2000 Downloaded from http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20030613003/tscript.htm 06/13/2003 - Updated 11:24 AM ET 40 years of The Dead: Mickey Hart Friday, June 13, 1:30 p.m. ET After nearly 40 years and several deaths, the empire of The Dead (formerly Grateful) is thriving. The newly rechristened survivors are embarking June 15 on a huge summer tour with glittering guests. How has the Dead's unique way of doing business (unlimited taping access and trading, frequent live albums, little attachment to the conventional record biz) created a standard for many current bands? What's the secret of the longevity of The Dead (pun intended)? Chat with drummer Mickey Hart about what a long strange trip it's been. Mickey Hart is also the author of Songcatchers: In Search of the World's Music. ---------------------------------------------------------- EL SEGUNDO CALIF.: TO WHAT AFFECT DID THE AUDIENCE HAVE ON THE BAND? Mickey Hart: The audience plays a large part in performance, since we feed off their energy. That's the ritual. The communication and connection we have with our fans, that's what The Dead is all about. ---------------------------------------------------------- Chicago, IL: O.K., I'll admit it- I wasn't into the Dead until "Touch of Grey" came out. My question is: Were you and the rest of the band suprised to have a top 10 song after years of popularity? Also, tell me a bit about the background of the song. Mickey Hart: Surprised? Yes. Amazed? Yes. Astounded? Of course. This was never in the cards. This was just an anomoly, a strange quirk, to be able to do a song in 4 minutes. MegaDead was born after that. ---------------------------------------------------------- Elkhart, Indiana: Last year at the "Grateful Dead Reunion" at Alpine Valley, the local community made GD Productions go above and beyond the normal requirements for reciving all necessary permits. Everything went as smooth as could be expected, so my question is this: did any of the venues or local communities that surround the venues have any reservations about "The Dead" comming to their community this summer. i.e. Red Rocks Mickey Hart: No. We have very responsible fans who respect the community and leave no footprints. They know that if we're going to come back to a community they have to respect the community, and treat themselves as honored guests. Our fans are like no other. They had to be reminded how courteous our fans really are. ---------------------------------------------------------- Columbia , South Carolina: Hi Mickey, my first shows ever with you guys were last summer in Wisconsin. Thanks for a wonderful weekend! My question is will there be a new studio album coming from The Dead ? Mickey Hart: We haven't really talked about it. We've composed new songs, but in Grateful Dead life we take them out on the road and play them for a year before recording. I don't see why there shouldn't be. We have enough material. ---------------------------------------------------------- Washington, D.C.: As you devote more of your energies to digital preservation of music of cultures throughout the world, does the discovery of the music of these peoples affect your own musical directions? Mickey Hart: Absolutely. Once you hear music, you're never the same. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it's like romancing of the ear, goes through your neural system and changes your brainwave function. It's the lifeblood - new music. Without that you'd be eating the same food all the time. ---------------------------------------------------------- Stevensville, MD: How are your sets currently determined these days? They seem maybe a little more structured. Would you ever go as far as to start a show with drums/space if you and Bill wanted to? Mickey Hart: It's not determined. We won't choose the songs until the day of,and we probably won't follow a logical roadmap. We'll mix it up. ---------------------------------------------------------- Stevensville, MD: Do you see the new trend of post-show CDR sales as something of a conflict with what has traditionally been free trading of shows recorded by tapers. Will there be attempts to now prohibit taping to maximize profits from GDP generated recordings? Mickey Hart: No, not at all. Tapers can tape, but if they want a real mastered recording they can get one within 48 hours. It's the new business model. People who want to hear the show can buy it or tape it. ---------------------------------------------------------- Hatboro, PA: With your work with the connection between healing and rhythm, and the neural basis of rhythm. Have you considered any kind of research into the connection between Autism, and drummng? Mickey Hart: Absolutely. Science is weighing in now on what the brain looks like "on music". In the motor impaired a giant notch is missing, and we've discovered there is grey matter in the brain strictly to process music. The neurologists who study auditory driving syndrome are finding how to repeat on a daily basis the medicinal properties of music. Soon doctors will be able to write a prescription for music as medicine, and HMOs and insurance companies will pay. This is the most exciting aspect of music in this century - its medicinal properties. ---------------------------------------------------------- Perrysburg, OH: Mickey, everyone I know is happy that you're playing some older, more obscure material with The Dead. Who's influence was it to break some of the GD classics out? Was this something that you would have even considered with The Grateful Dead? Peace, Dan Mickey Hart: It's just a matter of going back through the catalogue and playing more obscures stuff, which most of us cant' remember. Now we're looking at it as a fresh slate. We're going back to old Pig Pen songs, or songs we 1a18 never recorded or only played once. It's going to be really interesting - we have over 150 songs rehearsed. ---------------------------------------------------------- Princeton NJ: what has been responsible for keeping your interest in The Dead after such a long time? Mickey Hart: Desperation. We're just desperate people. Desperate to make this music. We're like cockroaches. We'll always be here and never go away. Once you've tasted it you can't get it out of your system. This is our fate, and we've always thought we've had a mission. This creature has got us by the throat. ---------------------------------------------------------- Coral Springs, FL: Looking forward to your the July 29 visit to South Florida. I was curious to know, how, if at all, your jewish heritage has affected your musical career? Loved the bar mitzvah picture in the Grateful Dead Family Album a few years back. Mickey Hart: I don't think it affected it one way or the other.My religion is rhythm. That's my God. ---------------------------------------------------------- Princeton NJ: In the past four decades what do you think has been the sole source of The Greatful Dead's success and what has kept you all together for so long? Mickey Hart: It's magic. There's chemistry between the four of us. It takes four of us to do "it",and we still have "it", even though Jerry's not with us. It's a mystery that we've never been able to figure it out. The challenge is to keep going back to that feeling, which is what keeps people coming back. It's a wild beast uncaged every night, and watching it go back in its cage is the surprise. ---------------------------------------------------------- Washington, DC: It's interesting to me that Metallica alienated a large number of fans by going after Napster and downloading, whereas you guys never stopped the taping of shows and kept your fans. Do you have any advice for young bands out there, or has the music climate changed too much for kids starting out to mimic The Dead's business plan? Mickey Hart: Our music was improvisational, so we always thought the audience played an important part,a nd that we didn't fully own it. That's why we let people tape. Other bands just play the same songs, and it's not about the audience. It's abOut them and their compositions. If you hold the music too tight,people will steal it. If you give it away, they can't steal it. There's no cops that can stop file sharing, so now it becomes a moral question. If you take something from someone and sell it, that's thievery. If Napster makes money selling music and Metallica isn't paid, I'm with Metallica. There's a difference between giving your music away and having someone stealing. Maybe Metallica learned a lesson and will start giving some music away now. Lars, are you listening??? ---------------------------------------------------------- Evansville, IN: Was it hard to play music after Jerry passed away? Mickey Hart: I couldn't play for a while. I stayed in my home grieving for two weeks, and finally got out to gas up my car. I was very fragile. There was a little hippy chick at the pump who said to me "keep the beat going, Mickey". That cracked me up.I'll never forget that, and I went back to it. I locked myself in and recorded the Mystery Box. ---------------------------------------------------------- Comment from Mickey Hart: For a couple of weeks I was just out of it, in mourning. ---------------------------------------------------------- fort lauderdale, florida: With your relationships with some elected officials in washington, i thought you might be able to speak to these bills we keep hearing about threatening to punish promoters and venue owners for the actions of concert attendees. This started out as anti-rave legislation and to curtail the drug problems at raves, but the fear is how it could affect the touring of bands that might attract the casual concertgoer who might like to partake in some relatively benign substance while enjoying live music. Mickey Hart: It can never go past the clubs. It can never spread to a venue outside a neighborhood. Believe me, the legislators are aware of this and that it's unconstitutional. ---------------------------------------------------------- Matt, Indiana: Are there many differences between the "Dead Heads" of today & the "Dead Heads" of years ago? Mickey Hart: No, they just wear less feathers. And they don't get down on the ground and make love. That doesn't happen anymore. They're still kids, and we get older. Kids want to hear real music and aren't into the phony. Copyright 2003 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. . 0