Matthew and Gunnar Nelson

By Jennifer Maurer

Gunnar Nelson is the master of his own evolution.  As one-half of the famous Nelson twins who formed The Band NELSON back in the late 1980′s, he has had some uphill battles to fight, both musically and personally – all within a business that has not always been kind.  Despite the pitfalls, Gunnar and  Matthew are back to solidify their brand with a new record aptly titled “Lightening Strikes Twice.”  It’s the highly anticipated follow up to their multi-platinum 1990 debut “After the Rain” which garnered the #1 hit (“Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection” and the follow up single “After the Rain.”

The first track released from the new record, “All I Need Tonight”,  is accompanied byThe Band‘s first video in years.  Closing a twenty-year gap,  Gunnar and Matthew have now decided that the conditions are ripe for a rock and roll take-over, proving once again that it’s hard to keep a good band down.

As NELSON prepares for re-entry into the mainstream rock and roll arena, Gunnar is on his own roll.  Having served as the creative force for much of  “Lightening Strikes Twice,” he is proud of where it’s at, and how The Band has evolved.  He recently sat down for a conversation with PopStar to discuss the record’s release.  In this exclusive interview, we go behind the music and the man himself, as he lends some unique insight into NELSON’s world.

Your new CD Lightening Strikes Twice has been 20 years in the making.  How does it feel to finally grant your fans a continuation of the music they love, while introducing a new generation  to your sound?

It’s a wonderful feeling in a couple of respects because this record was really made to address a personal craving I had to really make a statement to myself that the first record was not a fluke, that I always had that follow up record in me that could not only build on what After the Rain had done when we released it, but hopefully improve upon it given 20 more years of experience.

I kind of went into it with an open mind and an open heart, and as I started working the songs for it, it took on a life of it’s own.  I realized really quickly that I was addressing what I thought was a great wrong.  I think that NELSON’s career was truncated unfairly the first time around because of the rise of grunge.  All us heroes turned into zeros overnight because MTV basically changed the agenda and all of the labels followed suit.  They commercialized everything Seattle, and I come home from the tour and every body’s wearing flannel.  So it was very frustrating, and I don’t think I even realized how much frustration I was carrying around with me until I started making this record.  I think it was so painful for me that that first go around got shut down like it did, that I tried to fool myself over the years that life goes on and that it really didn’t matter to me.  But it really does matter to me.

This music has always been inside us, and it’s been inside of me wanting to get out.  This was not made because of commerce, and it has very Little To do with the fact that Frontiers Records was a big fan and was catering to my ego.  It had everything to do with he fact that this record should have been made and promoted with a label that should have been proud of it in 1993.

I can honestly tell you, and seriously, this is not coming from ego, but from a music standpoint.  This is the first time in my career that I can say as a record – as a body of work – there is not one note on this record that I would change.  What it is, is exactly what I wanted it to be and I’m really proud of it.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Matthew last May, and he gave you a lot of credit for the content of the album itself.  He also talked about how important it was to the both of you to have a full house on this one, meaning no “drop outs” or “filler” songs – just well crafted tracks that you could play from start to finish.  It sounds like you have achieved that.

It’s cool that you mention that.  I’ve gotta buy Matthew a fruit basket now.  {laughs}

The whole thing that I hated when I was coming up was hearing something on the radio and getting all excited about it, and then going out to buy the record only to find out that only one song – that one I heard on the radio – was any good, and everything else was just a bunch of crap.  I felt ripped off.  As a kid, I felt ripped off.  So when we sat down to do the first NELSON record, our whole thing was “we will sell no wine before it’s time,” and The Goal is this: To have an album that if someone wants to listen to as an album from start to finish, it will be a comprehensive experience.  If they pick a track, it’s gotta sound like a single.  The Goal is to do both at the same time.  I think we’ve done that on this one.

Do you have a favorite track on Lightening Strikes Twice?

There are two that I actually love and they’re for different reasons – and they change all the time which is a good sign.  I love the ballad that I co-wrote with Mark Slaughter called “To Get Back To You.”  There’s another song on the record that I like, and perhaps it’s for egotistical reasons, because I have started to blossom as a guitar player, and that’s a song called “Take Me There.”  I love to channel Brian May on that one because that’s probably my favorite guitar solo that I’ve ever played.  I also like The Theme of the song.  It’s just a really positive song.  So those are probably my two favorites, but just when I say that, “Call Me” is like a straight ahead Elton pop/rock song.  It’s really hard to beat.  I really like the energy of “Ready Willing and Able,”  I think that’s going to be a great show opener when we do the live show.

One of the more poignant tracks on the record, “Take Me There,” is a powerful, almost haunting ballad that seems to encompass the search for salvation.  Can you give us the story behind that song?

I cannot tell you how many times in the last twenty years between our first album and this one, I have just felt lost.  I felt like if somebody please, would have given me a sign of which direction to move in, it would have been very very helpful.  When things started to click into place with this new record, “Take Me There” was actually the first New Song that we had written originally for this album.  I think it came from feeLing Like all of a sudden that guidance was there.  I had a path in front of me that was very clear.  I felt that sense of hope.  That’s where the lyrics from that song really come from.  It is not a love song.  It’s a song about life.  You could take it either way, but to me, that’s where I wrote it from.

Are there any plans to tour in support of the album?

We’re going through that right now, and yes, there is.  We’re going through management right now and trying to determine who’s going to be the captain of this ship.  What I do not want to do is have a shot gun approach.  Much like the effort it took to make this record, I want to take the same amount of care and focus on touring.  I want to resist the temptation to go out on  your standard rock, multi-billed hair band of the 80′s kind of thing.  My goal is to go out on tour with an established classic rock  band.  I set out to make a classic rock record with this album.  I have always thought that that is what NELSON is at it’s best.  It’s got that kind of heritage and pedigree and sensibility anD Influences of classic rock.  We were a  rock band with strong pop leanings.  We were all about the songwriting and the textures.  So that’s what I want to do.  So in answer to your question, if I can get NELSON onto the proper tour like it deserves, absolutely.  We’re gonna be touring our brains out.

To me, this music is meant to be experienced in a certain way.  When I do hear a Journey record and the solo for Don’t Stop Believin,’  I’ve got my fist in the air.  I’m not thinking about doing my taxes or about a fight I just had with my girlfriend.  I’m someplace else and that to me, that’s what rock and roll always did for me when I was growing up.  I had a really rough childhood, so did Matt.  Our parents had a divorce thAt Lasted eleven years.  It was rough.  Music was the true north in my personal compass.  If I didn’t have it, seriously, I would be a Hollywood statistic.

Making music contains its own form of salvation for you then.

Yes.  To me, making this record was a form of salvation.  It reminded me of why I got into music in the first place.  Whether or not it does anything, I just want people to put it in their iPod.  Make it a part of your life.  Make it benefit your life.  That’s all I ask.

Lightening Strikes Twice is scheduled for release on February 15, 2011.  For more information on NELSON, visit their rock website or visit them on Facebook. Also in February, watch for PopStar’s review of Lightening Strikes Twice.

Photos of Gunnar and Matthew Nelson courtesy of Brian Lowe

http://www.popstar.com/News/Celebrity/Article/1091