- 4 months ago
WMMR’s Brent Porche hits the red carpet at the New York Film Festival premiere of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the powerful new film inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s iconic Nebraska album and Warren Zanes’ bestselling book.
Hear from Jeremy Allen White on stepping into the Boss’s shoes, director Scott Cooper on Bruce’s generosity and artistry, Steven Van Zandt on the film’s masterful storytelling, and The Lumineers’ Jeremiah Freights on weaving the spirit of Nebraska into the score. Plus, appearances from Trey Anastasio of Phish and Whoopi Goldberg sharing their Bruce fandom.
This interview captures the heart of Springsteen’s music, the relationships behind the scenes, and why this story still resonates today.
🎥 Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is now making waves — don’t miss the magic behind the memories.
Hear from Jeremy Allen White on stepping into the Boss’s shoes, director Scott Cooper on Bruce’s generosity and artistry, Steven Van Zandt on the film’s masterful storytelling, and The Lumineers’ Jeremiah Freights on weaving the spirit of Nebraska into the score. Plus, appearances from Trey Anastasio of Phish and Whoopi Goldberg sharing their Bruce fandom.
This interview captures the heart of Springsteen’s music, the relationships behind the scenes, and why this story still resonates today.
🎥 Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is now making waves — don’t miss the magic behind the memories.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I
00:20mean I feel wonderful you know it's beautiful we got we got the whole crew
00:23hero I love we set out to do a very difficult job which is to tell you know
00:28just part of this this story of Bruce Springsteen and we're very lucky to have
00:32him and have his support and I'm very lucky now to be here with you know with
00:39my my family in the film and my family my folks and my friends I grew up with in a
00:44city that I love and yeah I feel very very proud very excited it was tough it
00:49was tough in the beginning but you know what he's such a good writer and it's
00:53the same as being an actor you know if you if you have good words in front of
00:57you and the story is clear and the sentiment is clear something good will
01:02will happen whether you can sing or not if you can sing a song honestly it's
01:08gonna connect and and and I think I was able to to sing a stuff with enough
01:12honesty that it made sense well I mean I you know it's funny when I started this
01:16thing the first song I learned to play or and sing was Nebraska it's the first
01:21song on the album the title track and and the song that stuck with me the most is
01:26reason to believe which is the last song last song on the album and we're we're
01:30just bringing it to a finish but reason to believe is my favorite song yeah of
01:35course I mean I remember recording my father's house for the first time in
01:40Nashville at RCA and I called my father I called my father right after I mean so
01:45much of this movie is about a young man longing for connection with his father and
01:50he didn't know how to get it he didn't know how to start and he's telling that
01:54story in his music so yeah I thought about my father a lot absolutely WMMR
01:59in Philadelphia how are you doing man Vanzette so by Disciple of Soul one of
02:04the greatest documentaries going from that into this one of the best here's
02:07thank you thank you yeah Bill Tech did a wonderful job on that and Scott Cooper
02:11did an amazing job on this really so it's what it's a masterful work of art so we
02:16love you in Philadelphia man take care enjoy the show about Bruce Springsteen fans
02:21that they may not understand that they might get a better idea of in the film so
02:25often we're told not to meet our heroes because they'll disappoint us but Bruce has
02:31exceeded my expectations at every turn he's a man who is one of great humility
02:38and grace he is incredibly generous and supportive and when my house burned in the
02:45recent California fires Bruce took my wife and my kids and me and moved us into his
02:51house and helped us get on our feet that's who Bruce Springsteen is real quick
02:55with Jeremy Allen White portraying Bruce was there a particular part where you
02:58were filming that you just said damn he's got it day one until the day we wrapped
03:03because even though this isn't a performance about mimicry or imitation it's
03:10about how do we embody who Bruce Springsteen is during his most vulnerable and
03:14painful chapter of his life and for my 10 bucks Jeremy knocked it out of the park
03:19we're talking with Jeremiah Freitz of course drummer and co-founder from the
03:23Lumineers composer for this movie I've been kind of hearing some of the questions
03:27and answers that you've been given being a Jersey boy yourself this is quite a
03:30moment for you it's huge man I mean growing growing up in New Jersey I lived
03:34there for 24 years knowing Bruce obviously I feel like I learned how to drive in New
03:39Jersey growing up to Bruce would listen to Bruce on the radio and we actually
03:44recorded all the orchestra orchestral stuff that I wrote the score at the
03:48power station here in New York City and that's actually the studio where Bruce
03:51recorded and wrote many of his biggest hits even in the movie deliver me from
03:56nowhere there's a lot of scenes actually in the power station so to be at the New
04:00York Film Fest you know we recorded all the songs in New York two Jersey boys it's a
04:06it's pretty like surreal did they give you or did you get your hands on any of
04:11Bruce's guitars or anything like that no unfortunately I had to supply my own
04:15instruments but that actually leads to an interesting anecdote Bruce used what's
04:19called a TAC 144 for the making of Nebraska it's this kind of like shoddy old
04:25consumer grade at the time it was cool but it was pretty cheap also the time I ran
04:30thanks to this brilliant idea from the music editor Jason Reuter who I worked with
04:34on this film we ran some of the pianos the glockenspiel some of the vibes through
04:38the TAC 144 which is what of course Bruce used to make Nebraska so it was cool it
04:43was kind of a cool way to interject something from Nebraska through my
04:49original ideas trying to sort of I never wanted to mimic Bruce's style obviously
04:53because it's impossible there's only one Bruce I also didn't want to ever sound
04:57like him and I didn't want people when they're here in the score to think it was
05:02like a Diet Coke watered-down version of Nebraska nor did I want to make a score
05:07that was trying to steal anyone shine so one instrument in particular was this
05:12instrument called firewood which is a nickname of my upright piano because it's
05:16such a bad piano it's basically only good for firewood and I felt like that was the
05:20perfect instrument to sort of have as a call and response as an echo to Bruce's
05:26vulnerability in the way Nebraska sounds I mean you hear all the blemishes
05:30unfinished lyrics apparently but he what became a happy accident he led with
05:35intention and said no this is the record and he fought tooth and nail as you're
05:40seeing the film to get that vision across the finish line so for me as an
05:44artist not only in the band but as a composer it was like the inspiration was
05:49was endless. Brent Porsche of 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, right I mix them up
05:56it's okay well that's a Bruce City if there ever was one an MMR is a Bruce
06:00station yeah right so we have Warren Zanes joining us of course the author of
06:05Deliver Me From Nowhere I guess first and foremost to see your your literary work
06:11up on the big screen what does that mean to you and some of the vibes that you've
06:14been getting when you saw the the film so far yeah there's there was an amazing
06:18moment early in the process where I was with the director Scott Cooper and we sat
06:23with John Landau Bruce Springsteen and Scott read through the script and at the
06:31end we got a good response from both those guys and John looked at Scott and
06:37said well Bruce made the record Warren wrote the book now it's up to you that
06:44took the burden off me and from that moment I got to watch Scott Cooper live up
06:49to that and go beyond it and taking from the record and from the book something
06:57and creating even more and it's it's been it's been profound for you how far back
07:05those are your fandom of Bruce Springsteen go it goes back to the preteen
07:09years so my I'm the youngest of three and my brother got the wild the innocent the
07:14East Street Shuffle then we got the debut after that out of chronological order
07:20then when I was 18 playing in a rock and roll band at the rhinoceros club in
07:27Greensboro North Carolina Bruce Springsteen came and jumped on stage with
07:31us so I'm from being a fan to meeting my hero being unable to speak and then years
07:38later to sit with him and talk about this story that then became a movie so cool so
07:44was it was there any moment or any part of the book that either Scott or Bruce
07:48just said no we're not doing that you know what it's been and this I'm not
07:53giving you the party line here Bruce Springsteen has been so remarkably open
07:59and he gave Scott whatever Scott needed and at the end of the day he said make
08:08your film so it was full support but it was also creatively he gave Scott
08:14a lot of kind of freedom so I never once saw Springsteen saying not that what
08:21was it like channeling Steven Van Zandt for the for the big film here well I had
08:25the opportunity to meet him which was amazing so as my channeling in channeling
08:30him having breakfast with him once morning I was able to pull a lot of
08:33insight that he was so gracious with his time and gave me so much you know insight
08:38into his relationship with music and the East Street Band and and and how it all
08:44kind of came to be you know what aspect of Steven's personality did you kind of
08:48focus on his musicianship because he's all music he's like an encyclopedia of
08:53music knowledge and that's why he's that he's really the arranger for the East
08:57Street Band and he's the one who kind of puts everything together and his
09:00relationship with Bruce that's like a brotherly bond I have a twin brother so I
09:05know that feeling and I could see that even though they're not related by blood
09:08they're just as much brothers as he and my brother and myself are did you find
09:12that vibe with you and Jeremy Allen White when you guys were up on stage or
09:15simulating the performances yeah you know Jeremy Allen White is incredible in
09:18this and he really had the weight of the world on his shoulders with this role so
09:22you know I wanted to give him his space but there was a moment in the very
09:25beginning when we first met he came up to me put his arm around my shoulder in the
09:31middle of the power station recording studio and it just made me feel so
09:34at ease because it it indicated to me that he understood the relationship
09:39with Bruce and Stevie and that's what I wanted to give him you know so as actors
09:44we want to support one another and so I wanted to make sure I I I could give him
09:48as much as I could from that perspective yeah if I feel like there's a lot of
09:51popular pictures that you see of little Steven and Bruce together as
09:54they're kind of leaning into one another kind of feeling that brotherly bond
09:57together absolutely yeah yeah yeah so this movie it's not about Bruce's
10:02relationship with the e-street band so much it's about a very specific period of
10:05time in his life when he was figuring out who he who he really was as a
10:09musician and as a person to some degree so that's what this story focuses on but I
10:14think audiences are really gonna love it I can't wait for you to see I can't wait
10:17to see you in a man thanks for talking to us Janie Kenizzaro right on man thanks
10:20man congratulations excuse me Trey WMMR in Philadelphia how you doing man you
10:27guys did a hell of a run this year at the man thank you you know you were my
10:30station growing up yeah absolutely my first experience with radio so cool so
10:35cool always loved WMMR thank you so much I remember being in third grade only WMMR
10:42well we're friends of course with the Preston and Steve show and Casey boy who's a
10:45big fan of yours tell me about your fandom of Bruce Springsteen and of course this
10:49great event rat well along with WMMR my first concert was Bruce Springsteen I
10:54saw him in 1978 I was 14 my sister had to take me I saw him at Jadwin gym in
11:01Princeton incredible show absolutely it's crushing and speaking of incredible
11:07shows you guys got your run that you just announced of course Madison Square
11:10Garden through New Year's man always a fun time always a fun time I think that'll
11:14be we'll end on show number 91 at the Garden at the end of that so clearly we
11:21like playing there we love you in Philadelphia like you love us at WMMR
11:25thank you Trey for taking time to speak with us bring back the old spectrum so
11:27that's right thank you Trey appreciate it Brent Porsche of 93.3 WMMR in
11:33Philadelphia how are you I'm good we love you in Philly just wanted to say hi so
11:37tell us about your fandom of Bruce Springsteen and his music oh well forever
11:41forever dancing in the dark was just still brings tears to my eyes you know do
11:47you have an album that you go to if you want to hear something in the USA always
11:50yeah yeah excellent a lot of different ones but that's the one that that does it
11:55for me choosing Jeremy Alan White who's standing to the side here to play Bruce
11:59what do you think did I just walk past him and didn't know it as happens when you
12:04get old so oh sorry you take it out okay so I just want to look at him because I
12:11think he's coming on to the show cute view well thank you for taking some time
12:15to speak with us in Philadelphia for pulling my coattails you got you got
12:21consideration
12:25you
12:27know
12:29yeah
12:31you