Journalists & J Interviews

[AGAP]

Wonder what peoples opinions on this are, so many J interviews here with almost identical questions recently & of course the journalists excuse their role in that with lame comments about how hard it is to get J to talk… You think given thats the lame assumption they always seem to make they would do a little bit of homework, try & get some cool interesting new questions that might interest their subject & audience. More often than not they seem to just follow the same old routine, then moan about how hard they tried, then complain about J’s not jumping up & down to thrill them. Don’t get me wrong there have been some great interviews, the ones where people did their homework, checked on current events, didn’t expect J to jump thru hoops for them…gotta love those

What do you think is the problem, one guy recently said that there were few J interviews out there…not so For someone who reportedly doesn’t say much there are tons of recent interviews where J talks on many different subjects, don’t know how he can keep answering the same old same old for months on end without screaming

So, I was thinking we could provide a pool of questions for them just in case they actually do their homework & check his official site for some background info not to mention current stuff going on…

couple questions I’d ask…

Are you looking forward to playing side mouse on the upcoming east coast tour with Cobra Verde

Have you talked to Watt about his Stooges show You certainly had a role in getting The Stooges back together, bringing Ron & Scott Asheton back into the spotlight, definitely a cool thing.

Any plans on releasing a live J & The Fog disc in the near future

You’ve recently talked about how much you enjoy playing drums, I’m wondering who you consider the top five drummers in your world, someone who influenced you or just thrilled the hell out of you

[FlyingCloud]

… it looks like these guys all prepare in the same way: they read the press info about skydiving & take a short listen to their free copy of Free so Free, discovering that the word Freedom is mentioned there more than once. Back in their mind they have the title of the one or other Dino record & with that, they feel well prepared

if they’d come here to just even read the news & some of the other interviews, they wouldn’t write the umpteenth interview, identical with all the others

but hey, even these interviews help to promote J’s tour & record, although they could be more interesting. Good idea to collect questions!
Here are some, I’ll think of more…

Are there any current or planned projects with other bands/ musicians, besides the tour with Cobra Verde?

Which songs you’ve always wanted to cover?

[FlyingCloud]

Another question:

You said in other interviews that you worship the Indian Saint Amma. Did you have the chance to see her on her current world tour?

[simmons]

here’s a question I’m sure more europeans than me would like to ask.

J said that the last european tour with the fog was an economic loss. have you you considered touring with a band again in europe when you have the time? and maybe increase the ticketprice a little?

[AGAP]

Why do Purple Marshalls sound so much better

:aliensmile:

[FlyingCloud]

re-reading what I have written above about ill-prepared journalists, it appears to be too general, and it doesn’t really fit to most of the recent interviews. Usually the journalists are better prepared than that and they seem to be into J’s music and interested in what he says, it just seems their fund of questions could be a bit expanded

I was especially referring to this one, an interview where the chance has completely been missed to publish something interesting or new about J, but all in all the media echo in Australia is amazing.

Hope the questions collected here will once find their use in upcoming interviews

Another question: As Keanu Reeves’ Band Dogstar is on the same US label with you, what do you think of ‘the Matrix’? :aliensmile:

[Robert]

There could be several reasons:
not prepared.

not interested in doing the interwiev, but has to because the boss has given the order.

feels that it’s ucomfortable with J’s pauses -unsure if he thinks the question’s utter garbage or pondering an answer. thus gets a bit frustrated.

feels the need to further "establish" that J is a loner, thus catering to the myth of "one man, one guitar, one mission -to rock the world(drum solo.)" the modern equivalent to the lone gunman of the wild west on a mission to rid the town of horse thiefs and crooked merchants. placing J alongside such historical figures as Wyatt Earp etc. the modern male feels alienated by a society that deprives him from his dignity by placing him in a cubicle to make a living, instead of handing him a horse and a gun. thus J’s music becomes a vehicle to transport the listener to a time and place that seems more carefree and fullfilling. where all you need are two skilled hands and a strong horse to prosper.
the carefree, handsome hero – J.
colt peacemaker d/a – guitar
horse – tour bus
getting the mayors daughter after freeing the town – a cheering crowd.

[FlyingCloud]

… lonesome rider

Another question (he might have been asked that before, but I really want to know):

Are there any plans for new recordings, or is that not possible right now after your studio Bob’s Place burned down?

[FlyingCloud]

question: You’ve done many interviews during the past few months …there must be some questions you can’t stand anymore !?

[expect nothing]

"Flying Cloud" wrote:

question: You’ve done many interviews during the past few months …there must be some questions you can’t stand anymore !?

– yeah thats a really good one the interviwer could start with that question so they no where they shouldn’t go with there questions

[squeapler]

This is an issue that comes up a lot among Guided by Voices fans as well. Bob Pollard has put out dozens of records, yet almost every article or interview is the same old tired stuff about how he used to be a school teacher many, MANY years ago and how he drinks a lot of beer onstage. i bet it’s that way for many acts. it makes the occasional "good" interview where someone is really a fan or has done their homework stand out in a big way. from my experience, most journalists, even those that specialize in rock, don’t care to devote a lot of effort to any one interview unless they happen to be a fan of whoever it is. so they listen to the CD for a couple of minutes, read the bio and ask the same ol’ stuff just so they can get done. a lot of them are too young to remember j in Dino so don’t have a good sense of his greatness, and yeah someone who pauses a lot in interviews can be disconcerting if you aren’t prepared for that. because you have to rush somewhere else shortly so you just assume everyone else is as hyper as you as for asking about mike watt or cobra verde, sadly enuf those artists aren’t even on a lot of writers’ radar screens (i just read that watt was completely left out of some rolling stone piece on the stooges reunion!), they’re kind of cult favorites as is j himself.

i would ask how j feels he’s evolved as a musician over the years, what he’s learned about music or life that he wishes he knew when he was young, and also what advice he would give to anyone starting out as a guitarist. what sort of equipment, etc. also how he feels about technique vs. effects because so many younger guitarists seem very dependent on effects to me…it would seem you have to have both but I’d love to hear j’s take on it.

[expect nothing]

some good questions there squeapler,

Its really shit that Watt wasn’t mention in the stooges reunion peice – didnt he have a big part in it all happening.

[ruethewhirl]

Whats the story behind the cover for MARTIN AND ME?

On the back it has a naked woman next to a cross,
and on the front, the same picture but with the
cross burnt up.

Does anyone else find this odd?

[TheVicar]

Certainly over here (the UK) at the peak of their ill gotten fame, the image portrayed in the press was that of a cartoonish stoned buffoon, and yet when people actually took the time to listen, he actually said interesting things. After all, J is the lazy generations Rennaissance man, hes been in films, he does art, and he has been known to play the odd tune, so the possibilities for questioning are surely limitless (J, if you read this, i would love the chance to ask you a few questions for my (non Dinosaur Jr/ The Fog) fanzine!!!! (plug out of the way!!). if a person can be charecterised in a simplistic way, then it makes the journalists job easier. Much as J used to play the opening bars of Freak Scene to tantalise the audience, i would imagine that it becomes very easy to just slip into a role, and play the fool, because it is harder work to change perceptions then it is to fulfill them. Questions in the days to which i refer would always be about dope, Lou Barlow, and being lazy. Another thing i heard, which i personally would love to be true, is that J payed the Bassist 2/3’s of the going rate for a guitarrist, because the bass only has 2/3’s of the number of strings. Although the bassist did look like a secret Goth, so even if it true, it was a generous payout. Once the NME asked him about Gram Parsons, but they fucked it up by not really giving a shit about the answer

[rambleon]

Quote:

(J, if you read this, i would love the chance to ask you a few questions for my (non Dinosaur Jr/ The Fog) fanzine!!!!

i’m sure j would be more than happy to be interviewed for your magazine … especially considering the fact that you wouldn’t be one of those lame-o lazy-type journalists … you actually know about j + his work …

why not contact j’s manager + see if that could be arranged or ask jeremiah if he has any hints + tips on how to go about it … then if it does happen, you can let us know how it went

[Author]

Posts