SJM_Interview_Pat_Monahan_0719_Dept 6 / 28 / 19 4 : 24 PM Page 1 Full Steam Ahead TRAIN FRONTMAN PAT MONAHAN TALKS ABOUT THE BAND’S LATEST TOUR , MAKING NEW MUSIC AND WHY THERE’S A LOT PAT MORE TO GIVE . by Julie Shannon MONAHAN at Monahan is one of those rare musicians who has been around for decades call it Philadelphia . This is New Jersey , and hasn’t missed a beat . Lead singer for Train , he has been the heart and soul of even though Philadelphia is right there . the Grammy - winning band since they formed in 1993 and the group has various P hits spanning decades , from their earlier alternative rock days with “ Meet Virginia ” and Musical inspiration … “ Drops of Jupiter , ” to pop hits such as “ Marry Me , ” “ Hey , Soul Sister ” and “ Save Me , San Lyric writing has always been to me Francisco . ” based on my father’s perspective of Over the years they have released 11 albums , and that included a short hiatus in music . He loved a guy called Johnny 2006 . Monahan released a solo album during that time , and the band did some soul - Mercer ; soon after I loved him , and he searching and made the necessary changes to help them move forward . They changed was my biggest lyrics inspiration . Right their sound from alternative rock to pop which caught the attention of many music - after our first album my record company goers and found a new fan base , while still bringing their original fans along for the ride . president — who is still a friend — said , And they sound better than ever . “ Pat , you don’t have any hits . ” I was so They are touring with Goo Goo Dolls for the first time and making a stop at the stressed out about it because when you BB & T Pavilion in Camden on Aug . 10 . We spoke with Monahan in the midst of the tour don’t have any hits , especially in 2000 , to talk about where he gets his inspiration for writing music , his memories of the area you probably are making your last record . and what’s to come in the future . My mother had just passed away . One night I had woken up maybe 20 minutes Train’s first time playing in Camden … after I fell asleep and I had every lyric in The first time we played in Camden was the first time we knew “ Meet Virginia ” had a my head , and there’s no way my mother chance to be a hit . We were playing at a festival and I remember someone saying , don’t didn’t send the song to me because I wrote the whole thing down the next day ; I sang it and that’s how that happened . She was basically telling me what it was like on the other side . You get to swim through the other planets and come back with drops of Jupiter in her hair . On why Train went on hiatus … We needed a break because we had gone so hard for so long , and the only way to survive was to dismantle instead of break up . Everyone went to do their own thing ; e I did a solo record to get it out of my Walt system and when I came back , we made dan a lot of really positive decisions , changed Bren management and moved forward . I by h wrote ‘ Hey , Soul Sister ’ which kind of grap woke up everything for us again and we hoto traveled the world , and you know now p TRAIN rain it’s about the music more than ever . It’s T SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE volume 16 issue 4 SouthJerseyMagazine.com 22 |