Kip Winger was living large in the late ’80s — and this interview is proof of that — but the singer/bassist seemed to be humble about his fame, too.

Tweet

Taken from the May 1989 issue of Powerline Magazine:

Kip Winger has been on the music scene for awhile now, and you could almost call him a veteran rocker. He’s been playing in rock clubs before he even had hair on his chest. He’s also gigged with such noted rock celebs as Alice Cooper. Now, with his present band (Winger, of course), Kip plays alongside three of the finest musicians in hard rock. Reb Beach: a guitar wizard whose mantra is controlled dexterity and hypnotic melody. Paul Taylor: an excellent atmospheric keyboardist. And, last but not least, the outstanding percussion of Rod Morgenstein, who also played with guitarist Steve Morse‘s renowned Dixie Dregs for some time. Kip assured me, too, that this neatly put together quartet is a band effort, not some solo project of his. But I was still skeptical. I think anyone would only assume it was a solo project by the chosen moniker to represent the band. Wouldn’t you? Yet, Kip still holds his ground on the subject: “There’s a lot of people that don’t even know that Winger is my last name!” reassures the healthy-chuckling Kip. “My last name was chosen because I basically put this band together, but everyone has their own identity in this band. This is a band situation, not a solo project.”

Okay, Kip. Fine.

“With Reb, I think I put together a band that will work. I planned the whole thing out to a worst case scenario before we began. Thinking how we could try to make things work out again if everything goes wrong. But so far everything’s gone right!”

“And I consider this band to be something that turns out to be like Jethro Tull, Queen, Yes, or any of those classic bands. That’s how we want to be classified as in the future. We’re not a heavy metal band, we’re a heavy band. Heavy metal fans will like us though. We’re a lot heavier than the album when you see us live, but heavier in the sense of louder. Some people will call us metal because of a song like “Time to Surrender,” but when you listen to “Without the Night” — you can’t call something like that metal at all. It’s good to have a metal base I think, but I grew up listening to bands that were on the radio, so of course we sound commercial. But we don’t target it that way.”

Another subject I wanted to touch on was Winger’s audience. Judging from my observations, the majority of Winger fans seem to be quite young. How young? Well, I’m sure a good portion probably get carded before purchasing something like … cigarettes. But how does Kip view his audience? Does he think most of them as mature listeners? Or just ‘Seventeen’-and-under cuties who just want to use him as a glossy pinup? His reply was a quick one and, to be honest, I haven’t seen Kip this enthusuastic and excited since he played the MTV New Year’s Eve Ball!

[pullquote_left]I’d rather tour the high schools than clubs. Clubs are too small and smoky, plus the audience has to be over twenty-one in most of them.[/pullquote_left]

“Our audience is very young,” exclaims Kip. “The age starts at about ten and it goes up to about twenty-five, but that’s about as far as it goes. Mostly, it’s an audience from a good MTV response. And I’d rather tour the high schools than clubs. Clubs are too small and smoky, plus the audience has to be over twenty-one in most of them. Right now a lot of places we’re playing are clubs where you have to be over twenty-one. Unless we have a support slot in an arena tour, like we did with the Scorpions last year. We do get people over twenty-one who come to really listen to just music. But you’d be surprised at the percentage of young kids that go to see the shows, and it’s fine with me. You know what I mean?”

Yeah, I think I get the hint, Kip.

Kip’s songwriting seems to lean towards a younger audience anyway. Songs like “Without You Tonight, “Seventeen” and (of course!) “Madalaine.” There’s the exception, though. The cover of “Purple Haze” is done in a very mature manner. And the outcome is brilliant. It doesn’t even sound like a Hendrix song after Winger put their touch to it. It sounds like a Winger song.

[pullquote_left]Whatever happens in the future is fine with me. We’re a good band. We don’t suck. So people will always buy enough of our records.[/pullquote_left]

I was curious how Kip came up with the idea for this one? “To tell you the truth, I actually got the idea when I heard the song in a taxi cab, riding in downtown New York City. And right there I kind of wrote the whole arrangement in my head. Plus, I was on the way to the studio to finish the record. The whole idea was to take the song and bring it up to what our band is all about. There’s no other reason to do a cover in my eyes. We arranged “Purple Haze” the way we would do it if it was our own song, differently than the original. But it’s definitely something a little bit different than a song like “Madalaine.”

While we’re on the subject of the song “Madalaine,” I asked Kip if Madalaine was a fictional character or a real life affair with a common heartbreaker? “‘Madalaine’ isn’t a fictional character. I’ll tell you that much!”

Do you still have the urge to see Madalaine (she might be ‘Seventeen’?!) or know her present whereabouts? “No!” gasps Kip. “I haven’t talked to her in about three years and I really don’t want to! She knows that. I’m sure she must’ve heard the song by now.”

Are there any new dramatic Kip Winger topics like that penned for future songs? “Yeah,” replies Kip, with his big shiny teeth smile, “Songs about getting beat up by chicks!”

Hmmm. How nice.

Well, as you can see, Kip’s gifted and crafted songwriting is just too amusing to ignore. We even ran a nice pinup of him in honor of that … or, uh, maybe we did it for the girl readership (choke!). Either way, there’s no way of overlooking the talent that the band Winger possesses, even if you are one of those who can’t stand the likes of commercial hard rock. And, from what Kip tells me, Winger’s next album will be even better.

“The next record will also be more adventurous. And it will be better because we’ve been on tour for so long. And whatever happens in the future is fine with me. We’re a good band. We don’t suck. So people will always buy enough of our records. And I’m not the kind to get freaked out about sales. I just don’t sit around and count the sales as they come in. Plus, our album could stop selling today and we would still be considered a successful band. Believe me, this band will be around for a long time!”

Okay, Kip. I guess we will take your word on it.