 2008/6/28 DM.Bob
Interview By: Michiaki Okamoto
 He came to Germany with the mind of Southern USA.He has bands such as Deficits, Watzloves, and with Jem.. I love his stuff. I feel the cool beat, hot the rhythm, and the good melody though I cannot catch lyrics(Besides, what do you need?). and, I like his voice. The base of his music is Louisiana.and mixed Cajun,Country,Swanp,Punk,and MORE! He is doing produce in his studio besides the band. It is more famous that he is drawing the picture. And, and!!he is a hobby person. Check out the interview in detail!!!! All photo from ＤＭ.Bob Western Times
Where were you born?and How old are you? DM.Bob I was born in Raceland Louisiana - 35 miles southwest of New Orleans
i've had to give up the old crow since i hit the big five-O
Western Times
Why did you migrate to Germany? DM.Bob Love actually Western Times
Had the band done you before the first band?When & What are musical instruments started first? DM.Bob I played in various swamp pop/rockabilly dance bands before i formed the
Deficits - my last band before Hamburg was the Bush Hogs (NOTHING to do with
George w!!!) - we still play once a year - we recently played at the Saturn Bar
in New Orleans with The Watzloves - My first band in hamburg was called DM Bob
& the Big Profits
I started off just singing and then in the 6th grade i started playing
acoustic guitar - when i started playing in bands i either just sang or played
the drums
Western Times
What is the record that you bought for the first time?and What kind of teen-ager were you? DM.Bob The first LP I bought was "12x5" - the rolling stones
I was a pretty boring teenager although my parents didn't like some of the
company I kept - i spent a lot of time listening to music - playing basketball
- riding motorcycles - hanging out in the swamp - wrestling alligators - and of
course singing and playing my acoustic guitar (Marco Polo was the brand)
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Was there a musician in the family? DM.Bob my cousin Jimmy Tooke played guitar - i did my first jam session with him - i played the tambourine Western Times
When did you begin to write the song?also How is the song written? DM.Bob I started making up instrumental things with the Marco Polo nylon string early
on but the first real songs didn t happen until i moved to hamburg in 1991
I started doing a few songs with my first hamburg band - one was called
"chic chic baby"
I did an exhibition called "Blood Meridian" (inspired by Cormic McCarthy s
book) so i wrote 2 songs for that and then put them on my 1st EP - then i got an
offer to do an LP for Crypt
i never felt any need to do original songs because i know so many great
ones from Louisiana but when i got offers to do records I decided to give it a
go - it doesn t come easy for me
but i m quite happy with my out-put - i never dreamed that I would ever
write songs or make records but now I've done quite a few
there isn't any method to it - usually I start with a refrain or title and
build the lyrics up from there but this is usually inspired by a groove i come
up with on my guitar
but sometimes the song is all worked out before i ever play it - there are
lots of ways to create a song/tune
unfortunately I don't really write poetry - I mean I don't keep a book
where i simply write lyrics - a song usually happens from a musical idea - in a
way I'm more concerned with sound and beats than with "songs" - but I'm
learning
Western Times
Please teach your root music. Is a directionality of music in teen-ager the same as you now?What is the target of your music? DM.Bob there is no target and no aim either - there is definitely still some teen-ager
in there - i basically became interested in playing in combos around 1981 when i
first started listening to Louisiana music - whatever - country to funk - it was
the early 80s but i discovered that "punk music" had already been done in the
50s -and right out my back door!
My first band attempts were described by "bush hog hank" as "punkabilly"
Western Times
Recently, to what record are you listening?Please teach some. DM.Bob I 've been listening to "Money Jungle" Duke Ellington with
Charles Mingus & Max Roach and "In the Pocket with Eddie Bo"
and these Ethio jazz records featuring Mulatu Astatke
and "the Famous Davis Sisters" and lots of various LPs and 45s i recently found in Louisiana and Texas
- i do an internet radio show on Byte.fm every 2 weeks where i'm trying
to sort out your question - I'm always listening
Western Times
When was the picture started?Did you learn it anywhere? DM.Bob i started studying art (if this is possible) in 1977 with photography and got
interested in painting soon after - eventually i got my Master s of Fine Arts at
LSU in Baton Rouge in 1990 - i've been painting steadily since 1985 + -
one of these days I've got to figure out how many paintings I've made -
around 5000 is my conservative guess
Western Times
You are drawing in various kinds such as wood. Please teach the style of your painting.Do you take the order? DM.Bob I do take orders! - its very important - i paint mostly on found material - wood is good - there is no particular style - too many influences to mention here but Sam Doyle is one of my favorite painters  JEM and BOB 2nd Album "PIRANA" come out in Nov 08 !! Western Times
You are taking an active part in some bands.Please teach me the band in which you are participating now.Moreover, please introduce each band. DM.Bob yes i play actively in 3 bands - my onemanband - The Watzloves - and a duo now called Jem Bob - i'd like to play bass or sax in someone else s band but so far no one s asked me to Western Times
Are you doing the live show?Do you plaｙ a cover in live shows?What song do you play if you play the cover? DM.Bob yes i do live shows when asked to and i do play some covers but only songs that i think are unknown to the public - i ve been playing Lazy Lester s "same thing could happen to you" a lot lately Western Times
Is there a sound source that Deficits is new?and,Do you schedule it though want to listen to Bob's solo album? DM.Bob the Deficits sound source is combination of DIY - Goldband Records - R&R/Blues/Funk/Country/punk - i don t play with the original Deficits and its highly unlikely that we will ever play again in the original constellation (unless someone makes an offer we can t refuse!) - i did do a few shows with new members as the Deficits but soon decided to start something new - like playing solo and with Jem Finer and Silky of the Watzloves Western Times
What content is Jem & Bob's new album?and,Please teach about Jem. DM.Bob our new album "Pirana" will come out in Nov 08 (hazelwood records) - its a
mixture of both mine and Jem's songs + 3 covers (one song is from an old friend
of mine from Louisiana)
Jem Finer (as you know plays banjo in the pogues) is a very active UK artist and we started doing music together at an art event in Bremen some years ago - I later asked if he'd like to do a UK tour and John Peel session and be my driver and he said yeah! we've now got quite a few gigs under our belts - 2 LPs - and many a hwy mile - although its a bit difficult thing to manage since he lives in London and is quite busy - its been a good thing
BUY!!! DM.BOB and Deficits
   1st+2nd released by Crypt records.3rd released by voodoo rhythm records BUY!!! THE WATZLOVES
   All released by voodoo rhythm records BUY!!! JEM and BOB
released by Hazel Wood records Western Times
Please teach your studio. Is there a name?What kind of band is using it? DM.Bob well its not really a proper studio - more like a small room filled with old
musical junk - DM Bob studios - i use it mainly to record my own stuff but i get
asked often to record bands (as you know) - i use lots of over-driven tube amps
and now go to digital tape and mix it down to normal tape - i haven t got to
using a computer yet but when my tape machines finally quit functioning i think
I'll go to one of these all-in-one recorders - Lighting Beat Man s last 2
records where recorded with one of these machines and the sound is amazing
!
i would really like to record more bands but using my tape-machines is
expensive and like i said i bought them for my use
the King Kahn BBQ show came out very good and i did a session with "The Demon s Claws" but they ended up only using a few songs for their album
the last album i recorded was "The Dirty Canon" by The Marseille Figs - this came out real nice and was co-produced with Jem Finer
Western Times
You are a producer of King khan and BBQ shows 1st album.Please teach if there is an episode that no one knows. and when did you meet them? DM.Bob yes this was a lot of fun - they argued a lot and i often thought they weren't
going to get trough - Mark (BBQ) actually wrote some of the songs on the spot -
all in all they were pretty efficient
I met Arish when we did stuff on Voodoo Rhythm and later met Mark when he
played a one man band show here is Hamburg - they later asked me to record them
and I'm glad i did
Western Times
What do you do when music is not played?and Do you marry? DM.Bob aside from playing music i make paintings and teach english
i was married and unofficially i guess i still am to the lovely Silky Watzlove
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From what are you influenced in your playing music?What is valuing? DM.Bob i am mainly influenced by southern USSA music from before the 70s but I'm an avid listener - i mostly value non-mainstream down-home un-pretentious stuff - slim harpo will do Western Times
Is there a hobby excluding music and the painting? DM.Bob i like riding my bicycle everywhere - through the hamburg harbor/industrial area
- one could literally travel through germany by bike (something that wouldn't
be as easy to do in Louisana)(i don t miss car driving) - I do miss swimming in
Louisiana (one of my favorite pastimes) - just bought a basketball - gonna start
shooting the rock again
i like looking for old 45s when i visit Texas and Louisiana - I make
compilations for my radio show - sometimes i DJ - my record collection is too
big
my biggest hobby is cooking mexican food for my friends - and listening to
records
i also like to lie in my bed and read books and magazines (i get more mags
than i can read from where i work) - i just finished Colin Escott s Hank
Williams "snapshots from the Lost Hwy" and Kinky Friedmann s "excuse me while i
whip this out" - many more waiting (wanna buy some english books?)
and ! i like watching "King of the Hill" DVDs and films - i don't have a
TV or a Radio - i do spend a lot of time on-line
anyway there s more to do than i possibly can and that's good
Western Times
Please teach any activity schedule etc. for the future. DM.Bob well I've got a oneman gig here in hamburg on the 1st of Aug and a 2-3 week euro
tour being planned for Nov
and we hope someone invites us to Japan!
LINKS
DM.Bob official DM.Bob on MYSPACE Check out!DM Bob's Sonic (Gulf) Stream on ByteFM Voodoo Rhythm Records Official Hazelwood Records Official Crypt Records Official |