don van vliet was born in
glendale,
california on january 15, 1941, the only child of glenn and
sue van vliet.
don began showing artistic talent at a very young age, but
glenn and sue
were none too keen on the prospect of having an artist in the
family ('because
you know, all artists are faggots', is how don explained their
rationale),
so they moved to the mojave desert, an isolated, harsh
environment guaranteed
to bleach the creative juice out of anybody.
but don van vliet just had too
much to
dry out. the drive to translate the world around him - and
the one inside
his head - into music intensified, his imagination blossomed
and then...,
voila! don van vliet introduced himself to the world as
captain beefheart.
he recently signed with epic
records (his
eighth label) which will distribute his new elpee 'ice cream
for crow'
and although beefheart feels it's one of the best albums
he's made, he
remains skeptical about its commercial potential. 'well,
here's hoping
the album goes platinum,' i enthused. 'yeah, sure,' he
laughed.
'ice cream for crow' signals no
major
stylistic changes for beefheart, but it does differ from his
last elpee
in a few ways worth noting. the music feels looser - there's
more air and
space to it - and somehow, sadder. beefheart has lost none
of his bite
and is still mad as hell about the horrors man has wrought,
yet his anger
seems a bit more forgiving and benign.
the album includes a gorgeous
instrumental
guitar composition entitled 'evening bell' (which is
magnificently performed
by gary lucas), a spoken word piece, and of course a handful
of tunes so
ferociously fired-up and complex, god only knows how the
magic band mastered
them.
beefheart is notorious for the
dictatorial
way in which he runs his band and he doesn't try to deny
those rumors.
it's hís music, it demands absolute precision and the band
is to
play each note exactly as he tells them. as might be
expected, there are
former magic band members with bitter tales to tell, yet
difficult as it
may have been to work with beefheart, none of them questions
the genius
of his music.
the incarnation of the magic band
i've
come to know - jeff tepper, gary lucas, richard snyder and
cliff martinez
- are a remarkable bunch indeed. in addition to being
first-rate musicians,
they're exceptional people, kind, humble and intelligent,
and all feel
a deep commitment to beefheart and his music.
having decided to retire from
touring,
beefheart intends to promote his new album with a video, so
on august 7,
he and the magic band gathered in the desert to perform one
of their new
songs [...]. plonked in the middle of the mojave, nothing
but joshua trees
and sand as far as the eye could see, they filmed from
sundown to sunup.
i spoke with don during the interminable waiting periods
that are part
of film making.
beefheart makes unexpected
conversational
segues that parallel his music; talking with him can be like
struggling
with a jigsaw puzzle. he'll make a baffling declaration,
you'll give him
a confused look and he'll add the clarifying link. example:
boy, those kids hooked on pac-man
are
like zombies.
yeah, i always want to check and see
if they
have navels.
huh?
to see if they're human!
he's a funny man with a
remarkable memory,
who's had to wage a fierce battle to preserve and protect
his music, and
he's rightfully, defiantly proud of the work he's done. a
child in many
ways. he's apt to find the task of ordering his lunch
befuddling, yet he's
incredibly wise when it comes to the big issues.
lip-synching for the video
camera, he
was constantly doing double-takes on himself. he'd perform a
gesture, be
struck by the absurdity of the situation, step back and
mimic himself.
as take after take was required, his behavior flip-flopped
between that
of a patient professional, and a restless child whose
attention span had
reached its limit.
hell, he exclaimed at one point,
checking
his watch, i've got to be on mars in fifteen minutes!
if anybody knows how to get
there, i would
bet even money that it's don van vliet.
picture by
kate
simon
what was the central idea that
guided
you through the making of 'ice cream for crow'?
probably the image of black crows
and white
ice cream, just the idea of black and white. god, you should
see some of
these birds! those ravens with those tuft things under their
beaks like
a double chin. pretty hip. i wanted to have some crows in a
video i made
a few weeks ago in the desert but they're too smart and they
wouldn't come
around when we were out there with the cameras. when people
show up they
start laughing, ha ha ha, then they split.
how do you compose? what comes
first?
a lyrical fragment? a sound that appeals to you which you'll
build a song
around?
usually the complete composition
comes to
me. flash! bang! it's just there. if i have an idea that i
don't think
is really living, i get rid of it.
do the songs ever take on lives
of their
own and evolve in a way that surprises you?
no, i'm always in control,
disgustingly enough.
wouldn't it be funny if all of a sudden they said: 'hey, i
have a place
for yóu to go!' that would be nice.
how do you convey to the band
what you
want them to play?
i’ll try anything. long tedious
explanations,
i'll paint it out - anything to get it to resemble the way i
want it. i'm
real stubborn. the band is actually pretty quick at picking up
on what
i want.
how collaboratively are the songs
worked
up in rehearsal? is the band allowed any creative input?
none, but they're not like slaves.
if they
have something they want to do, i let them go all the way out.
i mean,
hit the damn stuff to hell! that's what i require - somebody
that really
wants to beat it out.
what's the key to a great vocal
performance?
to let your senses take over and lose yourself in the
moment? or discipline
and intense rehearsal - to concentrate and sing with your
mind?
to just completely let go, but i
think if
you do let go, your mind is in control. i think soul is a
mathematical
mistake.
have you ever had a productive
relationship
with a producer?
no, it was always something i had to
fight.
is there anyone whose opinion you
trust
more than your own instincts?
yeah, my wife jan. she's always
right, to
the point that it scares me sometimes. she's a very good
painter herself,
although she hasn't painted in quite a long time because she's
been trying
to help me, which is a terrible burden on me, guilt wise.
which of your work functions as a
central
reference point for you, something you measure other work
against?
i've never reflected in that way -
i'm afraid
to. i don't want to get caught by myself.
how do you see your music
evolving over
the years?
i don't know that it really has. the
only
difference between the new record and the last one is that the
guys in
my new band play better. they're real good. cliff martinez, my
new drummer,
is just incredible and jeff tepper's gotten awful good - but
he was awful
good to begin with.
