sunshine party on the Oregon Coast ~
Douglas & kelly shaw post-show in Eugene
Douglas + yummy lady = love party!
Douglas Detrick holds a Master’s of Music from the University of Oregon, where he served two years as a graduate teaching fellow. He also holds a Bachelor’s of Music degree in trumpet performance with jazz emphasis from Lawrence University of Appleton, WI. He currently resides in Eugene, Oregon, where he works as a freelance composer, performer, educator, copyist and transcriber. Detrick is a co-founder of the Detrick/Swigart Jazz Orchestra, now known as the Eugene Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, an 18-piece big band dedicated to the performance of new music by Douglas Detrick, David Swigart and Justin Morell. He is also a volunteer board member of the Willamette Jazz Society, and is in charge of booking groups for the Society’s performance space and gallery, The Jazz Station, one of a few live music performance spaces in Eugene, OR where the emphasis is on creativity.
kelly shaw
1. my friend, Douglas. cool interview you’ve launched with Brian McWhorter ~ just wanted to squeeze that compliment in there. i recently interviewed a professor from my undergrad days (Rob Neilson) and think both he and McWhorter have pearls of wisdom that we fledglings soak right on up, eh? … now, talk to me first about how your parents initially reacted when you told them you wanted to make your living as a musician. where do y’all stand on this today?
Glad you read the interview and enjoyed it. Brian is a great teacher and a great inspiration to me and to so many others. I like interviews because the things people have to say never cease to surprise me. No matter how well you know a person, talking with someone at length about a subject that they hold dear always turns up new ground, usually for both people. I found that Brian was thinking new thoughts while we were talking, even about things that he had already thought about. I’m hoping to do more interviews like that one. The next interview, that I’ve done, but not transcribed, is with Jeff Kaiser, a trumpet and laptop player. He’s done tons of creative work, but also has done a serious (as in doctoral) study of the DIY creative music scene. I won’t say any more, because he said lots of interesting things in the interview and I don’t want to spoil it!
Anyway, about my parents and my family and music. My parents are really supportive and I’m very lucky to have parents like them. After an initial period of struggle, I’ve found that they really want me to follow this path and make it happen. I think they understand that music, and a life in the arts, has really chosen me, and I think they’ve come to understand that I won’t be happy doing anything else and that this is the best work that I can do. I’m the only artist in my immediate family. I do have a cousin, Kristina Arnold, who is a visual artist, and teaches art at Western Kentucky University. She’s great, and I used photos of some of her work on my first album cover. Other than her though, my family isn’t used to the artistic lifestyle. I often do creative work for free, and they are a bit uncomfortable with this. They think I do good work, and so they are, understandably, not happy to see me getting paid little or nothing for doing it. But, of course, they see the value of the music beyond the money, so, all in all, they are supportive, proud, and everything I could hope for from my parents.
check out the work of Douglas' cousin HERE.
This is an interesting question, as it really touches on the personal issues that can influence someone’s work. When I look at artists who I really like and learn more about their lives, I’m often surprised by the personal circumstances that came into play. For instance, a favorite composer of mine, Morton Feldman grew up, I believe, in a house or an apartment in New York, in Brooklyn I think, with parents who rarely spoke to each other. So, he was very used to silence, where some people, perhaps, are more used to sound. If you listen to his music, I think this comes across in a certain way, though you wouldn’t have to know about his biography in order to hear the comfort with very sparse sound and silence. It's not really possible to say exactly what this meant to him as he grew into a composer and over his whole career as a composer, but he does cite it as an influential factor in his life. Another thing he said was that he could have been as good as Beethoven if only he had a comfortable chair! I’m sure I’m quoting him incorrectly, but these are things that he talked about and thought about. To him the paper, the pen, the piano, the time of day and other things that I’m sure he never got around to identifying were important to his work. All of these personal things mix together in someone’s work, and family can be a huge influence.
For me family life was influential as well: I picked up the trumpet first because I heard my sister play in middle school band. She played flute and piano. She didn’t want me to play the trumpet because she said I’d get “trumpet lips” which were obviously very unattractive. Eventually she was okay with the trumpet.
One other thing about my parents is that I often play the "Guess what music Mom will like" game. I buy an album that I think both my Mom and I will actually like. Usually I lose the game. Recently though, I bought her an album she really liked. That was gratifying, because I liked the album too. It was Hey Marseille’s album "To Travels and Trunks". My Mom and Dad also usually tell me very specifically what they did and didn’t like about something they heard, my music included. They both took some music lessons as kids, more my Mom than Dad, so neither has much musical training. So, they often offer me their perspective, that of smart people with "untrained ears." I’ve come to appreciate their comments because they keep me in touch with what most people are actually hearing. People who aren’t involved in music all the time… you know, "real" people.
for Douglas' interview with Brian McWhorter,
check out the link HERE.
check out the link HERE.
2. i admire the commitment you’ve made to the arts. you’ve had lots of cool things happen, from compositions receiving awards … to playing out all over the place … i mean damn, NYC’s, The Stone? share with those of us new to "Douglas Detrick" some of your creative highlights and accomplishments.
Yes, I’ve had some great successes recently. The Stone was a huge honor and a huge thrill. I played there with my chamber group, AnyWhen Ensemble. I’m extremely proud of this group, and I’m really happy that it came together. It’s definitely the best thing I’ve ever done. We’re planning another tour of the west coast in the winter including a gig on a festival in Seattle, the "Is That Jazz" Festival. I’ll be writing some new music for that tour and hopefully we’ll be able to spend a little bit of time in the studio recording the new stuff. I’m trying to release a series of short recordings with that group in the next few years. We are spread around the country, so I try to work the group really hard when we’re together and get as much done as possible. That band is really amazing to work with. They are really talented players and I’m constantly amazed by what they can do, and honored by the care and attention they give to my music. I’m hoping to do a lot more work with that group. I’ll have to keep you posted on that as it comes out.
The only other thing I thought of when I read this question the first time is that I feel like I really need to be doing more work. I feel like I need to push myself to produce more work and produce it at the highest level that I can. This is a bit weird because I do push myself. I do work hard. But, I do feel that I could be doing more. The problem is that this idea comes from looking at the work of other composers, like I need to compete in some way. So, it gets me into trouble. I start to set unrealistic goals for myself, then wear myself down trying to meet them, then get burnt out and not work for a while. So, I think whats needed is really a balance: I need to push myself to keep working, but I also need to work on a human schedule, or at least a schedule compatible with my particular style of humanity. It’s a challenge because I really love to work, and create something new. So, this balance is a tough issue.
3. riddle me this, batman. grad school was like, fill-in-the-blank.
Grad school was like totally weird. I was very lucky and got a full assistantship where I taught and assisted in several courses in exchange for my tuition. It was a great experience. Really life-changing. The reason I say "weird" is because I felt like I was in a dream most of the time. Few people don’t get to run around doing only (or at least mostly only) what they love, and grad school was that kind of time for me. I was lucky though, not everyone is so fortunate.
Studying trumpet with Brian McWhorter was an incredible experience. He opened my head up to so many new kinds of expression that it really changed my life. When I started working with him the trumpet felt like a barrier. The instrument was standing in the way of my music, not helping me express it. The biggest thing that happened was that he heard in my playing what my natural inclinations were ~ how I played the horn ... and he enabled me to make music using that sound, and not someone else’s. It's hard to describe, but it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I was able to value the things I did well, and while I could still work on these other things that trumpet players are supposed to be able to do, I was soon able to hear what I did on the trumpet as valid, even thought it was unconventional. I still work on playing the trumpet in a conventional way, because I do make some of my income from performing conventional music, but I really was able to move fully into playing my own music in grad school. It was a great time, kind of like going to summer camp for two years.
4. poetry. Robert Creeley. you write, Douglas. you read it. does poetry influence your musical endeavors?
Poetry hasn’t come into my life as directly as it used to. I haven’t been writing as much as I used to, though I’ve felt the desire to write again bumping around in my head. I’ve been working on ways to integrate poetry and music, but I haven’t had any real successes. I have had some success working with other poets though. Our work together with Blob! The Band I thought was really great. This was a hard-to-describe project Kelly and I did at Lawrence University. It was electronica-inspired jazz fusion group. If anyone is curious to hear this band, our only recordings are posted on myspace. That particular project worked out really well. Your poetry turned out to be a great beginning place for the project. It’s too bad we didn’t get to play any more than a few times. That group was pretty typical of the way I work: I had a gig coming up in a month or so and my regular group couldn’t do it. So, instead of finding subs or playing standard material with a pick-up group I wrote 45 minutes of new music and started a new band. We ended up playing three gigs only. It was fun while it lasted.
Anyway: poetry. Robert Creeley is a big influence. His poetry and many of the interviews he’s done have been really inspiring. I’ve also been re-reading Whitman recently. William Carlos Williams is a favorite of mine. Cole Swenson is also inspiring. What I like about these poets is how they move. I think they all move from one thing to the next in an engaging way. They float, or they jump or they fall in different directions, but they always bring a new idea into focus. This idea of "how to move?" has been on my mind a lot recently. The last big project I did, "Rivers Music" for the AnyWhen Ensemble was born in this idea. How do rivers move? I feel that it tells us something about ourselves, and thinking about music in this way brings something new into focus for me.
5. so, new horizons! engagement to a hot little lady. moving soon to New York City. how are you feeling about these things? what is life like in your world these days?
My fiancé Jenny is incredible. I’m very lucky to have found her. She treats me like a million bucks and I do the same for her. Life is good, I’m very lucky. Life for me right now is a more or less continual attempt to balance all the things that I’d like to do, like having a meaningful relationship, creating the best art that I can, and being involved in the musical community around me as a documenter through my blog, and as an audience member; and things that I need to do, like whatever it is that I have to do to make enough money. I’m always happy when this latter category involves making music, though I’m open to the idea of maybe moving into a different career path that isn’t musically involved. Right now I’m giving it a go as a full-time musician, or at least I will when I get to NYC. It will be interesting. I’m excited to see what will happen.
6. you’re a native to Oregon, a state that won my heart when i visited some years ago. do you have any concerns about leaving this clean quiet place for NYC?
I was actually born in New Jersey! Weird, huh? Whenever I run into someone from Jersey, I can see that my upbringing in Oregon, from the time I was about 5, has made me soft! Or maybe just green behind the ears. I’m a Northwesterner for sure. I will miss Oregon dearly, as it is such a beautiful place and I have lots of family and great friends here. I’m moving to New York because I want to put myself into a situation where the bar is really high. NYC is full of great musicians who are really pushing and working at a very high level. I feel that living in this environment will help me to achieve things.
I don’t believe that NYC is the only place, though. I’ve heard fantastic musicians even in Eugene, which most people consider to be a small, sleepy town. (It is and isn’t… but that’s another subject entirely.) The big difference is that there is very little depth to the scene here, even with all of the great players here, and in nyc there is a never-ending supply of great artists. So, I hope that nyc will push me to create at the highest level that I can. New York really can force this on you, because the demands it places on you financially are immense, so one really has to rise to the challenge. This is all my opinion as an outsider, and I don’t know really know what life there is like, so, I guess I’m looking to experience the city and see what my "New York" story will be like.
I see NYC like a big, bright light. The question is, will it let me in? Or will I just bounce off it like a moth? tink ….. tink ….. tink ….. I’m optimistic though ~ I’m very excited to go there and try to make things happen. I don’t mean to be over-dramatic about it, I just have a sense of adventure about it.
7. we’ve connected over our mutual interest in Buddhist thought and meditation. how does your reading about and participation in this aforementioned realm influence your general well-being? and also, your creativity.
Buddhism has been a journey for me, like it is for anyone who gets involved in it, I’d guess. I find that Buddhism, in every way, from the content of its ideas, to the physicality of the practice itself, (in whatever form that takes for different people,) forces the practitioner to address the full spectrum of reality in a way that most of us don’t. In meditation we are forced to sit and simply observe our own minds. It can be excruciating! Though, I think the reality of this kind of practice can yield up beautiful treasures with some effort. That being said, my commitment to meditation has been fleeting. I’m not really ashamed of this; I feel its part of the practice. Every time I recommit to meditation I do it from a new place, a different body, a different mind, so it can be enlightening just to look at my own personal history in this regard. (Each time) I can look and see the motivations for meditation, just as I can see the motivations for stopping. Awareness is the ultimate goal, so in this respect, the awareness of both types of motivations are valuable.
As far as creativity goes, I’ve long been attracted to many of the artistic practices associated with Zen. Examples are shakuhachi playing, archery, haiku, zen painting, the tea ceremony, calligraphy… there are many. What I find inspirational is that these practices are focused on the act of creating more than the end result. Zen monks were attracted to the shakuhachi as a method of increasing their ability to concentrate. Traditionally the instrument is thought of as a tool for broadening one’s meditation practice first, and as musical instrument second. The idea is to help the practitioner experience this state of no-thinking. The idea is that it is in this state that we humans are closest to our true nature. I feel that I get a glimpse of this state when I am playing my best. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it has kept me going. I have felt in these times that I briefly experienced a different state of consciousness. I can’t really describe it any more than that, but I can see that its markedly different that my "normal" state of being. So, in creativity, I’m striving to forget about the difference between music and being human. Not to eliminate it, or transcend it, just to forget about it, like it never existed.
I don’t mean this in a careless way, though. I believe in the idea that I can actually change the world for the people in the room with me when I play, and that is a good thing. It’s my own small version of the boddhisatva vow: to try to become enlightened for the good of all beings. This is an idea from Buddhism that is continually important to me and it’s an incredibly important idea that I take very, very seriously.
8. let’s talk favorites: fruit. vegetable. dessert. animal. plant. body of water. beer. american coin. type of jelly. candy. bread. breakfast item. and instrument besides the trumpet.
fruit
this peach is heavy
of sweet juice
vegetable
sweet corn is still warm from
the sun
animal
one time I found a bird
in my house I let
it go lost it in the sunlight
plant
in a close group
trees bend their foreheads together
a congregation
litany
body of water
anywhere sun
light moonlight
reflect and pain
the backs of your eyes
beer
sit
down
let’s
talk
now
coin
what this country
needs is a good five-cent nickel
I read somewhere
jelly
apple cider
apple picker
apple tree
apple jelly
candy
one dollar bought
a candy egg
bread
we make flour from crushed seeds
the bread is as much air as it is sunlight and water
bring the loaf to the front of the oven from the back
breakfast
coffee:
sit d
own
let’s t
alk n
ow
musical instrument
what is a violin
when we
call it a
fiddle?
9. tell we kiddies what concise advice you have for young artists.
Don’t be afraid. I feel like this is the most valuable advice I can offer. I mean this in the following ways: Don’t be afraid to make your art the way you imagine it; Don’t be afraid to disregard advice from teachers, "accepted wisdom", etc.; Don’t be afraid to accept advice from teachers, "accepted wisdom", etc.; Don’t be afraid to believe in your work; Don’t be afraid to value your work, both spiritually and monetarily; Don’t be afraid to be realistic; Don’t be afraid to be optimistic. One should notice there are a lot of seemingly contradictory things in there. I’ve found that that’s the way life is, and the life of an artist is no different. We go one way for a while, then we turn around. Anything can happen, and it probably will. All we can do is make a decision and move forward.
10. you are on a boat for one afternoon with Thich Nhat Hahn, Janis joplin, and a kangaroo. what goes down? you’re on a lake in Vermont if that helps.
All I can imagine in this scene is lot of rocking and a lot of smiling. Lots of smiling.
11. let’s talk influence. who inspires? what are your aspirations for the near future? … and how about a few sentences that sum up your philosophy on livin this life.
I’ll just list the first few that come to mind: Thich Nhat Hahn is one. This man is focused, positive and creative, and he’s a great inspiration to me. I hope I could study with him sometime. My friends are also a great source of inspiration to me. We had a "Eugene Reunion" this week because many old friends who moved were in town to teach at a jazz camp here. Many of us have moved on, and more will be moving on soon. So, the great community that I have here in Eugene is about to come to an end in a certain way. Not completely, but it won’t ever be the same.
Some musicians that inspire me and whose work I follow are: Brian McWhorter, Nate Wooley, Trygve Seim, Arve Henriksen, Wayne Horvitz, Jeff Kaiser and Ron Miles. There are many others, but these are on my mind recently. The non-profit work of the Willamette Jazz Society through its venue, “The Jazz Station”, is amazing to me. This is a great organization that contributes to Eugene’s creative music scene in a very real and constructive way. I’ve been contributing myself as a volunteer board member, and as the venue’s bookings and PR person.
I don’t have a set philosophy on life. I’ve found that philosophies I sit and think about or write in a journal aren’t as real as the one that I intuitively follow every day. I smile a lot. Recently I’ve been trying to smile more at people that bother me or who are contributing to some sort of confrontation. Sometimes it makes things better for them; it almost always makes things better for me. I’m moving towards focus, compassion, fearlessness, independence and co-dependence, and a general ease, a lightness in my attitude towards life.
Thanks for asking me to do the interview ~
it was interesting to see what I had to say!
it was interesting to see what I had to say!
CHECK OUT DOUGLAS HERE.
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