Pat Monahan: The true story that I don't really share with everybody is… Joann Butler: Unbelievable. 25 years. Pat Monahan: I think Drops of Jupiter is the most important, writing that about my mom.
We've been on tour. My 14-year-old son is with me, so he's performing every night and going viral. Joann Butler: And Cher's guitarist discovered you, is that right? Pat Monahan: Yeah.
Well, he called me over and gave me his phone number and said, "You need to move to LA because you’ve got the thing." Joann Butler: The new album, it's just a whole bunch of feel-good songs. Pat Monahan: Yeah. It's called Mad Dog in the Fog. Joann Butler: What does music do for people?
Pat Monahan: Heals, guides, helps, reminds us, brings people back. If you are gifted music, because it’s a gift, and you choose to use AI, you’re not in the club anymore. Hey, you're watching Joann Butler In Studio With me, Pat Monahan from the band Train. Joann Butler: Thanks for being here on LifeMinute, so happy to have you.
Pat Monahan: I'm happy to be here. Thank you. Joann Butler: Congratulations on your tour and your new album coming. Pat Monahan: Thanks.
Joann Butler: How has it been going? Pat Monahan: It's been great. We've been on tour. It's the "Drops of Jupiter 25 Years in the Atmosphere" tour because that album has been out now for 25 years.
Joann Butler: Amazing. Pat Monahan: My 14-year-old son is with me. So, he's performing every night and going viral on the internet. But that's been a lot of fun.
And the Barenaked Ladies and Matt Nathanson are just nothing but great joy to be around. Joann Butler: I love it. What are fans getting when they come see you? Pat Monahan: Everything.
I think they're getting great shows from all of us. New material from us, Drops of Jupiter material, all the familiar songs. I think visually it's the most beautiful production we've ever had. And being able to go to musicals, and, I learn a lot from musicals and also from going to concerts, like not just what I love and what would be good to incorporate, but also what I don't like or what I wouldn't want to incorporate.
Yeah, I've been able to go to a couple shows this week. Me and two guys in my band, Jerry Becker and Matt Musty, have written all the music for a musical that finally debuts at the Old Globe in San Diego in September. I'm really excited about it. I think it's turned out to be a beautiful musical.
Joann Butler: Begin Again. Pat Monahan: Begin Again. Joann Butler: Yeah, that's really exciting. Pat Monahan: Yeah.
Joann Butler: Can you tell us a little bit about the new album coming? Pat Monahan: Yeah, it's called Mad Dog in the Fog, which is a bar in San Francisco that we would go play for free. Like when we started Train in San Francisco, the coffee houses in the area from all over, like East Bay, you know, South Bay, North Bay, right in the city, they were booming. Coffee houses were a big deal.
And allowing people to come in and play music for free was also a big deal. And that was big for us because it gave us an opportunity to perhaps win some people over. And then when the band was, you know, finally five pieces, we grew out of coffee houses. But we had all of those experiences that we could contact hundreds of people to come out and see us at different venues.
And it was great. So anyway, the album in its entirety is about basically my voyage from Pennsylvania to San Francisco and all the life lived through it. Joann Butler: Yes. And I saw the new video, Pennsylvania Turnpike.
It's such a beautiful little story about your whole life, really. Pat Monahan: Yeah. You know, the true story that I don't really share with everybody is that I wrote the song when a dear friend of mine was sick and he passed away a couple months ago. Joann Butler: Oh, I’m sorry.
Pat Monahan: And he's from Philadelphia and lived in San Francisco forever. And I'm from Erie, Pennsylvania, and I lived in San Francisco for a long time. Then I met my wife and we live in Seattle. But I wrote the song about, had he and I known each other, what it would have been like to drive to San Francisco together.
Because we met later in life, and he was one of the loveliest, most amazing guys. And just that, you know, just drive and we'll get to where we need to go. So anyway, that's the real story. Joann Butler: Oh, it's so beautiful.
I'm so sorry for your loss, but I'm glad you had that friendship. Pat Monahan: He's still with me somewhere. Joann Butler: That's right, yeah, for sure. What's your favorite song on the album?
Pat Monahan: You know, it changes. I think it's a song called Blue Brush Butterfly. And it's actually a story that is about a woman, but honestly, I wrote it about my first bass player. He was an incredible artist and a beautiful bass player, but hard to tame, like taming a butterfly.
And so this is about how impossible it is to tame a butterfly. Joann Butler: I did listen to the whole album, it's awesome. It's really... Pat Monahan: Thanks.
Joann Butler: It's just a whole bunch of feel-good songs. I felt good, especially The Weekend one. Pat Monahan: Oh yeah, The Weekend’s fun. Joann Butler: What's your favorite song you've ever written?
Pat Monahan: I don't know what my favorite song is, but I think Drops of Jupiter is the most important. Writing that about my mom was a big, for it to connect with people like it has over the years. It’s pretty cool. Joann Butler: Boy has it.
Unbelievable, 25 years. It’s amazing, did you ever think? Pat Monahan: You know, I never really know what songs will connect with people. Like a lot of times I'll be like, "People are going to love this one," and they’re like…
And then there are other songs that I think “No one's going to get this,” like Hey, Soul Sister, and people are like, "I like that." Joann Butler: I sure did. How does it work for you? Like, how does it all come together? Pat Monahan: I don't know.
It all comes from weird places in my brain, and then I work with outside writers and sometimes the guys in my band. Jerry and Matt were a big part of writing on this album. And I always want to tell a story maybe differently than it's been told, which is becoming quite a difficult thing to do. Like saying "I love you" in a different way is pretty hard.
Everyone's trying to do that. Joann Butler: What do you do differently that... Pat Monahan: I just try to come up with a different way to say the same thing that's been said. My father was a huge fan of great writers and lyrics, like Dylan Thomas was someone he loved.
Obviously, Bob Dylan loved him as well. In fact, he took his name. Just being around someone in my life early on who cared that much about the English language, I think inspired me. Joann Butler: Yeah.
It seems like you had two parents that were really... Pat Monahan: Yeah. Joann Butler: You know? Pat Monahan: Yeah, they were cool.
Joann Butler: Yeah, that's so key, right? The name Train, where did that come to be? Pat Monahan: Train was, so the guy I started Train with, he was listening to an interview of Echo & the Bunnymen, who are from the UK. And on the radio, one of them said, "There's nothing romantic about America." And the guy that I started the band with said, "Trains are pretty romantic." And so we just went with Train as a working title, and no one had it, so we used it.
Joann Butler: Never knew that. Did you always know you wanted to be a musician? Pat Monahan: You know, I just told this story to some friends of mine, in seventh grade, you know I wanted to be a professional baseball player. Joann Butler: Really?
Pat Monahan: But if you would have seen me play, you'd have been like, "I hope he's got another gift." But we were, me and like four other boys, were on our way to basketball practice in a carpool with one of the moms driving, and a Michael Jackson song came on. And everyone started singing along, including me. And then they all stopped and looked back at me like, "What?" Because I would never, I was the shyest kid. I would never want to make a peep in front of people.
And they were like, "Dude, you sound like that." And so I was like, "Maybe that's the thing that I'm supposed to do because basketball ain't it." Joann Butler: Amazing. What about writing? How did you know that you could write, or when did you know? Pat Monahan: I started writing when I was in high school, like early.
I would write poetry, and I was not a very good student, but then when we had a writing assignment my teachers would pull me aside and say, "This is a thing you can do, because all the other things you can't do." And so I think, you know, it takes, it takes many, many, many tries to get something right. And I still, you know, I think of all the songs I write now, I would say that half of them make it, maybe less. But that's a much bigger percentage than it used to be. Joann Butler: How so?
Pat Monahan: Like on the Save Me, San Francisco record, I wrote 82 songs. Crush Management became my managers during the making of that album, and they listened to 82 songs, and about five of them were good enough to continue. Joann Butler: Wow. Pat Monahan: So that's a pretty small percentage.
And then once you kind of recognize a sound or a vibe for an album, then you can continue to write a little bit easier. And that's how this new album, Mad Dog in the Fog was. I wrote The Weekend and it seemed like, "This is a good lane. Let's just write two more and we'll put them out." And then I just wouldn't stop.
And they were like, "This is good, too. Let's just keep going." Joann Butler: That's awesome, so cool. How do you hone your voice? Pat Monahan: I tried to emulate other people forever and always wanted to be Robert Plant.
And when you realize at some point you can't be, then you just kind of be who you are. Joann Butler: Well I'm glad you didn’t. Pat Monahan: But that original music is really important to find your voice. Like my son's 14, he's out on tour with us and doing Journey and playing guitar and singing beautifully.
Joann Butler: Yes, he really... Pat Monahan: It might be a minute until he finds his voice. Joann Butler: Yeah. He was actually invited to come.
He blew us off to go guitar shopping? How did he learn to play? Pat Monahan: Well, he's played guitar, you know, as a little kid, but like he wasn't really passionate about it. He was really passionate about singing.
And then we toured with REO Speedwagon. And there was a guy in the band called Dave Amato. And Dave really loved Rock, my son, and embraced him and would show him all of his guitars and kind of walk him through things. So then Rock starts getting the fever for it.
And then we went and saw Sammy Hagar, who's a pal, and Joe Satriani, who is a pal, is playing all of Eddie's guitars or replicas of them and all of those incredible famous Van Halen licks. And that day that we went and saw them, Rock was like, "That's what I'm going to do, and that's all I care about." Joann Butler: Amazing, amazing. Yeah, he's really good. It's so funny how it's going viral, and we’re all just like, watching it over and over again, it's amazing.
Pat Monahan: He's big on the internet. Joann Butler: So funny. Back to you, who were your inspirations growing up? Pat Monahan: Well, you know, like my father's music was always jazz, but his favorite writer was a guy named Johnny Mercer.
And Johnny's music, without me knowing, I think was one of my biggest influences, like the song Moon River and Autumn Leaves. And those words were so, like he's the only person who instead of saying "the Northern Lights" would say "the Aurora Borealis," like that is, that's what he did, you know? And that was inspiring. And then Led Zeppelin was really inspiring.
Aerosmith, and then I got to, you know, hang out with Steven Tyler a few times and was like, "This is pretty cool." There are many. Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald were huge influences. You know, trying to... Jeff Buckley is a magical voice.
Like, there are a lot of them. Joann Butler: And Cher's guitarist discovered you, is that right? Pat Monahan: Yeah. Well, I would say that’s one way to put it.
I was in a band in Erie, Pennsylvania, like a cover band. And Cher was playing a couple blocks away at an arena, and then her band came in to where I was playing. And the guy's name was David Shelley. He has since passed, but after one of our sets, he called me over and gave me his phone number and said, "You need to move to LA because you’ve got the thing." And that's all I needed.
And so I went to LA and tried to reach him, you know, for a while, but he was always out on tour. But I didn't really need him to be my friend or be in a band with me. I needed somebody to go, "You got the thing, move to LA." And that's what I did. So I really, really owe him that.
Joann Butler: Amazing. And then what happened from there once you got there? Pat Monahan: Then I met the guys from Train and we moved to San Francisco. Joann Butler: The rest is history.
Pat Monahan: Yeah. Joann Butler: What's your biggest life advice since this is LifeMinute? Pat Monahan: There's one, one of the songs, one of the songs starts with, "I got some advice for everybody. Don't take advice from anybody." Joann Butler: That's good.
Pat Monahan: I read this thing, so my friend Murray, who I told you about, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, who passed away. Before he passed, he was telling me he was reading a book called The Daily Stoic. And The Daily Stoic is, there's a date on every page, so you read it for the day, like, "This is your inspiration for the day." One of the pages really made a big shift in me, which was, if something doesn't go your way, it's not a problem unless you make it a problem. And that was a really cool thing.
So, I would say my life advice would be, if something seems like it's wrong, then make the shift, but let the wrong guide you to the right. Meaning, if it paralyzes you, then you're stuck in what's wrong. But if you make a shift and you move out of it, you might find something you were never even looking for in the first place that could change your life. Joann Butler: Has that happened to you?
Pat Monahan: Many times. I always think about like, if you, if you miss a flight, does that mean that's a good thing? You know, like I don't ever look at, like I said earlier, I don't really stress out a lot. Like, it's going to work out because I will, I will move around it.
Joann Butler: I knew you'd have a good answer for that one. What do you do when you're not working? Pat Monahan: Well, I love golf. I don't play much of it, so I'm probably pretty bad right now.
I'm with my family as much as I can be, and I've worked on this musical for six years, so it's been a lot. I'm very anxious to sit in a seat and watch it and see the beauty that has become of the labor. Yeah, mostly it's hanging out with my people and trying to get as much golf in. You know what I love to do more than anything is cook.
I read a great quote today in The Daily Stoic. "Nothing noble can happen unless it's purposeful." So, you can't do something noble by mistake. You can't accidentally help somebody. But if your intention was to do it quietly and then move on, that's a noble act.
If you do it for press, there's nothing noble about that act, you know? There’s, so, that was cool. But I think of cooking for people as noble. And I think it's just a beautiful tradition that humans, we don't have a choice because if we don't eat then that's the end of it.
But, I love to make something and have people love what they're eating. Joann Butler: That’s nice. What are some of your favorite things to cook? Pat Monahan: I have a few.
You know what my favorite thing to cook is? I have read a bunch of recipes for minestrone soup and have created my own. Joann Butler: Really? Pat Monahan: And I think it's the best minestrone around.
Joann Butler: Makes sense. Heartwarming, soup's always good. Pat Monahan: Like if you can have a bowl of minestrone soup and a piece of garlic toast and a glass of red wine... Joann Butler: Yes.
Pat Monahan: Why am I here? Joann Butler: I know. We call it pasta e fagioli in Italian. Pat Monahan: Well, pasta e fagioli has pasta in it.
Joann Butler: Yes, yours doesn't? Pat Monahan: Mine's vegan until I put three pounds of parmesan in it. Joann Butler: Sounds good to me. What does music do for people?
Pat Monahan: Heals, guides, helps, reminds us, brings people back. There's a thing that someone asked me, "What happens with AI and music?" And I said, "Well, I heard somebody say that if you are gifted music, because it's a gift, and you choose to use AI, you're not in the club anymore." And I really understood that, it made a lot of sense to me because it is a holy, whatever, religious or not or whatever you want it to be, a spiritual connection to humanity. But there's even a guy on Instagram who plays music for animals out in like farmland, and they're just like, "Woah." It's a, it does something that is, it's connected to, you know, our nervous system, like you can't explain it. But there was a disabled man who was a friend of my drummer who came to a show in Florida.
And he pulled me into him because he couldn't come to me, and he said, "You're healing people, never forget that and never stop doing it." And I was, he said, "I'm in pain all the time, but I wasn't for that 90 minutes." Joann Butler: Wow. Pat Monahan: And I was like, “That's magic.” Joann Butler: That's awesome, sure is. Beautiful. Pat Monahan: And I would trust him more than I would trust most people, like he's, he understands it on a very deep level.
Joann Butler: Yeah. Beautiful, thanks so much for coming down, talking to us, it was so fun. Keep fighting the good fight. Thank you so much.
Pat Monahan: Fighting the good fight.
