in my mind's zen garden

Gary Wilson @ The Knitting Factory NYC

      Share    December 29, 2008 | Music

 

Gary Wilson, longtime friend and musical colleague, has this other life where he sings about Linda and Mary, plays with mannequins and blowup dolls onstage, dresses up in costumes that are insane, has flour thrown at him…

I told him at least a couple of times that he could do this amazing tour through America, Asia and Europe with his show. But I guess he likes to choose the time and place when he likes to perform, which seems to either be in New York City or in Hollywood. Just recently he flew to New York to do a stint at The Knitting Factory, a place that has earned its reputation on featuring experimental and avante-garde rock artists.

DJ Duane, Peanut Butter Wolf, Linda? and Gary Wilson @ The Knitting Factory NYC

It’s just hard sometimes to believe that I’d been doing lounge and trio gigs with him all these years and… he basically has this other life…

An experimental, avante-garde, shock rocker who’s had rock artists like Lou Reed and Beck say that they were influenced by his early music. He had lived a life of seclusion away from his cult roots in New York, found after decades of gigging small lounge gigs in hideaway joints in and around San Diego.

Gary Wilson emerged from New York’s DIY movement with 1977′s proto-New Wave masterpiece You Think You Really Know Me, an extraordinary record which has been known to suck unprepared new listeners in like a drug and never let go. Shortly after its limited release its creator simply vanished.

He’s legendary among the experminental rock circles and had pioneered some styles that were a bit ahead of their time way back when he recorded his You Think You Really Know Me album in his basement in the late 70s.

In the 25-year wake before he was found again, Gary’s small-town opus had spread by word-of-mouth and indie radio to inspire a whole new generation of musicians and producers with his bizarre songs and personal musical vision. His cult following includes Beck, who shouts him out in “Where It’s At (Two Turntables And A Microphone)”, The Roots’ ?uestlove, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and of course, Stones Throw’s Peanut Butter Wolf.

I’ve been gigging with him for more than 12 years now, doing these little trio gigs with him and Donnie Finnell in various places around San Diego. Donnie singing, Gary on keyboards kicking bass, and me on drums.

Me, Donnie Finnell and Gary Wilson in front of Bistro 221

Gary has such a devoted cult following that he is doing quite well for himself, still creating original music from home and getting his music produced and distributed through Stones Throw Records.

Gary says I’m on his documentary film about him. I was being interviewed by a New York film maker and I remember it well. Sort of leary to see myself in that film, though. I’m just uncomfortable seeing myself on the big screen, and I was told Gary’s documentary was premiered at Lincoln Center a few years back. Just imagining myself on the big screen at Lincoln Center is probably as close as I want to get as far as seeing myself like that. Haha…

If you’re interested in some experimental rock music, Gary Wilson was a pioneer of the genre back in the 1970s. Definitely a bit on the shockingly crazy side. I did a couple of shows with him in Hollywood that are still burned into my memory… and I still think there’s a little bit of flour in my drumset!

Posted by Randomguru | Comments (View Comments)

Tags: Gary Wilson, You Think You Really Know Me