Chris Isaak, The Devil Inside

By Lesley Holdom

"I keep figuring I have to go through rehab to get a good review-or shoot somebody," laments Chris ISaak. "Every time I read a good music story, it seems to be about some guy who came out of prison and is a heroin addict, someone who threw a chair through the writer's window when they did the interview. The artists who get all kinds of publicity are always the screw-ups--the more they screw up, the more attention they get. Me? I'm a tax paying citizen."

It's been more than a dozen years since his debut album Silvertone, and fortunately, the relatively normal Isaak hasn't had to resort to extreme tactics yet to get good press. HIs latest album, SPeak of the Devil (Reprise), is a bit of a stretch from most of his previous work, most notably because it's more rock 'n' roll orientated. "Usually I write with an acoustic guitar in my house late at night. If I bring my band in at home, I can only play until about three or four in the afternoon or my neighbors will complain. So this time I got really professional and I rented a rehearsal space next to a dry cleaner's on one side and a sewage and plumbing guy on the other side of us, so we were really in there with the rock 'n' rock elite," Isaak quips. "But it was just nice to be able to play loud, and that gave me the ability to write it a little more rock 'n' roll."

Speak of the Devil is also an incredibly personal album lyrically, with subject matter that's based mainly around past-and usually failed-relationships. But then the personal touch is what Isaak is famous for, isn't it? "Pretty much everything I do is pretty personal," he answers. "I don't think I ever made a record where I kind of came in and said, 'what am I going to sing today?'.

All my songs are usually either about my personal life or what I imagine my personal life should be like. I do a lot of imagining sitting in my hotel rooms."

There's a fair amount of ISaak focusing on his past relationships on Speak of The Devil-most notably "Talkin' Bout a HOme," where Isaak actually mentions past loves by name, or the first single, "Please".

"I"ve been in many situations where women have said to me, 'Chris, we need to talk,'" he chuckles. "And it's never been my experience where they say something like, 'You've been a wonderful boyfriend--I just wanted to let you know you're the perfect guy for me.' Instead it was usually followed by a long litany of misdeeds, things that I had to work on to get my merit badge. And the painful part of it was a lot of times they were reasonable. The worst kind of criticism is well-founded. I've been in many situations where I've criticized as well, but not often, because I'm living in this big glass house.

"But I got this message on my answering machine that I put in the song 'Please'. It was very long distance, it said, 'Chris? I just called to say--I love you.'

I felt like someone had called me from Mars or something. That is really what you want to hear. I like the combination that you have somebody in the song talking about a relationship, and it's maybe critical and maybe people are having these arguments and stuff. But the realy thing right in the middle of it is just this voice saying I called to say I love you. Throw that into the mix--if you put that in too, then it's just so much easier to take." Isaak, who's getting to be almost as well-known for his acting as he is for his music, has also just finished playing a sheriff in a movie shot in Utah opposite Amy Irving and Tom Arnold called Shepard. "I'm just a regular Laurence Olivier" ISaak says with a laugh. "You know, it seems like all actors that are really good are just big hams. And I really think acting is the one thing in life where if you think you're good, you probably will be good." "I had a great time doing the film," he continues. "We shot in the middle of Utah in a little forest out there, and I was driving around being this deputy sherrif all dressed up with a badge and a gun. You know, when you carry a gun, your hands just naturally lean on the gun. Watch cops or something--they always have their hand leaning on that belt. It's the only place you can put your hand really--you can't lay your hands to your side. So all of a sudden I'm doing the sheriff posture for a month. The last day we worked, we shot until like five in the morning because it was my last day and I had to get all these shots in. So I shot all night, then I had to go to the airport without changing my outfit or I would've missed my plane, and I had this connector flight to go to Europe. SO i went to the airport in my Sheriff's uniform and threw my stuff through customs. I had a coat over my jacket and of course I'd taken my gun off, but they stopped me at the metal detector and the opened my coat and asked me if I was carrying my gun. And I said no, not today. So I go through, I get on the plane and the guy sitting next to me turns and asks me if I'm going to pick somebody up."

Chris has no problem whatsoever balancing his acting and music careers-mainly because they're one and the same to him. "Both careers are really just one career. I mean, you're an entertainer. I love that people give you bonus points though. The reality of it is probably 100 years ago, everybody who sang probably juggled, you know, just like entertainers. Go to India or somewhere and I'll bet all entertainers probably do a whole list of things. It's only in Western Culture where everything was split up into different professions. But I think it's all kind of just 'Circus BOy'," he laughs. "Basically, that's what it says on my passport."

Rather than mull over any new roles, Isaak is looking forward to extensive touring with his band Silvertone this year--but most of all, he wants to start writing the next record. "I enjoy touring and I really like going out and playing with my band. I've had the same guys for about 14 years [except for new guitarist Herschel Yatovitz] and we have a lot of fun. These guys are grown-up--they don't throw beer bottles at each other, or get high and fall over and not show up for gigs. They don't buy into that kind of rock 'n' roll lifestyle where they want to get hair extensions and heroin habits. You can imagine all the jokes we know, and we've played so many gigs together that when we walk out on stage, we really feel like a unit, and the audience is out there to get us. Then gradually, if things go right, we feel like we're all on the same side.

"It's kind of unifying, but I have to say I don't think touring is the most important part of being a musician. Going out on tour is like going to a party and you can party and party," he concludes, "but part of me always wishes I were writing the next song and the next record."

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