TNYO: You created the riff for Genius of Love by the Tom Tom club how did that come about?
Adrian Belew: Chris and Tina the two people who began the Tom Tom Club the Bass player and the
drummer of the talking heads invited me to the Bahamas where the record was recorded and where they
lived.
The original idea was just to write some songs it wasn’t necessarily going to be a full record it was kind of
this idea of getting different people in and playing and I was the first up to bat and so you know the first
record or song that they did I co wrote with them.
TNYO: Why do you like to create animal sounds with your guitar?
Adrian Belew: You know its just something I found that I can do, I am very good at mimicking sounds and
I realize that the guitar is an excellent tool to do that.
I can do a whole catalog of sounds like animals or orchestral or percussive or electronic and as time went
on and I vindicated myself in the world of guitar I realized that you had to have something that’s all your
own you cant continue to play the same things that your predecessors playing that you learned from their
record’s so what I figured out which was special and unique is my love of sound. Pure sound. I tried to
make the sound of an elephant with my guitar, And then once I began to be successful at that I realized
well those things are only gimmicks unless you can put them into some musical format. You know you
have an elephant sound you write a song called elephant talk and that sound has an actual place to live and a
meaning to be there.
TNYO: Like so many artists that I know in so many genres of acting and film making
A lot of them do it because that’s just what they do and I don’t think money is the issue
Or reason why they started it.. It’s just what they do so they will continue to do that no matter what, do you
feel that way.. In other words if you weren’t making money or if you weren’t a famous guitarist would you
still play anyway?
Adrian Belew: Yes I am sure I would be playing guitar maybe not as a living but I am sure I would play
music because its in me and it wants to come out the more I have done in my life the more I have realized
that my work wouldn’t be as successful…. I have simply scaled my lifestyle to what I can do and I make a
very good living considering the strange music that I make.
TNYO: What was your first guitar?
Adrian Belew: My first Guitar was a Gibson Firebird which at the time was a fairly modern and unique
looking guitar like the Parker Fly is now and that guitar I bought for $170 at the time I paid ten dollars a
week on it.
TNYO: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
Adrian Belew: My advice is to work hard listen to things you love learn as much as you can from them and
then create something of your own.
Adrian Belew: Chris and Tina the two people who began the Tom Tom Club the Bass player and the
drummer of the talking heads invited me to the Bahamas where the record was recorded and where they
lived.
The original idea was just to write some songs it wasn’t necessarily going to be a full record it was kind of
this idea of getting different people in and playing and I was the first up to bat and so you know the first
record or song that they did I co wrote with them.
TNYO: Why do you like to create animal sounds with your guitar?
Adrian Belew: You know its just something I found that I can do, I am very good at mimicking sounds and
I realize that the guitar is an excellent tool to do that.
I can do a whole catalog of sounds like animals or orchestral or percussive or electronic and as time went
on and I vindicated myself in the world of guitar I realized that you had to have something that’s all your
own you cant continue to play the same things that your predecessors playing that you learned from their
record’s so what I figured out which was special and unique is my love of sound. Pure sound. I tried to
make the sound of an elephant with my guitar, And then once I began to be successful at that I realized
well those things are only gimmicks unless you can put them into some musical format. You know you
have an elephant sound you write a song called elephant talk and that sound has an actual place to live and a
meaning to be there.
TNYO: Like so many artists that I know in so many genres of acting and film making
A lot of them do it because that’s just what they do and I don’t think money is the issue
Or reason why they started it.. It’s just what they do so they will continue to do that no matter what, do you
feel that way.. In other words if you weren’t making money or if you weren’t a famous guitarist would you
still play anyway?
Adrian Belew: Yes I am sure I would be playing guitar maybe not as a living but I am sure I would play
music because its in me and it wants to come out the more I have done in my life the more I have realized
that my work wouldn’t be as successful…. I have simply scaled my lifestyle to what I can do and I make a
very good living considering the strange music that I make.
TNYO: What was your first guitar?
Adrian Belew: My first Guitar was a Gibson Firebird which at the time was a fairly modern and unique
looking guitar like the Parker Fly is now and that guitar I bought for $170 at the time I paid ten dollars a
week on it.
TNYO: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
Adrian Belew: My advice is to work hard listen to things you love learn as much as you can from them and
then create something of your own.
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| An Interview with Adrian Belew on His Solo Show Painting With The Guitar |
| I had the pleasure of seeing Adrian Belew perform his solo show at Joe's Pub last week Painting with a Guitar. Were happy to present to you a special and intimate interview with this creative and brilliant musician. |
| TNYO: Adrian Belew you completely blew me away at Joe’s Pub the other night Booom!! My mind was completely blown out. I just sat there in awe I tried to figure out how the music was making me feel and also trying to understand and make sense of what I was listening to, was there a name of the songs or the set of songs. |
Adrian Belew: No there’s not a name,
but we call the solo show "Painting With a Guitar"
Which is a reference to the paintings of mine that I brought
along and were on easels on stage the set is made up of a fair
amount of new material that I haven’t put on record yet and a
selection of music that I don’t usually do in concert. I try to shy
away from the things that my fans have heard me do with the
power trio which is my normal rock concert band or King
Crimson so this is a different presentation of music that no ones
ever heard.
but we call the solo show "Painting With a Guitar"
Which is a reference to the paintings of mine that I brought
along and were on easels on stage the set is made up of a fair
amount of new material that I haven’t put on record yet and a
selection of music that I don’t usually do in concert. I try to shy
away from the things that my fans have heard me do with the
power trio which is my normal rock concert band or King
Crimson so this is a different presentation of music that no ones
ever heard.
TNYO: My dad and my uncle were in a band called the Mellow
Tones my dad usually played lead and my uncle played rhythm
the sets they played were usually swing and jazz music which
was the popular music of their time. My uncle made guitars in
his back yard on a rotary saw in a little shed and he modeled the
guitars after Gibson’s, can you tell me a little bit about the guitar
and the setup you were using?
Tones my dad usually played lead and my uncle played rhythm
the sets they played were usually swing and jazz music which
was the popular music of their time. My uncle made guitars in
his back yard on a rotary saw in a little shed and he modeled the
guitars after Gibson’s, can you tell me a little bit about the guitar
and the setup you were using?
Adrian Belew: The guitar I was playing is the
Parker Fly Adrian Belew signature model.
It’s the first time that Parker has made an artists model, based
on the recommendations of the artist. The Parker Fly is in my
opinion the only revolutionary thing that’s captivated the world
of guitar and since the fifties most things as you said were
modeled after Gibson Style Guitars ever since then it just took
twenty years to sift through all the inherent problems that
electric guitars always had and fix every single one of them.
The Parker Fly is a thoroughly modern design, what I changed
about it has nothing really to do with the guitar itself. I love the
way it plays I love the way it feels I love the way it looks I just
updated some of the electronics put in Midi Pickups so I could
play through my guitar synthesizer and computer and a
sustaining pickup that I have become accustomed to for the past
ten twelve years and then I put on the latest state of the art
device called the veriax which models the sound of twenty
guitars like Gibson’s, Fenders, Rickenbakers, twelve strings and
all types of guitars. So that’s what I did to make it my own
model, the guitar itself as far as I am concerned is the best
guitar in the world it almost never goes out of tune, it actually
makes me play better. I am really proud to
have my name on one
Parker Fly Adrian Belew signature model.
It’s the first time that Parker has made an artists model, based
on the recommendations of the artist. The Parker Fly is in my
opinion the only revolutionary thing that’s captivated the world
of guitar and since the fifties most things as you said were
modeled after Gibson Style Guitars ever since then it just took
twenty years to sift through all the inherent problems that
electric guitars always had and fix every single one of them.
The Parker Fly is a thoroughly modern design, what I changed
about it has nothing really to do with the guitar itself. I love the
way it plays I love the way it feels I love the way it looks I just
updated some of the electronics put in Midi Pickups so I could
play through my guitar synthesizer and computer and a
sustaining pickup that I have become accustomed to for the past
ten twelve years and then I put on the latest state of the art
device called the veriax which models the sound of twenty
guitars like Gibson’s, Fenders, Rickenbakers, twelve strings and
all types of guitars. So that’s what I did to make it my own
model, the guitar itself as far as I am concerned is the best
guitar in the world it almost never goes out of tune, it actually
makes me play better. I am really proud to
have my name on one
TNYO: I noticed there are no dots on the fret board.
Adrian Belew: No that’s just one of the things that Ken Parker did to separate it from other guitars the fret
markers are at the top of the neck as you look down on the guitar so that you see them when your looking
down at your hands but you don’t see them from the front of the guitar.
TNYO: Adrian where are you from where did you grow up?
Adrian Belew: No that’s just one of the things that Ken Parker did to separate it from other guitars the fret
markers are at the top of the neck as you look down on the guitar so that you see them when your looking
down at your hands but you don’t see them from the front of the guitar.
TNYO: Adrian where are you from where did you grow up?
Adrian Belew: I grew up in northern Kentucky right across the Ohio river from Cincinnati, I have been
living in Nashville for 15 years now my wife’s family is from there so we set up a recording studio in our
home 15 years ago and we have been going at it ever since.
TNYO: How and when did you decide to become a professional musician?
Adrian Belew: Well I started playing at age 10 in the junior high school marching band as a drummer I
knew I wanted to play something in music, do something in music, but I wasn’t sure what. It was at age 14
when the Beatles arrived it took a hold of my world and I realized that’s what I wanted to do was become a
recording artist. By age 16 I was happily ensconced in my first teen band playing Beatle songs as the
drummer and singer.
But I couldn’t explain the songs I had in my head so I had to teach myself to play so at age 16 I took two
months and taught myself the basics of the instrument and started playing the songs that I could hear in my
head. Around that time frame the great guitarists of the sixties Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton,
they arrived on the scene and that convinced me that maybe the guitar was a voice so I started playing more
guitar.
TNYO: You mentioned that when you worked with Frank Zappa who was notorious for complicated
musical compositions, that you didn’t read any music, so you must have been born with perfect pitch.
Adrian Belew: I have Perfect relative pitch in other words if I take the strings off my guitar which I do
pretty much after every show when I restring it, it will be right in perfect pitch where the e string will be
right where its supposed to be. I don’t think I have perfect pitch otherwise but I guess that after 35 – 40
years of tuning instruments you finally get close to perfect pitch. What I do have and had, as a kid was some
sort of understanding of harmonization and things like that so it was there for me to tap into although I
never had formal training. I instinctively understood when I heard records I understood where the
harmony should be and I understood things about rhythms that an ordinary person probably wouldn’t
know.
TNYO: Can you tell me about one of your craziest nights on tour?
Adrian Belew: (Giggles) Wow Craziest nights on tour? Gee you should read my blog its full of anecdotes
from all of the different things I have done, I would probably point back to playing Madison Square Garden
with David Bowie which was a memorable crazy night with an audience full of famous people like Andy
Warhol, Dustin Hoffman, Mick Jagger, just a super huge event. That’s the kind of thing that sticks with
you, most of my shows I try to make them not to crazy so that they can actually be what they are supposed
to be. I am concerned with the quality of the performance.
TNYO: What was Frank Zappa Like?
Adrian Belew: Well first and foremost a genius of course
Musically speaking, he took me under his wing and he was very generous to me
He was a great teacher and motivator. He told me a lot of story’s which generally were funny story’s but
they had lessons to be learned in them. It was one year in my life which I finally did get some kind of
training like having a college crash course in music.. I went to the school of Zappa Music you know it was a
lot to learn but not just about the music Frank was also open with his thoughts on how to run your own
business with him I did a lot of things I made records I made a movie I went through the mastering
process with him for one of his records I traveled the world so it was a daily lesson on how to be a
professional musician and recording artist
TNYO: Did you meet Steve Vai who was another Zappa Musician?
Adrian Belew: Ya I met him a few years after I was with the band and then Steve got in the band and then
we crossed paths many times since yes he’s a good friend of mine.
TNYO: You mentioned you’re a fan of bands like the Beatles The Rolling Stones
What do you think of bands like Radio Head?
Adrian Belew: Well I think they are a logical progression of a lot of music that I like
They’re a great band of course and they have some originality. A lot of bands today are just derivatives of
music that I grew up with, which is a little bit unfortunate I think because if you have the real thing then the
derivative thing is not all that interesting, so it takes a good band like Radio Head one of the few bands that I
can think of that make me perk up and listen.
TNYO: What would you classify your music as
Adrian Belew: Whenever people ask me I call it intelligent rock music.. See I know that’s an oxy moron
(giggles) I believe its been classified as hard rock or progressive but I still don’t really feel like its in either of
those categories
King Krimson at one point in time before I joined the band was the leader of progressive rock music but
the music that we have made in the last 28 years or the music that I have made on my own doesn’t really fit
that categorization.. I don’t know I hope its just its own kind of music I don’t really have a name for it.
TNYO: I heard a lot of ascending and descending scales and a lot of the rhythms that you were playing that
reminded me a little bit of worker bees building colony’s is there a similar feel in what you see and hear in
those songs that your constructing?
Adrian Belew: My attitude toward song writing and composing has a visual aspect to it
To stir the imagination of the listener most of my music I think is at heart cinematic
And could easily be adapted to film scores and things like that.
I try to just take pictures with the music that are open to interpretation I don’t like to take away the
imagination from the listener so even in my lyrics I try very hard to make sure that I don’t strip the listener
bare of any imagination I try to make a lot of my lyrics more general or metaphorical so there’s still
something in there that you can twist your own way.
TNYO: Well you took me on a journey with the music that you were playing that night
You mentioned you were putting together a rock opera in Amsterdam can you tell me a little about that?
living in Nashville for 15 years now my wife’s family is from there so we set up a recording studio in our
home 15 years ago and we have been going at it ever since.
TNYO: How and when did you decide to become a professional musician?
Adrian Belew: Well I started playing at age 10 in the junior high school marching band as a drummer I
knew I wanted to play something in music, do something in music, but I wasn’t sure what. It was at age 14
when the Beatles arrived it took a hold of my world and I realized that’s what I wanted to do was become a
recording artist. By age 16 I was happily ensconced in my first teen band playing Beatle songs as the
drummer and singer.
But I couldn’t explain the songs I had in my head so I had to teach myself to play so at age 16 I took two
months and taught myself the basics of the instrument and started playing the songs that I could hear in my
head. Around that time frame the great guitarists of the sixties Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton,
they arrived on the scene and that convinced me that maybe the guitar was a voice so I started playing more
guitar.
TNYO: You mentioned that when you worked with Frank Zappa who was notorious for complicated
musical compositions, that you didn’t read any music, so you must have been born with perfect pitch.
Adrian Belew: I have Perfect relative pitch in other words if I take the strings off my guitar which I do
pretty much after every show when I restring it, it will be right in perfect pitch where the e string will be
right where its supposed to be. I don’t think I have perfect pitch otherwise but I guess that after 35 – 40
years of tuning instruments you finally get close to perfect pitch. What I do have and had, as a kid was some
sort of understanding of harmonization and things like that so it was there for me to tap into although I
never had formal training. I instinctively understood when I heard records I understood where the
harmony should be and I understood things about rhythms that an ordinary person probably wouldn’t
know.
TNYO: Can you tell me about one of your craziest nights on tour?
Adrian Belew: (Giggles) Wow Craziest nights on tour? Gee you should read my blog its full of anecdotes
from all of the different things I have done, I would probably point back to playing Madison Square Garden
with David Bowie which was a memorable crazy night with an audience full of famous people like Andy
Warhol, Dustin Hoffman, Mick Jagger, just a super huge event. That’s the kind of thing that sticks with
you, most of my shows I try to make them not to crazy so that they can actually be what they are supposed
to be. I am concerned with the quality of the performance.
TNYO: What was Frank Zappa Like?
Adrian Belew: Well first and foremost a genius of course
Musically speaking, he took me under his wing and he was very generous to me
He was a great teacher and motivator. He told me a lot of story’s which generally were funny story’s but
they had lessons to be learned in them. It was one year in my life which I finally did get some kind of
training like having a college crash course in music.. I went to the school of Zappa Music you know it was a
lot to learn but not just about the music Frank was also open with his thoughts on how to run your own
business with him I did a lot of things I made records I made a movie I went through the mastering
process with him for one of his records I traveled the world so it was a daily lesson on how to be a
professional musician and recording artist
TNYO: Did you meet Steve Vai who was another Zappa Musician?
Adrian Belew: Ya I met him a few years after I was with the band and then Steve got in the band and then
we crossed paths many times since yes he’s a good friend of mine.
TNYO: You mentioned you’re a fan of bands like the Beatles The Rolling Stones
What do you think of bands like Radio Head?
Adrian Belew: Well I think they are a logical progression of a lot of music that I like
They’re a great band of course and they have some originality. A lot of bands today are just derivatives of
music that I grew up with, which is a little bit unfortunate I think because if you have the real thing then the
derivative thing is not all that interesting, so it takes a good band like Radio Head one of the few bands that I
can think of that make me perk up and listen.
TNYO: What would you classify your music as
Adrian Belew: Whenever people ask me I call it intelligent rock music.. See I know that’s an oxy moron
(giggles) I believe its been classified as hard rock or progressive but I still don’t really feel like its in either of
those categories
King Krimson at one point in time before I joined the band was the leader of progressive rock music but
the music that we have made in the last 28 years or the music that I have made on my own doesn’t really fit
that categorization.. I don’t know I hope its just its own kind of music I don’t really have a name for it.
TNYO: I heard a lot of ascending and descending scales and a lot of the rhythms that you were playing that
reminded me a little bit of worker bees building colony’s is there a similar feel in what you see and hear in
those songs that your constructing?
Adrian Belew: My attitude toward song writing and composing has a visual aspect to it
To stir the imagination of the listener most of my music I think is at heart cinematic
And could easily be adapted to film scores and things like that.
I try to just take pictures with the music that are open to interpretation I don’t like to take away the
imagination from the listener so even in my lyrics I try very hard to make sure that I don’t strip the listener
bare of any imagination I try to make a lot of my lyrics more general or metaphorical so there’s still
something in there that you can twist your own way.
TNYO: Well you took me on a journey with the music that you were playing that night
You mentioned you were putting together a rock opera in Amsterdam can you tell me a little about that?
Adrian Belew: Well its not a rock opera, it’s a symphonic piece, it’s already on record with my rock trio its
called e just a lower case letter e it’s a 43 minute piece of music in five sections I have developed over the last
three years for the power trio in particular but as I mentioned in concert I also had an eye towards music
that could be orchestrated for an orchestra so what I am doing on February 27th in Amsterdam is I am
going to be the guest guitarist in front of a 40 piece orchestra playing my own 43 minute piece of music
called e. It’s going to be a milestone in my career and its something I am very excited about and a little
anxious about.
TNYO: I hope we can get to Amsterdam to see that.
Adrian Belew: I am hoping to film the actual performance and make a DVD about it
I can’t promise that for sure but that’s something I am talking about with the people that are putting this
whole thing together.
TNYO: ‘’GUITAR GOD’’ I would definitely say that you are one, what’s it like to be a guitar god
Adrian Belew: Well Frankly I never really think of my self that way its always a nice compliment for
someone to list me as one of the guitarists that they like, its hard for me to put myself in the category of
guitar gods because as I mentioned earlier I grew up listening to Jimmy Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Eric
Clapton and they are hard to follow.
I really think of myself as more of a recording artist that uses his guitar as his primary tool but if you want to
call me a Guitar god then I am happy to except that honor.
TNYO: I absolutely will your one of the tops in our book,
Question if you weren’t a musician what would you be?
Adrian Belew: I have no idea, I mean if there’s one thing I could think of …..
I am not sure … how far down the list I would fall, I have a lot of vintage cars and trains maybe I would be
something in that business, I love animation maybe I could be something in that business I love reading
books, maybe I would be an author, I have been doing a lot of painting in the last five years maybe that’s
something I would have chose as a profession. I cant see myself being a professional something like an
attorney or a doctor or something like that my choices would always be something on the artistic romantic
side.
TNYO: How many gigs do you play a year?
Adrian Belew: Probably 60, 60 to 70 shows a year sometimes it can be like 90 to 100 but I try to keep it
down so that I am home more often than not and I have my studio at home so when I am actually
recording and making records I am able to be home with my family
called e just a lower case letter e it’s a 43 minute piece of music in five sections I have developed over the last
three years for the power trio in particular but as I mentioned in concert I also had an eye towards music
that could be orchestrated for an orchestra so what I am doing on February 27th in Amsterdam is I am
going to be the guest guitarist in front of a 40 piece orchestra playing my own 43 minute piece of music
called e. It’s going to be a milestone in my career and its something I am very excited about and a little
anxious about.
TNYO: I hope we can get to Amsterdam to see that.
Adrian Belew: I am hoping to film the actual performance and make a DVD about it
I can’t promise that for sure but that’s something I am talking about with the people that are putting this
whole thing together.
TNYO: ‘’GUITAR GOD’’ I would definitely say that you are one, what’s it like to be a guitar god
Adrian Belew: Well Frankly I never really think of my self that way its always a nice compliment for
someone to list me as one of the guitarists that they like, its hard for me to put myself in the category of
guitar gods because as I mentioned earlier I grew up listening to Jimmy Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Eric
Clapton and they are hard to follow.
I really think of myself as more of a recording artist that uses his guitar as his primary tool but if you want to
call me a Guitar god then I am happy to except that honor.
TNYO: I absolutely will your one of the tops in our book,
Question if you weren’t a musician what would you be?
Adrian Belew: I have no idea, I mean if there’s one thing I could think of …..
I am not sure … how far down the list I would fall, I have a lot of vintage cars and trains maybe I would be
something in that business, I love animation maybe I could be something in that business I love reading
books, maybe I would be an author, I have been doing a lot of painting in the last five years maybe that’s
something I would have chose as a profession. I cant see myself being a professional something like an
attorney or a doctor or something like that my choices would always be something on the artistic romantic
side.
TNYO: How many gigs do you play a year?
Adrian Belew: Probably 60, 60 to 70 shows a year sometimes it can be like 90 to 100 but I try to keep it
down so that I am home more often than not and I have my studio at home so when I am actually
recording and making records I am able to be home with my family
TNYO: The show at Joes Pub you had some of your paintings on stage they had a childlike playfulness a
quality I love in art, the couple at my table were asking if they could buy them and I heard many people in
the crowd saying the same thing.
I was thinking that children are the greatest artists, they are pure and untouched by influences and
preconceptions giving the art they create a certain truth that’s hard to find in adults, whats your take on this?
Adrian Belew: I think that my art (paintings) probably is pure because I don’t really know what im doing,
so pretty much every time I go about making a painting I am experimenting and trying things and
changing things around until it looks the way I would like it to look, I am kind of child like in the way that I
do the paintings.
I paint them really for the joy of being creative; I don’t have any intentions of really selling the paintings as
much as I have the desire to keep them in my house.
TNYO: Can you tell me a little bit about your process when your making art,
Adrian Belew: Well when I am painting I make them in my studio in the same place where I make music I
have a corner set aside and I take the canvas that I am working on and just lay it on the floor I don’t put it
up on an easel, for me I just like to get down there on my hands and knees and getting down there into the
painting then starting to work.
I put materials in with the paint like sand or pumus or gloss, sometimes I like to control the flow of the
paint like drips and sometimes I will take the canvas outside and wash some of it off. I do a lot of
experimental alchemy to get it to do things interestingly
Like layers that will cause the painting to have more of a dimensional effect to it
I really for the most part consider my paintings to be abstract I usually don’t try to paint something like the
way it should look.
Most of the time they are happy accidents.
TNYO: How do you end up winding down after a show?
Adrian Belew: Oh.. well.. I always have a book I am reading, I am a voracious reader these days I have
been reading with my ipad so I don’t have to carry books around I have many of them in ebook form, but I
am still very attached to books themselves I like to collect them I like the tactile quality of having pages that
you can turn.
Usually at the show ill have a drink or two read some and that’s it.
TNYO: How old are you Adrian?
Adrian Belew: I am 60 years old going on 16.
TNYO: You look great!!! Question do women ever throw panties or bras at you when you’re jamming on
stage.
Adrian Belew: (laughs) No it’s not that kind of band.
TNYO: At the show I was hearing a lot of women getting excited yelping and making all kinds of weird
noises while you were up on stage.
Adrian Belew: Well I do have some female fans, a lot of younger fans are coming on board, my audience
runs the gamut really I have people that remember me from way back in the Frank Zappa days and people
that have just heard of me yesterday, it’s a broad audience and I am really happy with my audience.
TNYO: Is there someone you would like to jam with that you haven’t yet?
Adrian Belew: Not really, there are people that I admire there are a lot of great artists out there more than
anything I prefer to meet artists and become their friends like I love the Beatles music, it would be nice to
get to know one of them. Jeff Beck is my favorite Guitar player but he is a good friend of mine and I would
almost rather just hang out and be friends than try to make a project happen but having said that you know
there are many things out there happening. There are a number of collaborations out there that will still
happen that I am not aware of. I am so busy with the irons that I have in the fire already, and I am
completely happy with the work that’s on my plate.
quality I love in art, the couple at my table were asking if they could buy them and I heard many people in
the crowd saying the same thing.
I was thinking that children are the greatest artists, they are pure and untouched by influences and
preconceptions giving the art they create a certain truth that’s hard to find in adults, whats your take on this?
Adrian Belew: I think that my art (paintings) probably is pure because I don’t really know what im doing,
so pretty much every time I go about making a painting I am experimenting and trying things and
changing things around until it looks the way I would like it to look, I am kind of child like in the way that I
do the paintings.
I paint them really for the joy of being creative; I don’t have any intentions of really selling the paintings as
much as I have the desire to keep them in my house.
TNYO: Can you tell me a little bit about your process when your making art,
Adrian Belew: Well when I am painting I make them in my studio in the same place where I make music I
have a corner set aside and I take the canvas that I am working on and just lay it on the floor I don’t put it
up on an easel, for me I just like to get down there on my hands and knees and getting down there into the
painting then starting to work.
I put materials in with the paint like sand or pumus or gloss, sometimes I like to control the flow of the
paint like drips and sometimes I will take the canvas outside and wash some of it off. I do a lot of
experimental alchemy to get it to do things interestingly
Like layers that will cause the painting to have more of a dimensional effect to it
I really for the most part consider my paintings to be abstract I usually don’t try to paint something like the
way it should look.
Most of the time they are happy accidents.
TNYO: How do you end up winding down after a show?
Adrian Belew: Oh.. well.. I always have a book I am reading, I am a voracious reader these days I have
been reading with my ipad so I don’t have to carry books around I have many of them in ebook form, but I
am still very attached to books themselves I like to collect them I like the tactile quality of having pages that
you can turn.
Usually at the show ill have a drink or two read some and that’s it.
TNYO: How old are you Adrian?
Adrian Belew: I am 60 years old going on 16.
TNYO: You look great!!! Question do women ever throw panties or bras at you when you’re jamming on
stage.
Adrian Belew: (laughs) No it’s not that kind of band.
TNYO: At the show I was hearing a lot of women getting excited yelping and making all kinds of weird
noises while you were up on stage.
Adrian Belew: Well I do have some female fans, a lot of younger fans are coming on board, my audience
runs the gamut really I have people that remember me from way back in the Frank Zappa days and people
that have just heard of me yesterday, it’s a broad audience and I am really happy with my audience.
TNYO: Is there someone you would like to jam with that you haven’t yet?
Adrian Belew: Not really, there are people that I admire there are a lot of great artists out there more than
anything I prefer to meet artists and become their friends like I love the Beatles music, it would be nice to
get to know one of them. Jeff Beck is my favorite Guitar player but he is a good friend of mine and I would
almost rather just hang out and be friends than try to make a project happen but having said that you know
there are many things out there happening. There are a number of collaborations out there that will still
happen that I am not aware of. I am so busy with the irons that I have in the fire already, and I am
completely happy with the work that’s on my plate.
TNYO: Can you tell me a little about King Krimson your relationship with the band and how that all came
about?
Adrian Belew: Well it came about probably in the 80’s my band opened for them for five shows and I think
at the end of those five shows he realized that I was a writer and a singer and a front man not just a guitar
player so then he invited me to be in the band.
So 28 years later were still making music together so it worked out really well. I consider King Crimson to
be easily a half of my legacy and Im really proud of the music and being in that band, for me it’s a band that
makes no compromises we do our own music the way we want without any regard for commercialism or
anything like that and in that sense we can go back to the word pure if you like.
I am waiting right now to see if Wayne Roberts would like to do a solo gig if and when.
about?
Adrian Belew: Well it came about probably in the 80’s my band opened for them for five shows and I think
at the end of those five shows he realized that I was a writer and a singer and a front man not just a guitar
player so then he invited me to be in the band.
So 28 years later were still making music together so it worked out really well. I consider King Crimson to
be easily a half of my legacy and Im really proud of the music and being in that band, for me it’s a band that
makes no compromises we do our own music the way we want without any regard for commercialism or
anything like that and in that sense we can go back to the word pure if you like.
I am waiting right now to see if Wayne Roberts would like to do a solo gig if and when.
TNYO: You have over 20 solo albums that’s a prolific career; do you have a favorite album?
Adrian Belew: Right now my current favorite is Obzoptowa which is… well I guess that record is probably
ten years old now but I have returned to it for some of the material that I am playing in this one man show
and I am really excited about the way that record was put together like one conceptual piece with no breaks
in between songs or interrupted by other songs and come back later with little bits that happen in between
songs. The production techniques that I used which were a bit Zappa’esque.. I am very pleased with that, I
am always happy with my solo records because I don’t put them out until I am happy with them and I
have tried very hard to get them exactly where I want so that later I don’t have any regrets
TNYO: Obzoptowa is there a meaning for that?
Adrian Belew: No a childhood friend of mine and I had a very long list of gibberish words put together and
the part of it that I remember is Obzoptowa.
Adrian Belew: Right now my current favorite is Obzoptowa which is… well I guess that record is probably
ten years old now but I have returned to it for some of the material that I am playing in this one man show
and I am really excited about the way that record was put together like one conceptual piece with no breaks
in between songs or interrupted by other songs and come back later with little bits that happen in between
songs. The production techniques that I used which were a bit Zappa’esque.. I am very pleased with that, I
am always happy with my solo records because I don’t put them out until I am happy with them and I
have tried very hard to get them exactly where I want so that later I don’t have any regrets
TNYO: Obzoptowa is there a meaning for that?
Adrian Belew: No a childhood friend of mine and I had a very long list of gibberish words put together and
the part of it that I remember is Obzoptowa.
