Louis Hauguel: Thank you for accepting this interview, it's a great pleasure to have you here for Fuzzine! So to start, could you tell us about your musical journey, when did you start playing music?
Marcus McDonald: Let me start by saying I am very flattered to do this interview and thank you for your interest in my path on this old rock.
My parents gave me a set of drums when I was 13 and that lasted about 2 weeks and they took them away from me… I guess it was pretty annoying to listen to a kid banging on them all day and not really having a clue as to how to really play them. They had given a guitar to my older sister who never played it and it just sat in the closet so she gave it to me. So by that time I was around 14 and started playing music well I guess it was music but mostly I just banged around on it until it sounded good to me. I carried it around with me nearly everywhere I went.
2/ We will talk about "From The House of Trax" of course but before, could you tell us a bit more about your influences?
The first cover tune I learned to play was Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven; you know a little Led for the head. Second tune I learned was Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water; after that I just started making my own music. That way nobody knew if I was doing it wrong. To answer your question better I must say that my influences were varied from bands like The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Rolling Stones and a host of others.
3/ "From the House of Trax" is a very unique record with lot of psychedelic effects and sounds like nothing else. How went the recording process of that album, what motivated you in exploring such atmospheres back in 1978?
I met Jim Fergusson who owned and operated The House of Trax Studio and when he heard me play he offered to record my music for free so I could not pass that up. It turned out that he was and is a Masterful Genius when it comes to audio engineering and my music would have never turned out like it is without him.
4/ Did you expect after all those years that your album would turn into a psych masterpiece highly sought after by collectors?
Funny thing about that… Jim Fergusson said that my music was 10 years ahead of its time and may take a while to catch on and sure enough I could not sell copies for place mats and some of my friends used them for Frisbee's just to see how far they could toss them. Almost ten years to the day a guy in New York called me up and said he found one in a used bookstore for 2 dollars and loved it and asked if I had any for sale. Well yes I said I have a few but actually I had a lot but anyway he offered me 300 dollars each for 10 of them and I was astounded and said sure I will sell them to you. The man drove from New York to New Albany Indiana and met with me and paid me 3000 dollars for 10 records. I have seen this sell for as much as $1.200 at an auction in Germany and I have sold some to places all over the world from California to Japan and many countries in between Like Greece, England, France, Germany, Australia and many others. The short answer to this question as to did I see this coming? No I did not but am very pleased that people from around the world still likes it.
5/ What are your thoughts on the music industry of nowadays?
Well to each his own I say… There is no music anymore that moves me like it did in the 70s and I guess that era has passed sad to say but thanks to the modern technology we are able to preserve that music to enjoy and reminisce with today. I am a bit surprised with country music today it seems it is not country at all anymore it is all starting to sound like rock music and I must say I like the change.
6/ Do you have any interests in the occult, unknown secrets and mysteries in this world?
The world is full of secrets and mysteries that level the playing field of life and death and the reins of power and control are often being slacked and taught. But I will not be divulging any antithoughtical information today. Don’t bother looking up antithoughtical because I just made that up.
7/ Do you have any plans concerning some new releases in the spirit of "From the House of Trax" ?
Yes I do and I have a few new pieces of music nobody has heard yet and working on a few more.
8/ Would you consider touring and playing "From the House of Trax" in its entirety along with other compositions?
I would absolutely love to do that if it came to pass as a possibility.
9/ I read that you were also releasing a movie, could you tell us more about that other project, how things are going?
Ah yes my new movie… Chain of Events {The Movie} Well it is not at all what you would probably expect from me but I made it to get my foot in the door. It’s a Romantic Comedy that took me 2 years to make and it is finished. I just submitted it to the Sundance Film Festival and hope something good comes from that. It was a lot of fun and I had the privilege to work with some very talented actors. Now that being said if we make any real money from this or not my next project will be the complete opposite of a romantic comedy and should be inspiring and downright frightening. I got to give a fair shake to the other side.
10/ I always submit that question, which is the desert island one haha... Tell me about one album, one book, one movie you would take there with you ?
Pink Floyd; Dark Side of the Moon, My next Movie and The Bible.
11/ Would you like to share anything else with us, thoughts, whatever coming to your mind right now...?
I was kind of wondering why French Fries and French Toast have nothing to do with France and if we want peace in the middle east and the rest of the world why don’t we just have a one world order and have the whole world take a vote for just one good king.
Thanks for letting me voice my thoughts and memories into your world, Marcus
Louis Hauguel for Fuzzine (2014)
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire