Jet lag is a hateful, mean-spirited, and eternally uncharitable bitch. But, that’s where I was… or, have been…
Apologies all round. It’s been next to impossible for me to even defecate at a reasonable hour, let alone fill this space with the usual dim-witted ramblings and silly photos.

I feel terrible thinking of all you guys checking in and seeing nothing for almost a whole week, it’s dreadful!
Here’s an olive branch in the form of an interview with Damo Suzuki, lead singer of legendary 70′s Kraut-rock group Can.
If you’re unfamiliar with Can I suggest you get familiar. Can was/is awesome. Besides being sonically light-years ahead of their time, they proved to the world that Germans and Japaneses, when given the opportunity, can collaborate on projects without killing shit-loads of people. What? Too soon? Stop being so fucking sensitive.
Damo divides his time between Germany and Australia these days, and is dedicated to the higher purpose of creating peace and understanding through music. He’s probably the coolest person I’ve ever met… with the exception of Henry Winkler.

Photos: Penny “Get-r-done” Modra.
Interview: Jason “It’s happening again. Bring me my ointment” Crombie.

Damo?
Yeah.
Hi! It’s Jason from Wooooo Magazine!
Hello, I’m just watching an interesting football game.
You are? Should I call back later?
No, it’s okay.
How are you? How’s the gout?
Oh, gout is okay. It’s already three or four days since it’s gone.
Good. What is gout?
It’s something to do with bone. Bone pain.
But you’re okay now?
Yes.
So, how cool is it that you were in Can? Do you wake up and think, “Man, I was in Can!”
No, no. It’s not like that.
It’s pretty cool though.
I’m not like a star.
You are to me.
It’s okay.
Do people recognize you?
No. That’s a good thing because I can go on the street.
Right. You’re not like Madonna or something.
That would be really horrible. I wouldn’t be able to clean my nose.
Some people must recognize you for sure.
Yes, but almost nobody knows me when I’m on the street. Some places are different but mainly nobody knows me. They look at me and see that I’m quite old and short and ugly, you know?
You’re not that bad.
Well…
You met the other members of Can while busking in Germany in the late 60’s. What were you doing in Germany?
I had a job in Munich, I was playing in a musical for three months. I wasn’t busking. I made some noise on the street maybe…
And then the dudes from Can saw you and asked you to join the band?
Yeah. It just happened, and I said okay because I had nothing to do at night.
Did you speak German?
At the time, no.
But now you do.
I have to.
You live in Germany.
Yes.
Where are you from in Japan originally?
Originally I’m from… near to Yokahama.
And how long have you been in Germany?
Ah… since 1970.
So Germanys cool, you like it.
Ahh… well I have three kids and they are German, so I have to stay here. But, it’s really nice. I live quite near to my children.
What’s ‘The Damo Suzuki Network’?
Damo Suzuki’s Network. I’ve been doing it since 1997, but since 2003 I’ve been doing it different. Before (2003) I was traveling together with friends of mine, sound-carriers I knew from before, but since 2003 I just play with any people from local scenes, not just professional musicians, any kind.
Anyone?
Yes. Young people, old people… Mainly. I don’t know these people…
But you travel the world and meet with them and make music?
Yes. Every place has different songs. The reason why I’m doing this project is quite important for me because I need my mission, you know? In my life.
Right, right.
So in 2003 I knew I had to go in this direction because on March 20 Americans bombed Iraq. At the time I was coming into JFK from San Francisco and it was early in the morning, about six o’clock in the morning, and there was a TV showing the bombing.
And I felt very sad and very disappointed, and I thought maybe I can make something. So, since then I’ve been making music with local sound-carriers.
Sound-carriers?
Yes. I call musicians ‘sound-carriers’. Maybe I’ll explain later.
Okay.
In our society there are many mediums and many information sources but no communication.
No communication?
No, not in our society. And without communication there comes violence. So I want to make more meeting places for people to come together and communicate with music.
Right-on. So you’re traveling the world and meeting sound-carriers to communicate with?
Yes. All people must open their eyes to… to go to the future, to live in the future, and how we proceed with this is with this program.
The Network.
Yes. Music is communication, and music is the easiest for us to understand. Music has the power to help us understand one another, so we network with different kinds of people with different kinds of music, different kinds of philosophies, different kinds of opinions. I have no right to think that people of the world should think like me because I’m also wrong.
This is all very heavy, isn’t it?
You have to have an open mind that can go in any direction, also you have to accept all kinds of ideas or philosophies. This is the beginning, and after the beginning we can go in any direction but there must be a start.
Can I be a sound-carrier? I can nearly play ‘Hey Joe’ on my guitar.
Yes. Anyone can be a sound-carrier. Music is communication, so there can be no ‘high technician’ or ‘low technician’. Everyone is equal.
Cool. This is really cool thing to do! I think it’s a great mission.
I think so too. Not so much for me, but for the younger generations, to teach them make music… itself. To make music for music’s sake. Not for fame or money or something like that, you know?
Right. Let me ask you this- Will there ever be a Can reunion?
Never.
Never?
Never.
Come on. Why?
Well, one (member of Can) has already died…
Oh.
And second- I’m not interested.
You’re not interested?
No, not so much.
What if I gave you a lot of money?
There was somebody asking me to do this, and this person would pay so much money that I could live off it for all of my life. He wanted to have a concert but I said ‘No’. For me this is impossible. To recreate the beginning of the 1970’s is impossible.
Right.
It’s kind of a stupid thing, you know?
Yeah. Do you still like the music you did with Can?
Yes, I like because I was involved.
Do you, like, sing ‘Vitamin C’ in the shower?
No, no, no.
That song is so dope. So is ‘Oh Yeah’.
I had a lot of very creative moments at that time, I think. The song titles are so unique and so pretty! And so funny- ‘Soup’, ‘Spoon’, nice and easy, ‘Sing Swan Song’ so pretty!
That was the high water mark?
That was it.
Amazing. Okay thanks Damo!
Yeah, yeah. Don’t mention it.

For more info about Damo and the Network, check out http://www.damosuzuki.de/