Interview with Jason Webley - Podcast 14

Thanks for tuning in to Sound Scene Revolution. I am Rich, your wonderful host, and if everything goes off as planned, this should be the first day of February, or the last day of January. Either day is cool, but we have a very special interview and a very cool show to bring you today. We got to sit down with singer-songwriter, performer, and all-around self-improvisational actor Jason Webley, who his stuff is distributed through Spring Man, but it's all kind of self-released. We got to talk with him in the basement of some club in the shady district of San Francisco. If you're not aware of where that district is, it's somewhere in between Hippie Biker Land and White People Get Stabbedville. It's kind of the shady district, but that's where the show was.

We got to talk with Jason. It was a lot of fun. We got to talk to him about his music, his influences, his plans, so you should really check out this interview if you have any interest in Jason Webley, or if you just have interest in music that doesn't suck. So before we hop into the interview, we're going to give you a track off of his latest album, which is called Only Just Beginning. It came out, I believe, 2004, maybe 2003, but it was put out on Spring Man, and we're going to play track number six called Map, and we're going to do that, and then hop straight into the interview, so make sure to check it out.

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I am not your lover, I am just the map you used to find her. She said, I am the map you used to find her. Well, thanks for tuning in to Sound Scene Revolution, I'm sitting here today with Jason Webley, if you could just say hello I guess. Hello, I guess. That's good. That's not good. It works, a little literal, but I'm not going to knock it. So, I guess the first thing, I've always wanted to ask this, everything I've read about you talks almost from the time you've moved to Seattle to play music onward. Like, I've never heard anything about before that, like, I'm assuming you knew music before then? Like, can you just give me a story? Knew of the concept of music? Or that I was in some grunge band? Well, I don't know, what was like, before, everything I've read says you moved to Seattle and you started to play, so did you?

I grew up in Seattle. Oh, you grew up in Seattle. Hmm. Everything I read says you moved there. So, I started playing in a kind of travel-y fashion and then I landed back in Seattle and I kept, which is home. Okay. Well, can we get a little idea of your musical history that led up to kind of what you do now? I really liked, when I was young, the Believe It or Not, I'm Walking on Air song from The Greatest American Hero. I also liked the Sound of Music soundtrack a lot. I liked the song, the one, I have confidence in sunshine, I have, that one I liked a lot.

I think, I wasn't, I didn't listen to a lot of music after that for a while until the album Thriller came out, which I thought was pretty much the greatest thing ever. I think a lot of people, yeah. Well, the fact that, I mean, to me it was irrelevant that anyone else liked it. It was, someone else was really into horror movie monsters besides me and was like really, you know, happy to sing about that. I just thought it was the coolest thing, you know. Yeah. And after that, I didn't listen to much music for a while until I discovered the Monkees, the, the, it was like, you know, their, their third attempt at trying to regurgitate themselves. And, and I, I caught on, I loved it. I, I never listened to the Beatles, but I loved the Monkees.

Um, I know everything they ever did. The first concert I ever went to was the Monkees at the Puyallup Fair. Wow. Um, you, you know more about my musical prehistory now than anybody. Um, I also liked the, there was the television show. I don't know if you remember this, Banana Splits had a, had a, had a, they had a series of different shows, but one of them had a big influence on me. It was The Land of the Lost. And according to my grandmother, I would spend days singing the theme song to the show, like on a continuous loop and the theme is only 30 seconds long. I actually found a tape that gives evidence that I did indeed sing it over and over and over. It's about a 90 minute tape. There's a couple little variants, but mostly it's the 30 second song over and over again.

Um, somehow after the Monkees, I think the next thing was Def Leppard. Um, from there we went to the Sex Pistols, which led to the Dead Kennedys. And from there it kind of becomes more boring or more interesting, depending on what you think, you know. Interesting. As a whole, it's very, I mean, it's very unique because I remember the last time, the only time I guess I've seen you, you were basically anything the audience could throw out, you were playing. So the fact that you didn't really get into music till the Monkees is so unusual to me, you know? I mean, I grew up in this world. Yeah. That's true. Um. Probably heard him. Yeah. I'm, my sisters watched the movie Footloose a lot. So that was a big influence, I imagine.

Um, the music of the bangles, you know, there's, you know, there were two younger sisters that also, I don't know. I, you know, I got to college, I tried to listen to lots of art music, lots of like, you know, 20th century serious composition, lots of folk music from all over the world. Um, I don't know. There's a bunch of, I studied music formally in some weird way in college. Uh, of all of that, is there any one thing that you would say is probably like the most influential, like one artist or one, like the fact that you say you studied it formally or is it just kind of an amalgam? Um, I, I did a bunch of performing, I mean, I was writing music for plays. Uh, and I think that near the end of that, I kind of found the thing that is most, that most would remind you of what I do now.

I don't know. Um, yeah, I was writing music for a play, um, Brecht's The Caucasian Shock Circle. Um, it's, it's one of his major plays in any way, but it didn't, it doesn't have a formal score. And so usually when it gets staged, somebody makes new music for it. And I was that guy. Huh. And the last act, I decided to pick up an accordion and, and there were a bunch of songs for that that, you know, probably pretty similar to what I do now. I haven't gotten any better at the accordion in the last 10 years, I don't think. Well, you're pretty good at it, so I don't think you need to necessarily get better. Yeah. You've done pretty well for yourself. Well, that's. That would have been 1996, so 10 years. You picked it up in 96?

Wow. What, of all instruments, the accordion, I know you can also play, I'm guitar and I think piano. Yeah. And so what, what inspired you? In the plastic vodka bottle full of pennies. Plastic vodka, yeah. Which I'm, you may be the only person I think who's plays that, so. There's probably a few imitators at this point. Yeah, but there's never, only one originator. But the accordion, what inspired you to get that? Um, that play I was working on existed, and my father had bought an accordion at a garage sale for my mother for $15. Actually, he bought a table set and said he'd pay $15 for it if they threw in the accordion. So there was an accordion around at my parents' house, and I asked if I could borrow it.

Hmm, was it hard to pick up, or was it? If you bend with your knees, it's not a problem.

Um, was the accordion, let me rephrase that, was the accordion hard to learn, or did it come pretty nice? I still haven't learned how to play it. No. You just fake it, like, really well. Press all the buttons and scream. See, well, you've got, you know, four albums out, you know, four well-known albums out, so you're doing good so far, I guess. Um, now, the thing I noticed that stands out the most about your albums, I'll take, I guess, Against the Night, because it's probably one of your most well-known ones, is you can vary so much from singing very softly to the loud stomping to just the experimental type music. I'd say the first three tracks of Against the Night cover that entire range. Do you ever feel limited to do one thing, or do you ever want to do just one thing?

Um, I don't quite understand that, um, do I ever feel, you've said I have a very diverse range, and then you asked do I ever feel limited. Well, do you ever want to, do I ever wish that I had a less diverse range? Well, do you ever have, like, the goal of, is it all just trying to get to one sound eventually, or is it, do you enjoy just being able to do all of this, and then everything on the other side? I mean, I don't care. Yeah. As far as, like, making albums go, the last album I tried to make it a bit more homogenous. Mm-hmm. Um, I think I was successful. I think it's still quite varied, but I think it holds together a bit better than the older albums. Yeah. Um, as far as, like, what I'm doing with my life, I don't, I hope that I do things that have nothing to do with what I'm doing now.

You know, like, like, I don't know, uh, the, the stuff I've been writing lately is really silly and stupid and very different from any of the albums people have been hearing. Um, and that makes me happy. I, I don't know. I, I'm not, I'm not too interested in making a really, really great album anytime soon. Um, not a lot of people are going to say that. A lot of people are like, I'm going for the next Revolver or the next something like that. Yeah. Um, only just beginning, I feel really strongly about, and I'm going to kind of slack for a little bit. I'm releasing a bunch of seven inches that are collaborative songwriting projects with other singer songwriters, um, or different, and, and some other groups.

And that's, that's going to keep me busy for a couple of years, actually. Oh, wow. I'm going to do a series of 11 of them. And then I'm also going to release a book of my short stories probably next spring. Oh, wow. Um, and I'll probably have a CD of instrumental music and it'll probably work to produce that nicely, but it'll be kind of silly. Um, it'll, it'll be fun. Um, wow. So an actual album is going to be a ways away. A few years away. Yeah. And by then there won't be albums anymore. It'll all be downloaded or. Something's going to happen. Yeah. Some unusual format. Wow. Well, how did the idea of doing the seven inches come about? Like just something. I had the idea and then I'm going to do it. Fair enough.

Is that going to be, is that going to be all like self-release then? Um, yeah, I'm starting a label this year. I mean, I've always released my own records, but now it's going to be, I'm going to, I'm going to start releasing the records of a few of the most talented musicians that I know and work with, um, their solo projects as well. So that's going to be exciting for you. Yeah. That's huge. Well, it's not huge. It's, it's very simple, similar to what I do already. Yeah. And it's just, it's a slight shift in way, way of talking about it really. No. Yeah. Cause right now you, you're not on spring and you spring, it's just your distributor, correct? Right. Now, is that the same reason, like just for independence sake that you did that instead of.

Yeah. I don't like being, I don't like, um, I like being in control. I all, I mean, I love Avi, I love spring, man. And, but there's a part of me that even like that little bit of like having it be something other than me, it's, I'm a control freak. I'd rather handle almost, or yeah, I like the idea of it being my own little label and figuring out my own ways of working around problems like distribution and stuff. You'll figure it out. Um, that's cool though. Um, like, do you have a name for it? I mean, obvious question, I guess. Simple one. It's going to probably be called, um, it's, I have, I'm doing a bit of more research on the name right now. Um, the domain is owned by someone in Indiana that's never done anything with, uh, with it.

We'll see what happens. Hopefully in the future. Well, that's cool. We won't, we won't touch on that. The name there's, there's a label in Australia that has the same name, but I think that I need to check on the legality of that too. I don't think that's a problem. I don't, unless, I don't know, you plan on re-releasing Beatles material or something huge like that. I don't see that being much of an issue, but I don't know. Some people are weird about stuff like that. So, what, you're, you're going to be releasing the Seven Inch series of your stuff, and is there going to be, like, Friends bands, you said, other bands like that? Um, the series of Seven Inches, and that's a bit unique, like, like we, the idea is we sit down and we write a whole ton of songs really quick, me and, and someone.

Yeah. And then we pick out a couple songs that we think are not quite as terrible as the rest, and we record those somewhat well. And then the other ones we record very quickly and crappily. And, and so the Seven Inch will come with a CD that contains the Seven Inch material, because no one listens to records anymore. And the CD will also contain all the outtakes. So it'll be kind of like an out, it'll, there'll be limited editions of 1111 copies, and they'll be, you know, numbered, hand numbered, and they'll sell for the price of an album, and hopefully, hopefully it'll work. Yeah. I'm not sure. Um, I've got some ideas I think might be clever, but, uh, internet sales for this project, I want, like, if people buy it online, the MP3s download immediately.

So, like, you know, in this world of instant gratification, you get both the physical object and the mail a week and a half later, but you get the songs immediately. Right away. I don't know. We'll see how that goes. I think it's probably a good idea. That sounds like a really good idea. I'm surprised someone, someone, maybe we shouldn't put that on either. Someone will take that. Everyone's going to be doing that. Well, eventually, probably. Yeah. They probably already are. Probably already doing it, and just the minute that went out, they're now doing it. Yeah. That's how it goes. All right. So we're going to take a quick little break here to bring you some more of Jason's music. We're going to play a track off of Against the Night.

It's one of his more popular tracks, so if you're familiar with his work or if you've seen him live, chances are you've heard it. But I like the song enough that I'm going to play it anyhow. We're going to play Dance While the Sky Crashes Down. It's number seven off of the Against the Night album. And then we're going to go back into the interview with Jason where we talk about more of the Beatles, specifically Paul McCartney. We talk about what it's like touring on the East Coast and how he finds time to sleep with his ridiculously rigorous schedule. So be sure to check it out and stay tuned.

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So, you have a big tour coming up of the East Coast. And do you have any plans after that? Or do you just take it kind of... Well, I'll be... Actually, if you look online, it's... It's all over. Already mapped out, I believe. I mean, the East Coast is actually already more dense than what's on there. Like, the last couple of dates have rolled in. I thought I had a couple of days off, but I don't. But, like, just today, I got at it in Princeton. Oh, wow. Then I fly to Indiana, where I'm going to be working with a band there to write some songs for two days. And then I've got concerts in Indianapolis nearby. Then Champaign-Urbana, Galesburg, Illinois. I go up to Michigan to meet up with another friend that I've already written songs with to record those songs.

And we've got, I think, three days to do that. And then we have two concerts together. I go back to Madison, Wisconsin, and then to Chicago to write some more songs with two other songwriters there. I fly back to Seattle on the 1st of March. On the 4th, I fly to Vienna for a month and a week in Europe. Pretty much booked solid every day. I don't know. Do you sleep, or do you ever, like... Not last night. No. There we go. Do you, like, want... Is there ever a time in your life where you want more time off, or when you're on the road... I used to take six months off every year. This year, I took two months off instead. That's kind of... That's a third. That's almost even. And I'd like, I don't know, in a way, like, having a couple days off to write songs with friends.

I mean, that's... I think it's going to be... It'll be fun. It'll be relaxing. Yeah. In its own manic way. Well, that'll be... I mean, that's a heavy, heavy schedule. And you all... These are all going to be solo shows, right? Just you unaccompanied? Yeah. Okay. I'm going to probably tour with a band this fall. Two of the people whose CDs I'm going to release in the autumn... And this isn't quite finalized yet. I need to work on their schedules. In October, I want to do a tour with a bass player and a violist that I've worked a lot with. They play a lot on Only Just Beginning. And they're two of my favorite people and musicians. And I want to... They've both got solo records, and I'm going to hopefully release them.

And then tour with them as my backing band. As a label, I don't want to spend tons of money trying to promote things. I want to think of what ways I'm good already at networking and promoting things. If they're already... I don't know. To have them be my backing band and my opening act, and then tour with them, we'll sell their records. Yeah, yeah. And kind of introduce them to the people that know me. That's all I really know how to do. It's a solid idea. I mean, it's been done for lots of actual successful record labels. That have been run by artists. Yeah. That's cool. Now, is it different? I'm assuming you must have played with backup bands before. Is it a different experience than playing by yourself? You don't have quite as much flexibility.

Yeah. In situations like tonight, in a way it helps, in a way it hurts, by the time I play tonight, they'll be chatting people. And part of me will be fighting that the whole night.

With a band, you can kind of create a closed circuit and just be self-contained. Yeah. I mean, there's that possibility. And you can just do your shit whatever the audience is doing. Yeah, yeah. And when you're alone, it's a bit harder to do that. I try not to do it either way. I try to be vulnerable. And if things aren't going well, by whatever weird measure I have of that, I respond.

My response time... It's harder with a band to make really lightning-fast decisions. Yeah, because there's two, three, four of you guys. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Wow. It'll probably be violin, bass, and drums. Oh, wow. It'll be fun. It'll have a good sound to it, I think. Yeah, I normally do big shows every year in Seattle, usually with a big band, like a dozen people. Like a string section, a brass section, and a rhythm section. Mm-hmm. Last Halloween, for the first time, I kind of tightened it up and made it just bass, drums, violin, and a guitar. Mm-hmm. And I was really happy with that, actually. It felt leaner and tighter, and we were able to get a lot more done. That's cool. Very cool. One of the things I was wondering, because I've only seen you small show, and most of the venues around here that I've seen you play small show is Gilman Street.

Last night, there were 400 kids. Really? At Gilman Street. That is amazing. That had to be, like, the walls, almost. It was a good show. Yeah, that must have been really good fun, but not like amphitheater-type venues. Do you think, I know you've played with, like, bigger venues and stuff. Is it different trying to bring your show? Because when I saw it, the thing that stood out was, like, the intimacy and how close it was with everything. Is it harder to bring that to, like, the larger venues, or do you not even try and just go a different route? It depends. Yeah. I've played for 5,000 people and had them all spinning around in circles, throwing their arms around each other and singing. I don't think, like, scale is a weird thing.

Yeah. You know? Like, I mean, it can be daunting or it can't be. And in a lot of it, I mean, it can suck. Like, big concerts can suck. Yeah. I've hardly ever seen anything in a huge stadium situation that really got to me. Mm-hmm. It's happened maybe once. And, um... The Monkees? Definitely. Actually, it was Paul McCartney at Glastonbury two years ago. Oh, wow. And, you know, he's really cheesy. Like, he made lots of really bad choices aesthetically. But, you know, goddammit, like, this was the biggest audience he'd ever played for in his own country. Wow. And he played, like, you know, a bunch of, like, Beatles songs that had never been performed before. And I didn't even know all this, really. Yeah. And yet, somehow, I was in tears a bunch of times.

You know, even though I kind of thought he was a dork. You know, like, it's like, this is the guy that wrote all these fucking songs. Yeah. And, like, here I am. And, like, everyone's, like, weeping. And, Jesus Christ, so am I. You know? Yeah. Like, that's an amazing thing. Oh, yeah. You know? Like, these things, like, a song can unite, like, the world. You know? Yeah. Like, good song, bad song, whatever. Yesterday, da-da-da-da. You know, everyone, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you know, it's, it's, like, in our blood. You know? Yeah. That's, it's a, it's a real tangible thing. You know? Even, like, you know, like, that, I mean, that's, all that crap I listened to when I was a kid talking about earlier. Yeah. Like, you know, nothing makes me as happy as to hear a Def Leppard song off that album that I loved when I was in seventh grade.

Yeah. You know? Like, it's, like, like, you know? Definitely. I mean, it doesn't necessarily have to be great music to, you know, strike a chord with somebody. And not to say Paul McCartney's not an amazing songwriter. I mean, he's one of the greatest songwriters of, you know. Yeah. We're not trying to bat in case he listens, which he will. Paul, it's cool, man. Call me up.

You'll do lunch with Paul McCartney. If you get that, you have to thank us for that. Yeah. I'm sure it'll happen. He listens frequently. I should probably go hang out with my friends upstairs. Yeah. We'll let that, we'll let you go get to that. Real quick, are there any plugs, any... No. Okay. You're all good. If you don't know at this point, you probably won't. So, we want to thank you so much. Go hang out with your friends and have a good night. We'll see you then. Take care. All right. All right. Well, that wraps up the interview for this week. I hope you guys all enjoyed it. Be sure to come back in the next few weeks. We should have a lot more interviews and a lot more really, really cool stuff. If you're a fan of Jason Webley's, be sure to let all the other Webley fans know about our interview so we can get as many people into this as possible.

I think especially learning about the background of his music. It was really cool because I don't think a lot of people are knowledgeable about that. Anyhow, before we go, we're going to play one last track. It was the free download of the week on Jason Webley's site for this week. So, we thought we'd share it with you guys. So, in the years to come, if he takes it down, we'll still have it. It's called Sad Blue. It was recorded before the Against the Night sessions were started up. And I don't think it was ever been released before this. So, Jason has it up on his site for the first week of February. But we should have it up for as long as he's willing to let us have it up without suing us. So, be sure to check it out and be sure to come back.

Hit us up. Drop us an email at soundscenerevolution at gmail.com or at our message boards. And add us to your MySpace so we can send you bulletins and mail you digital photos of our shit. That's right. We do it. All right. So, have a good week.

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