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Hrvoje Bubić: Interview with Cedric Hendrix
Hrvoje Bubić
Cedric Hendrix je glazbeni novinar i pisac, iz Chicago. Za Solin Live govori nam o svojoj knjizi, o značenju riječi muzikolog, kao i o blogovima o kojima piše
For the start, could you tell us about your beginnings. As I notice, you are musicologist, could you please, explain more about that.
Well, to be clear, “musicologist” is a title I was given, rather than an actual profession. My professional life revolved around the military and then law enforcement. But music has been an avid passion of mine since I was six years old, and I’m in my fifties now. I’ve been writing since high school, where I took Journalism classes. I was a journalist in the U.S. Air Force, as well.
I started seriously collecting records around the age of 12 and have been ever since. Musicologists are people who explore not only the “who” and “what” of music, but the “why.” I have done this since I was a teenager, without the benefit of a formal degree in the subject. Not as a professional pursuit, but more out of sheer curiosity. I was quite reluctant to accept that title until a friend told me, “Anyone willing to drive 600 miles round-trip twice in two weeks for 90 minutes of live music (which I have done) is a musicologist!” I just learned to accept the title. I like to think I’m fairly knowledgeable on the subject, but there’s always someone smarter! (laughs)
You released the book I Can’t Be the Only One Hearing This: A Lifetime of Music Throught Eclectic Ears, where you covered your favorite artists by a certain period of life, which kinda reminds me on Marcel Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time.
Well, I’m not familiar with that novel, but I think I’ll have to check it out! And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my book is available at Amazon in both print and electronic form. A shameless plug, I know. But I like to keep that out there! (laughs)
If I understand the question correctly, I believe you’re talking about context. We receive all kinds of influences throughout our lives. Some stick with us, some don’t. The music I love can almost always be connected to certain periods of my life. For example, I was struck by David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” in 1972 when I was six years old. That’s why it leads off the book. Someone – I think it was Paul Simon – said people become who they are in terms of musical tastes between the ages of 18 and 21. And that’s PRECISELY what happened to me! Nobody cares that I went through Army training in Virginia in 1985. But the fact I was introduced to King Crimson by a fellow soldier during that period makes that context more pertinent, because I was 18 at the time. The next two or three years laid the groundwork for what I was able to absorb into my musical world, and it was quite a bit!
My late mother loved to say, “Everything happens for a reason.” There’s a lot of truth in that. My travels and encounters through the years placed me exactly where I needed to be to find the right people and the right music at the right time. Had I never become a policeman, I probably would have never wandered into the pawn shop where I was inspired to buy my first guitar. That incident opened the door to meeting dozens of people in an entirely new network. Because of that chance encounter with a pawn shop, I was able to open the door to a completely different life from my professional one. If you REALLY want to extrapolate things, I saw the Army Reserve mostly as a waste of time, which is why I chose to do my active duty service in the Air Force. But had I not joined the Army, I don’t meet that fellow solider, I don’t discover King Crimson, and you and I aren’t ultimately having this pleasant conversation! So you see, context is key.
You write for various blogs: Proglodytes, All That Jazz, CirdecSongs. Also you are writing a biography of Bernie Worrell, founder of Parlament-Funkadelic. Please, tell us more about those blogs and Bernie Worrell’s biography.
I’ll work backwards here, if that’s okay. First of all, George Clinton founded Parliament-Funkadelic, as the band started off as a “Doo-Wop” type group in the sixties. Bernie Worrell came on board around 1970. That being said, George may have founded the group, but it was Bernie’s keyboard contributions and innovations that ultimately formed both band’s sound. While George became the music’s personality, Bernie led the band and handled most of the production and arrangements. Bernie was one of the great musical innovators of his time, and he helped create a lot of the sounds used by modern music acts, particularly in hip-hop. His importance cannot be overstated.
Not nearly enough people know how prolific Bernie’s contribution to music was and is. Bernie played on no less than 500 records in just about every conceivable musical genre before he passed away in 2016. He was a child prodigy brought up playing classical music from age three. The P-Funk gig opened the doors to Bernie appearing with artists as diverse as Talking Heads, Keith Richards, The Pretenders, Public Image Limited, Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, Praxis, and countless others! I guarantee you Bernie Worrell is in at least a dozen places in your music collection right now, and you have NO idea! (laughs) Writing Bernie’s official biography is a wonderful way to get the word out and get people to examine their music collections just a little more closely.
I received the commission to write the bio from the Worrell Estate because of my work on CirdecSongs, which was a Facebook page – and ultimately a web page – used to both promote the book and expound on what I have been exploring in music since then. That page got the attention of Thomas Hatton, who brought me on as a contributor at Proglodytes. He ultimately made me the managing editor. I have been accepted as a contributor to All About Jazz, but to my shame I have not submitted anything to them yet. That is part of my plan for 2021. Hopefully now that my day job is no longer an issue, I can start casting the wide music journalism net I’ve dreamed about. For now, everyone is welcome to stop by http://www.cirdecsongs.com to follow my essays and reviews. There’s also a CirdecSongs page on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Among the writing, is there anything you also do? I notice that you are playing guitar, are you active in music field?
I’m interested in a wide variety of things. One of the nicest things I’ve ever been called was “renaissance man,” which I’ve always appreciated. I enjoy playing the guitar, but I don’t know if I would call myself “active” with it. That is to say, I’m not in a band, nor do I plan to be in one. My first attempt to form and play in a group bordered on Greek tragedy. It’s covered in the book. The only thing stopping me from calling the experience a complete and utter failure is the fact that we did, in fact, complete a CD. It’s on Bandcamp, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. (laughs)
My main guitar goal these days is to play guitar for my own amusement. Learn a lot of songs I can play in my living room, or maybe jam with some friends once or twice a month. There’s nothing in me eager to stretch beyond that. If I record anything, at best I could see putting the songs up on Bandcamp and just giving them away.
I love movies. Sometimes they’re deep and introspective, and sometimes I just want to see things explode. Since my generation was among the first to have home video gaming (the legendary Atari2600), I still enjoy a little gaming. I’ve recently re-embraced reading and am on a quest to read 100 or so classic novels. I recently bought a mountain bike and hope to spend a lot of time with it, and I’ll re-embrace my golf game next spring. I also recently purchased a new camera – a serious one – with the intent of exploring photography. And I absolutely ADORE sports! Baseball, American football, and hockey are my favorites to watch, though I’ll watch just about anything for at least a little while. And I’ve been developing obsessions with both rugby and Formula 1 racing. Let’s just say it’s hard for me to get bored. (laughs)
For the end, what are your future plans, new book? What you would like to recommend for listen to our readers?
Well, the Worrell commission temporarily put me off writing a follow-up to I Can’t Be the Only One Hearing This, though that may not be a bad thing. The follow-up will come in time. I’m calling it … And What I’ve Been Hearing Since. I have ideas for a couple of other music books, as well. I recently moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois primarily because of the huge music scene and the desire to explore it in-depth. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has thrown a HUGE monkey wrench into that plan. But it will come back in time, and I’ll be going to gigs nightly before I know it. I hope.
I’m planning to expand my online presence in the coming year through a few different resources. Now that I’m retired from law enforcement, I have the time to explore these avenues without time being a major issue. This is a really exciting transition, and I’m looking forward to making the most of it.
As for music I’d recommend, I’m back to constantly posting reviews on my web page. I strongly encourage you and others to check it out!
HRVATSKI PRIJEVOD
1. Možeš li nam za početak reći o svojim počecima. Mogu primijetiti da si muzikolog, možeš li nam štogod reći o tome?
Da se razumijemo — “muzikolog” je titula koju sam dobio, a ne stvarna profesija. Moj profesionalni život se vrtio oko vojske, a potom i policije. Međutim, za glazbom sam uvelike strastven još od šeste godine, a sad sam u pedesetima. Pišem od srednje škole, a u srednjoj sam pohađao satove novinarstva. Bio sam novinar i u američkom ratnom zrakoplovstvu. Ploče sam počeo ozbiljno prikupljati oko 12. godine, te ih još prikupljam danas. Muzikolozi su ljudi koji ne istražuju samo “tko je tko” i “što je što” u glazbi, već i “zašto je nešto”. Tako ja radim još od tinejdžerske dobi, bez formalne diplome u zanimanju. Ne bavim se time profesionalno, nego više iz puke znatiželje. Prilično sam nerado prihvatio navedenu titulu, sve dok mi prijatelj nije rekao: “Tkogod je spreman preći 600 kilometara amo-vamo dva puta u dva tjedna radi 90 minuta glazbe uživo (što sam i učinio) je dapače muzikolog!” Jednostavno sam sebe naučio kako se nositi s titulom. Volim misliti da sam prilično upućen u tu temu, ali uvijek postoji netko je pametniji! (smijeh)
2. Izdao si knjigu „Ne mogu biti jedini koji ovo čuje: Život u glazbi kroz eklektične uši“, u kojoj si obradio svoje omiljene umjetnike prema određenom životnom razdoblju, što me otprilike podsjeća na roman Marcela Prousta „U potrazi za izgubljenim vremenom“.
Pa, nisam upoznat s tim romanom, ali mislim da ću ga morati provjeriti! A bio bih nesklon ne spomenuti da je moja knjiga dostupna na Amazonu u tiskanom i elektroničkom obliku. Znam, bez pardona sam skrenuo pažnju na knjigu, ali volim da bude na internetu (smijeh)! Ako dobro razumijem pitanje, vjerujem da govoriš o kontekstu. Tijekom svojih života smo primili sve vrste utjecaja. Neki nas drže, neki ne. Glazba koju volim se gotovo uvijek može povezati s određenim razdobljima mog života. Primjerice, mene je pogodila pjesma “Space Oddity” Davida Bowieja iz 1972. godine, kada sam imao šest godina. Zato njome otvaram knjigu. Netko je — mislim da je to bio Paul Simon — jednom rekao da ljudi postaju ono što jesu, u smislu glazbenih ukusa, između 18 i 21 godine. Upravo to se je dogodilo meni! Nikoga nije briga što sam 1985. godine prošao vojnu obuku u Virginiji. Međutim, činjenica da me je s Kingom Crimsonom u tom razdoblju upoznao kolega čini taj kontekst značajnim, jer sam tada imao 18 godina. Sljedeće dvije ili tri godine su postavile temelj onome što sam uspio upiti u svoj glazbeni svijet, a bilo je podosta toga! Moja pokojna majka je obožavala reći: “Sve se događa s razlogom.” U tome ima puno istine. Moja putovanja i susreti kroz godine su me postavili točno tamo gdje sam trebao biti da pronađem prave ljude i pravu glazbu u pravo vrijeme. Da uopće nisam postao policajcem, vjerojatno nikad ne bih bio zalutao u zalagaonicu u kojoj sam bio potaknut kupiti prvu gitaru. Taj je incident otvorio vrata za susret s hrpom ljudi u potpuno novoj mreži. Zbog tog slučajnog susreta s zalagaonicom sam uspio otvoriti vrata potpuno drugačijem životu od mojega profesionalnog. Ako STVARNO želiš odvojiti stvari – vojnu sam pričuvu doživljavao uglavnom kao gubljenje vremena, zbog čega sam odabrao aktivno služiti u zrakoplovstvu. Ali da se nisam pridružio vojsci, ne bih se bio upoznao s kolegom vojnikom, ne bih bio otkrio Kinga Crimsona, a ti i ja u konačnici ne bismo vodili ovaj ugodni razgovor! Vidiš pak da je kontekst ključan!
3. Pišeš za razne blogove: Proglodytes, All That Jazz, CirdecSongs. Trenutno također pišeš biografiju Bernieja Worrella, osnivača Parlament-Funkadelic-a. Molim te, recite nam štogod više o tim blogovima i biografiji Bernieja Worrella.
Krenut ću odostraga, ako je to u redu. Prije svega, George Clinton je osnovao Parlament-Funkadelic, jer je bend šezdesetih počeo kao grupa tipa „Doo-Wop“. Bernie Worrell se je priključio tamo 70-ih. Imajući to u vidu, George je možda osnovao grupu, ali upravo su doprinosi i inovacije Berniejeve klavijature na kraju iznjedrili zvuk obaju bendova. Dok je George postao glazbena osobnost, Bernie je vodio bend i vodio većinu produkcije i aranžmana. Bernie je bio jedan od velikih glazbenih inovatora svojeg vremena, te je doprinio stvaranju velikoga broja zvukova koje koriste suvremeni glazbene skupine, osobito u hip-hopu. Njegovu važnost je teško precijeniti. Ni približno dovoljno ljudi ne zna koliko je obilat Berniejev glazbeni doprinos. Bernie je svirao na ni manje ni više nego 500 ploča u gotovo svakom zamislivom glazbenom žanru prije nego što je preminuo 2016. Bio je čudo od djeteta, odgajan svirati klasičnu glazbu od treće godine. Koncert P-Funka je otvorio vrata Bernieju, te pružio nastup sa šarolikim rasponom izvođača poput Talking Heads-a, Keitha Richardsa, The Pretenders-a, Public Image Limited-a, Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains-a, Praxisa i bezbroj drugih! Jamčim ti da se Bernie Worrell nalazi na barem desetak mjesta u tvojoj glazbenoj kolekciji, a da nemaš pojma! (smijeh) Pisanje Berniejeve službene biografije je krasan način da se pročuje i kako ljude potaknuti da malo pažljivije prouče svoje glazbene kolekcije. Dobio sam proviziju za pisanje biografije s imanja Worrell zbog svoga rada na CirdecSongs-u, što je bila stranica na Facebook-u – i u konačnici mrežna stranica – koja se koristila i za promidžbu knjige i za obrazloženje onoga što od tada istražujem u glazbi. Stranica je privukla pozornost Thomasa Hattona, koji me uveo kao suradnika u Proglodytes-ima. U konačnici me je postavio za glavnoga urednika. Prihvatili su me za suradnika na All About Jazz-u, ali na svoju sramotu nisam im još ništa dostavio. To je dio mog plana za 2021. Nadam se da sada, kad moj svakodnevni posao više ne predstavlja problem, mogu početi emitirati široku mrežu glazbenog novinarstva o kojoj sam sanjao. Za sada su svi dobrodošli navratiti na http://www.cirdecsongs.com i popratiti moje eseje i kritike. Tu je i stranica CirdecSongs-a na Facebook-u, Twitter-u i Instagram-u.
4. Baviš li se čime osim pisanja? Primijetio sam da sviraš gitaru, jesi li aktivan u glazbenome polju?
Zanimaju me najrazličitije stvari. Nešto najljepše što su mi uopće rekli je da sam “renesansni čovjek”, a to sam oduvijek cijenio. Uživam svirati gitaru, ali nisam siguran da ju aktivno sviram. Hoću reći, nisam u bendu, niti planiram biti u bendu. Moj prvi pokušaj formiranja i sviranja u grupi je graničio s grčkom tragedijom. To sam obradio u knjizi. Jedino što me sprječava da dotično iskustvo nazovem punim puncatim neuspjehom jest činjenica da smo u biti doveli do kraja CD. Nalazi se na Bandcampu, ali nemoj onda reći da te nisam upozorio (smijeh). Moj glavni cilj u pogledu gitare ovih dana je svirati gitaru za vlastitu zabavu. Naučiti puno pjesama koje mogu svirati u svojoj dnevnoj sobi ili možda jednom ili dvaput mjesečno zasvirati s nekim prijateljima. U meni nema ničega gorljivog da se protegnem dalje od toga. Ako budem nešto snimio, u najboljem slučaju bih mogao razmotriti staviti pjesmu na Bandcamp-u, i jednostavno ju pokloniti tako. Obožavam filmove. Znaju biti duboki i introspektivni, a nekad samo želim vidjeti kako stvari idu kvragu. Budući da je moja generacija među prvima imala kućne igraće konzole (legendarni Atari 2600), još mi bude užitak zaigrati koju igricu. Nedavno sam se ponovno prihvatio čitanja i sebi sam zadao da moram pročitati stotinjak klasičnih romana. Nedavno sam kupio brdski bicikl i nadam se da ću na njemu provesti puno vremena, a golfa ću se nanovo primiti iduće proljeće. Također sam nedavno kupio novi fotoaparat – profesionalni – s namjerom istraživanja fotografije. Ja jednostavno OBOŽAVAM sport! Bejzbol, američki nogomet i hokej mi je najdraže gledati, premda ću bilošto od sportova pogledati barem nakratko. Razvio sam opsesiju za ragbijem i utrkama Formule 1. Možemo slobodno reći da teško upadnem u dosadu (smijeh).
5. Za kraj, kakvi su tvoji budući planovi, nova knjiga? Što bi preporučio za slušanje našim čitateljima?
Pa, komisija Worrell me je privremeno skinula s pisanja nastavka knjige „Ne mogu biti jedini koji to čuje“, iako to možda nije loše. Nastavak će doći u svoje vrijeme. Nazvat ću ga … „I ono što čujem od tada“. Imam ideja i za nekoliko drugih glazbenih knjiga. Nedavno sam se preselio iz St. Louisa u Missouriju u Chicago u Illinoisu, prvenstveno zbog ogromne glazbene scene i želje da je potanko istražim. Nažalost, COVID-19 je pomrsio takav plan. Međutim, i to će doći s vremenom, a na svirke ću ići već svake večeri prije nego kasnije, nadam se. Planiram povećati svoju internetsku prisutnost u narednoj godini putem nekoliko različitih resursa. Sad kako sam se povukao iz policije, imam vremena istražiti sva ta mjesta, a da vrijeme ne predstavlja glavni problem. Ovo je doista uzbudljiv prijelaz, i radujem se izvući što više iz toga. Što se tiče glazbe koju bih preporučio, vratio sam se neprestanom objavljivanju recenzija na svojoj web stranici. Snažno potičem tebe i druge da ju posjetite!
