By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
March 29, 2002
You hear of rock stars turned actors. But musicians parlaying a second gig as a renovator? That’s a little more unusual. But Dave Pirner makes it all sound like the norm when he phones from a place he’s working on in New Orleans.
“I’m not sure I’m exactly a builder, but I’m learning,” says the front man for Soul Asylum, which is playing tonight at Metro. “Right now we’re renovating some old houses in New Orleans. My friends and I want to turn one of them into a recording studio. Right now I’m just priming, but I’m learning a lot as I go along.”
For the last four years, the Minneapolis native has traded in the Midwest cold for the laid-back style of the Big Easy.
Besides finishing up a solo album, which should be in stores in May, Pirner says the new Soul Asylum record should be out later in the year, once the band gets a new label.
Pirner sees no shame in being without a label. He knows his band had its moment in the spotlight with hits such as “Runaway Train.” Pirner himself was cast in the celebrity spotlight when he tackled the role of Winona Ryder’s real-life boyfriend and accompanied her to swanky Hollywood functions such as the Oscars.
“We all like to have fun, but it was never about the glitz [for this band],” he says. “We’re working on new material and have quite a growing body of work. We have to shop it just like a lot of bands have to. We’ve never been a lazy band or one that took our good fortune for granted, so this isn’t an inconvenience. It’s a way for us to get something that we love out to the people who’ve supported us all these years.
“We’re still having the time of our lives. Touring and recording feels like home in a strange way and I guess we’ll stop when it ain’t fun anymore. But for right now, we’re having too much fun not to go for it.”
There was a time when his fans didn’t have as much fun at their shows. The band sometimes refused to include their biggest hits in their set lists.
“I wasn’t trying to disappoint anyone by doing that,” Pirner says. “My thinking was that I didn’t want to rely on those songs. If we didn’t use them as a crutch, then it would help the writing process and challenge us to come up with songs just as good or better. But then it hit me that I was trying to play God in a way. Sometimes a guy and his kid would tell us it meant so much to them that we played something, and that sort of drove it home. If people are paying their money and want to hear something, we should play it.”
HERE’S WHAT ELSE PIRNER HAD TO SAY:
Favorite Chicago restaurant: Blackbird. I’m a big fan of the chef there. The food is amazing and I stop in every time I’m in Chicago.
Favorite Chicago food: Anything at Blackbird. They outdo themselves each time.
Favorite Chicago nightspot: I love to stop in the Green Mill. It’s a Chicago thing. Another cool club is Metro, and of course the Double Door. I love all those places.
Who’s your hero?: The local musicians in New Orleans. They operate outside of the industry and have this authentic sense of what it is to be a musician. They’re the real deal.
Favorite sport: I didn’t get to watch a lot of it in the Olympics but I think snowboarding is great with all those gnarly cats competing. I can ski, but don’t snowboard.
Favorite Chicago season: Summer probably ’cause I got enough of snow in Minneapolis.
Next musical trend: Me!
Free Winona or send her to prison: She’s not a criminal. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about her.
Best thing about playing to Chicago audiences: They know about all kinds of music–blues, jazz, rock, everything!
The last word on Chicago: Love it.
