Ringo Starr and his garden full of friends have put out several EPs in recent years, the latest of which, Crooked Boy, features four songs that are the melodic equivalent of giving the peace sign. But the opening riffs invite another discussion entirely. Does that … kind of sound like “Reptilia� And also “Someday� Has Ringo been dropping his stylus down on Is This It? Actually, more than a little bit. That’s because the guitar work was handled by none other than Nick Valensi, the Strokes’ longtime guitarist, who was looped into the project by Crooked Boy’s writer and producer, Linda Perry. As Valensi tells it, Perry called him after she realized one of the EP’s chief influences was the Strokes, a band Ringo is a huge fan of. Valensi immediately said yes to shredding on the entire project. “This was one of the most fun recording experiences I’ve ever had,†he says.
How many “peace and loves†did you get from Ringo throughout this experience?
I stopped counting after the first 100.
I’m looking at a list of recent Ringo guitarists and you join quite an illustrious list. Joe Walsh, Steve Lukather, Mike Campbell, Robby Krieger, some guy named Paul McCartney …
Wow. It didn’t dawn on me the fantastically reputable company that I’m joining here, but holy shit. Joe Walsh is one of my current favorite guitarists. It’s quite an honor to be included in that list of “Ringo Starr guitar players.â€
Tell me, how does one get into an orbit to work with a Beatle, especially one who tends to favor the company of his long-tenured friends?
I got brought into the project by Linda Perry. When they originally brainstormed the idea of doing this EP, I don’t know who Ringo had in mind for the guitars. But Linda went to bat for me and wanted to bring me into the project, so I’m very grateful to her. The music she was writing and pitching to him leant itself to the way that I play. They had some conversations about influence and what direction the EP was going to go in. My band, the Strokes, was one of the things that got listed. She was thinking, Why don’t we just go straight to the source?
How did your first conversation with Ringo go?
What’s funny is throughout the recording process I actually didn’t record with him. I spent a lot of time recording with Linda. She would demo songs and then send them to me — she was playing the drums and on vocals. There was even one song that I got to demo with her from scratch. I showed up not knowing what the hell we were going to do and we created a song out of nothing. From there, the songs would go to Ringo for approval. He would play on them and sing on them, and then I would get called back in to finalize things with Linda. What happened on pretty much every song was I’d get used to the demo and Linda, and then when Ringo would come in and do his stuff, it felt like the song was transformed. Some of them were completely different with the time, the tempo, and the key. I’d go in and hear it for the first time with Ringo on vocals and drums and I’d have to rethink things a lot.
That’s interesting, how so?
The things that I thought were going to work no longer did. Ringo’s feel is so different — the way that he plays is so energetic and youthful. It’s kind of weird, too. Ringo is my favorite drummer of all time. He still has all of the quirkiness and youthful energy and weirdness in his playing. He’s an older gentleman now, but he still plays like he’s 17 years old. He still puts fills in weird places where you kind of have to play around them in outside-the-box ways. So my first experience hanging with him was when we shot the music video. I had the pleasure of going to his house, which was a little nerve-racking. We shot the video in his garage. I was thinking, What is Ringo’s house going to be like? And when you get to his house, it’s exactly what you want it to be like.
I’d love a visual of what his house looks like.
It’s not showy or ostentatious. It’s very down-to-earth in the way Ringo is. There are stars in the gate as you drive in, and when you drive down the driveway, there are stars everywhere in the driveway. It’s so cool.
Did Ringo go into this wanting to create his own version of a Strokes album?
Not exactly. But Linda did call me and say, “Ringo really loves the Strokes and he wants to do songs that have that energy.†Obviously I was thrilled to get that call.
Did you ask him what his favorite Strokes material is?
I didn’t dare do that.
He could’ve been an Angles stan!
[Laughs.] Hanging with him was such a dream come true, and so casual and easy. I didn’t want to fish for compliments about my band. I will say, Ringo’s energy and demeanor is so welcoming. It’s so down-to-earth and open-hearted. He’s just a really pleasant person to be around and I’m grateful to be in his orbit.
I’m curious how you chose to experience this collaboration. Did you approach this as a learning experience with a rock elder, or were you leading the direction of where these songs could go? What was the sweet spot?
Linda wrote the songs and she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to do. She was also asking me to inject my personality into the songs a little bit. Linda is really good at real-time direction. There was a lot of improvising and coming up with random ideas. More of this, less of that. She pushed me to play differently than I normally do, which was very fun for me. I got to get my Joe Walsh on a little bit, which is something I don’t get to do in the Strokes. She welcomed that. On this EP, there are country-guitar stylings that I don’t usually do, and it lent itself to the Ringo stuff, because that’s always been part of his repertoire.
How did you two bond when finally meeting for the music video, which is now a prime artifact in the dudes-rock canon?
We got right into shooting the video and didn’t bond over music or influences besides general “classic rock†talk. I mean, this is Ringo Starr. He’s one of the most iconic musicians of all time. He transcends “musician.†He’s a cultural icon, like John F. Kennedy. Hanging with him felt like we were just people in between takes, drinking coffee, shooting the shit, talking about restaurants and clubs in Los Angeles. We discussed the Rainbow Room. It was wonderful. It felt so natural and I really got the impression, He’s just like one of us. It’s the way it always feels with other musicians.
On paper, the two of you are very different in terms of style and persona, and I’ll admit I was surprised when I first read about your collaboration. Was there ever a fear that it just wouldn’t work?
No, never. Because the first song Linda sent me was so good and I immediately had ideas for it. The truth is, I’ve been listening to Ringo, his drumming, and his singing since I was in the womb. That goes for most of us. His music, his style, and his personality is a part of who I am creatively and I think it would be hard-pressed to find any musical person who doesn’t share that strong Beatles influence. Especially for young people, like children, the Ringo songs are usually the ones they gravitate to the most. That was a big part of my childhood.
Would you consider this collaboration to be a full-circle moment?
Even further, a bucket-list moment that I get to check off. This project is, far and away, the one my mother and my family are the most proud of. The perception from my mom and my aunts? Oh, Nick finally made it. He’s on a record with a Beatle. That feels nice.
If Ringo invited you to join the All-Starr Band, would you accept?
I’m angling for that, yeah. I don’t know how much he tours nowadays, but if Ringo offered me a touring role, I think I would jump at that opportunity. I really would. I’ll call Ringo right now and I’ll put my name in that hat.