grunge, girl groups, teen idols, art rock, surf, country, disco, new jack, ska, techno, hair metal, bubblegum, lounge - sooner or later every flavor of the minute grows old, tired, stale and lifeless.
And, be it be Beatles, Bangles, Badfinger, Beau Brummels or Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) - a great pop song always seems to show up in the Knack of time to save radio and tide us all over until the next musical trend is ready for mass consumption.
There are at least seven such songs on Richard X. Heyman's new album, Cornerstone.
Bursting with depth, longing, bittersweet emotion and (more importantly) a slew of killer hooks, the 14 janglin' gems on Cornerstone (Permanent Press Recordings) conjure up images of lost loves, blown saves, missed chances, long nights, lingering sighs, gray autumn days and tearful break-ups even as the deceptively bouncy melodies and Heyman's warm, earnest vocals sweep you away to a land where your feet just won't stop tapping.
Heyman's been here before - even if you haven't.
Despite reaching peaks of pure pop perfection on 1986's Actual Size EP, 1988's Living Room! and 1991's Hey Man!, the Plainfield, New Jersey native, screenplay writer, one man band and former Brian Wilson/Link Wray/Jonathan Richman drummer has inexplicably never managed to break through to the mainstream and all three of his previous efforts have, for the most part, been ignored by the masses.
Cornerstone, however, appears to possess everything it takes to turn Heyman into the household name he deserves to become - or, at the very least, bestow a bit of Top 40 immortality on the man.
Resident pop-o-holic, unintentional Kenny Rogers impersonator and long-time Richard X. Heyman fan Al Muzer recently caught up with the artist on the eve of Cornerstone's national release.
CO: You've been touted by the likes of Rolling Stone and Goldmine as, more or less, 'the artist most likely to' with each new release. Has the lack of attention from radio and the lack of acceptance from its listeners driven you over the edge yet?
RH: [laughs] For some reason, good music press just doesn't translate over to sales or radio play the way press translates for movies or on Broadway. If a play or a movie gets good reviews, well, then, that's everything. It starts the whole ball rolling. Music? It just doesn't seem to work that way with music.
I tend to view music as a much needed emotional outlet - so I'm not into name games, don't care about accumulating press and I'm not trying to please anyone but myself. I'm also not out to assimilate my influences or duplicate any one sound. I hear certain artists who really seem to be into that whole thing, you know? Trying to create, say, a Revolver-sounding song - and, in trying to achieve the exact guitar tone, the right echo or the perfect production value - lose the song. The song winds up taking a back seat to the sound.
CO: But, the 'sound' has always been one of the great things - for me, anyway - about your records. While your songs are generally outstanding, there's an almost timeless quality to the 'sound' of your albums that makes it hard to place when they were recorded.
RH: Thank you! The thing that got me involved in music in the first place is that thing, that feeling, that chill you get when a song really hits home. I call it the 'happy/sad' feeling. It's the best! You get it when music has kind of a melancholy feel to it - yet is so good that it makes you feel happy at the same time.
CO: Like most of the songs on Cornerstone? You know despite some truly killer hooks, everything on the disc seems to have a wistful, semi-sad, looking back feel to it. Were you shooting for that mood?
RH: I really think, truthfully, that it has to do with the fact that there was this 'golden period' - or so it seemed with hindsight - in my life and the music I love. And, well I dunno, I guess I thought I felt all that sort of slipping away from me. I was longing for that time and that feeling again, so that found its way onto these songs. I don't consciously think about any of it though, you know? I just try to finish my songs and let them be about whatever they want to be about.
CO: How do you get such a complete full band-type sound on your records when, for the most part, it's you singing and playing everything?
RH: I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that my main instrument is the drums - so there's always a solid foundation behind what I do. But, it's not like I plan on being a one-man-band when I record my albums. I just always seem to wind up alone in the studio laying down, say, an idea I had or a vocal part or a percussion track or a guitar guide or a hand clap - and the next thing you know, the track is done. It's become almost an unconscious process for me.
CO: You've been something of a cult figure along the lines of Tommy Keene (with whom Heyman played in a late-'70s band known as the Rage) and Alex Chilton for more than 10 years now, are your fans as, uhm intensely-devoted to you as theirs appear to be to them?
RH: Not as intense, no, but still fairly serious. There are a few people in different parts of the country who, uhm, really know my records, you know? I was having a discussion just the other day about how strange it is when I meet someone who, although they only know me through my lyrics, really think they know me. It's pretty strange, actually, even a little frightening sometimes.
CO: I've got to give you credit, you could've jumped on the grunge, ska or SevenMaryDaysOfTheAlice bandwagon at any time over the last few years and probably had yourself a hit - but you stuck with pop songs.
RH: Oh, that's not even something I had to think about it. I come from a world of three-minute pop singles. Pop music is what I love.
PS: The 'X' stands for, well, 'X' and is the full middle name given to Heyman by his dad in tribute to U.S. Army General Xavier Cheves.
