Interviews
MFM (Musicians for Musicians), Ken Butler on Music Meets Sculpture, 2/25/2022
NOISEY, on Ken Butler's exhibition/concert in Berlin at the WYE, 12/18/2013
Perfect Sound Forever, on Ken Butler's performance at the Knitting Factory's Instrument Festival, 1998
Music Baeble, interview by Jake Saunders, 2/13/2014
Ken Butler on WNYC's 'New Sounds' with John Schaefer, 1997, parts 1-3
Ken Butler interview from Ted Johnson
Portland Paramount Experience Questionnaire, Portland, Oregon, May 2021
1. Name three of the best concerts you've seen in Portland.
Junior Wells and Buddy Guy at the Crystal Ballroom in 1968, Captain Beefheart at Euphoria in 1981, and James Brown at the Lung Fung Dragon Room (the old bowling alley) in 1982. (And it was always great to see Jim Pepper’s band play around town).
2. About those shows, what was most meaningful to you?
Beefheart just has a quirky one-of-a-kind jangly take on the great Howlin Wolf that re-characterizes virtuosity and musical expectations in very much his own way, still essentially rooted in the blues tradition. But nobody I have ever seen live can touch James Brown for sheer stage presence and intensity putting on a show. Three hours of deep ceremonial sacrifice and redemption! The timbre, tone, and pitch of his intense vocal style, especially those insane super-high frequencies cut so perfectly over the masterful churning super-tight grooves. Grooves! It’s a clinic. No doubt, the hardest act in the world to follow on stage in his prime. (Hendrix or maybe Miles from the 1970’s “Live/Evil” era are up to the task?)
But the concert that forever changed the lives of my brother John (JB) and I was Junior Wells and Buddy Guy in 1968. I was 20, he was 16 and a budding guitarist. There was a small crowd, we were sitting on an old car seat near the left front, and were transported into another realm by his unequaled emotional intensity, hesitation phrasing, and jaw-dropping time-freezing solos. He came off stage at one point and played right into JB’s face. When we arrived home, our classically trained ex-boogie-woogie piano-playing mother was so taken with our excitement that she joined us the following night. After the show her response was “Well, it was way too loud, but it certainly does create a lot of tension when he is bending up towards a note and playing with the time like that!” Yes Mom, you got it! Things were never quite the same.
3. Please share a couple of memories of the first concert you attended (anywhere)?
My best guess is seeing classical guitarist Segovia at the Civic Auditorium(?) maybe around age 12. I recall I got his autograph. Can’t find it anywhere. Years later I happened to see Jimmy James and the Blue Flames (Jimi Hendrix!) at the Café Wha while visiting New York City in 1966 (I was 18). I don’t really remember too much about it. Apparently we were trying to see The Fugs. Very early on I was into the coffeehouse folk scene at The Folk Singer(?) in downtown Portland right across from the library.
4. What are some of the most inspiring musical performances you've seen anywhere?
Hendrix, James Brown, Santana, Jeff Beck, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Weather Report, Mahivishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Gonzalo Rabalcaba, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ivo Papasov, Captain Beefheart, Big Brother, The Doors, Blodwyn Pig, Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, Blind Faith, Johnny Winter, Ten Years After, The Meters, Delaney and Bonnie, Cannonball Adderley, Ornette, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, BB King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton, The Stones, Ellen Mcllwaine, Laurie Anderson, Tom Cora, John Zorn’s Masada, The Paradox Trio, Dave Douglas, Pachora, Slavic Soul Party, Simon Shaheen, Tronzo/Perowsky/Medeski, The NY Gypsy All-Stars, Yasmin Levy, etc.
The Doors played my college homecoming in 1967, but even more memorable was Hendrix at his peak (Soft Machine opening) in Denver in 1968, and later that year Cream, Big Brother, Blue Cheer, followed by The Bath Blues Festival in England (junior year in France) where I saw Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, Ten Years After, The Nice (Keith Emerson), Colloseum, etc., and capped off the year seeing Led Zeppelin at Albert Hall in London with the great Blodwyn Pig opening. Later on, my increasing interest in jazz and fusion then led me to sitting 10 ft. from drummer Billy Cobham (wearing a football jersey, shorts, 3-stripe socks, and track shoes), and John McLaughlin with The Mahivishnu Orchestra in a small club in Denver, right before the “Birds of Fire”release. Yikes! Later, I went to see Weather Report in Boulder: Joe Zawinul announces “We have a brand new bass player and this is his first gig with the band. We’ll start the show with a little solo. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Jaco Pastorius.”, and that show was definitely memorable! Stopping now … so many stories.
5. What inspired you to pick up an instrument, and who are your primary musical influences?
It seems as a 6th grader I was first attracted to a viola during a school concert. “Mom, I like that fat violin.” I had 2 years of lessons and played in an octet with 2 violas, 2 cellos and 4 violins, followed by 6 months (only) of jazz piano lessons in High School. A few years later, in a bomb shelter in Marseilles, France in 1968 while air-guitaring to some guitar solo, a French blues guitarist approached me, we soon became close friends and he showed me my first bar chord. Returning to Colorado, I bought (and modified) a cheap hollow-body guitar. I just wanted to eventually play a couple cool B.B. King licks, nothing complex, as I was more serious about the visual arts and thought of music more like a fun past-time. I always had a guitar and violin around.
Hmm, musical influences … I was giving this a lot of thought as I of course think first of musicians who I admire, but I’m not sure they are really “influences”. I believe there is a good example of virtually every style of music (don’t press me though…). I do have big ears for diversity. At first I was mostly listening for guitar and violin solos in almost everything, not caring so much about words (okay maybe Dylan and Odetta, who’s recordings I wore out), but rather focusing on the tonal quality, emotional expression, and the pull/push of the time feel of the soloists. Early on I took note of Buddy Guy, the 3 Kings, B.B., Albert, and Freddie, Clapton, Harvey Mandel, Jeff Beck, Jimi, then Manitas de Plata, Django Reinhardt, and then Ravi Shankar, Jobim, Hamza El Din, John McLaughlin, and eventually into players like Brad Shepik, Bill Frissel, Dave Tronzo and Dave Fiuczynski. I am a huge fan of Miles, Coltrane, and Monk.
I was always drawn to Middle-Eastern, Indian, Flamenco, and African styles and the timbres of world strings and percussion. Into the 80’s and on in addition to some more experimental directions (like Conlon Nancarrow, Survival Research, Harry Partch, the Baschet Brothers), I was drawn more and more to world music, particularly taken with female vocalists from India, Iran, Bulgaria, Brazil, and the Middle-East, eventually discovering great artists like Parween Sultana, Dimi Mint Abba, Parissa, and Yasmin Levy. I have listened to lots of oud, sarod, sitar, sarangi, kamanche, ney, and saz players, etc. in addition to guitarists, cellists, and violinists. Bartok’s use of folk themes is an inspiration. Ravel’s “Bolero” was once stuck in my head for many months. My own music is melodically based modal grooves with more of a focus on inventive emotional soloing and micro-tonality than harmony. Since I am an improvising by-ear player and have no real understanding of theory, I am often flying by the seat of my pants and hoping for that “connection” that sometimes happens when it all gels for a magical moment or two.
6. Where was your first musical performance in Portland? How did it go?
Aside from a one-time loose jam playing some bad guitar with a thrown together group at the Neighbors of Woodcraft Hall in the mid 70’s, my quasi-theatrical romps with D’anse Combeau and The Playpen of the Arts, and a brief 3-gig stint with my band The Clamps, the first true performance of my own work was surprisingly memorable. I was 33 years old in 1981 and was curated into a group exhibition with my hybrid instruments at Portland Center for the Visual Arts (P.C.V.A) and was asked to put together a live show. I had previously performed with Laurie Anderson at that space and, very much inspired by that, I put together a set of anecdotal stories with loose musical structures, along with slide projections of my artwork. As brother JB was teaching jazz guitar in Amsterdam, I invited Cam Newton, Rob Thomas, and Mike Denny to play my strange hybrid instruments, switching contact mics between them. I had attended events by local artists at that space and wasn’t too concerned as typically not many people attended. However, the press came to the “rehearsal” and ran a promo spot on the 5’oclock news right before the show and 300 people showed up!! We got a standing ovation! It was just unbelievable and that night profoundly changed things forever for me.
7. There was a lot of great music happening in Portland in the 1980s. The most exciting and creative, not necessarily by popular groups packing the big sweaty dance clubs. Groups like the Wipers, Pell Mell, Miracle Workers, and Napalm Beach were making excellent original music. Who are some of your favorite Portland Musical Artists?
Although I liked those bands you mention and saw them all live (my band The Clamps once opened for The Wipers at N.W.A.W.), I was really more into jazz and world music (Note that I did see the Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, Dictators, and Television around that time). As to my favorite musicians in Portland, I will first mention my musical collaborators, all great musicians … my talented brother John JB Butler on guitar (occasionally ones I constructed), the incomparable Stan Wood (a Portland legend) on his invention the trumpet-like Vibraband, and percussion, and the creative guitarist/composer Steve Koski (from Notary Sojac fame) … I was fortunate to also play a few times with bassist Glen Moore and drummer Kip Richardson.
Recall that I have been away from the scene for 33 years. Some of my favorite Portland musicians and bands are Jim Pepper’s great band with Russel Ferrante and Dave Haskell, Tom Grant with Ron Steen in Emanon and later with Tod Carver and Gary Hobbs, Pleasure with Bruce Carter, Slowtrain with Caren Knight, bands with Rob Thomas, Gordon Lee, Mel Brown, Thara Memory, Lester McFarland, Janice Scroggins, Shirley Nanette, Michael Bard, Cam Newton, Dan Balmer, Joe Heinemann, John Jensen, and the like. Brother JB was in Pepper’s band and now plays with amazing bassist and ex-Portlander Essiet Essiet in NYC (who plays Leroy Vinegars’s old bass) … I loved the Nancy King/ Glen Moore duo, Tarik Banzi’s Al Andalus, and Brian Davis’s Samba bands. JB’s step-son Martin Zarzar is an amazing musician and composer. I also followed the blues scene back then, Curtis Salgado, Paul deLay, Lloyd Jones, Jim Mesi, Terry Robb, Jay Koder, etc. I also did have interest in rock, “New Music” and more experimental directions as well.
8. In the mid-1980's you collaborated with Jim Blashfield to create some great MTV heyday videos for Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Talking Heads, and Paul Simon. What was it like interacting with the "big-time" music industry? Can you share some insight into the process of creating those videos?
Well, it was great to work with Jim and I consider him a close friend and brilliant artist, but I was a small part of the process and had little to do with producing the videos. (I did meet Paul Simon, and my partner at the time Jerilyn Tabor’s hands and feet were in the Talking Heads video)! I was basically a production assistant and as a long-time collage artist did some of the more complex scissor-work, and also made a few 3D pieces for the Michael Jackson video. I was part of the Portland Animation Collective in the 70’s where I met Jim, and also worked with claymation artist Bob Gardiner after he won an Academy Award for “Closed Mondays” in 1974. As to Jim’s process, I recall a discussion with him about how to possibly make a photo collage 3-dimensional by photographing objects rotating, printing them, and cutting them out, which he turned into an amazing and unique vision. My own film, “Hand Song’, featuring a wooden mannequin hand, with soundtrack by Tom Grant, was featured at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1973.
9. Who are some of your favorite Portland-based Visual Artists?
I am way out of touch with the scene there, so my view is quite dated. My favorite Portland artist, a good friend, and ex-collaborator, always provocative and going strong is Bill Will. I love his biting social and political satire and inventive ideas that can take many forms. I was always also a big fan of Peter Teneau, an older generation sculptor and installation artist, who I think of as a mentor of mine, haven given me some sage advice at times about what I might face moving ahead in my career. Like Bill Will, his work explores compelling mixtures of art, engineering, and technology, often with a strong socio/political conscience. At the risk of another long list of favorite visual artists, I think I will just leave it at that.
10. What was most notable about the Portland Visual Art scene back then?
I remember it as a somewhat thriving scene with lots of artists and a range of venues from commercial to experimental. P.C.V.A. was bringing cutting-edge art, performance art, and innovative music from all over the country, mostly New York, and I was able to meet some of my heroes there like Robert Rauschenberg and Laurie Anderson. What comes to mind is how fortunate I was to be in a situation where I had so much opportunity, both as an artist and as board member at P.C.V.A. and the N.W. Artists Workshop. I managed the presentation of a large-scale Harry Partch performance from San Diego with many of his instruments, and a memorable installation event by Lynn Herschmann of “Myth America”. In addition, I got to perform live with Laurie Anderson in 1980. Blue Sky Gallery, N.W.A.W, and The Art Gym at Marylhurst were special places. (I guess all of it could have been more inclusive in retrospect).
11. What were some things you like best about Portland?
A list: Portland is (likely was, right?) an hour drive to the coast, mountains, and desert, the beautiful view of Mt. Hood from Washington Park near where I grew up, the old funky industrial vibe by the rivers, visiting close friends at the coast in Neskowin, the rich green, mossy overgrown plant-life all over, biking everywhere, quirky interesting accessible people, a relatively liberal political climate, and the cheap rent back in the day. (In 1980, I moved into a 3-bedroom house in NW Portland with a fireplace, back porch and yard, for $160. a month. The main bedroom had 2 sun-porches hence 5 bedrooms and at one point there were 5 of us living there. Do the math!) That explains my career right there!
12. Who are your heroes in real life?
My heroes are the tireless political activists and compassionate humanists who devote themselves to improving the lives of the less fortunate around the world. In addition, I do admire the tenacity and commitment of my fellow artists and musicians who defy convention and continue to produce creative works of life-defining expression in spite of the myriad challenges. And although no longer with us, both my parents were so supportive and understanding with the lifestyle of an artist. Okay, I was spoiled and priveleged.
13. With what historical figures do you most identify?
Hmm, I’m not sure I really identify with anyone from history (possibly artist Kurt Schwitters a bit) but there are indeed many historical figures that I aspire to emulate for their contributions. Others that come to mind are Leonardo DaVinci (not for his paintings), Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Picasso and Braque, Charles Darwin, Martin Luther King, James Baldwin, Shirley Chisholm, Paul Robeson, Edgar Varese, etc.
I would love to have been in my 20’s in 1913 in Paris, to see Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase” on the wall at The Armory Show, and his Bicycle Wheel back at his pad, or maybe hang with him and Man Ray, Lee Miller, Picasso, Braque, and maybe the Murphy’s, or go see Nijinsky dance with Diaghilev's Ballet Russe, take part in the riot at Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” debut, maybe take a little trip and check out Luigi Russolo’s motorized sound machines and read his Futurist “Art of Noise” Manifesto”, and then join Kurt Schwitters up to his knees in trash looking for some collage/assemblage materials. The innovations from 1885-1914 are incomparable, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
14. What are the defining influences that made you, you? What are the foundations of your Hybrid Visions?
Seeing the VanGogh paintings in Amsterdam at age 20 was mind-blowing and unforgettable. Seeing Hendrix as his height. Listening to Coltrane, Miles, and Monk. As it happens, there was a morning in 1983 in Portland when three envelopes arrived indicating I had won a total of $11,000. In fellowships from The Oregon Arts Commission, Rogers’s CableSystems, and the National Endowment for the Arts. What a day. That truly made me think “I can do this!”
The foundations of Hybrid Visions is a commitment to finding ever-inventive ways of practicing this multi-disciplinary art form using predominantly found objects in an attempt to find connections and overlaps between the visual arts and music. This vision can take the shape of musical instruments that are at once sculpture and functional sound–makers, presented on both the walls and in the hands of live performers in a theatrical setting, filling the room with a multi-faceted resonance both visual and sonic. It is this focus that has kept me going, forever shifting between numerous options and permutations.
The idea of bricolage, essentially using whatever is “at hand”, to create a new world by re-purposing and re-contextualizing the existing parts of the old world is at the center of this idea, encompassing a wide range of practices that combines assemblage art, live music, instrument design, performance art, theater, sculpture, installation, photography, film/video, graphic design, drawing, and collage. I have an obsessive desire to re-purpose and re-order the world around me.
15. What was it like moving to NYC in the 1980s? What were some differences between Portland and NYC in those days?
Given that the bulk of materials I use in my work are objects found on the streets, this characteristic was definitely more elevated in Brooklyn. It is a gold mine for stuff and a walk around the block, especially in those early days, could yield enough random things to build a “grand piano”. It was still pretty rough and tumble in Brooklyn and made the “seedy” part of N.W. Portland where I lived seem pretty tame. In late 1988, the 2nd night following an adventurous cross-country drive pulling a trailer to Williamsburg, a car had been stripped and was burning right outside my window. The nice guy below me took a shot out the window one night at a guy’s leg who was “messin with my car”. Hurray for the New Bohemia? (as N.Y. Magazine later called it in a cover story … I was quoted). Luckily it wasn’t my car, although mine was indeed stolen a few years later. Welcome to Brooklyn. And we eventually became hipper than Manhattan for a minute. Interestingly enough there was an article in the N.Y. Times at one point not that long ago claiming that the beards, man-buns, flannel shirts, craft-making, coffee-drinking artsy Brooklyn “hipsters” owed it all to Portlanders. Go figure.
In New York you just get to see every skin color and hear every language almost every time you go anywhere. One big difference is there are lots of interesting groups and cliques of people so you can usually find a “scene” no matter what you are into. Probably the biggest difference is the just the relation that NY has with Europe geographically. Creative friends here work really hard and are very inspiring. The city is packed with unbelievable musicians . The guy that was playing kora in the subway just came off a classy 10-gig tour of Western Europe and is burning it up!
16. You spent several years working with Young Audiences of NY to bring artistic performances to diverse groups of young persons who might not encounter much art and music. Do you feel like the intended message reached the kids? Did you ever receive feedback from the kids themselves that you inspired by your efforts?
At the very smart suggestion of my mother who was active with the Portland chapter of YA (she once lunched with the great violinist Isaac Stern), I put together a program in Portland with my instruments called “Sound Invention”, focusing on how instruments “work”, mixing music with art and science, and including my hammer “violin”, shovel “guitar”, tennis racket “banjo” and others. Three years later the NY chapter hired me when I moved to Brooklyn. They initially discouraged the idea that I could make a living exclusively with them but I was fortunate to have it take off with word-of-mouth and that first year I played 118 gigs throughout the 5 boroughs, more than any of the other NY artists on the roster. Brother John and I got some incredible standing ovations from 3 or 4 hundred kids in Harlem or the Bronx, and once a second one from a packed lunchroom as we were carrying out our gear past them. Wow.. I had a good ending when I invited selected kids up on stage to play the “K-Board” auto-piano contraption, which instigated a controlled and joyous pandemonium. And I was well paid. It really honed my chops musically and with the complex set-up/take-down issues that were always overwhelming. Returning home completely exhausted from 2 back-to-back 45 minute shows in front of a full auditorium, it was satisfying to know that indeed one had reached the kids in a satisfying way. Apparently the kids (mostly K-6th grade) were so hyped-up after the shows that the teachers had them send letters to me, which are just amazing. I have about a 3-inch stack.“Dear Mr. Bugner. I lyked yer sho. You ara genus.” Doesn’t really get better than that! When the time comes, I have some great death bed reading material.
17. NYC recently launched its "Ageless New York" marketing and awareness effort to challenge people to rethink their views on aging. The campaign consists of videos and visual PSA's and a website where New Yorkers can learn more about ageism and temper its effects. It features older New Yorkers who are active and defy stereotypes. You are one of those crucial figures. How have you evolved over the years, and what keeps your creative river flowing?
I was selected for that program as I happen to be close friends with the couple who produced it and was happy to participate. Well, I would say that the creative ideas flow more like tides than rivers and when it comes in there is always a new interesting pile of flotsam and jetsam to contend with. This back and forth creative cycle is one I am somewhat used to and I try to not despair when the tide is out, sometimes for quite a while. The best thing to remember perhaps applicable also to one’s own state of mind in general, is that it always eventually comes back in. The real challenge is finding patience and acceptance while it’s out. Never give up hope for some inspiration. It will come. Okay if not, waiting can be full of interesting thoughts! Meanwhile, keep plodding away by playing every day and try not to fall for the deadly comparison trap. Occasionally take stupid risks.
18. How does it feel to have your work Paddle / Bow Bass work included in the permanent collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art?
Needless to say, it’s pretty great. The full story behind it is indeed a bit bizarre. When I first moved to the city, and was hoping for some connections to the art and music world, I was approached by (drum roll…) The Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, who were talking about purchasing a dozen or more pieces. Interesting, but not exactly what I was thinking. This motivated me to approach the Instrument Department at the Metropolitan saying that “another party” was interested in purchasing a large group of works. Well, The Met mounted a show, got a piece, I performed for the patrons, and Ripley’s bought 7 pieces. Not too shabby. I am quite sure that I am the only person in the world who had simultaneous exhibitions at those two very diverse institutions! Crazy.
19. What do you consider your most important works? Why are they significant?
The path to the creation of my first hybrid instrument and ultimately performance work was begun in the mid-70’s while working with contact printing full torso x-rays onto light-sensitive Diazo paper used by architects. The resulting images were extremely guitar-like (neck, vertebrae as frets, body shape, etc.) and were used as a backdrop for a large wall installation utilizing an actual guitar and violin. Entitled "Harmony on the Critical List", the work had a musical/medical theme as well as some dada-cubist qualities. As I was already musically involved with string instruments, I then began to think of the conceptual, ergonomic and proportional relationship they bear to the human body.
In 1978 I was in my basement in NW Portland when I saw a small hatchet left by a former tenant. Something compelled me to pull it up under my chin as though it were a violin. Immediately I imagined it as a fully functional instrument and went upstairs to see if it would perchance fit into a violin case, which it did perfectly. I fitted a fingerboard, tailpiece, pegs, bridge, and contact microphone to the axe and was quite amazed when it sounded remarkably good played though my guitar amplifier. So I could really play my "axe". I was unaware at the time of the profound effect of this creation on my artistic life, initiating the idea of live performance. The Axe violin was both my first sound piece as well as sculptural object and further created the fusion of art forms I was seeking - a transformative bricolage or hybridization of form and function and cultural object identity.
Five years later I built a quite simple device with 10 light switches and outlets so I could control various things on stage manually. Attempting to switch them rapidly made me think of replacing it with a surplus organ keyboard. I installed micro switches under the keys and wired it to 55 female oulets and later added a single amplified string under the keys, strummed by a bicycle wheel rimmed with guitar pics and the “K-Board” was born. Those 3 works are iconic for immediately bridging art and music, exploring transformation, and being very playable in performance.
20. Creating art is enough of a challenge. It then requires marketing if you want to make some money. You've described the hustle to market art as a "shitshow." Please tell us about the shitshow. How does it work? What do you like and not like about it?
Well, that statement was made less than a month ago as a reaction to a Facebook comment, and doesn’t really reflect my overall view of my career. I don’t want to complain, as I was fortunate to have many opportunities and I am very thankful for them all. The comment was most relevant to the current issues of corruption, race and gender issues, insane hype, ridiculous sums of money, and spoiled billionaires currently plaguing the “art world” (which really only means the “commercial” side of things … not my realm). I was making quite good money performing in schools and have sold well over 100 works, sometimes through galleries. The gallery owner where I had 3 solo shows was a great guy but not a businessman. To really “make it” as an artist remains a mysterious thing but being a narcissist doesn’t hurt. If someone expressed interest I was good at responding quickly, but I was very privileged to be able to approach the whole thing as a kind of “science experiment”, curious about what I could create. How fortunate I am that almost every job I ever had was art or music related in some way. (Okay, I wish I had a great gallery promoting my work).
21. What's your advice for up-and-coming artists that would like to earn a living doing what they love?
Here are some suggestions: Make sure when you decide to “go for it” that you are deadly serious about it. Be prepared to give up all expectations of fame and fortune right off the bat. Resign yourself that you will likely always be poor (unless there is a benefactor or inheritance coming your way). I’m not kidding. Clench your teeth and fist and say to yourself, “I am going to do this, no matter what!” Find a part-time job that pays well but is only 2 or 3 days a week (in a row if possible). Never ever spend any money on anything other than rent and food or things not directly related to your art form. Become comfortable with being totally obsessed and sometimes selfish and even isolated. Work really hard but realize that sometimes working means and sitting staring at something with serious doubts and no clue what to do. Never ever give up in spite of the really good reasons to. Learn to do every part of the process yourself: making everything yourself, photographing and documenting it expertly, writing about it intelligently, cataloging, framing, packaging, shipping, storing, handling, making a website, etc. Try to make things that are as “practical” as possible as you are either going to store them forever or toss them. If you are making appealing things with the idea of selling them, you probably aren’t really being very creative and pushing yourself. The most important thing is to have the time to screw around with ideas. It takes a lot of screwing around to come up with something good. Make sure time is not money if you possibly can. Good luck!
22. Please give us some insight into your creative process. How do you go about creating your work?
In terms of the hybrid instruments, in virtually all cases a piece begins with seeing something in the street, trash, or dumpster, and visualizing it as a part of what could become an artwork. When I have gathered a group of things I play around on a tabletop and collage/assemble them together mostly with screws and nuts and bolts, mostly unconcerned with hiding the process. If it is designed to be playable, I add strings and a contact mic (piezo transducer) and plug it in. The particular timbre (sound character) points me in the direction of what style of music it might be appropriate for. The process for a 2-dimensional collage piece is very similar: gathering diverse images together and exploring what might work in combination, finding relationships, often making a series of 6 or more works using that group of images. As for the larger and more complex interactive “pianos” and installations, they are the only pieces that are pre-conceived, although are often ways to activate or animate existing works or make more more combinations of the various combinations.
23. What are you up to lately? Any new projects planned?
During the first several months of the quarantine, I completed a dozen new collage/ assemblage works (nothing playable), and challenged myself to using the leftover dregs of materials in the studio, forcing me to really stretch my creativity as most of the materials had been “rejected “ many times from previous pieces. I tried to use them “as-is” and not alter them as much as possible. I also focused on bringing more color and an abstract figurative form into the work, maybe referencing the “players” along with the “instruments”. And as to the music, interestingly enough I have been playing lots of “normal” guitars, an honest response to find the most ergonomic and truly playable objects, coupled with a desire to really improve my soloing skills and ear. I took a year of lessons right before Covid and can now sort of play around a dozen jazz standards. The guitar is around 3,000 years of perfected design and is not going to be out-dated anytime soon. I can definitely play more complex lines and achieve better intonation than on most of my mostly fretless instruments, although it is somewhat “apples and oranges” given the manner of playing the hybrids, with all of the added timbres, percussive sounds, and complex looping, etc. As to new projects, I would love to mount a large show of many un-exhibited works and put together a great band for some live performances! Meanwhile, I’m playing a lot every day on the couch.
24. What's so great about Robert Johnson?
Well, he is iconic to me as a blues guitar originator, but I focused on him early on as he wrote the epic song “Dust My Broom”, which I played in the schools many hundreds of times live on my one-string Broom Guitar, which I made around 1981. I therefore have mentioned his name to nearly ¼ of a million kids over the years. I find the legend of him selling his soul “at the crossroads” to gain his playing skills to be fascinating notion. They said the same thing about Paganini.
25. You've stated that any object that vibrates is playable. String Theory Physicist Michio Kaku says that electrons and quarks are musical notes vibrating on tiny strings and membranes that are the fundamental pieces of the Universe. Any thoughts on that? Is our Universe one big symphony resonating in infinity?
Hmm. I do know that they have not been able to mathematically solve String Theory or Gravity Force theory, and I am not a real student of physics by any stretch of the imagination. But I do know that indeed the requirements for a string to “resonate” properly can be very complex, having to do with the material, thickness, and most especially the precise tension put on it. There is a sweet spot when it is truly “in tune”, and it’s pitch produces resonant frequencies and harmonics. The resonant frequency of tiny tiny strings I suspect could possibly hold all things together somehow, but since strings really only have one sweet spot or pitch it seems it could be somewhat inflexible. Hah, that’s pretty funny of me to even suggest! This question is more in the realm of sound art than music perhaps, as it is a conceptual puzzle of sorts. Apparently the earth does resonate at C#. But can it play an emotional blues solo?
26. Tell us something most people don't know about you.
I won first prize in the state in a national car design contest in 1964 at Lincoln High School in Portland and wanted to be an automobile designer as a kid. It took me around 150 hrs. to carve it out of wood, and maybe explains why I never again had much patience for laborious fine finishing and polishing. Ha!
I have a collection of around 200 1/32nd scale slot cars and a 40-foot custom track in my loft in Brooklyn, and I occasionally obsess on building kits sent from European custom builders. My thing is LeMans prototypes from the 60’s, Ferraris and Porsches mostly. Nothing like a Ferrari 330 P4 or Alfa 33/2. At times I obsessively build, paint, add tiny decals, and adjust them to perform well on the track. I have have been known to paint eyebrows and detail a racing helmet on a ¼” tall head. Brother JB and I are quite competitive but I’m usually running them myself if he’s not in town. I was fairly deep into this hobby in high school, dropped it in college, then picked it up again around 20 years later. I was written up in Car Model Magazine as a kid when I won an endurance race at The Uptown Racen Hausen (in the uptown shopping center) where I worked behind the desk for a while .
27. Please name three books you think everyone should read.
“Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari, “Cosmicomics” by Italo Calvino, and “Impressions of Africa” by Raymond Roussell.
28. Name three songs you'd include on the soundtrack to your life.
“In a Silent Way” by Miles Davis (I think of the entire album as one song). It is the perfect soundtrack on repeat for living a full life of stimulating creativity and productivity, “Look How Baby” by Junior Wells, for the insane time-freezing gut-wrenching guitar solo by Buddy Guy, and “Cold Sweat”, parts 1 and 2, by James Brown, an absolute clinic on how to communicate propulsive forward motion to all living things with a vey high level of commitment, emotion, and unbridled passion.
29. If you could take your ultimate trek or journey, where would you go?
I always wanted to go to the Sacred Music Festival in Fez, Morocco. Wouldn’t mind sitting in a small secluded bar late at night eating tapas listening to some old school Flamenco musicians partying somewhere in Spain. It is lifetime dream to go see the 24 Hours of LeMans auto race in France on Classic Day to see some 1960’s prototypes in action. It’s a fusion of sculpture and sound art!
30. What would you like the world to know about you?
I acknowledge and feel so fortunate to have been able to make a life of creative self-expression by my own resources in a challenging place like New York City. I made a rather bold move at mid-life without high expectations, and to have also come through some serious health challenges in 2007 still kicking here is a real blessing. I have indeed slowed down some and am quite content watching an inspiring movie on the couch with my guitar, flooded at times with nice memories of some world-wide escapading. And more to come. I care deeply about my fellow humans, especially those less fortunate and hope that the difficult issues that we are all facing can be met with open hearts and minds and we can somehow, maybe, all get along better. I continue to have an utter detestation of racism, sexism, homophobia, and white supremacy and am deeply concerned about trends in the wrong direction in this country and the world. Be kind.