There’s hitmakers, and there’s Jim Peterik. To call this man a legend would be an understatement. As the leader of The Ides of March, Peterik pioneered brass-driven rock music, paving the way for a sound that would dominate AM radio in the early ’70s. Fast forward a decade and he did it again, this time as part of Survivor, laying down the blueprint for all AOR to follow. Today, Peterik remains busy as ever, with a career-spanning hometown show on the horizon. We sat down with Peterik to discuss this upcoming show, the new Pride of Lions album, Dream Higher, and the latest addition to his colossal guitar collection.
Greetings Jim and welcome to Defenders of the Faith! How are you doing today?
Jim Peterik: Joe, I’m doing great! It’s a pleasure to talk to you again.
It’s a pleasure to talk with you again as well! I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
JP: My pleasure, even though I’m not metal *laughs*, but it’s OK!
Well, you wrote “Heavy Metal”, so that’s good enough for us! You’ve had quite a busy month, including a bit of a health scare at the Des Plaines Theatre. For those reading this who may not be from the Chicagoland area, could you tell us what happened, how you’re feeling, and what you’ve been up to?
JP: It had to be almost a month ago. I was at the Des Plaines Theatre with Cornerstones of Rock, which is Ides of March hosting some of the iconic bands from the ‘60s and early ‘70s like New Colony Six, The Cryan’ Shames, The Shadows of Knight, and on and on. The Buckinghams have their own second set, but it’s all the great bands I toured with when I was a teenager. We played all the teen clubs. It was great. Tom Doody from The Cryan’ Shames comes in from California and joins JC Hook onstage. It’s like old home week. It’s so much fun.
So we did that show, but on the last number of the set, “Vehicle”, because what else, I’m singing the line, “Great God in heaven you know I love you!” Suddenly, I started feeling really lightheaded. I blacked out and fell flat on my back. My guitar was on top of me. Thank God nothing happened to the guitar, but my neck took a real shock, as did my back. I just got over being black and blue on my whole right side. The bottom line is, no broken bones or anything like that.
When I came to, (Des Plaines Theatre owner) Ron Onesti was huddled over me, telling me jokes and trying to bring me out of my stupor. I look up and the whole audience is chanting the Lord’s Prayer. It was one of the most moving things I’ve ever felt, and a big part of my recovery. It was actually just super low blood pressure. It was a 3 o’clock show and all I had eaten was a banana earlier that day, not enough *laughs*. My blood pressure went down to 47. I was rushed to the hospital. Long story short, they gave me all these tests, pumped me with fluids, and sent me home that day. I only recovered for 3 days. Then I was back doing small shows. Now I’m 100%.
That’s what we love to hear, and just in time. Next week, The Ides of March will be playing a special intimate show at the City Winery in downtown Chicago. What can the fans attending this show expect?
JP: It’s gonna be a great Ides of March show, and I’m talking the full band. Sometimes we do what we call a “Jive 5” show, with just the original 4 members and Scott May, the new guy who’s been with us for 33 years *laughs*. For big shows, and most shows, we have the full Ides of March brass section, so 8 rockin’, rockin’ musicians. We do everything from my career. Obviously, we do the big Ides of March hits, “L.A. Goodbye” and of course “Vehicle”. We also intersperse things from the other bands I had major success writing with: Survivor, 38 Special, Sammy Hagar. Then, we toss in a couple new ones from the last 5 years that are equally as exciting as all the stuff. We just keep going. It’s gonna be a great show.
Expanding upon the last question, City Winery is quite the intimate setting. Throughout your career, you’ve played venues that run the gamut from basements and garages, to massive arenas and open air festivals. These days, do you prefer a large or small venue?
JP: I love them both. The days of huge arenas are over for me, unless I’m part of a giant event. I played Lollapalooza last year and that was deja vu from the old days. Normally, it’s gonna be an auditorium of 800-1,200 people, or very intimate venues like City Winery, or the place we’re playing in a couple weeks on the 29th, which I wanted to announce here, Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights. That’s Jim Peterik and Friends, so various members of The Ides of March and myself. I’m bringing aboard special guests Cathy Richardson of Jefferson Starship and Colin Peterik, my unbelievably talented son. That will also be a great show.
Very cool! You’re also hot on the heels of a brand new Pride of Lions album, Dream Higher, which I’d like to congratulate you on.
JP: Thank you! This is our 8th album. It was released in July and we’re really starting now to get traction on it. I’m just starting to do publicity. I’ve done a lot of publicity overseas over the phone, but you know what? America needs to hear this album and needs to be aware of it. So I’m going to be doing some special promotion for Dream Higher. Toby Hitchcock, he has the voice. When the world lost Jimi Jamison, I missed that high tenor that could be a foil to my lower, gruffer sound. That’s Toby Hitchcock. Pride of Lions shows that off.
It sure does, and I couldn’t agree with you more regarding America. As someone entrenched in the melodic rock and melodic metal scene, it pains me to see it thrive in Europe, while in America it remains an underground phenomenon. As you know, the American fans who do listen to this music are diehards, but we need to get the word out because rock fans across the board should be aware of this excellent music.
JP: I couldn’t agree more. Hopefully this album will open some ears because it really is good music. So many of what we would call younger people are getting turned onto the ‘80s. Because of their dads or moms or different relatives, they’re hearing the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, especially the ‘70s and ‘80s. Their ears are tuned to that sound again. We’re supplying some of that.
How soon after the last album, Lion Heart, did work get started on this one?
JP: I’m kind of a…I hate to say “song machine”, because that sounds very robotic, but I never stop writing. As soon as an album’s released, I’m writing new songs. They’re not all good. Out of 10, there might be 3 that are really winners and rise to the top. Those I save for the next Pride of Lions album or Ides of March album or whatever project I’m working on at the time.
Are there any songs you write that get flipped around? Say it was written for Pride of Lions and instead it’s used for Ides of March or World Stage. Does that happen often?
JP: Oh yeah, many times. You never know until you cut the track where it’s really gonna land. “Oh that doesn’t feel right for this album. Let’s save it for the next project.” I remember cutting tracks with Survivor, all those albums. I cut 7 albums with them and we never knew what the great ones were until they were cut. We had this amazing producer named Ron Nevison for 2 records.
I’d be fiddling around on the piano at the studio and he would say, “That’s good, but put that chord here and that chord here.” He wasn’t really a musician, but he was super musical. I’d say, “Ron, that will never work.” He said, “Try it.” I would try it and it was way better. He would walk away and go, “No charge.” *laughs* I loved Ron Nevison. I sill do. He’s still out there. He did all those amazing Led Zeppelin albums and Dave Mason’s Certified Live with “Only You Know and I Know”, and of course those 2 Survivor albums (Survivor and Vital Signs), which are 2 of the best.
Speaking of Survivor, I recall you telling me on the last album, the song “Rock & Roll Boomtoon” had roots going back to the ‘70s, pre-Survivor. Was this the case for any of the songs on Dream Higher?
JP: I’d have to look back, but yeah, I remember that! *sings* “Rock & roll boomtown!” That’s pretty cool that you remember that Joe! I think most of these songs were cut out of whole cloth from the recent 3 months. COVID was a long time. I never stopped working. I had a lot of time to write. I stockpiled a lot of stuff.
Would you say then that, in terms of creating and recording, the lockdown period ultimately worked to your advantage?
JP: Yeah, and not only creating and writing, but recording as well. If I write a good one, I can just hop in my studio right down the hall from my bedroom. Larry (Millas) and I will rock it, so I stockpiled a lot of stuff. In fact, I wrote most of the material for Dream Higher during that period.
When we last spoke, we discussed your epic guitar collection and which ones you used to record Lion Heart. Are there any guitars currently that you’re still on the hunt for? If so, which ones?
JP: Oh boy. That’s a loaded question because I’m always on the hunt. Sometimes, it’s not that you’re hunting for it, but it finds you. I have some very dangerous friends. One is a great guitar dealer in California. He’s British and he always tempts me with stuff. “I just found an immaculate 1968 unplayed blonde Rickenbacker 12 string, box cut.” Oh shoot. Box cut?! That means instead of the slope top, it’s the square top, with the square cutaway. Oh my God! “There’s a mint condition silver case with that.” I go, “It’s mine!” I didn’t even haggle the price. The price was fair. It came with all the papers, unplayed. I got that 5 days ago and it’s already on 2 songs on my upcoming World Stage album that I’m working on.
Man, a 12 string Rickenbacker. You can definitely do some Beatles type songs with that!
JP: Oh man, the overdubs…(The Byrds’) Jim McGuinn, before he was “Roger”, the real guy. He wrote the book. Listen to the chiming of “Mr. Tambourine Man”. That’s the sound.
Oh yeah, that jangly Byrds/Rubber Soul sound. Such a unique sound too.
JP: And it’s so bright and chiming! I have a bunch of Fender 12s. They’re nice, but nothing sounds quite like a Rickenbacker.
I couldn’t agree more. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Pride of Lions self titled debut album, which has since become regarded as an AOR classic. Looking back, what are your memories of creating that album and what are your thoughts on its subsequent legacy?
JP: That’s a great two parter. Let me tell you; that stands as a classic. That’s a high bar to set. You know the story of where a band will have 5 years to write their first album and then 2 months to create the second one? I had 5 years planning the first Pride of Lions album because I left Survivor in ‘96. I had all that time up to ‘02 to write songs for this future project. I didn’t know what it was gonna be called yet, but when I found Toby Hitchcock, I created this new entity called Pride of Lions. I had this backlog of songs.
I remember Serafino (Perugino) and Mario (de Riso) of Frontiers, they called me, “Maestro, do you have anything new?” “Well, I got this new thing with this great singer named Toby Hitchcock. I think you’re gonna love it.” They flew in and we met in Nashville. We booked some time at a studio just to be in the control room and present. They walk in and see Toby. Serafino goes, “He’s just a baby!” He was only 23 and he looked so green. Then he opened his mouth and he sounded like Toby. They were blown away.
That started this journey, but that first album, Pride of Lions, has that wonderful drawing of a lion on the cover. That was done by a teenager that I met in Saugatuck. She knocked it out of the park. It became this iconic album. That’s the benchmark for everything else. Even the more deep cuts like “Prideland”, what a mood.
Yeah, every song on there is a classic. Maybe it’s cliche, but for me the anthem has to be “It’s Criminal”. Whenever a melodic rocker hears that song, the volume is cranked up and we sing along. It has that classic ‘80s feel at a time when, again, here in the States, this music couldn’t have been more niche.
JP: That song leaps in a nostalgic way! “Sound of Home” is one of my favorite songs as well.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Survivor’s final album with Dave Bickler on vocals, Caught in the Game. Did the band feel any pressure following up Eye of the Tiger? What are your favorite songs off this album?
JP: So much pressure. Pressure crushes you. We were affected by the huge success of Eye of the Tiger. I think we spent way too much time in the studio fretting, laboring over specific sounds like snare drum sounds and stuff that didn’t really mean anything. We wanted to be so good that in a way we didn’t see the forest from the trees. Although, there were some great cuts on there. “Caught in the Game” is a classic. It totally rocks. “I Never Stopped Loving You” was the first in a series of power ballads which culminated finally an album later with “The Search is Over”, when Jimi came aboard. That was the first power ballad.
Backtracking a bit, I saw a few days ago that you posted about a new song for the upcoming World Stage album featuring Night Ranger drummer/singer Kelly Keagy. Are there any other details you can share about this new World Stage album?
JP: I wish I had my list in front of me. Kelly Keagy is one of 8 classic artists. There’s Kevin Cronin, Mark Farner…name the best! 8 major singers from that era. Dennis DeYoung, of course. I just cut a track with him today. He still sounds like Dennis DeYoung *laughs*, exactly the same! I’d give you the full list, but I don’t have it in front of me. It’s called Roots and Shoots. The “roots” are the old guard. The “shoots” are my new discoveries. I’ve got some stellar artists on here. Ashley Gill is a standout 24 year old singer. We just did a song called “As I Am”. I wrote it with Bill Synar, who played bass with Survivor for a while, but he’s got Classical Blast now, *laughs* not the Mason Williams’ hit, “Classical Gas” *laughs*! Anyways, it’s an amazing album, Roots and Shoots. It’s gonna drop, as the kids say, in February, 2024.
As a diehard Styx fan, I want to thank you for getting Dennis out to do another song. Those last 2 albums of his that you co-wrote were incredible.
JP: I agree. I was so blown away by those albums that I had them framed in this elaborate oak frame that’s hanging on my wall. Working with him is such a pleasure. He literally lives 2 blocks from me. Pre-COVID, I would just walk over there. We’d write and record downstairs in his very cool studio. It was very comfortable.
In closing, what does the rest of 2023 have in store for you?
JP: Well, we got the 2 big shows coming up, which are gonna be great, the 17th at City Winery and the 29th at Hey Nonny. Then I have to look at the schedule, but we’ve got a bunch of shows, especially around Christmas. We’re doing the Arcada again, as always. I don’t have the dates, but we’re doing 2 other Christmas shows. Just look at our sites for a full schedule. I also do this podcast with Paul Braun. That’s gonna be ready to listen to tomorrow, where I’m on camera talking about everything we’ve talked about and more. It’s all good! We gotta keep it rolling.
The Ides of March will be playing City Winery in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, August 17. For tickets, click here. For more information on The Ides of March, visit www.theidesofmarch.com. For more information on Jim Peterik and all of his projects, visit www.jimpeterik.com.
What an excellent read! Jim is a legend !!