New Kid In Town plays

DJ: That's New Kid In Town, from the Eagles Farewell Tour, which is a new double-DVD set with new songs and classic hits live from Melbourne. To tell us more about it is Timothy B. Schmit from the Eagles. Are you still a band?

TBS: We are still a band. We are on a break at the moment. I'm here promoting, etc,. this DVD. We are planning a tour in August that might go through parts of November, mostly in California. We're calling it the California tour. We haven't played there in quite a long time. We're doing very well - we're selling out in most places. For instance, we had ten sold-out shows in the LA-area alone. So we are very much a band.

DJ: When, Timothy did you become an Eagle?

TBS: I became an Eagle right after...I was rehearsing with a band the night they won the Grammys for Hotel California, so right around that area.

DJ: And before that?

TBS: Before that, I was in a band called Poco. I was in that band for quite - you know, I think seven-eight years, and we actually came to the UK two or three times while I was in that band.

DJ: Rose of Cimarron?

TBS: That that was one of the songs, yes.

DJ: I remember that so well - beautiful song. You are associated, your music with California. Are you a native of California?

TBS: That's a funny thing. The Eagles is associated as a California band or with the quote-unquote California sound, but the fact is I am the only native Californian in the band and I'm not even from Southern California. So, there you have it.

DJ: (Chuckling) What do you remember about this Melbourne concert? How old is it?

TBS: It was only recorded and filmed last November. One of our stops was Melbourne. We did a tour of the Pacific Rim and also all of Australia. We did, I think, five shows at this one venue in Melbourne and we recorded three of them, so it's fairly recent.

DJ: As a band, there have been loads of reports over the years that there was a lot of kind of arguments that made recording sessions take longer than they should. What is the atmosphere inside the band like now and maybe those reports were exaggerated? Were they?

TBS: Probably not. We had quite a lot of conflicts where we split up for 14 years. But, he atmosphere now really is one of going to work. We don't socialize that much. We're certainly friendly, but we, you know, we all have families. Some of the guys have very young children. A couple of the guys started their families a little bit later. We get together - it's become a big machine, a pretty powerful one - and we get together and go to work.

DJ: But work is fun?

TBS: Work is fun most of the time, yeah?

DJ: Let's choose another song of your choice - maybe a song that you can tell us about..

TBS: Let's listen to I Can't Tell You Why. It's the first song that I ever co-wrote as an Eagle with Don & Glenn. I brought them a piece of this song. They liked it and we had two or three, maybe four writing sessions, and it was the very first song we recorded - the first vocal that was recorded for The Long Run, I Can't Tell You Why.

Plays I Can't Tell You Why from the Farewell One DVD

DJ: I Can't Tell You Why on Capital Gold. We're with Timothy B. Schmit in Londong talking about the new two-DVD set with some new songs, some classic hits and some bonus footage. I haven't seen the DVD yet, so the bonus footage consists of what, Timothy?

TBS: Just, you know, some backstage buffoonery and some interviews of us talking about life as an Eagle and what goes on, etc.

DJ: What's the best thing about being an Eagle then?

TBS: Well, I think in general the best thing about being an Eagle is the fact that it's still so alive and so big. The best thing is, personally, my good fortune in life. I mean, I started out like everybody else with high aspirations and dreams of radio and TV and fortune and fame. I suppose all of that, and loving music. I happen to be fortunate enough to actually have...am still carrying through on that and it's actually materialized. I try to stay conscious of it - of my good furtune, and try and never take that for granted.

DJ: That's wonderful stuff, and presumably you were a fan of the band before you joined. When you were a member of Poco you used to listen to them?

TBS: Yeah, we were - Poco was in existence before the Eagles and then the Eagles...I actually was doing a show here at the Rainbow with Poco - probably in that 1971 time - and I remember, I think it was Don & Glenn coming to the show and seeing them backstage and they said they were starting a band. I remember asking them what they were gonna call it and they said they were recording here and it turned out to be their very first Eagles album. I was friendly with them. They knew my work and I knew theirs. I think Poco actually started opening up shows for them a few times and eventually, when it was time they called for me to be a part of it.

DJ: Now this is a look back at the greatest hits in many respects. Will there be new music on the way soon?

TBS: Well, we are chipping away at that. I don't know that it's going to be soon. I am hopeful that it will atually materialize. Whether it will or not is hard to say. We seem to work for short periods of time rather than long periods of time, so we get distracted with other parts of our lives. We've had trouble focusing on getting this done. I'm hopeful that everybody will make it a priority again so we can put out an album of new music. Whether that will actually happen or not remains to be seen.

DJ: Do you think if the amber lights ever started flashing on the dashboard, "wait a minute, this might not happen," would you like to make your own music anyway, irregardless of whether it was with the Eagles or not?

TBS: Well, I'm always making my own music. I'm chipping away at a solo album. We all have solo stuff. There are songs that are obviously...Most of my songs probably aren't good for the Eagles, but if I just keep writing, every once in a while one surfaces and I might hold it back and see if it might be good for the band. Eagles or no Eagles, I am in music for life, I think. It's something I enjoy.

DJ: Shall we play Tequila Sunrise?

TBS: Let's play Tequila Sunrise.

DJ: We'll do that now. Timothy thank you.

TBS: Thank you very much.

End of interview. Plays Tequila Sunrise.