- 9 hours ago
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00:00Is it coming out as a record, actually?
00:03Yeah.
00:03What is it going to be called this time?
00:05Uh, 9.30.
00:09Why 9.30?
00:11That's the title of one of the cuts.
00:13Uh-huh.
00:14What I was curious about, I went back and was listening to some of your records and so forth,
00:18and there's a couple of things that I especially like.
00:22One is Nancy Sings.
00:24Now, who exactly is Nancy?
00:27Uh, that's a girl I came across.
00:33Her name was Nancy.
00:34Uh-huh.
00:35That's great.
00:36Well, it was like you were playing guitar one note at a time, and then she's singing over
00:41it, and it's very evocative and interesting.
00:44Did you write the lyrics for that?
00:46Yes, sir.
00:47Uh-huh.
00:48That's interesting.
00:48And at this, I'm just trying to keep a catalog or a general idea of the order that you released
00:58the records, because I want to keep them in order in my record collection.
01:01What was the order that they were released?
01:05Do you remember?
01:06Uh, it started with 0739.
01:10You know, it's 0739.
01:11And went chronologically from there.
01:13Okay.
01:14Uh, I see.
01:16Okay, so that's the serial members on the record and so forth.
01:19Yeah.
01:20When's the release of your next record?
01:22Well, uh, probably in about within two months.
01:29Uh-huh.
01:30Uh-huh.
01:31And you're still working as a machinist?
01:33Is that right?
01:35Uh, basically.
01:36Uh-huh.
01:37Uh-huh.
01:37And, uh, do you know, uh, uh, some people from Three Day Stubble?
01:41There's a guy named Brent.
01:42Did he ever contact you to distribute your records?
01:45Yes.
01:45Right.
01:45Yes, he did.
01:46Is that working out for you?
01:48Uh, no.
01:50No.
01:50No, we didn't.
01:51We didn't, uh, really get together.
01:53He, um, they had, uh, one of those, uh, they rent one of those, um, city halls and they
02:02have an exhibition.
02:03Everybody brings their records down and sort of like a 4-H club thing, you know?
02:10Right.
02:11And, uh, he called and wanted me to bring some records down to that and I, I didn't
02:15want to do that.
02:16Uh-huh.
02:16Why not?
02:18I didn't think it would go anywhere.
02:20Uh-huh.
02:21I just thought it was, uh, you know, record collectors get together and do that kind
02:26of thing and, uh, it didn't seem to be the kind of marketing that would, would really
02:32do anything.
02:32Plus, I'm an inordinately private person.
02:37I kind of, um, have declined interviews and things like that.
02:43Uh-huh.
02:44Because I just, you know, I just put out a product and that's it.
02:49I don't want to get too involved.
02:51Right.
02:52Well, when you put out the product, do you sort of want it to sell itself without having
02:57to go out and, and aggressively promote it and so forth?
03:00You put it out there and then whoever picks up on it will.
03:02Yeah, that's, that's basically it.
03:04But I do, uh, I, I send it out to, uh, geez, it must be 40 radio stations.
03:14Uh-huh.
03:14Uh-huh.
03:14And, uh, it's playlisted regularly.
03:18Do you ever receive letters from people around the country or anything?
03:21Yeah.
03:21Yeah.
03:22And what, what sort of response do you usually get?
03:26Um, usually it's, um, something like, um, I, uh, a friend of mine had some of your records
03:34and I heard them the other night and, uh, I thought they were really good and, Jim, you
03:40sent me some.
03:41Uh-huh.
03:42Yeah.
03:43I've only sold about 150 copies in, uh, the last five years.
03:48150 copies of all eight records?
03:51Yeah.
03:52Uh-huh.
03:52I think there's nine now.
03:54Uh-huh.
03:54And when, right.
03:56And when, when you press them up, what, what, how many did you press up initially?
03:59300.
04:00300.
04:01So mostly what you do is send it out.
04:03One of the reasons I was, uh, interested in talking to you, and I don't know how you
04:07feel about this, but this is, this is the reason that I'm calling up, is, uh, I know
04:11a guy named, uh, Edward Rosen, who used to be a photographer for Penthouse Magazine.
04:17And, um, he, I think he lives in New York City, but he flies out to Los Angeles to do
04:22work
04:22and, and so forth.
04:23And I met him at one of my poetry readings and I consequently, or subsequently, uh, sent him,
04:29uh, copies of my records and, and flyers and whatever I was playing out, I sent him stuff.
04:34And about a week ago, he gave me a call and said that he wanted me to write, uh, for
04:39a
04:39music magazine that he's, that he's working with, uh, through Penthouse called Spin.
04:43And it will be distributed through the Penthouse Empire, but it will be a separate entity.
04:49And he liked some of the liner notes that I wrote on the back of my record and wanted
04:52me to write some material.
04:54So, uh, I started off and I gave him a, just a 500 word piece.
04:58He, he wanted a piece on myself.
05:00John Truby talks about John Truby.
05:02So I did that and was obnoxious and self, promotional and so forth.
05:07But he wanted me to come up with various ideas and so I suggested Jandec or Jandec records
05:12and so forth.
05:13And, uh, I was interested in writing a short piece, not more than about 500, uh, words.
05:19And, uh, uh, I, I guess you don't like to be interviewed but I'd like to, uh, write
05:24a little about your records anyway, if that's okay.
05:27Uh, no problem about the records.
05:28Pardon?
05:29No problem about the records.
05:30Okay, but you don't want any personal information printed or anything?
05:34Rather not, to be honest with you.
05:37Right, okay. So what I should do is just go back and listen to the records and describe
05:44what I hear. Would it be okay to give your P.O. box in case anybody wants to order some
05:50or anything like that?
05:51You can give that. You can quote any of the lyrics.
05:56Okay, that's good.
06:01Come back on my part or anything.
06:03Okay.
06:04No problems with any of the product that's been released.
06:09I have no problems doing anything you want with it.
06:12If you need additional copies or if you don't have all of them or something,
06:16I'd be glad to ship out that to you.
06:20Okay, well, if I do that I could send you a little money for postage or for the records
06:24themselves.
06:25Not necessary, John.
06:26Really?
06:27I mean, you know, I'm used to sending out $15 a week and paying for it.
06:34And working as a machinist, I mean, you can afford to do this.
06:39Yeah, I don't have a lot of other expenses.
06:42It's been, let's see, I started in 1978 and released only nine albums.
06:48It's not really that cost intensive.
06:50I can get $300 done for, let's see, the black and whites go for about $600 and the colors
06:57go for about $800.
06:58Uh-huh.
07:00Well, that's excellent.
07:01I mean, that includes pressing and mastering and everything?
07:03Oh, everything, yeah.
07:04That's amazing.
07:05That is amazing.
07:06And when you recorded it, you recorded on a reel-to-reel tape deck?
07:39Yeah.
07:40Did you ever notice that?
07:42I've noticed that fairly infrequently.
07:46Right.
07:46But a couple of other things I've noticed, and I don't know if it's the same or different,
07:51but I've noticed on one cut somewhere back there, I don't know what recording it was
07:57on, you could hear outside a motorcycle.
08:02Really?
08:03And you don't remember?
08:04Well, I'll have to go back and try to listen for that.
08:06Yeah, there's a motorcycle revving up and kind of taking off, and I noticed it, and I
08:11don't know how noticeable it would be to other people, but there are a few.
08:15There's definitely imperfections.
08:17Right.
08:17Well, I think that lends to the sort of evocative charm of the pieces.
08:23I mean, listening to it, you know it's not done in a huge studio.
08:26You know it's somebody that's working on his own with his own equipment, but I think
08:31it works perfectly for the material you're doing and the way you're presenting it.
08:36I mean, that's what sort of intrigues me about the records and so forth.
08:40And you don't have to use huge, high-tech recording studios in order to get your message
08:46across and so forth.
08:50When you write poetry, do you actually write it out, or does it come spontaneously out of
08:56your head when you're singing it?
08:57I would say it's 65-35, 65 written, especially the earlier pieces.
09:08Uh-huh.
09:09And then sometimes you start improvising and so forth.
09:12Is there any...
09:13There may be more.
09:14Maybe 70-30.
09:15Uh-huh.
09:16But there definitely is some improvisation.
09:18Uh-huh.
09:19And usually the cuts that have a lot of guitar work as opposed to lyrics.
09:27The ones that are heavy with lyrics are usually written.
09:30Uh-huh.
09:31Well, when you strum the guitar and so forth, is there any set tuning, or is it a tuning
09:36that you made up on the guitar?
09:39I notice that you strum most of the strings open, and then there's some cording involved
09:45and stuff.
09:46But is that a tuning that you made up, or what would you call the guitar tuning?
09:51You're very analytical.
09:57Well, no, I can't do the word.
10:00You know what I've done.
10:06Well, I guess the epitome of the whole thing was that there was a review in Op Magazine,
10:11and thank goodness most of the people, except probably John Foster, gave me pretty good reviews
10:19in that magazine.
10:20Right.
10:21As a matter of fact, the first review I got was what kept me going, because I did one
10:26album, and then for two years I didn't do anything, and then I had a review from Philip
10:30Milstein in Op Magazine.
10:32Uh-huh.
10:33After I read that, I just figured, well, I better keep going, and that's sort of what
10:38kept me going.
10:39Right.
10:39Because I got 1,000 of the first one done.
10:41I thought I had a pretty good thing, but I didn't get any response.
10:46So anyway, they had a review in there of one of the more recent ones, and it says, may
10:55he never tune his guitar.
10:56Uh-huh.
10:57And a lot of other people, a lot of other reviews would say, just make reference to total lack
11:04of tuning.
11:05The fact of the matter is, I tune the guitar regularly.
11:08Uh-huh.
11:09Uh, at least before, you know, each session.
11:14Uh-huh.
11:15And frequently within the session, between cuts.
11:19But I don't tune it according to, I just tune it so that it sounds the way I want it
11:22to sound.
11:23Uh-huh.
11:23Uh-huh.
11:24I don't use, although I studied music earlier in my life, I don't tune according to, you
11:34know, scales or things.
11:35You tune it by what sounds good to your ear?
11:38Yeah.
11:38Uh-huh.
11:39That's fascinating.
11:40That's fascinating.
11:41Uh-huh.
11:42And then you can build entire sort of song sequences over that.
11:47For example, when you had that piece on Nancy Sings, she bases a lot of her melodic riffs
11:53and ideas upon the notes that she's hearing.
11:55She's playing against it.
11:56It sounds very oriental, Japanese almost.
11:59I really enjoyed that.
12:03Is there anybody in Houston or locally that enjoys your records, or is it mainly people
12:09from vast distances like Op Magazine out in Washington or so forth?
12:15The second part of that, I have no real connections here in Houston musically with
12:22any other people except where I have the records produced and, you know, the studio.
12:27Uh-huh.
12:29Is that it?
12:30I have, no, there's nothing here.
12:33As a matter of fact, I only send to, I tried to send to a couple of radio stations here,
12:38but I got no response.
12:39I sent it to Rice University and there's a free-form station here.
12:43As a matter of fact, Brent suggested I send something to.
12:48They had sent some of their things to this person who does the 12 to 6, you know, midnight deal.
12:58Right.
12:58And he had played some of their things and they suggested that I send him some things.
13:02So I sent him some things, but I never heard from them.
13:05It's typical.
13:06Yeah.
13:08But I tell you, I've been on heavy airplay in San Francisco for about 5 or 6, maybe even
13:188 months.
13:19That's excellent.
13:20Do you know what station?
13:21Yeah.
13:27I do know which one it is.
13:29I can't think of it.
13:30Right.
13:31It's the, it's one of the college stations, San Francisco State.
13:35Right.
13:35KUSF or something?
13:36No, it's not that one.
13:38It's San Francisco State College, KSFC.
13:46Uh-huh.
13:46Possibly.
13:48I think that's it.
13:50Right.
13:54And, you know, I've been communicating.
13:56They have sent me letters and things.
13:57As a matter of fact, they send me their playlists and they just, they write, Hey Jandik, you know,
14:03that's how it's typed out.
14:04Right.
14:05And I've made, another one that I seem to get playlisted on often is Boston College.
14:14Uh, um, radio station.
14:18That's fascinating.
14:19And, uh, this last one, I don't know if you've got the interstellar, interstellar discussion
14:24release.
14:25No.
14:26Oh, you don't?
14:27No.
14:27Oh.
14:29I'll have to send you that.
14:30Uh-huh.
14:30That's the latest one.
14:31And, uh, they had that on, uh, the first time I sent it to them, it just went to number
14:3624.
14:37Uh-huh.
14:38The first week.
14:39And since then it's, uh, spent three more weeks, but all of them over 40.
14:43Geez.
14:44You know, out of 50.
14:46Uh-huh.
14:46And, uh, just a bunch of, uh, I'd say it's been playlisted on about, oh, 12 to 15 different
14:57stations from time to time.
14:59Uh-huh.
15:00Maybe more, but not more than 20.
15:02Right.
15:02But a lot of them are repeating stations, like Boston College has just, uh, had a number
15:08of the, uh, recordings on their, on their, uh, top 50.
15:13That's excellent.
15:14That's it.
15:15Uh, uh, possibly one of the people responsible for the airplane in San Francisco is George
15:20Parsons, because I tried to reach him and, uh, his relative or whoever told me that he
15:25moved to San Francisco.
15:27Have you been in touch with him, or do you know where he is?
15:29Uh, not lately.
15:31I've had, uh, several discussions with John.
15:34I call him, uh, maybe he doesn't like to hear from me.
15:38I mean, I called him a few times when I was in dire straits, uh, you know, when I just
15:43felt like the world was falling apart.
15:46And, uh, spent, you know, time with him on the phone.
15:49Uh, he, he did a piece called The Other, which, uh, oh, that you were on that.
15:56Right.
15:56I remember The Other.
15:57I had a song on that, too.
15:58Uh-huh.
15:59And, um, actually had the picture of a chair beside a window, I think, was, uh, somewhere
16:06in that little booklet or something.
16:08Uh-huh.
16:09And, uh, he had a station in, was it Sacramento?
16:15Right.
16:16Uh, Nevada City.
16:17Right.
16:18KVMR.
16:19And, uh, it was playlisted there several times.
16:22Uh-huh.
16:23And, uh, when someone heard from him or communicated with him in, uh, gee, it must, it's gotta be
16:31nine or ten months.
16:32Right.
16:33Uh-huh.
16:33When you, um, when you started writing poetry or, or, uh, singing to your, uh, you know,
16:40with a guitar and so forth, uh, was it, uh, based on inspiration?
16:46I mean, did you listen to records or read, uh, other poets?
16:50Or was there any sort of inspiration that, uh, that, uh, that, uh, sort of inspired you
16:56to begin writing poetry?
16:57Or did it begin spontaneously, almost like, uh, having discussions with yourself or trying
17:04to organize ideas?
17:05I mean, was there any influence or ideas?
17:07No, there wasn't any influence.
17:09Uh, I guess, I think when I was in the 11th grade, our teacher said, and our English teacher
17:14said, okay, we're all gonna write a poem today.
17:16Right.
17:16And everybody sat down for the whole period and had to write a poem.
17:19Uh-huh.
17:20And, uh, I got into a big deal over it because the, uh, you know, she called me up after
17:26class and, uh, you know, accused me of copying the poem and all this kind of thing.
17:31That's amazing.
17:32And, uh, you know, I just got, it's always stood out in my mind and I got, you know,
17:36kind of upset over it and everything.
17:37And eventually it got, uh, published in the, you know, the high school paper or something
17:42like that.
17:42Uh, so it was totally spontaneous as far as that goes, the beginnings of that.
17:49Uh-huh.
18:04Uh, he's got, he's got, uh, um, he's got a, uh, recording out.
18:13I gave it to somebody though, it, uh, um, you know, Friedrich von Hagen, uh, classical thing.
18:21Uh-huh.
18:21Uh, it had some very strange instrument in it that sounded like, uh, um, the, the horns
18:29that they would play when, when the, uh, knights were returning to the castle or something.
18:34Uh-huh.
18:37Uh-huh.
18:37If you know what I mean.
18:38Uh-huh.
18:39Uh, I like almost all kinds of music.
18:41If I'm in the car, I'll switch, uh, I got interested in country music, uh, being here
18:47in Houston, uh, I, um, I like that a lot.
18:51And I also like, uh, oh, I like the hard rock, uh, uh, uh, Tom Petty I like pretty good.
18:58Uh-huh.
18:59Um, probably just the regular old schlock, you know?
19:04Right.
19:05Uh, but it seems to, um, it seems to, you know, make me feel good when I'm driving in
19:12the car.
19:12There's only a couple radio stations here, I don't, that have, uh, um, you know, the kind
19:19of music that we do, and I do listen to them also.
19:23Uh-huh.
19:23Um.
19:28Uh-huh.
19:28That'd be more of the FM stations.
19:29I noticed in, in, uh, much of your, uh, work, uh, you talk about, uh, uh, uh, natural
19:39things, naturalistic things.
19:40You're talking about the rain, and, uh, there's a title called Liquids Float to the Sea, and
19:45one of the, uh, pieces that Nancy was singing, she was singing something about raising one's
19:51hands to the, uh, sky, and then the rain kisses your hair, or kisses one's hair.
19:56Um, what, uh, are you, uh, uh, trying to figure out, uh, when, when, I mean, it, it, it, it's
20:10hard to talk about something as, as, uh, involved as poetry and so forth.
20:14Um, are you sort of exploring things that you find interesting or beautiful, or, when
20:23you're talking about things like the, the rain or liquids flowing to the sea and so forth.
20:27What, uh, what, what is, what is the essential message that you're expressing, sort of the,
20:31the beauty of nature, things of that nature, or?
20:35Uh, that's a tough one.
20:38That's a tough one.
20:39Well, I think it's almost inexpressible.
20:40I think the best thing one can do is go back and listen to the pieces themselves because
20:44they speak for themselves.
20:46But I, I was curious if you've had any, if, uh, elaboration or almost self-analysis of
20:54why you write like, uh, what you write.
20:57But, uh, that's almost an unfair question because, uh, it's very difficult to explain.
21:02I mean, you just almost do it spontaneously.
21:03I know a lot of my work I do spontaneously without really analyzing it.
21:07Yeah, yeah.
21:08And, uh, I don't mind, you know, answering this kind of question if I can see a way to
21:12answer it that, that, um.
21:14Well, you don't even have to answer it either.
21:16That's realistic.
21:16Yeah.
21:17Um.
21:19I mean, if you never thought about it, that's okay.
21:21It's difficult.
21:23Sure.
21:23I don't know how to answer that question.
21:24I, I just find the, uh, the pieces themselves very beautiful and the imagery very beautiful.
21:29I mean, liquids flow to the sea.
21:31I mean, every, you know, the rivers flow to the sea and, and, uh, uh, that's part of the hydrological
21:36cycle is, is, uh, you know, the rains fall on the mountain and then they flow through
21:42rivers into lakes and then eventually make their way to the sea.
21:44And then from the sea they're evaporated into, into rain.
21:47And what you're, uh, what it seems to be is, is, uh, you're, you know, aware of the hydrological
21:53cycle of the, you know, water cycling throughout the, the Earth's atmosphere and so forth.
21:59It's just, it's something that most people don't think about or, or, you know, they don't
22:03think about in that way most, you know, most often and so forth.
22:06I guess you're right.
22:08And I notice you have some, uh, electric instruments such as electric guitar and they sound like,
22:14uh, drums, like somebody on drums.
22:16Now, is that you?
22:17You have, um, um.
22:22I think it was Chair Beside a Window?
22:24No, the next to the last album was, uh, the heck was the name of that one?
22:36The Rocks Crumble.
22:37Do you have that one?
22:37The Rocks Crumble.
22:38I think so.
22:39Oh, well that's, there's a lot of electric in that.
22:41Okay.
22:42And, uh, is, uh, were you overdubbing the drums or somebody playing them along with you?
22:48On that particular album I did everything.
22:51Uh-huh.
22:52That's interesting.
22:52So you record one track then go back and record the drums and so forth.
22:56Yeah, as I listened to the other one.
22:58Uh-huh.
22:59Which would you record first, the drums or the guitar?
23:01No, the drums were second.
23:03I did the guitar and vocals on one cut, on one channel.
23:07Right.
23:07And then did the drums on the other.
23:09That's interesting.
23:10And, uh, what sort of electric guitar is it that you play?
23:14Is it a new one, an old one?
23:16Did you, did you actually go?
23:18The Gibson Melody Maker.
23:19Uh-huh.
23:20And, uh, uh, uh, Gibson Melody Maker.
23:24Have you ever had experience playing with a rock group or a band or anything?
23:27Or is it mainly you, yourself, in your room?
23:30Uh, not, uh, not in public.
23:35Uh-huh.
23:36Uh, did a lot of, you know, fooling around.
23:39Uh-huh.
23:41Yeah, that's not organized, though.
23:43Right.
23:43Right.
23:44I'm fascinated by the fact that you keep releasing these records and so forth.
23:51And, uh, when you take your tapes down to be mastered and so forth, are they fairly familiar
23:58with you?
23:58And, uh, I guess it's all very business-like when you master your records and so forth.
24:05Yes, it is.
24:07Uh-huh.
24:07Right.
24:07It's all business and so forth.
24:09Yeah, I try to keep it that way.
24:12Uh-huh.
24:15Uh-huh.
24:16It just seems to make things easier.
24:18Right.
24:19Uh-huh.
24:19Of the other people that would use the pressing plant in the place in Houston, is that, uh,
24:27are they mainly country artists or educational or what sort of?
24:31Spanish.
24:32Spanish.
24:32Oh, that's right.
24:33Because you're close to Mexican.
24:35When I go in the warehouse, I see all these stacks of things and they'll usually have one
24:40with a, uh, a picture on it and it'll be, uh, you know, some kind of Spanish music.
24:46Uh-huh.
24:46Some religious music and some, uh, Zydeco type, uh, you know, uh, accordion things and maybe
24:57some, some old blues, uh, some old Houston blues.
25:00I think the country and western stuff is, uh, much more commercial.
25:07Uh-huh.
25:07And done on a, uh, a much bigger scale and probably not pressed in Houston.
25:13Right.
25:13Probably pressed in, uh, Memphis or Nashville or something like that.
25:18Right.
25:19And the, uh, the country and western studios are also different.
25:25They're, you know, they're, like, there's some big names here.
25:28There's, uh, was it, uh, Mickey Kelly and Roy Head?
25:31Right.
25:32And people like that.
25:33And they, you know, just about built their own network.
25:36Uh-huh.
25:37And it's sort of controlled and, uh, not, not like the way I'm doing business.
25:42So, uh, the only record pressing company in Houston is where I go.
25:49And it's mainly, um, I'd say Spanish and religious and, uh, some old blues things.
25:56Right.
25:57Uh, what, Corwood Industries is you.
26:00Is that correct?
26:02It's a, uh, it's a company, uh, uh, on record at the city hall here in Houston, uh, of which
26:10I'm a sole proprietor.
26:11Oh, I see.
26:12Okay.
26:12So anything going to the P.O. box is actually you and you answer it and run it and so
26:18forth.
26:18Yeah.
26:19That's interesting.
26:20A self-made person.
26:21Well, um, also the, uh, the name Jan Deck.
26:25Now you explained that to me at once and I forgot it.
26:28And, uh, uh.
26:30Um, originally I had called, uh, the thing, uh, the units.
26:33Right.
26:34Uh, N-I-T-S.
26:35Right.
26:35Uh, the first album, uh, had a thousand done under that name.
26:39Right.
26:40And, um, it was, uh, in my first, uh, nailings out and everything, it was playlisted in, um,
26:50a couple of stations in Colorado, Colorado Springs and, uh, Denver.
26:55Um, I don't even think they do this kind of music and I think they went to a, uh, classical
27:01format or something.
27:02But anyway, back in 78, um, it was playlisted there and, uh, you know, it got around a little
27:09bit and I was sending some of it out.
27:11And I sent some out to one, one time I tried sending copies to record stores.
27:18Right.
27:18To see if they could, I could get orders, but I guess I just kept them all cause I, I
27:22never
27:23got any response out of that.
27:24Right.
27:24But I sent some to a record store in San Francisco and I got a real nasty letter from, uh,
27:31from
27:32somebody who sent me, uh, registered mail, an entire portfolio of his group called the
27:38units.
27:38Uh huh.
27:39And the fact that, uh, you know, they were on record in Washington and everything with
27:45the name and, uh, that if I didn't cease and desist using it, they were going to sue me.
27:50Uh huh.
27:50And they had done it before and they assured me that it, uh, it would be found in their
27:55favor.
27:56So I said, well, the heck with this.
27:57And I just tried to find out some name that nobody would, nobody would use.
28:02Right.
28:02And, uh, I was, I was speaking with, it was January and I was speaking with somebody on
28:10the phone named Decker.
28:11Uh huh.
28:12So I just combined the two.
28:14Uh huh.
28:15That's great.
28:18Dan Deck.
28:20It, uh, seemed to, um, be something that not too many people would pick.
28:25Right.
28:27So yeah, it is an unusual name and so forth.
28:30Uh, and in, in the future you're going to keep releasing these records on a, how, how
28:35regularly will you release them?
28:37I figure I can't go less than two a year.
28:41Yeah.
28:41If I do, I'll really go into obscurity, which is, you know, maybe the case anyway.
28:46Right.
28:47Uh, two to three a year should be my target.
28:51Uh huh.
28:51Uh huh.
28:52I can, you know, I can, I can afford that, I think.
28:55Uh huh.
28:56I don't have many hobbies or anything.
28:58Uh huh.
28:59Well, yeah, that, that's interesting if you, to, to keep on, uh, putting it out and, and,
29:03and so forth.
29:04Because I know there are people that are, uh, interesting.
29:07I mean, it's not music that's for everybody.
29:09I mean, a lot of people simply wouldn't pick up on it or, or it would be too obscure.
29:14But, uh, uh, there are people, uh, that are very enthused about it.
29:18I, for one, I know George Parsons.
29:19I know, uh, other people that would listen to, uh, the other are interested in it and
29:24so forth.
29:25And, uh, when I talked with, uh, uh, Edward Ross about doing an article, I showed him
29:30a couple of your albums.
29:32And I explained a little about, uh, you know, how you put out the records and so forth.
29:35And he thought it would be fairly interesting.
29:37So, um, if, and when it does get, uh, printed, it, you know, it won't be a huge article, just
29:42like, uh, five or six paragraphs and so forth.
29:45And he was interested in reproducing the, uh, the color cover that you had from, um, it
29:53had, I think, green carpeting on it and it showed a sofa or a chair.
29:58Would that be acceptable?
29:59Oh, sure.
30:00Okay.
30:00Yeah, fronts, backs, uh, you know, anything of that nature.
30:04Okay.
30:04Well, I, I can't guarantee it.
30:06You see, they're still trying to start up the issue and so forth.
30:09And I can't guarantee whether this will get in or not and so forth.
30:12But he commissioned me to, to work on it.
30:15And I'm doing it.
30:16I'm doing all this stuff on spec.
30:17I'm just saying, let me write some stuff for you.
30:19And, and if it gets in fine, if it doesn't fine.
30:22And so he's just, um, he just wants it by Friday.
30:26So.
30:26Yeah.
30:27Would this be part of your work?
30:28No.
30:29What, what I'm doing now is I was working at a, um, at a, uh, film vault.
30:33And I was using dangerous chemicals.
30:35I wanted to get it away from there.
30:36So I have a job now at a hardware store.
30:39It's, uh, you know, that's six days a week.
30:42So that's very taxing.
30:43And, and a lot of my free, you know, I don't have that much free time.
30:46And, uh, also, uh, Enigma Records asked me to put out another record.
30:50But, uh, uh, getting that out is very difficult, you know, since I don't have that much time to put
30:56it out.
30:56And I'm financing it myself because they, uh, they didn't want to take me into a decent studio.
31:02They just wanted to go to an eight-track studio.
31:04And, and I want to have more tracks.
31:06So I'm saving up for a recording session in my spare time writing music.
31:11And then Edward Rosen, uh, called me up and wanted, uh, to see if I was interested in writing some
31:16pieces for this magazine that he's launching.
31:19So it's going to go for a couple of issues.
31:21I think the first issue is out March 19th.
31:24In fact, I'll send you a copy if and when it does come out.
31:27And, uh, what kind of magazine is this going to be?
31:30Is this going to be a slick type magazine?
31:31Yeah, a slick type magazine.
31:33It's called Spin.
31:37That's right.
31:38Well, he enjoys my writing.
31:40But I, I'm basically starting off by saying, uh, I'll do it on spec.
31:45If you can actually use the pieces if they get printed or if you print the things and then want
31:49to come back for me for more,
31:51we can, we can, uh, talk about money and payment and things like that.
31:54Contract, yeah.
31:55Yeah.
31:56Something like that and, and so forth.
31:58But I don't want to, um, I want to, I want to, I like to be the person that produces
32:03things and get things done
32:04and then prove to them that I'm good enough for, for what they do.
32:07And, uh.
32:08That's admirable.
32:09Yeah.
32:09So, so, so what I do in a way is make them dependent on me.
32:13And then when I make them dependent on me, then I can ask for some sort of, uh, contractual agreement
32:18or, uh, compensation or something like that.
32:21But I'm, I'm mainly interested in, in, uh, um, in producing and getting things done.
32:27And, uh, in order to guarantee that in the future, you, you, uh, you, uh, sort of play it on,
32:32on their rules.
32:33For example, the, uh, the first, I don't know if I sent you Blind Man's Penis, that weird, uh, record.
32:39When I did that with Enigma, I never had a contract with them.
32:43I did it, uh, I promoted it by myself and they just pressed it up and distributed it.
32:47But, um, uh, I never sat down and had a contract with them because, um, I hate to sound cynical
32:54about it,
32:55but, um, if you deal with a record company or any, any of these people, any business, they just don't
33:00care about you.
33:01Even if you're an artist or, you know, the, uh, one of their artists putting out material and so forth,
33:06they treat it in a very business-like manner and they won't, they won't, uh, uh, really stay in touch
33:13with you or help you out
33:14unless it's selling a lot of copies.
33:16If it's not selling a lot of copies, it's just like an oddball item that they like to keep in
33:19the catalog.
33:20And so, um, what I wanted them to do was ask me for more material.
33:26And, uh, uh, since I was, I was interested in putting out more material, but I knew that I wasn't
33:32selling a lot.
33:33And so I didn't ask for any money up front. I just wanted to be like an easy-going, nice
33:36guy and so forth,
33:38and, uh, offer my stuff more or less for free.
33:41And so when it came time to do the, the, uh, LP, he, uh, you know, had me sign a
33:46contract and so forth like that.
33:48And he's, he almost proposed it to me because he saw that I wasn't going to, you know, make all
33:52sorts of demands on him and so forth.
33:54And to this day I've not made a penny on any of the, any of the, uh, records that I've
33:58sold.
33:59I mean, I haven't really sold that many and so forth.
34:01But, uh, I enjoy putting them out and making them.
34:04I mean, that's, that's my main goal.
34:06I mean, I'm, uh, I like music for the end, for, for itself.
34:11I'm not, I'm not doing it to make money because it's almost impossible to make money doing this sort of
34:16material, as you probably know.
34:17Yeah.
34:19So, uh.
34:19Oh, you never can tell where it's going to lead, though.
34:21That, that's right.
34:22So that's, that's why it's important to.
34:23This, uh, writing this article for this magazine sounds like, um, a real good opportunity.
34:28Oh, absolutely.
34:29Absolutely.
34:30And he wants more pieces and so forth.
34:32So I have to, that's, and it's all in my spare time, like at nights when I get home from
34:36the, from the hardware store on weekends
34:38when I'm still trying to do, uh, my, you know, write my music and so forth.
34:41So it's, you know, it's, it's a little hectic, but I, but I like to, um, do things of that
34:45nature.
34:46And, uh, uh, when I, when I do the, uh, Jandec piece, I do want to include your P.O.
34:52box because I'd like to, uh, generate some letters
34:55to some sort of interest from anybody that's interested in this.
34:58Yeah.
34:58You put the whole, the full address down.
35:00Yeah.
35:01Orwood Industries.
35:02Everything I've got is, uh, in the Library of Congress.
35:05Uh-huh.
35:06Copyrighted.
35:07I used to do that with my material, too.
35:08The, uh.
35:09Oh, yeah.
35:10It's, it's so simple, John.
35:11You just, uh, you get, you know, you just call them up and they send you these forms for assignments.
35:16Right.
35:17And all you do is send the entire sound recording.
35:20Uh-huh.
35:20You don't have to type out the words and then put the music to scale and all that kind of
35:24thing.
35:24You just send the sound recording to them.
35:27Right.
35:27And they copyright that sound recording.
35:29That's excellent.
35:30Uh-huh.
35:30It's so easy.
35:31Right.
35:31Ten bucks for two copies and you got it copyrighted.
35:34Right.
35:36Hmm.
35:37Well, I think, uh, Enigma does that for me, but I have to double check on it and so forth.
35:42Um, uh, let's just, let's see.
35:46What else?
35:47Have I given you enough for your, uh?
35:48Oh, I think that's excellent.
35:50Yeah.
35:50In fact, I should have, I should have called you back and stuff so you wouldn't have to
35:53pay for long distance call.
35:54Um, what, uh, you're going to keep on making these records.
35:58How many?
35:58You have nine out now.
36:00Let's see.
36:03Hold on.
36:04I think I got a, uh, a list of them here.
36:07Okay.
36:13Do you have any kind of list of what you have?
36:15Uh, yes.
36:16I have, uh, all the records in front of me except for the color one.
36:19Okay.
36:20I've got, uh, 039 ready for the house.
36:23039 ready for, that's got the couch and the green rug on it.
36:27Right.
36:27Ready for the, what is that called?
36:30House.
36:30House.
36:31And is that, uh, is this an order that you're giving it to me?
36:34Yeah.
36:35Okay.
36:35That was the first one?
36:36Right.
36:36Okay.
36:38Uh, 0740 is six and six.
36:41Right.
36:420741 is later on.
36:45Uh huh.
36:460742 is chair beside a window.
36:49Right.
36:500743 is living in a moon so blue.
36:54Moon so blue.
36:56Uh huh.
36:570744 is staring at the cellophane.
37:00Uh huh.
37:020745 is your turn to fall.
37:04Okay.
37:05Well, when, when you have the title, your turn to fall, what does that mean?
37:11Uh, that was, um, a line out of one of my songs on one of the former albums.
37:19Uh huh.
37:19Uh huh.
37:20That, I was listening to it and it struck me the way it came out.
37:24It just, I thought it was worthy of a, of an album cover.
37:29It doesn't possibly look as good as an album cover if you just look at it, your turn to
37:34fall.
37:35Right.
37:35But if you hear it on the, uh, on one of the former records and think of it in that
37:41way,
37:42it takes on a different character.
37:44Uh huh.
37:45So.
37:46Well, it's an interesting title.
37:48Yeah.
37:49Uh.
37:51Let's see.
37:52Uh.
37:530745 is that and then 0746.
37:564-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 are all phrases out of songs of former releases.
38:07Uh huh.
38:08What's 0746?
38:10The Rocks Crumble.
38:11Uh huh.
38:13Well, uh, okay, when you wrote the line, The Rocks Crumble, what was that a reference
38:17to?
38:19Because I remember that out of one of your poems.
38:21Yeah, that came from, uh, that, I thought that that was, I think, probably my, uh, the
38:32cut that I think has the most impact out of everything so far.
38:37Everybody has their own things that they like.
38:39Right.
38:39And the one that I thought had the, the best poetry in, in everything was a cut on 6 and
38:466 called, um, uh, what was the name of that?
38:53I Knew You Would Leave.
38:55I Knew You Would Leave.
38:56Okay.
38:57I Knew You Would Leave.
38:59Does that refer to anything specific, or?
39:01Uh, it's just about, you know, uh, someone that, uh, left.
39:05Right.
39:06You know, you were, um, the inevitable, um, uh, heaven flow of people into your life.
39:15Right.
39:16And someone that had left, uh, quite totally.
39:20Right.
39:20Uh huh.
39:21Uh huh.
39:22That's, that's a universal phenomenon.
39:24I think everybody knows that.
39:25Yeah, I think so.
39:26You know, but I think this, that particular cut, um, really expanded on that idea and just
39:33took it all over the place.
39:36Um, and the first, uh, um, that's, that word, the rocks crumble is, is the whole thing.
39:43It's like, you know, a rock that was one thing eventually crumbles either by deterioration
39:53from age or, or, or water or a sledgehammer.
39:59It, eventually it, it, it crumbles into sand on the sea.
40:03Uh huh.
40:04Or, or that, I mean, that's what happens to it.
40:06And what was once a rock is then kind of goes into sand and eventually evaporates into the
40:12air just like water does.
40:14Right.
40:14It may take more, a lot more eons than water takes, but that's, it works that way.
40:19Uh huh.
40:20And, uh, that's sort of what happens when, um, when somebody leaves, they, um, there's
40:26a presence and, uh, then they evaporate and they're, and, you know, they remain a big
40:32presence in your mind, like big pieces of rock or something.
40:36And then that sort of filters down and, uh, they're still there.
40:41And what was once that rock is always going to be part of the universe.
40:44Right.
40:45Was once that person is always going to be part of the, uh, the psyche of, of your mind.
40:50I mean, I dreamt about someone that I knew all along.
40:55I mean, you know, you may dream about something that someone you knew when you were seven years
40:59old, you know, when you're 37 or 27 or 17 or something.
41:04Right.
41:04And, um, they, they're always there or, or maybe when, you know, when you're 89, right
41:10before you die, you may think of somebody that you knew when you were 10.
41:14Right.
41:14It's like, you know, they, they crumble and they, and they disintegrate and they go, but,
41:19uh, they're still part of, of, of the universe somehow, whether it's material or, uh, mental.
41:26Uh-huh.
41:27But that's, you know, it's like the rocks crumble unto dust they die.
41:31Once hard stuff of mountains, now soft powder among the sands.
41:36It's kind of like, um, that's how I came with that title.
41:40And 0747 is Interstellar Discussion.
41:44Uh, what's on the cover of that?
41:46That's a color cover, expensive, uh, thing.
41:51And, uh, it's got a, uh, primarily it's a big close-up of a drum set.
41:57Uh-huh.
41:58It's, uh, one side of it is 90% electric.
42:01Uh-huh.
42:02Where, um, um, I got together with another individual who played the drums and did some vocals, and
42:11I did guitar and vocals, and I think there was a third individual who did some bass.
42:16Uh-huh.
42:16But you don't remember their names or anything?
42:20Uh.
42:20Well, you don't have to give me their names, but are they friends of yours, or just acquaintances,
42:24or people that, uh, how do you run into these people that would actually play on your, on
42:28your, uh, tapes?
42:30Um, those people, I don't remember their full names.
42:33They had nicknames that I remember.
42:35Uh-huh.
42:35Uh-huh.
42:35How did you meet them, or how did they come to, uh, play?
42:54Uh, I don't think I can answer that, uh, uh.
43:17I don't think I'd be right to answer that.
43:20Oh, okay. That's perfectly okay.
43:24And are you tending to go more electric, or is most of your music acoustical?
43:29Well, the next cut, 930, is all acoustic, but after that, things become more electric.
43:40Do you have a preference for acoustic or electric music?
43:45It depends on my attitude or mood or something.
43:51Probably just like everyone else that has a varied...
43:55I mean, sometimes I'd like to listen to a classical thing, even on the radio, the car radio.
44:01Sometimes country and western, sometimes rock, sometimes soul music.
44:07And it's the same way with acoustic and electric.
44:11I would say, if I had only one that I had to live with, I would...
44:18I think the acoustic, maybe.
44:20Right.
44:23My favorite pieces that you do are the acoustic pieces, where it's just you and your voice and the guitar.
44:29And you say that each time you do a new record, the guitar tuning is slightly different.
44:33You tune it to what sounds best to your...
44:36Yeah, but it may be even more than that.
44:39It may be every other song, or even every song.
44:45Uh-huh.
44:46I know sometimes I may go with three songs with the same tuning, but I kind of...
44:51Before every song, I'll just kind of, you know, just give it a one, two, three, four, five, six,
44:56and make sure everything sounds right.
44:58Uh-huh.
44:59But to me, I mean, everybody says the guitar's out of tune and everything.
45:06But to me, if it's out of tune to my mind, I can tell immediately.
45:11Right.
45:12And then I'll say, no, that's no good, and I'll adjust it.
45:16Uh-huh.
45:17So it's a very subjective tuning, because I know there is a musical quality to the intervals
45:26that you're tuning your strings to and so forth.
45:29And, you know, there is an interplay between the words and the singing and the guitar strumming
45:37and so forth.
45:38The guitar is absolutely tuned.
45:41There's not a time that I pick it up fresh from having left it for a while that I don't
45:46tune it.
45:47Right.
45:48Yeah.
45:48Let me count these.
45:49One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
45:52Nine releases, and one that's all mastered up and everything.
45:59It's just ready for me to make sure I can, you know, I'm going to pay for it and everything.
46:04Right.
46:05And that's 0748.
46:06Right.
46:07Okay.
46:07Well, that would be great.
46:09So if there's any of those that you don't have, I'd be glad to send them to you.
46:14Yeah.
46:15I don't have interstellar discussion and I don't have the latest one that you're still
46:19pressing up and so forth.
46:20But I'll probably write you a letter or send you some propaganda or something like that
46:24just for the hell of it and stuff.
46:26I don't think I can get interstellar to you in time to Friday.
46:29Yeah.
46:30Don't worry about it.
46:31Don't worry about it.
46:31I can still mention it, I think.
46:34Do you have to have this in by Friday?
46:36Well, I'm finishing the article by Friday, but I can still talk about all your other releases
46:43and mention the ...
46:44Well, I'll tell you what.
46:45Let me see.
46:46What it would take for me is I'd have to go over to ... I'm out of mailers.
46:52That's the problem.
46:53No, don't worry about it.
46:55No, I'll get it to you.
46:56I'll mail it either Monday or Tuesday and you should have it by Friday.
47:04I won't send in my regular book rate deal.
47:08So I'll get it to you and you should have it by Friday.
47:11I'll try and mail it tomorrow.
47:13I'll just rig up some kind of cardboard thing to put it in.
47:16Right.
47:16Well, in either case, I can still go back and analyze the previous albums and so forth
47:23and toy with them.
47:25No, I will get it off to you.
47:27And if you don't get it by Friday, it's because the mail didn't work right.
47:31But I will get that off tomorrow in the mail.
47:37Amazing.
47:38That's great.
47:41And you're still working as a machinist.
47:48Well, I was working at this film vault and I was working with these poisonous chemicals
47:54and I knew that I had to get out of there and so forth.
47:56Well, that's very to the point to me because I was operating this machine.
48:03They put me on this machine that used tremendous amounts of oil.
48:08It was an extremely high speed Swedish machine, I think, that just cut real fast.
48:17It just made a piece super quick.
48:20Right.
48:20And there was an oil mist all the time.
48:23Yes.
48:23And not only that, but you had to get up under the machine and my clothes were just always
48:29full of oil.
48:30Right.
48:30Even after I washed them, I washed them with bleach and everything and I put them on and
48:36they were still, if you know what I mean, heavy.
48:38Right.
48:39They weren't the regular weight.
48:40They were heavy because they were laced with oil.
48:43And I started getting blackheads all over my legs and arms and things.
48:49And I couldn't really do that.
48:54I had to tell them I need to make some changes.
48:57So I'm not really complying exactly with what they wanted me to do.
49:09So I'm not sure how it's going to come out.
49:11Yeah.
49:12Right.
49:13But I have to for my health.
49:14Right.
49:15Right.
49:15Well, I had to change also for my health.
49:17I mean, that's the most important thing.
49:20It's too bad that all these industrial processes are so dangerous to, you know, potentially dangerous.
49:26Well, I think it's okay if you don't make a life of it.
49:30I mean, there's enough, as long as there's enough turnover of young people, they do it for
49:36a year, two years, three years, they're probably not going to be, you know, bad.
49:41Okay.
49:42So you want to go to get a little bit more time now?
49:42Okay.
49:42So let's go.
49:43Go.
49:43So I feel so.
49:43You know, because I feel like I'm going to get a little bit of a series.
49:43It's all that I going to be okay.
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