The creators of Arpanet, the first computer network, did not assume that in each apartment on a planet there will be an Internet is some kind of the "governmental communication" with each apartment, in what country it would not settle down.
When Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe have thought up Myspace.com, they did not assume, that they will acquaint all with all :)
For those who constantly searches new friends the live journals are the best place for dialogue.
We were acquainted by Tom Anderson with Ken Stringfellow :)
The admirers of modern guitar music are well familiar with Ken Stringfellow, best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., the re-formed Big Star and his solo albums. Ken is very talented, charming guy and all our readers who are not yet familiar with Ken, can type his initials in web search systems, close get acquainted with his creativity.
Powerpop.Ru: Hi, Ken! Thank you, that agreed to communicate with us!
Tell please, to our readers: Do spring, summer, autumn, winter… influence Ken Stringfellow's creative inspiration somehow? How do you plan to spend your summer?
Ken Stringfellow: Summer is the time that I find myself on tour a lot, but that's when I have a record out – this year is the first year in awhile I won't be on tour for most of it, and the rest of life gets more quiet, so I am hoping it will be a good time to work on my next record. The rest of the year is not so much seasonal as far what I do or how I feel... I am always working. Always! And as it's music, it's always indoors...
Powerpop.Ru: On your site you in very detail describe each lived week? It characterizes you as a person very opened and kind! Are you a psychologist?.. For years of life do you have learned to see and feel people?
K.S.: I do spend a lot of time observing. And I spend a lot of time in countries where I don't know the language – and despite the disadvantages of not knowing a language that is spoken all around you, it does give you an interesting perspective, you can step back and spend a lot of time reading faces... often things become very clear in these situations, what people are feeling, what they are after, etc.
Powerpop.Ru: I am "uneducated" guy was surprised with my revelation that you often live in Paris. But I so understand, your hometown remains Seattle… Paris is a great, beautiful city and does not surprise me the fact that people from the East Europe leave to live in Western, but that Americans move to live to Europe surprises me… a little However, when for long years on one continent you know each township, it wants novelty. But why France, why not England? Also tell, please, shortly to our readers how you see what is the musical life of Paris?
K.S.: Haha! There was nothing intellectual about my moving to Paris, it's not like the expatriate American writers of the early 20th century etc. I moved here to be with my wife, who is French, we considered the US and France and decided there were more opportunities for both of us in France. I have been touring in Europe for many years, so a lot of my working life happens near to France. And, of course I love the food and wine in France very much; a lot of the quality of those type of things in the US is very low, and not very common. People try a bit harder here to do things in a refined way. As for Americans moving to Europe, it's not easy, but many of them do. I mean it's not easy to get jobs in another country, work your way thru the different laws etc. but many many people do it.
I have started to play with a few people here. It takes a long time to
make connections, it seems, that are worthwhile. And I have spent most
of the last years on tour, so not focusing on France. But this year, I
am playing with more and more artists here. It takes a lot of
persistence and dedication to break thru here....
Powerpop.Ru: It's good luck to musicians who live by music and don't go in for unloved work. Giving a lot of energy at concerts, rehearsals almost everyone get tired, but to name it work it's won't have the heart to say it … More likely this is an active kind of rest and pleasure, than heavy work …
What kinds of rest deliver Ken great pleasure?… The active (swimming, fishing, your gigs and others things) or the passive rest (reading of books, viewing of films, listening of music, the Internet, etc.)
K.S.: Another haha! I find the internet to be work! There's always a question that has to be answered (no reference to this interview!!). Music isn't drudgery but to come up with new original ideas about yourself and what you are presenting is a challenge that requires great energy, getting yourself heard among the thousands of voices that are different musicians and other artists requires still more energy; then there's the planes and trains etc. which is fun to a certain degree but really takes energy too. But, human beings are nothing if not incredibly resourceful. Even people working multiple jobs manage to do what I do, maybe they can't pick up and go as often but they will still go on tour, etc. As for relaxing time...if I'm in Paris and it's just a night that I have to relax, yes, it can be films, reading, maybe taking a drink at the bar just below my flat! Or a nice dinner – at home, at a restaurant. I play tennis when I can. In the summer we go to a small island off the coast of France and there I really detach from all the busy-ness of everyday life. I ride my bike, I swim, or...do nothing at all. Glorious.
Powerpop.Ru: I noticed a very strange tendency … Often solo albums of musicians are very more interesting, more richly, more variously by sound, than albums of bands in which they play and compose songs. Probably, it occurs because the creative loneliness disposes to deep processes of self-expression and allows to concentrate on the search of various forms of an individual variety.
It wants to amaze and surprise all, even those who knows you very well…
K.S.: I am sure there are as many exceptions to your theory as there are supporting examples. A 'solo' album for most people doesn't happen in a vacuum – there is always a supporting cast involved somewhere. I don't find the process any more or less lonely than being in a band – we are all familiar with the feeling of being 'alone' but surrounded by people – but it's true that I can indulge myself in musical ways that most band situations wouldn't find appropriate.
Powerpop.Ru: Did you liked Jon Auer's album "Songs From The Year Of Our Demise"? Do devoted admirers of The Posies try to somehow compare you…? And probably today many of them were divided on admirers of your creativity and JA's creativity… Or a place enough in their hearts for love to everything connected with group and they equally warmly try concerns to your solo albums.
K.S.: I have no objectivity on this question. I hope that there's room enough for what Jon and I do on our own in this world, and I reckon there is. I don't think of Jon & I as an either/or kind of thing. You can like both, or one, or neither.
Powerpop.Ru: You could look the world during tour with The Posies, REM, and you had been in tours with solo material in different cities. Do you like to open for yourself new cities. What cities have amazed by beauty and which would like to visit what you saw in photos or travelling on the Internet…
K.S.: Yes, I have seen so many places by touring around, I think it's been the best result of all my music making and perhaps the biggest motivation. to connect with people and places I never would have otherwise, but in a meaningful, non-tourist, way truly beautiful cities. I found Kuala Lumpur very sophisticated, comfortable, futuristic, and safe. I found Johannesburg very exciting and alive. I feel very at home in Barcelona. Every place has something to offer. I think a proper visit to St. Petersburg is in order! I would love to perform in the mideast region. I say that despite the obvious obstacles – I think more cultural understanding between americans and people in say, Iran, would be a beneficial thing.
Powerpop.Ru: All creative people are aesthetes, having a subtle not only in beloved work, they are occupied daily, but also in related creative areas… Do you visit museums in cities where you had been the first time. Is it obligatory event, written down in the schedule of day before your performance?
K.S.: I have no set plan of what to do in a new city, except to send a postcard to my daughter. And creative people are diverse – I know musicians with awful taste in movies, food and wine, etc.
Powerpop.Ru: Are you the fan of music? Have you a great collection of music? Who from artists colleagues has surprised you recently, so that inspired you to compose something more grandiose?
K.S.: I have a lot of music in my home and in storage...more than I can ever listen to, I think. My biggest inspirations come from direct contact – the musicians who I played with in Italy last week, for example. I like immediate results, and things that people do with little preparation, doing improvisational work.
Powerpop.Ru: Tell please to our readers, what do you think of power-pop music and what you see the future of this style?
K.S.: There's that old line about being suspicious of any group that would have me for a member...that probably sums up my relation to that phrase...to me the phrase sounds a bit antique. I prefer to call it 'music' and let things cross pollinate in the broadest possible fashion.
Powerpop.Ru: Do you want to tell to our readers something that I forget to ask you?
K.S.: Bring me to Russia for some shows! I am very open to ideas and possibilities.
Powerpop.Ru: Thanks so much, Ken! Moscow and St.Petersburg are visited even more often by the major labels' artists. We know also, that many artists of small independent labels wish to have gigs in Russia. And from one's part we try to come into the necessary contacts. The life swiftly changes for the better, Russians' musical tastes also change. All this will be probably soon!
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