Joe Sundberg Interview- Part Two -How did it come about that Rick decided to ask Craig,Chip and Tom to join the band?Were you involved with that decision? Joe: “Yes.Rick and I wanted to do original music and I had played in The Boweevils with Tom and Craig. I had caught these guys playing out a few times as Toast N Jam and loved the way the three of them played.It was a natural that we should play together.The rest is history as they say”. -I have heard a recording of a early Grim Reapers practice session,that is after Craig,Chip and Tom came into the band.Craig was using a Fender amp I believe and said recently that those recordings are not representative of the sound Fuse later became known for.Was there a lot of experimenting to find that sound? Joe: “Well, Rick was the leader of the band and was very hip to all the new amps and sound gear.He had traveled to England and saw what the groups were using and came back with contacts to buy all the gear.Both Rick and Craig had Gibson guitars.Rick started collecting vintage guitars when we traveled all over as The Grim Reapers.When he hit a new town he would check the paper and hit the music stores.He paid a few hundred dollars for some of his first Les Pauls.We were always trying to improve our sound and experimented with many things along the way.We had a Mellotron,which was a loop system keyboard before synths were even out.Rick saw The Moody Blues in England and brought one back.It was a very heavy large keyboard that would go out of key often.You hear it on “Climb On a New Tomorrow”. -Do you recall what the first song was you guys wrote collectively as The Grim Reapers? Joe: “I think it was “Across the Skies” but I’m not sure of that”. -The late Sixties was a time of change and much turmoil with the Hippy movement,protests over the Viet Nam war,drug experimentation and all.Were your lyrics greatly influenced by all that was going on as other bands such as The Jefferson Airplane and many others were? Joe: “I have always been more of a political person,even as a youngster?I dedicated a lot of the songs to and rambled in concerts about the war,poor decisions in Washington,the random killing of innocent students in Ohio and many other things.All the other guys really didn’t have much to say so they let me say it.I am sure they had opinions but in the fog of the 60’s and 70’s they kept quiet.I really think the music came from a different place of expression,passion and art. -A band’s “front man” is a very important ingredient and can often be what makes or breaks the band’s chances of success.You certainly seemed to possess all the right attributes; strong vocals, talent, style and charisma.Remembering back,did that persona-so to speak-just come naturally to you, or did it come about as a result of being influenced by others you admired? Joe: “Very much so.I was so young and really had trouble at times finding the real me.So many great frontmen were out at the time.I was greatly influenced by Otis Redding,the Motown sound with the great Stax sidemen.Then The Door’s Morrison,Robert Plant and Roger Daultry.Alvin Lee blew me away as a performer with Ten Years After,and Rod The Mod with The Faces.I loved Terry Reid.I had many incredible singers to learn from.I had so many references to Tom Jones.He was not a early influence but my husky vibrato took me to that.Great singer but kind of cheesy in style-but it worked for him”! -Were there any Fuse songs that were perhaps your favorite(s) to perform? Joe: “I enjoyed all of them but “Climb” was one of my favorites”. -Were you ever inspired when writing your lyrics by something from your own past,or by something that happened,for instance as with Deep Purple’s “Smoke On the Water”,or Crosby,Stills,Nash and Young’s “Ohio”? Joe: “I think everything that I experienced during that time was an influence including the wine and the smoke.I have always been pretty spontaneous in everything I do even in my business today, so a lot of things just flowed and were included.Can’t say I was extremely prolific but it worked”. -Did any of the Fuse song’s lyrics hold any special significance for you? Joe: “Not really..more whimsical than deep”. -Do you feel your lyrics were evolving with the rest of the band as you guys were finding your own? Joe: “As I look back today I wish I had spent more time on them.I think we were evolving as song writers ..we just didn’t have enough time as Fuse to grow.Rick took his writing to another level with Cheap Trick.His lyrics were never very deep and really never evolved-my opinion only!I wish we would Have stayed together to see this through-I believe we could have had great success”. -Were there ever any moments when you said to the others..”hey,I would like to try doing something different”,or special maybe for you personally? Joe: “Well,it was a band and that meant we had five egos and ideas to please.So while I would have loved to try different things,we had to be a unit.I think our manager Ken Adamany was a very poor influence to the other guys.He started a lot of trouble and knew that I didn’t approve of his business ways.Epic told us to dump him and he really was the undoing of the group.Many years later I think Rick also realized that he was bad for business and dumped him only to be sued and nearly bankrupted”. -Remembering back, watching you and Craig and you while performing “Climb”,it often reminds me of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page doing “Stairway to Heaven”.There was the beautiful acoustic guitar work and the hauntingly beautiful vocals both building up to this great crescendo.If memory serves me correctly yet it was before “Stairway” was even released.I have often felt that song was maybe a portent or indication of things to come from Fuse. Joe: “That song came from the need to use the Mellotron on stage.We wanted to be more than just a loud power band.I am not sure when “Stairway” was written but it could well have been an influence.We saw Zeppelin play in Chicago on their very first tour.Imagine walking into the Kinetic Playground in Chicago and seeing Ian Anderson playing the flute like a snake charmer with Jethro Tull and then Zeppelin who we didn’t even know coming out and doing their entire first album. Incredible!I will never forget that night,ever” -Fuse opened and did a number of shows with some big names of the day-even still now.What particular shows or memories are special for you? Joe: “We played with all the great acts..The Yardbirds with Page,Jeff Beck,Rod Stewart,Jimi Hendrix, The Who,The Mothers of Invention.We were on the same bill with Otis Redding the night his plane went down in Madison(WI).Many of the great R&B stars; Wilson Pickett,James Brown and many others.It was an incredible ride for a seventeen year old kid from Rockford,Il”. -Chip recalled the incident at Kickapoo Creek I believe it was,and the guy snatching the mich from you.As well as becoming ill from the heat at the Iowa show outdoors.Are there any that stand out in your memory for one reason or another? Joe: “That was that the festivals were a logistical nightmare.We would either be up all night and then go on with no sleep,or it was bikers shooting or one hundred degree heat.I remember falling asleep in the grass in Iowa after ingesting some type of downer and not waking for hours face down in the dirt.Fun times,huh”? -Craig has said that Fuse was always on the cutting edge and it seemed to me that you guys always did your own thing and never played it safe with regards to your music.How do you feel Fuse might have evolved musically? Joe: “Craig is absolutely right on with the cutting edge.We worked at it.We worked very hard and had great passion for what we were doing.I said it earlier but I think we would have seen great success as we evolved as performers and song writers.Mommy’s all right would have never crossed my lips”. -I can only imagine the Fuse breakup as being maybe somewhat demoralizing-at least for those of us that followed Fuse and loved you guys it was very disheartening.Can you share with us any of your own feelings about it at the time? Joe: “It was a great disappointment in my life.I loved the music and the direction.The business manager started trouble between Tom,Rick and myself that ended up breaking us apart.Chip went to Germany and I moved to LA and tried to get started again.I met a lot of the LA scene at the time and just got turned off to everything.The guys in Spirit were my friends and we had a great time together.They had just formed Jo Jo Gun and had a singer or that might have evolved for me.I ended up moving back and going to Art school.I have always had a love for the business side of things and that really started my passion for business”. -After that you and Craig formed Silver Fox and then later Chip rejoined you guys.But as I understand it you didn’t-or couldn’t perform the old Fuse material.After that creative period as Fuse did that feel too restrictive or dull? Joe: “We did that as a weekend outlet.We played in clubs in the Chicago area but by our own choice never did Fuse material.We did cover sh**(sorry;my edit to avoid FB Big Brother!lol!)that we all liked and had fun.It was a very good bar band nothing more”. -Chip and Craig related a couple memories from those Silver Fox days.Do you have any? Joe: “I don’t remember much from those days except that I had a responsible corp gig on Mondays and a family and kids.Everyone else was still single and very loose.Chip was always a responsible guy.I can’t remember what he was doing at that time”. -Lastly I know that all the followers of this page would like to know what you are doing now.I know your son Cody has embarked on his own musical path,right? Joe: “It’s been a long time since the Fuse days.I have been in what I would have called in those days a ‘suit’ business role.I have been in the Sales and Marketing area of business for thirty plus years. I am a senior executive with a company and have an ownership position.My kids are Cody thirty five and Shannon is thirty.Today the 24th of March I have been married to the same lovely lady for thirty eight years.We all live in the city of Chicago and live close to each other.My kids are all in business here but my son plays drums in a jazz fusion band.My daughter is married and her husband is Kanye West’ Creative right hand.He is doing clothing,staging,video and all Kanye’s Creative work.So we are all still connected in some way to the music”. On behalf of the followers of the Fuse page I want to than you Joe for all the time you have so graciously given,as well for the music and all the memories.Speaking for myself it has been a honor and real privilege.God bless you and all your family and we all wish you all the continued happiness and success. -
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 22:09:40 +0000