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Isaak's Haze
03/16/1999 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Dave DiMartino
If Chris Isaak's singing pipes ever go bad, this self-described romantic balladeer could easily segue into a successful career as a stand-up comedian. His knack for sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek humor smoothly complements his uncanny knack for copping the licks of Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison--and making them his own. LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino met Isaak (dressed as a sheriff) on location in 1998 during the filming of Shepherd in Park City, Utah. The artist regaled the LAUNCH crew with tales of hanging 10 with a pack of whales, cavorting with Helena Christensen, and schmoozing with the late Orbison. Yet, despite his expertise as a singer, actor, and amateur comic, Isaak said that he had no plans to further pursue a career in entertainment. "I think hardware is in my future," said the artist, whose current album is aptly titled Speak Of The Devil. Video excerpts from the following conversation appear in Issue No. 23 of the LAUNCH CD-ROM. That same disc includes a live, acoustic rendition of "Don't Get So Down On Yourself" from the new release.
LAUNCH:
It's rare that I go to a movie set to interview a musician. You're one of the lucky singer-songwriters to have a successful career in movies. How do you find it being an actor and a musician?
ISAAK:
If you're a musician and an actor, I think people doubt both sides of your career. That's how it works. Unless you're one of the great ones like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson...
LAUNCH:
Tell me the best part of being an actor and the best part of being a musician.
ISAAK:
Best part of acting? People take care of you. They pamper you and treat you as though you're a child. They let you wander around; they feed you. If you besmirch yourself, they wipe you off. It's wonderful. If you're a singer, the best part of that is people don't recognize your face, they recognize your voice. So if you keep quiet, your life is still your own. You can still cash checks using other names...
LAUNCH:
Tell me why you're dressed like a sheriff.
ISAAK:
People ask me why I dress like this, and it always takes me aback, because this is just the way I dress. People are judgmental today. They see someone--right away they jump to conclusions. This is just how I am. I feel most comfortable when dressed as an army nurse or a police officer. Today, I chose police officer. But it just might as well have been army nurse...Do I get the babysitting job now? I'm good with kids, really, I am.
LAUNCH:
What was the inspiration for the album title, dare I ask?
ISAAK:
Speak Of The Devil... people think it's Satanic. Let me play a little bit of it for you, and you can tell me what you think. [Singing] "Speak of the devil, the devil appears/ Waitin' for someone, waitin' for years/ But I'm alright now/ Yeah, I'm alright now/ Hey, kids, go get your mom's wallet, take out a couple bucks/ Go buy my new record, experiment with drugs/ 'Cuz it's alright, now..." [He stops] Now, some parts may be cut or it's mixed down subliminally into a record. But it is Satanic music made to lead young people astray. There, I said it. I hope you like the druid beat. Send your cards and letters to Chris Isaak, Kook. Box 2121, California. Is there anybody out there who actually believes this is Satanic? If there is, please don't write me. Just get in line with the rest of the stalkers.
LAUNCH:
Would you say there's a mood that runs through your music? If so, how do you describe it?
ISAAK:
If I have a sound or a kind of mood that goes through my music and I had to categorize it, I would call myself a romantic balladeer. It's not very original, but I heard somebody else say that, and it works. One time I asked Roy Orbison to describe what he does. And he said, "Well, a guy who interviewed me called me a romantic balladeer. And I liked that." And I thought, "Yeah, that works: romantic balladeer." Because up to that point, I'd been calling myself "vocal pop," because that's where they put me in the record store: vocal pop. And I thought, if that's where they put me, that's what I am.
LAUNCH:
Obviously you're a big Roy Orbison fan.
ISAAK:
[Breaks into song] "Only the lonely...know the way I feel tonight..." I liked Roy Orbison very much. He was a great guy, one of the nicest guys I ever met in showbiz. Really sweet, a real sweet guy. We played this winery place once and my parents and my brother came because they all knew Roy Orbison was going to be on the bill, and my band was the opening act. My dad went backstage, and Roy talked to my dad, my mom, my brother. He talked to all of them. He had a house he was staying at in this winery, and my dad came back and said, "He's just a regular guy!" And after awhile, he said, "But wait, he's Roy Orbison!!!" And that's what I think. He's a very cool guy, and super-talented. Kind of sickeningly so. He shouldn't have had all that talent to himself.
LAUNCH:
What's the first perfect musical moment on record that you remember hearing?
ISAAK:
The first records I had were kid records, but the first musical moments I heard? My older brothers had Elvis records and I listened to those. I would put a whole stack of 45s on my thumb and I could just whip through them and check out every label, and I'd look for Stax, Dot, Checkmate, Chess. Good labels. I'd buy every cool 45. Then I bought one I'd never seen: A Sun record. A Sun Records 45. [Again, he breaks into song--an Elvis song] "I'll never let you go/ 'Cuz I love you/ I'm so sorry 'cuz I made you cry/ I'll never let you go, 'cuz I love you/ So please don't ever say goodbye..." [He stops] I'd never heard Elvis sing where he sounded so... like there wasn't anybody else playing. It was just his voice in the top of the mix. That kind of blew my mind. After that I started searching out early Elvis, and from there, the Beatles. And it just went on. I'm just finally getting to Motley Crüe and Blue Oyster Cult.
LAUNCH:
"Wicked Game" was the song and the video where a lot of people--on a mass scale--heard about you for the first time. Looking back, how do you view that experience?
ISAAK:
A lot of people have asked me about "Wicked Game," and mostly, if it's guys, they ask, "What was Helena Christensen like?" It cracks me up, because a lot of people--and these are full-grown, intelligent people--think we had an affair or we were lovers. Yeah, we were naked on a beach, but it was a video, like a movie. It was just make-believe for one day. It's kind of naïve that people think I was going out with her.. "She was your girlfriend?" Yeah, right. Go home and crack open your TV set and let all the little people out. You can play with them. They're so cute. No! It doesn't work that way. She was an actress! The first time I saw the video, I called the record company, and I said, "I looked at the whole tape. I like the video, but I don't think they'll play it because it's not sexy. It won't get on TV." Then, later on I heard people say they wouldn't let their kids watch it because it's too sexy. I guess I'm just inured to that stuff from all the hardcore stuff I've been watching.
LAUNCH:
That video was pretty sexy. And I'm pretty sure that most of the girls out there would call you a sex symbol. Do you think of yourself that way?
ISAAK:
I wish I were a sex symbol. That would be a lot of fun. The only time I hear that is when people like you ask me, "Do you consider yourself a sex symbol?" In reality, in everyday life walking down the street, I don't notice anyone giving me any more attention than anybody else. So, nope. I wish it was like that, but it isn't.
LAUNCH:
Talk to me about your former career as a boxer.
ISAAK:
[Riffing on guitar.] I was boxing and I used to box in Stockton and Japan: the Police Athletic League, college boxing. I used to have a beautiful nose like Dean Martin. I mean, it was cute. Then all the cartilage got knocked out of it. I got splits over my eyes. Then I looked around and saw guys who looked a lot worse than me and I thought, "Wow, this is going nowhere." I was sparring with this guy Hector one time. Hector was a big guy. He'd let you slam him, then he'd slam you. He'd always say, "Chris, you're a good-looking guy, come out to the car, I got jewelry. Come out to the car, I got jewelry. Chris, you're a good-looking guy. I got jewelry. Come out to the car." He'd say everything like four times. One day, I saw a picture of him on the wall in the gym. He looked like Tony Curtis. I looked at him then and I looked at him now, and I decided this is a tough career. I want to get on television. I want makeup and iced tea.
LAUNCH:
Good call. Now what's the fascination with surfing? Do you live at the beach?
ISAAK:
I live in a mundane neighborhood. I have a view of the beach. If you stand on the bathroom sink and look out, you can see the ocean. I surf a lot. I go every day if I can. The longest I haven't been is these past two weeks. But besides that, I've been out four times a week.
LAUNCH:
Tell me the most thrilling surf experience you've ever had.
ISAAK:
The most thrilling surf experience? Probably, coming in and having whales surround me. They swam around me for about a half an hour and they were only about 30 feet away from me. I've been surfing for years and years in this same spot and have never had one whale come near me. This has never happened. This time, they were just surfing around. At first, it's really terrifying. "You don't eat people, right?" They're just so darn big. You put your feet up immediately. But after a half hour, you just sort of...
LAUNCH:
Let's talk more about your music. When you go in to record, are you a hardcore perfectionist?
ISAAK:
I guess you can keep on working on stuff a long time to get to perfection. I like the idea of going for perfection in music and art, because in real life you don't have a chance to go back. If real life was like my music, it would be fantastic. I'd just go back and say, "You know, let's try this with my ex-girlfriend. Let's go back to the point where I said, 'What? You need to talk right now? I'm playing my guitar!' Let's go back there...edit that out." It doesn't work that way in real life, but in the studio, you can go back, make it perfect. I like to make it almost perfect. However, you do need to keep a little pulp, some seeds, so people know it came from something real.
LAUNCH:
It's funny to hear you talk about screwing up a relationship. Do you think people have misperceptions about you? About your life?
ISAAK:
There are a lot of misperceptions about my life. But they don't really bother me. It's all just funny to me. I've heard everything about my sex life...One time, I had some photographer come to my house. I had these Mexican wrestling masks I got in Tijuana and they were hanging on my bedposts. They're these masks you pull over your head. And I took some master tape from the recording studio. I took the word "master" and stuck it on the mask because it had a stick-on thing. Then, the next thing I heard was, "Chris is reeeeaaaaalllllly kinky. He's got this wrestling mask that says 'master' on it. He must be into some kinky dark stuff..." Which is true, but I think it's funny that he found out about it that way.
LAUNCH:
What's in the future for you? Will you still be making records in 20 years?
ISAAK:
I think as life goes on, I won't continue to be in the entertainment business. I don't think entertainment is in my future. I think hardware. I've spoken to my drummer, and we're thinking about opening a hardware store. I'm good at roofing; he's good at tile work. We want to call it Floor To Ceiling. It's kind of a dream.
LAUNCH:
Interesting choice! Do you have much experience with computers at all?
ISAAK:
A lot of my friends have computers and they've been on me, like, "Are you going to hang with the past or get with the modern flow of things?" So, I actually have been just starting to get involved. I don't have a proper computer, but I do have an Etch-A-Sketch, and I'm not sure, but I think I got on the Internet with it for a little while. It looked like a message came through...but it was late. It was like Helen in Ohio wrote to me. Or maybe it was Ohio Art. But then my stupid cousin came in and shook it and I lost the message. But I'm going to try again.
LAUNCH:
Here's a random question. What's the most recent thing that happened to you that made you really happy?
ISAAK:
Well, this is really stupid and apropos of nothing. I don't know why it made me so happy, because it actually was a sad moment, but somehow it made me happy. I went looking for clothes recently. We went to these junk stores and the Salvation Army. We see these two guys and somebody who looks like he could be their caretaker. These guys are retarded or something; they're a little simple. This other guy is taking care of them. One of the "simple" guys is like 17, the other is 55. The caretaker is getting them both a suit--like they're going to some function. It looks like he's taken them from "the home" and they're picking out a suit. The young kid is like a kid in a candy shop. He picks out a 1980s suit. It was kind of gaudy and big. And he picks out a big, loud tie. He said, "This is a great tie, this is GREAT TIE!" He was so jazzed. He comes out of the changing booth and he's got the pants on, but his shirt's off and he's wearing the tie. And he's got what I call a redneck tan, like you've been working outside--your arms are tan, but where your shirt would be is just white. And he comes out and goes, "THE PANTS FIT ME!!!" He was just like "YEEEEESSSS!!!" One part of it made me sad: this guy has to shop here and there's a lot of other stores that are much fancier; and the other part of me just went, "Damn, man! This guy is getting the ultimate satisfaction out of life. He's living it up." I learned a lesson that day: You've got to take the fun where you can find it.
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