Rocker Bryan Adams talks Reckless, Justin Bieber, new album with Jeff Lynne and playing the AFL Grand Final

ON the back of an anniversary tour of his most celebrated album, Bryan Adams is looking to the future with a new album and a tour of Australia.

Canadian singer Bryan Adams performs during a concert at the Monumental Stadium in Lima, Sunday, April 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)

You’re playing the AFL Grand Final on the weekend — what sports did you watch growing up?

I grew up in Europe, so it was always soccer for me. Of course I liked (ice) hockey a lot because I would go back and forth between there and Canada. They are still my two favourite sports. But when it gets to anything at this level, I am into it, doesn’t matter what sport it is really.

Do you know what you will play for the Grand Final yet?

Kind of. I haven’t completely finalised it. The other day when we were doing our BBC show I didn’t really finalise it until I got up there. Sometimes things happen — you get a feeling that you need a rocker here, so you just have to pull one out of the bag.

You have just come of the 30th anniversary of Reckless tour, where you played that album from start to finish; will there be an element of that in this tour?

Oh yeah. There always will be — that’s one of my signature albums so it’s going to be hard to pull away from that. With my shows it’s all about playing the songs that people know and then throwing in a few songs from the new album and that’s pretty much it really.

What does that album mean to you all these years later?

That was a big changer for me. I had come off doing You Want It, You Got It and Cuts Like a Knife. I had paid everybody back and luckily I had one more album to go on the road with. There were a lot of good things that happened on that record like singing with Tina Turner. Little did I know she was going to have a record out at the same time as mine — a little record called Private Dancer. It was an extraordinary time and there are a lot of songs on that record that really stand the test of time — Summer of 69, Heaven, Run To You are songs we still play every time we go out and do gigs.

Do you still have the same work ethic you had 30 years ago?

I do, but I don’t do it in the same way. I go out on tour as much as I did back then but I don’t do it in one long stretch, I do ten days on, two weeks off kind of thing.

Does it take more to drag you out on tour these days now you are a father and have those responsibilities?

I was thinking about it today because I have to go away for two weeks. But it’s OK because they are still youngsters — only 2 and 4. Time goes so quickly, but I am only going to miss a few cuddles and that’s about it.

How has being a dad changed your life — has it made you reassess a few things?

I had to change my will (laughs). Obviously there are so many things that just that there isn’t even a way of describing it. It’s a lovely thing and I am glad — even as an old fella — that I finally got around to doing it.

Get Up is your first full album of original material in seven years — was this a slow build or did it come in a sudden creative burst?

I have done lots of songs in between — but the album is a return to (long-time writing partner) Jim Vallance and I writing together for a whole album. It’s produced by Jeff Lynne, who has done a few good things — The Beatles, (Traveling) Wilburys, ELO — and I am looking forward to playing some of the songs on this album because I think they will go over really well.

Jeff Lynne has a staggering resume as a producer — what did he bring to proceedings?

I was drawn to him because I like what he does and I think that’s the only reason to really work with anybody, if you think that their sound would work with your songs and vice-versa. So, it was pretty natural right from the get-go. As soon as I heard the first track I just thought ‘man, we have to do more of this’.

Did you find you had a love of the some music? Opening track You Belong To Me sounds like it would sit comfortably on a Travelling Wilburys album …

Totally. I am just so pleased with it, it’s unbelievable and I think that we could do more. I think we did have a common interest in the same songs, there’s no question, and certainly our influences could be similar but we never actually discussed it.

Partnership ... ELO front man Jeff Lynne produced Adams’ new album from the US. Picture: Supplied

You’re in the UK, he’s in the US — how did you work together?

Jim and I would write a song and send a demo over to Jeff and he would take whatever he liked out of it and then replay the rest of it and then send us back the track. That was it. Occasionally, I would see him in LA and we would do a little session together — maybe add a guitar here or there or redo a vocal. So it was pretty much like that, over the internet. I am glad nobody hacked into my email account.

It’s interesting to hear the acoustic version of some of the songs on the album too — do most of your songs just start out with you and a guitar?

Pretty much, yeah. The acoustic versions were put on by the record company as a last minute thing. I had done a few webisodes, playing the song and talking about it, and when they heard the acoustic versions they said ‘maybe you’d like to put these on the album?’. So I said sure, but it wasn’t my idea.

Is it the mark of a good song if it can stack up acoustically like that?

I think so. I hope they stack up — I can only cross my fingers. It shows how the song stands up in its purest form. Personally on this record, I prefer the full band versions but what’s interesting about the acoustic versions is that even acoustically they sound quite big.

You performed with your countrymate Justin Bieber the other day — how did that come about and what did you make of him as an artist and a person?

Our record company is Universal and they had a conference in Berlin. He was playing on it and I was playing on it and I said to him just before he went on ‘do you want to do a song together?’ and he said ‘sure’. He seems great — he’s not a bad skateboarder either. I’m rubbish — I can barely stand up let alone skateboard.

He came up in a very different environment to the one you came up in — how do you think you would handled that level of scrutiny and online judgment as a young musician?

I got it from a different angle. I got it from the press anyway. But if you are going to be in the limelight you have to be a bit thick-skinned. You’re going to get it no matter what the format so just go with it, have a laugh, keep doing what you are doing, keep your chin up and that’s it.

You have been approached to do shows like The Voice in the past — what do you make of them as a way into the music industry?

It’s a TV show — I don’t think it’s something that is going to launch a lot of great careers. It’s a way of getting some publicity but you are not going to get Coldplay out of that.

New and old ... Singer Bryan Adams and pop sensation Justin Bieber recently performed together. Picture: Supplied

You were just honoured by the Royal Photographic Society — what did that mean to you?

It was a great honour — but it came as a bit of a surprise. I think it means that your work has stood up and someone has noticed it. Particularly last year when I did a book on wounded soldiers back from Iraq and Afghanistan and I think that might have tipped it over because it was a big book here in Britain. It’s called Wounded: The Legacy Of War and it’s all to do with people who have fought and been wounded in these wars of the last 10 or 15 years.

What do you get from photography that you don’t get from music?

I guess it’s kind of like being Bruce Wayne and Batman.

Which one is which?

Well that’s the question (laughs). It’s the same guy doing two different things.

HEAR Get Up (Universal) is out tomorrow

SEE Bryan Adams: Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley, March 12. On sale March 8.

SEE Bryan Adams: Sirromet Wines, Mt Cotton, March 13. On sale March 8.

SEE Bryan Adams: Allphones Arena, Sydney, March 16. On sale March 8.

SEE Bryan Adams: Rod Laver Arena, March 18. On sale March 8.

SEE Bryan Adams: Leconfield Wines, McLaren Vale, March 19. On sale March 8.

SEE Bryan Adams: Kings Park & Botanic Gardens, Perth, March 21. On sale March 8.