Forget ‘The Simpsons’: Hank Azaria Says Learning to Sing Like Bruce Springsteen Is the ‘Hardest’ Vocal Work He’s Done

“He said he played it for Patti and apparently she loved it. And later that night I got another text saying Patti played it for Bruce and they loved it. They took it for how it’s meant, which was a loving tribute.”

Springsteen and company have an off night when Azaria and the EZ Street Band play the Stone Pony, by the way. But the actor doesn’t need more to get him excited about that particular show. “I can’t wait — it is the mothership,” he says. “Look, I think what carries me through any kind of nerves is this so genuinely comes from this joy of sharing this. I’ve earned my stripes as a Bruce fan.”

Growin’ Up

That devotion dates back to Azaria’s youth, including seeing Springsteen for the first time when The River tour played New York’s Madison Square Garden during 1980. “When I grew up, he was like an uncle — that’s how much I connected to him,” Azaria remembers. “His music and his (in-concert) talks got me through some very hard times as a teenager. I’d say he, almost more than anybody else, encouraged me to try to be a creative person. That was his message to me, for real.”

Azaria got to tell Springsteen about that, too, although neither meeting with Springsteen went quite as he hoped or planned.

While playing “Growin’ Up” during the EZ Street Band shows, Azaria tells the story of when Springsteen came backstage to see him during his Tony Award-nominated run in Monty Python’s Spamalot on Broadway.

“There’s a knock on my door and Bruce is standing there, alone,” Azaria recalls. “I almost had a heart attack. I absolutely lost my mind, to a point. He was very sweet and connected and present. He kinda gave me his review of the show, which he really enjoyed, in detail. We chatted long enough for me to tell him what his music meant to be, but it came out about nine octaves higher than my regular voice and very rushed, kind of screaming at him, as a fan boy. He was very sweet about it, but it was ridiculous.”

The same thing happened, he says, when he attended a Springsteen on Broadway performance and was part of the backstage meet and greet. “Before he could even say hello I started (makes babbling noises). He was very sweet again but kinda patted me on the shoulder and got out of there, and I don’t blame him. My wife just turned to me and said, ‘What is wrong with you?!’ My friend calls it Bruce Juice. It kind of overtakes you.”

Born to Run

The inspiration for the EZ Street Band, Azaria says, was his impending 60th birthday, which “bothered me a bit.” He came up with the idea as “a distraction,” working with keyboardist Adam Kromelow, his son’s former piano teacher, as musical director and studying a wealth of live recordings to familiarize himself with Springsteen’s vocal mannerisms and nuances. “I find that raspy sound he has easier to imitate, and that’s what I’ve always imitated, but (Springsteen) has a lot more than that,” notes Azaria, whose natural singing voice is deeper than Springsteen’s. After employing his well-practiced “homegrown mimicry process” he bought in vocal coach (the EZ Street Band’s Hannah Juliano) to bring him closer to the mark.

“I’m such a singing neophyte that I didn’t realize that these songs were unattainable for me,” acknowledges Azaria, who was had to overcome an anxiety that almost scotched the birthday party performance — where E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg joined the group for a couple of songs. “I started out four or five steps below Bruce; I’ve now kind of, through singing training and practice, worked up to almost at his key, just a step or two below. And the closer you are to his key the more authentic you sound. It’s been a very steep learning curve.”

With the eight-member EZ Street Band, however, he’s found some kindred spirits.

“They are kids in this band,” Azaria says. “They didn’t grow up with this music; only the bass player (Jeff Koch) knew any of it ’cause his dad was a huge fan. They’re all professional musicians, and now they do play it as if they did grow up with it ’cause they’re so good. And one of the joys of this is how much they’re discovering Bruce’s music, and they love it now. They love playing it even more than hearing it. They report to me as musicians how much fun these songs are to play.”

Since the birthday party Azaria and the EZ Streeters have also performed outside of a New York Mets game at CitiField and also at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York. The repertoire is growing: “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “Candy’s Room,” “The Price You Pay” and “Jersey Girl” are slated to be played this month, and Azaria voices a desire to take on “The River” and “Atlantic City.” But don’t expect to see the EZ Street Band match the multi-hour extravaganzas that are Springsteen and the E Street Band’s routine.

“We’ll never get there, I promise you that,” Azaria says with a laugh. “An hour 20 (minutes), an hour 30. We’ll never get to two and a half (hours), I don’t think. But it’s getting better and better, and it’s such a joy. People ask me, ‘Do you feel like a rock star up there? Are you living out a rock star fantasy?’ On a certain level I am, but what I much more feel like is what I am, which is a lucky Bruce fan who’s gotten to go up there and share his version of Bruce love with everybody else — with the ability to mimic it better than most have.”