I was recently able to chat with members of The Smithereens as they promote their latest CD From Jersey It Came!, a greatest hits comp released by their former label, Capitol. Both drummer Dennis Diken and guitarist Jim Babjak had interesting things to say about a career that's passed the twenty year mark and the general state of the music biz.

Dan : Looking back at this incredible body of work, what are your personal feelings about what you've left behind for future generations?

Dennis Diken : Hopefully it's seen as good music born out of our passion for rock'n'roll and a profound love of life. I hope that we've set an example for young people that you can achieve goals if you believe in yourself and persevere. (looks aren't everything!) I hope that listeners get a sense of the brotherhood and wonderful fellowship that Pat, Mike, Jimmy and I have shared for decades. We always strived to make records that we hoped didn't overtly reflect the trends of the era in which they were made. A lot of joy and hard work went into creating our records.

Jim Babjak : I am very proud of the work we've done and hopefully the music still gives people some enjoyment. It's interesting to hear the songs on the new Anthology in chronological order and listen to how we've grown. The different styles of music are more evident on this package as opposed to a standard greatest hits that just has the popular radio songs. Radio stations always wanted to play similar songs from us on the air, like for example they never would have played Cut Flowers or Now And Then, because they're not what The Smithereens sound like to them and they didn't want to take chances. They wanted the rock stuff like A Girl Like You. You can only rewrite a song like that so many times. Top Of The Pops is a perfect example. Capitol wanted us to deliver another Girl Like You and they got it. The problem with it was that it didn't allow us to branch out in different directions, plus the fans noticed it also. I'm not down about the song though, the positive side of it is that the song stands out great on it's own and is still a favorite with the audiences at our shows.

Dan : How do The Smithereens feel about competing for the consumer dollar that's more likely to go to a 'flavor of the month' act?

DD : Que sera sera. Not much can be done about that. There's plenty of good music being made these days but unfortunately it takes a backseat to the "product" that gets the big push.

JB : I have no interest competing with flavor of the month bands or artists. I'm in this for life. I am a songwriter and guitar player in a band that I love. Back in the late 80's, we were a flavor of the month band also, but we're still here. I think one of the reasons why we're still here is because people can see that we are 4 regular guys that play in a rock band that actually became successful and had hit records. Maybe they even see a little bit of themselves in us. People come up to me all the time and tell me how they gave up an instrument and decided to choose a different career. I almost quit before the first album came out also, but I didn't. I was already married and all of our friends were buying their first homes and starting to have children. If my wife and I would have had children back then, the pressure would have been tremendous for me to get a real job, perhaps one with somewhat of a future. Our band started out with humble beginnings at a time in the 1970s when Disco and corporate rock like Foreigner ruled the airwaves. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just wasn't my cup of tea and didn't move me. I didn't want to do the hustle, give me a break! Our reaction was to form a band that plays music that we would want to see and hear. It seems to me that bands today are more interested in the short term money from commercials, endorsements, etc., and being "Rock stars." To them, the more you sell out, the more successful you are. Very few of them are actually interested in the quality of the music itself, which aligns itself perfectly with the record companies who really don't give a crap about the music as long as it makes them big bucks. I understand that is "The music Business" and we all want to make a living with it, but man, it's really become greedy to the point where the quality of the whole music industry suffers. We were never interested in any of that. As a matter of fact, we turned down many offers in the late 80's for tons of money, I'm talking high 6 figures, to endorse products. But we decided to not compromise our integrity.

Dan : Where does the inspiration to continue making records and touring come from?

DD : Other music that we love, literature, films, the culture that surrounds us. The joy of living. Nature. Friendship.

JB : The inspiration for me comes simply from my passion for music. I don't use the word passion freely. It's no bullsh*t, I live for music. I can't live without it. It makes me feel good.

Dan : Capitol has respectfully reissued the Smithereens' back catalog for years now, which it has done with other important artists like Sinatra and The Beatles. Any thoughts as to why they're not offering current Smithereens' product, since they obviously see the band as commercially valuable?

DD : Do you mean why don't they sign us to a new deal? it's a nominal investment when a label digs into their vaults and reissues masters that are already paid for. a new deal means a risk for the label. it takes a lot of dough to promote a new release to the point where the record company sees a profit, or any return, for that matter.

JB : Capitol, nor any other big label is interested in any current Smithereens recordings. They will not make a profit in this day and age. Our budget to record an album back in 1989 was $350,000. The promotion and an average 3 videos per album at $60,000 to $120,000 a pop all add up to a lot of money. There are other costs as well. But, without getting to involved, the bottom line is that you have to sell a million copies of an album to actually make money. There are bands out there who have gold records and wonder why they are broke. Granted, there are ways to record on a less expensive budget these days and still be able to retain the sound quality. We are considering doing this ourselves. We actually offered Capitol a chance to let us put one or two new songs on the new Anthology and they weren't interested in even hearing them! The average person doesn't realize that Capitol owns our music forever, even after we all die. As a side bar, there is a possibility that we might get the masters back in 35 years thanks to legislation that is trying to make things a little better for the artist. Bands are forced to sign away any rights to their masters in perpetuity if they want to be on a label. If you say no, there are thousands of other bands out there that will say yes and that's the end of your career. If you become as huge as U2 or Springsteen, you can renegotiate your contract to get your music back, but that is very, very rare. But, in the meantime, for Capitol records, it is almost pure profit to release this album because there are no recording costs involved or master fees for the songs they own. They own it and will keep putting it out to the public as long as it sells. The downside is that, they took an album of ours "Green Thoughts" out of print and it's not available anymore. It is one of our best albums and there is nothing we can do to have it available to the public. They should give it back to us so we can put it out there. Unfortunately, they have all the power. They can actually make us disappear from the face of the earth by not keeping any of our albums in print. It's kind of scary and we are grateful, I suppose that they are still making these other recordings available to the public.

Dan : Does Mike (Mesaros) really hate computers? There's a rumor that he's very anti-technology.

DD : Search me!

JB : I can't speak for Mike, but I have a love/hate thing with computers. Sure it makes research easier and much, much faster. I suppose you have to keep up with the rest of the world or you'll fall behind. It takes up too much of my time to read emails which only 1% of is really important. I don't even read jokes anymore. I find myself deleting things all the time if I don't recognize the subject or person. I'd rather be outside throwing a baseball with my kids. My oldest son is on the computer for 5 or 6 hours some days just looking things up or playing games. Useless information basically. It doesn't make him any smarter. A lot of it is a waste of time and I guess I'm just trying to budget my time better.

Dan : What, if anything, do the Smithereens still hunger to accomplish?

DD : We all want to keep making records. Just being able to do this as a career is a dream come true.

JB : My thinking is that maybe there's always one more chance to be in the limelight again for a short while. All it would take is a spark, like having a new song in a hit movie and away you go again. It's a rollercoaster ride and I'm enjoying every moment of it. You never know what's around the corner. I don't have any crazy fantasies like playing at the Super Bowl half time with Brittany Spears like Aerosmith did. I still have nightmares about that performance. It's too confusing for me. I'm joking of course. I haven't thought about that since it was on. Your question brought it out of me.