BLVR: There’s that Charlie Parker quote: “You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.” TA: That’s what he did. It sounds like water when you hear him play. [...]
TA: Yeah. And since you’re feeding the cat and you’re not paying attention and then you listen to what you just recorded, you can really hear when it’s wrong. If it’s wrong, it’s like when you put on bad music in the background. But going back to Coltrane, it sounds like he just wants to be doing that in an immediate way when he’s onstage. I’m starting to think that patience is the biggest part of the whole thing. And, you know, another thing that just popped into my head, and I’m not sure if this answers your question, but like a week ago, I was writing this thing. Single lines and chords moving and blah, blah. I was going for about four days, and I wasn’t really thinking about it. I had six minutes’ worth of music, and then all of a sudden it just stopped. And I didn’t really realize that it stopped until I put all the pieces together. It’s everywhere: on my cassette recorder, on my phone, on a 4-track recorder, on the laptop. It just stopped. All of a sudden. It’s the concept of being a channel. [...]
TA: Yeah, but that can be dangerous. People in my immediate family think I’m losing my mind, because I don’t know how to turn it off. I really don’t. As a matter of fact, I’ve been encouraged by my wife and those around me to, on New Year’s Eve, hand over my phone for a month. This is actually something I’ve never talked about before. This is what I’ve done to my life. Anybody who comes into my life, I start collaborating with. It’s not just Tom. It’s Steve, the Dude of Life, who wrote “Fluffhead” and “Suzy Greenberg”—a lot of good songs. And then it’s my first pal [Suzannah Goodman], who wrote “Bathtub Gin” with me, and then my friend Dave [Abrahams], who wrote “Runaway Jim” with me. It’s my daughter, who I wrote “Goodbye Head” with. It’s like it’s always happening. The only problem became when we started employing all our friends. That kind of thinking got out of control. I didn’t know where life began and music ended. My family recently made me change my phone ringer to a barking dog so it sounds like no. No no no. The problem is, if I don’t learn to have boundaries, which, historically, I don’t, then a lot of moments become, well, talking to cops or whatever. You can get a little crazy. It’s a blessing, but there’s a certain point at which you have to go to bed.
(T.Anastasio - Believer Interview)
