Fuzzy's been busy lately but I had to take a moment to tell ya about an album that I am really digging right now. "MOTIVATIONAL DOOM" is the debut release from solo band FRESNO BOB and this is a 100% high-voltage bass-only fuzz-fest. (With drums, of course.) The riffs are wild enough on their own, and they form a background for some awesome spoken word samples. The music goes so well with the samples that you might think some of these guys had returned from the dead to do a collab with Fresno Bob on this album. James Coburn, Alan Watts, Robert Crumb, and more. Check it out on Bandcamp and catch my interview below.
Follow FRESNO BOB on Bandcamp at https://fresnobob.bandcamp.com/album/motivational-doom
And of course, if you need more motivational doom in your life, please check out The Swamp Records' GUIDED MEDITATION DOOMJAZZ.
Fuzzy's interview with Fresno Bob ---
Do you choose the samples and then write a song for them, or do you write the songs first, or how do you go about recording your music?
Hi Fuzzy and thank you very much for this interview. Usually I write the song first, I start with a bass riff, then I think about the drums and finally the samples. When I'm ready to record I play the drums first, then the bass and finally I insert the samples. I’ve tried also to do the other way around but being a drummer I found this method easier for me.
You've selected such an interesting collection of samples! How did you go about choosing these?
Because I believe the strength of this album are the vocal samples of the characters, the thoughts, the words and the way they are pronounced, I spent a lot of time looking for the ones that meant something to me. Not being a singer, I wanted something i could relate to, so I improvised as a bassist and tried to add a musical outline with bass and drums, but as already mentioned, the backbone of this project are the samples. The first thing is to find the character who, in my imagination, relates well to this type of music, then search on the internet for his dialogues that deal with philosophical issues or thoughts of life. On this record, most are taken from TV talk shows from the 70s and 80s, or from small conference interviews like the tracks on David Lynch and Alan Moore.
Who might you choose for the samples in future songs?
The song I am working right now has got vocal samples taken from a crazy Dennis Hopper appearance in 1971 in an American TV show, where he was there to promote his movie The Last Movie. Other characters I would like to tribute are Warren Oates and John Sinclair. I'm a big fan of old movies, I'm interested in the American counterculture of the 60's and the different life philosophies and I love the riffs of bands like Sleep, Electric Wizard and Church of Misery so I guess that I will go on with this trip!
Anything else you would like to share about yourself and your music?
When I started this thing I was really down, life was slapping me.. but then song after song I felt better. Those quotes and riffs were somehow doing me good. If even one on this planet feels the way I did and finds comfort in listening to the record, I am happy. Motivational Doom is my tribute to all the characters in the album that in a way or another (movies, books, comics) have been part of my life since I was young. Fuzzy, thanks again for your interest and most of all thanks for promoting and supporting the dark sounds from the underground.