Elwood
Smith: Will Work For Beer
a
chat with Ross Rice from Rolly
Peter Aaron
..One thing led to another, and after some demos,
Platania was onboard to record an entire solo album of Elwood’s
songs, funded by Elwood, with one stipulation: he wanted lots of
creative freedom - something a session man rarely gets. Thus was
the Lucky Dog album recorded, a truly enjoyable album available
at Oblong Books Rhinebeck and at www.johnplatania.com.
Elwood’s
enthusiasm for music remains a constant, with fairly regular jam
sessions at the house, collective improvisation encouraged. It turns
out we both really could talk music all day, but it’s getting
late in the afternoon, and we’ve reached an agreeable beer
buzz point, so it’s time to ramble on. (Elwood gets a to-go
container for his sandwich though....darn. Close, so close.)
What’s
really getting Elwood cooking these days is a personal renaissance
of sorts, concerning his artistic vision. Luckily for us at Roll,
Elwood took the opportunity to experiment with this issue’s
cover, and share some of his creative process with us. “I
drew the little bear guy with the horn in my conventional way, inking
it in on watercolor paper, but without adding watercolor as I usually
do. In Photoshop, I layer the line art over a bed of color dabs.
. . I make these dabs on a strip of watercolor paper as I’m
working on jobs. I save the best of the watercolor paper strips
for use in my experimental projects. The loose color backgrounds
free me up and keep me from coloring my art within the lines. I
do exercise some control, but I try not to mess around with those
wonderful, accidental shapes flowing within and outside my drawings.
It is similar to the way I make films, letting the “happy
accidents” take me down new creative avenues. It’s all
like it’s happening beyond me, but then I can monitor and
modify it.” Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew is discussed as
an example of this kind of free-associative creation. “(Miles)
had the vision to go beyond chops...
Continue...
|
