For more than two decades Richard X. Heyman has earned a reputation as a pop stylist with material that sounds like one classic nugget of melodic sunshine after another. Over that time the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and home recording artist’s approach involved playing nearly all the instruments and contributing nearly all the vocal parts along with assistance from his wife, Nancy Leigh. His craftsmanship and knowledge of the form — based on the early days of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Beach Boys and onwards – also led to playing drums for Brian Wilson and collaborating with Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits).
Heyman’s method has produced a consistently strong body of work — eight albums and 2 EPs — on major, indie and self-financed labels. For his current release, Tiers/And Other Stories, he offered a twist to the same hook-laden pattern of the past by basing the tunes on the piano rather than guitar. The results on the two-CD, 31-song release remain stunning.
Regarding the project as two separate albums packaged together, Tiers recounts the early stages of his relationship with Nancy including separation and reconciliation. “And Other Stories” is just that, tales of their life together as well as other New York-based stories for this New York-based artist.
My conversation with Heyman spans his former days with New Jersey garage band, the Doughboys, and its recent reunion, crafting shimmering pop material in the non-soundproof confines of an apartment, giving the people more than they want and much more.
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JPG: Good to finally be speaking to you after all these years after discovering you with the album, “Hey Man!” Just out of curiosity. Is your last named pronounced ‘Hey man’ or ‘Heymun?’
RH: It’s usually pronounced ‘Heymun.’ One of those strange things with the English language how certain vowels aren’t pronounced the way they’re supposed to be like Bill Wyman, Richard Heyman, you say ‘men’ instead of ‘man’ even though it’s spelled m-a-n. Of course, the Americans have totally abandoned the letter ‘t’ in the middle of a word to a ‘D’. You don’t say, ‘wa-ter’. It’s ‘wader’.
*JPG: Yes, such as spelling it Worchester, Massachusetts but pronouncing it ‘Woo-stah’. *
RXH: Now when you’re singing sometimes, you’ve got to make that decision if you want to pronounce that ‘t’ in the middle of a word because it sounds unnatural for an American to say ‘Wat-ter’ or ‘bot-tle’ because it’s got a ‘d’ now. It’s funny because I was trying to write a screenplay and I started to try to write the words phonetically like the way they are actually spoken and I started, I put all these d’s in the words because nobody pronounces all those t’s anymore. (laughs)
JPG: Generally, you’re referred to as a pop artist or pop perfectionist, what is your definition of pop music because it’s changed over the years?
RXH: In the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, they still would refer to an up-and-coming band like the Rolling Stones as a pop band. It was just sort of semantics, the term to describe popular music. I never considered myself a ‘pop artist.’ I’m not that popular.
JPG: Then, how would you describe yourself?
RXH: I don’t really put it into words. I just grew up playing music. I started listening more to jazz, classical and show music before rock ‘n’ roll. As a drummer, I was more influenced by big band jazz played by Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Gene Krupa, that kind of thing. But getting back to your question, it’s just a term. It’s just a short term of popular; it’s really just whoever is defining it at the moment. I don’t put too much stock in it, terminology. I think of myself as a musician.
JPG: Hearing songs such as yours it’s that unabashed pop sound. It evokes the British invasion and the ‘60s, that time when pop was still viewed as an art form rather than the pop of today where it’s more of a packaged cookie cutter songwriter/production/image type of thing. I think that’s why your music gets people really excited. It goes back to the arranging/writing art form in its core.
RXH: I try. I try to do that. I grew up in that transitional period when it was almost this teenage fad into an art form, when you think of the transition from “She Loves You” to “Eleanor Rigby.” “She Loves You” is a great piece of pop writing and yet some would argue that it’s just as valid an art form as “Eleanor Rigby,” but there definitely was a change. And so I grew up in that era where I felt like rock ‘n’ roll was a very interesting kind of art form.
JPG: In what’s viewed as modern pop, I think it all really changed with boy bands, pop divas and American Idol. Do you see it as going back to basics in a 21st century packaging?
RXH: I look at it in two different levels. I see it as entertainment and then I see it as art. You have this whole Madonna era dance music which brought back entertainment in a level of music, whereas what I was trying to obtain lofty bordering on, I don’t want to say pretentious, but just bordering on, trying to be, experimental and a little more interesting that was happening in the late ‘60s. It was a natural development from what Dylan was doing with lyrics. Beatle-esque pop/rock music. Indian music got merged in there and all these things were happening to make it this very eclectic mix. That was progressing and then you had different artists go back to trying to create good dance records that were a little superficial in a way but good, valid in a way. I think there’s some great Madonna.
JPG: And also, something like the Ramones, who at its core the music is bubblegum pop but just played in a particular type of packaging.
RXH: I agree with that. Almost like bubblegum on speed or something like adrenaline through bubblegum music. It had that energy, dedication to that style, which I admired.
JPG: With your material, how many songs have you recorded and released?
RXH: Not sure of an exact number.
JPG: Approximately 600 or over a thousand?
RXH: I have no idea. I usually put 14 songs on my albums and went about nine albums or something like that.
JPG: Was there any reason for 14?
RXH: Originally, it was just a homage to the British Beatles albums. Usually, they have 14 because, somehow, I don’t know if it was a financial thing or vinyl was different, but most American albums would have 11 or 12 songs. Early British albums appeared, they seemed to have 14 tracks on them. At least, the Beatles did. It was just a little tribute to that.
JPG: I didn’t know if it was an artistic decision. The songs themselves, I could see them so easily developed for others.
RXH: Getting covers is always nice. I don’t push for that. Lately, I’ve been working on getting songs into movies and TV. Always good to do.
JPG: By the way, when I visited your website I didn’t see a tour link.
RXH: I haven’t been performing because I just made a conscious decision not to perform live. I play drums in a band called the Doughboys. It’s where I get most of my live jones. Just to get out there. I always consider the drums my main instrument. I enjoy doing it. As far as my solo career, I may pick up again and start doing gigs but I haven’t any plans.
JPG: Those questions are leading to something. So many artists, in a reaction to how the music industry has changed, they’re touring to make money because the recordings aren’t selling. For yourself, do you have things figured out that you don’t have to tour?
RH: As far as money from music, most of that comes from song placement with TV and movies as background music. It’s a tradeoff on a certain level as far as trying to get a tour going because you have to pay the musicians. You have to find the right venues that would work good with you. To get all that together didn’t seem feasible. I haven’t really been performing for awhile. I made that decision.
JPG: You also played drums with Brian Wilson. When was that?
RXH: I don’t remember the exact year. It was when he was promoting a film called I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times. He did some promotional shows. I was in that band.
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