Woke up this morning. A Shot of caffeine. Reach for the laptop. Open the files for my book. Do some spot-editing on Chapter 2. Unpack yellow backpack. Find audio tape of Jason Molina chat @ Fireside. Work on the transcription. Now hungry.
Here is a brief snippet for inquiring minds.
Nickelback’s song “Too Bad” comes on the jukebox at Fireside Lounge and we both innately begin to speak louder — I assume — in an attempt to drown out the racket.
EL: When I spoke to Tim Midgett and Jeff Mueller they both mentioned that — Chicago being a very blue-collar town — everybody is really out to see as much as they can and then help each other and support each other.
JM: Right on. And those are two are absolute warriors when it comes to playing a lot and — I’m sure — seeing a lot. I’ve seen them both out at a lot of different shows; music that isn’t necessarily what you would expect them to…But that’s the thing is…it defeats the purpose to have expectations about what really creative musicians are going to be wanting to be interested in. They’re interested in about everything. That still doesn’t mean that they’re critical. I mean, when it’s bad it’s truly bad and they know that and they’re happy to…And that’s another thing, is that I think artists share that with each other here.
EL: So then you would say that, as far as the musicians or artists in Chicago are concerned, it’s not cliquish or anything?
JM: Yeah, I wouldn’t say so. I wouldn’t say that in my experience…just from the point of view of having not ever felt excluded in this town. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not in a traditional band where I’m usually surrounded by the same people, or a certain kind of music, but when I find myself at a club watching old fifties and sixties blues cats, or jazz guys, or I’m seeing really young jazz projects, or seeing crazy freak-out music, or seeing really spastic bands, I tend to see the same kinds of people at all these shows. I’m like, “Hey I just saw that group of people and I don’t know who the hell they are, but I also saw them at the Old Town School watching, like, a country band.” It’s an accessible city. It’s really not that hard to get to a lot of these venues. The venues have such a personality too. Each venue tends to have it’s own character. Sometimes it’s sleazy, and scummy, and the typical things you’d expect, but some are really classy and smart, and managed and operated in a way that makes you feel comfortable as just a music lover — not even as a musician.
EL: And would you say, for the most part, those venues are accommodating for local as well as touring acts?
JM: Absolutely, yes. And I think that’s a strong point that I a lot of times forget because I always count myself as just a touring musician. But, I do notice that it’s really easy to find a bill where you have a local band and you have two touring bands. The thing is, the quality of the local bands here is so high that — in general — they already probably have two records out…Or maybe they’ve just toured once or twice…Or these are bands that are likely to be on tour next summer, and from then on you’ll never see them again in Chicago…not as a local band.
