Richard Barone Interview: SXSW 2010

Richard Barone has been involved in the music industry since he was 7 years old, and since then he's become an acclaimed producer, composer and recording artist, not to mention a theatrical director and author. The New York-based former frontman of '80s New Wave group the Bongos will be performing as a solo artist at SXSW for the first time this year, with a new album due out later in the spring. Richard had a chat with Spinner to impart his plans for SXSW and the rest of 2010.

How would you describe your sound?

My sound is varied. My background has always been pop-rock, but I like to work with classical instruments sometimes, too. It's a mixture of melodic sounds that support my lyrics. Every song has a life of its own. The lyrics and the songs drive whatever the sound is going to be, and it can vary. My first group was called the Bongos, and through the '80's and '90s my music evolved from what they called chamber pop. Now it is a hybrid of any sound that supports the song and the lyrics.

What are your musical influences?

My first music influence was the Beatles. I really love the Velvet Underground. I love music that pushes the limits of popular music. I like what David Bowie did. I like Lou Reed, and I've worked with Lou Reed. I like the acoustic sounds of people like Donovan -- I've worked with him, too. I've been really fortunate to work with so many of my heroes. I've worked with Moby a few times, and I really like what Moby has done with electronics and his melodic pop. My music is very open-ended and can go in different directions.

You started your music career at a very young age. When did you know that music was what you wanted to do with your life?

Well, I was always obsessed with the radio when I was a child, and I got my own radio show when I was 7 years old at a pop radio station in Florida. Of course, I got to hear all the great records, and they gave me a lot of records, and I got obsessed with making recordings at a young age. By the time I was 16, I was producing other bands. I'd produced an album for Tiny Tim, a very interesting artist, which finally just came out this past October. I've been recording and been involved with music all my life.

What aspect of SXSW are you most excited about?

Well, I like the idea of the community -- being with other musicians and finding out what other people are up to. I'm looking forward to performing and being at parties where other people are playing.

What's in your festival survival kit?

I travel light, so the survival kit is internal. But I need my guitar and some books to read. I've always traveled very light. My book 'Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth' is a little survival kit. I don't carry a copy of it because I wrote it, but I do recommend it for others.

What can we expect at your SXSW showcase that is unique to you?

The music I do, I feel is a completely unique sound because it is a hybrid of so many different elements. I'll be doing some new music that I've never played before. My whole thing is the relationship with the audience. Every show I do is completely unique, and it's all about the relationship between what I'm doing onstage and the audience.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced on tour?

I have this habit of drinking chlorophyll onstage. Chlorophyll is the green liquid in plants. I drank too much once and had a green-out, where everything went completely green.

Why chlorophyll? Is that a common thing to do?

Chlorophyll is an oxygenator. Especially when I do a high-energy show, I always look for as much oxygen as possible. It's the physical aspect of performing. I overdid it once and everything turned green. From then on, I always ask venues not to have any green stage lights because it reminds me of that. It was in London, and it was a cocktail of vodka and chlorophyll, actually.

You've worked with a variety of artists, from Tiny Tim to Moby and Liza Minnelli. If you could pick any three artists to work with on your next album, who would it be?

I am so fortunate to work with so many of my musical heroes! The three living artists I would like to work with now are Apples in Stereo, Wendy Carlos and Leonard Cohen.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

I have many guilty pleasures. I produced a show for [New York's] Central Park [SummerStage music series] two years ago called 'The (Not So) Great American Songbook,' which were really bad songs from the '70s. One of my guilty pleasures is great bad songs from the '70s. I love them. I mean, they're fun to sing, and the idea is to do songs that are really fun but happen to be bad. We did covers of '70s songs by Captain and Tennille and other groups that are really funky but you don't hold in the highest regard. It was really fun to do.

What do you have in store for 2010?

I have a new album coming out this year by late spring or early summer called 'Glow.' I'm really thrilled about this because my producer was Tony Visconti, one of my favorite producers, who produced all my favorite David Bowie albums and T. Rex albums. I got to work with some amazing musicians and engineers to create something really special. The theme for my year will be traveling with my new songs off the 'Glow' album.


Stephanie Griffin is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.