Bruce Springsteen, joined by The E Street Band, members sat down for a special live interview on The Howard Stern Show to promote his upcoming Hulu documentary, “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.” The interview with Howard Stern, spanning over two hours, featured Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band performing various songs.
Before the band — which includes his wife and longtime E Street band member Patti Scialfa — joined Bruce live in-studio to chat and perform a mini concert, the Boss discussed some of the fun he’s had as their boss over the years. “Torturing the band is the bandleader’s prerogative,” he laughed. “I used to keep them playing for hours during a soundcheck while I walked around the entire arena making sure every seat had the optimum sound.”
While Bruce is the Boss in concert, that all changes when the band is off the clock. Scialfa made that clear as she explained their dynamics to Howard. “I always tried not to be a wife onstage,” she noted. “But as soon as I get my foot off the stage …”“It’s over, baby,” her husband added. “I’m only Boss [for] three hours and then I surrender the title, happily.”
Collectively, the couple made a point of not bringing their work home with them. “You walk into our home, especially when the kids were growing up, you wouldn’t know what anybody did for a living — there was nothing [that] indicated there’s somebody famous in the house,” Scialfa revealed.
Their oldest of their three children, Evan, didn’t know what his parents did for a living until he was in the second or third grade. “’Hey Dad, “What’s ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out?’” Bruce remembered him asking.
“I think what we do that the kids would sometimes complain about is, instead of talking, we’d sing everything back and forth to each other,” Patti said before demonstrating in song, ‘I’m making the pancakes!’”
On the subject of songwriting — which Springsteen called “pure torture” — the singer revealed he’s endured extended periods of non-productivity. “Writing is really hard, and you’re failing. Ninety percent of the time, you’re writing stuff that’s mediocre or worse,” he told Stern.
Springsteen likened songwriting to “soul mining” and noted that only once in his entire catalogue has music come to him in his sleep, with “Working on a Dream’s” “Surprise, Surprise” the “only song I’ve actually dreamt and then woke up, got up, and written.”
Bruce Springsteen: “Max Weinberg is the hardest working drummer in show business.” “He’s a phenomenal drummer.” “I mean, Max, how old are you man?”
Max Weinberg: “I think Nils is a month younger than me. 73.” Bruce Springsteen: “I mean, he’s doing something, first of all, it could kill him.” Howard Stern: “Well, literally you’re not joking, right?”
Bruce Springsteen: “No. You gotta give him a gold star for pure balls and bravery every night. Second of all, the guys stop a little bit in between songs. Max Weinberg does not. Max Weinberg plays from the minute we get on stage for three solid hours, pedal to the metal until we get off, and he’s doing things that are simply incredible.”
Howard Stern: “And he puts his hands in ice after the show because they hurt so much after drumming for three hours.
“It’s really hard… 90 percent of the time you’re writing stuff that’s either mediocre or worse… The only good thing is I’ve learned to recognize what’s mediocre and worse sooner,” Bruce Springsteen admitted. “I’ve gone for two years without writing a song and then written an entire album in three weeks.”
Springsteen said songwriting has always been a grind. “You’re soul mining, is what I call it,” he explained. “You’re down in the soul mines, and just like any mine, you’re chippin’ away looking for a vein. I’ve been lucky. I’ve hit a lot of veins in my lifetime, but you do not know if you’re going to hit another one.”
“Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band” debuts on Hulu Friday, October 25.
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