mr dave

From what I understand it's not entirely uncommon for children who grow up in broken homes to project fabrications as to why one of their parents left, it's a coping mechanism. In my case it wasn't, it was the truth but it didn't make it any easier, especially not with the lack of details or clarity I needed to wait 25 years for. Everyone has read a story about the debauchery and decadence of the rock and roll lifestyle, the sex, the drugs, the parties, and the fame. Considering the state of the modern entertainment industry I think it's quite safe to say most people have fantasized about that lifestyle as well (and many still do).

Here's the flipside though, when one of your parent's is an entertainer, as a child, you don't recognize it as anything out of the ordinary, it's just what mommy or daddy does for a dollar. In my eyes my father was always just 'Dad', though unlike an average 9-5 guy, when my old man took off for work I wouldn't see him again for 3-4 sometimes 6 weeks. That's a pretty huge amount of time when you're 4. In my childhood mind there wasn't a whole lot of difference between going on tour across 3 provinces and going on tour on the other side of the world.

Then it happened. Three weeks after I turned 5 (early November 1981) he got back from a tour of another province; I remember waking up early with my little sister the next morning, excited that Dad was home again and we snuck to our parent's room. I remember the weird blue of the carpet. I remember him sitting up and starting to cry. My mom got out of bed and said something about him being sick (I found out much later her words were 'He's sick in the head'). He asked for us to comfort him. My little sister did. I stood in the doorway, thinking he'd been sick in the bed, as in he made a poopy in the bed and well... gross man... I wasn't getting near that. Turns out he'd gotten home late the previous evening and confessed to my mom that he'd been sleeping with another woman. Except it wasn't just another woman, it was his youngest brother's girlfriend (if not fiancé) who also happened to be the new singer for the band he'd just setup that summer - with his youngest brother. He was 40, she was 20. That band would go on to persist for longer than my original family.

I've said the phrase 'There's a whole lot more to music than just the sounds you hear' for years now. This is where a lot of it stems from. Modern song, especially on the pop side of the mainstream, was and continues to be used as a tool to manipulate people who worship celebrity, little different than prayer for the devout. It's the kind of social conditioning that's lead my mom to say that in the event that the roles were reversed and she was in a position of fame and glamour with men throwing themselves at her on a regular basis that she would have probably cheated too - WTF!??! I'm still having a hard time with that one but whatever, it made me consider other angles. As a result I don't put all the blame on him, because I'm pretty sure his family is kind of insane and honestly believed that the end result of a bit of public fame would justify any sort of private travesty. When this first went down his mom actually called my mom and convinced her to cover up his crap and get her family to ignore it around us because if my father was forced to take responsibility for his actions in the eyes of his children we wouldn't have a father anymore. Whether that was a warning of possible suicidal depression or a threat to the possibility of fame she figured her family was entitled too, who knows. That family now conveniently skips over the 80s whenever anyone reminisces about the past. My uncle will try talking to me about music on the rare occasions our paths cross; but when I tried bringing up their band from the 80s the last time we talked it was like the decade never even existed (in his defense he used to drink A LOT so maybe he really does have a decade long memory blackout).

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I really don't want to turn this journal into a woe is me pity party, but that event is a HUGE factor in how I've grown to deal with music and life (the 'professional' opinion on the matter at the time was that 4 and 5 year old kids were 'too young' to actually be affected). Yes, I definitely DO recognize that there are plenty of kids who had it worse, for anyone to have ever reminded me of that fact has never helped anything (though it did always make it easier for them to ignore my attempts to talk it out). It's an aspect of my past that I feel I absolutely need to share with anyone who wants to understand me as a musician while feeling equal amounts of shame and guilt for wanting to express it outwardly. A rare few actually get it and fully respect my limits; others were just smart enough to say the things necessary to keep having access to the jam room every week.

On that note...



Dun a nuh nuh Dun a NA nuh Dun a nuh nuh DUN DUN DUN DUN...

COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!!!!!

Back in September of 1998 I was living in my first dorm room in college. My friends from home had all advised me to absolutely 100% leave my door open at all times unless I was sleeping or out as it's by far the best way to meet people. It's true and I strongly recommend the practice to any new student in a dorm (at the very least make the effort for the first week). I met all sorts of people, mainly just polite 'Hellos' as they walked by but whatever. They also noticed my guitar and amp; and when the first dorm parties started happening people remembered that guy at the end of the hall with a guitar - I was that guy. One fine dorm party in late September there were about a half dozen people hanging out in my room, me and another guy playing some guitar but nothing special.

Then I notice this dude in the corner near the door, I'd never met him before. I remember he looked like Slater from Dazed and Confused (Rory Cochrane's character). He asked me if I had a bass - it was clearly visible in the opposite corner of the room. We get him plugged in and hooked up and he asks, "You ever heard of Jane's Addiction? You know the Mountain Song?"

… HELL. YES.

Except, he didn't. He knew how the song went but he didn't actually know the specific bass line:

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----5h7-7-7----7-7-7—5h7-7-7-----------------
---------------------------------0-0-0-0-------

After a few minutes of trying to teach him the actual line he just asked me to start playing the guitar riff and we'd go from there... and we did. First the verse, then the chorus, then the verse again, then the solo... and something happened. I stopped giving a crap because this dude wasn't actually playing the song, he'd never actually been playing the song, but I'll be damned if the two of us weren't playing music. We finished up a few minutes later. He put the bass down, thanked me for the mini-jam and excused himself because he'd left his room open and unattended for the last 20 minutes or so. One girl looked at us and described it as a 'musical orgasm'. I'd never actually played 'music' like that before that moment and I didn't even know his name!

Turned out he was one of the 200 or so people registered in my department and we'd be hanging out and jamming a whole hell of a lot more over the next 2 years (and for a few more years a few years later).

Personal experience aside I still think The Mountain Song is one of those great rock tunes every new guitar / bass player should learn. From a technical standpoint the song is dirt simple, it’s just alternates between D to E and G back to E, even the chorus doesn’t really change that dynamic. What the chorus does offer is a chance for guitar players to expand their voices and the way they approach chords by alternating between full ringing chords, octaves, and power chords to emulate Dave Navarro’s penchant for layering his guitar tracks. Those differences are rather subtle in regards to what your hands end up doing on the guitar neck, but the variety of sounds that hit your ears as a result of those subtleties are everything but. The solo itself isn’t the most complex, though pretty much impossible to play ‘properly’ without some sort of delay or echo effect unit, but unlike most rock tunes, nailing that solo is irrelevant. If you want to play The Mountain Song and have people feel that you played it ‘right’ you NEED to nail that bass line.

I will forever argue that Eric Avery is one of the most underrated / underappreciated bass players of the late 80s / early 90s and this song is one of the defining examples. That bass line picks up and carries the entire song and band, from start to finish without ever once deviating from its course. It provides the perfect sonic footing for everyone else in the band to vamp and freak out over. The simplicity and focus of that line underscores a very self-disciplined musician who not only understood the role of his instrument within the ensemble but one who also took pride in it. There was no need to peacock for attention, then again when you’re backing up Perry Farrell peacocking is kind of futile hahaha.

Seriously though, it’s a three chord song - LEARN IT!

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i am the universe