The Verve Pipe Thursday, September 20 at 5pm PT/8pm ET DishDiva_ says: Welcome to MSN Live! Today we are pleased to welcome The Verve Pipe to MSN Live! If you have a question for The Verve Pipe, click the submit question button and enter your question now. ------------------------ DishDiva_ says: Guys, thanks for being here with us tonight. The_Verve_Pipe says: Thank you! ------------------------ DishDiva_ says: There are a number of questions for you about the tragedies have affected you. Liveandlearn says: How did last week affect you? Brian: Originally I was doing promotion in L.A. last week when it happened and the world stopped and it took all my energy to promote this record because I thought it was frivolous to promote something artistic. But I realized that music is frivolous.It's all frivolity ------------------------ xl1s asks: How did you get approached to do "Rockstar"? At what point did "Colorful" become integral to the script? The_Verve_Pipe: "Colorfull" was written for the movie. I was approached to write a Seattle-esque grunge song on teh strength of "The Freshman." I gave them a demo of the song and I didn't hear anything for a couple of months and then they sent me a copy of the script and when reading the script I saw words to the song "Colorful" in the script, so that was a good sign. Then I knew that the song was going to be an intracul part of the movie. ------------------------ „Cool_Bulma„ asks: Whats you favorite song style? Donny: I don't think it matters what it is, if it's good I like it. ------------------------ blondethingy asks: Great job on "Underneath" I love it! How long a tour can we expect? Donny: We're going to go out, we're going to do a few sparse things here and there. I think on the 24th we're going to be in Seattle. We're going to stay out in the end of November and then make our way home to see our loved ones around the holidays. We'll then do a few shows for the holidays and see what the New Year brings. ------------------------ elephant_18 asks: What inspirations do you draw upon to write your lyrics? Brian: Me personally, it's usually stories. I was inspired by something I saw from this tragety, there was a couple that jumped off the top of the WTC and they were holding hands and it was a very tramatic sight and I thought there was a song there. Whatever stimulates me. Someone said "worrisome one." That's got a nice ring to it, so that ends up in the notebook. Donny: I'm writing that down as we speak. Brian: Get away from that! (laughs) Donny and I are very competitive with lyrics. ------------------------ inkyoubus81 asks: What bands are you currently listening to? Donny: I just came from Doug's exibit, and I just had on this band on from the UK called "The Clientel" they are nice to listen to. We also like the Rufus Wainright album. Brian: I like Stevie Wonder's "End of Century" and the Webb Brothers. ------------------------ Sagnasty11 asks: With your previous album being critically acclaimed but with low album sales, did your current album come with added pressure of trying to write "hits"? Donny: I think every album does. Once you sign with a record label, they are hoping you do because it's a business. There in lies the crux of the matter. ------------------------ TacticalLemur asks: Brian - Any word on the songs you wrote for That's Life? Let us know if/when they are going to air. Brian: No, stop watching that show. Brian: I wrote five or six songs for that show, but they never used them. Some people are still watching in hopes to hear something, but I say stop watching. ------------------------ monkmanjohn asks: What Inspired "The Freshman"? Brian: It was a half true, half fabrication. I had gone out with someone my best friend went out with, and she got pregnant by him and had an abortion. She kills herself fictionally, but that's pretty much it. ------------------------ TacticalLemur asks: Donny - this is actually Wombat from the message board. Will the songs you wrote at Miles Copeland's retreat see the light of day? Donny: Oh! These songs, some of them are being worked on as far as I know. One song that I wrote by the name of "Heartbreak" with a guy by the name of Damon Lee, is going to be on his album and will come out in February through Interscope. I know that Hanson is going to record "Never Love Again" this is what I understand, I wrote it with Ed Robertson (from Bare Naked Ladies) and Taylor Hanson and we recorded it in Paris and I'm sure they will re-record it. When I found out they were going to call their album "Underneath" I fired off an e-mail telling them that's what we're calling our album. ------------------------ SueVail asks: Are you still releasing the new CD "Underneath" on Tuesday Sept 25th? Donny: Yes! Absolutely! Thank you for traveling across country to see us at the fair show. It was good to see you. ------------------------ funkmaster84 asks: Which of your songs has the most personal meaning to you and why? Brian: A song called "1229 Sheffield" is the most personal song for me. It was about my divorce and that was my old address. Donny: Good song! We should play that in the acoustic set. Donny: I've been stealing that guitar riff for something right now. Brian: Damn you! (laughs) Donny: My song, nobody has heard before called "Conversation From a Previous Night." I wrote it in like 10 minutes and it's very personal to me. ------------------------ airfail asks: Do you use any digital recording techiniques? (i.e. Pro Tools) Brian: Sure. Donny: The last two albums we recorded, basic tracks we recorded and then transferred them to Pro-Tools. There were some that sounds great coming off the tape like bass and drums. Both Brian and I used 4 track cassettes for a long time and would wear them out. I break a lot of machines, I go to friends houses and see 4 tracks and tell them it looks familiar and they say it's Brian's old one that they got working again (laughs) so I'm not the only one that breaks things. (laughs) ------------------------ lostgirl1976 asks: How is Joel as bassist changing the band's dynamics? (musically, interpersonally...) Brian: He's not. (laughs) He's the perfect replacement for Brad. Donny: He's got great musical sense. Brian: We were really fortunate to nab him. He's not really changing the sound, he's just fitting in with what we do. It's great! ------------------------ elephant_18 asks: Do you like to visit fan sites? Brian: No, there's not enough time in the day. ------------------------ Shadowgurl132 asks: Do any of you guys get nervous on stage or when you're making a song? Brian: Never when I'm making a song. I'm always nervous for the first three or four songs. There's always something that can go wrong during the show and I take that weight on. I want to entertain and I don't know how to come back from a broken string on the guitar and I don't know how to turn that around. Donny: I think it's from getting caught up in the moment. When we realize that's what we're here for and we don't want anything wrong to go wrong. ------------------------ canes86 asks: What and where was the best show you ever played? Brian: The best show was probably a place we played called Hurricanes in Cincinatti. Before the show I had like 7 or 8 shots of whiskey and it was the best show ever. (laughs) Donny: We had a really great show in Paris opening up for KISS. Brian: Paris and Prague, those were the best. Prague was the best for me I went out into the audience and shook hands with everyone. So Cincinatti was the best drunk one and Prague was the best sober one. ------------------------ Verve_fan asks: I think you guys are exellent musicians. I'm a musician too. Do you guys have any tips for me? Donny: Write songs, that's what we always say. Kind of an edict. That's an interesting way to learn and look at music. Brian: There's also something that makes it hard when you play music and you rely on it for a living. Not to change the subject, but if this person keeps with it, they might run into this. You have to be creative on demand. You will listen to music differently, you disect songs. You don't hear something and say damn that's good! You start asking, "why is that so good"? Brian: You have to write and write a lot, so you can get to that place faster because it is more on demand. It took me 6 months to hone the lyrics to "The Freshman" to where it is today. On demand I can write something faster now, maybe not as radio friendly, but just as valid. Donny: Saying goodbye to something that is sad fast enough. Brian: That's the hard part, letting go of the songs you know are s***. Knowing when to quit. ------------------------ Guest_Zoot45 asks: So what's the wildest most stereotypical rockstar thing you guys have done? DishDiva_ says: That you can tell us about. . .(laughs) Brian: I put a guitar through a TV when we were in New York. It ended up being a good thing because I gave that guitar to a radio station there and they are actioning it off now for the cause. So that was it for me. I wouldn't recomend it though, it was $1400! ------------------------ evolved0 asks: How do you guys find US audiences react to your music compared to UK ones?! Donny: We had a good responce from Australia, and some places in Europe. Brian: We like a lot of bands from the UK and that is the place that influences me the most. It's hard to go over there and wear your heart on your sleeve and be dismissed as an American band. You do what you do. We play the same show, I think we just appeal more to American music. Donny: I think that the UK is so hype oriented. Whatever the next big thing is, they are happy to jump on the bandwagon. I don't think they would warm up to a band like us right away. ------------------------ Guest_TVPGOO asks: How much would it cost for you guys to do a private show aside from your tour? Brian: I would say $125,000. ------------------------ Guest_New106DJ asks: Is the song from Rock Star on your album. That was you guys Mark Wahlberg was lipsyncing at the end of the movie, wasn't it? Brian: Yes. The song "Colorful" is on the record. A slightly different version, but I think a better version and yes, that was my voice. Donny: It was surreal to be the movie theater. I was with AJ and Doug, they panned to Mark Wahlberg and Brian's voice came out. Everyone around us that was with us didn't realize that it would be Brian's voice coming out so they were all just sort of looking around to each other. ------------------------ Guest_reverendgrl asks: Do you hate doing all this promotion stuff? Brian: Yes. That goes back to the first answer of being fivolous. ------------------------ Guest_schutter asks: The track, "La, La" on your self titiled album sounds a lot like the Beatles. Are you influenced by them? Donny: Yes! Brian: We heard "Wonderful Ways" on the radio and it was really great. If you have to steal from someone, I'd steal from the Beatles. Donny: They also have the largest amount of stuff to steal. You can play something and someone will say that sounds like Sugar Ray, and you think they stole that from the Beatles. They did so much great stuff. ------------------------ DDominicanBeauty asks: At any point in your music career have you ever felt like giving up? If so why? Brian: I almost gave up on our last record. I'd gotten sick of singing songs and hearing they weren't singles and having to go back to the drawing boards. I locked myself up for a few weeks and wrote some songs, "Sheffield" was one of them. From that behavior comes inspiration. Donny: I locked up myself too and didn't bath or shower. (laughs) I didn't do any writing through. ------------------------ Biped_Unicorn asks: What do you do to unwind after a show? Brian: I like to drink. I'll tell you right now. I like to drink and smoke a pack of cigerettes. I don't drink or smoke during the day, but it's just a good feeling. Donny: I like to get around people and change clothes, take a shower, and then have some drinks. ------------------------ slyscout asks: I wish you would use more horns on stage like last summers shows, what do you think? Brian: We can't because our manager said we can't anymore. Donny: (laughs) Brian: We don't know why, but he says no more horns. Brian: I love the horns, I think it adds a great dynamic to the show. It's musical and fun to watch, but honestly we have a manager that hates the horns. ------------------------ DishDiva_ says: Guys, thanks for joining us tonight on MSN Live! Best of luck with the new CD,"Underneath." Brian: We love you and miss you! Donny: Come out and see us. DishDiva_ says: Thanks to The Verve Pipe. DishDiva_ says: Good night.