Jon Mueller is an artist with many strings to his bow. Not only an expert percussionist but also a lecturer on creativity and new business approaches. His latest project is Death Blues, a multidisciplinary work that was inspired by a manifesto, which can be read here. This has been touring the US over the past 18 months, finally evolving into a recorded piece which is available as a digital download (vinyl release coming in January of next year). The music is basic, repetitious and could be seen as an modernist take on medieval chanting or an electric roots or folk music. It's hard to classify. I'd been speaking to Jon about a few different projects when the Death Blues started dominating our discussion. I wanted to find out about the inspiration for such a project, how this different from Jon's own musical work and what we can expect from it in the future. What is the Death Blues and how does it differ, if at all, from Jon Mueller the artist? Well, the focus of the project is a way to consider some things about life that often get brushed aside; a way to dig a bit deeper into what each of us experience, and question what those experiences mean to us. This process is intensified and hastened by the mystery of how much time each of us has to do this. I'm involved in it as an instigator for discussion, as well as a participant. How does the music help get deeper into that experience? Music in general is a connector, a situation that presents a variety of dots that can connect in different ways: ideas, emotions, and even physical feeling. So, any kind of music addresses the personal experience. Music inspires individual thoughts about personal taste, discovery, and senses which both can and cannot be put into words. For 'Death Blues,' by working with things like repetition, it asks a favor - to be patient, to listen, to focus, to be present. From there, more subtleties might be noticed and details discovered (both in the sound and the listener's mind) based upon one's willingness to interact. Music becomes both a guide and a backdrop to one's ideas, memories, and new stories they might tell themselves while they listen. Each sound can inspire something different in each person, and when repeated, these things can be strengthened. This practice, of course, is nothing new. It has been the approach within various musical cultures throughout time, and there are some fascinating books on the subject that go far deeper into the topic. But this was my intent with working on 'Death Blues,' to focus on the alignment of the concept and the musical function to create a more powerful effect. So how did Death Blues come about? I was in New Orleans. I had some ideas about what I wanted to work on next with music, but as I was walking around the city and thinking of those ideas, I got a sense that it somehow 'wasn't enough,' that there was something more that the music might tie into. I had just given a talk at Loyola University, where I discussed with students the idea that music is a way to solve problems, that it's not just a product to be sold, and that it should be considered as something very personal in order to connect better with others. So, I sort of wanted to take my own advice. Was there something specific about New Orleans that connected with you, considering its history and, certainly its most recent issues? A few people I talked to on the trip mentioned the fact of an event like Hurricane Katrina happening again. Each time someone brought this sentiment up, I thought it would be followed by a statement of plans to move away from the city. But it wasn't. That really struck me - the idea of finding satisfaction in something such as place, and that sense of fulfillment carrying one through the fear of something that would happen to them no matter where they lived. Is there a focus on death and finality? The focus is entirely on life. There is no reason to focus on death. It's my hope that all components of this project encourage the listeners and participants to consider their own existence and find the positive things they can within it. How does this influence the music? Is it prepared or is there a strong improvisational element? It is very prepared music, albeit with variation on length based on how consumed by the above experience the performers are. The repetition possibly allows the listener to use it as background for consideration. The subtle changes that occur marking possible developments in that thought process. For those performing the music, this happens more directly, through breathing, moving, focusing on the sound and experiencing those changes more physically. You mention the repetitious nature of the music and giving people time to reflect, I found the music an almost religious experience with its chanting and historical vibe. I was striving toward a sort of pure sound, an almost folk approach of raw instruments: acoustic guitar, upright bass, drums, gongs, voices, wood, metal, strings, and breath. There's something seemingly fundamental about that in terms of music. But of course these things are amplified and take on a more modern feel, which then reminded me of African music like Konono, who found ways to amplify their acoustic sounds for a larger audience. This process of taking ancient things and concepts into the present calls people to understand the reality of sound around them, but to also feel it's ties to something much much older. What kind of ancient concepts? People sitting around making music for each other, for their families, and how that functioned as a form of expression, communication, and release. That's a very old thing. I'm curious about how it began, and where it came from. The aim was to carry on that tradition in my own way. How do you ensure you keep it relevant with such a large scope? Our lives our finite. Our time should not be taken for granted. I think there's relevancy there that everyone understands, consciously and subconsciously. It may seem like a large scope, but that scope is merely filled with reminders of what we already know on a very personal level. So how does this all filter into the Death Blues manifesto? The universality of the concept needed a place to develop beyond the implications of the various parts. The manifesto is sort of the central hub for the concept - why I'm doing this, what it means to me, and also, as a reminder to myself to remain conscious of these things. I'm not trying to make a statement of the world and its evils. I'm making a statement of my own, and how I deal with them, or at least attempt to. The music, compared to some of your previous works, is quite simple, direct and, dare I say it, accessible - due to the nature of the project I guess that was an obvious approach? It was deliberate. I thought about this during my walk around New Orleans, when I was thinking about the concept and the music. I didn't want such a universal concept to be associated with sounds that were a complete mystery. Some of my work in the past pointed toward that - the curiosity of the sound source being the impetus for personal involvement in the music. 'Death Blues' is more accessible in that the sounds are familiar, yet not presented in completely typical fashion. The hammered guitars, the repetition, and using voice as melodic instrument, each support a kind of pure, hard minimal sound. Something to nod one's head to, something to get lost in, yet not totally cast into space. The combination of the concept and the drive of the music will hopefully inspire positive action. The live shows are being well received, have they been recorded? There have been some recordings of the live shows. I believe a video is being produced by some of the team at Hopscotch Fest. But beyond that, there is and will be other music involved in the project. What other music is planned? The CD 'Here: An Advanced Study of Death Blues' was produced this year but offered only to friends and people associated with the project in some way. Additional material is planned to be recorded in that vein, and released on LP sometime next year and will be for sale to the general public. Currently, a full record based on the hammered guitar tracks from the original Death Blues record, orchestrated and performed by William Ryan Fritch and I, is being mixed by Jonathan Burnside. That will also be released in some form next year. Activities around all this stuff will follow. The project is just beginning. This was original published on The Liminal.
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