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SPIEGEL: How come you´re pushing
other musicians careers and present almost unknown artists at the
Meltdown festival in London under the motto "Outside Music"?
Bowie: I`m fascinated by many of
the artists who perform there - especially because the regular
Rock´n´Roll audience could hardly bear watching them. For example a guy
called Daniel Johnston, who is a folk legend within certain circles, and
who had severe psychological problems. Since the beginning of the 80ies
he´s been writing beautiful songs with very touching lyrics. He recorded
his songs at his parents house and his guitar and piano playing was
rather bad. Afterwards he went to a shop and bartered his tapes for
comics. That's how his recordings started circulating and he got a bit
famous in Austin/Texas. He´s still living with his parents now.
SPIEGEL: Why are you so
interested in this type of hopeless outsider?
Bowie: I hate mainstream. Its
mediocrity and calculability make me sick. A man like Daniel Johnston
records just for himself. It´s this almost primitive integrity which
makes his work so unique and authentic. It reminds me of aspects that
made me love art in the first place. |
