MARCH 2005

This summer Rich Schroder returns with Break from the Past , his first solo release with veteran rock producer Kenny Lewis (Motley Crue, Michael Sweet, Stryper, Northern Lights, Vassar Clements).  The album showcases his craft as a singer-songwriter, with topics ranging from the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal to social commentary on American pop culture.  Below, Schroder speaks about songwriting, failed relationships, growing up in the Middle East and being a solo artist.

You were in a successful band for a while, how does it feel to be on your own?

It's been a big adjustment.  Not just the performing aspect, but also making all the decisions, creative and otherwise for my career.   Working alone certainly has its own challenges; though, right now I don't miss the band dynamic of having to build consensus or making decisions by committee.  Now I get to screw things up all by myself!

What was the writing process like on this album?

It was time consuming, rigorous, frustrating and emotionally draining!  This has been the most difficult thing I have done in my life to date.  I always had ideas for songs but no real process to develop them.  Basically I was lost, and this album helped me to build a structure to create in.  

At first I tried some collaboration, writing with other people.  But finding someone with the same work ethic and sensibilities was difficult.  I eventually hooked up with Ross Adams, my long time music mentor, who taught me about the craft of songwriting.

This album is radically different from your past work in Zen Lunatic.  Why did you change the writing style so much?

My old writing style wasn't working for me anymore.  I don't even know if you could call it a style.  I primarily built songs around guitar riffs and in a couple of hours the song was done.  Initially I was happy working this way, but after six years of writing like this I needed to try something new. 

Approaching songwriting from a compositional standpoint, where I had to first come up with a good set of lyrics and then set them to music was a very different approach.  I found out that there was a lot to this songwriting thing that I needed to learn about.

Today it can take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years to write a good song.  I don't stop working or rewriting a song until I feel that the essence of the song is right, that my message is clear and that the song is well set musically.  It's challenging but really rewarding when a song is finished. 

What inspires you to write songs?

Irony.  People.  Struggle.  Humor.  Love.  Everyday life.  Situations.   As an artist, I try to study humanity and reflect it back to the listener from my point of view. 

Tell me about your characters.  They are a colorful cast, each struggling with his / her own situation.  Where did you find them?

Basically, from everyday life.  I drew them from my own experiences, news stories, books, popular culture, and even reality TV.  This album definitely has numerous colorful characters each on their own path.

Who is your favorite character on the album?

Though tragic, I'd have to say the two characters in"Me and Cousin Willy".  I also enjoyed writing my female protagonist in "Never Happen Again".   Writing a song from a female perspective is challenging.

You spent a considerable amount of time growing up in the Middle East.  Has this experience impacted your writing?

I am still trying to figure that out.  I was born in New York City and my father was an international banker.  So from 4 to 6 years old I lived in Beirut, Lebanon, and from 6 to 10 I lived in Tehran, Iran.

Growing up in these places was a very isolating and scary experience.  I had few friends and not many people around me who were my own age.  Both these cities were violent and dangerous.  I remember hearing gunfire daily and bombs going off.  Our driver carried a machine gun with him for protection. 

I'm sure all of this stuff has affected me in ways I am not even aware of.  Perhaps that is why I write about the human condition.

Some of the songs on this album have stark themes.  How did you come to write "Father Jones"

The Catholic Church sex abuse scandal disturbed me greatly.  I read an excellent book on the subject called "Our Fathers" by David France who chronicled the situation.  I was outraged and felt compelled to write about it.  At first, I was uncomfortable playing this song out but have had many positive responses to it.  Most people feel it is tastefully done.

What made you choose to cover the Morphine song "In Spite of Me" on this album?

I'm a big Mark Sandman / Morphine fan.  I like hearing and playing a good cover song and this one fits my sensibilities.  It's a good opener for me, and one of the few Morphine songs that doesn't have a sax part, so I can play it using just an acoustic guitar

There's some social commentary on this album with songs like"A Hillbilly Makeover".  It seems like reality TV shows were the inspiration in this case.  

For a while last year I was hooked on those makeover shows.  It seemed like there was one on every night and I was captivated and appalled by the people involved. 

We tried writing this song from numerous perspectives like"I look like crap, fix me", or"I want my woman to look like that" but none of them worked.  One day we were goofing around and tried setting the song in the old shit kicker "Hillbilly" style.  The humorous rendition was much better and seemed right for the song, though it opened us up to the criticism that we were being insensitive.  Don't get us wrong we love hillbillies!

Speaking of humor, (Sorry That I'm Not) The Home Depot Type is hilarious.   How did you come up with that one?

I can't fix anything around the house; I'm all thumbs. This seems to be a common predicament among men, more than one might think.  Many wives in the audience point to their husbands when I play this song.

"Your Kind Words", is different from the other songs on the album, it seems more personal?

Absolutely.  "Your Kind Words" is my most personal song to date.  I wrote it when I realized the power that words, especially negative words had on me.  

I had people in my life that never had anything good to say about anything, especially me.  Recently, I've had some time to reflect and think about a lot of stuff, especially about my life and where it was going.  Now I want to have less to do with those who don't want the best for me.  I don't need them anymore.  Life is hard enough.

A lot of the characters in my songs, like myself, struggle with people, places and events from their past.  Some break free, some don't, some pass it on and some just die.

Is that were the album title "Break From the Past" came from?

"Break From The Past" is about me starting over, anew.  Getting my ducks in a row.  Doing what I needed to do for myself, and my music.  So I thought the title was timely and appropriate.

Where do you go from here?  

I am working on finding an audience for these songs.  That means playing them for as many people as possible.  By doing this I hope to gain interest in my music and in what I have to say.   

For more information on Richard Schroder visit www.richschroder.com

or see the database for male folk guitarists.

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© 2005 Yonge Music