EVENT: Vanderslice plays with Spoon on Sat July 28 at the Crocodile. His second solo album, Time Travel Is Lonely, was recently released by Barsuk Records. He is the nicest man alive.
Can you give a brief summary of the concept of Time Travel Is Lonely? "The background story is this: Jesse, a programmer and geologist, gets assigned to a U.S. relay station in Antarctica. He listens to BBC radio on his short-wave, writes songs, keeps a journal, and sends dozens of e-mails and letters a day, some of which are in the CD booklet. Jesse soon realizes he's the caretaker for a NSC satellite ECHELON sub-station. After his hard drive is corrupted by the "I Love You" virus, his growing isolation and loneliness overwhelms him and he cracks up. A young girl, Emma Pearl, who visits him at night, talks him into destroying the relay station. As the U.S. government prepares to remove him, he treks out to save the Russian submariners downed in the Kursk, who he hears tapping on the hull of their sub. That's the last we hear of him.... That said, you might not know much of this is happening."
What are the chief differences between a rock opera and a concept album? "It seems to me that a rock opera would likely have a linear narrative, a 'cast,' some sound-effects bits between songs, and Pete Townshend's plaintive voice on a bridge or two. A concept record is a lot looser, more heady, and usually offered as a white flag/olive branch to rock writers (see above). Rock operas? The Who: Quadrophenia, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (my top vote)--all of these loom large in my life. Roger Waters' Radio K.A.O.S. is horrific, really and truly atrocious. As far as concept records go, is there any doubt I would mention Neutral Milk Hotel's monumental In the Aeroplane Over the Sea?"
We've heard a lot about how hard it is to be an independent musician in the Bay Area; you're a musician and a studio-owner. Has it gotten any better since the collapse of the e-conomy? "Oh so much better! The remaining bands are so damn serious and focused. They are like those deformed, nocturnal freaks in The Omega Man who survive the plague and can only think about killing Charlton Heston. I proudly count myself in that group. The studio, Tiny Telephone, is doing business as usual. I am amazed at how resilient bands are here, even in the middle of a harsh Bay Area recession."
You used to be in MK Ultra, now you're a solo artist who plays with a band; who's in the band now, and do you prefer dictatorship to democracy? "I have played with the same lineup for almost two years now: Gavin Foster (drums), Alex Nahas (Chapman Stick, vocals), and Logan Hedin (guitar). Although, Alex is taking off at the end of the Spoon tour to go to a wedding; Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) will kindly step in and play bass and sing at the Croc. Dictatorship, hands down. Being in a band is a very tough situation: There are no clear lines of responsibility regarding money, creative input, direction, etc. Sometimes, a leader of a band is, by necessity, as popular as a pot-bellied landlord during the Cultural Revolution."
How fucking great is Spoon, anyway? Jesus. "Answer: very fucking great. Yes, we are in agreement there. I started following them after Telephono, eventually became good friends with them, stole their engineer (John Croslin), recorded with them (Spoon covers the title track of "Time Travel Is Lonely" on my Insound Tour Support CD), and played shows with them. I am a very subtle stalker...."
There's a gun to your head: What's the best phase of Dylan? "My favorite phase is the early, bounded by Bringing It All Back Home, 1965 (which I consider Dylan's masterpiece) through The Basement Tapes, 1968 (an amazing document of musical freedom and all-star goofiness). I think Dylan lost a little of his nerve (and nastiness) post-motorcycle accident, and my interest tails off after Blonde on Blonde. There are a lot of good records later on, but his voice, for me, never recovers. His early vocals have an ass-kicking tone and gut-wrenching resonance that I have never found anywhere else."
