Military Music - Military Times

John Ondrasik, Five for Fighting

Tell us about the last CD, “For the Troops.”

We had 350,000 downloaded, 200,000 hard copies distributed, and hopefully this one will do as well. That’s one reason why I decided to do another one. The response was great. I think people were, at first, surprised, and then very excited when they heard the names of the bands.

How did you convince the bands to give you some of their best stuff for free?

The story goes, a couple of years ago I was asked by one of those CDs, kind of a local band were sending 5,000 CDs to Iraq and they said, “Would you give us a song?” And I said, “Sure,” and I wrote a foreword for that, and I thought, what a great idea. And if these local bands can do it, why can’t we do it on a larger level with some more popular bands. So on the first CD, I kinda started by making a few calls to folks I knew, friends of mine. I’d written with Jewel, I knew Josh Groban, and I kinda said, “Hey, you know, I’m thinking about doing this project for the troops. Would you be interested in giving me a song? And not just a song, like one of your hits.” I wanted songs people knew from artists that people knew. Because as much as this CD’s about the music and the songs, it’s equally about the gesture. And I don’t want someone giving me their B sides from a record that came out 10 years ago. I want the hits that are on the radio. I want songs people know and, like, go to iTunes now and download. So, a couple of folks said, sure, I’d do that. And then we had the chore of going to the publishers and to the labels and get their sign-off. But to their credit, on the last record, it took a while, it took a few lawyers, but the labels and the publishers signed off and they did it again this time for major copyrights. Obviously, there were some qualifications: You have to be an active member, you have to have a military ID. But to their credit, to the artists’ credit, to the labels’ credit, to the publishers’ credit, they did the right thing. And we have another great lineup.

Was it easier the second time around?

It was a little bit easier as far as the pipeline, because we’d done it before, some of the legal work. It was different on the artists’ end because I’d used my cards, I’d called the folks that I knew. So this time I wanted new artists, the only returning artists besides me is Josh Groban because he’s a buddy of mine. And he’s such a massive superstar. I know a lot of the wives like him. He’s a very nice guy. He’s down to earth, a normal guy. And the fact is, there's probably not a more popular guy for a lot of the Army wives, the military wives. So except for him, I wanted new artist, so we kinda started spreading the net again, seeing who we could get and some of the Marines wanted a little more rock this time so we tried to fill it out with a few more rock bands.

It’s a good mix.

Yeah, it’s a nice mix.

But Roy Orbison?

You know what, it’s funny, Roy Orbison being on here definitely lends a certain stature to our CD. His wife, Barbara Orbison, is a friend of ours, and when we were putting this one together, I’m like, “You know, let’s make it a little eclectic. How about a Roy Orbison song? I’m sure there are some four-star generals who are big Roy Orbison fans.” And she was great, she was like, “Done, you got it.” And I’m like, right on! So it was great, and it’s just nice to see the artists stand up and give us their hits. You know, that Maroon 5 song is still on the radio, that Daughtry song was a huge hit, that Three Doors Down song, the Gretchen Wilson song everybody knows. People are still giving us their hits, and the nice thing, too, is that it’s not just a collection of country artists. We have some amazing country artists, but there are three out of the 14.

Everyone will find something they like.

I hope so. And even if they don’t, I think it’s the gesture. I mean, I think it’s not a stretch saying the music industry is not necessarily a place you’d look first and foremost for people standing up to support the troops, unless it’s country music, so I think the scope of the genres, there’s the whole political spectrum represented here. I think that's the message of the CD: Wherever you are on the political spectrum, your ideology, whether you have military connections or not, at least these 14 superstars are standing up to say — well, 13 because I'm not one — are standing up and saying, “Hey, we appreciate what you’re doing.”

This is your baby, this CD. You put it all together.

Yeah, I mean, I’ve had a lot of help, too.

How many times have you been over to Iraq?

I haven’t been to Iraq, I've been to Gitmo, I’ve been to Guam. I hope to go to Iraq on this one. The good news is, there’s a lot of entertainers who want to go to Iraq, which is great. One reason I wanted to do this one and I thought it was important was, now that the troops aren’t on the front page anymore, now that they’re not the lead story on every cable channel, I think it’s more important than ever to continue these projects. Peacetime, wartime, I think it’s easy to be out of sight, out of mind. And at least for this project, I wasn’t going to let that happen. And hopefully this will continue, and we need to continue to show appreciation, show the love.

How did you get so involved in the military?

You know, I’ve thought about that because I don’t have any military in my family, none of my friends from school went into the military, I grew up in California, I think I’ve always had an appreciation for the military. But I think, like many people, 9/11 was kind of a shock to the system. And I think after 9/11, when “Superman” kind of became that song for a lot of military — not only military but emergency workers, policemen and firemen — and when I played the Concert for New York, I started meet a lot of those who protect us, whether it's civil servants or military. And it kinda got me thinking about our freedoms and how lucky we are and how we take certain things for granted, and I started writing a few songs about that. Once the war started, I said, “Hey, I think it's all our obligations to do our part; we’re all Americans. And I can't shoot a gun or drive a tank or fly an airplane, but I can write a song or I can provide something that might help morale, or do our little part.” I think it’s our obligation.

Not everyone shoots a gun in the military. There’s a lot to be done on a mission.

I also think another big passion of mine is the family members of the military. I think I talk as much as our military families as I do our actual troops. I sometimes meet them when I go on my USO tours, probably the wives of our troops are more familiar with my music than the fighting men, especially the Marines. And talking to them, seeing how music helps them get through the day, how the songs can be meaningful to them. I think sometimes the families have it tougher than the actual troops. So I include not only the troops but their families and the veterans as well in this outreach. I’ve learned that in our country’s history, I think almost 3 million soldiers have died for our way of life. And when you think about that in the context, it reminds you that freedom is not free. And meeting these folks has brought that home to me.

You’ve met a lot of troops. Any experiences that stand out?

Lots. As a general rule, I’m struck by how humble people are. For the most part, the attitude is, “Hey, I’m just doing my job, I’m not doing anything special. I’m just doing what anybody else would do.” And all those statements are not true! Because you’re not just doing a job, a lot of you people could be getting more money doing other things, a lot safer, than what you’re doing now. Most people can’t do what you do.

But they’re humble, they’re stoic, they’re decent, nice, fun people. Some of the stereotypes that you see from people who don’t know military families is coming out of Hollywood. You quickly learn that that is a complete stereotype and that’s not reality.

I remember I was down in Gitmo — one experience I won’t forget — one of my first shows, I played on the Cuban shores right next to the prison. I guess I can call it a prison. Detainee center, whatever the politically correct term is. But there was this big block of cement, and I set up a keyboard, and literally the Cuban shores are here, the lights from the prison are kinda flashing on me. In front of me are these wooden benches and this little bar called Club Survivor, and there’s about a hundred National Guardsmen in front of me, and you can see the hills with the fence that separates Gitmo from Cuba, and you’re like, wow, this side is free, that side is not. The guard towers, and it was a cloudy night, it was kind of one of those island nights, and just above the Club Survivor next to a palm tree there was like a full moon, and in front of the full moon was the American flag waving in the wind and I’m sitting there singing “Freedom Never Cries,” which is a song that basically talks about, you know, “I never loved a soldier till there was a war.” And it kinda all came home for me, and I was like, “Wow, this is not just some concept I’m singing about in my living room in L.A. writing about, this is like the real deal because here are the people that are protecting us, here are the bad guys right here, here I am in Cuba where on that side of the fence, you can’t say whatever you want, you can’t sing a song like this.”

So, experiences like that bring it all home for me. And you can’t help but be changed to a certain degree.

You keep in touch with some soldiers by e-mail.

Yeah, especially when the war was, I guess I could say was at it’s worst, I didn’t have a lot of faith in what I was hearing on TV, so I wanted to know what was going on. So I had a Black Hawk pilot, and I had a few friends in the trenches — I wouldn’t even say friends, just acquaintances that had heard of me, some of them I’d never even met before, and I’d say, tell me what's going on. And sometimes it’d be, “Yeah, it’s really bad,” or “It’s worse than what you hear,” or “No, it’s not as bad and this is what’s going on.” And in my gigs, we’d always try to give away tickets to soldiers if they were in town, and sometimes they’d come back and say, “Yeah, here’s what’s going on.” You do that enough and you really get a sense of what’s happening. So for me, it was kinda my resource.

A lot of Americans don’t know anyone over there or know what’s really going on over there.

It’s a big problem in the culture, and I think we’ve seen that a lot over the last couple of years. I think there’s a big disconnect in information, some of the advocacy journalism. And it’s hard for the Army to really stand up for itself because if you try to counter those arguments it becomes political, it becomes you vs. them, and “of course you’re going to say that,” so you kinda gotta just sit back and take it. And a lot of the soldiers I talked to are frustrated, especially when I was down at Gitmo. It’s like, “Yeah, it’s all negative and they think we’re all torturers.” And these are just enlisted guys. I don’t know what goes on behind that curtain, but you get the sense of, yeah, when certain elements of the press come down here, they’ve already made up their mind and they’ve written their story, so I can image the frustration, how frustrating that must be for some of the officers.

What did you hope to accomplish with the CD? What were your goals?

I think there’s two things. I think on the large scale, here's a group of popular musicians who come together to say thank you. And for better or worse, in our culture some folks like when celebrities do stuff. They just like it. And if you're an 18-year-old Marine and your favorite band is on here, and they’re saying thank you, that might be very cool to you. And also I looked at it as example of people from across the political spectrum coming together to make a statement, especially in the music business where you wouldn’t think necessarily that that would be the first industry to stand up. I think it’s corporate America’s job to help out. Some companies do a good job, some don’t. So one side, here’s an example of a group of popular entertainers coming together to say thanks to those who deserve to be thanked.

The other side is just the music. The great thing about music is people can take it and use it how they want. I’ve talked to many soldiers and music is important to them. Whether it’s what they listen to before they go on a mission or when they come back, or on their down time when they’re trying to reconnect with home, or when they don’t want to think about anything and they put on an AC/DC song. There’s so many different uses. And you can use the same song; I know people who listen to “100 Years” before they go out, some people listen to it when they come back — don’t want to listen to it before they go out. That’s what the power of music is. And I think as entertainers, people who create content — hopefully we can help the morale on some level by sending a song and putting it out there and letting them use it how they may. And same with the families, too, let them find something that might help them get through the day easier.

When you went to Walter Reed, the most common thing you saw was iPods.

Of course, and when I was down at Gitmo, I had a couple of guardsmen come up and play with me. They were in a punk band so they got on stage with me and we rocked out. And they sang a song, an old Gitmo song, and that went over better than any of my [stuff]. It was great!

I’m like this piano dude singing kinda sappy songs and here were these heavy metal-punk guardsman, but we got on stage together and we sang some songs and that's really what it’s all about.

Music has an unbelievable capacity to get people through stuff in life, even war, probably the hardest thing.

And that’s what 9/11 taught me. For the first time in my life, I saw how music can matter. Because usually in my business when you think about how music can matter, it’s like chart position, record sales, who’s dating who, People magazine, and that’s what makes it a success. But when I saw The Who play at the Concert for New York and blow the roof off Madison Square Garden, and those emergency workers who had not been able to release in a month, scream, cry and sing at the same time, it’s like, that’s why music matters. That’s why it really matters. And you know what, it’s rare that it actually really happens, but every once in a while we see why, and the Concert for New York showed me why. I can only imagine the troops — I have friends who’ve been over there and I’ve seen films, and you know there’s troops out there in the desert in little squads camped out for three or four or five days with nothing to do, how the iPod can get you through that.

They’re writing songs.

Yeah! They're writing songs.

You can’t tell your politics by your music or by the CD. Is that on purpose?

It was crucial to me that this project crossed that political spectrum. If it was just a bunch of flag-waving blind patriots, it doesn’t have the impact that it does if it’s people who are pro-war, anti-war, none of it matters because it’s about the troops.

Did you have trouble getting people to give you songs?

Yes.

You heard ‘no’ quite a bit?

Yes.

Was it politics?

Yes.

Having said that, if you would have told me three years ago that I could have gotten these 28 names over the last two years on a CD for the troops, I would have said, “No way.” ... When I got the first one done, I was like, man, because most of the artists on the first one, some of them are very — Melissa Etherige, she’s about as vocally anti-war as you can get. But then Brooks & Dunn, and that’s why it was great, that’s why it could work. And same with this one, and I think it has to be that way. And I think that kinda gives some cover, but also I think that’s what’s important about this: an example to other creations, other industries, of saying, “Hey, take that [politics] out of it, this is about the troops. It can still work.”

What about the future? Any more CDs?

Yeah. I’m planning on it. As long as the troops seem to appreciate them and they’re downloading them and they like it. I have kind of a secret idea for the next one that might be a little different.

People might come approach you to be on it now.

Yeah, a few people have come and said, “Hey, are you gonna do another one? I’d like to be a part of it.” Maybe we could do a CD For the Troops concert with some of these artists. I think there’s a lot of ways to go. We’re kind of working with the Pentagon Channel and some other entities to maybe try to grow this into some other things, TriWest Healthcare.

You have a Web site called WhatKindOfWorldDoYouWant.com that raises money for charity. Tell me about that.

We have a couple of military charities on that. We have Operation Homefront and Fisher House, along with an ALS charity for children and Autism Speaks. It’s cool; we made a video for “Freedom Never Cries” that TriWest Healthcare actually did with me, for an event we did for the Medal of Honor recipients at the Reagan Library last year. So we made this video for “Freedom Never Cries” to play there, and we decided to just put it on the Web site and we’ve gotten almost a million hits already.

Did you meet any of them?

I did. I spent time with them. I remember their acts more than their names. I think we had 48 of them ... When you hear the stories and you meet the faces, it’s crazy. We think of our sports stars or our actors or musicians as the true celebrities, true heroes, for the culture, and then you meet these guys and hear their stories. It’s almost embarrassing to be a part of the entertainment community.

You want to get to Iraq?

I hope to go this time. The good news is, at least to this point there’s been a lot of folks that want to go. My friends that have gone say it’s great. I’d like to get to Afghanistan too. But as far as I’m concerned, I’ll go where the USO wants me to go. And if there’re places around the world where it’s harder to get folks, maybe that’s where we need to go. If you're sitting out at Naval Base Guam, you know, you’re still serving your country so somebody should go and sing you a song.

You’ve been quite a few places to entertain the troops, right?

Guam, Gitmo, Japan, a lot of domestic stuff, I’ve done a lot of stuff in the states. And you know, it’s all different but the same. People away from their families, missing their families but have their buddies, doing their job, some bored, some loving life, it’s kind of the same kind of grind wherever you go.

And you say the wives seem to respond better to your music?

It’s funny, when I went to Japan, a lot of the troops were actually out on the seas. They were sailing. So I would say three quarters of the folks at my show were wives, kids, husbands, which was great. Families were there, and it’s like, they need this stuff as much as the active folks.

If you could send any message to the troops serving right now, what would you say?

I would say, I thank you for my children. They’re going to grow up in a world that has the same opportunities and freedom and liberty that I had and my parents had because of you, and there’s no greater gift.