What’s Hall & Oates’ live set looking like these days? Do you bust out any solo material?
No solo stuff. We basically play what the audience expects to hear as well as some rare treats and surprises. It really depends on the night and the audience and how we feel.
You also have a Box Set coming out this fall. What’s going to be included in that?
It’s long overdue, I think, and it’s going to be very unique and will include rare never-heard-before tracks, out-takes, and live tracks. We are also hoping to include a DVD of an early ‘70s live performance that was filmed in England.
Now what’s this I hear about a cartoon where your mustache tries to lure you back into the rock ‘n’ roll fast lane?
Well the cartoon would kind of be like an Adult Swim cartoon (J-Stache) and was something my manager thought up as a way of attracting a younger audience to the older material. It’s really just in the development stage right now so I can’t really go to into it.
It sounds like you have a pretty good sense of humor about your mustache becoming some sort of ‘80s pop icon.
The funny thing is I shaved it off over 20 years ago. It was the early ‘90s and I had just had a deep spiritual awakening and decided I needed to shed the old image and change and become a better person and now family is a very important part of my life. And of course the mustache is now popular again so I think that also has a lot to do with it.
It would seem at this point in your career you can pretty much pick and choose what you want to do and there isn’t as much pressure to come up with a hit. Is it more liberating and more satisfying?
In a lot of ways, yes, I am not on any record label. I am a totally independent artist and enjoy doing whatever projects interest me. I am now really just excited about writing songs with lasting integrity.
Hall & Oates will be performing at The Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ, on July 31 and at Asser Levy Park in Brooklyn, NY, on Aug. 6. For more, visit hallandoates.com.
