In late 2006, I sold my Mexican Fender Starburst Jazz Bass to an artist in New York. He didn’t care that I didn’t have an amp for him to test it on, and told me he needed it for an art installation in Lyon about the Who. He neglected to mention that the bass would be destroyed– he must not have known that I’d have given him a discount for that.
Incidentally, the artist, Christoph Draeger, created a series of works about disasters like plane crashes. One of his works features a plane crash that happened in the early 60s about a block from my apartment, where he bought the bass from me.
My sister asked me to provide a soundtrack for my nephew Max’s “robot dance party” 6th birthday party. He’s a Kraftwerk fan, so I used kraftwerkiness as a theme. Some awkward edits to avoid cursing, and a few obvious crowd-pleasers for the adults, but I’ve had fun listening to it for the last few weeks.
I assumed a new identity for this mix: P Tron, a robot from space. That was probably the best part.
I’m told that the party consisted of listening to these jams and disassembling machinery including a broken DVD player and an old busted credit card machine from my mom’s library. And games and robot costumes. Sounds like a good time was had by all… wish I could have joined them.
Goodness knows I’ve worked hard the past 26 years to make a name for myself. And it’s felt great coming to the aid of New Age spa owners, suburban party planners, and young couples looking to save money by making their own wedding invitations.
