N.W. Magazine (Australian) In Bed with Chris Isaak
November 16, 1998
By Myles Wearing
When Chris Isaak asks you to sleep with him, you don’t refuse. Even though he was only joking and despite the fact that I am, well, male, there’s simply no way any self-respecting person could say no. Not to Chris. Not to the amazing man who crooned Wicked Game and Blue Hotel so swooningly.
We were discussing how his new album, Speak of the Devil, is slightly more optimistic than his previous efforts about heartbreak and loneliness. When asked if this meant his love-life was improving, Chris candidly replied, "If you’re going to ask questions about my love-life, you’ll have to sleep with me. That’s the only way I can answer them." My instant response was a loud, "You’re on!" which was followed by an embarrassingly long silence.
When Chris finally spoke, he confirmed that his love-life hasn’t changed much. "I just wanted to make a more rock’n’ record - it’s more indicative of what our live shows are about. My personal life now, I wouldn’t say is better, I’d just say it’s almost non-existent," he drawls in his deep, American accent.
Even though he may not have much of a social life, he’s come a long way for someone who thought you had to have parents in show business to make it in the music world.
Raised in a small town in California, Chris’ father worked as a forklift driver in a box factory and his mother worked at a potato chip factory. "It didn’t seem like a realistic thing, show business," he says.
But his recording career began in the mid 80’s with the albums Silvertone and Chris Isaak, before his breakthrough in 1989 with Heart Shaped World featuring the hit Wicked Game. He went on to release San Francisco Days, Forever Blue and Baja Sessions in 1996.
Chris stresses that the title track from Speak of the Devil is not about Satan, but about trying to forget a woman you're hopelessly in love with. "Watching a woman walking is like watching a flame," he says, "You’re going, ‘No, I shouldn’t be attracted to this woman, but I am.’ You try not to think about her and try not to speak her name, but you can’t help it."
"The main theme that runs through my music is trying to hold onto some perfect moment in life, because I’m aware that we only have a limited amount of time before we all have to die, and that bothers me," he explains.
After the mellow Baja Sessions, Chris thought he’d experiment with rock’n’roll. He used an electric guitar instead of an acoustic one, and improvised with his band - "I made stuff up, with the band just following along."
Chris also has a career in film with roles in Silence of the Lambs, Little Buddha, Married to the Mob and That Thing You Do. He’s just finished playing a sheriff in Shepherd, a film by first-time director James Rowe, which also stars Tom Arnold. "I don’t know if I’m acting or over-acting," Chris laughs. "I’ve got this thick accent. And James said to the other actors he wanted them to have southern accents, he got to me and said, "Chris, you’ve already got enough of an accent.’ And I said, ‘James, I’m not from the south! I’m from California.’ So in the movie I went to town with the accent. It needs subtitles."
Ah, Chris, it’s OK. We understand you.
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