Five Questions With Mickey Hart
Thu Jun 6,10:12 AM ET
By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer
story.news.yahoo.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mickey Hart has gone from the Grateful Dead to "Mondo Head."
As one-half of the Dead's two-drummer roster known as the Rhythm Devils, Hart helped bang out the beat that propelled the Dead's ethereal melodies for nearly 30 years.
After lead singer Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, the Dead retired from touring, save for occasional summer performances as The Other Ones, the band's surviving members. The group plans just one such appearance this year, in August at East Troy, Wis.
But the 58-year-old musician hardly remains idle.
Hart has been busy recording albums, including the popular R&B "Mickey Hart's Mystery Box"; writing books about music; producing more than two dozen recordings for Rykodisc's world music series; and working with the endangered music project of the Library of Congress (news - web sites), which he helped start.
The album "Mondo Head," released earlier this year, features the Japanese taiko drum group Kodo, harmonica virtuoso Charlie Musselwhite, Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain, Cuban vocalist Bobi Cespedes, Puerto Rican jazz drummer Giovanni Hidalgo and the Gyuto Monks of India, the Dalai Lama's personal choir.
"It's a new cultural stew, a new gumbo that points the way," Hart said. "I never thought of mixing Tibetan, Japanese and Indian culture before."
1. How did you get together with Kodo?
Hart: I knew them way back in the '70s. I was always a fan of taiko drumming, which is a kind of classical drumming. It's not a real ancient form. It's a fairly modern form, but it uses old Shinto instruments in a kind of classic way. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to take them out of the box and make them more improvisational. ... I thought if I didn't come up with the compositions, and we weren't thinking too much, that would be an adventure.
2. Where did you record the album?
Hart: At my place here. There's no bigger place anywhere. It's very large because that's what drummers need. We'd all get in one giant room and play, play, play. It was like drum camp (laughing). That's the only way to do something organically like this unless you write it all out ahead of time and everybody plays their part. And that's no fun.
3. Considering the turmoil in the Middle East, is this a good time to bring different cultures together through music?
Hart: I think this is the best time. This is more than just music. This is an example of different cultures talking about very important and complex issues through music, coming together through the groove of music. ... If the Palestinians and Israelis were playing music together right now, I believe it would be an antidote to war. I really do believe that.
4. What else is going on with your life these days?
Hart: Oh, I'm looking at a lot of stuff. I don't really have a plan, I just sort of go and look at things. In fact, I have no particular plan at all (laughing). I've been listening to a lot of Koranic chanting lately, and I've been finding it fascinating. ... One thing I can tell you I won't do is retire. Don't worry, I'll never retire on you.
5. Will the surviving members of the Grateful Dead do a full tour this year?
Hart: Nah. ... My band is what I'm doing this summer, the Mickey Hart Band. That and Kodo, and that's really exciting for me. Bob Hunter (the Grateful Dead lyricist) has written me a bunch of new songs and we'll be taking them out on the road. So it's going to be an exciting summer and fall of music for me. And I'm working with National Geographic (news - web sites). I'll be doing different projects with them, world music projects of course. I'm working on a National Geographic book with them. They realize that music is good geography, and so they want me to be their guide in that world.
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