Movie life has Adam crowing
IT is early morning in Los Angeles and Counting Crows’ frontman Adam Duritz is driving to a film studio.
‘‘I’m producing a movie called Freeloaders,’’ he explains, speaking to me on his mobile phone. ‘‘A couple of friends of mine wrote it and one of them is directing it. I don’t really know anything about producing but I’m learning on the job. There are two other producers. I just wanted to help give my friends a start in the business.’’
Adam, who brings Counting Crows to Birmingham NIA on May 13, is also helping in other ways. During our chat he receives another phone call which he tells me he has to take.
Moments later he’s back on the line.
‘‘That was the guys on the set,’’ he says. ‘‘They want to use my car, a 1970s Karmann Ghia convertible, in the scene and they wanted to know where the hell I was. They’re waiting for me.’’
Freeloaders is the first feature film from ATG Productions, the company set up by Adam, Tom Gardner and Greg Cimino. The second, crime drama Incarnate, has just been confirmed.
It appears that Adam has a lot on his plate and he admits that he’s not currently writing Counting Crows music.
‘‘But I don’t write many songs anyway,’’ he says. ‘‘Every few years I write 13 songs and we pick 11 for the record. I’m very specific about my writing, I don’t write a great deal, I never look towards the next album.’’
But he still works a 15 hour day. ‘‘I’m looking at a lot of projects – I have my own label, I’m finishing up a hip hop record and there’s the soundtrack to Freeloaders to complete.’’
There’s also the Counting Crows’ visit to the UK which was originally scheduled for last December.
‘‘It made sense for everybody, the promoter, the fans and the band, to put the tour off till things were a little more settled economically,’’ Adam says.
‘‘Currencies were ping-ponging all over the place. Tickets were selling well but we didn’t know if it was safe to go on tour internationally – you could go bankrupt even with sold out shows.
‘‘It’s still not great economically but at least now the currencies aren’t bouncing around as much.’’
Something Adam wants to try on the band’s next American tour is a revue show similar to Rolling Thunder, which featured Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Roger McGuinn, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
‘‘Instead of there being an opening, middle and closing act I’d like a show that begins at 8pm and goes on for three hours with everyone performing together at the start then playing in different groups, going back and forth, all night.
“We’re trying to figure out which bands we could do that with.’’
* Ticket Info - COUNTING CROWS
May 13: NIA, Birmingham
Tickets: 0844 33 88
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