Pennsylvanian rockers Live were at their peak in the mid-’90s, spawning such hits as ‘Lightning Crashes’, ‘I Alone’ and ‘Dolphin’s Cry’.
With the release of their sophomore album Throwing Copper in 1994, they were catapulted into mainstream success, reaching number one on the Billboard album chart in 1995.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Throwing Copper, and songwriter and former frontman Ed Kowalczyk is taking the album on the road, performing it from start to finish on stages across Australia. Where, interestingly, the band have had almost more success than at home.
“It’s one of those beautiful, mysterious things,” Kowalczyk says of his Aussie followers.
“I don’t think about it too much because I’m just very grateful for it … It’s a depth and a connection with the lyric [and] my craft; it’s the kind of fanbase you really dream about as an artist.”
That isn’t to say that his fellow countrymen aren’t loyal too, with the follow-up to Throwing Copper, 1997’s Secret Samadhi debuting at number one on the US album chart.
Such subsequent success gives a lot of weight to the decision to play Throwing Copper more or less exclusively on this tour.
“‘I thought, ‘what better place than Australia to start what will probably be a year-long celebration of this body of work?'”“It was definitely the record that established me as a songwriter and a performer, so when the 20th anniversary started to roll around I thought, ‘what better place than Australia to start what will probably be a year-long celebration of this body of work?’”
Kowalczyk hasn’t parted with other Live classics for this tour, however. He plans on incorporating – amongst others – ‘Dolphin’s Cry’, ‘Lakini’s Juice’ and ‘Turn My Head’, as well as songs from his debut and recent sophomore solo albums, into the encore.
“We’re committing right now to playing a really long show,” he affirms.
The “we” Kowalczyk refers to isn’t the band currently known as Live, but rather the touring musicians that he’s played with since going solo, somewhat controversially, in 2009.
“They’re great friends, great musicians,” Kowalczyk gushes of his bandmates, describing their new interpretations of Live’s songs as “reinvigorating.”
“It’s exciting for me after so many years of doing it the same way.”
He labels his split from the band as a “renaissance”, “energy resurgence” and “a new chapter” in his life, explaining, “As an artist, that’s what you have to do to keep it fresh, and be able to stay interested and energetic about [your music].”
Fans can rest assured that by no means will the tracks differ greatly from their original sound.
“You don’t really want to change [the songs] … There are slightly different rhythmic interpretations and things like that that won’t necessarily change the songs that much, but from my perspective are big changes because of how many years I’ve been doing them.
“Just adding that freshness to it has been really revolutionary for me in a great way.”
It was that “freshness” that Kowalczyk went searching for four years ago, initially going on a temporary hiatus before deciding not to return to Live. Any alleged bitterness isn’t evident.
“I’m grateful for all my experiences in the original band … but it had just started to get kind of old and that’s a really dangerous place for an artist to be.”
He also emphasises that fans of Live seemed to support this decision, and have been very receptive to his solo work.
“Immediately the fans recognised a newfound energy and light in the new records,” – so much so that he describes his career as currently at “fever pitch” with the new album, The Flood And The Mercy.
“I know from their reaction that we’re all on the right track.”
Kowalczyk seems to have avoided the pitfalls that strike many lead singers-cum-solo artists, and puts it down to his fearless attitude. As a self-confessed risk taker, he was quite confident in his decision to embark on a solo career and maintains that his demand “really didn’t change at all.”
“I was pretty sure that if I kept doing things with the passion that I’ve always had then things would fall into place…”“There’s a leap of faith in anything you do,” he admits. “But I was pretty sure that if I kept doing things with the passion that I’ve always had then things would fall into place, and they did.”
Things were very much in place at the time Throwing Copper was recorded, which is part of the reason behind choosing this album to tour.
“I was really at the top of what I was doing at the time … When I wrote [the album] and we recorded and performed it, [the songs] were special then and they remain really special for me as a performer.”
With The Flood And The Mercy just released and most of 2014 booked up already with the Throwing Copper tour, the man behind the songs is planning on just “going with the flow” before planning his next move.
Recording isn’t off the cards either, but in his philosophical manner, Kowalczyk concludes, “We’ll see what happens. One thing I really like to do is just see where inspiration leads me.”
The Flood And The Mercy is out now through Sony Music.
Ed Kowalczyk Throwing Copper Australian Tour 2014
PERTH METRO CITY WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 5
ADELAIDE HER MAJESTY’S THEATRE FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7
MELBOURNE THE FORUM SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8
SYDNEY ENMORE THEATRE TUESDAY FEBRUARY 11
BRISBANE THE TIVOLI WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 12
TICKETS ON SALE 10AM FRIDAY OCTOBER 4
