Don Henley TV Guide Chat Transcript (12/7/2000)

OnlineHost: TVG Henley has entered the room.

TVGLive2: Hi Don! Thanks for joining us!!!

TVG Henley: Hello. Sorry I'm late. I had trouble with the long distance carrier. I'm on a video shoot in Los Angeles and these phones were just installed this morning.

Question: Having been to all of last December's shows, I'm fairly certain that not all the tracks on the live CD are from New Year's Eve (for instance "all she wants to do is dance...and gamble"). What percentage of disc #4 is actually from New Year's Eve?

TVG Henley: Every bit of it.

Question: Did input from your fans have anything to do with your decision to release the NYE songs on the Internet?

TVG Henley: There were several factors. Which came to bear on that decision. The first being that we wanted to do something nice for our long time fans. We were also told by an Internet marketing expert that we hired that it would be an effective way to market the box set. Of course, we were aware of the desires of a great many of our fans. Primarily we just wanted to do something that hadn't been done before. At least by us. However, there were less downloads than we expected.

Question: You've been doing a lot of these chats over the last few weeks, and the questions tend to be rather similar. Is there anything you wish someone would ask you?

TVG Henley: LOL! You're right. The questions are similar. But at the moment, my mind is primarily on the video I'm shooting. And so I can't really think of anything unless it would be perhaps a question

Question: What prompted you to give Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit permission to sample Life in the Fastlane on their new cd?

TVG Henley: I sort of made a deal with the devil. Mr Durst agreed to join the recording artist coalition, which is Anti Napster, and he also agreed to give the Coalition a generous donation. So, for the sake of the larger picture, I took him up on it. I thought it would be good to have him as a member. As he seems to have changed his mind about giving our creative and intellectual property away for free. He is also closely aligned with the large record corporation that is causing artists the most trouble. Right now. In terms of copyright ownership, and reversion of copyright. So it made sense to have him aboard.

TVG Henley: I'm shooting a video for "Everything is Different Now." Which, I believe, has already been released to radio as the newest single from my album. We hope to have this video on the air in a couple of weeks. We are in an amazing location. It's an old convent that sits atop a high hill in the Silverlake district of the Los Angeles basin. The place was build in the 1920s. And legend says that it's haunted. It was going to be torn down, but a woman saved it at the last minute. It needs a lot of work, but it is architecturally, extraordinarily--beautiful. There is almost a 360 degree view from here. Shall I continue? I can see the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles, and a little bit of Santa Monica Bay. Well, the story of the song In a series of metaphors. And in symbols. We have a very colorful cast. And a wonderful director from Britain who has recently done videos for Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, Matchbox Twenty, and Robbie Williams.

Question: Hello Don. You are known for your lyrical and image-rich videos. How much input do you have with the videos you make, and how comfortable are you with the process of making them?

TVG Henley: I didn't have much input during the making of my first two or three videos, but I do now. I've made enough of them at this point so that I feel confident about my ideas and my ability to portray them in front of the camera. During the past several years I have only worked with directors who would allow me to put in my two cents worth. At this stage of the game, I think I've earned that right. I didn't enjoy making videos in the beginning, but I do now. It's a creative and sometimes spontaneous process, which is similar in some ways to making an album. In other words, there's a lot of standing around and waiting. And you have to have a tremendous amount of patience and perseverance. Still, it's always a learning experience and I find out something, not only about the process but about myself as well. I also get to meet a lot of very interesting, talented people.

Question: Hi Mr. Henley. Just wanted to thank you for giving your fans another classic album with Inside Job. What kind of projects can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

TVG Henley: Well, right now, I'm on hiatus for the holidays. But, beginning around the second week in February, I'll be making some television appearances and then I plan to start touring again around the third week of February. There are still several cities we didn't get to during the summer tour and I want to make sure that I cover every corner of the United States. There has been some talk of the Eagles doing a summer tour of Europe with Billy Joel, but so far it's just talk. I will try to keep you posted on my web site, which I've neglected for several weeks now, but I simply haven't had the time to do anything with it since I got off the road -- but I will, I promise. I also have some charity concerts coming up in 2001. I'll let you know more about that later.

Question: What's doing with the Walden Woods Project?

TVG Henley: We are planning a major, long term funding campaign so that both the Walden Woods project and the Thoreau Institute can be self sustaining in perpetuity. Right now, we are struggling to make our yearly operational expenses. They are now in the neighborhood of $800,000. We need to raise $27.5 million in the next few years for a number of things including repairs to the building, the houses at the institute which was built in the 1920s. We also need to raise a substantial endowment fund. That would generate enough dividends to fund our numerous education and preservation programs. And that would cover our annual operating expenses. We have spent the past 10 years preserving endangered, historic portions of Walden Woods and creating the Thoreau Institute, which is a world class archive and education facility. Unfortunately, people think that the mission is complete, but it's not. It would be a real tragedy if all these great accomplishments were lost because we couldn't obtain the proper funding to carry on. There are numerous threats to the integrity of Walden Woods and the surrounding area, which still loom large.The greatest threat at the moment is the expansion of air traffic at Hanscom Field. That's a nearby airport. It has been converted from a military facility to a commercial one. I would like to urge all of you to write a letter to the Director of the FAA asking her to please reconsider the ill advised increase of air traffic at Hanscom Field. The noise from the increased air traffic will destroy not only the peace and tranquility of Walden Woods, but also the sanctity of Minuteman National Park, the hallowed ground where the American Revolution began. The very cradle of our freedom and our nation. I invite all of you to log on to www.walden.org You can find a more comprehensive look of what we do at Walden.

Question:    I read you were one of the performers scheduled for the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Norway.  How did that come about, and are you still planning on performing?

TVG Henley:    I was asked to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and I was very flattered and grateful for the invitation. Nevertheless, I had to respectfully decline for various reasons, which are both work related and personal. I hope they ask me again in the future.

TVGLive2:    Thank you Don!!! We had a great time talking with you, and hope you can come back soon!
TVG Henley:    Gotta go back to the set now. The clock is ticking, and the meter is running. I very much enjoyed chatting with all of you. And I appreciate your interest in me and my various projects. Again, I will try to do better at keeping my website updated. I wish all of you a peaceful and fulfilling holiday season