John Vanderslice
Green Is the Color
2007-08-06
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San Francisco singer/songwriter John Vanderslice is an anomaly. A wonderful, quirky anomaly. Take, for instance, his media hoax in 1999 where JV successfully fooled the world into believing Microsoft lynchpin Bill Gates had it in for him. After sending Microsoft a copy of his single, “Bill Gates Must Die,” Vanderslice claimed that he received a letter from Microsoft threatening lawsuits for copyright infringement, and that his phone lines had been tapped. In one month’s time the story blossomed into a bona fide frenzy, running in countless media outlets, Spin and Wired among them. Of course, the whole thing was just a fabrication (and an ingenious way to promote an artist whose profile was under the radar). While there’s much, much more to Vanderslice than a joke that occurred almost a decade ago, the story’s so fun it’s hard to resist retelling it. It’s just the tip of the iceberg to a fascinating personality.
John Vanderslice’s flair for whimsy is almost as infectious as his songs, and he certainly has a unique way of doing things. In celebration of his latest album, Emerald City (released July 24th, Barsuk Records), he’s taking his music on a virtual tour. Recorded at his Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco (the sole remaining all-analog recording studio in SF), he’s given a live video of each of the album’s nine songs to nine of his favorite music blogs, who are posting them for free streaming. In addition, he’s currently on a promotional tour, scheduling free in-store performances at music shops along the West Coast, and later in Brooklyn. (Vanderslice, along with drummer/keyboardist Dave Douglas, will perform at Amoeba Records in San Francisco on August 11th at 2 PM.)
“Honestly, sometimes I feel there’s too many bands, and too many blogs…and I think that’s how it should be,” he muses. “I think there should be a rich landscape of voices. Just imagine how many painters there were in Florence in 1540 or whatever. That’s the kind of environment you need to have great art happening.”
In addition to the video streaming and free shows, much of his music is offered for free download via Vanderslice’s Web site (including a complete reworking of his last album, Pixel Revolt). He says that not everything he creates needs to be sold.
“It doesn’t all have to be monitized. I think that there is stuff that is really appropriate to give away, and I love putting up stuff for free. I play a lot of free shows,” he says. “But when I play the Bowery Ballroom it’s gonna be 12 bucks and that’s how I’m gonna pay my bandmates and that’s how I’m gonna afford the tour. There is a balance there, and you do have to do both together. I will go crazy if I don’t do weird cool shows that are not completely without the expectation of a club date.”
“I mean, art as career is a delusion anyway,” he continues. “You’re operating in the most competitive sphere in the world. The reason why art doesn’t pay very well is not that people don’t appreciate art, I would say that it’s the opposite. People really do absolutely appreciate and will pay for art, it’s just that a lot of people want to make art,” he laughs.
“The Internet is doing its best to push content to be free anyway. Which again, as a consumer of art, I think is great. I don’t have a problem with that.”
John Vanderslice’s flair for whimsy is almost as infectious as his songs, and he certainly has a unique way of doing things. In celebration of his latest album, Emerald City (released July 24th, Barsuk Records), he’s taking his music on a virtual tour. Recorded at his Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco (the sole remaining all-analog recording studio in SF), he’s given a live video of each of the album’s nine songs to nine of his favorite music blogs, who are posting them for free streaming. In addition, he’s currently on a promotional tour, scheduling free in-store performances at music shops along the West Coast, and later in Brooklyn. (Vanderslice, along with drummer/keyboardist Dave Douglas, will perform at Amoeba Records in San Francisco on August 11th at 2 PM.)
“Honestly, sometimes I feel there’s too many bands, and too many blogs…and I think that’s how it should be,” he muses. “I think there should be a rich landscape of voices. Just imagine how many painters there were in Florence in 1540 or whatever. That’s the kind of environment you need to have great art happening.”
In addition to the video streaming and free shows, much of his music is offered for free download via Vanderslice’s Web site (including a complete reworking of his last album, Pixel Revolt). He says that not everything he creates needs to be sold.
“It doesn’t all have to be monitized. I think that there is stuff that is really appropriate to give away, and I love putting up stuff for free. I play a lot of free shows,” he says. “But when I play the Bowery Ballroom it’s gonna be 12 bucks and that’s how I’m gonna pay my bandmates and that’s how I’m gonna afford the tour. There is a balance there, and you do have to do both together. I will go crazy if I don’t do weird cool shows that are not completely without the expectation of a club date.”
“I mean, art as career is a delusion anyway,” he continues. “You’re operating in the most competitive sphere in the world. The reason why art doesn’t pay very well is not that people don’t appreciate art, I would say that it’s the opposite. People really do absolutely appreciate and will pay for art, it’s just that a lot of people want to make art,” he laughs.
“The Internet is doing its best to push content to be free anyway. Which again, as a consumer of art, I think is great. I don’t have a problem with that.”
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