Q: I know your brother is a huge Phish fan (he posts on a Phish message board I regularly post on) and I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the band
A: YES I know all about the PT board hahaha. I like a few Phish songs but I'm sure they're the lamest ones to real fans, because they're the radio songs! "Farmhouse" and another one I can't remember because I don't ever listen to Phish. :) But I like how into them their fans are and I respect my brother's taste in music!
I started playing bass in high school. I've played bass and sang in a few bands! Who were the LUCKY ONES that got to see...?
Suzanne (1997-2000) - Le Mars, Iowa
The Subordinates (2000-2001) - Iowa City, Iowa
My Business Failed in Three Weeks (2001-2004) - Iowa City, Iowa
Don't Stop or We'll Die - City of Dreams, California
producing the music is maybe my favorite part of the whole thing. I go into a studio with Matt Kelmer and a handful of great musicians that work under the title "Sweet pro" and we just fuck around. I get to cheat and make music without the training. I ask them for different moods and sounds and they try it. or we'll say let's go with cello and piano for a while and try a few things there. The cello player, wish i fucking knew his name, is tremendous. he creates whole pieces by himself and I use them ALL.
I have been to a few Phish shows over the years, and my friends in high school were (and continue to be) really into them. Mike Gordon actually wrote back to me about it, which made me look really cool to my high school buddies.
Our process is... we rarely ever start with lyrics... it often begins with us jamming (or jammin') on some riff and then we start singing a melody that fits the music... and whatever words come out that's 90% of what we go with. We got a rule that we can't revise lyrics cuz we think it's funny. DO YOU?!!!
Lots of different stuff. I listen to a lot of Alt Nation on XM radio. Loved the new Portugal, The Man album. The new Kanye is great. I've had Grimes "Oblivion" stuck in my head for a week. I'm all over the place.
Thundercat is dope. I listen to him Fly lo, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Open Mike Eagle, Chance, Vic Mensa, Tree, YC the Cynic, Jean Grae, there's a lot. Janelle Monae is amazing. I saw her twice in one day at SXSW in 2008 or 09
I'd save my cats, because most records are replaceable. Though I do have an original pressing of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn that I'd probably grab.
To be honest, I'm kind of challenged in terms of new music. I listen to a lot of Jazz, specifically Keith Jarrett piano solos. And for me, if you want just wonderful ballads and love songs, Tom Waits. I might also have to throw in Radiohead, but I can't quote specific lyrics. AND PRINCE! For those special nights.
Right now? Kanye West. Been my favorite for the last decade. Probably the greatest all around artist in the history of hip-hop. writes his own rhymes, largely makes his own beats. Triple double no assist. And he's 7 for 7 in terms of albums as far as I'm concerned. Dark Beautiful Fantasy is a fucking masterpiece. Blame Game makes me tear up. Never been anyone like him in hip-hop. Come to think of it, he's one of the greatest musicians of all times. Now I'm talking like him. YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS, JKLAP.
HOLY SONS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFIg6zVnx0k (emil and I went to college together)
JOHN PRINE RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEy6EuZp9IY
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOPbXQ86NuA
JAD FAIR AND DANIEL JOHNSTON: This album changed my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXAWTnVy2js
SEBADOH: I've listened to this album at least a billion times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPv3KyLgRk
In the mornings I play this when I wake up early and make breakfast for my wife and son: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15BouyAB83o
And My mom LOVED this song and now I do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35x_rwyBh-8
AND ZEFFFFFF DIE ANTWOORD: If anyone knows them they ...
I definitely think of myself as not a super-cool music person. I'm not a person who knows the latest and newest by any means. So if I have my radio on — it's so old. My Pandora radio will have an Elvis Costello channel and a Loretta Lynn channel. And all the show tunes. That's kind of where I max out. I'm not the coolest. That's the big perk I miss about not being at SNL anymore — hearing the house band every week and the guest every week. Because that would be my only exposure to new music, and just what you want: Give me your top two songs.
Hannibal Buress