Interviewing Bassists Stories Pt. 3

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by cthomas5200

In Scott's case the shear genius he has for music then doesn't translate well to interpersonal skills, but to then hear him talk I think I could listen to him for hours. He has a gift for performing.

I suppose the bottom line is people are complex. Your gift is being able to open that window and show this complexity in a way that makes us pause and think. Not idol worship of an awesome player, but respect for the gift and the life struggle of a fellow human being.

On a separate note, I need to thank you for turning me on to John Taylor. Growing up as a rocker in the 70s/80s I had a loathing for Duran Duran. Your posts made me go back and really listen and now (probably being more mature) I found I just loved his playing and now have a lot of his music on my iPod. Reading his book next.

Thanks again for opening up a new world for us.

Scott is a very, VERY complex man, but one of the lessons I learned from building complicated dioramas is that the whole thing is just a series of little models all created separately and fitted into a whole. This diorama I made of a patrol of American doughboys going through a shattered French village in late 1918 was incredibly complex. Everything in it was essentially scratch built; the figures are each less than two inches tall. The only commercial products I used were the heads, the helmets, the canteens, and the wagon.

Such a project could easily have overwhelmed me, but I mapped it all out and didn't let the huge undertaking deter me.

It's the same as writing a book. You saw the piles and piles of source material. Where do you begin? How do you decide what's valuable and what isn't?

With people, I "break them down" into their component parts, like each of the elements of the dioramas I used to build, and I also choose the "valuable" material from the giant mound of information they have to offer. There are certain aspects of peoples' personalities that I can't abide, and there are certain actions they take that I find unacceptable, in which case we can't be friends. But generally speaking, I've become more and more like Will Rogers in that I rarely meet people who don't have something about them that I can't like.

The key is understanding boundaries and limitations. We can't all be best friends. We can have a connection without it being deeply intimate and intrusive. I'm actually a very private person. What I do here and what I've done in Ghosts is a performance. It's real; I'm not faking anything. And I'm genuinely touched that my work moves people.

But I'm a performer. I'm an entertainer. So is Scott. Though I've had the great fortune of becoming a genuine friend of his, that happened in spite of my respect for his talent. When we talk, we almost never discuss music. We're going to be cooperating on his memoirs soon, but that's going to be a completely professional relationship. In effect, I'll be his employee. I always separate the artist from the art, so I'll be working with Scott Thunes, not my friend Scott.

I think it's best for everyone if we take entertainment for what it is and not worry too much about the person creating it. It's hard to do that, but I think it keeps us grounded.

And I'm glad you recognize John Taylor's unique voice on the bass. A lot of people were put off by the marketing and the band's looks, but the second I heard "Girls on Film," I was hooked. And I was a Led Zeppelin, Yes, and Gentle Giant fanatic at the time.

Put aside some time and watch this interview. I generally don't knock other interviewers, but the contrived earnestness, nodding, and weird, inappropriate, teeth-baring grins from Eric Blair are preventing him from connecting with Taylor. John is doing his best, but the interviewer is so off-putting that it's making John uncomfortable. When I spoke to him, Bass Player was a huge deal, so he was under incredible pressure. We ended up talking for two hours. It was a great conversation, because even though he was one of my idols, I didn't giggle and coo.

Also, a lot of the questions Blair is asking are inappropriately personal. It doesn't have to be that way. Instead of saying, "How do you stay monogamous?" you ask, "In an industry with so many temptations, how do rock stars keep their heads on straight?" That allows Taylor to talk about things in a theoretical sense. That frees him and lets him give a better interview.

I was always able to connect with people. As an interviewer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCnErYHnm1g

[TinIndian]

Well, I've been real busy the last week and haven't been on much so I missed the start of this thread. Anyway, as others have said, I don't see anywhere you acted inapropriately and I have seen no reason to doubt the authenticity of what you have posted.

Funny though, I did think you were overstating about attracting loonies.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by TinIndian

Funny though, I did think you were overstating about attracting loonies.

Whattaya say now, smart guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZCLI9r-Zcs

[morebass4me]

Originally Posted by Arthritic_Tom

Wow! Thanks so much. That's what every writer wants to hear.

I know you'll love the book. I was able to get into areas that are outside the subject matter of this forum while keeping true to the issue at hand: bass playing.

Since I stopped writing about music in 2002, I had to figure out a way to keep the stories about music and the bass going up to 2012, which is when the book ends. I decided to use flashbacks, saving some of the best music material for the latter part of the book.

I once wrote a massive, unpublishable fiasco of a novel called The Mermaid Lamp, about the L.A. music scene. I did tons of research about L.A., which I thought would enrich the novel. Since I can't ever publish the thing (I'd die of embarrassment), I'll share some of the information in it:

L.A. is the bomb capital of the U.S. The L.A. County Sheriff Department's bomb squad is the most experienced in the country.

L.A. is the bank-robbery capital of the world.

L.A. is the car-chase capital of the world.

The L.A.P.D. SWAT originated MOUT (military operations on urban terrain) and taught the U.S. military these tactics. That's why all our soldiers do what they call the "Groucho walk" when they advance with their rifles pointed at the target. It's an invention of the L.A.P.D. SWAT.

The L.A.P.D. and L.A.C.S.D. invented nearly all less-than lethal technology, including bean-bag shotgun rounds, pepper balls fired by paintball guns, telescoping batons, sounds guns that make rioters nauseated and crap their pants, stink balls, and heat-ray guns.

Seventy percent of the nation's penile implants are performed in L.A.

Two hundred languages are spoken in L.A., but the courts can handle only about 80.

I created a band (Jayne the Baptist), wrote song lyrics, made up an antique dealership, and ran an independent publicists' firm. Reading it today, the prose is fine but the story is laughable. I didn't know what made a good story at that point. After it garnered about 90 rejection notices (I'm nothing if not persistent), I was going to throw away everything to do with it, but my brother persuaded me to keep it.

I'm glad he did. Without it I wouldn't have been able to write my memoir. The Mermaid Lamp is full of stories I'd blocked out, as well as word-for-word reconstructions of conversations, interviews, fights--everything.

It's amazing that this giant piece of crap ended up being worth its weight in gold, proving that most things have value and worth at the proper time and under the right circumstances.

Holy cow Tom, those stats kind of make me glad I live in the middle of the desert, without all the crazies around. Of course, we get our own brand of crazy here, but at least our police aren't showing the military how to do their job!

The whole time I was reading part 1 I kept thinking how cool the dedicated stories were, so now I guess I'm kind of part of that unique club. Thanks for the awesome response!

P.S. I'm sure what you call a horrible mess is better than a ton of the schlock I've read that called itself a novel. Even if the story was weak I bet the storytelling was great!

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by morebass4me

Holy cow Tom, those stats kind of make me glad I live in the middle of the desert, without all the crazies around. Of course, we get our own brand of crazy here, but at least our police aren't showing the military how to do their job!

The whole time I was reading part 1 I kept thinking how cool the dedicated stories were, so now I guess I'm kind of part of that unique club. Thanks for the awesome response!

P.S. I'm sure what you call a horrible mess is better than a ton of the schlock I've read that called itself a novel. Even if the story was weak I bet the storytelling was great!

The writing was good, but there wasn't enough there there.

My memoir is essentially my novel, but what makes the memoir more compelling is that the author lost absolutely everything he ever loved but is happy. The protagonist in the novel--me at the time--hadn't really lost anything except his girlfriend, and the book ended on a note of pretty melodramatic self-pity. It was an endless ocean of words that the reader was expected to swim through, but all it was about was a guy who'd recently lost his girlfriend.

The memoir has Scott Thunes(!), and along with a description of the L.A. music scene and a failed career in music journalism, it explores the notions of destiny versus free will, life after death, the existence of God, the possibility of reincarnation, and how to overcome horrendous losses that strip you down to basically just your mind and almost nothing else. It also asks and answers the question of how you continue living after you lose the person you were absolutely sure you were supposed to be with for the rest for your life.

The novel was shallow. I believe the memoir is more... consequential because it deals with much more important and universal issues. The novel was about me; the memoir is about Scott Thunes(!), "Carmen," Stephen Crane, music, love, pain, loss, and attaining peace of mind. When I wrote the novel, I soft-pedaled almost all the metaphysical issues because I was self-conscious. I didn't want people to think I was weird. Now, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. The memoir is the best writing I've ever done, and it doesn't matter to me how it's received. I'm happy with it.

But I have a sneaking suspicion that it'll be well received.

After all, it's got Scott Thunes(!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK8JrWGBtrc

[Arthritic_Tom]

I'm looking into transcription software for when I work with Scott Thunes on his book. I've heard they've made huge leaps forward in automatic transcription technology.

Here's part of the Youtube transcript for an interview with Frank Zappa.

David Brenner: Gao the yeah for integrated had gone ahead and say I mean alliances silences.

Frank Zappa: Yes the governor never five like that explosion restaurant today businesses both was close to a film in a very good food further walked in with no sign so they stopped at the door and uh... is that you have to resign in their own lack of a man in the courtroom gave me my choice and this was the best looking here m_f_n_ the food was great nephew was all over Africa by the time from the people of this restaurant and they were kind enough to actually give it to me for free so i would like to say if you need a good look inside go to lister Connecticut.

David: Hand one image of a sudden infant death throws this.

Frank: Slow sort of my children mood and drizzle mobile unit.

David: And I got a as disastrous for through the eyes of a father within the next few over five thousand but if we have all of the design?

Moon Unit: Yeah really strict.

David: Won't fix it?

Moon: Storyteller balloons like classical music humanity.

Dweezil: For editorial him use numbers.

Frank: Fans when she was little she used to dance to all students directors and asking didn't know what it was that you can see now fall over campaign and i think that uh... from your boy would have to do it.

Moon: Inhabit buchanan.

David: Final Australia New Zealand signed by your friends and you know someone comes over his trainer as my dad finds out that right that you know file into this race.

Dweezil: Of well here you bring a person in the u_n_ whoever it is and then add-on they can't think of a friend off and it is a little identified in news my friend forward Larry i don't know if wedding Larry but yes i have always said for.

Frank: Back to work the.

David: You were going to feel when when your theory of helping funnel in animals were.

Frank, Moon, and Dweezil: Revealing electromagnetic undignified rarely in a with others in the city.

David: Well you know when you're at when you're at home and you're fine your music Frank ever from a nap so you know my score noise affair from generation to generation for them generations music nor is there a lot of colours very disenchanted down because.


And then it got really weird.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK5q4vY3-Uo

(Click the little icon second from the gray flag under the video screen.)

[FEBass]

Got pulled away from this thread by life and returned to discover there's an Amazon pre-order? Well! It's only the end of January, and I've already got 4 Christmas presents checked off my list! (plus my own copy of course!)

Thanks Tom! Looking forward to some great reading in August!

[Texan]

Originally Posted by Arthritic_Tom

Scott is a very, VERY complex man, but one of the lessons I learned from building complicated dioramas is that the whole thing is just a series of little models all created separately and fitted into a whole. This diorama I made of a patrol of American doughboys going through a shattered French village in late 1918 was incredibly complex. Everything in it was essentially scratch built; the figures are each less than two inches tall. The only commercial products I used were the heads, the helmets, the canteens, and the wagon.

Is that supposed to be a Winchester Model 1897 Trench Gun or a French variant?

Either way, absolutely AWESOME WORK!!!

[Roadkill]

Originally Posted by Arthritic_Tom

Here's part of the Youtube transcript for an interview with Frank Zappa. [...] And then it got really weird.

Frank would have loved that!

[dhsierra1]

Originally Posted by Roadkill

Frank would have loved that!

remember, this is the poodle talking

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by Texan

Is that supposed to be a Winchester Model 1897 Trench Gun or a French variant?

Either way, absolutely AWESOME WORK!!!

Yup. A scratch built trench gun.

Thanks. It was fun to do.

[MouseRat]

"Storyteller balloons like classical music humanity."

Mind. Blown.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by MouseRat

"Storyteller balloons like classical music humanity."

Mind. Blown.

Isn't that just perfect?

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by Arthritic_Tom

I'm looking into transcription software for when I work with Scott Thunes on his book. I've heard they've made huge leaps forward in automatic transcription technology.

Here's a link to a q&a on software that may interest you. http://answers.oreilly.com/topic/159...you-recommend/

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Here's a link to a q&a on software that may interest you. http://answers.oreilly.com/topic/159...you-recommend/

Thanks for that! I'll look through those. Transcription services are prohibitively expensive, so I was thinking of getting the software. So far, most of them are crap.

From a Youtube transcription of a Scott Thunes interview (punctuation added at my discretion):

Q: Sequences soft this song. Can use for him and his wife redeployment minimums?

Thunes: Mona did you beforehand. Barbera, our current nineteen eighty four synergy for us. Next month bass player the mountains foot businessman, ha-ha! Oops. The school everywhere and sandy information; Danny Devito from France from America's easily translated inches uses revenues. People there; provinces, positions, soon illustrative essay of the men and women tomorrow, okay? Really, really great experience together. There was this kind thought: Portland. I've in northern California sales, lost faith in Los Angeles. Millions almost any day. So I was going to be three times stranded on an interior design for that Emma, and I would. Designer-coordinating friend Pat seems to have the weekend really nahi. Appointment goes to, so I could shows Friday night Reynoso colossal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJmheMJlvE&t=4m27s

[SoVeryTired]

I love these transcriptions. Lyrics, song titles and band names just leap out of them. Thinking I might record an album named "Lost Faith in Los Angeles".

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

I love these transcriptions. Lyrics, song titles and band names just leap out of them. Thinking I might record an album named "Lost Faith in Los Angeles".

Funny you should say that...

I just wished my brother Pat a happy birthday by phone, and he told me that he friend Phil uses the built-in transcription app on his smart phone to write poetry, precisely because of the reasons you state.

"Reynoso Colossal" is the perfect name for a band.

Happy Birthday, Pat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeT5Z4PL1nM

[Arthritic_Tom]

Although this is a guitar player, all bassists can learn techniques from this video that'll come in handy or just be fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4

[MartinG1957]

A favourite of mine in that sort of style - Jake Morley - And I actually bought the first ever copy of his album at a gig I was at in Dublin where he was the unknown support :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C97HZhvMKdk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRF1IB-eHEk

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by MartinG1957

A favourite of mine in that sort of style - Jake Morley - And I actually bought the first ever copy of his album at a gig I was at in Dublin where he was the unknown support :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C97HZhvMKdk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRF1IB-eHEk

Very impressive! Quite a talent.

Try this on for size. Usually I don't like this sort of hippy-dippy, music-world, bandanas-and-berets stuff because it's generally pretty smug, but these guys have heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mw2PyCe7X4