I just Google’d ‘Nostalghia+the+next+big+thing’ and got nothing.

and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

because very, very soon, someone smart is going to realize they’re doing something amazing – and I’ll be the lucky kid who penned that title first.

trust me, though, I’m not the first person to say it – just write it. everyone who hears them and then hears that they’re not already snapped up by a major label says the same thing… they’re going to be big. very, very big.

a few weeks ago, I was in Los Angeles visiting my good friend and writing mentor J.W., and even before we could open a beer to toast his recent success as a screenwriter, he made me sit down in a big comfortable chair.

‘listen to this’ he said, barely whispering the ‘this’, as if he knew something that I didn’t.

he did.

after seeing my reaction, he called them – Ciscandra and Roy – over for drinks and from the moment they walked in, it was easy to see that they were put on this earth to make something amazing.

I begged them for an interview and they accepted – whether or not they’ll approve of my playing the first 5 tracks off of their debut ‘I Am Robot Hear Me Glitch‘ album is a different story. but I couldn’t pick one and I couldn’t pick a favorite.

I apologize… but give me a few minutes and you’ll understand.

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Nostalghia – ‘Golden Horse’

Ciscandra, describe you and Roy:

Both of us are hacks. Like, real and in the flesh, hacks. Except that Roy kicks major ass on drums and percussion. I wasn’t really allowed to pursue music the way I wanted to as a kid. Persian families, though close-nit and lovely in their own way, can be really close minded. Asking them to buy you a guitar, is like telling them the hour of your death. My Uncle didn’t make it easy for me. He was a musician, had drug problems and all that jazz, so my mother thought it was the devil. I saved up lunch money, and bought my first guitar. Then everyone just started dumping their sad instruments on me. Both Roy and I like picking up random shit, and playing the hell out of it. The other night we were jamming with the ropes of a hammock. It was cool.

Nostalghia – ‘MechANICal’

how about this track ‘MechANICal?’ [above] I heard that Roy made you play it by use of an interesting coaching method.

Well, it was mainly about trespassing; trespassing property. There’s nothing like stepping over caution tape. It’s like Walt Disney creating this wonderful Disneyland of adventure, and then saying  ’Sorry, not for you!’ I mean, the campus wasn’t a Disneyland, but in a sense, anything hidden is worth learning more about. I was curious, and so I did it, and ended up with a song. One of the first songs I’ve ever written. When I got on campus I took off all the caution tape and made this giant BobDylan/Einstein-esque face with it on the grass, chalked up the sidewalk with the question why. (And really, why?!? I mean, if you really want people staying off campus, tape isn’t the best barrier. Get magical evil dogs or something). And then I ran in the fountain. This is where Mechanical was born. Sitting drenched in this fountain, that I still swear had eels in it. I suppose through rebellion, I felt more in touch with something bigger than myself – freedumb. My mother told me the song was awful, and it almost never saw the light of day. Until Roy put a gun to my head and forced me to play it (true story).

Nostalghia – ‘You and I’

so… that’s the occasional recording method. how about the writing process?

Oh god. I don’t know if I’d call it a process. More like a psychosis. I write songs in ten minutes. Then I walk up to strangers and ask if they can screw me up a bit more before I hit the studio, just a little jab to the brain. No. But I do write in ten minutes, and insist on recording the basics of it right away. Roy loves recording to a click track. I want to kill them. So for at least five minutes I’m telling him how much I hate click tracks, and he’s saying, ‘Well, we don’t have to use it, it’ll just make it more difficult if we don’t’ and I’m swaying back and forth, until eventually I’m set up to a click track. One day, I’d like to record in the middle of a forest. Or on a long line, that lets me run through the sand, and really feel alive. Right now, we record in Roy’s bathroom, not as exotic, but he does have a nice floral spray.

Nostalghia – ‘I Am Robot’

it sounds like this – making music – is something you both knew that you were supposed to do:

Roy always wanted this. He spewed from Pennsatucky and straight into the jaws of music. I feel very lucky to have met my musical soul mate at such a young age. I sort of, always innately knew, that music was it for me, I just didn’t believe I was any good. I didn’t know I could sing until about three years ago. I was always a writer, pen to paper all the time. I tricked my parents into buying this karaoke machine (if I was singing other’s songs it was deemed safe), and used it as a tool for hearing my voice back. I slaved for hours in my room, trying to figure out if I had vibe. My mother would walk in and I’d be playing concerts for the world. It was embarrassing. But that silver piece of junk really helped me solidify what music was to me. It boiled in my blood, and when playing, I was a goner, transcendent. It really helped to meet Roy, he was one of the first to truly believe in what was pouring out of me, and now he helps make my spewage into something pretty.

Nostalghia – ‘Love Will Make Us Insane’

[web exclusive! join the band's Facebook page and get a free download of this track]

and lastly, seeing how you have a show coming up – your range is something that would make even Jeff Buckley blush, but what about the live gigs? I saw a video of you on YouTube sitting down [below] seemingly bleeding all over the floor with emotion, but then I hear a new track like the gypsy-influenced ‘Love Will Make Me Insane’ [above]… what’s the best mindset/physical expectation of you all performing in the flesh?

Live shows are my favorite, I get to be however I feel, and my capsule doesn’t matter. I am bigger than myself on stage, all my blood rushes to the white of my skin, to my palms, I am you, and the man next to you, and the woman behind you, I am raw, and real, and what everyone feels like doing but only some do. I am dust. Nothing. Just blood, and guts, and truth on a fancy clubs floor. And I’m fucking lucky to have a beautiful band (even strings!) to withhold me. I play a lot of strange instruments, and often I’m pulled to the ground. Not because I’m shy, but because I like how it vibrates when everyone plays, like taking off in a spaceship, and I’m allowed to be alien. Roy is a madman on stage. He plays a bunch of weird shit, and makes it sound incredibly cohesive. He lets me be, and lets me bleed, and lets me breathe, and lets me move, and lets me do whatever the hell I want. And I just cross my fingers, that maybe some people will walk away feeling more…human…alive. I want to wake people up, and I want to tell them that it’s okay to feel.

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if you’re anywhere in the L.A. area on February 2nd, do yourself a favor and catch their show at the Paul Gleason Theater.

also! visit their Facebook page for an exclusive listen to ‘Cool for Chaos!’, the first single from their upcoming sophomore album.

Nick Jaffe is one of those guys who does the things you’d like to do but probably caved to the plethora of reasons not to.

In one of his adventures, he took a sailboat from the U.K. to Australia. you don’t have to be a sailor to know how long of a trip that is. and if you are a sailor, then you’ll know how much harder of a trip this already hard-sounding trip actually is.

after stumbling upon his homemade videos taken along the way, I selfishly looked him up for questions about my own trip, but after trading a few emails back-and-forth, I realized this his journey and struggles should be shared with more than one person.

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you’re known for crossing the Atlantic single-handedly. and filming it. when did you first decide to make this trip?

Ah! I thought it was my charm and wit… Nevertheless, there are worse things to be known for I guess. Sailing across the Atlantic solo with a camera in a small boat is something I completed in 2007, arriving in Barbados from the Canary Islands – A passage of 30 days (I later also crossed the Pacific). I first decided I would like to sail for the purposes of adventure and exploration in around 2004. I was hiking and came across a steel ketch laying at anchor in Wilsons Promontory (a beautiful national park around five or six hours drive from Melbourne). It was seeing that ketch which was circumnavigating Australia that really made me think. Initially I was exposed to the idea of long distance sailing through the efforts of Jesse Martin. I had read his book when it came out, even though I had never sailed, or really had any interest in it – At the time, I read the book simply because we were the same age.

It wasn’t until I was hitch hiking from Stockholm up to Narvik in Norway, that I decided that perhaps I should look back into sailing as a means of transport & adventure. I had a little savings, and it was just enough to put a deposit on my boat (a Contessa 26), and convince the owners to let me pay the rest off over six months, at the risk of losing all my invested money if I were to miss a payment. It was a mad situation, but I pulled it off. At the time, it was 2006, and I was living in Berlin, Germany. I’d moved there on a one-way ticket out of Australia, as my family roots had originally come from the Berlin area, and their history intrigued me (my great-grandfather and great-uncle were prominent German composers & pianists). I found some family remnants in my name (originally, Scharwenka), but to my knowledge I was the second (and now last) living relative. With the purchase of my boat, I then decided upon the destination: Australia.

you mentioned a ‘mad situation’, so be completely honest with us here: did you have enough money for the payments? or did you have to hustle? and have owners been known to, well, track down their boat and come repo it?

Basically the mad situation was a couple of things. Firstly, I had agreed that if any of the monthly installments were missed, they could keep my deposit and any money I’d given them. This was incentive for them to sell the boat to me over six months, at a discounted price. So, there was a ton of pressure, especially towards the end, because if I missed my last payment, they could technically have taken everything I’d given them, and even keep the boat. The last payment was particularly difficult, because the company I was working for at the time was a sketchy operation, at best. It was just a single-man company, which was attempting to build and deliver a piece of software the owner had written himself, without knowing anything about software development. He was taking enormous loans from UK banks to bankroll the venture, however I was the only person developing the software. The owner of the company kept running out of cash, and consequently the little I was actually being paid would take weeks, if not months to be paid on to me… At one point I had absolutely no money, and collected bottles on the streets of Berlin to pay for food. Berlin had a system where you could collect bottles, and put them into a supermarket dispenser, which would print off credit at that supermarket. My invoice was long overdue with my employer, and he had since stopped replying to emails and calls. I had to shut his computer systems down and demand payment. He claimed it was extortion/blackmail, and put lawyers onto me for ‘hijacking his investment’. I didn’t know whether that was possible – I just wanted my last payment so I could pay the boat off and quit this ridiculous job. I returned the computer system, and this action got his attention enough to get another overdraft and pay me. That was the last payment on Constellation, and we were home free.

I then moved to England and got a simple job as a bartender. I got paid regularly.

which was harder – the physical or psychological? one of the only times you seem to come across flustered is when you were sitting in no wind.

The psychological aspect of the trip was definitely the most difficult overall. There were definitely times of total fatigue and frustration that were demanding physically, however, most of the effort and energy was on the psychology of the trip. During the times of sailing, it was the mental effort to stay upbeat, focused, and sailing. In between the passages it was of equal psychology difficulty trying to just keep going – Financially and otherwise. It is a very hard undertaking to do something like this alone, and often one simply loses their ‘mojo’ …Which must be maintained for multiple years in my case because it took that long to actually sail from the UK to Australia.

There were many other times I became angry/flustered/frustrated which did not make it to camera. The problem with filming oneself, is that you only take out the camera and talk to it when things are going well. It is very hard in the middle of a difficult situation to pull the camera out and start talking. Therefore, there were many moments not caught on film. That’s not to say I was angry all of the time, however I’m just mentioning the conditions in which things were actually recorded… If that makes sense.

give us one of those moments not video’d that you would have liked to have been recorded and put in your film.

There were some real moments of total joy. An unexplainable feeling of connectedness and wonderment I guess… Total happiness and comfort in the world. It was the kind of experience one may have during an LSD session. However obviously it wasn’t drug induced. This happened a few times, and in some ways changed my outlook on life entirely. My outlook and feeling of the world became more akin to a strong, quiet, and reflective atheism of sorts. I could really only liken it to a Buddhist outlook on life – A connected wonderment, and incredibly strong realisation of the finite, and genuine realisation of how little and pointless we are in the grand scheme of the universe. It was a great feeling of comfort, to feel ones problems and pettiness wash away with the sea. I think maybe these kinds of spiritual glimpses are the kinds of things people work to experience and feel in continuity. While I can fondly think back to these moments, the humdrum and complexity of modern life quickly takes over, and they are hard to remember in times of difficulty. So, as you can imagine, trying to capture those kinds of things on camera are difficult.

On a more practical level, I experienced tremendous electrical activity in the Bermuda triangle for many days. It was impossible to capture on camera because it was too dark – However, at one point there were swamp fires I think in South Carolina, that were blowing smoke 500nm offshore to where I was located. The sunsets were a very dark, ominous orange unlike I’d ever seen before, with electrical activity slamming across the horizon. I was terrified of being hit.

sleeping patterns – some live by the ‘up every 15 minutes’ rule, others sleep when and for how long they want to… yours?

During the beginning of my solo nigh sailing, I found it very hard to sleep at all. I recall sailing across the coast of France, and needing to do my first real overnight solo sail. I was terrified of hitting something. I refused to leave the cockpit. Thankfully it was only a 24 hour sail, so I could stay up for that period of time. It wasn’t until I was doing 4+ day legs that I could relax a little into sleeping with the boat unattended. The 15minute rule is very dependent on where exactly you are. If you’re sailing across Europort shipping lanes, or across the straits of Gibraltar, obviously it’s fairly important you keep some semblance of a watch. However on multi-week voyages, it’s very hard to maintain this rhythm, and probably pointless. I ran a MerVeille radar detector on my boat, and as I crossed the Atlantic, I would
generally sleep in intervals of up to 2 hours – I also found that I would naturally wake up whenever the boat movements changed. I saw just two ships on my transatlantic. Both of which were picked up by the radar detector before I spotted them visually.

how much money did you spend going from the Canaries to Barbados?

There was nowhere to spend it, ha. But, to answer in regards to provisioning, etc, I spent roughly $500 US dollars on food and water (I carried bottled water because my tanks could not be used).

but a daily budget here. obviously you did some cruising and stuff, so take away the large purchase of the boat, how did it look for you per day? and did you fish? I saw you eating some ramen in one frame. bacially, total money spent from the UK to Australia?

A few dollars a day I would guestimate across the Atlantic. I was really, really low on cash, and ate a TON of ramen. Most of my Atlantic crossing I ate fried potatoes with onions because both of those vegetables lasted well at sea. Eggs also lasted about 2-3 weeks usually. I did fish, but, I had some crisis killing them out there. I became quite superstitious and felt there would be some kind of karmic backlash if I started killing en masse. On my entire voyage, I probably killed no more than five fish. I did crave fresh fish though… desperately. The superstition thing was odd – I just really felt so much of sailing alone has to do with luck – There is nothing you can do about being rundown in the middle of the night, or running into a submerged container, etc…

I honestly couldn’t tell you how much it cost for the entire trip. Via Paypal on my website, people (friends, family, people I’d never met) probably donated around $9000. I had a job at one stage which earned around $8000. So probably about that over two, to two and a half years…

a quick peek to your bio says you’re into cycling… how difficult is that, going from seaman-to-landlubber, having taken your boat now, from Europe to Australia?

This question probably isn’t particularly relevant, because I was not a competitive cyclist. I run an online bicycle store, and have had an interest in fixed gear & track bikes since 2004… I’m the co-founder of some tech stuff here, primarily in the realm of web hosting and cloud computing. I also have some side projects related to boats. I also work with the ocean rower Roz Savage doing her web stuff, and more than likely also some of her onboard tech as she crosses the Indian ocean next year.

film talks?

There is a feature length film being produced right now. Betweenhome has all the details – I am not really part of this venture, it is independent of me, and made by a filmmaker based in Berlin, named Jack Rath. He visited me in many locations to film – Coupled with my footage and his, he is making a full length documentary, which is due out next year.

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on top of everything else, Nick has a few planned voyages with SV Harmony, which includes Mexico next year, and
Pitcairn & beyond in 2012. He also co-founded a company that does such things as environmentally friendly web hosting, high performance cloud computing and he maintains websites for sailors and ocean rowers such as Roz Savage.

also I wasn’t the first one to realize Nick’s story was a good story. a lot of other newspapers and magazines picked up on this way before I did.

I’ve got a thing for nice guys.

see, with a former career in radio and having spent enough time in LA, I’ve met some famous people. I’ve also met some talented people. sometimes, they’re even both. but more often than not, they’re rarely famous, talented and genuinely nice.

John Wicks is all of those – his niceness will most likely mean he will never admit to being a big deal, but a quick look at his resume will tell you that he is, in fact, not just a drummer to the stars, but a star himself:

B.O.B., Bruno Mars, Cee Lo, Meshell Ndegeocello, Chocolate Genius Inc., Fitz & The Tantrums, RZA, David Byrne, George Clinton, Money Mark, Mike Watt, Heather Porcaro, Skerik, Sam Sparro, NASA, Gift Of Gab, Chali 2na, John Fruciante, Teddy Bears w/ Iggy Pop, Brandi Shearer, Cory Chisel, Donovan Frankenreiter, Jessie Baylin, Joshua Radin, Zack Hexum, Soccermom, and many more…

after a Tweet [ugh] about how happy I was that Fitz and The Tantrums brought back real music, he responded with a ‘thanks’ and I decided to exploit his kindness with a few messages back and forth in hopes of talking him into an interview.

he, obviously, agreed, and with no hesitation, taking a lot of time out to go back-and-forth with every one of my questions… and then some.

John Wicks is simply a great guy. he’s a talented guy. and he took the time to do this… in between playing at Daryl Hall’s house and showing up on Carson Daly.

enjoy.

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okay, first off, you’ve played with the most eclectic group of musicians imaginable… from Bruno Mars to GZA, David Bryne to George Clinton, Meshell Ndegeocello to Donovan Frankenreiter and many, many more. not asking you to pick a favorite here, but give us a few career highlights:

One of my main goals as a musician has always been to “speak without an accent” in as many styles of music as possible.  I’ve been very blessed that these artists you mentioned and/or the producers I worked with on their records trusted me enough to be a part of their music.  I have to say though, I record on a lot of artists’ records without ever having the pleasure of meeting them.  Bruno Mars is an example of this.  I co-wrote and played on a song called “The Other Side” that was originally intended for Cee Lo Green’s record but ended up on Bruno Mars record!  That type of thing happens a lot these days.

Honestly, I have to say that recording Marc Anthony Thompson’s (aka Chocolate Genius Inc.) record “Swan Songs” earlier this year was definitely a career highlight and truly an honor.  I have been such a fan of his music since his record “Black Music” came out in 1998.  I actually kinda stalked him shortly after moving to LA seven years ago.  He was doing a residency at Largo and I approached him with  a disc containing Pro Tools session files of music that I had been working on with the hopes that he would just sing anything over them.  Well he never did it because of some computer glitch, but I must have made some kind of impression on him because he checked out my Myspace page and dug what he heard enough to contact me from New York just to say hi and stay in touch.  A few years went by and I got a call to do a couple of local casual gigs with him and then the record date!  While tracking his record, I cried with joy and emotional overload just hearing his voice coming through the headphones.  That realization of a dream was so powerful, and the joy of knowing that my playing and my musical decisions actually worked for his music still gives me so much satisfaction.

Doing that record also led to the opportunity to tour and play with Meshell.  The guitarist on that Chocolate Genius record was Chris Bruce who has been playing with Meshell for quite some time, and he gave her my number.  She has been a musical hero of mine for a long time.  Earlier this year, because of high demand from her fans, she decided to re-visit the material on her record entitled “Bitter” which is a shared favorite of both my wife and I, so it was very special getting to do those songs with her in a very stripped down trio format.  I learned a TON on this gig.  Meshell and Chris are great teachers as well as beautiful human beings.  It was another dream realized.

you mentioned finding your sound while attending Mardi Gras as a kid, but then later would work under Dave Coleman Sr., one of Billie Holidays guys, but still stick to sounding ‘southern’. what does a Southern Louisiana Jazz-understudy sound sound like?

My father was a Commander in the Navy.  We moved around a lot during my early childhood and one place we were fortunate enough to live was New Orleans.  My mother was extremely enthusiastic about music, jazz in particular.  If there was music happening, my mom was there and she always had me in tow whether it was a jazz funeral, Mardi Gras, Preservation Hall, or whatever.  When we lived in Pensacola, Florida, we would hang outside of a black gospel church almost every Sunday just to hear the music.  We felt like we would be looked at as impostors if we entered, until finally one Sunday, they just invited us in.  It felt like we were floating a couple of feet off of the ground.  All of these early experiences had a huge impact on me, and I’m so grateful to have lived in that part of the country during that time.  When my dad retired from the Navy, we moved up to Bainbridge Island, WA. Even though we didn’t live in the South any longer, I always found myself unknowingly gravitating towards drummers from New Orleans.  Most notably, Vernel Fournier.  My mom and dad were huge fans of pianist Ahmad Jamal and had his record “Live At The Pershing” which really features Vernel.  That was it.  It had everything I wanted.  Swing, funk, bounce, space, clarity, everything.  It still blows my mind and inspires me on a daily basis.  That is what I strive for, that level of groove, discipline, and musicality, no matter what style of music I’m playing.

now – to the present, over the past few years there’s been this Motown/soul/Stax Records revival of sorts and no one is doing that better than Fitz & The Tantrums, a band you’re drumming for. we all know what it’s like from down here, but what is it like day in/day out for you all? hang on, that sounded generic – what I’m trying to say is that based on the occasional shot we see of the crowd in the live shows, people seem to be having a genuinely good time as opposed to the previous shoe-gazer movement… if that makes sense?

Being from a jazz background, I’m used to usually playing for a couple of drunks at the bar and a bartender who is either preoccupied with a game on TV or is looking at us like we’ve got 5 heads or something.  This is the first band I’ve been involved with where it has a broad appeal and an enormous amount of wind in it’s sails.  It’s always a surprise when I look out and not only are people dancing like crazy, but they are singing all of the words as well!

As far as what it’s like day in and day out for us; In short we are all learning how to make this thing work smoothly with our personal lives which can be tough at the rapid rate that we are working.  There are so many decisions to be made, and so many personal factors that come into play.  The heat is really turned up on me as the only guy in the band with a wife, babies, and a mortgage.  It is a juggling act especially when the work is out of town.  I have to trust that the work I’m being asked to do is worth missing out on the experience of looking at my twin girls grow in front of my eyes.

It is really mind-blowing when I think of how fast this band has taken off.  We played our first gig at Hotel Cafe in LA almost exactly 2 years ago.  Since then we’ve been the support act for Flogging Molly, Maroon 5, and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings playing dream venues like Red Rocks and college stadiums.  We signed to a great label in Dangerbird, had our music placed in commercials and T.V. shows.  I have to say though that the biggest thrill that happens now is witnessing the ever growing audience that we are connecting with, and it’s such a positive energy being mirrored back at us at every show.  I’m still in disbelief.  Especially since all of this has happened solely on word of mouth and the quality of the songs.

what’s in store for FATT? tours? new album? things must be insane right now…

You know, I kind of use my Google Alerts as a gauge of how crazy the buzz is and right now the buzz IS insane!  I’m getting an alert every hour on the hour.  We’ve made it on so many “Best of 2010″ lists, it just boggles my mind.

On January 12th we play on the Jimmy Kimmel show and then we leave the next day for a month long tour with only a couple of days off.  It’s our first tour on a proper tour bus, and it’s our first extended tour as the headliner!  We’re doing mostly East coast and Mid-West cities but it also marks our first entrance into Canada.  I’m not stoked about the cold and the snow but at least this time we’ll have a professional driver and I can sleep.

We just started writing and recording for our next record a couple of weeks ago, which I’m really stoked about.  I have an enormous collection of drums.  Some beautiful and some serious Fat Albert meets Sanford and Son looking stuff.  I’m using it all and getting some really great sounds and really making an effort to play some original, new grooves that are still super hooky and danceable.

you’ve also worked with Mickey Avalon, who seems to have caught onto that controversial self-promotional thing that has worked for so many before him – Marilyn Manson, Bowie, Lady Gaga, etc. what, in the world, is a former-addict/prostitute-cum-rapper like to work with? and better yet, what does Daddy tell the twin girls when he gets home from work?

You know, I’ve only met Mickey briefly at the Sundance Film Festival a couple of years ago.  I was there with Money Mark and we played just before him.  I had heard the stories about his health issues prior to meeting him or ever hearing his music.  All I could think of that evening was that it was kind of sad that the crowd was really there to see the train wreck.  Don’t get me wrong, they were singing along to his stuff so I think they dug the music but the vibe was just not a positive one.  I’m a fan of all of the folks you mentioned in your question.  I think Lady Gaga is a legitimate talent as is Marilyn Manson, and I can also tell that they are very intelligent people.  Of course Bowie is just one of my faves of all time.  I think they all are masters of pushing people’s buttons and being visually exciting but hopefully not letting it overshadow the music.  I just wish Mickey could see that line, but if drugs are involved he’s not going to see anything.  I originally co-wrote and played on a song that was intended for him, but he was dropped or put on hiatus from his label until he gets healthy so the song ended up with another artist.  As for what I tell the girls, at one and a half they are too young to know what that all means.  When they are old enough though, we’re gonna be living in the wilderness and I’m just gonna sit on my porch, polishing my shotgun waiting for potential suitors.  Just kiddin’.  Sort of.

give us a few highlights of a career that started from the day you picked up some drumsticks in the 3rd grade.

There are too many, so I’m just gonna run off the first few that come to mind.

1.  Playing a festival in Holland with my high school jazz ensemble, I realized that you could see the world and play music.  Never looked back.
2.  Playing with and getting to know Money Mark.  He’s a dear friend and a genius.
3.  Playing with, recording with, and getting to know Marc Anthony Thompson aka Chocolate Genius.
4.  Working with Cee Lo Green.  I only wish he was allowed to put out the incredible, innovative songs that I have heard him invent.
4.  Studying with Joe Hunt in Boston.  He made me a better listener.
5.  Playing with organist Joe Doria and guitarist Dan Heck in Seattle for years was a huge learning experience.
6.  Teaching.  I love doing it.
7.  Buying a house, and paying off my car knowing that drums did it for me.
8.  There was a night at The Echo where all of us in Fitz & The Tantrums collectively felt the tide shift in our favor.  Folks were singing along, partying, sweating and we all felt this floaty high for a while when we got off of stage and just kinda stood wide-eyed asking “What just happened?!”
9.  Before drums paid the rent, I had day jobs ranging from barista to working in a slaughter house in but one career highlight that I hold dear is that I never worked in a cubicle.  I’m not knocking folks that do it, I just don’t think I’m built for it.

who are you listening to?

Again, too much to list here, so here are the CD’s strewn about in my car.  Major Lazer, Obi Best, a lot of late 80′s/early 90′s New Jack Swing stuff, anything with James Gadson on drums, Cameo, Siouxie & The Banshees, Missing Persons, ELO, Divinyls, B-52′s, Deee Lite, ABC, and anything that came out of Sigma Sound Studios.

here’s a question I’ve never seemed to get the same answer to, no matter how many people I ask. best drummer of all time… Neal Peart? Keith Moon? Terry Bozzio? I once sat down at a pub in England with Roger Pope [of Elton John, Hall and Oats fame] and he puts Phil Collins up there in the Top 10 – say it ain’t so!

Stevie Wonder.

after seeing this, I might have to agree with you.

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follow John on Twitter.

read John’s blog.

go see John play.

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I suppose this is what we’d like to think of when someone says ‘prostitution in America’. something of yesterday, telling ourselves that ‘no way is she a hooker, standing right there in front of the store’, imagining it to be some sort of movie scene, where her pimp – be it Harvey Keitel or Gary Oldman – gets his comeuppance in the end and she gets to finally move out of the city and meets someone like Richard Gere. I Googled ‘pimp’ for this interview, hoping to get a violent photo to catch your attention, but could only find Halloween costumes worn by white frat boys. ‘human trafficking’ came back with a lot of images from Asia and Africa… but nothing on the good ole US. no sir, we don’t have that – a few whores here-and-there, sure, but an argument can be made for how acceptable it might be should they have the same treatment as those nice ladies in Holland. we don’t have it – got done with that whole slavery thing long ago and learned our lessons. we’ll give some money to UNICEF and make a Hollywood blockbuster about one of them marrying the chai wallah who won ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionare’ and all sleep easier, cause there’s always a way out.

but that’s not it.

that’s not it at all.

‘trafficking’ says Talia Gad, ‘makes people think of ‘international’ because so much trafficking (especially drug trafficking) begins with cross-border transportation. but human trafficking just refers to the illegal trade of people for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor.’

Talia, I should explain, is someone I met for a short few hours on my birthday a few years back in Los Angeles. I was immediately drawn to her manner of speaking – half sass and all honest. but an honesty that didn’t offend as much as let you know where her beliefs lie. over the years, we’ve kept in touch and I occasionally would see her posting something about ‘sex slaves’ or ’24-hour help line’ and, admittedly, write it off to someone else jumping on the Peace Train. but the Facebook updates kept coming and she then began a charity drive for the program she was volunteering with, so I sent her an email to ask about it all.

and then she emailed me back, witholding the gruesome details, but mentioning enough to turn my stomach.

I kind of hope it does yours.

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how’d you get involved in this in the first place?

I’ve been volunteering in this field since ’94 when I spent 18 months doing crisis phone response for domestic violence, sexual assault, suicide, etc.

Then in 2001, I volunteered doing hospital response for sexual assault, domestic violence, and elder abuse for a couple of years. While that was all very intense, the sexual assaults were the hardest, particularly because the forensic exam is so invasive. But when you’re holding a woman’s hand while she’s going through the most difficult experience of her life, and you’re her only support, it’s easy to commit to it.

I learned about the Sexual Assault Resource Center when I was working at Planned Parenthood (doing prevention education), and I was asked to do a presentation about contraception. I fell in love with this place.

All the agencies I’d volunteered for in the past had been loaded with anger and despair: people with a the-world-is-a-bad-place-and-all-men-are-rapists attitude. SARC is first agency I’ve come across that is full of love and hope. It’s contagious. Have I mentioned how I love this place?

so what is SARC?

In a teeny nutshell, check out the fundraising page.

Our website is very sad, but we have a volunteer that’s going to hopefully help it look decent. In the meantime: www.sarcoregon.org

There’s a lot going on here. The heart of our agency is the 24-Hour Support Line that does crisis phone response as well as hospital support during an exam, police department support if reporting, and youth shelter support for trafficked kids.

And it might surprise some that Portland has some of the worst trafficking in the country.

We also do:
High School Prevention Education (10-session curriculum in 6 schools)
Case Management for Trafficked Youth
Latina Case Management Program
Mental Health Program for Individual and Group Counseling

I manage the Volunteer Program that does screening and training for 70 volunteers, half of which volunteer 25-60 hours a month on the Crisis Line doing phone and in-person response.

We do this with 10 staff at 2 sites for under $500K.

but when we talked, you mentioned ‘trafficked youth’ and that phrase is usually reserved for third-world countries, no?

Trafficked youth: Good question. You’re right: “trafficking” makes people think of “international” because so much trafficking (especially drug trafficking) begins with cross-border transportation. But human trafficking just refers to the illegal trade of people for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor.

Domestic trafficking begins when girls (mostly girls, although boys are also trafficked, particularly those who are gay or transgendered) find themselves without care and support either because they were kicked out of their homes, have run away, were sold by drug-addicted parents in exchange for drugs or rent, or any other series of events that leads to them finding themselves alone.

Then the sequence looks something like this:

* Dude comes up to a vulnerable girl and says, “Hey, baby. You’re so beautiful. I’m going to take care of you, feed you, and show you how good life can be.” Having nothing else, she buys into it.

* The next couple weeks/months are spent with food, clothes, and a caretaker, as well as a growing dependence on drugs — that plus her being further removed from her family, friends, and school.

* Then the Dude springs something like this: “Hey, baby, we’re running out of money, and I need you to earn your keep. How about you have sex with my friend like you do so good with me. That’ll help us out so much.” By now she needs him, and she knows that he’ll be mad if she doesn’t, so she turns her first trick.

* The cycle spirals from here. The relationship becomes more and more controlled, and she has fewer and fewer options (“I have no one else to turn to, and at least he loves me”). The physical abuse increases. She turns more tricks to earn him money and maintain his affection.

* Pretty soon her boyfriend (yes, she still thinks of him as her boyfriend) is making her earn a minimum dollar amount each day, and if she doesn’t, she doesn’t get to eat. Or she doesn’t get drugs. Or worse. A fairly common deal is that $300 a day keeps a girl from getting a beat down.

By the time we meet them, they’re terrified to leave the Life. These dudes are violent, as most sex trafficking is driven by gangs, so that even when their boyfriend-pimps get picked up, the girls are still in danger. Girls also get disappeared, which is what keeps us from being able to do street outreach; just talking to them can get them disappeared.

The abuse is extraordinary. Think of a venn diagram where these girls are at the intersection of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, gang violence, and general fucked-upness. That’s where they live. With a bunch of other girls in the stable (yes, the pimps refer to their girls as their stable). Have I mentioned that the average age of girls initiated into trafficking is 13?

and where do you all step in?

SARC has an active caseload of about 70 girls between 2 case managers. The average girl’s file stays open for about 3-6 months, which means that we’ll see about 150 girls a year [this will change when we get funding to support more than 2 case managers].

We generally have to wait for the girls to get picked up by cops for prostitution and brought into shelter.  Sometimes we see them just once, but it’s typically for long enough to bribe them with a change of clothes, toiletries, a blanket of their own that they can take to crash on someone’s couch — anything to offer some sense of comfort. They usually decline the help, but at least they know it’s there. Most often they run (it’s not a lock-down shelter), but we still keep hope that they’ll turn up again, especially if they stick around for long enough to hear about the options they have to leave.

It often takes us a few times of meeting up with them before they’re ready to trust us enough to risk leaving the Life. But when they do leave — get straight, go back into school, or are reunited with people that will care for them — that feeling is what fuels us to keep working at it.

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I could have asked a lot more questions, as I had quite a few, as I hope you do too. if you click on the above link, you can see that Talia reached her personal goal of raising fund, so it’d be easy to pat her on the back and close this window. but like she said, Portland has some of the highest trafficking numbers in the country, and that isn’t something that just stops. so, sure, money if this something that grabs you. and if anyone is handy with designing web pages, I know they’d appreciate the help. it just really kind of seemed more important to let it be said, to let it be known, that things like this still happen, are still happening even in our own cities.

and I reckon if more people start to realize that, then people like Talia will be able to spend more time on the phones with the people who need to talk, as opposed to having to talk to people still need to work on their listening.

do what you want if you will, but if any of this made you stop for a second, then pass it on.

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note: with complete transparency, I did preface this interview with a mention of Movember. and we’ll get to that, but putting a photo of my facial hair didn’t exactly seem right in comparison with people who are actually putting their hearts into help.

]]> http://www.aricwithana.com/2010/11/the-friday-cinco-13-talia-gad-volunteerspokespersonadvocate/feed/ 0 http://www.aricwithana.com/2010/07/the-friday-cinco-10-luke-st-germain-author-bell-ringer/ http://www.aricwithana.com/2010/07/the-friday-cinco-10-luke-st-germain-author-bell-ringer/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:53:31 +0000 admin http://www.aricwithana.com/?p=2292

[I want to tell you of the story about how I met Luke, but he already did... in the form of a novel - so I won't tell you about that. what I will tell you is that Luke has a certain air about him that tells you he's already succeeding at whatever it is you think he'd be good at. and he's a nice boy. so read his book. and find yourself stuck inbetween the hell of going door-to-door selling paper, and, well, the hell of believing that it's about to make all your wildest dreams come true. well done, old friend. and thanks for the mention]

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okay… as annoying as this has probably already become – what is the book about?

The book is about how a beach bum in San Diego became a door-to-door sales cult leader.

and at what point in this ‘career’ did you realize the absurd comedic value, even, book-worthy, of it?

The absurdity is evident on day one, of course- that’s the only way to describe barging into quiet offices and cracking horrible icebreakers. But the deeper into “the biz” you get, the more absurd it becomes, until one day you’re living with twelve strangers in a house with no furniture.

you might cover this in the book, but did you ever find yourself believing the promises of, well, all things promised? a team? riches? nice cars?

I thought I would be a millionaire by the time I was thirty- that I would own multiple houses, and expensive cars, and be able pay off my student loans. In retrospect I was a lethal combination of naivete and ambition.

what was the breaking point?

The breaking point was watching the snow fall through a window and feeling depressed, because it mean that people would quit the next day. Then I realized that I didn’t want to be the kind of person who was depressed watching the snow fall.

poetic. and symbolic. but c’mon – surely it was something said, something you witnessed that made you realize that this might not be all that was promised?

Yeah, that’s the melodramatic answer. It was a gradual decision, though, not one specific event. I saw plenty of problems in the biz, but the real problem was realizing that I didn’t want that lifestyle anymore.

take us back to your prime in ‘the biz’ – were you good? did you make any money, or, as the book echoes – ‘ring the bell’?

Hey, you saw me ring the bell, baby! But yeah, I was good. Killed it in the field, but gave away a ton of money to my team- I made about 25k as a rep. Of course, the real money was supposed to come in management, and there’s the rub. There is no red sports car waiting for you. I made about 55k the year I was nominated for Rookie Manager of the Year.

describe one of the more ludicrous experiences you had while working there.

I gave this guy  in the San Diego office a ride home, and it turned out he lived on a boat. We had some wine on the boat, then I had to drive through the gate of the marina to get out. The next day I went out and rang the bell. Of course.

it was my Uncle’s boat. and your destruction of the marina property got me kicked off. anyway – which is your favorite passage, line or chapter of the book?

My favorite chapter is probably the one that describes one business type after another in the field. I always thought a good book would be “tales from the field,” just interview everyone and put all their best stories together. You never know what you’ll find out there.

so, published author. what’s next? please tell us it still involves writing.

Next is writing scripts (feature length and shorts) and working on the Rapture Club site.

any backlash?

No real backlash to speak of, surprisingly. One person asked me to change her name. So far the only feedback I’ve gotten from everyone is “Yep, that’s what happened all right.”  But who knows, maybe no one has even read the thing yet.

how can people get the book?

Right now it’s only available as an e-book. Either barnesandnoble.com or smashwords.com.

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it’s a conundrum.

well… it was.

see, I have a friend and, over the past few weeks, we’ve been exchanging emails about her work. I had planned on taking the nonchalant questions and making them into a little interview of sorts and then putting it up here and emailing her with a ‘surprise!’ but yesterday, she mentioned valuing her anonymity – which, in turn, meant that ‘surprise!’ idea might be a ‘bad!’ idea.

but then I thought about it and realized that she lives in [deleted], many miles from me. and I don’t see her that much… meaning I went ahead and, well, did it anyway.

good intentions!!

it’s work that the second I saw it, I was moved. and I’m not going to act like I know a lot about art – but I know what’s good. we all do. it’s like music. or food. we might not be able to make it, but we can tell if it’s palatable. [deleted]‘s touch-to-canvas is moving. it’s soulful. it’s sad. and it’s ridiculously good, as you will see below – interspersed with things she thought, and things she said.

[deleted], please don’t be mad. and if so, please forgive me. I didn’t have permission for any of this, but did it hoping you’d realize that there’s a whole lot of people who want to see – and that gifted artists whose work is kept dusty only become big post-mortem, and we certainly don’t want that.

the world is full of loud, of the next Damien Hirsts – as Ginsberg so fantastically put it - ‘…waving genitals and manuscripts’…

let them be anonymous, anonymous. let them be quiet.

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I sucked at school, couldn’t remember anything, had double vision and numb hands and as a visual arts major that’s bad. I found out I had multiple sclerosis and eventually got great drugs for it, but by that time the thought of going back to school was nightmarish.  And I still have a horrible memory.

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I am mainly self taught, have no reputable background or story..  and I like anonymity!

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Artists I admire are Daniel Sprick, Hans Holbein, Graydon Parrish (he is overwhelming real though) and I adhere to most of Daniell Kunitz’s concepts concerning the state of art and what it should be.

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I make art because its one of the only things in life I am fairly good at, which can be consoling after being a flop at most everything else.

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I am tired of showboating, shocking, envelope pushing, nontalents scribbling their way to fame… I have Stella Vine in mind when I say that.

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when I first met Bao, 3 years ago, in Shanghai, he told me that he was a ‘director’. lots of people stopped by our studios and lots of people said they did lot of interesting things – so I shrugged him off as a ‘nice guy’ and assumed his ‘movie making’ was like others claiming to be, ahem, writing a novel.

and then I looked him up.

and then I started seeing his newest film being shown at numerous festivals, winning a handful of them.

and then I saw ‘Bookie’.

and then I took Bao seriously.

you’ve made a film. it’s a good film because different people around the world are saying so. tell us about this film – in less than 10 words.

“Bookie loves nightclub waitress, but her man is his boss.” We’ve been very fortunate to have a great film festival run and a lot of positive reaction with our audiences. And now that it’s available for viewing online, BOOKIE has reached even more people around the world.

having watched this, and enjoyed it, I did see a few glimpses of a Wong Kar Wai fan in you – safe to say? any other influences?

Although I’ve seen a lot of WKW, I wasn’t thinking about him explicitly. I’m sure any movie I’ve seen has some subconscious influence one way or another, but I try to consider what the story is about and go from there, rather than try and follow after a certain style.

Our music supervisor Johnny Horn hosts a blues show on KEXP and he is THE soul/R&B expert! It was great having him on board, he basically culled his music collection and we listened through it to make final selections. He even brought the sessions players together for the band you see and hear in the film. The two singers, Bernadette Bascom and Geoffery Simmons, were great finds who brought a wealth of talent and experience to the table. I think my producer Nick and I showed an enthusiasm and passion for the film that became an incentive for all these great musicians to want to play a part.

how does one go about making a film. from the standpoint of your involvement in this. can you give us bullet-points? we’re much better with that. from idea-to-promotion…

Seven highly-effective habits for the writer/director:

Step 1) Learn story structure by reading Brian McDonald’s INVISIBLE INK.
Step 2) Write your story, then repeat this step until it’s great.
Step 3) Learn directing by reading David Mamet’s ON DIRECTING and Sidney Lumet’s MAKING MOVIES .
Step 4) Find passionate, talented collaborators who will be your awesome producer, director of photography, editor, actor, etc.
Step 5) Direct that great script.
Step 6) If you are ever stuck or hit a roadblock, fake the funk! No one will ever know until it’s too late… for them.
Step 7) Promote your movie through screenings, film festivals, and online networking. Family and friends are your marketing army, so make them march!

what’s next?

I’ve got a couple feature scripts that we are developing, one is an action fantasy called SLEEP NEVER COMES that I hope to direct as well. Follow us on our mailing list and Facebook to keep up with the latest.

quickly think back to what you were doing at 17.

I’d be willing to bet it wasn’t a fraction of what this talent is doing.

in fact, I’d be willing to bet she’s doing more now that most of us presently.

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okay, first off, the Velvet Underground cover – this is what you’re quickly becoming known for online. how does one even go about a split screen duo co-op…I don’t even know the name for this…help me out:

My YouTube debut was actually a video of the first song I learned on guitar, because I was too afraid to play it for my friends in person. From there I continued recording music on my own, and was intrigued by the amount of young artists there in the world, that put themselves out on the internet.  Eventually people started asking to do what they call in the YouTube music community, a “collaboration.” I’ve done this a few times, and its really fun! Some people record their music for youtube in an actual studio, with microphones and recording equipment, but I just use the video mode on my digital camera. There are plenty of free video editing programs out there to use, also. I use Windows Movie Maker! A collaboration works through sending pieces of video and audio files back and forth. Eventually one of the people compile the audio and video. It is a great way to make music with people miles away. For example, in the Sunday Morning cover, two people of different ages, different first languages, and different sides of the equator were able to recreate a song that they both loved.

let’s talk a little bit about that cover you did – who is the guy? how did you all meet?

The guy is Martin Da Silveira. He had been consistently commenting on my videos, and one day he asked if I’d join him in the task of covering Sunday Morning. I gladly accepted!

and so how did the whole recording process go? I mean, it looks basic enough with the split screen, but something tells me there was more to it.

Well, sometimes its necessary to realign the audio with the video. If you look closely at this vid, the video is a little bit of sync with the audio. I made all of my tracks (Xylophone and vocals), then overlapped them into one track, and sent that track to Martin. Since video files are often too large to email, we have to use websites such as Mediafire, that allow you to put the track on the internet temporarily, so others can download it. Martin came up with the background synth stuff on his own, on whatever software he uses. I’m not sure what Martin uses to record, but I use my digital camera.

Click here to view the embedded video.

you’re obviously good on the xylophone, but you’re also in the ‘We Are The World’ ukulele video tribute – what else do you play? what do you want to play? where is this all going?

I would say that piano is my main instrument, but I play guitar, drums, melodica, bass, and various low brass to a small extent. I want to play sitar. I don’t plan on becoming a professional musician of any sort in my life, but I would love to still be involved in the music scene and industry. One video that captures the amount of instruments I play is here.

wow. okay, so you’re on the verge of being able to play 6 instruments, along with being able to sing and write music and you don’t want to be a professional musician?

Nope. I’m hesitant, because thus far in my life, I’m not very receptive to situations where I’m forced to play music. For example, a forceful piano teacher, or even too much band at school. Unless I had a lot of control over what I was able to do and play, I’d rather maintain the creativity on my own. But as I said, I ALWAYS want to be involved in the music scene.

musical influences?

I think most of my musical influences actually come from people my age! Friends in my everyday life, and friends on the internet that I’ve met on youtube. I actually maintain contact with a few. For example, every once in a while, I’ll get a package from Australia.

a package from Australia?

A package from Australia! I believe it consisted of a kazoo (with plenty of handwritten-sharpie-notes on it), an Australian pen, a t-shirt, and a “certificate of awesomeness”(My fave.) The package came from Kenny and the Captains. (We met due to our commonality-the melodica!(acordion-like keyboard)).

you’re young. most of us are not – who should we be listening to right now?

I am young! Most musicians are young. You all should be listening to the teenagers/ young adults that play music in their living rooms with a camera on, just for funzies. I could definitely reccomend tons of talented musicians that get little to no recognition.

Kristen Holine

Lauren O’Connell

Oberon Carter

Unh Aralee Windu

Pomplamoose

LanaRae and Faireset

thanks, Flor.

THANKS

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Flor Isabel Serna is a 17 year old girl living in The Land of Enchantment. She likes to fly kites and listen to music. She is hoping to someday become involved in the music recording industry, but until then, she plays and listens to music for fun.

I would love to tell you all about Sarah, how she’s one of my closest galpal’s, the adventures we’ve had stretching from Australia-to-California and her Dad’s advice on ‘bush turkey’s’ – but I fear it would take away from her talent. a talent seen people who know talent. her shows in Shanghai, San Diego and Brisbane led to her achieving a cult-following [guilty as charged] and her trademark touch can be seen on everything from panties to snowboards.

…and she’s one of my favorite painters.

what is it, exactly, that you do, Sar?

Good question! I know for sure I drink an unhealthy amount of red bull and that then leads to various creative… endeavors. I have a degree in Graphic Design – so that’s my ‘grown-up’ job. I seem to have branched out a bit, which is really common for designers after a few years of clients telling them what to do. I paint a lot. I make jewelry – because really, who wouldn’t want an online store full of jewelry. I just bought a sewing machine so I’ve been going crazy with that. I’m curating a Roller Derby art exhibition in Brisbane, Australia this year. Oh and photography – my Dad is a great photographer and so I thought ‘it must be in the genes, so I’ll give it a go’ and wa la… I’m now a fully-fledged wedding and portrait photographer! Who knew!

tell us more about the painting stuff…

Painting is my favorite thing to do in the whole world. I can sit on the floor and listen to music and get messy. It’s more than a creative outlet – it’s therapy. I deal with a lot of personal issues through creativity – death, rejection, jealousy, failure. It’s certainly cheaper than therapy and it seems to make people around me happy. I learn a lot too – about myself, new techniques, new media. I just did a couple of pieces for a show in San Jose, Gutter Glam that opens this week and I pulled out some really old letraset sheets I had salvaged to press them onto the pieces. The artworks turned out great!

but your stuff resonates of…well, loads of stuff – life-speaking…

28 years of coloring-in books (yes, I still color-in now)
10 years or travel
8 years of industry experience
and 28 years of wonderful friends and family who encourage me and inspire me.

whatcha got coming up?

Well, tonight I’ll be going for a swim, and then maybe some Indian?
Oh… art…
Currently I have a few pieces at the Gutter Glam show in San Jose. Then we have a Roller Derby art show coming up in 2010 that I am curating (and showing a few pieces in). It’s amazing how creative roller derby girls are! I am aiming to have a solo show in Brisbane in late 2010. Then onward and upward from there… watch out New York – here I come!

tell us something we don’t already know…

Well, I did my first aid course yesterday and it turns out that snakes can’t see you if you stand still. Or did you mean something you didn’t know about me? Oh… well, I was born in the States… don’t let my Australian accent fool you! I’m a bit stealth like that.

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find out more at www.sculleydesign.com

I first met Tim Hey the second day I landed in Los Angeles – and when you meet someone who’s both humble and successful in the industry, you know you have a rarity. He stayed with Lori and I off-and-on a week or so, and, save for the mass shootings outside and a pension for lychee margaritas, it was fun.

Tim has been in the film industry now for nearly 20 years. First starting a Summer job at his local cinema tearing tickets and moving onto projectionist and engineer. About 9 years ago He decided he should do what he’d always wanted to do and play more of a part in making films. He went to the National Film and Television School in London to study compositing. After graduating, he got his first job on a film called Blade 2 doing prep work such as painting out wires and rigs that were in shots. Within a year he went freelance and started compositing. Between then and now he’s worked on such films as Harry Potter 2 and 3, Aliens vs Predator, Kingdom of Heaven and Superman Returns among many others. He then went to New Zealand initially for 3 months to work on King Kong, but that was 4 years ago, so I’m guessing he liked it.

…oh yeah, one last thing, he just got done working on a small-budget indie flick called ‘Avatar’ or something like that – be a peach and try to see it if you can.

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what exactly do you do?

I am a compositor at Weta Digital in New Zealand and have been for about 4 years.

what is a compositor?

A compositor is an artist who brings all elements together for a final shot. For example in “Avatar” we have shots with multiple layers of jungles, skies & clouds, creatures, explosions, water, tracer fire and of course the na’vi characters themselves. We then have to make it look as if the shot was filmed with the same camera on the same day. Along with all the elements we add real artifacts you would find if you were filming with real cameras. Lens flares, lens distortion, focus pulls and atmosphere are a few of the added things which make a shot look more natural.

For this project I was a lead compositor so in addition to compositing it was making sure everyone on my sequence was kept up to date with status of shots, ensuring continuity between shots by establishing the look of a sequence alongside the 3D lighters and visual effects supervisor. It also involves liaising with the supervisors and producers and check we were meeting deadlines and flagging any problematic issues that may come up.

how long does each of those frames take to process?

Depending on the amount of data used in the shot and how many elements are used, a single frame can take anywhere from an hour to a couple of days. If you remember there are 24 frames in 1 second that’s a lot of data. Added to that on “Avatar” each frame was rendered twice (right eye and left eye). Luckily the way we and a lot of other large visual effects companies process – or render – frames is we use multiple processors over a network. This leaves us free to do other work and proceed with other shots. Once a shot is rendered it is then reviewed by the visual effects supervisor for any changes that need to be made before the shot is sent to the director to be reviewed.

how long you been working on this?

I’ve been on the show for around a year. however the project has been running a lot longer. Some people at Weta Digital have been working on it 3 maybe 4 years. Because this is literally creating a whole new world, everything has to be built and nothing from the real world can be used. That’s every plant, blade of grass, creature, bug, character, environment, object and vehicle that has to be created from nothing. Usually a film from being awarded to being delivered takes between 6 months and a year at most so that kind of gives you an idea of the scale of Avatar and the work that has gone into it from all the artists involved.

be honest. what’s it like to work on a James Cameron film?

I think that’s the most common question I get. This director is pretty good to work for. What makes it easy from an artists point of view is he has a definite vision of how the whole film and every individual shot should look like. Therefore the artists aren’t bouncing between versions and various different looks which can take up valuable time. On “Avatar”, especially as the show went on, shots we delivered for first look usually only needed polishing and tweaking before the shot was near final status. There were a few occasions where we would show him a version of a shot a few months after he first saw it and he would remember exactly how it looked and what changes were made.

what, if any shots appear in the trailers that you composited?

For the teaser trailer that was released in August I had about 8 shots. Mostly of the Thanator chase in the jungle and Neytiri in the forest surrounded by fire and smoke.

how many people worked on “Avatar”?

We started with around 300 people which is the usual crew for Weta. As the show went on and more scenes were being sent to us from production we ramped up to a maximum of between 800 and 900. Put it this way, it was a heck of a wrap party!

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…at the time of writing, ‘Avatar’ netted $232 million on it’s first weekend. that’s a lot of money.

archie hamilton is out-of-his-fucking mind. see, he wants to make a difference in China by bringing in good music, and promoting the stuff they already have. I beg him every time we talk to get out, to give up, to move somewhere nice and cozy but he insists on doing something…something, to make a difference. I usually loath people that are driven by a need to ‘change the world’, but with Archie it’s different. he’s smart, very smart, and not afraid to take on the bamboo bouncers that constantly bottleneck his efforts. he’s also funny, but only if you really get British humor. he’s lucky as well, if you’ve ever met his family. he also came in at #16 of CNN’s ‘hot list’. and he’s one of those guys I haven’t spent much time with, but don’t need to either – and I mean that in the most wonderful of ways.

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your Scottish, but sound like you’re from London. surely that angers both cultures – explain.

I am what would be called a posh colonialist.  My parents moved from London to Edinburgh when I was 6 months old and they are both very English.  They speak like the Queen.  I have spent many years roughing up my accent for this biz.

I used to get into bar brawls in Edinburgh for being a posh English wanker and get called jock at my very smart boarding school, so now I live in China where no-one can understand what I say at all…

in a short few years, you’ll be credited with being ‘the godfather of bringing foreign bands to China’ – how’s that going?

Thanks man.  In a few short years, trying to bring foreign bands to China will have killed me.  So will Godfather be posthumous?

Honestly, it’s fucking hard.  We were very lucky in our first couple of years – the economy was flush with cheap cash and lots of people were spending it on China.  We were the beneficiaries on occasion and thought it would be relatively easy.  Since November 2007, the cheap money has gone and China has localized quite radically, so we have had to redefine our model more than once.  We are slowly puliing this ship around, but at great personal cost, both physical and financial.  Having said that, I do subscribe to Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory and I firmly believe that hard work wins the day.  How are you doing on those scores Mr. A…??

The key is that I get the chance to do something different, and the opportunities for the few foreigners that survive in China will be intense. Plus, it is an amazing experience to watch something like this grow so rapidly (China and the music scene).  I feel privileged to be here doing this.

didn’t you once almost die, or, think you were dying?

Australia when I was 17.  I was on the barrier reef and stood on something.  My foot started bleeding.  I had been a big fan of the Willard Price “Adventures” when I was a kid – 2 handsome guys get into scrapes in the wild – Safari Adventure, Underwater Adventure, Arctic Adventure.

Check out the description:

One of Willard Price’s adventure stories featuring Hal and Roger Hunt. The boys have a new quarry – the big-game poachers who threaten to wipe out a huge African game reserve. They capture a band of poachers red-handed, but the leader, Blackbeard, continues to elude them.

Anyway, in Diving Adventure, Hal Hunt stepped on the deathly venomous stonefish, and it sticks in my memory whenever I paddle.  I was convinced my leg was going numb from the poison and lay with my leg raised and asked my friends to take a photo of me and give it to my mother, with a message that I loved her.  10 minutes later I could walk around again.  It was a baby ray, completely harmless, if slightly painful.

which Chinese bands do you think have a chance in this cruel western world?

I think there has been a very interesting contrast with two recent tours of the US by the two premiere indie labels in Beijing.  The bands from Modern Sky were completely unprepared for the experience, believing the hype that has built around them in China, and I think the label probably did too.

Maybe Mars, on the other hand, have taken hardworking, original sounding bands under their wing and developed them.  I am actually writing a thought piece for the Radar about it – Modern Sky are Chinese run, successful in China, a long way to go in the West, Maybe Mars, Western run, struggling in China, lots of potential in the West.  An analogy for most businesses???

what would you tell a band that is keen on touring the mighty p.r.c.?

Strip down your traveling party (1 or 2 works best – it pisses me off when a 3 piece feels the need for 20 crew), lower your expectations (comfort, transport, safety) and open your hearts and minds.  You will leave with a lifechanging experience in your hearts….

…now, we usually have you put your iPod on ‘shuffle’, but considering you’ve been a d.j. and make millions from the music industry, why not tell us 3 bands not worth listening to, although we’ve probably heard of them.

I blame the press.  They build up bands to such a degree before they are ready and then shoot them down when they fail to live up to expectations.  Anyone remember Black Kids.  Trumpeted to the skies by Pitchfork, who then gave their debut album a one line review – We are sorry.

What not to listen to.  Well, personally I think hip hop has had its heart ripped out, and the perps have replaced it with a giant wad of greenbacks.  So don’t listen to the R&B flava-ed drivel that clogs most commercial airways these days.  I’m also struggling a bit with this new rock ‘n rave style, which is essentially mashup, which was great when 2manyDJs started doing it at the turn of the century, but is just too common these days.

What I am liking at the moment.  I have to say I am loving UK Funky at the moment, which is like house and grime together – Geeneus is big in that scene.  Sounds rough, but it’s very catchy.  Dubstep is pretty mainstream now, but I’m loving some of the more spaced out versions of that genre.  Check out Shackleton (we are working with the Shelter on bringing him to China in April), Also liking a lot of punk music (Kid D and the Kitchen Table anyone?) and there is some amazing crossover dubstep and pop – check Chase and Status who have just produced Rihannas imminent new album.

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follow archie’s ‘split-works’.

his blog on music in china

his chinese music podcast

or, should you be in his area, treat yourself to:

Owl City [holding the current #1 song in the U.S.], playing 4 nights in China

there are guys you like and there are guys you like. I like Adam Cohn. we met under strange and rushed circumstances during a 4-hour layover in Seoul and, 10-minutes into conversation, ditched all food and went on a soju binge. he got me drunk and funny things happened. he makes me laugh, he makes me think, his is the only blog I check religiously [sorry] and he made me cookies. guys don’t make guys cookies. but he made me some. and I liked that very much.

aric s. queen, nov ’09

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[quick self-bio]

• suburban philadelphia native
• born 1970
• was going to go to law school, but changed to graphic design in 1990 and
• never looked back.
• started carrying a camera with me every day since november of 1998 and since then have been waiting for the day that my eyes and brain can download directly to my blog.
• wrote a bit in high school, thought my english teacher wanted to sleep with me, realized all my stories were knock-off Steven King efforts, and stopped writing until november of 2008.
• still fascinated with the US civil war and abraham Lincoln since living in the netherlands for three years (2002-2005) have been re-dedicated to study language, how people speak to one another, what words and phrases really mean, and developing ways to be as succinct and to the point in all communication and truly being real with all things.

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you work for Converse. you’re also good at conversing – what is your day job and what is the farthest thing away from a job that you have?

My day job is, officially, “Associate Creative Director” at Converse. Essentially, I oversee 3 areas: digital, asia-pacific region, and brand identity issues. all of these are as it regards to creative, brand consistency etc etc. It is a phenomenal job because it is basically exposing the ways in which Converse fans interact with music, sport, art and fashion and bring those stories to a larger audience.

how often do you travel? where do you travel do? of the top 5 places, give us 3 must see/hear/eat/drink tips.

the farthest thing from a job that I have is they way that I meet people and learn about them. I’m not even sure that this is truly an answer to this question, but one of the things I love most is meeting people, asking them tons of questions, hearing the answers, finding connections and shared experiences, getting exposed to new points of view. this may be the same reason that I often listen to religious radio and watch Faith TV. it is fascinating. I don’t agree with the messages, but I like to know about them.

I travel to china about 3 or 4 times a year, mainly Shanghai. I used to travel around the US a lot, but now it is just shanghai and Columbus, OH. I think about that, my travel experiences now are the paris of china and the fast food testing capital of america.

my top 5 places I have traveled to, in no particular order . . .

1. Beijing, PRC

2. Vilnius, Lithuania

3. Vienna, Austria

4. Johannesburg, South Africa

5. Baku, Azerbaijan

6. (sorry) Barcelona

In Vilnius, find an all night basketball league and watch this bball crazy nation fulfill their addiction. basketball is THE national sport of Lithuania. watch until dawn. awesome.

In Vienna, see every Jungdestil building and every Klimt and Schiele painting and drawing you can. then have the best soft pretzels in the world at a medieval restaurant called ‘Brezel Gwolb’ and then, have excellent falafel at a little place called ‘Maschu Maschu’, run by two transplanted Israelis.

If you are going to Columbus, OH, go to the museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, OH. geek out on technology and think about how many resources our species has spent on being afraid and protecting ourselves from fear.

worst film from a previously good book?

hmmm. many of the books that I read are not made into movies. I’m concerned about the book/movie relationship. I loved the movie “The Thin Red Line” and I’m told that the book used to be required reading in US high schools in the 50s and 60s. I haven’t read it, but I consider the movie to be the closest thing to a visual poem I’ve encountered. I also read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and have heard about a few film adaptations in the works. again, concerned.

tell us what you have on, right now – and where you bought them, your sentimental attachments, etc.

I assume you are talking about what clothes I have on? nothing too epic. I’m wearing a good pair of black Chuck Taylor black hi-tops. they are breaking in nicely. regardless of my employment by Converse, I have always loved Chucks. they are universal. they are global. they don’t know class or station. the wearer adopts them and owns them. they are for anyone and everyone. they flatten things out and equalize. I feel this way about clothes in general. that phrase “the clothes make the man (woman)” doesn’t really work for me. my brain, my thoughts, my actions, that is where it happens.

I’ve pretty much been wearing black and gray, in various shades and tones for the past 3 years. I just don’t want to dwell on what I wear. I once read that the bauhaus teacher, artist and designer Lazlo Maholy-Nagy wore gray coveralls, gray shirt and gray tie all the time because it was “not abou him” but about they work and his mind etc. I like that philosophy. Another designer from that time period changed his name to “zero” for the same reason, Hans Schleger.

you’re always doing exciting things. your shirts. your posters. what’s next? and when will you aggregate all of this onto one site for us to Christmas shop on?

my t-shirts and posters. I need to re-focus on them. I have a long list of phrases that I want to elevate because of their ridiculous nature. I’m planning more posters (a bit smaller in size this time), about 10 new tees and a postcard line. I’m also thinking about a notebook series as well. I don’t think I’m making it for the holidays though. I think it may be more of a “happy spring, I want to sleep with you.” sort of thing.

…now, iTunes/iPod/iPhone: hit ‘shuffle’ and ffwd past the first track. let it run for 3 songs. what are they, why do you like them and what are we missing by not having them on ours?

A. Don’t You Ever Learn_Todd Rundgren

B. Sonata Mexicana I: Allegro Moderato_Andres Segovia

C. Same Lies as Yesterday_The Meeting Places

A. I’ve been listening to Todd since I was 14 or so. I didn’t have any older siblings, and my older next door neighbor and his friend we’re all into Todd and Utopia. I started off listening to fit in, and then got wrapped up in his sad ballads, power arena rock songs, odd studio experiments and the overall underdog nature of this super talented rock-geek that everyone respected, but that couldn’t get radio play.

Check out these 3 albums: Something/Anything, A Wizard_A True Star, and Hermit of Mink Hollow.

B. I first discovered Andres Segovia via my friend Chris Gallu when I crashed at his apartment for a month in Washington DC. this was 1997 I think. I can’t say too much about it, except that stressful late night moments, or moments of depression and reflection can be tolerable and eased with his classical spanish guitar. I’ve solved or come to terms with a lot of problems via Andres Segovia.

C. This is nothing more than a blatant attempt to fill the void that Slowdive left in the shoegazer rock scene over 15 years ago. Thanks Pandora.

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in a few weeks, I’ll be spending a weekend with Adam Cohn. I suspect it will be fun.

e.fite.

surely you’ve seen her work…
I LOVE YOU MAN..THE HANGOVER…brothers and sisters…maybe even modern family
numerous commercials
she makes these places believable places these characters reside, love, fight, work, play, BE.

she’s the girl who BUYS [also rents...barters....borrows] stuff to make environments REAL
modern…mid century….classic…name a style she’s on it.
decorating powerhouse and did i mention she gets to SHOP…all day. what girl wouldn’t want to do that?

inspired by Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino-designs [thanks to the married team of  Sandy and David Wasco] to get into the movies…
she can cook a mean turkey even in a 200 degree not-really-working oven.
pull a party together in no time flat
is one of the coolest people you could meet and kindest and empathetic but is from texas so don’t mess with her…she will kick your ass.

she will go home [to texas] for thanksgiving and then it’s off to washington DC…to DECORATE…1600 pennsylvania….for the holidays.
there was a brief moment of eeek…what if the background check comes up with “allegedly smuggled something in from cuba” but no…she’s fine.
again….alleged.

[Lori Fradella, Nov, '09]

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you have a job. what is it?

right now i am currently working on TRUEBLOOD as a set decorating buyer. i work in the set decorating crew of feature films, tv and or commercials.  decorate, buy, shop, schlep, it’s all the same…basically read a script, develop a character in my head, ask the a bunch of questions about the history and the look of that character to either the production designer [my boss] and or have a meeting with the director and then shop….for everything from the look/type of keys on the key chain sitting on the dresser in a farmer’s bedroom to the look of the folding bed and sheets in a homeless shelter to the tables and chairs put in the ambassador hotel’s version of the 1921 palm room.  i basically try to help create the best possible environment for an actor “feel” and act his part in a role and try and make the background portray the story as best as i can.

what’s this about being invited to decorate the White House?

a dear friend is doing all the floral design for the white house.  she somehow got us on a list to help decorate the white house for the holidays…it was a shot in the dark…after many hours of filling out forms and what i thought to be a shot in the dark, i got an envelope in the mail that was crisp and off-white (no smell, unfort)…..the return address at the top left hand corner said “THE WHITE HOUSE”….THAT IS IT!  ”THE WHITE HOUSE”….um, ya, they don’t have an address CAUSE IT’S THEEEE WHIIIITTTEE HOUSE!  pretty rad.  i’ve kept it stuck between my four wheel drive shaft and my stick shift….i pull it out every so often to look at it.  i noticed it has aged…what we freaks pay money to have done to any letter needing to look old…but i shouldn’t have done that, i should’ve tucked it away and kept for later years of coffee mornings and “i can’t believe it” conversations.  sad.

are you allowed to tell your William H. Macy story? and if not, can you tell us if he’s really, really nice?

he’s amazing.  he’s amazing. he’s amazing.  after much inhalation of some chronz, i won’t say WHO’S chronz….AND the jameson’s i brought as product placement served “neat” all taking place in his reno hotel suite with other crew members from THE COOLER….he lost his tendency for the mad mag look and pretty much turned into the reliable actor we’ve all come to know and love.  that’s that.  i can’t tattle on the bill macy, man – he’s one of the good ones.

your bf is a designer. you are one as well. who chooses what the house looks like? and in one word, how would you describe it?

i don’t know that you’d call either of us designers…..but i have to say, the house doesn’t come together without feeling like you’ve had a hard day at the dentist…………………………i usually play the dentist and he the patient….i get a little heavy on the laughing gas………..either that or a sleeping dart is a good back up…….when he wakes, things are hung and he’s well rested with a cold beer in his hand….”that didn’t hurt, now did it, baby?”……hhahahaa…happy campers….one word to describe this place:  calm.

and last, why do you call your dog Jagger?

it was gonna be tweedy (jeff tweedy, my hero and lead singer of wilco) but i thought it too painful for a boy dog…though he’d pull that shit off, i still couldn’t do it….so, my next hero would be mick jagger.  me loves me somes olllllddddd school jagger….he’s so not a rock n’ roll dog but he’s the best damn dog and he makes the name better.  probably the singer too.  all of us really.  period.

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[check out Erin's work on the new upcoming season of True Blood. or on IMDB. or, you know, at The White House.]

If you grew up in the 90′s, then you’ve lived through the grunge/alternative era, and I’m sure you can name me the big bands (Nirvana, Pearl Jam blah blah blah). However, few people know about the bands credited with starting it all – the true pioneers or so to speak: one of them is the Pixies, the other one is Sonic Youth, and the last one is the Chainsaw Kittens.

Mixing basic punk structure with elements in theatrics and glam-rock, the Kittens made energetic, highly dramatic and original music. As the front man for the Kittens, Tyson Meade earned a reputation as one of the true individuals in the alternative music scene. Before the Chainsaw Kittens, Tyson was in the intense, darkly psychedelic Defenestration, whom is credited in various books as one of the bands that had an effect on Nirvana. Tyson then went on to join the Chainsaw Kittens and developed his skill further as a song writer. His songs are deeply personal, often quirky but always intelligent. He also developed a flamboyant onstage persona and a unique high octave vocal style. Often seen wearing feathers, stockings, and torn up wedding gowns (because, and I quote “I was feeling too ‘virginal’ and ‘un-slutty’ for prom dresses”), Tyson oozes charisma, grace and style rocking the stage, entertaining indeed.

During the mid 90′s, Tyson released his first highly personal solo album dealt into his sexuality, his childhood, and the rock lifestyle. His follow-up, Kitchens and Bathrooms – recorded while traveling around the United States, is available on iTunes.

He currently resides in Shanghai, China, where he teaches English.

[Louis Yu - Oct '09]

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some credit you, and your band, The Chainsaw Kittens with being one of two or three that launched alternative music – how true is this?

I hate to try to credit myself for something that I may or may not have created. At the time, I was fed up with everything going on in music, Thompson Twins, Howard Jones, Hooters, Mr. Mister, Scandal, then later the excruciating sounds of Winger and Warrant. So I started my first band, Defenestration, who are mentioned in the Road to Nirvana book. We had a record out when Janes Addiction were still cutting demos. Billy Corgan wrote me a really nice fan letter when he was working on the first Pumpkins album after he had heard the first Chainsaw Kittens. So, I guess I am one of the alterna-Forefathers.

a rumor is going around that Spike Jonze shot a video for y’all and only charged $5000?

Spike did in fact do our High in High School vid for $5k. He stayed with Trent our guitarist. He is a super nice guy. You will have to find the link on youtube since there is currently no youtube in the PR.

another rumor has been around for years of your famous ‘naked parties’. if this is true, who were your most favorite guests?

Oh NO! I did have naked parties. The most famous was the one that happened during OU’s Greek system’s Moms’ Weekend. At that point, I was well known in OKLA and somewhat famous in general. The Kittens had been on MTV and in lots of mags at that point. Some friends and I crashed a sorority house party and were well received. I was actually fawned over which was endearing. I invited some of the guys and girls back to my place for a party. They of course were fraternity/sorority. Some showed up. Everyone was naked when they showed. To gain entrance, they had to get naked too. They did. Everyone danced to the Ramones and Led Zeppelin. Dancing Days are here again!

so, we have you with the Kittens, and now in China – how the hell did that all come about?

A few years ago, I asked myself ‘What would Heathcliff do?” Of course, Heathcliff the character from ‘Wuthering Heights’ not the comic strip cat. So, here I am – Dazed in Confucius.

one more rumor – your fellow Okies, The Flaming Lips have been called ‘The Greatest Present American Band – agree?

[Ben Houge is an American composer and sound artist, based in Shanghai since 2004.  A 13-year veteran of the videogame industry, he most recently served as audio director for Tom Clancy’s EndWar (Xbox 360/PS3, Ubisoft, 2008), and has previous contributed audio to Half-Life: Opposing Force, Leisure Suit Larry 7, King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity, and Arcanum.  More recently, he has been applying techniques for structuring non-linear sound honed in the videogame trenches to sound installations in such venues as Beijing’s Today Art Museum and Shanghai’s Art+Shanghai Gallery.  In the last year Ben presented a solo exhibition of algorithmically-generated visual art at [the studio] and released two CD’s.  An active participant in Shanghai’s new music scene, Ben has performed at the Shanghai eArts Festival, Shanghai Conservatory, Zendai Museum, and multiple NOIShanghai, RESO, Brainwave Communication, and Antidote events.]

Complete Ben Houge information is available at www.benhouge.com.

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I’ve often called you my ‘most coolest friend’. now be honest, why is that?

I thought it was because I could put my cell phone in my mouth.  Or sing Happy Birthday backwards?

rumors fly around to you being from Africa? the son of a preacher man? seattle-bred? please explain.

Yes, pretty much.  If someone asks where I’m from, I say Seattle.  But if they then ask where I’m from *originally*, that usually kicks off a 5 minute monologue.  It goes something like this…

I was born in York, NE, then moved to Milwaukee, then lived a few places in Ohio (where my kid brother was born), then on to Riverside, southern California, where I did most of my grade school, except for the year I spent in the outskirts of Dallas (attending 3^rd grade in Duncanville, which I hated), a summer in Norman, Oklahoma, then back to Riverside for a bit before moving to Liberia, West Africa, during which time my family lived among the Vai people in 2 small villages (Gbese, 2 miles from the Sierra Leone border, then Madina, closer to Monrovia, the capital), while I attended boarding school at the International Christian Academy in Bouake, Ivory Coast.  We left due to political unrest in 1990, and headed to Seward, NE, and where I finished high school, and then I moved to Northfield, MN, to attend St. Olaf College, while my folks moved to St. Louis, then Lincoln, NE.  After graduation I moved to Seattle, WA, to take a job working on the videogame Leisure Suit Larry 7 for Sierra Entertainment.  At this point I calculated I had had 21 addresses in 21 years.  I pretty much stayed put for a while, until I moved to Shanghai in 2004.  If I stay overseas for one more year, my ratio will be back up to 1/3 of my life spent abroad, which is where it was when I was 15.

The reason for all this travel addresses the second part of your question.  In the 80’s my parents served as linguists with Lutheran Bible Translators in Liberia (doing things like training teachers, collecting folk tales, and developing new orthographies for indigenous languages).  After we left Africa in 1990 my dad became an official pastor, and my folks now work with the Lutheran Church in Kenya, where I am planning to visit them this winter when the weather gets miserable again in Shanghai.

having known you for a while now, you seem to live by a different code than most do. can you pinpoint a certain time in your life where you took on the antonin artaud-esque mindset of ‘that’s not right, I’d like to try things differently’?

It’s hard to point to a specific epiphany.  I used to be a picky eater as a kid, and at one point I realized that all of these decisions I had made about the kinds of foods I wouldn’t eat had been made by a five year old, and I started reevaluating everything, and I found that mustard and olives and mushrooms and all kinds of other foods are really quite nice.  So I try to live with that kind of mindset, that you’ve got to question what you think you know, or what other people tell you.

Travel helps, too.  You notice new things about where you’ve been when you view it from somewhere else.

most-underrated movie of all time?

Well, I can recite Three Amigos in its entirety, since it’s the only VHS tape we had in the village in Africa, but that doesn’t really count as underrated, I guess.  I’m tempted to say Prince’s Graffiti Bridge, but I can’t honestly tell you it’s a great film.

A long time ago at the Seattle International Film Festival I saw an Italian film called Denti that I thought was amazing, and I’ve never heard of it again.  Funny, creepy, full of Freudian surrealism.  Let’s go with that.

what will you be for halloween?

I don’t plan to celebrate, if I can get out of it.  I’ve always had a grudge against Halloween, since it’s the day after my birthday, and it always stole my thunder.

..and now, a bonus – I think they do this on av club, but I want you to set your iTunes to shuffle. no cheating, let it play and let us know who and why you have it. even the embarrassing ones.

Vanessa Paradis, L’Incendie, from her 2007 Divinidylle album.

I’ve got a soft spot for French pop.  I’ve been curious about French culture since experiencing its colonial manifestation in Ivory Coast.  The first time I heard Vanessa Paradis was in high school in Nebraska.  A classmate had picked up a compilation of French pop at the clothing store Express, and she didn’t dig it, so she gave it to me.  It had two songs by Vanessa Paradis on there, her huge hit from her first album “Joe le taxi,” and another song called “Soldat.”  Later on, after I got into Serge Gainsbourg, I found out he had written all the lyrics for her second album, Variations sur le même t’aime (a typical kind of Gainsbourg pun, substituting “theme” for its homonym “love you”).  I didn’t pick up her 3^rd album, since it was in English, produced by former paramour Lenny Kravitz (she has since settled down with Johnny Depp).  So I’ve kind of stayed aware of her over the years, seeing a film or two of hers (Girl on the Bridge), and when I was in Paris for work a year or two ago, I picked up this new album, which is pretty pleasant.

This song, like most of Divinidylle, was produced by French pop polyglot –M– (for more on him, check out the French version of Rough Sundays!).

In fact, I don’t listen to much music on iTunes, still prefer CD’s, so it’s a weird selection on my iPhone.  I probably listen to my own stuff on there more than anything (the way David Byrne describes Prince in the Sand in the Vaseline liner notes).

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