Interview with Emmy Award winning Stan BushEmmy award winning Stan Bush has an all new album scheduled to be released in 2007 just in time for next year's major Transformers live action motion picture. Stan is probably best known to Transformers fans for performing "The Touch" and "Dare" which were both featured in the 1986 animated Transformers movie. I discovered that Stan's been quite busy during the past few decades ... read the interview below to learn more about our man Stan! Seibertron: Thank you for taking the time to visit with the Transformers fans on SEIBERTRON.com, Stan. As I'm sure you're aware, many of us grew up with your music and most of us are big fans of a few songs that appeared in a certain movie back in 1986. Your career is a lot more than just a few Transformers songs and I would like to give the fans a chance to get to know you better. Seibertron: I don't want to make this interview about trends from the 80s, but I can't resist this question: when did you cut your hair? Your new look is great! Stan Bush: Thanks. I cut my hair about 10 or 12 years ago. Seibertron: Your career as we know it had begun as a member of the rock band Boulder in the late 1970s. How did you originally break into the music scene? How did you get started with Boudler? Stan Bush: I grew up in Florida, started playing guitar at age 10. After high school, I began playing nightclubs throughout the South. I was asked to join Boulder, a recording group in Colorado. Some of the members of the band knew me from Florida. When Boulder got signed to Elektra/Asylum Records we moved to L.A. to record our first album. Seibertron: You made the transition from a band member to the start of your solo career with the release of your "Stan Bush" album in '83. What were some of your big influences early on that helped shape your style? How about the later years? Stan Bush: My early influences were the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Motown stuff, I pretty much liked it all. I had been writing and recording songs during the time when I got signed to CBS Records and released my first solo album.
Seibertron: A lot of your fans on SEIBERTRON.com first experienced your music through the animated Transformers movie. The movie featured two of your songs: "Dare", which was obviously the theme for the heroic Autobot Hot Rod and "The Touch", which was obviously the theme for Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime. How did the process work for those songs? Were you given a copy of the original script and asked to come up with a heroic sounding song for a scene or two? Or did you come up with the songs first and someone working on the movie's soundtrack contacted you to use your songs? Stan Bush: I was doing my second solo album for Scotti Bros/Epic Records and recorded "The Touch" and "Dare". We originally wrote "The Touch" for a Sylvester Stalone movie called Cobra, but the record company got the songs in "Transformers: The Movie" instead. It was a perfect fit. Seibertron: One of your more infamous songs amongst Transformers fans is none other than "The Touch" from the 1986 animated Transformers movie. This song gained recent fame again after appearing in "Boogie Nights", one of the more interesting movies starring actor Mark Whalberg. Who has the rights to "The Touch"? Did you know that the song was going to be used in the movie? What did you think of the "Boogie Nights" version of "The Touch"? Stan Bush: "The Touch" was used in Boogie Nights in a scene where Mark Whalberg is trying to resurrect his career as a rock singer. It was deliberately bad and was kind of a spoof on the eighties. I found out "The Touch" was in Boogie Nights after the film came out. Seibertron: Your song "Till I Was Loved By You" won an Emmy award for Best Original Song after airing on the American soap opera "Guiding Light". You also had a song featured in the 1996 Olympic Games, "Capture the Dream", which aired on NBC in a special tribute to the gold-medalists of the U.S. Swim Team. Which was more special to you and why? Stan Bush: Winning the Emmy was the most special thing in my career. You hear Hollywood types talk about validation, and as corny as that sounds it’s kind of true. The Olympics using "Capture the Dream" was also a great thing, because of the positive message the song has (like "The Touch"), and it was being heard by millions of people. Seibertron: "Dial 1-818-888-8638" and "Higher Than Angels" (which you collaborated on with KISS' Paul Stanley) showed your worldwide appeal in areas such as Europe and Japan. I'm sure a lot of fans here in the States are unaware of your fan following in other countries let alone that you have exclusive International albums. What would you say your appeal is across the pond? Have you ever toured overseas before? Do you plan on doing a tour in North America anytime soon? Stan Bush: "The Touch" became very popular in Europe, especially Germany. It was released as a single three times. I did several tours, both as an opening act and headlining. The nineties were a tough time for rockers in the U.S., with the ‘grunge’ thing and all. I was glad to have an outlet for my music in Europe and Japan. I'm planning to do some U.S. touring with the release of my new album in spring of ’07. Seibertron: Your earlier music has been described as "adult oriented rock". How would you describe your current music style? Stan Bush: For a few years I was trying to reinvent myself doing more acoustic songs, but I never lost my passion for rock. I think that’s really who I am. Seibertron: Your websites, stanbush.com and larecords.com, have a few samples of your songs. Your album, "Shine", is available in its entirety on iTunes. Is there somewhere online where fans can sample, download and/or purchase your newer music? Stan Bush: All of my albums are available through the stanbush.com. We're working on getting all of my CDs available on ITunes. Seibertron: I've touched upon quite a few things from the past few decades. Is there anything that you would like to elaborate upon that you've worked on during the past 20 some years? Stan Bush: I've continued writing and recording all through this time. My new album which will be released in spring of ‘07 is my best work ever . It has the best songs I've ever written and it totally rocks! Seibertron: You recently informed SEIBERTRON.com that you were working on a possible new song for the upcoming Transformers movie. Can you give us any hints to what you're working on for the new movie? Do you have any sample tracks that you could spoil your fans with? Is it a done deal yet? Stan Bush: I was already recording my new album when I learned of the movie. The timing was so perfect, I took the initiative to create a new song to present. We just completed the mix and will be presenting the track to the Transformers production this week. I'd like to encourage fans to write in to the official Transformers movie website if they'd like to hear a Stan Bush song in the new film. It'll be great if they decide to use it. Seibertron: If you have just a moment longer, could you answer a list of 10 quick questions with 10 simple answers? Seibertron: Stan Bush: Singer or Guitarist? Stan Bush: Both, but I'm a better singer (or so they tell me). Seibertron: Decades: 1980s or 1990s? Stan Bush: For music, definitely the 1980s. Seibertron: Sports: Baseball or Football? Stan Bush: Baseball. Seibertron: Movies: Armageddon or Deep Impact? Stan Bush: Armageddon. Seibertron: Cars: Dodge Viper, Chevrolet Corvette or Ford GTO? Stan Bush: Viper. Seibertron: Cities: Chicago, New York or Los Angeles? Stan Bush: Los Angeles. Seibertron: Inventions: Internet or Cell Phones? Stan Bush: Internet. Seibertron: Presidents: Bush or Clinton? Stan Bush: Bush. Seibertron: Fans: Sailor Moon fans or Transformers fans? Stan Bush: Transformers fans, definitely! Seibertron: Allegiances: Autobots or Decepticons? Stan Bush: Autobots. Seibertron: I think it's really great that you are back in the fandom. I wish you the best of luck with your new album! I really appreciate this opportunity! Thanks again Stan! Stan Bush: The pleasure is all mine! Stan Bush Trivia Here's a complete list of Stan Bush's albums: -------------------------------------------------- Important Stan Bush links: -------------------------------------------------- Stan Bush - "The Touch" Music Video StanBush.com LARecords.com Stan Bush's IMDB entry Stan Bush's "She's Got The Power" Sailor Moon theme song |