Bert and Adam Jansch : an exclusive interview
If the folk music were a highway in a tourist valley, Bert Jansch would be a shiny Jaguar we would admire by overtaking us quickly. But this musical style is a small muddy road, far away from noisy town, with drivers who prefer artistic authenticity than flashy building lights.
Bert Jansch is a mystery. He's praised by the music scene but he's also ignored by audience. In spite of a long fabulous career and a perfect discography, his fate could be similar to one of his follower, Nick Drake. If the musical world doesn't wake up in the next years, Bert could be known as a major artist? only by posterity. One day after his death, who knows, young people will maybe discover Bert?s music used for a car advertising. It will be a revelation? But too late !
Bert has a son, Adam, musician too. He began making music recently. If his first name is not well-known to you now, it will surely be soon, thanks to his inherited talent.
This is an exclusive interview with Bert and Adam. Ready ? Action !
Adam, what do you think about Bert's music? Is this the kind of music you would listen to if Bert wasn't your father? Is Bert one of your influences?
Adam : I like my father's music very much, to me it is very pure and rich, coming from his heart and his experience, lacking artistic corruption. To me this is very important; I am certainly influenced by my father but more by the way he has led his life. Musically we are cut from similar cloth so I'm not sure if influence is quite the right term !
And you, Bert, what do you think about Adam's music ? Is this the kind of music you would listen to if Adam wasn't your son ?
Bert : I think it's very good. It's very unusual - he definitely has his own signature stamped on it. I'm not sure what genre he falls into but I like it.
Adam played bass on two of your albums. How was it to record with your son ?
Bert : It was great. I wish there had been more of it.
And you, Adam, how did you feel about playing with your father ?
Adam : Recording with my father is just like recording with someone else! That said it is definitely a more relaxed atmosphere recording with him, partly because of my relationship to him and partly as we record in his studio so there is time to do it properly. I will certainly be ready to record with him again when the time comes.
Do you think that being the son of a musician has influenced you to make music too?
Adam : Definitely, but it's quite an unconscious influence: having been around music since I was born I feel I have been passively fed in music. Of course I did have music lessons when I was young but when I stopped the lessons the musical side of me continued to make its impact. Now I don't think I could live without it.
When did you begin to write your own music ?
Adam : The earliest recollection of writing my own music was putting together some music for a computer game idea that myself and two friends had concocted at primary school, despite the fact that none of us could program a computer! It was also my first taste of using computers for music, as I used my father?s studio which was based around an Atari computer at the time. I composed a little for music lessons at school through the 90?s but it wasn?t until I started college in 1999 that I properly got into composition.
You are a bass player. Why did you choose to play this instrument ?
Adam : The choice to play bass was not to fulfill a lifelong ambition, I hadn't longed to be bass player or anything like that. I think it was more that I started to notice bass lines in music just as I had just started at secondary school and could have music lessons on a new instrument so went for it. I have to thank my father really as I wouldn't have had a bass guitar if it weren't for him (thanks Dad!).
Bert, Jimmy Page is your fan as well as Neil Young, Donovan and many others. Although every generation of folk lovers praise you to the skies, you are not as well known as other musicians that were inspired by you. How do you feel about that ? Are you satisfied with the way your artistic career went on, or would you have loved to be a bigger star?
Bert : I tend to live in my own world and that world is populated mainly by folk musicians, but it does cross over to blues and a little jazz. I have no time for stardom.
Some young musicians like Devendra Banhart, Fionn Regan or Espers are quoting you as one of their biggest influence. What do you think about this kind of acoustic folk rebirth ?
Bert : When a musician creates songs and ideas his starting point is usually rooted in the generation before him, in my case Brownie McGhee and Big Bill Broonzy and, of course, Davy Graham.
You were one of Jackson C. Frank's biggest influence and I know you were influenced by him as well (I love your cover of Blues Run The Game and Carnival). Did you know him well ?
Bert : I don't think Jackson was ever influenced by me - but it is definitely true the other way round. I knew him for a short while in the sixties when he played at Les Cousins and other clubs around London.
Pentangle was very famous in the sixties. Afterwards, the folk music was neglected whereas the psychedelic, prog and hard rock made their way through. How did you feel about this abrupt change in the music scene?
Bert : The music world is constantly changing and fashions come and go and come back again. Pentangle broke up in the seventies, and maybe the time is right for a Pentangle comeback!
You recorded a lot of albums from 1965 till today. Which is the one you love the most ? And which is the one you like the least?
Bert : I don't generally like any one particular album of my own - I like individual tracks form all of them. I suppose of the albums "Jack Orion" or "Rosemary Lane" would be my favourites, and "Nicola" the least.
Most of your albums were reissued except 3 out of your 4 Charisma LP's. Do you know why ? Is there a possibility that they will be reissued eventually?
Bert : All the Charisma albums have changed hands and are now owned by EMI. They will reissue them at the right time.
I have heard that you had to buy yourself the L.A. Turnaround LP on eBay. Is this true ? You didn't have a copy ? What was the reaction of the seller as he discovered who was the buyer ? Are there any other records from yourself that you are looking for because you don't have a copy?
Bert : Yes, it is true, and the seller asked for a signed copy of the latest album in exchange!
Adam, what do you think about being a musician today ? Do you think that illegal download helps the young musicians to be better known, or that it harms them ?
Adam : I don't have enough experience to properly answer the first question but I assume that being a musician today is just as it has been since the invention of the phonograph. To me a true musician is in the business for their love of music foremost and so it is a hard life, especially when it comes to putting ones own music out there. You must be totally committed and ready to put music ahead of almost everything else. Changes in the technology behind music will never change this.
In my view I don't think illegal downloading affects the unsigned musician in the slightest, as they will have to do a lot of work to be known enough for people to want to illegally download their music! However I think that the musician or composer can help themselves by understanding how the music industry operates with regard to copyright, promotion and distribution, and there is more information available on these aspects than ever before. If they know about these things then they are better able to get their music to its audience without compromising the rights to their work.
Bert, what kind of music do you listen to today ? What is your favourite album at this time?
Bert : An American singer/songwriter called Meg Baird - she's in a band called Espers.
Do you plan to come to France or Belgium with Pentangle ? And to Canada ?
Bert : I know the band are doing the Royal Festival Hall in London in June, and then a tour of Britain. After that - who knows ?
And you, Adam, what kind of music do you like to listen to at this time ?
Adam : There is no particular style I listen to, more I tend to listen to music that uses form, instrumentation, texture or technology in novel ways. Also I prefer music to actually be about something. If I were going to drop some names I would say that Steely Dan, Talk Talk, XTC, David Bernabo, The Doldrums and Radiohead have featured significantly on my stereo recently.
Do you want to become a full time musician or do you plan to get you a job in relation with your study ?
Adam : My long term future is by no means planned out, but I do hope to continue in music for the rest of my life.
B$)A(&atrice
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Links to Adam's pages :
http://www.myspace.com/adamjansch
