Your name:
Jim Guittard.
Where are you from?
I am originally from Dallas, Texas, but have lived all over
including Gunnison, Colorado, Hollywood, California, Pernik, Bulgaria,
Portland, Oregon, and now Fort Worth, Texas.
Name of band:
It’s just me: Jim Guittard and sometimes crew.
Who else is in your band?
Throughout the years, I have had a few people help with the
recordings from time to time including Vladimir Maskov (Russian dude), Bob
Guittard (my brother), Jim Seagroves (long-time friend), Ekaterina Guittard (my
wife) and Warren Barry. But mainly it is a one-man band effort.
How would you describe yourselves?
Well, I’d like to think that I can’t be boxed in. Here
is my short bio: Jim
Guittard creates music in a documentary music style from psychedelic folk to
lo-fi indie-rock. He's been putting out his brand of do it yourself little demo
tapes since his college days that serve as a personal diary. Guittard has spent
some time in Hollywood pounding the musical pavement. His 4th album
"Busted In Bulgaria" was recorded while he lived overseas in Bulgaria
as a teacher.
Who are your main influences musically?
I have a lot of diverse influences which include Beck, the
Byrds, Bob Dylan, Gene Clark, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Woody Guthrie, the
Cure, Roger McGuinn, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Velvet Underground and
Tom Petty. Early on one of my influences was a guy at my same high
school who played in several school bands called Wes Cunningham. He
really is why I started playing guitar. These sum up the main ones!
What do you hope to achieve in music?
The main thing I hope to achieve in music is simply to
document what’s going on in my life and to hopefully connect with some people
in the process. I do hope to make a mark in an underground kind of
way. I’d be doing music even if I wasn’t making a penny. Getting
some money would be nice but that’s not the main thing. I’d like to get
some of my songs into films or on TV.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
The highlight thus far has been a few hour long interviews
I’ve had with a podcaster up in British Columbia called Jay Daniels. His
show’s called the Muffin Junkee and broadcasts groovy lo-fi music: http://www.buzzsprout.com/
Coming in second would be when I wrote a protest song while I
was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer English teacher in Bulgaria and it
almost got me kicked out of the Peace Corps. The diplomats at the U.S.
Embassy Sofia were having a melt-down after I was in the papers regarding the
ongoing teacher strike. It was a highlight because my music was pushing the
envelope.
Another highlight would be recording and doing music with
Henry McGuinn in our little duo called the Ragas. Henry is the son of
Roger McGuinn who is one of the founders of the 1960’s band the Byrds. (http://www.jamendo.com/en/
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
There’s really nothing I’d like to forget. Everything
has been quite nice. I did have some guitars and other gear stolen a few
years back but these things happen and you just gotta get back up again and
carry on. These situations make me the person I am today. Take the
good and leave the bad behind.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
One of the songs that represents my music quite well is a
song off my Rise album called You Can Not Knock Me Down.
Where can we listen to it?
Where can we find out more about your music?
Twitter - https://twitter.com/
Official Site - http://jimguittard.com/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/
Anything else you’d like to say that I forgot to ask?
I’d just like to encourage other creative types to
create. There’s really no excuse to squander those talents if you have
them. Be yourself! The technology is there to be heard or seen and
to make a difference in this world. Get going.
Thank you for the interview! I appreciate it!
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