Bill Janovitz has been a staple in the Boston music scene for the last
nineteen years. His work as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter
for Buffalo Tom, along with his efforts as a solo artist, and front
man for Crown Victoria, have amounted to eleven albums including a BT
Greatest Hits “A-Sides” (Beggar’s Banquet, 2000) release.
Janovitz’s gravely voice and edgy, infectious songwriting have
drawn comparisons to Tom Waits and Grant Lee Buffalo. As a philanthropist,
he’s been part of The Jimmy Fund’s “Hot Stove, Cool
Music” playing alongside ex-GM, Theo Epstein and various Red Sox
player-musicians to raise money to fight pediatric cancer. I had a chance
to speak with him recently about the status of Buffalo Tom, his outside
projects, parenthood, and his new career as a published writer and Real
Estate agent.
Michael Atwood: What's going on with Buffalo Tom and talk of a new
album? Have you recorded anything at this point?
Bill Janovitz: We have all the songs written and
about eight fully recorded. We have another couple of weeks of recording
and mixing to go. We have been doing it in short bursts over the last
year.
MA: Secondary projects have come up for both you and Chris Colbourn
(who recently released Hilken Mancini and Chris Colbourn, Kimchee 2005).
Talk about what's happening with you. Will there be a second Bill Janovitz
and Crown Victoria album?
BJ: There are already a couple of songs recorded
for another Crown Victoria record. I am also trying to finally release
a CD of songs that I have worked with Chris Toppin and the defunct band,
the Bathing Beauties. This is mostly folky, country, pop stuff. We started
this collaboration almost ten years ago; it was mostly a fun thing.
However, we never gave it the proper time or dedication. Momentum was
tough. I am pulling it together though.
MA: How has parenthood affected Buffalo Tom?
BJ: We have two kids each. The recording / touring
hiatus the band has coincided with the growth of the families and it
all sort of worked out well. It really was not a matter of any one of
us wanting to pursue solo or side projects more than any of the other
guys. When we stopped, though, we were at best 50/50 on whether we would
continue the band’s recording career. I was thinking the chances
were actually much less than that so I have been pleasantly surprised.
MA: I recently saw an interview with the lead singer of The Jam, Paul
Weller. His solo stuff is moving up the charts in England and The Jam
is also touring. Considering the success in the U.K. of your cover of
their revered punk song "Going Underground" (top 10 on the
British charts in November 1999), do you see Buffalo Tom in the same
light as The Jam?
BJ: I never really saw them as a direct model
or inspiration for Buffalo Tom, but I was a casual Jam fan back in high
school and the power trio aspect certainly is a common theme between
them and us.
MA: Buffalo Tom’s Sleepy-Eyed (Beggar’s Banquet, 1995)
is a favorite BT album for many fans. What happened in those sessions
that created so many great, raw, pop-punk songs?
BJ: We were really going for a stripped-down live
approach. I am glad that fans like the record, as I do. I think there
were a couple of songs that made the cut because they were upbeat and
energetic and thus balanced the more downbeat numbers. I don’t
think that is always the best way to put together a record. I feel like
you should just go with the best songs. A collaboration has a funny
way of bringing out results that no one person would have intended.
We also loved the studio, Dreamland, a church in the Woodstock area.
We had recorded a lot of Let Me Come Over (Beggar’s Banquet, 1992)
there as well so we wanted to do a whole project there. We were (maybe
it was mostly me) intent on being all in one room together, trying to
go for a live vocal approach to capture that Tonight’s the Night
(Neil Young)-meets-Some Girls (Rolling Stones) vibe. I think we stayed
with the approach even when it would have been better to abandon it.
Our co-producer/engineer John Agnello was sort of hamstrung by the fact
that we were tied to this desire and system. It certainly did not result
in the best sound, which we knew going in, especially for a loud rock
band like us. However, I do think we captured some of that energy we
were after. In many ways, it was a desire to move away from the polished
approach of Big Red Letter Day, which I actually think is out overall
best-sounding and best-performed record until Smitten, and then I would
have to A/B them to compare and decide.
MA: Speaking of Smitten (Polydor, 1998), the album contains some crowd
favorites like "Rachel", "Postcard", and "Wiser".
However, it seemed the rest of the album was a bit more artistic in
design in that some of the songs were less conventional and radio-ready
and more of an experimentation with a new sound for Buffalo Tom.
BJ: We spent way more time preparing for that
record than any previous, partially by design and partially out of circumstances,
specifically working on various label deals, one of which fell through.
We also had a full-time keyboard guy in Phil Aiken for the record. We
wanted to swing it back into a more fully produced album. I do believe
we were trying to stretch the boundaries of what we feared was becoming
formulaic; like, why keep doing this if we are going to repeat ourselves?
But it took years and really aiming far to even “grow” a
slight amount. And then only die hard fans heard the record because
we were tossed aside as the record industry tried to stave off its inevitable
collapse, one which is still happening, by consolidation. The whole
experience, coupled with the state of the band and the amount of years
we had dedicated, the growth of the families, the money we were paid
for being dropped – it all conspired for us to take a bunch of
steps away and retreat for a while. I love the record. Those are three
of my favorite BT songs that you mentioned. I also love “Scottish
Windows,” “20 Points,” “White Paint Morning,”
and some more.
MJ: Your newest album, Fireworks on T.V. (Q Division, 2004), has some
great tracks especially the song your wrote about the controversial
teacher, Mary Kay Laterno and her ignominious love affair with a student.
"Mary Kay" is a rather catchy song but it deals with an extremely
controversial topic. Tell me why you decided to write it and how you
feel it's perceived.
BJ: I have no idea how it came out of me. I never
sit down to write a song about a topic, especially something in the
news, otherwise I would be writing bad political rants against the Bush
Administration. But many times, accounts from the newspapers seep into
my subconscious and words start fitting into melodies as I write them.
And then I fill the rest of the lyric out and it might be pretty direct,
as that one is. I think people believe it is going to be sardonic, funny,
whatever. But while I see the humor (which I am sorry to admit as a
double standard), I also easily imagine myself as the boy, inevitably
attracted to a cute older woman who is flattering you. There was just
another case this week, in Florida, with a very attractive blond teacher.
Come on, this is a fantasy archetype! But I wanted to take it from the
emotional “us vs. them”; standpoint. As in “Heroes”
or my own verse in “Taillights Fade” with the Romeo and
Juliet story of a Romanian girl who disappears and becomes a hermit
because she is not allowed to marry the man she wished, I am a sucker
romantic for stories like that: True love in the face of societal disapproval.
This is a rock and roll cliché.
MA: What's your favorite album (from your solo, CV, and BT years) and
how does it compare to Exile on Main St.?
BJ: Nothing I have ever done compares to Exile
on Main St.. I do not have a favorite record that I have done, though
when I am working on or have just finished one, it is usually my favorite
at the time.
MA: Did you have a chance to talk to Mick and Keith during the writing
of your new book Exile on Main St. (Continuum Books 33 1/3, 2005)?
BJ: They tried to contact me but I was not interested
in their thoughts. It was all about how I felt about their record. No…just
a joke. I am not on the level of hanging with those dudes and did not
even try to contact them. I thought it would be next to impossible and
I was also scared of it actually working and having to talk to my idols.
MA: Is Real Estate your first real job beyond rock and roll? How do
you like it?
BJ: Yes, and I actually really enjoy it. It was
hard for me to come to terms with that for a while. But I am actually
very good at it, if I do say so myself. And it has opened me up to a
whole new world of people I would not ordinarily meet or become friends
with. It has been amazing in that respect. I have lived in a town outside
of Boston for 11 years, and it was only in the last four of Real Estate
where I have met many fellow citizens.
MA: What's the effect been with Phil Aiken's keyboard playing on Crown
Victoria and Buffalo Tom albums? Has the fourth member added a dimension
you guys always thought was missing?
BJ: While Phil is still a huge presence in Crown
Victoria, he has not been involved in this new Buffalo Tom project as
we wanted to bring it back down to the original three. I have to say,
by the way, that I am very interested in what the fans’ perspective
will be on this new record. To me, it sounds like classic mid-period
Buffalo Tom. We threw all rules out the window, had few if any preconceptions,
and thus it is almost as innocent and carefree as those first three
records. It is probably most like Let Me Come Over, but I do not want
people to think that we are trying to capture that sprit specifically
of what seems to be most people’s favorite Buffalo Tom record.
It is just sort of moody, melancholy, autumnal, etc. like LMCO and the
recordings, close to home, relatively casual, sort of produced and sort
of stripped down at the same time. But I also miss Phil on many of these
tracks. But I do think it was best for us and wise to take a step away
from that method. Phil was contributing something to every track and
thus stuff was getting all filled up and rich, which is not always best.
But it all sounded good so it was hard to deny. I am just glad I get
to work with Phil on other projects. I love the guy as a friend and
collaborator.
MA: I heard a local radio interview where you mentioned you used to
bike two hours a day when you weren't a parent and with more free time
to focus on your music and work as an artist. Is exercise still part
of your regime?
BJ: Not every day; no way. But that was more of
an illustration of what I could do with my time if I so decided. There
were some days that I would spend four hours walking the streets of
Boston, or taking a drive to Lowell or something. It was inspiration.
I looked at myself as an artist, making a living as such and lucky to
do so. So I would usually be very disciplined about it, even if I was
walking for four hours. I would be like punching a clock, take a notebook
and a small memo recorded and jot down ideas, write poetry, etc. It
was a great period. But it was also a reaction to being on the road
and in the presence of others for 24 hours a day. I would come home,
my wife would go to work, I would “go to work” and we would
meet home for dinner and sitcoms or videos and books in the evenings.
When I got some home studio stuff, I would spend weeks at a time fleshing
out songs. This resulted in a ton more material, but not necessarily
good material, just more of it. I think I am writing as many if not
more good songs, but just not as much other stuff, Poor old Chris and
Tom had to weed through tons of (demos) back then to help me find good
song ideas. Now I have very limited time but I still get music done
somehow and while there was some great benefits to my lifestyle back
then, I would not trade the two periods. Life changes. People change.
One has to roll with it and accept it. These are boilerplate banal observations,
but true.
MA: U Mass seemed to have a huge scene with the quick success of Dinosaur
Jr., Buffalo Tom, and The Pixies in the mid-to-late eighties. Buffalo
Tom was born there and J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) seemed really help you
get a start. What’s your advice to up-and-coming bands who don’t
have that scene?
BJ: U Mass actually had NO scene for music. It
was a very unsupportive area for live music in the 80s. We used to beg
the student council to put us on bills when national or international
touring bands came through. Dino were huge in Europe, New York City,
California and would come and play to 15 dudes at U Mass. There were
a couple of bars that had live music but they wanted reggae or “blues”
bands. It was dismal. No one knew the Pixies there. They formed afterwards
in Boston. I went to see them at a bar called Sheehan’s. As with
the Flaming Lips, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, and so many other great bands
that came through in the 80s, it would be like the three Buffalos and
maybe 20-40 likeminded people. At best, the Sonics would fill up some
unpublicized gig at a barn at Hampshire College. But all of those bands
helped each other out, as described in Michael Azeroff’s very
good book on the time/scene Our Band Could Be Your Life. J Mascis really
helped BT get going, lending us a drum set, talking to Greg Ginn at
SST, producing, etc. I have no idea what it is like to start a band
now, but my advice would be make the music that is most true to you,
don’t worry about “making it,” put it out on your
own on the web, get the college radio folks on your side, if there are
still good college radio stations out there beyond Boston, etc. WMBR
and WERS were very instrumental in Buffalo Tom starting off.
MA: How did you feel with the closing of Ft. Apache? Was it a place
that you loved to record?
BJ: As with any “scene,” it rarely
feels like a “scene” from within. People would always ask
us about the Amherst or Boston “scenes” and we were confused.
Maybe there was such a clubhouse somewhere in Allston that no one invited
us to, but it was more about that national and international support
system and mutual admiration society for indie rock than a local Boston
thing. We would maybe go see Yo La Tengo, Superchunk, Teenage Fanclub,
the Gun Club, My Bloody Valentine, the Volcano Suns, Nirvana, Mudhoney,
and the Lemonheads all in one month and see all the same audience members.
When we were touring (by the way, we shared bills if not whole tours
with all of the above), we would see familiar faces in Germany or San
Diego. That was more of a scene than any one town. That said, though,
if there was one binding force in Boston it was the studio and the people
at Fort Apache. The holiday parties were legendary. And it was that
one place that really did make Boston feel like it had a scene.
MA: Who are the new players in the Boston music scene today, bands that
you listen to or have seen coming up?
BJ: I have seen a few young bands I love, like
the Unbusted and Furvis, but they probably both remind me of the good
old days and that is probably the kiss of death. I would rather have
a bunch of bands that would hate to be endorsed by old fogies like me.
Michael J. Atwood is a graduate of Boston College and USC’s
Master of Professional Writing program. He is currently a freelance
writer and a high school English teacher in North Easton, Massachusetts,
where he resides with his wife and son.