Rockin'on, January, 1995

Jeff Buckley

Ohh! The song comes down!!
Bathe the expression, touch the existence!  The last “Artist”, Jeff Buckley’s telephone interview right before his visit to Japan & tickets giveaway!!

Interview: Hiroaki Tanaka, Interpretation: Steve Harris

Translation by Tutu Fujimoto

(audio of the interview can be found here)

It's said that 10 people with 10 different colors (Ed: this is Japanese proverb that means “no flakes fall on the same spot” or like that), but I wonder indeed, there is someone who doesn't select “Grace” as one of the best albums of 1994. A surprise at the fact that the one singer’s album, which is just trying to "express" himself, can ring beyond your favorites or genre. Honestly, I had been listening to music so far, always with my heart worrying that something called "universal expression" might never come out again. Music, it should be with different perspectives by each person. But I have a conviction that everyone’s first feeling is the same when they listened to “Grace”. I also have a conviction that it will turn to each person’s “Grace” and the album will take root into each person’s life after awhile. I think those who haven't listened to it should do it quickly. His first visit to Japan will may be a historic moment, for sure.

I heard that you asked the recording company for three conditions in the contract: honesty, patience and non-interference. What's going on, it's about time you finally saw the reality of the industry and began to feel a sense of compromise?

Nah, not really. Well, it was hard to fill the gap, but in the end, everyone understood that It was me myself who knew the best about my work...Not especially, I’m not saying what's going on with people in the music industry. Frankly speaking, the way of thinking itself in the industry is totally behind the curve. What it’s about is, they just keep on selling it without knowing what they’re selling...For example, they try to sell things in the same way as they sell substantial value things like steel, apples, or oranges or cats. So they make a very narrow-minded decision which is nothing but a strangely unequal and give-and-take. They've been doing things like scraping things by picking and dragging up from somewhere, and that's what the music business is all about. That kind of situation is starting to show up more clearly.  So, first, we make sure of our values, and then we communicate properly with the people who need to get along with. There’re only five people in my line of work in person. Make sense? That’s enough. It's in Sony, a world-class religious cult (lol). Oh well, the tribe of Sony, they’re everywhere.

Hahaha. It seems that some people are planning to make you a cult star in a ten-year plan.

Wah...Whaaat??? Who’s saying like that thing...woo, even if it’s so, that’s not my business.  If they had a plan, they would give me a place where I could make an album and then make more and more better ones. My works reflect the life. It’s alive. It doesn’t mean it has to be a yogurt (lol).

Okay, so...is there any artists whom you think “I want to be this kind of person”?

...Tom Waits, Lou Reed, and Allen Ginsberg, De Niro. Dylan, too. A person who has lived a real life.  A person who has gone through the flames one after another. Whether it be your own flame, or a flame which has been hated by others or raised to the position of God. Dylan’s previous album, and the one before that are fabulous in that meaning.

I think those people who just mentioned are people who have paid attention only to their works regardless of the times or trends. Is that around the point what you sympathize with them?

But I guess it reflects the time a little bit. I'm also writing something that reflects my own life. So as time goes on, the contents of the songs will change naturally.

But now everyone is crazy about you, isn’t it. Strange to say, it seems you are the person who is much talked about in personal computer communication.

You mean, among the internet? Kiddinnnnng?...(I’m) Glad. I simply appreciate it, but it's still weird...yeah, it's way too strange. How can I say..., Thank you Madam, Would you like French fries with it? Like that??

(lol). Well, but seriously I've never seen an article about you in a bad way.

Is it? I wonder how they like me. Music is kinda strange. For example, song you hate has been playing years and years. It’s so lame and insistent that you don’t even want to listen anymore. But one time, the moment that song becomes so important has come. Maybe it's because of your girlfriend, maybe it's because you met someone, or someone is dead...music is like that. It's not like Sega games. Once or twice: you touch it or not, it’s not like that simple. Song is, music is, it’s always hanging around you, tagging along like a hornet. Music is, it takes time to get its breath and live. So, I'm happy with all the praise, but on the other hand I think we need to keep everyone having a conversation with music.

Pearl Jam also has the same kind of mentality as you have, that is like being honest with yourself or not to be swallowed by the business, doesn’t it?

Yeah, it might be. Ah yeah, Jeff Ament has come to my show before. But no one wants to betray themselves? But I know I’m a prostitute. I'll do anything I can to do music. Those prostitutes do the same, huh? To do with fun as long as they do.

But you are more picky than prostitute?

Well, it's too early to pretend to be a conceptual artist. No need to hit your head against the wall like this way early. I’m just okay with that I could play for people who really want to listen. Besides, the art is, it can show its ability especially at the place where you can show the eccentricity inside of you as much as you want. So we need a really suitable place for that. That’s a bar, or a church. I’ve played at the burrito shop once. That was amazing.

It should be like those small space?

Because if you play in a stadium or something, the audience would go out to buy hot dogs and beer and so on. That's not a musical experience or anything. It’s just an event. If it was about me, it’s too sad to death. And in places like that, you can't hear a sound without such a good monitor. It's like wearing a condom and having sex, so I get frustrated.

By the way, I heard that the fact that there’s no lyrics translation in Japanese Edition is due to your own will?

That’s right. It took only five minutes to decide. Rilke's German poetry had to go through many translators to achieve a honest, accurate and poetic English translation. Even in the languages of Mexico, Pakistan or France, they have their own identities, and the logic itself is full of satire or rhyming games. You should “experience” those things by yourself. That’s why I thought that a translation was good for nothing. Ultimately, I guess I have no choice but to learn Japanese myself. But I need two pages of Japanese for one word, maybe? (lol)

So, do you mean that Japanese people should feel something more from the sound?

Yeah, and I want you to take the time to figure it out. About what meaning it has, for yourselves.