Sean On Life

In the July 1998 edition of REQUEST Sean is featured in a short article and interview in the "Coast to Coast-New York City" section.

Sean tells the magazine that when Beastie Boy Mike Diamond first heard the track, "Two Fine Lovers" from his LP "Into the Sun" - "His face was just like," Sean mimicks Diamond's blank expression. "Now it's his favorite song on the record."

Sean talks about his positive attitude: "I made a choice in my life to be an optimistic, positive person. Because, to be honest, I was your average pseudointellectual, negative, cynical teenager who thought they know everything and hated the world and hated society and hated everything and thought we were all going to die. That's really how I felt for a long time, until this whole revolutionary Buddhist thing happened to me in high school."

This "revolutionary Buddhist thing" happened after Sean had gotten himself depressed after reading Descartes' fourth discourse. Sean: "I freaked out because I'd never considered that reality might not be what we perceive it to be."

"Buddhism says...words themselves and logic itself is not the truth. There's no truth in words, they're artificial constructions that don't define anything, because the world isn't to be defined, it's more to be experienced."

Speaking of his parents, John and Yoko, Sean said, "My mom and dad said, 'give peace a chance,' and 15, 20 years later, at the Israeli peace talks, Yassar Arafat said, 'Give peace a chance.' What my mom and dad did went way beyond the 60's or 70's or the hippie movement or America or the West. It affected the entire world. And my dad wasn't the most optimistic person, either. But he made the choice to be positive and say, 'Give peace a chance' versus 'Let's (word obscured by graphic on page) the Republicans' or something. That's how I want to be,too."

The article is by Evelyn McDonnell

Sean On His Album

I met Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto after they remixed "Talking To The Universe" for my mom's EP. We loved what they did and wanted to meet them. During a rehearsal in New York for a Yoko tour, they stopped by. We immediately hit it off. That night we all jammed at my studio. It was magic.

Yuka asked me to sit in at a Cibo Matto show (that fateful night I also met Beastie Boys for the first time). When Cibo Matto asked me to go on tour with them as their bass player, I jumped at the opportunity. We opened for Boss Hog, Beck, Sonic Youth and the Butthole Surfers. That year I also toured with my mom in America, Europe and Japan. It was a very exciting and educational time. Of all the shows I played as part of IMA, the most meaningful was the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco, organized by Beastie Boys.

When Adam Yauch heard my songs, he really liked them and asked me to put out a record on Grand Royal. I immediately knew that was what I wanted to do. Going with Grand Royal seemed to be a great way to focus on my music and not on the legacy of my father. I asked Yuka if she would produce my record. She said yes.

We recorded Into The Sun in one month at Sear Sound in New York City. We wanted to make a homey recording, so we chose a studio known for its warm analog sound. It was important to keep things natural and organic. We wanted to reflect the theme of a love relationship. The result is a somewhat eclectic record with many different styles and moods.

I've always felt strongly about exploring and integrating different styles of music. One of the most appealing things to me about Beastie Boys' records is how they break down stylistic barriers. They were the first group to put hip hop, hardcore punk, and '70s style funk on the same disc. I think that is very meaningful to kids from my generation who are desperately looking for something different. People are constantly labeling music and artists according to genre. I think the music of the future will not be so easy to categorize.

In making Into The Sun, I hoped to mix and match different styles of music that aren't normally associated with one another. The opening track,Mystery Juiceintroduces the range of stylistic diversity that is to follow on the rest of the record. The song is divided into three sections: The first is a rock ballad, with a chromatic modulation in the verse. The second is an instrumental heavy rock chorus and the third is an instrumental free jazz improvisation. This is immediately followed by the title track which is a kind of bossa nova. I'm very influenced by Brazilian composers like Antonio Carlos Jobim and Caetano Veloso. I was turned on to Jobim's music mainly through a Cibo Matto recording of his "Aguas de Marco" on which I played bass. I really wanted to have that positive sunshine vibe on my record; I thought a lot about the beach and the ocean while writing.

Home is a blend of pop and hard rock. I focused a lot on the harmonies. The lyrics are about living with someone and sharing ideas. Bathtub is a hybrid of funky sampling and straightforward balladry. I like the lyrics because they're a bit surreal. One Night was written in ten minutes in the studio while we were having computer problems. Spaceship is heavy rock but with very sweet-sounding vocals and many strange chromatic modulations.

Then there's Photosynthesis which was recorded live with a full jazz ensemble. I'm especially proud of this track; there aren't many pop artists who are willing to put an instrumental jazz song on their first album. Queue was an afterthought, recorded months after the initial sessions. This is one of my favorite songs and was truly inspired by Brian Wilson. I was also lucky enough to run into Andrew Oldham at the studio and to get his help in arranging the backing vocals. Two Fine Lovers is a '70s-style pop song inspired by years of immersing myself in Stevie Wonder records. Part One of the Cowboy Trilogy clearly references country music, another genre I really love.

Wasted is a depressed Chet Baker-style piano bar tune. Breeze; is a sentimental pop song that was recorded almost entirely at the Tree House, our home midi-studio. Finally, Sean's Theme is a jazz-inspired ballad, perhaps my favorite song on the record.

People who have heard my record often comment on how it jumps from rock to jazz to country. I think that's the best thing about it.

--Sean Lennon

]February 1998