PARK STREET INTERVIEW 5/17/06 FOR NEW ALBUM IDEAS
to be released September 22, 2006
http://www.parkstreets.com
Park Street (PS): How are the responses to the advance copies of Ideas, that your sending out?
Tucker Rountree (TR): Responses have been good, better than what I expected at my age. There have been many labels into listening to it, but I think maybe 3 or 4 actually look like something might happen.
PS: What is your criteria for a label?
TR: Well, I got some great advice recently. Any label that's small enough where I know the people that are working for me. That want to push this album, and get excited about what I'm doing.
PS: That sounds great. It somewhat goes along with my feelings of the record. It 's a very, very mature piece of work for someone your age and extremely dark.
TR: It can be.
PS: From knowing you, I would have never expected a record that is as dark as this one.
TR: It is interesting to hear your perception. A lot of those songs and the way I played them on the recording are a product of the things I was going through in Austin before we moved and coming back home to Utah after a long time, and going through a lot of changes. All of which was instrumental in that music, and a good expression for me.
PS: 98% of what I would have to say about Ideas is extremely positive. It's way beyond anything I expected. It 's a wonderful, wonderful record.I can see why you're getting such good responses to it. It 's astonishing from such a young musician. I don't know about the drums and guitar duet though, it Is a little long .
TR: Yeah, that ones pretty wild. I like it though.
TR: How would you compare it with my 1st album, No Goodbyes?
PS: I think it's a lot more mature and has more emotion. Reading my notes from listening to it says, "reservoirs of deep emotion". It seems a lot more from the heart. It 's a whole other ball game I think. I really liked your first one, but I didn't react to it like this one.
TR: That is what I want Park. I try not to tell my musicians too much information about the music, to keep it really fresh. But what I do tell them is pour your emotion into it. Don't worry about chops, and cool lines and such, rather play with serious feeling and just let it take over. I tried to be really honest in the writing.
PR: Well you site Wayne Shorter as being an influence on you. And it's true. He proved you don't have to play every note in the space given to make beautiful music.
TR: Oh I love Shorter!
PR: You could have written any kind of happy la la la melodies, and that is certainly not what it is. And in some respects, it is very much your own. I don't know that it steals from anybody. And that's what you want I'm sure, your own sound and style. And it's remarkably your own, your just kicking butt on this. Hopefully you can get some support and tour the hell out of it. How was it working with Roscoe Beck?
TR: See, it's been kind of a strange journey for me. If you look at it from my perspective, being 13 years old and listening Eric Johnson and Roscoe do their thing. They toured through Utah in 1994 or so, opening for Steve Miller. That was the first time I saw them live. I was blown away by Roscoe then, and still now. So to record and perform w/Roscoe now is unreal. It's a dream come true.
PS: He'll like to hear that.
TR: Roscoe is one of those players that has unlimited virtuosity and faculty in his playing, but he constantly maintains discipline in how much he actually plays, always thinking about what is right for the music and the song. He fully understands harmony, which is my passion too. I feel blessed to play with him.
PS: How was it to play Roscoe Beck's ES-335?
TR: Oh man, the 335. Wow.
PS: The famous 335, the 335 that is a strat in so many people's minds.
TR: Exactly, everyone thinks that's a strat don't they?
PS: Well everybody except for the true fans, that have gone through all the interviews.
TR: Right.
PS: The Cliffs of Dover guitar.
TR: Yeah I've always been for certain about using just my guitars on recordings. We were at his house playing, and I just picked it up. It just has this whole viscera to the instrument. You can tell that someone has just played that for years and years. I didn't even not consider using it on the recording. There is a neat quality it has. I actually used it on over half of the album! There was a point where I had to put it down, and
use my original black 335, she was getting jealous I think.
PS: Do you remember who talked you into trying a 335 when you were last looking for a guitar in 2003?
TR: It was you and Eric.
PR: Yeah, when we first met at your gig in Austin.
TR: I think that place was called Cippolina. I was playing a big old arch top and it wasn't really working for me. A fancy Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis model that I had for a while.
PS: It appears that working with Roscoe has worked out well. What is the deal with Paul Wertico (Methenys drummer 81-99) playing with you?
TR: Yeah, Wertico is a hero of mine for sure. He flew down from Chicago and played a trio concert with me here in Utah. He gave me a chance. It was a riot. I've never felt so excited about playing Jazz music in my life.
TR: He told me afterwards, he liked my dam the torpedoes attitude. Which is strange, I've never thought of myself in that light. But he did and I was honored.
PS: Do you think you'll play more with him?
TR: Yeah, I hope. He invited me up to Chicago to play and hang out. We had a good time playing, had some good talks too. He just had a real fire to his playing. He can play from a whisper to a roaring wind.I was very inspired playing with him, he lets the music play him,
rather than the trying to play the music.
PS: Of course you know I've got my hopes that you'll play with Charlie Haden someday.
TR: Oh man, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. I would love to.
PS: Charlie Hayden reminds me in some ways of what your doing.
TR: I know what you mean, there's a blend of free jazz stylings, mixed
with intricate harmonies. At the same time, there's a very honest approach from my influences. I don't deny what my influences are, I think that's wrong to do that.
You can hear it sometimes. Like 80's new wave music or Steely Dan, Paul Simon to Keith Jarrett, cause that's what I heard growing up. It's strange how that works.
PS: What are you thinking when you improvise? I imagine your not thinking anything.
TR: Exactly, if I'm really improvising.
PS: How do you create music, do you agree with that terminology?
TR: I think that's a really important issue, and no one ever talks about it. People always assume that someones writing music, or that so and so is the only one capable of writing that song etc. Music is just there, and I'm not trying to write it so much anymore. I'm not saying I hear a whole concerto in my head like Mozart. I just don't like using the word "wrote", because it's all
just out there. All we have to do is be receptive to pick it up, maybe quiet down inside enough to hear the music, then shape it a little to your own style and sound. So Gods gracious enough, to let us use it. Like a book that you discover on a old bookshelf up high, and no one's ever read it. You're the first person to read it, but it still doesn't mean you wrote the book. Does that make sense to you?
PS: Yeah it goes along with just getting out of the way. Do you believe in perfect pitch?
TR: No, absolutely not. For a long time people would tell me I had perfect pitch. And I believed them and what that did was it started hindering my music, because I always just assumed that I was right. And what I was supposed to be doing was listening to the other musicians around me playing. Because there are no bad notes, Jason Friedrich in Austin taught me that. One of my favorite drummers. It's all subjective. You can never have perfection in an imperfect world, it's impossible. Better to take it from the opposite p.o.v. What is good for that
time and place, will work fine.
PS: Yeah, I like what the Amish do. When they make those really beautiful quilts. They always put an imperfection in there somewhere. Because they say only God could make perfection.
TR: That is really neat. And you know even if they did make it without that mistake on purpose, there would still be one. That's the funny truth.
PS: We'll I think your just doing great. And it all sounds really good.
TR: Thanks! See you in Austin for the CD release on Sept 22 Ruta Maya date.
PS:Talk to you soon.