WASHINGTON 鈥� The Cars will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April to honor the band鈥檚 undeniable role in defining the “new wave” genre of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
But first, the group鈥檚 hit songwriter is bringing his new abstract art exhibit to the D.C. area.
Ric Ocasek will hold a free exhibit and fan meet-and-greet at the Wentworth Galleries on Friday at Westfield Montgomery Mall and Saturday in Tysons Galleria, both from 7 to 9 p.m.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing it for quite a long time,” Ocasek said. “But I never really showed it until now.鈥�
The touring exhibit is fittingly titled 鈥淎bstract Reality.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 distorted reality,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淚f somebody said, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 you paint a picture of that chair?鈥� It would really look much different from the chair. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e had the kind of art training that would allow me to do things that would look realistic, and actually, I don鈥檛 really want to do anything that would look realistic. It鈥檚 more abstract.鈥�
While Ocasek occasionally dabbles with acrylics on canvas, Pop Art photographs and mixed-media paintings, his primary medium is drawing on paper, usually with colored markers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to carry around books with you, so having things that are portable [is key],” Ocasek said. “Often times, I’ll blow things up, add things to them and embellish it like that. That鈥檚 one method I use. I do use markers and pens, usually Japanese pens because of the colors.鈥�
He said drawing is a free-flowing experience where he taps into his subconscious.
鈥淚t鈥檚 thinking on paper,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 quiet and I鈥檓 pondering, that鈥檚 the best time to do art. I don鈥檛 know when it鈥檚 going to be, but it鈥檚 usually just when I鈥檓 meditating on something. The concentration thing is really a bit like meditation, because in meditation, you鈥檙e supposed to have a focus, and this is what I focus on when I鈥檓 deep in thought.鈥�
He said it鈥檚 fun to see the art organically develop on the page 鈥� just like song lyrics.
鈥淭he creative process is not so different from writing music,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淵ou start with a blank page and at the end, you have something. …聽 I don鈥檛 preconceive what it鈥檚 going to be.”
Ocasek first took up drawing and songwriting as a teenager in Baltimore, Maryland.
鈥淚 just kind of started drawing; I don鈥檛 know why,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same reason I don鈥檛 know why I said, 鈥業 think I want to write songs.鈥� … I got a guitar when I was 14 and started to try to write songs. Obviously, I didn鈥檛 have any good ones when I was 14, but I loved music. My family wasn鈥檛 particularly musical. They didn鈥檛 play instruments. In fact, they probably frowned upon it. So, it just came to me, and I just felt like music was something I could not ignore.鈥�
At age 16, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he met future bandmate Benjamin Orr during the 1960s. Eventually, they made their way to Boston to form The Cars in 1976, alongside lead guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson.
Their 1978 self-titled debut album featured the breakthrough hit 鈥淛ust What I Needed.鈥�
鈥淚 wrote it in Boston,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淚 was in a basement. Once I got everybody in the band together 鈥� I did a big writing spree because it was going to be a new band. I think it came out of that bunch of songs. Maybe that was the time the songs were finally good enough.鈥�
That initial writing spree also included 鈥淢y Best Friend’s Girl,鈥� the album鈥檚 second big hit.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it was [based on an actual love triangle],鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淎 lot of the songs I write are just from things I see or things I perceive or things that could be. So, I usually don鈥檛 have a specific thing in mind; it鈥檚 just a reality that I see.鈥�
Other hits followed with “Good Times Roll鈥� from the same album, “Let’s Go” from their second album 鈥淐andy-O鈥� (1979), 鈥淭ouch and Go鈥� from their third album 鈥淧anorama鈥� (1980), “Shake It Up鈥� from their titular fourth album (1981), and “Drive” from “Heartbeat City” (1984).
鈥淚 remember 鈥楽hake It Up.鈥� I used to think that it was my silliest song, but so many people liked it that I had to do it, so I just kept doing it,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淚t was kind of a cool little thing.鈥�
What made the “new wave” genre so appealing? Why bend music history in that direction?
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why The Cars sounded like The Cars,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淚t was obviously the combination of the people in the band, but we weren鈥檛 trying to have a sound or try to sound like anybody else. We were pretty locked away in Boston just playing the club scene. It wasn鈥檛 like, 鈥極h, there鈥檚 this new-wave thing going on.鈥� It just was what the band sounded like. But I do think it was interesting that we approached it with a keyboard-oriented thing.鈥�
All these years later, their contributions haven鈥檛 gone unnoticed. The Cars will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 14 in a class that includes Dire Straits, Moody Blues, Nina Simone and Bon Jovi. However, it will be a bittersweet induction without Orr, who died in 2000.
鈥淚t would have been nice [to have Benjamin Orr there],鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淏ut, it is a great honor. It鈥檚 nice to be in the crew. That鈥檒l be great. I鈥檓 looking forward to it. I鈥檓 excited to get there and be part of that whole situation, especially since it鈥檚 in Cleveland, where I used to live.鈥�
But before heading back to his teenage stomping grounds, he鈥檚 swinging back through the Maryland and Virginia area, where he first learned to play and draw as a young boy.
鈥淚鈥檓 drawing right now,鈥� Ocasek said. 鈥淚鈥檓 drawing right now while I鈥檓 talking to you.鈥�
Click for more exhibit details. Listen to the full conversation with The Cars’ Ric Ocasek below:
