matski Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 The recent bad news news about Mick Karn's poor health has reignited my love for his unique style of playing, and I realised I had never really read very much about his background as a musician so I have also been surfing the web looking for snippets. I came across a great online article from the archives of Bassplayer.com. Now I had always assumed that as he is not only (in my opinion) a master of the bass, but also a saxophonist etc., that he must have had extensive musical schooling. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! To illustrate my point here is a quote from that interview: 'Because they were self-taught and developed their skills in tandem, the young members of Japan were also ignorant of much that more-conventional musicians take for granted. "When we first went into the studio, the engineer told me and Steve we were very tight," Karn recalls. "We were absolutely horrified; we had no idea what he could possibly mean." ' Isn't that just great? The full article can be found here: [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/mick-karn-sonic/jan-00/5942"]http://www.bassplayer.com/article/mick-kar...nic/jan-00/5942[/url] Apologies in advance to the 'theory and reading skills are essential' members of the board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 He comes across as a very humble bloke. Good interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Really good interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Yeah, definitely comes across as a realy nice bloke with a truly unlikely story. Enjoyed that a lot ta! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 I wonder if his approach to the bass would have been quite so unique and left-field if he [i]had[/i] received an extensive musical education? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Influenced by Chris Squire, must be a decent bloke... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Great interview, thanks for posting that. As a self-taught non-reader who relies on my own way of working around the instrument it's good to know I'm not alone in sometimes not understanding conventional instructions from band members! Even better to know that players of Mick's calibre find their own way too. And what calibre - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SagT216S_m0&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SagT216S_m0...feature=related[/url] As for this - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35trBS-LWok&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35trBS-LWok...feature=related[/url] how cool were the whole band full stop, but in particular check out Mick, grooving away in his shades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmz Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Percy Jones was a huge influence on his style/sound, which he readily admits to - in particular the Brian Eno album Another Green World album that PJ guested on Check out the track "Sky Saw" on a Streaming site like Grooveshark [url="http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/songs/?query=Brian%20eno"]http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/son...ery=Brian%20eno[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 'Visions of China' is one of my favourite songs. Karn is amazing and Jansen is phenomenal...I hope he pulls through. His illness sounds pretty serious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh2 Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 (edited) Great interview! Thanks for the linkage. What an honest guy. I like the fact that he's a complete technophobe, like myself. I've little understanding of musical theory but major and minor and a few scales are about it for me! I play mostly by ear. I'm suprised there is no mention of his collaboration with japanese bleepmiester, Yoshihiro Hanno, (might have been after this article as was released April 2000, I've also seen a 1998 release date!) one of his most influential (for me) recordings... take a listen and buy the album if you can find it. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiE0GkVTWKo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiE0GkVTWKo[/url] Edited June 20, 2010 by bh2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumbabba Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I was a massive Japan fan when I was young. Tin Drum is an epic album! When I heard about Mick Karn's illness I went and searched YouTube for some of their tracks. Hearing the bassline on Gentlemen Take Polaroids again really raised the hairs on the back of my neck! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpYoBXTnhyU&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpYoBXTnhyU...feature=related[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matski Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 [quote name='Sumbabba' post='872513' date='Jun 20 2010, 11:02 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpYoBXTnhyU&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpYoBXTnhyU...feature=related[/url][/quote] I've got a videotape from the 'Oil On Canvas' tour stashed away in a box somewhere, and went to the gig at the Brighton Dome. I was already of fan of Mr Karn and when the gig started was well freaked out by his peculiar style of moving around the stage - there was knee high dry ice on stage and he had this weird method of seemingly sliding forwards and backwards and sideways. At first I thought he was on some sort of trolley, turns out he was shuffling about on the tips of his toes at high speed! And like it says in the interview, always staring impassively straight ahead with not one single look at the bass or what he was playing, and not missing a single note. Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJA Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 (edited) [quote name='matski' post='878099' date='Jun 26 2010, 12:56 PM']I've got a videotape from the 'Oil On Canvas' tour stashed away in a box somewhere, and went to the gig at the Brighton Dome. I was already of fan of Mr Karn and when the gig started was well freaked out by his peculiar style of moving around the stage - there was knee high dry ice on stage and he had this weird method of seemingly sliding forwards and backwards and sideways. At first I thought he was on some sort of trolley, turns out he was shuffling about on the tips of his toes at high speed![/quote] yeah- I've got the Best of Japan DVD, and in the live show included on it he does that- quite funny how he moves around the stage like a computer game character- a neat visual trick. Edited June 26, 2010 by SJA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieBenzies Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 This guy is badass, thanks for introducing me to him! Just relaxing to the album 'Bestial Cluster'. I feel like I have accomplished something today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Rich' post='870728' date='Jun 18 2010, 12:57 PM']I wonder if his approach to the bass would have been quite so unique and left-field if he [i]had[/i] received an extensive musical education?[/quote] there seems to be a school of thought which suggests musical training holds you back or in someway restricts your ability. Possibly for another thread, along with the old chestnut of 'it's good that I don't know the rules, coz I don't know when I'm breaking them.' In reply to the above, did Arnold Schoenberg's extensive musical education stop him been unique and left-field? How about John Coltrane? Edited June 26, 2010 by MacDaddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Something must be said for not knowing the 'rules', as such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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