days and even though it was stretched out, we kind of
recorded the record in really a few weeks.”Are you expecting the songs to evolve on the road?
“Not really. We try to play the record, because that’s
why we made it. We’re not a jam band. I always loved
that line from Tom Petty, ‘Don’t bore us, get to the
chorus!’. I went and saw a Ramones show when
I was in my early 20s and I loved the fact that none
of the songs were more than two-and-a-half minutes.
It just kept driving that show. The interesting thing
about the second record is that the entire record was
centred around what I wanted for a setlist. I kept
thinking, ‘If we had an uptempo song here, or that
kind of a ballad, this would make the set really good.’
So it was really interesting writing the second record
with purpose. It was really, ‘How do we make the
show better?’. I think that worked out for us.”Which songwriters would you like to work with in
the future and what would be a dream collaboration?
“Chris Stapleton is an incredible writer. Whiskey And
Yo u is still one of the saddest, most heartfelt songs
I’ve heard in the last 10 years. And I just think he’s
a wonderful writer. Colter Wall, who wrote Sleeping
On The Blacktop, I think that’s an incredible song.
“One of my favourite writers of all time would
be Paul Simon and I would give a left foot to just
be able to sit with him and even ask him about his
process. The nice thing about playing and writing
is that there’s no endgame. There’s no finish line.
There’s no, ‘I finally did it’. It’s just a process thatyou’ll have with you for the rest of your life. And
if you accept that, then that’s a really precious gift.
The same thing goes for at least my experience with
acting – there’s no moment that you cross the finish
line and go, ‘Oh, I’m great’.
“It’s always a process of trying to get better and
figure something out. Having said that, I can read
a script and go on a set and after 35 years, I have a
very, very strong idea of what I’m going to do with
it. My experience with music, at least at this present
moment, is that there’s so much that I’m still learning
that it makes you feel almost young, because the
learning curve is so great.
“And you can write a song, but there’s a thousand
different ways to play it. That’s kind of awesome, to
know that it’s that pliable.”Did the veteran musicians you worked with on
Reckless & Me dispense any pearls of wisdom?
“No one’s ever really given me advice. Really, the
only advice that I would give or accept is the same
kind of advice that I would have with regards to
acting. And the only person who ever gave me advice
with that was my dad. He said: ‘Don’t ever let
’em catch you lying, ’cause if they do, they’ll never
forgive you for it.’ And he was right, and what he
meant was, that if there’s a moment in a script and
it says, ‘and the character cries’, if you don’t feel
that, play something different. Because if you fake
the crying, you’ll get caught. And it’s the same with
music – if what you’re singing is something that’s
authentic, and something that you actually feel, then
people will understand that. If you try and become
manipulative with it, they’ll understand that, too.
So I think, more than anything: play, write, sing
something that matters to you.”Are there songs by other artists you enjoy playing
because they resonate with you in a similar way?
“Yeah, Bob Dylan Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door I’ve
played forever. And I tell a story about my dad and
my sister. When my mum and dad got divorced, my
mum had to go back to Canada to find a place for
us to live, and so for about six months, we were left
alone with our dad. And my mum, she was kind of
the strict one, and my dad had kind of no rules or
regulations and so it was a really kind of wonderful
time. And he played this Bob Dylan best-of on
8-track, and I just remember all those songs, being
driven to school when I was kid, and so I’ll play that.”Finally, with such a heavy touring schedule ahead,
is there a danger that you might get sick of life on
the road with the other guys in the band?
“Trust me, if the last 300 shows didn’t kill us, the next
300 aren’t going to do us any damage...”Kiefer Sutherland and his band return to the UK in July.
Visit kiefersutherland.net for ticketsKIEFER SUTHERLAND
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