Preface: This is an interview of Caroline's Spine that I conducted this summer and fall in preparation for my review of their new album in Goldmine (issue #505 with Gov't Mule on the cover). Unfortunately, I had many more questions that I wanted to ask than I knew I would have room for... and other contstraints... 3/4 band members answered my questions via e-mail, but Jimmy kept losing the e-mails with my questions, so I did his interview in person, by hand (not with a tape recorder). This is why Jim's answers will appear shorter and with many brackets and ellipses. Neither can I find the exact question sheet that I sent him, so the wordings of many of his questions are from memory. Also, I believe I e-mailed Jason first, so he didn't get as many questions as the other guys. (Sorry about that, Jas!) -- editor.

Question: I think I remember hearing "Open Fire" in New London in 98. When did you write the songs for this record?

Jimmy Newquist : There were so many writing sessions for this record. Los Angeles, Calif., January through April 1997 [and] October first, 1997, and Branson, in October 98. {Not sure about my scribbles here... I seem to remember something about the guys writing in Wisconsin too while on vacation fishing. -ed} We write all the material on the road. Whenever anybody says "take a trip," one of the rooms gets set up as a recording studio.

Question: How do you approach writing?

Jimmy Newquist : I usually go with first drafts and then I edit. I start with a huge oncept. It ends up being very soapbox, a lot of words, and then I edit it down.

Question: How did you choose the producer and how did you like working with him?

Jimmy Newquist : Roy Thomas Baker {Cheap Trick, Queen}, the producer, [was chosen] because of his classic rock vibe. We wanted a mixer who was very cutting-edge. [We chose] Nick DiDia {Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine} for his new rock vibe, and somewhere in the middle, there lies Spine.

Question: Are you excited about how your instrument sounds on this CD? What's different this time around, as compared with the songs on Monsoon?

Mark Haugh: I am very excited about the guitar sound on this record. I think up untill this point, we always knew the direction that we were going, but we weren't exactly sure how to translate that sonically onto a record. (CD) This is the first time that we were able to take our time and get not only the guitars, but everything else on the record to sound the way we wanted them to. I know that musicians always grow and change, but I'm very proud of this installation of Caroline's Spine.

Scott Jones: Playing the bass on this record was so completely different on Attention Please than on Monsoon, first of all because I was able to play all the parts. There wasn't really a recording session for Monsoon but rather, a series of many overnight weekends cramming as much recording as possible as to befit our budget. Those sessions gave us our indie discs, which we sold at shows during our indie years. Monsoon is literally a collection of those recordings, and Jimmy was actually on bass for some of those tracks because I either hadn't joined the band yet or haven't learned the songs (or how to play the bass yet for that matter, but that's a different story). Anyway, I basically was with the band for the creation from start to finish with every song on this record, which is particularly special to me. Plus, working with a real producer for the first time and spending several months instead of hours was quite beneficial. I was able to attain the most desirable bass sound ever because of that. Before it was just basically desirable at best! Performance was definitely knocked up a notch or two as well, considering that Roy Thomas Baker was supervising an effort that was to be flawless which, as frustrating as it can be, certainly paid off, and I believe no one can help but to become a better musician because of it.

Question: If I didn't see you playing that bass part at the beginning of "Attention Please," I wouldn't have believed it was bass. Is there any part of that little intro that is guitar or is it all bass? It's incredible. I love it!

Scott Jones: On the record, the beginning of "Attention Please" is actually played by Jimmy on the guitar, but we did the live arrangement differently so that he could sing more freely. Plus, it's fun to do. Mark also plays on the intro with me live.
I actually played guitar for 15 years and may have never picked up the bass had it not been for Caroline's Spine asking me to join them for a two-week jaunt on bass......obviously and thankfully it worked out. Before I joined Caroline's Spine I never played the bass. I not only had to learn how to play the song's but I also had to learn how to play the fucking instrument....needless to say I was a bit nervous when my very first full show with the band was at The Whiskey a GO GO in LA in front of several record and management people, not to mention Paul Stanley of KISS also came that night to see us. At that point I had been playing bass for a whopping two weeks! And I was only to book some shows in Tulsa for an old high school buddy named Mark Haugh when I met these guys and was asked to join them as bass player (at the time Jimmy was on bass).

Question: I notice that the songs are all pretty short. But they are also really hooky and really pack a punch. One thing that they can definitely say is that there are no bloated-ego guitar solos on this CD. All of the pieces fit together really well... and you all shine on it. Drums, bass, guitar and vocals. It's not a one-dimensional band. Your thoughts?

Jimmy Newquist : We loved an awful lot the jamming feel of the road.

Mark Haugh: I think that every musician has an ego, actually every living person has an ego, and we would all love to get the huge guitar solo or whatever. I think this record, since we did have the time to really focus on the songs, became so much more about the songs themselves. What can I offer to this great song that Jimmy wrote, to add to it tastefully. There is so much more to a song than just wacking off, although that can be fun at times. We all were very intent on portraying the songs in the right light. I think we did a decent job. We'll see what everyone else thinks.

Question: How have you grown as a musician and in the recording studio over the past few years and from the recording of Monsoon until now?

Jason Gilardi: I'd like to think we've grown a lot. We went through a lot on the Monsoon tour, and I think the new record represents it very well. Jim had a lot more to draw from from. We saw a lot of interesting things. I think we got much tighter as a band and we finally got a more live feel than Monsoon.

Mark Haugh: I think the studio experience really makes a musician grow in numerous ways. It makes you grow mentally and emotionally. I think as a player, it really lets you know what you're really good at and not good at. The tape doesn't lie. I guess then you have to assess as a musician whether those strengths and weaknesses define your style, or are there things that you want to be better at. I think I've experienced both. Then again, being a musician is an ongoing process. I don't think any musician worth their salt would ever be completely satisfied with their ability.

Question: Any songs that particularly stand out as favorite guitar tracks? Or vocal/bass/drum tracks for that matter? Playing live? Which are the most difficult?

Jason Gilardi : My favorite song drum-wise is of course "Ready, Set, Go." I love how that came out. "Work Song" was kind of tough to get, but I love the finished product.

Jimmy Newquist : This week it's a song called "Happy Without You" because now that things are going well for the band, I tend to hear from people I've gotten over.

Mark Haugh: I have to say that right now the album is still new to me, so I love it all. I think my favorite track personally is "Happy Without You," but it's very hard at this point to step back and be objective about the whole thing. I think "Open Fire" is a fun one to play live, as well as "Inside Your Mind," but hey, I love them all.

Scott Jones: It is difficult to say which on is my favorite on the record because I love them all so much. I love "RNR Hero" and "Ready, Set, Go" and "Happy Without You" and "Attention Please" and .........fuck it I love them all! "Attention Please" is really fun to play live as is "Nothing To Prove" and "Again And Again" and so on and so forth.................

Question: Best and worst aspects about constant touring?

Jimmy Newquist : The best thing about constant touring is that there's lots of places to call home. The worst is you have no place to call home.

Question: There seems to be many different kinds of death in your writing. A favorite theme?

Jimmy Newquist : It's not so much death as ending. All things have a beginning, middle and an end. I like story songs.... I think there's a lot of life represented in the songs.

Question: Another common theme I see is insecurity. Is that something you identify with?

Jimmy Newquist : I am not patient with insecure people. I am compassionate.... I as an idividual am more insulted when people are insecure around me.... There's no reason. You're here one time. If I can give up my job, my house... and can convince six of my buddies to go with me, there's not a lot of insecurity there.

Question: I notice that many of the songs are narratives. Did you take a lot of creative writing in college?

Jimmy Newquist : I didn't take a lot of creative writing in college, but I did take calculus and intro to music. I didn't understand either of them, so I wrote lyrics during the classes.

Question: What is your favorite instrument and why?

Jimmy Newquist : My voice cause there's no one [other] like it, and no one can copy it.

Question: Does constant touring change the way you guys write? Does it make it more difficult?

Mark Haugh: I don't know any other way to do it. Jimmy is the writer and he usually brings in a song on accoustic, and then we screw it up. That's how we've always done it, and we've been on the road ever since this band has really been around, so I have to say that I have nothing else to compare it to.

Scott Jones: Writing on the road is difficult only because it is hard to get everyone together on their instruments to go over stuff other than a 30 min soundcheck. However, I do believe that the road and its experiences put heart and genuine feeling into the songs. It helps make them real!

Question: Why do you love your job?

Jason Gilardi: I love my job because this is what I've dreamed of doing my entire life. Plus I can't think of any other guys I'd want to do this with.

Scott Jones: I love this job because, although we work our asses off, it never feels like a job. If I get to play music regardless if ANYONE is listening....I'm enjoying myself and I'm having fun. If one other person happens to like it too, then that feeling triples and continues to multiply with every single person that takes the time out of their lives to listen to Caroline's Spine. I am grateful to everyone who allows me to live out my dream.

Mark Haugh: I love my job because I get to play guitar every night. What more could I want? I'm living the dream. I've got nothing to complain about. Except that I'm really hungry. I think I'm going to go get some tacos.

Page created: January 5, 2000. Page completed Jan. 15, 2000