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My friend Kellee and I were in Philly Saturday evening to see J Mascis perform at the North Star Bar. We pulled up to the bar in our cab around eight oclock. J, George, and one of the guitarists from Sea of Cortez (whose name we didnt catch), were standing outside of the bar talking. Surprised by the sight, we exit the vehicle, introduce ourselves, and tell them our intentions of filming the show for Freakscene.net. J sees the tripod that I am carrying and cracks a joke about needing the equipment to fend for ourselves in such a rough neighborhood (the area around North Star Bar was somewhat ghetto). A small conversation commences between all of us about previous shows. Soon thereafter, Kellee and I step aside to discuss plans for the interview, whereupon a large red ford pickup truck (which definitely showed signs of extensive mileage) entered the scene, and proceeded to pull up on the sidewalk as George had instructed the driver to do. The door of the club opened up and Sea of Cortez started moving their equipment inside. J ducked in the back door of the bar while we stood outside, watching them unload. Kellee goes inside the bar through the front to investigate the ticket situation. After she informs me of what time we are to obtain our tickets, we go inside. There were about 10 people sitting at the bar. J comes out from the back eating an apple, and walks right up to us. We tell him our intentions for an interview and ask him when would be a good time for us to do it. He said we could talk right now, and led us to the downstairs of the bar. The downstairs looked like someone’s old basement that was damaged by a flood with worn down old furniture. There is a full pot of coffee sitting on a table by the door, but it looks like it has been sitting there for a couple weeks. On the table is a small unopened platter of fruit and a bowl of fruit from which J ate grapes the entire interview. There are two guitars on the ground and an open backpack crudely packed with pedals and cables. J asks about the digital recording device I am setting up for the interview, while we all find places to sit and engage in small talk. Then, after telling him I was honored to have the opportunity to interview him, I started the questioning:
Anthony: Will Mike Watt be playing bass on the next album?
J: Doesn’t look that way.
Anthony: How is More Light doing? Is it selling well or has it sold well compared to previous Dinosaur releases ?
J: Oh, no, not really. I don’t think the label did too much with it here. It did pretty good in Japan, and okay in Europe, but America, not to good.
Anthony: Have heard that you recorded some new stuff all ready, any idea of when it will be released ?
J: It should be done in May, but I dont know when it will come out. Hopefully in the fall.
Anthony: Has there been anymore talk of putting out a live album or video ?
J: There has been talk, yes.
Anthony: What’s the story about the purple amplifiers ?
J: Which one ?
Kellee: All of them.
Anthony: Just purple amplifiers in general.
J: I just like purple. Purple Marshall amps seem to sound better than the ones I have. Sound better than the other ones. I dont know why.
Anthony: How’s Bob doing?
J: Not too good. He has a lot of trouble walking. Don’t know what it is, we’re trying to figure it out. He’s going to an orthopedist. But he’s not sure yet. And he’s gone to acupuncture. It’s hard to figure out whats wrong with him, but he’s having trouble walking.
Kellee: How old is he ?
J: 6.
Kellee: I don’t know anything about Bob. What breed is he ?
J: English bulldog.
Anthony: Is he the same dog from the Whatevers Cool With Me Cover ?
J: No. But that is an english bulldog also. That was just a picture somebody gave me. I got Bob after that.
Anthony: Is Bob on the More Light album barking in the background ?
J: Yeah.
Anthony: What’s your favorite song to play live ?
J: Hmm, I dont know.
Anthony: What artists or albums are you keeping in heavy rotation these days ?
J: Right now I have uh new Mike Johnson album. The new Alanis album.
Anthony : Alanis Morisette ?
J: Yeah, uh, the Poppa M record. Uh, what else do i got in there. New Joey Ramone album. and uh, I dont know. The Liars. They just had an article in Rolling Stone. A hip band from New York. They’re pretty good.
Anthony: What label will the next release be with ?
J: I don’t know.
Anthony: What’s your favorite city to play in ? In the United States.
Kellee: You can make that universal. That was my question.
J: In the U.S. ?
Anthony: Yeah, universal. You can make it globally.
Kellee: It could be like worldwide.
J: Probably in New York.
Kellee: When you’re just going out on your own solo, how many people are in your crew helping you ?
J: Zero.
Anthony: Zero. You set up everything yourself ?
J: Yeah.
Anthony: How are you travelling ? Like how are you getting to Baltimore ?
J: Drive.
Anthony: Your own car ?
J: Yeah.
Kellee: You’ve been driving the whole time ?
J: Yeah. I’m gonna drive out to the west coast this summer and back.
J: Econo. It’s cheaper.
Kellee: Are you staying in Philly tonight ?
J: I don’t know. I have no plans.
Kellee: We took a cab here tonight, we were told to take a cab. We were just gonna hike it like 2 miles but,
J: It’s pretty sketchy, yeah.
J: I’ve never been around here. I’ve only been downtown.
Anthony: You plan on just chilling here, till tonight ? Like what time are you supposed to go on ?
J: 11:15. I got a lot of stuff to do. Change the strings, and this and that. Eat. I might go into town and eat or something. I remember last time there was a good vietnamese place. That’s my favorite kind of food. And there isn’t any in Amherst.
Anthony: Yeah, there’s a lot of cool restaurants around here.
Kellee: Around in this vicinity though ? We drove around and there didn’t look like there was anything.
J: We’re just going to drive back and eat here.
Kellee: Yeah.
J: This is pretty weird.
Kellee: Yeah, mostly residential.
J: Mostly hood.
Anthony: Have you played here before ?
J: No.
Kellee: I wonder how packed it is. I overheard this woman upstairs, she said it was sold out.
J: Really ?
Kellee: mmhhmm.
Anthony: Well of course. I wouldn’t expect anything else.
Kellee: Yeah, she said technically sold out, but first come first serve. I don’t understand.
J: I don’t understand. Yeah. It could be like they sell 100 tickets and then, and then pack people in or something.
Kellee: Yeah, break the fire code.After the interview, J opens up a guitar case and takes out the gibson with two knobs on it (strings all busted off) and places it on the table. he grinned at me as I stared at his guitar. We spoke more of vietnamese food, his plans for the night, and how he’s driving his own car this tour from town to town. Kellee and J talk briefly about her Irish name, whereupon J shows us a shamrock pendant that was given to him by Kevin Shields’ father the other evening. Our small talk dies down and Kellee speaks of leaving him alone so that he may proceed setting up for the show. We thank him again and exit the room.
thank you very much kellee for your expertise with this. <img> <img> <img>
Papa M aka Dave Pajo also played with Slint(sent a tune by them on our AG group not long ago)and the Palace Brothers,great guitarist.
Hey Anthony
Thank U for the Update & The Beautiful Interview
Looking forward to the Video u made <img>Zea
I wonder what kind of car J cruises around in?
I could see a beat up clunker.
An old truck.
Or a van.
Maybe a bmw!
i wonder.
Hey Anthonyg,
Big thanks for the interview…too cool, and I mean both of you, make sure to say thanks to Kellee as well <img>
Gotta love the econo deal, Watt rubs off on people doesn’t he <img> I picture J in a jeep for some reason, don’t know why <img> Possibility of the new stuff coming out in the fall….SWEEET. The new Joey Ramone kicks ASS <img>
Allison
ps am <img> <img> <img>
</font><blockquote><font>quote:</font><table><tr><td><table><tr><td>Originally posted by Salamiguy:
<strong>Papa M aka Dave Pajo also played with Slint(sent a tune by them on our AG group not long ago)and the Palace Brothers,great guitarist.</strong></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></blockquote>Yeah, he’s been moved to third guitar and jazz chelo for Zwan. Guitar is a more natural instrument for him.Paz from A Perfect Circle is taking over bass duties.
</font><blockquote><font>quote:</font><table><tr><td><table><tr><td>Originally posted by anthonyg:
<strong>a.) a wagon
b.) a ford explorer
c.) a saab
d.) a chevy impala
e.) other</strong></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></blockquote>I’m going to guess b (He always has a van or bus when they tour down here)I think I recall reading an article from a few years ago that said J drove a Ford Explorer.
There was also an article that came out between Without A Sound and Hand It Over, that had J interviewed while test driving a car. It might have been Magnet, but I’m not 100% sure. For some reason I think it was a Lincoln Town Car or Continental. From what I recall, it was a cool article, but I’m very biased. If anyone wants more info about that article, I’ll look through my J shrine, and try to dig it up.I read the same articles about the Ford Explorer and the Lincoln Town car test drive. He had said he liked the Lincoln Town car because of the instrument panel or something and that it was his rental car of choice. Seems he had one in Atlanta one time when I went there to see him play (we were staying at the same hotel). Both of those articles were from a while back, but I’m guessing he is still in a SUV or else a van.
Good job, Anthony and Kellee! Thanks for getting that out so fast. Did he have any comments about us Freaksceners?
dfk
I saw J’s car sitting outside the Philly show. At least I’m pretty sure it was his. Mass. liscence plate, whole bunch of More Light shirts. It was a black Subaru wagon. Not a bad car. Good job Anthony and Kellee. It’s nice to know J is always up for talking with his fans.
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