Interview, Makeup, & Work
Sep. 25th, 2009 07:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hillarygayleJust for my own personal enjoyment. Sometimes I think there's no way I'd have the first thing in common with Dave Matthews as a human (you should see his artwork on the most recent album; his brain must be PURELY artistic), and then he does an interview like this, and I realize we think very similarly about certain subjects.
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Watching the Dave Matthews Band moments before they take the stage is like watching a football team bursting out of the locker room before a big game.
Dave Matthews says he believes strongly in the power of community.
They slap hands. Bump fists. Jump up and down, exclaiming "Feel the love, feel the love!" The energy in the air is electric.
And when they walk out on stage, the energy explodes into thousands of shining faces. People dance in the aisles. Others sing every word to every song. A few share funny cigarettes.
For more than three hours, the jubilant atmosphere creates a sense of community between an amphitheater filled with strangers and the ethnically diverse musicians leading the charge on stage.
But then DMB is all about community -- creating its own and giving back. BAMA Works Fund -- the group's charitable foundation -- has handed out $5 million in grants to worthy causes, including schools and victims of Hurricane Katrina.
And despite the unexpected passing of saxophonist LeRoi Moore due to complications from an ATV accident last summer, the band members seem to be recharged. In June, DMB notched its fifth consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard chart with "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King."
We caught up with Matthews just as news hit the Web that former President Jimmy Carter believed racism was the root of some of the negativity directed toward President Obama in recent weeks. The 42-year-old singer-songwriter offered a unique perspective, as a man who split his childhood between the United States and South Africa during apartheid. The following is an edited version of the interview.
CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.
Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.
Maybe I'm paranoid about it, but I don't think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama -- if it was Clinton -- would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don't think so.
CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.
Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn't have the podium. The message that's delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we're going to put on because that's what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That's just where the culture's gotten.
There's no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.
CNN: Because they're too low-key? Because they're not bombastic?
Matthews: Because they're thoughtful, and they're patient, and they're tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They're trying to impart information. I don't think that's the goal [now] because it's not a good business plan. ...
Everyone's outraged all the time. Why are you outraged? There's war -- there's always been war, as long as most of us have been alive. There have always been people being abused, there's always been horrible things in the world. Why are we outraged? We should just be quiet and figure it out, and work it out together. ... There's no solution in Washington as long as people are shouting like that.
CNN: Before you went on stage at the Greek Theatre (in Los Angeles), we were talking to the crew -- and they couldn't wait to tell us how well they're treated by the Dave Matthews organization. ... It's like your own minicommunity out there. You even print your own tickets, right?
Matthews: We have kept everything in-house. The core crew guys are the same guys we had when we were driving in a van, so they can always call "bull" on us if we start acting like prima donnas. It keeps a sense of community going when you travel a lot. There's a good vibe. ...
I have friends who are famous, and friends that are not famous -- but there are those who stick out to me. Willie Nelson is one -- a really genuine person -- or Neil Young. Adam Sandler ... people who really try and keep a sense of unity, and camaraderie and equality around them. That's essential. That's it for me. I don't think socialism, and I don't think warmness and respect are necessarily bad words.
CNN: Do you think you're competitive? A perfectionist?
Matthews: I'm a very vicious critic of myself.
CNN: So what do you think of this record ("Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King")?
Matthews: I think that's a really good record. (Laugh) Our first three records were really good. We made good records after those first three -- really good records -- but I don't think they were necessarily the spirit of the band. I think this is the greatest record that we've ever made, and it captures the band like none of our records have. ...
CNN: Before this album, weren't you burned out a little bit?
Matthews: I insisted upon taking as much time to make this as I needed. And my manager would call -- my manager who I love, who's a dear friend of mine -- he'd call and say, "Are you going to have it finished by the summer?" "No." "Are you going to have it finished by Christmas?" "No."
I practiced "no." I need to work on "no" still, but I got better at it.
CNN: What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?
Matthews: I want to figure out a way to not be stupid with money, then make a whole bunch of it, then I want to move to Outer Mongolia. I want to milk a yak. Maybe I'll just settle for a cow. Can you milk a bison? I have fantasies about being a farmer. I always wanted to be a fireman, but who didn't want to be a fireman? I just wouldn't tell anyone. I'd just go "poof!" Sometimes I like that idea.
CNN: You don't tell people about a lot of things you do. There's no press release that goes out saying, "Dave Matthews Band just donated $5 million to this cause or that cause."
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Matthews: We definitely use our fame and our celebrity to raise money for things we care about. ... What a luxury to be able to just do a show, and then look -- pow! ...
I don't want to become a poster child. That's a whole different thing. I don't want to be the face on it.
Shopping around on Sephora and OH WOW. I have a weakness for makeup kits. I like to have a lot of makeup at my disposal to make choices & achieve certain specific styles. Kits give me lots of picking & choosing options all in a glance.
Sephora PURE Natural Believer Palatte in Wanderlust. I love the greens & blues, and mixed with the browns these could be REALLY striking.
This, though...THIS is the big one. HOLY CRAP LOOK AT ALL THAT STUFF FOR ONLY $50! *twitches & falls over* All those lip glosses I could blend for effects (especially the purples + browns)! Those glitter eyeshadows to go over colors! Brushes! Cream eyeliners! Y'all I'm seriously drooling over this thing.
MWA HA HA! As I was looking at it, Bryan walked by. I showed it to him and his first statement was the same as my first thought: "I can't imagine how much that thing must cost." I told him, and his eyes went all big. "Well BUY IT, then! That's a crazy good deal!" I guess I only needed a little nudge, so I did! I'm now the proud owner of that extremely large Sephora makeup kit. *FLAIL* I can't wait to play with it!
I took a 2 hour nap today but that was it. Aside from that I've been awake since 3pm yesterday. I am pretty incredibly sleepy.
Went to a training on "building a culture of safety" this morning. It was good information; it's required for all hospital staff & I approve of the message. Especially on the floor, there are a lot of things we do, shortcuts we take, that can lead to life-altering events for patients if they happen at the wrong time. That doesn't need to happen, so we need to be more careful.
On Monday & Tuesday I have Meditech training. It's the new computer charting software for the hospital. I'm not looking forward to it for 2 reasons: 1) computer classes always bore the crap out of me. I'll be in a class with people going "double click? How do I double click?" or "I should click 'save' now?" and I'll be about 30 steps ahead of them, bored to tears. 2) DAVE MATTHEWS BAND on Tuesday night. The Meditech class ends at 4:30 so that should be more than enough time to make Little Rock by 7:00, but it doesn't exactly leave me lots of time to get prettied up for the concert. -_- Wait holy cow I have no idea what I want to wear yet. o_O
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Watching the Dave Matthews Band moments before they take the stage is like watching a football team bursting out of the locker room before a big game.
Dave Matthews says he believes strongly in the power of community.
They slap hands. Bump fists. Jump up and down, exclaiming "Feel the love, feel the love!" The energy in the air is electric.
And when they walk out on stage, the energy explodes into thousands of shining faces. People dance in the aisles. Others sing every word to every song. A few share funny cigarettes.
For more than three hours, the jubilant atmosphere creates a sense of community between an amphitheater filled with strangers and the ethnically diverse musicians leading the charge on stage.
But then DMB is all about community -- creating its own and giving back. BAMA Works Fund -- the group's charitable foundation -- has handed out $5 million in grants to worthy causes, including schools and victims of Hurricane Katrina.
And despite the unexpected passing of saxophonist LeRoi Moore due to complications from an ATV accident last summer, the band members seem to be recharged. In June, DMB notched its fifth consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard chart with "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King."
We caught up with Matthews just as news hit the Web that former President Jimmy Carter believed racism was the root of some of the negativity directed toward President Obama in recent weeks. The 42-year-old singer-songwriter offered a unique perspective, as a man who split his childhood between the United States and South Africa during apartheid. The following is an edited version of the interview.
CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.
Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.
Maybe I'm paranoid about it, but I don't think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama -- if it was Clinton -- would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don't think so.
CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.
Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn't have the podium. The message that's delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we're going to put on because that's what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That's just where the culture's gotten.
There's no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.
CNN: Because they're too low-key? Because they're not bombastic?
Matthews: Because they're thoughtful, and they're patient, and they're tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They're trying to impart information. I don't think that's the goal [now] because it's not a good business plan. ...
Everyone's outraged all the time. Why are you outraged? There's war -- there's always been war, as long as most of us have been alive. There have always been people being abused, there's always been horrible things in the world. Why are we outraged? We should just be quiet and figure it out, and work it out together. ... There's no solution in Washington as long as people are shouting like that.
CNN: Before you went on stage at the Greek Theatre (in Los Angeles), we were talking to the crew -- and they couldn't wait to tell us how well they're treated by the Dave Matthews organization. ... It's like your own minicommunity out there. You even print your own tickets, right?
Matthews: We have kept everything in-house. The core crew guys are the same guys we had when we were driving in a van, so they can always call "bull" on us if we start acting like prima donnas. It keeps a sense of community going when you travel a lot. There's a good vibe. ...
I have friends who are famous, and friends that are not famous -- but there are those who stick out to me. Willie Nelson is one -- a really genuine person -- or Neil Young. Adam Sandler ... people who really try and keep a sense of unity, and camaraderie and equality around them. That's essential. That's it for me. I don't think socialism, and I don't think warmness and respect are necessarily bad words.
CNN: Do you think you're competitive? A perfectionist?
Matthews: I'm a very vicious critic of myself.
CNN: So what do you think of this record ("Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King")?
Matthews: I think that's a really good record. (Laugh) Our first three records were really good. We made good records after those first three -- really good records -- but I don't think they were necessarily the spirit of the band. I think this is the greatest record that we've ever made, and it captures the band like none of our records have. ...
CNN: Before this album, weren't you burned out a little bit?
Matthews: I insisted upon taking as much time to make this as I needed. And my manager would call -- my manager who I love, who's a dear friend of mine -- he'd call and say, "Are you going to have it finished by the summer?" "No." "Are you going to have it finished by Christmas?" "No."
I practiced "no." I need to work on "no" still, but I got better at it.
CNN: What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?
Matthews: I want to figure out a way to not be stupid with money, then make a whole bunch of it, then I want to move to Outer Mongolia. I want to milk a yak. Maybe I'll just settle for a cow. Can you milk a bison? I have fantasies about being a farmer. I always wanted to be a fireman, but who didn't want to be a fireman? I just wouldn't tell anyone. I'd just go "poof!" Sometimes I like that idea.
CNN: You don't tell people about a lot of things you do. There's no press release that goes out saying, "Dave Matthews Band just donated $5 million to this cause or that cause."
advertisement
Matthews: We definitely use our fame and our celebrity to raise money for things we care about. ... What a luxury to be able to just do a show, and then look -- pow! ...
I don't want to become a poster child. That's a whole different thing. I don't want to be the face on it.
Shopping around on Sephora and OH WOW. I have a weakness for makeup kits. I like to have a lot of makeup at my disposal to make choices & achieve certain specific styles. Kits give me lots of picking & choosing options all in a glance.
Sephora PURE Natural Believer Palatte in Wanderlust. I love the greens & blues, and mixed with the browns these could be REALLY striking.
This, though...THIS is the big one. HOLY CRAP LOOK AT ALL THAT STUFF FOR ONLY $50! *twitches & falls over* All those lip glosses I could blend for effects (especially the purples + browns)! Those glitter eyeshadows to go over colors! Brushes! Cream eyeliners! Y'all I'm seriously drooling over this thing.
MWA HA HA! As I was looking at it, Bryan walked by. I showed it to him and his first statement was the same as my first thought: "I can't imagine how much that thing must cost." I told him, and his eyes went all big. "Well BUY IT, then! That's a crazy good deal!" I guess I only needed a little nudge, so I did! I'm now the proud owner of that extremely large Sephora makeup kit. *FLAIL* I can't wait to play with it!
I took a 2 hour nap today but that was it. Aside from that I've been awake since 3pm yesterday. I am pretty incredibly sleepy.
Went to a training on "building a culture of safety" this morning. It was good information; it's required for all hospital staff & I approve of the message. Especially on the floor, there are a lot of things we do, shortcuts we take, that can lead to life-altering events for patients if they happen at the wrong time. That doesn't need to happen, so we need to be more careful.
On Monday & Tuesday I have Meditech training. It's the new computer charting software for the hospital. I'm not looking forward to it for 2 reasons: 1) computer classes always bore the crap out of me. I'll be in a class with people going "double click? How do I double click?" or "I should click 'save' now?" and I'll be about 30 steps ahead of them, bored to tears. 2) DAVE MATTHEWS BAND on Tuesday night. The Meditech class ends at 4:30 so that should be more than enough time to make Little Rock by 7:00, but it doesn't exactly leave me lots of time to get prettied up for the concert. -_- Wait holy cow I have no idea what I want to wear yet. o_O
