Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jeff, good morning to you. Well, how are you calling
from Germany?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Oh? So you it is not morning for you, Tony.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's late afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Late afternoon. Well, let me just say, Tony, it is
a real thrill to talk to you because I have
been a fan since Planet P and your solo hits
back in the eighties and watching you on MTV. So
it's really cool to talk to you. Man.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, thank you, thank you, man. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, Tony, let's first of all, let's talk about your
current effort, which is really cool. A member of this supergroup,
Mandoki Soulmates. I was just kind of previewing it and stuff,
and first of all, I'm really happy that you're still
doing music all these years later. And tell me about
this this supergroup.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, Leslie, Mandoki started is a Hungarian refugee, fled the
Iron Curtain and it could be a this could be
a Hollywood script. Yeah, and started had a dream, as
one does. As thirty years ago he started the soulmates,
Mendoki Soulmates. I've been with the band for the last
(01:06):
twenty years and it's just a musical collective, as corny
as that might sound. As we have We've had the
past members of John Lord, Greg Lake, Jack Bruce Chaka Khan,
just amazing people. Current members are Al Demola, Simon Phillips,
(01:29):
Jesse Siebenberg from Super Tramp is Singing, Leslie sings, Nick
van Id from Cutting Cruise, I sing and play Hammond Organ,
Court the Fabulous Corey. Henry plays Hammond Organ occasionally. He
plays the past stuff. I played the rock stuff, he
plays the jazz stuff, and we're just a hell on
(01:51):
wheels when we get together. It's logistically really really difficult,
of course, because every one of us has a career
and is on tour all the time. Whereas on the
or someplaces, it's not like a band band. It's a collective,
you know, Yeah, and we get together. We don't live
in the same house and send out for pizza or
anything like that. Well, some of us are way up
in our seventies and some of them are young kids
(02:13):
in their sixties.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So yeah, so it's not like the old days when
you got the band together in a studio and you
kind of you know, kind of jammed, and then you
just went out and did a tour and you came
back and did another album and did another tour. It's
not quite like that, right, not at all.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And the logistics of the show and the costs of
the show, we're frighteningly expensive with you can imagine. We
have people flying in from India, from Italy, from the UK,
from the States, from all over everywhere, and everybody's got
to get paid. And we usually play for governments. We
(02:48):
do huge open airs. We're doing one for sixty thousand
people in Budapest, Wow next month. We've played Peeking, China,
we played in Africa, Daris Salam in Tanzania, we played
South Paulo, Brazil, and we we we use big corporate
(03:09):
we have to big corporate sponsors, uh uh. And they're
usually open air, unticketed, you know, free, free, free things
for the for the folks in the city. So otherwise
tickets will be you know, five thousand bucks and nobody
pay it, and and and and we couldn't we couldn't
make it work. So the logistics of the Soult's getting
(03:29):
getting the getting the album made first, and then getting
the show on the road is is daunting. Let's let's
put it that way.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, boy, it sure sounds like it. So and you resigned.
You live in Germany. Correct.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, I'm about a couple of hours train ride from
where Leslie has his studio where we record my studios here.
I'm up in the center of Germany. He's in Bavaria,
which is in the south looking at the Alps. And
so we're a couple of hours apart. And that makes
me the most excess soulmate, you know, because the rest
(04:01):
of us are I'm the only I'm the only I'm American,
of course, but I'm the only one actually living here.
I see, and uh, Leslie and I actually record and
and screw around and and and talk and and and
commiserate and everything all a year long. And then it
comes time to make a record and we'll, you know,
we'll go over together. You know. It's a collective effort.
(04:23):
And I'll pay you. One thing too, is that when
we're done recording all these fabulous people, everybody has taken
a solo everywhere. The editing, the mixing is just like
you really got to have a big set of stones
to not use what Ian Anderson played spot or that
(04:44):
spot right, or the edit al Demola, you know what
I mean. You really have to be have a sure
hand with the old razor Blade.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
We're talking to Tony Carey and the supergroup Project Mandoki Soulmates.
Let's go Tony too early MTV because I remember when
when I first saw the Planet P video for y
Me and I first heard it on the radio, and
I used to I loved it because you know, the
rock stations would play that long, building keyboard intro, and
(05:17):
you know that that probably these days would have been
edited off to like a two second intro. So I
love the fact that back in the day, you know,
you got to hear the full intro, and the video
had the full intro. H take me back to like
eighty two eighty three when that was out.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well, I was written in Germany and in the studio,
and I had was recording day and night in any
genre from country to rock operas that I cared to
because I had a free hand. We basically had a
so science fiction based thing which I named Planet B
(05:58):
a reference to Planet P in Robert Hindlines book Starship Troopers.
That was a movie, but just one. It just zips
by in the book. And I said, Okay, I got
a name, and uh. We had a guy fly over
from Geffen Records in Los Angeles. He heard it, liked it,
he put it out. The problem was I had another
(06:21):
record deal for I won't be home tonight, Yes, and
then and then later a fine five day and the
first day of summer. Yes, So I was not in
the Planet feed project videos and it wasn't really trumpeted
around that I was Planet P. I played every instrument
on the record except for y me except for a
(06:41):
guitar solo I didn't play. But otherwise I play everything
and sang everything, and it is my baby. But contractually
it didn't it didn't work. I couldn't promote to breaking
projects at the same time. So it was really confusing
period in my life.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Actually, well that's interesting to hear because I remember, you know,
it took me a while as a huge fan of
music but also a huge fan of I mean, I
lived on MTV. Uh you know, thankfully. Uh you know
that that my my MTV friends explained that Planet P
was Tony Carey. Because I was also enjoying fine, fine
day and first day of summer and I won't be
(07:19):
home tonight. My friend Chris and I would we would
go out to record stores and try to find your
vinyl or like a compilation CD. And and and to
find your songs because it was like, man, we love
this guy. And then to realize it was that you
were also Planet p and it's like that, no wonder
we love all these songs because it's the same guy.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Well, you know, the problems I mentioned a minute ago
are what we call first world problem. They're the kind
of the kind of problems you actually want to have, right,
And I'm grateful for the for the opportunities I had
to release basically anything I wanted, you know. And and
my output was so it was very, very lific in
(08:00):
the eighties and nineties especially, and I just was releasing
stuff left and right. Mostly. Uh, I produce uh, to
be honest, and uh, I've produced a whole bunch of
number one albums in Europe. But you you wouldn't know
the artists, and you wouldn't understand the language. You know.
It's like from from Italian to German to uh uh,
(08:25):
Swiss to all these huge artists. But I love working
with I love Europe, I love working with with the
different cultures. But they wouldn't mean anything to you or else.
I dropped some names.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Oh, I'm just happy to be name dropping. Tony Kerrey
right now. So I'm that's that's uh, that's that's pretty
awesome for me, man, This is this is really cool because, uh,
you know, back in back in you know, high school,
when I decided I wanted to be on the radio,
you know, I just I lived and breathed MTV. So
to be able to, you know, to to chat with
(08:58):
some of these artists that I used to grow up
watching and go to concerts and everything else to chat
with them now is a huge thrill for me still,
and I still get all charged up about it. And
I know I got to let you go here in
a second, Tony, But so it was just really really
cool to talk to you. And I hope one of
these days that, you know, whether will you ever do
like a Tony Carrey tour, like some sort of solo
(09:19):
tour in the States.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Again, I'm not saying no, but I'm saying probably not.
I'm seventy one. I'll be seventy one in a couple
of months. I got kids, grandkids, all kinds of responsibilities.
I don't like traveling anymore at all. I'm old, man.
I feel old someone as you can't get out a
bit because the bone's hurt. That kind of stuff. Just typical.
(09:40):
I got to say once again, first world bitch in here.
I mean, I'm nothing to complain about it at all, right,
but I still will so you might. I don't know, leave,
let's leave it at that. I really appreciate the kind
words though. It does my heart good to hear that
from somebody that, you know, because you never know who's listening,
(10:02):
you know, on my end right, especially over here in Europe,
and you know, I get all this feedback fifty years
or forty years later, and it's gratifying.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Well, Tony, you definitely have fans here all of the world,
but especially in the States, and so great to talk
to you, man. Best of luck to you as always,
and go, you know, go enjoy, don't. I talk to
a lot of artists who who who still love touring,
and a lot that are saying, you know, what, if
it wasn't for the travel, because you know, the planes
and connections all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Yeah, that's exactly right, that's exactly the thing.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Okay, man, nights talking to you.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
You too, Tony, Thanks so much, man, Take care okay, okay,
bye bye,
Jeff, good morning to you. Well, how are you calling
from Germany?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Oh? So you it is not morning for you, Tony.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's late afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Late afternoon. Well, let me just say, Tony, it is
a real thrill to talk to you because I have
been a fan since Planet P and your solo hits
back in the eighties and watching you on MTV. So
it's really cool to talk to you. Man.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, thank you, thank you, man. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, Tony, let's first of all, let's talk about your
current effort, which is really cool. A member of this supergroup,
Mandoki Soulmates. I was just kind of previewing it and stuff,
and first of all, I'm really happy that you're still
doing music all these years later. And tell me about
this this supergroup.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, Leslie, Mandoki started is a Hungarian refugee, fled the
Iron Curtain and it could be a this could be
a Hollywood script. Yeah, and started had a dream, as
one does. As thirty years ago he started the soulmates,
Mendoki Soulmates. I've been with the band for the last
(01:06):
twenty years and it's just a musical collective, as corny
as that might sound. As we have We've had the
past members of John Lord, Greg Lake, Jack Bruce Chaka Khan,
just amazing people. Current members are Al Demola, Simon Phillips,
(01:29):
Jesse Siebenberg from Super Tramp is Singing, Leslie sings, Nick
van Id from Cutting Cruise, I sing and play Hammond Organ,
Court the Fabulous Corey. Henry plays Hammond Organ occasionally. He
plays the past stuff. I played the rock stuff, he
plays the jazz stuff, and we're just a hell on
(01:51):
wheels when we get together. It's logistically really really difficult,
of course, because every one of us has a career
and is on tour all the time. Whereas on the
or someplaces, it's not like a band band. It's a collective,
you know, Yeah, and we get together. We don't live
in the same house and send out for pizza or
anything like that. Well, some of us are way up
in our seventies and some of them are young kids
(02:13):
in their sixties.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So yeah, so it's not like the old days when
you got the band together in a studio and you
kind of you know, kind of jammed, and then you
just went out and did a tour and you came
back and did another album and did another tour. It's
not quite like that, right, not at all.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And the logistics of the show and the costs of
the show, we're frighteningly expensive with you can imagine. We
have people flying in from India, from Italy, from the UK,
from the States, from all over everywhere, and everybody's got
to get paid. And we usually play for governments. We
(02:48):
do huge open airs. We're doing one for sixty thousand
people in Budapest, Wow next month. We've played Peeking, China,
we played in Africa, Daris Salam in Tanzania, we played
South Paulo, Brazil, and we we we use big corporate
(03:09):
we have to big corporate sponsors, uh uh. And they're
usually open air, unticketed, you know, free, free, free things
for the for the folks in the city. So otherwise
tickets will be you know, five thousand bucks and nobody
pay it, and and and and we couldn't we couldn't
make it work. So the logistics of the Soult's getting
(03:29):
getting the getting the album made first, and then getting
the show on the road is is daunting. Let's let's
put it that way.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, boy, it sure sounds like it. So and you resigned.
You live in Germany. Correct.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, I'm about a couple of hours train ride from
where Leslie has his studio where we record my studios here.
I'm up in the center of Germany. He's in Bavaria,
which is in the south looking at the Alps. And
so we're a couple of hours apart. And that makes
me the most excess soulmate, you know, because the rest
(04:01):
of us are I'm the only I'm the only I'm American,
of course, but I'm the only one actually living here.
I see, and uh, Leslie and I actually record and
and screw around and and and talk and and and
commiserate and everything all a year long. And then it
comes time to make a record and we'll, you know,
we'll go over together. You know. It's a collective effort.
(04:23):
And I'll pay you. One thing too, is that when
we're done recording all these fabulous people, everybody has taken
a solo everywhere. The editing, the mixing is just like
you really got to have a big set of stones
to not use what Ian Anderson played spot or that
(04:44):
spot right, or the edit al Demola, you know what
I mean. You really have to be have a sure
hand with the old razor Blade.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
We're talking to Tony Carey and the supergroup Project Mandoki Soulmates.
Let's go Tony too early MTV because I remember when
when I first saw the Planet P video for y
Me and I first heard it on the radio, and
I used to I loved it because you know, the
rock stations would play that long, building keyboard intro, and
(05:17):
you know that that probably these days would have been
edited off to like a two second intro. So I
love the fact that back in the day, you know,
you got to hear the full intro, and the video
had the full intro. H take me back to like
eighty two eighty three when that was out.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well, I was written in Germany and in the studio,
and I had was recording day and night in any
genre from country to rock operas that I cared to
because I had a free hand. We basically had a
so science fiction based thing which I named Planet B
(05:58):
a reference to Planet P in Robert Hindlines book Starship Troopers.
That was a movie, but just one. It just zips
by in the book. And I said, Okay, I got
a name, and uh. We had a guy fly over
from Geffen Records in Los Angeles. He heard it, liked it,
he put it out. The problem was I had another
(06:21):
record deal for I won't be home tonight, Yes, and
then and then later a fine five day and the
first day of summer. Yes, So I was not in
the Planet feed project videos and it wasn't really trumpeted
around that I was Planet P. I played every instrument
on the record except for y me except for a
(06:41):
guitar solo I didn't play. But otherwise I play everything
and sang everything, and it is my baby. But contractually
it didn't it didn't work. I couldn't promote to breaking
projects at the same time. So it was really confusing
period in my life.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Actually, well that's interesting to hear because I remember, you know,
it took me a while as a huge fan of
music but also a huge fan of I mean, I
lived on MTV. Uh you know, thankfully. Uh you know
that that my my MTV friends explained that Planet P
was Tony Carey. Because I was also enjoying fine, fine
day and first day of summer and I won't be
(07:19):
home tonight. My friend Chris and I would we would
go out to record stores and try to find your
vinyl or like a compilation CD. And and and to
find your songs because it was like, man, we love
this guy. And then to realize it was that you
were also Planet p and it's like that, no wonder
we love all these songs because it's the same guy.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Well, you know, the problems I mentioned a minute ago
are what we call first world problem. They're the kind
of the kind of problems you actually want to have, right,
And I'm grateful for the for the opportunities I had
to release basically anything I wanted, you know. And and
my output was so it was very, very lific in
(08:00):
the eighties and nineties especially, and I just was releasing
stuff left and right. Mostly. Uh, I produce uh, to
be honest, and uh, I've produced a whole bunch of
number one albums in Europe. But you you wouldn't know
the artists, and you wouldn't understand the language. You know.
It's like from from Italian to German to uh uh,
(08:25):
Swiss to all these huge artists. But I love working
with I love Europe, I love working with with the
different cultures. But they wouldn't mean anything to you or else.
I dropped some names.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Oh, I'm just happy to be name dropping. Tony Kerrey
right now. So I'm that's that's uh, that's that's pretty
awesome for me, man, This is this is really cool because, uh,
you know, back in back in you know, high school,
when I decided I wanted to be on the radio,
you know, I just I lived and breathed MTV. So
to be able to, you know, to to chat with
(08:58):
some of these artists that I used to grow up
watching and go to concerts and everything else to chat
with them now is a huge thrill for me still,
and I still get all charged up about it. And
I know I got to let you go here in
a second, Tony, But so it was just really really
cool to talk to you. And I hope one of
these days that, you know, whether will you ever do
like a Tony Carrey tour, like some sort of solo
(09:19):
tour in the States.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Again, I'm not saying no, but I'm saying probably not.
I'm seventy one. I'll be seventy one in a couple
of months. I got kids, grandkids, all kinds of responsibilities.
I don't like traveling anymore at all. I'm old, man.
I feel old someone as you can't get out a
bit because the bone's hurt. That kind of stuff. Just typical.
(09:40):
I got to say once again, first world bitch in here.
I mean, I'm nothing to complain about it at all, right,
but I still will so you might. I don't know, leave,
let's leave it at that. I really appreciate the kind
words though. It does my heart good to hear that
from somebody that, you know, because you never know who's listening,
(10:02):
you know, on my end right, especially over here in Europe,
and you know, I get all this feedback fifty years
or forty years later, and it's gratifying.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Well, Tony, you definitely have fans here all of the world,
but especially in the States, and so great to talk
to you, man. Best of luck to you as always,
and go, you know, go enjoy, don't. I talk to
a lot of artists who who who still love touring,
and a lot that are saying, you know, what, if
it wasn't for the travel, because you know, the planes
and connections all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Yeah, that's exactly right, that's exactly the thing.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Okay, man, nights talking to you.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
You too, Tony, Thanks so much, man, Take care okay, okay,
bye bye,
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