Podcast: Download (18.1MB)
Friday night, 1-22-10, I lived out one of my dreams. I got to do a phone interview with my musical hero Jonah Matranga. Back in the 90′s my friends and I saw him and his band at the time, Far, over 40 times at venues in California. He is very much a reason I became a musician and later a music journalist. I spoke to him on the phone for about 45 minutes on Friday. He had agreed to do an interview with me a couple of months ago, but the timing hadn’t worked out. On this night, the timing came together and I got the interview. It was one of the highlights of my life. Imagine for many of you getting to talk to a Bob Dylan or whatever great singer- songwriter you may love. That is the experience I had on Friday. Talking with Jonah brought me full circle in many ways.
I wanted to capture some small sense of the essence of what makes this guy tick. To that end, our talk started with his web site and ended up being about the state of the industry, technology, musical mediums and where he fits into it all. Toward the end, we talk about his upcoming shows and the imminent return of Far in 2010. In listening to him speak it is clear what this man is all about: honesty, a love of music, rationality, and thinking things through and coming to your own conclusions.
Listen here to our conversation:
[podcast]http://cwgmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Jonah-1.mp3[/podcast]
00:05: Trying to be a normal person.
1:20: Unique recordings.
1:45: The internet as a way to stay in touch with fans.
3:00: Home recordings.
4:10: Embracing the technology?
5:00: The true value of music.
5:45: The medium changes the meaning.
7:05: The new model of music sales is flawed.
7:45: How Jonah would like it to be.
9:45: More is better?
12:10: The people that say the system is good are the people making money off it.
13:00: “For the listeners, the music should be different.”
13:55: What’s fair and what’s not.
15:00: The machine with everything on it. The pros and cons.
16:30: Music is like water?
18:05: Living off the system he hates?
18:50: An advertising experiment.
After getting disconnected, our conversation continued:
[podcast]http://cwgmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Jonah-2.mp3[/podcast]
00:02: Kudos to Google… or not.
00:45: Stop whining!
1:45: Revisionist history- Pearl Jam vs. Ticketmaster.
4:00: On to Jonah and what’s going on.
4:30: The status and return of Far.
5:30: Worried about a leak?
6:00: Pay if you want.
6:30: The fans are not taken for granted.
7:15: The web site.
8:15: Myspace died!
8:45: Jonah- “I want to be in touch with you.”
Check out Jonah’s upcoming shows:
January 30 – Sacramento, CA – Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra
February 18 – Carlsbad, CA – Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave
February 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Hotel Cafe, 1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga
March 18 – Austin, TX – Plush Lounge, 617 Red River St.
March 19 – Austin, TX – House Show Evening, info TBA
March 20 - House Show Afternoon, Info TBA
Find more information about Jonah, Far and all things going on his world at: http://jonahmatranga.com/
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