The first question obviously had to be: When can we expect a new album from Donald?
Donald will probably start recording in the fall -- we've already had a couple false starts. Originally work commenced in 1984, and since then we've done some more work in Jeff Porcaro's studio, but Donald wasn't happy with it and scrapped it all. Work on the new record is now scheduled to begin in the fall when we're all available.
What about the rumored reunion, is that a realistic possibility or not?
Walter's talking about putting a studio in his house in Hawaii. The technology may mean that Donald and Walter could do an album without either one of them having to leave their homes for any length of time. A couple of years ago they worked for a year on songs, but the distance between them meant it didn't come to anything.
What's the story behind the infamous erased track from Gaucho? Was it called The Second Arrangement?
Yeah, that's it. We tried to re-record it but it never was as good the second time around. But we did a couple versions and did one especially for Gary Katz. We used a drum machine to redo it, depending on which version you have, but there were horns on the original song. There were two versions done, and I've heard one that utilizes separate parts edited together to make the song complete.
What was Donald and Walter's reaction to the release of these early demos that have been emerging recently?
A friend of Gary Katz's sold the tapes to be made up into a CD, and have since appeared as early Steely Dan songs. Donald and Walter weren't exactly delighted to see those things for sale in the record stores.
Do you -- or did you -- ever get frustrated by Donald and Walter's lack of output?
Not really. There was always some kind of forward motion, no matter how microscopic. For instance, Gaucho took two years, but things are always done properly, and if it's not right then it's either redone or discarded. We had a problem with Ruby Baby; the piano was out of tune with itself and the synthesizers. That took an awful long time to get just right.
Roger also admitted that he must have at least a dozen pieces of paper signed personally by Donald in which he promises not to write in ranges which he can't reach vocally. But each time Donald reneges on his (written) work and does just that.
Tell me about this video you were doing of Steely Dan in the studio during the making of Gaucho.
It wasn't your run-of-the-mill video -- it didn't contain any shots of musicians. And Donald wasn't really in there either. Instead it showed knobs turning themselves, a hand on the recording console sliding faders and a momentary glimpse of Donald's leg as he left through a studio door. It was never actually edited together.
There must be soem terrific songs left over from Steely Dan sessions. Are they ever likely to see the light of day now?
Well, I doubt it. When recording was finished I invariably wiped all the vocal tracks -- so they couldn't be used without our permission -- because the record company owns them, so if they see fit to issue them as instrumentals then that's up to them. By the way, why is your fanzine called Metal Leg? I've never been able to understand where the title is from.
I explained that in a musica press item from 1980, the forthcoming Steely Dan album (Gaucho) was allegedly going to be called Metal Leg.
Roger told me that he'd never heard such a title, unless Donald had been considering a subtle change of title and hadn't told him about it.
At this point I had to give consideration to my gradually-spiralling phone bill and we concluded the interview. Damn, now I wish I'd continued for at least another hour!
Last modified on Mon Oct 14 22:07:21 1996