Andrew Kerr and Teddy Goldstein

Both Andrew Kerr and Teddy Goldstein are talented singer/songwriters who bring great energy and humor to their live performances.  Meeting in New York City in the mid '90s, Andrew and Teddy formed a strong professional, and personal, relationship that is a treat to experience firsthand. If you like intelligent lyrics infused with self-effacing humor, you need to check out Kerr and Goldstein's work, including Kerr's most recent CD entitled Silver Suitcases.  Way Cool Music sat down with Kerr and Goldstein to learn about surviving friendship in the music business, writing for others and what really might be on the other side of a rainbow.

WC:

How many years ago was this?

TG:

In '95.

AK:

Actually, we started by bonding over James Taylor trivia.  We both were huge James Taylor fans.  We would say a line of any James Taylor song.

TG:

Not even a line; just say a word.

AK:

Yeah. We would say a word like, "Sea."

TG:

What's an example?

AK:

Porpoise...

TG:

Oh, that's good..."And the porpoise has the blues/ My recollection's faulty and I cannot find my shoes/ And my wiring is misfiring/ Let it fall down, let it fall down, let it fall, fall, fall."  And then he would get a point.

AK:

You only get one point for porpoise?

TG:

Well, then I would come up with another one that's pretty tough.  Something from 'Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon.'

AK:

I would be pretty sketchy with that one cuz I lost that one.

WC:

Describe your individual writing process.

AK:

My individual writing process usually starts with·these days it's different.  Early on, I would write the full song in advance and then I would put it to music.  I would write it in verse, like a poem, and then put it to music.  Now, it tends to be that, a lot of times, I will by playing the piano or guitar and there's just a vibe or feel to what I'm playing that I really like.  Then, I will start singing the most pathetic, ridiculous words, and they are always really cliche and cheesy and really bad.  And then, at some point, I say, "I really like that."  Usually, there's a line or two that I find are really cool and have a hook to it.  Then, I'll come back to it and tear it apart to rewrite it.

WC:

Are you recording that?

AK:

Usually, I'll put it on my cell phone or play it enough times so I won't forget it. Because you do worry about losing that little melodic thing you have.  Then, you have to have it make sense.

TG:

I usually read a book like the Joy Luck Club, anything by Amy Tan.

WC:

Does she have more than one book?

TG:

No, I just reread that one a lot.

AK:

You usually drink a Coke to get in the mood, don't you?

TG:

Yeah, I usually have a soda.  No, I usually come up with the music first.  And, I feel like if it's a good enough melody, then it says a few lines to you.  Then, you have to work for the second verse... and bridge... and the third verse.

AK:

Totally, but the first idea·

TG:

It blows out and you're like, "Shit."  It's like you are hearing it for the first time yourself.  But, then you have to go back and wonder why did that come out.  Then, you have to go back and do the writing.

AK:

And, you can't just repeat the same verse.

TG:

Exactly.  If songs could be 10 seconds long, I'd have a million of them.  But, it's a bitch when you have to go back and write the second verse.

AK:

Like with 'Jealousy,' you probably just started with the first verse, "What's the matter with a little old-fashioned jealousy/ Just enough to know that you care for me?"

TG:

I usually write melody first, and the chorus.

WC:

Even though your lyrics are so descriptive?

TG:

Yeah, I know.

AK:

At first, we try things out on each other.  And, we say, "That verse isn't really working."  Then, you hear it later and it's not even the same song.  We tear our stuff apart.  If you're really critical about the words, then the song never comes together.

WC:

Have you two ever written anything together?

TG:

We haven't.

AK:

I've written with Anne (Heaton).  We don't officially do songwriting credits on each other's things.  But, when I was recording 'More For Me,' Teddy, Edie (Carey) and Sam Shaber were all in the studio with me.  We wanted to record it that day, but I didn't have a chorus and I didn't know what to do.  I had it on a chalkboard.  I'd say, "I need it to feel like this... want to be... more for me... we need a rhyme."  He'd help edit tons of my songs and say, "That's too many times with that one phrase" or whatever.

TG:

We play things for each other all the time.

AK:

We help edit each other, but we never plan it... Well, there was that time back in '82, but, we shouldn't really talk about it.

WC:

What's the most surprising or interesting thing that inspired you to write a song?

TG:

Let's answer this one for each other.  I'd say for you it's 'Silver Suitcases.'

AK:

I didn't expect it to be a song, necessarily.

TG:

Because that was true story.

AK:

Finding money by the side of the road and feeling so overwhelmed by it that I wanted to write it down that it became a song.

TG:

Where she kept dumping guys at the alter.

AK:

Surprised that movie even came out!

TG:

Also, The Wedding Singer with Adam Sadler where he got left at the alter.  And Crimes and Misdemeanors.  All three of those movies·that was surprising.

AK:

I often don't know where your inspiration comes from.  I think I know where that song comes from. But, you say, "No, it's about my third grade math teacher."  I usually assume it's about his current or ex-girlfriend because there'd be one line in it has that person.  But, he'll say, "That one line, OK maybe."

TG:

Yeah, one line is usually about a specific person.

WC:

How often do you try to figure out where the songs came from?

TG:

We usually know where each other's songs came from.

AK:

We usually ask as well.  We'd ask, "Is that a true story?"

WC:

You live a somewhat similar lifestyle·

AK:

Yeah, lots of sex with groupies.

WC:

Yeah, I know I'm holding you up from that.  But, have you ever written about a similar experience?

TG:

Good question.  I could see that, but I don't think we have.

AK:

There's got to be similar themes.  We both like the idea of poignancy with pieces of humor thrown in.  Yeah, we've written about family themes.

TG:

The road... 'Rock Star' and 'On the Road' are very similar.

AK:

They are similar in that we are making fun of ourselves.

TG:

They have almost the same lines like yours is, "They'd rather hear 'Fire and Rain,'" and mine is "Was that a flush or was someone telling me to hush?"

WC:

So, before a concert, if you are going to play 'Rock Star,' do you say, "I can't play 'On the Road?'"

AK:

No, we usually just follow each other with them.

TG:

Live, we usually say something like, "That song reminds me of this one."