MC: Could you tell our readers who are guitar aficionados about your arsenal on Ripcord?
Urban: Sure. It was a pretty broad bunch. What happens a lot––and I give props to my guitar tech, Chris Miller––is that I will forget what guitar we used for a solo, because we might try four or five guitars for each part. He always knows.
MC: What favorites are among your collection?
Urban: Nothing super-quirky, just a good mix of the basics; Strat’s and Tele’s. I have a 1958 Gold Top Gibson Les Paul and a 40th Anniversary Telecaster that I have had since 1989 that I used on a couple of things. I also have a Pensa-Suhr Strat from the ‘80s. Those things are super-rare. You can find Pensa guitars and you can find John Suhr guitars, but to find the Pensa-Suhr is really hard.
MC: Tell us about songwriting methods. Are you a rewrite person?
Urban: Yes and no. I write lyrics with a pen. I would rather put a line through something instead of rubbing it out, or hitting delete on a laptop. I might want to circle back to the line that I thought was useless. Maybe it’s in the wrong spot, or it should split into two sentences and be put somewhere else.
MC: The song you co-wrote with busbee, “The Fighter,” performed as a duet with Carrie Underwood, has a Philly soul vibe to it. Were you thinking of this genre when you wrote it?
Urban: That was one of those cool things that came quickly. I was in London working with busbee on a song called “Your Body.” I was going back into the studio on the second day to work a little more. I was working out that morning and the Charlie Puth song “Marvin Gaye” came on. It’s a bit of an odd song, I can’t say I’m a big fan of it, but I like Charlie and Meghan Trainor singing together, that “Glee-esque” approach where they’re both singing at the same time.
MC: The duet presents an interesting emotional contrast with the female voice sounding very dispassionate, and the male voice quite reassuring.
Urban: These were the kind of things my wife and I went through at the beginning of our relationship. She needed that reassurance that I would be there for her. I thought maybe it would be cool to have a call and response with a question, and I was remembering “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” by Meatloaf, because it had that, or even “Baby it’s Cold Outside.” I was also drawing energy from “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals. That’s the spirit I wanted to capture with the Hall and Oates, Philly soul thing.
MC: What would you say to artists––those who might be leery of tinkering with their successful sounds––about expanding their artistry with new ideas?
Urban: I fund my own records. I pay for everything myself and license it to the label. So I feel very liberated to try things. I always had the attitude that if you are in a studio setting you should try anything and everything that your creativity is intrigued by. I just follow the muse. It’s okay if the muse wanders off of a cliff and disintegrates into oblivion.
This is another reason I like collaborating; wandering into the forest with that person or persons to see what happens. You can always pull it back.
MC: Any last thoughts for our readers?
Urban: Jeff Bhasker is right: You have to be a strong artist with a vision of where you want to go. Otherwise, it’s like putting lipstick on grandpa. It just looks weird.
For more information about Keith Urban, contact Paul Freundlich, paulf@pfamedia.net
