It’s been awhile since we heard some good shit talk from Brian Jonestown Massacre. With DiG on DVD, a retrospective in stores, and a new EP out this summer, frontman/headcase Anton Newcombe recently found time to deliver some bon mots in Entertainment Weekly…
“What I want to do is enter the popular lexicon. Like Jimi Hendrix. That’s my goal. Not to sell soap. Not to say, ‘Look like me, dress like me, sound like me.’ Not to get a supermodel girlfriend. None of that shit. I want people to come away from what I’m doing and look at it as a gift.”
Okay. But can you kick up the crazy a notch?
“People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a fuckin’ ledge and write a song about it?”
Thatta boy.
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ohfivokipo mivaoe
Pioneering screenwriter Nigel Kneale, best known for the Quatermass TV serials and films, dies aged 84…
Look people,ANYONE that take the time to listen to BJM(not just a once thru)and lets it sink in,WILL become entranced by the style.I think Anton was writing music without the knowledge of the so called rules of music theory(giving it a style all of itself).He uses very few minor chord and solos that can easily be played on one string,basic bass lines and easy drum lines.The music can be repetitive and most songs lack a guitar solo…..BUT since I started listening to them(thanks in part to a movie that spends 90 minutes bashing him)I listen to little else.SIX YEARS!!Their catalog is large and all good.Well maybe a few clunkers but who doesn’t have any.His time WILL come but probably after Anton’s time.His music is just too good to go unnoticed forever.Suceess or lack of won’t stop Anton from making music.God Bless you Anton. ps.Clapton is just OK.
Man, here’s how it goes.
Somebody wants to have a crush on some poor little misunderstood “underground” band but doesn’t have the time
(or fucking brain) to find this band themselves.
Enter DIG!
Now everybody who wants to be “cool” can buy a BJM shirt and walk around just hoping somebody will ask them, “What band is that?”
“Oh, you prolly never heard of them.”
Oh wow, you are COOL!
Yeah, I heard of them way back; they wished they were Ride, then the Stones- big whup.
In the immortal words of Lester Bangs: ?The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience.? Contempt is all Anton has for any of you masochistic peons, so get real and find an original obscure band that only you know about and help spread the word.
By the way, BJM is not “underground” anymore, so the gigs up.
…shut up and play your guitar.
…shut up and play your guitar.
twice
we’ll see won’t we?
I discovered BJM late…last year. I still haven’t seen the movie. The BJM music made me want to play guitar and write again…which I’m now doing nonstop. I even took delivery of a brand new (2004) Montezuma Brown Rickenbacker 360/12 and Vox amp last week…and I’m in heaven…(no tears). I’ve known a few people who have done really amazing and exceptional things, and then go on to do everything they can to destroy their achievements… keep playin BJM.
who cares about paying the fucking rent? all the good art comes from people who can’t pay the rent and scavenge off of others..i don’t think newcombe cares about the rent. fuck it, he thinks, probably.
he’s so classless it’s classy. newcombe’s a walking paradox.
its easy to be sceptical of a 1990s rocker slating the famous clapton…but its easy to for us to agree that hendrix defined guitar form the moment he appeared in his colourful clothes. clapton sounds mechanical in comparison…as for anton newcombe…its easy to discount him, he has never made a big selling record…but listen to his music man…leave all the media shit out of it…the guy is a genius
The BJM are shit hot, everyone should ‘check them out’. Without a doubt the best live band i have, and ever will, see. Anton is not the madman DiG! claims he is (even if it is quality entertainment…) x
you still suck.
This no-talent nobody is beyond pitiful. Make one good record, then we’ll talk.
This douche bag is a fucking joke! Please! Why don’t some of you morons listen to some blues some time in your lives. You idiots put down Clapton because he is a success. You think that selling albums is a sin? I guess being a starving nut job that trashes everyone around him is somehow noble. I love all kinds of music and can appreciate genius in any form. Mozart had it. Dylan and Hendrix had it. Clapton had it….not so sure anymore. Anton has flashes of it but his genius is in the songwriting. His technical ability on the guitar and the other instruments are mediocre at best. I have seen chimps with more skill. I know you hate fucking clean lines and technically proficient guitar work. It sounds so corporate….right? You losers love this idiot because he is a jerk. I admire his vision. I just don’t respect him as an artist. How can you respect someone who show others no respect unless you a vile douche bag like Anton?
i love how everybody posting here is a cookie-cutter parody of themselves:
you’ve got your classic rockers trying to insist their shit is cool.
and your indie rockers insisting their shit is cooler.
i personally like both clapton and brian jonestown massacre. i will concede that clapton’s later work has been pretty mediocre, but his early stuff had soul.
on the other hand, bjm has had some mediocre stuff, as well.
and to suggest that clapton invented electric guitar is ridiculous.
you all need to stop trying to fit yourself into some bullshit image and just learn to actually like music, instead of the compiling of lexical knowledge that will make people think you know about music.
and whoever said you cats could deal with a little compassion is right. i don’t like or dislike anton. how can i? i don’t know him. i’d wager most of you don’t either, yet you have your opinions of him. that being said, i do think it’s simultaneously the unclassiest and funniest thing he’s said.
but to entirely discount his contributions is a little ignorant.
man, this is petty.
Anton’s comment probably was a bit rude n’ crude but what more do you expect from him? He’s an iconoclastic figure, and for some reason, Clapton is an icon. Ergo, it’s Anton’s duty to…uh…clast him. I’m seeing him at Truck Festival next week. I hope Joel will be there. And maybe Eric…
okay i met anton tonight, and he really is an unsavoury character.
I need to make a road trip to see BJM. Are they playing in the states in September/October? People that incite this much emotion are rare these days…I have to say, I love the music, so much that I play really really bad covers on my myspace site…
SB
http://www.myspace.com/fantonnukem
first, Jimmy Page is technically brilliant -as anyone who saw him in his prime would know -How The West Was One -settles that question-
but more importantly, the comment about Eric Clapton’s son is perhaps the crappiest, most low life and just vile thing I have seen yet on the internet -only a piece of garbage would write something so flat out mean. Really something to see what so called human beings can sink to. Scumbag.
I just watched “Dig!” BJM is God! I love the band and the movie (thank you Dandy Warhols). I wish I’d known about them sooner. It’s time to play catch up by getting all of their releases.
why do the arguments featured on this page suck? well, let me tell you why.
so all you eric clapton supporters out there are running down newcombe because hes on drugs and hes unstable.
well lets see, where was clapton during the high point of his career? he was fucking high out of his mind and and completely unstable.
in 1967, anybody could have become a guitar god. a trained monkey could be in the place of eric clapton; his “brilliance” is owed entirely to the creative ways that bruce and baker supported the soloist, being jazz musicians themselves. clapton’s a musical masturbater whose career is based on other peoples playing, and a song about his dead son. sure newcombe made a rash statement, but whats the context? the beauty of journalism is the way that quotes can be manipulated out of context to mean all manner of things.
however, in the past 15 years he was penned some 150 odd songs, appearing on the 11 BJM releases, as well as producing for a number of other projects. his gifts and creative vision cannot be denied. come on people, think about things before you starting spewing diarhea all over the internet.
I think you’re forgetting this isn’t 1967, you don’t have to take drugs to create a acid rock lou reed atmosphere. What has Clapton done ? Obviously somebody doesn’t appreciate the roots.
Okay, having just seen the DiG movie, it is really amazing. It is one of the best rock docs I’ve seen for a very long time. However having read that the final movie was cut from like over 2000 hours of film, it’s not suprising that Anton would be peed. But hey, anyone who spends as much of their life on drugs like the BJM obviously were. You know it ain’t pretty.
Anyway, Probably one of the most enigmatic, out of control, rock performers eva. I have since taken a look at the catalogue and Anton is prolific songwriter, musical explorer, and general misfit.
It’s so interesting, it’s so riveting as a movie because it interposes the question, what is success in our society and what do we do or think of those that will buck the system when and where they can. The interplay of the Dandy Whorhols and the BJM give us a great insight into that tension of control and chaos in our society. For that the BJM and Anton and the movie is cool.
a) clapton is fine
b) you suck if you dont know anton
c) you really suck if you dont think that the brian jonestown massacre makes amazing music
you may like clapton, and you may find these comments tasteless, and you may be so mainstream that you dont know who anton is or who the brian jonestown massacre are. But please, do not say that Anton/BJM are anything less than outstanding when it comes to writing songs.
I think Anton is a nice person. I wrote him an email few days ago wishing him well, and he reciprocated with the same. What a nice guy. I think Eric Clapton is a murderer, or just an inattentive AssMunch who needs to pay more attention to the delicate things in life…ie: don’t turn your head away while your kid does a balancing act on the patio balcany. I mean really, what if? I don’t give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ok, this was maybe an arrogant sounding phrase from Anthon, but we know who he is.. He is a great musician who tries his ass off to spread psychedelic music and he did start a musical revolution, no doubt. I agree Eric Clapton is a bit over-hyped musician but he is who he is: a historical member of rock. Whatever I like them both. Clapton is a great musician and there is no point criticising his technical stuff. Why, Keith Richards is that good? That amazingly technical? Bullshit. Doesn’t matter how good he is, it is enough for him to toch the strings then I start havin goosebumps. Wicked talent. Both Anton and Clapton is charismatical and highlights of rock’n roll.. That would never go for bands like Tool or fuckin Linkin Park, all of these newborn overhyped bands cannot be mentioned on the same page with Clapton and Newcombe.
The thing about Clapton is he is just boring. There is nothing fun, sexy, or interesting about his music. Guitar solo? Who gives a fuck about guitar solos? An over the top bit of guitar virtuosity tacked crudely onto the end of the song in Clapton’s case. Clapton’s music is the kind of music that upon listening, I have to try really hard to understand why people like it and can still never fathom it.
I can understand why people enjoy listening to similar shit merchants U2 – with their big sloppy anthemic songs and drive-thru riffs, it makes sense. But with Clapton? Christ, it makes me want to go to sleep. It is music for dads whose son just bought them an itunes voucher and for playing in elevators (though I can think of better things for elevators).
In contrast, Anton Newcombe’s music cuts right to the bone. It has huge hairy bollocks and isn’t afraid to talk about depression, anxiety and despair (I don’t know if any of you posters know this but A LOT OF PEOPLE ACTUALLY FEEL THESE THINGS you naive bastards). It won’t cut it in the mainstream because it is not only ahead of its time but way outside of the realm of the mainstream’s comprehension. Unlike Clapton.
Most of you probably like Clapton because your daddies beat it into you. I can’t think of any other reason why you would like him. He is a guitar wanker; a solo jerkoff. People like this guy shouldn’t be making so much money from music. There is no substance, no audacity, no, gall, no life. It is dead music. Wake up to that fact you poor, major-label-teat-sucking fools.
hooooooly shit. that is three fucking years old and STILL the crudest fucking thing i’ve read in a looooong time. rock and roll.
For those who doubt Clapton as a decent song writer or guitarist, go and get slow hand, from the cradle or even the unplugged dvd. Clapton may be over hyped and often mistaken as having wrote a lot of the yardbird and cream stuff but he has made some killer songs as a solo artist and a career that has spread over 40 years with continuous hits. Whilst I love bjm music , Antone Newcombe may never have found the bjm sound without the physcdellic movement, Clapton was one of the pioneers of this. Newcombe is probably jelous.
clapton is a wanker
he is shameless like hendrix’ dad
sorry but making money off dead relatives=shit
You’re all fucking losers
Well, Well, Well.
Andrew thinks That Anton Is Jealous… OK. sure. Idiot. If you knew anything other than what you may or may not have seen on DiG, which is not what Anton is like, you would know that he is far different from that. Clapton? A respectable musician, and im not sure Antons reasons for saying that, nor are any of you. Everyone says things sometimes, whether or not they fully agree or not differs. But I have met Anton, At his gig in New Zealand. He was totally friendly, and willingly signed a poster for me with the rest of his band. His music changed my life, i am only 16 years old, but I hate to see people who can put him down based on their knowledge of what is on Dig. At least read some interviews or watch them online. Hundreds on fights happen everyday due to people under the effects of alcohol. Some jackass just filmed some of his (2000 hours, the other 1998 hours aren’t fighting) and blew them up. Movies are made for entertainment, thats what dig is. Documentary, movie. same thing. Still for entertainment. So to all the people who are Clapton fans and don’t even know who Anton is, Fuck up. because you dont know. To the people who disregard Clapton, he is a very respectable musician. But most importantly, I dont care what you say about Anton because he is important to me. And EVEN more importantly, Anton doesnt give a flying fuck about all you part time guitar players disputing whether he is any good at music or not. Because i doubt that any one of you has changed any other peoples lives. And really, everyone has negative opinions of others, each and every one of you. Anotn just stated his in a slightly rude and unusual way.
PS the guy talking about Jazz is right.
KEEP MUSIC EVIL.
Well this is an old post , but I’ve been looking into BJM for the last year or so.
If the press statement was true then he’s an asshole and I’m sure any sane person would admit it, But assholes can be a genius too.