{"id":17242,"date":"2017-05-18T09:56:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T16:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=17242"},"modified":"2017-05-18T09:57:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T16:57:00","slug":"video-exclusive-honey-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2017\/05\/video-exclusive-honey-west\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO + EXCLUSIVE: HONEY WEST"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Band: <strong>HONEY WEST<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2>Musician:<strong> \u00a0TED ZURKOWSKI<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2>Music Video: \u201c<strong>Dementia<\/strong>\u201d<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Directed: Maxwell McDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>New\u00a0Video \u201cDementia\u201d from Honey West, featuring Foreigner &amp; King Crimson co-founder Ian McDonald<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5xYWSI60v5o\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Honey West is what happens when a British rock giant and an acclaimed member of New York\u2019s acting community walk into a recording studio and produce an album of original songs. Multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald is a founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner, and guitarist and lead vocalist Ted Zurkowski is a member of the world-famous Actors Studio and the co-founder of New York Shakespeare ensemble, Frog &amp; Peach.<\/p>\n<p><em>Bad Old World<\/em> is a strong rock \u2019n\u2019 roll album, with drummer Steve Holley (Paul McCartney &amp; Wings) and bassist Maxwell McDonald (McDonald\u2019s son). Their first single, \u201cDementia,\u201d represents the band\u2019s distinct sound. There\u2019s a sly humor that permeates their songs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17253\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17253\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17253\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-4-the-band.jpg\" alt=\"Honey West \u2013\u00a0the band\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-4-the-band.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-4-the-band-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-17253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Honey West \u2013\u00a0the band<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This seemingly unusual pairing of McDonald and Zurkowski is a result of fate and proximity. \u201cWe literally lived across the street from one another in Manhattan,\u201d McDonald explains. \u201cI would notice Ted and his wife as they would come and go, walking their dog and whatnot. We ended up speaking and I discovered Ted was in a band.\u201d Zurkowski adds, \u201cWe simply plugged in, and immediately clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked why it took decades to find himself in a guitar-propelled band, McDonald reckons: \u201cI guess I had never met the right writing partner before. It took a while to meet somebody who wrote great lyrics. There aren\u2019t that many great lyric writers who can sing and play guitar as well. When Ted and I got together, I was really pleased to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTed\u2019s lyrics are very smart,\u201d says McDonald. \u201cI like smart lyrics, I like smart music. The songs revolve around a more-or-less complete lyric. That\u2019s slightly unusual for me, or for the way things are usually done. This has ended up being a really good partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We talked with Ted Zurkowski about Honey West\u2019s new lyric video \u201cDementia,\u201d the album <em>Bad Old World<\/em> to be released on Friday, May 19, 2017, and about playing with British rock royalty Ian McDonald.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>HONEY WEST\u2019S TED ZURKOWSKI Web-Exclusive Interview<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>with\u00a0<em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em>\u00a0magazine publisher, Merlin David<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How did the album <em>Bad Old World<\/em> evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ian McDonald [King Crimson, Foreigner] and I were living right across the street from each other. As soon as we started to play guitars and write\u2014we clicked. And we\u2019ve been married ever since. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I started taking songs over to him, and we worked on them together. Pretty soon we had a bag of songs. And before we knew it, we were in a recording studio.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us how you came up with the idea of \u201cDementia\u201d\u2014 your first single?<\/strong><br \/>\nAlzheimer\u2019s took my mother, then my father. I got tired of people asking, \u2018Are you afraid you\u2019re going to get it? You should take Vitamin A.\u2019 I got angry at people. It\u2019s basically me just writing a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll lyric and saying, \u2018I\u2019m not going that way.\u2019 My parents were two gorgeous people. They just couldn\u2019t handle getting old. When each of them hit 70, they went downhill. The last decade of their life was absolute horror.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17252\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17252\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17252\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-1-Ted-Zurkowski-Ian-McDonald-sm.jpg\" alt=\"Ted Zurkowski &amp; Ian McDonald\" width=\"660\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-1-Ted-Zurkowski-Ian-McDonald-sm.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-1-Ted-Zurkowski-Ian-McDonald-sm-300x212.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-17252\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ted Zurkowski &amp; Ian McDonald<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>How does acting inform your music?<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the seventh grade (Stamford, CT), there were a lot of great musicians from that area. Marion Meadows, the sax player. A cat from high school used to bring in his friend Benny Goodman to blow clarinet for us\u2014while we wrote harmony lines. Since the time I was 12 years old, I played drums in little bands. And by 13 or 14, I was making money at it\u2014all covers. I was 15 and lied about my age to work in a record store. The record store manager, Bill Cerulli, later played percussion on \u201cTurn the Beat Around\u201d and a whole lot of other hits. As Sammy Davis Jr. would say, \u2018I just knew a lot of good cats.\u2019 (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Then I caught the acting bug.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was music or acting your main interest?<\/strong><br \/>\nMusic always came first. Senior year of high school, I caught the acting bug. We did Threepenny Opera\u2014the same musical that influenced Bob Dylan. People should read Dylan\u2019s <em>Chronicles<\/em>. He was 19, came to New York\u2014had the Woody Guthrie half of what this Bobby Dylan person was going to be, but he didn\u2019t know the other half. His girlfriend took him to a revival of Threepenny Opera by Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill. The Doors made Kurt Weill famous with \u201cAlabama Song (Whisky Bar).\u201d Dylan said he walked out of that Greenwich Village theater and knew what the other half was gonna be.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17250\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17250\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17250\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-5-Ted-Ian.jpg\" alt=\"Ted &amp; Ian\" width=\"660\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-5-Ted-Ian.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-5-Ted-Ian-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-17250\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ted &amp; Ian<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>How did the acting influence your writing?<\/strong><br \/>\nI did a lot of Shakespeare for six or seven years, and then started writing lyrics. In the early 90s, my wife, Lynnea Benson, and I started a Shakespeare company called Frog &amp; Peach here in New York. We\u2019re still very happily married\u2014she\u2019s got the company and I have the music. I got an offer to write a screenplay, <em>Two Gentlemen from Tijuana<\/em>. I had a number of different little bands. Then Lynnea hooked me up with Ian [McDonald] about five or six years ago. Ian and I have been working together like crazy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did Lynnea meet Ian?<\/strong><br \/>\nLynnea said there\u2019s this English guy living across the street here on West End Avenue. He\u2019s been at all my shows for the last two years, and said he founded a couple of really big bands\u2014King Crimson and Foreigner. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) One night after a gig, Lynnea said, \u2018There\u2019s Ian on the street.\u2019 Funny thing, instead of talking about King Crimson and Foreigner, I wanted to talk about T. Rex. He was all over <em>Electric Warrior<\/em>\u2014the album that topped the charts. I was asking him, \u2018How did you stack those saxes for the famous solo of \u201cGet It On\u201d [aka \u201cBang a Gong\u201d]. He said, \u2018Normally you\u2019d have the baritone down in the mix and have the tenor sax over it, but I flipped it.\u2019 We stood there for 10 minutes on a cold night talking about music, and I gave him a CD I\u2019d self-produced.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did he actually listen to your CD?<\/strong><br \/>\nHe listened to the CD and called me a day later, and said, \u2018Bring your guitar, we\u2019ll plug in and see what happens.\u2019 As he says in the EPK video, as soon as we plugged in, it sounded like one guy\u2014right away we had a two guitar thing. I\u2019m just a rhythm player, but he thought we had that John and George thing going. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did you work together on this album?<\/strong><br \/>\nIan was amazing. We worked across three or four really good studios. Williamsburg and Red Hook\u2014that whole Brooklyn scene with great rooms. There\u2019s one place called Mission Sound, where the Arctic Monkeys recorded. It\u2019s a big room filled with a bunch of crazy instruments. Ian and I just looked at each other. They had 18 different keyboard instruments\u2014weird things like a clavinet and electric harpsichords. You put Ian out on the floor and it\u2019s the same way the Beatles used the instrument room at EMI Abbey Road. No one really thought of Ian as a guitar player, yet he played live all around the world for three years with Foreigner. He\u2019s a great guitar player\u2014lead and rhythm. Keyboards, flute, saxophone\u2014he\u2019s a master. Synths and anything with keys, anything with wind or reeds, clarinet, you name it\u2014and anything with strings. That almost covers everything. He\u2019s <em>the<\/em> multi-instrumentalist in rock music.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17249\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-6-the-band-bw.jpg\" alt=\"Honey West-6 - the band - b&amp;w\" width=\"660\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-6-the-band-bw.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-6-the-band-bw-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your creative process for writing songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe subway\u2014best place to write. I spend a lot of time on the subway. I have my cell phone, my notebook, and let my mind flow downstream. As an actor, Strasberg taught me how to get into the inner creative space. It\u2019s nothing mystical: you relax, you don\u2019t think, and you just see what comes to you in the moment. That\u2019s how he taught us how to act at the Actors Studio\u2014that was the <em>method<\/em>. I let the lyrics come to me. These beautiful chord placings and orchestrations come to Ian. He arranges and produces. We also had a great associate producer, Tim Hatfield. He\u2019s terrific. His first job out of college, from Texas in the 80s, was operating the board while Keith Richards went out on the floor and wrote songs for his second solo album. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us one experience where something unique inspired you to write a song.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe opening track on this album\u2014\u201cSeptember Issue.\u201d When I was really broke and struggling from time to time as an actor, you get to the end of the summer, and money\u2019s tight. In Manhattan, right after Labor Day, you can feel all the money coming back from the Hamptons. You feel this money vibe. I was sitting on a bench in Central Park, thinking \u2018here comes another September\u2014I\u2019m broke, what am I going to do?\u2019 Years later, when I was in a better financial state, I was sitting on the same park bench. I had just seen <em>September Issue<\/em>\u2014the documentary about Anna Wintour and <em>Vanity Fair<\/em>. I thought I\u2019d write about a guy, me, who has issues about September. It\u2019s really about anybody who dreads another season watching everybody making a lot of money. It always starts with me bringing a lyric and some musical idea to Ian. And he adds all these beautiful Beatles chords and stuff.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17248\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-7-the-band-color.jpg\" alt=\"Honey West-7 - the band - color\" width=\"660\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-7-the-band-color.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-7-the-band-color-300x210.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Who inspired you to write songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nLyrics-wise, I love John Lennon\u2019s flow. <em>The White Album<\/em> has always been my favorite. I always wished I could write about \u201cThe Duchess of Kirkcaldy always smiling and arriving late for tea.\u201d If I ever figure out how to make a time machine, 1968 London is where I want to go. I love the songs Lennon came up with between the <em>Magical Mystery Tour<\/em> soundtrack and <em>The White Album<\/em>. I love that song \u201cHey Bulldog.\u201d To this day I want to write a song like that or \u201cI\u2019m So Tired.\u201d I think they had extra songs and put them in the <em>Yellow Submarine<\/em> movie. Also the Incredible String Band. The only Pink Floyd I listened to was when Syd Barrett was with them. One music writer said the two greatest psychedelic writers from that era in England were John Lennon and Syd Barrett. It\u2019s magical stuff.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What instruments can you not live without\u2014that helps you write, record or perform<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019ve got this custom-made Stratocaster. It\u2019s called Rust, from 30<sup>th<\/sup> Street Guitars\u2014made by Matt Brewster. He makes great guitars, and made this terrific guitar for me. It\u2019s all over the album. I have a 25-year old Les Paul, which is terrific. I handpicked that guitar from the same store. For two days I was playing 15 different Les Pauls through the same little Fender amp until I finally heard what I thought I was trying to hear. I\u2019ve got a Telecaster. You always need a Tele. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) About 10 years, Fender did a Joe Stummer model. It\u2019s a great-sounding Tele, and I got it used for $400. It\u2019s the best Tele in the world. I also have a Gibson J-45 sunburst acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Top 5 Musicians\u00a0who inspired you to become a musician?<\/strong><br \/>\nKeith Richards, John Lennon, Mick Ronson (Bowie), Ronnie Wood (Faces), Steve Winwood\u2014I\u2019m still trying to figure out what he\u2019s doing on \u201cMr. Fantasy\u201d with that Gibson Firebird. He is my favorite lead guitar player\u2014just for the lead on that song. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Also Albert Collins, that old blues guy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17247\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-9-Bad-Old-World-CD-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"Honey West-9 - Bad Old World CD Cover\" width=\"660\" height=\"587\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-9-Bad-Old-World-CD-Cover.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-9-Bad-Old-World-CD-Cover-300x266.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>What are your Top 5 favorite albums of all time?<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Mr. Fantasy<\/em> (1968) \u2013 Traffic<br \/>\n<em>The White Album<\/em> (1968) \u2013 The Beatles<br \/>\n<em>The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion<\/em> (1967) \u2013 The Incredible String Band<br \/>\n<em>Wee Tam<\/em> (1968) \u2013 The Incredible String Band<br \/>\n<em>All the Young Dudes<\/em> (1972) \u2013 Mott the Hoopla<br \/>\n<em>Beggars Banquet<\/em> (1968) \u2013 The Rolling Stones<\/p>\n<p>OK, that\u2019s more than five. There are so many more. Lots of English music! Someone once called our music Americana, but I say Anglicana.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best advice someone has given you.<\/strong><br \/>\nMy wife, Lynnea Benson: \u201cDon\u2019t think so much.\u201d It\u2019s the same thing Strasberg taught me at the Actors Studio\u2014stop thinking. Just stop thinking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next?<\/strong><br \/>\nWe have this new lyric video for \u201cDementia.\u201d After the album release on May 19, we have gigs in the New York area\u2014then little summer tours. We\u2019ve got another bag of about 15 new songs that aren\u2019t finished. We\u2019d love to get back into the studio later this year and work on some of those songs. But we don\u2019t want to get ahead of ourselves. The focus now is to see what happens with this new album.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where can your new fans get more info and stay updated?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HoneyWestMusic.com<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17246\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-8-Ted-Zurkowski.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17246\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-17246 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-8-Ted-Zurkowski.jpg\" alt=\"Ted Zurkowski\" width=\"660\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-8-Ted-Zurkowski.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Honey-West-8-Ted-Zurkowski-300x260.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-17246\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit: Ted Zurkowski<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Band: HONEY WEST Musician: \u00a0TED ZURKOWSKI Music Video: \u201cDementia\u201d Directed: Maxwell McDonald New\u00a0Video \u201cDementia\u201d from Honey West, featuring Foreigner &amp; King Crimson co-founder Ian McDonald &nbsp; Honey West is what happens when a British rock giant and an acclaimed member of New York\u2019s acting community walk into a recording studio [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[8956,8566,8957,8958,4123,8959,8960,2429,8961,8962,8963,8964,3592,8965,8966,8967,6457,1689,8968,8202,6752,8969,4075,966,1693,8970,8971,8972,8973,8974,1271,4688,3814,8975,8976,8977,8978,10161,7566,8979,8980,8981,8982,3010,8983,8984,7978,8985,1673,8986,1185,7269,8987,8988,8989,8990,8991,4898,1690,8992,1214,4330,8993,3899,3818,1622,8994,5085,8995,8996,8997,8998,8999,9000,9001,3656,9002],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17242"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17254,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17242\/revisions\/17254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}