Interview: John E Vistic

John E Vistic is headlining the inaugural night of a new regular event Bristol Rocks at the Fleece on Sunday, January 10, which aims to showcase the best local guitar and alternative acts in town. It’s early doors with a monster bill of a half dozen splendid bands and well worthy of your support. Mr Vistic will be performing with the J.E.V. Experience and rest assured you will be in for a superb night topped off with a riffmungous cosmic maelstrom disguised as rock n roll bedlam. The man himself took time off from the year end festivities to answer a few music related questions for us.

What was the first record you ever bought and where did you buy it?

First proper vinyl I remember buying was a copy of Pink Floyd’s Animals in mint condition (1977 pressing) in the market at Swinburne University, Melbourne when my Ma was there studying for her degree. I loved the front cover and the amazing inserts with pictures of the dilapidated Battersea power-station. It looked so miserable and so glamorously English, the lyrics all written out in that Waters scrawl. I remember getting back home, putting it on and at some point wandering out of the room. When I came back I thought the record must have had a scratch in it, cos it sounded stuck. Turns out it was playing that section of vocal loops in the middle of Pigs and was meant to sound like that! I’ve still got it and it still sounds great. Roger Waters was always a big lyrical influence though he seems to have gone a little more crazy of late. I also remember buying my first ever Janis Joplin record around this time in another market in Melbourne: I Got dem Ol’ Kosmic Blues Again Mama!; warped then, warped now. Still plays great – pressed to vinyl when she was still alive and sounds like thunder.

What was the most recent record you bought and where did you buy it?

Bought a bunch of re-issue blues stuff in Fopp, amazing value. Lighting Hopkins, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Memphis Slim etc. Also the Helios Creed classic Superior Catholic Finger. I actually went in to buy the new FKA Twigs record but they didn’t have it on vinyl.

What record do you stick on the deck to sooth your soul?

Glen Gould Goldberg Variations (though I only have the original 50s recording, I need to get the famous re-recording), or Pablo Casals Bach cello suites; or at the moment anything by John Dowland, Lute songs etc. Gorecki’s Third (Dawn Upshaw recording).

Have you bought a record on the basis of a great single and then been disappointed by the rest of the album? If so, tell us all about it…

Haha, yeah, Creep by Radiohead, bought the first EP as I liked that chucka chucka BAM sound. The rest of the tracks were awful, apparently they’ve got better since! I like that song where Thom York drowns in a vat.  

What record do you turn up to maximum to get in to that party mood?

Dave Clark Five – Play Good Old Rock n Roll – 18 Golden Oldies. Every tune on it is epic rock n roll gold. If I’m at home it’s always Bob Dylan’s Desire. Play it so loud the windows shake. If I’m drunk, I like to act out all the songs, particularly the bit about the horse. If I get married it will be on the Fifth Day of May – in the drizzle and rain. My current favourite party band is Airbourne, I bloody love em. Like the sound of a six pack through a jet engine!  Shout out also to Red Fang, Black Tusk and High on Fire.

If we had the ability to land you at the recording of one classic LP so you could witness the whole recording process, what would you choose and why?

Bob Dylan’s Desire, it’s my favourite record of all time and still sounds better than any other record ever: it’s a mystical rock n roll masterpiece. I don’t know how they made it sound so good. Nulli Secundus.

Ever bought a record solely because you liked the sleeve? If so, what was it and did it delight you or disappoint you?

A lot of my records! Not always a good idea though, see Animals above. My dad’s record collection is almost exclusively based on this choice – as a consequence he has a lot of awesome 70’s Motown records. I, on the other hand, have some rather dubious late metal. However some of the winners of great records and great sleeves are obviously almost any record by the Cramps. Lux Interior and Poison Ivy are just so damn HOT and of course the New York Dolls double vinyl. I’d never heard of them before I saw it and THAT cover. Wow. Still probably one of my favourite rock n roll albums and covers of all time. You’d also have to mention Iron Maiden. Who hasn’t bought one of their records just because of Eddie on the cover!

Oh no, your house is burning down and you can only rescue one record! What would it be and why?

Bob Dylan’s Desire, cos if your house burnt down you’d need to listen to Dylan to get over it. Although since I actually own about three disks of Desire, I’d also have to save my dad’s precious copy of Frank Sinatra’s Songs for Swinging Lovers. His first record when he was courting my ma and one of my earliest memories of childhood. We still play it all the time and it’s still one of my favourite ever records.

What’s your favourite record sleeve? Tell us all about it (and whether or not the music gives you as much pleasure as the sleeve).

See above: New York Dolls double vinyl & Bob Dylan’s Desire. Dolls because it just IS rock n roll decadence and joy. I want to BE them, dress like them, live like them, sound like them, rock n roll like them: amazing band. Sounds like its recorded through a tin can but it’s just the way a band like them should sound. Big and brassy and loud and messed up. Desire because it is the record that lives with me most. It is everything I’ve ever dreamt about, the mystical heartland of America, Dylan and the dream of undying love. Note also that the insert of Desire is amazing, the black and white blurred bar scene candlelight pic inside, with Dylan sitting drinking in some beautiful late night den; you can hear the music, taste the liquor and smell the perfume and cigarettes. You can picture the cars outside, sweeping by into the night: the sound of unresolved freedoms and wanderings.

Morbidity alert: what record(s) would you like played at your funeral?

Bob Dylan’s Desire and Love is Stronger than Death; The Blues Brothers soundtrack, Mr. Ackroyd will make the funeral oration: “We’re putting the band back together in Hell.”