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Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 00:47:21 -0400
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Subject: Mickey Hart/Robert Hunter AOL Interview 7/7/96
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[preamble:  I've tried to make sense the best I could at this point in time.
 Because McNally and Hart were using the same email ID, the exact line the
1st handoff occurred is unsure.  It may take days to figure out!  We also
have some chatter from a chat room Hunter attended briefly afterwards, but
this will take time too!]
*******************************************************
Copyright 1996 America Online, Inc. and GD Forum

On July 7th,  Mickey Hart, Dennis McNally, Robert Hunter, and I sat down
together in cyberspace for an interview.  I from my office in San Francisco,
Dennis and Mickey from the Furthur Festival at The Meadows Hartford, CT, and
Robert Hunter from vacation in England.  Spread out across 8 time zones, it's
remarkable it went as well as it did.  Mickey's bus was stuck in traffic, so
Dennis filled in while we waited.  This interview was link-botted to 2 IRC
chat rooms, so in the continuing spirit of sharing, Deadheads beyond the
walls of AOL were able to see what was going on, and a few questions from
dead.net were asked as well.  If you copy this transcript, please do so in
whole, including the copyright notice.  I'd like to thank the AOL Live staff
for making this event possible as well.  The interview has been edited to
give the illusion of intelligibility.  ;-)

Cheers,

Geoff Gould

GD Forum       AOL keyword: dead
gdforum email: [e-mail]
Internet: http://www.ggould.com/gdforum/
furthur photos: http://www.ggould.com/gdforum/furthur.html
**********************************************************

Geoff Gould: OK everybody, welcome to the GD Forum interview with Mickey Hart
and Robert Hunter; only Mickey's running a tad late.  Dennis McNally is here
 and Robert Hunter too.  Welcome Dennis and Robert

Robert Hunter: aboard

Dennis McNally: Thank you kindly.  It's beautiful here in muggy ole'
Hartford, Ct.

Hunter: And cool and dark in the Welsh Marches at 10pm

Gould: yes, Robert is logged in from England!

Gould: While we're waiting for Mickey, perhaps you could tell us about your
archives web project Robert.

Hunter: taking a vacation from it in England, where it is rather later than
there

McNally: Memo to all:  Mickey's just about here.

Hunter: I just tuned in to talk to Mickey - havent seen the old buzzard in
weeks

Gould: It's on www.dead.net, correct?

Hunter: the archive? Last I looked

McNally: Memo to Hunter:  He's still a buzzard.  But a happy, drum-playing
one.

Hunter: Hi Dennis, keepin the phone hot?

McNally: Robert, the phones are starting to melt in my very hands.  How's
Wales?

Hunter: Wales is magic. We went out specifically to get lost in hedge rows
today

Gould: OK here's a question for Robert from dead.net:   As I listen to
Mystery Box, it strikes me again and again how beautiful Robert's words sound
coming through women's voices.  Robert, I understand that the lyrics were
originally written in response to the "bare-bones rhythm tracks," but how
much did the Mint Juleps' presence on this project help to shape the words?


Hunter: The words were formed before the Juleps, molded after them

McNally: Bob -- the only two things I know about Wales are Dylan Thomas and
Portmerion, where they filmed The Prisoner.  Are you up on either?

Gould: Robert: I have read that "Only the Strange Remain" has been around for
quite awhile.  It reminds me of "Fletcher Carnaby," a tune you two did with
David Freiberg on "Rolling Thunder."  Is there any family resemblance, or is
this just another personal interpretation? (Hallucination?)

Hunter: they were written at the same time, roughly

McNally: Cyber ladies and Cyber gents, and especially Hunter, here's the ole'
buzzard himself.  The traffic has parted, and Mickey's here.  I'll shut up.

Hunter: We were trying to find a standing stone called the ffordd
cross--anybody able to pronounce that?

Gould: what's a standing stone?

Hunter: there are stones with inscriptions in forgotten languages, whose
cultures have been lost to history.  These interest me immensely, as they
would Mick

Gould: we have a question for Robert:   Where does the word "Sito" come from,
and does it mean anything in particular?

Hunter: It's the ethnic name of the rhythm used for the song.

McNally: Sito actually came from Olatunji,  really it's just a sound, but it
has a certain kind of "can do" implicit meaning.  It's a super-yes meaning.
 Sito started off as a sound, and has turned into a kind of latin-lover suave
presonality.  Sito, man.

Hunter: It occured that the sound of the word bore repetition

McNally: Yeah, K9.  It's a sound that feels good coming off the tongue, so
you want to repeat it.  When you have the good, you want to make more of the
good.  Mas good.

Gould: Can you tell us about Sangre de Christo? It seems like a thank you and
a prayer at once

Hunter: When I left New Mexico, I headed for the Rio Grande on foot with the
Sangre De Christos at my left all day crossing the desert. Wore out my boots.

McNally: Sangre de Cristo is a prayer.  A prayer to the spirit of the
mountains, to almighty nature.  I love the song.

Hunter: Greeting, O Buzzed One!

Gould: Welcome Mickey

Hart:   Hi,Hunter.It is true:  the strange do only remain.  Bob and I are
well and happy and our music is.  OK.  Good to be down the road again.

Hunter: Long time no see

Hart:     And don't look away, full steam ahead (of course) and Oh My God,
I'm speaking in song titles -- and it's your fault.

Question: Question for RH: Who's the Sandman?

Hunter: The Sandman looks suspiciously like Neil Gaiman's character, but only
in appearance and message.  You never see the Sandman, babe, you only see the
sand.

Gould: from dead.net: Do you think there will be any Furthur tours in the
future?, and will you be a part of them if there are?

Hart: So far, so good.  There is life out here, and where there's life there
should be music.  I'm having a ball.  It really is taking me on an adventure
that I had anticipated -- musically, rhythmically, and socially.  So the
answer is, Sure.  Love to.

Question: Robert,  did you approach Mickey with ideas for Mystry Box, or did
he approach you?

Hunter: vice versa

Gould: from dead.net: What has been the most exciting (or fulfilling) moment
for you so far, in terms of the musicians on stage and/or in terms of
audience reaction?  Do any stand out in your memory?

Hart: The first moment performing in front of people -- at Laguna Seca -- and
doing it in the middle of a gale -- it was a great bonding moment.  We took
the dream live, and we did it under less than easy circumstances, which made
it especially sweet.  Now, on the road, it's been mutating and finding its
own personality, and finding its own mind.  We've seen this creature emerge,
this rhythm snake, and we're nurturing it.  We don't know what this band's
capable of yet, its top end is, how good it will get, but it improves each
night.  So we still wait in anticipation of musical epiphanies that await us,
just around the corner.

Gould: And now, let's not forget the tapers:

Question: Mickey, how long are your sets running?  In other words, how much
tape will we need?

Hart: Simple answer:  in this festival situation, it's just one plain simple
hour.  Unfortunately.  Of course, there is some other good music around, to
put it mildly.  So bring lots of tape.

Question: any plans for a solo album Mr. Hunter?

Hunter: doing a reading of Kerouac's Book of Blues for Ryko.

Question: robert are you keeping the archives goin from the road, or are you
just getting away from it all?

Hunter: I'm right on top of them, after a little trouble getting connected

Question: Hunter;  Who all are you writing with these days?

Hunter: nobody at present

Gould: from dead.net:  How is the final jam developing (from venue to venue)?
 Do you anticipate a point when y'all will really get to cut loose and JAM?

Hart: We're trying to come to some kind of common ground, some sort of
understanding, before we go off the deep end, which I anticipate to be fairly
soon.  We can't have 27 guitarists playing at once -- so we're finding
combinations that yield special musical fruits.  Like Jack Casady and BK
(Baghiti Kumalo of Mystery Box) playing double bass together on Fire on the
Mountain.  I'm sure we'll be kicking out the jams now that the stage setup
--the monitors, the house -- are stabilized.  Remember, this is not the
Grateful Dead, where all systems were on automatic.  We now have to create a
new sonic environment from scratch.  What's emerging here is that this
tour is developing a character, a sound, a feeling, a way of going, a spirit,
of its own.  And will continue to do so, as long as our enthusiasm prevails.

Question: For Mickey:  How much does  the Mystery Box set vary from show to
show?

Hart: What we're trying to do now is to personalize our space on the stage,
physically and sonicall.  We are rotating our sets and they're not consistent
each night.  We're adding songs, pulling them out, trying to get some kind of
taper, some flow, some shape we're in an experimental stage right now.  We're
looking for a new form, so we're trying to stay flexible and quick on our
feet.  It's new rhythmns we're after.  The good ones stay, and the bad
ones...

Gould: Well Robert, I guess the title worries some; here's the next question:

Question: Hey Hunter, The last song wasn't, was it?

Hunter: I suggested they play the last song first - it would work in any
position  the last shall be first

Gould: from dead.net: Mickey, there is a tape kicking around with an early
version of "Only the Strange Remain"  (labeled '83 Club Front).  Who performs
the lyrics on the early versions?

Hart: I don't know where that came from. I wonder who snagged that tape?  I'm
singing the words, and the equipment guys are the backup choir -- Ramrod and
Steve -- they were the cheapest I could get, and they were there.  They were
fun -- they weren't in tune -- they were just fun.  It was great to just howl
with the 'quippies.  After all, you couldn't get any stranger than our
quippies.  This is the bottom line:  you want strange people to sing a
strange song.  They covered it.

Gould: A question about the Olympics:

Question: Living in Atlanta we have heard that you are going to be in the
music for the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics. Is this true?
 We hope so, looking forward to hearing it.

Hart: I composed the music for the opening ceremonies along with Zakir
Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, Chalo Eduardo, and Philip Glass.  And it will be
performed by a cast of thousands while we watch from the stands.  No military
drumming,. no war drums, no pomp and circumstance.  It's a different thing --
no martial beat, but the opening will dance to the rhythms of the world.
 After all, the theme of the Olympics is the gathering of the tribes of the
world together in sports, which is really rhythm.  Which is being together in
rhythm.  Sports is rhythm.

Question: For Robert Hunter: Are you planning on taking in any of the Further
Fest shows?

Hunter: I've brought my back stage pass in case there's a chance, but I
really need this vacation. Nerve time

Question: Tell us about future recordings with the material you were working
on

Gould: for either I guess

Hunter: Mick?

Hart:       All I can say is there won't be too many piccolos on my next

recording.  I'm sure about that.

Hunter: How's the health holding up? Is the fantasy happening the way we
hoped?

Question: Mickey your show is a fantastic blend of many different art forms,
 do you plan to stay with this arrangement or continue to play with many
other artists?

Hart: This tour is a piece of cake.  We're only playing an hour a night, plus
the jam.  And the rhythms on the Mystery Box bus are nonstop.  We've jammed
on the beaches, by a river, and when we get to the desert we'll cover that
too.  The bus calms me and the rhythms buoy me.

Hunter: And when you get home, let's start on the next record

Question: hello mickey and welcome!  will you be going on a separate tour
with the full mystery box, or is there any chance that you might revive the
planet drum tour in the near future?

Hart: It's like summer camp, rhythm camp, with Giovanni and Zakir.  Giovanni
has only one switch, on and off and it's mostly on.  We play very
sophisticated rhythm games on these hand percussion instruments we bring on
the bus, and two new songs have sprung up from these spontaneous happenings.

Hunter: Man, I wish I could be in two places at once! But that's why I needed
a vacation. The music always happens on the bus!

Hart:      There are many smiles on the citizens of planet drum.

Gould: A question (deep in the queue) relating to a comment Robert made in
the beginning

Question: ? for Robert: Do you think these stones have anything to do with
Logos or visible language?

Hunter: No, I think they're lost tongues & cultures, plain and simple.
 Sobering.

Question: Mickey, Do you enjoy singing on in front of us all, or are you
nervous?

Hart: I feel fine -- I'm actually enjoying it too much.  God gave me a great
gift to sing, and I'm just a vehicle for this gift (McNally: Yes, he's
smiling as he says this).

Hunter: Bravo!

(McNally:  Much laughter here in Hartford).

Gould: One more he says

Gould: from dead.net: Mickey, over the years, the songs you have written
often seem to be cutting edge, but I notice that you credit many other
musicians as co-composers.  How much of the actual melody lines for these
songs have you composed?

Hart: It varies on different songs.  Vince Welnick and Dave Jenkins
contributed quite a great deal to the melodic content.  Also the Mint Juleps.
 But it was definitely a collaborative effort.

Hunter: Bye Mick. Hi, Dennis, how's tricks?

Hart: Tricks is good.  Hunter,  The Mint Juleps are here and send their love.

Hart: Gotta go.  Greetings to the world from Planet Drum.  And remember.
 It's the rhythm, stupid.

Gould: Thanks Mickey; a round of applause y'all

Hunter: stay

[McNally takes over keyboard from Hart]

Gould: Dennis, how crazy is Furthur compared to GD?

McNally: Furthur is much, much calmer than GD.  The anxiety levels of the
audience are down to a reasonable level, and the musicians are enjoying the
hell out of themselves, each other, and the audience.  As GD people, it's
nice to share our audience with people like Jorma and David Hidalgo and
company.  The show is long and so is the travel but the rest is just fine.

McNally: Hunter, Craig O'Leary is sitting behind me and says thanks for the
tickets and Hello.

Hunter: Hi, Craig. Great usenet column this week from you in the Archive

McNally: Craig to Hunter:  Any time.  New edition in a  few days.

Hunter: Great, I'm ready any time. Just gotta put up the journal and the
mailbag

Comment: full steam ahead sounds like a metaphor for further..i like that
sentiment

Hunter: It would do for that, or any impulsive effort forward

Gould: Someone wants to know why you call Mickey the Buzzard

Hunter: 'Cause he's the most buzzed man I know.  Cheers

Gould: Robert, did writing Mystery Box help you work things out about the
current situation?

Hunter: Maureen's in the kitchen making tea, three floors below. I knew I
should pee first.  It was already mostly in the box by then oddest
juxtapositions

Question: who is your fav band today?

Hunter: Mystery Box.  Once in a lifetime.  Hard to see how Mick can round up
that crew again. See em for Krissake

Gould: any closing comments Robert?  Any things you'd like to discuss here?

Hunter: Just to say how good it is to feel the power of the internet to
stretch around the world

McNally: And let me add that Mickey had a great time, and really did have to
go feed RAMU (random access musical universe) before massaging him tonight.
 I'd better go, too, as my little media folk need care and feeding too.  Nice
to chat with you Robert, Geoff, and everybody else.  Yours with love from
FURTHUR...Cheers.

Gould: OK, I'd like to thank Robert Hunter, Mickey Hart, and Dennis McNally
for being here today.  Big round of cheers

Gould: after-show party in the Rose Garden

Hunter: Nice chatting with you Dennis, Geoff, folks. Later