- 2 days ago
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00:00:07Oh, can't come around here saying you're somebody new
00:00:15Cause I know you, I know you well, well, well, well
00:00:25I know you well, I know you well
00:01:12I know you well, well, well, well, well, well
00:01:27Minneapolis, October 31st
00:01:32I'm here to see Jandek play
00:01:34And she's politely accompanied me to see Jandek play
00:01:39Why politely?
00:01:44I don't know his music very well, but I think it's pretty weird
00:01:51Jandek is this elusive musician from Texas
00:01:56He doesn't go by his real name
00:01:59Nobody really knows what he does
00:02:03He is a, boy, how do you describe him?
00:02:07Avant-garde, experimental musician
00:02:11I guess that's the best way to do it
00:02:13It's open to interpretation
00:02:17It's like a project
00:02:18You know, it's him and whoever he's working with at the time
00:02:23That's what Jandek is
00:02:26I don't know
00:02:29I see him as this kind of standoffish figure
00:02:34Doesn't really want anything to do with the limelight
00:02:36He loves to play, but I don't think he likes the public side of things
00:02:47I stand up
00:02:48I lie down
00:02:49I walk, I talk, I think
00:02:51I do things
00:02:53I'm not a robot
00:02:54The human body and mind have flexibility
00:02:58So I roll with the punches
00:03:00See the landscapes
00:03:03I take a bath
00:03:04I eat breakfast
00:03:06I have my activities
00:03:08So, what's the big deal?
00:03:12There is no big deal
00:03:14Once again, tonight, mere hours away
00:03:18Jandek Eve
00:03:19Jandek Live in Minnesota
00:03:22Right here in Mankato for the first time ever
00:03:24Tickets available at the door
00:03:26$25
00:03:27Do not miss this opportunity
00:03:30Oh, this song
00:03:32Yeah
00:03:32My dad used to sing this all the time
00:03:35Your dad did?
00:03:36Yeah
00:03:37Is this the only sex talk you had?
00:03:39Yep
00:03:39That's exactly right
00:03:40There are some musicians that are just so polarizing
00:03:44And people will either love them or they'll hate them
00:03:47And Jandek definitely seems to fall into that camp
00:03:49I get this a lot too
00:03:51When we play Yoko Ono on the radio show
00:03:53People will just be enraged about Yoko
00:03:56I'm like, no
00:03:57I can find one song that will prove to you that Yoko is an artist
00:04:00And I play that song
00:04:02And they're like, okay
00:04:03I see it
00:04:04I get it
00:04:04But I've always been in love with the story of Jandek
00:04:07Yeah
00:04:07And then not knowing anything about it
00:04:09You can make up stories
00:04:11That kind of work
00:04:13So you build your own mythology around them
00:04:15He's interesting in that
00:04:16He's remained so
00:04:18The most independent artist out there
00:04:21You know, I can't think of anybody else that has, you know
00:04:25Not, you know, gone the way of doing any interviews or any press
00:04:29Or fallen into any of those sort of PR traps or anything like that
00:04:34You know, for so long
00:04:36I think for me the thing about, that drew me into Jandek was just the mystery of it
00:04:43And, you know, at first the sounds seem just kind of random
00:04:49Especially if you're listening to that really early stuff
00:04:51You don't really know what's going on
00:04:53Because it doesn't really sound like any music you've ever heard before
00:04:56No, it's a curiosity
00:04:58Yeah, and if you try
00:04:59But it's not one that you necessarily
00:05:00There's no chorus, pop, line
00:05:04Not like a first chorus
00:05:05Hooked to anything
00:05:05So it's not like you can listen to it and it gets stuck in your head
00:05:09And you're singing Jandek
00:05:10Right
00:05:11Later on
00:05:11But there is something that's kind of inviting about it
00:05:15Like, you can hear, like, the roots of American music
00:05:19Like, there's elements of blues and folk
00:05:21And it just sounds like this, you know, forgotten, long-lost blues artist
00:05:27You know, those guys that went in search of those blues records
00:05:30Like in the 40s and 50s
00:05:32And were going, like, door-to-door trying to track down records
00:05:34And they would get them and play them
00:05:36Like, who the hell is this?
00:05:37They'll sit and we'll listen to these albums
00:05:39And we won't know who
00:05:41Because there's no liner notes on these albums
00:05:42We won't know who is playing what
00:05:44And we'll sit there and we'll just say
00:05:46Okay, what is he playing?
00:05:48And then something will jump out and say
00:05:49Oh, that, you know, that really sounds like Jandek's style
00:05:54Based on previous recordings, you know
00:05:55And that's kind of fun
00:05:58It's speculation and it fits with everything in his career
00:06:01It's all been speculation, you know
00:06:02And a lot of people just sort of pigeonhole him
00:06:04For that sort of loner
00:06:06With a sort of detuned acoustic guitar
00:06:08And I think that's so, you know, outdated at this point
00:06:12So if people, I guess, come back to what he's done here in the last decade
00:06:16I think they'll be pleasantly surprised, really
00:06:18Because to listen to that early stuff
00:06:20It's very easy to say
00:06:21There's no way he knows how to play guitar
00:06:23And there's really these interesting pockets throughout his career, too
00:06:27I mean, I know, Tim, you were mentioning, like, you know
00:06:29There's kind of that early phase of those haunting albums
00:06:32And then there's kind of a bluesy phase
00:06:34And then there's spoken words
00:06:36So there's all these really interesting phases about
00:06:38Or throughout his career
00:06:40And I think this last phase now that we're seeing
00:06:42This live phase is
00:06:43To me has almost become one of the most interesting things
00:06:46Working with other artists has really brought out
00:06:48This new dimension in his music
00:06:51That, you know, sometimes it's musicality
00:06:53Sometimes it's still really aggressively difficult
00:06:58But it just delivers
00:07:00And it's so
00:07:01It comes from such a personal place
00:07:04That, you know, it just really hits home with me
00:07:09I know there's castles and there's parks
00:07:13Near the buildings and the streets
00:07:16There's objects moving everywhere
00:07:19And I hear the distant sounds
00:07:23It's all a character of life
00:07:25That isn't really there
00:07:27The only thing that's there is me
00:07:30Waiting to be with you
00:07:39Mankato, October 20th
00:08:05Right now I've got one kind of close mixed group
00:08:06I've got this one for this area
00:08:08Bass guitar
00:08:08One for drum
00:08:09One for your horn
00:08:11And then one for you
00:08:12That's fine
00:08:12Okay
00:08:14And then do you want to be on your own
00:08:15And let these guys all share a mix?
00:08:17Or would you like share a mix with somebody?
00:08:19Or should it all be the same?
00:08:21Um
00:08:23Okay
00:08:25Okay
00:08:25Okay
00:08:32All blues, yeah
00:08:34Okay, so that's there
00:08:38That's there
00:08:39And if you want to position the way you want them
00:08:41I'll tape them up
00:08:41Uh, there's seven songs, so
00:08:50What's, uh, 90 divided by seven?
00:08:53I don't know, 12 minutes a song or something like that
00:08:56But if we
00:08:58I think what we should do is
00:09:00The first prelude should be instrumental
00:09:04So for, uh, we'll make it eight, ten minutes
00:09:11Well, maybe even at the end
00:09:13Have it, you know, a postlude of instrumental too
00:09:17So we'll start off with instrumental
00:09:19And then it'll be somewhere around nine minutes
00:09:24And then, or it could be more
00:09:25Especially if we like what we're doing
00:09:27And we could truncate some of the other songs
00:09:31And when it, and then
00:09:32When there's, after the first one
00:09:34When there's, when there's vocals seven times
00:09:36We'll do instrumental up until a certain point
00:09:40And then when things seem right
00:09:42I'll start the vocals
00:09:44And
00:09:46When I stop those
00:09:47We'll go back into an instrumental
00:10:01What we're looking for is, is a pulse
00:10:04Rather than a melody
00:10:06We can get away from that
00:10:08Either
00:10:10Individuals at any one time
00:10:12Or everything
00:10:13Can get away from that pulse
00:10:15But it shouldn't be too far away
00:10:17It should, something to fall back on
00:10:19To, to underlie
00:10:23When you're between the ages of
00:10:26One and three
00:10:27Or something like that
00:10:28You're, you want to make sure your mother's there
00:10:32But as long as she's there
00:10:33You can go and play with toys
00:10:35And do these different things
00:10:36But you're always looking back
00:10:37Okay
00:10:37And if she's gone, you freak out
00:10:39So, you know
00:10:42So we don't, we don't want mom to leave
00:10:43I, I think a pulse is always good to come back to
00:10:46And, and, and keep the, I mean
00:10:51Who's it? Stockhausen?
00:10:52Are you familiar with that?
00:10:53I think so
00:10:54I don't think we want to go that far out
00:10:56Okay
00:10:56Because
00:10:58It's, it's difficult
00:10:59To continue
00:11:04Being involved with that for the audience
00:11:06Yeah
00:11:08Now there's one
00:11:10Really wild idea that I had
00:11:12And I don't
00:11:13We're equipped for it
00:11:15But I don't know if we ever want to go there
00:11:17And that is
00:11:18At one point
00:11:19A few months ago
00:11:20I thought of
00:11:23Wearing headphones
00:11:24That take the sound away
00:11:26And each person has the headphones
00:11:28And they're playing their instrument
00:11:29Without hearing anything
00:11:31Ah
00:11:32So no one's hearing anything
00:11:34Right
00:11:35It's, I don't know
00:11:36Except the audience, of course
00:12:00I've given up the ghost
00:12:02And taken on the look of the living
00:12:07Unless you peer into my room
00:12:12And see me dying in your own eyes
00:12:19Yes, I waltz across the sunset
00:12:23And nestle with the falling stars
00:12:27It's all so sparkling
00:12:31I can hardly see
00:12:33So I close my eyes again
00:12:39I came to the end
00:12:52And the beginning
00:12:54And the beginning
00:12:55Revealed itself
00:13:00The gleaming
00:13:02Glowing
00:13:04Dream
00:13:06I dream
00:13:18Forgets the drudgery
00:13:22Of time
00:13:24And place
00:13:28I am not aware
00:13:31Of belief
00:13:39I can't call anything
00:13:42An experience
00:13:46This too
00:13:48Will fade
00:13:50Into darkness
00:13:53And plight
00:13:56Lest
00:13:58You be
00:13:59Disillusion
00:14:01And contemplate
00:14:04And contemplate
00:14:05Your escape
00:14:15There
00:14:17Can't be
00:14:21Contemplation
00:14:28There can only
00:14:31Whether you
00:14:33Be
00:14:33Is
00:14:34In the
00:14:37To
00:14:37Do
00:14:37Do
00:14:37Do
00:14:38Do
00:14:42Do
00:14:47Do
00:14:49Do
00:14:50Do
00:14:51Do
00:14:51Do
00:14:52Do
00:14:52Do
00:14:53Do
00:14:54Do
00:14:54Do
00:14:54Do
00:16:11I have no past.
00:16:13My past is gone.
00:16:15I have no past.
00:16:17My past is gone.
00:16:18My past is gone.
00:16:20I'm out of chicken.
00:16:21I got ribs.
00:16:23I got pork or pork?
00:16:25Pork ribs?
00:16:26Yeah.
00:16:26Yes.
00:16:27Perfect.
00:16:28Yeah, I got a...
00:16:29Baby back or the big ones?
00:16:30I got the big ones.
00:16:30All right.
00:16:31So I got ribs.
00:16:32I got spicy sausage, regular sausage, and sliced beef.
00:16:36And I'm going to take a salad to pay.
00:16:38Okay.
00:16:41You sell by the plate?
00:16:42Yes, sir.
00:16:43Uh-huh.
00:16:47What about the beer?
00:16:49I don't sell beer.
00:16:54Yeah.
00:16:55I said solders, though.
00:17:04I said you don't know what day I'm cooking.
00:17:06On the back right here, backside over here, these are all the dates I cook throughout the
00:17:11year.
00:17:11Okay.
00:17:15Did you ever think about the audience in Mankato?
00:17:19I certainly didn't.
00:17:22Neither did I.
00:17:23That gig has to go, as far as milestones in my musical career, that was a gig where, oh
00:17:30my, I thought about nothing.
00:17:32And the time went by just like that.
00:17:35I was really a bit confused and scandalized when the show was open.
00:17:39I think sometimes I feel like I can learn a lot about playing and music and gigs and
00:17:45performance from gigs that don't go well, right?
00:17:48Because then you have a negative example.
00:17:51You know, I'll tell you a story.
00:17:53I did a concert here in Houston just June 1st.
00:17:59It was a festival.
00:18:01And I went out there.
00:18:02I was playing guitar.
00:18:03And Mike Watt, the famous bass player, and we had a drummer.
00:18:10And we spent, we talked together for like three hours before we were going out.
00:18:15And I just kind of laid down.
00:18:17I said, I want to beat, you know.
00:18:19And it was, you know, when we went out there, we were all strapped up and everything.
00:18:25And the drummer started doing something.
00:18:27And I looked at Mike and I thought, he is not going to know what to do here.
00:18:32And I don't know what to do here.
00:18:34And there's no beat.
00:18:36It's just jazzy, wacky.
00:18:39I mean.
00:18:40So the drummer started.
00:18:42The drummer decided.
00:18:42The drummer, you know, that was the plan.
00:18:43The drummer was going to start and lay down a beat.
00:18:45Mike was going to come in and then we're going to go from there.
00:18:49But I looked at Mike and it was like a long time.
00:18:53And he's just going like playing without hitting any strings.
00:18:58And so I just said, all right.
00:19:00And I just started strumming the guitar.
00:19:03And we started doing things.
00:19:06And then I did some vocals and I hated the vocals.
00:19:11And then I stepped back and we started doing some instrumentation.
00:19:16And I hated it.
00:19:17I hated everything.
00:19:18And I thought to myself, why are these people staying here?
00:19:22This is the most horrible experience.
00:19:26There's nothing is in sync.
00:19:29Like, there's, and, and then the wind blew down the microphone stand.
00:19:35The one you were using.
00:19:36Yeah.
00:19:37For vocals.
00:19:39And somebody rushed out to bring it back up.
00:19:41And I was thinking, don't put it up.
00:19:43And then after he put it back up, I thought, I should go out there and just trash it back
00:19:48down again, you know, in some kind of burn your guitar.
00:19:53And, but I didn't.
00:19:54And we just instrumentalized for 15 minutes.
00:19:57And I said, either I'm going to do these, because I only had 40 minutes, either I'm
00:20:01going to do these vocals or I'm not going to do them.
00:20:03So I decided to go do them.
00:20:04And then I stopped playing the guitar and they just started playing and everything started
00:20:11to make sense.
00:20:13And then it was, the vocalization was over and I looked at the clock and I thought we
00:20:22were done with time.
00:20:23So I stopped.
00:20:24Apparently it was only 35 minutes instead of 40 minutes.
00:20:27And then we went back and the first thing went back into the tent.
00:20:32And the first thing that Mike said was, that was so difficult.
00:20:35And I said, I know I saw you and I knew you couldn't do this.
00:20:39And the whole thing was, I felt was one of the most horrible and lousy experiences musically
00:20:47I'd ever done until I listened again.
00:20:51Well, everyone else said, that was great.
00:20:54And then I listened to the mix and I said, this sounds good.
00:20:59And I listened to it again and I made some changes.
00:21:01And all of a sudden it's a magnificent work.
00:21:04If I could feel that bad about something and then it came out that good, that's a revelation.
00:21:14I mean, of course you can have the reverse.
00:21:16You can feel really good about something.
00:21:18And then you listen to it and say, I thought that was good.
00:21:24And I've got a lot of those too.
00:21:27Well, that's reassuring.
00:21:29I mean, to me it seems like your approach to music is, it's very risky.
00:21:35You know, I mean, I think people get out there and there's a tremendous amount of risk.
00:21:39And that kind of compels everyone to step up and embrace it and deal with it.
00:21:43But it has to be the case that it fails on occasion.
00:21:48It has to be the case that it fails on occasion.
00:21:50Otherwise it's not real risk.
00:21:51So, I'm comforted with the thought that some gigs really don't work.
00:21:57Because it just wouldn't be real otherwise.
00:21:59You think, and sometimes it's the ones that you thought really worked a lot.
00:22:04And then three years later you listen to it and you think, I'm not so sure.
00:22:11I want to do that next.
00:22:12I want to release that next.
00:22:13I went through a stretch of time where I felt like, okay, I need to prepare somehow for this gig.
00:22:19For your gig, you know.
00:22:21And I didn't really know how to do it.
00:22:23So, I thought, well, you know, I was playing the fretless bass and I was working out some new approaches
00:22:29that I hadn't thought about before.
00:22:31And I felt I'm preparing.
00:22:32Because there are a lot of gigs that I prepare for.
00:22:34But a month or so before the gig, I realized that that was a bad idea.
00:22:38And I stopped.
00:22:40And it was real, it was a real liberation.
00:22:42And I said, you know, there is no preparation.
00:22:46You know what I mean?
00:22:47There's no thing you can do.
00:22:49Venues attract certain audiences.
00:22:58And musicians, also.
00:23:01Musicians on stage.
00:23:02What's happening musically?
00:23:07It's a combination.
00:23:12But the venue is really important.
00:23:16Depending on what you have to put forth.
00:23:20Sometimes, when I know that the venue is set, I know that I have to do this or that kind
00:23:27of thing.
00:23:28Otherwise, it won't work.
00:23:33If I know that there's going to be a bar adjacent to the hall, in the hall, I know that
00:23:42I can't play classical piano.
00:23:46Because classical, classical music and alcohol.
00:23:51If it's really fine wine, you know, like, maybe, but it usually isn't.
00:23:58And especially if they're college age, you know, they want to jump and shout.
00:24:05Or at least bebop.
00:24:52But it's online, and I feel like maybe the room was flipped around backwards for one of those shots.
00:24:57Because it seemed like there's a really low, like, both risers, and I thought, what I was looking at.
00:25:01But maybe I just have...
00:25:02Anytime I can get on a stage, an ample stage, and all there is is tiered seats and people, and
00:25:16aisleways on the side,
00:25:18that seems like that's always the best.
00:25:20If they're seated, if they're seated, they can endure an hour and a half, two hours comfortably.
00:25:25Their attention is not...
00:25:28They're not being jostled about by other people nearby.
00:25:35They can lose their selves to the event.
00:25:46It's easier for them to dream and to feel like, I hate it, but I can't leave.
00:25:52You know, they can go into all these mental contours.
00:25:56To me, that's the ideal venue for what I want to do, and how I want to communicate.
00:26:06There's one smaller room that can be private, and then there's the bathroom.
00:26:10Okay.
00:26:11That's right.
00:26:11Well, some of the stuff that you had asked in an email, so there's no other bands playing aside from
00:26:17the Jandek Ensemble.
00:26:19And so, like, when before the show there'd be music playing out there, maybe, I guess?
00:26:24I'm just wondering, like, sound level back here, like, are we going to be able to get people talking conversationally
00:26:29back here?
00:26:29It is a little strange for an audience member to show up and have it be empty and quiet, but
00:26:34other than that, I don't...
00:26:35Well, this may not be your usual audience.
00:26:37That's true, yeah. And, I mean, usual audience for us is, who knows what that is.
00:26:41Are there ever... Have you had shows here that are kind of radical improvisation, total improvisation from start to finish?
00:26:49That'll be the nature of this Jandek show. It'll be 100% improvisation, start to finish.
00:26:55And, actually, I can't even tell you the exact size of the ensemble or the instruments.
00:27:03I mean, what I know is Jandek's playing guitar, and I'm playing bass, and there'll be a drummer and some
00:27:10other people.
00:27:11But, see, the way Jandek likes to do these things, he likes to keep people pretty... the musicians kind of
00:27:16in the dark.
00:27:39I think Houston is a sleeping place. It's not New York. It's not Los Angeles. It's not Chicago.
00:27:47People don't come here to be a tourist, and I'm glad about that.
00:27:57They don't have red buses that go around the city and show you all this sight.
00:28:07This is quartz. That's beautiful.
00:28:14To me, this is a better place to go for a walk than 5th Avenue in New York.
00:28:19Because you can think better. I mean, there's not constant stimulation coming at you and occupying your mind.
00:28:28It's quiet, somber.
00:28:32There's nothing mysterious about it. It's just raw beauty.
00:28:46I suppose you could bring a folding chair and just sit it down.
00:28:54Driving a chariot through the clouds, slaked by the water of life, I consume what I find and only want
00:29:04to feel the constant change.
00:29:06Oh, my memory succumb to the fields, shatter over the rocky roads, tumble down valleys to the heavens below.
00:29:19I dive into a steamy crevice and leave my mind behind, you mind that kept me going slow in a
00:29:33sea of torment, motionless and dry, unrelenting in your tragedy.
00:29:50My name is Crystal Mieslak, and I'm playing piano in the Jandek Performance, October 31st in Minneapolis.
00:29:57I didn't know that much about him. In fact, the first time I ever heard of him, I was listening
00:30:01to Freeform Freak Out, the Mankato radio show that I liked a lot.
00:30:05And I was just listening to a, you know, I wasn't listening to it live, I was just listening to
00:30:11sessions that were pre-recorded, or recorded.
00:30:13And they kept having these sessions about Jandek. And so I was like, who the hell is Jandek?
00:30:18Sorry for saying, I didn't know who he was. And so that was the first time I heard of him,
00:30:22and I searched some things online.
00:30:24And that was, that was only in the past year.
00:30:27I don't have a lot of expectation in terms of, I haven't been told a lot of what I'm going
00:30:32to be doing,
00:30:32but that's, since I haven't gotten sheet music to prepare, I'm assuming I'm not going to have to be playing
00:30:39a rigid type piece.
00:30:41And I like being able to perform more.
00:30:49I'm Craig Matarese, and I'll be playing bass with Jandek in Minneapolis, and also played with him a year ago
00:30:55in Mankato.
00:30:57Although people typically will refer to Jandek's guitar, it's like, oh, he plays this out-of-tune guitar.
00:31:02You know, it's all cacophonous and dissonant and whatever, and weird.
00:31:06But I suspect it's not like, oh, he forgot to tune his guitar, and now it's all out-of-tune.
00:31:11I mean, I think he goes for a certain tune.
00:31:14If you were trying to get clear and clear direction out of him, you would be frustrated.
00:31:27My name is Maja Radovanlya, and I am classical guitarist most of the time, but that's only because I play
00:31:35classical guitar.
00:31:38I didn't know a thing about Jandek, but I thought I should say Yandek, but now I learned.
00:31:44Okay.
00:31:44No, I really never, I have to say I never really heard any of his, I didn't hear his music,
00:31:54I didn't know who he is.
00:31:55And it was quite mysterious, actually, the first contact.
00:31:59I just got an email from someone that is organizing this concert.
00:32:04They said they're looking for a female guitarist, and I thought, okay, well, that sounds okay.
00:32:11And then the whole concept of people not knowing each other that I read about also.
00:32:17I think that's interesting, but it was somewhat mysterious, the whole thing.
00:32:53We need peace.
00:32:55Come on.
00:32:58Justice!
00:33:00Now!
00:33:01Justice!
00:33:02Justice!
00:33:04Now!
00:33:05Justice!
00:33:06So, who's killing who?
00:33:11You don't know who's killing who.
00:33:13Really.
00:33:13Who's dying?
00:33:15Yang Somali man.
00:33:17Oh, oh, oh.
00:33:17Over there in Africa.
00:33:19Here, here.
00:33:19Oh, here?
00:33:20Here.
00:33:20In Minneapolis.
00:33:21His brother got killed.
00:33:23Come here.
00:33:23His brother got killed two nights ago at this alley.
00:33:27A gun?
00:33:28A gunshot.
00:33:30Gunned down.
00:33:31Other places, people die and something happens.
00:33:33Well, over here in Minnesota, people keep dying and nothing has been solved.
00:33:37So, we need justice.
00:33:39That's why we're here.
00:33:40I don't know why all these things have been, but recently it's been happening.
00:33:44I mean, I want the justice to be taken as soon as possible.
00:33:47I mean, I want those killers to be killed.
00:33:53They haven't told us anything yet, but we're looking forward to meeting with them and know
00:33:57everything about the whole thing that they have.
00:33:59And nobody's taking a chance, but the police are investigating.
00:34:03That's why I believe we don't have any answer yet, but we're looking forward to get all
00:34:07the answers by Monday.
00:34:15Thinking is hazardous.
00:34:18I used to really like to think.
00:34:21I prized my ability to think.
00:34:23It felt so human.
00:34:27But I don't accept that.
00:34:32This dirge is out of control.
00:34:35I want to play in the unconscious.
00:34:38I want instinct to direct my steps.
00:34:43I want the intelligence of a quick eye and a fleet foot.
00:34:49Disarm the robots.
00:34:52Convention to the wind.
00:34:54A sleek figure in the night.
00:34:57Dreaming up the stealth of day.
00:35:00The fiery fortitude.
00:35:03Strong enough to conquer self.
00:35:14I'm still here.
00:35:16Yes.
00:35:18But I can see a place where you're not.
00:35:21If I can see it, I can be it.
00:35:44platform is confusing.
00:35:46Yeah.
00:35:48I don't know why.
00:36:12yes all right how are you good to see you likewise
00:36:38i always bring this i don't always use it
00:36:50but that's the argument you've either got
00:36:52it or you haven't anyone because they have it i'll think oh anyone can do it but anyone can't just
00:36:57play one chord and make it sound amazing right right you can't you just can't do it and i love
00:37:00how patrick's just kind of sitting there like you know like just kind of finding his way around
00:37:15testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing i think that's good
00:38:00I've got some sections of lyrical delivery.
00:38:06The first one is going to be five pages.
00:38:09The second one will be three pages, and then I'll retreat.
00:38:13And then two single page, and then retreat.
00:38:17And then a four page.
00:38:21The four page, depending on the time, because that came after the body of the rest of it.
00:38:28But I'm not sure.
00:38:33Tim, they said an hour and a half.
00:38:35I mean, if it goes over to two hours, is that good?
00:38:38Are you there, Tim?
00:38:39Yeah.
00:38:39Yeah, I don't think the game is really...
00:38:42Okay, 7.30 to 9 or 9.30?
00:38:44Yeah.
00:38:45Because I don't know how long it's going to take, but I want a lot of music in between.
00:38:50And as far as those plans that there were, I did a song in Irvine once, and it said there
00:39:03was a plan, but then there was an accident.
00:39:07So, let's just have an accident.
00:39:12So, we're starting out with keys, and then going to drums, and then bass, and then around.
00:39:18Then rhythm and horn, and then, you know, just go around.
00:39:25That's for the first song.
00:39:26After that, whatever.
00:39:29I will stop first, and then it'll go counterclockwise.
00:39:34And then the second one, Nelson will stop first, and then it'll go like that.
00:39:39And I guess I'll end up just fooling around for a few seconds.
00:39:47I don't know, at the end of the talk.
00:39:48So, do you sound like that?
00:39:49Pardon?
00:39:50So, do you sound like that, stopping also?
00:39:54Well, we could.
00:39:56Yeah, starting up and stopping down.
00:39:58Okay, yeah.
00:39:59You want to do that?
00:39:59Oh, I'm just asking.
00:40:00No, I mean, it sounds reasonable.
00:40:10So, I guess if we're dropping out one by one counterclockwise, it also seems as though
00:40:17at least that time we started in clockwise, right?
00:40:20But I don't mean to confuse that with...
00:40:23Yeah, yeah, you're right.
00:40:25Mathematically correct.
00:40:26Well, not because if he ends first, we're going all the way around to you.
00:40:32So, I...
00:40:33Yeah.
00:40:34So, I start and you end, and then you start and I end, you start and you end, you start
00:40:40and you end.
00:40:41Well, you know, I think it's a great idea, and I don't think if we don't get it exactly
00:40:49right, I think that'll be fine.
00:41:18It's a great idea.
00:41:20It's a great idea.
00:43:21I guess I could just sit down, I mean...
00:43:24Should we have in mind trying to achieve anything that's really different than what we've just been up to?
00:43:29I mean, are we...
00:43:30I suppose you mean something more spirited?
00:43:33Nothing, you have to play it, but I guess just, just, that's what I'm wondering.
00:43:37We don't get too spirited unless we do in a...
00:43:44What can I say?
00:43:45In a non-rhythmical, moving toward a beat kind of way.
00:43:51So, that's the way I can think of it.
00:43:54You've been quiet, Nelson.
00:43:55What's up?
00:43:57Oh, I'm just taking it all in.
00:44:01You want to put something out?
00:44:06If you don't want to, that's okay.
00:44:08I don't know, it's just, it's a lot right now, but I like that.
00:44:13But, and I don't know.
00:44:16It's just, uh, it's an experience, so, um, just use intuition, you know?
00:44:24Yeah, it will be different.
00:44:26But, yes.
00:44:27Yeah.
00:44:27It will be different.
00:44:28It always is.
00:44:30Sometimes the best rehearsals turn into the worst performances and vice versa.
00:44:37Right.
00:44:51I like that you'd be able to feel it out a little bit, too, because I feel like we ended
00:44:55it in a way that felt more intuitive, because it doesn't always have to be by person.
00:44:59It could be more about what seems sonically appropriate.
00:45:03We'll end that way, but people will just, um, come out when they feel it's right for them
00:45:11to come out.
00:45:13Does that achieve the same thing, or not?
00:45:19Probably not, but it achieves something.
00:45:23I mean...
00:45:24There's less to remember.
00:45:25Yeah.
00:45:26We're all just appropriate.
00:45:29You know, at the time.
00:46:07I've seen him a couple of times.
00:46:09I saw him in, uh, New York at the Issue Project Rude, and then I saw him in Mankato, and
00:46:16now
00:46:16this is number three.
00:46:19Very excited.
00:46:20First time for me tonight.
00:46:21I'm ready to fly into the mystery.
00:46:23We're here to see Jandek perform live.
00:46:27Heard about it on, uh, Shuffle Function.
00:46:29I'm a big fan of, uh, the radio show.
00:46:33Very funny DJs, so, yeah, that's how I heard about it.
00:46:36I'm excited.
00:46:37He's kind of a mysterious person, too.
00:46:40So, um, yeah.
00:46:42It's basically it.
00:46:43Seventy albums, so...
00:46:49Uh, I heard about it through him.
00:46:51I had read about Jandek before, but I had never listened to his music, and I was just
00:46:56intrigued by the whole mystique surrounding him.
00:47:00So, I think it'll be a singular experience.
00:47:03I'm sort of, uh, I actually was there when the Mankato show was, but I actually didn't
00:47:08even know the show happened.
00:47:09So I'm kind of kicking myself in the pants for missing that.
00:47:11I've been hearing a lot of him on the KMSU public radio, on the Shuffle Function show
00:47:18with shy boy Tim and Shelly, and they hype him up quite a bit, and my curiosity has gotten
00:47:26me to the point where I'm standing here being interviewed.
00:47:41I don't know why I've always got a thing where, like, the rehearsal is exactly what the concert's
00:47:48not going to be.
00:47:51I'm hoping, or I think, is going to be, like, Sterling the songwriter, Sterling the singer.
00:47:55Because he is a great singer.
00:47:57And what I saw at the rehearsal was great songs.
00:48:01Singing in a very, sort of, heartbroken ballad style.
00:48:05And, um, and I think the saxophonist maybe might bring that out as well, because I think
00:48:10originally Sterling was looking for a saxophonist who was a bit, kind of, like, maybe gnarlier,
00:48:14but a bit of a noisier saxophonist, and he's not.
00:48:17He's, the saxophonist who's playing with him is more, he's kind of old school.
00:48:21He's quite, uh, romantic sounding.
00:48:23And I actually think that's going to work quite well.
00:48:28He said, I mean, Sterling said that it was a set of love songs.
00:48:32They're love songs, certainly.
00:48:34Everything's a love song in some extent.
00:48:36Well, it's not a love song.
00:48:37A love song is something that connects you to change.
00:48:39It's something that connects you to things that...
00:48:44age and grow old and die, and...
00:48:47And so, they might not be conventionally what you think of love songs,
00:48:50but when I heard the lyrics, I was like, these are genuine love songs.
00:48:54Memorialising love songs.
00:48:57And, um...
00:48:59It feels like the combination of him and the saxophone
00:49:01might be the most interesting aspect of tonight.
00:49:04That's what I picked up originally.
00:49:06And it's great to hear him sing.
00:49:08He's a great singer.
00:49:09He's a genuine singer.
00:49:10And I think early on, it reminded me of, um, Glasgow Sunday 2005,
00:49:15where the first half of the set is kind of narration,
00:49:18and then suddenly it bursts into song,
00:49:19and you hear his powers as a singer.
00:49:22And it's incredibly powerful and affecting.
00:49:25And I think...
00:49:26This set could maybe just start where that ended.
00:49:29Right in.
00:49:29The ballad style.
00:49:31The great singer.
00:49:34People talk about it as being experimental music.
00:49:36For me, Sterling is...
00:49:40He's a musician.
00:49:41He writes songs.
00:49:43He's a singer.
00:49:44He's a songwriter.
00:49:45And I'm hoping that we get...
00:49:48The hint was that it was going to be songs.
00:49:50We're going to be singing tonight.
00:49:52And I think the thing for the band is to get behind those songs.
00:49:56To listen to the...
00:49:59Pay close attention to everyone's inflections,
00:50:01the movement of his body,
00:50:02and attend to the songs.
00:50:06Play songs.
00:50:07If you think you're going to be playing experimental music,
00:50:10or improvised music,
00:50:12I think that's inaccurate.
00:50:13You're playing Jandik music.
00:50:14And he's a lover.
00:50:17And a songwriter.
00:50:21So I'm looking forward to...
00:50:25Just some...
00:50:27Just some great songs.
00:50:30Potentially.
00:51:38Oh.
00:53:27I know you'll change all over your mind.
00:53:38And I'll get to the...
00:53:52You can have...
00:54:09What everybody would consider to be a heavenly villa in a wonderful Mediterranean, easy living place.
00:54:28Or you can be in Minnesota in the wintertime without an apartment or whatever, without heat, I don't know, and
00:54:42be uncomfortable.
00:54:44And which one's better?
00:54:48I don't know.
00:54:49I don't know.
00:54:51I don't know.
00:54:53I don't know.
00:55:05I don't know.
00:55:45You know, I'm really bad about communicating with people.
00:55:53I really have almost no social contacts and I hardly ever have
00:56:11an after-response that reaches me.
00:56:17They have after-responsees, like your student,
00:56:20and they're more likely to reach you than they are to reach me.
00:56:23And I don't know why, but I don't...
00:56:28I mean, occasionally I'll get an order for a new CD and somebody will say,
00:56:33you know, I was at the Fort Worth concert and it was fantastic.
00:56:37When is that going to come out?
00:56:38You know, things like that.
00:56:39But never any really critical response,
00:56:45unless I hear it third-hand.
00:56:51I saw you somehow then and knew
00:56:58that I could be myself
00:57:06And wild, wild world
00:57:16Stop throbbing
00:57:26And I could be
00:57:31And have peace
00:57:42The idea that somewhere you were breathing
00:57:55And I could hear your breath
00:58:07Kept me contented
00:58:11Even then
00:58:16I heard you talking to me
00:58:27When no one was wrong
00:58:41It didn't matter what you said
00:58:45I got the idea
00:59:04The precious flow
00:59:08The sun was out, but
00:59:14Not really
00:59:15Not really
00:59:18All was gray and bleep
00:59:32The dank air was sickening
00:59:41Breathing of disease
00:59:45The rats were lurking
00:59:50Looking for decay
00:59:53To consume
01:00:05The chains were pulling
01:00:09The chains were pulling
01:00:10Not far away
01:00:13The great rocks
01:00:15Dripping slime
01:00:21Turn of character
01:00:24While still saying
01:00:27The same
01:00:28I'll never know what is next
01:00:30And that's what I need
01:00:33The play of the child
01:00:35The bounce
01:00:38The bounce of your movement
01:00:42The depth of your satisfaction
01:00:50Thrills me every moment
01:00:53How could you not be on my mind
01:01:00You appear
01:01:02When you're not here
01:01:08Like the light
01:01:11Of an angel
01:01:19Bestowing the blessings
01:01:21Bestowing the blessings
01:01:22Of you
01:01:25In the tall stars
01:01:28To and fro
01:01:34Your gentle laughter
01:01:38Pervades
01:01:40And carries me
01:01:43Contented
01:01:47To life
01:01:50I never dreamed
01:01:55I don't want to be
01:01:58Without you
01:01:59Ever
01:02:03Again
01:02:05I don't want to be
01:02:35is to have a front that meets all the requisites
01:02:39of social existence and to have a back that dips
01:02:45into the pools of Never Never Land.
01:02:50I don't even know what my favorite state of being is
01:02:54because it keeps changing.
01:02:56Sometimes it's nice to be content and forward thinking
01:03:03in a good way, excited, even obsessed.
01:03:10Those all are good in their own right.
01:03:13But on the other hand, once you sit back and see all those things
01:03:21and feel like the best thing is just to be conscious
01:03:27of all the different states of mind that you go through
01:03:30and look at them and say, oh, yeah, those are all good,
01:03:33but here I am and without any of those, and that's the best thing.
01:03:39Coping with life doesn't always permit all the things
01:03:43that are stored to come to the surface,
01:03:47because there's always what you're doing now that predominates.
01:03:53And it's not like I'm fighting wild lions and tigers in the savannah,
01:03:58but I'm dealing with my own demons, which I don't even see or feel,
01:04:11but they must be there because, I mean, how much can the past present
01:04:21at any given time to the present?
01:04:24I mean, it's all there, and it's a part of how we become what we're going to become
01:04:30and what we are, but still, what we are and what we're becoming
01:04:35is just so much more than what happened in the past that I can't remember it.
01:04:45A mind is not a brain.
01:04:48A mind transcends the physical.
01:04:54And maybe that's our link to the higher being.
01:05:03How did we get it?
01:05:06How did humans, I mean, is it, is it the big brain?
01:05:11You know, the size of the brain increases when we started eating cooked food
01:05:16and all the other reasons for the growth of the brain and the stratospheric.
01:05:23I mean, what's the world now? It's people.
01:05:27We rule. We rule. Humans.
01:05:30But we came from animals. It's, what happened?
01:05:36It's so amazing.
01:05:40My lovers are everywhere, and my friends, they're everywhere, too.
01:05:47I can just see someone, or maybe I should say, experience someone.
01:05:53And we are in love, and we are great friends.
01:05:56It just feels that way.
01:05:58And we don't have to walk together.
01:06:00We don't have to talk together.
01:06:02We don't have to spend any time together,
01:06:05except that time when we pass each other by.
01:06:11I am in love, and I am in friendship with everyone I meet.
01:06:16It just feels that way.
01:06:31You looked at me quizzically, like, who are you?
01:06:35I thought I was standing there.
01:06:37Yes, I was.
01:06:39Yes, I was.
01:06:41But now, I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:06:45Look at me, and love what you see.
01:06:48Oh, love me.
01:06:50I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:01I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:04I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:06I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:08I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:08I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:08I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:09I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:09I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:09I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:10I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:10I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:11I'm telling you, take a look at me.
01:07:12I'm telling you, take a look at me.
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