Great to get the chance to talk with Linkin Park’s Dave “Phoenix” Farrell. We talked about the start of the band, and why he wasn’t in it for the first album. He told me he stepped out to play with another band, then came back into the fold just before the debut album dropped.

He tells me about the “latest” song “Lost”. It was recorded for the Meteora album, but didn’t make it. Phoenix explained why. “It sat too close to a couple other songs that were on the record”. He said they set it aside and found it on a hard drive and brought it back. As far as the fans, he said “People seem to be really enjoying it…it’s a huge win for us”.

We talked about the late Chester Bennington. He recalled loving hearing his voice again on the songs after 20 years. For those that never had a chance to meet Chester, he said “Chester was a very 3, if not 4 dimensional person”. He talked about how good he was with his kids, and what a warm caring guy he was.

Of course, I couldn’t not talk about Golf with Phoenix. He a big fan of the sport.

Harem Scarem is a Canadian band that formed in the late 80s. Today, singer Harry Hess joins me to talk about the band, Canadian music, the vinyl version of their second album Mood Swings and lots more.

He told me about starting the band as teenagers in Toronto in the 80s. He said the sound of the band changed with the advent of the grunge era. He told me how much he liked some of the bands that came out of the Seattle scene.  “We could do whatever we want, because no one had any expectations”. He said the biggest representation of the sound of the band is the second album, Mood Swings. He also told me about their success outside of North America. “To this day they’re our biggest territory” – talking about the Philippines.

He talked about crisscrossing Canada in the early years and what a slog some of those trips were, as opposed to Europe where the towns are much closer. “Canada is about the toughest place to tour, getting from town to town.” As far as why some bands break the invisible wall and find success in America? He spoke to the fact that Harem Scarem really didn’t have a deal which allowed them to be released in the U.S. for several years into their existence.

Speaking of Canadian rock, we talked about that, too. The hair band era sprouted a lot of metal bands from the Toronto area especially. He brought back some memories of some acts I haven’t thought of in years. He also told me about a legendary musician who has a studio not far from his.

Great conversation with Harry!

-Meltdown-

https://wrif.com/shows/meltdown-on-wrif/