For a good portion of my life, I’ve been trying to figure out just what are the specific qualities in a person that makes them interesting.
I know a good number of truly interesting people – fascinating folks – and in conversation it’s absolutely, completely, 100% obvious that these interesting people are indeed… Well… Interesting.
But what exactly is it that gives them this quality?
Well, as a general rule, most are well traveled.
Most have some degree of speaking ability in a language other than English.
Most – if not all – are extremely well read.
But there’s something else…. Some other quality.
And then it hit me.
And it hit me just shortly after interviewing the amazing (and incredibly interesting) Dave Allen.
The people in this world who are interesting – who are genuinely fascinating – can’t be defined by a single job they’ve performed or task they’ve undertaken.
Interesting people are always moving forward, always looking beyond categories and job descriptions and niches, always seeking new knowledge and experiences, and doing as much as they can to avoid being pigeonholed into one specific job, category, or niche.
And Dave Allen is one hell of an interesting person.
Starting off in the mid-1970’s as the bass player for the post-punk band, Gang of Four, Dave then moved on to co-found and play bass in the funky-pop band, Shriekback.
But then Dave moved on into the world of internet technology, working at eMusic – the world’s first commercial streaming music company.
And then a whole bunch of interesting things happened, including a stint at Intel in their Digital Audio Services division, the founding of a record label (i.e.: “World Domination Recordings,” which did not dominate the world), some time at Beats by Dre – which then morphed into a position at Apple, then positions in Portland, Oregon (in various ad agencies), a few more bands, and then the founding of a digital rights agency for musicians – DIN Workshops.
My podcast interview with Dave covers all these topics – and much, much more – in a very loose, free-wheeling conversation. We spoke for nearly an hour and a half, and though the discussion does get a bit “inside baseball” at times, especially when Dave and I talk about obscure British pop and punk bands, there’s always a sharp insight provided by Dave with each topic.
Oh! As a quick sidenote, Dave has an amazing story to tell about the singer/songwriter (and insanely underrated guitarist), Joni Mitchell, and it was worth conducting this interview, just to hear Dave’s story.
Lastly, here are few quick highlights from the interview, along with various links (e.g.: Wiki pages, home pages, and Amazon sites) to the bands, businesses, books and outside resources mentioned.
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• Snazzy guitar music (played by Matt) – 00:00:00
• Introduction/overview of the show – 00:00:09
• “So, the movie was Phantom of the Paradise…” – 00:02:00
• Gang of Four – 00:03:25
• Shriekback – 00:03:40
• King Swamp – 00:03:45
• World Domination Recordings – 00:05:30
•Low Pop Suicide – 00:05:50
• Sky Cries Mary – 00:09:00
• eMusic – 00:09:25
• Napster – 00:09:35
• Joni Mitchell’s House – 00:10:15
• Metallica – 00:18:30
• Neil Young – 00:21:35
• John Peel – 00:22:50
• “Intel brought me up to Portland…” – 00:24:25
• Willamette Week – 00:25:20
• Weiden & Kennedy – 00:28:50
• Dot Com Crash – 00:30:10
• Nemo Agency – 00:31:00
• North – 00:31:30
• Trent Reznor – 00:31:35
• “Artists don’t understand they’re in business…” – 00:35:50
• One Thousand True Fans – 00:38:25
• stem.is – 00:39:00
• “Your skillset is spotting trends…” – 00:42:20
• “I’m holding back on commenting on VR, AI…” – 00:42:50
• Nick Cave – 00:43:10
• Burning Man – 00:45:50
• Stiff Tour – 00:49:50
• Elvis Costello – 00:50:25
• Bootsy Collins/Nick Lowe – 00:51:20
• Flea – 00:51:30
• “Do you think Gang of Four was misinterpreted?” – 00:54:20
• “What would 22 year-old Dave Allen think of 63 year-old Dave?” – 00:58:25
• “What are books do you think everyone should read?” – 01:00:10
• Unquiet – Linn Ullmann
• The Mars Room – Rachel Kushner
• “Who are your heroes?”
• “What are you listening to these days?” – 01:07:45
• OK Computer – Radiohead – 01:11:45
• Din Workshop – 01:14:00
• “If people want to connect with you on social media…” – 01:16:50
• @DaveAtBeats – Twitter
• @DaveAllen – Instagram
• Dave G. Allen – LinkedIn
• The Buzzcocks – 01:23:00
• “Who were your favorite bands to have on playing on the bill?” – 01: 25:00