Confused Clarity: An Interview with Andy Gonzales
by Jason Devin
Elephant 6er Andy Gonzales can change his mind on a whim without feeling bad about it, which might partly explain why he's managed to be all over the musical map over the years. Even if his playful and energetic pop songwriting reflects his spirited rather than spiritual view of the world, that doesn't mean he ever shies away from life's open ended mysteries. In the following interview, FM has fun getting far out with Andy.
FavoriteMedia: After so many musical adventures, including Marshmallow Coast, Music Tapes and Of Montreal, were you feeling especially inspired to focus on a solo project, or was Andy from Denver more the result of creative restlessness?
Andy Gonzales: I have always wanted a new band name. I was really excited about M Coast, but it was getting too complicated in that we could never organize. We had a couple tour situations that were jeopardized due to members not being available. I hated arranging shows around schedules, and now that I am performing solo or with my wife, I don't have to worry about it. In regards to the music, I have been doing computer recording and midi for a while now and am excited to share some of the songs I have been working on!
FM: So without that stress has your music changed in any unexpected ways, or have new ideas come to you that you might not have thought up otherwise?
AG: My only stress now is recording and mixing, but I think I'm getting better at both. In light of my increased knowledge of computer-based recording, I am exploring edits and effects, which is leading to some unexpected arrangement discoveries.
FM: You say on your Andy from Denver MySpace page, "Although the songs can be upbeat, I often write depressing-ish lyrics about my observations and fantasies." Would you say that this contrast is a playful one? I mean, is this a conscious choice where you want an upbeat vibe to poke fun at your unhappy lyrics and vice versa? Or is it more that you just like mixing your veggies into your mashed potatoes?
AG: Ha! I have always felt that I am giving a picture into my mind with my lyrics, and I think I am maybe kind of a pervert and devious? But I am not a sad person, I just think about all facets of existence. Perhaps it comes from being a nurse and taking care of old people. I promise I am not trying to be self-great, but I think my lyrics contain most all the info a person aged teens to thirties needs to know to make the most of life.
FM: Isn't it weird how you sort of have to be a little perverted and devious to see the whole picture? You must see this as a nurse quite a bit - family dramas whirling around fading fathers and mothers, or the lonely and unvisited just laying there by themselves. And yet somehow it's not all gloomy, or at least it doesn't have to be, but try to tell that to most people and they flip. Do you think there's a point at which people helplessly start to fossilize or do you believe that almost everyone can open up to a bigger perspective at any time if they really wanted to?
AG: I think it was in a movie once, where someone said, you can't shy away from any thoughts if you want to be a real poet, or something like that. That statement has stuck with me. I try to allow myself to think or feel anything no matter how weird or troubling. I'm not sure if it is a good thing, but it is something I do. I think it keeps me in a state of confused/clarity. (I am making these terms up). I remember being at a Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago with some of my wife's extended family, where I blurted out how I love natural disasters. This was freshly after the WTC event, and the people there were utterly disgusted by my statement. I had to try and back track and explain that I just like it when nature reclaims her own, and had to ultimately own up to not feeling bad if I or someone close to me died under similar circumstances. (I would feel bad, and as of recently I don't want to die, but given the path of my argument I had to accept this stance). As for the latter part of your question, I don't think everyone can open his or her mind. Just most the people you or I know. I have recently become very aware of the circumstances that shape a person. There is no possible way that a person born in a super poor, dangerous environment, improperly (or not at all) raised and educated, can simply become enlightened. They have more pressing matters in a Maslow's hierarchal sense.
FM: Absolutely. And maybe the reverse is true in some cases, where the affluent here in America are dulled into apathy since all their basic needs are generally met and instead are replaced with the pseudo-needs of consumerism. When you first read the script for The Icon of 2nd Street, was it these sorts of ideas that you saw in the story that made you want to write music for the film?
AG: Ryan just asked me for some music and he used a song from an album. I just watched the movie again, and was very pleased with the spiritual puzzle of it all. I am really torn as to whether or not consumerism is bad. The compulsion for new products is so strong that it does feel like a need. But, in my secret desire to experience the end of civilization, it kind of helps the cause. I wanted to form a sort of new religion I call "The Wrecking Crew." It is for people that don't want to ruin the earth, but don't necessarily want to help it, because hastening its end is interesting. I realize that as I write this I am a pretty sad individual, which leads me to my next respected virtue: The ability to admit to changing your mind/heart without all the shame attached to it.
FM: So would you say that humans are just an aberration then, something so far out of the ecology it's time for another major meteorite to come crashing down on earth?
AG: We are a complex and beautiful parasite.
FM: And maybe our confused spiritual preoccupations are a way for us to justify our existence and give some sort of higher logic or meaning to our careless abuse of our host?
AG: Perhaps for the spiritually inclined. I hope you are not a religious person, so I am not totally offending you. You know what makes me crazy? For some reason all our talk has reminded me of this one guy in Denver who was passing through and somehow ended up staying at my house years ago. He called god "the architect" and I don't know why but that sounded really gross. Do you know what I mean? I can't even stand the word "god" for some reason. I like to use it in the context like, "God that stinks," or "Oh my God!" but in reference to the hypothetical "man upstairs" it seems really unpleasant to me. In spite of that, I am perfectly happy with anyone around me being religious, and often have to deal with it at the hospital. There is this Dr. that I really admire who is kinda a Jesus nut. One morning he walked up to me and high-fived me and was like, "I heard you accepted him." As a response to my look of utter bewilderment he added, "Jesus, you know." Then someone else corrected him that it was another employee that recently announced his faith. It was so painful because I really like this Dr. and almost wanted to accept Jesus into my heart just so he would like me (joking).
FM: I heard on NPR not long ago that there's a black hole about 250 million light years away from here that hums a constant note of B flat. As a musician, I thought, hmm, that's sort of interesting. Then I thought, I bet all it would take is for some charismatic loon to come along to start a cult of B flat, and the next thing you know people would be accepting "The Big B" into their hearts. I kept thinking about that for a few days, and then started wondering, if worshipers could jam with "The Big B," would it be in a major or a minor key? It's totally arbitrary, isn't it? It would only really matter to the individual, not some higher power. "The Big B" hums the infinite B flat indifferently. Meanwhile squabbles over octaves and keys would probably break everyone into factions. I mean, could it be that faith, like music and film, just boils down to something as simple as personal taste?
AG: You could have multiple religions based on the Chord you use as your mantra. Of course the Western world would seem simple with our chromatic scale, so it would be a reverse of Taoism. I could totally worship a sound rather than a big guy with a beard that throws lightning bolts, actually I like that to, but I am referring to Zeus. I like to use my worshiping wantonly. When I am flying and I get freaked out, I generally pray to electricity and science/engineering. I also pray to the Pilot who is my savior of the moment.
FM: Well, what's next for you musically? Are you still looking to write music for film?
AG: As we are interviewing, I am sending files for a friend's film. I am going to release a CD in the fall. I am booking two tours, one with Keith John Adams for the spring, about 20 days up to New York and down to Florida. Then in the fall I am probably going to do a slightly longer tour with Casper and the Cookies. My wife's best friend has made two short films and is trying to break into the scene more in New York and LA, I am hoping she will use some of my stuff for a future project, especially at the alluring price of free!
FM: For your friend's film, is it new material you've recorded specifically for the film?
AG: It is. Just instrumental stuff. I am procrastinating trying to write songs for my record. I need two more...
FM: Will the new record be released on Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records?
AG: I believe so. We are working out a time line. It looks like fall is likely.
FM: You've recommended that everyone should keep taking their pants off until they find themselves. Do you think nude beach goers have an unfair advantage over the rest of us?
AG: No, because it is related to the number of times said pants are removed.
~end~
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