Random Truths About... Brightblack Morning Light
(Plus Seven
More Questions)
Posted: September 25, 2006
Additional questions from Ross Simonini
1. What's the first piece of music you listened to today?
"Chimicum Rain" by Linda Perhacs
2. What are your vices?
Really potent sativa. Not indica, which is the paranoid kind.
3. What is one of your prejudices?
It's hard to accept that there aren't more anti-war protests on
a monthly basis in every city in this country. It goes to show that
everyone Feels Dis-engaged.
4. In what way do you think music has the ability to change
the way people live their lives?
Well, a tired mind won't change, so maybe some music can awaken
aspects of the mind that allows for a rebirth.
5. At what age did you first feel distrust?
At a very early age while in school, in lower Alabama where I am
from, hearing racist comments spill from both white & black
children, bad thoughts placed in their minds by their parents, who
were workingclass & just tired. Blaming each other rather than
our government & elected officials.
6. Do you think that your name is appropriate for you?
(If not, what name would be more appropriate?)
No. I would like a name that makes no sound but every time it is
spoken, would make the sky become tie-dyed.....then I would recognize
the call.
7. What is the best piece of music you've ever created,
in your opinion?
My favorite on the LP is "Starblanket River Child."
8. Right now, how are you trying to change yourself?
I am eating an organic breakfast of tomato, egg, avocado with tea.
I hope to gain energy from that to go swimming. I look forward to
the after effects of both.
9. If you had the time, what else would you do?
I would like to deep-sea dive with super lungs that wouldn't fail.
I would like my own garden too.
10. What social cause do you feel the most strongly about
(negative or positive)?
I am totally against our current electoral process & feel it
hasn't progressed. In general I feel all the states of the USA should
become their own countries, there is no valid collective unity in
the current idea. We are all still seperated & hopefully soon
will realize identity Can't be purchased in a store. Currently folks
align on their tastes based on things they have purchased. A better
unity is waiting.
11. What are your fears?
Leadership, folks seeking to lead.
12. What is your favorite joke (tasteful or tasteless)?
Q: How many squirrels does it take to screw in a light
bulb?
A: None. Squirrels don't use lightbulbs.
13. Who is your favorite author?
Currently, Leonard Peltier.
14. What is your favorite movie?
Currently, Seven Years in Tibet because I like how they
removed all the earthworms before they built a building, by hand.
15. Favorite album(s) from the last few years?
Linda Perhacs, "Parallelograms"
Hamza el Din, "Escalay - The Water Wheel"
Pentangle, "Classics"
Daniel Higgs, "Magic Alphabet"
16. What would you like to know more about?
How to play a flute.
17. What is one thing you would like to do/see/accomplish
before you die?
Learn how to play a flute.
18. Your lyrics use simple, direct language, almost like
prayers or incantations. Do you think you your songs in this sort
of way? Or do you have different reasons for using the language
you do?
I don't like the English language very much. Yes, I consider
these words to be incantations, as they are influenced by reading
& listening to Native American folk tales, as well as my own
relations to wild places and wild life.
19. How has living in a wilderness environment changed
the way you think about music? Can you talk a little about your
experience out at Point Reyes.
Well it was a decision to live rurally, nearby untainted
land. There is a decision made to either consider wilderness a hindrance
or an inspiration. The choice I made was to participate with wilderness
on as many levels as possible. Not only for religion but for entertainment
and even for community. Yet to make wilderness a multi-layered experience,
I chose to become anti-social, so that my attentions would remain
focused. It is still a goal I try & maintain daily, to limit
my social interaction so that the "human interaction"
doesn't override wilderness interaction. I see alone time with wilderness
as a reclamation and a birthright. Too often the "human interaction"
is so predictable. Humans need so much attention because generally
they are rambling life forces filled with layers and layers of intentions,
they only listen to each other, yet there are other life forces
surrounding us, with many lessons and gifts. It takes a sincere
effort & faith to seek interaction from wildlife over human
life. Yet I feel this area of the human experience is worth most
any sacrifice.
20. You talk a lot about your connections with Marijuana.
How do you feel your experiences with it have changed you as a person?
How have they changed you as a musician?
Marijuana is a unique plant that has the potential to expand
periphery. As a male, I cannot give birth to another life, yet the
Earth is a birthing mother. It is the female species of this plant
that when used, allows the "male mind" to embrace the
"birth mind." Birthing & Periphery are my main interests
with music.
21. Your lyrics and album artwork use a lot of American
Indians imagery. How do connect yourself with the Native American
culture?
I consider indigenous culture, its history, to be an important historical
aspect of the human experience. We are all Native to something that
can't be bought or sold and the more ways we can realize this, the
better we'll treat each other and the Earth we depend upon to survive.
I am not inspired to adopt the values of our current collective
head. We were born with all that we need. The power we seek can
be gained within our experience, not through others. The closer
we understand this the less dependent we become on a destructive
system for survival. America was founded by folks escaping persecution,
yet at the expense of both the Earth and slave labor.
22. Why did you change your band name from Ala.Cali.Tucky?
Do you view the current band setup as a different incarnation of
the previous album’s band?
Ala.Cali.Tucky was the name of an album that was written by a band
called RAINYWOOD. When someone asked to publish that, RAINYWOOD
no longer existed. I was performing under the name BRIGHTBLACK when
the album, which is out of print, was published by a friend. So
we called it BRIGHTBLACK. That recording is not related at all to
the BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT.
23. You’ve done some work as a visual artist.
Can you talk a little about your experience and what sort of visual
art/artists you’re interested in?
I just recently started drawing again, and am interested in hallucinogenic
line art, because it is fun to make.
24. What would you like to explore, musically (and if you
like: personally) over the next few years?
I am interested in working with musical instruments that I don't
even know how to play, but hear them in my mind a lot. So I suppose
I'll be trying to translate that.
____
The additional questions in this interview were contributed
by Ross
Simonini.
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