A Conversation with Chandler Travis (continued)

PM: How often does the group in some form rehearse or record?

CT: Almost never.

PM: Almost never, right? It's like that.

CT: Yeah. We have to do things piecemeal, because people need to be out there making a living. And needless to say, you don't get paid much for Philharmonic sessions, or Philharmonic gigs, for that matter. So it's always been a matter of looking for guys with nights off. And we've got a pretty deep list, especially horn players. I try not to mess with the rhythm section that much.

PM: There's a strong connection or connections between the Philharmonic and NRBQ, as well as with The Casuals. Would you run that down for me exactly? What is the connection there?

CT: It's just that Rikki [Bates, drummer] and I both play in The Casuals, is what that is. And NRBQ--well, Keith Spring was our keyboard player up until about a year ago, and still plays on some of the recordings. He's actually Rikki's roommate. And Keith was a formative NRBQ figure, played in the Whole Wheat Horns for years, and then was an amazing saxophone player; he also produced three Martin Mull albums, and a few other things. And then at some point he decided he needed to be done with saxophone; he sold his saxophone and became a keyboard player, which to me is unfathomable. But he's a great keyboard player, and he still does great horn arrangements, and is a good old curmudgeon.

PM: That's so interesting, that a person gets done with an instrument and just moves to another one.

CT: I can't believe when that happens. I remember when we used to play a little bit with Bill Keith when he used to work with Jonathan Edwards. Actually, the first time I ever heard a steel guitar in person was at some TV show that we were doing with Travis & Shook, and I heard it down the hall. And I just couldn't believe what a heavenly sounding thing it was. It just didn't sound remotely--

PM: It's my favorite instrument.

CT: It's pretty cool. The part that keeps it from being my favorite is that it's really pigeonholed, it's either country or Hawaiian. It doesn't get out of that much. But boy, it's an amazing thing to hear. And I couldn't believe when Bill Keith just stopped playing pedal steel in favor of banjo, which is one of my least favorite instruments. That was just completely--I just did not understand that at all.

PM: Oh, see, I love the banjo, too.

CT: But I mean, when I say my least favorite, there's still--I mean, I've used banjo on a couple records. It's like genres, it's like okay, I don't really know shit about opera, and I hate most of it, but every now and then I'll hear something that will just blow my mind.

PM: [laughs] I was a huge Captain Beefheart fan growing up. Were you?

CT: Not huge. I mean, I certainly tried to keep up with that, and I did see them once or twice. And he's obviously great. As far as what's close to my heart, he'd be a ways down the list. But I love a lot of the stuff that he did.

PM: Because I thought I heard some influence there. But no, it probably comes from--what I was hearing as Beefheart was probably like Sun Ra and some jazz guys.

CT: Maybe. I also get this Zappa thing a lot, and I'm not a Zappa fan really at all. I'm more of a Bonzo Dog Band guy, if anything. But the thing is, it's so funny because people have so few reference points for if they want to describe something and say, "Well, this is kind of silly." You know what I mean? It's like all they've got is Weird Al and Frank Zappa, and then there's like two or three others, and that's it.

PM: There's very little.

CT: So there's not much to pick from.

PM: Yeah, that's odd, isn't it.

CT: It's strange. And there are some Zappa things I like, but to me he was a peculiarly humorless humorist.

PM: [laughs]

CT: I thought he was a great interview.

PM: Yeah, he was an exceedingly mental character.

CT: Yeah, and an interesting guy. There's certainly some interesting music. But I found a lot of his stuff really academic.

PM: Yeah. I listened a lot to your last CD Kitty, and the 40-plus cuts on it today.

CT: Oh my, so sorry.

PM: [laughs] One is struck, of course, by how different your songwriting is than anybody I can think of. How do you think it turns out that way?

CT: I don't know. I must have just derivatived it to death or something. I'd like nothing better than to be original, but to me all I hear is steals and influences. I certainly hope that somehow it ends up being something different, and I've always sort of trusted that maybe it would be.

PM: I certainly think it is, yeah.

CT: I've always thought it was pretty rootsy and derivative. I try.

[laughter]

PM: So are there DVDs available of CTP?

CT: No, not really. There's a bunch of stuff up on our website and there's a bunch of stuff up on youtube. Maybe one of these days. But to me, that's sort of like making T-shirts. To me, that's not the business I'm in.

PM: Right. And it's also a little bit like filming a play. You're not supposed to do that.

CT: Yeah.

PM: So I'm not sure if that's right or not, but I thought I'd ask.

CT: No, I completely agree with you. We did one gig where we had a couple of cameras on it. And that helps a lot. Needless to say, watching anything with just one camera is really tough.

PM: Yeah, that's not good, yeah. So is it about time for a new record? Are you planning that?

CT: I've really been trying hard not to put a record out there. Because it's like you said, I've been getting this "prolific" rap a lot, so as soon as people say you are something you don't want to be that. It's really hard because I've really been writing a lot. [laughs] But I'm going to really try not to put a record out there this year.

The next record is going to be pretty different, too. I think it will be probably a solo record, although there's about three or four different live records waiting to come out. But I think the next one is going to be a relatively quiet solo record.

PM: Oh, I'd love to hear that, because, yeah, I became a much even huger fan the other night. I'm really glad to talk to you in this way today. And I look forward to the new record, and I look forward to turning the readership onto Chandler Travis and all that you do.

CT: Oh, man, thanks for spreading the word. Like I said, we were certainly thrilled to see you in New York.

PM: [laughs] Okay. Well, I hope to get up to see you one of these days soon up in your neck of the woods. And say hi to the fellows for me, and let's keep in touch.

CT: I sure will.

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