J.J. CALE : : AMERICAN LEGEND

Cale's ability to live life on his own terms, away from the big cities, swanky parties, and destructive rock lifestyle has only helped fortify this man as a true American icon, one we can be proud to show our kids. And when someone once compared a J.J. Cale interview to the appearance of Halley's Comet they were right. Perhaps that is why I was so eager to speak with the man who has been responsible for such an important part of my musical make up. Listening to his gravel voice creep out of the phone, his mannerisms and vocal patterns are just as guarded, polite, humble, and intriguing as you would expect. While it's hard to dig too deep--and one doesn't push with a man of this stature--there is still an overwhelming sense that John Cale is completely genuine, original, enigmatic, "laid back," and timeless. Just like his music.

At 65 years of age the man is still making music that stands the test of time. In his latest piece of work, To Tulsa And Back (due out on Sanctuary Records June 8), we find Cale literally going back to where it all began--his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Coming off an eight-year gap in recording, the music world is certainly eager to hear what Mr. Cale has brewed up. And while his latest record may show signs of an older Cale, perhaps a Cale who looks a bit more closely at the world, it still pushes with the dusty grit-filled guitar, poignant songs, and mixed-down vocals that helped to create a body of work that only gets better and more important with age. After recently speaking with Cale I'm inclined to believe that all this hype, these elaborate descriptions and powerful words, aren't what he's looking for, and in fact probably only serve to make him a bit uncomfortable. He's the "anti-rock star." Cale would rather write the song and drift off to the side, letting someone else get the glory. He sits in the dark with his shades on, speaking softly as he avoids cameras. He's from a different world, one where the music is paramount and everything else silly. J.J. Cale is the workingman's hero, a rare breed, a Legend.

Often times as a writer (and editor) you are inclined to trim the fat, cut sections out and carve an interview down to its core. More often than not this is certainly the appropriate thing to do. But something about the rolling manner of this conversation, Cale's accent, his relaxed, unrushed nature, and perhaps most of all, the incredible lack of text actually available finding J.J. Cale in quotes has led me to leave the majority of our chat untouched. So settle in, kick your feet up, let the world slow down and step back to a slightly different time as we let the tape roll with the one, the only, J.J. Cale.

Kayceman: I wanted to start off with To Tulsa And Back. It's been about eight years since your last studio work, why so long between albums?

J.J.: Yeah, I didn't realize it was that long. Time went by and I hadn't made an album in quite a while, so I guess I figured I better make an album. Time flies when you're having fun.

Kayceman: So what have you been up to the past few years? Anything you'd like to share with us?

J.J.: Well I played a few gigs. I haven't worked in the past year or so, but in 2002 I did seven months on the road, which is quite extensive for me. And you know, just regular stuff, mow the lawn, watch the sun go up and down, write songs. And that's basically what I do.

Kayceman: And since you haven't been touring too much and it's been a while since the last record, are you always playing music, and writing music even if we're not hearing it?

J.J.: Sometimes I do and sometimes I go a long period where I don't write anything and don't even really get into music, maybe just noodle on the guitar a bit. I generally do most of my writing when I know I'm going to put out an album, which can be anywhere from six months to a year. I'll write some new songs, or maybe re-write some of the old ones I never put out.

"I started to modify them trying to get a better sound out of them. Then it became a hobby, then it became an obsession. If I'd buy a guitar I'd immediately go, 'Well I think I'll stick this pickup in it. Or put this kind of a deal on it, or modify that.'" --J.J. Cale

Sure. Now it's been documented that you are quite a production and studio buff, do you still have a recording studio in your home?

Yeah I do. Everywhere I've lived in the last 30 or 40 years I have. Technology constantly changes. It went from analog to digital and different kinds of recorders and different kinds of mixing boards. So I purchased whatever the state of the art equipment was and put it in where I live. And sometimes I rent a studio and let someone else do the engineering, but I'm an old engineer from way back.

What type of gear do you have in there; do you have any of the new cutting edge kind of stuff?

Yeah, this last bunch of stuff that the album was done on. Half of the album I did in Tulsa on Pro Tools, which is what everybody uses. And here at the house I put it all up and was using Alesis' HD24, which is a hard disc recorder and a Yamaha board, that's what I used for this last thing. We transferred the Pro Tools stuff over to the HD24 and mixed it here.

Do you ever just go into your studio and just mess around with what you got in there just to play around?

Yeah. Like I said I'm an old engineer from way back and I like to actually do that sometimes more than play the guitar and write songs. Writing songs is actually the hardest part of it. But yeah I try to keep up with it and buy new gizmos.

You seemed to be into drum machines long before it was the fashionable thing. I'm kind of curious how you got interested in that, you were one of the first people I heard using that?

Yeah the first album I put out was called Naturally that was in 1970, what are we talking 30 years, 35 years ago. I had an electric banjo and I traded it for a Japanese electric drum machine. It was before the drum machines were on the market really. And I think there were four songs on that first album that I used the electric drum machine on. And then I generally used it with a gentleman I had met named Roger Linn. We would sit around and talk about electric drum machines and the future of music. And he invented a thing called the Linn Drum Machine, which used digital stuff, and it sounded much better. They would sample a drummer and put it on a chip. And he was kinda the first gut to actually make a professional drum machine that everybody used. And then the Japanese started copying it and then it exploded and look what it is now, there's a million drum machines.

Sure. Now sort of in line with your interest in technology you seem to sort of modify some of your instruments quite a bit, is that something you were always interested in even as a kid growing up?

Yeah, not really when I was a kid but when I started playing out at nightclubs and bars and playing with rock 'n' roll bands. I didn't modify guitars until I actually made enough money to where I could own two guitars. And up until that time, maybe early '70s or whatever, then I started to modify them trying to get a better sound out of them. Then it became a hobby, then it became an obsession. If I'd buy a guitar I'd immediately go, "Well I think I'll stick this pickup in it. Or put this kind of a deal on it, or modify that." And then it becomes fun, it's kind of like an engineer, I enjoy it.

"It's not a style it's just I like things that are in the slot, easy to listen to... When I was a young fella I used to romp on it. But so many people were so good at that I went, 'There ain't no way I'm going to out-volume everybody or out hot-lick someone or whatever.' So I took the opposite approach." --J.J. Cale

And how about that old Harmony [guitar] that we've heard so much about, do you ever play that anymore? I know you don't tour with it or anything, but do you ever mess around with it at home?

No not really. I took all the pick-ups back out of it. It was a very very cheap guitar and I modified the crap out of it. I took the back off of it and it fell all apart. And I played it and played it, it's in storage now, just sort of the bones, the carcass of what it used to be.

Do you currently have a favorite guitar?

I've been playing Danelectro guitars. They're kind of a cheap guitar. I have a bunch of guitars--some real expensive ones--Martins and Gibson's and stuff. I play an acoustic Danelctro; it's a swimline acoustic; it has a little acoustic properties and also electric properties. I modified it and put a pickup in, a Magnetic Lipstick pickup in it. And I've been playing that on the gigs, and it's been kinda fun.

Now moving back to To Tulsa And Back, how did the loss of Audie Ashworth affect this record?

Quite a bit. Audie was a song guy. And that's kind of how I make my living really, writing songs. Audie is an old disk jockey from Nashville so I would run songs by him. And he's really great for feedback, you know he'd go, "Well that's a good song you got there John, and that one there sucks." And he also hired all the musicians, the first eight albums I made with the Nashville players of that era like that with him. And then the last four I made I did kinda like the drum machine album. So we had talked and we were gonna get back together and hire the old guys that were still alive and go in and rent a good studio in Nashville and kinda do it the way we did it in the old days. And he passed away. So yeah, Audie influences me quite a bit. The sound of the records, the songs I put out, because like all songwriters I write more than I can put out. And he was real good at that, and now I kind of have to do that all by myself, and it's kind of a lonesome duty.

I'm sure. And did his death have anything to do with the amount of time it took to put this one out?

No, Audie passed away about three years ago. And we were gonna do this thing and then he passed away and I went, "Oh well, I'm gonna go back to what I've been doing." So that's why I decided I would go back to my hometown and record there with some of my other old crony musician friends. And that's kinda what I did. I was gonna go to Nashville but after Audie left, you know... I didn't really know anyone. I knew Audie in Nashville and he knew everybody else. So I decided I'd go to my hometown, I knew a bunch of musicians there and a few of the guys who are going on the road with me. So that's what I did. We had a totally different concept of what we we're going to do. And when he passed away I had to rearrange and kinda do what I've been doing the past ten years.

It doesn't seem obvious, but have you written any material inspired by Audie?

Audie Ashworth from www.jjcale.com

Was the writing process any different on this album than in past efforts?

Not really. There are a couple of songs on there that I probably wrote 20 years ago and never put out and went back and re-arranged it and changed a little. And some of them I wrote a couple days before the recording session.

In listening to all of your albums over the years it sort of comes across to me that the instrumentation takes center focus as opposed to the vocals. Would you say that's true?

Yeah, I never considered myself a singer. When they say "singer/songwriter," you know they label people. "He's a singer/songwriter/guitar player." Probably the singing part is way at the bottom. I don't sing very well, and that also hinders my songwriting because I don't have any vocal range, I'm just kind of a talk/sing/mumble kind of a guy. So I'd have to write in that range. You know I couldn't write in a range for a real good singer who could do a lot of notes. I'm gonna sing about three notes.

Do you mix down the vocals in the production process?

Yes I do. And I've gotten busted for that many times. "You know the reason your records don't sell very much is because your vocals, we can't hear what the hell you're singing about." Well that's the way I like it. And sometimes I'll bring the vocal up, but I'm always embarrassed when I do. I don't know, through the years some people have said they like the vocals; I always wished I had a really good singer to sing my songs.

After you lay a track down, what is your process like in the studio?

Generally I won't even do a scratch vocal, I don't rehearse or nothing. So I'll holler out the chord changes to the band as we're recording it and then take that off, and I generally overdub my vocal. Because what I'm doing in the studio is hollering out the chord changes to the band so that way we don't have to make a hundred and fifty takes. And sometimes I've used the original vocal if I thought the band could play the song without me explaining it to them. Then generally I'll do some guitar overdubs if I don't think it's fat enough. And then I mix it, and that's kinda what I do. When I'm doing it in somebody else's studio it's the same thing, except I don't mix it, somebody else mixes it.

When you are doing the mix there seems to be a lot of subtle nuances in there, is that just the way it's coming across or are you spending a lot of time on this after its been recorded?

This latest record we find you talking about the environment on "Stone River" and addressing politics on "The Problem." While you may have touched on some of this in the past, it's definitely not something we equate with you. Why now?

Right, well I don't know. I asked myself that same question. It's probably because I'm 65. And I've already written about a lot of other subjects. Those two songs you mentioned... I made a demo on this thing called Earth Justice; anyway, they asked me to put a song on their record. Well everybody else just released one of their outtakes. I actually wrote the "Stone River" song for them and made the demo. Then cut it again and gave them the new cut, and what's on this record here is the demo. So that was about four or five years ago. So some of the songs are from now and some are from yesteryear.

Gotchya. In "The Problem" you sing, "The problem is the man in charge of you." And it seems to not really leave a whole lot to the imagination. So I'm kinda curious how you feel about the current political climate?

Well I definitely have an opinion about the current political climate. Probably more so now because I'm older. You know I think all the politicians have their head up their ass.

It's hard to argue with that.

"I always thought, 'Well if I can't get a job playing the guitar or writing songs, I can get a job as an engineer.' So when I started making my own records I just sort of applied my engineering deal, and sometimes I wouldn't even hire anybody else to do the engineering, I'd do all that." --J.J. Cale

It seems like they could do something, but the kinda guy who has any power in the political system, it doesn't seem like he does what the people want him to do... or maybe he does, I don't know. Politics and religion are strange subjects.

Now also sort of in line with this, the next song after "The Problem" is "Homeless." And as you were just saying the politicians don't necessarily do what they should, is that some commentary there as well?

Yeah, you know. That song is actually kind of a figment of my imagination. That's actually about a homeless man and a homeless woman. This guy is homeless and this woman is putting him down for being homeless. And then several years later the woman is homeless too. And then they meet and then the last verse is they kind of walk off into the sunset together. I don't really consider that song a political song, that song is more or less a romantic, well it's not romantic, but it's me telling a story.

This was your first record with Sanctuary, is that right?

Yeah that's right.

How did you get involved with them?

I made a bunch of records for a conglomerate called Universal. UMG, they are probably the biggest record thing. And they downsized or some people bought them or whatever and the guy we had been working with--well Audie had been working with--they let him go and he got a job at Sanctuary. He knew that Audie and I were gonna make a new record and he wanted to put it out. So when Audie passed away he called me and asked if I still wanted to make the record. And I said, "I guess so." And so he was working for Sanctuary at that time, they signed up a bunch of people. So I made a one-album deal with them.

Thinking about your sound in general, it's quite recognizable. And in many ways you've come to define a certain type of music. I'm curious if you can give me a little insight into how you developed your approach?

It's all an accident. When I was a young fella, playing bars with rock 'n' roll bands there in Oklahoma... I played rock 'n' roll in the Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Little Richard era, I was just a guitar player in the band, I wasn't the front man or singer or anything. Go ahead a few years to when I did start making records I went, "Well you know everything is real loud and in your face and very aggressive, and I think what I'll do is try to make it more..." I think they used the term "laid back" or "quieter" kind of music. Just so I'd be a little different than what was happening. Instead of me doing what everybody else was doing I just did the opposite. So I just kind of expounded on that.

And sort of in line with that, in what little has been written about you and what I gather from listening, you seem to really value simplicity and a straightforward mentality. Would you say that runs through your music and your writing and production, all that?

Yeah... sometimes I over-produce. I probably over-produce now more than I used to. Because with technology you can do that real easy now. And I'm a little bit more nervous than I used to be, and a little less relaxed. But still, it's not a style it's just kinda, you know I like things that are in the slot, easy to listen to. Other than just romping on it. When I was a young fella I used to romp on it. But so many people were so good at that I went, "There ain't no way I'm going to out-volume everybody or out hot-lick someone," or whatever. So I took the opposite approach, and there's been a few people like that.

And does that go along with your mentality of going with the first take?

Yeah, you know. I've cut a couple records where we cut and cut and cut until the musicians were screaming. But especially with the modern technology, no matter what you do you can fix anything now. Any idiot can make a perfect record, and I'm one of them. So you know after you do so many cuts you start loosing a little freshness, musicians actually get tired and want a new song. So I generally take about three takes on a song and it will be one of those three. But I have from time to time, not lately, done way too many takes and the musicians were trying to kill me.

And it would seem like you'd get a little more of that fresh energy on the first couple of takes.

Yeah you do. You're fresher, and it's new to you. And a lot of artists do that; try to get it in front. And it's real easy with modern technology to manufacture it. If the drums don't play right you can adjust them to where they do. You couldn't do that in those days.

Now in many people's eyes--musicians and fans alike--you've created some of the finer albums of our day, yet you often refer to your albums as "song writing demos." Why is that?

Well I think it's because I cut a lot of them at home. And sometimes I would make a demo and Audie would say, "OK, I like that song, lets get some real musicians in a real studio and go ahead and cut." And we'd go in and cut it and I never liked the slickness of it. Well sometimes I did. So I basically was making records for other musicians. It's the best way to hock songs. Because I was a songwriter and I thought, "Well, if my records get out there other musicians will have to hear my songs." That happened. Whereas if you are trying to get to somebody and get them to sing your song they wouldn't talk to you, you couldn't get past their secretary. So most of my albums I was making recordings for other musicians other than the general public. And that worked for me until all at once people started asking, "Who wrote that song?" And then they come back to me and that kinda scared me a little bit because I wasn't really trying to make a perfect record for radio play and consumption like that. I thought if I can get these songs out there then musicians will hear them and they'll cut them and they'll do a good version of them. So that's why I call them demos.

Interesting. You also refer to yourself sort of as a craftsman more than an artists. In what way do you mean that? In the production sense?

Yeah, because I'm an engineer. The modern studio, the digital audio workstation, you go down and buy it and it's already put together. The older studios, with big Ampex's and the big old boards and all the tubes, and all that kinda stuff, the different equalizers, compressors, and echo-chambers you had to wire all that up yourself; very few people knew how to do that. So I got into that, that was how I made my living for a while, as an engineer in different studios in L.A. in the '60s. So that's kinda why I got into that, and I really liked to do it. I always thought, "Well if I can't get a job playing the guitar or writing songs, I can get a job as an engineer." So when I started making my own records I just sort of applied my engineering deal, and sometimes I wouldn't even hire anybody else to do the engineering, I'd do all that. And a lot of people are doing that now.

Seeing as how so many people have covered your songs, and as you said you tend to think of yourself as a songwriter first, I'm curious what versions of your songs you may be particularly fond of?

Well let's see... A bunch of woman cut a song called "Cajun Moon" many years ago. Cissy Houston, who is Whitney Houston's mom, recorded "Cajun Moon" with a flute player that is dead now. And no one heard it. They sent me the record and she put it on somebody's album and that's where I first heard about Cissy Houston, and later on Whitney Houston became huge. And several other ladies recorded it, Maria Muldaur and another lady, I can't remember her name, she had a real good version of that song. Seems like a bunch of woman cut that song and all the versions are pretty good.

Are there any versions of songs out there that you don't really like?

No. As a songwriter, even if somebody attempts it... If you write a song it's really flattering when somebody else sings it. You go, "Wow man, they're signing my song." So yeah, I've heard some versions where I could tell ain't nobody gonna like it but me. But I was always so thrilled because they even took the time to cut the song that I didn't really bad mouth it, or mentally go, "Oh that's a terrible cut of that song."

"As a guitar player I like to do that, but because I was mainly a songwriter I don't sit here and play nine solos... because when you are trying to sell songs you cut it down to where it's about three-minutes. I did that from a business standpoint. Personally as a musician I like the way the Widespread Panic does it." --J.J. Cale

For a man who seems to value the economy of the song, and paring it down to the core, I'm curious how you feel about bands like Widespread Panic who take a three-minute song of yours and turn it into a 15-minute jam session.

I really like that. I opened for Widespread Panic's show a couple of times, once in Dallas another time in Milwaukee. As a guitar player I like to do that, but because I was mainly a songwriter I don't sit here and play nine solos, and have the piano player play ten solos or whatever, because when you are trying to sell songs you cut it down to where it's about three minutes. I did that from a business standpoint. Personally as a musician I like the way the Widespread Panic does it. Because you get to play. You sing one verse of the songs and that's called a hook and it gives you something to play against. I used to do that, but because I got into the songwriting business I started cutting all that out. And I stretch 'em out at the gig, nothing like the Widespread Panic, well sometimes I do, it all depends on the band I have with me. A lot of musicians don't like to jam. They just want to do the tune, man, and get it over with and do another tune. Other musicians go, "Just find a good tune and we'll play all night to the damn thing." I appreciate both styles, I kind of got stuck into the non-jam thing because I'm a songwriter, but I like what Widespread Panic does.

I know you did sit in with them in Dallas in 2002, and I believe y'all played "Ride Me High." How did y'all decide to play that song?

I opened their show just playing solo, and then two or three people I had with me came out and we played 20 or 30 minutes, and then they asked me to come out and jam. And I said, "Well what do you wanna do?" They said "Ride Me High." I think they cut a couple of my songs, "Ride Me High," and "Traveling Light." So you know if I'm out on the stage we're gonna do one of those tunes I wrote, it was kinda their choice not mine.

You don't seem to like touring too much, but do you enjoy playing in front of people?

Yeah I do. I'm getting ready to tour. We've already started booking the gigs. Touring is tiresome. But it's also fun in a funny sort of way. You almost have to have a gypsy frame of mind: "Well I'm just rolling down the road gonna play another gig." It's actually probably the best part of the music industry. Selling records is really rough these days, everything has changed. Being in the record business doesn't really work anymore; touring is probably now the best thing about the music industry.

Now you sort of just mentioned the gypsy mind frame, and that is a theme I've seen on a few of your songs, and I also realize that you spend a good amount of time living out of your Airstream and what not. I'm curious, is that sort of a mentality that you hold?

Yeah I really like that. I actually live in a house now and mow the lawn and all that stuff, and it's because I've made some money doing what I do. But I still like the free gypsy style of life, that's why I go on tour.

And do you still have the Airstream?

No I sold it, it's gone.

It is.

I went from trailers, and then I went into motor homes because you didn't have to pull it behind a truck. And when I go on tour I rent a bus, that way I don't have to drive, and you got a bunch of people with you, and a bunch of equipment, and then it's Holiday Inns.

You have clearly turned away from fame and the limelight on several occasion, perhaps most notably on the heels of Clapton's success with your songs. Why has that been? Is there any real conscious reason for that?

Eric Clapton

Are you excited to play that Clapton guitar festival?

Yeah, that's gonna be fun. That's a guitar player's delight. Every guitar player, well not every guitar player, but a lot of guitar players are on there. I'm gonna really enjoy that.

Yeah it looks like a lot of fun. In an interview a while back you said you were listening to a lot of rap and Van Halen at the time, are you still keeping up with hip-hop and that stuff?

No, not really. I'm not a real big rap fan. I've listened to it to see what they are doing from a professional standpoint. I saw that this kind of music was selling so I wanted to see what they were really doing. That is the epitome of the electric drum machine. If you have an electric drum machine and a pitch corrector you can make a rap record and not have any talent at all. I like Juvenile and 2Pac. Juvenile had a rap song called "Back That Azz Up." There are few rap songs that I really like, but I like that, and I like 2Pac's "California." But basically most of the rap tunes like most of the rock tunes and jazz and everything else suck. But in every genre; country, rock, rap, hip-hop whatever, I can always hear somebody that I really like, but that's the way it's always been. A lot of people become popular that are really just going on the coat tails of somebody else's originality.

Definitely. I think there is good music everywhere you just gotta dig through the crap to find it.

I'm not a big rap fan, but I've heard a couple of rap records that I really like. Most of them I don't.

So what have you been diggin' on lately, new or old? What kind of music are you listening to as of late?

I haven't been doing too much because I've been making records. I bought Norah Jones' record, it's kinda chick music, but I bought it because it's very well-recorded and I'm an engineer so I go, "How did they get that good sound?" So I look at it a little bit different than the average guy. I don't really like the music but I think about how did they record it, what type of machines did they use. I think I bought Nickelback's record, they're kinda current. There's a gospel group, and I'm not a big gospel fan, it's kinda hokey, but Levon Helm's kid is in it, and it sounds pretty good, but I can't remember what the name of it is. [Editors note: The name of the band is Ollabelle and features Amy Helm on vocals.]

If you hadn't ended up making a career in music what do you think you would have done?

I would have liked to have been a recording engineer, but then that's in the music business. Man... I've been playing music so long I can't remember any time that I really wasn't. Even as a teenager I was out gigging. And I'm 65 now. I can't remember... like you know people ask, "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" I thought maybe flying planes was an exciting thing, but then I didn't get into that. Back when I was growing up you didn't look at things like, "Well this is going to be my career." You just tried to find a job to pay the rent. I've done all kinds of straight jobs... I guess I really don't have an answer for that.

My last thought, sort of in regards to that--how did you first get involved in music? I read where you had a friend down the street who played guitar. Did you just get a guitar and start and one thing led to another?

Yeah, you know. We played country music. The kid up the street played guitar and I bought a guitar and we sat around and taught each other. You know when you have another person to feed off you it's like, "This is what I learned today." And we'd copy records and then I started playing in bars for money. Rock 'n' roll was just coming on, we're talking about '54, '55, '56--rock 'n' roll was just coming in, and hardly anyone was playing it then. The old people were into a whole different thing, calling people who were 30 years old "old." And I started playing in bars and I never really got out of it. I just kept playing in bars until I got into songwriting and making records.

Now overall have you been pleased with your career in music? I know the business can be a little tough...

(Laughing) Yeah that's an understatement. Yeah, there are some records I've made that I'd like to get a hold of all of them and burn 'em. I've definitely made some records that are terrible.

What records don't you like, if you don't mind me asking?

Oh well I'd have to sit down and hear it. I've made a lot of records; this last record is my 14th album. And there have been at least ten songs on every album, sometimes 14. And then I've made some demos, so I don't know.

Anything that you particularly like, do you have a favorite album of yours?

No, they're all basically the same, they all kinda sound the same. Depends on the mood you're in or if you like a particular song. That was what I was trying to do. Like I said, there's a few I wish I had put something else on and taken something off, but I think all artists feel that way.

You've had a pretty marvelous run here, is there anything else you'd really like to see yourself do musically?

No, I'm getting ready to go out on tour. I'm trying to make that a positive thing. At my age it's kinda gonna be fun to get out and kick around again. Of course I've been doing it so it's nothing new. I'm kinda looking forward to that, it's kinda good for your ego to get out and meet some people. And you also get new ideas.

Is there anybody that you'd really like to collaborate with?

I haven't been much of a collaborator, I've written songs with a couple of people, but songwriting is something I generally have done by myself. There are a lot of people I really admire, whether we could fit my thing and their thing together is questionable.

Well John I really appreciate your time, I know you don't do a whole lot of interviews and I appreciate you letting me have some of you day.

Well I appreciate you taking your time. Thanks a lot Aaron.

The Kayceman
JamBase | San Francisco
Go See Live Music!

Thank you to Guillaume Benoist for the use of his images.