Jimi Hendrix would have loved the internet. That's the thought I had coming away from an interview that has come to my attention recently. In the later sections of this interview he talks a lot about people being able to create new things, and combining audio and visual art to create something totally immersive. The internet, and digital art would have been a real playground for him. I'm sure I would have had his site bookmarked.
For a time in my life, all I listened to was Jimi. I felt his was all the music anyone needed. He was hugely important to me as a luminary talent and a cautionary tale. Hendrix's tunes spoke to me about things I didn't understand, but with a warmth and a joy that made me feel like it was ok. Feeling ok about things I didn't understand was a very valuable skill in my childhood. It gave me a sense of security in my own perspective that has served me well over the years. I can really tie that feeling back, in my mind, to all those hours of listening to this man who played an instrument I couldn't play and died before I was born.
It's amazing to have the chance to hear him speak so casually and so intimately in this conversation with a reporter just a week before his death. There are a few extraordinary moments, like hearing one of them light up a cigarette, or stir their tea. At one point, the classic sound of an English ambulance wobbles by, a blunt omen indeed.
It's heartbreaking to hear about his plans, and how optimistic he was about different directions he could take his music. He had ambitions of blending classical music with his own straight ahead rock sound to create "a whole 'nother thing". I would have loved to hear that. He even mentions one of my very favorite compositions, Bolero, as something he had already used as the basis for a song. I wish I could get a hold of that!
There's a picture that Hendrix's last girlfriend took of him the day before he died. She used it on the cover of a book she wrote about working with him. I haven't read the book, but I have seen the picture, and like many of the other iconic images of him I have taken time to gaze at it, looking for clues, trying to travel through time and warn him. The pictures are nice, but for me, to hear someone talking, just chatting, like on this interview, is a rare privilege. You gain so much insight into their personality by hearing them process and respond to questions. You can tell what excites them. You can tell what they are embarrassed by. You get to know them, if only a little.
Every time I hear him interviewed, and even sometimes in the recordings of his songs, the one thing that stands out about Jimi is the smile on his voice. As a VO artist, I am often directed to add more of a smile to the things I am saying. It's something you can hear very easily when you listen to commercials and radio announcers. Jimi had it in spades. I remember reading a quote from him that talked about all the music he had running around in his head. That he had trouble turning it off sometimes. If that's true, I am not at all surprised that he was smiling all the time. His music always brought a smile to my face.
Here's the interview: http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/jimi_hendrixs_final_interview_on_september_11_1970_listen_to_the_complete_audio.html
Listen close.
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