LARRY BREWER by LINDA WATTS Best known as lead singer/guitar player for the Windows from 1980 until their demise in 1995, Larry Brewer turned that ending into a new beginning. He embarked on his first ever solo career, and produced a great CD, "Travelin' At The Speed Of Life." Busier than ever, he's writing, recording, still loving the "solo gig", and putting together a new band. LW: Where did you grow up? LB: I lived in Chicago until I was 15, about a mile from the theatre where John Dillinger was shot! Man, what a great place to grow up my cousins lived close by, and we played baseball in the alley, rode our bikes all over the place-it was great! LW: How many kids in your family? LB: My brother, Alan, is 3 years younger than me; my sister, Kim, was a lot younger she died in a car accident in '91; she was 27. LW: Did you and Alan fight when you were kids? LB: We had our times. I broke his toe, and his collarbone twice, but that's just a brotherly thing! LW: Who was your early musical influence? LB: The Beatles! I used to return pop bottles to get money, and run to the dime store to buy the latest single. LW: When did you start playing? LB: I started guitar lessons when I was 9, but I didn't like it' I'd rather be outside playing baseball. I only took them for 9 months, but I learned enough that I could pick things out from the records. And I had these books with simple little songs in them, and I liked to make up different words to sing. I also changed it around where I'' sing the right words, but I made up my own chords. LW: So you were becoming a songwriter at a real early age! LB: Yeah, I was 10 or so. LW: Ever had a real job? LB: Yeah, I've had a couple. My first job was at the Dairy Queen. I had the hat, the whole bit! In fact, Dairy Queen was my first paying gig! The manager knew I played in a band, and asked me if we'd like to play in the parking lot. He put our names on the D.Q. sign; "In Concert". I think we made $20 each. After D.Q. I worked in a couple of factories. One was a factory where they printed books, and I really like it there. LW: When did you give up the "day gig?" LB: When I got in a band called "Raisin' Kane"; that was 1975. God! People will read these dates, going "how old IS this guy??" Anyway, it was going real well, we did shows with Black Oak Arkansas, several groups, and we were having a lot of fun, but I was writing pop songs, and the other writer in the band was writing country rock. I wanted to put a band together to do some alternative stuff; that was 1980. LW: Who was in the original "Windows?" LB: Paul Cooper was the drummer for "Raisin' Kane" and he went with me. I called Paul Doege, who had been our original bass player. Then I called a good friend of mine, Lowell Wiley, who was a great guitar player, good singer, and a Beatles nut, just like the rest of us. So that was it for 5 years; then Paul Cooper and Lowell left. I was devastated. But I called my brother, Alan, about joining, and he knew a keyboard player named Kirby Jackson who wanted to join, so we picked up and went on from there. LW: Why did the Windows split up? LB: The last 3 or 4 years was a struggle. Some of the clubs we'd been playing closed, things had changed. The 80's were our time. One the college campuses, if you had the biggest PA, the biggest lights, and the biggest truck, you could get hired like crazy! But we didn't scale down like we should have when the times changed...it was like "less was better." And I think we were just tired of it, but change is scary. LW: "Motorcar" was a hit for you, but why did people toss change on stage when you sang it? LB: I made the statement one time, "if I had a nickel for everytime I've played this song" and people picked up on it and started putting nickels on the stage when we did it. The other night I was playing in Vicksburg, and the crowd was really getting into my music, so I decided to do "Motorcar", and I don't usually do it unless I get a request for it. LW: Why not? LB: (laughing) If I had a nickel for every time I've played that song..! LW: Are you really sick of doing it? LB: Well, "sick" is a strong word, but I don't do it unless I have to. Anyway, I did do it that night, and everybody got up to dance, and I sold a CD; I don't know what it is about that song. I'm sure it's just because that's the one that got radio airplay, and people still recognize it and it's been 10 years! Man, radio changes everything, and we all owe a lot to David Adcock, 'cause he's the only one doing it around here! LW: What do you miss about being in a band, and what do you like about playing solo? LB: The best thing about a band is just feeding off of the other musicians, the camaraderie, I miss that. I like the solo thing because I can do whatever I want, the mistakes are all mine, but I can do the show I want to do. Plus, I don't travel so much now. LW: You played with a new band at The Dock a few months ago (the St. Judes Jam). Will we see more of this band? LB: Oh! I'm glad you asked me about that. Yes! We'll be playing our first gig Feb 14th at McB's. LW: Does the band have a name yet? LB: I guess it's gonna be called "The Larry Brewer Band." Elliott Eddy plays bass, and Lynn Duck is on drums. I'm excited about it! LW: How did you and Hunter Gibson hook up? LB: When I was still with the Windows, he mentioned getting together to do some songs, and we finally got together at his place one afternoon. We just did some stuff that we both knew, and it sounded really good. He invited me to come out and sit in with him, and we've been playing together ever since. It's rally great, when we sing, our voices just sound really good together. LW: You guys do have an incredible vocal blend that you don't hear often. LB: Yeah, people ask me a lot why we don't sing together all the time, but Hunter's got a good thing going with his solo gig; to tell you the truth, sometimes it's hard to do because of the money. Hunter's got his price, and I've got mine, and sometimes a club owner doesn't want to pay enough for both of us, when he could just pay one of us! LW: You've been doing some recording lately; just demos, or a new CD? LB: Well, I'm putting down demos for a future CD; there's no plan for a CD right now, but that's basically what I'm doing. LW: Are you a perfectionist in the studio? LB: Yeah, producing the CD, it was all me, my songs, my project, you know? I think I did a good job. My biggest problem was knowing when enough was enough. It was like, I need one more harmony there, another guitar part here, no, let's take this guitar part out, and add a keyboard. It was hard deciding when to stop. LW: You're a pretty quiet guy, what gets your temper up? LB: Sometimes I've butted heads with guys in the bands, but it was because I was the writer; you have a vision of what you want it to sound like, whether it be right or wrong. But that's trivial stuff. I CAN get pretty upset! LW: About what? Do you get angry in traffic? LB: Yeah, I get mad in traffic, not too much, though. That's what (new song) "World Going Crazy" is all about. I watch too much CNN, and I get depressed and pissed off, till I just have to turn it off. LW: How did you meet Dawn? LB: Kirby had dated Dawn's sister Anna a few times, and she brought her out to hear the Windows. When Anna first introduced me to her, I thought "what a cool girl, and so intelligent!" LW: And easy on the eyes! LB: VERY easy on the eyes! She'd come out when the band was in town, and we had a great time, talking and getting to know each other over a period of time. We've been married almost 3 years, man, she's been the inspiration for some of my best songs. LW: What do you like to do to relax? LB: This right here, home, fireplace, Dawn and I on the couch. I've been on the road so long, it's great doing my solo thing around town and not having to travel so much; I'm in love, and I just really LIKE being home. Life is a good one now. LW: You have 2 daughters in Tennessee, don't you? LB: (face lights up) Yeah! Delia's 9, and Michelle is 22, she just got married. LW: Do you get to see them often? LB: Yeah, about every 3 weeks. LW: You'll hate me for this one; if you could only do one, would you be a writer or performer? LB: GOD! That's a tough one, wow! Honestly, I could not give up performing. It all goes back to being a kid and jamming in the garage with your buddies. I mean, I've played coliseums, and felt that feeling of hearing 8,000 people clapping and yelling, and it was the high of all highs! We got to do concerts with some great bands; and recording the album with John Hampton was just the greatest experience of my career! He wasn't a big time producer yet (Gin Blossoms), but he had done some engineering for people like REM and Stevie Nicks. He was like a magician on the boards! And while we were recording in Studio A, Joe Walsh was in B, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds in C; it was incredible! I met Joe Walsh at the coke machine!! LW: Was he sane? LB: He was druuuuuunk!. LW: Who are some of the bands you did shows with? LB: Let's see, Stray Cats, Hall and Oates, Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane, Molly Hatchet. I can't remember 'em all. Oh, man, we were opening for Jefferson Starship in Tennessee once, and a guy on our road crew, Tony Fields, came back to lead us out to the stage. As we made our way, I looked up and Mickey Thomas was standing there - but Tony didn't know who he was! So he said (to Jefferson Starship's singer) "Alright, get the fuck out of the way, The Windows are comin' through!. I almost died! LW: No doubt! Did he move? LB: (cracking up) Yeah, actually he did-hey the Windows were coming through! LW: (a personal note) Last summer I was thinking about calling MOJO's publisher, Kip Caven, about the possibility of writing for the magazine, but I'm basically a chicken. Several people told me to do it, but it was Larry and Dawn Brewer who stayed on me till I made the call. Thanks guys! Next Month: Jean and Kelly Pates Content is Copyright © 2000 by Mojo Magazine