Colin Lake: Interview & in concert: Too Young For The Blues?

Coilin Lake & Wellbottom have taken me aback, I hadn't seen myself ever endorsing a new blues-rock band of this type, let alone wholly enjoying it. Somehow, they've made this sound new again, and with his skills and voice improving I look forward to much more to come.

In concert, Lake was a revelation; sitting, almost budda-like, centering a caldron of sound, casually signaling the band with a simple glance, beaming as he played his laptop slide and easing into vocals that would have Lowell George's ghost nodding approval. Lake's voice, as promised in the interview (below), was better still than on the latest album; the suspicious inclusion of a live DJ mixer worked a treat and the chemistry between Appel (lead) and Lake on slide was special.

I explained to Lake that my references are more rock based than blues based, more Cream or Tony McPhee than Buddy Guy;  and asked him where he'd put himself on the dial between rock and blues?
Colin Lake: That's hard to say, I call our music 'Progressive Blues', it's blues up front but the music behind it is funk-rock. Blues is really feeling... [then slapping his R.L. Burnside t-shirt]... as for inspiration and respect, I take it from this guy and his like.

Z: You mention the music behind your sound - there are touches of modernism which make this very 21st century, like the occasional backbeats - do you get any flak for this?
CL: [Smiles] ...not per-se, some on the Blues scene were cool at first, not accepting the use of turntables and samples, but that's gone away, now we're welcomed and we'll feature heavily in the upcoming Blues Festival. (Waterfront Blues Festival, Portland, Oregon - July 3-6)
Z: So these are samples?
CL: They're mixed in by DJ Redi Jedi, who features on two songs on the album and plays live with the band.
Z: It's more than that though, Station Blues, for instance, a stand-out track on your new album, sounded like Lowell George backed by Jazz percussion.
CL: These guys are amazing musicians, these sounds sometimes sound like jazz, sometimes hip-hop.
Z: You play slide with the guitar laid flat on your lap, is that a 'steel' guitar?
CL: Not really, I'm playing lap-slide. 'Steel lap guitar' normally means 'pedal-steel'; I play two instruments, a National and a Weissenborn, it was created by some Austrian immigrant from LA, and it has a hollow neck that creates a distinctive tone.

The Weissenborn is an old, much sought-after guitar which extends the body cavity behind the neck all the way to the head.

Z: I often enjoy blues and jazz music live, but  can be disappointed listening to it on album - one feature of "Bullet" is the spot-on production, it feels live but absolutely tight...
CL: Thanks, it's produced by Bryan Appel, our lead guitarist, we decided to load all the instruments' sound up front, to give it a live feel.

One thing that comes through well, but not quite as well as it does live on 'Bullet', is Lake's voice, good but not as comfortably outstanding as it was live. Based only on the album I asked him about the paucity of great vocalists in the rock side of The Blues, Hendrix for instance was limited, Jack Bruce was an exception - is it all about guitars?

CL: I feel my voice is progressing, I want the room, sound and instrumentation all coming at you live. I mean, I know I don't sound like Howlin' Wolf, but I sing the way I do, this is how I sing, I didn't go out there and try lots of voices.

Q&EH
Q&Eh?: Surprise or Anticipation?
CL: Ah Man... I've never thought about it that way... I'm anxious, I have to control things so anticipation can be hard, so I'd go with surprise.
Q & Eh? You OK? A lot of people who're anxious take anti-depressants, for anxiety?
CL: No,  I'm that way naturally, and I deal with it really well. Socially, I'm fine, and on stage I'm on fore, it's just in my head.

Q&Eh?: Alright, so how many swans do you recommend, per bathtub?
CL: I haven't been able to fit in a bathtub since middle school. [He's 6' 2", 225lbs]... but I'd say two Swans in the shower, wandering around...
Q&Eh?: [Wandering around?]

Q&Eh?: Given free unrestricted travel, where would you go?
CL: New Orleans, first, and then into deep mountains, Nepal or somewhere.
Q&Eh?: Hymalayas?
CL: Yes. I mean I want to play europe, but that's a different question.

Q&Eh?: When did you last run, and why?
CL: 2 days ago, playing Lacrosse in a pick up game, I love it, mostly coach though, I'm still sore.

Q&Eh?: OK, Tell me about Mexico & you.
CL: ... [splutters...] I've only been there once...
Q&Eh?: And...
CL: And when I was a kid, Cancun
Q&Eh?: So you deny anything happened?
CY: [Laughs]

Q&Eh?: Did you ever think the moon really was made of Cheese?
CL: No. I was never under that delusion.
Q&Eh?: No Xmas myths, etc...
CL: No, not really.
Q&Eh?: So your parents were realists?
CL: Yes.
Q&Eh?: And that's a good thing?
CL: Yes, I think so.

Z: OK, you write the songs, it seems to me that blues perhaps should be confined to the human condition, just as novels ought to be, how do you feel about what you write?

CL: I agree. on Wax Wane, my first CD, I quote Chris Whitley, a friend who passed away, "love and death... that's what all art is, or should be about". But you, know, girls are good fodder too...

Z: What about politics/economics/energy issues?

CL: I think the political message conveyed by bands in the '60s was effective, artists can be on the cutting edge, be important, but it's not my main thing.

[On Wax Wane, Lake broke this rule in spades, cutting an amazingly well sampled anti-Bush song with Redi-Jedi that showcases the potential styles he's left behind.]

Z: And comedy? Irony? BB King?

CL: I love that tongue in cheek; wink and nod stuff, there's some of that in there in my songs. ... [The CD 'Bullet' includes printed lyrics].

Z: Any thought to leave us with, a saying, something you adheare to?

CL: Yes, I wrote a song about a the recognition I had a few years back - that things will always get better, yet things will always get worse, don't fight to keep it a particular way. It goes back to the lyrics, resolving some issue, some resolution.