SIDEBAR: Mike Campbell on Stepping Out from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Los Angeles, CA (October 16, 2024)—While Mike Campbell says that he feels his songwriting has grown, both musically and lyrically, and that with The Dirty Knobs‘ latest album he’s turned a corner by capturing his live vibe onto record, he freely admits that his biggest challenge remains having confidence in his voice. Some might find this interesting, considering it sounds a lot like the late Tom Petty’s, which Petty himself mentioned after Campbell built up the courage to send him his initial recordings. After listening, Petty gave him a call, and Campbell today recounts the resulting conversation:

Tom Petty: “What’s this?”

Mike Campbell: “It’s just some songs I’m working on.”

Petty: “It sounds like me.”

Campbell: “I don’t mean to, but I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Petty: “Why are you doing this?”

Campbell: “I don’t know. I just thought in between tours I should be doing something with these songs. You can’t be doing all of them. I figured I should do something with them rather than put them on the shelf.”

Petty: “Well, what do you plan to do with it?”

Campbell: “I don’t know. Maybe in between our stuff, go out and play a few theaters. I’d have this little band and we’d go out and play bars.”

Petty: “Are the songs any good?”

Campbell: “I think they’re pretty good.”

Petty: “Well, if they’re really good, why don’t we do them?”

“So, there you go,” Campbell says with a chuckle. Campbell actually formed the Dirty Knobs to play clubs back in 2000, although their first album, Wreckless Abandon, didn’t come out until 2020, three years after Petty died. External Combustion was released two years later. All of which begs the question: Did being a part of the Heartbreakers keep Campbell from having a career earlier on? Hamper him in any way? Not at all, Campbell asserts, saying that he couldn’t do what he does today if he hadn’t had the full Petty experience first, and that everything is happening in the order it was meant to happen.

Tom Petty: Creating The Atmos Mixes

“Tom and I had a dynamic,” Campbell explains. “Tom was a very forceful personality, a leader. I was a very shy, introverted supporter. I was very good at being his foil and helping his songs come alive, and then bringing my songs to him. I’m a band person; I like that. When you’re in a band, that’s the most important thing, not anyone’s ego in the band, so my role with Tom was to support him because he was so dynamic. I put whatever ambitions and desires to do something aside.

“In a way, that may have stunted me a little bit, but I’m glad I made that choice and I was happy to play that role with Tom because we had such a deep brotherhood. Sometimes I feel a little guilty, that I’m too excited about what I’m doing now. I don’t look at it like I was being held back; I look at it as if it wasn’t my time yet.”

This is a sidebar to our feature story on The Dirty Knobs’ latest album—give it a read!