Now And Then

You might think America is, like, so Hits & Memories MOR, but Adam Schlesinger from Fountains Of Wayne and James Iha from The Smashing Pumpkins, as a production duo, felt they had something that still matters in the new millennium while remaining as timeless as the band's hits from the '70s. So in 2007, they took them into the studio to cut an album titled Here And Now, which included the odd cover, among them Nada Surf's Always Love and Maplewood's Indian Summer.

The duo – they began as a trio, Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and the late Dan Peek, the sons of American servicemen based just outside of London, formed America within the UK in 1969, Peek departing in 1977 – still play around 100 shows a year internationally so, as Beckley observes, “getting into the studio takes some planning.” Their latest album, Back Pages, was released last year and sees them cover songs by some their own favourite artists, from Simon & Garfunkel's America, CSN's Woodstock and The Zombies' Time Of The Season to A Road Song by Fountains Of Wayne.

“We'd never done a full covers album before,” Beckley admits, on the line from Dayton, Ohio, a few weeks out from their next Australian tour. “We'd, on occasion, done a cover song, so it was interesting to approach it from scratch. Our good friend and producer, Fred Mollin, kinda came to us the concept of, 'You haven't done one of these, therefore what do you think?' And that's really how it got started. There are so many great tunes; I mean the only thing about a project like this is you have to narrow it down. I think we came up with a great dozen, but of course there's probably a Volume Two and Three there, quite easily.”

Not that the pair aren't more than capable still of filling an album with their own original songs. Beckley, for instance, also released his fifth solo album, Unfortunate Casino, last year. “Whenever you approach any album, whether it's a group album or my solo album, I think you're looking for an experience, so that there's some kind of a curve and design to the whole thing – a start, a middle and finish – and so lots of things go into that. On one hand you're looking for stuff that provides contrast, on the other hand you don't want things to be too far outside of parameters that are maybe just in your mind, that you want an overall concept. Each project is different.”

As for Here & Now, “A lot of things happened as a result of that album. It introduced us to a new audience that to a certain extent – a lot of people came on board once Adam Schlesinger and James Iha had lent their names to the project – and a lot of their contacts and friends said, 'Jeez, can we be a part of that?' It was to be a 'Duets' kind of theme so it took a certain additional amount of effort to integrate all these great people, like Ryan Adams, Ben Kweller and My Morning Jacket and stuff, into the album seamlessly, and I think they did a fantastic job.”

Travelling with a four-piece band, the trademark sound remains. Although live, America has evolved quite a way in their 42 years together. “We had big success right away with records,” Beckley explains, “and I certainly wouldn't change anything about that. But you know, your records going to number one puts on a lot of pressure; a lot of people there to see the shows, and I think the shows took a while to catch up, but it certainly did by the end of the '70s, and to be honest, I'm happier with the show now than ever.”

America will be playing the following shows:

Thursday 6 September - Hamer Hall, Melbourne VIC
Friday 7 September - Wrest Point Entertainment Centre, Hobart TAS
Sunday 9 September - Canberra Theatre, Canberra ACT
Monday 10 September - Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW
Wednesday 12 September - Concert Hall, Perth WA
Friday 14 September - Wollongong Entertainment Center, Wollongong NSW
Saturday 15 September - Twin Towns, Gold Coast QLD