Cue & Ehh? With Mecca Normal

10 GO TO MECCA NORMAL
20 LOAD JEAN SMITH TO VOCALIST
30 RUN GREAT TRACKS WITH NON-PROGRAMMABLE EMOTION
40 IF 10 = MECCA NORMAL GOT TO 30
50 list busy
60 :;//(4=%2) *Slide 10, 20, 30, 40
70 END RUN

>SYNTAX ERROR

>ERROR IN 40 TO ID NODE 1P_45
>_





When I first listened to ‘Attraction Is Ephemeral’ it reminded me of the first time I had ever heard Smog. It holds that clever juxtaposition of being beautifully simple as well as narratively complex. What would you say was the first ‘narrative’ track to move you?

Leonard Cohen -- Suzanne "And she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China" and Bread "I found your diary underneath a tree and started reading about me."


Jean, you seem to bear all when it comes to lyrical content. Where would you draw the line in sharing? (i.e. Would you write about a thrush infection or your toilet usage?)

I make music and I write and create art with very basic implements as original entry points. 1.) Voice and my thoughts. 2.) Words on a page and my emotions. 3.) Paint on paper and my imagination. The limitations of production I impose on myself in creative terms place more emphasis on content and quality than on form and function. Additionally, I have an internal undocumented private obligation that says I am creative all the time.


If you had to choice to remove one element of craftsmanship/skill from the planet, what medium/craft would it be and why?

I would remove the craft of drilling into the to extract what is below the surface and I may remove the craft of lumberjacking.


Jean, you not only write captivating lyrics, but you’re also an established novelist. If you had to give credit to one book for sparking your interest, what book would you award the title to?

Jayne Anne Phillips "Black Tickets" short stories, 1975


I am getting annoyed with language, the English language in particular. There’s simply too many useless letters in the alphabet. I was thinking of removing the useless letters such as X and C and also all the vowels. In fact I think we could make do with a ‘Decabet’: D Y THNK THS WLD WRK?

If you were to argue your case to keep a letter in the ‘Decabet’, which letter would it be and why?

It would be between 'f' and 'l' because these sound least like the sound they make.


Your new album is titled ‘The Observer’. In Britain, ‘The Observer’ is a Sunday newspaper released by the Guardian. Is this a cheap ploy to make money from subtle advertising/product placement? If not, where did the inspiration come for the album title and the similarly titled final track?

I am reclusive and I write about things I see. To some extent, in the online dating thing, I feel like I'm interacting with people who appear to be convinced that there is a structure at hand that everyone agrees on. That feels sort of limited and alienating to me. I feel like an outsider... I could have called the CD The Outsider, but I tend to take my position as perpetual interloper and write about what I see. When some other people here and there, beyond the physical scope of my neighbourhood, hear or read some of my observations they might feel more connected; less alienated.


Jean, if you happen to accidentally receive a blow to the head that impaired your sight to that of a single colour. Which colour would you hope that would be and why?

Green -- because either there are more greens than there are an other colour, or humans can see more greens. So at least with green there is more variety. I read that we are more sensitive to greens because we, at one time, had to select plants based on colour and other qualities; so humans developed a heightened sense of detecting subtleties in green. I don't know if that's true, but it makes me feel more human.


The next time anyone sees you at a gig or in the pub which drink would you like them to buy you?

As a non-drinker of almost seven years and somehow a consistent non-recipient of drinks purchased... let's see; ideally I would like to have something that reflected the person's knowledge or awareness of me. Somewhere once, I said my drink of choice was sparkly water with a slice of lime... and someone some place once delivered one of these to me... and I was... well... I liked that.


Having attended art school, I have witnessed many annoying works, works without skill or merit, without any other aim than to gain undeserved attention or to shock. I remember a guy running around wiping himself wearing nothing more than a black leather thong... I’ve recently heard that the Tate (London Modern Art Gallery) has a resident Raspberry Blower at the minute. He just stands around blowing raspberries all day. Have you ever been annoyed to the point of despair by any artworks?

Not that I can think of, but I grew up in the sixties and my parents were both abstract painters. I recall that Picasso sorta bugged me... in a general way. Actually, his work still sorta bugs me.


If you had your chest X-rayed, were shown the plate and you had noticed that your heart was the silhouette of a famous person. Who would it be and why?

If my heart, in silhouette, looked like…?


If you actually discovered that the silhouette was that of Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones from ‘Two & A Half Men’ would you still frame the picture within a back lit light box or burn the evidence and have a pace maker fitted to destroy their combined profiles?

Relegated to the bottom of the sock drawer, I'm afraid.


Rain is God’s Tears, Snow is his dandruff, and the waning moon is God’s Fingernail… What’s Moss?

Moss is flora produced in elimination of negative thought, fueled by God's tears, it lays low on its shallow root system, dries out while dormant, ready to respond to God's new sobbings -- moss requires little attention other than disallowing it from taking over what are thought of as more desirable plant-forms -- greener grasses on other sides of fences etc -- some effort is required to keep it under control. It can be comfortable place to wander barefoot over but nowhere that you need to stay for long.


What would rather have; a life of torment and dull pain with an amazing, uplifting and exhilarating death or a life of numb happiness with the most god awful, painful death you could ever imagine?

Sorry, neither is a possibility.


Weird and Freaky Question:

Referring back to toilet usage (my favourite subject), when you visit a stranger’s house what method do you use to cover up your toilet undertakings? Do you put lots of toilet roll down the bowl first to dampen the noise, or do you turn on the sink tap to drown out the noises?

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