SAN ANGELO, TX — Exclusive interview with guitarist Gary Lee Conner, originally published on Scream & Yell.

Mr. Conner, tell us a little about your most recent album, Unicorn Curry. It sounds like it was heavily influenced by psychedelic 60s bands. How were the song writing and recording processes?

Well, I’ve always been really influenced by 60s psychedelia, especially in the early days. The last record I did was a little more prog rock. And I always listen to a lot of psychedelic music. This time I was listening to a lot of Donovan, and a lot of stuff from the English Freakbeat collection, which is stuff I’ve been listening to since I first started listening to music. That definitely influenced the songwriting a lot. I don’t want it to sound like it was done in the 60s, cause you don’t want to be retro, you want it to sound like it is something new, but on the other hand, it definitely has that spirit. 

It was done totally in a digital manner. Except for the guitar and the voice, everything else on the record is totally digital. But it’s cool cause, nowadays, you can make stuff sound the way you want to digitally, because the resolution is so high. It doesn’t have to sound digital just because it is. I know a lot of people are into the analog, you know, still use all of the old stuff. It’s kind of ironic too, things are coming out on vinyl, CD and even cassette too.

Did you record it at home?

Yeah, I do everything on my computer at home. I call it a studio, but it’s just my computer and all my guitars and stuff. This is my third actual album I’ve done since 2010. After the Screaming Trees disbanded, I really didn’t do much. I recorded some stuff but I didn’t put out anything. Mainly cause there wasn’t something like Bandcamp. There was MySpace. But doing stuff online, there wasn’t an available place to put out stuff by yourself until about 10 years ago or so. That’s when I started doing a lot more recording. 

The first thing I put out was something named The Microdot Gnome, like a band, but that was really just me. I switched that, now that’s just called Gary Lee Conner and the name of the album is The Microdot Gnome. And that was like my first solo album after the band, I think in 2010. And then I did a couple of albums which are also on Bandcamp, of demos from way back, from the 80s all the way until about 10 or 15 years ago. There’s like about 100 songs on those. 

And then, after that, the last record I did that actually came out on vinyl and CD, was called Ether Trippers, that was on my brother Van’s label, Strange Earth Records. You can still get that on my Bandcamp page. That was about 3 years ago. I seem to take around 3 years between records.  Although I have a goal to have a new album out this year, because I got a lot of new songs written that I want to use, although I haven’t started recording yet.

You recorded and produced it all by yourself, right? No one else played anything on any of the songs? The drum sound caught my attention — did you play it?

Yeah, completely, I did everything. I hate mixing so much, cause I have no idea if it sounds alright. Actually, I had Jack Endino to mix Ether Trippers, so it sounds a little bit different from my other stuff. I like really dry sounding production, with not a lot of effects, especially around the drums and everything. It just seems to suit better the digital sound, I think it sounds less digital that way. 

A lot of the instruments I use, specially the keyboard mellotrons and the drums, they sound a certain way, cause a lot of it is sampled. The problem is when you put a lot of effects on — it doesn’t sound so good.

The drums sound comes from a drum sample program. They record all these drum samples and then I use a sort of primitive sequencer. It sucks because the manufacturer went out of business, so they are not doing updates anymore. It's basically a kind of ProTools, which is used in most of the studios, just made by another company.

Would you say there is any thematic concept behind the songs? What does Unicorn Curry mean?

I don’t know, I just thought of that… I just listen to a lot of old psychedelic stuff, the lyrics just go into my brain and get all jumbled up and then it comes out, like, it’s sort of a synthesis of everything I ever listened to over the years.

You live in San Angelo (Texas), right? Since when do you live there? And what made you choose it as your hometown?

Yeah, middle of nowhere in Texas. My wife and I, well, around the end of the Trees, I was living in New York, where I met my wife. So I was commuting back and forth to Seattle. So when the Trees broke up we decided to move, she decided to get closer to where her parents live in Oklahoma, and Texas was as close as we wanted to get. So she took a job here — she’s a college professor, she teaches chemistry — that’s the main reason why we live here. She’s been working here since 2001. I know, it feels like, 'what are you doing in there?', but like, I was born in California, then I spent a lot of my life in Ellensburg and Seattle, then NY and now I’m here.

Do you visit Ellensburg and/or Seattle often?

No, I haven’t been out there since the early 2000s. So it’s been almost 20 years now. I keep track of it online, I see what’s going on in Ellensburg, but I haven’t visited. Most of my family  got out of there now, so I just have a few friends there.

Have you ever come to Brazil?

We never did make it down there. Maybe someday, you know.

Have you been doing live shows and touring in the past few years?

Not yet, I have been thinking about it. I don’t have a band. I made a few acoustic solo shows. I’m not sure, really. I just sort of been playing by ear and see what happens. Because for this record I’ve been doing a lot more, like, trying to promote the record. 

I managed to get a couple small record labels to put out stuff on CD, and then vinyl, so I’m getting more attention than with the past ones. I don’t know if I’m selling more, but at least I’m getting more attention. If you go to Bandcamp you can listen to all my stuff for free on streaming, you just have to pay if you want to download it. A lot of people want the physical formats more nowadays, like vinyl and even CDs.

Any chance we could catch you here in Brazil sometime?

Oh, well, I don’t know, I have played solo shows before. If I’m going to do it, I’d have to do some intense rehearsing for a month or so.

You seem to enjoy interacting with fans on social media, especially on Facebook, reminiscing old stories from the Screaming Trees days and playing your new material. How important is social media for an artist such as yourself in our current day and age?

For me, that’s all I got really, is Facebook. Cause I don’t play shows or anything. So it’s really important to me. I’ve always been a hermit, and really introverted, and really shy. Up until this record, I did not like talking to people on the internet very long. But I found that, I got a lot more people interested, and I’ve actually been liking to do it, so I’m forcing myself to come out of my shell a little bit by talking to people and telling stories about the Screaming Trees days and stuff. I also share songs from my demos and other stuff. So, yeah, I’m going to keep doing that.

Streaming services are the most recent trend on music consumption, but artists are often complaining that they are poorly paid by these services. On Twitter, David Crosby is constantly answering about this issue, saying that he is better paid when people buy his CDs or other physical formats, when compared to the money he makes when people purchase his music on iTunes or just listen to it on Spotify. Is there an ideal way for fans to consume your music, considering you are mostly an independent artist these days?

It’s a huge change, and I really can see the difference between the digital sales when this album came out in the fall, and my previous demo records two or three years ago. This new one is being listened to quite a bit, but is not selling as much as the previous one. There are so many places to listen to music for free nowadays, that I feel there are less people buying it. That’s good and bad, I mean, there’s more people listening to your music, but on the other hand, you are making less money doing it. 

But that’s not why I’m doing this now. There’s no way I could make a living on doing my own stuff, at least I’m 6 months out of the year on the road making shows. I’m selling records, it’s a completely changed situation, where some bands could sell a lot of records and make a lot of money, but now, I doubt even the big artists are making money with them. And then, with vinyl, of course, it’s so darn expensive to make the vinyl in the first place, I couldn’t afford to press my album on vinyl, but I could find someone on a record label interested in doing it. 

So yeah, I think that as far as revenue… The Screaming Trees never really made that much money anyway. If we had done just a little bit better, we probably could have made a decent amount of money. I mean, we still make a few thousand dollars a year worth of royalties. We are still selling records and stuff, so. Enough to at least say, 'geez, we are getting something from what we did'. But it’s not enough to sit back and retire on. 

We didn’t really sell nearly as many records as other Seattle bands. I don’t know the exact numbers, but, like, our most sold record was Sweet Oblivion, just something like 350,000 in the US… Maybe some of the bands sold 1 or 2 million records, they might still make money, but it’s hard to tell, there’s a lot of publishing deals and stuff like that. We gave away half our publishing in the beginning of our career, because we didn’t understand what we were doing exactly. We got something like a US$ 10,000 advance to give half of our publishing rights to Sony, forever I guess… So, I could make twice as much as I do now. So, I don’t know. 

The problem with that whole money thing is, you know, music… We started out on a small label, SST, and we toured and we did work like a real band. But then, like, we got to a point where, we are going to get signed by a major label, because, it was kind of, like, what else is there to do? We had done everything else. And a few of the other bands were doing that too — this was like 1989, I guess. 

But then things changed, especially when Nirvana got big, and Pearl Jam, you know. Not only did things change for us, it changed for the entire industry, where a lot of bands like us, suddenly people were throwing a lot of money at them. It changed from something that was artistic to a job. Not completely, but a very large extent of it did. That’s kind of the thing like, now, it’s not like that at all. The only reason I do it now is artistic, just cause I love to write songs, it doesn’t have much to do with making money, except for a tiny bit here and there. It’s fun to sell your stuff, like, 'geez, I just made 20 bucks, cool!'

What are your thoughts on rock music today? Do you think music is still important to kids as much as it was back in the day?

I don’t know. My daughter listens to stuff, like, online, on YouTube. She’s got access to all this really cool music, with me and her mom. My wife has a really big record collection. But she doesn’t really take advantage of it. Everything she listens to is online. But that is the way I’ve become too. I have records and CDs, but I listen to YouTube almost exclusively. 

YouTube, for old garage rock and psychedelic stuff, is like a gold mine. There’s so much old stuff. Every day or two, I find a new song I have never heard before. Which, for me, is amazing. Like, old 60s psychedelic songs. Cause I thought I heard everything, but the last few years, going through YouTube, I keep finding this stuff. It’s hard to believe but there’s so much stuff on there.

What current bands do you recommend?

Not much. I keep trying to find stuff that I like that’s new, but the closest thing I’ve got to listen to are the Black Angels, a band from Austin (Texas), and it’s not even that new, I think they started in 2005 or something like that. That’s probably as far as a band that I like, the closest to a new thing. I really wish I could find some more stuff, but I think it’s like a combination of what I like… The main thing I like is psychedelic 60s music, but on the other hand, over my life I’ve listened to every kind of rock music, and folk, and classical and stuff like that. I just like music in general.

Do you go to concerts often?

No, there’s nothing here in town, really. Just a few country bands. San Angelo is like 200 miles away from anything, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio are all 200 miles away. Once in a while I go there, but I’ve never been to a concert since the last time we played here, I guess.

People are often asking you about a Screaming Trees reunion. Have you had any offers to do a tour or a new album?

People keep saying we should do it. We thought about it 5 or 6 years ago. But it just turned out that we didn’t want to do it. Maybe one of these days we’ll decide to do it. But, I don't know, there’s not much… Seems like a lot of people want us to do it, but, yeah. On the other hand, Mark Lanegan is always really busy with his solo albums and stuff, and he’s touring two or three times a year.

Yeah, he comes to Brazil often.

If he decides to do it, it might happen. Otherwise, it’s just not going to happen.

Not to get too much into it, but do you still get along with those guys?

I talk to my brother some. And with Barrett a little bit. Mostly through email. I haven’t talked to Mark for sometime. He called me three, four years ago. Probably around the time we were talking about getting back together, possibly. We had a nice conversation, but I haven’t talked to him since that. 

It’s weird when you’re in a band, especially the way our band members were, because with me and Mark, it was like, at one point we wrote songs together, and then it became a thing where I would write songs and give them to Mark and he would take them and do whatever he wanted with it — he would change all the lyrics or he would change none of the lyrics, it depends on which song it is, you know? So, especially in the later days, when there were drug problems getting in the way, we kind of like, at one point, Mark was the main thing in my life — he was the guy who was siding me in everything I was doing, and now, it’s completely… nothing! I haven’t got anything to do with him, except once in a while I listen to his music — I like his solo stuff. And I listen to the Screaming Trees once in a while. It’s like a family, it’s what our band is. Our band was like a dysfunctional family, especially having two brothers from one thing, and everyone had their own problems and stuff. And now, everyone’s older and should be able to get along, but it isn’t what happened.

What is (brother) Van up to these days?

He had that record label for a while, Strange Earth. I think he’s working on getting it going again. I know he had a solo album a while back, also on Bandcamp. He plays out a little. He’s in the Seattle area, he does a little more playing around, getting out to show his stuff more than I do.

Do you feel the Screaming Trees were an underrated band in any way? Why is that?

Most of it, I think… We had a really nice career on SST, as far as making records that we wanted to and being a real band. Cause when we first started, how to be an actual band? We didn’t know. And we, you know, had three, four years in which we made a record every year, toured, and that was like, you know, what we thought it was all about. 

And then, suddenly, it was like, wait: we could go further, maybe be in a major label and maybe sell a lot of records, or something. We sold a decent amount of records for an indie band on SST, but the allure of rock music is like, 'we could be famous, or rich, or both, or whatever'. But what happened is we were signed to Epic, and suddenly, the first record, Uncle Anesthesia, they didn’t really know what to do with it. We sold a decent amount because we still had a pretty good fanbase. I think we sold something like 50,000 records. At least at the time, for a first record, where supposedly no one ever heard of you before, and major labels sign you and think that, so that was pretty good. 

Later on, when we were making Sweet Oblivion, suddenly Nirvana exploded, and so did Pearl Jam right after that. So, by the time we got that record out, it was suddenly a completely different environment for a band that was from Seattle. Even though we were never really 'grunge' at all. In the early days we were half punk, half psychedelic, especially live — we were more punkish, you know. But by the time Sweet Oblivion got out, we were a bit more hard rock, probably. But, you know, that didn’t matter, we were from Seattle, so we were considered grunge as well. 

A lot more people bought our records and we got a lot more opportunities to be able to be on the Letterman show and the Jay Leno show, all that kind of stuff. And, you know, it actually took it to the next level. We didn’t take it to the really high level, where we were selling millions of records, but we got at a level where we, at least, were a band that was working and getting more attention.

But then, what happened, is we came off of the Sweet Oblivion record, and I wasn’t really writing much. We were doing a lot of touring for a year. So we had to sit down and say: 'we have to write a bunch of songs for the next records'. And we wanted to get the record out quick, to capitalize on the rock scene that was going on in 93, early 94. But we just didn’t come together. 

We recorded a record that just didn’t do it. We didn’t really like it. If we had released it at the time, maybe things would have been different, but I have no idea. We ended up taking two more years to get the Dust album out, which is a completely different record then the one we came up with in 94. It took two years of intensive songwriting, every damn day. That was like when it really became like a job. I spent all of 94, most of 95, sitting in my apartment in Seattle — I had just gotten married, my wife was in New York — but I had to stay in Seattle. 

I was writing, at least, a song a day and taking it up to Mark, and getting the thumbs up or thumbs down... maybe. I would get a phone call he liked it. If he didn’t like it, I wouldn’t hear anything. So, I was not getting very positive feedback sometimes, so that was a really hard time. But we managed somehow to pull out all of the songs from Dust, and then we got together with George Drakoulias to produce it. 

Dust is actually one of the records I’m most proud of. Actually, my favourite record is Invisible Lantern, cause it’s more rooted in psychedelic stuff, but as far as records that we got what we really wanted to achieve as a record, the last one, Dust, is the one, you know?

The Trees were also 'responsible', in a way, to present Josh Homme to the world. Twenty years later, he is considered one of the greatest rockstars of our time. Are you still in touch with him? What are your thoughts on Queens of the Stone Age?

He was in Kyuss, and not many people knew about them at the time. He was always really cool. I haven’t talked to him in a while, but we get along fine. It was nice having him in the band, I think it was about a year, I guess, when we did Lollapalooza and then an European tour with him. 

Later, in 99 or 2000, we recorded with him. He’s on 'Crawlspace' and I think 'Anita Grey', on the Last Words album. So he did record some stuff with us — we were doing demos at the time. We kind of got tired of Epic. They didn’t kick us out or anything, but we wanted to get out of that contract. They weren’t doing anything for us. 

We spent the last two or three years trying to find a new label, and it never worked out, so... We did play our last big show at the Experience Music Project. That was kind of a weird last show, because we made 65,000 dollars for that show, I couldn’t believe it — it seemed, like, kind of a lot for one show. Back then, I was living in New York. We got together to do a few shows, but it kind of was not working anymore.

You have also worked with the late Chris Cornell (he was one of the producers on Uncle Anesthesia, released in 1991). He is very well-known as a singer, writer and performer, but not much is known about him as a producer. What do you remember the most about that experience and how did he influence that particular album’s sound?

I think the main reason we got him was because, you know, we got Terry Date as a producer, who had worked with Soundgarden on Louder Than Love. Most of the stuff he had done before was more of on a metal direction. And we weren’t metal at all. 

So we thought, Chris Cornell obviously understand what kind of band we are, and we had the same manager as Soundgarden — that’s how we got tied up with Terry Date. So, we were friends with Chris and we asked him to be kind of a go between Terry Date and ourselves. And he was able to, kind of, trying to convey to Terry what we were about. And he ended up singing back up on a few of the songs too. 

It was fun having him around. He definitely contributed to that album, especially trying to, you know, being a go between the producer, who might not understand what we were about, as opposed to Chris, who did understand it.

Is there any unreleased Screaming Trees material? It was a real joy when you guys released Last Words in 2011.

Yeah, I don’t know where it is, but I know there’s a bunch of stuff. There are two aborted records, one of them we recorded in LA when we were still on SST. Some of the songs were re-recorded for Buzz Factory, some of them we didn’t. And then, there’s another record from 93/94, which a couple of songs were on the Ocean of Confusion compilation, 'Watchpocket Blues' and 'Paperback Bible'. There’s an early version of 'Dying Days' as well. 

And several other songs, from the Epic days, a few tracks here and there. But, like I said, I don’t know where those tapes are. No idea. Van had some tapes of demos we did, and live stuff we recorded with Dan Peters. A couple of years ago he was talking about putting that out, but I don’t know if anything ever came from it.

What do you consider to be your legacy after over three decades making music? And specifically about the Trees, are you planning on releasing any kind of reissues of your albums? I know Sweet Oblivion received the reissue treatment, but what about the other records?

I would like to plan reissues, the problem is our stuff is mostly on SST. I haven’t heard from them in a while. They paid us for a while, and in the last five or six years, they have been selling stuff online, and I think even some of the records are still in print. But I haven’t heard from them, so I don’t know if they owe us any money. It would be cool if they contacted us to tell us if they owe us any money or if they don’t. 

But, at Epic, they did re-release a small box of the three albums we did with them, and they re-released Dust expanded with some live stuff and b-sides. It would be cool to release something with all the records, but I don’t know if it’s possible because of all the copyright issues. Apparently they own it forever, or until it completes 70 years or something, so I won’t be around for that anymore.

Any plans to release a live album, DVD, Blu-ray or something of the sort? Do you have any old footage that would make for a DVD?

There’s some around. There’s one that Van has. We played a set in a studio, no audience, with Dan Peters from Mudhoney in the band. We played a set on an 8-track and mixed it. Along with some demos with Dan Peters too. Stuff we were thinking about doing for Sweet Oblivion. 

Dan played with us for several months, and then we were going on tour and he had to decide if he was going to stay with us or if he was going to stay with Mudhoney, and he chose to be in Mudhoney, what we completely understood. 

Every time a new member came along, it ended up affecting our sound a lot. Pickerel, in the old days, played a wild, all over the place style, while Barrett had more of a John Bonham beat, which worked well with the material we were playing back then. I remember we were trying to play 'Shadow of the Season' with Dan Peters. It’s much more of a Led Zeppelin thing than a Mudhoney punk rock thing. He was kind of, like ,'what is this?' While Barrett got it right away, it’s more he’s kind of thing.

As for the future, what can we expect from you as an artist in the years to come?

Yeah, I’m hoping to do a new album this year, because I have a lot of songs. Three years or four years between records seems kind of stupid, especially because I’m not doing anything else. Maybe around summer I’ll have something new to put out. I don’t know if it will be on Basecamp or some other record label will release it, but you can definitely expect more music from me.

“Falar bonito” — ou “falar difícil”, como diriam os mais críticos — não é uma moda recente. Muita gente, de segmentos diversos, adora complicar na hora de explicar determinado assunto. 

Seja para mostrar que conhece palavras bacanas, para treinar os aprendizados do cursinho de inglês ou apenas para falar “a mesma língua” do segmento em que atua, comunicar-se de forma rebuscada ou com desnecessários vícios de linguagem ainda provoca ruídos em muitos setores. Mas já parou pra pensar que falar e escrever com simplicidade é mais vantajoso? Veja por quê.

Um estudo divulgado há alguns anos demonstrou que o tempo máximo de concentração total que uma pessoa consegue manter caiu de 12 para oito segundos. Então, se a gente se distrai tão facilmente, por que colocar mais obstáculos na hora de se comunicar?

Linguagem “inovadora” ou opressora?

Recentemente, um artigo no site The Outline foi além, criticando a imposição de termos como “inovação” e outras palavras da moda, principalmente quando totalmente desprovidas de sentido no contexto em que são aplicadas.

“Somos encorajados pelos poderosos ‘líderes pensadores’ e executivos a aceitá-la como a linguagem do senso comum ou a ‘realidade normal’. Quando entendemos e implantamos tal linguagem para descrever nossas vidas, somos vistos como bons trabalhadores; quando falhamos nessa tarefa, somos implicitamente ameaçados com a obsolescência econômica. Afinal de contas, se você não é familiarizado com ‘inovação’ ou ‘colaboração’, como pode esperar prosperar nesta admirável nova economia?”, ironizou a autora do artigo Rebecca Stoner, ao comentar o livro Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism, de John Patrick Leary.

Para Leary, o uso de termos como “disruptivo” — para ficar apenas em um exemplo muito em voga no meio empresarial — promove valores amigáveis às grandes corporações, sobrepondo-se àqueles que se conectam aos seres humanos: a hierarquia acima da democracia, a competitividade acima da solidariedade, a adoção inquestionável das novas tecnologias acima do escrutínio a respeito de seus impactos às pessoas e ao planeta. Peraí, escrutínio? Haja "resiliência"!

Para simplificar: seja em uma conversa com um colega (também vale para chefe ou funcionário), fornecedor, parceiro de negócios, amigo, ou ainda ao escrever um artigo para o LinkedIn, quanto mais facilmente a gente se fizer entender, melhor a nossa comunicação será — e menos opressores em relação ao próximo nós seremos.

Por uma redação mais humana

Há alguns dias, eu estava revisando um conteúdo a ser publicado em um blog educacional, cuja persona (antigamente, mais conhecida como “público-alvo”) era um rapaz de 25 anos de idade, que havia estudado apenas até a 4ª série do Ensino Fundamental. No texto, o redator usava termos como “âmbitos da vida”, “usufruir”, “expor”, “visualizar” e “capacitações”.

Um breve exercício de empatia teria ajudado a escrever um conteúdo mais simples e amigável, feito sob medida para quem ele estava tentando alcançar. “Fases da vida”, “usar”, “mostrar”, “imaginar” e “cursos” foram os termos que sugeri para substituir as palavras escolhidas inicialmente. Nem sempre elas têm o mesmo significado dos termos originais, mas no contexto geral, funcionavam melhor para aquela persona.

Ainda na área da educação, estudos já comprovaram que uma linguagem mais simples traz bons resultados. Uma experiência do professor de Física Geraldo Marcello Horta demonstrou na prática como os alunos se beneficiam de aulas em que o conteúdo é explicado por meio de exemplos práticos, deixando a linguagem mais técnica e rebuscada de lado.

No marketing de conteúdo, é preciso escrever com simplicidade

Quando se fala em marketing de conteúdo, uma linguagem simples é essencial. Por meio de artigos, vídeos e outras peças de comunicação, as empresas têm a oportunidade de demonstrar ao público de que forma determinadas necessidades podem ser atingidas.

Por exemplo: "como economizar um dinheirinho a cada mês", "de que forma organizar um evento" ou, ainda, "por que praticar exercícios traz benefícios para a saúde" são temas que podem ser explicados com termos mais técnicos — como "budget", "check-in" e "hipertrofia" — ou por meio de exemplos, palavras simples (mas não simplórias) e uma linguagem mais coloquial, como uma conversa entre amigos.

Dependendo do ponto do funil de vendas que está sendo trabalhado, o foco do marketing de conteúdo está muito mais voltado a educar do que vender. Daí, a ideia de se utilizar uma linguagem mais simples — como nas aulas do prof. Geraldo Horta, mencionadas acima — ganha ainda mais força.

Hora de simplificar

O meu convite a todos — especialmente aqueles em posições superiores hierarquicamente — é: vamos escrever de forma mais humana? Seja via e-mail, redes sociais ou “zap-zaps” da vida, quanto mais simples for nossa linguagem, mais fácil vai ser para a gente se entender — tanto no relacionamento com nossas equipes quanto com clientes. E entendimento é o que mais anda em falta no mundo ultimamente.

Para quem sofre quando algum superior vem cheio de termos complicados, seja para mostrar que tem conhecimento ou apenas porque não consegue mais falar como gente normal, saiba que é nessa hora que se deve respirar fundo e buscar entender — de forma simples — o que diabos ele está querendo dizer. Afinal, perguntar não ofende.

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CHICAGO — Qualquer pessoa em sã consciência diria que Jeff Tweedy está muito mais para Bob Dylan e Neil Young do que para Kim Gordon e Johnny Ramone. Certo? Bem, concorde ou não com essa afirmação, em seu livro de memórias, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc. (Dutton), um dos maiores compositores americanos da atualidade lembra mais o estilo da ex-baixista do Sonic Youth e do guitarrista dos Ramones em suas respectivas autobiografias – A Garota da Banda e Commando – do que o dos músicos aos quais é mais frequentemente associado.

Tanto Dylan (em Crônicas – Volume 1) quanto Young (em Neil Young – A Autobiografia), escreveram suas memórias em uma linha do tempo que viaja pelos anos e décadas conforme lhes convêm, pouco preocupados com datas e a exatidão dos fatos, e muito mais interessados no impacto e nas sensações que o texto provocaria nos leitores – como era de se esperar dos grandes compositores que são, aliás.

Como escritor de prosa, Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (nome de batismo), por sua vez, vai direto ao ponto. Na maior parte do tempo, o autor segue linearmente os acontecimentos e revela “causos” de seus 51 anos de vida, desde a infância em Belleville – uma cidadezinha de 40 mil habitantes no estado americano de Illinois –, aos anos de juventude nos quais cruzava os 30 minutos que separavam sua terra natal de St. Louis (Missouri), onde assistiu a shows de X e The Replacements, entre outras bandas fundamentais de sua formação, no palco do Mississippi Nights. A região também foi onde o músico deu seus passos iniciais na carreira, primeiro na banda The Primatives, e, depois, como baixista do Uncle Tupelo.

Ainda assim, o livro, embora tenha passagens convencionais, busca inovar na linguagem em diversos momentos – Tweedy compartilha antigas letras de músicas, situações são contadas em formato de história em quadrinhos, diálogos entre o cantor, a esposa e o filho Spencer são relatados na íntegra, entre outros truques editoriais que mantêm o leitor interessado e fazendo aquilo que lhe cabe: virar as pouco mais de 300 páginas da obra de forma voraz.

Mas não se engane – apesar da mão pesada dos editores em vários momentos, o autor narra suas memórias como apenas ele poderia fazer. Em “Let’s Go…”, o músico lembra muito mais o contador de histórias de canções clássicas do alt-country como “Passenger Side” e “Hate It Here” – de “A.M.” (1995) e “Sky Blue Sky” (2007) –, do que o hermético compositor de letras como “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”, de “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” (2002), ou “Laminated Cat”, do projeto paralelo “Loose Fur” (2003).

Livro vai de anedotas banais da juventude aos momentos mais obscuros da vida do compositor

Tweedy é ora engraçado, ora sarcástico. Por vezes sério, mas fundamentalmente sincero nas memórias registradas no livro. Passando pelo relacionamento próximo com a mãe, JoAnn, e pelo alcoolismo do pai, Bob, chegando às primeiras namoradas e experiências musicais, o livro é revelador até mesmo para o mais estudioso fã do Wilco.

Pela primeira vez, Tweedy entra em detalhes sobre o acidente de bicicleta sofrido aos 12 anos, que quase lhe custou uma perna, e o consequente verão “desperdiçado” preso dentro do próprio quarto. Foi durante este período de molho que o futuro líder do Wilco voltou a se debruçar sobre um violão que havia ganhado de presente aos seis anos, (re)começando uma relação que mudaria sua vida para sempre.

Outro acidente, ocorrido mais adiante – sofrido por seu irmão Greg nas ferrovias onde trabalhava ao lado do pai –, proporcionou o “trampolim” que Tweedy precisava para dar um salto como músico: após receber uma indenização de milhares de dólares, o irmão mais velho deu de presente o primeiro instrumento de qualidade do caçula – uma Fender Telecaster preta e branca novinha em folha, “igual à de Joe Strummer”.

O livro ainda traz curiosidades que todo fã – tanto de Wilco como de cultura pop em geral – aprecia: o bar Lounge Ax, de propriedade de Susan Miller (esposa de Tweedy desde 1995 e mãe dos dois herdeiros do músico, Spencer e Sammy), serviu como cenário para o filme “Alta Fidelidade”, de Stephen Frears, baseado no romance homônimo de Nick Hornby. A cena na qual o personagem Rob Gordon (John Cusack) assiste a uma apresentação de Marie De Salle (Lisa Bonet) foi filmada no bar, então localizado em Chicago, onde Tweedy passou a viver após o traumático fim do Uncle Tupelo, em 1994.

Foi na cidade dos ventos que Tweedy se recuperou do impacto emocional sofrido ao ser largado pelo ex-companheiro de banda, Jay Farrar – que, na época, apenas avisou o empresário da banda, Tony Margherita, que “detestava Jeff” e, por isso, deixaria o Tupelo. Anos mais tarde, Tweedy descobriu em uma entrevista de Farrar o motivo do ódio (dica: teve a ver com uma garota).

Os trechos mais barra-pesada ficam por conta do período em que Tweedy se viciou no analgésico hidrocodona (usado para tratar as constantes enxaquecas), em seus relatos sobre os ataques de pânico que o debilitavam desde a juventude e que foram tanto inspiração quanto obstáculo nas gravações de “A Ghost Is Born” (2005), as duas batalhas de Susan contra o câncer, e as perdas da mãe, em 2006, e do pai, em 2017.

Outra revelação é o verdadeiro momento “#MeToo” vivido por Tweedy aos 14 anos de idade, quando teve sua primeira (e traumática) experiência sexual, com uma mulher 11 anos mais velha. No cenário tipicamente machista em que vivia, seus amigos o consideraram um herói, enquanto ele hoje entende por que se sentiu tão perturbado com a relação – ainda que a mesma tenha ocorrido, segundo o próprio, de forma consensual.

O livro ainda reúne histórias e curiosidades das mais variadas – a obsessão do falecido ex-guitarrista da banda Jay Bennet com ketchup, o seu vício em pílulas (que levou Tweedy a demiti-lo do Wilco durante as gravações de “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”); os arrependimentos como a demissão do baterista Ken Coomer, por meio de um recado enviado pelo empresário; os encontros inusitados com Joey e Dee Dee Ramone, Peter Buck e Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Sean “Puffy” Combs e Dean Ween; as vivências como produtor da cantora Mavis Staples e a parceria com o maluco beleza Jim O’Rourke; e até uma “ameaça” a Dave Grohl: “Nas duas vezes em que perdemos o Grammy nesta categoria (rock), o prêmio foi para os Foo Fighters. O que me leva a apenas uma conclusão. Se o Wilco um dia quiser ter toda a atenção e adoração que merece, eu preciso matar e comer o coração de Dave Grohl”, brinca Tweedy.

Hora de dizer apenas “vamos lá!”

“Let’s Go…” é um retrato honesto de um artista que, longe de querer se colocar num pedestal, deixa claro que é um homem comum, repleto de qualidades e falhas, como qualquer um de nós. E, mais do que um tributo a si mesmo, o livro é um agradecimento a todos aqueles que o rodeiam e que tornaram sua carreira possível – inclusive os fãs.

No dia 30 de novembro, Tweedy lança seu primeiro álbum solo de composições inéditas, “Warm” – no livro, o músico revela que não teria sido capaz de compor letras tão pessoais quanto às do novo trabalho, se não tivesse passado pela experiência de dois anos escrevendo suas memórias (confira o clipe do single “Some Birds“)

O livro termina com um convite, ao mesmo tempo em que Tweedy faz referência ao título da obra (uma expressão usada por seu pai): “Acho que finalmente parei de me preocupar em voltar de algum lugar menos confortável – algum lugar onde eu tenho certeza de que ficarei extremamente infeliz. Acho que estou começando a ficar ‘OK’ em qualquer lugar onde esteja. Acho que estou pronto para dizer apenas ‘vamos lá’.”

A biografia está disponível para venda apenas via importação do livro físico ou download digital (em formatos de texto e audiobook, narrado pelo próprio Tweedy, que ainda criou uma playlist no Spotify para acompanhar a leitura). Não há previsão de lançamento de uma versão traduzida no Brasil.

Leia a resenha completa no site Scream & Yell.

Foto: Liliane Callegari

SANTOS, SP - Campeão Paulista e da Copa do Brasil em 2010 como treinador do Santos, o ex-volante Dorival Silvestre Júnior é um trabalhador. Mesmo liderando uma das gerações recentes mais talentosas do Brasil – com craques como Neymar, Paulo Henrique Ganso, André e Robinho – o técnico acredita que o verdadeiro diferencial para o sucesso de seu clube é o comprometimento e o foco em atingir resultados. Confira, nesta entrevista exclusiva para a Revista Ligado da AES Brasil, um pouco do que pensa o treinador nascido em Araraquara (SP), e que é uma das maiores revelações brasileiras dos últimos anos.

A sua experiência prática é no campo, mas você acredita que gerir uma equipe de futebol pode ser similar à gestão empresarial? Quais são as principais semelhanças que você observa nos dois segmentos?

As semelhanças são reais. Eu costumo dizer que o treinador de futebol é um gerenciador de problemas. No dia a dia, convivemos com um grupo, e os problemas são muitos. A maioria é solucionável no curto prazo. Outros, que vêm de fora para dentro, são um pouco mais difíceis, até porque são problemas muito expostos, todo mundo fica sabendo. É fundamental trabalhar como uma equipe e prezar, acima de tudo, pela disciplina.

Um colaborador de uma empresa (ou jogador em um clube) pode ser mais talentoso do que outro. Você está liderando a geração mais festejada do futebol brasileiro em muitos anos. É necessário algum trabalho especial para que esses craques não entrem em campo de “salto alto”?

Não é preciso um trabalho especial, mas sim estar atento a todos os detalhes, sempre ligado ao que está acontecendo. O futebol não é simplesmente ir a campo e treinar. O esporte envolve minúcias, o dia a dia é muito trabalhoso e delicado. As pessoas, muitas vezes, não se dão conta de tudo o que acontece dentro de uma equipe de futebol. Os jogadores devem estar sempre muito focados, independentemente do talento e fama.

Qual a importância do elogio e da cobrança? O excesso de um ou de outro pode atrapalhar?

O elogio moderado, feito aos poucos, é bom. Já a crítica, é preciso saber como fazer. Muitos profissionais do futebol vêm de classes menos favorecidas, os atletas não têm uma base, e mesmo os que têm sentem muito, porque estão expostos ao olhar do público e da mídia. As opiniões vão do céu ao inferno em questão de horas, se modificam completamente. O jogador que é muito elogiado acaba entrando em uma “zona de conforto”, o que pode prejudicar. Aquele que é muito criticado precisa de uma mão, de alguém que o mantenha motivado.

 Também é papel do treinador dar essa base para os jogadores?

Sem dúvida, é preciso conhecer o máximo possível de detalhes do grupo, para sentir o que eles estão sentindo e ter condições de ajudar o atleta a alcançar seu potencial máximo, mesmo em um momento negativo. O treinador precisa administrar todas essas situações pelo bem do time.

De estagiário a diretor de empresa, um longo caminho precisa ser percorrido. De jogador a treinador também. O que você aprendeu na época de atleta que lhe é útil na sua carreira atual?

Eu sempre procurei observar muito os profissionais com quem trabalhei. Busquei extrair o que eles tinham de bom e analisar os aspectos em que eu gostaria que o treinador fosse melhor. Tentei me preparar o máximo possível para exercer essa profissão. Os meus últimos cinco ou seis anos como jogador me ajudaram muito. Minha passagem como atleta foi, muitas vezes, como capitão de equipe, o que me deu esse senso de liderança em campo. O futebol demanda um estudo contínuo, você vai melhorando e crescendo a cada momento, mas depende muito do poder de observação.

Entrevista publicada em 2010, na Revista Ligado, da AES Brasil.