Geddy Lee
Appearances
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
I think, yes, I was born Gary Lee Wine Room. OK. And I changed it to Geddy Lee, which is a long story. Yes.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
I'm at home in Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
I'm learning so much today. I can tell you from Jordan just listening to you guys talk about this stuff. There was a time I could hear the difference. I couldn't swear to hear the difference today because I'm a little bit older and my hearing isn't what it used to be. But audiophiles know far more about that quality of sound than the guys that actually make the records, I think.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
I'm very impressed. And I understand that the Rush fans are quite nerdy, as I am myself. And this is sort of living proof of that. If you know the Dutch pressing of one of our records, if that doesn't qualify for nerdism, I don't know what that is.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
I'd be happy to chime in. Yes. But yes, Jason, you're correct. Yes. It's Jordan, by the way. Common mistake. When we recorded Atlas Studio. We were one of the first bands, certainly in the genre of music we were making, to use a digital mix-down system and computerized mixing. It was kind of a new thing in 1980, so we experimented with a lot of that kind of stuff.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
It was not easy because you're wrestling with new technology, but you're quite right that... Rock bands were not doing that because they were one of the last of the genre to convert from analog to digital. And a lot of people were questioning the validity of digital music for hard rock. Anyway, it was a hell of a good sound, a hell of a good noise that we ended up with.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
And we spent weeks, if not months, at the studio in the snow in the winter of 1980. Yeah, it was. And Neil did indeed have a microphone taped to his chest, particularly, I think, for the song Vital Signs. So we could get the sound that he hears in terms of that.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
There's a certain impact a drummer gets from his drum kit that nobody else can hear because they're in front of the drums and not sitting behind the kit. So we wanted to blend some of that in.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
Yeah, it is. Uh, the level of our fan, uh, The level of knowledge that our fan base possesses is quite daunting. And they, like you did at the beginning of the show, talking about pressings, et cetera, et cetera. But we've been lucky to have such a dedicated fan base. I don't think we would have ever made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without their fervent pleas to put us in there.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
But certainly, I'm grateful. to their level of nerdism and their fanaticism, but they do know more about us than we can even remember. I can assure you of that.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
A mean, mean stride Today's Tom Sawyer Mean, mean pride
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
Vaguely, actually. I think some of those venues did record our shows back then. There is a show that we did record in 1997. in Toronto at the amphitheater that we have yet to release. But there is some talk about doing something with that, but time will tell. And I don't remember that particular footage that you're talking about.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
In all seriousness, I understand it's his birthday, or coming up to his birthday. Is that not true?
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
Okay, well, I just want to wish you a happy birthday, Jordan. Thank you very much. Thank you for being a fan. Thank you. I really appreciate it, and hopefully we will get to meet on a... a more human level than through the Zoom machine.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee
It's great to be here. It's nice to meet you too. Likewise. Big fan. Take care.