Hawaii Surf 62

DG - That's so cool. What about the connection with Jack [Johnson]?

TL - I met Jack through the Malloys and surfing. We both went to college in Santa Barbara and ended up hanging out, surfing and playing shows together in town.

DG - Is there anyone else that has affected your style or development?


TL - There are a lot of people...as far as style goes, some influences might be Tom Petty and Bob Dylan...maybe Harry Bellafonte and Thom York, Neil Young. But these influences all came later; my first exposure to music was just through my family.

Ramblin' Jack Elliot (early friend of Woody Guthrie) passed on some of his wisdom and experience and was very kind to me. We swapped songs, and he helped me to appreciate the lost art of storytelling in song. Fiona Apple hung out and listened to a few of my songs with me up at Libbey Park in Ojai... I dig on her stuff, so that was neat and made me feel more a part of this generation of songwriters. These types of experiences were an affirmation that I was on the right path...

Thomas Campbell, artist/filmmaker/surfer/skater, helped me to realize that I should just go for it, get something packaged and put it out there...


DG - I've been bodysurfing a bunch out at Rocky Point with Peter [Cole, Jr.], and he speaks really highly of seeing you play live in NY. How do you find performing in public? Is it a different experience for someone who only knows your music as it is on the album?

TL - Performing in public is always interesting...you never know what you are gonna get. Sometimes it's really cool, and I feel like there is a special connection that happens. I can honestly say I learn something every time I play out, so I try to keep a positive attitude toward performing, regardless of the circumstance. I think this album in particular is very simple so what people get from listening to the CD is very close to what they will hear at a show.

DG - Yeah, your album, let's talk a little bit about the recording process. What did you record to?

TL - A 1970s Teac reel-to-reel ¼ inch 4-track with two sure-58 mics.

DG - I love analog. You can push the tape to get a rich, saturated recording. On this album you've also achieved this really nice, warm, room sound. Where did you record?


TL - We recorded in our living room, which is made of olde redwood ceilings, pine walls and doug fir floors. So the acoustics are warm and bright. We just plugged directly in and captured some of the natural sound of the room.

DG - And what about the approach? Did you record it in single takes, or do you put down one part and construct from there?

TL - Well, for the most part we did use the first take. A couple of songs, we had to start over. There are no overdubs...we just played the songs straight through, recording everything at the same time. It isn't as polished as doing it a track at a time, but I think it was an honest way of presenting that group of songs.

DG - I'd love to know what kind of instruments were used, in particular I'd really love to know what uke your dad is playing in the background?

TL - My dad is playing a uke he got in Hawaii about 15 years ago. I think its called a 'Prelude'...he put a pickup in it so it was plugged in direct. My guitar is an olde Spanish nylon string that my dad got at a garage sale for a dollar. The only thing written on it is the name "johnny" in typex on the headstock. The only other instruments are a Ludwig xylophone and a cheap olde steel string guitar that my dad got for a loaf of bread and sixteen bucks a while back.