Moderator: Disharmony
Sorry, aber so sehr ich mit manchen Dingen, die so auf Gigs abgehen/abgegangen sind NICHT einverstanden bin - würde es genau so unfair finden, die Leute dann an den Pranger zu stellen ala "schaut mal was DIE gemacht haben".melantji hat geschrieben:
Also naddy, raus mit den schmutzigen Details, wir wollen alles wissen, bütte, bütte!
melantji
endlich mal gute, interessante Fragen/Antworten!James Marsters: TV’s Big Bad is Still No Angel
From Venice magazine by Steven Baltin, October 2003
(article typed verbatim)
For those not familiar with the phenomenon that was “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, it’s hard to explain what’s going on outside the El Rey Theatre on Wilshire Boulevard this evening. By four o’clock in the afternoon, there’s a row of fans, mostly girls, lined up on the street, some with lawn chairs, books, etc, indicating they’ve been here for some time.
“Buffy” devotees understand very well though. Tonight, James Marsters, known to fans as platinum-haired bad boy Spike from “Buffy” is fronting his band, Ghost of the Robot.
The group – Charlie DeMars, Aaron Anderson, Steven Sellers and Kevin McPherson, and Marsters – have developed a fierce following around LA for their smart indie pop sensibility.
It also doesn’t hurt that “Buffy” fans are among the most rabid in the world. Inside the venue, after a sound check laden with one rich hoojk afeter another, Marsters and I are moving about the El Rey trying to find a quiet place to talk. After leaving the main room due to another band’s loud sound check, Marsters leads me into the ladies’ room. “This is naughty,” he says. “I like this.” Yes, there is a bit of the big bad wolf in Marsters himself.
We are quickly found, though, by a venue employee and a young girl needing to use the bathroom, until she sees Marsters, 41. Her face is literally frozen somewhere between elation and tears.
It’s an almost scary sight to see, but one Marsters has gotten used to, somewhat. As a veteran man of theater, the transformation into “overnight” TV star has taken some adjusting for the Modesto, California native.
If there have been some bumps along the way, Marsters says the cast and “Buffy” mastermind Joss Whedon, in particular, more than compensate for any occasional turbulence.
Whedon, and the multi-dimensional character of “Spike”, is a big part of the reason that, despite long, exhaustive hours, Marsters had no hesitation about moving on to the “Buffy” spin-off “Angel”, this season.
Put together the two vampire/ex-boyfriends of “Buffy” (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and you can be sure there will be some fireworks. “Buffy” fans, still mourning the loss of their favorite show, can’t wait.
V=Venice Magazine
J=James Marsters
V: You’ve put up with a lot of lean years to become an “overnight sensation.” What makes it all worth it?
J: I’ve been involved in the performing arts all my life, either as an actor, a stage grip, stagehand, stage manager, director, producer; I’ve built props, costumes, dance shows. What I like about performance, well, all art, is that it reminds us that we are not alone. It reminds the artist that’s he’s not alone because it makes a personal statement that gets reacted to, and people or reminded that they’re not alone because they hear someone else expressing something maybe they felt as well.
But when it’s in a live setting we all get to have this epiphany together; all around us everyone else is popping off going “Hey, I’m not alone.” “Oh, I’m not alone.” And it, for me, is the most intense artistic experience. It’s cool to go to a museum and check out a painting and stuff, but there’s something about being in a crowded space feeling the same thing together that makes me feel like I’m not alone, which is the big lie we all tell ourselves. We all get so sad we’re alone and we’re really not.
V: As a musician, what songwriters have spoken to you in that way?
J: The first ones I guess would have to be Bob Marley and the (Sex) Pistols. Al Green was the first really good singer, but I don’t think he wrote as many of his own songs. And then after about ’79, it really went to hell and there really wasn’t anybody I really connected with until grunge, until Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and they I was connected very heavily with it. I was in Seattle for that whole thing.
Right now, I think that Bob Dylan is always in the background telling me I suck. “You ain’t good enough.” (nasally voice) “Shut up.” No, he’s always spurring me on to be better, more honest, more imaginative in my lyrics. Tom Waits is musing in the background; I love him. I don’t think there is anybody better than Tom Waits right now. For melody, Joni Mitchell; I don’t really listen to her much right now, but I can tell she’s in the background. I hear little jazzy intervals and I get drawn to jazz chords in my chord progressions every once in a while.
I wish I could get that combination simplicity and sweetness and traditional songwriting that Tom Waits has and find a way to make it my own as much as he has. I’m always awed by how sweet the melodies are and then he sings them like he’s sleeping underneath a bridge.
I wish I could tap into something so basic and so terrifying like Kurt Cobain did, but I don’t think I could’ve lived his life to get there. To get those artistic highs, you have to go through a lot of pain. I’m kind of ready for the easy part. (laughing) Starting with coming down to Los Angeles. I want the good life now. I’ve frozen to death too many times.
V: How long ago did you move to LA?
J: Six years ago. I was really lucky. I scored the TV show right away.
V: And where were you before that?
J: I was in Seattle producing theater for six years. I had a space in Pioneer Square that was beautiful; 2,000 square feet, 15-foot ceilings, unobstructed view, no posted girders, great light grid. Then before that I was in Chicago producing; lived there for six years. Before that, New York, going to school, then bartending.
V: Coming from theatre, how have you adjusted to fame?
J: I’m having a pretty okay time with the celebrity thing. I try not to let it affect my life, I try not to let it affect my head, and I try not to let it keep me from going to the grocery store. Even if it means you get recognized a bunch, keep going to the grocery store, don’t stop going to the grocery store. It ruins your head.
V: What were your initial thoughts on joining the “Buffy” world?
J: It was like coming to LA, expecting to sell out, and ending up in an artistic heaven. More than the world reaction to what we were doing was just my reaction to being involved in something that I was that excited about. ‘Cause I really came down here just wanted to make money. I’d been doing art for a long time. I didn’t need to prove myself as an actor or be an artist or any of that. I just didn’t want to die poor. So I was comfortable selling out and I got in the company of people who were functioning at a really high level as far as metaphor, dialogue, and structure. And it was just a deliriously happy experience.
V: Could you appreciate during the midst of “Buffy” what you were doing?
J: Oh, yeah, by the second year I was on the show I was telling everyone, we get tired and morale stinks sometimes, and I was saying ‘Guys, you might go on to 10-million dollar paychecks, we might go to Oscars. But I don’t know if we’re going to be part of something that touches people’s hearts and imaginations as successfully and connects with people as well as this. And the other people would look at me like “Oh, shut up, I’m tired.” But I was always ringing that bell. ‘We’re going to look back on this…this is a high point, guys.’
V: It’s easy to say don’t let it affect your head. But there are people in line out there who came from Italy, from Germany, just to see you play. What do you say to them?
J: Remember “A Hard Day’s Night”? The Beatles are just tickled. Like “I can’t believe this is happening. What happened to us? What door did we walk through here?” And I’m still kind of in that and I hope I never lose that. I feel like I’m a little kid peeking behind the curtain, going, “Oh my God, they’re looking for me.” But it’s important not to take it seriously, not let that be your self-image. It’s a challenge.
V: How do you overcome that challenge?
J: You remind yourself there’s no such thing as glamour first of all. That is an image that is very carefully, artificially constructed so that what people are responding to is a very carefully filtered view of you; that it has as much to do with the other 300 people who worked on it as you. You’re involved in a gag, a magical trick, and just ‘cause the gag comes off and people buy it, doesn’t mean it’s real. So when people respond well to whatever project I’m doing I remind myself that the gag is working, not that I’m really that cool. I’m cool, but in a different way.
V: Does it help because you realize that even though you’re getting the credit, so much is because of the guy behind the scenes?
J: Absolutely. I’ve always been enamored with good writing, and Joss is such a good writer I’m often tongue-tied, even now talking to him. It bothers him, it’s really annoying to him, but I can’t help myself. Yeah, it’s all the writing. And good acting is simply not messing up good words; that’s the art of good acting. And actually not a lot of actors can do that. A lot of actors try to show off or have other problems, but the really great actors are doing something really simple and very selfless. They’re servicing the words. And once you understand that you can unlock the words’ power. All the credit will go back to you; people think that that you thought of this. But if you find good words, and just try to make them sing they you’ll probably go pretty far.
V: Was there any thought about moving away from Spike, instead of on to “Angel” when “Buffy” ended?
J: What would I move on to? How could I ever get my plate fuller than that character? I feel like he’s the complexity that’s usually in four or five roles stuffed into one. Part of that is they simply needed to use the character structurally in different ways at different times. They needed me to be the villain, they needed me to be the wacky neighbor, and so it forced them to keep finding new paths for the character. And I don’t think that process is really going to stop either.
V: Let’s talk about the band for a minute. How long have you guys been playing together?
J: A little more than a year now; like 14, 15 months.
V: How did you decide to self-produce the record?
J: The reason we decided to self produce was that we were starting as a band and wanted to find our sound. And I think that we succeeded pretty well in finding a sound that I haven’t heard before. And I don’t think we would’ve really done that if we’d gone with an outside producer. As it happens, Charlie, Aaron, and Kevin were in two bands together – Power Animal and then Soccer Hooligans – in Sacramento, and they produced their own albums there, which were really fabulous.
V: Did you feel the chemistry right away?
J: Very much. We did a very arrogant thing and met in the recording studio. That’s another thing I would change. I really would’ve gone on the road first for six months to shake down the material, especially for me as a singer. Yeah, that was a little cocky. But at the same time it jus gelled like instantly. And we were flying off recording tracks within just about an hour. And it really is good chemistry
ich hab das interview nicht gelesen aber ich frage mich gerade warum james nicht auf die herrentoilette gegangen ist. die wahrscheinlichkeite das dort ein "fan" auftaucht ist doch wesentlich gerinnger als auf dem Damenklomelantji hat geschrieben: das Bild mit dem Damenklo geht mir einfach nicht mehr aus dem Kopf...
Es war zu dem Zeitpunkt niemand "bandfremdes" im El Rey ausser uns und noch 2 anderen Mädels die auch vorher rein durften/auf der guestlist standen (eine von den beiden wird dann wohl the bathroom girl gewesen sein. Wir waren zu müde um uns von unseren comfy chairs wegzubewegen lol) Der eigentliche Einlass hatte noch nicht angefangen, also war die "Gefahr" der Fans die die Toilette stürmen relativ gering - wenn ich das jetzt zeitlich richtig einordne. Müsste aber stimmen. James nebst Publicist und Co sind einige Zeit vor dem Einlass raus aus dem Main room richtung toiletten gewuselt wenn ich mich recht erinnere.Jess hat geschrieben:
ich hab das interview nicht gelesen aber ich frage mich gerade warum james nicht auf die herrentoilette gegangen ist. die wahrscheinlichkeite das dort ein "fan" auftaucht ist doch wesentlich gerinnger als auf dem Damenklo
dann frag ich mich warum die überhaupt auf klo mussten.... so laut kanns doch nciht gewesen seinSpiritCrow hat geschrieben:Es war zu dem Zeitpunkt niemand "bandfremdes" im El Rey ausser uns und noch 2 anderen Mädels die auch vorher rein durften/auf der guestlist standen
Mys hat geschrieben:nur mal was kurzes, so nebenbei, weils einfach zu schön ist...
"I love this, I can sit around for hours playing with myself" ~ James Marsters in an interview about the new Buffy game, Chaos Bleeds
das stell ich mir jetzt bildlich vor. gut (ae: oder eigentlich schade lol), das der zusatz vom game dabeistand .. man hätte ja auch was anderes denken können. 
was übrigens für die tausenden anderen betroffen auch gilt, nicht nur James MarstersBonita hat geschrieben:Im Moment mache ich mir sehr große Sorgen wegen den schlimmen Bränden in LA. Ich meine gelesen zu haben das James in Santa Barbara wohnt, genau weiß ich es nicht. Wollen wir mal hoffen das alles gut geht und ihm nicht das Dach überm Kopf abbrennt.
Man merkt mal wieder, ich komme mit dem scannen und screencaps machen net mehr hinterher lolmelantji hat geschrieben:Ähm,... naddy, würdest du - falls du kannst und willst - uns gegebenenfalls mal die neuen pics scannen und hier posten?
bitte, bitte
melantji - im Namen aller spikemaniacs
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