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By Joe Dallesandro
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JOE:
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY TO TODAY, THE
BANDS AND COUNTRIES YOU'VE LIVED AND PLAYED; HAVE YOU TOURED IN THE
UNITED STATES?
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DAVID:
Joe, I was
very lucky to start my music career in the Sydney underground scene in
the late 70's for the sheer amount of great venues available to me in
that unparalled and vibrant era of punk and
experimental music. From 15 years of age I was playing anywhere between
five and seven nights a week, after a couple of years of that heavy
gigging I had clocked up more hours on stage than
anyone should. We were so old and tired we had a saying, "too old to
rock n roll, too young to shave". Night and day were just words. I was
dragged away to a different house every night and had
to find my own way home. I ended up with a pretty good knowledge of the
train and bus routes. Later I lived and played around Europe and in my
home town of Dublin. I would love to play in the United
States, the birthplace of rock n roll, and visit Gracelands and if I
could find Irish food, I would probably stay there.
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JOE:
I KNOW THAT SEVERAL IF NOT ALL OF THE BANDS YOU
STARTED WERE UNDERGROUND BANDS. I KNOW THAT WHEN THE WARHOL FILMS CAME
OUT, HOLLYWOOD WAS QUICK TO RELEASE A "SOFTER" VERSION. TRASH BECAME
PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK AND FLESH BECAME MIDNIGHT COWBOY. DO YOU FIND THAT
HAPPENED WITH YOUR EARLY MUSIC?
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DAVID:
Isn't that always the way Joe. I have seen all the above movies and I
know what you mean. I prefere the originals. I never meant my music to
be underground, just honest. I write my songs to be hits, and to get
the biggest audience possible. I'm human, I love success. My music has
been consistantly popular on the independant scene. I have started many
bands that shot to mainstream stardom the minute I left probably
because "now the crazy man has gone we can be pop stars", of course
they all now resemble their mothers. I just have such a high opinion of
people and audiences that I give them the best possible music and ideas
that I can and I believe that if people had that same high opinion of
themselves we would be a match made in heaven. So yes many of my ideas
got watered down and sold off as rubbish. I came to this world to make
the best music I can, if I want quick money, I'll paint a house.
The readers can read my history, it's very funny. If it becomes a movie I want Daniel Day Lewis to play my dark night of the soul period. |
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JOE:
I HAVE A WHOLE WEIRD PROCESS I GO THROUGH TO PREPARE FOR A FILM THAT
NEVER CHANGES. I WAS WONDERING WHAT IS YOUR SONGWRITING PROCESS?
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DAVID:
My own
style is prolific and extemporaneous, so I write every day and always
have since about the age of 11,
first poems, then at 14 years, songs with music. I don't commit all
songs to paper
but I sing them in my head and even remember them years later.
If I want to gig or record a song I make an effort to write it down.
I write all my songs, words music and arrangements within 3 minutes and don't change them or "correct" them. My formula happens automatically. 1 make an outrageous statement 2 try to prove the statement in vain and fail 3 stand outside of the argument and give it up Not always in that order, sometimes in just one verse or even one line. For me the best song writer is Cole Porter, he is the most fun, but the only perfect song writer is John Lennon If you test my formula on Lennon you will see he comes up with what I call a perfect zero. This is where it gets weird, strap in, when I was very little life wasn't so good so I spent a great deal of my time in my head or way up in space if you know what I mean, my favorite head game was playing with a kind of strange maths, numbers and elements, so the idea was to move it all around get to zero, or a kind of "pH balance" and this would produce in me a kind of Bliss or Love. Later at the age of about 11 I found I could do this with words and make poems ending in zero, and it was a lot of fun. So like Lennon you say something for about 3 or 4 minutes and at the end there is nothing, no residue, so you can only hear it in that time, because it eats itself, so you have to play it again and again and again,, it ends in zero. (It made him rich). I know none of the above sounds very sexy,( and is a bit nuts )so as far as the music I like to sing and play is Rock N Roll, country blues, crazy fucked up garage music, and psychobilly. BTW I am not the world's biggest Lennon fan, I like him, my favourite singer is Jerry Lee Lewis. Of course Elvis is The King and John Lydon, Sex Pistol is my hero, Billy Holiday Best Blues Hank Williams for honkytonk songs. So I am not in love with any kind of "perfect" what turns me on is the whole beautiful ugly thing about music, and life, this has been quite a harrowing incarnation for me but I love it and accept it. Bring It On,, I am a free being and a free thinker, I love kind people and I am happy in my true nature. |
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JOE:
IN MY SPARE TIME I LOVE ANIMATION, FIXING THINGS AND WATCHING OLD AND
NEW RELEASE FILMS. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
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DAVID:
I like old
movies, B movies are the best, Hammer Horror, underground stuff, cheap
and nasty,don't like "good" actors (if you're not Lawrance Olivier just
be yourself). I love John Waters, and the movie Pink Flamingos is one
of my favourites. Spanish horror flicks are pretty cool too.
I don't go "ou,t" I like home, or nature. When I do gigs I stay in the back stage before and after, then it's "Get Me Home Baby". I don't drink ( a beer a month ) or take any drugs or medication, never really have,( I smoke cigarettes & drink coffee). I don't exercise just walking singing & sex, I meditate every day and have for about 30 years but only for short periods so I don't space out. In short I was born with a wicked perverse sense of fun, I am foolish, I have followed many a hot ass through several zip codes and missed my dinner. |
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JOE:
FUNNY STUFF THERE MISSING YOUR DINNER. I USE TO HAVE A FEAR OF NEVER
GETTING ANOTHER FILM I'D BE FINISHING ONE UP AND THE WORRY WOULD START
ALL OVER AGAIN. DO YOU HAVE ANY FEARS IN REGARDS TO YOUR MUSIC?
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DAVID:
I fear large crowds unless I am on stage in which case I fear small
ones.I like small groups of people 1 or 2 maybe 3 good people. I am
obsessive about recording, not the playing, the sound. I remix a lot
and remaster a lot. I drive myself crazy with it as if the world is
somehow going to blow up if I don't get it right. Then when it's done,
I sleep like a happy dog.
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JOE:
I'M LIKE THAT TOO NOT AS BAD AS A CHARLES BUKOWSKI WHO WANTS TO BE 500
MILES FROM EVERYONE, BUT I PREFER TO BE AROUND FAMILY AND CLOSE FRIENDS
BUT NOT ALL AT ONCE. ANY ADVICE FOR MUSICIANS JUST STARTING OUT?
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DAVID:
I always
have advice and time for young people starting out in music, though
what I have to say to them is often scary for them. Firstly I say if
you're going to play good true original music develop a taste for beans
on toast, you will be eating a lot of beans. If you're going to play
cheesy pulp I don't have to tell you to go to hell, you're already
there. Practically, I tell them to get a metronome and learn to play in
time because the first thing in music is trust and if you're not on
that one beat when the dancer is they will eat you alive. People like a
steady rhythm and if you can give that to them they will love you, even
bad people. I say young man or young woman say goodbye to your happy
life. I grew up in an Irish folk music household, I learnt to walk
tripping over banjos and guitars. If I ever put my hand on one of those
instruments my older brothers would hit me and warn me "those things
will ruin your life". It's a mean world but the rewards are great. If
you play well the angels will take care of you and you will be in
bliss.
Rock N Roll is my religion, my nation & my creed. |
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JOE:
YOU HAVE A SON ROHAN THAT STARTED HIS MUSICAL JOURNEY EARLY LIKE YOU
DID AND HAS A LARGE BODY OF WORK AT A YOUNG AGE. DO YOU COLLABORATE
WITH HIM MUSICALLY? HOW MUCH HAS HIS WORK INFLUENCED YOURS? AND VISA
VERSA?
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DAVID:
Rohan has
a great genius for music but I never taught him anything. When he was
13 he had a motor bike and he loved riding it around it gave him so
much joy, but I had to fix it when it broke. One day he said Dad I want
to play guitar, before that he'd never shown any interest in music, he
was a young actor. All I said is you have to sell your motor bike if
you want a guitar. When he agreed I knew he was a rock n roller for
rock n roll is a jealous mistress and will steal all your other loves.
Lucky for him he plays well. We don't write songs together with the
exception of the song "Stephens Green" I wrote the words, we compete
for the favour of the gods like all good musicians do.
Rohan has a huge and wonderfully articulate audience for his music that he fully deserves, he's the hardest working guy I've ever seen. He writes and records prolifically. |
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JOE:
ANY LAST THINGS YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH THE READERS? A FAVORITE FOOD, OR
SHOE SIZE YOUR BIGGEST DREAM OR REGRET?
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DAVID:
No
regrets, I have all I want, I have been blessed with good kids,
incompetent assasins, and a cool and patient wife.
Life has been very good to me, I have eaten every day and still have
all my fingers. My music has brought me to places internally and
externally that are the stuff of dreams. I've had more fun than any man
deserves and the kind of pain that would kill off two thirds of the
world's population. I've met Gandhis and I've met Hitlers, sometimes in
the same week. I've written 2000 songs about the same thing, the beauty
and depth of us all. My dream is to work myself into a paste doing what
I love.
It's been an absolute pleasure being interviewed by you Joe. Your films have given me so much enjoyment over the years and are a wonderful, timeless truthful art form. Thanks for your questions and for taking the time to speak with me. http://www.myspace.com/davidvirgin |
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JOE:
THANK YOU DAVID.
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