{"id":25926,"date":"2023-09-08T05:30:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T09:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25926"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:23:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T15:23:23","slug":"why-not-us-train-approaching-30-years-of-pop-rock-part-2-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/08\/why-not-us-train-approaching-30-years-of-pop-rock-part-2-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"“Why Not Us?” Train Approaching 30 Years of Pop Rock (Part 2 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n

While the band\u2019s lineup has gone through some changes over the years, more often than not, Train has featured six or more members. What are the advantages of that?<\/b><\/p>\n

There are times where we do shows without [Nikita and Sakai] in the band, but they add such a good vibe, and we\u2019re like family. I like to have them around, because they\u2019re great at what they do, and they bring such a beautiful energy to what Train is.<\/p>\n

\"\"And the lineup through the years has changed due to reasons that are not really in people\u2019s control. Some people leave because they need to, and some people had to leave because if they hadn\u2019t, Train would stop existing. So, you try to figure out how to navigate through time, and you hope that your fans will understand. And they have; they obviously miss people for a short amount of time, but they realize that I am doing the best that I can to take care of everyone: bandmates and Train fans. And when they know that, I think they respond positively to it.<\/p>\n

Train has had so many hit singles to its credit that you could easily populate an entire concert setlist with nothing but hit singles. What\u2019s your favorite overlooked or deep-cut Train song, and do you ever play it live?<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a song called \u201cGive It All\u201d that was on [2017\u2019s] A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat<\/i>, and we hadn\u2019t played that one in a long time. When we tour this summer, I definitely want to play songs that people have not ever heard live.<\/p>\n

I was talking to a woman who has been to many many Train shows, and she asked, \u201cDo you ever get tired of playing the hits?\u201d And the answer is no, because people respond so positively to them.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a song called \u201cRunning Back\u201d on AM Gold<\/i> and that\u2019s one of my favorite songs ever written. So we\u2019re going to start playing songs in these sets that we love, and hopefully people will respond the same way as [they do to] \u201cHey, Soul Sister.”<\/p>\n

When you play some of the band\u2019s earliest material, do you recognize the guy who wrote those songs?<\/b><\/p>\n

There were times in the early days when I was really sad, and there are fans of Train that are like, \u201cI kind of like the sad Pat.\u201d You like the music<\/i> of sad Pat, but I don\u2019t want to be that guy any more; I don\u2019t want to live like that. But I think there were moments that I needed<\/i> to be that guy so that I could write those songs. And those songs were part of the process of getting out of that [emotional place]. What a gift to be given to be able to work through things through music!<\/p>\n

How do you think Bay Area roots show up in the band\u2019s character?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"San Francisco during the time of us coming up was the perfect city to be able to create not just music but a fan base, because there were so many venues to play. You didn\u2019t have pay-to-play like in Los Angeles. At times you were paid, and at times you weren\u2019t. But it was okay; it was a good trade [even when you didn\u2019t get paid], because you were creating [a fan base] that cared.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no other place we could have done that but San Francisco. The beauty and the culture and difficulty of living there: all of those things played a role in the music that was written.<\/p>\n

What are you most looking forward to about this upcoming tour?<\/b><\/p>\n

We were only going to do ten shows this summer, and then I was going to write an album; we were going to tour amphitheaters next<\/i> year. But we put the ten shows up, and they sold out. Then we put ten more up, and they\u2019re<\/i> selling out. So we just figured, \u201cLet\u2019s do a run of all the places that we don\u2019t go to very often.\u201d I don\u2019t remember the last time we were in Wyoming, but we\u2019re going to go. And we\u2019re going to play to a sold-out amphitheater; that\u2019s pretty cool!<\/p>\n

So what I\u2019m looking forward to is seeing all of these places that I haven\u2019t seen in so many years, because those are my people<\/i>. I was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, and to think of my favorite band coming there when I was a kid, that sounds like a lot of fun. You get a whole different energy.<\/p>\n

You mentioned that you predicted long ago that Train would outlast other bands. When you started the band nearly 30 years ago, did you ever imagine that you\u2019d still be doing it in 2023?<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah! I mean, look at Tony Bennett*. So why not me?<\/p>\n

When I golf and somebody\u2019s trying to make a 30-foot putt, that\u2019s something we say: \u201cWhy not you?\u201d And this is similar; it\u2019s a simplified version of it: \u201cWhy not us? Why can\u2019t we keep going like Tony Bennett?\u201d It\u2019s a different era, but it\u2019s the same concept.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

(NOTE<\/strong>: Sadly, Tony Bennett<\/a> passed away about eight weeks after my interview with Monahan took place.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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