1 - Tell us how
your project(s) were started.
It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment my path was chosen but it's as simple
as this really..back in the day, mid 80's I mean, my brother had stacks of old
punk vinyl, Maiden vinyl, Rush and even better my parents had all the old Floyd,
Joe Walsh and Zeppelin vinyl I could ever want. I remember using my crappy tape
recorder, butting it up against the stereo speakers and all, and taping the
LPs through the air as they would play and then sharing them with anyone who
would listen at school. That's when I knew I would be involved in this to some
degree for the rest of my natural life.
2 - What does music, in its entirety, mean to you?
Atmosphere and intellect..passion and pain. I can't remember a moment in my life that I couldn't describe through music...every ecstatic celebration, every single moment of pure desperation and every pitfall in between. Be it someone else's creation or one of my own born out of nothing but misery, it all ties in and 90% of the time there is clarity through the art of making noise. More important in my life than any other artistic medium. Why, just today I pulled myself out of the dumps while driving around with the windows down and blasting a quick dose of Horton Heat. Nothing better.
3 - What does art, in its entirety, mean to you?
Take what I wrote above and filter it down to the base point I was trying to make. The power of the medium to change one's life and even change one's mood and/or opinion. Anyone with a truly open mind..a mind equipped to soak in fresh perspectives and not burden themselves with stale ideals born of some ancient beliefs, be they religious or otherwise, will benefit the most from anything they deem artistic. It's all in one's mind. I define art. You define art. If you are moved, you have just witnessed art. When you really think about it, "Art" is really your mind's motivation to keep going.
4 - Who is your favorite author, and why?
Charles Bukowski. He was a poet and author. I've unfortunately had lots of times in my life when I could have used solace but was unable to get it from anyone I personally knew. No one was able to connect with what I was feeling and reading Charles Bukowski always took me away from all that. His wit, his drunken charm, his knowing sense of what a piece of shit human being he was just like the rest of us always made me smile, like "I am truly not alone". I could also go into some lurid tales about reading Michael Gira's "Consumer" while depressed and wasted but I prefer not to.
5 - As your best friend, describe yourself.
Y'know, you are always there for me and the thing I like most about you is that. Also, you are a man of your word and are never afraid to call a cunt a cunt or even to just tell me to wake the fuck up. Plus, you own a fuck of a great record collection.
6 - As your worst enemy, describe yourself.
You are an asshole...but an asshole with great determination. I have to respect that...
7 - If your persona were immortalized as a cartoon character, who would it be?
Well, not much into cartoons really so I'll take this one into the comic book realm..I've always fancied myself as Judge Dredd or Lobo. I know I'd never have the balls to be that badass when my life is on the line but damn it, I would try at least. Was there ever a Conan the Barbarian cartoon?
8 - Do you think
there are conspiracies against the "everyday person"?
Common knowledge to me really. WE are the sheep. It's a sad fact really but
I think anyone who has paid any attention to the world around them has come
to terms with this by now. Yet, even the power elite are doomed to the great
conspiracy of life and death as are we all. Someone has to keep the machine
going and anarchy isn't the real answer now is it? Especially not with all these
hillbillies, gangbangers, facists, and creationist assholes roaming the back
alleys. Shit, life as we know it would end in a day if they were all pitted
against one another. The Earth has got to be sputtering out soon....sad but
so true I think.
9 - What do you do with your spare or free time?
This...and of course all of the above mentioned music related activities. Don't have much spare time these days unfortunately but I do enjoy it when I have it. Golf is another one. Not watching it but playing whenever possible. Sex, whenever possible but who doesn't think that? Wow, now that I'm thinking about it, my work hours really do bleed into my spare time quite a bit...
10 - Please give us your interpretation of "the meaning of life".
And there it is. Figured this one would come up. The meaning of life is: having absolute fucking control over yourself and your feelings. Always being happy, whether it be purely selfish and only taking care of yourself or dedicating your life to others through Greenpeace or the military or whatever gets you off. That is the meaning of OUR life. Other than that, if you are looking for some cosmic answer here just like the rest of us then I think we all know that none of us has it. We are all ants on a hill that are here because of some cataclysmic phenomenon and we can all be dead tomorrow. There is no heaven, there is no hell, and even though we may be completely made up of energy our "souls" die with our brains. This is what common sense tells me and this is how I live my life. My shell of a body will come to rest on this planet one day and perhaps my energy will live on in another being or creature but I'll never fucking know.
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