Writer-producer Terence Winter creates an HBO drama out of the 1970's music business in 'Vinyl;' SNL alumnus Seth Meyers injects politics into his 'Late Night' humor; The Swedish-Argentine musician Jose Gonzaelez redefines 'global music'
José González breaks down his latest album, 'Vestiges & Claws'
José González’s music is just as diverse as his background. He was born in Sweden and grew up in an Argentine household where his father taught him how to play bossa nova and classical guitar.
But González went on to play in hardcore punk bands in the '90s. It wasn’t until González went solo that he developed his indie folk sound. The singer-songwriter still ventures into other genres of music now and again — whether it’s with his alternative rock band, Junip, or when he’s making songs for films, including “The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.”
With his third album, “Vestiges & Claws,” González returns to playing quiet folk music. The Frame’s James Kim spoke with the singer-songwriter about what attracts him to making intimate music.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On this third solo album, "Vestiges & Claws," I decided to do a similar recording and writing as I did on my first two solo albums. Basically just me sitting down with one mic and headphones. It's kind of nice to know that it's me and my thoughts that go from scratch to a finished album.
"Vissel"
I did lots of demos before doing these 10 songs for the album and I had an idea that I wanted to have an instrumental song — at least one — which was simple and meditative. So the song "Vissel" is where I decided to focus on such a simple melody that it's something you can hum and [it can] stand on its own.
I think I have different sides, so when I've been doing my solo music, I've been honing in on the aesthetics of loneliness. I think it does reflect a side of me. It's not the whole picture, but I do enjoy the meditative part of playing the same chords over and over again, because I know there is something lost when you add more.
"Open Book"
The last song on the album, "Open Book," I decided to put it last even though my label felt like it was one of the stronger songs and it should be earlier. It was fun to put it last because of the lyrics and how it gives a sense of closure, but with a sense of an open field. Many people who listen to my music like it because it has this comforting feeling, and this was one of those songs where I wanted to push that button.
At first it was me being inspired by "Kathy's Song," by Simon & Garfunkel, and how to choose these sort of classical guitar chord progressions that just sound nice and nostalgic. I've been avoiding those type of chord progressions ever since I started writing my first album.
There's this sensitive line between being a young whiny guy sitting at home and complaining about things. [laughs] And for me it's been feeling like I know those tricks, but now I've felt like I'm a bit older — I'm 37 — it is about relationships and loss.
"With the Ink of a Ghost"
I did a demo for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and it turned out a bit too moody and it didn't sound good with the characters, so it just ended up as a demo in my pile. When I picked it up again for my album, I decided to make it like a journey-type of song, similar to the last song on my second album, "Cycling Trivialities," and it was a bit too long and I needed lots of lyrics. I struggled with that for a while, but I decided to make lyrics with lots of images and tried to make it sort of enigmatic, but still talk to people. So, yeah, it was this vague idea of something floating or changing, but without saying what it is, or who, or what.
"With the Ink of a Ghost" with yMusic
With the Ink of a Ghost with yMusic
The idea of adding more instruments has always been around for all the albums, and adding strings always felt like the obvious choice — or almost too easy, so I've been avoiding it. But now I feel — as an artist — mature and I don't need I have to prove anything in terms of style.
So it felt good to team up with [the chamber group] yMusic, and they made a beautiful arrangement for "With the Ink of a Ghost." It adds to the enigmatic side and gives it this sound that feels comforting and gives those extra harmonies that gives depth to the song in a classic way.
José González performs with yMusic on March 11 and 12 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Seth Meyers on why he doesn’t shy away from politicians on ‘Late Night’
“Late Night” host Seth Meyers is no stranger to politicians. So far on his NBC show he’s had Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Ted Cruz and several other pols who regularly have their names in headlines. And with regular segments that poke fun at politicians, Meyers’ take on late night is bitingly topical.
The Frame’s host John Horn sat down with Meyers, who just celebrated his second year as the host of “Late Night,” and talked about what it’s like having politicians on the show.
I feel like with politicians... a lot of them still stay married to their script and to their talking points. I feel like we had a really good interview with Hillary Clinton, I feel like we had a really good interview with Ted Cruz ... They didn’t come with a plan and they were a little bit more of a late night talk show guest. And I think that’s nice when you can marry politics with what you expect from late night television in those kind of interviews.
Last year you introduced your segment, “A Closer Look.” It’s a longer behind the desk analysis, or take down, of somebody in the news, a political figure. What was going on in the show at the time you put this together? Why was there a need to create this segment and what did you want to address?
I think what happened was we decided we would like the first act of the show to be as much about the day’s news as we could. We just wanted to build a different sort of container for the deeper dive politics we were talking about. Because I feel like we open with 12 monologue jokes and half of them are probably about the news and then half of them are sort of about sillier things. But it was nice to sort of then re-settle and do something a little bit more substantive.
You’ve done recent segments on the Supreme Court case about abortion rights, you’ve done a lot about Donald Trump. You did a memorable piece last year about gun violence in Oregon. Where does the idea generally for those pieces come from?
Well, you know, we have a lot of people on the staff who pay a lot of attention to the news. But I think on our show it has to come from something — it has to come from a point of view I already have. You know, I don’t come in every day and ask my writers: How do you think I should feel about this? I have a pretty strong idea about how I feel about stuff, and the longer I work with my writing staff the more they know.
And to some degree, you want to staff the show with people who see things similar to you. Not that you don’t want to be challenged by people on your writing staff, but, the sooner that we can all agree on something the better. You know, it’s nice that I feel like in this day-and-age, as a talk show host, you’re allowed to have a point of view and you don’t really need to hide how you feel about things. I feel like the audiences are pretty savvy and they expect you to have a position on things so you might as well share it with them.
It also sounds like you’re talking about not just an opportunity but also a responsibility — that a lot of people are looking at “Late Night” for a take.
Yeah, certainly. You know, responsibility is sometimes too big a word for what it is we set out to do. I would never walk into my writing staff and say, We have a responsibility. But with that said, I do feel there’s an appetite for talking about serious things — and both trying to explain it a little bit better and have a take on it. I feel as though there’s a generation of people who watch “Late Night” who have come up on comedians who have very strong points of views. So I don’t think they find it jarring to watch a late night show where a host does.
'Vinyl' is set in the '70s but co-creator Terence Winter says issues resonate today
The HBO series “Vinyl” is set in 1973, when the music business was in the middle of a revolution. Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper were among the biggest rock acts, but that era saw the birth of punk, disco and hip hop. “Vinyl” focuses on a record label exec named Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale. Finestra is struggling with sobriety, a marriage on the rocks, and a whole lot of problems at his label, American Century.
“Vinyl” began as a movie idea that Mick Jagger pitched Martin Scorsese 20 years ago. His original pitch covered decades in the music business. Terence Winter — who co-created the show with Jagger, Scorsese and writer Rich Cohen and is the "Vinyl" show runner — spoke with The Frame’s John Horn about how that seed in 1996 became HBO's Sunday night drama in 2016.
Winter addresses criticisms that "Vinyl" is another show about white men behaving badly, explains why a murder takes place in a show about the music industry, and talks about the depiction of women. He also stresses that the Olivia Wilde character — Cannavale's wife — leaves behind the suffering suburban housewife character she initially seems to be and forges her own path by episode six.
CLICK THE BLUE PLAY BUTTON AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE TO HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEW.
Interview Highlights
When you started researching this era and finding the amazing true stories that happened, what astonished you in terms of the things that actually transpired?
When we started researching 1973 specifically, a lot of my research led me right to music. I was reading about the New York Dolls and how they used to perform at a club called the Mercer Arts Center ... located in the first floor of an old 19th Century hotel called the Broadway Central Hotel on Lafayette and Mercer Streets. And in reading further, that building collapsed in 1973 ... There was a band rehearsing there and it actually happened during the day, thank god, when not that many people were in there. But it just felt too irresistible to not incorporate into our show in a fictional sense. It was such a great metaphor for Richie’s experience at that moment that we decided, It’s okay, we can take some creative license here.
1973 also represents an interesting era in the evolution of women in the workplace, the relationship between men and women. It’s before AIDS and after the pill. So what does that give you socially outside of what’s happening in music that year?
Well, it’s so interesting — even though the show is set 40 years ago, there are so many topics that are still current. I mean Roe v. Wade [had] just happened, abortion just became legal in 1973, and here we are still debating women’s rights in that regard. Certainly in terms of politics and corruption in government, well, we’ve got that today, and Watergate was raging at the time. So there’s so many instances of holding up a mirror to society and it gives us the opportunity to explore issues that are current today.
One of the criticisms about the show is that it’s yet another premium channel drama that centers around straight white men behaving badly, often towards women. Episode three starts with a very fleeting shot of a guy grabbing a receptionist's breast s— it’s unclear if it’s a welcome intrusion. While that might be historically accurate, what are the perils of presenting that kind of behavior to a modern audience?
I don’t really consider them perils at all. I mean, I’m not trying to rewrite history or write a show that makes people feel better about the way men and women interact — or did interact in 1973. These are very complicated characters. Very often they’re engaging in very bad behavior. I don’t think I have a duty — or that the audience needs me — to point out that it’s not really nice to treat women as objects, or [that] casual racism is not welcome in the workplace or anywhere else.
We’re just sort of depicting and presenting the reality of the world as it existed in 1973. I think I’d actually be doing a bigger disservice to the viewers by candy-coating history and changing it to make it this feel-good depiction of an era that never really existed. You know, as we said, 1973 was a very big year for women and women’s rights ... but the reality was women didn’t have a voice in the workplace, nor did minorities. And to present it in such a way that makes it seem different is dishonest and I don’t think does anybody any favors.
"Vinyl" airs Sunday nights on HBO.