David J and Zia McCabe interview [Listen 21:15] – Getting the Magic with David J S03 Ep03 (Part 2 of 2)
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S03 Ep03 (Part2 of 2)- Getting the Magic with David J
Interview Date: September 12, 2012 @5pm EDT
Halloween Special Guests: (Audio) David J (of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets): is an indie legend and a Goth Rock icon. David John Haskins (aka David J) was a key member in the band Bauhaus, as well as the band Love and Rockets, and now is forging a solid solo career. He is someone I can easily say is a person who formed the soundtrack of my high school years with classic songs like: "No New Tale to Tell," "Ball of Confusion," "Ziggy Stardust," "So Alive," and "Bela Lugosi's Dead.” At that time I knew him as the sunglass and suit wearing bass player who had a fantastic Dub quality; as the years have gone on, my respect for him and his musical legacy has only grown. In this podcast we go into David J’s past and talk about 4AD, Bauhaus, the song Bela Lagosi’s Dead, Double Dare, the Goth Movement, Love and Rockets and much more. http://www.davidjonline.com
Halloween Special Guest: (Written) Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols: is the keyboard player, percussionist, song writer and bass guitarist, for the Dandy Warhols. In this half of the written interview I ask her what (if any) feminist issues she feels strongly about, major labels, her thought on the vinyl music industry and the latest Dandy Warhols album This Machine.
Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols Interview - 'This Interview Kills' (Part 2 of 2)
GTV - Would you care to discuss some feminist issues that you feel strongly about?
Zia McCabe - Uh, like what? I’m not sure exactly what feminist issue is. The right to decide what happened to our body ie abortion. Of course I’m pro choice, just like I would never tell a guy he couldn’t get a vasectomy. What else? If you want to do what “men” do, do it. If you want to be stay at home mom, do that! The problem is, both those things should be valued and respected equally and there lies our problem. Now who suffers from this the most? The children; because no one (male or female) is home to raise the children. Everyone is out being a man.
GTV - With the industry changing as much as it has and with it the whole paradigm shift, who gains from a band making it big these days?
Zia McCabe - I don’t really understand. If the music is good, everyone gains. If it sucks then just the band and label and industry in general gains. The radio stations have something to play between their commercials.
GTV - Where is the money in the music industry today?
Zia McCabe - Licensing.
GTV - What’s you take on Vinyl records and the independent Record Store?
Zia McCabe - I love vinyl, I DJ vinyl whenever I can. I love touching it and looking for odd out of print records and playing them in my living room and out at gigs. The rise in popularity in vinyl is saving the indie record store. They should prolly jump on this whole cassette mini movement too, or is that just in Portland?
GTV - “This Machine” came out earlier this year and is, in my opinion, one of your strongest albums yet. Are you, yourself, as a musician searching for more? What would you say accounts for the band's growth?
Zia - Thank you and yes, I am always looking to learn and well, most searching is from within but I’m always looking to learn about new ways to express myself. I believe everyone in my band works this way and if one or more of us grows stagnant for a period there seems to always be one of us that has gained new insight and enthusiasm that can keep the ball rolling.
GTV - Where did the title “This Machine” come from?
Zia - Arlo Guthrie had a sticker on his guitar that said, “This Machine Kills Fascists” then later Donovan had a sticker on his guitar that said “This Machine Kills” . Courtney was telling me about this when we were shooting the video for Smoke It and my replay was that he should have a sticker on his guitar that said “This Machine”. The guitar has been laying around the studio ever since and at some point Courtney realized it was a fitting name for this album.
GTV - Is this a political record?
Zia - No I wouldn’t say that. Alternative Power To The People is the closest thing to political on there and it’s (well the video more than the song) just about power and alternatives and how we don’t have much say most the time.
GTV - Nice artwork on the cover; how does it relate to the album?
Zia - Uh, cool local artist painting something very North West USA which is where we’re all from.
GTV - “Sad Vacation” is a great song, do you have a penchant for heavy pop?
Zia - Oh jeeze, I don’t know what I have a “penchant” for but no, I don’t think heavy pop would be it. More likely, vintage country and anything old like old Hawaiian with all that pretty pedal steel and stuff like that.
GTV - I think Courtney was just experimenting with different singing styles in the his lower register, not sure if he was actually going for Iggy Pop, that’s where he ended up though huh? I dig it!
Zia - “Don’t shoot she cried” is a great atmospheric song with ethereal choral undertones to it; it was written by yourself and Brent Deboer.
GTV - What is that song about and how did it come together?
Zia - I came into the studio and Brent already had this pretty music and I knew right away that I had words for it so I ran out to my truck with a copy of the demo and practiced for a minute and came back in a few minutes later to track it. It’s about my sister getting held up at gun point in her home when she was a young mother. Two masked men came to rob her and took the little cash she had that was meant for rent. It’s not in the song but in real life one of the guys felt bad that she was just a poor young mom and gave a little of the money back to her on the way out the door when his partner wasn’t looking. She must have been terrified.
GTV - This is a song that you contributed to the album; is this an indication of a shift in song-writing responsibilities?
Zia - Like I said, we are all experimenting with new ways to express ourselves. ; )
GTV - What song off the new album gets the biggest response live?
Zia - I’m not sure, maybe Sad Vacation.
GTV - A lot of the “classic” bands like the Rolling Stones, the Searchers and the Kinks are hitting their 50th Anniversary. What milestones would you like to achieve?
Zia - Well our 20th Anniversary is just around the corner, that seems like a pretty big deal to me.
- End -
David J and Zia McCabe interview [Listen 18:57] – Having some lunch with David J S03 Ep03 (Part 1 of 2)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
S03 Ep03 (Part1 of 2)- Having some lunch with David J
Interview Date: September 12, 2012 @5pm EDT
Halloween Special Guests: (Audio) David J (of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets): is an indie legend and a Goth Rock icon. David John Haskins (aka David J) was a key member in the band Bauhaus, as well as the band Love and Rockets, and now is forging a solid solo career. He is someone I can easily say is a person who formed the soundtrack of my high school years with classic songs like?: "No New Tale to Tell,:" "Ball of Confusion," "Ziggy Stardust," "So Alive," and "Bela Lugosi's Dead.” At that time I knew him as the sunglass and suit wearing bass player who had a fantastic Dub quality; as the years have gone on, my respect for him and his musical legacy has only grown. In this podcast we talk about David J`s new album "Not Long for this World," using Kickstarter, the song "Because You're Gone," “Hank Williams to the Angel of Death," and what it takes to do a great cover song, and much more. http://www.davidjonline.com
Halloween Special Guests: (Written) Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols: is the keyboard player, percussionist, song writer and bass guitarist, for the Dandy Warhols.
Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols Interview - 'This Interview Kills Fascists' (Part 1 of 2)
GTV - I kind of see the Dandy Warhols as the vanguard of the MTV video generation. How important are videos today and do you see a new future for the music video?
Zia McCabe - One of the first places people go to check out a band they’ve never heard is Youtube. If you don’t have songs on there with actual videos then the viewer/listener is going to get a live version filmed on someone’s phone with the speaker distorting or a still shot of the album cover or something that a fan has put up to get the song onto Youtube. While these versions are fine for the hardcore fan. A video that gives you proper visual stimulation while the song plays goes a lot further. So yes, I believe videos can be important, though I don’t see the big budget ones being as necessary. Oh but I do love that M.I.A. dessert one with the cars on their sides. Dang, that thing was worth every penny!
GTV - In my discussion with Anton Newcombe, we got on the topic of bands getting discovered (half way through the interview). He said that being discovered and promoted by a major label as the only route to success is a farce, and he stated that no one needs to get permission to be successful. After I saw the movie "Dig!" it seems to be the direction you took (signed to a major label and well promoted.) Do you think a band can "make it" outside of the regular channels today? If so, what would a band need to do to be successful outside of the regular channels?
Zia McCabe - I don’t know if being signed to a major label can even be considered the “regular channels” these days. Now it’s all about the niche. The Dandy’s have done it all. The major label (just before they, for the most part, crumbled), then we made up our own label (kinda) and self released an album and now we are on an indie. It was a helluva good time having all that money spent on us but ultimately a drag having those fools up in our business threatening our artistic integrity left and right. And well, we sucked at having our own label and hardly anyone even knew we released an album on Beat The World (different story in Australia because we did sign with a label to release it, thank god). Now, we’ve settled in the middle, working with great indies in the different territories, we have press coverage again and someone looking after the bits that we have proven to ourselves have no business looking after. This has become a DIY world though and you can “make it” via a myriad of different options. A la cart!
GTV - I’ve seen some interviews with you where you talk about some of the ways you have been able to find a happy medium with being in a rock band and also being a mother. They seem to be two extreme poles of existence. Could you elaborate on this. You identify as a feminist, yes? Has this been the foundation to occupy both worlds successfully?
Zia McCabe - There are things in our lives we manage to pull off without exactly knowing how. Balancing Rock and Roll and motherhood is for sure one of them. I’m sure most parents with careers and well adjusted children feel the same way. You just do it. Every day you make sure your little one is part of your life and feel, without a doubt, loved and safe. And when you blow it, you find a way to make it up to them the next day. A feminist? Me? Ha! Ya, know, I never really used to identify myself that way. It’s a title I accept reluctantly. I believe in myself. I believe in the innate magic and beauty and strength of the female energy in nature but never thought of it as something to rely on. Yes, woman can roar, and yes men can be tender. But it’s not about that and that’s why I have always avoided feminism as my creed. I didn’t believe woman turning into men was the answer. I do believe that we as women have strengths and talents that are not being understood, celebrated or encouraged in our society and that the male energy is out of control all over the place messing stuff up. We are out of balance is all. Sounds like a small thing but sadly it’s not.
Come back next week for the finale of our GTV Halloween Special with Zia from the Dandy Warhols and David J. You don’t want to miss it! We’ll see you next week.