- Jan 27, 2010
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- Endorsing Artist: Genz Benz Amplification
Tom, have you ever thought of offering your services writing copy for artist bios, press releases and whatnot? Your writing style seems particularly suited to it.
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Interviewing bassist stories
- Thread starter Arthritic_Tom
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Agreed. I'm really enjoying your stories and all the while admiring your integrity.
Please keep posting for us Mr W.
Yes. I even went so far as to try and get those gigs. No dice. It's all based on personal connections, or it was when I tried. Also, I was made tons of promises that all fell through. I was offered the opportunity to ghost write the memoirs of a horrible but hugely successful instrumental musician. After I agreed, I never heard from them again. I was promised jobs writing screenplays, press releases, biographies--everything. It's the equivalent of "We'll do lunch!" It's another reason I was so angry and bitter for so long.
I'd also like to clarify something, in anticipation of a question that might be asked:
When I first started this thread, I thought I had eight articles or interviews that had been killed. I explained the circumstances of some of them, and I felt I shouldn't post them here, because it could bring back bad memories for some of the artists.
Also, some of them were in bands that have since broken up, and the bassist in question is still playing but struggling. I'd hate to set up a "how the mighty have fallen" vibe.
After I went into the drawer I haven't opened since the 90's, I found two more killed articles that I'd completely forgotten about, probably since their killing made me almost angry enough to do some killing of my own. I posted the Curt Smith article, because as you can see it was strictly about music; he's back with Tears for Fears; he struck me as a very strong, confident, philosophically mature man who likely wouldn't have objected to me posting it here (I haven't spoken to him since 1998); and I'm pretty sure the reason the article was killed had everything to do with me and not him.
I'm getting some feedback that my complaining at the time about my articles being killed didn't go over very well, so what better way to show me who was boss than to do more of what was making me furious?
"That'll teach ya! You're nothing, pal. Got it?"
Anyway, I posted the Curt Smith article to commemorate his skill as a bassist, his perseverance as an artist and a human, and his positive, healthy attitude, which I should've adopted years ago myself.
Thank you.
I should also point out that I'm now too old to be hired by anybody in the music business for any function whatsoever except for janitor, maybe, so that's that.
But you're never too old to publish novels, especially of the e-variety. I used to hate the idea of that, but an e-novelist just became the first million-copy seller, so I'm investigating it.
It'll be under a pseudonym, though. You're all witnessing the swan song of Thomas Wictor the writer. Enjoy it while it lasts. I decided to get a few things off my chest before I retired my real name.
I can't tell you how liberating it's been.
In regards to the last part of this sentence - it seems like you have, man. At least IMHO anyways.
Thank you. I was once the angriest person on the planet.
But I'll tell you a joke: A man goes to the doctor.
"What's the problem?" the doctor asks.
"I can't pee," says the man.
"How old are you?" asks the doctor.
"I'm 91 years old," says the man.
And the doctor says, "You've peed enough."
I was angry enough. I was angry enough for several lifetimes, so I had to let it go.
And you're a better man for it. Growing as a person is to evolve. Evolving as a person helps us prepare for the next great thing in our lives. You can't have the next great thing without evolving out of the last one. Happy for you Tom. Many people fail to realize they need to move on, and thus spend the rest of their lives living in the past while the rest of the world moves on without them. Heal your wounds and tackle your new adventure a new man.
Good for you all the same. I do my darnedest to take my own advice every day, but some days are easier than others. BTW, I bought the Kindle version of your book and I look forward to reading it during the following week.
Yep. The past is the past. I'm looking forward to the coming couple of years.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Each of the bassists in that book said at least one thing that shaped my life. Some of it took years to sink in.
I'll share Peter Hook's life-changing statement: "Never meet your heroes, and never read anything they have to say."
Now, how could an interviewer take such advice? How could I tell people not to read the interviews I wrote? Hook's point was that when you find out too much about artists you like, it may spoil your appreciation for their art.
I absolutely love, love, love Suzanne Vega. I must've listened to Songs in Red and Gray thousands of times, especially "Widow's Walk." The song "World Before Columbus" off of Nine Objects of Desire chokes me up every single time I hear it. The song "In Liverpool," off 99.9 Fº has one of the most brilliant lines ever written in the English language:
"No reason to remember you now."
But I don't know a thing about her personal life. I've never read an interview she gave, nor have I researched her. I don't want to know. I just listen to that sublime artistry.
A bassist you all know showed me his godawful collection of photo books full of murder scenes, fatal car accidents, industrial accidents, war atrocities, and so on. He has an original clown painting by John Wayne Gacy, and when he was ostensibly going to play me some music on his computer, a truly monstrous photo appeared on the desktop.
"Whoops! How'd that get there?" he chuckled and deleted it.
I should've reported him to the cops, but I didn't, because I was too depressed by the whole nightmare, too unsure of how to proceed, and the photo looked like a scan from a magazine instead of anything he'd taken himself. I know he doesn't have children of his own, and the image didn't involve adults. It was in that careful legal gray area, but the intent was unmistakable.
I've never listened to his music again. I also didn't interview him for the magazine. This was a preliminary thing that fell through after the change of editors.
For me, that was the only good thing that came out of being demoted at the magazine.
Been reading this thread since last night and couldn't stop until I fell asleep (I often read TB on my iphone in bed). Absolute gold. You're a very talented writer and your stories are all the more fascinating because of how lively they are. You can just picture people and places in your head. Thank you Tom!
Arthritic_Tom said:
A lot of good sense in that post. I agree with you about Suzanne Vega, by the way. I find that she inhabits the same area as groups like Marillion and guys like Lou Reed these days: more of a cult following and includes a *lot* of musicians
I also think that, when we love an artist's work, we often tend to just assume that he or she's a great person and a generous person. Even though everyone by now knows about how a certain level of success pretty well insulates artists from having to grow up. Which is why I found your story about that famous photog's unbelievable generosity so cool.
Generally, I'd agree with the thought that one should never pay attention of a favorite artist's writings, etc. when you find out that, say Salvador Dali was a complete fascist, it becomes harder to separate the artist from the art. If that's even appropriate.
Great work Tom. I really enjoyed your stories and am planning on buying your book.
Im sorry you got the dealt the cards you did, but it sounded like you made some amazing memories along the way!
I shudder to think that one of my idols is the bassist you are talking about that had all the creepy photos and pictures on his computer.
Im sorry you got the dealt the cards you did, but it sounded like you made some amazing memories along the way!
I shudder to think that one of my idols is the bassist you are talking about that had all the creepy photos and pictures on his computer.
Yup. I owe the actual publication of my book to a massively successful, nearly mythological figure in the rock world, who went far above and beyond to help me, simply because he thought it was the right thing to do. Very inspiring.
Dali was a fascist, Picasso was a sadistic, womanizing pig... My favorite painter in the world is Maxfield Parrish, who was apparently an abusive SOB. I liked Tom Hanks until he said the only reason we fought the Japanese in World War II was because of racism! He forgot about a little event called Pearl Harbor. He actually said the war against Nazi Germany was justified, but not the war against Japan.
I can't watch him right now. Maybe later. But some things that artists do are unforgivable. The bassist with that photo on his computer can never be rehabilitated in my mind.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it a lot.
That experience with the creepy bassist was one of the saddest days of my life. Certain actions make it impossible to separate the artist from the art. I don't care if my favorite artists are on the opposite side of the political spectrum as I am (although it's annoying if they're constantly insulting me as an idiot or racist or a warmonger or whatever), but when I know too much about the person that's purely negative and indefensible, I just automatically reject the artist and his or her art. I can't help it.
This is the longest thread that I've read all the way through. Congrats on keeping the interest of not only myself but many others here on Talkbass.
Re-examining this period of my life is a mixed bag. Although I appreciate the support from my fellow bassists here, I'm discovering how much I erased from my mind as a desperate survival mechanism.
Going back to my collection of interview cassette tapes, I found "Geezer Butler, June 24, 1997." The interview was about Geezer's solo album black science [TVT], a radical departure from his previous work. The album was released a week after I conducted the interview.
The article I wrote based on the interview was on the floppy disk that I pulled from the drawer a few days ago, which contains all the pieces killed by the editor. But something was nagging me, because I had a memory of the phrase "overshadowed by flamboyant (someone)" in my head. I was sure I'd seen it in connection with the article, but it wasn't in the version on the floppy disk. So I went through every back issue I have of Bass Player, beginning in July of 1997, and I found the article--published in the MARCH 1999 ISSUE.
They killed the article when it could've helped Geezer sell his solo album, and then they reanimated it into a zombie and used it years later, when the original lineup of Black Sabbath had reunited. But the article is all about Geezer's solo album, concentrating on the personnel of that effort, Pedro Howse and Clark Brown! It's got a new introduction and a new title because it's supposed to be an article about a Black Sabbath reunion, but it's all about a two-year-old solo album.
No wonder I totally blocked it out. It made me look like a complete moron and lazy a**hole. It made me look like I was treating a legend with total disdain.
Good God.
Well, if you've never heard any tracks from black science, here's "Man in a Suitcase," one of the best. Listen to it for Geezer, who like so many others deserved better.
GeeZeR - Black Science - Man in the Suitcase - YouTube
Going back to my collection of interview cassette tapes, I found "Geezer Butler, June 24, 1997." The interview was about Geezer's solo album black science [TVT], a radical departure from his previous work. The album was released a week after I conducted the interview.
The article I wrote based on the interview was on the floppy disk that I pulled from the drawer a few days ago, which contains all the pieces killed by the editor. But something was nagging me, because I had a memory of the phrase "overshadowed by flamboyant (someone)" in my head. I was sure I'd seen it in connection with the article, but it wasn't in the version on the floppy disk. So I went through every back issue I have of Bass Player, beginning in July of 1997, and I found the article--published in the MARCH 1999 ISSUE.
They killed the article when it could've helped Geezer sell his solo album, and then they reanimated it into a zombie and used it years later, when the original lineup of Black Sabbath had reunited. But the article is all about Geezer's solo album, concentrating on the personnel of that effort, Pedro Howse and Clark Brown! It's got a new introduction and a new title because it's supposed to be an article about a Black Sabbath reunion, but it's all about a two-year-old solo album.
No wonder I totally blocked it out. It made me look like a complete moron and lazy a**hole. It made me look like I was treating a legend with total disdain.
Good God.
Well, if you've never heard any tracks from black science, here's "Man in a Suitcase," one of the best. Listen to it for Geezer, who like so many others deserved better.
GeeZeR - Black Science - Man in the Suitcase - YouTube
Thank you. A short story for you:
I was interviewing a great bassist at his home. He told me to go on ahead into his studio while he was getting us drinks. I walked in by myself; it was dark, so I reached out and flipped what I figured was the light switch.
What I didn't know was that he'd rigged all his computers, sequencer, and sampler to a power switch so he could turn them all on at the same time, after shutting them down safely, of course. For convenience's sake, he'd mounted the power switch on the wall. It looked exactly like a light switch.
Yes, I cut the power to all his equipment, erasing countless hours of work because like so many of us, he hadn't backed it up.
Although I was in my early thirties at the time, I wept like a baby, which is the only thing that kept him from tearing me limb from limb. After a while, he begged me to stop, even making funny faces and crazy noises to try and make me laugh. He actually went ahead with the interview, which turned out absolutely great.
I met him years later and he immediately hugged me, as though to stave off another crying jag.
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