Columbia RecordsPlenty of people have played Train‘s hit single “Play that Song”…and plenty of people have downloaded it, too: it’s become the band’s first platinum track since 2012’s “50 Ways to Say Goodbye.” Train’s ability to continue scoring hits after more than 20 years, and more than a few lineup changes, is, according to frontman Pat Monahan, what makes them unique among music acts.
Just in the five years between those platinum singles, for example, Train’s lineup changed several times, and though Monahan is now the only remaining original member, they keep on going.
“Train is an anomaly. There’s no template, there’s no band like it,” he tells ABC Radio. “Because it’s evolved so many times, in so many ways, with so many different characters.”
“I think of it kind of like a Broadway play that has outlasted lifetimes,” he adds. “Like, when you see Mamma Mia!, it’s not the same people [starring in it every time].”
For Monahan, Train isn’t so much about its individual members as it is about the music. For that reason, the current lineup is one that he’s very much enjoying being a part of.
“Unlike Journey, the lead singer is still still intact in Train,” he notes. “But it’s like, the characters are so different, and so interesting in different ways…it’s just so fun to be around people that are just always playing music.”
Train’s Play that Song tour, in support of the band’s current album a girl, a bottle, a boat, rolls into Toronto tonight. It’ll wrap up July 15 in Quincy, WA.
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