"There is a Pop god..."
A Loverboy Fan Club Interview With Mr. Paul Dean
By: Michele Ross
RME/LFC - How old when you first started playing ?
PD - I was 14 when I first started playing, but I started playing the ukulele when I was 12. Before that my very first instrument was called a washtub base. It's a big washtub and has a ski rope. (I was raised on a ski resort) and you tie it to a broom handle and you pull it. The tighter you pull it the higher it goes.
I was 10 when Bill Haley released "Rock Around The Clock", so I was completely aware of music and I go back further than that but that was my first Rock 'n' Roll song. Heartbreak Hotel came out in 1956 as well. I've been there for the whole Rock 'n' Roll ride. I wish you could put this on the web... starts his air guitar and sings boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom. The first guitar player I liked was Luther Perkins, the guitar player for Johnny Cash. He was my idol.
RME/LFC - Kim wants to know: Had you NOT gotten into the music biz, where and what do you think you would be doing now?
PD - My sister was a teacher so I thought I would be a teacher. I really like kids. She went to the University of British Columbia and and I thought I could do that, but the first week I went to UBC I met an old friend of the family and they were looking for a guitar player. *laughs* So that was it for my education. But I went through it and I went to college. I went to BCIT - British Columbia Institute of Technology.
I wanted to be a cameraman for TV production, but like I said I met that guy and I started playing. I've been in bands before his but this was a step up.We were playing for way more people, after all this was the big city. I just slowly started to put everything else aside and just played.
RME/LFC - -Susan asked: Even though you have been doing this for a "few yrs" do you still get nervous just before you go on stage?
PD - laughs - I got nervous once. I remember it was 1964 and I don't know why. I think it was becasue I had a new guitar or something and I just got nervous going on. I just got a brand new Grestch guitar, because the Beatles were playing Gretsch guitars so I had to have a Gretsch guitar. That was the last time I got nervous. I'm excited to play. I can't wait to play..."
RME/LFC - Angelia wants to know: If you could go back and change one thing in your career what would it be?
PD - I probably would, if I could, if I had known, I would of talked Scott out of going on that boating trip in the middle of the friggin winter. Going around the Horn in December, the worst time of the year. I couldn't believe it when I heard what he was doing after the fact and I went Oh My God. That's what I would of changed. As much as I love Spider...
RME/LFC - Wow, the fans will relate to that. So when your not working for the weekend what are you doing?
PD - laughs - Working on the weekend. Yeah I know that's been played to death. But seriously - music and all the stuff that goes with it are my life. Besides that it's my wife and my kid. They always come first, but its a real close race. *laughs* They are so supportive. My son just turned 15. Makes me feel young. Denise and I have been married for 40 years. She's seen it all, the frustrations and all the fullfillment. She's pretty amazing and she's where everything is based.
RME/LFC - Jane: Do you have a favorite guitar, one you prefer over others?
PD - Yes. I just got this new Les Paul. It's my favorite 'live' guitar. You'll see it in the video. It's the one in the hotel room. It is a pretty interesting guitar. It's called
a Les Paul Axcess. I think it's Alex Lifeson - the guitar player from Rush - I believe it's the one that he's endorsing. I changed the nobs, picks ups, the things that hold the strap on, the tuning heads, the nuts where the strings go through - basically everything except for the wood and the paint.
Now there's another guitar that's my favorite. REALLY MY FAVORITE GUITAR. You'll see it on the "No Tomorrow" video. It's the guitar I played "Working For The Weekend", "Turn Me Loose", and "Jump" on AND the whole first two Loverboy albums, plus the album I recorded with Streeheart as well.
It's the one I built in Edmonton in 1973.
RME/LFC - Wow, are you still building?
PD - No I modify. I'm like a breeder, a guitar breeder
RME/LFC - Tell us who were some of your musical influences growing up?
PD - My really big influences were Duane Eddie and Luther Perkins. Also a huge influence was instrumental bands. I was a Surf addict. Country and Surf. That was the radio station I listened to. I was a huge fan of the Beach Boys and the Beatles
RME/LFC - Second half to that question - What's in your iPod today? Same influences?.
PD - Yes same influences but I love Pop music. I've got a lot of guitarist's but its mostly Pop. I'm a Pop guy. There's a couple of metal albums and what not but mostly Pop. For me it's all about the melody not the lyrics. The feel of the groove is most important to me.
RME/LFC - What is YOUR most fun Loverboy song to play live?
PD - hmmmm - pauses - I really like playing "Take Me To The Top". It's just got so much dynamics to it, so much space. I can actually stop and not have to play. It has the really cool sax thing going. I love the dyanmics of that tune and the feel of it too.
RME/LFC - Kim asked : Although I'm not crazy about the word "Bucket List" what does yours include?
PD - I had one but it's pretty well empty. It goes way back to my high school days. One I never acheived and one I did.
ONE - I wanted to go to play Japan and I did
TWO - I wanted to play at Madison Square Garden and never did.
I've been there. Was even in an elevator with Yoko Ono, that was pretty good and I saw Michael Jackson there. But I'm so
totally cool with just the fact of going to Japan. That was one of the coolest things we've ever done as a band and as a traveller. We were there for 10 days!
RME/LFC - I heard your voice tonight. You harmonize nicely with Mr. Reno
PD - He's an insane singer, he really is.
Can you imagine what it's like for me?
We got this song "Heartbreaker" and Bob Rock says here it is, what do you want to do with it? Maybe come up with one of your classic melodic guitar hooks so I tried 3 or 4 of them and decided on one and he says OK that sounds really good. I like the guitar part so next thing is get Mike to sing it and make sure it's right for him. Now I knew it was right for Mike, so imagine what it was like for me - Mike Reno's biggest fan - sitting in the room just him and me. I've done it forever. We've been doing it for 35 years, but there was something about sitting in that room
after all these years, kind of guiding him, recording and engineering. But hearing him sing his guts out and I'm just like a fly on the wall with my computer. It was incredible.
RME/LFC - Tell us one thing you do that people don’t know, and would be surprised to know?
PD - Well I'm pretty good at Photoshop and I don't know how many people can pick that out. Hopefully nobody but all the pics you see have been photoshoped to death
RME/LFC - Really? That's interesting!
PD - Never took a lesson, no tutorials, just trial and error. I spent years and years doing that. I love doing it. The new logo we got for "Heartbreaker" I did that. I did that on my computer. I don't know if you noticed but there's a couple of skulls I threw in for good measure. I design the t-shirts as well.
RME/LFC - Hmmm, we'll get to that in a second... Mary wanted to know - If you can meet anyone dead or alive who would it be and why?
PD - Wow
not to be morbid but I'd like to meet Scott sitting over there at the bar. I have dreams about him. I'm sure everyone in the band does, so that's a really good thing because he's alive to me and it's so real. I'm sure that's not what they meant... but I met this guy - points to his Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. Now that's cool!
RME/LFC - So tell us whats new with Paul Dean?
PD - There's a bunch of stuff but it's not time to let it out yet. I'll give you a little bit of insight into my Pop thinking... Backstage during the Disney shows a few years back, Hannah Montana was playing her one song and I was blown away. I said there IS A POP GOD! Pop lives and I was really excited about it. I still am. It's the young kids that are doing it, like Simple Plan. That's kind of where I'm at these days. I'm into real Pop, that Simple Planish melodic high energy.
RME/LFC - Ok so let me ask you about Loverboy. With five guys in the band how does the creative process work?
PD - It's different for every song. Lets talk about the last two songs. The songs were already written and they were looking for us to finish them so I put my signature guitar on it and that was a real pleasure. It has great melodies and it just suited Mike's voice - both songs. It was great.
RME/LFC -So when are we going to hear "No Tomorrow"?
PD - We need to mix it yet, but we have most of the video shot.
RME/LFC - Ok so here it is... the most frequently asked question the Loverboy Fan Club gets is: When will Loverboy merchandise be available to purchase online?
PD - I'm gonna say probably in a couple of weeks.
RME/LFC - It's about time
PD - Yes I know it's about time. We have new management and the office is helping out big time. We're not gonna do key chains or lunchboxes but t-shirts and head bands are pretty much it for now and we'll see where it goes.
RME/LFC - Ok Paul we really appreciate you spending time with us. It's been a blast but I have to know - Loverboy and Reese Cups my two fav things on the planet - how did that commercial come to be?
PD - Watch Mad Men and it will all make sense. It's about ad agencies who have clients and they come up with an idea. What if we got Loverboy. So they pitch it to the owners of Reese's and the owners say yea that would be good. Then they go the publishers and they say yea you can have it but it's gonna cost ya. That commercial was a good one. It's the little song that could!!!