By Jennifer Levesque
For the Valley Advocate
There are some bands whose music stand the test of time. Whether it’s their toe-tapping melodies or poignant lyrics, some songs always resonate with new audiences. In the late ’70s when rock and pop music were getting a little facelift with synthesizer-infused beats, new wave bands emerged. And one such band, whose signature sound continues to drive musicians (and enthusiasts like me), is The Cars.
Eddie Japan with Greg Hawkes. / Courtesy of Eddie Japan
Founding member and keyboardist for The Cars, Greg Hawkes, helped usher in those new wave sounds and paved the way for many other bands.
Beyond The Cars, Hawkes has collaborated with a number of artists, including cinematic rock pop band Eddie Japan. The band is Boston-based though some of the members are from right here in western Mass. Hawkes co-produced their 2017 album, “The Golden Age,” and even played on their most recent album, “Pop Fiction,” in 2023.
Eddie Japan, along with Hawkes, are currently on a small tour of about 10 dates playing the music of The Cars.
“Our first show with Greg was in August of 2019, so we are amazed and grateful that we are still at it six years later. For me, the biggest thrill of doing these shows has been to see how happy the fans are to hear the music again, and that they are able to meet and chat with Greg after the shows,” Eddie Japan vocalist David Santos said. “He is so gracious and generous with everyone, so each show is more than just a concert. It’s really become a great little community.”
Hawkes said that performing the songs many decades later with a new band isn’t much different, though he does enjoy hearing them sung from a female perspective by one of Eddie Japan’s vocalists, Emily Drohan.
“I know I can speak for the rest of the musicians in the band that we really get a thrill over nailing some of the very small and subtle details of these songs that hard-core fans in the audience will hear and recognize, whether it’s a guitar sound or effect, a drum pad sample or sound effect, percussion, etc.,” Eddie Japan drummer Chuck Ferreira said.
“Looking ahead, we are hoping to do more shows in 2026. The project typically hibernates for the winter and we tend to start up again in the spring. But at this point, we already have offers for next year,” Santos said.
Although their Nov. 7 show at the Iron Horse in Northampton has sold out, there are still tickets available to their show at The Kate in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, on Saturday, Nov. 8.
I was lucky enough to have a Saturday morning chitchat with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member recently.
Jennifer Levesque: Let’s go back in time for a little bit. Tell me about the music scene back when you were first starting with The Cars.
Greg Hawkes: Wow, wow. I mainly remember … my earliest memory about The Cars is when we started playing at The Rat in Boston in Kenmore Square and we started getting radio airplay before we had our record deal. WBCN’s Maxanne was playing “Just What I Needed,” a demo tape, and we just started building up a fanbase around Boston. It seemed like every time we played at The Rat the crowds would start getting bigger. By the summer there were lines outside the door, it was pretty crazy and exciting.
Levesque: Were there any bands you played with back then that made you feel starstruck?
Hawkes: Actually, we did do a couple of shows with Cheap Trick that I don’t know I would say starstruck, but we really liked them. I always thought that was a good bill and we did a few shows with them and seemed very compatible.
Levesque: Any shows you played that stood out?
Hawkes: The Live Aid show sort of comes to mind, because this year was the 40th anniversary, so I’ve been seeing a bunch of clips on my news page about it. That one was pretty exciting, but I think the biggest one that we ever played was the [1982] US Festival that was run by Steve Wozniak from Apple. I think that was a couple hundred thousand people there, it was huge.
Levesque: I was talking with Chuck (Ferreira) and he mentioned there is a book coming out about The Cars written by Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom. How does it feel to have a book written about your career by a fellow musician?
Hawkes: I think he was an excellent person to write it, since he does have that musician sensibility and knows what inner band dynamics are like. So yeah, I’m happy that he did it, I think he did a swell job.
Levesque: I’ll look forward to reading it when it comes out.
Hawkes: Yeah, yeah, which is very soon, I just got a copy of it myself.
Levesque: There’s also an anniversary box set/deluxe release coming up for the classic 1984 “Heartbeat City” album and you wrote the liner notes for. That’s a huge accomplishment! When is that due out?
Hawkes: I think in November, or before the end of the year, is what I’ve heard. There’s bonus stuff on it, plus a live show from the “Heartbeat City” tour is included, so it should be good.
Levesque: Can you tell the readers how your involvement started with Eddie Japan?
Hawkes: Let’s see, I met them first when I went to see The Motels at Johnny D’s in Sommerville and Eddie Japan was opening for The Motels. I had actually known their guitar player, Eric Brosius, from the band Tribe from earlier days in Boston. Then I ended up producing some stuff for Eddie Japan on “The Golden Age” CD.
Levesque: That album is amazing.
Hawkes: Yeah, it’s a good one. So then they did a show, I think at The Lizard Lounge, and they invited me to sit in at the end of their set, which I did, and we played a couple of The Cars songs and it was fun. Then a few months later they approached me with the idea of doing a whole set of The Cars songs, and uh, I gotta admit, it took me a while before I would agree to do it. I had to ponder the idea. And even then, I said okay, I’ll do one show and see how it goes, and then I’ve been doing them ever since. It’ll be fun to go back to the Iron Horse, I gotta admit.
To keep up-to-date with Eddie Japan with Greg Hawkes, visit eddiejapan.com.
