This interview with Dave Janssen was
written at the release of his new recording Hafa Adai! Fun Songs From Guam And Around The World.
| A conversation with David Janssen by Jeff Patterson |
Can you tell us something about your childhood? (you have to answer with more than "yes").
Yes............ (just joking) I was born in Portland, Oregon in the early
50s, to Felix E. and Francis C. Janssen. Dad was a Missouri Synod Lutheran minister in the St. John's district of Portland, Oregon. I lived there till I was 13, then I moved to Grants Pass.
When and how did music first become important in your life?
Music was important in my life as a part of the religious training in the Lutheran Church. When I was young I always said I wanted to be a minister like my dad and granddad. But, the big push came in 1964 when the Beatles invaded America and I found myself needing a guitar.
Where and when did you start performing?
My first memorable experience performing pop music was my sophomore year in high school when I played in a battle of the bands with my group, "David Janssen and the Fugitives". I'm sure we were aweful and we lost hands down. The only reason we entered in the contest is because there weren't enough entrants. So, we tried and failed.
You play the guitar upside down and backwards, how did that come about?
I'm left handed and do everything left handed. When I saw Paul McCartney playing bass left handed I thought, hey, that's ok. It didn't occur to me that I should restring the guitar. I just took a right handed guitar and learned like that. Someone told me years later that I played a wicked rhythm guitar, they said that was because I hit down on the top strings first which gives the guitar chords a stronger dose of treble.
What's your musical philosophy?
My musical philosophy is very simple. By and large music is a medium of the senses, expressing emotions. Some music is not created that way, let me say that before I go any further. But, the music that works and expresses inner thought the best is created from true feelings. That doesn't totally answer your question, the question is one that we could talk at length about.
Has your music always been accepted the way it is today?
Yes. In a sense. The music I've created has almost always connected. I've always had a small true blue following of "believers" that when they have heard they felt moved. But your question implies "mass market"-- no. In that sense it has not.
What brought you to the island of Guam?
Life deals us strange turns. In 1989 the school district that I was working for in southern Oregon lost funding for a full time elementary music specialist. My wife and I had always wanted to teach and live overseas, so opportunity knocked. I searched through a local college placement office and found that the only direct dial phone call overseas was to Guam. I called and while I was still on the phone, they said they would hold positions for both my wife and I. Presto. So, bad luck turned into good. I believe it can always be that way.
Was it difficult to leave the mainland for the islands?
Yes. The first short period of time I was homesick. Whining about "no
fall, no winter," until it occurred to me that that was just a point of view. Some people who live here have never experienced those things and other things peculiar to the mainland. They're OK. You just have to "do as the Romans do".
What do you enjoy most about your success in music?
The best thing about this particular type of success is that I feel like the biggest teacher in the world. Because I'm reaching more people than I ever could, in a classroom. Classrooms are great, don't get me wrong. But, when someone comes up and says, "I love Lost In A Book, and so do my kids . . . We sing your songs all the time in the car . . ." that does something beyond the "teaching moment" of the classroom.
How would you sum up your body of work so far?
Varied. If you go back to music I've written since I began. Varied. But,
there's a thread of similarity. That similarity is in the melodies that
I've written. I've always written singable melodies and if you've heard
enough of my music there's definitely a classical trait to it all. That has to come from my roots, like I said earlier, in church music.
Where have you been musically?
I've been down lots of roads, musically and physically. They've taken me to rock and roll land, country rock land, and spiritual land . . . and that's all inside of me.
Where are you going?
To TV land (just kidding, I can't stay serious too long.) I'm still
writing and thinking kids music. But, I don't want to just crank it out
like some sort of machine. I see so many performers do that and quite
honestly it loses that "inspiration". Lost In A Book, and We're Americans, Too, were inspired songs. From the heart with a purpose, that's where I want to go. Say something, do something that means something in this world. Write a song that my grandkids will say, Dave Janssen wrote that!
How would you describe your current album - Hafa Adai! Fun Songs From Guam And Around The World?
Fun songs! It's a collection of songs that first and foremost, I liked.
Whether I wrote them or not, I like them. That's what's crazy to me.
People get very into pigeon-holing music. It's big business, they gotta do that, I guess. But, I just wanted to compile songs that I thought kids would like, and that I would like too.
What is your favorite cut on the album?
We're Americans, Too (The Territories Song) because if this song is used to its full potential (which it hasn't been yet) the territories (all of them) might finally get the recognition they deserve. Sorry to get political, but 98 years of territories staying only territories with no true voting representation in the US congress is too long. Something's got to change. This song is just saying, in a nice way . . . "Hey, we should be recognized. Look here!"
What did you learn by making this album?
That I've got what it takes. That sounds egotistical, but this album sounds Good. I've been recording for a long time, amateur stuff, you know? But, this album was well put together and the tones all sound good, the kids who helped were great, the arrangements are not too busy. And it's not overproduced.
What do you think worked?
The engineer Albert Chaco, when he heard the backing track that I had
created for Lost In A Book said, "Don't add much more (overdubs) it's perfect the way it is". He was right, I owe him on that one. Thanks, Albert, you're OK!
What didn't work?
Do I want to answer that? Well, if you listen ver-r-r-ry carefully, there are a couple places that the vocal could have been more perfect. The reason for that was I had just gotten over, or was getting over having a bad chest cold, so I wasn't up to snuff. I'll let the listener pick up on that one, though.
What is your next project going to be?
The plans are on the board to record a couple tunes with my brothers Bob, and Tim, and my good friend and former Diamond Jeff Patterson. I don't want to get too specific because so often plans can vary, but I will say this recording will be more pop music directed and not a kid recording. Kids are going to like it though.
What's the story behind Green Flash Records?
A green flash is a tropical phenomenon. The exact moment that the sun
descends beneath the horizon at sunset (when the conditions are just right) the sun creates a sudden FLASH of emerald green, very intense. That is a green flash.
What was the inspiration for Lost In a Book?
Need. A school in northern Guam called me and asked me to come up with a song for the READ-A-THON. I dug around through my materials, but I couldn't find anything. So, I thought, no big deal, I'll write one. So, I sat down and on the spot wrote Lost In A Book.
How is your music accepted on Guam?
Children's music is a strange niche. When you do kids music, you don't get played on the radio. Too bad, but true. The majority of the songs are geared that way and subsequently, it doesn't get played. Sales are doing pretty well, though, mostly in the education circles, people who see the need.
How is the response to your music different on Guam when compared to the mainland?
It's a little early to answer because I've just begun on the mainland. I'll tell you next year this time.
Are there any cuts you wrote for the Hafa Adai! album that didn't make it on the record?
Not that I wrote, no. But, I do have one or two in the can. I've got most
of the songs together for a second kids album, but I don't give that sort of thing away.
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Jeff Patterson
Copyright 2008 JTP Communications