Mike McKinley: That's interesting. (Pause) I don't know...I think a lot of us feel that way though.
NM: And I even drive myself crazier because for some reason I have this personality that wants everybody to be happy to a certain extent. So when I sing a song I sort of want that punk rock girl with tattoos and piercings‚ and that grandmother‚ to both just fall in love with that song‚ you know? I've always had that terrible editor in my head (laughter) and that becomes increasingly hard to pull off. I can go back home and...just playing to different crowds and then...I start thinking about Willie Nelson. I would give anything to be Willie Nelson (laughter). He's awesome; he's political as hell‚ he's a pot-smoking‚ long-haired pacifist singing songs against the Bush administration. But he's loved by these regular people - it's just a beautiful thing. I'd give anything to figure that out‚ you know‚ if Percy could be Willie.
MM: (Laughing) Right…
NM: And the beautiful thing with Willie Nelson is that he is who he is obviously‚ and then he's incredibly entertaining and charming - and that's just wonderful‚ revolutionary singer-songwriter art. You go to a Willie Nelson show and you just have a great time‚ and then the old folks later are like‚ "Wow‚ I had such a good time at that Willie Nelson concert. It so weird that he smokes pot‚ isn't it?" You know? It's never in your face‚ but it's a contest challenge. Its like‚ "You love me‚ don't you? How could you love me?" You're going to have to think about it. But then you do have your Bob Dylan and "Masters of War" and you're like (sigh)‚ "Oh yeah." Or even punk music‚ where it feels so angry and it feels so good. It's an amazing world of possibilities. I wish a lot times I just...I don't know why I've done this to myself on so many levels‚ but just to be like a blues singer or a bluegrass singer; to embrace a certain genre. That's such a nice thing because then you could just pay homage to your art and your history all night. If I was a blues singer I would know exactly what to do with my life. I would play blues. I would love blues‚ I would feel blues‚ I'd write blues - I would just be the blues (laughter). Or I would do the same with bluegrass‚ I'd live it‚ sing it‚ live it‚ and that would nice because that's also a whole club too.
MM: So do you think you're in the misfit category (laughs)?
NM: I guess so...I check "all of the above" on every list ever handed to me. (Laughter) Now I'm stuck with all of the above. You could never know how lonely all of the above could be (laughter)...
MM: One of the things as an entertainer...or like you were saying about making an audience feel like they took something with them or that they came and left their worries behind...
NM: Or they felt empowered by it...
MM: Yeah‚ certainly. When I saw you play up here there were a few things that really stood out that stayed with me. I guess it really grabbed the way I was feeling at the time. One of the lines that you sang that got me was‚ "Even when you're sleeping‚ you're dreaming." Well...I guess I've been feeling that a lot lately (laughs). That was big‚ you know‚ I'm just a random guy in the audience who felt that and was like‚ "Yeah - thanks for saying that the way you said it." That hit home with the way I was feeling. And then there was another one that jumped out at me and it was just...
NM: "I love that." (Laughs)
MM: Yeah‚ exactly. I mean‚ who hasn't felt this at some point in time - you were talking about a woman: "On the phone‚ I could hear it in her voice‚ she was naked and I could tell‚ she didn't miss me." Man! That's heavy duty.
NM: (Laughing) Awesome...
MM: We've all been there.
NM: Well‚ that makes me feel good to hear somebody say that. "I heard that‚ I got it and I dug it." Hearing that...it's just...
MM: I think a lot of my friends I was with left feeling great‚ like they needed that. They needed to hear that songwriting. Some lyrical magic...like you were saying; giving people some ideas to empower them‚ or even something to piece together the loose things they're dealing with. I remember reading something about you where you talked about writing lyrics and leaving the idea you're conveying open‚ where anytime you sing a line it could mean something different. It's that idea that to who ever hears it‚ it could have endless possibilities. I find that fascinating - it's like a whole other art form with in itself...
NM: I did it for a long time just by nature‚ and then realized what I liked about it and it became a bit more intentional. Definitely the idea of having each line mean as many things as possible leaves it more open to interpretation - the ultimate idea of presenting somebody with a blank canvas as opposed to a painting‚ because a blank canvas lends itself to a certain direction and they can see themselves in it. And it comes to life‚ and you can have a little magical moment there. They don't even realize they've done it‚ but because of their choice in how they define what they just heard‚ we just painted a picture together. It's really nice when it works.
MM: It is nice.
NM: Psychobabble when it doesn't (laughter).
MM: Yeah‚ like‚ "What the hell are you talking about?" (Laughter) I remember recently hearing Dana Monteith‚ he's a musician I've been listening to for years - he used to be in the Ominous Seapods - did you ever hear of them?
NM: Yeah‚ I heard of them‚ but I don't think I ever heard them.
MM: Well‚ Dana was one the guitar players in the band and he's now doing acoustic music. I always loved his lyrics. He just has this beautiful sarcasm and honesty in his writing. Lately I've been listening to him and he has this one song "Unmarked Trunk‚" in which I believe he wrote when he was like twenty years old. I saw him play it recently and he told the story that this song has been with him for ten years or so‚ singing these lyrics‚ and then he said something like I never fully understood what they meant until my band was playing our final show.