Novo Combo consisting of Michael Shrieve, Stephen Dees, Jack Griffith and Pete Hewlett, has released a new album, 45 West 55th on the band’s WildRoots Records label and I got to talk to Michael Shrieve and Stephen Dees. They are talented musicians, sought after by the likes of The Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Hall and Oats and Santana, and are happy to be working together. It was a pleasure to interview them and get to know some of their outlooks.
Interview by Nica Strong. Photos courtesy of Novo Combo.
Nica Strong: Let’s start with… what is your favorite instrument to play and how did you get started in music?
Michael Shrieve: Drums is my favorite instrument. I started playing by getting kicked out of class in 8th grade and being sent to the principal’s office. On the way back, I passed the band room and there was the percussion section right by the open door. I was taken aback by this and I knew it was love at first sight. I got in trouble all over again for taking too long to get back to class – but that day I walked down and bought some drum sticks and carpet samples and that is how I started my career.
Stephen Dees: I come from a musical family and my dad and all my uncles play acoustic guitars – country music, blue grass, and all that sort of stuff. Guitars were always around so I always had one. My granddad’s was my first guitar so I played that first. I was drawn to bass at one point. At 14 or 15, I was in a band and there was a bass player named Will Lee – he plays the house band on the David Letterman show – he was on there for years and he is a great bass player. I was always around him and I really loved the way he played and he always influenced how I played. We were also both big fans of James Jamerson of Motown and Paul McCartney from The Beatles. Those two cats knew how to play to a song. So I started playing bass as well [as guitar] and whatever gig came up- if they needed a bass player, I would play [that] and if they needed a guitar player I would play [that]. At 19, I was out for a house gig in a rock band for a club making steady money. So I played bass all the time and I enjoyed it and loved it and it was real natural for me. I really love playing to the rhythm section – the drums and the groove. So that is my favorite. I play guitar all the time as well.
NS: Do you have any particular influences?
MS: My music interests started with everybody like The Beatles and Rock and Roll, then R&B stuff and blues and then my focus was jazz as a drummer. So I have always been interested in a lot of music and I try to discover new music today as a rule. I have a schedule where I wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning and I put on some headphones and I explore music. I go online and look for new music to listen to. For me, it is exciting and interesting and it’s a reminder to me why I started listening to music in the first place: because I love music. I want to discover new music all the time .
SD: When I was little, country music was around and there were a couple of artists that I liked. I liked Johnny Cash – I thought he was cool and I really liked the songs of Hank Williams Sr. – great songwriting. I was always drawn to good songs. My older brother and my mom were big Rock and Roll fans. My dad was country and my mom and brother were rock and roll which was new at that time. They liked early Elvis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and that turned me on to the rock and roll. Within that genre there was always a great song on the B side of the record. Pretty much all of my life I was inspired by great songwriting – the Beatles were fabulous. They were great songwriters and they influenced me quite a bit. But also Burt Bacharach, the whole canon at Motown, Stacks Records, all those great writers. I played all that stuff when I was a kid. I did not say I like this and this – I played it all. I like Miles Davis – anything that turns me on.
NS: This is a great breath of musical influence. It is interesting because some artists do tend to get focused in one or two genres. What is a favorite concert/performance that you played and why?
MS: There have been many many concerts if you have been doing it for as long as Stephen and I have, but one of the most memorable ones for me is when I just turned 20 or so and I played at Woodstock with Santana. That is one of the most memorable and one that I am constantly reminded of whether I like it or not (laughs). There have been so many great shows and you do not really compare them, but that was a memorable show.
NS: Is there one you remember where you knew at that moment that this is what I should be doing for the rest of my life?
SD: Just playing in some little club that no one knows about and making magic. That has happened to me many times and I was like, “Wow, that was great!” For a big concert, I was playing with Darryl Hall and John Oates. It was our first time going over to England and I think it was called The New Vick – great venue. What was great about it was that Hall and Oates did not know how big they were over there and we sold out the place. Everyone was there – there were guys there from Monty Python, Townsend was there, Little Feat was there. We really shined and we got a write up in the Melody Maker. Hall and Oates won over the audience that night and it was so exciting. I remember going to the elevator and the bass player from Little Feat was there and he said ‘come here, come over here and have a drink with us’. I did not know much about Little Feat at the time and I do not even drink (laughs), but I went over there and hung out with them for a while. That was a magical night. There were also some gigs that Novo Combo did when we would be playing and Pete Townsend or Mick Jagger would be there and that was very exciting. They were supporting the band. But for so many that are great, there are some where you are disappointed, and it’s usually because of the sound. It does not matter how good you play – if you don’t have a good PA system and a good sound guy it doesn’t matter. There are some nights when you think, “I do not sound very good,” and then there are people in the room that say ‘that is the best you ever sounded!’. It is a weird thing, but when everything goes right, that is what you tend to remember.
NS: Have you ever had a concert where you messed up, missed a beat? Did you keep going, stop playing…
SD: Keep going!
MS: Yep, you keep going. There is a famous musician, I do not remember who, who said, ‘If you play a wrong note, play it again like you meant to play it’. It is like a cat that runs to greet you but they run into the wall and look like, ‘I meant to do that’ (laughs). I had a gig in London once and one side of my body stopped working and it is like, “How do I play as a drummer?” We had two sets that night as well, and it was frightening. Somehow I got through it, but that was sort of a come to Jesus moment.
NS: What do you like to do in your ‘me time’ when not playing music?
MS: I have taken an interest in AI art in the last couple of years. I have spent a lot of time getting into that and putting it onto apparel and clothing. I love books, movies and a good walk on the beach at midnight.
SD: I love doing things that make my wife happy. Truly, because we have a great relationship. And the thing about my wife is she is talented – she plays saxophone and flute, and she sings. We have a band together actually called The Bandees and a band called The Wild Roots. She plays in the horn section and she has a lovely voice. And something we really like to do is grow stuff in the garden. We grow root nut trees and vegetables and we are pretty serious about it. We both love doing that – get out in the dirt, you know? To see the seeds come up, it’s magic. And then other than that, I am playing guitar all the time (laughs)
NS: Best collaboration?
MS and SD: (Laughs) Well, we did pretty good.
SD: There has been so many collaborations that I enjoy. In fact, I only do things in my life that I enjoy. I have done things where I did not enjoy them, but later in life you get to pick and choose the things you want to do. When I am producing someone else – Novo Combo – we produce ourselves. We are a democratic band – we are all equal and that is a beautiful thing. If I am going to work with someone I ‘ve got to really like them. Like on every level – what they do, how they are as a person, with myself so that is where I am at now. And it has to be right for them too. If I cannot do them justice then I am like – you want somebody else.
MS: I completely agree with Stephen on that. You do not want to do stuff that that you do not enjoy anymore. But if you find someone that you want to collaborate with and work with then you want to do it well. You want to make the best of it and try to use the wisdom that we have acquired over the years that you bring to each project that you decide to work with and help to bring the best out of each other and maybe even surprise the other person with this idea or that idea and I think that surprises is a good thing. So it is all goodl.
NS: Best advice for someone who is struggling and thinking that this may not be the best thing for them? What would you say to them to encourage them to keep playing?
MS: I would say to them, think twice. It is not easy so this may not be the thing that you want to do to make a living. I would encourage them not to throw the love of music away but to continue to do everything else to study, to learn. But it is a very difficult path for a musician here on out. Everyone does not have to be a player. I mean you can play and you can enjoy it. For example, I enjoy reading, but I am not necessarily a writer. I enjoy watching films, but I am not necessarily a director. Music needs its listeners as much as it needs its players. To make a living at it nowadays is much more difficult than it was 20 years ago. I do not mean to be negative – it is just a pragmatic way of looking at a situation.
SD: I agree. If you see stars in your eyes, then that is not a good reason to do it in my opinion. I mean back in our day it was a logical thing to get yourself together and get a record deal. That is how you got out there and expanded your audience and played your stuff. You have to have the love for it. I love this and if that means that is the path you are going to take there are different options. You can be a studio guy or you can play in bands, knowing that you can play locally and you are not going to make a lot of money – you are not going to get rich doing it, but you might be able to pay the bills.
You can do it, but make sure you have another job. If you do not you are going to feel like a failure so have something to back it up. That goes with so many things – sports, you name it. You can have stars in your eyes and you can make it, but you have to really good, you have to have something special or you have to decide you are going to be a background person. It does not matter what it is and then if you are good enough, opportunities can happen. Songwriting and streaming does not pay well unless you are Beyonce or Taylor Swift. Make a gazillion dollars somewhere every time you play (laughs). But that is just a few people – five years from now… not Beyonce or Taylor because they are always going to be big, but the people that come after them, five years – who are they? You better have a real gig or be happy to just go play at your local bar or studio.
MS: And having said what I said, I would say that if someone is playing a musical instrument, and they are into music and they feel that burn… you’ve got to go with that too. You have to go deep and hard and, like Steve said, you have to really love it where you just want to create a world unto yourself.
NS: How do you create?
MS: There is no one way – it varies like the leaves on the trees. Wherever you can get it is where you take it.
SD: I agree with that. What you were just saying, we were practicing in SR Studios one day in NYC and we were walking down the street looking to get some pizza slices. We were passing a bodega and there was a stack of newspapers and on one of the newspapers it said Slow Fade. I looked at one of the guys and thought that was a cool title – I am going to write a song and I did. Mike Is right – you get it wherever you can get it. Sometimes it is totally unexpected and it’s better when it just comes on you.
MS: I read a quote and I do not remember the names of a well known songwriter/singer who quoted another songwriter singer and what he said was listen to the conversation. That is where you are going to find your ideas – just in what people are saying. What people are talking about – just listen and find a title It is all around you if you can just see it or hear it.
NS: If you could tell your younger self something back then, what would you have told them?
SD: I know exactly what I would say. When that initial manager signed me (I will not mention his name), and I did not have a lawyer to represent me, he screwed me pretty good.
NS: I am sorry about that.
SD: That was a hard lesson. He was not a good person. I would say do not sign anything and get a lawyer until you know what you are doing. Always try to keep your publishing as people would always want to have your publishing. Now that you are songwriting, they want your publishing and I learned that the hard way in the beginning and my whole album is owned by somebody else. But after that, I never gave my publishing away. So always keep your publishing and always have legal representation if you are signing something serious.
NS: Any parting words?
SD: I hope everyone has a great holiday coming up!
