Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Neil did an interview on The Bower Show on Sirius Maxim Radio. The transcript is available at this link.

Excerpt:

BOWER: What are your favorite and least favorite Rush songs?

NEIL: That's a good question… we write songs that we really like to play. Sometimes we make them hard to play, so that when we play it for the 5000th time, it'll still be a challenge. "Tom Sawyer" is certainly one of our best known songs, but it's always hard to play. It's always a challenge, so how can that be boring? There's still an exciting thing about playing "Red Barechetta." There's still elements of that song where you feel the audience elevate. There are those genuine dynamic peaks and those genuine organic responses. We were playing the Yardbirds' "Heart Full Of Soul" on our last tour, and the audience started chiming in on the background vocals, spontaneously. It sounded great, musically, but to have that level of response was a cool thing, it happened every night.

The interview Neil did with Sirius Radio on 9/18/06 is now available online. You can listen to it at the following link:

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room20/519803/Neil_...

9/20/06 update: I just listened to the entire interview, and it was really great. I realized I hadn't listened to an interview with Neil for quite some time, and as usual he's well spoken and funny. There are quite a few subjects discussed that I hadn't heard Neil comment on, including:

• Rush fans
• Rush dryers and vending machines
• Religious fundamentalism in America and elsewhere
• What it's like to look out into the crowd when he's playing with Rush
• Why he loves riding his motorcycle
• Where the worst drivers are in the U.S.
• His favorite bumper sticker
• Drummer jokes
• Why the title of his new book is so long

This interview is definitely worth listening to. It's great to hear Neil doing interviews again. 

Eddie Trunk's website now has the airdates for the interview with Neil Peart. If you have VH1 Classic, check it out.

http://eddietrunk.com/tv.php

VH1 Classic EXCLUSIVE! My interview with the legendary and reclusive Neil Peart will air on VH1 Classic in October! It will premiere 10/1 at 8:30PM EST and repeat 10/2 @ 2:30PM and Midnight, 10/3 @ 5PM, and 10/5 @ 5:30PM. All times EST. Don't miss my talk with Neil about his new book and all things Rush!

The full interview with Neil Peart is now on Billboard.com. Check it out here:

http://billboard.com/bbcom/feature/article_display...

Excerpt:

Have you ever asked Geddy or Alex to join you on a (motorcycle) ride, or have they asked you?
Well it's not as easy as all that, to just throw your leg over a motorcycle. When I first started, Alex actually started at the same time, and we took a motorcycle safety class together up in Toronto. This must be '94 or so, and he took to it right away and was good at it, but didn't sustain the interest, and eventually sold his bike and just didn't continue. And I've talked about it with Geddy. Of course, anything that any of us is interested in is something we talk about, and he's just said, No, he'd be too afraid. I don't like when any of my friends is out on a trip. I worry about them, and I think about it more than when I'm on the bike. [Then], I don't worry because I feel in control, and if I'm careful enough I'll be okay. I have a sense that if I'm ever afraid, it's my fault because I shouldn't let anyone put me in that position. There's a funny mentality that goes on. Whenever somebody starts talking about getting interested in it, then I worry about them.

If you have Sirius satellite radio, you can catch an interview with Neil Peart on Monday.

http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/CachedPage&c=Channel&cid=1104779639593

Details:

Neil Peart Visits Classic Rewind Mon 9/18 12:00 pm ET Join Mark Goodman this Monday, when he talks with Rush's Neil Peart! The legendary drummer will be doing a rare interview and chatting with Mark about all sorts of things: his new book, touring with Rush around the world on his motorcycle, Rush fans and much more.Rebroadcast: Weds., Sept. 20th @ 5 pm ET.

Neil was interviewed by Billboard magazine about the upcoming new Rush album, his new book, and a few other things.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003120134

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Rush Wrestling With Faith On New Album

Neil Peart
September 11, 2006, 3:50 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Rush has penned eight songs for its next studio album, which should be out in early 2007, according to drummer Neil Peart. The artist tells Billboard.com his lyrics for the as-yet-untitled set were greatly influenced by his motorcycle journeys throughout the United States, chronicled in the new book "Roadshow: Landscape With Drums."

Peart says he was struck by the ubiquity of religious billboards that have sprung up on America's highways, which got him thinking about some weighty topics. "Just seeing the power of evangelical Christianity and contrasting that with the power of fundamentalist religion all over the world in its different forms had a big effect on me," he says.

"You try to put your own way of seeing the world into some kind of congruence with other peoples, and that's difficult for me," he admits. "I mean, I see the world in what I think to be a perfectly obvious and rational way, but when you go out into it and see the way other people think and behave, and express themselves on church signs, you realize, 'Well, I'm not really part of this club.'"

"I looked for the good side of faith," Peart says. "To me it ought to be your armor, something to protect you and something to console you in dark times. But it's more often being turned into a sword, and that's one big theme I'm messing with.

"Musically, the new album is continuing in much the same vein as 2002's "Vapor Trails," which returned Rush to a more guitar/bass/drums-driven sound. But Peart is quick to add that the music is "remarkably organic in a way that I haven't heard [from Rush] before. We spent a month together in May working on those songs and developing our individual instrument parts for them. It's early to characterize it, but it's definitely fresh and different and that's certainly satisfying."

Peart, bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson will regroup next month to finish pre-production and will begin recording in November. However, as Peart writes at the conclusion of "Roadshow," he is ambivalent about putting himself through yet another massive world tour.

"It is true that in 1989 I announced that I wasn't going to tour anymore, and have said that every time since and have gone back and decided [to do it] for all good reasons," he says. "One of the main ones to me is that a band plays live, so if I want to consider our band as a living, working thing then that's the case. I haven't in my own mind committed to [another tour] yet, but of course I haven't ruled it out, either."

Neil Peart now has a site on MySpace.com. There are a few songs that you can listen to, including "Momo's Dance Party." Plus you can check out all of Neil's friends. Here's the URL:
http://www.myspace.com/neilpeartpratt

This link comes directly from the links section on NeilPeart.net.