Uncut UK – October 2019

56 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019

ListeningtoTheBandnow,the

balancebetweenthefiveofyou

seemssoeffortless.Didthewriting

andrecordingf lowjustas

naturally?It wasn’ta breezeatall.We

hadtoworkhardtogettoa placewhere

weweresatisfiedwiththestorieswe

weretelling,andstayingtruetothe

musicthataccompaniedthem.Wetried

thingsthatdidn’tworkatall,andhadto

stop.Buttheprocesswasthatwewould

headintothepool-housearoundnoon,

andI wouldplaytheguysa newsongon

theguitarorpiano.Withtheguys,we

werealwayslookingfora clue,a

startingplace.Nobodywanteda jam

sessionthatturnedintoa song.I

wantedit tofeellikeit wasgrowingout

oftheground.SoI wouldteachtheguys

thesong.Everybodywouldlearnthe

chordprogressionandwe’dmess

aroundwiththetempo,trying

andsuggestingdifferent

thingstooneanother.Then

wewouldhavedinnerupat

thehouse,wheremymumdid

someofthecooking.Later,

we’dcomebackdownand

startrecording.We’dusually

getthesongtoa placethatwe

knewit.Then,aftersleeping

onit,we’dnailit.It wasa

processoflearning,digesting,

imagining– a ritualthatled to

this kind of musicality.

Isthatalbumstilla career

highpointforyou?

Youknow,everything

changed...Someofthe

guysinTheBandstarted

experimentingwithheroin.

Heroinseparatesyou.Withoutthatparticular

togethernessinthisgroup,it wasn’tpossibleto

stayinthesamehuddle.Bythetimewemade

StageFright, it hada fewofthebestthingsI wrote.

Butit wasextremelydifficultafterthat.Sothings

go.WhenI lookbackonit,it waspartofthe

journey.Wewereona path,andwefound

somethingextraordinary,asmuchasanygroup

inhistory.I’veputtogetherthis50th-anniversary

package to commemorate The Band. It is a toast.

Foryears,youwerecastintheMcCartney

role:yourbandmatesresentedyouforit

andthenblamedyouforsplittingthegroup.

Thoseaccusationsmusthavehurtyou.

ThatI splitthebandup?Thatwasn’ttheplan.

Therewasa specificoccasionwhenweweregoing

tomoveforward.I showedup,butnoneoftheother

guysshowedup.OK.I getthepicture.Atthatpoint,

I stoppedtryingtoforcesomethingtohappen.The

ideawasthateveryonewasgoingtodotheirown

records,thenwewereallgoingtocomebacktogether.

Hopefully,everyonewasgoingtogeta littlehealthier

too.YoucouldseethatTheBandwasa wounded

animal,it neededtoheal.Duringthatperiod,it wasn’t

happening.I havetobecreative,andwork,soI went

onmymission,doingwhatcamenaturallytome.We

were in touch, all of the guys, but there was a distance.

Howdoesyour40-year

creativepartnershipwith

Scorsesecomparewith

yourothersignificant

relationships– withDylan

andTheBand?It’srightup

there.SometimesMartywill

say,“Ihavenoideaofwhat

musicweshouldhavewith

this.”Thenwithanother

movie,he’llgo,“Ihaveone

ideathatI thinkmightwork.”

It circlesuswithpossibilities,

thecirclegetsnarrower,and

thenI’llexperimentand

I’llsendhimsomeideas.

Sometimes,I’llsendhim

musicthatalreadyexists,that

goescompletelyagainstthe

grainofthemovie,andit workslikemagic.

Sometimes,I’llwritea newpiece.Martysays,

“Solongasit doesn’tsoundlikemoviemusic.”

That’sruleNo1. I senthimthelastpieceofmusic

forthefilmlastFriday.Therewasa scenethat

remindedusofsomeFrenchgangstermovies.

SoI workedwithanamazingharmonicaplayer

fromFrance,FrédéricYonnet.Themusic’sa

particularthingthat’shardtodescribe,even

whenyouseeandhearit.PeoplearoundMarty

said,“God,thismusic’sincredible,butI don’t

know what it is.” And I’m like, “Good.”

You’vealsogotthe50thanniversary

ofTheBandalbumcomingup.You

recordedthatinHollywood.How

muchdidthesetting– theheatandsunlight–

impactonthesessions?Wewenttherebecausethe

weatherinWoodstockwasgettinginthewayofthe

work.It wasa survivalinstinct– we’vegottagetoutof

thisicestorm!SothedecisiontogotoHollywoodwas

bornofconvenience.Oncethere,wecreateda worldin

SammyDavisJr’spoolhouse– it waslikegoinginto

anotherdimension.Themusicwemadewasalmost

theoppositeofoursurroundings.I don’tknowhow

muchimpactHollywoodhad– althoughsomeofthese

songswerelikelittlemoviesinthemselves. I’d always

had an addiction to movies.

“Ithinkabout

theguysall

thetime.We

madea lot

of magic”
RICHARD E. AARON/REDFERNS

“Bachelor

cokefiends”:

withMartin

Scorsese,

1978

Pacinoand

DeNiroin

Scorsese’s

The Irishman