MA: Do you ever miss playing in a loud rock band?
DZ: No way! I don't have enough eardrums left to deal with that. I don't miss it all. I feel like I already got everything I ever loved from making music in that way.
What I have now is great: I'm still playing for my peers, only now they're there with their kids. Half the audience is grown-ups, so there's all that good stuff there. I get all the excitement I need by doing what I do. And the group is great � an exciting group to play with.
MA: Do you think it's ridiculous that Mick Jagger still does what he does at his age?
DZ: (smiles) Live and let live.
MA: You're not going to be baited, I see. OK, here's another straw man for you. You've spoken about your desire for families to play music together. Maybe I'm cynical, but when I picture families playing music together I tend to think of the Everly Brothers at each other's throats, Ray and Dave Davies slugging it out, the guys from Oasis, the Black Crowes, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, the Jackson Five, and � you saw this coming � you and your own brother�.I mean the music is all great, but you of all people know how hard it can be to make music with a blood relative or anyone you love.
DZ: (laughs) Well, maybe I should clarify. I'm not saying that families should start bands and then go get record deals. Just play around the house and have some fun with it.
I see the irony � "Look at your own family band, Dan." I should've tried to broaden it a bit: family bands, neighborhood bands, any sort of communal music-making.
MA: Did you have that in your family? Communal music-making or even listening?
DZ: Listening, definitely, but not making � music making came later. But in the seventies in New Hampshire there was a lot of communal stuff going on: contra dances and that kind of thing. I was also fortunate enough to go to a camp called Interlocken that was the embodiment of what I'm trying to do now. It changed my life. It was folk music being made by groups of people for their peers, hanging out and learning instruments, teaching each other songs � that was it. That's still a major point of reference for me. You grab whoever's around and you make some music.
It brings people together and, let's face it, people need to be brought together. TV's not gonna do it, computers aren't gonna do it, Monsanto's not gonna do it.
The other thing is, I think people have so much creativity in them. Everybody does. One way to bring it out is music. I'd just as soon see people start up community theaters, but music is my bag so that's what I do. There's a tremendous amount that can come out of two kids on a stoop clapping their hands and singing.
I know I sound like a Luddite, but when I see music videos, I worry that that's what people who watch them will think music is � the show of it all. The truth is, it's about people getting together. It's really easy and available to anyone.
Dan Zanes...continued
M
Misha
(view)
MA: Do you ever miss playing in a loud rock band?
DZ: No way! I don't have enough eardrums left to deal with that. I don't miss it all. I feel like I already got everything I ever loved from making music in that way.
What I have now is great: I'm still playing for my peers, only now they're there with their kids. Half the audience is grown-ups, so there's all that good stuff there. I get all the excitement I need by doing what I do. And the group is great � an exciting group to play with.
MA: Do you think it's ridiculous that Mick Jagger still does what he does at his age?
DZ: (smiles) Live and let live.
MA: You're not going to be baited, I see. OK, here's another straw man for you. You've spoken about your desire for families to play music together. Maybe I'm cynical, but when I picture families playing music together I tend to think of the Everly Brothers at each other's throats, Ray and Dave Davies slugging it out, the guys from Oasis, the Black Crowes, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, the Jackson Five, and � you saw this coming � you and your own brother�.I mean the music is all great, but you of all people know how hard it can be to make music with a blood relative or anyone you love.
DZ: (laughs) Well, maybe I should clarify. I'm not saying that families should start bands and then go get record deals. Just play around the house and have some fun with it.
I see the irony � "Look at your own family band, Dan." I should've tried to broaden it a bit: family bands, neighborhood bands, any sort of communal music-making.
MA: Did you have that in your family? Communal music-making or even listening?
DZ: Listening, definitely, but not making � music making came later. But in the seventies in New Hampshire there was a lot of communal stuff going on: contra dances and that kind of thing. I was also fortunate enough to go to a camp called Interlocken that was the embodiment of what I'm trying to do now. It changed my life. It was folk music being made by groups of people for their peers, hanging out and learning instruments, teaching each other songs � that was it. That's still a major point of reference for me. You grab whoever's around and you make some music.
It brings people together and, let's face it, people need to be brought together. TV's not gonna do it, computers aren't gonna do it, Monsanto's not gonna do it.
The other thing is, I think people have so much creativity in them. Everybody does. One way to bring it out is music. I'd just as soon see people start up community theaters, but music is my bag so that's what I do. There's a tremendous amount that can come out of two kids on a stoop clapping their hands and singing.
I know I sound like a Luddite, but when I see music videos, I worry that that's what people who watch them will think music is � the show of it all. The truth is, it's about people getting together. It's really easy and available to anyone.
DZ: No way! I don't have enough eardrums left to deal with that. I don't miss it all. I feel like I already got everything I ever loved from making music in that way.
What I have now is great: I'm still playing for my peers, only now they're there with their kids. Half the audience is grown-ups, so there's all that good stuff there. I get all the excitement I need by doing what I do. And the group is great � an exciting group to play with.
MA: Do you think it's ridiculous that Mick Jagger still does what he does at his age?
DZ: (smiles) Live and let live.
MA: You're not going to be baited, I see. OK, here's another straw man for you. You've spoken about your desire for families to play music together. Maybe I'm cynical, but when I picture families playing music together I tend to think of the Everly Brothers at each other's throats, Ray and Dave Davies slugging it out, the guys from Oasis, the Black Crowes, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, the Jackson Five, and � you saw this coming � you and your own brother�.I mean the music is all great, but you of all people know how hard it can be to make music with a blood relative or anyone you love.
DZ: (laughs) Well, maybe I should clarify. I'm not saying that families should start bands and then go get record deals. Just play around the house and have some fun with it.
I see the irony � "Look at your own family band, Dan." I should've tried to broaden it a bit: family bands, neighborhood bands, any sort of communal music-making.
MA: Did you have that in your family? Communal music-making or even listening?
DZ: Listening, definitely, but not making � music making came later. But in the seventies in New Hampshire there was a lot of communal stuff going on: contra dances and that kind of thing. I was also fortunate enough to go to a camp called Interlocken that was the embodiment of what I'm trying to do now. It changed my life. It was folk music being made by groups of people for their peers, hanging out and learning instruments, teaching each other songs � that was it. That's still a major point of reference for me. You grab whoever's around and you make some music.
It brings people together and, let's face it, people need to be brought together. TV's not gonna do it, computers aren't gonna do it, Monsanto's not gonna do it.
The other thing is, I think people have so much creativity in them. Everybody does. One way to bring it out is music. I'd just as soon see people start up community theaters, but music is my bag so that's what I do. There's a tremendous amount that can come out of two kids on a stoop clapping their hands and singing.
I know I sound like a Luddite, but when I see music videos, I worry that that's what people who watch them will think music is � the show of it all. The truth is, it's about people getting together. It's really easy and available to anyone.
