Once Around The Park: An Interview with Bill Dolan

July 23, 2008 | in Music | 2 Comments

It's not every day that you get to talk with one of your favorite musicians; someone that's inspired you and even influenced how you play your instrument. Luckily, I've recently had the opportunity to talk with Bill Dolan, an amazing musician and one of my all-time favorite guitar players. Check it out!

It was just weeks ago that I was talking about Bill Dolan, a man whose music has greatly added to the soundtrack of my life. I've been a huge fan since my first listen to his band 5ive Style's album 5 Style. After hooking up with him on YouTube I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk with him about musical inspiration, where he's been and what's up next.

Interview

Hella Sound: Who is your earliest musical influence?
Bill Dolan: My mom. She played guitar. She didn't keep up with it, but yeah. She had an acoustic guitar and used to pluck around with her friends. I think that was my first exposure to an instrument.

HS: Did you pick up the guitar—literally—from where she left off?
BD: Maybe. She wasn't a real avid student—it was more of a hobby.

HS: How would your say your style has evolved over the years?
BD: It's hard to say. Meeting and learning from a lot of great players affects you. Direct contact with musicians—even if they don't play guitar—their mentality, their mindset and their dedication to their instrument. Especially the people in Chicago, and some of the people I've met on tour.

HS: Who are some of the people that have influenced you?
BD: Working with John Herndon and LeRoy Bach...there's just so many it's hard to say. People like Jeremy Enigk and William Goldsmith, from Sunny Day Real Estate. Also, I wouldn't want to limit who I'd call "my influences" strictly to musicians. There's Carl Sagan, and Aleister Crowley...no, don't put that (laughs).

HS: (laughs)
BD: Drawing on influences outside of strictly music seems like a good idea. It can bring multiple dimensions to your work.

HS: Sure, it's not just "going through the musical motions", it's an all-over, soul thing.
BD: Right.

HS: Related to that, what have you been reading?
BD: Right now I've been reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I think it was actually in Oprah's bookclub and my wife got a copy, so I've been reading it. Also there's a great book—from an "influence" perspective—called Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia by Rob Brezsny. Really, I'm into that sort of "new age-y" thinking or whatever you want to call it. John Herndon actually turned me on to that book. Utilizing positive thinking to change your outlook, which changes your circumstances.

HS: Perspective is totally critical. So much is left to choice.
BD: Right. For you, for example, you're going into this business, and you have a vision, and you have to prepare your mind to see it come into fruition.

HS: Right. Absolutely. Interesting reading. Do you have any "must checkout" musical recommendations?
BD: Big John Patton's "Let 'Em Roll" is a great record for jazz. I don't want to say I'm over rock and roll, but so many years of hearing the same song over and over... I've been getting more into my own stuff as well. For newer stuff I'm coming up with, I'm not so concerned with my technical abilities. It's almost as if I'm getting sloppier, but I'm just trying to get to this...place...

HS: I'll tell you what I heard from listening to Do_ist: I heard a looser you—right out of the gate and through the whole album, probably for the first 3 or 4 listens—what I got wasn't riffs and it wasn't "party funk rock" stuff, it was more like listening to journal entries. Like listening to someone's soul. I really got that vibe. It wasn't like someone cutting a record when they're 22; to me what the music said was what a grown man has to say. It wasn't sunshine and chasing girls—I got a lot of reflection out of it.
BD: Right on. Well great—that's probably an accurate interpretation.

HS: If I'm getting what you're saying right, it definitely came through the music. I was stoked to see the release on CD Baby.
BD: If you listen to the stuff I have on MySpace, it's even more a departure from the Do_ist stuff. I feel like I'm trying something new.

HS: How do you connect with musicians, like the 5ive Style guys or the Heroic Doses guys?
BD: It's just networking—meeting people and doing your thing. It takes years of building up connections I suppose.

HS: Are there any weird/funny stories?
BD: Probably... (laughs)

HS: When you work on studio projects, do you prefer recording as a band, or do you prefer doing parts individually and mixing them together?
BD: Usually in the studio when you're spending money you want to record quick, so recording live works the best.

HS: Does recording as a band carry a different sort of vibe?
BD: Oh yeah totally. When you get the whole band going, there's just something you can't get from overdubbing. Elvis Presley and all those early recordings were all done live. You gotta be on top of your game and get it while everyone's there.

HS: What have you been listening to recently?
BD: The Cramps a lot. I like Big John Patton—he's a jazz organist—with Grant Green on guitar. I did a rock camp for kids this summer and got exposed to a lot of the newer bands that are around, like The Raconteurs and stuff like that—more current stuff.

HS: What else do you have going on?
BD: I'm working on a film to promote a new project. It's really fun. It's promoting some new music. It's called Das Boton—"That Robot"—is the title of the band and the project. And I started filming some images, and I sent them to a friend of mine who's a film editor who put it together in a one-minute demo, and it looks really great.

I'm doing a record for Sixgunlover Records in Austin, and Jason Butler had an idea to release the DVD with the record. There's only going to be about 1000 pressings, because it's an old-school vinyl, and Jason asked "How would you feel about doing a DVD to go with this?" Making short films gives me an opportunity—especially with my music that's instrumental—to put some sort of visual image with it.

HS: It becomes a sort of "mixed media" thing. I feel the same way with our music, in that the visuals going along with Hella Sound is the scenery going by when someone's on a run.
BD: I've had people tell me they use my music to work out to.

HS: I'm one of those people—I've run to Hard Afro Rubalon many times...