Simple questions often prompt interesting answers, so with this in mind I created a list of thirteen questions for a new interview series. Some of the questions I borrowed from the Proust and Pivot questionnaires, and the others are my own.
When I came up with the idea, I was hoping to get responses like the thoughtful ones below from Scott Tournet, lead guitarist for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Not only did Scott take the time to answer my questions, he wrote a full album review of Electric Ladyland - gotta love it.
Scott and the band are currently touring and promoting their new record, This is Somewhere.
What is your favorite book?
Ouch...Only one? This is a hard choice, but if I haaaad to just pick one, I guess I'd choose the Miles Davis autobiography. It's got it all. It's got a GREAT story (the story of Miles), GREAT characters (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, etc.) and, above all, it retraces the history of jazz without making it dry and educational.
Miles's career began in the thirties just when bebop was getting started, and he played on through until the eighties. He was essentially the creator (or at least a part) of every major trend in jazz, while also becoming the most financially successful jazz musician WITHOUT conforming at all. His autobiography is every music professor's wet dream minus all of the mother******’s he uses to describe EVERYTHING.
Examples: "Man, Bird was a mother******”, "Round Midnight was a mother****** to play", "Oh, she was a mother****** of a woman, but it could never last with our tempers.”
What is your favorite album?
I feel like John Cusack in High Fidelity trying to answer this question! I have about ten albums that are equally perfect in my mind, but the one that has been in this category the longest is probably Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. I've gone through tons of musical changes since discovering this album but no matter what mood or mode I'm in, Electric Ladyland always has something to offer. It's a HUGE album. I think it clocks in at 77 minutes or something like that.
What I love about it most is that it showcases all of Jimi's talents equally - the guitarist, the songwriter, the singer, the sonic genius, the arranger, the visionary, the complete artist. It seems that whenever anyone thinks about Jimi Hendrix they immediately think of acid in the headband, "Foxy Lady," "Purple Haze" and Woodstock. He definitely had that side to him, but there was SO much more. Electric Ladyland just has EVERYTHING. The trippy studio tricks start the album off on "And the Gods Made Love." Then you get two two-minute pop songs with "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland" and "Cross-town Traffic."
Then you get a sick 15 minute late jam of "Voodoo Chile." Jimi would frequently bring in fellow musicians to the studio after the bars closed. This track features Steve Winwood (Traffic, Blind Faith) on organ and Jack Cassidy (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) on bass. After this track, Jimi settles in for four more "radio-friendly tunes" that are brimming with creativity despite the four-minute pop song constraints (minus the Noel Redding penned "Little Miss Strange").
Next comes my favorite part of the album - the trippy/intertwining musical segment of "Rainy Day, Dream Away," which connects on through four tunes leading up to "House Burning Down." Really beautiful dreamy music that is subtle and not full of guitar fireworks like everyone expects from Jimi. "House Burning Down" then acts as a kind of wake up call to the albums best known two cuts – "All Along the Watchtower" and "Voodoo Chile." Icing on the cake for this masterpiece.
Honorable Mention: Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan, Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones, The Band - The Band, III - Led Zeppelin
What is your favorite film?
Let's keep this musical - Year Of The Horse, which is about Neil Young and Crazy Horse and is directed by Jim Jarmusch (alright all you film snobs, you know that if you diss Jarmusch that your black framed glasses will no longer work!). A great band. A great director. A great documentary. Why? They're a bunch of 50-year-olds who rock with the passion of teenagers, but have the knowledge and control of....well....50-year-olds.
Jarmusch does a great job of getting down to the essence of the Horse, which is really the whole point of the band anyway - essence, simplicity, primal, raw, rock, honesty...all words I love and equate with true rock and roll. This band and movie (or film, since Jarmusch directed) taught me that rebellion, self-righteousness and chaos are absolutely necessary for any band that wants to make timeless rock and roll.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
NASCAR Fans - Why? Because they're the WORST!!!
What is your favorite place?
Vermont - it's my home.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
None - Music is my lifeblood. I've been so insanely dedicated to it because I've felt like I had no choice in order to make it because I didn't start playing until I was 18. I had a really nasty music teacher in college who laughed at me and told me to quit because I couldn't read music notation, and I was a sophomore in college. I quit him instead of the music. I think I made the right choice. If my band completely failed tomorrow, I would play in pick up bands and teach guitar lessons. If I lost my hands? I would tie drumsticks to my arms and play drums. Get the gist?
What is your biggest indulgence?
Rebellion - At first this answer just makes me look like an asshole (I'm used to it), but within the word "rebellion" lies a lot of other sub-categories - questioning, open-mindedness, rallying against oppression, social change, etc. I feel like these things are SO important right now. The way the music business is right now, you practically HAVE to go corporate to make it. EVERYONE is selling ringtones, kissing record executive ass, selling to Wal-Mart, endorsing bullshit corporations like Verizon, etc. I FUCKING HATE IT!!! I hate that bullshit so much, and the frustration over these issues keeps me fired up and on the right path.
What is your favorite food?
French Fries - Why? I'm FRENCH! I especially enjoyed them during the post-9/11 neo-McCarthy period when people took to calling them "Freedom Fries." This is another reason I hate NASCAR Fans. :)
What is your favorite word?
Coitis - it's also my favorite thing to do.
What is your least favorite word?
Enough - I never get enough, I've never had enough, there's never enough, and I really hate it when someone says, "That's ENOUGH!"
Who do you least respect?
Followers - No one in particular, because I think it's dangerous to put too much hate into one human being. You see, I was always the guy in school and in jobs who would listen to everyone complain and whine about a teacher, coach or boss. They would often egg me on to say or do something in protest of this person. Once I would do this, they would quickly distance themselves from me in order to save their own asses.
It reminds me of how many of our politicians act. It would be easy to answer George W. Bush in this section, but in many ways John Kerry was the guy who lost my respect most during the elections. I still voted for him (because as you know there were only two real choices), but John Kerry would have DEFINITELY been one of those fair weather friends who hung me out to dry in high school.
Who do you most respect?
Doc Watson - I was reading one of those 100 best guitar player magazines (I know they're stupid, but I still want to get into one dammit!), and everyone's quotes were pretty typical until I came up to Doc Watson. I can't remember exactly how he put it, but the gist was that he didn't care whether or not he was remembered as a great guitar player. All he wanted was to be remembered as a good person. I get so intense and passionate about the music that I sometimes forget that being a good person should always come first...Thanks, Doc.
When and where did you answer these questions?
In my bed, while drinking coffee around noon (when my lazy ass wakes up!).
Download:
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals | Come Together (Live) [MP3]
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals | If I Was From Paris (Live) [MP3]
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals | Over Again (Live) [MP3]
When I came up with the idea, I was hoping to get responses like the thoughtful ones below from Scott Tournet, lead guitarist for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Not only did Scott take the time to answer my questions, he wrote a full album review of Electric Ladyland - gotta love it.
Scott and the band are currently touring and promoting their new record, This is Somewhere.
What is your favorite book?
Ouch...Only one? This is a hard choice, but if I haaaad to just pick one, I guess I'd choose the Miles Davis autobiography. It's got it all. It's got a GREAT story (the story of Miles), GREAT characters (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, etc.) and, above all, it retraces the history of jazz without making it dry and educational.
Miles's career began in the thirties just when bebop was getting started, and he played on through until the eighties. He was essentially the creator (or at least a part) of every major trend in jazz, while also becoming the most financially successful jazz musician WITHOUT conforming at all. His autobiography is every music professor's wet dream minus all of the mother******’s he uses to describe EVERYTHING.
Examples: "Man, Bird was a mother******”, "Round Midnight was a mother****** to play", "Oh, she was a mother****** of a woman, but it could never last with our tempers.”
What is your favorite album?
I feel like John Cusack in High Fidelity trying to answer this question! I have about ten albums that are equally perfect in my mind, but the one that has been in this category the longest is probably Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. I've gone through tons of musical changes since discovering this album but no matter what mood or mode I'm in, Electric Ladyland always has something to offer. It's a HUGE album. I think it clocks in at 77 minutes or something like that.
What I love about it most is that it showcases all of Jimi's talents equally - the guitarist, the songwriter, the singer, the sonic genius, the arranger, the visionary, the complete artist. It seems that whenever anyone thinks about Jimi Hendrix they immediately think of acid in the headband, "Foxy Lady," "Purple Haze" and Woodstock. He definitely had that side to him, but there was SO much more. Electric Ladyland just has EVERYTHING. The trippy studio tricks start the album off on "And the Gods Made Love." Then you get two two-minute pop songs with "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland" and "Cross-town Traffic."
Then you get a sick 15 minute late jam of "Voodoo Chile." Jimi would frequently bring in fellow musicians to the studio after the bars closed. This track features Steve Winwood (Traffic, Blind Faith) on organ and Jack Cassidy (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) on bass. After this track, Jimi settles in for four more "radio-friendly tunes" that are brimming with creativity despite the four-minute pop song constraints (minus the Noel Redding penned "Little Miss Strange").
Next comes my favorite part of the album - the trippy/intertwining musical segment of "Rainy Day, Dream Away," which connects on through four tunes leading up to "House Burning Down." Really beautiful dreamy music that is subtle and not full of guitar fireworks like everyone expects from Jimi. "House Burning Down" then acts as a kind of wake up call to the albums best known two cuts – "All Along the Watchtower" and "Voodoo Chile." Icing on the cake for this masterpiece.
Honorable Mention: Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan, Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones, The Band - The Band, III - Led Zeppelin
What is your favorite film?
Let's keep this musical - Year Of The Horse, which is about Neil Young and Crazy Horse and is directed by Jim Jarmusch (alright all you film snobs, you know that if you diss Jarmusch that your black framed glasses will no longer work!). A great band. A great director. A great documentary. Why? They're a bunch of 50-year-olds who rock with the passion of teenagers, but have the knowledge and control of....well....50-year-olds.
Jarmusch does a great job of getting down to the essence of the Horse, which is really the whole point of the band anyway - essence, simplicity, primal, raw, rock, honesty...all words I love and equate with true rock and roll. This band and movie (or film, since Jarmusch directed) taught me that rebellion, self-righteousness and chaos are absolutely necessary for any band that wants to make timeless rock and roll.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
NASCAR Fans - Why? Because they're the WORST!!!
What is your favorite place?
Vermont - it's my home.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
None - Music is my lifeblood. I've been so insanely dedicated to it because I've felt like I had no choice in order to make it because I didn't start playing until I was 18. I had a really nasty music teacher in college who laughed at me and told me to quit because I couldn't read music notation, and I was a sophomore in college. I quit him instead of the music. I think I made the right choice. If my band completely failed tomorrow, I would play in pick up bands and teach guitar lessons. If I lost my hands? I would tie drumsticks to my arms and play drums. Get the gist?
What is your biggest indulgence?
Rebellion - At first this answer just makes me look like an asshole (I'm used to it), but within the word "rebellion" lies a lot of other sub-categories - questioning, open-mindedness, rallying against oppression, social change, etc. I feel like these things are SO important right now. The way the music business is right now, you practically HAVE to go corporate to make it. EVERYONE is selling ringtones, kissing record executive ass, selling to Wal-Mart, endorsing bullshit corporations like Verizon, etc. I FUCKING HATE IT!!! I hate that bullshit so much, and the frustration over these issues keeps me fired up and on the right path.
What is your favorite food?
French Fries - Why? I'm FRENCH! I especially enjoyed them during the post-9/11 neo-McCarthy period when people took to calling them "Freedom Fries." This is another reason I hate NASCAR Fans. :)
What is your favorite word?
Coitis - it's also my favorite thing to do.
What is your least favorite word?
Enough - I never get enough, I've never had enough, there's never enough, and I really hate it when someone says, "That's ENOUGH!"
Who do you least respect?
Followers - No one in particular, because I think it's dangerous to put too much hate into one human being. You see, I was always the guy in school and in jobs who would listen to everyone complain and whine about a teacher, coach or boss. They would often egg me on to say or do something in protest of this person. Once I would do this, they would quickly distance themselves from me in order to save their own asses.
It reminds me of how many of our politicians act. It would be easy to answer George W. Bush in this section, but in many ways John Kerry was the guy who lost my respect most during the elections. I still voted for him (because as you know there were only two real choices), but John Kerry would have DEFINITELY been one of those fair weather friends who hung me out to dry in high school.
Who do you most respect?
Doc Watson - I was reading one of those 100 best guitar player magazines (I know they're stupid, but I still want to get into one dammit!), and everyone's quotes were pretty typical until I came up to Doc Watson. I can't remember exactly how he put it, but the gist was that he didn't care whether or not he was remembered as a great guitar player. All he wanted was to be remembered as a good person. I get so intense and passionate about the music that I sometimes forget that being a good person should always come first...Thanks, Doc.
When and where did you answer these questions?
In my bed, while drinking coffee around noon (when my lazy ass wakes up!).
Download:
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals | Come Together (Live) [MP3]
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals | If I Was From Paris (Live) [MP3]
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals | Over Again (Live) [MP3]
