We had the utmost pleasure to interview Tom Gimbel of Foreigner before they kicked off their American leg of their Juke Box Heroes Tour which will hit Europe in June. Foreigner has an extensive music arsenal, with ten multi-platinum albums and sixteen Top 30 hits. In 2015, Foreigner partnered with Ford’s Drive 4 UR School campaign, where Ford joined Foreigner’s successful high school choir promotion in several markets, donating funds and allowing winning choirs the chance to join Foreigner onstage. This February, Foreigner released their first-ever live acoustic album In Concert. Unplugged. The band’s royalties will be donated to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and the album is available exclusively via Amazon. Tom Gimbel is a multi-instrumentalist playing rhythm guitar, keyboards, sax, and flute and has been with Foreigner since the 1990’s.
I have seen Foreigner at the Houston Arena Theater in Houston on a previous occasion where I attended a VIP meet and greet party. I was looking at a Wikipedia link about you and it doesn’t say much about you.
I know and a lot of it is wrong too!
I guess I would like to know a little bit more about you and what a typical day is like right now for you.
I wake up really early for some reason in the morning. Right now we are in between legs of our tour and it is blissful. I practice playing the saxophone – it is a joyful thing to do. I am currently working on the baritone saxophone and I play along to Cold Play and try and match his vocals to my saxophone playing since he is a baritone. That is my idea of a good time – a bit scary huh!
I understand that because as a photographer, I cherish those moments when I can go and play with Adobe Photoshop – it is my passion – as a musician – in your downtime, you increase your skills.
That is exactly right. I feel like I am sharpening the skills for the tour we are already on, but I like to double my efforts. When things are going well, my motto is work twice as hard. I can’t just go lie on a beach. My idea of unwinding is a golf game. I am just kind of crazy I guess. I wanna get a T shirt that says ‘Make OCD work for me – if you have OCD put it to good use!
The “lying on the beach” comment made me smile because I think people have a certain image of major rock stars. An average day of down time for you is playing saxophone and spending time with friends and family – but what is the preparation for a tour like this like? Is it stressful?
The packing part – we used to say in the good old days, wait till the last minute and then basically open up a suitcase and just start throwing things in there and whatever landed in the suitcase is what you took on tour.
Do you have favorite clothes that you take on stage?
Yes, and we are always looking to find new stuff – the more you dry clean black stuff the more grey it gets! You have to keep refreshing your wardrobe – it is like a shark getting new teeth.
Is there anything that you always wear on stage?
Probably – like a necklace I have been wearing for over 20 years. It is a good luck necklace for me. A friend of mine gave me one of those coins that come from a shipwreck down in the Caribbean Island with the authentic paperwork and I love it. I wear it every time I play for good luck.
It seems to be working! I need one! Now, tell me about the band’s general health – I always hope everyone is well in the band.
We all had this wonderful vacation last year – we always do at the end of the year around the holiday season. We are rested and totally ready to rock especially right on May Day – that will be a fun show.
When you are all on tour will you be doing any acoustic renditions of your songs?
A little bit yes. We are going to do an acoustic segment that Jeff Pilsen put together of “Say You Will” – it is a wonderful arrangement with lots of harmonies and background vocals and I even get to play the flute.
The acoustic album Unplugged is a benefit album right?
Yes, the benefits of this album go to the Grammy Foundation which helps fund school music programs. Suddenly the school music program goes away one day. Many of these are being stopped due to budget restraints which is sad and very unfair to the kids. It is not like they did anything. So we are working with the Grammy Foundation which in turn helps schools.
In the last year or so (maybe more) – it seems that every time I turn on the TV I hear a Foreigner song. The music is everywhere. What does that feel like for the band?
Yeah! It is absolutely wonderful to see the music become part of the sonic landscape or sonic soundscape. It shows up in lots of different places – in movies a lot of movies – on TV– on The Voice when someone sings a Foreigner song –”Hotblooded” or “Waiting for a Girl Like You” – these songs are really part of the sonic nomenclature.
I was interested in the concept that music can actually become part of a person’s psyche. People know the words, can sing the songs and so the songs are actually part of culture and have entered culture. The band has never died and nor has the music – what is the secret?
There are probably a lot of parts to that – we continue to tour and people come and see us every year. If we have generated a good buzz it helps to keep the conversation current. We play over 140 shows a year and people keep on coming to see us. It is a testament to the quality of the songs and the craftsmanship. But you are right, it has all become a part of all of us. I never thought about that before. It is like you say, in the musical psyche and it stays there. Mick’s lyrics are very direct, and have an easy sound – everything is there – the chords, the harmony, the melody – I think it is so rewarding when a song goes the way you want it to.
It is very rewarding for the audience too and to be in the audience because…you get validated for all the songs you know. When I came to see your show I was at the front and I stood up and sang to every single song – I felt sorry for the band really hah! But I turned around and saw that everyone else knew the words too – it must be so much fun for a band!
Yes, I always like to think of it as a sing-along – as a concert – that is what the word means – in concert.
Well thank you Tom! My last question would be, what would you like to say to your fans?
Just to say thank you for coming out to our shows and supporting us for all these decades and we look forward to you coming to our shows!
