Q & A with JASON MOLINA - Summer 2004 Part One: General From Aurelia H, Adam 1) What's your favorite book and what kind of books do you read? Any you might recommend? As far as reading is concerned, I read as much as I can. Books about mathematicians, history books, politics, religion, fiction, plays, and essays. I like as much variety as I can get. There are also weeks when I love reading technical books, things about science and nature. From Andrew W. 2) What have you been listening to lately? Whatcha been reading? Hell, what movies have you seen? Movies/etc: Fahrenheit 9/11, Harry Potter (Azkaban), The Story Of The Weeping Camel, Winged Migration, Bubba Ho-Tep, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Family Guy, Space Ghost, The Simpsons. Music: Michael Hurley (everything!), Cheap Trick "Heaven Tonight", Oneida "Secret Wars", Fairport Convention "Greatest Hits", John Lee Hooker "Travelin", Ainara LeGardon "In The Mirror", Warren Zevon "Genius" & "Excitable Boy", Ramones "Marc Bell Stole My Wife", Shaheen & Bhatt "Water Lily Acoustics" From Andrew W., Ross H., Josh E. 3) Any new bands or singers you think we should check out? David Kitt, Elephant Micah, Viza Noir, The Coke Dares From Ross H. 4) M.Ward once said that Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is one of the most beautiful/emotional songs ever written. What would that song or album be for you? Ray Charles' "I'm Going To Drown Myself" or Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December" From Athmos 5) What would be your version of a perfect day? I really don't think anything could ever be perfect, not anymore. From Ross H. 6) Who would you most like to play along side of on a bill? Magnetic Fields, Patti Smith, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Michael Hurley, Calexico, Silver Jews, Danny Black, Danielson Famile, and plenty of others this is just a few. Part Two: The Music From Seth, Thorsten 7) How are things going financially? Is your music successful enough that you don't need to work another job? Basically I'm wondering if you are able to make ends meet as a full time musician. It is a hard struggle with regards to the money. It has been a day to day balancing act as I've avoided publishing deals, major labels and various other places that could have made me easy money. The goal is to get the records out to everyone who wants them and to pay the band a fair amount for hitting the road. I would love to see all of the players in the Magnolia Band being able to play music full-time. Don't illegally download the records. It's hurting us all. Really. What really hurts is that before a record is released we figure about 5,000 people have illegally downloaded it. I can't tell you how many times I've stayed with someone who has all of these records in their collection that are just bootlegs. I don't care about the live show tapers, I encourage it and try always to include mostly new/unreleased songs on tour. It is sad that for a band that sells records on an independent label, so many people try getting their feet wet by bootlegging us. It wont hurt Madonna, but I still buy her records if I want to hear them. From Jonathan T., Athmos 8) I find myself listening to your music in the dark by myself and it inspires me. Where does your inspiration come from? Do you write in the dark and/or alone? I write mainly in the early morning. Most days I try to be up by 4am then I'll write until aroud 11am and then practice guitar for a few hours later. I don't go out much and enjoy being at home in the evenings. Right now it is hard to pratice here due to loud neighbors and heavy construction. I share a practice space with the Coke Dares in Bloomington, so that has been very helpful if we can't practice or write here in Indianapolis. From Nathan C, Lars., Caleb K, Martyn K.. 9) Where did you learn to play guitar? Also, what kind of guitar do you normally use to play at shows? Do you have any favorite guitars, amplifiers, or other equipment? How much do you concern yourself with the tone of the guitar when you play? I taught myself how to play guitar. When I was very young I would try learning songs as they came on the radio and you have to learn fast that way. Electric guitars- Les Paul Standard, S.G., Harmony Stratotone, Jerry Jones 2 pick-up mondel Acoustic guitars- 1970s Takamine Hirade H-8, Martin 000-28 (1909), Taylor 414 Amps- Victoria Victorett, 1964 Vibrolux Reverb, 1973 Deluxe Reverb, 1973 Princeton Reverb, Pignose. From Athmos 10) What do you think your contribution to art in music is? I will not be the one to determine this. This one is up to the people who come to the shows, buy the records and generally support this music. From Tjeerd 11) You once played bass in a hard rock band. How does one come from being a bass player in a hard rock band to leading Songs: Ohia? Does hard rock still influence the music you make now? Whats your favorite hard rock band? I used to play things like AC/DC, The Ramones, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, and all that "Denim & Leather" kind of music. At the same time I was learning Hank Williams and Carter Family songs. I grew up listening to all sorts of music and the difference between Brian Eno and the more conventional acoustic/songwriter stuff did not seem all that great to me. It was a very natural progression and I never thought about it or planned it this way. From Bennett S. 12) I found a bootlegged show in which Magnolia Electric Co. covered the first ten seconds of AC/DC's "Back in Black" while you prepared for the next song. As far as I can tell, the band has never covered the song in its entirety, but my brain would explode if they did. Hearing you howl AC/DC would be like a shot of audible heroine. So, my question is--have you ever covered it in its entirety, and if so (or even if not) would you mind covering it at the show this August in New Orleans? We'll think about it, but we have a few other surprises in the cover department. So look for them to show up on the tours in August and October. From Jenna 13) I just want to know who the redhead is... (No answer) From Simone 14) After reading about the lost guitar whose return might in part be due to the protection mark you placed on it and of course listening to Protection Spells, I wondered how much you believe in such things. I believe. From Josh E. 15) How did the title for "Steve Alibini's Blues" come about? I know Steve Albini produced "Didn't It Rain", but was he particularly fond of that song or was it something else? "Didn't It Rain" was recorded by Edan Cohen in Philadelphia. Originally the record was planned to have been recorded by Steve at Electrical Audio but there were a few things that came up in the schedule that we couldnt move so it had to wait. From Tim Q. 16) The Pyramid Electric Co - Are you a believer in the untapped power of pyramids in our modern age? Or do you just like the ring of the name? That title was referring to the first song on the record. From Tjeerd 17) It's possible to interpret your lyrics in several ways. Ive noticed a lot of "religious" links in the lyrics. So my question is: are the songs concerned with religion? Are you a religious person and this is reflected in your lyrics or do you just like the way it sounds? I think that I'll say that songwriting and playing music is one of the greatest things in the world. I am working out a lot of things in this music. The images and music come from a different place every time. From Tjeerd 18) Next to religious elements I find some historical notes in your songs, especially in earlier works. The Civil War, in particular, seems to be referenced in lyrics from the "Black Album". Do you have a special interest in history? I am always interested in learning more about history and it does find its way into the songs from time to time. From Mark M. 19) It seems that you have a strong affiliation or attachment to South Carolina (in particular, Columbia) which is evident in the band name (Magnolia Electric Co), some album symbology, and your fan base in the state. Is this true and if so what is the connection? I have enjoyed a lot of time in the Carolinas, Louisianna, Kentucky, West Virginia and Georgia especially. But theres really no connection specifically to South Carolina other than having many friends down there. Probably the best BBQ joint in the world is hidden away in Mississippi and we book tours around a visit there. From Tjeerd 20) What is the link between Songs: Ohia and late medieval, early modern time paper watermarks? The crossbow symbol that appeared first on the early 7"s is a watermark from the late medieval times of a paper maker. How did you come across this and what significance does it have to you? I've worked in several art museums in the past and have gotten to handle some great old prints and drawings. I studied watermarks and pewter stamps too. I have no idea why this is so interesting to me. It reminds me of how a ghost would sign their name. From Tjeerd 21) Do you have some sort of special bond with The Netherlands? Every time you come to Europe there seems to be a focus on shows there. Is this because the booker is Dutch or because of something special about the Netherlands? I have always had a great relationship with the VPRO. Barry and Maurice have recorded us and fed us more times than I can count. From Ben T. 22) At the Alfred Knight club in Alfred, New York you played a few of the new songs and introduced some as saying 'I wrote these for Willie Nelson'. I just wanted to know if that was some humor or if you actually wrote some songs for Mr. Nelson and how that happened. Yes, I've got some songs I've written for Willie Nelson. I've also sent some to Lucinda Williams. That is where it stands right now. From Ben T. 23) I also heard rumors of some crazy story about being drugged in some hotel bar and blacking out, waking up to a big dent in the room's door. I was just wondering if you might relay strange stories of the road like this one. Well, I spent about 20 hours trapped in a blizzard on the highway. It was the first day of the tour and playing bass was my friend who is named appropriately for that kind of adventure- Max Winter. From Tjeerd 24) On the last European tour the band was accompanied by a donkey. Why this donkey as a mascot? That is Don Quixote. He protects the Coke Dares and the Electric Co.. One of his parents was a griffin and one was the sphinx. He once worked in the Chas. Reibenbach Salt Mines and was under a gypsy hex. Hes got all the stories. From Kurt M. 25) How are your plans for the Frosty Nickel coming along? The old Frosty Nickel is our root beer bar in southern Indiana. It is hidden but we're doing fine. The old boxer Magpie Mac came in and gave us an autographed pair of boxing gloves. Part III The Tours & The Records From Harry, Richard B., James H., David B., David 26) It has been quite a few years since youve toured the UK, yet there have been very regular tours of continental Europe. Is there something keeping you away from the UK and are there any plans for shows there after the new album comes out? Theres no specific reason we've not been to the UK in a few years. That is just how the tours have worked out. If there was enough interested I'd consider it. I normally only get offers to play big festivals there and I'm not really interested in that kind of show. From Wojtek, Joop, Lars, Ross H., Kelly, Matthew S. 27) In addition to the two shorter Eastern U.S. tours for 2004 are there any plans to visit other parts of the country and world? Particularly, the West Coast of the US, Holland, Sweden, Poland, or Australia? The August and October tours are all that is planned for now. You can pretty much bet on a spring tour that will hit some places weve missed. From Vantomas 28) You've released both demo albums and live albums in the past couple of years, are there any plans for such releases related to the upcoming album? For the October tour we will have a double live lp. The idea is that only two of the songs will appear on the studio record (due early 2005) and most of them are new and not intended for studio versions, similar to the Italian live record. The live versions many times outdo the studio attempts. There are no plans for a demo record. (see #29) From Richard B., David I., Andrew W., Ross H., Matthias, Jake 29) Between the multitude of singles and the two tour-only releases (Protection Spells, The Ghost) there is a lot of material that is now out of print. Any chance there will be a reissue of the tour CDs or a collection of the singles? As far as re-issues of tour records, demos and 7/comp/rare songs it is up to the Secretly Canadians and the fans to decide how to do it. If we do it all at once it would be too expensive. Also the records made for tour-only release were done in small numbers because there was not much demand for them. I think for the ten year anniversary of the "Nor Cease Thou Never Now" single (editor's note- January 30th, 2006) we could all come up with a good solution. The "Howler" single and several other songs are so long and so badly recorded that listening to them out of context is a problem. I suggest the fans brainstorm. More valuable to me would be a compilation of songs that were only played live. Does anyone have a boot of the songs I played at the Cat Power shows In Chicago? I wrote those for that night only and never played them again. I would love to have all these songs and attempt them in the studio. From Ben T., Ross H. , Dago, Josh E. 30) There have been a number of projects over the years that have been announced or mentioned in passing that seem to have fallen by the way-side. (i.e. Western Vinyl portrait series, the two In The Fishtank sessions, a split EP with Scout Niblett, a potential collaboration with Low, and a collaboration with Shannon Wright). How many of these were recorded and went unreleased and are there any current plans to revisit any of these? -Western Vinyl: Sent them some shitty home recordings. They are not worth releasing. -Fishtank: Only one session was ever attempted. They had problems with the change of name and I wouldnt release anything under the S:O name, "Didn't It Rain" was the last one. -Scout Niblett EP: A rumor only. We never discussed this but we did a 7" together. -Low: A record that would have been called Lamb & Flag. I wrote the songs for it ages ago and it was too hard with our touring to make it work. But what a future that might have had... -Shannon Wright: There was originally a plan to do an EP with Cat Power, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Bonny Prince Billy, My Morning Jacket, or Shannon Wright. It ended up pairing MMJ songs with "Be Your Own Guid Trans". They gave us $1500 and I bought us microphones with it. In the works: band versions of the Chunklet 7" as well as the songs from "Isn't It Romantic". Several new songs intended for 7"s or comps which we will hang on to for now and see about keeping them for the next studio outing.