But it isn’t a movie.  It’s Daniel Johnston, dressed up as himself, at Neumos in Seattle [August 24, 2011].  By now, in his latter—but not quite as late as you might think—years, Johnston is something of a loving parody of himself.  He looks and sounds just as the crowd expects to see and hear (all except for a surprisingly well-kept beard that defies his characteristic baby-face).  And in its predictability, the evening had the tight and tingly sense of sacrament, which begins at the base of the spine and works its way up with the words that everyone knows they are about to hear.

And with any good liturgy comes call and response.   It’s the first song, and Daniel is playing solo, clumping more than strumming; and of course, no one cares because they all expect it.  That’s part of the ritual, clumping.   He’s half way through the song, “There’s a Sense of Humor Way Beyond Friendship“, a he quietly calls, “You guys still with me?”
“Amen” is heard in frightening unison.

And someone breaks routine.  They shout out, “Speeding Motorcycle!”
and Daniel says, “We’re gunna.”
and then I say, “Rock this town tonight!”
and Daniel says, “Okay.”
and someone else says something I didn’t quite catch
and Daniel says, “I’m gonna kill you…”

Daniel Johnston is his own high priest.  He mediates between himself and his people, and hears their petitions; but on the occasion that his people cross that invisible line–set foot on the holy mountain,–the priest-self is not always great enough to counter his vengeful-god-self.  So a death-threat was made, what’s the big deal?  The priest steps in-between, and mass continues: “Speeding motorcycle, won’t you save me?”

In the end, it comes back on itself: Daniel Johnston’s iconic struggle with the devil takes place in the public arena for all to see.  With openers, Motopony providing a full-band backdrop, he’s no longer playing guitar, but rather, holding onto the microphone as though it were the edge of a cliff.  He selects one of his water bottles, looks it over, and sets it down again, favoring the identical one next to it on the chair.  Daniel begins his semi-last song, “Rock This Town Tonight”.  His battle against evil comes to this: can he get enough sweaty censers swinging to ward off the demons?  Not tonight.  The crowd stands in a religious trance, with the ecstasy of St. Theresa.  Save for a couple of potheads in the back, and the band on stage, the room is totally still.  And that’s fine.  I was really hoping we could beat that devil tonight, but I guess that’s for another time and place.  Ritual, after all, is about maintenance, not expansion.  For this very special evening, Daniel will settle for a show and some fans.  And, as though he is dictating a thank-you card for the Christmas present you sent him, he closes the night, “I’m gonna use the money to buy a lot of comic books”.

-B. Rowe

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ben Rowe (text & illustrations) also fronts the 8-piece band, Friends and Family.
Find out more at www.friendsandfamilyband.bandcamp.com.

In June of last year, I posted an article about the story behind the unreleased Daniel Johnston model Converse All-Stars.  For those of you who haven’t read it, I will try to fill you in on the important details.  The first thing for you to be aware of is that you should probably just go read that original article.  Seriously, it’s been a pretty popular one for us and the people seem to enjoy it.  Plus, it’s not very long and there are a ton of pictures!

Either way… here’s a quick breakdown.  When I conducted my interview with Daniel in early 2008, he mentioned that Converse was working with him on the production of a signature shoe, but I never heard or saw anything more about them getting a release.  Then, last year, I came across some images of a gray high-top model on Flickr.  I contacted the owner of the shoes/images, Danny Crombie, who explained that he randomly found them in a store in Perth, Australia.  They were the only pair in the store and appeared to only be product samples.  He was in the UK, but had found them while traveling and didn’t really know the full story behind them.  They didn’t even fit him, but he was aware enough to realize that he should pick them up anyway.  From there I contacted Daniel’s brother and manager, Dick Johnston.  Dick explained that, although Daniel was paid for his work, the project was bagged by Converse execs and the company had no future plans of ever releasing them.  The fact that the product samples were ever made at all was a surprise to him.  He forwarded me the sample images that Converse had sent to him during the time that they were still planning on producing them.  Those images showed ideas for the shoe-beds, uppers, liner, and labels, etc.; most of which coincided with the final product shown through Crombie‘s find.  With permission, I took the images from both Crombie and Johnston‘s camp and compiled them into my previous piece.  From there, links to the article began popping up in various places.  Arguably, the most important of the links appeared on the front page and press sections of Daniel‘s official website.

Since that original post, a few more pairs have popped up in random locations around the world.  Along with the gray high-tops I believe that there may be only one other model and that equal pairs of each were, most likely, created.  How many pairs, I don’t know, but the second variation is a yellow low-top model.  To this day, our post about the Daniel Johnston Converse will get linked off of some random music site or Japanese twitter account and receive another sudden boost in traffic for a short period or so.  It has also yielded a good amount of comments/contacts, including one from Daniel‘s Hyperjinx Tricycle band member and author of Hi, How Are You?: The Life, Art, & Music of Daniel Johnston, Don Goede (aka: Jack Medicine).  On September 22, we received one particularly intriguing comment/contact from a gent by the name of Chris in the United Kingdom.

Here’s what it said:

“I don’t know if these are still in demand but I have a pair! Found them in a shop in Aberdeen, Scotland. They’re UK size 9 and still have the tags attached. They are pale yellow low tops. If anyone is interested leave a reply.“

Before approving the message for the world to see, I decided to contact Chris directly and find out more about his offer to sell the shoes.  One thing that I already knew was that the yellow low tops did exist… so that much sounded legit.  Although we were operating in different time-zones, I still heard back from him rather quickly.  My intention was basically just to find out what he was trying to get for them and, if it was beyond what I wanted to deal with, I would just post the comment and help him get rid of them (as if he needed the “help”).  However, after expressing that I was thinking about just sending the shoes directly to Daniel anyway,   Chris actually offered to sell them to me for cost (plus shipping).  I let him know that he could easily make the most money by listing them on ebay, but he told me that he wasn’t worried about it and offered to send them out anyway.  I converted my dollars into pounds through Paypal and waited for the shoes to arrive.  I’ve sold a lot of shit on ebay in the past and this transaction wasn’t exactly “ebay regulated“.  I had already contacted Dick again, asking if Daniel had ever been able to get his hands on a pair of the shoes and he had confirmed that he hadn’t.  He told me that Daniel would, of course, love to finally see them, but that I would be completely in the right for keeping them for myself.  Still… everything was done on faith and, although I was paranoid that I might take a hit on a pair of shoes that never arrived, they eventually did.

Here are the photos that I took to document them, while they were in my possession…

Tongue Label

Lining is printed with lyrics to Daniel’s song “Worried Shoes”

Footbeds feature Daniels character’s “Joe the Boxer” and “Vile Corrupt”

Heels

“Sample”

“Property of Converse”

“Not For Resale”

Salesman Sample Card

Sample Card [front & back]

“Consumer Type: INDIE”

After documenting the shoes with photos, I wrapped them up in an old NIKE box and shipped them out to Daniel‘s family in Texas.  Based on past comments, I’m sure that a lot of people will read this post and think that I’m a goddamn idiot for not keeping them for myself.  I’m not too concerned with that.  I’m much more fascinated by the idea that these shoes were designed by Converse from Daniel‘s artwork, manufactured in China, were purchased in Scotland, shipped from the UK to Seattle, and then, eventually, made their way all the way back to Daniel in Texas, 2 years after they were produced.  I thought about how much I would want to see the end product of something that I helped to create and wanted Daniel to be able to experience that for himself.  Once Chris (wish I knew your last name) McIntosh in the UK agreed to ship them out to me for nothing but reimbursement and shipping fees, there was no question in my mind that I was going to follow through with forwarding them out to Texas.  Plus, I didn’t need one more item taking up space in my living room, because it possessed some sort of supposed monetary value.

On Monday, I received an email from Dick which included some photographs of Daniel.  They were taken as he opened the package and laid his eyes on the shoes, which where made to honor him, for the very first time.  Just look at how stoked this guy is over finally seeing them!  That’s worth a lot more to me than the idea of having a shoebox packed away in a storage closet.

I have become genuinely intrigued by the fact that the handful of these shoes that do exist, seem to be showing up in such random corners of the globe.  If you have a pair or have come across them, we’d love to hear about how and where you located them in the comment section below.

I just wanted to throw up a quick post to alert everyone to a new Daniel Johnston project that was just released.  That’s right a “NEW” project.  I know that many of you are familiar with Johnston, but may have thought that his career was on hold.  If so, your assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth.  Besides continued touring and having a solo exhibit of his art currently featured on DirtyPilot.com,  Daniel will also be releasing a brand new album on October 6th.  For the upcoming Is and Always Was, Johnston teamed up with Jason Falkner to create his first album of all new material in 6 years.  Yes, yes…. this is all very exciting, but this post isn’t really intended to be a focus on any of this; it’s actually about something much more unexpected…. a Daniel Johnston video game.

Daniel doesn’t even use a computer himself, but many of the admirers of his work are quite tech-savvy.  In super legit fashion, it was two Austin-based companies, Dr. Fun Fun and Smashing Studios, that came together to develop and distribute this video game experience to the masses.  For now, Hi How Are You the game is available as a download for the iPhone and iPod touch.

VIDEO PREVIEW:

Official Product Statement:

“Hi How Are You” is the first toon-shaded 3d puzzle platform game to arrive on the iPhone. It features a universe filled with dynamic physics driven gameplay, surreal enemies, challenging puzzles, and Daniel Johnston’s critically acclaimed art and music.

Screenshots:

We’re very excited to see the Godfather of Lo-Fi immortalized in such a high-tech fashion.  Personally, due to a difference of opinion between me and AT&T/Cingular Wireless [they seem to believe that I owe them a lot of money] and the fact that my current service doesn’t run on SIM cards, I’m unable to own a functioning iPhone, even if its hacked.  For the rest of you, however, this application is available now through the iTunes, so go download it.

and………

don’t forget to pick up Daniel’s new album on October 6.

Listen to this advanced track from the album Is and Always Was now:

{Daniel Johnston – “FREEDOM“}

Outside Daniel Johnston-related links:

Hihowareyougame.com (official Hi How Are You game site)
HiHowAreyou.com (official Daniel Johnston website)
YipEyeTunes.com (Daniel’s official digital download site)
RejectedUnknown.com (official Daniel Johnston fansite)
Danielontour.com (Daniel Johnston Tour Dates)

Daniel Johnston articles on Monster Fresh:

Songs of Pain (April 2008 interview with Daniel Johnston)
Worried Shoes (Unreleased Daniel Johnston Converse All-Stars)

I don’t know what the fuck has changed lately, but I’ve been receiving a lot of emails with requests for me to post shit on the site.  Help has been few and far between, so I’ve been getting backed up and don’t generally have time to check out someone’s myspace tracks or research some random bullshit that isn’t already on my radar.  I do like receiving the requests, however, but far too many of these emails show clear evidence that the senders have absolutely no idea about Monster Fresh or about the type of material that we would even be interested in posting anyway.  Nothing against anyone because, in thruth, we just don’t have the manpower right now and I haven’t even had an opportunity to look over most of the stuff.  Who knows?  Maybe there was actually an original idea hidden in there somewhere but, if you think that I give a fuck about the new David Gray release,  then you are obliviously mistaken.

The other day I received yet another email from a stranger with a project, but this was different.  Something in the message caught my interest immediately and prompted me to delve further.  Now, I am only recommending the same of you.  Take a moment from from what you’re doing, refocus your attention, and deposit these two terms into your memory bank:
1) “PaperMonster” and 2) “Dirty Pilot“.

I have heard the name “Dirty Pilot” before and am fairly positive that I’ve even visited the website but, for some reason, I have never completely absorbed what was going on over there.  Site founder, Alan Bortman, has created something more than just an art website.  DirtyPilot.com does feature merchandise, apparel, and other cool shit from a variety of artists, but the site also functions as an on-line gallery.  I know that may not sound too impressive, considering to the general connotation applied to the term “on-line gallery“, in reference to websites, but this is much more than a series of images from a personal blog.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve grown tired of hearing about amazing Art Gallery openings in NY, SF, LA, and other cities that are located nowhere near you.  Without the burdens and limitations presented by existing as a physical gallery, Bortman has remedied such issues by providing a 24/7, globally accessible viewing space that allows for anyone to observe and/or purchase exclusive ,high-quality artwork in the, hopefully, pretentious free environments of their own homes.  Past shows have featured works by such artists as, critically acclaimed grafitti artist, Ewok 5mh and living  art/music legend, Daniel Johnston.  Along with a brand new show by Johnston,  DirtyPilot.com boasts another, equally impressive, virtual exhibit this week.  The latter is entirely focused on the world of stencil art and was curated by an amazing young New Jersey artist that goes by the moniker of PaperMonster.

The, Puerto Rican born, PaperMonster is actually the one who initiated contact with us about the show.  The sincerity and passion of his email, along with his brilliantly colorful work, is what drew me into the project immediately.  The header image ["Whatever She Likes"], as well as the picture above ["Skin Deep"], are both examples of his work.  Each of them are 24″ x 30″ stencil collages on canvas and will be featured in the upcoming exhibit.  I immediately noticed Lichtenstein-esque Pop Art elements, mixed in with aspects of Parisian stencil art godfather, Blek Le Rat, but there was clearly more to it than that.  Beyond the incorporation of comic strips and stencils, PaperMonster has created a collection of striking imagery that is all his own.  At times, the work feels flat, yet layered and textured… chaotic, yet precise.  Wild, frantic clusters of color are contrasted against solid, bold spaces, while Asian typography pops subtly in the background, like the Baroque patterned wall paper commonly found in a Western brothel.  The style sounds schizophrenic and, in a way it is, but it also possesses a strange cohesion.  It’s not unlike when the Ghostbusters took a risk and crossed their proton streams to enhance their powers as one solid force, or when all 5 elemental rings unite to project one powerful beam and manifest Captain Planet; the overall effects are much greater than the sum of their parts.  It’s not supposed to be logical, as much as it is visceral and emotional, however, there was something cerebral triggered by PaperMonster‘s work.  I found there to be a realization and a message being projected about the possibilities of the craft, as a whole.    It was clear that, beyond the simple, pure intention to create something visually stunning, there is a driving force behind the artist that pushes him to experiment and take his medium in new directions.  Hopefully, through his curating of the stencil-centric exhibit, PaperMonster will be able to further prove that there is more to the art of stenciling than many of us may all ready be aware.

The cleverly titled Friends With Knives runs from Friday, Sept. 18th to Oct. 18 and will showcase the work of 15 different stencil artists from around the world.  While graffiti has been gradually fighting it’s way towards gaining more mainstream recognition, stencil work is having an even more difficult time attaining such acknowledgment; often being labeled as no more than a sub-genre.  At first thought, a strictly stencil-based exhibit may sound too one-dimensional, but my feelings are that it will prove to be just the opposite.  Displaying the various styles of the individual artists side by side should be the most effective method to present the differences in their techniques and the multitude of unique approaches in the field.  Make sure to check out Friends With Knives; it’s free and you don’t have to adjust your schedule.  It should prove to be a “must see” for anyone that wants to expand their knowledge of the genre beyond Warhol, Banksy, and Shepard Fairey and/or is interested in seeing what the future of stencil art has to offer.

Following statement comes VIA PaperMonster’s official site:

“Putting the show together along with DirtyPilot, I wanted to showcase a broad range of stencil art styles and techniques including photo-realism, pop, and political stencil works that emphasize the power behind stencil art. As a group I feel like we all have something very valuable to offer to the art world. We all work extremely hard and deserve larger venues to showcase our talents. Some of the artists name you will recognize right away and some you will want to keep a close eye out for in the years to come.”

Full List of Featured Artists:

LECKOmio (Germany)
E.L.K. (Australia)
SOULE (Seattle)
Peat Wollaeger
PaperMonster (New Jersey)
L.E.T. (Germany)
Nathan Phaneuf (Georgia)
A1One (Tehran)
Billy Mode
Ben Slow
Koleszar (Arizona)
Dave Lowell (Austin, TX)
Mefee (France)
Roy Schreuder
HAHA (Melbourne, Aus)

Use These Links:

DirtyPilot.com
PaperMonster’s official site

So, I finally created a Flickr account for Monster Fresh.  I have a backlog of concert photography and extra shots that never even make it on to the site.  Since I’m new to the Flickr game, I decided to knock around the site to see exactly what it had to offer and what else I could find in the photo sets of other users.  I typed “Daniel Johnston” into a search and was surprised to find a photo pop up that was titled, “Extremely Rare Daniel Johnston Converse“.  I knew about the, somewhat tentative, plans for the collaboration, but I never knew if I would actually see the final product come to fruition.

Last April, I sat down for a conversation with Daniel Johnston while he was in Seattle.  If  you read the transcript for the interview that we posted, you may remember Daniel mentioning that Converse had been in talks with him about the shoes.  First, he was mentioning that he was asked to do some drawings for the Iron Man movie poster, but that he doubted that they would actally end up using them.  After that, he referred to his involvement with Converse by saying, “And then, on top of that, they designed a shoe-“, “...they want me to design a shoe with my drawings in it“, and “What will they think of next?“  Over the last year, I had wondered if the shoes would ever surface and, apparently, they hadn’t until the following images were posted on to a man named Danny Crombie‘s Flickr account.  Unfortunately, at this point, these are the only pair that we know of in existence.

You’ll notice that the shoes are indeed printed with Daniel‘s artwork and feature the most classic and recognizable characters from his drawings and music.  Everything from Jeremiah the innocent [frog], Joe the boxer, the Yip/Jump baby, and the “Fly Eye” from the Continued Story album, are all represented on these kicks.

Daniel‘s signature is located on the back towards the heel.

Both Johnston‘s signature and Jeremiah the Innocent are sewn into a tag on the tongue.

The inside of the lining of the canvas Chuck Taylors feature’s the lyrics from the song “Worried Shoes“.

Underneath his Flickr images, Crombie explains, “These images appear to be the only in existence on the internet, there are no articles apart from a brief mention on Daniel’s Wikipedia page.

I found these in a shop in Perth, Australia and they look like the coolest pair of shoes ever made, they don’t fit me though!”

I left a comment for him letting him know that Daniel had mentioned them to me in the interview and that I had been curious about if I was ever going to actually see them.  He responded by saying, “They’re beautiful eh? I found them through total mistake, I don’t know if they even make these as they’re a sample. I was a bit bummed out because they weren’t in my size!”

I told him that I was going to email Dick Johnston, Daniel‘s brother/manager, and offered to get back to him if and when I found out what the deal was with his shoes.  I sent the email to Dick stating, “I was wondering what the situation was with them and if, for some reason, Converse never released them.”

The next day I received the following response:

“Yes, they paid Daniel for the deal, but then the project was dropped when executives canned it – they just weren’t familiar with Daniel according to our contact at Converse. There may have been a few made if someone bought a pair, as we saw artwork, etc., but it was never given distribution.

We actually have other offers from other shoe makers that if I just follow up on them, we’ll probably get a deal. There will be a bio-pic movie of Daniel in a few years, and if nothing else, at that point we’ll probably see something.

Later!”

Clearly, someone from Converse took an interest in Daniel and thought that it would be a great idea to produce the shoe.  We agree that it was, however, let’s not forget that Nike purchased Converse back in 2003 and, by definition, a corporation is all about making money.  They clearly didn’t see the appeal or value in producing them but, much like when there was a bidding war over Johnston‘s music during his days in the mental ward, I believe that Dick is probably right about his feelings that more offers will be pouring in once Daniel proves that he may be marketable on a larger scale.

I sent the information that I learned to Dan Crombie and he graciously allowed us to post his images of the finished shoes here on the site.  We thank him for that and have provided the links to his Flickr account and website at the bottom of the post.  Please do not contact him about any interest in purchasing these prototypes.  HE DOES NOT WANT TO SELL THEM!

I wanted to clarify what Dick had stated in his email.  I was surprised that Converse had never even shown him or Daniel the finished product before.  Here’s what he told me:

“We were given lots of “blank” shoe samples, and digital photos of the pieces – including the inside and outside fabric.”

He also provided us with the exclusive digital pieces mentioned (below).

The Tongue

The “Worried Shoes” Lyrics in Daniel’s handwriting

Lining Print

An alternate lining print

Footbed Label

Footbed featuring “Joe the Boxer” and “Vile Corrupt”

Upper print

We strongly encourage you to visit the following links:
HiHowAreyou.com (official Daniel Johnston website)
YipEyeTunes.com (Daniel’s official digital download site)
RejectedUnknown.com (official Daniel Johnston website)
D.G.Crombie’s Flickr account
Danny Crombie’s website (check out his Kurt Cobain signature Converse too!  Too bad the royalties are being smoked up in Courtey Love’s crack stem)

-Dead C

SXSW 2009

I hobbled onto the bus, got my seat and looked over at a kid holding a box of cd’s. He was either going to ask what happened to my leg or see if I wanted to hear some “good” music.

An older lady missing her front teeth got on the bus after me. The bus started moving while she was getting situated. She caught her balance and looked over at the box of burned cd’s.  She sat down and asked kid, “What you got there?”

“They just hip hop cd’s for sale”

“OH…he he, I thought they was chocolate bars, he he he!”

I nodded and smiled to myself, and thought, “South by Southwest really is here!”

Lots of bands come into town for SXSW. Great bands, alright bands, and really shitty bands.   By the end of the week I will have seen a good number of each.

There are day shows and night shows. Night shows usually cost money and day shows are always free.

I’ve been in Austin for 6 years, and that helps out a lot also. I don’t spend much money at SXSW. I usually rely on the day shows and personal hook ups.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 19TH

I started my musical adventure at 3:00 on a friend’s porch, drinking a beer and watching the local pimp smoke a cigarette on the street corner, while a customer used his bed and prostitute. We were waiting for another friend to show up.  After he arrived, we rode our bikes down town.  At a red light, we joined a bike pack of burly girlies and continued on together.  This was the first time I had ridden my bike downtown since I got hit riding to work in December.

Day shows start around noon and go until 6:00pm.  They are free and usually all ages.  Badges and wristbands don’t really matter during the day.  Everyone has to wait in the same line.   There are also lots of unofficial  shows. These aren’t listed on the SXSW website.  Showlistaustin.com has most of the official and unofficial shows listed, and it will also tell you if there is anything being offered.  Such things as free beer, free bloody mary’s, free tacos, free pop tarts, and more.

After locking up, we went to get free beer.  They were out of the free beer, so we paid $4 for almost cold beer and watched Black Joe Lewis.  Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bees are a local band I’d wanted to see for a while.  It was like going to a revival and getting healed, without having to hold a snake.  Soulful enough to raise your hands, and rocking enough to not feel like an asshole while doing it.  I was even able to tap my fucked up foot to the beat.  It was a miracle.  Superdrag was supposed to play next, but they had broken down, so we went inside to watch M.ward.  While waiting for him to start, a girl was taking pictures of her friends with her iPHONE.  As it got more crowded, her butt touched the back of my hand, and then her purse shifted my penis.  She walked by me to go to the bathroom and said, “Excuse me, mustache”.  I thanked her for giving me a name.  After a few songs, we left to see Deer Tick, but apparently, while I was making acquaintances with the purse girl, they were playing down the street.

We’d met up with a few other friends and continue on our way.  I wasn’t moving so fast, so everyone was a ways ahead of me.  We heard The Thermals playing a NIRVANA cover from the street.  Then we waited outside while the Akron family finished their set.  They weren’t letting anyone in because the day shows where almost over.  It was a shame because I kept getting texts about free High Life inside.

Night Shows are a little different.  There are some free night shows, but most of them require a badge, wristband, or a cover.  It is a little like the caste system.  Badges get priority over wristbands and wristbands get priority over all the other peasants.  I was given a wristband a few years ago and had a really frustrating time waiting to get into a show, while watching folks with badges walk in and out with ease .  There is another way to get into night shows: relying on hookups.  Most places that are “official” SXSW venues have VIP passes that get given out to their workers and the very special friends of their workers.  With one of these golden tickets you can walk in through the back entrance with a guest.  You end up feeling better than the Royal Badge Holders because you didn’t spend much money and you didn’t have to wait in any line.  You got to go in through the secret entrance!  Just like you were guest starring on ALIAS!

That night I met up with another friend who had a pass to one of the venues.  While we were waiting to see Circle Jerks, we wandered off to see someone make music with Tesla coils.  This was a free show in a dirt lot a few blocks away.   The mid-grade band, which played before the coils got fired up, scared us off.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TkuCtutDAw

I’d seen Circle Jerks when I was 16 (15 years ago) and I got my collarbone stomped on by a skinhead.  It left a big bruise and I was really happy to tell people my story.  Now I’m 31 and waiting to see Circle Jerks again.  Guess what I saw when I looked to my left?  A lot of skinheads!  I was expecting this to be a wild crowd.  Instead, the skinheads remained pretty calm and two SXSW “moms” showed up.  These were two older ladies wearing khaki cargo capri’s and drinking pretty heavily.  I’m almost positive they’d never even thought about having the world up their ass.

That is probably the worst part about this festival; people surround you that are only there to be a part of SXSW.  Most of them are wearing badges.  A lot times they are clueless and don’t even know what they are watching. Ignorance isn’t a great reason to hate anyone, but when you have to take their picture for them because they’ve lost interest in the show that you actually want to watch, it becomes a little easier to get irritated.  Luckily, they left before the encore.  I got to hear “Red Tape” followed by 3 Black Flag tunes, with little annoyance.

I could have stuck around to watch Echo and the Bunnymen, but my foot was pretty swollen.  I limped to my bike and rode it pretty confidently, until reaching a hill. Then I pushed it slowly to the top, and rode home.

THURSDAY MARCH 19TH

Day two began with a slow walk from the bus stop to Daniel Johnston.  I work at a coffee shop that has a lot of homeless folk in the area.  To keep the drug use and unexpected urination to a minimum, there is a one-drink requirement.  I’d asked a homeless woman to leave the shop that morning that looked and talked a lot like Daniel Johnston.  It made me realize how lucky Daniel is that he didn’t become another homeless loiterer in Austin.  He was backed by Hymns, who played by themselves for a few songs before Daniel waddled up to the mic.

Listening to Daniel Johnston is great, but seeing him live adds a deeper level.  You see how broken he really is.  That night, someone told me “I don’t know… he kinda had a lisp, and he didn’t really play the guitar very well… I left after a few songs…” which was why I liked seeing him so much.  He has a lisp, he can’t play guitar very well, he showed up wearing his sweatpants, and made apologies for not practicing enough.  Seeing the reality of Johnston left me feeling, somewhat, emotionally drained, but still happy.

After Daniel Johnston and Hymns, I watched The Wrens while standing next to a lady and her bored boyfriend. Then I walked down to see Trail of Dead and finally found an open bar.  Four free High Life’s later and the day shows were over.  I bought a meat stick and walked back to the bus stop.  I had to pee as soon as I got there.  6^th Street is Austin’s version of a Bourbon Street knock off.  It is usually a row of shitty bars that is a little more suited for tourists, but during SXSW, it becomes a row of shitty bars that are also music venues.  I walked behind the 6^th Street bars to the ally, whicht smells like vomit and friend chicken.  This is normally a really great place to piss, but not this week.  There were bands loading equipment in through every back door, and police on every block.  I had to go inside one of the shitty bars and unload there.

That night, I found out from a friend that Dinosaur JR was playing a secret show at 12:45.  SXSW has a lot of these secret shows.  A few years ago (2006) The Flaming lips played one of them where they opened up with Bohemian Rhapsody.  I was waiting to see if I could get on the list, which would be pretty similar to the VIP treatment I’d gotten the night before.

In the mean time, I met up with some friends at a free night show.  This year’s big complaint was the expensive beer. Most venues were charging $4.00 for a $2.50 tall boy.  To get around the beer prices, we snuck beer in backpacks and avoided eye contact with any official looking folks.  After a while, it was pretty apparent that no one cared about outside beverages.  It seemed like everyone had their own outsourced 6 pack.

After getting a “you’re on the list!” text, I rode my bike downtown, told the back door man my name and walked inside in time to see the second half of the Akron Family’s set.  The crowd cleared out a bit and I walked pretty close to the front and watched the stage get loaded with J. Mascis’ Marshall stacks.  There were a few guys in nicer shirts than mine at the front of the stage.  I figured that they were pretty big fans until I overheard them asking each other if they knew who was on next and expressing how they had hoped that it would be “something good”.   Behind them was a short excited guy who kept jumping up on their shoulders fscreaming,“DINOSAUR JR! Can you believe it?!”  After a while, one of the nice shirts turned around  and told him to calm down.

After the extensive loading, the original lineup walked on stage, J. Mascis, Lou Barlow with his taped up ears, and Murph. I’d always wondered what a stage full of speakers and three old guys could do.  One of those abilities is clearing out folks in nice shirts who aren’t fans.  It took half into their set, before I was surrounded by folks my age and older, singing along and pushing each other over.

The first thing that I ever remember hearing about J. Mascis was that he is a very lazy person.   It usually went hand in hand with how great a guitarist he is.  “He’s AMAZING! And he’s lazy!” I think I heard that said as many times as I’d heard that Neil Pert is the “3^rd greatest drummer in the world“.  It was really interesting to see the band and put that paradox together.  I don’t really know if he’s “lazy”, but he plays really effortlessly.  He resembles a big witch that looks beyond everything in front of him.  Every note that he plays is like an afterthought.  A really hard-to-play afterthought.  Lou and Murph play like machines who were programmed to play with J.  To keep my foot from getting shitty from the crowd, I stood in front of the right speaker.  I left with my ears shaking and rode to the same hill I couldn’t ride up the night before and pushed my bike up again.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5ddhYThwW8

FRIDAY MARCH 20^TH

I woke up Friday and noticed my foot was still swollen.  I went and sat on my shower stool and rubbed around the scars for a while.  For the past two days, I’d been doing a lot of walking.  I had only gotten off my crutches the week before.  After a short period without them, I gently grazed my rocking chair and fell to the ground swearing in pain and convinced that I wasn’t going to be able to walk for a while.  I managed to make it to a bar and stayed until I dropped two drinks.  The next morning I was nauseous and puked through out the day.  I went back to crutches for a day and ate lots of ibuprofen.  I made a pact with myself that I would  not be bedridden by SXSW.

I took the bus to work and sat at the bar.  I looked over and saw Miles from Akron family walk in.  I told him that  I liked the show from the night before and bought him an espresso.  We talked for a while; we have a lot in common.  We both have family in Washington, we both like Ballard, and we both like making espresso.  I didn’t tell him this, but Miles is cool shit.

I took the bus down town to see The Thermals and The Hold Steady.  I’ve never really understood The Hold Steady.  Every time that I bitch about their spoken word approach to song writing, I get hit with, “Have you ever seen them live?!”  This was my week to see them.  They were playing every day and, I think, every night.  I had no excuse.  I now understand why people like them so much.  There are a lot of people in The Hold Steady.  Every one of them performs as if  they were playing in an arena instead of a crammed outdoor stage.   It’s clear that they all love what they are playing.  Most of the folks around me were singing along to every word, which is weird with their songs.  Its like listening to a lot of people reciting the same monologue.  I don’t like listening to fans sing at concerts, but with these guys it felt alright. I think it had something to do with the amount of fans singing, maybe also the heat.  However, my foot started hurting and there was a show on the other side of town that I wasn’t going to miss.  I hobbled to the bus stop, sat on a potted plant and spelled the alphabet with my ankle.

The Evaporators were playing at The Hazard House.  The Hazard House is in West Campus; an area that is full of student housing, both fraternal and non.  Going to school in Olympia, I have probably seen The Evaporators over 10 times.  When I moved to Austin, I figured that I wouldn’t get to see them again.  I was pretty surprised when they played here in 2004.  I saw them with Comets on Fire at an Alternative Tentacles showcase.  Jello Biafra stood behind me for most of the show.  I looked at him and felt we both appreciated “Woof Woof I’m A Goof” for the same reasons.

When I heard that they were playing this year at The Hazard House, I was really happy.  The “venue” looks like it’s held together with sweat and rotten wood.  The stage was the front room.  You could watch from inside or from the porch.  It felt like Texas’ equivalent of seeing a concert in somebody’s moldy basement in Olympia.  I smiled for the whole set and noticed my friend who had the VIP pass had called.  The Sonics were playing, and I really wanted to see them.  My friend had promised her VIP pass to two other friends, which I was finally beginning to accept.  I had figured that I would return to my shower stool and call it a night.  She said that, if I still wanted to see The Sonics, I should get down town as quick as possible.  I had 10 minutes to get there.  By now I was walking very slowly; I could only take quarter steps.  I had just missed my bus and was failing at hailing a cab.  I got a “they’re about to play” text when the next bus finally showed up.  I was dropped off near 6^th Street and I took a petty cab the rest of the way. I made it in time for most of their set.

The Sonics were the most well preserved band I’ve ever seen.  They stopped rock and rolling pretty early on, and it showed.  They had been frozen in time.  They looked older, but they still sounded young.  If I had to guess, I’d say they all became real estate or insurance agents.  Something that would have allowed them to raise families and play in cover bands on the weekends.  I was really happy to see how well they were received.  A guy wearing a badge and a nice hat stood next to me and told me that every band who is trying to play garage rock should go back and listen to The Sonics and study “those three chords and learn them well”. At  the end of the show, the lead singer, Gerry Roslie, (who had a music stand in front of his keyboard for the whole set), told us to “… go over to the merchandise booth, buy a shirt, go home and tell your dad, ‘I don’t care what you say! I’m wearing my Sonics shirt!’”

After they finished, the club cleared out.  I sat on a railing, took my shoe off, and waited for Black Lips.  I first saw them at SXSW 3 years ago during a day show.  They looked like crusty kids and they played like they had studied the right three chords.  The Black Lips are dirty and simple.  Their ugly, yet still in tune, voices always make me smile.
There were three bands between The Sonics and Black Lips, so it gave me plenty of time to look at how fat my foot had gotten.

They walked on stage and the lights went down.  I heard, “we got the Gza in the house.”  Then I heard “yeah yeah, black lips in the house.” And then the GZA joined them for a jam.  It was a great contrast between them. The GZA is very tall and black and Black Lips are short and white.  He apologized for them having not practiced, and kept telling the band to “drop it” and just play the drum and bass.  After doing that for a while, they played “Triumph” and everyone was really excited for the killer bees.  It was sloppy and last minute and I was a little annoyed.

I’m in full support of hip-hop folks getting together with rock and roll folks.  I even saw SUbSET in their hay day, (Sir Mix-a-Lot and The Presidents of the United States of America’s collaboration).  I would have liked to see them do something more intentional than just a jam.  My foot was also hurting and I wasn’t feeling very patient.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsfpho7awtI

After 20 minutes, The Gza left the stage and Black Lips played a few songs and it was over.  I left feeling great about The Sonics and okay about Black Lips and The GZA.  On my way out, I heard Karp being played over the PA.  I frantically looked around to find the soundman and asked if it was he who was playing my favorite band.  He smiled and said, “all night long, nothing but.”  I gave him an enthusiastic “thank you so much!” and walked outside.  I bought a hot dog on the street and watched hipsters and industry people walk importantly in front of clubs. I hailed a cab and went home.

SUMUP

I worked at a wedding on Saturday, and that was alright.  I’d already had a fulfilling SXSW, even with being gimpy.  I didn’t get to see Kylesa, Jucifer, or The New York Dolls, but that’s how it goes.  Every year, something falls through the cracks and it could have been a lot worse.  I spent last year’s Saturday wetting my sheets with sweat and dirtying my toilet with puke, so I felt a little ahead of the curb.  Besides that, I was ready for everyone to leave.

Before the wedding, I went with a friend to a store down the block.  I wandered to the back of the shop and found more live music and more free beer.  You can’t escape it.  Everyone cashes in on SXSW, and they use the same tools.

Most festivals end up costing a good amount of loot.  Tickets, beer, and food add up pretty quickly.  I never spend much money at SXSW.  Taking the increased beer prices into consideration, I spent between 50 and 60 dollars for my three days of music. That was mainly on beer and food. Plus, it’s citywide. You aren’t gated and stuck in a park for three days.  You get to see the city; you can buy beer at a gas station and drink it on someone’s porch while waiting between shows.

Living in Austin and having access to a few VIP passes gave me a pretty big advantage, but even without the local hookups, I would have spent the same and still found a few free bottles of High Life. It’s a lot like the wave pool at the local water park.  Every year you go, you understand a little more of how it works, you have a better time and wind up a little less nauseous.

-Dr. Radical

]]> http://www.monsterfresh.com/2009/04/26/sxsw-local-guide-review-free/feed/ 0 http://www.monsterfresh.com/2008/04/25/songs-of-pain-daniel-johnston-interview/ http://www.monsterfresh.com/2008/04/25/songs-of-pain-daniel-johnston-interview/#comments Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:46:19 +0000 Dead C http://deadc.wordpress.com/?p=225 So it’s about 20 minutes before I’m supposed to do my interview with songwriting legend Daniel Johnston when my girlfriend Kim walks into the Comet Tavern. I’m drinking a Mac & Jacks African Amber and trying to get all of my notes and shit organized because I’m still under the misguided idea that I may actually be able to gear the upcoming conversation with the manic depressive musician into some direction of my choosing. Already, nothing is going as planned.

I hand Kim a DV camera and inform her that she will be filming the interview and then ask her to watch all of my equipment and notes while I run to QFC to get film. I found out the day before that I would not be recieving the Digital SLR camera that I had ordered weeks prior (this situation will be covered in another article) and so I brought an old manual Cannon AE1 for which I had accidentally bought the wrong film, in my frenzy to reach the venue on time. I purchased new film and rushed back to the bar only to find out that the Camera battery was dead anyway, so I was fucked. No camera to go with the photopass. Another opportunity lost, but such is the way of MonsterFresh.

As soon as we walk across the street to the venue, Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room, I spot Daniel’s brother/tour manager, Dick Johnston whom I recognized from the documentary. I shook his hand and he led me around the building so that we could get things rolling. If you have seen the film The Devil and Daniel Johnston, you may remember Dick as the brother who’s ribs were broken by Daniel on Christmas. He set up the interview for me and is working as Daniel’s tour manager. Their father is Daniel’s manager and their sister Margie Johnston has been known to help with the management of his art. The family is very involved in Daniel’s finances in such ways as insuring that he is paid sufficiently, that his rent is paid, that he has groceries, etc.

We turn the corner and I see Daniel with his head lowered to the ground and smoking a cigarette. The front of his hair is yellowing from nicotine, he is wearing a faded black Spiderman T-shirt and a windbreaker, and he seems to be oblivious to who he is and what that actually means. He is standing very nonchalant outside of the building, as if he were unnoticible, when we approach. An employee of Neumos asks Daniel if he and/or Dick need anything in the way of food. Daniel has mentioned in the past that he is trying to lose the weight that he has gained over the years, no doubt due to his medication, so he makes sure to specify a “DIET” Coke in his request for a cheeseburger and fries. She says that she will go get some from a place down the street and, when Daniel implies that he will go up there himself, his brother/manager reminds him that he has a sound check to do and ushers him into the building as I follow behind.

At this point, I haven’t said shit and I am holding a vinyl copy of a live radio broadcast of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. I picked it up at my favorite local record store for Daniel, knowing his infatuation with monsters, and figured that I could use it now as an ice-breaker, considering that he didn’t even seem to react to the fact that I was there or wonder why. I say hello, inform him that I was there to do an interview, and give him the record. He responded with something to the effect of, “Man, this is really cool. I love Frankenstein!“. Dick informs Daniel that it will take a minute for soundcheck and that now would be a good time to do an interview, so Daniel agrees and finds a round table in the corner of the venue next to a bunch of trashcans to sit at. As I walk across the room to find a chair of my own, I notice that a couple of fans have lurked in but are standing back respectfully. I pull up my chair, sit down in the Chip & Peppers I scored at a thrift store, and immediately realize that I’m sitting in gum. Not old hard gum, mind you, but fresh sticky warm gum and it’s all over my ass. Fuck it! Just hit “RECORD“. We’re already in it. Let’s do this thing.

Daniel Johnston: Hey Dick, could you get me a Diet Coke?

Dick Johnston: She said she’s working on it Daniel!

Oh, I mean, do they have anything to drink at the bar? Soda Pop or something?

She said she was gonna get you one Daniel.

*Laughing* Where is she? I mean, at the bar. I just need something to drink right now, that’s all.

*towards me*

Okay. Sorry.

DEAD C: That’s fine.

*noticing my notes* I see you’ve done your research, huh?

*Holding up the record I gave him*
Thank you for the Frankenstein album. I LOVE Frankenstein.

I know.

*He laughs*

I saw that today and I was like, “I better pick that up“. I know you’re a big fan.

So, it’s kind of interesting; when you were recording your Yip/Jump album, you were doing that at your brother Dick’s, right?

*He nods as the woman from Neumos places a can of Diet Coke on the table in front of him*
Thank you.

And, so back then, your family wasn’t as supportive.

Uh, huh.

But now, your family’s really, really involved in everything you do?

Uh, huh. Uh, huh.

Is that, to you, kind of like a poetic irony?

I really don’t know. I really don’t know what you said. But, y’know… *shakes head* I don’t know.

Your family’s really supportive of you now though, right?

Mmm, hmm.

…Of your music?

*he nods*

I heard something about you maybe doing something with Alternative Tentacles and you were also talking about a Christmas Album. Did anything happen with either of them?

Uh…what was the question again?

I read something where you just talked about possibly doing an album with Alternative Tentacles and…

Mm hmmm. Yeah, well we’re working on an album called Death of Satan with my group called Danny and the Nightmares. We’ve been working on it for about a year and we’re looking forward to, y’know, eventually releasing it this year.

And that’s gonna be on that label?

Mm hmm. That’s the label we’re shooting for, so we hope we can get it, yeah.

You’ve mentioned a Christmas album, are you still thinking about doing that?

Yeah, a Christmas album. We were were thinking about doing a Christmas album. Well, I had the fantasy of doing a Christmas album with The Butthole Surfers but, it never came around. But one of my producers always wanted to do a Christmas album.

Do you still talk to Gibby (Haynes from The Butthole Surfers)?

Yeah, I’ve seen him around. Yeah, I’ve seen him.

Um, I know you’ve made a lot of films a long time ago…

Uh, huh.

…a lot of short films. And you have a lot of interest in art and music; do you do anything with the films still?

Uhhhh…. Yeah, well we have been making some videos with the group and stuff. And y’know, the movie came out… last year, I guess. But, other than that, we’ve been doing a few videos that haven’t been finished yet.

After you saw the movie- I know you’ve seen it (The Devil And Daniel Johnston) quite a few times now.

Mm hmm.

Did it make you want to keep documenting your life or did it make you, kind of, want to slow down? Because they had so much of your life at once. That must have been a lot to watch.

Just happened, over in an instant. It’s like my life is over the minute they put it on the show. *laughing uncomfortably*</span Sure was embarrasing.

Was it?

But it was kind of funny. I think it has a sense of humor. It’s more like me sitting right here talking to you now. you’re probably thinking, “Oh, what an idiot.“-

No

I was an idiot in the film. That’s how I felt, y’know. But I thought it had a sense of humor. Even though they’re laughing at me, at least they’re laughing.

You see, I didn’t see it like that. It was really exposed but, as far as if you see it that way… I’ve been in a mental ward too, y’know.

Yeah, yeah. I know… boy was that hard to do. I was in a mental hospital for 5 years of my life. And I wasn’t writing, and I wasn’t even drawing that much. It was just a desperate attempt to have a cigarette by the (end of) the whole thing.

*both laugh*

We had cigarettes when I was in there-

Yeah, Yeah.

So that was nice.

They provided cigarettes?

Uh, no. They had a little room… a little area.

Yeah. Well, I didn’t smoke until I was staying in one place and they said, “Here’s a cigarette- Smoke break.” And they would give us cigarettes. So-

That’s how I started too.

-I started smoking just for the heck of it. And then when I went to a different one, no cigarettes. Y’know? And I was like- Every time I’d get a carton of cigarettes, I gave everybody cigarettes. I was like Mr. Popular. And then when I ran out of cigarettes NO ONE would give ME a cigarette. So that just goes to show you… *laughs*

Yeah, they told me I was borderline narcissistic and hypomanic.

*He nods and takes a swig off of his soda can*

And um… the medication. That must have made it difficult for you to write. When did you finally-

Well, they were just experimenting on me like a guinea pig. I mean they didn’t even talk. The doctors never talked to me. They just kept shoving pills down our throats, y’know. When I finally did get out and get the right medication- It’s been the longest time… and I am a manic depression. I have severe- (or) HAD severe depression. But because of the right medication, it’s been about ten, fifteen years now, and I’ve been on top of things and haven’t had to go back to a hospital. So I really am grateful for that.

Yeah.

It’s pretty good stuff I get. I get some anti-depressants. The first time I got it, I was bedridden for a year, thinking I was damned by god or something. Right? And then they gave me the Elavil anti-depressant. I was up the next day, climbed up the hill to my old piano and I started writing songs right away. And, first thing I knew, I went to New York and recorded my album 1990.

That’s a great album too.

Thanks.

‘cuz I listen to a lot of the early stuff…

Uh, huh.

Were you recording those albums, like Hi, How are you?, Were you just recording them on a tape recorder.

Mm hmm.

Because it sounds like on 1990, the production changed and you could hear everything really well.

Mmm hmmm. *nods*

Is that the moment that you felt like you just broke through the medication? When you went up there and played.

Yeah. You mean… to New York?

Well, yeah. I mean, you call it a “Lost Year“, right?

Uh, huh.

After that… (I’m wondering) what that moment is where you felt like you could do that again.

Yeah. I just started writing again *snaps* You know, right away. It comes down to medication. And I tell everyone in the Rock N Roll business that do drugs- Speed, and everything else… get high on marijuana and everything. If they really want to be a Rock N Roller, they outta go to a doctor and ask them for some antidepressants, or different kind of pills, for whatever their ill is. And you get a lot better buzz off prescription medicine. More than smoking marijuana all the time, y’know.

Yeah.

But it’s the truth. I feel great a lot of the times and I don’t get depressed anymore like I used to, which is a real miracle.

I also read something about a film that wasn’t a documentary. You had some people (who) were talking about making and actual… like… a movie.

Right.

And you had said that you would maybe want to star in it? What’s the deal with that?

Yeah. I hope to make more movies and I wanted to direct my own movie, y’know, for fun. That’s what I plan to do.

You’re also into a lot of comics. Are you interested in the Iron Man movie that’s coming out at all, or are you not even into Iron Man very much?

Oh, I love Iron Man. They wanted me to draw the drawing for the movie.

Oh, really?

*nods* For the poster. Y’know? So I did a bunch of them. I don’t think they’ll be able to use ‘em. I mean, if they like them, they could but I’m sure they could get someone to do better than the ones I did. I don’t know, but… it’s like a new Iron Man movie. And then, on top of that, they designed a shoe-

*I stare at his plain white shoes*

*smiling* These aren’t it

*Laughing* Oh, Okay.

But they want me to design a shoe with my drawings in it.

*We both laugh*

What will they think of next?

Who’s that?

Converse.

Oh, okay. Nice.

*reaching into his pocket* I can’t smoke right here?

KIM (GF): Yeah, I think you have to go outside.

Okay….okay

So, I know you’re a huge Beatles fan.

Mm hmm.

Songs like Greivances kind of sound a little more like Bob Dylan. Do you listen to a lot of Dylan?

Oh, Bob Dylan’s right up there with all my heroes. That’s for sure.

So, when you talk about Jack Kirby, you talk about someone whos work wasn’t as good as his other work-

Uh, no

-but you could still see the-

Oh, I’m a die hard fan of Kirby. I just got back, I had almost $500 worth of Kirby comics and books I bought at the comic book store here in town (Seattle) and uh…. so I do love Kirby *laughs* It’s like the Beatles too, y’know. I can’t get enough. I got all the bootlegs and stuff, and I can never get enough.

Do you think it’s the same kind of thing with your early recordings? ‘Cuz I still listen to ‘em and even though they’ve become digital and are on CDs.

Right.

Even though you don’t have the studio, you can still hear the music come through. And then you get to something like 1990 where the production shows what you were doing with a little bit better sound.

*reaches for cigarettes again*

And then nowadays, when you do songs like your song The Beatles it’s really confident and the production is up there. Do you think you have the same quality (as Kirby) and that’s why people still want to listen to those old recordings, even though they were made so lo-fi?

Well. *slams back and tosses soda can* I’m trying to get better production, y’know.

Mm hmm.

I recorded with Paul leary and we did the album called Fun, on Atlantic. We’re thinking about doing another album: Fun 2. Y’know, the second Fun album. And I’m planning top do some recording with Mark Linkous again of the band Sparklehorse. I’ve been working on that for a few years too, so…

So that’s a sequel to the first Sparklehorse album…

That’s right. That’s right, there’s a lot of different projects in the making.

*grabs cigarette out and puts it back into the pack*

It’s just what the medication was, right? Because when you were doing shows for a while you would go off of the meds.

Right.

Is that because you didn’t feel like you could do ‘em without them?

Uh….

But when you got the right ones you felt like you could?

Uh… *shrugs* yeah….I don’t think I’d ever like, re-record. Unless I did like a greatest hits and then I’d like to make some new arrangements, y’know.

Fan (behind me): Yeah, fucking awesome.

*laughing* That’d be cool.

[At this point, Daniel is holding his smokes and is shaking a bit again, so I know it's probably time to wind down]

I know you work on comics and you work on maybe getting comic books. But your art- You sell it so fast.

Uh, huh.

So you don’t really have these steps or back catalog. But you have a lot of, you know…the devil in your pictures. Do you look at that (Satan) as the opposite of art? Do you look at art as your spirituality? Or as just like a medium to express yourself?

*tapping Kools on table & nodding contemplatively*
I agree.

Is that how you see your artwork?

It’s the same kind of thing. You know, I’ll draw cartoons for a while, then I’ll play music for a while, then I’ll watch a movie or two, then I’ll… eat a bunch of food. Then I’ll play some more music. Then I’ll draw a little bit. Then I’ll watch another movie. That’s my day, all by myself. Except, unless my band gets together to do some recording on the weekends. And then we go off on little tours like this. We’ve got 3 more shows and I’m having a pretty good time, y’know. I just hope that everything can work out right so I can record the albums that I want to, and stuff like that. And we get some pretty good crowds too. Sell out crowds too, y’know, so… *shrugs again*

Well, yeah. You sold out Portland and I don’t think that people are just coming to see you because of what you used to make. From what I’ve heard, your material is still really good, it’s still vital.

Well, it’s getting ancient. I’ve come along way from playing the chord organ. But, I really like working with Brian Beattie. He’s got some really cool music.

So do you have a lot of stuff lined up for the next couple albums then?

Yeah. Yeah, we have one more album with Brian Beattie called Rarely with some rare tracks and each tracks is gonna be like, super produced. Real- Something tricky about it. You know, something really cool. He’s got a lot of it done already and that might be the next release, with Brian. And like I said, the new album with Danny and the Nightmares, the Death of Satan (that) we’ve been working on for a long time. It’s kind of a scary album.

In what, with just like, the lyrics or the music too.

The lyrics AND the music. There’s like overdubs and the wrong lyrics and all kinds of things about it… and y’know, fragments of Beatles songs and stuff like that. It’s pretty scary
*giggles*

Well, thanks for talking with me.

Yeah, thanks a lot. I sure appreciate it.

*we shake hands*

Yeah.

Thanks for the album.

I know you want to get a cigarette.

Yeah, that’s right.
*heads out towards door*

I sat in a piece of gum there.

Kim: Did you?

*laughing* Yeah, I totally did.

*overhearing* You sat on a piece of gum?

That’s right.

Oh, sorry about that.

Oh, it’s all good.

I follow Daniel back outside but I leave the camera turned off. I thought of moving the interview outside just minutes into it, so that he could smoke but I don’t know if that really would have made much of a difference beyond adding the distraction of swarming fans into the equation. We did talk a little more outside, however. When I brought up his appearance on Kimya Dawson’s Hidden Vagenda album, Daniel said that he loves her stuff and when he signed my 100 Deadliest Karate Moves book, he said, “I prefer Kung-Fu myself”. He invinted Kim and I to go hang out after the show backstage and we let him get back to smoking and talking with fans.

I researched quite a bit before doing this interview but Daniel is still always going to be a bit of a wild card. I also tried to intentionally avoid entering into certain areas of conversation that I felt may be “too safe” because many of those topics have been adressed in other interviews. I quickly became aware that his answers to these same questions, however, often seem to be inconsistent. In an interview he did with Mondo 2000, while he was in a mental ward, Johnston said the following: “Captain America will return. In the flesh. In the Great Tribulation there will be a great Captain America who will save many from total doom.” Later, however, in another interview with Crimewave, when asked about his claims that Captain America is “real“, he attempted to clarify by saying, “In my theory what I mean is that… they exist on sort of a realm, especially for children… imagination. You know, cartoon characters and things children believe in, they exist. Just like Santa Claus I guess.” He was obivously more lucid and analytical in the later interview and even clearly articulated and reflected about his alternate states of mind and opportunities lost. “I turn down Elektra. It was really stupid and it was because I was afraid of Metallica. And that’s the truth, I was dumb…..Steven Spielberg tried to get me to sign with him and I told whoever it was on the phone that I didn’t want to be ET and that was the end of that… I could’ve been on Steven Spielberg’s label and I was so stupid and they never called back either…that’s two chances I’ve ruined for no good reason.” In reference to his thoughts on the movie Daniel has said “I think it’s funny enough for anybody that has a sense of humour. If there was a laugh track on there it would’ve helped out.” and even, “I’ve seen it about 10 times. I really do like it.” but the response I received was, of course, quite different.

It turns out that the two guys who were lingering behind us during the interview apparently went to highschool with me, so we all went next door to get some drinks before the show and talked about the whole situation that just went down. One of them mentioned that they were glad that I ended the interview when I did, because they were picking up on the same uncomfortably restless vibe from Daniel that I was. They, however, assured me that the interview went really well despite the awkward moments. I, myself, have mixed feelings about the interview and, more specifically, in how Daniel may be percieved through it. It was good to talk with die-hard fans who had witnessed it and have respect for him that let me know that it’s important to show Johnston “the way he is“.

James McNew of Yo La Tengo said, “I once visited him in a mental hospital and it was difficult to have a conversation but when he’s playing he comes alive. We’ve done gigs with him and it’s like performing with Santa or the Easter Bunny, this mythical creature that’s only existed in your imagination.” I feel that this quote really sums up my own experience with Daniel. He got quite a bit of help with the instrumentation in his performance but he still put his soul into the vocals. He performed classics like Walking The Cow and finished the show off by first, playing True Love Will Find You In The End, and then having the entire crowd sing along with him to his acapella classic Devil Town. I realized, after viewing my interview with him repeatedly, that my feelings are very similar to Daniel’s feelings about his documentary, in that they often change. I first viewed it as a trainwreck and I felt like an asshole but now I am more positive than ever about getting the chance to to have this experience. I am now aware that this interview, like all of the others I’ve read, is like a sample of Daniel in a little capsule and I actually encourage everyone to continue on and read the interviewers done by others out there. Just like his music, in the respect that each little song exposes something new about Daniel, it seems that each and every moment captured in his life tends to do the same. I am proud to contribute something new, no matter how small, to help archive his life. There are many expectations that have been put on the artist by others before me and even more expectations placed by him on himself, but I believe that his art is so authentic that it mirrors his personality directly. The greatness of Daniel’s work doesn’t come from the fact that he’s dealt with so many emotional battles, but despite them. Much like a large portion of his musical recordings, there is also a low-fi static around who Daniel really is and, once you get to the center of them both and witness what is beneath, the previous barriers actually dissipate. If you believe as I do, that physical art is really just amanifestation of the intangible into the tangible, no one is more successful than Daniel Johnston. Daniel Johnston writes timeless songs with no perservatives.

Johnston went from making remarkable low-fi tape recordings with his nephew’s toy chord organ to becoming one of the most repected songwriters of his generation, with various incarcerations and mental breakdowns and delusions thrown in, of course. His music has been covered and/or cited as an inspiration by fellow musicians from Tom Waits to Kurt Cobain and he has even worked with the likes of Jad Fair (Half Japanese) and members of Sonic Youth. I first became aware of Johnston, myself, through a Built to Spill album that contained a cover of Some Things Last A Long Time and , although his legend and music continued to spread and, although that is a wonderful and magnificent thing, Daniel has lived through some of the most nightmarish hells and, for years, did not recieve much of any financial compensation for his work or for the pain and soul that he pours into it. Finally, in 2004 Gammon Records released a 2-disc compilation of Daniel’s music called Discovered Covered. One Disc is of Johnston originals while the other disc contains covers from musicians such as Beck and The Flaming Lips. The proceeds from the double album went into building Daniel a home of his own next to his parents residence in Texas and Yo-La Tengo’s cover of the track Speeding Morotcycle was used in a Target advertisement for which Daniel recieved $40,000.

If you are planning to purchase any Daniel Johnston music or merchandise, I strongly encourage you to try and buy it through HiHowAreYou.com or download it through the site YipEyeTunes.com. This is the one sure way, aside from buying directly at his concerts, to make sure that your money is actually going to support Daniel. The official fansite, RejectedUnknown.com is another great source for anything Daniel Johnston, inlcuding updates, interviews, links, etc. If you have gum stuck to your jeans a)heat up some vinegar in your microwave b) apply to effected area of denim c) remove by rubbing spot with a toothbrush in circular patterns. No shit… it works!

-DEAD C