The Lost Jeff Buckley Interview

February, 1994
By Jay Sosnick
Submitted by Angela from the book L'impressione di Essere Eterno (The Impression of Being Eternal)
Translated by me

Did everything happen faster than you thought?

Faster, but not early enough.

Columbia has a great tradition of folk songwriters: Dylan, Leonard Cohen. Does it make sense that you stay with them?

I do not know exactly what they see in me or why they want me to represent a genre. For me the Sex Pistols are folk. All these labels that record companies and the media create do not belong to me. When someone talks about singer-songwriters, they immediately think of James Taylor, any guy with an acoustic guitar, people like Marc Cohn. But there are also singers who write songs, so fuck it. Jimi Hendrix was a singer-songwriter.

Was it a problem for you to switch from taking care of only the creative aspect to the work you have to do for the label?

No, because it's all creative. All art is made 75% for problem solving. The attention, the photos...are annoying because I come from a place where you only think you're shit, when you're not. I wonder every day if I release too many interviews. I do not think we need to make a lot of fuss.

Is it different to be in front of a camera than to be the center of attention of an audience?

No, because I'm up there and there is all this energy directed towards me that I give back to them. So it's the same thing. We are beings made of energy. Seperate life in these terms. I always understand when someone lies, they haven't grown up or are full of fear. The biggest fear that people have is that everyone knows that they are full of fear. People can not completely hide themselves, but they spend their lives trying to do it.

What's the weirdest thing about being the center of attention? Are you embarrassed at times?

The real discomfort comes from noticing how people allow you to carry this light on their behalf, they refuse to do it themselves. But it's a transitional phase, maybe one day I won't feel the way I do today while doing the same things I do now. Maybe that's just the kid hiding inside me who doesn't want to be rejected, I guess. The only downside is that I spend so much time being photographed, interviewed, meeting people, that I don't have much left to compose. I want to improve as an artist, and I have so little time. I feel like I'll never have a steady girlfriend, that I'll never have a home. I am constantly on safari.

What do you think about the interviews?

I think they are very dangerous. I make the mistake of talking to these people as if they were my friends, as if they were able to understand everything I say. But then there is the transcription, the revision, where the shit is cut, or maybe added something I did not want to say. You must speak very clearly and defined. If I were not afraid of being misinterpreted, things would be easier. I am rather shy about this aspect. I'm more for concerts. The live experience is essential for me if not, I'd die.

What is your biggest fear about success?

What will fly away, what will be taken away from me. But fear is an indication of exit, fear is only a door that leads you to both transformation and enlightenment...or perhaps just a tragic illusion.

Have you ever been aggressive in order to stand out?

No not at all. The only thing I do aggressively is express myself, even when I'm passive; it's still penetration. It's part of the movement. I am only interested in glorifying the energy of music for what it is. Exalting myself in it, learning its gifts, unhinging it. I get it wrong a lot of times, you know? But I'm not competitive. If I were, I'd be way ahead of where I am now. Even David Bowie would ask me for a job.

Did you have to work a lot on music, or is it something that simply came?

I've never made the conscious decision to play or sing. It was like a toy, another parent. It was my best friend, because I was almost always alone.

And now? What is the priority now?

Having the freedom to go where I want. Not to control the music, but dance with it, instead of making it dance with me. It is like growing, becoming mature and not burning like a piece of wood, like Jesus.

What do you mean?

The crucifixion is a monument to what people really want to believe, which is the unhealthy idea that suffering is the ultimate expression of this life. Don't dance, don't make love, but sacrifice. This view is quite insane. But without us, this God that people talk about wouldn't be able to dance, laugh, cry or whatever. I am therefore aware that we have a direct, daily relationship with the creator. I mean, when we become disinterested by acting like drunken children, we have war in the Gulf. But there's no point in getting pissed off at Him to make your life better.

What is the biggest challenge you have to face?

Being a person and bringing this to different levels, to the point that everything I get from music is completely altered.  I want to find different ways to show joy, sadness, discover all that I have to offer. And to do this you need discipline, time to develop ideas, to create different sounds.

And a nut that does not make the guitar seem out of tune.

No, I like that too, it's still a possibility. The possibility is music.