Lifehouse has been around for the last 7 years, releasing a top 10 album every two years. Even though a lot things have changed through the years and the line-up is always different, the band manages to keep its sound and interest of the fans, mostly because of the frontman Jason Wade.
They’ve been called a hit-making machine and the new album “Who We Are” just proved the fact! It debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 14, selling about 49,000 copies in its first week!
UG talked to the band’s creative force and founder
Jason about the new album, his favorite guitars, and why other band members make fun of him before the shows!
UG: You’re touring with Goo Goo Dolls. Are you excited about the fact and have you met the band before?
Jason: Yeah, we did a tour with them about four years ago in Australia and this is our first tour with them in the States. We’re about two weeks into the tour and it’s going very well!
You co-wrote a few tracks for your new album “Who We Are” with Jude Cole who later also produced the album. Why did you choose him as your collaborated and producer?
Me and the guys has just got off from touring for our previous record. Jude and Keifer Sutherland own and studio in Los Angeles. They’ve opened up their studio for us just to go and do some writing. A couple weeks into we had three or four great songs, so it was natural that we asked Jude to produced that record.
The words “Who we are” are the last three words of the previous release, self titled album Lifehouse. Is it where the album title comes from?
I actually didn’t even realize that the last three words of our previous album were “Who we are” until I went online and read somebody mentioning it on our website. It’s one of those subconscious things that happen naturally. I know this is kind of weird.
For your previous self-titled album you recorded some songs a few times, trying to get a perfect sound. Did you do the same on “Who We Are”?
We are very particular about the sound, especially the guitar tones that we get. We try a lot of different guitars, different amps, compressors to try to get the sound. Sometimes you just turn the guitar on and you want to capture that electricity and the energy. So it takes a long time for us to record what we really want.
One song on the album “Storm” you wrote back when you were 16. Why did it take so long for it to find the way to the record? Or was it just waiting for the right time?
I think it has a lot to do with timing. “Storm” was on our first little independent record and we only released a thousand copies, but it ended up on internet and through the years our fans have been calling out for that song at shows. So about a year ago we decided to start playing it live and it got such a great response. We thought if the fans love that song so much, it would be a good idea to put it on the record.
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| "We are very particular about the sound, especially the guitar tones that we get." |
There’s also piano on your new record…
Yes, I played piano on “Who We Are.” I’m actually trying to write more on the piano now. I’m still not very good, but sometimes I come up with cool chords that maybe other real piano players won’t come up with. In the studio they have a great grant piano that sounds amazing and a couple times when the guys took a break, I just went to jam on the piano and came up with a couple different variations of the tune.
I know that your favorite guitars are Gibson. Tell me about it - what model you like and why?
My favorite Guitars are 335s. When I first started off this band about 8 years ago, I just played Les Paul guitar through a Marshall amp, that was kind of that modern rock sound. But then I slowly got tired of the sound of Les Paul, so when I got my first ES-335 six years ago, I just fell in love with 1966 to 1968 models. I think they are really great. The Sunburst Gibson 335 that I’m playing right now is Sparkling Burgandy 1966, which sounds amazing. I’m not endorsed by Gibson though. I don’t really like playing new equipment, I’m so-called vintage fanatic. I’d rather just go find vintage guitars myself and pay for them. But Gibson do give me acoustic guitars sometimes. I like looking for guitars at a place called Norman’s Rare Guitars and also Guitar Center in Los Angeles has an amazing vintage collection, I’ve got a lot of different models from them.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
When I’m on the road, I always have a mini cassette recorder with me, so when I have ideas for lyrics or just titles of songs or just a melody on guitar, it’s a good way to capture it when it’s happening, otherwise I’ll forget it later. But to finish the song is a whole different story. It’s different all the time. Sometimes I start the song and it might take from 15 minutes to 6 months to finish it. I really don’t have a formula for it. I wrote my best songs when I least expected it. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the night when I feel overwhelmed by inspiration and I write both the lyrics and the melody at the same time and finish the song very shortly.
How personal are your lyrics?
They are very personal. I draw inspiration from my own personal love-life or things that I’ve gone through, some difficult times. But I have to connect to the lyrics one or another way. Even if it’s about someone else - I write a lot of stories about other people’s lives just from either reading a newspaper article or watching a movie and connecting to a character. So for me the best way is that I have to connect to the lyrics and reveal emotions.
So you don’t feel shy telling everybody about your emotions?
I used to when I first started because I used music as a therapy to let my emotions out on paper. I felt that was the only way I could express myself. But when I started this band and started making records, it was really strange for me to hear people telling me how they interpreted my lyrics for their own personal lives. It feels like someone reading your diary. But I kind of came to the understanding that it’s an amazing gift to be able to connect to someone and have someone to connect to what you’re feeling!
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| "I don't really like playing new equipment, I'm so-called vintage fanatic." |
Listening to the songs, it gets obvious you’re working on your vocals. Are you performing any exercises?
I am now! In the beginning I didn’t do any warm-ups or vocal trainings, but a couple years ago I realized that I was singing improperly live when I was straining my vocal cords and lost my voice. Jude Cole actually was the one that started working with me on my vocal, making sure that I warm up before shows or warm down after shows and that also helped in the studio! It stretched my range a bit too! Now I do exercises every day before the show. They sound really funny, I have to go to the back room so the guys don’t make fun of me!
One of the links in the “link” section on your website is ebay. Do you purchase things often through ebay?
Yeah, I do! I buy a lot of guitars through ebay actually. Last time I was shopping there I bought Fender Starcaster. We were gonna take it on the road, but it was so clean and didn’t have any dinge on it that I felt I’d leave it home and just use it for studio guitar when we return.
What about NBA? What’s your favorite team?
Cleveland Cavaliers is my favorite team and LeBron James is my favorite player.
Overseas tour?
We haven’t been overseas for about four years, so I’m really excited to get over there! I believe early next year we’re gonna do a tour!
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