The voice of Supertramp, Roger Hodgson, performs at the Riverside
Theatre this Sunday, April 7. BOB GORDON speaks with the iconic
singer/songwriter.
After a taking break from music in the ‘90s to escape the industry
treadmill and raise his children, Roger Hodgson returned to the stage
and has now been back on the road on-and-off for some 10 years.
He answers the phone in Indianapolis, on a stop that is part of his
first US tour in all that time. In the US, as wherever he travels now,
Hodgson sees up close what the songs he has written - such as The
Logical Song, Breakfast In America, Give A Little Bit, Dreamer and It’s
Raining Again - mean to those in the audience. He left the band in 1983,
but the songs he sang remain his.
“It’s a very personal relationship that I’ve got with so many people
around the world to tell you the truth,” he notes. “These songs that I’m
singing are pieces of my heart and pieces of my life experience that
I’ve shared, or expressed in my songs. And the songs went out and
touched so many people who have been listening to them now for 30 plus
years. They have a very strong relationship with them and many of the
songs speak to their beliefs and their emotions as well.
“I look out and see people smiling and crying. I see couples hugging
each other. I see four generations, from 50 plus people to teenagers
discovering the music for the first time. For me, as a human being, let
alone a musician, to have something that I’ve done to share with people
that gives so much in so many different ways is what inspires me to keep
touring.”
Hodgson seems to enjoy performing more these days than in those of
yore. “I have a lot more confidence now than I did in the Supertramp
days,” he says, “and a lot more to give onstage.” And while his highly
philosophical songs from back in the day were the musings from a much
younger man’s perspective, he is happy to note that they resonate in the
modern day.
“I still have an incredible appreciation of them,” he says. “There
are some lyrics that are very current and relevant like Give A Little
Bit. The message of that song is even more relevant today than when I
wrote it. The Logical Song the theme about finding out who were are -
please tell me who I am - that message is also still current and
relevant today.
“I’m very proud of the songs. I can relate to them all. I relate in
terms of who I was back then, but I still feel fresh and relevant to a
certain degree now. As an artist I have a lot of appreciation for them
and enjoy them.”
While Supertramp toured Australia in the ‘70s, Hodgson has not
previously been to Perth. It’s good to know that there is always time
for a first, whether it be for Hodgson coming here or for long-time fans
to finally hear the songs sung live.
“The big thing there is that for people who never saw Supertramp this
is the closest thing they are going to get to seeing a Supertramp show,”
Hodgson says. “In its heyday there was a wonderful spirit that we, as
Supertramp, had together. This is the closest that people will get to
seeing that spirit.”
