- Dave
Bradley – August 20th,
2000
Dave Bradley: Who is Dr. Lotech? Who is the Minimal Man? Are they one and the same? Are they you?
Dr. Lotech: The first known appearance of Dr. Lotech "in the literature" was in the school newspaper at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1986. There was a weekly column written by Dr. Lotech where he was very critical of some of the professors. It was sort of an anti-establishment rebellion thing and sort of a "let's expose this arrogant wanker "professor" who makes statements which are not supported by current scientific fact but if we disagree with him we'll flunk the course" kind of protest thing. If it weren't for Dr. Lotech, I would have been kicked out of school so the answer is ... I created this alter ego mutation named Dr. Lotech who up until this moment, has been of unknown identity. Under this pseudonym I was able to be someone who could speak out critically about something without having to have it affect my "professional" reputation. I think it is the liberation of being Dr. Lotech which allows for a level of poetic insulation, heifer dust if you will, it's my "artistic" side rather than my "scientific" side.
I guess for some this is starting to sound a bit schizophrenic...
The Minimal Man is a philosophy. It is about the epitome of efficiency. It's the 20% that gets 80% of the results. The question for the Minimal Man is: What is it going to take to make this happen properly, preferably on the first try? It's never about being the best. It's about being the most with the least. If you bust your butt and end up being "the best" you leave those poor bastards who came in 2nd even more insecure than they were when they started needing to be the best.
That's inhumane.
It's not about making other people suffer. The Minimal Man is invisible. His tapedeck is recording so he can go back and replay something but he's focused on what's happening in the present rather than focusing on what just happened and taking a lot of notes. He reads other people's notes though, if they're lying around.
The Minimal Man is the band. This CD involved a number of other musicians. They provided music without much pretense (Jazz). A lot of first takes, which any recordist will agree is the best way to go. I love first takes. The Minimal Man comes in, plugs in his instrument, plays and then leaves. Done.
Is the Minimal Man me? Sometimes I guess. I try to be the Minimal Man. I guess that I manage to pull it off once in a while.
DB: How would you classify your music? Do you feel it falls into a specific genre?
DL: If I had to classify this stuff, I'd probably go with Canadian Urban Garage Trash.
DB: Who is your intended audience?
DL: I don't know. When I play it for children, they tend to dance. I decided that if I could manage to have one or two tunes that a person likes, they will feel that they are "in exchange" with us and if they bought the CD, that it was a good value. I have bought many albums and CDs because I liked one song. If you find a tune that you like on this CD, than the Minimal Man has done his thing. If you like every song, I suggest psychotherapy.
DB: I've heard Solid A Go-Go, Church Of The Poison Mind, and Louie, Louie. Are these representative of the sound and style of the entire album?
DL: I suspect that if there ever is an identifiable "Dr. Lotech" sound, it would be the stuff with David C. and Gary C.
Church is the "Dr. Lotech" sound. The CD also has two instrumentals, one solo hard blues piano played "en rubato" the other a trio of saxophone, electric piano and percussion (with one keyboard overdub). I won't be surprised if the people that dig the one style, aren't necessarily as hot on the other.
There are a few tracks that are more "popular sounding". Be True features Terry Draper on vocal and percussion and Foy Boo on guitar, The Lake is a duet with Mrs. Hippie and Terry Draper on vocals with Doug Pipher on sax.
DB: Solid A Go Go and Church are very experimental sounding. They are definitely not mainstream. In a business where a series of corporate mergers and buyouts has gotten rid of competition, allowed stagnation, and focused the majority of the output of the 3 or 4 majors (haven't read the news today, we could be down to 2 by now) into a very narrow field of "this is what sells and we won't hear of anything else", combined with a lack of courage on the part of radio stations (which themselves are becoming more and more of a corporate monolith than anything resembling radio in it's heyday of the 70s) to program their own music, and a reliance on one or two programming services which program the majority of the stations in existence today, most music has the same boring rhythm and the same boring progressions, as well as the same boring angst, are you concerned that you won't be able to get airplay?
DL: The truth is in the hands of the masters and not in the hands of the masses. What that means is that the good stuff is in some private stash somewhere, and if you're not on the guest list, there's a 300lb neanderthal named Bo Bo who says he won't let you in. If this stuff get's on the AM radio, it will be by divine intervention. I would be surprised if it became the subject of large scale mass consumption. Happy, but surprised. It's more of a thinking man's CD. The masses don't think, they follow like sheep.
DB: You're alledgedly a Canadian act, but you don't SOUND Canadian. Why should radio programmers count you in their 30% Canadian Content Quota? And why should they take a chance on you in their 70% non-Canadian Content Quota if they think you aren't Canadian?
DL: We had a discussion about this Canadian sound thing the other day. Foy Boo said he thought that the word eh should be used judiciously throughout the lyrics as in:
"Let's go over to Frank's House, eh?
The problem with sounding Canadian is that I live 20 minutes from Toronto. It is one of if not the most metropolitan of cities in the world. I think it's like the singers that lose their accent when they sing, eh? All the musicians are Canadian, all the songs except Louie Louie were written by Canadians, all the cover art was done by Canadians, even the label is Canadian. We don't sound like Blood, Sweat and Tears or Anne Murray but we are authentically Canadian.
DB: Is it true that U.S. President Bill Clinton, when asked what he thought of your music, was quoted as simply replying, "well that all depends on how you define 'music'".
DL: I don't know much about the U.S. President except that he plays a saxophone. This leads me to believe that he may have been a bottle fed baby. If some hacker were to see his internet cache, I wouldn't be surprised if he spends a bit of time at the Big Boob photo galleries as well.
I don't know what music he listens to but coming from Arkansas, he might get into the soundtrack from Redneck Rampage, the Beat Farmers and bands like that. If I was American and he liked the Beat Farmers, I probably would have voted for him because he thinks with his dick. That makes him somewhat predictable.
DB: Is it true that you've been branded as counter-cultural? If so, how do you feel about that? Do you think that will help you sell CDs or will it work against you with parents being afraid to let their kids listen to something that doesn't follow the party line?
DL: I don't know the answer to your first question, but if I have been branded anything, that's OK. I expect that when parents hear this music, they will play it when their children are in the room. When they play it for their friends, some of them will want a copy. There will likely be a few copies passed around. I don't mind people making a backup of the CD, but if you make a copy for a friend, he must be a program director at a radio station, or I will send the copyright police to your cottage to steal everything from your BBQ just before you sit down to eat.
DB: Aren't you afraid that by doing something different than what everyone else is doing you're encouraging the rest of the Canadian Music Industry to think that they too can color outside the lines?
DL: There's more than one reason to colour outside the lines (when I say colour there is a "u" in it because, well we talked about that already, eh?), my hands are very steady, so I guess that if I colour "outside the lines" it's because that's where I feel best colouring.
DB: Isn't that dangerous thinking?
DL: Dangerous music?
Dead Cool.
Where can I get some?
DB: Wouldn't it be better to contribute to the stagnation and keep things the way they are?
DL: That's inhumane.
DB: How do you feel about the prospect of having your clothing ripped off by hordes of screaming teenage girls?
DL: I guess I'm up for trying anything once, I would prefer 18 and 19 year old teenage girls.
DB: How do you feel about the prospect of having your clothing ripped off by hordes of screaming teenage boys?
DL: I'd rather it were girls, with the caveat that there be lots of other witnesses so I didn't end up being accused of indecent exposure or some other act of depravity.
DB: How do you feel about the prospect of having your clothing ripped off by hordes of elderly housing residents?
DL: Now you're talking about dangerous music.
DB: Should there be a question 13?
DL: Good question.
DB: Tastes great or less filling?
DL: I go for tastes great, obviously.
DB: Do you think James Bond is irrelevant now that the cold war has ended?
DL: I read once that the level of any state (first world, second world, third world,...) is determined by the invisibility of the secret service of that state (CIA, MI6, KGB, etc).
The term military intelligence is rather oxymoronic don't you think? It's the James Bonds of the world that play out the balance of power through espionage, fast cars, martinis and gambling in Monte Carlo wearing white tuxedos and skiing in the alps with machine guns.
DB: Who do you think should be the next Bond babe?
DL: Surprise Me.
DB: Do you think it's discriminatory that James Bond has never had a male love interest?
DL: Maybe he and John Cleese will do something kinky with exotic paraphernalia in a future episode.
DB: Do you think James Bond has no "pride"?
DL: If you're talking about Pierce Brosnan, I'll share a story. When I lived with my parents, I had a VCR tape. I had collected about 20 Saturday Night Live band performances along with a Frank Zappa interview by David Letterman as well as a Tom Waits interview by David Letterman.
I came home one day to find that my little sister had recorded Remington Steele over Zappa and Waits. I recall expressing a few expletives which would have suggested that I thought that Remington Steele was an avid homosexual and that I was completely homophobic.
DB: Shaken or stirred?
DL: Shaken, and dry as a fart in a mitt. Make it a Gimlet, please.
DB: Do you believe in miracles?
DL: I studied a Course in Miracles for over a year, so I guess I do.
DB: Do you believe in Peter Pan?
DL: Sometimes.
DB: Isn't it true that you have been hanging out in damp basements because that's where the mushrooms grow?
DL: Honestly, I've never seen mushrooms grown in a basement. I wouldn't be surprised if other things are being grown in a few basements, though.
DB: Was that really a recording studio down there?
DL: I like to think of it as a studio.
DB: Are you a mod or a rocker?
DL: It depends on who you ask.
DB: Have you set a release date yet?
DL: The music is done. The art concept is together, but the final proof is still in process. I've never done this before so I don't know how far away the release date is. As soon as possible, I guess.
DB: How do you feel about the chief Blue Meanie's comment that Dr. Lotech "is a tickle of joy on the blueberry of the universe. It must be scratched!"
DL: Obviously, you aren't talking about a jazz/rock band from Chicago. Those Blue Meanies are still a wicked posse even after all this time. If the chief Blue Meanie needs to do some scratching, we'll have to put a few to vinyl for him. He's one way dope DJ.
Koo Koo Kachoo.
DB: Do you wear shades?
DL: Only at night. Like Clint on the Mod Squad.
DB: Why don't you normally grant interviews?
DL: I saw the work you did with Klaatu. I decided to wait to
talk to you, Dave.