To follow on from the big post about Dion I thought it would be really good to get a perspective on the songwriting of Mr DiMucci and there's probably no one better to ask about that than Mike Aquilina, who just happens to be the Co-writer of many of Dion's songs since 2011. I'm grateful to Mike
for taking some time out of his day to do this interview. There's some
links throughout the interview that will lead you to some music, click on them to enjoy the sound of Dion.
S4L: I've
been browsing your website and biography on Wikipedia and even from a
casual glance the title Songwriter doesn't really stand out. So before
we get to that c'mon, and don't be shy, and let us know what your daily
profession is.
Mike: I'm
a freelance writer, and that's what I've been doing since 1996. Before
that, going back to 1983, I had writing jobs in newspapers, tech,
advertising, marketing. As a freelancer I've taken on all sorts of work,
from ad copy to television scripts. But it's all writing. Songwriting
is writing.
S4L: You have written a lot of books and it's quite interesting gazing through the list on Amazon because there in the middle of all these books on various aspects of Catholic History is Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (stories, humor & music)! Are people surprised that you have written a book with one of Rock 'n Roll's great legends?
Mike: They are! I often boast that I'm the only guy in Catholic media who's had Lou Reed write a foreword to one of my books.
I'm known to my friends as a rather extreme nerd, so I often play up the incongruity for comic effect.
Even Dion makes fun of me for it. He calls me "Clark Kent,"
because I can disappear into a phone booth and come out with a song
sung from the perspective of a man having an alcoholic blackout.
S4L: I'm
interested how and when you first met Dion? Was it when you teamed up
to write the book? Were you aware of who he was and his place in the
history of Rock 'n Roll music or was it at first "just another job"?
Mike: I met Dion
years before the book, closer to the turn of the century. We were both
on a religious pilgrimage in Italy, visiting the tombs of Peter and
Paul, the sites associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and eating a lot
of pasta and gelato together. We hit it off and stayed in touch after we
got back home. We have many common interests — the Bible, early Church
history, rock and roll music, Italian food, and the meaning of life.
Dion
is an early-morning walker, and when he walks he thinks, and often when
he thinks he wants to talk. So we spent a lot of time on the phone, and
we got to know each other very well. He also lives pretty close to my
brother, so I was able to visit him when I was in town.
When he
was asked to write a memoir, he got me to collaborate. That was around
2011. I was thrilled to do it. It was certainly different from anything
else I'd done. And by then I considered him one of my closest friends.
He's like a brother to me. In fact, he's like a brother to my siblings.
By now they probably prefer him to me.
S4L: A
question I'm sure the readers of this blog will find fascinating is how
a Catholic Hiistorian, author, speaker, journalist ends up becoming a
Co-songwriter for Dion DiMucci? Did you tell him that you were into
writing poetry and songwriting? Did you just turn up on his doorstep one
day and say, "Hey Dion, I've written a couple of songs that you might want to record"? I know that might sound daft but I'm genuinely interested how the whole thing came about.
Mike: Dion had been writing for decades with Bill Tuohy, but Bill's health was failing. So Dion made the decision to stop doing original music and just do covers and tributes.
One
day, though, on a whim, he called and left a message on my answering
machine. He recited a line and then repeated it, and then said: "I want
to sing that line in a song, and you're gonna write that song." And he
hung up.
I saw what he was doing. He was daring me to write a song. It's Italian-American machismo. I had to prove myself.
By then I'd done a lot of writing with him — his book and some other small things. I guess he saw potential in all that.
S4L: Do you recall the first song you co-wrote with Dion, was it one that ended up on the 'Tank Full of Blues' album, which I think was the first time your name pops up on the songwriting credits on any of his albums?
Mike: It was "I Read It in the Rolling Stone," which was our first single from TANK FULL OF BLUES. The title was the line he had recited into my answering machine.
It worked out well. Rolling Stone magazine
took notice. We didn't make it to the proverbial cover, but we were
featured on page 3. I couldn't buy five copies for my sainted mother
because the other thing on page 3 was a nice young woman who was wearing
nothing but her tattoos and a gigantic snake.
Jann Wenner sent Dion an email saying that our tune was now his favorite song that namedrops his magazine. So I guess that puts us ahead of Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, and the Rolling Stones on at least one chart.
S4L: I
have known and know quite a number of songwriters who also write with
other folks who are usually in the music business and so forgive me for
sounding a bit basic here, how does the whole thing of co-writing a song
happen when one of the writers is not a full time musician? Can you
pick a song from the many you have co-written with Dion and give us an
insight into how it came together? Does it happen the same way every
time or is each song unique in its creation?
Mike: I
think of our songs as an expression of our friendship. We've known each
other a long time. I know his life, I know his memories and
experiences. I know his concerns for the future. Songwriting has become
just another avenue we take in our conversations.
But there's no one-and-only way we write. There's no process. Sometimes we start with a line of lyric, as we did in "Rolling Stone." Sometimes
we start with a melody. Sometimes one of us will come up with a melody
and lyric that are almost finished, and we'll just touch it up together.
We tend to work fast. We like to ride the momentum of that first
creative moment. And I have to admit the initial impulse is usually Dion's. His creative energy is astonishing.
S4L: You have co-written with Dion now on five albums, is there a level of trust that goes into writing with someone, like you know how he might be thinking or feeling about the subject of the song and so you don't, for want of a better phrase, "cross any lines"? Does he challenge you to write better?
Mike: Absolutely.
The fields where I do most of my work are history and theology. I've
published poems that are in my voice, and sometimes I wax cerebral. If
I'm writing a song and I slip into that kind of talk, Dion's standard response is: "We don't say that in the Bronx."
Listen,
I love writing songs with him, but he's the one who's going to sing the
song, and it has to be in his voice. By that I mean his literary voice,
his performer's persona — the guy who sings "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue." I'm not there to indulge my own inclinations. But, really, I love those constraints, and I love Dion, and I love the on-stage character he inhabits.
It
helps that our friendship predates our professional relationship by
many years. I can anticipate his reactions while I'm writing a song. If I
type the word "erstwhile" or "albeit," I know immediately I should back
up.
S4L: Now,
this is a part you might struggle to answer (or maybe not if you are
extremely confident), can you name five songs that you have co-written
with Dion that you think are your finest?
Mike: I tried. I can't. I'll give you nine, in no particular order:
I'm Your Gangster Of Love
Can't Go Back To Memphis
New York Is My Home
Blues Comin' On
Can’t Start Over Again
Song For Sam Cooke (Here In America)
There Was A Time
Angel In The Alleyways
An American Hero
Mike: Dion's "The Night Stood Still," from his 1989 album YO FRANKIE!, still captures the feelings of love I have for my wife of thirty-nine years. It also happens to be my wife's favorite Dion song.
John Michael Talbot's music is a big part of the soundtrack to my spiritual life. I cannot hear or sing "Holy Is His Name"
without weeping. Recently I led the retreat at John's monastery, and
he'd walk into my conferences with his guitar, and I just knew I'd be a
puddle before the hour had passed.
I appreciate you giving your time to doing this Mike, many thanks and as you will have noticed I borrowed a few of your pictures from your FB page. Hope that's okay?
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