Gonna bend your ear and tell you a story about one time when I was traveling in Europe. It was a few years ago, and I went over there with a small trunk and my guitar, on my own- to clear my head, explore, be a young man. I had quit my job. I was staying in hostels and eating fiddle faddle. It was excellent. The first place I touched down to was in London. I had slept a bit on the plane and arrived disorientated at Heathrow on the morning of May 1st. I had roughly planned to get to Paris by the end of April so I could sing “April in Paris” and have it be literal but that didn’t work out. Anyway, I touched down in London and checked into a hostel called The Generator, and the next day, after spending a night in a 12 person sleeper room where I saw two drunks doin it, I decided to visit the Tate Modern museum. While wondering around, I came across a wild film being looped. I watched it probably like 16 times. The colors were great. The graininess was perfect, the feel, the texture, the warmth. It was this short film: A Colour Box, by Len Lye.
Len Lye has the most original perception of colors I have ever bore witness to. The next day I went to Abbey Road with this cute little number from Australia. Here’s another one of his video, Swinging The Lambeth Walk. Brilliant title…
The next day I left London for Paris, a few days late for the song. Here’s one more, called Free Radicals:
Gonna make some music videos with some of Len Lye’s work in it. Looking very forward to incorporating his art with our own.