Music
he’s most creative during the late
morning and throughout the day;
“Always after coffee, though, always
after coffee.”
The conversation moved from
music to movies, books and other
various topics. His favorite film is
Unforgiven or is it Back to the
Future? “Every shot in that movie
(Unforgiven) is remarkable. It’s
truly a beautiful film. The music
and cinematography in Brokeback
Mountain is quite good as well. But
I always just seem to answer, Back
to the Future for this question,
because it’s been my favorite
since childhood.”
Since we’re on the topic of his
childhood, I ask what musical
influences he had, growing up.
“I suppose those first few records
and albums every musician hears
stick into their subconscious.”
“Well, I am a child of the 80s, so there
were some late 70s and 60s tracks
that hung around the record player
frequently, while neo-pop was still
figuring itself out. Those guilty
pleasures also made their way in to
my head and heart while my older
sister teased her bangs radically to
the catchy and poppy tunes of the
time. The first few albums on repeat
that I grooved to were Grover
Washington Jr., ‘Winelight’. I think
that was in every household or tape
deck I visited as a kid. Most also had
Bruce Springsteen, ‘Born in the USA’.
Michael Jackson, ‘Thriller’ and ‘Bad’.
I remember I got ‘Bad’ on cassette
for Christmas when I was maybe six.
I thought Michael was the coolest
thing ever. I can go on and on, Paul
Simon, ‘Graceland’, George Benson,
‘Give me the Night’ and ‘Breezin’, Billy
Joel, ‘52nd Street’, Chicago, ‘IX
Chicago’s Greatest Hits’, George
Gershwin, ‘Rhapsody in Blue