Monday, December 11, 2006
Just found a website for a woman that i consider the great love of my youth; Bernadette Seacrest. She wasnt a singer then but she is now. She IS now. She has a myspace page for anyone curious. Torchy stuff. To pull off this sort of music i think you need at least a certain amount of genuine soul. Otherwise its unlistenable. Bernadette has this quality in spades, both as a person and as an artist. This footage of her doing a half-speed version of Billie Holidays 'My Man' is fucking gorgeous.
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Nothin' like Googlin' long, lost friends and former flames. Web 2.0 - - blogs, MySpace, wikis - - have totally made this process easier. Bernadette is quite the vixen. Cool, sexy, sultry. Meow. Perhaps you can supply her some bass lines or riffs for some tracks! Which brings me to this question. Did you ever study jazz bass? It seems as if some jazz permeates your work - - "Thank you, boys" and, more recently, on some Polar Bear songs (especially ones with the horns). I've heard that studying jazz on bass is excellent for mastering the fretboard, keys, scales, chord movements, etc. Also, do you ever look at your own tab on the Web? For instance, http://www.geocities.com/janes_tabs/tabs.html. What's your take on their accuracy? I notice that you have used a lot of double stops, chords, and tenths . . . which sound f'ing cool!
Eric- is this you? It's your long lost friend Kelly Jacobson. Came across your page,I was a little suprised. How are you? Where are you nowadays?
Write me back so we can chat...
Kelly - your #1 fan(ha ha)
xoxoxox
chris (c.brian) - ah jazz. no i am afraid i am the jazz dilettante. the more revered and interesting, the more its lost on me. i think studying jazz is the route to mastery of just about any instrument.
i have not looked at any janes bass tabs. double stops, chords and tenths, that is the very definition of the bass line to summertime rolls. i might add that i did all that before i knew what a double stop was (found out last year) or what a tenth means. supports my belief that we should just go with what sounds good before people who are too well musically educated start telling you what to do or not do based on things they were taught at school. i am continually amazed by these silly muso rules that i have never been aware of. muso dogma.
"those who cant do, teach. those who cant teach, teach p.e." - woody allen
ms. jacobson- how in gods green fucking earth are you? where are you? you are surprised? dont get that. do you have an email so we dont have to chat publicly?
kelly.sperber@foxtv.com
e-mail me and I'll give you my number so we can catch up!
EA,
Thanks for the jazz insight and philosophy of musicianship; I appreciate it. Inspiring. About chording on bass, it seems as if you do so in "Body Bag," one of the PB tracks? And then again on JA's "I Would for You.
Do you own a standup bass? I took a 1-credit course in college on it, and it went horribly. Instructor was pretentious and degrading. My hands would shake as I played, while listening to his tirades about contemporary music and his criticisms of my skill (or, rather, lake thereof). That f&cker!
Wow, she's has an incredible presence and sound in her vocals. Almost like a she's purring while singing. Awesome rendition of that song. Love her tattoos as well. Her look and vocals somewhat me of this great Hawaiian jazz band from NYC named The Moonlighters. They are fronted by 2 female singers who play ukuleles and have this awesome stand up bass player who's a friend of mine. I was taking upright lessons from him and he's so creative. But anyway, the main lead singer is Bliss Blood from an old punk band called the Panteens. Ms. Seacrest reminds me of her a bit. It's funny because the Moonlighters orginally started out believe it or not as Henry Bogdan's baby (the ex bass player from Helmet). He played a dobrow lap steel guitar thingy and he was amazing at it. I talked to him a few times and he told me he quit Helmet, pretty much gave up the bass and immersed himself into this style of jazz music and I was completely blown away by it all. He's since left the Moonlighters and gone on to some other project out in Oregon (where's he's from) but the other orginal members of the Moonlighters are carrying on, making beautiful music. Here's the website if you're interested in hearing them.
http://profile.myspace.com/moonlightersny
and
http://www.misanthrope.com/moonlighters/band.html
They're a lot of fun, but have a lot of depth. That's probably why Ms. Seacrest reminded of them. She seems like a genuine, soulful artist like these guys. Thanks for turning me on to her music Eric. Hope all is well, Matt
Eric, Ive always been curious about these things: is it true that when you and Perry formed Janes, that just the 2 of you played a few live shows? What kind of stuff did you guys play? I read that you played chemical drums or something like that. Can you describe those first few shows, if you can even remember them? Did Janes have any songs that never saw the light of day? How about the Flower Quartet, do any recordings exist from this project?
Thank you!
Speaking of finding people through the magic of the internet, I'm glad I found your blog. It's not a stretch to say that you are the reason I bought a bass guitar back in 89 and play it until this day. I've internalized your musical philosophy without even realizing it; it's actually a little creepy how like thought processes can develop independently of communication or shared experiences. I'm sorry this post is off-topic, but it isn't every day one can write a message to their musical hero.
chris (c.brian)- im hopeless on standup. ive only plucked at it a couple of times. my house is also not large enough to store one. where would i put it.
fuck your teacher. eesh. getting bitter about failing the expectations you had for your life, then blaming it on 'how things are now' and taking it out on youth from atop an itty bitty soap box. could it be anymore predictable a cliche. you wonder if we learn anything.
anonymous - yes. perry and i did play early shows as a duo. not many. dont know what we were thinking. i would sometimes play bass, sometimes a chemical drum, while perry sang through all his fx units. improvisational. in fact, 'pigs in zen' was born when i started to play a bass line to what i could hear of a drum beat coming through the house speakers as we should onstage waiting for the club to turn off the music. maybe ten people there. one of whom was biff sanders (then in a band called fourway cross) who i would years later do polarbear with.
thoughtcancer- welcome.
Eric,
Long time reader, first time responder. It's very cool for you to keep in touch with us all this way. Since this thread has featured a few questions about your bass playing specifically, I thought I would throw one out for you. Do you consider yourself to be "funk-influenced" at all? I only ask, because it seems like many of your main influences were in the art punk and goth end of the spectrum, but some of your lines are so damn funky. (esp. Standing in the Shower, Idiots Rule, and the middle part of Three Days)
Really looking forward to your new music. Jane's, Decon, and PBR are always regulars on my iPod, and your bass playing has been a HUGE influence on mine. As a longtime fan that has never had the opportunity to say so in person....thank you for the great music over the years.
Eric,
Long time reader, first time responder. It's very cool for you to keep in touch with us all this way. Since this thread has featured a few questions about your bass playing specifically, I thought I would throw one out for you. Do you consider yourself to be "funk-influenced" at all? I only ask, because it seems like many of your main influences were in the art punk and goth end of the spectrum, but some of your lines are so damn funky. (esp. Standing in the Shower, Idiots Rule, and the middle part of Three Days)
Really looking forward to your new music. Jane's, Decon, and PBR are always regulars on my iPod, and your bass playing has been a HUGE influence on mine. As a longtime fan that has never had the opportunity to say so in person....thank you for the great music over the years.
shawn k - i was out at rhino records today talking about the janes box set. during the conversation i mentioned that i thought perry and i always had a secret wish that we had been in a funk band. we were both really into early rap and funk. i remember going with him to an open mike funk club downtown in maybe 85 or 86 called club radio(?). we were the only two whites in there. what a pair of whites we must have looked like to everyone there. telling this story today got me a great funk and soul compilation, of mostly obscure one hit wonders from 1967-1977, from the guy at rhino. quite cool.
eric, although (the true) jane's is long gone, is there any chance of a you doing camp freddy w/ perry, dave and steve... perhaps cover some jane's addiction songs?
..jk hehe, you are eternal man. thanks for everything.
Hi Eric,
Noticed you mentioned a 'Jane's Box set'. Is that something different that the 'Up From the Catacombs' compilation? Any details you can provide?
Thanks,
Daniel
ea + community,
Google has launched Google Patents. See www.google.com/patents.
Here's the patent for a Fender bass guitar.
daniel - there is a coming retrospective box set of compiled janes footage and recordings. should be quite cool. saw some great footage a friend of mine shot with a camcorder of a lollapalooza show from '91. reminds me i have to call him and get a copy. but ah, the rhino guy said they are shooting for summer of next year for release.
Mine is on the way and it satisfied a gift to a musician friend who will love it on Christmas am. That, is all good.
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