The inspiration for the pairing on this week's Talkhouse Podcast goes back 40 years, to one of the greatest concert films—maybe the greatest concert film—ever made, Stop Making Sense. We’ve got Jerry Harrison and Carlos Arévalo.
Harrison was of course the keyboard player and sometimes guitarist behind one of the most influential and groundbreaking bands of the 1970s and 80s, Talking Heads. The band’s legacy can’t be overstated; they made eight incredible studio albums before splitting up in 1991, they’re in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and their impact on both other musicians and the culture at large has been enormous. And in addition to all of those studio records, Talking Heads—along with director Jonathan Demme—made Stop Making Sense, the audacious live document of the band from 1983. The film was lovingly restored for its 40th anniversary last year, with both the visuals and audio painstakingly refreshed—the latter in no small part due to Harrison’s efforts. Celebrating this reissue has been the closest thing to a Talking Heads reunion that the world has ever seen—or likely will see. They’ve gotten onstage together to talk about it, but the likelihood of them playing together again seems very slim. But during the band’s tenure and even more so afterward, Harrison made a career for himself as a producer for other bands, manning the boards for some incredibly successful records, some of which you’ll hear about in today’s chat. From Live to No Doubt and beyond, he’s had a hand in some really big ones.
Along with the Stop Making Sense re-release came a star-studded tribute album called Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, and that’s where today’s other guest comes in. The album features contributions from heavy hitters like Paramore, Lorde, and The National, but one of the best tracks is by Arévalo’s band, Chicano Batman. The Los Angeles group has been around since 2008, mixing up a genre-defiant stew of psychedelia and R&B with bits of indie-rock and Latin flair. On the trio’s latest album, Notebook Fantasy, they stretch out a bit more than usual, allowing some extra breathing room for the songs. That’s not necessarily the case for their contribution to the Talking Heads tribute album, though: They do a pretty faithful rendition of the frenetic “Crosseyed and Painless,” re-creating its indelible groove and then adding their own flavor. Check out that cover right here.
In this conversation, Harrison and Arévalo talk about how Chicano Batman approached their Talking Heads cover—including the special guests they brought in to help. Then Arévalo, a budding producer himself, picks Harrison’s brain about some of the records he’s produced over the years, from Live to Les Butcherettes to No Doubt. Great stories abound, enjoy.
0:00 – Intro
2:34 – Start of the chat
4:06 – Jerry's thoughts on Chicano Batman's cover
8:28 – Talking about Jerry's production work, starting with the first Live album
19:20 – Carlos on Notebook Fantasy and studio techniques
24:05 – Producing No Doubt's "New"
34:40 – Jerry loses his car while mixing "Girlfriend is Better"
38:45 – On how Chicano Batman's cover of "Crosseyed and Painless" came to be
Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Jerry Harrison and Carlos Arévalo for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!
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