ROGER HODGSON STILL HITTING THE HIGH NOTES
Singer-songwriter has moved on from his Supertramp years, writes Cam Fuller
Roger Hodgson has been on his own twice as long as he was in Supertramp, but he’ll always be associated with songs he wrote for that band: Give a Little Bit, Dreamer, Take the Long Way Home, Breakfast in America.
Hodgson gave a little bit of his time to chat about his life, career and current tour.
“I’ve always adored Canada,” he says. “I’ve thought about moving here many, many times. I’ve heard that one in 20 Canadians had Breakfast in America and Crime of the Century, which I thought is an amazing statistic.”
Both albums reached Diamond status, and Hodgson still has the awards: “They’re the most special awards I ever, ever got,” he says.
Hodgson formed Supertramp with Rick Davies in 1969. They had their first hits in the early ’70s, and by 1979 they were world famous. Hodgson left the band in 1983, taking 15 years off to raise his kids.
Q Do you get nostalgic at all?
A I really don’t. I don’t get nostalgic. I never think about Supertramp, even though Supertramp was 14 years of my life. It was a wonderful adventure. I grew up, I learned a lot about myself and about life through it, but right now it’s a whole new era, and I’m having more fun and having a much deeper connection with the audience. People tell me I’m singing so much better now than I did with Supertramp, and I can hear it, believe me. It’s something that I love to do. And luckily, I have these lovely songs that I’ve written to sing that I love playing. They’re all different, yet they’re all pieces of me that I can totally relate to, and thank God everyone in the audience still relates to, so I’m a very fortunate guy.
Q Is there a double-edged sword being associated with Supertramp? Because it will follow you forever.
A It doesn’t really bother me. Obviously, I didn’t expect to leave Supertramp, because, to me, I created Supertramp and it was really so much part of my brainchild and my passion. I totally appreciated people’s love for it. It was a wonderful part of my life, and yet I live very much in the present. And what’s happening now is much more to me than the whole Supertramp experience.
Q Are you still writing songs? How creative are you these days?
A If I have time, I write a song. Mostly it happens on the road. I do have a backlog of 60 unrecorded songs, so often in sound check I’ll throw one at the band and we’ll go through it, and if it clicks and it sounds good enough we’ll throw it in the show a few days later.
Q Is it hard introducing new songs to fans when they know what they want to hear?
A I’m an artist who wants to give people the best experience they can have. I’m not an artist who says, “OK, you’ve got to listen to my new songs and my new album now, and, if you’re lucky, I’ll throw in a few hits at the end.” I don’t believe that. I really want to give people their money’s worth and give them what they want to hear. But to tell you the truth, funny enough, I do throw out a few songs from my solo albums that people don’t know about, and one or two brand new songs that haven’t been recorded. And often they steal the show.
Q Touring takes you to to Germany, the U.K., Switzerland, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Canada. You’re not 20 years old anymore, so how do you do it?
A How do I do it? I try not to think about it. It’s “phew”— after a leg of a tour, I’m ready to sleep for a week. It really does take its toll, but to tell you the truth, what makes it worth it, really, is seeing the looks on people’s faces and seeing what they write about on my Facebook and website. It’s my way of giving a little bit of my heart and my love and what I love to do, to the world. And if people want to hear it and hear me then I’ll keep on doing it as long as this body holds up. As long as my voice can hit those notes, I’ll keep going.