Somebody Cool.
David Loy
music producer, pianist, and political man.
Truly one of our best and brightest, David Loy embodies that rare combination of instinct and intellect. A stellar musician--- swingin’, rockin’, and funkin’ with the best of ‘em, David is also a master accompanist, dancing with a vocalist like no one else. As a producer, he plays the studio with the same passion and skill he brings to bear on his chosen instrument. His ears are huge, and the sound he reveals, unfailingly Great. David has a university education in political science and economics, and a street education in the applied philosophy of Bob Marley.
Twenty Questions: DAVID LOY
1. What do you like most about what you do?
Not knowing what I will be doing a month from now. The music business is ever-changing.
2. What do you wish you could change about yourself?
I wish I could spend more time working and less time getting ready to work.
3. Do you think others perceive you the way you perceive yourself?
I think so.
4. If you could only have access to a total of 5 items, whether they be books, albums, movies, or paintings--- which 5 would you choose, and why?
Well, excluding boring things like food and water
I would say. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck, book), Kind of Blue
(Miles Davis, album), Peace
Beyond Passion (Meshell Ndegeocello, album), Lost in Translation (movie),
Down by Law (movie). Because I can read, listen, watch these things over
and
over and look forward to my favorite parts and always discover something
new.
5. What, as opposed to who, has influenced you most?
I think my hometown of Eugene, OR. My idealism, left wing politics, love of nature, trust in other people, are all part of Eugene culture.
6. Do you do your best work when you're happy or not so happy? In other words, do you think there's any validity to the old saw about an artist having to suffer in order to successfully create?
I do happy work when I'm happy and sad work when
I'm sad. I'm not sure which is better. I think your average person turns
to art at times of intense
emotion and most people feel pain more intensely than happiness. So the
most powerful art from the consumer side tends to be dark. But a happy
work of
art is not any less valid or powerful than a sad one. Henri Matisse and
King Sunny Ade make very light and beautiful art.
7. When you are not working, what do you do for fun?
Movies, Basketball, Hanging out with friends.
8. When you are working, describe a typical work day (or night)?
That really depends. I don't have a typical work day. Sometimes I'm sitting at a mixing console for 16 hours running a computer. Sometimes I'm at the piano writing or learning how to play something. Sometimes I'm rehearsing and playing gigs.
9. If you weren't a musician, what would you most certainly NOT have become?
A soldier. I have authority issues and I don't
believe in right and wrong strongly enough to ever feel justified killing
someone who doesn't share my
point-of-view. I would make a lousy cop too for the same reason. Maybe
some guy has a good reason for robbing a liquor store? I'd have to ask
him about
it...
10. Where do you see yourself two years from now?
Doing what I'm doing now, but hopefully doing it better.
11. If you were cloned, what would you want to write on the blank slate of your new self? Or put another way, if you had been your own parent, what would you have taught or exposed yourself to during the course of your upbringing that you were not?
My parents were very practical and tried to teach
me to be the same. They loved security and the middle class American Dream.
That's fine and I'm grateful for the education, work ethic, etc. But they
weren't the kind of people to lay it all on the line and take a big risk
to go for something they really wanted. They were more inclined to temper
their desire and not
risk disappointment.
As I've grown older I've been inclined to leap
without looking and that increases the risk but often increases the reward
as well. I would tell my little clone to go for whatever they wanted to
go for with
reckless abandon and worry about the consequences later.
12. If you had the power to put together the greatest band of all time, who would the members of that band be?
That's a tough one. I think one strong front person
or small team of people that have a specific musical raison d’être
is what makes music work. A bunch of good players on the stage together
doesn't always make music that anyone wants to hear. I guess I would have
to go with the greatest band of all time
in it's entirety: resurrect Bob Marley and the Wailers.
13. Limited to these two choices, would you rather be the fastest runner in the world, or be able to run the longest distance?
I'd go for speed. Who wants to run all day? My work week could be 7.6 seconds and then I'd be hitting happy hour.
14. What's the best song you've heard so far, and why?
The best single song is almost impossible. Off
the top of my head, right now.... Use Me by Bill Withers. That song has
been recorded so many times by
so many people and it always sounds great. Great lyrics: “If it
feels this good gettin' used, just keep on usin' me, until you use me
up.” And the riff
is a Clavinet riff so the keyboard player gets some too.
15 What's the worst pain in the world?
When you really love someone and they really don't love you.
16. What's the best smell in the world?
Gardenias.
17. What's the saddest song of all time?
It's a tie. I Get Along Without You Very Well (Hoagy Carmichael-- Chet Baker version); and She's Already Made Up Her Mind (Lyle Lovett).
18. What's the greatest thing that ever happened to you?
Waking up this morning with my whole life ahead of me.
19. What's your LEAST favorite swear word?
I fucking love them all.
20. What should I have asked you?
Q: You like spicy? How many stars?
A: Yes, 5.
