Air Supply reveals new setlist in Brazil and reflects on retirement: ‘I want to be like Paul McCartney’

O Air Supply begins a series of shows in Brazil this Tuesday, 16th, passing through Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and São Paulo. “They love life, they love what life brings, they love music, they love romantic music, and that’s what we love about the people there,” he said. Graham Russell about Brazilians in an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil.

The duo, also formed by Russell Hitchcock, was in the country less than two years ago. This time, Pernambuco was left out of the itinerary, while the Federal District was added.

Although the latest studio album by Air Supply was released more than a decade ago, Graham stated that new songs may appear in the setlist, such as “Can We Say I Do?”.

“It’s about a couple. They go back to where the man or woman proposed and they’re on a sentimental journey,” the composer explained. “This song is all about how they see that place now, what they say and how they feel. I thought it was a great topic to write a song about. It’s interesting what they say to each other and how they react. It’s a beautiful song .”

The musicians’ expectation was that the album would be ready in March and be released in full in September this year. “It’s the first album in 14 years”, highlighted the guitarist. “We hope to have a good reception. In our opinion, this is, by far, the best album we’ve ever made — and it could be the last.”

Half a century

In 2025, the Air Supply turns 50, which may explain the alarming tone in the declaration of Graham. He assured, however, that he has “a great friendship” with Russell and that he “never had an argument” with the singer.

“I can compose songs and Russell is the main vocalist. He doesn’t want to write songs, and I don’t want to be the lead singer,” he explained. Graham when asked how Russell and they have managed to maintain a band for half a century. “This is perfect! We have the perfect relationship.”

The artist also added that distance facilitates relationships with Hitchcock: “When we’re not on tour, we don’t see each other. He lives thousands of miles from where I live. Sometimes he calls or texts me, but it’s not often because we don’t have to. So when we see each other on tour , we have a lot to talk about, plans to make, songs to compose…”

“I have my life, he has his life. We like different things. I love the countryside, the mountains… Russell It’s the opposite: he likes the city, where there’s a lot of traffic and a lot of people,” he continued Graham, who gave an interview via Zoom. In the background, through his window, it was possible to see several trees on a snow-covered hill.

Even though the friendship — and the band — works well, Graham confessed that he thinks “what it would be like to retire”. “All my friends that I grew up with, from my school, are retired. Every Sunday, we get together on Zoom,” she revealed.

“They ask, ‘Why don’t you retire?’ I love music so much and I love playing and writing songs so much… I can’t imagine not doing that. So I have no doubt that we’ll be playing until we can’t anymore. I don’t know when that will be, but I’m not ready to retire. In my heart I feel like I’m 18, but I’m almost 74. I feel fantastic!”

I work every day and I love life. I’m not ready for retirement. I want to be like them Rolling Stones It is like Paul McCartney, aged 82, 83. People like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, McCartneythey are writing the history of rock and roll.

All Out of Love

“Making Love Out of Nothing at All” and “Lost in Love” are some of the hits from Air Supply which will certainly be presented during the band’s visit to Brazil. Favorite song Graham It is also that of most fans of the Australian duo: “All Out of Love”.

“The song was released in 1980, that’s a long time ago. It still appears in films, it’s always in series and commercials. So, the song has meant so much to so many people around the world…”, he began.

Graham He was also honest about one of the reasons he likes the 1980s track: “This song has been so good for us. It gave us our lifestyle, which allows us to continue making music and doing more shows “.

It’s not just because it’s the most famous. When I hear it on the radio almost every day, I think, ‘Wow.’ It sounds so good, even 45 years later, and I’m so proud of it. She took our music to the world. We always close the show with her. When we start playing, I still get goosebumps. This song will be around even when we’re gone, which I hope isn’t now.

Changes

With a 50-year career, Graham It is Russell witnessed “a lot of changes” in the music industry. Even in the “digital age”, they continue to record “the old-fashioned way”: “When we started, we always recorded in the studio, everyone playing at the same time — and we still do that. We don’t use computers. We’re kind of like the Radioheadthey do the same.”

For the guitarist, meeting in the studio provides “a synergy” that is transported “to the stage”. “And then there’s social media,” he added. “Because of them, we’ve maintained notoriety over the years, especially in the last decade, which is great.”

He exemplified the power of social media when he recounted a time when he got on a plane and sat next to a stranger. The passenger asked the musician what his profession was. At first, “Graham Russell” meant nothing to the member’s traveling companion. Air Supply. All it took was an internet search: “He went online and said: ‘My God! I know your songs’. And I said: ‘I know you know them'”, he recalled.

Graham also opined about artificial intelligence: “You can put artificial intelligence to sing. Just look at the Beatles. That was AI, and it looks a bit like John Lennonbut not much in my opinion.”

Paul McCartneyhowever, clarified at the time of the release of “Now and Then” that the real voice of Lennon was used on the track. “Nothing was artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all played on it,” the former Beatle wrote, arguing that the technology was used to extract vocals from an old demo.

Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project. No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year.

We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it. Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much…

—Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 22, 2023

We will always be old school and this may seem a little old fashioned, but love and romance is old fashioned. It’s the oldest thing in the world. We will always honor that. We will never create anything on the computer. It doesn’t feel right to us, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel right to other artists.

Without a doubt, love and romance are the root of the songs of Air Supply. Graham admitted that he also loves and is inspired by romantic films and revealed that Somewhere in the past (1980) is his favorite. “I encourage fans to watch it. It’s beautiful!” she said.

Favorite memory

Strangely, my favorite memory Graham Russell in Brazil it involves a robbery. On his first visit to Rio de Janeiro, in 1982, the artist was approached by two boys, who “took his credit card and 50 dollars”. It was night and he was tired from the trip.

“I was very happy, because it seemed like they really needed it, and then they disappeared,” he recalled. “I should have been more careful. Now, when I go to the beach, I’m more careful and I go when it’s still daylight. But I love the beach very much and I love Rio.”