08/12/2019 14:20:04 C
Favourite episode(s) of The Twilight Zone? Have you seen the new series (2019)? I haven't seen it but I think every attempt of a revival has been a total disaster.
The Living Doll, The Dummy, The Obsolete Man, A Most Unusual Camera, A Piano In The House, The Eye of The Beholder, Time Enough At Last…so many good ones. I’m not big on those revival approaches. I’m a traditionalist.
08/12/2019 13:12:44 Inis
A 2016 survey found that 59.9% of people with the surname Dunn (sample size 42096) declared political affiliation with the Republican party. Do you believe in nailing your political colours to the proverbial mast or do you prefer to keep politics personal?
That statistic probably has something to do with that surname having Scottish roots and those that have it presiding in the South of the US. I prefer to keep politics personal or at least among friends. Social media is far to volatile and opinionated to get any real talk done. I’m also not so self-absorbed that I feel the need to fly my colors for all to see and comment on.
08/12/2019 11:42:33 Michael
Hey Trevor!
Just wondering what you think of the Swans. They seem like a group you would either love or hate. But in the end im not you and have no idea.
Love the Swans. I got into them late and certainly don’t have their entire catalogue. It’s pretty intense music and, for me, sometimes less is more. One of the loudest and best sounding shows I’ve ever seen at the Masonic Auditorium in Brooklyn several years back for their first reunion.
08/12/2019 10:34:28 Toma2003
Hey Trev, i've been listening to Mr. Bungle basically since i was 12 and was asking if there is more old patton material from the mid-late 80's like the one, that just unearthed a couple days ago.
You think I have an archive of Patton material? I certainly have a lot of old Bungle tapes with rehearsals and unused riffs on them, but those are my property and also not exclusively “Patton” material. Have you purchased every single recording I’m on? Why not start there?
08/27/2019 8:23:21 Enrique
Where does "There's a tractor in my balls again" come from? Inside joke between band members? Early idea for a song lyric? Owned the shirt and it always bugged me.
It’s a shirt.
08/26/2019 12:13:42 mac
Do you have any advice for a sad chump who did not get picked for the lottery after three days and three attempts securing a ticket for the MB reunion?
Fix the system. I’m actually pretty pissed off about the whole scalping debacle and also some of the fans reactions. Everyone seems to have their suggested solutions but they don’t consider the all the problems those “solutions” have. As long as people keep buying from scalpers those scalpers will have jobs. I come from an era where you’d buy paper tickets at a record store and carry it with you to the show. Of course, most shows I go to are obscure artists who don’t sell out immediately. That’s where you gotta adapt the “98 Year Old Refrigerator” mentality. I’ll do my best to help fix this problem if I’m ever part of something like this again.
08/24/2019 7:36:45 Jorge Castro
Hello trevor. As a huge can of your career and musicianship, i am really glad that your Back on Q/A on your website. When you are on tour, how you manage to switch your mind to play different kinds of music? And this question also implies The instruments. Sometimes you play electric Bass or Double Bass? I also play both, started as well with electric but i rarely study E-bass. Only Double Bass. As a daily routine, you dedicate your attention to both?
Because of your “Classical music” training, did your conceived The idea of making auditions to professional orchestras?
Maybe someday we can manage to play some bottesini’s concerto for 2 basses!
You pinpoint the most difficult aspect of playing different kinds of music. There is not so much ‘in the mind’ I need to change. Music is music after all; rhythm is rhythm regardless of genre. Switching between two physically different instruments is the real challenge. For that I rely on warming up —preferably slowly, and getting my hands adjusted to the neck/fingerboard of any given bass. Simple scales and chromatic exercises are perfect for that.
I used to have more time to practice and there was a period where I was spending many hours on both electric and upright basses (four hours on upright then four hours on electric). These days I dedicate any practice time to upright as it is the most challenging and nothing beats classical technique for getting your chops in shape. I often practice orchestral excerpts and image that if I ever retire it will include joining an orchestra and chilling with some Shostakovich. And yes, bring on the Bottesini!
08/23/2019 20:15:30 Kitchens
Hello Trevor,
When did you first meet Buzz Osborne?
Late ‘90s in the back alley behind Slim’s in SF, probably after a Melvins show. I do remember him coming backstage after Bungle’s Warfield show in ‘92 and handing out pixy stix to all of us, but I can’t say I actually met him then, or if I am hallucinating any or all of that.
08/22/2019 8:16:37 Whysee
Hey there, are you gonna play cello with Patton on Mondo Cane in two next shows in Italy ? Thanks
Certainly not, mostly because I don’t play cello.
08/19/2019 8:57:06 Ben
Hey Trevor! Super excited to be lucky enough to score a ticket to the SF Bungle show in February despite the fuckery of the scalper bots.
Given how much time had passed, I'm curious if you were surprised at the overwhelming response fans had to these three shows--especially considering not as many of them are familiar with "Raging Wrath" material? Regardless, I am excited to hear you guys revisit it.
I won't hold my breath for any new material, but if it does come to pass I hereby release you to use "fuckery of the scalper bots" as a song title.
I personally was very surprised by the response and still slightly cautious that many will be disappointed when we don’t play anything from our records. People don’t like to read apparently, whether it be a flyer, press release, email or fine print. Congrats on getting tickets!
08/19/2019 7:44:28 Pee poo caca in pant
Any tips on how to decipher ma meeshka mow skwoz ??? Veery curious :,))
Nope. Not one.
08/18/2019 12:57:49
HiHow the hell did you make time to hang out with your mates when you were little, you and trey must have hidden in your rooms for hours daily, year on year studying/ practicing music? in fact how the hell did you make time for a band.
My mates were/are my bandmates. I lived and breathed music —still do, to be honest. Socializing has always been on the back burner for me. I remember realizing at a a young age while I was practicing indoors and the neighborhood kids were all outside playing baseball that this was a choice I was going to stick with. We made time for a band because it’s what we wanted to do. I managed to make a living playing music so that I could fund other weird stuff. But back then I didn’t party at all. Hanging out is over-rated.
08/18/2019 4:44:44 Patrick Hoolign
Hi Trevor! Thank you so much for the music you have provided the world over the last *gasp! 40 some odd years! I am a bassist and guitarist and have played since youth and gotta say that your riffs have blown my brain out over the years. As a Thrash fan and performer, I couldn't be more excited about the one off Mr. Bungle shows upcoming in 2020 (cya in NYC!). Obviously having Dave and Scott involved just solidifies the Thrash motif you guys will be displaying and I was hoping you might elaborate on particular songs/albums from the 80's Metal era that you loved. One off albums that shaped my playing were: Overkill (Years of decay), Flotsam and Jetsam (Doomsday for the Deceiver), Sacred Reich (The American Way [always loved the MP and MB mention in 31 flavors] and Surf Nicaragua). Thanks for entertaining throughout the years!
My favorite ‘80s “thrash” bands were Mercyful Fate (Melissa, Don’t Break The Oath) and Exodus (Bonded By Blood). I was also into crossover-era DRI and COC — especially COC’s Animosity. Also, from Germany, Destruction’s Infernal Overkill. I would say in general that a lot of my riffage as a young tyke was influenced by Exodus, but I was listening to all kinds of thrash and punk back then: Hirax, Exciter, Raven, 7 Seconds, Discharge, GBH…..
08/17/2019 17:58:08 Daniel Gesiewski
Hi Trevor. . This may be a dumb question out of all the things more important I can ask but I must ask. As a professional musician have you ever been amazed by the music of Gentle Giant? I listened to them almost all through high school and could not keep away. Kerry Minnear's compositions, Ray Schulman's bass, all of them being multi instrumentalist. Were you ever into Gentle Giant?
I missed Gentle Giant and now I’m not really in the headspace for that style, all due respect. I suppose my prog mind was in other places back in the day. It goes without saying that they know what they’re doing and they’re good at it.
08/17/2019 15:37:37 Jeffery
I’m a huge fan of your work with John Zorn. I’ve been curious for a while about Six Litanies for Heliogabalus. Were all the parts completely written by Mr. Zorn or did you have any input on the bass lines?
As with most of Zorn’s music that I play there is a mix. For the most part everything is written, although sometimes I’ll show up and he’ll ask for variations or to disregard the bassline altogether and play another written line or something else that he feels important in the arrangement. I often have input in the lines and sometimes he’ll ask specifically for the “Dunn variations”. Six Litanies happens to be my favorite Moonchild record.
08/17/2019 10:24:15 ralph
howdy,
if you could form a group with only people you haven't yet played with, who would you get? which guitarists are your favorite to play with?thanks for all the music. saw endangered blood in Oakland recently and I left wobbly from how great it was. hope to see you get an sfjazz resident artistic director slot one of these days.
One great thing about having a residency at the Stone in NY is that you can hire whoever you want, which is basically what I did. I don’t get to play with Gerald Cleaver enough. There are too many I have never played with to list. Basically everyone. As far as guitarists I love Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, Nels Cline, Wendy Eisenberg…..
08/12/2019 5:33:11 Whysee
Hi Trevor,
When did you know you were going to make a living as a musician ?
What do you think might be your biggest accomplishment as an artist ?
What goals would you like to achieve as a musician ?
I quit a job at a pizza joint to join a bar band that paid better and took less time which helped while I was in college. I suppose at that point, aged 18, I figured it was at least a good possibility I could continue making a living this way. Can’t say I ever “knew” I was going to do it — every year of my adult life has been a guessing game in terms of income.
Biggest accomplishment? Wow. I don’t know how to answer that. It depends on what that word means. I like to credit myself for initially putting Mr. Bungle together (I arranged our very first jam session) so that could be it. Making a living playing weird music in general could be one as well.
I would like to achieve a wider understanding of music, a better ear and ability to manifest in sound what I hear in my head.
08/12/2019 5:12:12 Caitlin O'Connor
Mr. Dunn,
I appreciate all of your incredible contributions to music through the years! I've thoroughly enjoyed your many projects...
Regarding the recent Bungle Tweet teasing (insert your eyeroll here), do you enjoy our pain? Haha
Onto the serious: sadly, I have you to see you perform live! Will you be taking any of your projects- Nocturnes, etc... on the road (U.S. tour) anytime soon? Thanks so much and keep fighting the good fight for worthwhile music!
I do enjoy your pain! :D I can’t deny a bit of sado-masochism on my part. Certainly some power issues going on there. I’ll talk to my therapist.
It’s quite difficult to bring projects like my chamber music on the road. It’s expensive and difficult to get the right money and circumstances for the performers. Hopefully that will change over time as I become a respected classical composer and the commissions start flooding in :D I’m hoping my trio-convulsant will see some touring time in the near future.
08/12/2019 4:14:18 Samuel
I've been wondering about how you approach structure and form in your compositions and improvisations. How often do you plan a piece's global form from the outset, and when you do, what are your methods or strategies/what do you think about? Is there a common thread running through your approaches to chamber music like Nocturnes, through head/improv formats like in Trio Convulsant and through your free improvisations?
Or is the global form in your music often just an organic result of its smaller-scale structures? Maybe your approach has changed over time (e.g. earlier Bungle stuff sounds quite episodic, but pieces like Phlegmatics and Carry Stress sound quite carefully devised).
You are not incorrect in the design of those Bungle songs. And my general answer to you is that it depends. I’ve used both design and intuition. I like classic forms as well as trying to devise new ones. The trio-convulsant book is a deliberate attempt at a different form for each piece partially to avoid a head-solo-head redundancy. Sometimes I map out a form in advance. For example “The Empty Glass Has A Name” is essentially a passacaglia. Phegmatics was mapped out as a graph score before I started writing notes. I consider that more episodic. The Nocturnes have the continuity of melody, repeated sections, often some variation of A(A)BA, etc. I also have a hard time straying from a compositional mind-set when improvising. I like themes and circularity and variation.
Often I start with random, intuitive themes and those somehow inform the rest of the piece. They might dictate certain variations or contrarily stagnation. I do find form an aspect of music that is taken for granted and try to keep my own music fresh by focusing on it. I recently realized I don’t think I’ve ever written a song that starts with the chorus or uses only two chords, so I should explore that among other things.
08/12/2019 3:21:11 Ron
What would be your chosen survival strategy in the event of a zombie apocalypse?
I find giving up right away somewhat appealing. As in, just jump in a get eaten/turned out. Why prolong the terror? On the other hand it’s that natural survivalist instinct we all have that also sounds, if I glorify the fantasy, “fun”. Can zombies swim? Have we ever seen that? Why not find an island and eat mangoes and fish for your remaining days? If a zombie ship is spotted on the horizon just hang yourself from the nearest mango tree. Damn, that’s dark.