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Interview: Bob Weir - Paris (06/07/02)
You hear a lot of things about people. And because of
what you hear, you form opinions about people you don't
know. I do it just the same as anyone else. I thought I
knew Bob Weir before I sat down with him. I came to find
out I didn't know anything about him at all, actually.
But what I came to know of this person is that he is a
true gentleman and a kind-hearted soul who likes to talk
about music. When he spoke of "our scene" and "my kind of
musicians," a certain glow came over him; a certain
excitment you usually only find in fans. If anyone was
wondering, Bob Weir feels very much a part of what is
going on in this realm of North American culture and he
is eager to continue what he helped start all those years
ago.
Bobby is currently gigging full time with his band Rat
Dog and has begun to play shows with his Grateful Dead
brethern once again under the moniker of The Other Ones.
Word on the virtual street is that the beast is awake and
looking to play some more gigs. Stay tuned for that.
CJ: Last time you played in Europe, was it 1990?
Bob: Yeah
CJ: Why did you choose to come over now? Is it like
vacation tour?
Bob: Nah. We... it's two things, really. We wanted to
establish a new fan base over here. And second, we wanted
to challenge ourselves. We wanted to bring what is
ostensibly new music to fresh ears and see what lights
them up.
CJ: So the shows you've played so far... you play at
smaller, more intimate places over here. Do you notice
any difference in the way your shows play here as
compared to the States?
Bob: Uhh...
CJ: Is it working? Are you lighting people up?
Bob: Very enthusiastic - I'll say that. We did a tour of
England in the midlands and we didn't get big crowds, but
the folks that came are glad they did.
CJ: Lots of Deadheads in the UK. Do you find that the
crowd is mostly Deadheads or people that are 2nd, 3rd
generation people that want to go out and experience a
bit of the magic?
Bob: We have seen all ages at our shows. Back in America,
it's mostly younger fans. Over here, we get more older
fans, but significantly more younger fans as we keep
pressing onward.
CJ: Did you imagine that the movement that is going on -
for instance I write for a publication that wouldn't
exist if you hadn't have done what you've done in your
life, basically... Did you ever imagine that this
movement that you helped to create would have grown to
the proportions that it has grown to today?
Bob: In the States, it's big. Though, really... I trace
our lineage back to Louis Armstrong and stuff like that.
They played pretty much jam music. When the band got real
big, it was fairly arranged, but still the sections
worked fairly loosely... in the best of them. So what I
mean to do is debunk the notion that the Grateful Dead
actually originated something. We just started doing it
with electric instruments and with different ensembles
and a different song book.
CJ: You set some people free in there, though.
Bob: Yeah.
CJ: You showed them a different way to live and things
like this.
Bob: Well we like to live our lives kind of open-ended,
keeping our options open, I guess. We like a little
adventure. And that's going to come out in the music. And
a certain kind of person wants to have that in their
life. Maybe they don't play music, but if they listen to
music, they want it to sound like that, to be like that.
(chuckles) And we're more than happy to provide that for
them with that kind of music.
CJ: Have you noticed the scene as it has grown from the
Grateful Dead, and now you have all the baby bands that
have come up and made their bones, etc.. Have you noticed
the scene surrounding it change for better or worse over
the years?
Bob: I think within the jamband scene, that whole section
of the music industry, if you will, has changed for the
better. Way back when, in the 60's. We didn't want to go
into what was available then in terms of the business
arrangements and the kind of business that was being done
because it was sleazy. You know, it was not really far
off from the kind of thing you get in professional
wrestling. It was all packaging and people were being
horrendously exploited. And to be sure, it still goes on,
but in the "jamband" scene people are a whole lot more
direct. And I think the business end of things is more on
the up and up.
CJ: Do you find any difference between... I was showing a
video to a friend of a big Dead show or something, I
can't remember what it was, but he noted that there
wasn't much difference between the person on stage and
the person in the audience. In pop music, you have all
these beautiful people that are so glitzy up there, and
people, I guess, want to be like them. It seems to me, in
the jamband scene, if you have the spirit and know-how,
you can draw people to support you and buy tickets to see
you play. Obviously this is different from the pop scene.
Bob: Well, we're all the same kind of people, as we
covered earlier. There isn't a whole lot of emphasis
being put on the spectacle or the show. The show is the
music. However many guys that you get up on stage that
have developed an ability to play their instrument and
play off of one another - and find a thread and develop
it.
CJ: You just played Bonnaroo. Do you think in that
scene... it's so massive - in the Dead you played to
bigger crowds than that. But what's going on with like
Gateway computers and their media tents and whatnot. Do
you think that it's becoming over commercialized? Do you
think you see corporate American wanting to sink its
teeth in this ever-expanding thing that is going on here?
Bob: Well, there is one advantage that this kind of music
has. For instance with Gateway or Apple, or whoever wants
to get involved. Those people, by and large, are of our
ilk. They are people who like adventure and they like
this kind of music, and so they bring their wherewithal.
There is a danger that it can become over commercialized.
We'll just have to trust our own foot steps. And if it
doesn't seem right, we'll just have to not do it. And I
am speaking for all of my kind of musicians.
CJ: What were your general impressions of this Bonnaroo?
Was it a positive experience for you?
Bob: It was a great experience for me - big fun. There
was a lot of music. I personally can't imagine going
there for three or four days or whatever it was, and just
getting hammered with music from before you get up to
after you just want to fall down. So it may have been too
heavy on the music. They should, and I don't know how you
can do it, but there should be an area where you can go
get some down time. That's my only real criticism.
CJ: Like "the nap tent" or something? (laughs) The
"chill-out tent".
Bob: And another thing is water should be plentiful and
cheap.
CJ: Are you going to do it again next year? They said
they are going to do it.
Bob: Uhh... I expect so.
CJ: Do you ever grow tired... you're Rat Dog. You're
playing with Rat Dog. The last album that you put out got
really great reviews from people that didn't even know
much about Dead music or maybe there were fans who came
in by way of another musician in the band. Would you like
to identify yourself more with Rat Dog and move away from
what you've done in the past?
Bob: Well, I have that legacy with what I have done in
the past. And I didn't play those songs for a couple of
years and I got lonesome for them. So we worked a lot of
them up. But at the same time, I am anxious for this band
to get back home and get writing and develop our own
legacy. This is the main thrust of my endeavor.
CJ: Do you feel like there is still something that you
need to do musically?
Bob: Lots and lots of stuff.
CJ: Is there anyone you want to play with? You've been
playing with Logic lately.
Bob: Yeah, Logic has been lots of fun to work with. And
we'll be hooking back up with him when we get back to
America. Ummm... we were just down at the Jazz Fest in
New Orleans, and we had we had a couple of trumpet
players on the stage who were amoung the very best
trumpet players on earth. This one guy, Nicholas Peyton -
he's gotta be the new Louis Armstrong. I mean he's one of
those guys that can hang a note there and just hang it
and hold it... he'll visibly be doing nothing, audibly
doing nothing, but you can watch it change colors - he's
that good. So to answer your question 'who do I wanna
work with', sure, but I don't know who they are. They
just keep arriving.
CJ: As far as Logic goes, it was a bit hard for me to get
my head around: a turntablist playing Dead music.
Bob: Well we had to find where he lives and he had to
find where we live. And that's still in progress, but
it's a lot better now than when we first started out.
When we first started out, it was just wicky-wicky stuff
over the top of the music. There are more things that he
is capable of doing. So we said go there and we'll
surround you. But it's a big learning curve. He's not
familiar with this type of music at all. And a big
learning curve for me. And that's why I was anxious to do
it.
CJ: So this term... "jamband". Do you think it's going to
stick? Is it gonna go away? Is it stupid?
Bob: Oh, we're stuck with it. It's short, it says what
needs to be said. So fine.
CJ: The things is, the bands that do it the best... I
interviewed Billy Martin from Medeski Martin and Wood not
long ago and he said he felt like that label
short-changed what his band was doing. For me, their
music is pure jams. So I do think of them as a jamband. I
guess there are lots of younger bands out there that
haven't put in the time and effort and they are calling
themselves a jambands and they can play a tune for 20
minutes, but it's not the inspiring.
Bob: Well, for that matter, you get all kinds of jazz
bands, too. Some good ones and not so good ones: junior
high bands and then the Doc Cheetums. You know those
guys, the word jazz short-changes things depending on
your interpretation.
CJ: Good point. Okay, the last bit I have here is a word
association. I say a word and you shoot back with what
comes to mind.
Bob: Sure.
CJ: Okay. Bonnaroo.
Bob: Sea of people.
CJ: Space.
Bob: I love it. You know space only occurs - I am talking
about space in music - if people let it.
CJ: Time.
Bob: What I like best about music is when time goes away.
CJ: Grateful Dead.
Bob: It's a legacy. I still don't know what to make of
it.
CJ: John Cage.
Bob: John Cage! (laughs) Ummm... interesting guy. He was
a good pal of a friend of mine: Robert Rashinburg. I
learned more about him from Rashinburg, I think, than I
did from his records. But he'll teach you a little about
what music can be - where to hear the muse in the music.
CJ: Willie Nelson.
Bob: Willie Nelson, oh he's... whoever called him the
penultimate bar-room poet pretty much nailed that one. I
love Willie.
CJ: The 80's.
Bob: The 80's? I had fun. (big laughs all the way around)
CJ: Perfect. That's all we have for you.
Bob: Okay, great.
by Craig Judkins
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A big thank you to Dennis McNally who made sure that this
interview happened. We really do appreciate it!
.