JOEL GION: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE BJTM TAMBOURINE MAN
JOEL GION: HEP-TALKING WITH THE LEGENDARY TAMBOURINE MAN
After spending a long and strange career as the legendary tambourine man for the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the hep-talking, sunglass-wearing star of the 2004 rockumentary ‘Dig!’ has emerged with an armload of his own music showcasing his talent as a psych-rock songwriter, singer and guitarist.
What’s the best gig Joel Gion ever played?
Musically there are so many, but one of my favourites, for different reasons, was early on for me in 1994 when we played with Oasis for their first U.S. gig ever. I worked at Reckless Records on Haight Street, San Francisco at the time and was telling our band manger “we HAVE to get on this bill man.” So it happened and their record came out two weeks before the show and then it all exploded over here.
The place held about 250 and was way over sold. Blur and Pulp were on tour together and had played across town the night before so they were there as well. When we got to the venue I saw Oasis’ bus parked out front but after knocking on the door my offer for pure crystal meth was turned down by Noel (whatever!).
All kinds of different madness ensued that night but during ‘Hyperventilation’, which was our last song, Anton took off his shirt and zipped his fly down and then started rubbing the mic around his pubes. I had not seen this behavior by him before, or since, but later when we were watching Oasis, he leaned over and said: “Look at the way he’s singing,” and there was Liam with his upper lip resting on the mic while he sang. I was like ‘eugh gross’ but it was pretty funny.
The worst gig Joel Gion ever played?
That would have to be at the same venue (Bottom of The Hill, SF) three years later. It was after the whole band quit as seen in the movie Dig. What’s not in the movie is after the film crew had had enough and split, Anton somehow talked me yet again into rejoining him to finish the tour which was two shows back up in The Bay Area. The first song had him sitting on a stool playing acoustic guitar while two brainwashed chicks washed his feet in a porcelain bowl like he was Jesus and I shaved off his moustache while he sang and played.
Fights and Escapes: Joel’s Wildest Gigs.
Have you ever had to fight yourself out of a gig?
Yes, the very next night in Berkeley someone started throwing ice at us cause’ I guess he thought Anton was talking a lot or something. So Anton threw his stool into the crowd and then dudes rushed the stage and our friends jumped in and a full-scale bar room brawl ensued. It was like a goofy old western movie bar brawl for about five minutes. People were running for the door. That got us banned and blackballed from the entire city of Berkeley. I don’t know if that’s still in effect but we’ve never been back. We used to always say that the film crew missed all the best stuff.
Battle Scars: Joel’s Worst Injury
That would have to be the scar on my temple where Matt Hollywood (BJM bassist) kicked me in the face. It’s in the movie, though the film crew weren’t there; they got that shot later from the band manager who, rather than trying to stop it, wanted to get us killing each other on film.
We were in New Mexico and Matt and I had been doing biker crank (methamphetamine) for three days. Then we shared a bottle of whisky during the set and for whatever reason afterwards he felt like I wasn’t listening to him, or something stupid, and he attacked me. We wrestled in the parking lot for a minute and I got on top of him and held him down. I said: “Look man, you’re my friend! We should not be fighting!” Then I got off him, went down on my knees, spread my arms out in a drug and booze fuelled horrible decision and said: “If you really wanna’ hit me, then hit me.” I didn’t think he would, but he dropped kicked my head and I had a pretty gnarly gash from that. When I furrowed my brow you could see the muscle move in my temple. That’s long forgiven so I hope he doesn’t see this, as he feels really bad about it. But that happened.
Regrets and Revelations
What have you regretted doing most whilst drunk?
I wouldn’t be here without getting drunk. Regrets would make me sound ungrateful.
What’s your craziest post-gig experience?
Well, the first one I can think of is a warehouse party in the early BJM days in San Francisco. During our last song, the drummer started kicking his kit around, so I grabbed a cymbal and started banging on it with my maraca. After a bit of music freak-out I decided I would chuck the cymbal up in the air over my head and behind the stage. Well, what I didn’t know was during that song one of the tenants there had decided to cook up some top ramen on the stove in the kitchen located right behind the stage. Here came my incoming cymbal buzz-saw that landed straight and centre on top of his head. He had a pretty good gash and I felt so incredibly awful. He was such a nice guy and forgave me, but our drummer didn’t and wanted to fight me so we squared off for a bit. So, I marched off into the wee late hours by myself along a South San Francisco freeway overpass back to the city centre, found an orange road nose cone and wore it on top of my head like a giant dunce cap for the 45-minute walk back to a friend’s house where we dropped acid and then went drinking in the Tenderloin (very gritty and notorious skid-row type neighbourhood of San Francisco) at 6 am.
Is there anything that has shocked you when you’ve been on the road with other bands?
No.
Have you ever been arrested?
No, which is a miracle. I lived in a drug warehouse that got busted but I had left two days before. No one else believed the new bums living across the street in brand-new bum clothes weren’t bums. It wasn’t my drug warehouse, I just lived there and stuff.
What record has had the biggest impact on your life?
Yellow Submarine at five years old.
What’s your definition of psychedelia?
Music that takes you away from here. If it’s done right – all the way from here. It doesn’t matter what the instruments are.
Where did the title of your debut solo album ‘Apple Bonkers’ come from?
Meanies with big green apples that they bonk the innocent with and wreck music. Like some tech companies. I love my smartphone but who set the platform up so musicians, photographers, painters and artists in general would take such a massive hit?
So much is free now, which is fine for the established, but sites like Spotify pay new artists literally nothing. 8,000 streams will get you 21 cents. How can the next Elvis make music and tour when he has to work 40 hours a week to pay the rent?
Shit is expensive these days. A classical rock and roll life code is frowned upon by society if you’re just a kid figuring it all out. If I love a song a dollar is nothing to me. Nothing! The man is baiting the kids with convenience to finally kill Rock and Roll. It took 60-odd years but here it comes.
What are your current fixations?
Writing music. The Slowdive Reunion. David Preston boots. Collecting Françoise Hardy 7″s. Normal music-fashion-nerd stuff.
What’s the worst fashion crime you’ve committed?
Does a wizard hat count?
Yes!
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