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Interview: Richard On of O.A.R.

January 18, 2007 01:24 PM by Christina Fuoco LiveDaily Contributor

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O.A.R. guitarist Richard On speaks openly about his band and its success with the album "Stories of a Stranger," but there's one thing the Ohio State University alum won't discuss: his Buckeyes' stunning 41-14 Bowl Championship Series loss against Florida.

"That was terrible. I don't even want to talk about it. Thank you for your condolences," On said.

On a lighter note, O.A.R. is heading out on its winter tour, kicking off tonight (1/18) in Cincinnati, OH, in support of 2005's Jerry Harrison-produced "Stories of a Stranger." The album spawned O.A.R.'s biggest radio hit, "Love and Memories," co-written with hitmaker Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Christina Aguilera). On admits he was initially taken aback when Ballard initially approached him.

"I met him at the House of Blues one time when we played in LA," On recalled. "I really didn't know who he was. [When] I first saw him, he had this beard--I was like, 'Who is this guy walking around backstage?' I didn't know who he was and he wasn't with our crew. He stopped me in the middle of the hallway and he's like, 'We have to work together. I totally get what you guys are doing.'

"I still had no idea who he was. I thought he was a crazy guy that was roaming the streets of LA. I was like, 'What is he talking about?' I finally found out who he was, and I was like, 'Holy s---. I know who you are.' We didn't get a chance to work together when we met. That was a couple years before we made this record, 'Stories of a Stranger.' We wanted to reach out and write a song with somebody, and he actually came to us and asked us if we wanted to work together. That doesn't happen every day. I don't think he calls up any band and says, 'Let's work together.' So we definitely jumped to the opportunity.

"Me, Marc [Roberge, vocalist] and Jerry [DePizzo, saxophonist/guitarist] flew out to California. We were expecting some huge, gaudy studio with, like, gold and platinum records everywhere. We ended up going to this very nice house. He's a very zen-like person, with candles, and everything is very relaxed. I think that's the opposite of what I think people portray him as, this hit-maker. We went in there and it was a complete collaboration on the song. He had some ideas, we had some ideas. We put them together and it came out great."

Prior to the start of tour rehearsals, On spoke to LiveDaily about Harrison, the success of "Stories of a Stranger" and playing late-night television.

LiveDaily: What was it like to work with Jerry Harrison on "Stories of a Stranger."

Richard On: That was pretty wild. Jerry Harrison, as everybody knows, was part of the Talking Heads, and what I consider one of the founding bands of alternative music. Before grunge and all that stuff, I think they kind of paved the way for atypical rock songs to become mainstream. He was just a guy who's super creative. He's one of these guys that you just kind of feel smarter just being around. It seems like you're always learning something. One of the things he did with our band that we've never really experienced before is pushing us to write and record anything we wanted to record. A lot of times, we'd be writing stuff and somebody would say, "Oh that doesn't sound like O.A.R.." He turned us in the direction of, "Well, if you wrote it, it definitely came from you guys. Don't be afraid to experiment." I think he helped us push our musical boundaries with stuff we thought we would never really play. All of a sudden, they felt very natural to play. I think that's where the rock side of 'Stories of a Stranger' came out.

What do you feel is the most important thing you learned from him?

Just to write and record anything you put down. Don't be afraid to put something to tape just because you don't think it sounds like you. That would be one thing if we all started rapping--that's a little extreme. As far as just being creative, [he taught us to] be artists. Be who you're supposed to be. I think that brought a lot of confidence to the table.

What did you think about the success of "Love and Memories." It's definitely the biggest O.A.R. song to date, wouldn't you say?

I'd say as far as the radio. It's interesting, because we never really got any radio love. All of our songs were fairly long. Live, a lot of favorites were songs that would go on for eight to 10 minutes. As for "Love and Memories," for us to have a song on the radio and see the reaction from the crowd, it was quite a surprise. Usually, the crowd is going crazy over one of our songs, "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker." We played "Love and Memories" and the reaction was just the same.

Did it effect your show at all to see that fans were just as crazy about shorter songs?

Only in a positive way. It was something where we thought we'd have to play a new song and then play an old song immediately afterward, just in case it didn't go well. All the shows we played last year when we were promoting the record, we didn't feel the need to do that. Whatever song we played, it was a great reaction.

How do you feel this album fits within your catalog?

I think it's a progression. We tapped into some of the old O.A.R. stuff that people are used to. At the same time, we expanded on directions that Jerry pushed us to explore to see what the possibilities were. Every time we make a record, it sums up where we are in that exact moment in time. That's how we view studio records. It's all about capturing that moment and putting it on tape. It's the same as when we were making our first album when we were 16 and in high school. That's where we were in that moment of time. For the next record, we'll see what happens. I think we're going to pull little pieces and influences from each and learn what to do and what not to do from the last record on this record.

Have you started working on a new album?

We are in the midst of just writing. That's what we've done since we've been off [touring] since October.

Are you going to co-write with anybody?

Right now, we're just making demos by ourselves. If the opportunity comes along to work with somebody, we'll see what happens.

What is the recording and writing process like with O.A.R.? Do you mostly write at home, or in the studio?

We write all the time. When we're on the road, we bring all the portable recording gear. We actually just built a nice recording rig to take on the road that travels in a road case. It can just travel with the rest of the equipment. We can just set up shop in our dressing room. When we have ideas, we'll just dump it to the machine and start recording stuff. At home, it's the same process. Nowadays, with the Internet ... and how much information you can send, I can literally just write a song and e-mail it to Mark, and he can put a vocal on it. I can e-mail it to Chris [Culos, drummer] and he can put his drums on it. It's amazing how far that's all come.

Do you feel any pressure to follow up "Stories of a Stranger"?

I don't think so. I think we're just looking at it as another opportunity to make a great record. "Stories of a Stranger" is the most successful record we've ever had. I think, in a sense, there's pressure from ourselves because we want to make a record better than that. I think we always want to make a record better than the previous one.

You've had an underground following up until this album. Is it important for you to be commercially successful?

I think it's important in a sense that we were independent for a very long time. As far as touring, we're still completely independent. We don't borrow any money from the label, except for the record side of things. Touring has always been something we can do in-house. We were doing it ourselves for the longest time and selling a lot of records, and selling out a lot of venues that bands that were signed to major records couldn't sell out. For about two years before we signed to Lava Atlantic, we were courted by numerous labels. We decided to hold off and see how far we can take this band ourselves. I think we took it pretty far. It got to the point where the opportunity was there and we didn't want to look back in 20 years and say, "What would have happened if we signed to a major label?" We just thought to ourselves, "Our touring is completely ours. We completely control that. The whole record side of things, we never really tried to make a real studio record. Why don't we see what happens? It can't hurt us." Also, we wanted the opportunity to play late-night television. All those opportunities came after we signed. I think, in the sense of being commercially successful, I don't think we were trying to make a quick buck. I think it was more to see how far we could take our band.

What is it like to play late-night shows? Is it nerve-wracking?

The very first one we did, I believe, was Conan O'Brien, and this was on our record before "Stories of a Stranger," "In Between Now and Then." I was nervous as hell. I have to be honest. I remember when the dressing room lady came in and told us it was five minutes before we go on. I ran to the bathroom and I was shaking. After that, it's been pretty relaxing. You go in there and do your thing. That's your moment to shine for a couple moments; then it's back to work.

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