You. You're Good, You: A Conversation With Train

When I think of Train I think of consistency and the generation gap. For one, they’ve always got a big hit. They’re always going platinum. They’re always nominated for a Grammy. They’re just very solidly plugging away at a career full of accolades and trophies. And as they plug away, they’re gathering fans from both ends of the age spectrum. I’ve got friends still in college who’d sleep on the street for a glimpse of the tour bus passing on the freeway, and at the same time my mom likes ‘em.

The other day I got a phone call from Jimmy Stafford as he sat in the Carson Daly greenroom. No doubt munching on ranch dressing-drenched celery and cheese-topped Ritz crackers, he took a moment to talk to me about everything from the start of the band to his fondness for Kanye West.

Circle Six Magazine: Let’s run a little history first. When exactly did you guys get together?

Jimmy Stafford: Well it feels like a new band because we’ve had Johnny Colt and Brandon Bush with us for a couple years. But me, Pat and Scott have been playing together for 11 years now.

C6M: How long after you got together did you really hit it? You had some label trouble in the beginning, didn’t you?

JS: Well, yeah, we had a few bumps in the road.

C6M: I guess every band’s kind of got that story though.

JS: Yeah, every band does. Ours was a little interesting. I guess we started writing and hanging out in ‘94, and “Meet Virginia” became a hit in like ‘99. We hit the road in ‘98, and while we were touring, that’s when the song kind of started doing well. But we felt like we’d made it as soon as we got in a van.

C6M: Yeah, as soon as you hit the road you feel like a real band.

JS: I remember getting in the van and going, “Alright, dudes, we’re on our way!”

C6M: Whatever troubles you had at the start, do you think that turned in to a plus for you?

JS: Absolutely. Because we thought we were so ready, and we just weren’t. We went to New York to showcase for Columbia, and they passed. Then we went home, and instead of throwing in the towel, we decided to make our own record which became our debut album.

C6M: Yeah, cool.

JS: So we made our own record, and started selling it out of the box, and Aware Records picked it up, started distributing it, and put us on the road. We started touring – still selling the record out of the box pretty much – and “Meet Virginia” took off on radio. Columbia Records then took over the deal from Aware.

C6M: Worked out alright, eh?

JS: You know, it gave us that extra couple of years to develop into a touring band. And I think it was good for us to make that first record on our own, and get out on the road. It just turned us into a band.

C6M: You seem to have a cool vibe together. Do you think those earlier experiences are part of the reason you get along so well? Um… or do you get along well?

JS: Ha ha, we do now. It’s rough, you know. It’s like being in a relationship, you know, it’s work. At times it’s been harder work than it is now. It’s just hard to get five people on the same page. It’s hard to get two people on the same page.

C6M: Sure, that’s why there are a lot of singer-songwriters out there.

JS: Yeah. It’s difficult being in a band sometimes. And in the early days with all the shit that you’ve got to go through to try and survive and make it. People have kids at home, and you’re just not bringing home any money. It was very difficult for some of the guys. And plus you’re out there being kids kind of, partying and thinking, “Woo Hoo! We’ve made it! We’re traveling in a van… every day… all five of us!” It took a toll on a few of the guys.

C6M: Sure.

JS: But it’s different now. Everyone wants to be here. We’re excited to be where we’re at. We don’t travel in a van any more. We don’t stay at the Red Roof Inn any more. You know, things have gotten easier for us, and our lives have gotten a little bit better.

C6M: Is it true that you all get equal writing credit?

JS: No. We used to say that on the record. On the older albums we put, “All songs written and recorded by Train.” Because we wanted to come across as a band, and we always thought it was cool that U2 did that. “All songs written and performed by U2.” It makes them sound like they’re just U2, you know?

C6M: Yeah, but it’s all just Bono and The Edge.

JS: Yeah. So we were doing that early on too, but we don’t do that any more. We give credit where credit is due.

C6M: I think a lot of bands can fall apart over stuff like that. But it sounds like y’all have gotten to a plateau of maturity where you can handle it.

JS: It took time. It’s always been a sensitive issue, but it’s just not any more. The attitude with this band is so healthy. Everybody is just working for the greater good of the band. If Pat being on the cover of a magazine is going to sell us more records, then hell yeah, put Pat on the cover of the magazine.

C6M: Right.

JS: Before you might have had egos and issues and, “I think the whole band should be on the cover of the magazine.” Then we’d end up not getting the cover of the magazine. So everybody’s attitude is just in the right place right now. Everyone’s working for the right reasons.

C6M: That’s gotta make it easier.

JS: Yeah.

C6M: You’re touring smaller venues this time around; is that going to limit the number of Led Zeppelin covers you play?

JS: Ha! Well, I don’t know that that’s true. We ended the My Private Nation tour playing clubs.
C6M: I guess that’s true. It’s just when I look at the itinerary and see all these theaters it just makes me think “smaller venue.”

JS: No, actually that’s a step up.

C6M: Nice. Well then scratch that question.

JS: Well, the thing is, we could be playing bigger venues. All these theaters are selling out like the same day the tickets go on sale, and they’re asking for second nights which we can’t give them. But that’s a good thing because we’re gonna come back around.

C6M: Yeah, book a second leg.

JS: Yeah, we’re going to do a theater leg. Then we’ll go to Japan and Australia and visit some other countries. And then later on in the Summer we’re gonna come back around and do some like outdoor amphitheater places and some larger venues. And the people who didn’t get tickets this time around can get ‘em the next time.

C6M: I was looking at your schedule today and saw you’re playing a few casinos. Is it your first time playing in a casino?

JS: No, you know some of the casinos have great theaters in there. In Vegas, for example, almost all the concert venues are in casinos, and they’re just regular theaters just like anywhere else.

C6M: Well, I bring it up because I just talked to Sigur Rós who played a couple casinos recently and they said they hated it. They felt like a sideshow the whole time.

JS: We used to have a problem where the casino would reserve the front rows for their high rollers. They’d have all these guest tickets to give out, but they wouldn’t end up giving out all the tickets. So we’d go out on stage some nights, and it really would bum us out psychologically. Our true fans were 10 or 15 rows back. So we started making it part of our deal when we play casinos that the high roller tickets aren’t right in front.

C6M: You throw ‘em up in the nosebleeds?

JS: Well, they’re just a little more over on the side. We want our fans to be up front.

C6M: Who do you pretend to be on stage?

JS: Um, I don’t pre..

C6M: C’mon now.

JS: If I were to try to emulate anybody, I think I have a lot of the Jimmy Page swagger in me. But that’s just from growing up such a fan of his and thinking that the way he moved and acted on stage was pretty cool.

C6M: So is there one thing that stands out as a great moment or whatever on tour.

JS: Oh wow.

C6M: Yeah, that’s a pretty broad question, I know, but I’ve got something in mind so…

JS: Well luckily I’ve never tripped or had any accident or anything like that. There’s been times when the power has shut off in the middle of a song.

C6M: Ah that sucks.

JS: Well what’s your moment?

C6M: Well you guys played Clemson a few years back. There was a point early on in the show that Pat announced, “We’re gonna play ‘Drops of Jupiter’ now, so everyone who came to hear just the radio stuff can leave.” And after “Drops of Jupiter,” everybody but like 2,000 people left.

JS: Ha ha!

C6M: That would have been a memorable thing for me if I were in the band playing. But I guess you separated the wheat from the chaff and you knew who the true fans were.

JS: A lot of times we’ll save the hits. I mean, that was years ago, and we only had a couple hits back then.

C6M: Right. So you save ‘em for the end.

JS: Yeah, “Meet Virginia” and “Drops of Jupiter.” But now we’ve got like 10 or 11 Top Ten hits. And we still tend to keep “Drops of Jupiter” for the end, but if we don’t, it’s okay, ‘cause we could save “Meet Virginia” or “Calling All Angels.”

C6M: Or “Cab” now. That song’s blowin’ up.

JS: Yeah, it just went Top Ten this week. So, we have a little bit more to work with now. Not everybody’s coming out to hear one song, you know?

C6M: So on to the album. I think a lot of bands have done this unknowingly – and I don’t know if it was conscious on your part – but basically you’ve written a concept album around the word “You.”

JS: You know what? It wasn’t planned, but it kind of turns out that way. We wrote about 50 songs for this record.

C6M: Wow. Is that about normal?

JS: No. That’s the most I think we’ve ever written for a record. It’s only because we allowed ourselves the time. Before we were trying to hurry up and get a record out before people forgot who we are. But after the success of the My Private Nation record, we’ve got three multi-platinum records. So you know what, people aren’t gonna forget who we are if we take a year off. As a matter of fact, we need to take a year off just to give people a break from us.

C6M: Right right.

JS: So we decided to not even a year, but let’s take as long as we need off and casually write the next record. When we’re good and ready and have the right material, we’ll go record. So over that year we wrote about 50 songs. Actually, we’d still be writing if it wasn’t for some movie wanting us to record a song. So we went in to record it, and while we were there, we recorded a couple others. Six weeks later we came out with a whole record.

C6M: So you get back into the studio and you’ve got these 50 songs. Did you just notice a common thread?

JS: We didn’t. We came out with the 13 songs that we felt fit together on the record, and we were still trying to decide what to call the record. Once we decided to call it For Me, It’s You, then only after that did it start to make sense that all these songs kind of had that thread. I’ve heard Pat say that the You is different in every song. The Me is him, but the You is different. It could be his kids. It could be the band. It could be a friend of ours who we lost last year. It could be his ex-wife or his new girlfriend. A lot of different Yous. That’s just what he’s been writing about lyrically.

C6M: So is there one thing or person that is the You to you?

JS: No. It’s different in every song. I think what Pat does well in his writing and it’s part of the reason for our success is that he writes lyrics that everybody can relate to. Like a song like “Drops of Jupiter.” We got so many letters saying it reminded someone of a grandfather who just died or whatever. Everybody takes that song and puts it into their life. To me, that’s successful music. Think back, and still to this day when you hear an old song, it’ll remind you of a time or a place. Music is the soundtrack to our lives, and I think Pat is really good at that. So the You to me might not be what he was writing the song about, but I relate it to people in my life.

C6M: Well it’s such a universal word or concept. It just makes it easy for the listener to connect and personalize a song. You may be far removed from the original intent of the song, but it still clicks with you and means something.

JS: Exactly.

C6M: So have you figured out what the new single is gonna be?

JS: Hey, by the way, there’s gonna be plenty of Led Zeppelin in our shows.

C6M: Nice.

JS: As a matter of fact, we’re learning extra Zeppelin for the tour.

C6M: Extra Zeppelin. Right on.

JS: So what was your question?

C6M: If you’ve settled on a new single.

JS: We were trying to figure that our just today actually because I am in a dressing room at the Carson Daly Show right now.

C6M: Oh, cool.

JS: And we’re going to play “Cab” which should air next week some time, and then they want to pre-tape another song – our second single – to air later.

C6M: Right.

JS: But there are so many songs on this record that everybody’s got a different opinion about. You know it’s been pretty clear cut on our previous records as far as singles.

C6M: The radio friendly stuff usually just jumps right out at you.

JS: Yeah, well this record, there’s a handful of songs that people think could be on the radio. So they’re having a hard time trying to decide which one exactly is going to be next.

C6M: Might I suggest a couple?

JS: Yeah, I’d love to hear what you think.

C6M: Well I was listening to the album today and “Explanation” really popped out at me and “Am I Reaching You Now?” I think “Am I…” would be better for the radio, but I’m really diggin’ “Explanation.”

JS: Well, we’ve heard “Am I…” from other people. We’re going to record two songs tonight, figuring one of those two is going to be the single, and neither one of them is that.

C6M: I say “Explanation” because, as far as radio is concerned, I think it would add a shade to your character on the radio that maybe the average person hasn’t heard from you yet.

JS: Well the songs we’re gonna record tonight for the future Carson Daly Show are “For Me It’s You” and “Give Myself To You.” But you know I don’t really care.

C6M: Okay, well I’ll edit this out to make it look like those are the ones I suggested, and I’ll come off a little smarter than I really am.

JS: Right. But that doesn’t mean that one of those songs is going to be the next single, but they’re having us perform those two for some reason. So…

C6M: I always thought it was cool when a band plays a show and they don’t play a single.

JS: Yeah, even if it doesn’t turn out to be a single, it would be cool to have. I agree.

C6M: So let’s pretend I had a really cool segue just now… um… what have you been listening to lately?

JS: Oh man! I’ve got this friend who sends me just random music to check out.

C6M: Don’t ya love those friends?

JS: Yeah, I’m really enjoying the new Death Cab For Cutie.

C6M: Yeah.

JS: It’s really good. Um… I downloaded from iTunes the other day the new Kanye West CD, and I love it.

C6M: Good stuff, man.

JS: I’m not really a big hip-hop fan. I’ll really get into like one hip-hop record every year or so. Last year I was way into the Outkast CD. This year it’s Kanye West.

C6M: Well the next time you’re jonesin’ for some more hip-hop, you should check out Talib Kweli.

JS: I’ve heard that name before.

C6M: He’s kind of in Kanye’s circle, and he’s got kind of the same vibe. So if you’re diggin’ Kanye, you’ll like Talib.

JS: Thanks, man.

C6M: And look, if you’re into Death Cab you should really check out Nada Surf. Especially check out their album Let Go from 2003. It’s amazing.

JS: Wow. I’ve also been listening to Sonre Lurch and a band called Athlete.

C6M: They’re coming to town in a week or so, and I’m gonna go check ‘em out live.

JS: Really? I love their latest record.

C6M: Yeah, Tourist is awesome.

JS: I keep trying to turn the rest of the band guys on to them, but it’s not working. To me, I think they could tour with us. Like they have kind of a similar sound. I’d love for them to tour with us. That’s why I keep trying to turn the other guys on to them, but so far they haven’t bitten.

C6M: I think they’re touring with Switchfoot right now.

JS: See I think they’d be a better match with us.

C6M: Well give ‘em a call.

JS: I’d love to.

C6M: You into anything else like sports or whatever?

JS: Yeah. I’m a huge football fan.

C6M: Oh yeah? Who’s your team?

JS: Da Bears.

C6M: Daaaa Bears.

JS: Yeah.

C6M: They were actually my pick this year to go to the Bowl and get beat by Indy.

JS: I went to the final playoff game when we lost to the Panthers. But you know what else I do is I’ve taken up golf the past few years.

C6M: Oh… um… yeah, I got nothing on golf. How ‘bout that Tiger Woods, eh?

JS: Well I like all sports. Whatever’s on TV, I’m watching.

C6M: I can actually watch golf on TV which surprises me when I was younger and my dad would watch golf I thought he was insane.

Kind of a weird note to end on, but alas, the time to “wrap it up” had come upon us. I was never a huge fan of Train, but this album and the conversation with Jimmy have won me over to some extent. I’m not sure I’d follow them around the country in a van selling my homemade Train paraphernalia outside venues for enough scratch to buy tickets and sustenance, but I’ve definitely found that there’s more to this band than their radio hits. The fact that they cover Zeppelin at their shows and that Jimmy said “shit” in the interview is enough for me. From now on if anyone asks me if I like Train I’ll smile and say, “Hell yeah. Train’s the shit.”

by Jacob Taylor

If you’d like to tell Jacob how awesome he is, or if you need a place to stay during Jazz Fest, you can email him at jacob@circlesixmagazine.com