Interview: Gaslight District
Gaslight District is a cross-genre band, with heavy Jazz and Blues influences, based in San Diego, California. Centered around the two main members Myndi Anjuli and Steve Murdock, Gaslight District has had many, MANY players grace it's stage. They claim to be uninteresting people, and perhaps they don't live up to preconceptions the everyday nine-to-fiver would have of a musician, but they are hardly "uninteresting". I threw them some very cliche, stinky-as-stilton questions, and they answered in the only way I have come to expect from a group with a sense of humour, intelligence, and the ability to convey both of these in total honesty. (...Oh yeah, and they're pretty good at what they do, as well.)
Links: (Myspace and IAC)
http://www.myspace.com/gaslightdistrict
http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?ID=16739
Links: (Myspace and IAC)
http://www.myspace.com/gaslightdistrict
http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?ID=16739
Where did the name "Gaslight District" come from?
The pulse of life, sexuality, and enlightened self-interest. The nightlife, and entertainment hub of any major city that usually has a Gaslight District. In San Diego, we have the Gaslamp Quarter. A place of cultural diversity, priest-like street musicians, clubs ranging the gambit of sound, harbouring a kinetic energy of life, soul, and song that sets a stage of divine distraction for those looking to lay down their burdens and have a good time outside of a strip mall. As Gaslight District is ill committed to one particular genre, and has been accused of a wide range of styles... well, it only seemed fitting.
[I love the use of the word "accused" there.]
Why did you choose to go into music?
For most of us, there is a fundamental reaction from the first note you sing with clarity and intent, your first triad on a keyboard, your first un-muted chord on a guitar, the first rhythm on the skins... it's merely a whisper when it begins. Some, it ensnares, where others shurg and go onto other interests. Once you begin down the path, greater pleasures abound: the moment you finally figure out what to do with the scales, intonation, dynamics, timbre, the joy of solitary exploration of one's insturment. Even further on, one discovers harmony, the wonders of collaboration, your first clunky attempt at a cover tune, the day when it starts to gel, the first time you leave your body and join the sounds around you, divine accidents. The first show (and all fo the attendant problems, the first good show, the feeling of a well driven kick drum pushing the air of a mid-size hall past you like breath from a mythical beast. Getting paid to play, the ten egomaniacs who approach you after the show and tell you they are ten times better than your current [insert instrument here] player, humiliating showcases, the parasitic lotharios and back stagers who wanna taste the madness... but I digress. What we have here is a classic progressive addictive syndrome and we are clearly addicts.
Who are your main influences?
Influences is a dangerous word. It implies imitation, which is probably beyond our abilities. Having said that, and realizing that none of us exist in a vacuum... the biggies are as follows:
Steely Dan, Ben Webster, David Bowie, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, Peter Gabriel, Marlene Dietrich (and Madeline Khan by association, throw in Gene Wilder... big time influence), Christopher Walken [the presence of that name made my day], Stevie Wonder (right up to... well... I think we all know when), The Beatles (big surprise), Frank Zappa, Leon Redbone, Black Crowes, Spoon, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Paul Weller (all incarnations), James Taylor, Joe Jackson, Lyle Lovett, Paul Simon, Fishbone, Parliament/Funkadelic (And all that is Clinton and Collins), Sly Stone, James Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Meshell Ndegeocello, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Grover Washington Jr., Jame McMurtry, R.E.M. (Through Life's Rich Pageant), Dire Straits, Daniel Johnston, Sippie Wallace, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, 30's Era Jazz, Dixieland Jazz, [...] Chuck Berry, (the usual suspects)... Billy Holiday, Miles Davis, etc... and of course, Classical, Gershwin, Ragtime etc... etc...
And the list goes on, as this is just to name a few.
Music is a difficult industry to be involved in, let alone choosing a genre that is much less commercial than some. Why did you choose to go the Jazz/Blues/Rock route instead of following the mainstream?
We cannot say that we chose to “go into” Jazz/Blues/Rock. It was a natural progression/evolution. If we had chosen jazz to begin with, we would not sound as we do, as most intentional jazz artists set out to achieve virtuosity…and master the pre-existing standards and so forth. We just hacked our way through our journey of sound, and let the music be what our feelings, instincts, and intuitive senses inspired within our hearts. Silence and listening has always played a huge part in this process. A meditative state, if you will, that centers within the sound that everyone’s soul is interconnected with, where all the strings flutter… and one can travel through many doorways, and tap into the great song. It is not an external exercise at that point, and as it begins to travel outward into the stream of consciousness, much like a birthing process ( just less messy )… it becomes sort of like surfing the currents of ones creativity, and if we can catch the wave and ride it to shore… it then becomes like sand; something tangible to sculpt and shape. But, the sea always comes before the sand, if that makes any sense. Then we begin the outward journey, and begin to harmonize with each other…. and have conversations…and we have never attempted to control the message, or make it one particular sound or another…. we have just surrendered to its flow, and then we find that we are just going along for the ride.
As far as deciding not to follow the mainstream, I do not know if one can intentionally be different, as one cannot intentionally be the same. That would be like always having to define oneself in contrast or in opposition to something just for its own sake. I think we just decided to follow our hearts, regardless of how similar or different that may be. However, aside from that, (insert fallible opinion here) the funny thing about following the mainstream is, eventually it dries up as most streams do, echoing on throughout the thirsty whispers of the banal, and drunk upon homogenized milk by the dry mundane lips… always looking to consume whatever new thing shows up for sale at the local shopping mall. Always looking to be “ in”, and forever defining itself by the common consensus. There is a reason focus groups successfully predict what their audiences will buy. People get what they want as much as they are satisfied with it, and the faster the better, much like fast food… needing it now, now, now like the well-trained consumers that they are. The mainstream is the mainstream because of its audience, and not the other way around. An artist is an artist in spite of it, whether accepted or not.. Those that love music for it’s own sake realize the patience of it, and it is not something one can order up on a lunch break. If an artist adjusts to copy what some fast food producer is doing to his or her stable of moldable commodities, what then has really been added to the conversation? I mean, we all do imitations of things when we are little kids. The adults think that’s really cute and funny. Great. But of all types of entertainment, is there anything sadder than a permanent mimic? Look at what happened to Rich Little! He was always welcome because he was a close approximation of the celebrities of his day. When the pantheon of celebrities changed, he became irrelevant. Do you want your contribution to the world to be, “Greatest Johnny Carson Impersonator”?
The same thing applies in music. Every ‘mainstream’ phenomenon is based on a core group of innovators and a depressing succession of imitators. If you’re lucky, you can sponge a quickie hit off your version of today’s hit, which is always yesterday’s hit, but in the long run, it seems a bit shabby. Say what you got to say, not because, “Its cool to be you” or some other trite shit like that, but because in the final analysis, its all you’ve got.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
In a mirror or a photograph, same as now. If we can't... we'll be either blind or dead.
[Best answer to that question I've ever seen!]
If you could ask any musician, alive or dead, ONE question that would benefit your musical career, who would it be and what would be the question?
[Give me a break, I could have asked the tree question...]
If I had access to a dead musician, a music career would be the last thing on my mind. As far as the living, I don’t rightly know what I would ask, but here is a nonsensical little rant anyhow…
I’ve had access to many musicians who have shared many opinions about how to achieve a music career and so forth, granted, mostly musicians that haven’t achieved one. That is why books are so great, bridging the gap of success and failure. The thing is, one has to decide what one is really looking to achieve in music. Sure, we’d all love to be paid for what we love to do, but just because we may be gifted in a particular arena, well, that does not necessarily entitle us to a career to run amok as we choose.
So, we have to know ourselves, and decide where our real ambitions and aspirations lie… Ours is music, the act of it, the work of it, the process of it, the creation of it, the journey and experience of it, and of course, the sharing of it. Realizing that succeeding at the ‘ business of music’ is a far different focus than succeeding artistically... and truthfully, we all know what has to be done if one really wants to succeed in the music industry, we just don’t like it, and we hate the ones that do. Well, it is a bit of a no win situation. One needs to know ones strengths and weaknesses, be young and extremely attractive, for the most part, not worry about talent so much, but rather, be flexible, movable, and willing to do whatever it takes to market oneself, and submit to whatever sense of aesthetics are being dictated toward your image and sound by the “vision behind the curtains”. And, a musician can’t just be a musician anymore…they have to be an actor, a model, you know, a triple threat, or a quadruple threat, or a ‘ménage a trios’ sexy threat or something. The entertainers catch phrase of the day…
To become a master of ones craft takes time, and it seems life is not long enough to ever achieve it, aside from a few. And if we are demanded to be a “jack of all trades” , then all trades shall be wanting.
I think the question to the question would be, “What the hell do you want from music?”
The terms "musical virtuousity" and "in the zone" are thrown around quite
frequently in the Jazz world (and here as well), what do these mean to you and how do you strive for them?
Musical Virtuosity = better than me, solution, practice more, but you’ll never get there.
In the zone = sounds like it feels, solution, play it like you mean it, but its always an accident.
We do not strive for virtuosity. What for? We are not trying to get a job with an orchestra. Nope. We strive to be in key, in time, and be ‘ in the pocket’ as we deem it more useful , and the rest is up for grabs. Structure is for cover tunes, or if you are hired to perform, or write a song within a certain formula, but we don’t have those issues, or should we say, we don’t want those issues. We are wild heathen children that are still under the illusion that we can do what we want. Willful ignorance is a precious thing, and getting away with it is even better.. We prefer to play by the philosophy of the moment, allowing for growth, change, and even what stays the same. And it is true, even the greatest improvisationalist had to learn the rules to break them, and learn them we did, but retaining them is another story. We much prefer free form, and just riffin’ and jammin’, because it’s fun, and you can’t be wrong when you are making it up. Because imagination is where it’s at, and it knows no bounds aside from ones own self imposed limitations. But we do know the difference between a song, a jam, jackin’ off, and playing within the gates. And sometimes the one becomes the other. But as far as these catch phrases go within any genre or musicians cesspool, the one common thread that makes any moment in music is heart. It just comes down to sincerity, and what you are willing to give of yourself in a moment. This is a vast range of depth between many, but we would not dare judge the worth of it. We value expression, and having the guts to do it on your own merits, and not playing it safe. I guess you have to be willing to fail if you are going to succeed at anything, well, we’ve done the the failing part….lol. I guess the success ought to be showing up here soon, ey? We kid the monkey. I will say “Learn your freakin’ scales, it helps ya bastard! And, if you want to be a virtuoso… best get signed up for Julliard or some musical elitist school like it, otherwise…wear your hack badge with pride, and play it like you mean it.” Or, at least that’s what they say, you know, the mythical they…the they that says things. So, that about wraps up question #7… blah, blah, blah.
"Woodshed" -- dread or enjoy?
Everything & Nothing, and its never finished, we just get to a point where we have to let it go or it becomes this “ Unobtainable Myth” that we keep chasing… Embracing the imperfections, rather than attempting to sterilize is important, in our opinion. We are not striving toward perfection, but rather; release, satisfaction, completion, and to get the work done when a succubus, better known as a vision…calls us to create. There is always room for growth, as we never stop learning….and could most certainly improve in every aspect of our sound one way or another…but what does that mean, and by whose sense of aesthetics ought we aim? There is a fundamental understanding of music, as said before, timing, rhythm, pitch, tone, chords, scales, and all of the language and skills therein that can be taught. What cannot be taught is instinct, you can train and align your instinct to another’s, but when to develop your own? That is a cliff you just jump off, or you don’t. Improving is a constant struggle with everything, and nothing. So many times the artists get in the way of their own art, attempting to control it. It is the conception that must not be controlled, after the creative process has run its course…then the skill of the matter comes into play. Music must be created for its own sake within the freedom of its conception. Many pollute that very process by what is motivating them, regardless of what they might portend. If you catch the vision, before the trance slips back into the sea of song…then the decision-making, and the control issues can and must come into play….like production, arrangement, and so forth. The technical and affectational aspects of songwriting, Then the challenge becomes not to undo what has been done…and how to nurture it further, without destroying its magic. There are many paradoxes present in the creative realm. Aside from theory, there isn’t much of a language to express these truths…. Other than sound. You just have to do it, play it…the rest is bullshit.
Music has been compared to sex many times, is this a valid analogy or is there a more accurate one?
Who are we to argue. As far as accuracy goes, it is a bit subjective…to some this may be the case, and to others, a mere fantasy or hopeful desire. Who knows, but one thing is for certain, there is an intimacy when one has moved beyond the showing off aspects of music, the motivations to get laid, if you will, the constant need for attention, or validation, and all that stuff that egos and peacocks are made of. Not that one ever really conquers the desire for such things, nor ought they, really… albeit Buddha, or some enlightened being like that. But hell, even Gandhi got his groove on. [A verifiable fact!] There is a place where one surrenders, and becomes transposed into a place of pure magic, and it is a living and powerfully healing force, much like sex. One becomes stripped down of all masks, and is in a pure state of being while in that space. It is sacred almost, but all sin is welcome…and there is no judgment, aside from the audience, perhaps. But if you are doing it right ( whatever that means) and all hype aside, the audience is with you, for it is the artist’s job to break down those barriers, not enforce them. There is not so much one way of going about it, just as there are many roads to get to the same place. But one thing is for sure, if you can’t touch yourself, how can you touch someone else? And if you can’t touch someone else, how can you touch anything? Sex can thus be applied to why humanity hasn’t completely self destructed, and it can also be applied to many ills. But I suppose the lover that you are becomes the many things that you are, and do, and the way you go about doing it. Everyone has a rhythm, and sex is just another form of rhythm in play and collaboration, hopefully, your feeling something…if you’re not, you may want to try another position.
How did you come across IAC, and what is your opinion of the main concept behind the website?
We were actually invited there by Lana Crowley in August of 2005 during what might be called, “The Great My Space Musician’s Harvest”. In our opinion, IAC is an exceptionally well-designed web environment providing easily navigable access to a full range of material from peripheral commercial material to aspirants and hacks, from the base to the sublime. We’ve had a lot of fun and benefit in sharing our songs at IAC, and it has provided us with a convenient platform to share our little Frankenstein creations, and have fun doing it. We try not to take it all too seriously, and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
What is your standpoint on the distribution of music on the internet? (iTunes and so forth)
It has been said a million times in better ways, but the necessities of video production has systematically decimated the overall quality and diversity of popular music in North America and Europe on regular distribution channels. Thank god, we got Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Christopher Cross, Janis Ian, Paul Simon and a host of others before you had to be a supermodel to get airplay! Not because their work in recent years couldn’t hold up, but because we would not have gotten their most productive years because no one would have recorded them, or distributed them to a larger audience!
Fortunately, after the dark ages of the “video artists”, we are moving into a golden age of productivity and distribution FOR EVERYBODY!!! The up side is that anyone with even modest means can create and archive their music without the need for those archaic evils like the, “give me your publishing rights and pay for production out of your advance, and we’ll record you and put your vinyl on the shelves” bullshit. Electronic storage relieves us of the need for inventories, transportation, retail markups in the thousands of percents and a whole host of other wastes and rip-offs!
The downside is that anyone with even modest means can create and archive their music. Garrison Keeler once said something to the effect of, “The need to perform does not necessarily insure talent.” As with all things for self-determining people, we must each use our personal discretion as to what we do and don’t subject the world to. All I can say is, “Please, for the love of God, learn the damn instrument!” Thank you.
Sadly, this proliferation of new artists and the glut of material means that the age of the “super group” and bazillion dollar record sales are probably fading away, but I’ll gladly trade that lottery ticket for the chance to hear 10 killer musicians that are too ugly for Clear Channel.
What are your thoughts on using electronic "instruments" in Jazz?
As Duke said, there’s only good and bad sound. If it swings, what difference does it make? The Rhodes is an electronic instrument and I don’t think anyone can deny the value of that timbre. That having been said, there is one exception, there is not yet any substitute for live skins. Computers just can’t set up the pocket quite right. It isn’t so much what you play, but rather; how you play it, and what you do with what you got. [Enter…a little self indulgent ditty completely off point]- Also, knowing ones own limitations is just as important as knowing ones strengths, this helps one to utilize the greater whole by the sum of its parts, and lends progress toward evolving beyond the limitations, and making the best of what one has to give. [Back on point]-What works for one may not work for another. [Back off point]-Diversity, the puritans don’t much like it.
Please plug the equipment your band uses here...
Broken instruments and such... found discarded in the dumpsters behind broke and run down Symphony Halls.
[Aaaaah, gearheads eh?]
Please plug recordings, websites, or live shows here...
Google us, and visit a myriad of music sites, youwill find our tracks available for download in the basement or back room of all the usual suspect sites, for the most part. CD Baby has been selling our stuff since 98’, and we are about to finish up “Screaming round the COCK”. Most of the album can be sampled at our page at IAC (for who knows how much longer). Steal it if you can get away with it, we’ll be grateful for the effort.
What advice can you give to young, up-and-coming musicians?
There is no hope, all is doomed…. ( we kid the monkeys) Follow your heart, use some common sense, and realize that there are no safe risks, or free rides. Finish school, cause even though you might believe it with all your heart, there are only a handful of stars, and you may not be “ It”, and just in case you’re not, don’t stand in the way of someone who might be. Give yourself more options other than winning the lottery, and know that you don’t have to be famous to be important. If you truly love music, nobody can stop you from making it, as long as freedom of expression is in play, and if you live to see a time when it is not…then there is no hope, all is doomed… Pay attention !
The pulse of life, sexuality, and enlightened self-interest. The nightlife, and entertainment hub of any major city that usually has a Gaslight District. In San Diego, we have the Gaslamp Quarter. A place of cultural diversity, priest-like street musicians, clubs ranging the gambit of sound, harbouring a kinetic energy of life, soul, and song that sets a stage of divine distraction for those looking to lay down their burdens and have a good time outside of a strip mall. As Gaslight District is ill committed to one particular genre, and has been accused of a wide range of styles... well, it only seemed fitting.
[I love the use of the word "accused" there.]
Why did you choose to go into music?
For most of us, there is a fundamental reaction from the first note you sing with clarity and intent, your first triad on a keyboard, your first un-muted chord on a guitar, the first rhythm on the skins... it's merely a whisper when it begins. Some, it ensnares, where others shurg and go onto other interests. Once you begin down the path, greater pleasures abound: the moment you finally figure out what to do with the scales, intonation, dynamics, timbre, the joy of solitary exploration of one's insturment. Even further on, one discovers harmony, the wonders of collaboration, your first clunky attempt at a cover tune, the day when it starts to gel, the first time you leave your body and join the sounds around you, divine accidents. The first show (and all fo the attendant problems, the first good show, the feeling of a well driven kick drum pushing the air of a mid-size hall past you like breath from a mythical beast. Getting paid to play, the ten egomaniacs who approach you after the show and tell you they are ten times better than your current [insert instrument here] player, humiliating showcases, the parasitic lotharios and back stagers who wanna taste the madness... but I digress. What we have here is a classic progressive addictive syndrome and we are clearly addicts.
Who are your main influences?Influences is a dangerous word. It implies imitation, which is probably beyond our abilities. Having said that, and realizing that none of us exist in a vacuum... the biggies are as follows:
Steely Dan, Ben Webster, David Bowie, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, Peter Gabriel, Marlene Dietrich (and Madeline Khan by association, throw in Gene Wilder... big time influence), Christopher Walken [the presence of that name made my day], Stevie Wonder (right up to... well... I think we all know when), The Beatles (big surprise), Frank Zappa, Leon Redbone, Black Crowes, Spoon, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Paul Weller (all incarnations), James Taylor, Joe Jackson, Lyle Lovett, Paul Simon, Fishbone, Parliament/Funkadelic (And all that is Clinton and Collins), Sly Stone, James Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Meshell Ndegeocello, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Grover Washington Jr., Jame McMurtry, R.E.M. (Through Life's Rich Pageant), Dire Straits, Daniel Johnston, Sippie Wallace, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, 30's Era Jazz, Dixieland Jazz, [...] Chuck Berry, (the usual suspects)... Billy Holiday, Miles Davis, etc... and of course, Classical, Gershwin, Ragtime etc... etc...
And the list goes on, as this is just to name a few.
Music is a difficult industry to be involved in, let alone choosing a genre that is much less commercial than some. Why did you choose to go the Jazz/Blues/Rock route instead of following the mainstream?
We cannot say that we chose to “go into” Jazz/Blues/Rock. It was a natural progression/evolution. If we had chosen jazz to begin with, we would not sound as we do, as most intentional jazz artists set out to achieve virtuosity…and master the pre-existing standards and so forth. We just hacked our way through our journey of sound, and let the music be what our feelings, instincts, and intuitive senses inspired within our hearts. Silence and listening has always played a huge part in this process. A meditative state, if you will, that centers within the sound that everyone’s soul is interconnected with, where all the strings flutter… and one can travel through many doorways, and tap into the great song. It is not an external exercise at that point, and as it begins to travel outward into the stream of consciousness, much like a birthing process ( just less messy )… it becomes sort of like surfing the currents of ones creativity, and if we can catch the wave and ride it to shore… it then becomes like sand; something tangible to sculpt and shape. But, the sea always comes before the sand, if that makes any sense. Then we begin the outward journey, and begin to harmonize with each other…. and have conversations…and we have never attempted to control the message, or make it one particular sound or another…. we have just surrendered to its flow, and then we find that we are just going along for the ride.
As far as deciding not to follow the mainstream, I do not know if one can intentionally be different, as one cannot intentionally be the same. That would be like always having to define oneself in contrast or in opposition to something just for its own sake. I think we just decided to follow our hearts, regardless of how similar or different that may be. However, aside from that, (insert fallible opinion here) the funny thing about following the mainstream is, eventually it dries up as most streams do, echoing on throughout the thirsty whispers of the banal, and drunk upon homogenized milk by the dry mundane lips… always looking to consume whatever new thing shows up for sale at the local shopping mall. Always looking to be “ in”, and forever defining itself by the common consensus. There is a reason focus groups successfully predict what their audiences will buy. People get what they want as much as they are satisfied with it, and the faster the better, much like fast food… needing it now, now, now like the well-trained consumers that they are. The mainstream is the mainstream because of its audience, and not the other way around. An artist is an artist in spite of it, whether accepted or not.. Those that love music for it’s own sake realize the patience of it, and it is not something one can order up on a lunch break. If an artist adjusts to copy what some fast food producer is doing to his or her stable of moldable commodities, what then has really been added to the conversation? I mean, we all do imitations of things when we are little kids. The adults think that’s really cute and funny. Great. But of all types of entertainment, is there anything sadder than a permanent mimic? Look at what happened to Rich Little! He was always welcome because he was a close approximation of the celebrities of his day. When the pantheon of celebrities changed, he became irrelevant. Do you want your contribution to the world to be, “Greatest Johnny Carson Impersonator”?
The same thing applies in music. Every ‘mainstream’ phenomenon is based on a core group of innovators and a depressing succession of imitators. If you’re lucky, you can sponge a quickie hit off your version of today’s hit, which is always yesterday’s hit, but in the long run, it seems a bit shabby. Say what you got to say, not because, “Its cool to be you” or some other trite shit like that, but because in the final analysis, its all you’ve got.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
In a mirror or a photograph, same as now. If we can't... we'll be either blind or dead.
[Best answer to that question I've ever seen!]
If you could ask any musician, alive or dead, ONE question that would benefit your musical career, who would it be and what would be the question?
[Give me a break, I could have asked the tree question...]
If I had access to a dead musician, a music career would be the last thing on my mind. As far as the living, I don’t rightly know what I would ask, but here is a nonsensical little rant anyhow…
I’ve had access to many musicians who have shared many opinions about how to achieve a music career and so forth, granted, mostly musicians that haven’t achieved one. That is why books are so great, bridging the gap of success and failure. The thing is, one has to decide what one is really looking to achieve in music. Sure, we’d all love to be paid for what we love to do, but just because we may be gifted in a particular arena, well, that does not necessarily entitle us to a career to run amok as we choose.
So, we have to know ourselves, and decide where our real ambitions and aspirations lie… Ours is music, the act of it, the work of it, the process of it, the creation of it, the journey and experience of it, and of course, the sharing of it. Realizing that succeeding at the ‘ business of music’ is a far different focus than succeeding artistically... and truthfully, we all know what has to be done if one really wants to succeed in the music industry, we just don’t like it, and we hate the ones that do. Well, it is a bit of a no win situation. One needs to know ones strengths and weaknesses, be young and extremely attractive, for the most part, not worry about talent so much, but rather, be flexible, movable, and willing to do whatever it takes to market oneself, and submit to whatever sense of aesthetics are being dictated toward your image and sound by the “vision behind the curtains”. And, a musician can’t just be a musician anymore…they have to be an actor, a model, you know, a triple threat, or a quadruple threat, or a ‘ménage a trios’ sexy threat or something. The entertainers catch phrase of the day…
To become a master of ones craft takes time, and it seems life is not long enough to ever achieve it, aside from a few. And if we are demanded to be a “jack of all trades” , then all trades shall be wanting.
I think the question to the question would be, “What the hell do you want from music?”
The terms "musical virtuousity" and "in the zone" are thrown around quite
frequently in the Jazz world (and here as well), what do these mean to you and how do you strive for them?Musical Virtuosity = better than me, solution, practice more, but you’ll never get there.
In the zone = sounds like it feels, solution, play it like you mean it, but its always an accident.
We do not strive for virtuosity. What for? We are not trying to get a job with an orchestra. Nope. We strive to be in key, in time, and be ‘ in the pocket’ as we deem it more useful , and the rest is up for grabs. Structure is for cover tunes, or if you are hired to perform, or write a song within a certain formula, but we don’t have those issues, or should we say, we don’t want those issues. We are wild heathen children that are still under the illusion that we can do what we want. Willful ignorance is a precious thing, and getting away with it is even better.. We prefer to play by the philosophy of the moment, allowing for growth, change, and even what stays the same. And it is true, even the greatest improvisationalist had to learn the rules to break them, and learn them we did, but retaining them is another story. We much prefer free form, and just riffin’ and jammin’, because it’s fun, and you can’t be wrong when you are making it up. Because imagination is where it’s at, and it knows no bounds aside from ones own self imposed limitations. But we do know the difference between a song, a jam, jackin’ off, and playing within the gates. And sometimes the one becomes the other. But as far as these catch phrases go within any genre or musicians cesspool, the one common thread that makes any moment in music is heart. It just comes down to sincerity, and what you are willing to give of yourself in a moment. This is a vast range of depth between many, but we would not dare judge the worth of it. We value expression, and having the guts to do it on your own merits, and not playing it safe. I guess you have to be willing to fail if you are going to succeed at anything, well, we’ve done the the failing part….lol. I guess the success ought to be showing up here soon, ey? We kid the monkey. I will say “Learn your freakin’ scales, it helps ya bastard! And, if you want to be a virtuoso… best get signed up for Julliard or some musical elitist school like it, otherwise…wear your hack badge with pride, and play it like you mean it.” Or, at least that’s what they say, you know, the mythical they…the they that says things. So, that about wraps up question #7… blah, blah, blah.
"Woodshed" -- dread or enjoy?
Dread…Nobody likes an ass whipping! However, there were those times when Daddy hit it just right.
Name one aspect of your music that you are currently trying to improve, and please detail how.Everything & Nothing, and its never finished, we just get to a point where we have to let it go or it becomes this “ Unobtainable Myth” that we keep chasing… Embracing the imperfections, rather than attempting to sterilize is important, in our opinion. We are not striving toward perfection, but rather; release, satisfaction, completion, and to get the work done when a succubus, better known as a vision…calls us to create. There is always room for growth, as we never stop learning….and could most certainly improve in every aspect of our sound one way or another…but what does that mean, and by whose sense of aesthetics ought we aim? There is a fundamental understanding of music, as said before, timing, rhythm, pitch, tone, chords, scales, and all of the language and skills therein that can be taught. What cannot be taught is instinct, you can train and align your instinct to another’s, but when to develop your own? That is a cliff you just jump off, or you don’t. Improving is a constant struggle with everything, and nothing. So many times the artists get in the way of their own art, attempting to control it. It is the conception that must not be controlled, after the creative process has run its course…then the skill of the matter comes into play. Music must be created for its own sake within the freedom of its conception. Many pollute that very process by what is motivating them, regardless of what they might portend. If you catch the vision, before the trance slips back into the sea of song…then the decision-making, and the control issues can and must come into play….like production, arrangement, and so forth. The technical and affectational aspects of songwriting, Then the challenge becomes not to undo what has been done…and how to nurture it further, without destroying its magic. There are many paradoxes present in the creative realm. Aside from theory, there isn’t much of a language to express these truths…. Other than sound. You just have to do it, play it…the rest is bullshit.
Music has been compared to sex many times, is this a valid analogy or is there a more accurate one?
Who are we to argue. As far as accuracy goes, it is a bit subjective…to some this may be the case, and to others, a mere fantasy or hopeful desire. Who knows, but one thing is for certain, there is an intimacy when one has moved beyond the showing off aspects of music, the motivations to get laid, if you will, the constant need for attention, or validation, and all that stuff that egos and peacocks are made of. Not that one ever really conquers the desire for such things, nor ought they, really… albeit Buddha, or some enlightened being like that. But hell, even Gandhi got his groove on. [A verifiable fact!] There is a place where one surrenders, and becomes transposed into a place of pure magic, and it is a living and powerfully healing force, much like sex. One becomes stripped down of all masks, and is in a pure state of being while in that space. It is sacred almost, but all sin is welcome…and there is no judgment, aside from the audience, perhaps. But if you are doing it right ( whatever that means) and all hype aside, the audience is with you, for it is the artist’s job to break down those barriers, not enforce them. There is not so much one way of going about it, just as there are many roads to get to the same place. But one thing is for sure, if you can’t touch yourself, how can you touch someone else? And if you can’t touch someone else, how can you touch anything? Sex can thus be applied to why humanity hasn’t completely self destructed, and it can also be applied to many ills. But I suppose the lover that you are becomes the many things that you are, and do, and the way you go about doing it. Everyone has a rhythm, and sex is just another form of rhythm in play and collaboration, hopefully, your feeling something…if you’re not, you may want to try another position.
How did you come across IAC, and what is your opinion of the main concept behind the website?
We were actually invited there by Lana Crowley in August of 2005 during what might be called, “The Great My Space Musician’s Harvest”. In our opinion, IAC is an exceptionally well-designed web environment providing easily navigable access to a full range of material from peripheral commercial material to aspirants and hacks, from the base to the sublime. We’ve had a lot of fun and benefit in sharing our songs at IAC, and it has provided us with a convenient platform to share our little Frankenstein creations, and have fun doing it. We try not to take it all too seriously, and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
What is your standpoint on the distribution of music on the internet? (iTunes and so forth)
It has been said a million times in better ways, but the necessities of video production has systematically decimated the overall quality and diversity of popular music in North America and Europe on regular distribution channels. Thank god, we got Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Christopher Cross, Janis Ian, Paul Simon and a host of others before you had to be a supermodel to get airplay! Not because their work in recent years couldn’t hold up, but because we would not have gotten their most productive years because no one would have recorded them, or distributed them to a larger audience!
Fortunately, after the dark ages of the “video artists”, we are moving into a golden age of productivity and distribution FOR EVERYBODY!!! The up side is that anyone with even modest means can create and archive their music without the need for those archaic evils like the, “give me your publishing rights and pay for production out of your advance, and we’ll record you and put your vinyl on the shelves” bullshit. Electronic storage relieves us of the need for inventories, transportation, retail markups in the thousands of percents and a whole host of other wastes and rip-offs!
The downside is that anyone with even modest means can create and archive their music. Garrison Keeler once said something to the effect of, “The need to perform does not necessarily insure talent.” As with all things for self-determining people, we must each use our personal discretion as to what we do and don’t subject the world to. All I can say is, “Please, for the love of God, learn the damn instrument!” Thank you.
Sadly, this proliferation of new artists and the glut of material means that the age of the “super group” and bazillion dollar record sales are probably fading away, but I’ll gladly trade that lottery ticket for the chance to hear 10 killer musicians that are too ugly for Clear Channel.
What are your thoughts on using electronic "instruments" in Jazz?
As Duke said, there’s only good and bad sound. If it swings, what difference does it make? The Rhodes is an electronic instrument and I don’t think anyone can deny the value of that timbre. That having been said, there is one exception, there is not yet any substitute for live skins. Computers just can’t set up the pocket quite right. It isn’t so much what you play, but rather; how you play it, and what you do with what you got. [Enter…a little self indulgent ditty completely off point]- Also, knowing ones own limitations is just as important as knowing ones strengths, this helps one to utilize the greater whole by the sum of its parts, and lends progress toward evolving beyond the limitations, and making the best of what one has to give. [Back on point]-What works for one may not work for another. [Back off point]-Diversity, the puritans don’t much like it.
Please plug the equipment your band uses here...
Broken instruments and such... found discarded in the dumpsters behind broke and run down Symphony Halls.
[Aaaaah, gearheads eh?]
Please plug recordings, websites, or live shows here...Google us, and visit a myriad of music sites, youwill find our tracks available for download in the basement or back room of all the usual suspect sites, for the most part. CD Baby has been selling our stuff since 98’, and we are about to finish up “Screaming round the COCK”. Most of the album can be sampled at our page at IAC (for who knows how much longer). Steal it if you can get away with it, we’ll be grateful for the effort.
What advice can you give to young, up-and-coming musicians?
There is no hope, all is doomed…. ( we kid the monkeys) Follow your heart, use some common sense, and realize that there are no safe risks, or free rides. Finish school, cause even though you might believe it with all your heart, there are only a handful of stars, and you may not be “ It”, and just in case you’re not, don’t stand in the way of someone who might be. Give yourself more options other than winning the lottery, and know that you don’t have to be famous to be important. If you truly love music, nobody can stop you from making it, as long as freedom of expression is in play, and if you live to see a time when it is not…then there is no hope, all is doomed… Pay attention !
posted by Rose at
11:23 PM
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