In my self imposed isolation (something I am content with), I find that I have good friends all over this (great?) nation of ours. I haven't seen any of my old friends in almost ten years, some much longer than that, so I do daydream at times about what it would be like to have some of them as close neighbors. Ed Cole, musician, band mate and longtime friend, would be one of those ones that would nice to have living down the road. We could visit and discuss family life, talk shit about the status quo, ponder over music past and present, and I would be able to see him do his art live. He is the second guitarist that I have played with, that I have also asked to do an interview (I now have plans to interview the third). Ed is one of the finest human beings I know (I wish the world was filled with more Eds) and just an amazing musician. My burnt out brain has left me with just scattered memories, but what I do remember is that we had a blast creating together. Here's Ed...
Damn Ed, I was thinking about it and we’ve known each other a long time. We haven’t hung out in forever, your Son Cosmo was newborn last time I saw you, but through the web we’ve managed to stay in touch. I think our meeting had something to do with KHSU and you being a DJ (Dead Ed) up there, but do you remember the circumstances of how we met and what was going on with you at that time?
A: I first remember seeing you onstage with WD40 at Tsunami's opening for MDC in 1990. I first met you at KHSU in the engineer booth, I think Cathy M introduced us. I remember your fish tattoo looking very fresh.
Husband, Father of some youngens, long time organic produce warehouseman (what’s your official title?) and musician, where do you find time for it all?A: My official title is Purchasing Inventory Maintenance and I review quality and "select lots" for specific customers at Organically Grown Company in Portland. It's actually a really fun job. I don't find time for it all, I feel like I barely get anything done except for work, sleep, raise kids, eat food, spend time with my wife Tina and then sometimes if I'm motivated I go downstairs into the basement studio and work on recording my music. I wish there were more hours in the day.
You are a fellow music lover and you’ve never let genre hold you back, I'm curious about what was your earliest exposure to music and how did that affect you?
A: My earliest music memories are the Beatles, they were huge with my older brothers. "Yellow Submarine" was my first favorite song, followed by "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glenn Campbell and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver. When I had the opportunity, I would play those 8 tracks over and over again. I really liked FM radio hits when I was 8,9,10, I loved whatever shitty classic rock was big at the time. I first wanted to be in a band after being exposed to AC/DC, Van Halen and Ozzy. I picked up guitar at age 13 when I traded a BMX bike for a shitty electric guitar that I plugged into my stereo. That was 1984.
Are there genres that you find distasteful or others that maybe you’ve grown to appreciate?A: I savor the moment anytime music disturbs me enough to almost offend me. I was recently exposed to large doses of Ke$ha, Brittney Spears and Katy Perry; part of me wanted to barf but I still find some musical value in that very crass, commercial crap. Of the three, I like Katy Perry the best. I so far can't get into techno or club type music. I have lots of friends who are into it but it's for sure not for me. Modern country is pretty revolting, it's pretty much the worst. I'm pretty sick of 1980s music about now, I heard enough Duran Duran the first time around, it makes me puke when I hear it at a restaurant now. Bleccchhhh!!
Garden Weasel - Look and Judge Tulip - Wipe It Up At what point did you make the transition from listener of music to wanting to play an instrument? What was your first band experience like?A: before I could really play guitar I had a crappy acoustic guitar that I would tune to an ugly chord and just make up "rock riffs". My friend Bear (Bar with an umlaut is how he spells it) had a home-made drum kit constructed of a plastic bucket, a tinker-toy can and the top head of a banjo, would would jam free of shame and then make overdubs of piano, clarinet and have the cello play a bassline, etc... We would just pile on tracks by holding one boombox near the other recorder and then playing along with our own tapes, eventually making a masterpiece mainly composed of tape hiss. A year or two later we had actual instruments and a 4 track, we spent many afternoons and evenings in his bedroom making up our own songs. Bar later went on to join the group Mr. Bungle. I learned everything I know about self-recorded songwriting from watching him work. Near the end of our collaborative high school years, Bar was playing every instrument and doing 4 part harmonies with the 4 track, really cool stuff.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoAqSd2_P6o]
Did you have anyone you looked up to, or who sort of showed you the ropes in life or music?A: My brother Monty comes to mind immediately. He was always very musical, learning clarinet early on and expanding to many other instruments. I remember him banging away on piano when I was 5 or 6, really just thinking he was a god because he could play Scott Joplin ragtime piano as well as popular hits of the day like Styx or Supertramp. He also played guitar and taught me my first chords. He is a monster musician who is a woodwinds professor and lives and teaches in Macon, Georgia. My older brothers Mike and Darrow and my sister Neva all went to pains to expose me to what they felt was cool music, I think they all gave me the impression early on that music is very important.
First memorable show you went to see? Or feel free to list several.
A: A third-tier heavy metal band called Rail played in my town (Crescent City) in 1984. They sounded like most every other heavy metal band ever from the 1980s but it was cool to see a loud show . Van Halen 5150 was my first arena show in 1985, not very memorable but it was ok. The first show that really blew my mind was Meat Puppets with Mr. Bungle at HSU, this was probably 1988. They were the first underground band I really connected with because I sensed a similar kind of nerdy, classic-rock-hard-rock fandom with the Meat Puppets, and they were fucking weirdos, really did their own thing at the time, so I was happy to have a band that seemed like "mine."
How about that first time you hit the stage yourself in front of an audience, what was that like?A: After playing for 4 or 5 weeks I got up onstage with my brother's (former) band Puffin, an R&B blues band and I played "Peter Gunne" out-of-tune but with sunglasses and feathered hair. I had a solo all worked out and still probably have a recording of it somewhere. Next was the Catholic school talent show at the Octoberfest in 1984. Bar and Ed did a kind of medley of Kinks and Quiet Riot songs that we knew. I played as often as possible during the first few years of high school with different bands at assemblies school events and what not. I was pretty comfortable on stage from the beginning, I always liked it.
You’re like me, been collecting music for a long time, can you list some of your favorite bands, or maybe the influential ones, and what makes those bands so special to you?
A: Wow. I have so much music on my mind all the time. Where to even start? Lou Reed was huge to me because I also sing in a low register and he has probably above all others been my guiding artistic muse. Bob Mould, Paul Westerberg, David Bowie aer all top favorites for general listening. My late-night listening includes lots of mellow music like Devendra Banhart (only his early stuff), Cocteau Twins, Nick Drake, Robyn Hitchcock and Swans. I listen to lots of jazz, mostly at work. For Punk-era stuff, my initial favorites were Minor Threat, Black Flag, Agent Orange, Social Distortion, Fear, Devo - I still rock my exact same mix tape of all that shit in the car. Black Sabbath I've listened to so much that I almost can't listen to it anymore but I think all that music is in my DNA. Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Stooges, the Who, the Doors - I guess I've gone classic rock, I'll listen to any of that still. And Helios Creed and Chrome and Killdozer. And Thin LIzzy. I pretty much eat, breathe and shit music, I'm always curious if there is stuff I haven't heard yet.
You’ve been in a hell of a lot of bands, can you possible name them all? Or how about just the memorable ones? We talked the other day about all the bands you play in, two, and your solo project. Give me your take on those bands and what’s the deal with your solo project?A: Sure I'll try:
1. Bar and Ed/No Nik Muk No Tin Lik 1985-1990 2. Garden Weasel 1990-1992 3. Tulip 1994-1995 4. Billy Jack 1995-1996 5. the Naysayers 1996-2002 6. Velocirapture 2000 1999-2000 7. Activator 2001-2004 8. Ed Cole and the College Girls of Tora Bora 2002-2005 http://tinyurl.com/o9hslj6 9. White Hot Odyssey 2004-2005 http://tinyurl.com/pmxwtjt 10. The Underlings 2006-present 11. Thundering Asteroids 2014
The deal with my upcoming solo album is: I have 10 new songs that are all-acoustic. I'm very nearly done with the music-making part of it. There are about 6 different people on it, lots of odd (for me) instruments like banjo and cello and jaw harp. I plan to have it released by the end of summer. (See the song/vid at the end of this interview... Ever since I went to visit you that one time, I’ve loved Eugene and thought it would be a great place to live (like Frisco it’s got a shit ton of cafes). After being a long time Eugene Oregon resident, you made the big move to Portland, what the hell man? What’s so special about Portland? Are the scenes different?A: Eugene is the ultimate hippy town, which is both good and bad. Lots of good, healthy food and good coffee, etc... The music scene in Eugene is actually pretty good for a small town and all the players are fairly close-knit. There is a great pub called Sam Bond's that everybody knows about and at least 7 or so other places to play music at around town. The WOW hall is one of my favorite venues. I've seen Nomeansno there perhaps 12 times? It's THE place for all ages punk shows for touring bands. Too much reggae and hippy jam music in Eugene but it's a nice place that I'll always come back too. There are some younger people with good taste who are hosting interesting bands, there's a lot going on for such a small city.
Do you have any records/CDs for sale and where can a guy get those? A: You can download my home recordings at my Bandcamp page. The Underlings have 2 CDs you can get through CD Baby and we have a 7" . You can order those by emailing us on Facebook.The Underlings - Part Time Crime [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/the-Underlings-Part-time-crime.mp3"][/audio] The Underlings - Foreign Sausage [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/14-The-Underlings-Foriegn-Sausage.mp3"][/audio] The Underlings - Vice Squad [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/the-underlings-01-vice-squad.mp3"][/audio] Ed Cole - Cross 2 Bear [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ed-Cole-Cross-2-bear.mp3"][/audio] Ed Cole - Working Class Losers [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ed-Cole-Working-class-losers.mp3"][/audio] Ed Cole - Underbelly Set [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ed-Cole-Underbelly-Set.mp3"][/audio]
What new stuff spins on your turntable these days? A:Today it was John Fahey, Return of Blind Joe Death. Earlier it was Guided By Voices ??? I forget which album and then Brian Eno, Before and After Science. I listen on headphones to spotify at work, I often play Dead Boys, Warren Zevon, Amanda Palmer (barf! I can't believe I liked her, that was last year), Kurt Vile, Camper Van Beethoven, Pere Ubu, Judas Priest, I think I listened to all of that and more this week. I listened to Mylie Cyrus' "Bangers" this week also, it wasn't very good but I still like her.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3DMde9OewQ]
As I said earlier, you seem to always have a lot of coles (pun intended) in the fire, any future projects in the works?A: I'm working on an album in my head right now, a rock album that is going to be like Lou Reed meets Tom Petty with Television as the backing band.
Any additional words of wisdom? Anything to the young musician? Or perhaps to the world and humanity in general?
A: Play because you want to, play because it feels good, make music freely and don't worry about the consequences. Don't get bogged down worrying about success, just keep making music because it's just the best thing that humanity has come up with so far. Music will heal you or at least make your transition to death much more pleasant.
Thanx bud! Ed is well represented on the net with a Bandcamp to get your listening on of his solo material, a Facebook where you can socialize and swap recipes, more listening at Reverbnation, you can get inside his head at Edhead 101, and you can take an epic journey in his Garden Weasel Diaries.After a while here we'll have part 2 of the interview with a ton of killer tunes. For now, wanted to finish this off with what I consider to the culmination of years writing and performing music. This here vid, I need to give anonymous kudos to the videographer who did a stunning job, is the kind of stuff that should be popular on the radio right now and really is testimony to the sophistication of Mr. Cole as an artist and composer, enjoy...
[video width="640" height="480" mp4="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ed-Cole-This-Way-.mp4"][/video]
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