James Williamson - There's Life After The Stooges

The two Jameses (Osterberg, aka Iggy Pop, and the man featured here, Williamson) are the only surviving members of the Stooges: Dave Alexander joined the Club 27 far too soon, and more recently, within the space of a few years, the hearts of the Asheton brothers stopped beating. I remember the incredible reunion show in Turin in 2004: a shockwave of energy, electricity and vibrations straight from Michigan's Motor Town. Having left behind rock'n'roll excess and the feuds with Iggy and Bowie, James Williamson is today a retired electronics engineer who - after serving as vice president of Sony's technology division - enjoys recording music with an old friend, Deniz Tek of Australia's Radio Birdman. "Two To One" is a shot of lean, direct, uncompromising rock'n'roll: if you loved "Raw Power" and "Kill City", you won't be able to help loving this new effort from the two garage-punk legends. So, over to Mr. James Williamson.

So, dear James, how would you describe "Two To One" in a few words? A track like "Climate Change" suggests you're tackling current issues even though this is an old-school guitar record...

Yes, I think the two things don't necessarily rule each other out. The approach we chose for recording it was that of a good old guitar-driven album, so we recorded it simply: I produced it and didn't want to add too much production because I wanted it to be very stripped-down. That said, I think a lot of the song lyrics do speak to the present moment, so the two things can coexist.

Your collaboration with Deniz Tek: how has it developed over the years?

Well, I first met Deniz during the Ron Asheton tribute show — Deniz had known Ron and was asked to play a few songs. Then I found out he spends a lot of time in Hawaii, same as me, so we became closer friends because we were on the same island. At some point, we decided to do... well, I asked him to sing on the "Acoustic K.O." EP, which is basically an acoustic version of four or five songs I wrote with Iggy over the years. We recorded it, it was fun and it went well; afterward I found myself playing on various tracks for Cleopatra Records: "Devil With A Blue Dress On" by Mitch Ryder, "Leader Of The Pack" with Cherie Currie... so I got to know Matt Green from Cleopatra Records, and while I was away he asked if I'd be interested in making another record with Deniz Tek, this time with original electric songs. I thought it over, talked to Deniz about it, and we said to each other: "Alright, let's do it!" That's how the whole thing came about.

What can you tell us about the album's beautiful physical formats — how do you view them in this strange digital era?

I think — at least from our perspective — vinyl is essential these days because people want to hear vinyl versions. On the other hand, CD sales still far outpace vinyl, it's kind of the universal format. A lot of people buy vinyl but don't actually listen to it, they just keep it as it is and listen to the CD or burn it or whatever. Then of course there's streaming, which is probably what you meant, and all of that is available for our record.

Are you planning a tour with Deniz to promote the album, once the health emergency is over?

I don't think so, you know? This is more of a project — I hung up my touring shoes a while ago, but never say never, things can change. Right now I have no plans, and it's kind of pointless anyway because I have no idea when touring will be possible again. We'll see how things go.

Can you tell us about the highs and lows of the Detroit scene in the Seventies? Was there really a genuine scene there?

Oh yes, absolutely! You know, I wasn't there for too long in the Seventies, but as for the Sixties, definitely... in the late Sixties, music was the lifeblood of Detroit! Not just because of the Motown sound, but also because of that whole British Invasion-style band scene, like Mitch Ryder or Bob Seger or the MC5 and then the Stooges. Everyone spent all their time in the clubs around town where they played, like the Grande Ballroom or the East Town Ballroom and so on. The bands were really good: if you were in one, you had to be good or you'd get treated pretty badly (laughs, ed.), because people didn't want to waste their money on bands that didn't play as well as the ones already out there! Yeah, it was definitely a great scene, with a lot of really good bands.

Are you still in touch with Iggy? What was he like as a musician and as a person outside of music?

I'm not in touch with him anymore — I think all told we played together for at least ten years, counting the old days, the reunion and so on. So we pretty much said everything there was to say to each other (laughs, ed.). Sometimes we're in touch over some song we wrote together for publishing rights and things like that, but apart from that we don't have any real connection. I think Iggy has a huge amount of talent: as I see it, he's a great lyricist, I think one of the best. He also has musical ideas, but when it came to our relationship, I wrote all the music myself. At first he helped me arrange some things, but later on not even that, so he just wrote the lyrics: I'd hand him the music and he'd write to it.

What are your memories of the Asheton brothers?

Well... Ron Asheton was actually the first one I got to know. There was a band I formed with Scott Richardson, the Chosen Few, but after a while I had to leave because I had a lot of problems; eventually, when the lineup changed, Ron Asheton became the bassist. So I met him in that role, once at a show I happened to attend because I was in town — it was a fraternity party in Ann Arbor — and he was a great guy, really, really, really funny! He drew his own comics and he was genuinely hilarious. I didn't really get to know Scotty well until years later, once they'd already become a band: I moved to Ann Arbor and he became the first roommate in the house we all shared; later we were also roommates in a kind of apartment building. That's how I got to know him really well, and he was a great person too: they both had their own personalities, but I think they were good guys.

What advice would you give to young bands who want to play rock'n'roll as direct as a punch in the face, in an era that's so difficult for that kind of genre?

Yeah, I don't know what to say... if you've got it in your blood, play it, it doesn't matter whether it'll be worth it or not (laughs, ed.)! The problem is that these days the music industry has turned into something completely different from the past — in my opinion that was real music, and the new stuff is, so to speak, fake! It means nothing to me, let's put it that way. It's not for me, and they're not aiming it at me, they're aiming it at young people, so who am I to judge?

Do you have any memories tied to Italy?

Oh, I have a lot of memories tied to Italy, a country I love. When we reformed the Stooges, we came to Italy many times to play and we had a great time. Beyond the band, in my personal life I've visited Italy quite a few times, and some of my favorite places are Como, Milan... really too many to mention! It's a truly fantastic country that I love very much.

What final message would you send to Italian fans? And why should they buy “Two To One”?

Yes, I hope they buy “Two To One”: I think it's a really powerful rock'n'roll album and I'd love for every Italian to own a copy!

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