Conversation with Vincent Cafiso of Joy Zipper on the creative drain and pressures of success within the music industry, and moving beyond the masks.
Part One: Italian Stallions (0 – 33 mins)
Putting things to rest, learning guitar at 13, art as higher calling, Seen & Not Seen & identity creation, early depression, finding a band, wild on stage, the Italian Stallions, MTS, Jane’s Addiction, “Out of the Sun,” aspiring to be cult leader, playing the Garage in London, My Bloody Valentine, enter hallucinogens, shoe gazer rock, My Favorite Sex, John Sykes & VH1, playing CBGBs, no security in a band, delivering pizza, early recording, enter Tabitha, a double voice.
Part Two: Turned on Power (33 mins – 1 hr 6 mins)
The origins of Joy Zipper, Matty Skylab, getting signed in London with Eye Q, music for therapy, early songs, the importance of numbers, 8 & infinity, outsider art, Vinyl, making it big in England, a Lynchian element, acid & rootlessness, first doing LSD, Alan Watts & Castaneda, a religious bent, success at thirty, Brick Lane, early performances as Joy Zipper, using anger for courage, The Swans, fighting success, Bobby Bluebell, too much death in the songs.
Part Three: Dodging the Bullet (1 hr 6 mins – 1hr 42 mins)
Music course at Leeds college, denial of death, second album American Whip, David Holmes (DJ), 13 Amp, Tony Doogan, Kevin Shields, the move to Glasgow, getting bought out by Universal, Lucien Grainge, Amy Winehouse, dodging the bullet, being branded as a cash cow, invented narratives in the media, a New York Times article, going analog, Mark Kramer, difference between analog and digital, celluloid vs. digital film, something about analog.
Part Four: Onset of Paranoid Awareness (1 hr 42 mins – 2 hr 10 mins)
The Stereo and God, Fischerspooner, success as heroin, the pressure to perform, recording in Toe Rag, Hackney, The Heartlight Set, trying on optimism, an underachiever, being dropped by Universal, organized crime and the music industry, indebted to the industry, becoming paranoid, listening to Art Bell, 2007, a heavy fall, song placements, David Icke, Matrix 1.0, the people in power, Dave McGowan & Laurel Canyon, Jan Irvin, pushing the 60s, Leonard Cohen in Cuba.
Part Five: Aging Out/Settling In (2 hr 10 mins – 2 hr 29 mins)
Deconstructing Cohen, questioning cultural influences, creating replicas, giving up autonomy to the culture, creativity colonized, aging out of the industry, breaking the contract, getting infected, “All the Saints,” Jonathan Richman, finding community, aspiring to enter the canon, the lack that drives, seeking the wholesome, enlightenment finally.
Part Six: When Love Comes Back (2 hr 29 mins – end)
The difficulties of going back, the buried treasure, the trauma, the essential Vincent, finding the people, mask-wearing in videos, wanting to be seen but unseen, Sebastian’s test, the light side of fame, connecting to humanity, a lost love feeling, the quest for coolness, coming in from the cold, love without risk, being on retreat, losing the false self, the final pop.
Joy Zipper YouTube channel
Songs: “Pirates” by Entertainment for the Braindead; "Out of the Sun," "33," "The Power of Alan Watts," "Warped & Shock" and "Chasing Time," by Joy Zipper. “Changes” by Short Hand.