FM: Jim West [label manager] told me that there are two things I must promise him: #1 is for me to make a DVD, which he'll pay for, and #2 is for me to make a complete blues album. He's a blues aficionado and he loves the way I play blues. Although there are no set plans for this yet, I gave Jimmy my friendly commitment to allow him to produce a DVD and an entire blues record. I never did a DVD or video in my life.
BN: Why is that? Being such an amazing live performer, why hasn't there been any videos shot or live concert footage of you, apart from the Cal Jam?
FM: Well, people have filmed our performances, I haven't filmed any shows, but there are like 65 bootlegs of Mahogany Rush concerts...but they're bootlegs. There is some television footage out there...The Midnight Special, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and other full-length concerts that were done by the cable company or something.
BN: Have you thought about acquiring any of that footage to possibly release someday?
FM: Jimmy would love to acquire those and put them all together to release on DVD. I basically said to Jim, 'you have my blessing, go out and get whatever you want.' It's not something I've ever been involved with largely because I really believe that music should not be tied to picture in that way on a television set. If I listen to the RealLIVE! album, I sometimes don't even know what I'm doing so it forces me to use my imagination. And I think that people who listen to live music, and can't see what's going on, it creates much more of a cooperation between the listener and the artist. It's almost like the listener becomes involved. Same thing when you read a novel...you notice that everyone always says that the book is better than the movie. And the reason the book is better is not only because there is more detail but that it allows the reader to be there - to imagine things the way they want them to be. I think the ideal video would be if the listener could actually project the visual out of their own mind as they listen to the music, so everyone's version would be different. I'm not a video producer so I don't really know much about it. But what I do know is that there is something odd about mixing visual and audio if the visual starts to become stronger than the audio. Then the audio becomes like background music.
BN: I do agree with that in most part. It's obviously got to be done right. I've seen horrible video concert footage or lame conceptual videos which has plagued certain bands, yet I have also seen the opposite, in which the video actually complements the audio...It's really like you say, each listener has their own view on it...
FM: There's the other thing too...I happen to love the Paul McCartney Back In The US DVD, I really think it's amazing...everything about it is great. And you know what? I bought it and watched it once, and I remember that it's great. But if I buy his record, I'm listening to it all the time. So there's something about releasing a live concert DVD, it's kind of a one-shot deal. It would be like going to a concert ten times and seeing the exact same performance.
A Conversation With FRANK MARINO Page 6