DM: Speaking of composition, I noticed you have a track on your latest album named “Igor”, devoted to the great composer Igor Stravinsky. He is mentioned as a major influence by guys like Frank Zappa and your friend Trey Anastasio.

JM: Mentions Stravinsky?

DM: Yeah.

JM: Well . . . anybody who’s really into composing will generally mention Stravinsky because he did so much to modernize composed music. The big thing, in my mind, that he brought to the table was the rhythmic sense of things. Before Stravinsky, there wasn’t so much of a strong rhythmic pulse. He wrote this piece called “The Rite of Spring,” that’s just like (pumping fist) “DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DA DA.”

DM: I heard a story about how the first time they played that in Paris, there was a riot in the audience.

JM: Yeah! I’ve told that to audiences before we play. I tell that story quite a lot. They debuted it in Paris and it was a total scandal. There was a riot. Some people stood up and said “This is terrible! This is blasphemy!” And there were other people that stood up and said “Shut up and sit down! This is art!” The next thing you know these people are beating the crap out of each other. I always thought that it would be amazing if I could write a piece of music that was so revolutionary that the whole crowd just beat the crap out of each other . . . like there were some people who felt very strongly that this was not a good thing, and then the others saying “This is a good thing!”

The great thing about Stravinsky that I’ve noticed is that, young people all throughout this century have picked up on Stravinsky’s rhythmic pulses. It’s still very hip, and people still borrow from it a hundred years later. It’s quite remarkable.

DM: Another guy you mention as an influence is Ernie Stires. You have studied under him in the past . . .

JM: Yeah, I was just studying with him two days ago.

DM: Do your studies with him cover mostly improvisation or compositional technique?

JM: Ernie is my composition teacher. I’ve been studying under him for about four or five years now. He’s teaching harmony and theory to me and expanding my mind about how to write music. He stresses basic things like theme and variation. Like in a typical Bach piece, a theme is stated and then for the next eight minutes, you hear variations of the theme. Those variations can become very distant to the theme, but there are logical threads that connect them. That’s done through careful composition, generally with a piano . . . and really analyzing it and being very careful and exploring every option you could possibly have. Then you find the best options for you, personally, and then write it down. That’s the kind of thing that Ernie has really been trying to broaden our minds to play. Instead of thinking of really simple songs, maybe you could take your simple idea, play it, and then gradually unveil the blossoming of the idea. You could go this way or that way and then these ideas can combine . . . it’s exciting. He’s been an important influence.

DM: Your new album, “Xenoblast,” seems to have a lot more drum n’ bass elements than your previous recordings. Is that the direction you’re moving in?

JM: The drum n’ bass thing is definitely very intriguing. We just started investigating that before we made “Xenoblast,” and we’ve been working on it a lot since then. It kind of gets back to Stravinsky, with all the rhythmic aspects of the stuff. I find it a very contagious, convincing groove. It sounds very modern to me. We’re having a hard time figuring out how an upright bass, a mandolin and drums can work within that scope and be something that sounds convincing. We’re learning and . . . it’s been kind of fun.

DM: Its definitely upbeat music.

JM: Yeah, it’s really upbeat and it pumps and it makes me feel like “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” It’s not very melodic, but there are a lot of other things in our music that are pretty melodic. We’ve been having a lot of fun with it.

DM: What would you say was your greatest musical moment?

JM: There’s no one moment that sticks out. There are just times when everything sounds just right, and you get an epiphany. You think, “Wow, this is what I’ve always heard in my head and here I am (whether it be St. Louis, New Orleans or wherever) and its just so wonderful.” It’s like when we die, supposedly you see these flashbacks of your whole life, and it makes me wonder if I’ll see all these moments . . . all of these great moments. It just like everything falls together. When things are going just right, I feel like a little kid whose parents who have taken him to the amusement park or the fair. Big Ferris wheels with all these people and popcorn. As a little kid you’re just overwhelmed . . . you can barely catch your breath. I’m like that when the moments happen.

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Jamie’s Picks – Ahmad Jamal – “At the Pershing: But Not for Me” Astor Piazolla – “Zero Hour” Stravinsky – “The Soldier’s Tale” Meshuggah – “Chaosphere” (best guess for album title) Artist you would have most liked to play with: Astor Piazolla

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