| Q |
Briefly describe your background/training. |
| A |
 I started in grade school as an aspiring musician influenced heavily by the British Invasion. I talk about this a bit in my show, my definition of "rock and roll". Because I enjoyed the written word so much I became much enamored with the Beats, you know the usual Allen Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs etc, of course Bukowki, then as I got older the French, Rimbaud, Baudelaire and the Irish: Joyce, Beckett but all of this really stems from the heavily lyric based stuff that was coming out of rock and roll in the 70's, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Television etc. After my bands broke up or became financially and spiritually impossible and I knew that I wanted my life to be music/art/performing I had to figure out a way to translate the experiences and knowledge I had acquired with rock and roll into a one-man show. I became Hamell on Trial. My goal, having watched numerous Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, Spaulding Grey, Lili Tomlin one-person shows was to try and make mine into "rock and roll". I got signed to Mercury/Universal records and did two albums. I got signed to Righteous Babe Records where I currently reside and did three records and a DVD. I wrote The Terrorism of Everday Life, which has won numerous awards. I'm working on a new one man show, "This Is your Brain on Rock and Roll" while I'm writing a song a day on my website, hamellontrial.com, whew... |
| Q |
How old were you when you knew you wanted to be an artist? |
| A |
I was really rattled at an early age regarding the finality of death. I was very cognisant that I wanted to "outlive" this mortal coil if you will and my first inclination as far back as 7 years old was to be a scientist. I admired Thomas Edison and the fact that he had these inventions that would outlive him. Voila! Immortality! Unfortunately I have no aptitude what so ever for science and after blowing up the basement a couple of times and seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan I found my calling. Short answer? 11 years old. |
| Q |
Who is your greatest professional inspiration and why? |
| A |
Hmmm..I got a few. I really dig Lenny Bruce. There probably is nobody that I have studied more. I just think he had huge balls, that whole "I'm not a comedian, I'm Lenny Bruce" really resonates with me. I just like the fact that he would talk, no desire to get a laugh, for three or four hours and he'd be riveting. Also Bill Hicks. A genius. Now I've listed two comedians and yet I'm not really a fan of comedians. Very few I like. I like Bukowksi, Hunter Thompson, Quentin Tarantino, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, I don't know if any of these guys are "the greatest" but on any given day they can fill my tank. |
| Q |
How do you manage wearing different 'hats' as a self-producing artist? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? |
| A |
If I didn't wear different hats I'd get bored. When I get sick of song writing I paint. When I get sick of painting I write prose. I just like t produce. Greatest strengths? Tenacity and stupidity. If I had known really how bad I was when I first started I would have quit. Luckily I didn't know it. I do pride myself on the fact that I stay open and like to study, I think that helps. Weakness? Insecurity ...it's good to have an outside source/editor/producer that you trust otherwise I'd throw everything out. |
| Q |
As a self-producing artist, what qualities make for a good show idea in your opinion, and what is typically your first step in realizing your artistic vision? |
| A |
Picture yourself sitting in the audience watching the show. Make your expectations really high. How would you blow your own mind? That's what really matters. This in no way is saying, "I'm not thinking about the audience, I don't care what they think". No. This is saying, "I hold them in the highest regard, I wouldn't want them to have to sit through anything I wouldn't be impressed by myself." My first step in any artistic project is literally barking the idea into a dictaphone, greatest little tool I ever got. Forty bucks at Radio Shack. I love it. |
| Q |
How much material do you prepare for a show, and what percentage of it typically makes it into the final performance? |
| A |
For a one hour show probably 4 hours is written, so what's that 25%? Actually 25% is pretty good. I just keep throwing it against the wall and seeing if it sticks. That used to really bug me that my success rate was so low compared to the output but I've learned to accept it, that everybody works differently and you can't hit a home run every time. |
| Q |
Speaking as a spectator, what do you look for in performance? |
| A |
I'm really picky. I want them to take themselves very seriously but not take themselves too seriously. It's a fine line. I like to laugh, but don't be a clown. I like a sense of the absurd with a sense of poignancy and I like to walk away thinking, "I learned something about that person and as prickly as they can potentially be I think I'd like to hang out with them." |
| Q |
What makes your work unique? |
| A |
Me. |
| Q |
What does 'success' mean to you? |
| A |
There of course is a specific answer here and an abstract answer. I'm going to leave the specific alone because this has been an incredibly weird year for me, the best of times and the worst of times, kind of like our nation as well. The abstract is I would like to be able to do exactly what I'm currently doing on a larger scale, gaining the respect of artists I consider my peers but of course at that point I won't care, (ha!), but more importantly continuing to have the insatiable hunger and drive that I currently have and the ability to clearly see the forward path. That's not as easy as one might think. At least for me. (And some other artists who have let me down over the years.) |
| Q |
Why are you doing the Capital Fringe Festival? |
| A |
I'm not blowing sunshine up your ass here. I think you guys are cool and smart. Who wants to perform in front of dicks? |
