AT: You mentioned Warren’s playing with a bunch of different people that night. He’s been playing with Phil on a more permanent basis with the same line-up. A lot of musicians mention the fact that playing with Phil changes you as a player. How do you think that playing with Phil has changed Warren?

DS: From what I can tell, I know that Warren has a great respect for the music of the Grateful Dead. I think the first thing he said about it was, “Man, I never knew how complex those songs were. They sound so simple, but there’s variation of chords. A basic blues shuffle can have thirty different chords in it!”

Obviously, when you’re playing with Phil, you’re going have your opinion and preconceived notions of what the role of the bass guitar in a band is and it’s going to be completely turned upside down and shaken up. Musically, I think Warren has opened up a lot more. He’s always been a great improviser, but the metaphor I’ll draw, cause I’m famous for drawing ridiculous metaphors, is Warren was always the kind of player that could cut your throat musically in a second. Boom, just right there. Now, he’s kind of learned to tickle your neck with the knife before he does it.

AT: Teasing you a little bit….

DS: Yeah, you know, watching the Allman Brothers at the Beacon in New York reminded me of the way those guys really build up the emotion, intensity and the musical friction. They’re pushing it a lot farther and I think both Warren and Derek [Trucks] have a lot to do with that. Sort of the twin evil influences of Bruce Hampton and Phil Lesh having their way with those guys. Of course, Oteil’s already been snapped by the Colonel and the Allman Brothers Band…

AT: You mentioned Colonel Bruce. You did the Stained Souls gig early this year down in Atlanta with him. When was the first time you met the Colonel?

DS: The first time I met Bruce….Well, the first time I met him, I was going to a tribute concert for a blues guitarist in Atlanta who had died. At that point in time, we were playing pretty often weekend stands at Little Five Points Pub, I’d say probably around ’86. We had just finished or were in the process of recording Space Wrangler and Michael Rothchild, or Tinsley Ellis…one of those guys took me over to Little Five Points for the show and said that I had to meet Bruce. And I met him and it was sort of pleasantries and everything.

Then the next time I remember seeing him, we were playing a gig at Agnus Scott College. Bruce delivered the first copies of the Space Wrangler CDs to us. It was before the CD days and the album had been out for about six months on vinyl. The CDs got printed up and he delivered them to us. He walked in, took one look at me and said (imitating Bruce Hampton in a low, gruff voice) “Uh, Sagittarius”. And I haven’t been the same since.

The Stained Souls is a great thing and to tell you the truth, the first time I saw the Stained Souls was probably even before the first time I met Bruce. I was the doorman at the Uptown Lounge in Athens for a long time. They were playing and Oteil (Burbridge) wasn’t with him and I don’t even think (Jeff) Sipe was with him. It was like Ricky Keller on bass, maybe Mosier on banjo, definitely Charlie Williams on guitar. Basically, I had to tell people that the cover was only $2-3, and if they didn’t like the music, tough shit, they weren’t going to get their money back. At that time, the Colonel could definitely clear a room. Cause it’s anything goes and it’s a great thing.

The first one we did as Stained Soul was a benefit and it was fun and everybody really enjoyed it, so we did a couple of more. The one we did last week was a whole lot of fun. Personally, I was getting over a cold and I was tired, but I still had a great time. It’s always a pleasure to play with Tinsley and Bruce. And it gives JB a chance to sort of relax and just be more of a singer when he wants to. He doesn’t feel like the spotlight is all on him.

To tell you the truth, it’s the best I ever heard Bruce play the guitar.

AT: Talk to me about Slang, your side project you’re currently working on with Terminus Records.

DS: Yeah, Slang is a project between myself and Layng Martine III, who’s a friend I’ve known from a long time ago from Nashville. I’ve watched him move all over the country, since the time he was at college at Boulder to graduating and sleeping on Bill Laswell’s floor at Three Point Studios. He was the assistant engineer on all kinds of great projects, like the Material album and a lot of the really interesting constructed music that Bill Laswell was doing. Praxis, Ronald Shannon Jackson, just some really out, forward-thinking music. Layng had become very adept at all of it.

So, we got back together after Panic slowed down and we started not doing tours during the winter. He came down to visit me in Athens and I went and picked up a little Rowland eight track hard disc recorder. And we just made some loops, from records I had. Some drum loops, lifting breaks and things from records. I played some different kinds of bass and we called it the Potato Project. He was living in Seattle at the time and the idea was that, since we both had digital recorders, we would throw the tracks on ADAT. He would take a copy to Seattle with him and have some friends of his, like Pete Droge and others, come and cut some parts. All the while, as parts were layered on, the new parts were being selected and also created into loops. So it was a constant building of more and more layers and foundations.

Then the whole thing was cut up. It’s very, very deconstructive…there’s a term called “ilbient”. Ill and ambient, and I don’t know if it’s applicable or not, they can call it whatever the hell they want. I went up to Seattle and brought some friends of mine from San Francisco and it was really just four or five songs. So we finished those up and I played them for Jeff Bransford and Jeff Duckworth, who were just starting Terminus Records at the time.

The next thing I know, Layng has moved to Long Island and has a studio in a barn out behind his house and Terminus is calling asking if we would consider making a full-length album. Saying that they’ll make sure that we’d be able to afford to finish it and then they’d put it out. So we grabbed some East Coast musicians. We got some great people- the folks from Viperhouse, Jay Rodriguez from Groove Collective and DJ DXT on turntables. He was the guy with the first shot heard round the world on that Herbie Hancock song, “Rock It”. He did the scratching on that and so we had him come down and put his little whammie on it and finished up the record.

Everyone’s really positive about it, it comes out June 5. I’ve already played it for these guys (Warren, Chuck and Matt), thinking they’d be like, “What the hell is this?” But they’re all really into it. I had wanted to get Warren to participate, since we did the final session right after the One for Woody thing. But he was already off starting up with Phil practice.

After they heard it, Chuck was all interested, asking how we did it and what the process was behind it. Warren was surprised how guitar-oriented some of the music was. When you hear it, you’ll probably understand how it’s all working. Rather than try and describe it, it’s probably better just to listen to it.

AT: Is it something that can be taken on tour at all?

DS: No, it couldn’t be done live. We’re looking to do soundtracks, create moods, that sort of thing. Also, we’re really just pushing the envelope as far is, is it dance music? Is it even art? What the hell is this?

Basically, it’s just like the Brute record we do with Vic Chesnutt. It started as a fun lark and somebody took a shine to it and footed the bill to finish it and put it out. I think that when something is created with those things in mind, fun. People can pick up on that and they dig it.

AT: You mentioned Vic Chesnutt. Are you going to be doing any more projects…

DS: We actually cut a new Brute record. In the middle of the sessions for the new Panic record. We took three days off to get away from it, because you bury head into something and you start to sort of lose your objectivity. Plus, John Keane thought it would be a good idea. At the same time, Vic’s one of those people that you kind of have to drag into the studio, kicking and screaming. So, it was one of those things were everyone was in town and everyone was into it. We cut like eleven or twelve Vic songs, ala Brute. I don’t know what will come out, but the basic tracks are laid and it’s something on the horizon.

AT: That’s great.

DS: Yeah, we cut the tracks on like a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then did a benefit show for mental health. Boy, that’s when I learned that, just because you cut the tracks that week, doesn’t mean you’re going to remember them when you play later.

It’s the same kind of thing that’s happening here. We did three days of rehearsal up in New York and probably learned like fifty songs. Always, at some point on stage, there’s going to be a moment like, “Oh my God, is this the song with the bridge that goes to F# or is this the song with the bridge that goes to D flat?” [laughs]

AT: I noticed last night you were kind of looking around…

DS: I always look at Chuck, you know. We kind of had a thing going. If he drops a brick, he’s was going to give me a weird look and if I dropped a brick, I was supposed to give him a weird look. Then we decided that, if Chuck or I dropped a brick, we’d all look at Warren, including Matt. The buck has to stop somewhere. It’s all in good fun, man, and it’s only going to get better and better.

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