Interviews – Stan Bush – Dream The Dream

In a cold, far away world. Hi, this is Stan Bush,

and you're listening to the Geekcast Radio Network.

Fighting the war for Cybertron, till all are

one. Transformers, defenders of truth. Robots

who fight in disguise. Transformers. Hello and

welcome to All Things Transformers and This Week

in Geek. 2010 Stan Bush interview. I am Mike

Blanchard and I'm joined by Matt Spada. Hello,

sir. Hello, good day, sir. How are you? I'm doing

well. That's good. Yes, Stan Bush has got a new

album coming out, Dream the Dream. It comes out

September 15th. And I've talked to Stan multiple

times and I've pretty much got an email relationship

with the guy. He emails me when he wants, like,

you know, me to make posts for, like, I did a

post for him for his BotCon stuff when he did

BotCon this past year and the San Diego Comic

-Con. And he, I asked him, I said, is there any

chance I can get a copy of the new album for

review? And he goes, yeah, sure. And then you

had mentioned, I had said this on one of the

Nerd News shows, and you had mentioned, ooh,

I would love to get that album. So, happy birthday.

Thank you. Yes. Spada just turned 30 a couple

of weeks ago. Yeah, not that too long ago. August

28th. Yeah. Yep. So, yeah, Stan sent out the

CDs, and that's pretty much what we're here to

talk about is his new album that's coming out.

Would you like to say anything before we throw

it to the interview? Well, first off, I'd like

to thank Stan Bush for a wonderful CD and a nice

little birthday present. And let's get this going.

Hey everyone, this is Mike Blanchett and I'm

joined by Matt Spada. Hello, sir. Good day, sir.

We are from the Geekcast Radio Network and This

Week in Geek, and we are about to interview Stan

Bush. You may have known him from his work on

Transformers the Movie. He sang and wrote The

Touch and Dare. Hello, Stan. How are you? Hi,

how's it going? Pretty good. I guess... One of

the reasons why we're talking to you is to actually

kind of promote your new album, Dream the Dream.

When did you first start working on the new album?

Well, I started writing and recording about a

year and a half ago. It took a while to come

up with the album. The last album in this life

was so well reviewed and highly praised that

I felt like I had to really work hard to try

and... top that or at least come close, and I

think we have another winner. So I'm real happy

with how it came out. The new album, Dream the

Dream, has been getting really good reviews,

and it's just out this week in Europe as well.

So it's getting a pretty good buzz. Very cool.

Matt, you want to take the next one there? Sure.

What were some of the other titles you had for

the new album? I know that you've got a real

nice love theme going here, but I was wondering

what other titles that you had come up with that

you ended up rejecting. On the new album? On

the new album, yes. Oh, you mean the ones that,

there were a couple of songs that didn't make

it on the album. Is that what you meant? Correct.

Yeah, let's see. There was one that I wrote that

was kind of a spiritual song called The Secret,

and it's a great song, and I really love it.

In fact, I'll probably put it out some way, perhaps

as a single release or something. We were talking

about putting a gospel choir on it, and it's

just a really nice message. And let's see, there

was another song also that sort of didn't seem

to fit with the others, maybe a little bit towards

a Jimi Hendrix -sounding song. It was kind of

a left -field song. But anyway, I guess that's

usually the case. You keep writing and hope that

you get as many songs as possible that are going

to be really good. Anyway, I'm happy with how

things came out. Yeah. When you first started

working on the album, what was the first song

that you actually wrote lyrics for that is actually

in the album? That would probably be More Than

a Miracle. That also could have been an album

title track. The title had a really strong ring

to it, and it's a great song also. But like I

say, it's one of those things after a year and

a half, the other songs that are newer sort of

maybe have more impact. It's really hard to,

I've found that after recording all these songs

and living with them for over a year, many of

them, it's hard to tell what's good anymore and

what works and that sort of thing. You have to

kind of go with your gut, I guess. But you sort

of get too close to it. But after it's come out

now and a couple months have gone by since we

finished tracking, two or three months have gone

by, I'm starting to appreciate it more. Now,

I was wondering, what would be the first single

that you're going to be releasing off Dream the

Dream? Well, it's really... These days, the term

single doesn't sort of have the same connotation

that it did before. I think like the traditional

record label would have released a single to

radio and said, okay, this is the single and

that sort of thing. Now it's sort of, you know,

you put out the whole album and then people can

sort of select the tracks that they want to.

to feature or listen to and so forth. It's sort

of a... A lot of it is fan -driven, especially

with the Internet and everything. But we talked

about... A Dream to Dream, the title track, has

had a lot of buzz about it, as well as the Touch

Sam's theme. The Sam's theme we did the music

video for, and that's gotten quite a lot of...

to that video, and we've had good and bad comments

about it. I think one of the things with that

song, many of the fans probably know this, originally

there was a rap section, but we've edited that

out. You'll be pleased to know. Is that also

the one with... I'm sorry, Stan, I don't mean

to interrupt. No, no, go ahead. Is that the song

with the guitarist? who, when he hits the power

chord, all the lights appear behind him? Yeah.

Yes. Okay. Okay. Yeah, that one, like I say,

it's a very sort of modern track. We were going

for something kind of contemporary and different.

A lot of my stuff has sort of an 80s signature,

which has been great, and it still is. That's

where my heart is, in terms of being... an artist

i love that that style of music the anthemic

kind of uh um chorus big chorus thing you know

i always love that and uh that's kind of my signature

and uh also the the thing about singing the the

go for it positive kind of lyrics which i i love

that i think that whole thing got started with

the touch way back and uh it's sort of a niche

that i've kind of stuck with you know because

i like it i really like having a positive message

and singing about, trying to sing about important

things and encouraging people and power and all

that sort of thing. There's a phenomenon, too,

that, you know, the old thing where each of us

supposedly only uses one -tenth of his brain

or whatever. I believe that because usually that's

all I have available. No, but I'm just saying,

you know, the point is we're capable of so much.

We're capable of incredible things. And it's

sort of all about believing in your abilities

and believing in yourself and going for it, you

know. So a little corny, but hey, you know, it

works. For me, it works. And in this day and

age, a little positivity is a really welcome

thing. No kidding. Yeah. Yeah, it's just that

you create your own reality. That's kind of the

gist of it. Yes, exactly. Will there be a tour

to promote the new album? Actually, I'm talking

to a European tour promoter, and they're arranging

some shows in Europe. It'll probably be right

after the holidays, I think, is the way it's

looking. I don't know yet about the states, but

people can check the website to see what's happening,

standbush .com. Since the first time I talked

to you about two years ago, your social networking

was just on MySpace. Since then, you've expanded

to Facebook and Twitter. How are you liking these?

You know, it's a whole different animal. I've

sort of got... dragged kicking and screaming

into the new social network scene, but it's actually

kind of cool. Um, the Twitter thing is fun. You

know, you can talk about other things about,

you know, personal stuff about just fun stuff.

It's not all, not all about career promotion,

but just, I think a lot of people just like to

know, Hey, what do you think? And what do you

feel? And what do you, what book are you reading

or whatever? Um, I don't know. I'm liking it

though. They, that my Twitter name is, uh, Stan

underscore Bush. So if anybody wants to go check

that out, that would be cool. So with going into

the social networking sphere, Apple just announced

Ping this week, which is part of iTunes 10. I

heard about that. It's social networking but

for music. Are you going to see if you could

get involved in that? Yeah, actually I was just

informed about that this morning. This guy that's

been helping me with promotion, he's on it. So

this weekend, unfortunately, except for my iPhone,

I'm not on a computer. But anyway, I think he's

going to be setting that up for me or whatever,

or I'll jump on it Monday first thing. But, yeah,

I'm definitely going to do that because that's

right up my alley. I love the whole Apple phenomenon.

What a cool company. But yeah, it's all good.

I'm really happy with all the buzz we're getting

so far. We're starting to get more of a buzz,

not just to Transformers fans, but other people

are starting to hear about me in this country.

It's kind of cool. I mean, I've been making records

for years in Europe and Japan and have a following

and so forth over there. And some of these people

who, you know, it's good to be known for something.

But, you know, a lot of people are finding out

that I'm more than just the guy that sings about

robots. You know, and that's one of the main

things I say to people. You know, he has more

than just two songs, you know. Right. And everybody

is just still stuck on, well, it was fine from

like 86 to 90 or whatever. For some strange reason,

some people just aren't into it. The new album

is awesome. I said it in the review that I wrote

for our website, geekcastradio .com, that there

isn't a track on the new album that I don't like.

I'm not just saying that because we're talking

to you. It's the truth. Every song, it's almost

like it's a different story each song. Thanks

so much. We've worked really hard on it. I appreciate

the kind words and the support. It's really nice

to have friends and allies in this business.

And, you know, it's one of those things, too,

where you do something long enough and you start

to learn how to do it well, you know. And I think

I'm pretty consistently writing great songs now.

And it's always that thing of if I knew what

I know now, then, you know. The other thing that

I really like about Dream the Dream is, and this

is going to sound really weird, but it's a happy

album. There's a lot of just happiness in this

music. And with all the other artists that are

out there right now that are popular, or I like

to say quote -unquote popular, it's nice to have

some real... Just music that you could just sit

back and I have an hour commute. And if it's

when I throw this disc in, that makes that commute

a lot more enjoyable. Paul, that's so nice to

hear. Thank you. And, you know, like I say, you

know, it's just I just love positiveness. To

me, it's the best. Like you said, there's plenty

of negativity out there. I know for a lot of

people, it's cool to be dark or whatever. I don't

really understand that. It takes all kinds to

make a world. I'm just happy to have something

positive to say. It's not just about influencing

people. Just in the world, I want to be a positive

force, a force for good, as corny as that sounds.

There was mention on your Facebook fan page about

a live concert DVD. Can you give us any details

about this? Well, last summer, my band performed

at the Transformers Convention, the Paramount

Studios party. that happened the weekend of BotCon,

just prior to the Revenue of the Fallen movie

coming out. And so that concert was, a video

was shot of the concert, and it was actually

never edited together. There's footage, though,

from that, and there's been a lot of fans that

are interested in getting that video, the DVD

for that, but it never was made available. because

of just the sheer time involved in editing it

and all that. But I guess should that change

or whatever, I know there are clips from it that

are on my YouTube account. I can keep all this

stuff straight. So, yeah, they can go to the

Stenbush YouTube. There's a link to that also

on my website. The standbush .com website is

being renovated as we speak and should be up

by next weekend with all the new stuff on there.

In the meantime, if somebody wants to check out

larecords .com, it also has my stuff all up there,

including the new album. One thing I should mention,

the Dream the Dream album, the formal release

date for the U .S. is 9 -15, and whoever buys

it on that day will get a signed copy. So that's

just a little tidbit I should throw out. Very

cool. Yeah. So I actually have a question that

I have been dying to ask someone who actually

makes music for a living. And I really want to

know what is with mainstream artists just abusing

the ever -loving heck out of autotune? I swear

every single popular song I've heard in the last

six months is auto -tuned. Oh, it's been more

like five years. You never hear any pitchy vocal

ever. And believe me, I love people to sing in

tune, but it also doesn't sound as real. if there's

not at least some human there, you know, it's

almost like, I don't know, to me, I don't miss

out -of -tune vocals, but still, the 70s and

80s, I mean, you know, you could definitely hear

that the auto -tune thing wasn't there, and so

a lot of vocals, some of my earlier stuff is

not even that great in terms of the pitch, although

I consider myself a good singer. It's just...

I don't know, but I agree with you. It kind of

takes the personality when everything's too perfect,

you know? It's very weird, because I've recently

started watching more music videos online, and

there's a gentleman on that guy with the glasses

called Todd in the Shadows, and he reviews a

lot of popular music, and it all sounds exactly

the same. Yeah, yeah. I know what you mean. Well,

music and even I'm a little older than you, but

even going back to like the 70s and all, I love

that era. I mean, there was so much difference

and variety out there that, you know, you'd hear

like pop radio. You'd have like, you know, everything

from America and the Eagles to, you know, Led

Zeppelin. And then you'd have, you know. The

Supremes or whatever, or Crosby, Sills, and Nash.

I mean, it was just all over the map. And songs

were not so formulaic. That's one of the things

I missed, too. The songwriting was a lot more

diverse and, like you said, a lot less cliche

and sort of stock. You get into the cookie -cutter

thing. It's kind of like dance music where, I

mean, that's the worst of the worst to me, where

it sounds like the same song, but they just changed

the singer. And that's another thing that I really

appreciate about Dream the Dream, and now I'm

discovering more of your other albums, is there's

actual instruments involved, as opposed to, okay,

well, let's just generate this through a computer

and auto -tune you in there. Yeah, I know what

you mean. Yeah, there's some really... There's

some really good instrumental stuff on Dream

the Dream behind the actual lyrics of the song

that you're singing. I think it's more than a

miracle. I don't know if it's a trumpet. It has

this very strange, but it's a cool sound and

I like it. And I like how the song ends because

it just kind of like drops off. It's kind of

like Christopher Columbus just kind of dropped

off the edge of the earth. And then it goes to

the next song, and I thought that was really,

really neat. Thanks. Yeah, we had a lot of fun

making the record. My producer, Holder Fath,

with that name, you could probably tell he's

German, although he's been here about 20 years,

and he's pretty much my best friend. We've been

working together quite a bit. He also produced

the last album, In This Life, and he's just brilliant.

I love him. He's a great guitar player. He does

keyboards. Pretty much does it all. And together,

I think the arrangements and the general thing,

you know, we came up with some really strong

stuff. And also the drummer and bass player,

I should mention Matt Bissonnette. Yeah, Matt

Bissonnette on bass. He played with Rick Springfield,

but also, oh gosh, he's been with so many people.

He's a phenomenal bass player. And Matt Logg,

who played with Slash, and he also toured with,

oh gosh, my brain is not working today. Anyway,

they've all played, oh, Alice Cooper I was thinking

of. Yeah, so they're pretty much my favorite

bass player and drummer in L .A. They're super

great rock guys, you know, and the album, like

I say, just totally kicks. It's got a lot of

heart. The way we did it, too, was we did the

guitars, keyboards, bass, and all that. And Holger

built up the tracks with sort of a temporary

bass and drum track that he did himself. And

then that's when I did all the vocals and things

at Holger's. And then when we got near to the

end, we went in a big studio and recorded the

drums and bass over, the final bass and drums

over. and then we mixed in the big studio. So

that's why it just sounds so great. Yeah. All

right. It has a real band feel, you know. Oh,

yeah, yeah. I think before we close this out,

we're going to cut to actually one of my favorite

songs off the album called Your Time. So we'll

play that, and we will come back with Stan Bush

right after this. We are back here on All Things

Transformers, Geekcast Radio, and This Week in

Geek. And what you just heard was the song Your

Time from Stan's new album, Dream the Dream.

Stan, you told us before, when is the release

date again for the U .S.? Oh, September 15th.

Okay. All right. And they can get it in iTunes

and at your website too, correct? Yeah. It features

my stuff. But yeah, standbush .com, and the release

is 9 -15. And for people who buy it on that day,

I'll autograph them. So that's kind of a cool

thing. Very cool. You also mentioned, before

we go, you also mentioned on one of your Facebook

fan page posts about free T -shirts as well.

What's the deal with the T -shirts? Well, there

was a... that the guy that's representing me

was talking about, but honestly, I don't remember

what he said. But, yeah, just check the fan page,

stanbush .com or Twitter or Facebook, and see

if there's something about that. But, yeah, I

have their Stan Bush T -shirts available, and

let me see. Yeah, I guess lastly, I'd like to

just thank you guys for your support. and thank

the fans for supporting me and really appreciate

it. And I hope you guys will come see me. If

you come close to Louisville, Kentucky, I will

definitely go see you. Well, I'm hoping that

I can do some shows in the U .S. because that

would be awesome. If you're in D .C. or anywhere

around Baltimore, I'd be more than happy to come

say hi. Well, I'll definitely let you know. In

07, I performed at the Transformers Convention

in Rhode Island in Providence. So that's not

that far, I guess. But, yeah, there's very good

likelihood that I'll be doing some stuff in the

northeast area. Cool. Once again, are we going

to say something else, Dan? No. Okay. Once again,

we would like to thank Stan for joining us here

on this little interview for Geekcast Radio Network

and This Week in Geek. Stan, thanks for joining

us, and I will put all of the links to follow

you and find you and all that stuff, I will put

it in the post description, so that way people

can link to your site, they can link to your

Twitter and your Facebook fan page and all that

good stuff as well. Oh, I sure appreciate everything,

guys. You guys are great, and thanks so much

for the support. All right. Thanks a lot, Stan,

and we will ask you to hold the line as we take

you guys to the first track off of Dream the

Dream called Never Hold Back. So you guys just

heard another track sampling from Stan Bush's

new album, Dream the Dream, coming out August

15th. That was Never Hold Back, and we just got

done talking with Stan. Wow, that was cool, huh?

That was awesome. And like I said earlier, and

like I said in the interview, it really is refreshing

to get a hold of an album that is so positive.

There's no negativity in here at all, which is...

really nice. Yeah, it's refreshing, isn't it?

Maybe that's my old man sensibilities kicking

in, but still, it's really, really nice to have

a positive album for once. Yep. And hey, you

know, it's personally autographed, too. Indeed

it is. As soon as I got it, I put it into iTunes,

and I said, okay, well, I guess I have to go

get a frame for the actual disc. Because I don't

want dust getting on this thing at all. I mean,

I've got, I had sent a friend of mine my original

Transformers the Movie 86 soundtrack. She was

going to BotCon in 2009, and she had both Stan

and Vince DeCola sign it, so I have that one

too. Oh, wow. So yeah, I need to get a big frame.

Oh, very, very cool. So for geek cast radio network

and this week in geek, I have been Mike TFG on

Blanchard with Spada. We will catch you guys

next time. and start to blow here in the dark

you're standing alone feels like the whole world

keeps you down you wanna fly but you keep falling

to the ground