Interview with Silver Moon
Jim Smart has appeared on a couple of previous Medicine Park releases. In fact, I liked the lyrical vibe of one song so much that I wound up titling the entire project based upon the song. His new MIST CD is a strong step forward with it's raw natural sound and evocative lyrical tone.
A few years back you attended a songwriting workshop conducted by one of the greatest songwriters of them all, Mr. Ray Davies. Can you tell me a little bit about that expereince? What was the most important or interesting thing you learned?
I admire Ray Davies more than other writers, so it was a dream to spend a week at a writer's retreat with him in charge. Not only is he tops at writing, performing, strumming, singing, speaking, and arranging, but he's aslo a fabulous teacher. He had us writing one or two songs per day; the pace was frantic, and we pulled a lot of good stuff out of ourselves. I wrote 5 or 6 songs worth keeping, which would normally take me half a year to create. I remember being completely jet lagged, as I'd flown to England from Hawaii. I don't think I slept the whole time. Highlights included hanging out making sandwiches with Ray Davies, having Ray Davies buy me beer and tell me my song had a great riff, and generally basking in his Rayness. I also learned a lot about myself and the craft of songwriting.
I really enjoy the sound texture you created on MIST. The mixture of those earthy acoustic instruments with a dash of electronica seems to produce a vibrant sheen of sound. Care to share any of the technical aspects of your recording process?
Well, first, I listened to a lot of Wilco, and it shows. I love what those guys do, and what they don't do. Because they can sound any way they want. I like the odd noises they add, and the easy paths they don't take. I knew I wanted to make interesting textures like that. It was very deliberate. No drum machines, synthesizers, and conventional guitar solos. I wanted it to sound earthy, like a circle of friends fiddling with old instruments around a fire. I also took my time as I tried different combinations. It took awhile to understand that the cello and steel guitar my friends played on First Class were all the song needed. The hardest songs to get right were Storm Is Over and This. I had them mostly recorded, with final drums and vocals and everything for several months. I kept changing the combination of guitars and keyboards until I was satisfied. Both of those songs have 15 or 20 performances on various instruments that were not included in the final mix.
You mentioned that you felt like your lyric writing matured on this release. It seems like all the songs come together quite well as a unified philosophical statement and one that I can relate to and find quite comforting.
Well, I can hear that too, but it's not deliberate. My songs are about small moments now. I'm certainly not trying to lay out a philosophy or anything, just make some small point or take time to notice details. The lyrics, or at least the main idea, often were written first as a collection of notes and thoughts in my journal. I was walking around all summer with a guitar at a camp in the Adirondacks with a lot of pianos everywhere. That meant that I was making up tunes all the time. The new thing for me was to stop and connect new musical ideas I liked to ideas already in my journal. I tend to overwrite, meaning I'll write seven verses and only keep two. I also tried to never stick to a traditional structure, like 3 verses, 3 choruses, and a bridge. If a lyric wanted to go someplace, I let it.
How do you go about writing songs?
Every way I can. I sit at a piano and just make stuff up. I remember one piano at camp where the morning sun was beating on my face so brightly that I had to close my eyes. I got in this mental zone where the tune Reach For The Sky just came out of my fingers. I was playing it over and over, partly to remember it for later, and partly just to hold onto that bliss. I also wanted to make shorter songs, and cut out all the big middle bits and instrumental moments, and just end that damn thing under three minutes. All of my favorite songs are under three minutes, so why should mine go on and on? I make up music any time I touch an instrument, but I have to make an effort to remember it and turn it into a song. In the summer of 2004, I got in a real groove there, recording little demos as soon as I got ideas I liked.
The overall impact of MIST is one of a complete artistic statement. You created some very colorful artwork for the cover and the songs are filled with poetic imagery.
Thanks, that's what I tried to do. I think some people are put off by the bright colors and the "demo" qualityof the songs. They don't think it counts unless a big boardroom of corporate stiffs presents a polished product like an American Idol album. I tried to make something that is unashamedly home made in every way. I do think the artwork is a bit overwhelming. I think my next album's artwork will need to be very stark and plain. MIST is supposed to be something quite out of step with any modern trends. There were many songs that I rejected, or left for later, or abandoned along the way. They didn't fit, though I'd be hard pressed to explain why. I had an idea for what is and isn't MIST, but it's hard to put into words.
How long have you lived in Hawaii? You seem to be a man influenced and shaped by his surroundings and nature.
I moved here from California twenty years ago with my wife. Together we've carved out the life we want here in the islands. All three of our children were born in the same delivery room at Kaiser Permanente. We came to try Hawaii for six months and never left. Why would we? I surf several times a week, and my kids grow up close to nature. In California I lived by the beaches and the mountains. I'm not much for cities. When I visit cities, I'm always dressed wrong, catching the wrong train or getting ripped off in a misunderstanding with taxi drivers. Also, Hawaii suits my complete lack of fashion sense/
"Out Here" is a track that really jumps out at me. I love it! Can you tell me a little about the inspiration behind it?
Thanks, a lot of people like that one. It's so hard to pick a single, but that one seems to have gotten the most notice. Perhaps it can go on the next Silver Moon creation! "Out Here" is about the camp I worked at, but I tried to make it general enough to fit any situation where folks are away from the gadgets and props that they normally lean on. So if you're working in a field, or climbing a mountain, it doesn't matter how rich you are. What can you do, that's the question. The music is very outdoors, like a voice calling across some rolling fields or open ocean. It's not intimate. It's a loud declaration. Several of the songs stem from a back pack trip I did with several friends, during which time one person made all the conversations about his large pile of money and how he spends it. "First Class" is another.
What are you listening to these days? Reading? Watching?
Right now I'm listening to Mummer by XTC. I used to try to write like them, and make these huge, complex post-Beatle masterpieces. Now I'm more in pursuit of the Kinks and Wilco. Again, as much for what they don't do in their music as what they do. I've also been listening to a Beach Boys compilation of Pet Sounds / Smile stuff, the new soundtrack to Spamalot, Arabella by John and Laurie Stirratt, and Green Day's American Idiot. For MIST, I made a mix of songs for the musicians, just to show them the sort of sound I was after. That mix had Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, Wilco, Muswell Hillbillies, Nick Drake, Tom Petty and the Band.
I'm reading a book by Kurt Vonnegut called Galapagos which is very intriguing. I'm a Douglas Adams fan and I enjoyed Jonathan Strange back when it came out. My favorite book is David Copperfield and I love The Cider House Rules a lot.
I'm a big fan of certain movies, but most of them are detestable. My two favorites are Citizen Kane and Brazil. I love anything by Terry Gilliam, and I'm spinning in a tizzy because he has two films coming out this year, after long years of hassles getting things off the ground. This is the year for Gilliam fans! I could never make movies, because it's too collaborative. I'd go insane waiting for certain deals to congeal, and there's too many egos and bosses to please. A song is something I can exert complete control over. But when it all comes together miraculously, like in Dr. Strangelove or A Very Long Engagement, movies are the most powerful art form. Like most people today, I'd rather buy a DVD than a CD.
So what's next for Jim Smart?
I have several albums in mind, and I plan to plug away at them patiently, and see what comes together. I'd like to do an album of surf instrumentals in the style of the Ventures, whom I admire a lot. I'd like my next solo album to be much more piano focused, and I'm toying with the idea of playing every instrument myself, though I love the work of my guests on MIST. I'd like to make an album of properly recorded original songs with my group Don't Panic that we could sell at our coffee gigs. And finally, I have an idea for a rock opera. It's a day in the life of a rock star as experienced by a working stiff like myself. It's sort of an answer to The Kinks Present A Soap Opera, where the rock star has to spend a day in the ordinary world. What if Norman lived a day as a rock star? Any or all of that may see the light of day somewhere down the road.
Thanks for talking.
mahalo,
Jim
Out Here
Out here your muscles
and your hands
are your status symbols
and possessions
Out here your riches
matter not
your connections are
disconnected
Out here your Hummer's
out of gas
Out here your cell phone
doesn't work
but you do
Out here your money is
no good
It's what you do, not
what you got
posted by Jim Smart @ 5:16 AM
