Interviewing Bassists Stories Pt. 3

[AngelCrusher]

This thread is awesome. I used to read BP back in the day, and when I started doing tours, I always said my biggest regret was I did not get to do a BP article, as we only did GP and bizarre magazines like Tiger Beat (I was not in a boy band).

I found his thread last name and could not stop laughing at ATs style of posting. His self-deprecating humor is hilarious. Just the whole writing style is amazing, and it sucked me in. I wish I was on the road now and a lot weirder so I could do a phoner with him!

 

[ghorvers]

Picked up Ghosts from the bookstore today..Tom, it looks great!

Cheers,
Geert

 

[wagdog]

Pink Things is a very, very nice time. It's music for adults, not those suffering from terminal arrested development. Like Alice in Chains' Dirt, there isn't a weak track on the entire album. My favorite is "Traffic Indigestion," followed closely by "In the Air" and "Po-Boy From India."

I can't recommend it enough. Five out of five stars. And a big kiss.

Just downloaded Pink Things although I haven't had a chance to listen to it properly yet. I'm expecting Scott greatness, as usual. This thread has cost me a lot of money for all the new music I've bought. Tom, thank you for that!

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

This thread is awesome. I used to read BP back in the day, and when I started doing tours, I always said my biggest regret was I did not get to do a BP article, as we only did GP and bizarre magazines like Tiger Beat (I was not in a boy band).

I found his thread last name and could not stop laughing at ATs style of posting. His self-deprecating humor is hilarious. Just the whole writing style is amazing, and it sucked me in. I wish I was on the road now and a lot weirder so I could do a phoner with him!

I wish I could've stayed in the industry. My plan was to write only articles like the Simmons and Thunes pieces, but when Karl Coryat was replaced as editor, that was the end of my career.

Still, I may have another career ahead of me, and the technology today is allowing me to publish and market material that doesn't fit into the preconceived notions of those in charge. What happened in my failed career in music journalism was that I couldn't get my editors to understand my intent. It's happened to a certain extent with Ghosts, so I've decided to take advantage of print-by-demand and e-publishing to finally present EXACTLY what I want, EXACTLY how I see it.

Stephen King used to complain that no director made his novels into the movies he thought they should be, so he directly Maximum Overdrive, based on his short story "Trucks." It is, without a doubt, one of the worst films ever made. It's indescribably awful, from the music to the pacing to the editing to the dialog to the acting. King finally got to do it all himself, with total artistic freedom, and it was a catastrophe.

So I may have a Maximum Overdrive on my hands. So be it. At least then I'll know.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Picked up Ghosts from the bookstore today..Tom, it looks great!

Cheers,
Geert

Thank you! I hope you like it.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Just downloaded Pink Things although I haven't had a chance to listen to it properly yet. I'm expecting Scott greatness, as usual. This thread has cost me a lot of money for all the new music I've bought. Tom, thank you for that!

It's one of my new favorite albums.

I hope to get my Website working properly again. It turns out that my service provider used a thirty-year-old programming language, so new entries were loading but in geologic time. It would've taken months for each new entry to show up.

We've in the process of migrating the Website to a new ISP.

Another roadblock; another test.

At some point I wish the Planner would realize that I'm permanently happy and positive, so I don't need any more @#$%ing problems thrown my way to make sure my worldview has indeed changed.

I'M @#$%ING HAPPY, OKAY? NOW @#$% OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE!

 

[AngelCrusher]

You can listen and buy Pink Things here for anyone who wants a preview:

http://freejazzcollective.bandcamp.com/album/pink-things

This sounds a lot like the stuff my friend and I used to make in college. He was the most talented guitar player I ever knew and a complete maniac. He would fall asleep drunk every night, and his bed was the floor. An outline of discarded beer cans actually and truly was in the middle of his room so he had a "bed". Totally cool guy though..amazing guitar player. We used to go play stuff like this at pool parties and events and people would actually applaud like we knew what we were doing.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Stephen King used to complain that no director made his novels into the movies he thought they should be, so he directly Maximum Overdrive, based on his short story "Trucks."

That was actually made a couple of times and neither is a standout success... King as you may know hates trucks and it shows up in several of his films. And this before he was hit by one while jogging !

But one of my favorite 'life imitates art / be careful what you wish for' stories is also from King, who recounted in an interview one morning, probably while filming Maximum Overdrive, waking to the sounds of an angry mob outside his trailer on the set in the middle of the Mojave Desert, in the middle of the night, in December.

If you have never lived in the desert, you may not realize just how COLD it gets on those crystal clear, single-digit-humidity winter nights. Teens cold.

And so he mentioned how - a year before, in his snug den before a roaring fire, he never realized the reality he would summon when he wrote the simple introductory phrase in his screenplay: "Dawn, in the desert..."

So, Tom - you have manifested a reality. I expect it surprises no one that it's a bit twisted.

But it adds character, in a publishing landscape that has so little.

Just be careful how you write the staging for the screenplay adaptation...

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

So, Tom - you have manifested a reality. I expect it surprises no one that it's a bit twisted.

But it adds character, in a publishing landscape that has so little.

Just be careful how you write the staging for the screenplay adaptation...

My problem is that once I'm done with a project, I'm done. It'd be really hard for me to go back and write a screenplay for any book I wrote. I know they offer you craploads of money to do it, but screenplays always get changed and adapted and revised.

I'd accept craploads of money for the rights to the screenplay, but I think I'd let others do the work. It's almost impossible for American studios to do really good movies anymore anyway, so it wouldn't kill me if they made a crummy film out of something I did.

I wouldn't view the movie as "mine": It'd be the director's, so he or she would get the glory. Or the blame.

 

[ArtechnikA]

You can listen and buy Pink Things here for anyone who wants a preview:
http://freejazzcollective.bandcamp.com/album/pink-things

Yes, I can add this to the collective borderline fortune Tom and his musical references have cost me since I became entangled in his web. The album is being offered on a 'pay what you want' basis (take a deep breath, greedy people, there is a minimum...) but I found it too low so I tossed in another couple of bucks.

I have bought most of the references in Tom's books. Some I'm really glad for. Some - not quite to my taste, but no regrets.

Gentle Giant - I am sorry - I just don't get right now. I know Tom thinks they're awesome and the bassist is one of his lifelong favorites. I don't get it. Now. Could change.

Took me a while to 'get' Jimi and Miles. I've grown. It could happen yet.

But you could do worse than to at least check out Tom's recommendations and influences. There might be stuff you never knew you'd like.

I haven't quite figured out what references Pink Things evokes in me, but it doesn't matter. It'll be an interesting path of discovery I'm sure...

 

[ArtechnikA]

My problem is that once I'm done with a project, I'm done.

I understand. My brother once mentioned to me that he'd probably seen 'Blade Runner' more than Ridley Scott. I told him I wasn't surprised, because the most common answer to the question "What's your favorite work" from most artists is "my next one." I expect really successful creative people can close the door on what they've done in the past and concentrate completely on what they're doing _now_.

I also recall having heard a TV writer (I knew a few when I lived in Lost Angeles...) talk about How Series' Get That Way in their 3rd or 4th season, after all the original material has run its course:

"They start you off at $50,000 an episode. In No Time At All, you can get by on no less." No one is going to kill the golden goose...

So - take the money in good conscience! I'd probably recommend Pam Anderson for the Baldwin Park (where I once installed a telecommunications network in a big house...) party scene, but otherwise - clean slate...

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Gentle Giant - I am sorry - I just don't get right now.

Well, there's really nothing to get. You either like or dislike.

It's all about personal tastes. That was music that instantly grabbed hold of me and changed me due to the songs, the notes played, and the emotion expressed. I've never listened to the lyrics; the only lyrics I know are from "Working all Day":

When I was young I used to have illusions - Dreams ain't enough.
Papa was rough. He didn't care for learning. Hell, life is tough.
Easy to say that everybody's equal then look around and see it ain't true.
Working all day

Other than that song, I don't know any Gentle Giant lyrics. I don't have the sort of cultish devotion to the band that rabid fans have. I just like the music, and I'm grateful to Ray Shulman for changing my approach to the bass.

As a bassist, I just get off on stuff like this in a way that I do with no other music. It's a whole combination of things that gives this band a special place in my heart.

 

[ArtechnikA]

As a bassist, I just get off on stuff like this in a way that I do with no other music. It's a whole combination of things that gives this band a special place in my heart.

That you are a person of diverse tastes and sensibilities.
There is some music that I know I will never like (and by never, I am thinking 'Is should live so long.' Don't like it, don't appreciate it, no way.

Some I have not closed the door on. I don't like it now, but who knows what changes might make it just the thing some day. This is stuff I don't like, but can appreciate. Gentle Giant is there.

I know you're not trying to convert anyone. Without your mentions I'd probably have never known about them at all, certainly not enough to listen. So I do appreciate that. I listened, and I'm not a fan. Today.

'Tomorrow is another day' -- S. O'Hara...

 

[AngelCrusher]

I'm kind of digging the Gentle Giant. It is weird and atmospheric but then they drop in a killer rock riff and chorus. Its like Phish, but way cooler.

In fact,. I have a feeling this band definitely influenced Phish now that I am listening through on the youtube link.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

I'm kind of digging the Gentle Giant. It is weird and atmospheric but then they drop in a killer rock riff and chorus. Its like Phish, but way cooler.

In fact,. I have a feeling this band definitely influenced Phish now that I am listening through on the youtube link.

Their creative arc is such that they likely influenced tons of people. Early Gentle Giant doesn't sound at all like their final work.

This is my favorite tune in the final period. The bass line is incredibly fun to play.

 

[miles'tone]

Well Tom, I've finished Ghosts and Ballyhoo and I've just got to say well done, it's fantastic! A very original approach to a memoir I must say. I've had quite a few sleepy days due to the fact I've stayed up far too late reading it into the wee hours (if I had more free time I would have done it all in one sitting).
Consider me in for whatever comes next.

I'm not going to write a full review as I feel this one performance sums up your memoir better than anything I could ever write.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sC0O7btM9o&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Well Tom, I've finished Ghosts and Ballyhoo and I've just got to say well done, it's fantastic! A very original approach to a memoir I must say. I've had quite a few sleepy days due to the fact I've stayed up far too late reading it into the wee hours (if I had more free time I would have done it all in one sitting).
Consider me in for whatever comes next.

I'm not going to write a full review as I feel this one performance sums up your memoir better than anything I could ever write.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sC0O7btM9o&feature=youtube_gdata_player

WOWEE! What a GREAT video! Thanks so much for posting it. My new favorite.

And thanks for your kind words. I tried for a certain effect in the memoir, and the feedback I've gotten seems to indicate I managed to pull it off. The novel and diary that will complete the Ghosts trilogy are of a piece with the memoir, so hopefully those who liked the first book will like the second and third.

Both should be completed in about three months. The novel will be done first.

If you think the memoir had an original approach, wait'll you see the novel and diary...

Thanks again. I'm grateful and humbled.

 

[ghorvers]

Ghosts & Ballyhoo indeed!

Whew, finished it. An absolutely engrossing read. Quite shocking at times, but with just the right amount of humor and thoughtfulness. Ultimately very uplifting.

Thanks!

Edit: all it needs is more Beller, so I'll add some here:

 

[bigsnaketex]

Tom, I just reviewed your book on Amazon.......and again, thanks for writing it. I've never read anything that I felt such a part of - and even though you wrote it, I feel like all of us that have been on this journey with you are still a part of it and that, in and of itself is so very cool!!

Can't wait for more.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Tom, I just reviewed your book on Amazon.......and again, thanks for writing it. I've never read anything that I felt such a part of - and even though you wrote it, I feel like all of us that have been on this journey with you are still a part of it and that, in and of itself is so very cool!!

Can't wait for more.

Thanks very much.

The novel--Chasing the Last Whale--is currently being prepared as a print-in-demand paperback and e-book. If you liked the memoir, you'll like the novel. Tim has designed a fantastic cover, and I'm going to have him take my author photo tonight with my beard, to commemorate the utter chaos of the past five months.

I was going to shave my head tonight to show solidarity with Mom, who's deep in chemo and losing her hair, but my plan was to do it differently than people generally do it when they shave their heads.

My plan is to shave only the top half of my head, leaving one of those hippie-professor, male-pattern-baldness fringes, but then I remembered that I'm supposed to testify at a trial next week, so I have to wait until that's done.

With my white beard and half-shaved head, I'll look seventy, easily. Can't wait!