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Phil Solem (The Rembrandts) v1 |
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SANZ: What inspired you into a life of music
PS: Probably a combination of that my Dad was a singer and played guitar, so it just seemed natural to feel I would do that at some point. Plus, when I was little, seeing Ricky Ricardo on ‘I Love Lucy’ doing all his bandleader stuff, and playing percussion, that got to me real early on. Then there was Elvis, and on down the line to the Beatles, some 50’s-style Country...I just knew it was in my DNA. It was weird, though, coz Dad had given up the music biz to raise a family... he didn’t want that lifestyle, so that made me want to pick up where he left off.
SANZ: Now you and Danny initially joined musical forces in another band called great Buildings but after that there was a gap in time leading to The Rembrandts how did you two reconnect and come up with this new band that would become The Rembrandts
PS: We went our separate ways doing solo projects, but there was a time we attempted to be a duo in the mid 80s. During that brief period, Danny was offered a record deal, and they weren’t interested in the duo idea, but I ended up playing on his record. I went on doing my thing up in Minneapolis,writing and recording, learning production, and playing the occasional live show.
SANZ: In regards to the band name how did you come up with it and were there any other contenders you can recall
PS: I had a few iterations of a backing band, the last one being Phil Solem & the Rembrandts. When Danny and I regrouped, we tried to come up with something mutual, and funny enough, one of the contenders on that list was your family name..The Andersons! But everyone around us kept saying they liked my band’s name,so since we were now this duo, we should just use it. So, here we are.
SANZ: How did you come to do the song Ill Be There For You
PS: Kevin Bright, the executive producer for a new TV show called Friends, happened to be a Rembrandts fan, and asked us to be the sound of their intro. Apparently they originally wanted to use ’Shiny Happy People’ by REM, but they didn’t want to be involved with television. Those were the days is was ‘uncool’ to have that on your resumé.
SANZ: Have you ever watched Friends and if so have you got any favorite episodes
PS: I believe I’ve seen them all at one time or another, and there are some great ones, but I have no specific faves. I just think they were stellar work, and I’m proud to be on the team.
SANZ: This next question came from a discussion you and I had on clickbait articles in regards to the theme and how you said “I'm kind of on a crusade to nail down what ''truth is “ Now there are sooo many clickbait articles out there saying the theme damaged your music career do you yourself feel it hindered or that it had a positive affect on your career
PS: Biased info, misquotes, rumors, lies, etc., yeah, I have a problem with journalism being fictionalized. We’ve been taken to pieces by some media, and trivialized by others. Essentially, though, we broke the mold and opened the door for other ‘serious’ artists to do what has been looked down on for too long, and we were nervous at first, to the point of making them leave us out of the credits. Eventually the cat was out of the bag, we took full responsibility. In hindsight, we’re damn glad we did it, because who knows? We could’ve had a normal career, but there’s no telling how long we’d pull that off. I think we made the most brilliant mistake of all, as suddenly our peers went from criticizing us to jumping on the bandwagon. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the show, and everyone seems to still know who we are, because they can’t escape our ubiquity!
SANZ: If you could go back to the moment you signed up to record the song what would you tell yourselves back then to maybe expect or prepare yourselves for
PS: Don’t worry, be happy. And good luck. But that’s from the perspective of our current vantage point. 2020 hindsight, y’know? There were some pretty twisted turns along that path. Maybe ‘brace yourself!’
SANZ: Now the demo for the song was just made public for the first time in quite some time (it was originally on your website to download but somehow never made it to youtube until I went and did that with some of your help) thing about the demo it is quite different to the final full soundtrack version what is the story if you can recall behind the demo (if you need a little refresher here it is www.youtube.com/watch different lyrics and no handclaps)
PS: That was our reaction to our record company president telling us that if we didn’t make it into a full length song, they would drop us... just after we’d finished our third album. So we banged something together, and recorded it in a hurry at Madonna’s studio, for some reason, and wouldn’t you know,the producers of the show didn’t like it. They wanted to get together and participate in the lyrics, which turned into a call & answer type thing. We were passing lines back and forth like pingpong.
SANZ: Speaking of TV show themes you guys recorded a great rock version to the animated tv show Thunder Cats how did that come to be
PS: Yeah, I don’t have any recollection of how that came to be, but it was kind of a surprise. We shot a video for it, too.
SANZ: Still on the topic of TV themes If you could have written themes for any other tv show of your choice what would you have liked to have done?
PS: The Twilight Zone… but how can anyone compete with the original theme, it’s the best.
SANZ: In your opinion what makes a good theme song and what would some of your stand out themes be?
PS: I’d say they need to pack a punch in as little time as possible. I’ve always loved the ones from when I actually watched TV as a kid, which was the heyday of theme songs, before they eventually became somewhat obsolete. Sometimes we’ll joke around before we play the song, and launch into, say, Green Acres, or I Dream of Jeannie, maybe Bonanza… I guess I’m giving away my vintage, but those are in the blood. How ‘bout Mission Impossible? Gilligan’s Island! Keep ‘em coming...
SANZ: What would you prefer to do work and record in a studio or perform live?
PS: There’s nothing like being onstage, when things are going right. That’s the cherry on top. But the getting there is a grind, and I’m not a fan of traveling, so making music in my studio is my personal favorite thing to do, at my own pace. Danny and I have always had home studios, and there’s nothing better. I feel suffocated in ‘real’ studios. I’m kind of an introvert in the music making sense, and being observed while doing it is a distraction.
SANZ: what would you say is the best thing about performing live?
PS: The rush of an audience paying attention and vibes between them and us, it’s like a unified orgasmic experience. Except one time when someone threw an unopened beer can and it whizzed past my face and hit Danny square on the nose. I guess the guy was jealous coz his girlfriend liked the song (‘Someone’) too much. But I digress.
SANZ: Where is the best place you've traveled to and played a gig
PS: That’s a tough one… ‘best’ is always the hardest. Lots of amazing places and they’ve each got their own unique ‘best’-ness.
SANZ: Now when Via Satellite came out there had been about 18 years between your previous release why such a big gap and can we expect more stu f from you guys in the near future
PS: “No wine before it’s time” has always kind of been our M.O. ...and Rome wasn’t built in a day. Seriously, though, I personally find that any musical idea has to go through some metamorphosis before it’s ready for Prime Time. There are the occasional ‘Aha’ moments that you can bang together in a couple’a minutes, but as they get looked back on through time, they usually end up getting a makeover at some point. In the case of the VS album, we didn’t have any real reason to hurry, and life happens, so you take it as it comes. We had lots of songs that we considered, and ended up with what seemed to flow. I think it was worth the wait. We’re gearing up to put out our latest, which we’d recorded during the pandemic, essentially as 2 solo records to start out with, and we performed on each other’s songs harmonizing and various instruments. Not unlike we’ve basically always done, but this album is distinctive as we did the bulk as individuals, with almost guest appearances by each other. It’s a real smorgasbord.
SANZ: Out of the albums you have released which would be your favorite one
PS: Again, I’m not really fond of picking ‘favorites’. I could say that I have a soft spot for our first record, as it was like a new chapter in our lives, and we did it on our own with what we had, nobody breathing down our neck to be any certain way and all that. But I also could point out ‘Lost Together’,
which we made after getting back from a 3 year break. We kind of re-lit the flame on that one.
SANZ: Do you have a least favorite if so is there any reason for this
PS: You really do have a thing for ratings, don’t ya John! Well, if I have a least favorite, I’ll just keep that under my hat.
SANZ: When it comes to digital versus physical releases what is your preference
PS: If it sounds good, then it is good, and how many different kinds of machines do we need to use to play all this stuff? I liked the physical medium back in the day when people would actually pay money for it, which we’d eventually get to put in the bank. Streaming’s great for a billion reasons, but making money’s not one of them. You need a billion streams just to get a few ducats.
SANZ: Out of the music videos you have filmed which would be your favorite one
PS: Hmmmm… let me see… favorite… Haaa! Again, they each have crazy stories behind them, and it depends how long it takes to run through the chapters to make a decision like that. And then I’ll change my mind.
SANZ: Do you have a least favorite if so is there any reason for this
PS: How ‘bout that first one, ‘Just The Way It Is Baby’, which may be the best of them, but making it was a bit on the uncomfortable side. They all had their ups and downs.
SANZ: When you hear one of your songs on the radio while driving do you sing along or do you switch stations.
PS: I hit the ejector seat button
SANZ: If it is possible could you let us into the stores behind a couple of Rembrandts tracks
Johnny Have You Seen Her
PS: Danny brought that in at the last minute and declared it should be the opening track. When we were in Minneapolis working at my house there, we found this great cellist to play on it, and ended up having him do more songs on the record.
SANZ:Just The Way It Is Baby
PS: That was our first, where I had that chorus and we just built a story around what could lead to that title. It has a flamenco vibe, which we fell into for a lot of that 1st album. Not to mention that it’s a recurring style for most of our records.
SANZ:How Far Would You Go
PS: We wrote that specifically to be a lead-in track for what became ‘Via Satellite’. We also did another ‘desert’ video… seems we always end up in a desert.
SANZ:This House Is Not A Home
PS: We were in a motel in Texas, just talking about pining for home, and started jamming that one out in one of our rooms.
SANZ: What are your thoughts on the music industry now compared to when you started out
PS: What is the ‘music industry’? I’m so non-business-minded I wouldn’t know how to answer that if I did.
SANZ: What are your thoughts on youtube/soundcloud and those types of music sites where you can stream songs
PS: Well, YouTube is, for me, the central pipeline of all media. It’s got everything, and I’m thinking ‘why do I have all these other services when everything I need seems to be on YouTube?’ Plus, it’s got my algorithm down. I rarely use SoundCloud, but that’s just me.
SANZ: If you had a chance to go back in time and repeat your musical career over again would you take that chance would you do anything differently if you did
PS: Oh, man, a hypothetical… they’re the worst! ‘What if’ gets me nowhere but down. Quite frankly, I’m in the mindset that fate is at play, I’ve always felt that way, and from my current perspective, I can’t imagine any other scenario. The universe is a giant storybook, in my estimation, but who am I to say? (Autocorrect is telling me that the word ‘am’ may not agree with the rest of that sentence, but I disagree with Otto Korekt).
SANZ: What would be your most memorable moment be in your music career
PS: For me, it was doing a concert at the Hollywood Bowl with a full orchestra,in a tribute to the history of television theme songs. It was an all-star event,hosted by the Smothers Brothers as I recall, and I was so fortunate that both my kids were out there with me to share the experience. What a trip! The greatest of the songs that were ingrained in my mind since childhood, and the people who wrote them, getting introduced while we were backstage mingling with them was amazing. For the capper of the show, some of the key stars of a few major tv shows, along with Danny and I, did a medley of their themes, performed by they themselves, all of us singing in harmony, being backed by the orchestra. And what do you suppose happened next? Yup, they saved our song for last, and all these famous actors doing the claps and harmonizing… it was like a | | | | | | |
