BEA Interview #2: JMan

[Kool Keith Sweat]

I asked JMan several batches of questions across three PMs. Here's what he had to say.

purple: What are some of your first musical experiences?

JMan: My first musical experiences date back to when I was a baby and mimicing PBS theme songs and Disney songs with my mouth, instruments and all. It eventually lead me to write my own songs. You could well imagine how much they've sucked over the years, but I'm getting much better. Also, as I've said many times before, my first rock band was most likely Kansas.

purple: Your first favorite song?

JMan: That's a toughie. Excluding theme songs, I'd say either Just Can't Wait to Be Kind from The Lion King or Carry On Wayward Son from The Best of Kansas. I remember quite a few times I would dance to the first three or four songs of the best of album starting with one of the greatest rock songs I've ever heard.

purple: Your first favorite album?

JMan: That's easy. My first was Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac Rumours, which includes covers by Elton John, The Corrs, Matchbox Twenty, Jewel, and more. It's because of this album that I later discovered the real band. My favorite changed when I saw a concert of was Celtic Woman's self-titled debut on PBS when I was 10, and I liked the band ever since. But I ended up getting a crush on Hilary Duff later on and her self-titled was my favorite, but not for long. It lasted a few months, but I later got into more rock music like Scorpions. Then my favorite became Bat 2 after my dad showed me the music vid for I'd Do Anything For Love and I bought the actual album. A year or so after that, I bought the first Bat Out of Hell which is twice as good and that's my spare-time fave now.

purple: Your first concert?

JMan: This is going to sound a little weird, but I've never been to a concert. None of the bands I ever wanted to see played where I lived, and I wasn't big on concerts those days anyway. And when they finally did, (Weird Al mostly) my family was tight on money. I'd much rather save my money for things that would help me in life, so that's why I don't buy many albums.

purple: When you first believed you opened up to music? etc.

JMan: Pretty much when I first heard it. But I opened up to a wider variety of genres as soon as I came across this site. One of the first albums I heard during my BEA days was my first Beatles album, SPLHCB. Ever since then, I've been open to rap like Kanye West and shoegaze like MBV. I thought I was so knowledgeable about music when I first joined, and I've learned so much about music ever since I first started. I still can't understand how TVU&N and Highway 61 Revisited are so great, though. But I may someday. I finally understand Loveless and DSOTM, so maybe I'll understand Bob Dylan someday. But for now, he doesn't even reach my top 100 albums.

purple: Do you feel required to 'understand' an album if it's considered canonical and shows up in several lists? I suppose I'm asking if you ever feel that you're pushing yourself to like Bob Dylan, for example, and what might be the implications of this process, negative or positive.

JMan: I guess so. Like I already said, I can't call an album "good" unless I understand it. But it's not a necessity or anything for me to understand an album.

purple: You mentioned that you don't buy albums. How do you consume music? I think I remember you mentioning youtube, perhaps a youtube ripper. If you do use a youtube ripper, do you consider this as much of a moral conundrum as downloading music for free? What are your general thoughts on downloading music?

JMan: People have said YT is stealing. If you ask me, I view YT as an entire website for free samples. If free samples were illegal, then Costco should be closed down. Big companies take music that they don't want on YT off, so I can get the music they don't worry about if it's on YT. I only buy albums if I really like them or if I get one as a gift for someone.

purple: You've also mentioned that you're a fan of the Scorpions, and I'm aware from the Alice in Chains discussion that your faith plays a large part in your listening. You might be aware of the album cover of Scorpions' Virgin Killer. Would the content of that cover discourage you from listening to it, or does the questionable content have to be in the lyrics. I'd like you to expand on the interaction between your faith and your listening experience and your projected listening journey. What is taboo? What is not? Does your interpretation of the music have to be against your faith to avoid it, or does any interpretation of the song against your faith simply have to exist?

JMan: I mostly don't pay attention to lyrics, but if I do notice certain lyrics, I look them up. I stay away from anything very atheistic for the most part. I don't research music unless I am slightly affected by it religiously, and that's not often. As for album covers, I don't care about them. Take Iron Maiden. Some people avoid them because of the album covers which are supposed to be jokes. Covers don't bother me. Virgin Killer is no exception. I don't even remember the cover. By the way, it's an OK album.

purple: It seems you tend to focus only on the music, including the sound and movement of the voice, rather than the content most of the time. So what makes you look up the lyrics? I'm assuming something like a strong chorus, e.g. Carry On My Wayward Son, might encourage you to do so.

JMan: It varies. ometimes, I look up the lyrics for a message, or just to sing along sometimes. I mean, who likes when they have a song stuck in their head and they don't know the lyrics? Sometimes, I look up lyrics if I want to spoof a song, which I haven't done for a while.

purple: You also mentioned you don't research music unless it has a religious effect on you. Could you briefly explain any religious thoughts you have on Kansas, Led Zeppelin, or Meatloaf that you might have, since they all seem to be groups you're most knowledgeable about?

JMan: Well, Kansas usually has uplifting lyrics IMO, so I feel a little brightened up when I listen to them. Zeppelin has pretty much no religious affect on me whatsoever, and Meat Loaf is pretty hard to say whether it has a good religious effect or no religious effect. I pay more attention to the musical affect when it comes to Meat. Despite the lyrics sometimes being rebellious, I never get any bad feelings from a Meat Loaf song. Not even Objects in the Rear View Mirror which is the saddest Meat song I know.

purple: Can you also explain your personal connection to bats, and why you've called yourself a 'temple of the bat' previously? I'm guessing there's a link between your favorite album, Bat Out of Hell, and your preference to have a spiritual connection to an album.

JMan: I really started liking bats after I heard the Bat trilogy. I was going through a weird thing when I had the JBat avatar and I stopped calling myself a bat as soon as people started calling me a furry. After the ban, I took a bit of a look at my BEA life and just realized I needed to chill and I was acting very childish before. I've grown up. But there's no spiritual connection to my love of Bats.

purple: We've also explored your first favorite songs, albums, etc., and users can view your favorite albums on your chart, but could you list some of your favorite songs, album covers, musicians, and other music-related persons and things that have had a major impact on you thus far? Feel free to explain how each has made an impact on you.

JMan: Songs: I'd Do Anything for Love (Meat), Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard), When the Levee Breaks, Smooth (Santana and Rob Thomas), Loves Me Like a Rock (Paul Simon), Who Are You (The Who), Big Balls, Welcome to My Nightmare, possibly Only Shallow, Smells Like Teen Spirit, What's Up (4 Non Blondes), and many more.

Album Covers: I never really pay attention to my favorite album covers if I have any. Possibly the special edition cover to The Wall because of its art design. I love the picture of the character Pink screaming with his mouth wide, wide open. It's part of the movie poster and is actually a commonly used picture in Pink Floyd merchandising.

Musicians: I have a chart of my favorite artists, but non-artists would be Mutt Lange because of the way he produces albums.

purple: Onto BEA. How did you discover BEA? What have you gained or lost from it? What, and perhaps who, do you enjoy and what do you dislike most? Are you a member of any other music forums, and if so how do you think they compare?

JMan: Basically, I was looking for a website where I could make charts easier and comment on music pages. I came across many sites, but none of them fit the bill except BEA. Thankfully, JMan wasn't already taken unlike in RYM where there were a few, and I had to go under JGuy there. I still have my bat avatar there, most likely because I like the color scheme. Personally, I enjoy making charts and I enjoy trying out new bands. But I'm trying to cut back on the music right now to work on my novel and study the Holy Bible more. I'm also trying to beat my brothers at SSBB. They're fantastic at that game. I've also gained a new perspective of modern music by listening to albums I've tried during my early BEA days. Actually, a lot of modern music isn't that bad. I'm also glad to call myself a small fan of Daft Punk and MBV. And I've lost a little bit of my childish behavior since my week-long ban.

purple: Lastly, would you like to say anything else about your musical journey, your tastes, your thoughts on music and music culture, etc.? Feel free to end with any message you please.

JMan: Really, all I can say is that one day I hope to make music that people will enjoy and know me by. I may love music, but my real talent is writing whether it be a book or a song. And BEA has done a lot for me. I may have differences with others on this site, but I have many friends that I'm glad to have such as Butterthumbz, BongRitsu, and mostly Happymeal. I may not be listening to music for a while, but I'm still going to be here to make a few posts or edit albums or maybe set up a tournament for once (not complicated like my Best Band Member Tourney. I'll just switch to choosing favorites for people.) But anyway, the site's been interesting.

[Jasonconfused]

"If free samples were illegal, then Costco should be closed down."

That's the highlight of this whole thing. Tea literally came out of my nose when I read this.

Anyway, I prefer the first interview much more than this one because the first one, if I remember correctly, was much more like a conversation and flowed much better.
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[Mercury]

I liked it.
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-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[AlexZangari]

I liked it too. Would read another JMan interview. Curious about your book.
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kill yr idols

[Wombi]

I really enjoyed that. Felt like fairly mature repsonses from both parties. JMan's a unique individual and purple's questioning was really great for that I thought. JMan really has come a long way.

[sp4cetiger]

Agreed, very nice interview.

[bongritsu]

Thanks for the shout out Jman, keep flossing on the haters brother
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Alt Right meme game on point

I FEEL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AS A PERSON OF JUDGEMENT.

[AlexZangari]

[joshtraina]

[Polythene Pam]

Good to see more interviews coming along.

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