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Singer/songwriter Rob Hotchkiss is best known for being a founding member of one of the most successful bands of the last decade, Train. Hotchkiss left the band shortly after the release of Train’s third major label record and has just released his debut solo album, Midnight Ghost. I got to catch up with this incredibly talented artist by phone from his home in the Pacific Northwest.


Mike Farley: Most people know you as one of the founding members of Train. Was the separation from the band your decision?
Rob Hotchkiss: Absolutely, yeah.

MF: Speaking of Train, you wrote one of my favorite tracks off the last record, “It’s About to Come Alive.” What other notable Train songs did you write?
RH: The way they split up those songs on that record was kind of old school. I would have been the second side, and I was excited to do it that way. Really, the straw that broke the camel’s back for me could be narrowed down to one song, “All American Girl.”
What happened was, in the beginning, I was basically the music writer. As the band evolved, that became shared among all the band members. For me, it was something I had to get used to, but for a band it was a positive thing. But then Pat (Monahan, lead singer) began writing with the producer and was cutting the band members out, and at that point it was no longer a band. And when I heard that song, I didn’t like it, and I started to feel like a backup player in the “Pat Monahan Show,” and that’s not why I got into it in the first place. There were just songs on that record that I wasn’t going to be comfortable playing for the next year and a half. So for me, I was getting off the boat just as things were really about to get huge, at least in the eyes of the band and the record label. I figured I’d be losing out on some money, but I felt like my sanity was more important.

MF: Were you the only one that left?
RH: I left, and Charlie (Colin) ended up being let go about a year later.

MF: So you left pretty much right when that album came out?
RH: I left when I thought we were done, when we handed in the record we wanted to make, and before we were told we had to write three more radio friendly songs. So it was me putting my creative foot down. I thought Train at that point had the potential to be an important band, one of those bands that might purposely make a record that had no radio songs on it. The band went the opposite direction, so that’s why I lost interest, and maybe that’s when Charlie lost interest, and why he ultimately ended up being let go.

MF: Let’s talk about your album, Midnight Ghost. Did you or are you pursuing a label for distribution, or are you doing it all on your own?
RH: We started off doing it on our own, and have recently gone with Burnside Distribution just to get the record in some indie stores. But on no label. [My wife] Pam and I are doing it ourselves, basically -- selling it off our website, and on Amazon and CD Baby. I think what we’ve done so far is tell our friends that we have a record out. We’ve sold a few, but I haven’t made my money back yet, let’s put it that way.

MF: And do you have any plans for touring?
RH: No. I feel like going around the country as many times as we did, radio is what drove the success of Train. Press was non-existent in terms of what it could have been. Anything we get in terms of press now will be icing, and I’ve heard Pam talk to people explaining that this isn’t Train, it’s more what I hoped Train would be. If we get some success in radio, I haven’t said no to touring. But I’m at a stage in my life where I don’t want to drive the success of this record. If we had success, and then I went out and toured, and there were rooms full of people who knew the record and were excited to hear it, that would be fun for me. But to get out in a van and try to make that happen, I’ve done that and I don’t really need to do it anymore.

MF: It’s better for 20 year olds.
RH: It is, and not having fans is different. Trying to make them on the road is tough, but having them waiting for you is what makes the shows fun.

MF: I hear a lot of Neil Finn in your voice and in your songwriting. Is he an influence?
RH: I wouldn’t say he’s an influence. That’s just a coincidence. I’ve always liked Crowded House, but I don’t think I tapped into them early enough to have them be an influence like the Beatles, or the other bands I grew up with. But I think we do a very similar kind of thing, and maybe it’s the sweetness in the vocal or whatever you’d call it, that’s just how it comes out when we sing.

MF: And what are you listening to now?
RH: Nothing in particular. I kind of overloaded on music for a while, so I’m doing more reading and stuff. I listen to classical sometimes.

MF: So what’s a typical day in the life of Rob Hotchkiss like?
RH: It depends what phase you catch me in. There were six months or so when it was totally music, and I didn’t come home for days at a time. But now I’ve overloaded on it, so I’m hanging out with the family again, doing a lot of reading, and really to be honest, kind of not paying attention to the success of this record. I’ve had friends tell me to stay out of Pam’s way. She has all kinds of energy, but for me, I love this record and I needed to make it. I’m successful already with it and if she wants to go out and sell a bunch of them, that would be great. If not, I have to divorce myself from it spiritually, because I think selling your art feels like selling your soul. I’m too attached, so my success is already cemented because it’s the first piece of music that is a total collection of my own stuff.

MF: If you could meet one musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
RH: I’d like to meet Cat Stevens, because I always thought what he did with his career was interesting. He got to the top and said, “I’m going to do something else.” And maybe that’s kind of where I’m at right now. I’ve done the music thing, I’ve had the superficial success that I probably wanted after starting at age 12, but I’m looking more inside right now. I’d also like to talk to him because there is all this tension in the world between two different ideologies, and it would be interesting for he and I to sit down and figure out what musicians could do, to get musicians from different cultures to sit down and do some good, rather than just all the focus being on how much money we can make or how many chicks we can see after the show. Turn it into something really positive. But I think he’d be a real interesting guy to sit down with.

MF: And what kind of goals do you have for the next five years?
RH: Not sure. There’s a soundtrack that I’m probably going to be doing, which would be an interesting new musical venture for me, and it’s a major movie. I never believe in things until they happen, but laying down music for a movie would be interesting, so I’d have see where that takes me. I’ve never been a visualizer, I usually do the work and for better or for worse, it’s led me where it’s led me. But if this soundtrack does indeed happen, I’ll start doing that.

MF: Like music supervisor work?
RH: It would be more of writing the music, but supervising it also. It’s almost classically leaning stuff. But where I’m going to be in five years, I could not be doing music for all I know. It’s very open and I’m in a transitional period.

MF: You live in Washington state now?
RH: Yes, southern Washington, just north of Portland.

MF: What made you decide to move from California?
RH: We’ve just kind of consistently moved further out from civilization. It’s just gorgeous up here; I look out my window and see trees and hills. It’s cheaper too. California got to be too much for me; it’s overcrowded and overpriced. I’m also weird in that I love the rain. When I know it’s going to rain, I sit out on my porch and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. But when you live in California, people want it to be sunny all the time, but I just didn’t. If I had my way, I’d move further up, to British Columbia or something.

MF: Did you live in San Francisco?
RH: Yeah, that’s where Train started.

MF: The music scene in San Francisco, from what I’ve seen, seems to be overflowing with talent. Would you agree?
RH: I wouldn’t know anymore, but Joe (Schuld, radio promoter) sent me Megan Slankard’s record (Freaky Little Story) and I really like that. So I have a feeling something’s going to happen with her. And there’s a lot of talent up here in Portland as well.

MF: You also mentioned in your bio that you wanted to be a baseball player at a young age. Do you still follow baseball and if so, who is your favorite team?
RH: Yeah, that’s sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. The Mariners, since they’re on TV up here all the time. I was crazy about following Ichiro this year, and I see that game as an art form.

MF: Who do you like in the playoffs?
RH: I’d love to see the Yankees lose. The Yankees and Braves could both lose and I’d be happy. I would have liked the Giants; they are my other favorite team.

MF: What are some other hobbies and interests you have?
RH: Reading is something I do a lot of. Just getting out into nature is important, so hiking and things like that. I guess I can’t call music a hobby anymore. Sports are less a part of my life, but if I had someone to play tennis with that would be fun. I’d say I spend most of my time reading.

MF: Anything interesting you’ve read lately?
RH: I read a book called "The Power of Now." It’s a spiritual kind of book. That might sound hokey or new agey, but the guy kind of got it right. So that’s the stuff I’m gearing toward now, but typically I’m more of a fiction guy.

MF: Take a look at Bullz-Eye.com and tell me who your favorite girl is.
RH: I did, and I’ll take my wife over any of them.

MF: Anything else you want to plug besides the record?
RH: No, I just feel like if enough people find out about the record, we really made something good and special, so it’s just a matter of getting the word out to enough people and maybe hitting some sort of critical mass. I made a record that comes from the soul, and it’s a little piece of me. That’s rare these days, for better or for worse. But if you’re kind of jaded and don’t care about the state of pop music anymore, maybe this will bring some life back into the whole thing.


Send any questions or comments to mfarley@bullz-eye.com.