BURNING MAN

Todd Rundgren Challenged by the "Exhibitionism That Comes With Performance"

By Lee Zimmerman Wed., Mar. 19 2014 at 10:35 AM        

 

Village Voice

When Todd Rundgren dubbed an early album A Wizard, a True Star it might have seemed somewhat presumptuous at the time, given that his recording career was practically in its infancy. Four decades later, that title has come to sum up one of the most remarkably prolific careers in rock's vast lexicon. In fact, there's little Rundgren hasn't done, whether as a performer, producer, engineer, or video pioneer.
Indeed, since making his bow with his first band, Woody's Truck Stop, in his native Philadelphia and then creeping into the national spotlight with the Nazz, Rundgren has freely delved into a dizzying array of musical pursuits -- from pop to prog, rock to retro, and almost everything in between. He scored hits on his own and produced them for others: Badfinger, Meat Loaf, and Patti Smith, to name only a few. He also helmed the experimental outfit Utopia while occasionally taking the opposite tack as part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band.
"The more music you write, the more likely you are to repeat yourself, and that's the actuality for most artists," Rundgren insists. "But I didn't approach music as a performer, which is what lots of other people do. They figure out afterwards what kind of music they want to make."
See also: Todd Rundgren's Summer Camp in the Catskills

Still, at age 65, Rundgren's intents are as ambitious as ever. After a wildly diverse spate of recent releases, with last year's State, he revisited the synthesized setups and exotic experimentation that defined his work with Utopia and selected solo efforts like Individualist and Nearly Human. And yet, after establishing himself with the signature soft-rock style represented in early staples like "Hello It's Me," "I Saw the Light," and "Can We Still Be Friends," he could just as easily have forsaken any attempts at experimentation and reaped the rewards that pop superstardom offered.
"I wanted to do a bit of both and to satisfy myself," Rundgren reflects. "When I got comfortable enough with my so-called solo career, I was immediately wanting to put a band together so I could do the kind of music that bands do, that thing where the responsibility is spread around more, and I could simplify my role in a sense. I'd have that opportunity to perform and develop as a performer in the context where I wouldn't be judged alone for what I'd be doing."
That philosophy has led to the live performances Rundgren is well-known-for -- energetic, occasionally outlandish, and frequently explosive. "I found it was kind of easy for me to develop musical ideas and get them recorded and very difficult for me to take them out on the road and do them in front of people. That was the challenge of my career, because it didn't come naturally to me -- that sort of exhibitionism that comes with performance. If you wanted to do that, you couldn't just stand up there and sound like the Who. You had to be flailing and on the verge of falling over the edge of the stage -- daring behavior to essentially elevate the live experience beyond simply re-creation of the music."
Inevitably, Rundgren admits that there are those who come to hear certain songs, and if he doesn't do them, some may be disappointed. "I realize that I can't [satisfy everyone], and if I try to, it probably doesn't satisfy anyone fully," he maintains. "But I think also I've conditioned at least the hard core of my audience not to have particular expectations when they first see a tour. It doesn't mean I'm not going to change everything we do, but the nature of the show is not necessarily guaranteed, and the only thing I guarantee is that we will put our best effort into it."

Rundgren Hello it's me at Kerry Simon event

A Todd fan graffiti artist