Mar./Apr., 1995
By Hervé Marchon
Submitted by Ananula
Translated by me
Jeff Buckley came into music as one enters religion. Touched by grace, he gives birth to a rock that flows freely. If he is haunted, he prefers to ignore the ghosts. Group, concerts, critics, he already draws a report of his success.
You played alone for two years. It was easy to get a group together, to work with others?
Before playing solo, I was part of many bands. Being alone, I knew that one day I would attract a group in the same way that female insects attract the males. That's how Mick Grondahl, the bass player, arrived and I found Michael Tighe (guitar), a longtime friend. They then recommended Matt Johnson (drums) to me. We immediately understood each other. It's chemical. This story of natural harmony is vital. We count on each other. It's the best group I've worked with.
The album "Grace" is it then the creation of the group? Has everyone contributed to it?
Will the musicians stay with you at the end of the tour?
Certainly! I can not imagine letting them down. I love them. I'm proud of them, they make me happy. They are brilliant, they progress constantly. Mike had never been part of a band before and now he's on a world tour. So obviously there is a huge potential to develop.
Your music is very spontaneous, pushed to the limit. It flows freely. However, we have the impression that you have not found the perfect form of your expression, that you seek to discipline it...
I am a developing artist. I'm looking for something more mature, the music moves constantly in me. It is organized in me. It is a natural evolution. And painful. Like a birth. We never get used to it. We are always on the precipice.
Did the atmosphere of Manhattan, where you settled after your childhood in California, inspire you?
Manhattan is a place where you enjoy complete freedom. Things happen everywhere, twenty-four hours a day. It's like a little prison because you can not leave it, you can not do without it. John Lennon said he could not live anywhere else. This atmosphere of originality and creativity is fulfilling.
Do you feel free?
No, I do not have enough knowledge. I am free to acquire them but I am not a scholar. I am only free to evolve in the sense that I choose. I have adopted an ethic for a very long time: the secret of creation - the secret of everything - is to work as much as we can. Even if it is a very small project. You have to stay connected all the time. Nobody knows you better than yourself.
Like your father, you use your voice as an instrument in its own right. Did Tim Buckley's music mark you?
No. It's my mother who educated me musically. It was with her that I lived and it was there that I listened to her records, that she played the piano. I do not have any albums of my father...I listened to them...of course...(silence). It annoys me this question...(sigh). I am not influenced by ghosts. I am touched by what surrounds me.
Did you expect such success?
No, I thought it would be more modest. My success represents more people than I have seen in all my life. My only ambition was to make music as I liked it. The business disgusts me. But I had the opportunity to make myself known so I grabbed it because wanted to go on tour, visit America, travel the world. I wanted to immerse myself in the depths of my music, to devote my life to it. I wanted to learn. Through music, I wanted to become aware of my humanity, to realize how good people could be, how fantastic music could be. I want it to be a religion.
Do you want your music to be a religion?
No, no! I want THE music to be MY religion, music IS a religion. I want to discover it as such.
Have you ever thought about an upcoming album or are you going to let things come?
I am already seriously working on it because there is no time to loose. By force of work, one develops his ideas. The artist is often overwhelmed by his creation. He needs time to understand it and grasp its significance. The artist needs time otherwise the work is sloppy. I need time for this new album that I intend to do...I also want to take a bath. I am in a sorry state. A bath to put me to sleep. It would be fantastic.
The rest will come after the tour...
Yes...Afterwards, I do not want to see anymore Americans or Europeans. I only want to see dogs. Dogs and children...
You're not afraid of regressing after these enthusiastic reviews that accompanied your album?
I really enjoyed this enthusiasm, but it's not the critics who created "Grace". I did not ask them to love me even less to hate me. We do not listen to music to criticize but to experience it. Musical critics are disabled...It's so easy to betray...one day or another, regression will be inevitable. But it will not affect me because I'm ready for anything as long as I play. Before I was nobody. Now, known, I am at the mercy of the people. My music is my child. I am the one who knows what is good for raising it. Even if critics hurt me, they will only be words that will not affect it, that will not change it. I will keep confidence whatever happens.
By Hervé Marchon
Submitted by Ananula
Translated by me
Jeff Buckley came into music as one enters religion. Touched by grace, he gives birth to a rock that flows freely. If he is haunted, he prefers to ignore the ghosts. Group, concerts, critics, he already draws a report of his success.
You played alone for two years. It was easy to get a group together, to work with others?
Before playing solo, I was part of many bands. Being alone, I knew that one day I would attract a group in the same way that female insects attract the males. That's how Mick Grondahl, the bass player, arrived and I found Michael Tighe (guitar), a longtime friend. They then recommended Matt Johnson (drums) to me. We immediately understood each other. It's chemical. This story of natural harmony is vital. We count on each other. It's the best group I've worked with.
The album "Grace" is it then the creation of the group? Has everyone contributed to it?
This is my album! But I want musicians to express exactly what they are through their instruments. They must be intense. I do not play dictator with them. A drummer knows better than me about drumming. I do not tell my musicians what they should play but how they should play. I explain to them what emotion I want to convey. So there is dialogue, they understand me. What they play is usually the best. It's sometimes quite different from what I imagined, but it sticks.
Will the musicians stay with you at the end of the tour?
Certainly! I can not imagine letting them down. I love them. I'm proud of them, they make me happy. They are brilliant, they progress constantly. Mike had never been part of a band before and now he's on a world tour. So obviously there is a huge potential to develop.
Your music is very spontaneous, pushed to the limit. It flows freely. However, we have the impression that you have not found the perfect form of your expression, that you seek to discipline it...
I am a developing artist. I'm looking for something more mature, the music moves constantly in me. It is organized in me. It is a natural evolution. And painful. Like a birth. We never get used to it. We are always on the precipice.
Did the atmosphere of Manhattan, where you settled after your childhood in California, inspire you?
Manhattan is a place where you enjoy complete freedom. Things happen everywhere, twenty-four hours a day. It's like a little prison because you can not leave it, you can not do without it. John Lennon said he could not live anywhere else. This atmosphere of originality and creativity is fulfilling.
Do you feel free?
No, I do not have enough knowledge. I am free to acquire them but I am not a scholar. I am only free to evolve in the sense that I choose. I have adopted an ethic for a very long time: the secret of creation - the secret of everything - is to work as much as we can. Even if it is a very small project. You have to stay connected all the time. Nobody knows you better than yourself.
Like your father, you use your voice as an instrument in its own right. Did Tim Buckley's music mark you?
No. It's my mother who educated me musically. It was with her that I lived and it was there that I listened to her records, that she played the piano. I do not have any albums of my father...I listened to them...of course...(silence). It annoys me this question...(sigh). I am not influenced by ghosts. I am touched by what surrounds me.
Did you expect such success?
No, I thought it would be more modest. My success represents more people than I have seen in all my life. My only ambition was to make music as I liked it. The business disgusts me. But I had the opportunity to make myself known so I grabbed it because wanted to go on tour, visit America, travel the world. I wanted to immerse myself in the depths of my music, to devote my life to it. I wanted to learn. Through music, I wanted to become aware of my humanity, to realize how good people could be, how fantastic music could be. I want it to be a religion.
Do you want your music to be a religion?
No, no! I want THE music to be MY religion, music IS a religion. I want to discover it as such.
Have you ever thought about an upcoming album or are you going to let things come?
I am already seriously working on it because there is no time to loose. By force of work, one develops his ideas. The artist is often overwhelmed by his creation. He needs time to understand it and grasp its significance. The artist needs time otherwise the work is sloppy. I need time for this new album that I intend to do...I also want to take a bath. I am in a sorry state. A bath to put me to sleep. It would be fantastic.
The rest will come after the tour...
Yes...Afterwards, I do not want to see anymore Americans or Europeans. I only want to see dogs. Dogs and children...
You're not afraid of regressing after these enthusiastic reviews that accompanied your album?
I really enjoyed this enthusiasm, but it's not the critics who created "Grace". I did not ask them to love me even less to hate me. We do not listen to music to criticize but to experience it. Musical critics are disabled...It's so easy to betray...one day or another, regression will be inevitable. But it will not affect me because I'm ready for anything as long as I play. Before I was nobody. Now, known, I am at the mercy of the people. My music is my child. I am the one who knows what is good for raising it. Even if critics hurt me, they will only be words that will not affect it, that will not change it. I will keep confidence whatever happens.
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