As Foreigner hits the road for a lengthy run of concert dates, including a stop at the Florida Strawberry Festival on Fri., Mar. 8, we caught up with keyboardist Michael Bluestein to discuss the music industry and the band’s Historic Farewell Tour. The band announced in late 2022 that they’ll be hanging it up and retiring on a high note at the end of 2024, capping off their legendary nearly 50-year career as one of classic rock’s most iconic bands.
They are indeed ending on a high note, as the group ended 2023 with the band’s biggest ever one-week digital single sales, album sales at the highest since the 1980’s and in April, Foreigner entered the Top 10 at Classic Rock Radio for the first time.
While the phone interview was interrupted briefly by a 4.6 magnitude earthquake that shook Bluestein’s Los Angeles home, the desk he was sitting at and even caused his dog to bark excitedly, he quickly recovered and continued answering questions about his music career and the band’s upcoming tour.
You began classical piano studies at the age of nine. How hard was the transition from classical music to jazz to rock?
Every style of music has its kind of vocabulary and sort of a language you have to learn. The cool thing is that once you have some facility on your instrument, it can help with the transition between styles but I think the most important thing is to really listen to the different styles you’re getting into. Hear it played by the masters of the craft. If it’s rock listen to Zeppelin, the Stones and of course Foreigner. If it’s classical listen to Beethoven, Mozart and all the masters. If it’s jazz listen to Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. You have to immerse yourself in the language of whatever the style is and that’s how you really get it.
What led you to a career in music?
It just sort of happened. I fell in love with it and was passionate about it but I wasn’t totally sure that’s what I was going to do for work. I got into college and was going to go to NYU and study other things but then the summer before my freshman year of college, I really got bit by the jazz bug hard and Berklee College of Music was such a good place for studying jazz that at the last minute I applied to Berklee and got in. That’s were it all started as far as more seriously getting on the music career path.
How did you get the opportunity to join Foreigner?
Back in 2008, I was at a music conference and ran into an old friend, Paul Murphy, who at the time was playing keyboard for Foreigner but he was only able to play for them for a little while. When he took the gig, he said he could only be a temporary solution but that when he had to leave he would help them find a replacement. It was just good timing because he and I had worked together on a different project before. He told me about the gig, said I’d be great for it and asked if I wanted to come in for an audition. It was serendipity combined with who you know and timing and luck and all that stuff. That’s how it came about.
Getting the gig was pretty exciting. At the time I was playing for Julio Iglesias and when I got the opportunity to perform with Foreigner I thought it was closer to my soul and closer to the music I grew up with. It seemed like a good fit.
When you first joined the band, were there any challenges?
I wouldn’t say it came easy. The thing about playing these songs from the 80’s is they have so many keyboard parts layered together. In the studio you’ll record one part at a time so you’re able to focus on each part and you roll back and record over that part and keep layering the parts as you go. When you’re playing live, you have to cover a lot of stuff, as much as humanly possible, so I would say that was the most challenging thing. I was sorta like an octopus so it pushed my conception and my belief in what I was capable of, it pushed me to my limits.
In one part of a song I jump over to this part of the keyboard to do this string sound, then another part I’m playing organ, another part I’m playing piano and then I’m playing a signature theme for “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” which uses a synthesizer/keyboard. In a way it’s sort of like choreography and playing the individual parts isn’t the most challenging part. The challenging part is juggling them all so that you can get to all the different parts and you remember where they all are mapped out on all your keyboards.
Most serious musicians that I know, learning is a lifetime thing that never ends and it’s humbling. If you want to keep getting better there’s an endless amount of stuff to learn. You’ll never learn it all but that’s the beautiful thing: you can just keep going and keep pushing yourself and keep that curiosity alive and that hunger pushes your boundaries.
Foreigner songs are now decades old. How does the band and its music continue resonating with fans?
I think the vocal performance on those tunes is pretty staggeringly good. Lou Gramm, those were just great high tenor rock vocals that made an impression on people. You hear that voice in your head, that amazing vocal delivery and that’s a big part of it. Also the arrangements were also well constructed and all the songs were well written and everything is in its place. The memorable titles: “Cold As Ice,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Hot Blooded,” “Jukebox Hero,” “Double Vision.” They were just good titles, good catchy choruses. The late 70’s and 80’s was the golden age of classic rock. A lot of people listen to what’s coming out now and it doesn’t really measure up melodically in that organic rock way. It’s kind of a dying art and so when people hear it, it’s still resonating with people of all ages.
What’s your favorite Foreigner song?
“Long, Long Way From Home” is my favorite. I’ve just always loved the lyrics and the melody has this haunting thing about it. It always got me.
What are some fun things/challenges about touring? You’re in different cities every couple of days? How do you manage it?
The travel is always the hardest part, always getting on tour buses and planes and missing family at home. I have a three-month old daughter, my first kid so I’m gonna leave her and my partner and that’s tough. Those are the hardest things.
What advice do you have for anyone seriously pursuing music?
I would say that just sticking to what really excites you and what really moves you and get deep inside of that and master whatever that is. If you want to be a singer/songwriter, I watched Taylor Swift’s documentary and she’s been writing songs since she was 12. She never quit and stuck with it and is so driven. Behind 99.9% of the success stories there’s just a lot of work and drive and kind of relentlessness that it takes to get to that high level. I’m sure that’s one in a million, most people could work for decades and never achieve that level of success but it is possible. It’s just sticking with what you love to do and really just staying focused with that. Don’t let people tell you what you should do or focus on. I don’t think that ultimately works because you just have to stick with where your passions lie.