A Conversation with Chuck Prophet (continued)

PM: So I came upon, also, the rap on your acting debut. That's very interesting to me. I'd love to hear about that, Revolution Summer.

CP: Well, Revolution Summer is a movie directed by Miles Montalbano and it was produced by Jonathan Richman. And they had a part for this kind of deranged drug dealer and asked me to read for it. And they seemed pleased with it. I was impressed with the movie. But I have to say that as far as acting, I wouldn't call what I was doing "acting" or anything; I was really just doing my best Dennis Hopper imitation.

PM: [laughs] But did you think it was fun?

CP: Well, I enjoy watching other people work, and I enjoy seeing the creative process at work, and seeing it all come together on the set was kind of a fun learning experience for me. But I think that making records is kind of an addiction that I have. And it's sort of a gamble when you're making records because you really don't know where it's going to go. There are budgets and things involved, and there are always moving targets that you're chasing. But I would say that making records is child's play compared to filmmaking. So it was fun for me to watch.

PM: Yeah, I mean, just music is--

CP: Not that the movie was fun for me to watch, I mean it was fun for me to watch the process.

PM: Yeah. When you saw yourself on film there, was that okay? Or you know how people--

CP: I just had to disengage. I just had to disengage.

PM: Yeah, because people who don't record, when they hear their own voice on tape, it's like, "Oh, that's terrible"--

CP: Yeah, I mean, you tend to want to crawl up in a fetal position.

PM: Right. [laughs] Exactly. I've heard you call the current version of the Mission Express as being the most light on its feet so far. Who is in the lineup? I want to make sure I get that right.

CP: Well, James DePrato.

PM: Yeah, who when I met him said, "Oh, I know you from you the NAMM Shows, Mesa Boogie." I said, "Really?"

CP: Oh, that's right, yeah.

PM: I guess he was working with some guitar company at the time.

CP: Yeah, he's got some kind of past. He's a shredder in recovery.

PM: [laughs] He's slowing down.

CP: Yeah, he's slowing down. [laughs]

PM: So James, yeah, and Stephanie.

CP: Stephanie Finch, James DePrato, Todd Roper from the group Cake--

PM: Ahh.

CP: --is where I met him originally.

PM: I see.

CP: And Kevin T. White on bass.

PM: Kevin T. White, yeah.

Far be it from me to demystify a great lyric, but every time I hear it at the gym--because it's part of my workout tape--I'd really appreciate an insight into "Naked Ray," if you'd say anything about that lyric, or that song, where it came from, or anything at all.

CP: I'm not really sure where that came from.

PM: Yeah?

CP: I don't think it's as personal as people might believe.

PM: Right. It's not like that, it's a story.

CP: Yeah, I don't have that much to say about that song, to tell the truth.

PM: Yeah, just a story.      continue

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