Sep 7, 2007

Change is the only constant for Rundgren

By Paul Freeman / Daily News Entertainment Writer

At Great American Music Hall, Todd Rundgren will play selections spanning his entire career, running through his most recent CD "Liars."

Over the decades, Rundgren's work has encompassed an exhilarating range of styles, from pop to progressive rock to bossa nova. He says, "You can't change the world, if you can't change yourself." He is in constant metamorphosis.

Rundgren began with the cult band The Nazz in the '60s. Such dazzling solo albums as "Runt" and "Something/Anything" lifted him to stardom. He has been a musical innovator in terms of electronics and the Internet. He prefers sonic experimentation to courting the mainstream, and describes his style of music as more proactive than reactive.

"I listen to a lot of different kinds of music," he said. "Any one of them might become an influence."

But Rundgren believes that life is too short to go on repeating yourself. "That forces me into new avenues," he said.

"A lot of people are looking for something recognizable that they can do over and over again," he said. "It's essentially an act of branding. I realize that you can be successful doing that, but it doesn't give me the same kind of satisfaction."

The eclectic, articulate musician, based in Hawaii, maintains a home in San Francisco, but hasn't performed there in a while. He's been touring as a member of The New Cars, a reincarnation of popular late '70s band The Cars.

A few years ago, he joined "A Walk Down Abbey Road" with Ann Wilson and John Entwistle, playing their own songs, as well as interpretations of Beatles numbers.

"There's the obvious diversion of getting immersed in somebody else's music, learning how to play it properly and convey it with proper spirit," he said. "There's also the opportunity to work with other musicians. It keeps me vitalized. There are notable exceptions, but for the most part, music is a collaboration and you have to be prepared to make the contributions and compromises necessary to make something work."

Reinvention intrigues Rundgren. "It's kind of impossible to invent within the realm of music, because pretty much everything has already been done, in one form or another. That's why musicians are principally plagiarists," he chuckled.

"They lift influences from all the other musicians they've heard. Half the time you're just trying to imitate somebody else. But the fact that some part of yourself is in there, that's what eventually causes musical style to change. It's like genetics. Every new musical act is a mutation of what came before. And some of those mutations will actually survive."

Filling in for Ric Ocasek, he's had fun singing vintage Cars hits, as well as the new incarnation's recently recorded material.

After touring with his own band, Rundgren will spend several months recording a new album. When he's writing, he does his best work in isolation.

"I need to be in a place where there are few enough distractions that my own subconscious will take over and help me with the process," he said. "The background noise of everyday life obscures the more subtle things. My records are supposed to be about my own thoughts and feelings, not photographs of something else."

When recording, Rundgren embraces technology, unlike artists who fear it eliminates the humanity.

"Some might have argued that the piano, when it was introduced, took all of the personality out of a performance that might previously have been on a violin or some other instrument that more readily reveals the character of the person playing it," he said. "Technology has always been a part of music. To me, it doesn't compromise what a real musician does."

Rundgren sees the Internet as a positive force. He envisions music becoming more of a service than a commodity. He likes the notion of subscribing to an unlimited download arrangement, paying monthly fees, as we do with cable TV.

"People in the mainstream will always have a way to make money," he said. "But the biggest thing that struggling musicians lack is exposure, finding an audience who will listen and appreciate and then provide the remuneration necessary to survive. The idea of music as a service means there are fewer boundaries to the less well-known musicians getting heard."

For Rundgren, one thing hasn't changed - live performance remains the musician's foundation. "The key to longevity is what it always was - learn how to play well enough that people will continue to come see you play," he said.

"The last hundred years was an aberration, because of the discovery of how to record music. When we got into the '70s and record company advances became obscenely large, musicians began to think that unless they had a record deal, they were completely invalid, that they didn't have a hope in hell of making a living," he said.

"But there are, all over the world, musicians you've never heard of who are successful. ... But it's up to you and your performances to keep that audience."

Performing is about passion, more than profit, Rundgren argues. "Human beings who may have nothing in common, may argue about philosophy and politics from opposite sides - if they can agree on a musical goal - it's a kind of inter-human synchronicity that exists almost nowhere else," he said.

"When everybody is in the same moment, completely locked in and moving in unison towards the same goals, it's a feeling that you get from hardly anything else. It's transcendent. ...Their flat car gets hooked to our engine and we start traveling towards something together."