A thoughtful conversation with Alan of Scotland

Hi Alan,

Thanks for writing just the sort of note that makes art-making worthwhile. Detailed observations from a literate thinker/creator, a gift to my weekend. I'd be happy to keep this conversation going, if you like.

A few thoughts and replies:

> Huge thanks indeed for the cds, which I've
> distributed amongst the Beakers
> with one left over for the first deserving
> candidate!

May I suggest your brother, the one with the paintbrush? I've got 2 print outs of his work in my studio area: one of you with guitar, and one of Venice. It would be a small payback.

>They arrived on the
> first properly sunny day of the year (coincidence?
> I think not...) and I
> wasted no time in putting my copy on the stereo.
> The expectant grin which
> accompanies any new Jim recording slowly grew as the
> album progressed, and
> in no time I was grinning in delight - I think
> you've really nailed this
> one!

It does sound the way I wanted it to sound, and I had a clearer idea of that than I've ever had before. Probably my next album will have a different sound, and Mist may last as the album where it all came together.
>
> A few general thoughts - I think the sound you've
> achieved here is the most
> accomplished and consistent so far, and huge
> 3Tripper fan though I was, the
> step back from rock has provided a more considered
> and appropriate showcase
> for your work. I'm also very pleased to hear your
> voice upfront,
> un-double-tracked - as best I recall, only 'My
> Unfinished Novel' had really
> tried that before. Makes the whole thing more
> personal.

Yes, there were several changes I made as far as lead vocals:
1. Sing it all myself
2. Sing in a lower, more comfortable, gravelly register
3. Sing much more quietly; I'm not shouting over a great noise here.
4. Single track vocal - as you noticed
5. Way fewer harmonies and lush layers
6. Pronounce the words clearly

which leads to...

> Also, and hugely
> importantly, I love your lyrics here. I mean, I
> always love your lyrics,
> but there's a sense of lyrical freedom here which I
> can't help equating with
> the sense of your summer that I got from the e-mail
> updates. Obviously
> overtly on 'Out Here' (which, I think, sums up a lot
> of your attitudes to
> modern life in a simple, concise and totally
> convincing way) and 'Storm is
> Over,' but just generally, it's like you've given
> yourself breathing space
> and just said exactly what you want to say, which is
> inspiring.

Thanks for that. I can feel a change in my lyric writing approaches and abilities, but I would have a hard time putting my finger on it. Most of them were made at the same time as the music, which helps. Like the music, the artwork, and the instruments I chose, I would
1. experiment. Get it down on paper or tape or canvas or whatever
2. Quickly delete, without much worrying, anything I didn't like
3. Live with it a long time before deciding to keep it
4. Be patiently willing to do things over

So at the last stages, I would record a whole vocal over to change a small lyric. Choosing which instruments to put on a song was like that. Two songs in particular gave me a very hard time: "This" and "Storm is Over". I had tracks and tracks of various performances on those. I had all sorts of guitar sounds. I had a bunch of fruity lush orchestration and dreamy keyboards on Storm is Over, and it just didn't feel right. So there was a patience and determination there which served me well in the end. I used to feel that, to paraphrase the Pythons, "every sound is sacred". But now I do a lot of cutting and changing. I even cut a whole song, and had written several bits that didn't get developed for this project.

> Kudos to
> your musicians too, especially the strings, which
> add a gorgeous texture to
> the whole mix, and allow your skill with arrangement
> to really shine.

Thanks. I think they are great. I feel very lucky that good musicians are willing to play on my songs. They've made me more confident about my stuff, because these are folks who wouldn't waste their time on music they didn't like. One of the fundamental decisions I made was to use no machines. No synthesizers, drum machines, etc. Again, I think this served Mist well.
>
> Specifics, then: where to begin? Oh man, I've got
> it on right now, and Big
> Bad World's just come on, and I've just caught the
> 'Now watch this drive!'
> quote from Dubya for the first time!

I originally had a lot more Dubya on several songs, but I cut most of it. I am trying to avoid him, so I didn't want him on my album too much. One thing that worked well, but I cut, was in the fade out of First Class, I had him saying a line "This is an impressive crowd; the haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite, I call you my base." It worked well, but I like it better without it.

> Then cut to
> 'Moon and stars, dogs and
> cars....' Absolutely fantastic! Your lyrics are
> just great, there are so
> many gems, like 'This is way too much human
> interaction for this time in the
> morning...' 'I work hard for an entire year to make
> what you spend on a
> bottle of wine...' 'Your hair smells nice...' Great
> stuff, and it really is
> the big broad sweep of the whole album that I love,
> it's got great shape to
> it and there just isn't any filler. None.

Thanks. I like those lyrics you mentioned. There's nothing earth shaking about them, but I think, like the whole project, they just feel "real" in a way that I've not achieved before.

>I've got
> to talk about the last
> triptych, though, from the ukelele intro of 'This'
> to the ukelele outro of
> 'Van Gogh Stripes' (was that deliberate?).

Well, I fiddled a lot with the order of the songs. For a long time I was going to start the album with a fading in ukulele. Then, when the disc ends, it would kind of circle back to the beginning. And I think "This" was going to be the first song, for awhile. I'm not sure. I always knew that Van Gogh Stripes would be the last song. It's kind of like the songs are a bit dark in places, and the jury's still out on whether it's thumbs up or thumbs down on all these topics, but Van Gogh Stripes has the kind of thumbs up acceptance that I wanted for an ending.

No two songs have the same instrumentation, and no musician other than myself played on all 11 songs, but there's a continuity there, and a deliberate rough-demo quality, that I'm proud of achieving.

I didn't really think of those three as a set, but I thought they flowed well together. There is a little bit of a day in the life quality to the organization, starting with coffee and ending with a campfire/sunset. In between, I tried to lump my "richness/work" songs into a flow that made sense.

I recorded a new version of my old song Mister, and I was going to end with some slide guitar which matched the start of Many Miles. So there's these old ideas, some of which are there on the final thing, some of which aren't. I'm sort of glad it isn't too organized, like a concept album. Just a collection of songs that hopefully hangs together well.

> You just
> sound like a guy at the
> top of his game, and the fact that this came after a
> period of relatively
> low output is particularly hopeful for me (I'm still
> struggling with a bit
> of a block...). Och, it's great, great stuff, wit,
> wisdom, reflection,
> sunny sadness and rainy joy, and to end with such an
> absolute corker - Van
> Gogh Stripes might be my favourite JS number to
> date, a totally reassuring
> piece of accoustic loveliness, but also fun, jaunty
> - so easy to lapse into
> melancholy with accoustic music, and you just plain
> don't do that. So,
> congatulations on a brilliant album, and though of
> course nothing as
> unseemly as competition has ever entered our
> sporadic musical dialogue, I
> feel rather obliged to raise my game considerably
> now! I hope this one gets
> you some attention, because it deserves it.
> Actually, I've been seized with the urge to do some
> recording now! Keep in
> touch, and thanks again for a completely pleasurable
> musical trip!
>
> See you,
> Alan
>

I love it when someone's art inspires me to "get to it". So if my album has that effect on others, I'll be pleased indeed. Say hi to the Beaker People, and to your parents. I'd love to bring my family your way someday. After all, they are Scottish, but I'm not - I just love the place.

aloha,

Jim