Photos: International Swingers

International Swingers at Whiskey Richards, Santa Barbara, 6/26/12 (L. Paul Mann photos, copyrighted and all rights reserved)

Interview: James Stevenson and Glen Matlock

James Stevenson (lower right) was the guitarist for the U.K. punk band Chelsea. Later, for a short time he joined Generation X with Billy Idol. He spent a longer time with goth rockers Gene Loves Jezebel, and has also played in The Alarm and The Cult.

Glen Matlock (upper right) was the original bass player for the seminal and hugely influential punk rock back the Sex Pistols. Their album Never Mind the Bollocks is widely viewed as one of the most important in the history of rock music, punk or otherwise. Matlock co-wrote nearly all of the songs on this album, including “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “God Save the Queen”, but he didn’t play on it because he had left the group. He later played in Rich Kids, and with Iggy Pop and the re-formed Faces.

Stevenson and Matlock are part of The International Swingers, which also has Clem Burke (upper left) from Blondie on drums and Gary Twinn (lower left) on vocals. The following interviews were for a preview article for their 6/26/12 show at Whiskey Richards in Santa Barbara.

Interview: Greg Lake

Greg Lake first made his mark as a founding member of King Crimson, for which he was lead singer and bass player. During Lake’s tenure, King Crimson released their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King, which is regularly hailed as one of the pioneering works of progressive rock, and included “21st Century Schizoid Man” and the title track. When this original line-up broke up, Lake joined with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer to form the prog rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer (often abbreviated ELP), which became one of top bands in the genre. ELP’s albums included Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery, and their best known songs include “Lucky Man”, “From The Beginning”, and “Karn Evil 9″, all of which were written or co-written by Lake. ELP broke up in 1978, but reunited in the 1990′s and beyond, most recently for a one-off 40th anniversary concert in London in 2010.

Lake is currently on a solo tour called “Songs of a Lifetime”, in which he performs songs and tells stories about his life in music. The following interview took place on 4/24/12 as Lake was on his way to a gig in Alexandria, Virginia, and served as the basis for a preview article for his 5/17/12 concert in Ventura, California.

Photo: Lee Millward

Interview: Steve Diggle

Steve Diggle plays guitar, writes songs, and sometimes sings for The Buzzcocks, the hugely influential band from Manchester which produced the blueprint for pop punk. The Buzzcocks also jump-started the punk do-it-yourself ethos with their 1977 self-released Spiral Scratch EP, on which Diggle played bass guitar. The Buzzcocks’ notable songs include “Orgasm Addict”, “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t've)”, “I Don’t Mind”, “Promises”, and “Harmony In The Head”. Their compilation Singles Going Steady is regularly ranked as one of the best punk rock albums of all time.

The Buzzcocks broke up in 1981, but re-united in the late 80′s and have been going strong ever since. Between performances at this year’s Coachella festival, they will be playing a few smaller gigs in California, including one in San Luis Obispo for which this interview served as the material for a preview article. I reached Diggle, who also released a solo album called Air Conditioning last year, at his home in London. The interview took place on 3/23/12. (Ian Rook photo)

Interview: Penelope Houston

Penelope Houston fronted the San Francisco punk band Avengers, whose “Pink Album”, consisting of recordings made in 1977-8 but not released until 1983, is often hailed as one of the best punk rock albums of all time. Avengers opened for the Sex Pistols at their final show. Houston re-emerged years later as a folk singer-songwriter, still retaining much of her punk attitude. Houston just released a new solo album called On Market Street, and a new Avengers compilation is coming out soon.

This interview was conducted by email, with answers received on 4/1/12. (Photo: Ethan Hill)

Advice From Musicians

Songwriters and musicians answer the question: What advice would you give to an aspiring songwriter/musician? Responses from:

Pete Seeger
Sir George Martin
Steve Reich
Jeff Barry
David Crosby
Graham Nash
Fats Domino
Willie Nelson
George Clinton
Wanda Jackson
Ian Anderson
Jon Anderson
Arlo Guthrie
John Mayall
Jeff Mangum
Greg Lake
Geoff Emerick
Bonnie Bramlett
Chuck D
Eddie Izzard
Rickie Lee Jones
Todd Rundgren
Alan Parsons
Laurie Anderson
Dan Hicks
Glen Matlock
Danny Seraphine
Clem Burke
Stephen Perkins
Holly Near
Will Jennings
Kinky Friedman
Raffi
Yanni
Mark Volman
Howard Kaylan
Richie Furay
Ted Nugent
Billy Corgan
Peter Buck
Bryan Adams
Maceo Parker
“Weird Al” Yankovic
Billy Duffy
Chris Shiflett
Nick Oliveri
Kronos Quartet: David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt
Morris Day
Abdul “Duke” Fakir
Annie Haslam
David “Honeyboy” Edwards
Jimmy Carter
Ray Manzarek
John Densmore
Paul Kantner
Jorma Kaukonen
Jack Casady
Martin Gore
John McEuen
Kim Wilson
Fred Tackett
Steve Hillage
Robben Ford
Hale Milgrim
Bones Howe
Don Randi
Bob Cowsill
John Cowsill
David Pack
David Lindley
Ricky Phillips
Rosemary Butler
Tata Vega
T-Bone Burnett
Johnny Rivers
Gary Brooker
Robin Trower
Garland Jeffreys
Airto Moreira
Seun Kuti
June Millington
Jean Millington
Jake Shimabukuro
Country Joe McDonald
Jonathan Richman
Van Dyke Parks
Steve Wynn
Steve Diggle
Pete Shelley
Andy Shernoff
Blag Dahlia
James Stevenson
Gary Twinn
Tony Kaye
Glen Phillips
Larry Ramos
Jim Yester
Gary Lucas
Charlie Musselwhite
Carl Giammarese
Carl Graves
Martha High
Steve Vai
Thurston Moore
Bob Mould
Lou Barlow
Cris Kirkwood
Mike Watt
Will Oldham
Bill Callahan
Buzz Osborne
Dale Crover
Jim Heath
Neil Hagerty
Bob Bert
Don Fleming
Jason Lytle
Parry Gripp
Stephen Pope
Jonathan Wilson
Dana Janssen
Zac Holtzman
Ritzy Bryan
Kim Manning
Linnea Vedder
Jim Coleman
James Jackson Toth
John Doe
Dave Alvin
Henry Rollins
Victor Krummenacher
David Lowery
Jonathan Segel
Greg Lisher
Jack Grisham
Ron Emory
Rick Wilder
Scott Franklin
Michael Livingston
Paul Mars
Michael Andrews
Joey Burns
Dallas Good
Michael Chapman
Russell Ferrante
Jimmy Haslip
Eddie Tuduri
Brute Force
Mark Tulin
Ian Underwood
Billy Cox
Jim Kweskin
Geoff Muldaur
Will Cullen Hart
Scott Spillane
Julian Koster
Bert Lams
Paul Richards
John Kadlecik
Seymour Duncan
Daniel Levitin
David Freiberg
Steve Young
Justin Roberts
Taylor Goldsmith
Nolan Wheeler
Charles Bradley
Thomas Brenneck
Mike Deller
Larkin Grimm
Jason Reeves
Buddy Miller
Black Francis
Alex Ebert
Al Kooper
Jeff Hanneman
Ira Kaplan