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Melinda Mohn
(Interviewed on Monday, December 18, 2006)
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Where do you live and where are you originally from?
Born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia which is an army base that no longer exists –but my father was transferred to Paris, France immediately after. Lived in France for a while and from about 5 years on lived in D.C. to age 20, then the family moved to Seattle, left home –went to California, lived there twenty years and just moved back to Seattle two years ago – my parents were originally from Texas and Missouri
Do you work , full/part time/ self employed?
These days I work temp part time as a Human Resource Specialist -horrible job really - because it has a beginning and an end, thankfully
Where do you make your music ? (e.g. studio/bedroom/separate room) and describe the surroundings ?
Bedroom which I have made into my own little cave and I’ve done the walls in a feaux finish(sort of paint with a sponge) - golden orange & cream so it looks a California sunset all the time. Desk with my laptop - bookcase and a Victorian chair that no one sits in cause it always has stuff in it – books piled up everywhere and a corner of the room for my workstation/keys and dedicated computer etc and comfy rolly chair to work in – the wall between me the rest of the house is very thick so when I shut the door its nice & quiet.
When did you first really start getting into music, and what was the first single/album you ever bought with your own cash?
When I was ten I knew I wanted to play and perform - discovered I could sing at twelve - at 13 I bought three vinyl singles at one time -was a 45 vinyl single Since I fell For You /Lenny Welch recording – B side was Talk to Me….– original 45 vinyl of Can’t get no Satisfaction – B side was Playin with Fire…which I preferred … and I Wanna Hold your Hand by Beatles – don’t remember the B side
Who were your musical heroes when you were at school?
ura Nyro, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, early Herbie Hancock, Nina Simone, Smokey Robinson
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Besides classical concerts my mother took me to a jazz club to hear Mose Alison when I was 15 yrs old -
What was the best gig you ever went to?
The best show I ever went to was Laurie Anderson in L.A. – smashing performance artist at one time
What would you say were your main strengths musically?
Melody maybe? I’ve been singing a long time and sung all kinds of music from jazz to rock, country and Cajun so I have a good ear, and I like to experiment
Looking around you, what would you say was the most encouraging aspects of the music industry at the moment?
That artists have a chance via the internet at least to place their music before a potentially very large audience and that a community of artists like this exists to support and foster creative efforts
Which track that you have written/created/produced would you say is your best work (to date) ?
Probably Postcard to Laura though it may not have the widest appeal-
What would you say most influences/inspires you to write a track, and what is your most regular process in creating a new track ?
personal mood and emotion and the thought behind it – writing a lyric until the idea unfolds naturally or playing with an improvised melody until I coax out the sweet part and then shaping it till it sounds right - that can take time - going back to it again and again until the aha! moment.
Who or what do you admire most in the current music industry ?
Artists who reinvent and/or challenge themselves
Who or what do you have most contempt for in the current music industry ?
$fat cats that dumb down the culture and musical tastes – My ex-husband and I used to work with some teens who listened to the most crappy music at the job site(movie theater) and oh they just hated jazz– The ex started bringing in Ornette Coleman and playing it every day – pretty soon the kids were humming the melodies and digging the music. Its really a matter of exposure but fat cat execs seem to have limited vision and a talent for mediocrity
On Mp3unsigned, what would you change ?
Not a blessed thing - although changes I've seen in my short time here seem to work for the good so I'm certainly not opposed to changes and fine tuning
Which artist on mp3unsigned do you most enjoy ?
Difficult to answer of course cause there are so many great artists here -
Abeey Williams - such a unique truly souful delivery and beautiful voice - Howsie who has a wonderful sense of harmony - Ditheramb - powerful moving music- Conkuss - fearlessly honest, complex & emotional music and a plethora of others who are quite as brilliant imo
Iif you were stranded (desert island disks style) and could only ever have 3 tracks to play, which would they be and why ?
A Love Supreme/John Coltrane - New York Tendaberry/Laura Nyro – Prokofiev’s 3rd piano Concerto
Coltrane cause its transcendent music –
Nyro cause it has one lyric I never tire of hearing her sing –
“sidewalks and pigeons
You look like city but you feel like religion to me”
Prokofiev cause when played by a pro this is some of the most kick-ass music around
Same question , but which 1 book and 1 movie ?
A survival guide and either Galaxy Quest or Much Ado about Nothing cause I’ll be wantin a laugh after eating fish and seaweed for days on end
What track do you hate most in the world, and why ?
Everything by the Partridge Family and need I explain?
Throughout history, pick someone that you admire most, and tell us why ?
I have to go with recent history -My late brother(he was an anesthesiologist – the doctor who keeps you blissfully
unconscious during the operation) – cause he was just a wonderful human being and an original – he used to take his cassio keyboard into the operating room during long 12 hour surgeries and play blues and he never lost a patient. If you couldn’t afford him he wouldn’t charge for his services. He climbed Mt McKinley in Alaska twice – participated in Iron Man competitions all over the world, was a class 5 Kayaker and would give you the shirt off his back for the asking. I miss him everyday
If you had the time to learn a new instrument, what would it be, and why ?
Acoustic guitar or violin cause I love the sound and they are so very portable
Who (where or what if needs be) would you say are your true musical influences ?
Gershwin, classical Impressionist composers like Debussy, Satie, Stravinsky and Judy GarlandJ – I was listening to these artists obsessively when I was a young pre-teen although Stravinsky scared the hell outta me when I first heard Rite of Spring
If Beethoven were alive today, which genre of music would he be making, and would he be a success?
Metal – what else? and yeah of course he would have been huge!
Car or Bike?
car - used to love bikes but can't ride em anymore
You are allowed to slap 1 politician, who you gonna slap?
Only one? What a pity –the treasonous vote stealing rotten sack o manure Carl Rove gets the back o my hand for sure – would have chosen GWB but its really not fair to attack the mentally challenged…
How much of your day do you spend listening to, creating or thinking about music?
About 75% of the day now since I am not working at the moment
When was the last time you sat in quiet, and gave yourself time to think?
Every day when I get up and every night before I go to bed– part of my ritual
What was your worst fashion disaster?
Never had one but I’ve read about them – always perfectly quaffed, groomed and stylishly dressed…as if;-)
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To listen to Melinda Mohn,
Click Here
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Acoustic
