Q: Hey Jim, you’ve just scheduled a personally unprecedented six consecutive days of shows at Tokyo’s SuperDeluxe, with each day focusing on a specific part of your extensive musical oeuvre. Although you rarely perform under your own name, you’re heavily involved in gigs around the city, and had the previously-scheduled ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror Japan not been cancelled, you would’ve performed Eureka in its entirety on the day you were scheduled to also curate. Clearly, you have deep interest in the live experience. Why don’t you tell us about it?
A: If I didn’t have to ever play a show again, I’d be happy.
Q: Oh. Well… alright, next question. Your musical versatility and contributions to a range of genres can hardly be overstated. Many of us know you through your work with Sonic Youth, but the number of collaborations (here’s a recent one) that you’ve been involved with, as well as a your solo work, is a testament to your diverse talent and ongoing penchant for innovation. Could you elaborate on your apparent interest in testing the limits of the instruments you use?
A: I don’t understand liking your instrument, it’s just a pain-in-the-ass thing you have to use in order to do what you want to do. Having an interest in your instrument — I don’t understand it, it just makes no sense to me. Why don’t you just stay home and caress it and stuff? Why are you playing for people?
[I’ll go ahead and add this disclaimer after the fact: the above wasn’t an actual interview carried out by TMT, but they are actual (out-of-context) Jim O’Rourke responses, in all their unabashed and straight-shooting glory, culled from a recent story in Time Out Tokyo.]
In addition to the aforementioned six days of shows, word has also been soooort of given about the “the next song record” — his long-delayed, much-anticipated orchestral pop album — which, after “12 goddamn years” is “probably” due out this year.
Here’s a brief rundown of those six shows, though, per Time Out. Dates (all at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo, Japan):
06.17.13 - 80’s: The Cassette Years (80’s table top guitar [solo] & 80’s electronics [solo])
06.18.13 - College Days Compositions (String Quartet & Oscillators [world premiere], Aunt Esther, Mizu No Nai Umi)
06.19.13 - Happy Bad Timing Days (Bad Timing & Happy Days combined performance)
06.20.13 - Big Band & Tapes
06.21.13 - Toward the Future One (new jazz trio [compositions by Jim O’Rourke] & Kafka’s Snore)
06.22.13 - Toward the Future Two (songs, old and new)
• Jim O’Rourke: http://tisue.net/orourke
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