8.4.2021 15:02
I haven't written anything here in a long time. I always write the text from the first. I didn't know what to write.
I feel like I'm living the same day over and over again. Once better and once worse.
I get up before six in the morning. I do the shopping, make the kids breakfast and work on the computer. I cook lunch, clean the kitchen, vacuum the apartment and listen to music for a while. Around 16:30 I walk to the studio for about 50 min. I don't play much these days. I talk on the phone with friends or watch a movie and think. 19:30 I walk home. Every day goes round and round like this.
But I have a new activity. I'm working intensively on a new book of interviews with my musical friends. They are very enlightening and inspiring conversations (at least for me).
I've started with Eivind Aarset. We talked about childhood, music, the music business, and philosophized about art. I had another conversation with Christian Fennesz. I had no idea that he used to play weddings to earn money for his first synthesizers. I also had a very long conversation with Adam Holzman. We talked about Miles Davis' band and his new projects.
Pat Mastelotto told me about his first bands, auditioning for all the famous bands and mentioned the King Crimson concert in Presov. A very funny interview was with Erik Truffaz, who never leaves a good mood. Hollywood film music composer John Van Tongeren told me about his years of collaboration with Hans Zimmer. Zbigniew Preisner on working on the music for a new film with Mickey Rourke and his vision for the future of film music. Still in communication with Russian avant-garde saxophonist Sergei Letov. He revealed to me that he was working on a government program. I had no idea that music could be copied onto X-ray images...
I have a Zoom interview with Steven Wilson next week. I'm really looking forward to it.
Conversations are still running with music critic Adam Baruch, Trey Gunn, Zbigniew Preisner, Bernhard Wostheinrich from Berlin and others. I've corresponded with Rick Cox (Jon Hasell's guitarist). We talked about Jon. It doesn't look good... 😦 😦
(Later Jon died)
Some succumbed to this crisis and didn't even feel like talking. They've lost the motivation to create and are waiting for it all to end. I don't blame them at all. In some cases it's overwhelming. I don't want to name them.
The Covid crisis also has (minor) pluses. Things come up that wouldn't have come up under other circumstances. It forces us to re-evaluate decisions and prepares us for the post Covid period.
Arve Henriksen told me yesterday that we were free as birds before. We were traveling the world, playing gigs and recording music. We realized how fragile our work is.
I think Miloš Forman said in an interview that too much freedom can harm a person because he gets lazy. Sometimes it's good to work under pressure. It gets us somewhere.
David