Terry Bozzio<\/strong>: Thank you for helping promote the show.<\/p>\n JD<\/strong>: So first off, how has the tour been going?<\/p>\n TB<\/strong>: Well financially it\u2019s pretty rough, but other than that it\u2019s fine. Sometimes I feel like a one\u00a0man crusade against the devaluation of music in America and culture in the arts, but I\u2019m\u00a0doing the best I can and I\u2019m starting to play pretty good as of the last couple weeks in terms\u00a0of my own personal satisfaction. The crowds have been ok and we\u2019re bumping along. Today\u00a0I\u2019m looking forward to it because I\u2019m playing a performing arts center here in Omaha. The\u00a0City Wineries have been great venues too. But if I had my brothers I think with just a little bit\u00a0of the correct marketing, I\u2019d like to be almost exclusively in small theaters. You know, to me it\u2019s like a church for music. You can sit down and really give yourself to the performance and\u00a0be comfortable with good surroundings and a clean, quiet atmosphere.<\/p>\n JD: Definitely. So have you found it easier or more difficult to tour as a solo artists versus\u00a0being in a full band?<\/p>\n TB: Umm. I don\u2019t know. All I know right now is this is what I want to do. And I think that the\u00a0level that I\u2019m at in the business, you know, I\u2019m very grateful to be where I\u2019m at and be able to\u00a0play. That\u2019s really the bottom line for me. Survival and being able to play. And you know, I\u00a0think in different territories its different. Japan and Europe seem to have a little more cultural\u00a0education and so the crowds have been a little more big and enthusiastic, and the places I\u2019ve\u00a0played seem a little more classy.<\/p>\n In America we\u2019re in this awful situation, and you know, I\u00a0hardly get any royalties anymore because music is just stolen from the internet. People\u00a0YouTube me and crap and then, they probably don\u2019t want to see me after seeing a friendly\u00a0posted YouTube video, so I\u2019m constantly having to take those down. But yet in America there\u00a0are some places that are just gorgeous to play. Probably at the top of my list is the musical\u00a0instrument in Phoenix. I love that place, and that\u2019s a good example of a guy who made a lot\u00a0of money with Target, making something into a benefit to culture and mankind, and those of\u00a0us who play and enjoy music.<\/p>\n So yeah it really depends upon the place, the territory, the\u00a0booking agents and connections and stuff. I don\u2019t really have that much control over where I\u00a0play. I put out parameters and I accept what I can. If it\u2019s really low, or I had a bad experience\u00a0at a place then I usually don\u2019t play there again.<\/p>\n JD: Understood. And regarding that, what role has the city of Chicago played in the\u00a0development of your career?<\/p>\n TB: Yeah. The first time I ever went to Chicago was with Zappa and I had a fantastic\u00a0experiences with him and every other band I\u2019ve played with. It\u2019s a great music town. And\u00a0then from the time I started playing solo drums, doing clinics and stuff, you know I think one\u00a0of the largest selling clinics I ever did was in Chicago. Then, Victor Salazar who created Vic\u2019s\u00a0Drum Shop has been a fantastic promoter for so many things. We\u2019ve been friends for many\u00a0many years and he\u2019s helped me so much with getting me into beautiful theaters and\u00a0wonderful places to play and promoting the Hell out of it. He\u2019s helped me generate big\u00a0crowds. So yeah Victor is probably one of my best friends and also a big supporter of my\u00a0success in Chicago. If I owe it to anybody, it\u2019s him.<\/p>\n JD: I\u2019ve read many times that Frank [Zappa] encouraged you quite a bit when you were\u00a0younger. Was his support a big part of your career path?<\/p>\n TB: Yeah. The clinic scene gave me a chance to develop what I do. I played a one man show\u00a0at the Palace theater, now called The Avalon in Hollywood. Frank was sick at the time and I\u00a0went up to visit him after and he said that his wife and kids really enjoyed the show and that\u00a0it took big balls to do that and that he was proud of me. You know, that\u2019s one of the\u00a0moments you can really count on one hand when you get a very sincere compliment from\u00a0Frank, who was very critical and really smart, you know, a genius on seven levels.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t\u00a0ever looking to be accepted by him and the moments I have where I gained his acceptance\u00a0were very meaningful to me and very encouraging. I played him some stuff and he liked the\u00a0more abstract stuff I did. I remember one time we did a Polycount record. I think it was that\u00a0same night after the Palace gig, I played for him \u2018City of the Dead\u2019 which is basically a kind of\u00a0a piece of percussion and junk, and he really liked it. I always liked to make something\u00a0creative. I don\u2019t think I really started to seriously compose until around that time when I was\u00a040. I\u2019ve composed all my life and kept things, and even developed things I\u2019ve done in college\u00a0into something now.<\/p>\n Frank was great. Connections through him were great. Gail introduced\u00a0me to Nicolas Slonimsky the musicologist, and that was a fantastic experience. He was very\u00a0inspiring to me. I wrote a piece called Six Miniatures because he did a series of 50 miniatures,\u00a0and that\u2019s kind of dedicated to him. Some great experiences I\u2019ve had and little by little I\u2019ve\u00a0come to the realization that everything Frank told me was the truth, whether I wanted to\u00a0believe it or not. You know, I was young and naive or in denial. But he really was a special,\u00a0special human being.<\/p>\n JD: When you began recording with Frank was it challenging in the beginning? Or were you\u00a0comfortable with him right from the start?<\/p>\n TB: He made me comfortable right from the start. He made me realize I could do things I\u00a0didn\u2019t think I could do. I think the first recording situation was mostly live. Most of the stuff\u00a0I\u2019ve done with Frank was recorded live on stage. Let me think, the first thing I recorded in the\u00a0studio with him was at the Record Plant in Los Angeles for parts of the Zoot Allures album,\u00a0and he had done some tracks with a Roland Rhythm Ace.<\/p>\n That was the first time I learned I\u00a0could play with a click track of sorts, as he played along with it. After that there was the\u00a0orchestral favorites. He would give me music beforehand and I would shed it. I kind of owned\u00a0it. Some of the other guys would come in and sight read, they were capable of doing that,\u00a0but I had lived with the music for a while. I was able to nail that, so it was a fantastic learning\u00a0experience.<\/p>\n JD: With that in mind, what are some of the major differences between some of your\u00a0recording sessions with Frank in the early days compared to recent recording sessions for the\u00a0Composer Series?<\/p>\n TB: I did the Composer Series on the computer, wherever I went. Frank could make perfect\u00a0recordings with great sound of stuff that was impossible for humans to play. For me I wanted\u00a0to take a more organic approach, but you know, all of your experience comes into play when\u00a0you\u2019re composing. I had been composing just for myself, and people would say I played so\u00a0orchestrally, and wondered if I thought about having someone write a piece for me for an\u00a0orchestra. And I thought, I don\u2019t want someone else to write that [laughs]. You know I finally\u00a0had made an overhead chart of my drums and what pitches the cymbals and toms were\u00a0tuned to, and what have you. And I started to compose just with what I had for my solo\u00a0drumming. That\u2019s how the Chamber Works came about. That was when I was around 40. I\u00a0got a chance to record a midi version for myself, and then with a sixty piece orchestra.<\/p>\n The\u00a0original concept was five woodwinds and five strings. You just down note and then say to\u00a0yourself \u201cwhat\u2019s the next logical note?\u201d , or you put down a melody that you\u2019ve played and\u00a0then you realize \u201cOk, when I\u2019m playing the drums, that\u2019s all there is. That\u2019s enough, so what\u00a0can I do with this?\u201d Then you realize that could be an inner voice or a harmony or a bass line,\u00a0or a top line melody.<\/p>\n The possibilities just open up. You know you saw the compositional\u00a0techniques there are, and a little bit of inspiration that I can\u2019t take credit for, and you start\u00a0putting one thing in after another. Half the stuff I\u2019ve written was written when I was half\u00a0asleep watching the David Letterman show when some boring actress was on talking about\u00a0herself. I would just mute the TV, look over to the computer and start plugging in notes. Then\u00a0the next morning you go \u201cWow, I like this\u201d. I\u2019d almost forget what I did, and then it would\u00a0inspire me to go on and do the next thing. That\u2019s what I do. Just kind of follow my own little\u00a0thing. I never thought I\u2019d release this unless I got the money to do it myself. I found this\u00a0record company, Ward Records who was interested in doing it. They still have a music\u00a0business over in Japan. So I was able to get an advance and put out a real thing. And now it\u2019s\u00a0available on Ward records and of course iTunes. I guess the cool thing I was able to do with\u00a0the Composer Series is combine my artwork with it. Each movement has a little painting to\u00a0go along with it, which of course you can\u2019t get on iTunes.<\/p>\n JD: That\u2019s so cool that you\u2019ve included a visual that. You give the listener a visual element to\u00a0go along with the music, but it\u2019s also your perspective which I think makes it very unique.<\/p>\n TB: And that all started with Captain Beefheart thanks to Zappa. He first toured with us and\u00a0was an artist and encouraged me to do it myself. He was always carrying around pads of\u00a0paper and markers, so I did the same. He would say \u201cOh I really like this. Its loose or its free\u201d.\u00a0So I kind of tended to go in the abstract direction.<\/p>\n JD: When you began Missing Persons did you have a vision in mind? Or an ultimate goal for\u00a0the project?<\/p>\n TB: Well I knew I wanted to something that was not like UK. We were getting compared to\u00a0ELP and Yes, which are two bands I never listened to or really cared for, although I appreciate\u00a0their musicianship, but you know it was not my thing. I was always into jazz stuff, later Miles\u00a0[Davis] and Weather Report, or classical Stravinsky or something. That stuff didn\u2019t really fit\u00a0into my scheme of things. When we got compared to dinosaur rock bands and all that stuff,\u00a0it didn\u2019t sit well right me at that time, 1979, which was sort of the birth of Punk and New\u00a0Wave. So I wanted to do something more modern, and that\u2019s what we tried to do.<\/p>\n We got\u00a0some really good players and tried to make some interesting music and we put Dale in front.\u00a0For what it\u2019s worth we had our fifteen minutes. It was kind of like a Pollini movie. It just\u00a0couldn\u2019t last. You\u2019ve seen all of the behind the music situations in Spinal Tap, and that\u2019s kind\u00a0of what it was like. There\u2019s nothing that can prepare you for fame and for the music business\u00a0at any point in history [laughs]. You know what I mean? You end up beached somewhere\u00a0and realize your motives are kind of messed up. I mean, we were trying to be a pop band and\u00a0that precludes that you\u2019re popular, so we stayed within a very narrow universe of possibilities.\u00a0It seemed to work, and then it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n To me as soon as Def Leppard and Michael Jackson\u00a0were on MTV, guys who could really sing and really play, there was no contest. Everybody\u00a0didn\u2019t like what we were doing. So I ended up just bumping around, doing some sessions,\u00a0things like that, and then somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I was trying to do solo\u00a0projects and be like Phil Collins by the mid-eighties. And nobody liked my voice even though\u00a0I got $10,000 to do one song for Virgin. And other deals like that had Ken Scott produce it,\u00a0but no bites. And at that point just out of depression and the meditation process I started\u00a0practicing again. Thinking \u201cOh God, here\u2019s this complicated drummer. If I practice I\u2019ll really\u00a0alienate people\u201d. But the clinic area gave me an opportunity to grow in that direction. And\u00a0now I\u2019m just doing that without the support of the companies.<\/p>\n JD: How did the film Lunch Wagon play into the development of the band?<\/p>\n TB: Yeah you know Zappa was good enough to loan us his studio. He had just built this studio\u00a0in his house and one night we were up in his kitchen and somebody, maybe Gail mentioned\u00a0Ken Scott as a producer. So Zappa said \u201cHey, if you can get Ken Scott, why don\u2019t you bring\u00a0him up here? You can test out my studio, get all the bugs out since he\u2019s a really good\u00a0engineer. And then when I come back off the road, the studio will be up and running and you\u00a0can get a little demo out of it.\u201d So, from that we got involved with Ken Scott, cut the record,\u00a0and we didn\u2019t even have a name yet. We called ourselves US Drag which ended up being the\u00a0name of a tune. So even with Ken\u2019s power and connections in Hollywood, nobody would\u00a0sign us so we went independent and released our own little 45\u201d EP, and he said statistics are\u00a0showing that it takes about four weeks for a single to get imbedded into the public\u2019s mind,\u00a0but radio stations are only playing singles for two weeks. So we said why don\u2019t we take this\u00a0movie, we had been offered to do a bit part in a movie and play a couple of tunes, and that\u00a0just might be the little bit of publicity that we need to get us over the hump.<\/p>\n So what\u00a0happened was, we did this movie, it was a cheap stupid movie, and we forgot about it. We\u00a0built ourselves up from a grassroots effort, playing around town, going to number one on\u00a0three different radio stations independently. So we became famous and then the movie, at\u00a0the height of our fame comes out, featuring the music of Missing Persons [laughs]. So that\u2019s\u00a0how it came out. We were a little bit embarrassed by it at that time, but you know, it is what\u00a0it was. It\u2019s a learning experience and I did the best I could with what I had at the time. I\u2019m\u00a0pretty proud of everything I\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n JD: Awesome. Let\u2019s fast forward to today with the Composer Series. I have a couple more\u00a0questions about what you\u2019ve done and your career path, and then we can wrap it up.<\/p>\n TB: My first response to that is what career path? [laughs]. I\u2019m kind of just \u201ctake it all as it\u00a0comes\u201d. There\u2019s things I\u2019d like to do, but I\u2019ve found that pretty much anything that I try to will\u00a0to happen doesn\u2019t happen, but if you just kind of let go and let things fall into place,\u00a0somehow I end up being able to do the right thing or the right time.<\/p>\n JD: The Composer Series covers a lot of sonic ground. How do you feel that having released\u00a0this, getting it out into the world, will influence your future work?<\/p>\n TB: Well I think it already has. I\u2019ve probably got enough for another record in the can, and my\u00a0website is being redeveloped so I should be able to stream my own stuff in a month or so.\u00a0You know it\u2019s like my art or my drumming. I do the same thing every night, but different.\u00a0And that\u2019s really all I can say about it. I\u2019m not going to limit myself in ways to compose or\u00a0how I should record. You just do what you can with what you\u2019ve got at the moment. I have\u00a0great samples of my drums and I try to program them pretty much how I want to play them,\u00a0try and make it feel natural even though its programmed. Then I have tricks I use. Certain\u00a0things are live and others are a little bit more quantized, depending on what the piece calls\u00a0for to make it looser or not, and then there\u2019s the field recordings and found sounds, and the\u00a0atmosphere they create or what you might do to compile most of that to create a collage like\u00a0siren or orchid. The flute stuff, I have a bass clarinet. I haven\u2019t really recorded anything on\u00a0that yet, but I\u2019m learning how to control that beast and fool around with bass clarinet and\u00a0flute. But I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going, and I don\u2019t care where I\u2019m going. As\u00a0long as I can just do it. Then it becomes like a crossword puzzle. Once you\u2019ve got that one\u00a0word in there it has to fit vertically and horizontally. And you know it\u2019s the same thing with\u00a0music. You just chip away until the puzzle is complete.<\/p>\n JD: And you were the sole musician on the Composer Series right? So the \u2018Six Miniatures for\u00a0Guitar & Piano\u201d, that\u2019s you on both guitar and piano?<\/p>\n TB: Yeah, one note at a time. I wrote it on a midi-graph and just, one note at a time you work\u00a0it in. Play a little phrase and then go \u201cWhere\u2019s the next place that wants to go?\u201d. You hear it in\u00a0your head, you find the note on the keyboard and start from there. You have to study\u00a0composition to understand that things can be done backwards and forwards and upside\u00a0down, inverted, but it\u2019s mainly just an inner valid intuitive thing. Where do you want to go?\u00a0Ok this is busy, or this needs some space, or this is too much space so now I want to put\u00a0more notes in there or something. It\u2019s all about contrast. High, low. Fast, slow, thick or thin or\u00a0what have you. And it\u2019s the same with improvisation. You try to improvise in a compositional\u00a0manner. You don\u2019t just do some stupid lick you\u2019ve been practicing, scale form exercises or\u00a0something.<\/p>\n The last time I saw Michael Brecker before he died he was approaching complete\u00a0mastery. And looking at Slonimsky\u2019s books which had every permutation of one note to\u00a0another categorized. You try and break up these motifs or sections and mix them and match\u00a0them so that its surprising. The guys who inspired me never played the same thing twice, like\u00a0Miles [Davis] or Sam Rivers is another one who really could turn things around and not\u00a0repeat himself. Wayne Shorter, Coltrane may have studied Slonimsky\u2019s books. And I don\u2019t\u00a0know why, but those are my heroes. The guys who were the most meaningful to me.<\/p>\n Someone once asked [Igor] Stravinsky \u201cHow do you compose?\u201d and he said \u201cI compose by\u00a0an act of delectation\u201d. I looked that word up and it means to find delight in [laughs]. So you\u00a0can imagine him on a slightly out of tune upright piano with quieter strings so that it wasn\u2019t\u00a0loud because, you know, in those days it was entirely possible for another composer to\u00a0overhear your ideas and steal them. So he was just privately sticking his hands on the piano\u00a0until he decided \u201cAh yes I like this chord\u201d, and then you know something like \u2018The Right of\u00a0Spring\u2019 comes out of that. And then he said \u201cI also compare it to the act of a pig foraging for\u00a0truffles\u201d. You know you stick your nose in the dirt until you find something that smells good.\u00a0And when a giant like that brings it down to that level, it gives you the encouragement you\u00a0need to just go your own way. Because I\u2019m not Stravinsky, I never will be. I\u2019m not Zappa, you\u00a0know. I\u2019m just Terry. And where does Terry live? Somewhere deep inside. So I just let that\u00a0come out and try to make something out of it without worrying about techniques or rules or\u00a0any of that stuff. Just do it, you know. As long as it doesn\u2019t burn or get deleted, you know,\u00a0then somebody will find it someday and I will have left something that I think is beautiful.<\/p>\n You know you listen to this stuff over and over and you become acclimated to it, and it\u00a0becomes something that you like. And that\u2019s why I choose to release it. If it\u2019s something that I\u00a0just can\u2019t get anywhere with, even if I think this could be a hit, I just drop it and it doesn\u2019t get\u00a0developed. There are things I\u2019ve kept over the years and then someday I might pull up a\u00a0program of some tune that I\u2019ve done and I go \u201cWow, I know what to do with this now\u201d.<\/p>\n JD: I\u2019ve found that your song titles in the Composer Series are fascinating. I\u2019m curious as to\u00a0where some of these song titles came from. Specifically \u2018Music for Idiots\u2019, \u2018Cityscape\u2019, and the\u00a0three postcards from Japan.<\/p>\n TB: Yeah you know I married my Japanese wife Mayumi who I\u2019m so happy with, she\u2019s been so\u00a0supportive. I live part time in Japan at her house, so I\u2019ve been always very influenced by\u00a0Japan. Since I guess the 70\u2019s or so. I\u2019ve come to appreciate so much of their culture. So I\u00a0thought three postcards from Japan because I started to write something that had that vibe\u00a0to it. Ukiyo-e is the Japanese woodblock paintings which were a collaborative effort between\u00a0the artists who drew it initially and then a wood carver who would carve an identical\u00a0duplicate of the painting and then a person who controlled the ink part for the printing and\u00a0the several woodblocks that were overlaid on top of a piece of paper with little guide posts to\u00a0make sure it all lined up, and then a publisher who put it out on something like a postcard or\u00a0something.<\/p>\n So this art I really liked and the song seemed to have that feel to it, so I thought\u00a0why don\u2019t I do three postcards. Three experiences from Japan. The next one was the Matsuri\u00a0which is like a summer festival, which is like my impression of a street fair in Japan. Then the\u00a0next one was the haiku which is the Japanese poetry system of having five syllables, then\u00a0seven, then five. It really has to be meaningful and there can\u2019t be any repeats and it\u2019s got to\u00a0be the best possible way to do it. I\u2019m not a haiku artist, but I wanted to use the phrase 5, 7, 5\u00a0in the melody that flows over time. So the string melody, the first one is five notes, the next\u00a0one is seven, and then the third one is five.<\/p>\n It just seemed to make sense to me. I loved the\u00a0Stravinsky\u2019s Right of Spring and then I got a recording of it and read the liner notes and\u00a0found out that it was part ballet and this whole storyline and mythology that went along with\u00a0it about sacrifice and spring and rebirth and this kind of stuff, it made it more meaningful. I\u00a0try to put what\u2019s evocative in the music to me, I try and put that out there in terms of titles\u00a0and imagery, or implication towards the listener. But as I say in the liner notes, music is fine\u00a0by itself. It doesn\u2019t need any explanation. All of these things were written with the date that I\u00a0started composing it. I\u2019d be just as happy leaving it with the date and letting the listener make\u00a0up their mind. There\u2019s some sort of commercial compromise I guess, so I sort of titled the\u00a0after the fact. \u2018Cityscapes\u2019 is just a crazy program sound in Reason.<\/p>\n It started to do that, and I\u00a0liked what it did so I made the piece out of that. It just seemed busy and hustling, you know,\u00a0traffic lights at night and stuff. And music for idiots, I was like \u201cWhy am I doing this? No one is\u00a0going to listen to this.\u201d, I was going to put in parentheses \u201cnot you, you idiot\u201d [laughs]. It\u2019s like,\u00a0if you\u2019re listening to it, you\u2019re not an idiot. But no one is going to listen to it, so who cares\u00a0[laughs]. It has that sort of Stravinsky-esque foolish kind of dance section to it, so that\u2019s\u00a0where it was, and somewhat a call back to Zappa and his wonderful, sharp tongue.<\/p>\n JD: Great! What advice would you give to teenagers who are learning to play 90 to 100\u00a0minutes of Zappa music?<\/p>\n TB: Well it really all depends on what your intention is as a player. That\u2019s a very specific\u00a0compartment of my playing and my being. In my case with Zappa he was the conductor and\u00a0I was the guy in the orchestra. Whatever he wanted, went. If it was specific I\u2019d read it and play\u00a0it note for note. And if it wasn\u2019t, I was making up parts. If he liked it, it stayed. And that was\u00a0me, with his approval.<\/p>\n When it comes to that sort of classical discipline, you want to try and\u00a0make it as perfect as possible and put some feeling into it. Own it and make it yours. Zappa\u00a0was always talking about, you know style it, or smear it. Do something to it. Now you\u2019ve got\u00a0the notes. He would always say \u201cPut the eyebrows on it.\u201d, you know, referencing his big\u00a0bushy eyebrows. Give it your own style and character.<\/p>\n JD: At what point in your life did you feel like you could comfortably call yourself a\u00a0professional?<\/p>\n TB: Being a professional does not have a very high standard. I think by the time I finished\u00a0college I was calling myself a professional because I was, you know. I was making a living\u00a0playing music. So that was around 1972. I got a gig with Godspell, I played some little classical\u00a0things with local symphonies, I would do commercials and jingles and then I began jamming\u00a0with the great jazz players in San Francisco, and they liked me so I\u2019d get those gigs, and then\u00a0Zappa came. I mean I only made $400 per week when I played with Zappa and got paid\u00a0union scale for maybe 10 of the records. Now that there\u2019s more than that out there, I should\u00a0probably get a lawyer and look into it [laughs]. It\u2019s very difficult to make a living in music\u00a0these days. All it takes is somebody paying.<\/p>\n Of course the headspace for the young musician\u00a0is whatever the guy who is paying you says, is right, but that\u2019s all [laughs]. Just for that\u00a0situation, he\u2019s right. You go into the studio, this guy wants that, he\u2019s right. But when it comes\u00a0to developing your own individuality, that\u2019s something that came later. I wouldn\u2019t say that\u00a0mine came until 1979 or 1980 with UK and Missing Persons. It took me until around the time\u00a0I was almost 30 to say \u201cthis is an original idea where I\u2019m starting to compose linear melodic\u00a0parts\u201d. I really think kids should understand that music is like learning the alphabet. You put\u00a0small letters together to make words, and then you use these words to create a story, but\u00a0with music. And they really need to know how to mix and match those letters and how to\u00a0come up with something that is really interesting, or speak in metaphors as poets do to show\u00a0us something maybe we didn\u2019t think about. The way we teach is a very linear kind of way. My\u00a0motives at a young age were, \u201cI want to be rich and famous\u201d. When I was in eighth grade said\u00a0sit in at a graduation party and<\/p>\n I played \u2018Boys\u2019 by The Beatles and fifty people were standing\u00a0around with their mouths open. And you kind of get the hint, well maybe I should do this\u00a0because I\u2019m not very good at sports, I\u2019m not that popular, I\u2019m not very smart, and I\u2019m not\u00a0very good looking, but when I played the drums, everybody liked it. So you twist that to the\u00a0point where you end up being in Missing Persons trying to become famous and then you\u00a0learn that money and fame are very inconvenient and very problematic. The best thing is to\u00a0find something you really love to do and enjoy that process for the rest of your life. So if you\u00a0enjoy learning, if you enjoy the curiosity of music and what can be done with it, and stop\u00a0looking at it as something you have to do because someone says this is what you have to do\u00a0to be a professional, you know, learn it because you\u2019re curious about it and then I think you\u2019ll\u00a0have a much better creative sense and enable this inner voice to come out. These things are\u00a0not taught and are not encouraged. We have a society that wants somebody to come out of\u00a0college with a degree that will make them a slave for whatever discipline they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n Pharmaceuticals, etc. Pharmaceutical companies put big money into medical schools so that\u00a0they can get this guy out of it. And that\u2019s the way our society works. I started teaching\u00a0ostinatos at my clinics thinking that next year everyone will know because I\u2019m teaching them\u00a0just how bonehead simple this is to do, but nobody would take the time to do it, and now 25\u00a0years later I\u2019m alone doing this, and I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a good thing or a bad thing [laughs]\u00a0but I\u2019m happy doing what I do. That\u2019s ok. Some guy could appear tomorrow and do it much\u00a0better than me, and so be it, but right now I\u2019m just happy to be who I am doing what I do.<\/p>\n JD: Having gone so far out, away from pop music with the Composer Series, do you find it\u00a0challenging to go back to the basics and compose something that has to fit into a three\u00a0minute window, as say pop music?<\/p>\n TB: I think it would be very easy. I\u2019ve already done that. I have tons of tunes, maybe 30 tunes\u00a0that I still think are great, and only because some jerk at a record company didn\u2019t think it was\u00a0great, it\u2019s not out there. Or maybe the quality of my voice, which I would probably be on their\u00a0side of that argument, but I still do sing. There are times that I think about that. \u201cAh I should\u00a0take this song, and I should do a demo of it and send it to Nashville because it has that sort of\u00a0country-rock thing to it and blah, blah, blah.\u201d It just depends on the motivation at the time. If\u00a0I\u2019m really broke, maybe that\u2019d be a smart thing to do. I had a friend, Stephen Bruton who\u00a0died recently of cancer, who was a great musician with Bonnie Raitt and many of the others.<\/p>\n When I told him about this I said \u201cI\u2019ve got all these great little pop tunes and I was thinking\u00a0this guy or this chick could sing this, blah blah blah, but I don\u2019t have any connections in\u00a0Nashville\u201d. And he said well let\u2019s get together and do that. And, ah, I never did. At the time I\u00a0was getting a divorce and moving to L.A. again and all that junk, and then he died. That\u2019s still\u00a0in the back of my mind. There\u2019s a lot of things I\u2019ve written in that vein, and a lot of lyrics that\u00a0I\u2019ve written and a lot of spoken word poetry that I used in the Billy Sheehan project that are\u00a0still, you know, you just write one word and that tells you what the next word is going to be.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going. Then the end of the page seems to have some symbolic\u00a0sense, and so whether somebody else gets it or not is not my business, but I got that out. It\u00a0was coming from my subconscious, and that\u2019s important to me. There\u2019s many possibilities\u00a0for anything. I\u2019d love to do music for films. I think my music is great for film, but I don\u2019t have\u00a0the opportunity, or goesche to go and pitch myself to Hollywood. But my friend Patrick\u00a0O\u2019Hearn has been a very successful film scorer and composer. Somebody found him and\u00a0said this music is what I want for my movie, and so then basically he\u2019s good.<\/p>\n But I don\u2019t think I can play the game and sell myself. Like Joe Solomon said, he was asked about doing music\u00a0for films because his music is so cinematic, but he said \u201cNo, not for me.\u201d. Too many people\u00a0getting interfering in the process. People who don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing, telling me what\u00a0to do. Not for me. But at this point I\u2019m open to anything. I feel qualified and competent to try\u00a0anything that\u2019s thrown my way because I don\u2019t have to be a success. I can just try.<\/p>\n JD: This has been very wonderful speaking with you. I really appreciate you taking the time to\u00a0speak with us at In the Loop Magazine. We\u2019re looking forward to Monday!<\/p>\n TB: Thank you so much for this promotion. I\u2019ll see you Monday!<\/p>\n For ticket to Terry Bozzio at City Winery, click here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"14570775_10153844722867190_148766756592953556_o\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/14570775_10153844722867190_148766756592953556_o.jpg\")
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