Ra�anan: What was it like in the pre-Wyndorf Monster Magnet days, the Dog of Mystery days? What was the band like in those days?
John: It was a lot of fun. Constant experimentation. Tons of weed and cheap beer. Not knowing how to play guitar made it unintentional art rock. Tim Cronin was a mad genius. Still is. I`m really proud of the Dog of Mystery recordings.
Ra�anan: Any chance that there will be a reissue of the Cool Beans tapes?
John: I`ve got master tapes for most of the releases, but I just don`t see any reason to re-release them. Much of it hasn`t aged well and I`d rather devote my time to my own music and producing bands that I dig.
Ra�anan: What do you think of the last Monster Magnet album? Are you still following them after Joe Calandra and Jon Kleiman had left?
John: I haven`t heard their last record so I can`t comment. I essentially stopped following them after I left. But I still miss them as friends.
Ra�anan: What`s your take on Wyndorf`s latest drug debacle?
John: I`ve spoken with people back in Jersey about it, but it`s a very serious and private matter so I would rather not discuss it. Dave is the only one who can talk about it. But when I finally go completely insane and find myself in a clock tower with a high powered rifle, you`ll be the first to know. My interview from death row will be a StonerRock.com exclusive.
Ra�anan: It seems to me you could have easily been much more famous if you only had wanted to. Why did you choose not to?
John: Good question. I`m not interested in fame. Music is an outlet for me that I appreciate and take very seriously. It`s a really personal part of my life. I make music for myself. And I`ve seen too many "famous" friends of mine either completely fall apart physically and spiritually from the pressures of the "music biz" or transform into ego driven assholes. And in every case their music suffered. No exceptions.
Ra�anan: While Wellwater Conspiracy is mostly a recording outfit, you haven`t been a part of a working group for a long time. Why is that and is there a chance it will happen again?
John: I love the recording studio. I`ve even lived in a recording studio. Playing on stage never did it for me. I`m good for a two week tour and then I`m ready to go back home and record. I guess it goes back to the fame issue. And crowds freak me out. I`m like the heart shaped monster in the Bugs Bunny cartoons that sees his own reflection and runs away screaming. And he also wore Chuck Taylors.
Ra�anan: I absolutely love Declaration of Conformity (Wellwater Conspiracy`s debut album), but its getting impossible to get without coughing up big bucks at eBay. Are there any plans to reissue this album?
John: I would love to reissue it. I can get the master tapes tomorrow and release it as a two CD set with outtakes and remixes. Know anyone who would be interested?
Ra�anan: Well, what about Duna?
John: That would seem like the obvious choice, wouldn`t it? I would really like to remix the damn thing. The "authentic" sounding mix on the CD is a result of a rushed final mix.
There was no time to eq or add any outboard processing. Matt was literally heading out the door to go on tour, so we just went for it and hoped for the best. Some of it sounds great, yet some of it sounds muddy and un-dynamic. But part of me says, "Fuck it. It is what it is."
Ra�anan: Can we expect a new Wellwater Conspiracy album anytime soon?
John: We received a generous offer from producer Dave Raphael to come out to New Jersey and record at his bad ass studio for free. So perhaps we`ll record again when Matt gets a break from his other band.
Ra�anan: Syd Barrett passed away recently. I know you were a fan of his (you covered both his solo and early Floyd material). Has this affected you in any way? As one of the neo-psych heads, do you have anything to say about his passing?
John: Syd was an incredibly talented guy. He had a really fertile brain. Perhaps too fertile. Nine times out of ten, when you drop a sensitive, intelligent and creative human being into an industry that encourages people to assume a cartoonish persona and destroy themselves from the inside out, you are setting them up for some sort of breakdown. Some people can handle it, some even thrive on it and willingly become a cartoon character, while folks like Syd, Kurt Cobain and countless others simply wither away and die. Syd wasn`t cut out for the music world. He seemed to be much more content as an average guy. It`s a real shame. The cult of Syd never let him just be. He couldn`t even take out the trash without some nutcase snapping his picture or getting in his face.
Ra�anan: Why wasn`t the second Hater album released originally and why has it taken it so long to see the light of day? Do you think there`s any chance Hater will record again some day?
John: Hater is done. As far as I`m concerned, Hater was done when the first album was completed. And it was on its way downhill during the recording process. It all ended badly. The second record master tapes sat in a closet for years. They should have stayed there.
Ra�anan: So who`s choice was it to release it after all these years?
John: It was all Ben. I had nothing to do with it. I`m not even sure what I`m playing on the record. I`ll have to listen to it some day.
Ra�anan: You recently moved to San Francisco, psych capital of America. Are you enjoying yourself out there and has the move affected your music in some way?
John: I love it out here. The freaky Bay Area psych scene is very inspiring. Bands are using Echoplexes again! I have a short list of local bands that I would love to produce. (Are you reading this Comets on Fire?)
Ra�anan: The In-Flight Feature is a real adventurous album. What exactly were you aiming at? How would you describe the music in it?
John: I wasn`t aiming for anything. I just plugged in my guitar, fired up my analog synth and started playing until I felt that I was done. Then I dissected the sounds until a song appeared. It was all very spur of the moment. Creating soundtracks for nothing in particular. Recording it was easy. Mixing and editing it took close to a year and a half. I had no intention of releasing any of it even after I mixed it. I just did it to shake the cobwebs loose. Then I sent a copy to Brant Bjork and here we are talking about it. Weird, huh?
Ra�anan: I know you wrote your solo album over a period of several years, but can you share some details on the process of writing and recording this album?
John: Like I said, the recording aspect was a piece of cake. I simply used the following formula: fuzz + Echoplex x phasing = space rock.
I knew that I needed Tim Cronin and Jon Kleiman involved, so I sent copies of the tracks to New Jersey with no instructions or even a suggestion as to how I wanted them to approach the songs. I wanted to be surprised. And the results were better than could have ever imagined. (Tim is one of my favorite guitar players and Jon is the most underrated drummer of the last 20 years.) I took everything that I had, dumped it into my Mac and began the long process of slicing and dicing each track, running them through every imaginable effect and trying to make sense of all of it. This recording shit ain`t easy. It can turn your brain into pudding.
Ra�anan: Whats the story behind HubbleBubble? Wasn`t Galaxy 265 (the original version of the song which appeared on Wellwater Conspiracy`s self titled album) good enough?
John: Hubblebubble is the demo that I made with my friend Gerry. My drumming is terrible. We were just messing around in the studio. I thought that the demo needed to be out there. It`s more fucked up and head drugged out than the WWC version. Closer to how it sounded in my head.
Ra�anan: The In-Flight Feature is out on Duna Records, Brant Bjork`s label, who is your friend I`ve heard. Is there any chance you two will collaborate on some occasion?
John: I want to do something with Brant. We`ve discussed it. It`s just a matter of finding the time. Brant is always in Europe. But it will happen.
Ra�anan: It seems the albums you`re involved with just get less and less heavy oriented as time moves on. Is this a conscious decision?
John: Nope. I grew up listening to AM radio and shit like "Yummy Yummy Yummy," so everything that I write has a melodic/poppy thing happening somewhere. Even in the Magnet days. "Pill Shovel" was inspired by a Monkee`s song. Seriously. It was my version of "The Porpoise Song."
Ra�anan: You delved into quite a few of genres so far - hard rock, garage rock, psych, pop and kraut. What`s next for you?
John: I want to make ridiculously heavy and fuzzed out power trio record. Like Randy Holden`s Population II LP. I just need to find the right rhythm section.
Ra�anan: I know you`re a big fan of the old days of rock. What are your top five of that glorious era?
John: 1.Free. Still underrated. Still unappreciated.
2. Early Pentagram. At times they were better than Sabbath. Fucking incredible stuff.
3. Deep Purple MK II. In Rock/Fireball/Machine Head. Nobody could touch them. Fuck Led Zeppelin.
4. Can. Original. Inspiring. Psychedelic as hell.
5. Golems` We Behold LP. Ultra obscure psych rock trio from Madrid. They put out one album that was distributed by Deram in the UK. Extremely rare and hard to find. I came across a bootleg copy during a trip to Spain several years ago.
On the surface, Golems were your typical late sixties/early seventies tripped out blues rock band ala early Jeff Beck or Big Brother & The Holding Co. But unlike Beck and co., Golems couldn`t play (or tune) their instruments or write a fucking song without lapsing into some jive ass five minute pseudo-Indian raga jam. And to top it all off, the pilled up Spaniards ran the entire album through a mountain sized pile of echo, spring reverb and tape flanging. Maybe they wanted to sound "tuned in and turned on?� Maybe they were trying to hide the fact that they played like a bunch of semi-retarded pre-schoolers? Who knows? All I know is that it sounds like the best record I`ve ever heard. And did I mention the song titles? "Magick Elf Lady?" "Caligula`s Hedonistic Pleasure Barge?" How about "Blues For Nixon?" Or my favorite - "The Aged Freaky Wizard`s Spell." Sheer genius! Still one of my guilty pleasures. (All I need now is the original vinyl with the gatefold. I`ve heard that it has pictures of the band. I`ve never even seen what these Viking freaks look like! I`ve come across copies on eBay for upwards of $500.00, but I just can`t justify spending that much money on ANY record). Imagine Blue Cheer playing Vincebus Eruptum songs with their feet. That`s what Golems sound like to me.
Ra�anan: What records are you listening to today?
John: The latest Comets on Fire, High on Fire, The Complete Stax Singles box sets, Negative Approach, The Necros. All sorts of shit.
Sometimes I`ll just reach into a pile of CDs and pull something out at random. I did that the other day and enjoyed some Cat Stevens while I folded laundry.
Ra�anan: If you could have worked with any musicians, dead or alive, who would they be?
John: Michael Karoli, Greg Ginn and the guy who wrote the music for Dr. Who.
Ra�anan: Last one, just to end the interview in the traditional StonerRock.com buffoonery: do you ever get mixed up with the beloved action hero from The Simpsons, McBain?
John: No. I`m three dimensional. |
