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2009-03- 7, 11:23 PM
Dean Wareham（Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta）訪談（上）
情侶搖滾（現在其實已是夫妻搖滾）雙人組Dean & Britta，首發於2003年的絕版專輯L'Avventura，台灣去年與美國同步重發，反應不惡，據說已加壓再版。
而Dean Wareham本人的自傳Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance，在我心中也是去年最值一讀的搖滾書之一，平裝版將於今年春天問世。由「曾經的」搖滾辣女Liz Phair替New York Times寫的那篇書評，很值一看。
Dean & Britta近期除了在自家廠牌Double Feature（瞧，這兩人多愛看電影）推出澳洲樂團Sand Pebbles的專輯A Thousand Wild Flowers，手邊最忙的計畫當屬13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol Screen Tests。簡單說，這是一次聲音與光影的美麗結合。Andy Warhol於1964 - 1966年之間，以The Factory為場景，用十六釐米攝影機拍攝了約五百齣黑白默片。統一採用一百英呎膠卷，每齣默片的長度約四分鐘，他把這些片子統稱為Screen Tests。
那麼主角是誰呢？主角除了Andy Warhol自己的班底，還有當時造訪The Factory的來客；換言之，六○年代知名的藝術家、演員、搖滾樂手、作家與詩人，幾乎全數入鏡。譬如一手由Andy Warhol提拔的Velvet Underground，每名成員都有自己專屬的Screen Test，某些表演時，這些影片就在他們身後的屏幕上播放。
時隔四十餘年，當初的五百卷Screen Tests，如今有的損毀，有的遺失，所幸還有兩百多卷被妥善保存於匹茲堡的Andy Warhol博物館。館方去年邀請Dean & Britta從館藏內挑選十三卷Screen Tests，替每一卷都配上一首歌，有些是全新創作，有些是Bob Dylan、Velvet Underground翻唱曲。現場表演時，Dean & Britta與樂團站在台前，背後就是Dennis Hopper、Billy Name、Nico、Lou Reed與Edie Sedgwick等人的巨型投影，光用想的就非常夢幻。演出三月將巡迴至芝加哥與波士頓，人在當地的朋友別錯過了。
若是無法親臨現場，也可透過即將發行的DVD稍稍彌補遺憾。由發行優秀音樂電影著稱的Plexifilm主推，13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol Screen Tests將以普通版和精裝版的形態問世。不過精裝版的售價是令人咋舌的250美元（因為塞了一堆手工印刷品），我們就當它不存在好了。
前陣子以e-mail與Dean做了一個簡單訪談，聊聊L'Avventura、Andy Warhol Screen Tests與當前的經濟困境。新球季開打在即，眾所皆知，Dean是非常死忠的紐約洋基隊球迷（表演時甚至穿過Boston SucksT恤）（有趣的是，他就讀的正是位在波士頓的哈佛大學，顯然那些年的波士頓生活並未改變他對原先支持球隊的忠心），訪談便以棒球開場。分上下兩篇刊出，原始的英文內容置於文末。
洋基隊花了大把銀兩簽下CC Sabathia與A.J. Burnett這兩位重量級投手，你覺得是聰明的抉擇嗎？
Sabathia的交易在我看來非常瘋狂，我猜洋基隊三年後可能就會後悔了 -- Sabathia是一個大塊頭，投球時身體必須承受很大的壓力（註：此處指Sabathia比一般投手更容易受傷）。不過我可以理解洋基隊為何願意砸下那麼多錢，他們去年沒打入季後賽，陣中一些年輕投手的進展也不如預期。不過我喜歡A.J. Burnett那筆交易，他也喜歡在紐約投球。
如果將春訓扣掉，棒球要等到四月初才會開打，你偶而會看尼克隊的籃球賽嗎？（雖然他們近幾年遭透了）
雖然糟糕了好幾年，尼克隊的球賽總算又好看起來。新教練Mike D'Antoni很棒，陣中的球員雖然不是頂級，不過他們都很享受比賽。
總統大選那天，Britta在費城替Obama拉票，投票結束後才回到紐約，你們當晚怎麼慶祝？
我們東村的公寓外頭簡直像瘋了似，車子停在路上，司機猛按喇叭，路人在街上跳舞。場面就像你在電視上看到的，某個南美國家慶祝革命勝利那樣。
選舉結束好一陣子了，人們依然很興奮嗎？還是已瞭解當前美國的困境需要好幾年才能復原？
Obama家庭現在都是名人了，一舉一動都被談論 -- 他們買什麼傢具，他們的小孩上哪一間學校，他們養哪一種小狗。不過當前的經濟狀況還是很慘。
目前的經濟困境是你這輩子遇過最遭的嗎？
我想這才是開始而已，情勢會變得更慘。長期來人們把判斷經濟好壞的指標設定在股市跟房地產的價值，事實卻是這兩樣東西的價值完全被高估了，根本不像專家說的那樣。很多人現在都在失業了，包括一些我認識的朋友，已沒有工作。
萎縮的經濟規模是否會影響音樂工業的運作模式？
幫我們在Zoe/Rounder廠牌負責A&R的人前陣子才被裁員。我想早在金融海嘯爆發前，整個音樂工業已遭遇麻煩，很多大公司持續在萎縮。我有一個在Sony Music擔任高階主管的朋友（他最近也丟掉飯碗了）曾跟我說，九○年代銷售CD的豐厚利潤，讓他夜夜笙歌，但這些年派對結束了。他比較九○年代音樂工業的盛況，就像十九世紀的捕鯨業，當時麻薩諸塞州海岸一排豪宅全是靠捕鯨的利潤蓋起來的。不過世界早已變了。
當人們的口袋越來越薄，很難不縮減娛樂開支，很多人已許久不買CD。市場環境那麼糟，什麼動機讓你決定在自己的廠牌發行其他藝人的作品？
除了我們自己的L'Avventura專輯，我們近期還出版了澳洲樂團Sand Pebbles和紐約在地樂團Cheval Sombre的作品，原因很簡單，我喜歡他們的音樂。只要收支可以打平，我很樂意讓他們的音樂被更多人聽見。雖然大型連鎖店像WalMart和Circuit City業績直直落（Tower更早已關門了），目前或許正是小型獨立唱片行的好時機。
為何花了五年才重發L'Avventura？
其實它只絕版幾年而已。整個協商的過程很緩慢，我們必須承擔將專輯版權買回來的風險（註：原發行廠Jetset已倒閉），不過我們很高興能讓L'Avventura重發。
我手邊有一張當初Jetset發行的原始版，我注意到你們將L'Avventura的包裝由原先的塑膠殼更換為紙殼，封底也從兩人合照變成只有Britta獨自一人，這些改變有何特殊原因嗎？
我們一直希望專輯能用紙殼發行。其實，也是想讓它看起來跟原版不一樣，所以樂迷能意識到我們加了三首歌進去（封底那張Britta獨照是從Sonic Boom主理的混音專輯Sonic Souvenirs而來）。
你們是在哪兒拍攝封面照片的呢？看來像一家咖啡館。
布魯克林Boerum Hill區的一家咖啡館。
Do you think it's a good move for Yankees to spend huge amount of money (not surprising though) to get both CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett on board?
The Sabathia deal seems pretty insane. I imagine they may regret it three years from now - he is a big guy, and pitching puts a lot of stress on your body. But they missed the playoffs last year, and their younger pitchers didn't develop as quickly as they thought, so we can understand why they went out and spent the money. A.J. Burnett I like, he loves pitching in New York too.
Since baseball season won't start until April (if the Spring training doesn't count), do you follow Knicks occasionally? (Even they suck that much...)
The Knicks are fun to watch again, after years of being truly awful. The new coach is great. The players are not the best but they are enjoying themselves.
Britta was in Philadelphia on the Election Day, and came back to NYC after the poll was closed. How did you guys celebrate the night of November 4th?
It was crazy outside our apartment in the East Village. Traffic was blocked, people honking horns and dancing in the streets. It was like a scene you see on TV -- after a revolution in some South American country.
It has been over for a couple months. Is the frenzy still in the air? Or people start to realize the whole situation needs several years to heal.
Well, the Obamas are celebrities, every move is studied - what kind of furniture will they buy? Where will their kids go to school? What kind of dog will they get? But the financial news continues to be very bad.
Is the current economic condition the worst you've ever faced in your lifetime?
I think it's only beginning. Things are going to get much worse. For so long people seem to judge "the economy" based on the value of stocks and real estate. It turns out that both of these things were grossly overvalued, that nothing was worth what they said it was. But now people are losing jobs, I know several people who are out of work now.
Does it (the lousy economy) change the way the music industry function a lot?
Well, our A&R guy at Zoe/Rounder lost his job. But the music industry was already in trouble, with all the big companies shrinking. I had a friend high up at Sony Music (who has now lost his job), he said they got drunk in the 1990s on the superprofits they made from selling CDs. But the party is over. He compared it to fortunes made in whaling in the 19th century. You can see the mansions on the coast of Massachusetts, built on whaling fortunes. But the world changes.
Most people stop buying CDs for a long time. As their pocket goes shallower and shallower, it's almost inevitable for them to cut the cost for entertainment. What's the motivation for you to release other artists' records on your own label, even the market is in such bad shape?
In addition to our own L'Avventura album, we are releasing two other discs, simply because I love their music - the Sand Pebbles, from Australia. And Cheval Sombre - from NY. So long as I don't lose money, I am happy just to help them get their music out there. And I am hoping that at this moment, even as the big chains like WalMart and Circuit City (and Tower, which is gone) are in trouble, that maybe it will be a better time for small indie stores.
Why does it take five years to finally reissue L'Avventura?
Well, it was only out of print for a couple of years. Negotiations were slow. We had to take a risk buying our own album back, but we are very glad we did it.
I have an original copy in hand, and I notice you've changed both the package (from jewel case to digipack) and the back cover (from the couple shot to just Britta alone), is there any reason for those changes?
We always wanted a digipak. . . anyway we wanted to make it look different, so that people might be aware there are three extra songs (so we took the back photo from Sonic Souvenirs)
Where did you shoot the cover photo? It looks like a Café.
A café in Boerum Hill (Brooklyn).
繼續閱讀: Dean Wareham（Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta）訪談（下）
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Magnet雜誌前陣子也與Dean & Britta做了訪談，內容提到不少Andy Warhol Screen Tests，必讀:
http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/03/02/qa-with-dean-britta/
由 pulp 發表於 March 13, 2009 12:37 AM
