Music is everything to me. I've been playing for most of my life, but I started writing songs pretty late in the game. Some part of me hooked up to the Muse, and rather suddenly the songs seemed to flow. Having that outlet was a big step, in terms of personal development. It helped complete me - if there can be such a thing. It also brought things full circle; I've always had a fixation on things that recorded - tape machines and cameras. I was rarely without a recorder of some sort, and I recorded just about anything that might be interesting. I certainly recorded every performance. So I was thrilled to start getting my songs down - recording, overdubs, mixing, packaging, advertising, distributing and getting up in front of people to do my thing.
I'd do this all the time. Write, record, publish, perform. In this neck of the woods, there are lots of theaters, and I would love to do shows in any of them. The ultimate, of course, would be to do a massive gig. Madison Square Garden, Hollywood Bowl, Glastonbury. I love the studio. I love working with a group. I love getting up on stage. Every aspect of it.
I think I'd start with melting every last gun, bullet, rocket and bomb. We don't need 'em. Not really.
The first rock and roll song I remember hearing was "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox. I must have been six years old. Two girls down the street had this record. They played it over and over again. I think it was the only one they had. Great guitar licks in there.
There are too many to list. Being from Texas, I grew up on really old country music -- like Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Jimmie Rogers, Ernest Tubb. But I learned songwriting and recording from The Beatles. I mean, I studied them hard! I've learned a lot from Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, David Bowie, John Lennon, Aerosmith. The Ramones and The Sex Pistols sort of set me free, as did Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage. Holy cow! I get just as much from mariachi bands (Los Tigres del Norte and Vincente Fernandez) and classical music. Amy Winehouse blew me away. Bruno Mars is just about the best thing going on at the moment. Taylor Swift I have to admire. She can do no wrong. Joni Mitchell too. Beck has something to say, but he remains in a niche. I like people who have been in command of their art, or who have taken a different sort of path.
Writing, recording, performing and promoting music involves everything I love doing. I have always considered myself to be a multi-media artist. When I was younger, I didn't know what that meant. I wanted to do something that involved all the senses, but I had no idea how to go about it. Music made everything crystal clear. It's the job that I would do for nothing if I could. I never consider it to be work. Plus, if I'm doing it right, music is an extension of myself. It says what I can't always put into words.
I don't think about that, and I'm not sure anybody has really succeeded with a single message throughout the body of their work. I usually start with a groove of some sort, then the words begin to appear. Messages come last, and they are as varied as thoughts are. I mean, I have tried quite often to write a "Let It Be" or an "Imagine". I was doing that with a song once. I thought it had a beautiful melody, so it should be a beautiful lyric about peace and love. But the Muse took over and I ended up writing "Life in the Gutter" about a drunk hitting rock bottom. Not a bad song. So anyway, I've learned not push it with messages. It comes naturally. Otherwise the sentiments are fake. Very rarely do I end up where I started, and I am happy with that.
It's the best, especially when crowd and band hit the zone. We get to that place where we are one. You just can't bottle it. I've had enough of those to want it again, even if it means having the occasional bad gig.
There are a lot of things out there and that's good. I'm thinking that there aren't enough outlets for original material. It's kinda funny that more people aren't taking advantage of public access tv channels and existing AM radio space, or independent radio space, to promote more local music, to get a stronger local scene going. Spotify and CD Baby and iTunes and whatever are outlets, but they don't help anybody get exposure...not really. You must do the work of promoting and performing and getting a following. And you have to have a hook to set you apart from the crowd. Why should people come see your imitation of Bad Company or Coldplay?
It's good. It's a good chance to know who's doing what. Where does it go from here?
People who refuse to work out fresh arrangements of cover songs. Especially when they get stuck with the key they've always played it in. I used to sing "Rocket Man" back in the day. It was hard enough to start it off in A minor, but that's what the band learned. These days it's impossible unless I can transpose to a slightly lower key -- something that I can both sing and play, but the band can't make the adjustment. We end up dumping good songs that way.
In a way, I'm part of it. I have a band. I'm interested in who's out there, or who's playing the next night. I've gotten ideas for cover songs from watching other bands. But I'm not out there as much as I should be; I'm not at that phase of my life -- going out to clubs to see bands. But if I see anybody playing in the subway with their disc for sale, I always snap it up. There's some amazing music going on under the streets of NYC!
Get out there and do anything. Work with all sorts of combinations of people. Throw away your TV and your xbox. Explore other markets. I always wanted to get my songs over to Poland or Bulgaria, or some other country, to see if they get any airplay. There are plenty of artists who get all sorts of attention overseas and almost none in their mother country. Learn to promote; even if you have somebody to do that, it pays to know what's going on in every aspect of getting yourself out there. It isn't about climbing out of limousines and posing all over the place, There's a time to be a star and looking all trendy, but most of it involves working really hard behind the scene.
Just about anybody I grew up listening to. From my punk rock days, local Phoenix, Arizona bands like Billy Clone and the Same, The Feederz, Jodie Foster's Army. Jerry Riopelle wasn't punk, but he was excellent. John Doe, formerly of X, is probably one of the best living rock poets. Nowadays, I'm really getting into The Pretty Things (The Psychedelic Years is pretty good), The Roches, The Mavericks, Richard Thompson, The Breeders. Junior Brown -- that guy is phenomenal, the last of his breed. Hank III; he's interesting. I like The Raveonettes. There's a Canadian guy who records under the name Brad Sucks. One man band. He had a pretty big hit in Australia. I like his songwriting a lot. "Fixing My Brain" is wonderful!