An Interview with Attention Deficit's Michael Manring and Alex Skolnick
Interview by Clayton Walnum
There's no question of the appropriateness of the band's name. Attention Deficit's music is what you might expect from a bunch of guys who have forgotten to take their Ritalin. Not that I'm suggesting that Michael Manring (bass), Alex Skolnick (guitar), and Tim Alexander (drums) have ADD, but you gotta wonder. Often fusion-like in direction, but sometimes almost avant garde, AD's compositions are a complex collage of sounds that take you from spacey landscapes to power-driven jazz-fusion to pitch-black themes that would fit perfectly in an X- Files soundtrack. Having now released two albums -- the self-titled Attention Deficit and the newest The Idiot King -- these guys are developing a style that is as hard to label as it is to listen to alone with the lights off -- and I mean that in the best possible way. To dispel some of the mystery, Michael Manring and Alex Skolnick graciously agreed to answer a few questions for ProgressiveWorld.net's readers.
Clayton Walnum: Okay, let's take care of the most important question first, the one that all Attention Deficit fans want to know the answer to, and the one about which a lot of folks stay up at night worrying. What's with that goofy dog?
Alex Skolnick: The image of the silly dog was presented to us by Magna Carta, our label. We're not sure if he belongs to someone, or where they got the image. But somehow, he fits like a glove!
Michael Manring: He's the Idiot King! He's sort of our mascot and a good representative for attention deficiencies of all kinds, especially ours.
CW: Thinking of both the first and second album, I'd describe your sound as a cross between fusion and dark ambient. How would you describe your sound? What did you set out to do?
MM: I like the term "dark ambient," but we didn't think much about genres or labels when we recorded our records. We mostly just wanted to see what kind of sounds we could come up with by drawing on our collective experiences and preferences. I don't think we were consciously trying to come up with an unusual sound, but we all come from such different backgrounds that playing together gives us the opportunity to work in unusual ways. How about "Dark Ambient Fusion"?!
AS: I would describe it as instrumental improvisation that has elements of rock, jazz and avant-garde. I think we set out to bring forth all our individual qualities in a way that would compliment our unity as a trio. We weren't sure what the end result of this would be, so it has a very experimental element as well.
CW: How did the three of you come to decide to create Attention Deficit?
AS: We originally came together for Michael's release Thonk," although we didn't record together at the same time. A few years later, Magna Carta approached us about doing a trio album, somewhat along the lines of their other releases in which they put musicians together in various combinations that have never been recorded before, such as Bozzio, Levin, and Stevens.
MM: Magna Carta had asked Alex and me about the possibility of doing a record as part of the series of trio projects they've been releasing. I suggested that it would be fun to have Tim as the third member, and fortunately the folks at Magna Carta liked the idea, too!
CW: The second album seems to be more in the fusion direction than the first. Was that a deliberate choice?
MM: To some extent. We wanted the first record to be very jam oriented, very cut-up and disjointed with lots of attention deficiencies! Since we had taken that approach on the first one, we decided to be a little more organized for The Idiot King. Mostly we just wanted to have the opportunity to work in a slightly different way.
AS: We didn't set out to do a "fusion" album. However, there are elements of that which became apparent for a couple reasons. I think we all have an appreciation for some of the great jazz/rock groups of the 70's (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report etc..). Also, I recently got my music degree from the jazz program at New York's New School University, and I think these studies affected my contributions, both compositionally and improvisationally.
CW: Alex, a lot of fusion bands with guitarists -- take Scott Henderson's group Tribal Tech, for example -- spend a lot of time trying to blow their audience away with guitar pyrotechnics. You take a more restrained approach to your playing on the Attention Deficit albums. Your playing is wonderful -- no one questions that you've got the chops! -- but more subtle than one might expect. What are your goals as a guitarist in Attention Deficit?
AS: I really didn't want Attention Deficit to be just about my guitar solos. This project is about the three of us, not myself and a rhythm section backing me up. I'm much more interested in the compositions and communication between the musicians. Even when I release my own albums, this will be the case, although you'll probably hear more guitar solos. I should point out that I love Tribal Tech, and Scott's a real inspiration.
MM: One of the things that's fun about playing with Alex is that he enjoys exploring texture and vibe as much as soloing and blowing.
CW: Michael, I understand that you were a student of Jaco Pastorius. Pastorius's melodic style of bass playing pops up here and there on Attention Deficit albums. What was working with Pastorius like? How is his influence felt personally by you and the other band members?
MM: Jaco was a complicated guy, simultaneously admirable and pitiful. He had been my hero as a teenager, so I felt lucky to have the chance to study with him. It's a long story, but I found I got more personally than musically from spending time with him. He made a big contribution to music, and I feel that every bassist now has to come to terms with the depth with which he played the instrument. He came along at a time when the bass was just starting to define itself, and he helped establish the possibilities for the future. I hope that my playing will always show his influence, as well as the influence of all the other artists whose work has had a big effect on me. Alex and I have talked about Jaco's music a lot, but actually I don't know if Tim was ever particularly a fan or not.
CW: What other artists are you listening to these days?
AS: Lately, I've been listening to a lot of albums that combine world music with jazz improvisation. I opened for Strunz & Farah, the Spanish style guitarists and had forgotten how much I love them. Bassist Matt Garrison's new CD is amazing, with great guitarists that aren't widely known outside of New York, David Gilmore (not from Pink Floyd!) and Adam Rogers. I also really like African bassist Richard Bona's album, even though it's much mellower than his live shows.
MM: I listen to kind of a strange collection of folks: Morton Feldman, Egberto Gismonti, Gyogy Ligeti, Tarika Sammy, Srinivas, Clastrier/Riessler/Rizzo, Alban Berg, Bill Evans, Paolo Angeli, Little Feat, Mafua, Sly & the Family Stone, Harry Partch, Oregon, Charles Mingus, XTC, Ralph Towner & Gary Peacock, Patrick Brayer, Thinking Plague, Meshuggah, Bela Bartok, Elis Regina, Anton Webern, Morphine, L. Subramanium, Mozart, Nguyen Le, Adriana Calcanhotto, Shakti, Meat Beat Manifesto, Wayne Shorter, Squarepusher, Hermeto Pascoal.
CW: Alex, parts of the first album remind me very much of the sort of thing Hendrix was trying on Electric Ladyland's "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)." Really beautiful stuff (in a spacey way) and not as dark as most of the rest of the album, although the things do get more intense as they go on. Did Hendrix play a key role in your development as a guitarist? Who are your major influences? Whose playing blows you away today?
AS: Hendrix was and is a major influence on me. It's funny because I was never a hippie or a big psychedelic fan. But if you were studying guitar, you had to learn Hendrix, and I fell in love with a lot of his music, especially the live stuff. I was also a big fan of Jeff Beck and Leslie West. A lot of guys thought I was nuts because at this time (the early 80's) this was considered "old." However, I still liked the modern guys at the time, Van Halen, Michael Schenker, Malmsteen, and especially Randy Rhoads. It's interesting that nearly twenty years later, Hendrix's music seems the most fresh and timeless, not to take anything away from the others as far as playing ability.
For the past ten years or so I've gravitated toward more jazz oriented players. Today my favorites are: Jimmy Herring (of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Phil Lesh & Friends), Scott Henderson, gypsy/fusion guitarist Bireli Lagrene, Wayne Krantz, Strunz & Farah, Junion Brown, Dave Gilmore (of New York, although I love the English Dave Gilmore's playing, too), Dave Fuzinski, Paul Bollenback, Ron Affif, Pat Metheny (preferably with his trio and with Kenny Garret, Michael Brecker and others) and of course John McLaughlin
CW: What's your approach to composition? Much of the music sounds improvisational. Do you jam to come up with ideas? Do you write a loose framework for a track and just go with it? Or do you just run the tape and keep the best bits?
AS: I do all of the above.
MM: The concept of Attention Deficit is to keep things pretty open and collaborative. Certainly a lot of the first record was as you described it. We actually didn't want it to sound too focused! When we composed the music for The Idiot King, we took a little different tactic. We each brought in ideas in various states of complexity and preparedness, but nothing completely finished. Then we all worked together to try to organize the ideas in ways that would make sense and be fun to play. Everybody really contributed equally, and it was fun to see whose skills would end up bringing an idea into focus each time.
CW: Michael, you have a big following in the New Age genre. In fact, in that context is the first time I saw your name (a long time ago!). New Age music and Attention Deficit are kind of diametrically opposed stylistically, what with New Age being thought of as relaxing and Attention Deficit being energized and dark, even to the point of approaching sonic rampage. So, Michael, where does your musical heart really lie?
MM: Both places! I guess I'm a little strange, but I really kind of enjoy moving through different moods in music. One of the things that makes music so vital for me is that it has the power to express and process all kinds of human experience. Sometimes I enjoy the relaxing vibe of New Age music and sometimes I feel more like going more in that rampage direction! Music has a way of making sense and meaning out of all of it for me. I think all three of us are a little that way, actually. We have some pretty diverse listening habits.
CW: Where does Attention Deficit go from here?
AS: Hopefully every couple years or so we can get together to record a new record which reflects our growth both collectively and individually. We'd also love to tour and are hoping to make this happen at some point in the near future.
MM: We're not sure! It's always been kind of an experimental project, so we wouldn't want it to fall into any pattern that was too predictable -- even by us!
Thanks very much to Michael and Alex for taking the time to share their musical musings with ProgressiveWorld.net.
Attention Deficit - l to r: Michael Manring, Alex Skolnick and Tim Alexander
Discography
- Attention Deficit (1998)
- The Idiot King (2001)
