Errors-To: et-admin at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk Reply-To: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Sender: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Precedence: bulk From: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Subject: Elephant Talk Digest #359 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 359 Sunday, 9 March 1997 Today's Topics: SPECIAL ISSUE Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers (Part 3 of 3 parts) ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to et-admin at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk, or use the DIY list machine at http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/list/ to ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: et-help at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk ETWEB: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/ (partial mirror at http://members.aol.com/etmirror/) THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmeister) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest 3.0 package. ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 00:50:38 -0600 From: Adrian Belew Subject: Adrian Belew answers. Part three. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: "Hickson, Robert [PRI]" Adrian, due to the unique nature of this opportunity to "converse" with you, I must dispense with objectivity in my questions. I apologize. But on the up-side, the sharing of ideas may actually qualify this as some type of conversation, aye? Here goes... 1. Do you believe it is possible for an audience to dance AND "listen THROUGH the music" at a live King Crimson performance while resulting in a rewarding experience for both artist and audience? 2. Do you believe it is possible for King Crimson to play through the music while some of the audience dances through the music (thus enabling King Crimson to play through a really strange energetic kind of reciprocal type of music scene) while resulting in a rewarding experience for both artist an audience? 3. Do you think King Crimson will consider more frequent performances within a SPACE that permits, even encourages the audience to dance with your music? 4. If King Crimson were to perform a cover song or two, what songs do you think would lend themselves well to the band's voice? Is there any non-Crimson material you would like to perform with the band? Perhaps the closeness is just too damned frightening? I guess it can get a bit creepy for the artist - those folks up front at the general admission type of events are usually either completely drugged, completely disturbed, completely maniacal about the artist, or some combination of these factors. Thanks for the music. Sincerely, Bert P.S.: when folks bitch and moan, I think of "All Her Love is Mine" and realize that you are the winner! ** Adrian replies... 1. Yes, of course. I do it every night. 2. Stranger things than dancing have happened at Krimson shows. There was a recent show in Cleveland where the band could clearly see a dilligent young fellow having his plumbing checked while the band played B'Boom. But I've got to save something for the book. 3. The size of the venue, the sightlines, and in particular the sound are our main concerns. Dance in your space if the spirit moves. 4. The only song which comes to mind is "I Am A Walrus". "All Her Love Is Mine" is a triumph. I'm glad you like it. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: valdave at walrus dot com (David Read) Hey Adrian, Have you ever considered utilising STAND-UP COMEDY as part of the Crimson show? No really, I think it would be wild...just think of the possibilities, KC would completely devastate with an unbelievable 'Thrak', and at the end, instead of continuing, you take a pause, sort of shake in a Henny Youngman kinda way, and crack a joke like 'your mother's so fat, when she sits around the house, she sits AROUND THE HOUSE'... ...OK, it's a little far fetched...but have ya ever THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT LEAST??? Dave ** Adrian replies... "Take my mic...please." ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: FISHBOY When THRAK was released, many people on ET noticed echoes of ABBEY ROAD-era Beatles: for example the outro of "People" sounds like it came right out of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"; "Walking On Air" sounds like it could have evolved directly from "Don't Let Me Down." Were these references intentional? Andy Acunzo aacunzo at ccmail dot sunysb dot edu ** Adrian replies... The "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" reference I wrote into the song on purpose. "Walking On Air" began with a loping bass line from Tony which is the same as the two main chord changes "Don't Let Me Down" is based on but I don't think that was intentional. I wrote the chorus in my room in Argentina and to me, it doesn't have a Beatle reference. There are other places on Thrak where at least Robert and I knew we were making Beatle references. The coda ending of "Vrooom" (now called "Coda Marine 475") was taken from the ending of "A Day In The Life". When I first began working on "Dinosaur" Robert mentioned he would like to see the Krimson equivalent of "I Am A Walrus". Though the two songs don't sound alike, I was thinking in those terms as I continued to work on "Dinosaur". ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: zeppo at thrak dot pp dot fi (Arto Seppala) Hello! What is the soundsource/effect that makes the wonderful "glasier"/cloudscape sound in the beginning of Thrak (in Live in Japan for example)? Just gorgeous! Thank you, Arto. zeppo zeppo at thrak dot pp dot fi ** Adrian replies... It's a synthesizer sound I designed with the Roland GR-1 guitar synthe. It's called "Clouds". There is an entire piece written with that sound on The Guitar As Orchestra record. It's called "If Only..." Robert likes that sound because of its' tonal ambiguity and urged me to use it. In the recorded version of "Thrak" it was primarily what I played. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: "Clive Lathrope" Can Adrian tell us whether he was indeed influenced by the Beatles on his slower tracks on Thrak ie "Walking on Air" etc ? Is "Dinosaur" a reference back to "Lizard"; has he been listening to the early KC stuff ? Regards Clive Lathrope ** Adrian replies... The Beatle influence I've already mentioned. "Dinosaur" had nothing to do with "Lizard" nor with the term "dinosaur" in reference to an aging rock band. It's a personal lyric which is meant to be left open to interpretation by the listener. For me, it's a song about people digging into my past. No, I haven't listened to the early stuff in ages. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: CWA Adrian, First off, thanks to you for giving us this oprotunity. I don;t know if you and Robert have planned this thing, but you are currently givng us an exposure to yourselves as individuals in a way that I never could have dreamed. Now my question: Could you give us some info on the King Crimson song writing process? That's the gist of my question, but the following babblings may point you in a better direction.It's generaly considered that a song like "One Time" is mainly your solo project, whereas a song like "Vroom" is the brainchild of Mr. Fripp. I realize that this may not be totaly true. How do you and the other band members split up the compositional chores? How do you decide what you like and don't like? How many songs come out of jams and how many are planned? Also, how has the manner of composition chnaged between the 80's line up and the current band? Thanks again. Eagerly awaiting the year 1999 or 2000 or whenever the next album comes out... Chris ** Adrian replies... I think I've covered the songwriting process elsewhere. In terms of jamming, very little of it reaches a record. I can't think of anything on Thrak which was a jam. But sometimes improvised things are turned into a piece or incorporated into a song (as in the middle of "One Time"). Our manner of composition has changed very little between the 80's band and now. Since many of the written pieces are worked out before the full band hears them, the enlarged size of the band hasn't been as much of a change. The difference now is there are more parts being worked out between band members, especially Bill and Pat, and Trey and Tony. The working relationship between Robert and me has remained the same. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: Justin Weinberg You've probably been asked this several times via the "Ask Adrian Project" but just in case you haven't, are you going to tour in support of Op Zop Too Wah? If so, when and where, and with who? Do you see your method of making solo albums changing? For example, on your solo albums now you play all of the instruments. Would you consider bringing in other artists to contribute? If so, do you have anyone in mind? Along similar lines, are there other well-known artists you are working with now (aside from KC), or would like to work with? (I've started to think that an Adrian Belew-Mick Karn collaboration would be very very interesting; it would be not a double-trio, but a multi-double, that is, two multi-instrumentalists.) When can we see a new King Crimson album? Will there be touring before its recording and release? Who are some of your favorite musicians? Thanks for opening up to the public. yours, Justin Weinberg ** Adrian replies... I have no plan to tour for Op Zop Too Wah, but there is this idea of a sort of Krims-appaloosa in which various people in the band could play material from solo records as opening acts for Krimson. For instance, Trey could play with Robert and Pat material from his solo record. Bill could invite Ralph Towner to join him for some of the dates to play the new record they've just done, and so on. It was Robert's idea. If it works out I'm hoping to play some material from Op Zop Too Wah with Bill and Tony, providing they're interested. I'm going to record with a string quartet in a few weeks. I'm doing a new version of "Men In Helicopters" for the new acoustic record called "Belewprints". Most of the time I do the music alone and I enjoy that challenge. But for certain things which I can't do (such as a string quartet) I'm excited to have some help. I would consider working with other artists. I'm not sure who, it would depend on the music. The plan is to do limited touring to try new material sometime this fall. The record is scheduled to be released near the end of 1998 or perhaps on the King Crimson anniversary of January 13, 1999. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* From: Subject: Question4AB Is the story you're telling in "Thela Hun Ginjeet" about the two guys harrassing you on the street for real? Thanks! take care, chad grace. New York, NY ** Adrian replies... It's a story come true. ******* Adrian Belew answers questions from ET readers ******* [ends] End of Elephant-Talk Digest #359 ********************************