LIVE

If you were to think of artists whos music consisted of erotic love songs, chances are stadium rockers Live wouldn't be at the top of your list. Yet the bands ringleader Ed Kowalczyk is trying to convince us otherwise. “Getting in touch with my inner female has definitely made the new record sexier.” He explains. Either we're gonna see the band go the direction Queen did for their I Want To Break Free video or Mr. Kowalczyk is gonna slip into some purple lycra and change his name to Symbol. Whatever the case, it sounds like Live are moving into some uncharted waters with their new release Songs From Black Mountain and we're invited along for the ride.

In Australia as part of a worldwide promotional blitz, the singer seems exceptionally rooted and down to earth despite the band selling more than 20 million albums. Forming at the tender age of 13 under the name First Aid, the band struggled for many years before settling on the name Live and releasing Mental Jewelry and the internationally successful Throwing Copper. With all their rock fixtures intact and overtly spiritual themes, the band found themselves filling sports venues and drawing comparisons to musical giants U2. “My first concert was actually seeing U2 as part of their Joshua Tree tour. He recalls. “Bono has an incredible presence and it was like the entire audience was sharing the same emotional experience. I was heading into college at that point and that show had a huge impact on me. I loved the idea that music could help facilitate unity with people. It's very important to us and it's the main impetus of what we do.”

With the first two records really differing in sound to anything else that was around at the time, the band continued to expand it's dedicated fan base around the globe and establishing themselves as figureheads for many rock groups to come such as Creed and Nickelback. “We really worked hard at creating something that wasn't your typical style. We really wanted to dig deeper and use the music to enhance the emotional experience of the songs.” This philosophy has appeared to work as the song Lightning Crashes topped music charts around the world and paved the way for Live to make their presence felt in mainstream music. “Throwing Copper really solidified us as a band and helped not only to bring us to the next level but define who we were musically.”

Songs From Black Mountain seems to represent a new chapter in Live's career. Working with Producer Jim Wirt (Incubus, Hoobastank), the band recorded 12 tracks in 3 weeks and blew away everyone's expectations, including their own. “It was certainly the shortest amount of time we've ever spent recording an album but I guess the thing that amazed us the most was how good it sounded.”

The first single The River shows Live at their most accessible while keeping true to themselves. “ It has to be the most memorable melody we've ever recorded.” He says proudly. “I really like how we're using something so catchy to convey these abstract lyrical ideas I have about songwriting. When I sit down to write a song, I always feel like I'm wading into a river where a nurturing female presence guides me and pushes me along when I need it.”

So going back to nurturing your inner female and creating those erotic love songs. Is this a theme that runs through the whole album?

“Well, the new songs are really me personifying my muse. Historically muses have always been women from Greek right through to Indian Mythology. I've been sharing this erotic dance with Saraswati (the Hindoo goddess of learning, music, and poetry) for the past 20 years and the songs on this album are a culmination of that. My wife and my daughter are also constant sources on inspiration and the very first song we recorded (Love Shines) was something I wrote for my daughter to teach her about God. I don't want to take her to some boring church. It's a simple lyric about awareness and how it's shining all the time. It's something you can take refuge in. No matter what happens in life, it's always there. No matter what faith, there's a presence - whatever name you give it - that's always there as an internal refuge. I thought that was a beautiful message for kids to learn.”

Spiritually certainly doesn't stop with music for Ed Kowalczyk. Along with Billy Corgan, Matrix director Larry Wachowski, personal motivator Tony Robbins and New Age Guru Deepak Chopra, Ed is a fundamental part of the Integral Naked movement. Although seemingly challenging to grasp as a concept at first, Integral Naked appears to be a collection of writings and Multimedia projects promoting Integral Theory. I'm a little mystified. “Integral Naked isn't a cult or even a spiritual movement but a philosophy to help people exercise body, mind and spirit.” He explains. “In a physical sense it's an advanced network of knowledge for enlightenment.” No…I'm still scratching my head.

With the album starting to receive strong reviews in the US and the first single being exposed to airplay, it looks as if 2006 will be a very good year to be a member of Live. Will Aussie fans get a chance to see Live perform any time in the near future?

“Yeah, we're hoping sometime round December after we've finished playing back home and Europe. We love Australia and it's always great to play shows here.”

The interview is quickly coming to a close and soon after Ed will head back to The States to start an extensive nationwide tour. With all the flying you must get a chance to catch up on some reading. What are you into at the moment?

“ I'm reading The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It's an incredible book…really inspiring.”