Top
Site Contents
Interviews Podcast on Itunes

The interviews are also available, free, as a podcast from the itunes store. 

 

 

Mailing list
This form does not yet contain any fields.
    This form does not yet contain any fields.

      Interviews with Musicians

      Over the years, I have noticed that poor music journalism has caused problems in musical ideas gaining traction and a loss of dialogue on the subject in groups of listeners.  Artists are mostly asked irrelevant questions or questions without follow up or comment; there is no real pursuit of their ideas and whether they have significance or what the intended value is.  Frequently, no reason is shown why a listener without previous knowledge of an artist should pay any attention at all.  Focus on music and the arts is declining in general and this mismanagement of the subject in the media is a factor. Here are some attempts at an alternative way to engage artists in a dialogue with those outside.  The early audio interviews were mostly obtained in conjunction with the chazfest but they are all with some very interesting musicians on the New Orleans scene today.  As I continue to post on this page the scope may widen to include musicians beyond New Orleans and even other types of artist.

      Entries in Amanda Shaw (1)

      Wednesday
      Jul182012

      Interview with guitarist and composer, Tim Robertson

      DateWednesday, July 18, 2012 at 5:50PM

      Tim is an interesting figure in the New Orleans music vista.  He plays Bourbon St.  He is a survivor of that commercial zone and knows how to do it (or has the personality for it) in a way that doesn't limit him and has driven him plain crazy.  Many have been driven in such a direction.

      Many people ask questions about validities and viabilities involved in music on Bourbon St.  Tim, from first hand experience over lot of years, engages these questions:-

      What is Bourbon St.?  How does that music zone operate differently and similarly to other parts of town?  What are it's musical features and modes of development?  Is there anything really good out there? 

      There is much more, however, to Tim and to this interview.  Tim is an avid experimental/modern/"classical" composer and has moved himself through in-depth, mentored, study in that direction too.  For those who may wonder what the relevance of Bourbon St. and "classical" music is to New Orleans music and whether he can really talk about it, there is more. He also plays guitar with Neslort (if you don't know then be sure to go), Amanda Shaw, and two very interesting comico-satirical-serious groups that started quite a while ago and feature a very biting and immediate viewpoint voiced by Robertson: Dirty Mouth and Hot Karl.

      Enjoy the interview- there is a lot given.

      The interview was conducted, 5/1/12, at the orange couch in New Orleans.

       

      Part 1- Tim Green; Bourbon St. audiences; real bands as opposed to collections of players; how much playing time does he spend on Bourbon St?; how's the money?; how the material is selected and arranged; Tim's most important features of a good drummer; Tim's background and why he's in New Orleans; Mark Diflorio; John Bagnato; a cerebral player; at Duke University and dropping sports for music; fascination with music theory; Haydn scores, symmetry and structure; revisiting music from childhood.

      Part 2- David Bowie; how he started on guitar; the appeal of volume and speed; questions about Metal and the makeup of heaviness; Black Sabbath; Django's influence on Tony Island; King Thunder and the emergence of Hot Karl; Benji's Kosick unique approach; Captain Beefheart; Hot Karl's impact on Tim's approach; the subtleties of time in rock music; evolutionary psychology

      Part 3- More on Hot Karl; satire at Checkpoint Charlie's on Monday nights; not taking himself seriously and coming up against the limits of musicians' sense of humor; Dirty Mouth; Chameleon theater and big band; Dave Stover; Dave Sobel; David James; starting point: "everybody fuck off"; the release of Dirty Mouth; Rob Wagner; ideas for the Morning 40 Federation; "Bourbon St. is all in your head"; studying composition privately and what lead to that; obsession with 12 tone music and serialism; finding the teacher; strictness about good notation practice and its advantages; ridiculing the trumpet; a Mike Darby aside

      Part 4- Uses of composition training in Tim's everyday work; Tim's harmonic language; how he appropriates work from scores; getting in to Amanda Shaw's band; fitting into Bourbon St. schedule and Neslort schedule; fitting well with the idiosyncracies of Rick Trolsen's music; "I have my own ideas about rhythm!"; "I never count in my brain higher than 3!"; Das Rhinegold; things that are coming up-Dirty Mouth, Trio; arguing on stage; Alex Mcmurray in a mini cooper; interviewer-->interviewee switcheroo; looking for financial independence to continue working on music development

      AuthorJonathan Freilich | CommentPost a Comment |
      tagged , , , , , , , , , in