AARON INTERVIEW 1997


I caught up with BECK backstage recently, and found myself torn between genuflecting in his presence, and grounding the man-child. He is a brilliant artist and performer, but I can't help but think his quirkiness is due to a missing critical stage in his development... and I think it's great.

The mood was just right. The city we were in (I've been asked not to disclose, so we'll call it Odorsville) has a particular stench in the air from a local agricultural event. The stage is set... Beck begins.



BECK Hey... how you doin?

AARON Great. You had a ripping soundcheck. If I had my way, I'd come to see you here [in Odorsville] every weekend. Can you work that out?

BECK Daily! I love [Odorsville]. I wish it was a daily affair. All my friends live up here. The air is so sweet. Something you appreciate.

AARON It depends on what you define sweet as being.

BECK Yeah, yeah... sweet pesticides... debris.

AARON Let's play "DJ for a day". What would you play on-air right now and why?

BECK (in his nifty little radio voice) OK, we're gonna start this off with a song called Devils Haircut... electric music in the summerpeople is the general feeling. It's a... it's a... it definitely has a [Odorsville] feeling in the song.

AARON How's that?

BECK You know. Discount orgies on the dropout busses.

AARON ...........ok.

BECK Yeah, and, (drifting for a moment, but still playing DJ) I'd like to give a shoutout to the [Odorsville] get fresh crew, Ross and Sukia, Bad Joe and Mia. This one's called Hot Wax. We're gonna play it right now. We're gonna play a song now, right?

AARON Anything you want. (Wondering what the hell I've started)

BECK OK. This is Hot Wax. It's got a little Spanish in the chorus, in case people don't know what that is, or don't know what's going on in the song. A little taste. A little hot wax.

AARON (At this point I'm thinking, "am I in the same room with anyone else?. Is it me, or did little Mr. Hansen go bye bye?) Well... thanks for sharing these intimate thoughts. Dig in deep. What's next? (I figured, fuck it. I'm gonna roll with it.)

BECK Well we might as well step up to High Five and, uh, maybe we want to build up to that one actually. Let's play Lord Only Knows.

AARON (for the record, I respect and admire Beck very much. I love his music, particularly when he collaborates with the Dust Brothers. It's just that I've always thought I was able to communicate on many levels, and occasionally, during this conversation, I feel like I'm speaking a foreign language with a speech impediment, and breast implants in my ears. This musical napoleon is trippin' me out with this whole 'being a DJ' thing. I can't stay focused. Help me Obi Wan Kanobi, your my only hope. Aunti Em! Aunti Em!)

BECK The songs on the album Odelay are in order for a reason. There was much thought in how they were laid out, into the sequencing of the songs... yeah... exactly...

AARON (struggling to remain composed) Beck. You're playing with my brain here.



We became uninterested in the interview for a moment and Beck and I began playing with some gadgets we both had.



BECK Ok (continuing) let's get to another song. Jackass is the song! (then he hummed jackass for a few moments, and continued.)

AARON [tripping]

BECK Alright, so we're back! Hello friends! This is BECK!, your experiencing Aaron Parker and BUZZINE. That was Jackass, just a little taste. So what did ya think of that?

AARON ........I thought it ripped......... Can I ask you one cheesy question?

BECK OK.

AARON Explain the 'slow jam' deal. [referring to the music awards when he eluded to the slow jam without explanation]

BECK The slow jam. Well. It's just... it's just... well... do you know about Power 106? Well that's what I'm talking about. Like... living in LA there's a lot of driving involved. and once you hit Power 106 on the radio, there's no deeper bass. It's a wonderful genre of music. It's just so passionate and committed to itself.

BECK We have some slow jams. We have one now called "I'm a full fledged man, and I'm not afraid to cry".

AARON (See I told you. He comes. He goes) That's the whole title?

BECK Yep.

AARON How's it go?

BECK That's how it goes, pretty much. You'll have to hear it.

AARON I have. It's very passionate.

BECK See.

AARON Well what about other influences like some of the other groups and samples you used in the past, James Brown, Bob Dylan...

BECK We didn't actually sample Bob Dylan, it's a cover of a Bob Dylan Song. Yeah, I wouldn't hijack a Bob Dylan Song.

AARON High Five? How about that?

BECK This is a song where we rock the Catskills. People know what we're talking about when they see us do it in our show.

AARON My radio DJ pal Sid in California asks how you feel about all the MTV exposure. He's heard things.

BECK Things?

AARON Things.

BECK I guess. I don't watch MTV. ...well I'm on tour all the time so I don't have time (quickly correcting himself). I guess it's great. We put a lot of work into the video, in case they do play it, it's gotta have some things happening in it that will justify repeated viewing.

AARON Thanks for the 'things'.