interview: TOMMY WALTER

a bitter bass player about education, samples and Butch' butt

The original EELS rocked the world and took everybody by surprise. Of course there was E, with drummer Jonathan Norton. But when they met up with Mrs. God bassplayer Tommy Walter something magical happened. Not only did Tommy give Jonathan Norton the now common nickname Butch (does anybody still call him Jonathan?), but his classical music training and versitility made sure that the first incarnation of EELS (1995-1997) was able to both rock and soft-rock our worlds with mindblowing concerts. When EELS and Tommy parted ways in the fall of 1997 it was quite a shock amongst EELS fans. But looking back, the signs were there for months. A few weeks after his departure, eels.nl hooked up with Tommy to hear his side of the story. This interview was also published on internetzine Projecta.net.

eels.nl: You are already working on a solo project, what can we expect?
Tommy Walter: "I'm writing a lot of songs right now. When I feel I have a batch of songs that represent the direction I want to go, I will probably form a band. While with the EELS, I grew into my own artist so it won't be a copy of eels material. My focus is to keep it as real as possible and not get too gimmicky as I think the EELS were want to do. I really enjoy songwriting. Discovering new directions for music is the ultimate goal. I finally have the freedom to do that. In the later days, my input was suppressed by the EELS so, in this way, I really feel great about the separation."

eels.nl: Do you think the internet is a good place for bands without a record deal to promote their music and would you consider publishing your own music on the internet?
Tommy Walter: "We could all benefit from cutting the unnecessary fat out of the music business or any business. Maybe the net will give us that opportunity. But right now the traditional route is still the best."

eels.nl: You have a bachelor of music degree in composition. How does your classical background influence you in writing 'popular' music?
Tommy Walter: "A lot of people who don't understand music theory will tell you that they are glad because theory will somehow destroy their creative muse. I never found this to be true. You are only limited by your own attitude. My BM in composition taught me how to listen. I think this is the most important skill you can as a musician. Listening allows your mind to be open to new possibilities. In school, I heard a lot of music I never would have heard had I not been there. Some of my favorites are Bartok, Stravinsky, Stockhausen, Cage, Ligeti and one of my private teachers named Donald Crockett. Beck talks about his fondness for John Cage and how he relates his music to the Dadaists and Readymade art and it is clearly reflected. Isn't a sample a form of Readymade art? For me, it's the philosophy of art and music that is more important to the creation of new pop music rather than emulating other styles."

eels.nl: Have you been in many bands before joining EELS?
Tommy Walter: "I was in one band before the EELS. They were called Mrs. God and are now called Teen Idol Maker. I still work with them. Recently, Peter the drummer and Joel the singer helped me record one of my songs. I've only been a pop or rock musician for about 4 years. Before that I was interested mostly in 20th century music. This is a new experience for me. I like to keep changing so I knew pop music was something I had to go for."

eels.nl: E once said that all songs in Beautiful Freak were written a long time ago. What was your creative involvement on the album?
Tommy Walter: "It is simply stated: No band, no deal. Yeah, E had a group of songs that he was trying to make into a solo record but no one was interested until the band became the vehicle for those songs. My job was to make a demo song work as a band song. When I first heard the demo, I liked the songs but I wasn't raving about it. The work we did as a band was what made the record great. A lot of the stuff that E wanted to do on his own was the least impressive to me. That's why I'm heart broken over the parting of this band. We had excellent chemistry together."

eels.nl: And how did things work out live? You never used any samples on stage, so the songs had to be played different than on the album…
Tommy Walter: "I was sort of the Bread and Butter of the band. Whatever needed to be done to make a song work in a live context, I would do. Either by playing a different instrument or coming up with ideas for arrangements or orchestrations. Since E's capabilities are somewhat interestingly limited, I would pick up the slack. E and Butch mainly stuck to the parts they played on the record. That was the nice thing about being in a three piece. There was room to switch to different instruments and we weren't always stuck in one formation. When E started steering the band in the direction of him as a singer-songwriter-solo-artist and the band as merely backup dummies, I resisted because I believed this was a waste of our potential."

eels.nl: Artists like Radiohead and Beck are among your favorites. They use samples while performing live. Do your think that you yourself could be using samples on stage?
Tommy Walter: "Absolutely. I didn't matter to me that the EELS didn't use samples. Whatever works for the song is what's important. I love the sound of a live drummer playing with a loop. Beck is a great live act because of his energy. The samples don't get in his way at all. If Radiohead uses samples, I haven't noticed so maybe that's a testament to how well they use them."

eels.nl: What struck me during the 1996/1997 tour is that you played all kinds of different versions of the same song, improvising without making one single mistake. Did you ever rehearse different versions of songs or did they just come about like the first time you played Not Ready Yet in a 12" version at Pinkpop?
Tommy Walter: "I had thought of extending Not Ready Yet into a bigger song and I think I created sort of monster. I'm glad you were at Pinkpop because I think that was the only performance of the long version that was any good. After that it became too ego-driven and masturbatory cock-rock. If we were going to change the style of a song, we only just discussed it and maybe ran through it once at sound check. It's not as difficult as may seem. And we made mistakes but we covered them up efficiently."

eels.nl: You had almost constantly been touring since the end of 1995. The shows on the end of the tour seemed a lot less inspired than the ones from 1996 or early 1997. Does a long tour like that have any effect on the way you perform live?
Tommy Walter: "I'm glad that you thought the later shows were less inspired because I felt the same way. If you let the audience be the barometer for how good a band you are, you will fall apart. I remember saying to Butch that I didn't think the band was hitting it's performing potential and his response was, 'But the audience loves it'. Being satisfied with a performance is the beginning of the end. That's when your ego starts telling you to be complacent. That's when you start going down hill. And the more shows we did and the more popular we became, the more E wanted the focus to be on him. The focus was on him anyway. Why did E have to go around telling everyone that this is 'my band'. Who cares anyway? That only served to be divisive. It's the typical rock and roll cliches that destroyed this band. I never got bored but in the later shows, I hated being pushed towards the role of "the dumb bass player" while E was acting like a solo artist. That is a waste of my time and a waste of the bands potential. It's a real shame."

Age:
Just turned 27.

Living in:
South Pasadena, California, US-fucking-A

Favorite pet:
Cat.

Favorite food:
Indian.

Favorite movie:
The Shawshank Redemption or Wings of Desire.

Do not feed me after......
...I've just seen Butch's ass for the millionth time.

Goal in life:
Live and let live.

Message to the world:
See you soon.

Thank you very much Tommy for your time and for keeping in touch. Not long after the interview, Tommy named his new project Metromax. For a starting band Metromax was relitavely succesful, even playing a two week stint at the Chesterfield Café in Paris in december 1998. In 1999 Metromax was renamed Tely. Currently the band is known as Abandoned Pools. Tommy is busy as always, also working on the Glacier Hiking project with Ross Golan and Oliver the Penguin with Rie Sinclair.

More info:
Abandoned Pools @ MySpace
Glacier Hiking @ MySpace