We here at Bowlegs are constantly swooning over Nick Ray’s Speculator. We post his tracks when they’re released, we put his music on our mixtapes, hell … we even gave his album Nice eight out of ten. So all that’s really left to do is give him a Call Back. Here it is.
Bowlegs: Which album has been a major influence in your life, and why?
Nick: This might sound kind of easy, but I recently re-listened to London Calling and realized not only what a fucking amazing album it is, but what a mind-expander it was for me. Up to that point, I was listening to a lot of punk, and got caught up in the image of the whole thing. That record was the first one to show me that you can be punk without looking or necessarily sounding punk. It’s also just an amazing record; the songs are all over the fucking place, Joe Strummer’s vocal performance is completely out of control, and it’s probably one of the most well-produced albums I’ve ever heard.
Bowlegs: What was the last album you bought?
Nick: Haven’t really been buying too much music recently, but last week I was selling some vinyl at Amoeba in Berkeley, and I ended up picking up two albums that I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of since then. I got Enigma The Cross of Changes on cassette, and it’s pretty sick. This is the album that has that jam Return to Innocence from the Pure Moods compilation. I also picked up this live Fleetwood Mac LP from ’79 – I think it’s called Live Ivory, and it’s pretty bootleg, but some awesome performances of some of my favourite songs off Tusk. Sisters of the Moon has got to be one of the all-time great cocaine jams.
Bowlegs: Which bands have you been listening to this week?
Nick: I’ve been making a conscious effort to get into The Smiths. They were never a band I listened to, but as I’m getting older I have started to appreciate their charms. Morrissey is an incredible songwriter; I know I’m the last one to this party, but whatever, at least I’m trying.
Bowlegs: Name an up-and-coming band Bowlegs should look out for?
Nick: Hands down, Punks On Mars. The Memories also write some very excellent songs.
Bowlegs: What was the last gig you went to?
Nick: I saw UMO and Gauntlet Hair last night in Oakland. It was sick. Honestly, I’m more excited for this show going down tonight at my apartment; my roommates Weekend are playing with the Soft Moon. It’s going to be a rager.
Bowlegs: Who is the best band you have ever shared a bill with?
Nick: That’s a tough question. I have a lot of musical respect for the guys in Pure X – I think they’ve got to have one of the smartest, most articulate sounds around these days. They have also created a space for themselves that I think is pretty fully realized. Sort of this resigned vibe, like “Life sucks, you know it, I know it, but lets not whine about it.”
Bowlegs: What was the first gig you ever went to, and who did you go with?
Nick: My first gig ever was Peter, Paul, and Mary. I went with my Mom and two sisters. It was pretty chill, I think I was like seven or eight.
Bowlegs: What made you realise that being a musician was the career of choice?
Nick: I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, since it hasn’t exactly led me to a comfortable or ‘productive’ existence. I would be playing and making music even if no one was listening. I think the reason I’m trying to put music out there right now is that I feel like I’m probably going to be broke and miserable during these years of my life anyway, so I might as well make the most out of it, try to get some free drugs and see some of this magnificent country I live in.
Bowlegs: What is your favourite music documentary?
Nick: I hate most music documentaries. Most of the time it seems like they were made by fans who meant well, but don’t exactly have a lot to offer in terms of filmmaking or new information. A lot of them end up feeling mostly like indoctrination into the cult of whomever.
It’s a little obvious, but I think D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back is probably the greatest music documentary ever made. Not only is it made in a compelling verite style, it’s completely honest about the fact that Bob Dylan was an asshole to a lot of people. Pennebaker’s unreleased sequel, Eat the Document is even bleaker, with Dylan on the tail end of a pill and booze fuelled bender. He vomits while in a cab with John Lennon. Totally de-mythologizing.
Bowlegs: What was the last film you saw, and was it any good?
Nick: My roommate Kevin and I watched Paul Verhoeven’s first feature last night, Turkish Delight. It was awesome, but it stars Rutger Hauer and he will always be Roy Batty, the Nexus 6 from Blade Runner to me.
Bowlegs: Name three great books Bowlegs must read?
Nick: Simulations by Jean Baudrillard; Narrative of A. Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe; and the Mötley Crüe band biography – I forget what it’s called. (The Dirt – Mötley Crüe: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band.)
Bowlegs: What do you see when you look in the mirror?
Nick: The little flecks of toothpaste that shoot out of my mouth when I brush my teeth. Just realized how strange that language is; people don’t look at mirrors, we look into them. Heavy!
Bowlegs: Name a song that takes you back to a certain time in your life?
Nick: Pretty much anything off of Sung Tongs takes me back to high school.
Bowlegs: What is your favourite album cover of all time?
Nick: Closer, by Joy Division.
Bowlegs: What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
Nick: Other than when you referred to my music as a ‘career’, I am chatting with my friend right now, and I was telling him how my friend from Austin had offered to give me her music lawyer’s contact info. I said I don’t have the money to afford a lawyer, and that I’m a ‘Pro Bono’ kind of guy, to which my friend replied, “More like a pro-boner.”
Bowlegs: Do you think music videos are important and do you like making them?
Nick: I guess they are important. Personally I think nothing should be as important as the songs you’re writing, but if you don’t make a conscious decision to ‘brand’ yourself, I think other people (bloggers) will try to do it for you. It’s good to have control. That being said, I don’t really make many music videos. It’s hard to get money to do them right, and I think I have enough ‘lo-fi’ videos.
Bowlegs: Are albums still important or is it more about individual tracks?
Nick: I don’t know, every day I feel more and more out of touch with ‘popular culture’. I really like albums myself, because you can communicate so much more over the course of 40-minutes than you can in 2.35- or 4-minutes. Duh. Also, it sort of ensures that the band you’re listening to can actually write songs, not just one. I don’t have much respect for bands that have trouble writing songs. It’s like, your band exists to create music, right? If that’s something that is difficult for you, you’re not really the kind of musician I want to spend my time on.
Bowlegs: What do you have planned for the next six months?
Nick: Surviving, and trying to get this Cool Angels album I made pressed onto vinyl.
Bowlegs: What is on your iPod?
Nick: Naked pictures of you. Just kidding, I don’t have an iPod. Can you even store still images on one? I don’t even know. My boombox has The Best of Otis Redding in it right now.
Check Speculator’s Nice record here:
