1) why 2 t's at the end of mascott? originally, I used the french
spelling , "mascotte," but that felt too pretentious. So i dropped the "e".
2) what was it like to work with jim o'rourke (editor's note: jim produced follow the
sound)? a pleasure. you see, he loves his job. he likes to make songs sound as
great as they can. he owns tommy on dvd. he has nick drake hair. he has a
huge tea selection and no qualms about sharing it.
3) any running themes on
this album? lots of themes, but none are actually about running. You can get
the lyrics on the le grand website (www.magistery.com) but here are some hints:
daydreams, migraines, ghosts, cars, paralysis, psychics, snobs, drunks,
brooklyn, birds, bells, sleep.
4) what were the brooklyn sessions like? They were
inspired by the band and their big pink house. basically, i got a large group of
my musician pals together and recorded live at marlborough farms, home of the
band the ladybug transistor. it was a heavy couple of days, with lots of musical
spirits creating friction, playing tricks and thickening the vibe of the room. or so
I thought. magic did happen, though. i'm convinced.
5) what about chicago, how
was the "vibe" there? jerry busher (drums) and noel kupersmith (stand-up bass)
multi-tasked as my band and support team, telling me where to drive and not
to use a guitar tuner, respectively. with only two rehearsals before recording
basic tracks, they turned my folk songs into artful, groovy numbers. we worked
fast and furious, telling the starbucks people to make our coffee quick and
perfect or not at all. needless to say, we were given many vouchers for free
coffee. of course, jim o'rourke helped "the vibe" in every way possible,
especially by playing piano and guitar on a bunch of the songs.
6) who are
stars? what is that british guy saying in the middle of the song "costume ball"?
this song is the self proclaimed "wild card" of the album. people just aren't used
to dialogue in the middle of indie rock tunes. wake up indie rockers! ever heard
of "method" singing? stars are a pop band on le grand magistery who produced
the track "costume ball". torquil, the lead singer, is an amazing stage actor and
felt inspired while singing back-ups. he suddenly embodied the male character I
was singing about and entered the song as him. He became the dashing
"escort" who tells the heroine of the song to "watch yourself, "darling" as she
wobbles into a cab after drinking too much red wine. It's hilarious.
7) what is the
last song on the record? did you write it? no, this 70's british folksinger steve
tillston wrote it and it's called "i really wanted you". after recording in chicago, i
visited my family and matthew jacobson (who runs le grand magistery) in
detroit. matthew played the song for me and i felt compelled to record it, joan
baez style. mario suao (from the le grand duo, Shoestrings) lives in detroit.
somehow, we convinced him to record it with me right then and there. soon
after, matt located steve tillston's e-mail address and he gave us his blessing to
"sprinkle a little fairy dust on it".
8) are you pleased with the result of this
amalgamation of people and production styles? i'm pleased to be able to record
these songs at all. this album is like a scrapbook for me to remember all of the
fun i experienced while playing and recording with everyone involved. like the
song lyrics, the recordings now represent specific times in my life with all the
different characters who were involved.
