Interview: Mr. Mike Keneally master guitarist, keyboardist, composer.
Greetings Mike, I appreciate you taking the time to reply to this e-mail interview.
At what age did you `get into' music. What sparked this interest and who were your main influences?
I was around four years old, in the mid-1960s, when I started taking a very intense interest in my teenage sister's Beatles albums; they sounded utterly magical to me. I'd say my main influences were the Beatles, and whatever was being played on top 40 AM radio at the time!
What was your first instrument. What was the first song you learned?
Electric organ, which I got for Christmas when I was seven years old. I remember walking up to it and picking out the melody for "Paint It, Black." When I was around eight or nine I heard "Tarkus" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer on FM radio and, as an organist, I was transfixed.
In a past interview, I believe you were quoted as being trained as a keyboard player, what ignited the transformation to include, master and place the guitar into the Keneally spotlight?
My love for bands like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper and Focus made me very intent and adding the guitar to my arsenal, and I was thrilled to receive my first acoustic guitar on my 11th birthday.
How did you come up with the band name- Beer for Dolphins??
During the sessions for the album Boil That Dust Speck in 1994, I was working on the medley "Them Dolphins Is Smart" > "1988 Was A Million Years Ago" > "Yep, Them Dolphins Is Smart, Alright," which for reasons of simplicity we would refer to simply as "Dolphins." Before we attempted a first take of the medley, Toss Panos (the drummer) asked if we needed to buy some beer before we attempted to play the really difficult sequence, and I said "OF COURSE we need beer for 'Dolphins'," and it just sounded like a good band name. The bassist Doug Lunn was the one who noticed that the initials were BFD (which also means Big Fucking Deal), and at that point it just became obvious that I would call the band Beer For Dolphins. I kept the name Mike Keneally And Beer For Dolphins for about seven years and then it started to seem like too much trouble - too long, too confusing, it kept getting spelled wrong - so we switched to the Mike Keneally Band.
Please describe the compositional process in a `typical’ Mike song.
Usually I'll pick up a guitar or sit at a keyboard and allow my fingers to wander a little bit until I hear something I like, then I'll play that passage over and over. Then I'll sit quietly and listen to the silence until I hear what the next phrase should be, then I'll figure out that phrase on the instrument, and then work on the transition from the first section to the second. Repeat process as needed! Lyrics are frequently suggested by the sound of the music, and the literal meaning of the lyrics is often of less importance then the vowel sounds and the flow of the words. For other kinds of writing, for instance orchestral pieces, I will sometimes write on paper without an instrument at hand, frequently making adjustments later when I hear how it sounds. And for some pieces I will record an improvisation on keyboard or guitar, which I'll then orchestrate and/or edit later on.
Progressive can be a dirty word to many musicians. Do you consider yourself a progressive musician? What do you think of progrock then and now? Any current favorites?
I honestly don't think of myself in any particular genre. I love many different kinds of music and feel that it all finds its way into my work. I'm only ever interested in making the most beautiful and interesting music that I can. I suppose I consider myself an experimental musician. I was definitely influenced by progressive acts of the seventies, primarily Keith Emerson, Gentle Giant, Yes, King Crimson, Henry Cow, Todd Rundgren and many others. And I was equally influenced by any number of musicians who don't readily fit into most peoples' idea of what progressive music is. I only think "progressive" is a dirty word because (like "alternative") the word itself lost its meaning as a series of established gestures began to dominate the style (at which point it made more sense to shorten the word to "prog"). I'm certainly interested in the idea of progress in music, and it's a constant personal challenge for me to come up with music that doesn't sound like anything else I've heard before. I haven't heard too much modern prog but I certainly enjoyed Frogg Cafe when I heard them, and I adore Radiohead, who some consider to be progressive. The new Lyle Workman album "Harmonic Crusader" is incredibly brilliant, and I don't know if it's anyone's idea of prog but I've recently heard Joanna Newsom's "Ys" for the first time and I thought it was fantastic.
Robert Fripp has stated that: “Mike is a much underrated guitar player.” I agree. Please briefly write what you feel about these prog ax men: Feel free to add a guitarist to this list.
Robert Fripp:
Succeeded in establishing a truly original voice, one which I really love to hear. Just last night I was listening to the second King Crimson collector's box in my car and enjoying it tremendously, and two days ago I really listened to Project X "Heaven and Earth" on headphones for the first time and really loved it - there's so much music to discover. I wish he would play more solos! I love hearing him fly unfettered. But I also love the soundscapes - enchanting.
Allan Holdsworth:
Unfairly fantastic. Mind-bogglingly amazing. I love him. His melodies twist my brain in knots, which I love.
Steve Howe:
Very influential for me. I loved watching him play in the seventies, with so much pent-up energy you thought he might explode. Really exciting player, fusing so many different playing styles effortlessly. For me his peak is his playing on the "Yessongs" triple-live album, some of the most exciting rock guitar ever, and some of the best most powerful guitar tones ever recorded.
Steve Hackett:
Very underrated as a writer; I haven't kept up with him, but in the seventies at least he had a real facility for a haunting, unpredictable melodic/harmonic progression that felt utterly unique and utterly correct: like "Blood On The Rooftops," or most of the writing on his first two solo albums, both of which I loved very much. Very chilling, superb music.
Frank Zappa:
I love him as a composer, and cherish the way he used the guitar as an instant conduit for his compositional impulses. So endlessly brilliant and fascinating, and I appreciate how much more I get out of his improvisations as the years move on and my own musical mind develops - one could spend years immersing oneself in all those recorded solos, there's so much of value to discover. I'm so grateful for him in so many ways.
Speaking of Frank Zappa, what was the most fun playing with him? What was the most frustrating?
My most favorite song to play with him was "Cruising For Burgers," and there's a fantastic version of it on the "Make A Jazz Noise Here" album. So exhilarating! I honestly have no recollection of anything being frustrating, other than the fact that other members of the band were dragging the whole group down with issues which were wholly unrelated to the job of making music - that was VERY frustrating.
How did your partnership with Taylor materialize? Has it changed throughout the years? What do you believe is the best element that Taylor guitars brings to your musical palette?
I was long-time friends with various people who went on to work for Taylor, and when I started work on "Boil That Dust Speck" in 1994 some of my friends arranged for me to borrow some Taylor instruments for the recording, and I loved them. Later on they arranged for me to get an "Artist deal" to purchase my first Taylor, and finally in 2001 (I think) they signed me on as a traveling clinician. A couple of years ago Taylor discontinued the majority of their clinician program and I had thought that our official relationship might have ended, so I was delighted a few months ago when they informed us that they'd like to have me and Bryan back on board; in fact, the two week tour that Bryan and I just underwent on behalf of Taylor was probably the most enjoyable Taylor tour I've done. Taylor brings me beautiful, reliable, clear acoustic tone and great versatility, playability and craftsmanship on both electric and acoustic instruments - great company.
What inspires you to create the odd time-signature compositions such as Cowology and Gravity Grab? What do you feel about instilling humor in music?
My heart just beats in odd times, I guess because of all the weird music I grew up listening to. Humor belongs in music, just as it belongs in life.
A classic deserted island question with a twist- You can only have five CD albums, one type of food, one magazine, one type of drink, one book, one movie and one type of pet on this deserted island- please list what you would bring and why?
I'm going to completely cheat and assume that box sets count as "CD albums":
1. Miles Davis - The Compete Plugged Nickel 1965
2. John Coltrane - The Classic Quartet: Complete Impulse Studio Recordings
3. Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (on Blu-Ray)
4. Frank Zappa - Lumpy Money
5. Radiohead - Kid A
Carrots
MOJO
Water
"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
"2001: A Space Odyssey"
A dog
Because I love all these things.
You’ve been working on a new album. Please give us a sneak explaination of what’s in store for Mike Kenealliacs? Do you contribute some drums to the album?
Working on three new albums actually: The big project is Scambot:One, which is the first volume in a three-part concept work, and which I just finished last week. Stylistically it's my most varied album since Sluggo!, and possibly my strangest album ever, but I find it to be very strong and warm and melodically satisfying. I do play some drums on it, but there's also some extremely groovy playing from Joe Travers and typically mind-blowing stuff from Marco Minnemann. It should be coming out in August. Another album I've just finished is a project initiated by Marco - he recorded a 51-minute drum solo called Normalizer 2 and provided a copy of it to six different artists, including me, Trey Gunn, Alex Machacek, John Czajkowski, Phi Yaan-Zek and Mario Brinkman. Each one of us (and Marco himself) wrote and recorded an album's worth of new music to accompany this same drum performance. My version is called Normalizer 2: Evidence of Humanity and it has some of my craziest writing and playing on it. Not sure when that's coming out. And now I'm working on a second volume of solo piano arrangements of Steve Vai compositions; the first volume (called Vai Piano Reductions Vol. 1) came out in 2004. It'll be a while before I finish this one.
At a gig, you said you were thinking of covering Genesis’ masterpiece Supper’s Ready. Are you interested in exploring longer and/or more dynamic future Mike Keneally compositions.
Scambot:One has a couple of very lengthy and dynamic pieces; particularly a 12-minute piece called "Gita," which was originally composed as a string quartet, but which has been orchestrated with multiple guitar and keyboard parts and some very intense drumming - it's quite a journey.
You are an amazing keyboardist, will you ever consider giving the keys equal consideration (soloing and background), to the guitar in any future album?
Apart from the Vai piano albums which are obviously all keyboard, you're right that the guitar has gotten the nod most of the time in my own work; I have a feeling that Scambot:Three will be heavily keyboard-oriented. There's some pretty hairy keyboard playing on Scambot:One and Normalizer 2: Evidence of Humanity. And Sluggo! was much more heavily piano-oriented than most of my other albums.
What do you like to do besides creating and playing music? Any hobbies?
I love to paint and draw, and I get huge pleasure from playing the RockBand and Guitar Hero video games. Long walks in heavily tree-oriented locales are also fantastic.
If you could bring back 5 people from history to talk to, who would you chose?
Benjamin Franklin
John Coltrane
John Lennon
Robert Anton Wilson
Frank Zappa
What’s the next step or progression in the musical career of Mike Keneally?
Get Scambot:One and Normalizer 2: Evidence of Humanity released, finish the second Vai piano album, hit the road as a member of Dethklok in the fall, hopefully do some more guest shots with Umphrey's McGee early next year, and get my own band on the road in the first half of next year, while finishing the next two volumes of Scambot and doing some more duo gigs with Bryan Beller. Oh and there's also an online comic book for Scambot which I have to do a bunch of drawings for.
Where can people purchase Mike Keneally music and merchandise?
www.moosemart.com, thank you for asking!
Thank you so much for this interview, Mike. Keep on creating amazing music. Best Wishes and thank you for sharing your answers and thoughts.
