Graham Russell在他犹他的土地上回忆: '住在这里简直就是一次冒险。'

hitchcock

Air Supply's Graham Russell on his Utah home: 'It’s an adventure just living here'
Qiling Wang, Deseret News

Graham Russell of Air Supply poses for a photograph in the woods behind his house in Kamas on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018.

      WOODLAND, Summit County — While performing a two-weekend stint in Las Vegas, Graham Russell took a really big gamble.

      The singer/guitarist of Air Supply rented a car, drove north and stopped when he got to Heber City. Stunned by the Wasatch Mountains, the English-born musician found a phonebook, picked a real estate agent and immediately began looking at land.

      The first property the agent showed Russell and his wife, actress Jodi Russell, wasn’t all that promising.

      “(The real estate agent said), ‘I’m going to show you this, but you won’t like it because it’s kind of weird. The house is circular, there’s no right angles and it’s not even near completed. … But it comes with 120 acres,’” Graham Russell recalled.

      He bought it that very day — for $500 an acre. Russell wasn’t expecting to take such a gamble but, the way he sees it, some of the best things in life are unexpected.



      “We saw it and we just fell in love with it,” he said. “Sometimes (you) make decisions on the spur of the moment and you just feel it’s right, and instead of feeling worried you get excited about it. We were very excited. It was an adventure and it is one that’s still ongoing.”

      It’s been 28 years since Russell and his wife moved onto their incomplete property in Woodland, Summit County. Since then, the framework has evolved into a three-story home — and a grand total of 1,120 acres complete with a recording studio, greenhouse and garden.

      “We wanted to put our stamp on it,” he said.

      And Russell continues to make his mark. The musician recently closed on a three-acre lot in Kamas East, a small community on the outskirts of Kamas. The deal cost him nearly $200,000 — which shows him just how much things have changed since he first purchased land in 1990. But the skyrocketing housing market doesn’t affect his love for Utah’s great outdoors.



      “It’s an adventure just living here in nature,” he said. “You never know what to expect. I mean, three weeks ago, there were a family of sage hens that just appeared in my garden and then my greenhouse. They were trying to find tomatoes and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s bizarre.’”

      Living in Utah also means Russell won’t have to travel very far for Air Supply’s show at the Eccles Theater on Friday, Nov. 16. The rock duo, which recently passed its 5,000th live show, does about 120 shows a year. It’s a busy schedule, and Russell always looks forward to some down time at home.

      ”When I’m home, I don’t really want to go anywhere because I’ve just been somewhere,” he said with a laugh. “It’s like an oasis, a sanctuary. I don’t have to go anywhere because I’ve got two square miles of pristine wilderness here, and my property backs onto the Uinta National Forest and that goes for 30,000 square miles. … This place is just perfect for me.”

      ‘We gravitated towards each other’

      Russell’s Utah oasis is a bit of a head-scratcher for Russell Hitchcock, the other half of Air Supply who relishes in the hustle and bustle of Atlanta. But a big difference like that doesn’t hurt their friendship — in fact, it’s the differences that have kept their careers afloat.


Graham Russell of Air Supply looks at the statue of John Lennon at his home in Kamas on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. He said John Lennon had a huge influence on his career.

      “We have this great relationship where Russell lets me do what I’m really good at — creating the songs, being in the studio (and) producing the albums,” Russell said. “He doesn’t want to do any of that. We had this agreement a long time ago where he said, ‘All I want to do is sing,’ and I said, ‘That’s perfect.’”

      The pair formed an instant friendship in 1975 while working as musicians on the set of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in Australia. Then in their mid-20s, the duo quickly learned that combining their talents created an Everly Brothers-esque sound, so they started a band and made a demo in between “Superstar” performances.

      “We gravitated towards each other,” Russell said. “We realized that we both loved the Beatles and saw them when we were 14. … We’re born three days apart — although he’s a year older than me — and then we have the same name, so we thought, ‘Something's going on here.’”

      That thought ended up being a vast understatement, as today — about 40 years later — Air Supply songs like “All Out of Love” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” are radio staples. But it wasn’t always easy for the band to get its songs heard. It took the musicians several attempts to get a record company to hear their demo. But once they got a company to bite, they produced the single “Love and Other Bruises,” followed by a debut album in 1976.

hitchcock

中文译文：
Air Supply的Graham Russell在他犹他的土地上回忆: '住在这里简直就是一次冒险。'


      当Air Supply在拉斯维加斯进行2周的演出，Graham Russell正在下一个很大的赌注。

      这位吉他手和歌手租了一辆车，一路向北停在了Heber城。 被麻黄山的景色惊呆了，这位英国出生的音乐家找了一本电话本，立刻打电话给房产经纪人，准备寻找一片土地。

      第一个房产经纪人给Graham Russell和他的妻子展示的，却是一片看上去不是太有希望的土地。

      “(房产经纪人说), ‘我要给你看这个，但是你不一定会喜欢的，因为实在是有些诡异。这个房子是圆形的，没有一个直角，而且它甚至都没有完工。 … 但是它有120英亩，’” Graham Russell说道。

      他当天就买下了 — 以500美元一英亩的价格。Graham并不是太期待这次赌注，但是他的眼光， 生活中一些美好的事情是出乎意料的。

      “我们当时看到的时候就爱上了它。” 他说，“有时（你）一时冲动做决定，你就觉得是对的，你不用担心而应该是为此感到兴奋。 这是一次冒险，而且仍在继续中。”

      自从Graham和他的妻子搬进位于Summit县伍德兰的不完整的房子已经28年了。自从那以后，这个框架已经发展成一个三层楼的房子 --- 占地1120英亩，配有录音棚、温室和花园。

      “我们想要打上我们自己的印记。” 他说。

      Graham还在继续打造他的标志。这位音乐家最近关闭了卡马斯东部一个3英亩的土地，卡马斯郊区的一个小社区。这笔交易花了他近20万美元，这表明自从1990年他第一次购买土地以来，土地价格情况发生了多大的变化。但是飞涨的房地产市场并没有影响他对犹他州户外运动的热爱。

      “生活在大自然中是一次冒险。” 他说，“你永远不知道会发生什么。我意思是，3个星期前，我的花园和温室里刚出现过一家圣母鸡。我想它们可能是想找西红柿吃。‘哇，真奇怪。’”

      住在犹他州也意味着Graham不会为了11月16日星期五在埃克莱斯剧院举行的“Air Supply”演出而长途跋涉。这对摇滚双人组，最近刚刚举行了他们的第5000场演出，也就是说大约一年120场。这真是繁忙的日程，Russell总是盼望着在家休息一会儿。

      ”当我在家的时候，我真的不想去任何地方，因为我刚从某个地方回来。” 他笑道，“这里就像一片绿洲，一个庇护所。我不必去任何地方，因为这里有两平方英里的原始荒野，而我的土地背面就是乌恩塔国家森林，占地30000平方英里。。这个地方正好适合我。”

      ‘我们相互吸引’

      Graham在犹他的绿洲有点像Russell Hitchcock头疼的问题，Air Supply的另外一半，他享受这亚特兰大的喧嚣。这个巨大的区别丝毫不会伤害他们的友谊 - 事实上，正是这些差异使他们的职业生涯得以延续。

      “我们有很好的关系，Russell让我做我真正擅长的事 — 写歌， 在录音室里制作专辑。” Russell说，“他完全不想做那些事情。我们在很久前就有这样的协议。‘我想做的事情只是唱歌。’ 而我说，‘简直完美。’”

      1975年，他们俩在澳大利亚的“耶稣基督超级明星”乐队中当演员的时候就结下了友谊。然后，在他们20多岁的时候，两人很快意识到，结合他们的才华创造了埃弗里兄弟般的声音，所以他们成立了一个乐队，并在“超级明星”表演间隙做了一个演示给大家。

     “我们互相吸引，”Graham说。“我们意识到我们都爱披头士，14岁时就看到了他们演出。...我们相隔三天出生--尽管他比我大一岁--然后我们有相同的名字，所以我们想，‘一定会有什么事情发生。’

      这种想法最终被大大地低估了，就像今天——大约40年后—— Air Supply的歌曲，像“All out of love”和“Making Love Out of Nothing at All” 都是电台里的主要播放歌曲。但是这个乐队的歌曲并不总是容易被听到的。他们花了好无数次努力才让唱片公司听到他们的演示样带。但是最终得到了一家公司的支持，他们便制作了单曲《Love and Other Bruise》，随后在1976年发行了首张专辑。