So there’s not always a meaning to the songs, sometimes they’re just kind of something that poured out of you?

Unfortunately, that’s the truth of the matter. (Laughs.)

There’s nothing wrong with that, though.

But it doesn’t give you much to talk about, when you go on the radio.

Yeah.

You know, ‘How did you come up with this song?’

When you go out live, do you actually tell some stories about the songs that do have certain meanings?

Yeah, I do. As a matter of fact, I talk about “My Little Cow,” and “A Doorman’s Life,” which was about my father. My father was a doorman, when he was really young, in New York City.

A couple of little things I talk about. I don’t talk a lot about that stuff. I just sort of try to … Every night’s different, you get to feel off the audience and they sort of lead. They lead the show, really.

How have the songs developed live? Have they changed a lot live? Since you’ve played them out, have they developed at all or have they kind of stayed the same format as the CD?

Oh, no, they’re a little different to perform. Whether it’s certainly louder and up tempo. The players that we have are different than the ones that are on the record. With some of the other songs that I do, they’re spiced a bit. I mean, we go and we play in these places that have, vocal bands and rock bands. We get up there and we just turn it up and kick some butt. Even though it’s instrumental, it still kicks butt. You know, I think our hardest thing is probably to play in a little jazz club and keep it quiet.

When you’re writing, how do you decide … because you [have] played a whole bunch of instruments and a lot [of] keyboard instruments, how do you decide what to put where? Is it more spontaneous or do you plan it out a little?

The tones of instruments are real important. In other words, I’ll probably write a song … I’ll fool around with a synthesizer and the tone, I’ll hear a tone that’ll make me start writing a song. Whether it be a piano or a some kind of synthy sound or something. I mean, I just play around with a synthesizer for, oh, I don’t know, maybe in the first ten minutes of me playing around is usually when I get the idea. And if it doesn’t come to me then, then I gotta walk away.

But the sounds will dictate what the song is going to be. Say you put a sound that sounds like an acoustic Spanish guitar. It’s kind of makes you play with a little Spanish kind of feel to it. Or then I’ll put a bass on it and I’ll just start thumping around on a bass.

They’re all built differently, depending on what I pull out for a sound. I mean, I could start with the bass first and then start building it. Then you could start building this house and get halfway through it and then you realize, ‘You know what, this ain’t going anywhere.’

And, it’s just a lot of experimentation. And then I’m lucky enough to put the accordion on top of stuff. You know, if it works or not, it sort of gives it a continental flair. Which I kind of like.

You know, bringing some acoustic instruments into some of the electronic instruments.  That’s why I pretty much use a real drummer on my album, because most of these smooth jazz records are all machines.

How has your keyboard playing developed, since you first started playing? And maybe your earlier days playing; how do you compare them?

I think I’ve gotten tastier in my old age. I don’t play as fast. This is what happens. Even when our band first started, we used to be like, you know these hot rod guys. Who could play faster?

And as you get older, and you play more, you tend to think about your notes a little more. It’s like talking. You think about what you’re going to say. If somebody says something, you sit back and think about it for a second. And then, you choose your words. Well, it’s the same kind of thing. And ultimately, you can create more with ten notes, than you can with 50. If they’re just those right ten notes.

Have you ever thought of making a solo album with vocals?

No. (Laughter.) No, I used to sing background stuff in a couple of bands. You know, when I was a kid, I probably sang a couple of songs here and there. Here’s the thing where you have to consider down the road. You gotta look at the whole picture. You gotta think about, ‘Well, if I do this, then I gotta go out and sing it. And I gotta remember the words.’

There’s a whole lot more that goes on with that. (Laughs.) Yeah, as I said, I’m basically lazy. So, you know, I’m like, ‘Oh, let’s try to get the easy way out here.’

Who are some of your musical influences?

I like a lot of the old R&B players like Junior Walker. [David] Sanborn I love, saxophone player. I actually like some country music. I work out a lot in the gym and all I listen to is country music on my little radio because of the beats. Man, there are some really happening country people these days.

Oh, let me think …you know, I’ll tell ya, lately I’ve been listening to a lot of the smooth jazz radio and it gets a little tiring. I mean, they tend to, I don’t know, just play some of the same stuff too many times. It’s becoming a little too commercial for me. I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about satellite radio.

Apparently, for a lot of genres, it’s suppose to be really good. So, I have to investigate that.

As far as instrumental music, do you listen to a lot of stuff that’s longer and solo-based or just a lot of melodic, shorter material?

Probably shorter, more melodic. I’m trying to give people something to come back to. In other words, you have a nice melody and you have a nice chorus. Then, you can always take that somewhere else for a little while, but always come back. Where, if it were real avant-garde jazz, it’s hard for people to follow it sometimes.

If it sounds good and it’s nice, I think people want more of it. Just as much as it can be a little tiring for the musicians, I think it’s the way to go. It’s the old, give ‘em what they want.

[In reference to the Holiday Shows at Convention Hall last Christmas with Bruce Springsteen and the Max Weinberg 7.] When you guys go up on stage, is any of that planned out, or is it more spontaneous?

For me it’s spontaneous. I think for Max and his band, they rehearse all that stuff. They’re pretty much the back-up band, so some of the other players can just walk in and jump on.

I love to do that too. I don’t have to think about it much. I can just be part of the fun and show up. And walk off and take a break. Oh, I love it! It’s great! (Laughs.)

Supposing I happen to know everything.

Cool.  So it’s kind of a fun thing for you to just kind of get up and play a little bit?

Yeah, it is. It is. If you’re up there all the time, you’re not so special. So I can kind of get up and everybody says, ‘Hey, yeah, great!’ And then, I can go away and go have a soda and come back.

Do you do a lot of spectating too? Like watching the other guys?

Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. That’s a lot of fun, going out and watching what’s going on.

Who are some of your favorite local, or even Max Weinberg musicians, that you watch?

Max’s guys? Well, that whole band he has on Conan, was pretty much our horn section.

Yeah.

Many, many years ago. And, you know, Mark Pender and Richie “La Bamba” [Rosenberg]. All those guys are really part of the whole big family and they’re just excellent. Max has turned himself into a hell of a drummer too. Playing on that thing every night. I think he’s one of the strongest players in the band today. He definitely turned that last tour around, big time!

What was it like playing on that tour? What was it like getting back together and reuniting?

It’s the best one we ever did.

Really? Wow!

The fact that people are older. People know what’s important. When you’re in the thick of it, you tend to forget what you’ve got. How good it is.

But, when you don’t do it for a while and you come back. You realize what’s important. It hits the right notes. You don’t have egos to deal with anymore. We had kids on the tour. We took our children all around the world.

We’d be in a whole city for a week. So we’d plan activity for the kids to go to. Museums, different shows. Just really, really nice! No hurry, you know, take our time. Have a good time. It was just wonderful! I can’t say anything bad about it. You know, everybody is healthy. We still move ok. (Laughs.)

You know, I’m lucky, I’m one of the guys who gets to sit down. You know, Bruce has to go out there and bust his ass every night. I’m like, wow, I’m glad I picked the organ.

Do you think the crowd’s growing along with you? You know, they’ve been watching you guys play for years.

Well, we’ve brought in a lot of new audiences. We have quite a range. 15-year-olds to 55, 60-year-olds. We have some older people I see once in a while. And they’re certain fans that are older, that haven’t gotten out of their house in many years. And they’ve waited to see this. And, I think it made it really, really special for them to get out and do a little, ‘Wow, you know I can still move! OK!’ So, it was fun for everybody.

How do you think the band’s grown? Since playing with them before, have you noticed a lot of changes and stuff like that?

I’ve noticed people playing better now, than they did before. I think it has a lot to do with personal projects, people doing their own stuff.

Because, when we were a band, that was playing all the time and so closely connected, I myself didn’t listen to a lot of other music and then hang out with a lot of other rock n’ roll people. Pretty much self-contained.

Being on our own, we’re out there playing our own music. Making our own CD’s. Really getting a chance to push our own stuff. I don’t mean musically, but just our limits. Then we came back into this thing and we all added something different and better to it.

What other musical projects were you doing in between this time period?

I do all kinds of little things. I’m actually putting a CD together right now of some accordion music. All kinds of different accordion styles for television. In other words, if someone is looking for an Italian Restaurant. They can pull out a Danny Federici CD, with me playing a little something like “The Godfather,” if they needed the background. And, I do German, I do Italian, I do French, Austrian. It’s all different types. Zydeco.

It’s all different types of sounds and different kinds of playing on the accordion. It’s a popular instrument again. And I’m working on another record. Occasionally, I look at other talent. But not so much.

[ Website: www.dannyfederici.net.]