YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WANT YOU WANT...BUT YOU GET WHAT YOU READ!
Move over Coney Island! Rooks leader Michael Mazzarella's mood swings take us on a roller coaster ride of an interview.

By Jim Woodard

Ok, Monkey read, monkey do. After scrolling through Michael Mazzarella's interview with Noel Meyer on The Rooks' website (www.therooks.com) last month I must admit something. It left me with wanting more. I wanted to know what the meanings behind those cryptic words on Colors and Praises are. Will The Rooks start recording new songs soon? Is Mazzarella happy with what his band has achieved? After reading the piece I thought 'What the hell, I'LL do a freelance article too!' I got in touch with Mr. Meyer and expressed interest in asking those very questions. He laughed and said "Wow." Paused and laughed again. "Good luck, man" he sighed. "I can't give you Mazzarella's number but I can turn you onto someone who can. He's a great interview if you can get him to talk and if he's feeling in the mood but...I don't know. (Sounding apologetic) The guy's really bright and interesting but seems uncomfortable with rapping about his work. I'll tell ya this, if he does agree to an interview you'll walk away with knowing more about music than when you walked in." Thanks Noel, I'll take it from here.

A week later at around 6:30 on a Friday night my phone rang. I answered. "Jim please" said the voice at the other end. 'Speaking' I answered back. "My name is Michael Mazzarella and (name withheld) told me to give you a ring." After explaining to Michael my intentions and saying how much I enjoyed his Noel Meyer interview he, sounding unimpressed muttered "Dunno, I never go back and read them. How can I help you?" 'Well, I'd like to interview you along the same lines as that one and expand it a little more with talking about producing and... (Interrupting) "Well, you know Jim, that's cool but I think I've run out of things to say. The site has all these dopey interviews with me and it's all...it's all in there already. I mean, you want to talk about Baseball and then we might have something..."

I didn't want to talk Baseball. Besides, I understand that Mazzarella is a died-in-the-wool, bleeds pinstripes New York Yankees fan. I...The Mets. 'Ahem, anyway, do you think that I can have an hour or two to ask some questions at some point?' My question was greeted only by the background music playing at his end. After what seemed like a month, his response: "Whatever."

On a rainy Wednesday morning I hopped the C train up to Michael's neighborhood from the Lower West Side of Manhattan. I didn't know what to expect. In fact, I tried not to think about it and showed up at his apartment clutching a notepad and toting a cassette recorder (boy, his place is tiny but what a magical vibe it has). He answered the door and sat me on a loveseat that put my back against a window, which looked out onto a beautiful balcony that was surrounded by drooping, rain-soaked tree branches. The gray morning was picture-perfect as I peered out, looking onto a courtyard. This is where the back cover photo for his 1997 demos CD release Methods Of A Mad Rook was taken. He sat cross-legged on his bed. Candles and lit lanterns were everywhere and music played. 'Who is this?' I asked. "Sorry, I can switch it off...this is Skip James...Cherry Ball Blues, early 1930s."

I was already getting a glimpse (and listen) into what Noel Meyer wrote about last month. 'No, leave it on, just turn the volume down so I can pick up your voice on the tape.' Mazzarella had a compilation he's made playing and what great music it is! It's kinda neat to hear Black Sabbath follow The Jackson 5, which in turn segues right into Bjork. This provocative chain of music would continue throughout the entire time I was there.

JW: I read on your site the other day (bassist) Lauren's announcement about leaving The Rooks, her teaching aspirations, as well as the band's statement confirming your plans to continue.

MM: (Already sounding tortured) What else are we going to do? One door closes and another opens. This is just like breathing now...it always happens. Have you seen the family tree on the website? The tree's going to be a forest soon.

JW: How will you go about finding another bass player?

MM: (Shrugging and gesturing with palms up) You play? We rehearse on Thursday.

I wished at that moment I played the bass. Be damned my parents for those clarinet lessons.

JW: Will you run an ad?

MM: Who knows? That's a Pandora's box in waiting man. I don't know if I have it in me to face that. I shouldn't talk to you about it before I address the issue with Kristin (Pinell; guitar) and Ken (Anderson; drums). I'm praying for somebody to just drop in...walk right in the door with a bass and just start playing, but you know...I've got other, more important prayers that need answering first so...it probably won't...(distracted by the music playing)...THAT (pointing to a speaker) is magic...that drumming. Listen to this track. How can anybody be that good...brilliant.

JW: I know this song. Who is it?

MM: The Impressions (It's All Right swaggers along in the background). That's...that's just from another place.

JW: That is something...

MM: Do you know Gypsy Woman? (The Impressions)

JW: (Pretending and nodding a half yes, I'm intimidated now).

MM: It's the same greatness in that percussion track as well. (Big smile) They do it again on THERE! (The smile suddenly turns to a serious dead pan) Where were we?

JW: We were talking about where your next bass player might come from.

MM: Next question. Hey man, can I get you something? My fridge is broken but I can have anything delivered.

JW: (Is he trying to throw me off the track? I WILL get through this!) I'm good, thanks. Who do you write songs for?

MM: I don't understand your question. I write songs for me.

JW: Yes, but when you're writing FOR someone...or...about someone, is there a...one?

MM: (sarcastically) Well James, there are lots of ones. I mean...where are you going with this? (voice gets louder) Give me a song. If you want my answer to be specific!

JW: I think what I'm trying to go after is...are a lot of your songs about the same person? Do you have a muse?

MM: Let me ask you. If the answer is yes, what does that matter and if the answer is no...what does it matter? I'm not going to sit here and throw out names...

JW: I've always wondered if songs like Always You And Me, War, Apology and Better Start Right Now were about the same person. Is there a thread running through those songs for one person?

MM: No. India, Happenstance and Meditation were. (Exasperated tone) What a waste of time. Leave my subjects alone. Go figure out whom Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands (Dylan) is about. The songs are about anyone YOU want them to be about. You're the listener. You're supposed to be doing the relating.

JW: The songs I mentioned seem to be filled with anger, pain and bitterness. Is it hard to write pop melodies around such hostile lyrics?

MM: You make it sound as if I wrote "I'm selling out a stubborn boy who never gives apologies" (from Apology) to the tune of Don't Worry, Be Happy. None of those songs are bouncy...

JW: No, but they're melodic.

MM: So? That's what I do, that's the goal. The melody is always the thing...the main objective.

JW: Is it harder to write a good melody for darker lyrics?

MM: No. Also, you missed the point. Better Start Right Now is about ME putting MYSELF down, not some girl. 'Better start right now feeling sorry for the one you love' is me telling her that she had better start feeling sorry for HERSELF...She's the one she loves. I'm not worth it.

JW: Do you ever panic about songwriting...like it could end at any time?

MM: I panic about not paying my rent. Every so often, after I complete what I feel is a good song I might think to myself 'I wonder if that's the last good song I'll ever write?'

JW: Seriously?

MM: Sure...why not? Just a thought for a half second but it happens. You never know.

JW: You know how we've always heard that all pitchers only have a certain amount of pitches in their arms (gee, here's our baseball talk) before they break down...do you think it's the same with writing?

MM: But then you have a ballplayer like Jesse Orosco who is still throwing. (Orosco, currently with The Los Angeles Dodgers, has been pitching in Baseball since 1979, a rare case). I'll gladly be the Tommy John of songwriting. (John pitched in the Major Leagues for an unbelievable 26 years).

(Pausing with his head between his knees) The comparison is unrealistic. Throwing a baseball relies on physical ability and physical abilities break down. Songwriting is academic and cerebral. I'm looking forward to still be writing when I'm 80. The only reason a writer's work would become stagnant is because of laziness, barring Alzheimer's or something. There are always other avenues to venture down and there is ALWAYS something new to learn...always! Many of the writers I know are happy in their little niches, their special little hiding places where they feel safe and think that it's all right to keep writing the same songs over and over again...like no one will notice.

JW: Why do you think that is?

MM: God...Because they're lazy or they don't know any better or they think they're IT and feel what they're composing is good enough...or they are afraid to step out of their yards and cross the road. A lot of writers have their built-in audiences and feel like they must write for those audiences and pander to them. Give the people what they want. Well, I don't buy it man. That's what is wrong with that whole power pop scene. I'll give the people what I feel is good work AFTER I've done my homework and put the time in to consider all options for going forward. I know there are people out there whom are disappointed in our more recent work. They want Circle Of Fools every time. I'm happy to hand those fans over to The Shazam. Then there are those whom embrace and appreciate our efforts to experience, what is for us, newness and the turning of the page. (Yelling and holding his head) I CAN'T DO THIS!!! I'm burning too many bridges with this interview! Ask me about...the designated hitter or something.

JW: How will The Rooks turn the page after what you did on A Wishing Well?

MM: Let me ask you...do you feel that we turned a corner with that album?

JW: I most certainly do. I think that is a great album.

MM: I'm not looking for praise. I just wanted to see what side of the fence you stand on.

JW: What if I said that I didn't feel that the direction The Rooks have been taking since Chimes is a better one than when you started in 1994 with the first album?

MM: Well, your opinion is yours. I would know not to waste my time talking with you about artistic development if you don't appreciate that sort of thing.

JW: I do and I think that's exactly why I love The Rooks, because you have never given us the same reheated Rooks' sound. Glitter Best is not Always You And Me and Some And Others is not Waiting. There is a definite growth pattern there. What's next?

MM: What's next is what's next. That can only be worked out with my friends in the band. Maybe we don't even know what is next yet. That's where the fun is in all of this. We don't bring cookie cutters to rehearsals. It's a band rule.

JW: Who, out of the bands that you know continue to push the envelope...or not?

MM: (LOUD) You can't possibly ask me that without me facing repercussions. Which of YOUR friends are lazy, back stabbing, capitalists? Do you understand what I'm asking you? You might know one or two people of that description but are you willing to admit it to ME...in PRINT?

JW: I respect your honesty in your interviews and thought...

MM: (Interrupting) I'm not THAT honest...or stupid. There are a lot of thin-skinned musicians walking around out there and they're all paranoid (smiling).

JW: Are you?

MM: Paranoid? Not about what someone may think regarding our music. Hey man, I stand by my work and my work ethic. Everything else is just prattle and chatter.

JW: Are you afraid you'll hurt someone's feelings by talking about their work?

MM: Well, I'm not going to tell YOU what I might think about the music of my peers. Honesty is one thing but man...what does it matter what I think? I KNOW some of my songwriting brethren out there probably think we're just ok. That's cool. I can dig that. I'll be honest with them on my own if I'm asked but in no way will I sit here and talk to you about it. If I hurt someone, it's between that person and me and it's for us to work out. If I let someone down through our music, well then, I'm sorry but please know that I'm always trying to make it better.

JW: Make which better? The song or the hurt inflicted on someone?

MM: Well, (long pause, looking defeated)...the song...probably. Rectifying the emotional hurt placed on someone is a much harder task to pull off. It takes a big person...a highly evolved, walking erect, spiritually sound being, That's a whole other karmic wave that I hope develops as I get older. Probably in another ten or twenty lives.

The interview stops when Mazzarella answers his ringing phone. While he discusses with somebody the details for a forthcoming recording session, I remind myself to talk to him about his views on producing. I walk over to his piano where I find a sheet of paper with chord notations. Scrawled across the page are the words I wish I could see the future from here. The next line of chicken scratch is crossed out.

JW: In preparation for this, I was given recordings of a number of bands that you've produced and I'm really impressed by the diverse music you've involved yourself with. From power pop to roots rock to contemporary college metallic grunge and 70s-ish AOR radio stuff and also a female singer/songwriter. Do you advertise or promote yourself as a producer or do you have an agent who finds you work?

MM: Agent?...the producing work happens because they respect what I've done with The Rooks, otherwise it's been word of mouth... referrals. I don't shop myself around as a producer.

JW: What does it take to be a good producer?

MM: A good producer is in the ear of the beholder. I've never produced a hit, which is how the industry judges everybody. I work with bands that have limited budgets but possess spirit and dedication and drive...and songs. I can only talk about why I've had emotional success with the artists I've worked with because The Lord knows, as I stated, I've never produced a hit.

JW: Ok, why?

MM: First of all, I always stress that it's their music and their visions, not mine. My job is to see to it that we get what they want. My name's not going across the top of the CD in bold lettering, theirs is. A lot of work happens before any tape starts rolling. I try to get them to see a bigger picture and try to present to them a larger canvas on which to paint...perhaps give them an option of more colors to work with.

JW: Walk me through a typical pre-production exercise.

MM: I will always meet with the band or artist and have them communicate to me what they want to hear and just as importantly...what they don't want. I always ask for rehearsal tapes or demos of any songs they are looking to record and I'll sit with the music for a week or two if possible. The more songs they hand over to me the better. It's always more beneficial to choose say...fourteen songs from a batch of twenty five than it is to have them give me the twelve they'd like to record with no options waiting in the wings. After I evaluate the situation, I will then attend rehearsals to fine- tune any arrangements that need tending to. Depending on the band, this could go on for weeks or perhaps I'll only need to go to one or two rehearsal sessions. It's all down to how much work they've put into their music before I appear.

JW: Are you always on the same page?

MM: Absolutely! I strive for that. Communication is the overriding judge. I won't allow music to be recorded without the band or artist signing off on our pre-planning. Again, it's their music. I will discuss issues with them until the moon turns red if that's what it takes for them to be happy. I'll run through a song or a section of bars with them forever if we think we're onto something. My attitude is that I treat their work as if it were my own and with no less enthusiasm.

JW: What happens if a band wants something that you KNOW will not work or you know it's not the best direction...

MM: I will discuss with them my point of view and try to explain my reasoning. I will always let them play it for me the way that they want to and in fairness, I ask that they then try it out with my idea...and we then will take it from there. A lot of times a band will say 'you're right, we never thought of that' and sometimes I'll let them play and do what they feel is best even though I may think otherwise, as long as THEY believe in themselves and the idea they're trying to put forth. I will fight for something if I feel a band or artist is resisting only because they fear walking into territory they've never walked on before. I've worked with bands who had never double-tracked before. They say no simply out of fear. Once I get them over that hurdle, a whole other world is opened up to them and it's on to a brand new color for them to use.

I've never had a bad experience with any artist I've worked with...except for one cocaine driven novice...because we talk to each other. When it comes to recording, my attitude is that the customer's ALWAYS right whether I like it or not. It's their work. I'm there to make sure that singers sing in pitch and instruments are in tune. I'm very tempo sensitive so I make certain that it's worked out. I try to instill that they work in a professional manner, be on time, have their instruments in good working order for recording, ask that they always have extra strings, drum heads and drum sticks...and I try to keep it as pressure free as possible. It's SUPPOSED to be fun!

JW: Is there often a lot of arranging that needs to be done beforehand?

MM: Yes and no. It goes both ways. Many times I will hear ensemble instruments for a song that the band would never have thought of as an adjunct to their music.

JW: What is your primary concern?

MM: That there is a song to work with. No song, no reason to book studio time.

JW: Will you work with individual musician beforehand?.

MM: I work with drummers often. Never alone, as I'll have the band playing also certainly, but my first two or three rehearsals with any band will have my attention focused on the drummer to make sure the bass drum is working in tandem with the bass player. I like to hear the drums open up on choruses and/or solo sections. It has to swing. I like to have a drummer switch gears like a car going up a hill...or down a hill. There's a BIG difference there and that needs to be recognized. You build from a sturdy foundation. Often I like to add or take away a bar or two for a twist, as long as it doesn't take away from the section preceding or following. As I said somewhere before, transitions are important. I'll always say that the majority of listeners most likely will never pick up on a good transition BECAUSE it's a good transition. Believe me, if something becomes plodding or gets in the way to slow down or stop momentum where it shouldn't, THEN the listener will pick up on that. It's a lot of work. More so than most would ever even realize to think about. People have no idea what it can take. The reality is that most bands don't just plug in and play with the tape machine spinning. A lot of well thought out plans and rehearsals happen beforehand.

JW: What's the most autobiographical song you've ever written?

MM: (Giving me a look) I ANSWERED ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS ON THE LAST INTERVIEW.

JW: You weren't asked that question on the last interview ('Don't let him off the hook' I tell myself. Meyer advised me that if I push hard enough, he'd answer).

MM: The longest song?

JW: (He's toying with me) No...the most AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL song.

MM: That you would know?

JW: ...Yes...

MM: I don't know. (Asking with a slight smile) Do you have a list?

I did and feeling as if I had just won an arm wrestling match, handed it over to him. He then gave me a look like "you've gotta be kidding me."

MM: Your writing is horrible.

The list was printed from my computer.

MM: Let's see...everyone at the edge of their seats...drum roll...the most autobiographical is probably It's A Crying Shame, Vows, Happenstance, Do You Have God?, Love Said To Me, Always You And Me, Apology, I'm Not A Joker, Music Sound Sensation...

Wise ass. I realized that he was simply reading the entire list in exactly the order as they were printed and he most likely would have read back to me every song on it...wise ass.

JW: Ok, Ok I get the point.

MM: Hey (smiling), I've lived EVERY one of those songs. They ALL have something to do with me one way or another. Not once have you ever heard me sing "There once was a man from Calcutta!" Feel better now?

JW: You really seem uncomfortable with this. Do you dislike doing interviews?

MM: I...I find it difficult to take them seriously most times. It's a surreal absurdity. For a band that sells fifty CDs, it's hard to take with a straight face questions like "What were you wearing when you wrote Reasons? Did you have eggs for breakfast on that day? It's...crazy...

JW: But nobody ever asks you anything as ridiculous...

MM: You did (smiling)...just about.

JW: You CAN'T be that ignorant to the fact that The Rooks have a very dedicated following. Don't you ever read your guest book on the website? Fans love you guys. Someone working press for you gave me a stack of papers printed out from all of the posts on The Rooks' chat room. Do you not read those?

MM: No, I don't. Why should I? I appreciate that they are there but I don't think I should know what they're saying. It's not my place. That's their thing, come on.

JW: But you do acknowledge that you have fans?

MM: Well...yeah, of course. I know they exist...somewhere...out there.

JW: Then why wouldn't you think that they care about what you think your most autobiographical song is?

MM: (Shrugging and long pause) Maybe I hope that they would...(frustrated) OH I DON"T KNOW! GO!!!

His response made me laugh really hard, as he seemed to be at a loss for what is usually a typically, sarcastic answer.

JW: Why has your all-encompassing passion become songwriting?

MM: Because I couldn't hit the 95 mile per hour 4-seamer (another one of his baseball references).

JW: No, really. I've never met anyone as into music and songwriting as you are.

MM: You haven't met (his friend) Dave Rave (DesRoches).

JW: Why songwriting?

MM: I don't know. Why do people do what they do? I've loved music since I was a child, from day one. Somewhere along the line I probably thought 'I should try this,'

JW: And you were hooked...

MM: It was and is a form of expression and it was and is more fun than...Coney Island. I'm still trying to get better. You don't write a half dozen songs and walk away from it.

JW: Thousands have.

MM: It's just something I enjoy...(lecturing tone) and there's no need to read anything into it or get sentimentally candy flossy about it. I'm just someone who writes a song once in a while.

JW: But you live it. Very few do.

MM: Maybe that's the work ethic that was instilled in me by my father when I was a boy. He knows all about working. He handed it down to me, and my brother...we stay with things when we start them.

JW: I guess so!!! Do you have a favorite time of day to write?

MM: No. It happens when it needs to. Mostly at night I would think because that's when I'm home...but then again I'm home during the day often as well...it just happens.

JW: Do you ever write songs without an instrument?

MM: I've had ideas, melodic lines occasionally when I'm on the road without an instrument at which point I will hurry to a phone to sing the idea into my answering machine so not to lose it.

JW: You really do that?

MM: Certainly. It's a recording devise isn't it? I'm lost without one

JW: You can't remember your own melodies?

MM: I'm hopeless without a recorder. I could lose a great idea in minutes.

JW: Why?

MM: Probably because I've got too many musical battles happening already in my head. I'm always either working over something I've already started at home or singing something I happened to hear at any given time earlier...or both at once. I'm cursed, in that music is going on in there (pointing to head) at all times.

JW: Is that a curse?

MM: Well, it never shuts down...a nice curse. It gets annoying sometimes when I'm trying to fall asleep.

JW: But it does eventually...

MM: (Looking quite serious) Sometimes it doesn't.

JW: Then what?

MM: Then it's music all night, up all night. I guess it's better than counting sheep. which never works anyway...

JW: You've tried?

MM: Do you have any good questions left?

JW: What does I've said green on my mind and I find every time that I'd rather without it (from Colors) mean?

MM: (Forcefully) What does it mean to YOU?

JW: I didn't write it.

MM: I didn't write "Light the lamp and fire mellow cabinessence timely hello welcomes the time for a change" (Brian Wilson-Van Dyke Parks/Cabinessence) but it still means something to ME...

JW: OK, as the author of those words, what did they mean to you?

MM: Colors? (Very long pause) All the colors in that song are metaphors for emotions. Green is envy. I'd rather live without it. Envy is a small sin. What else...pink is fragility, blue of course is sadness. Is red in there (singing the song out loud)?

JW: Yellow.

MM: Yellow is cowardice. Who knows what I was talking about? The bit about Kurt Weill...I must have had a point when I wrote it and I'd bet it was a very good one (smiling). Maybe I was listening to a lot of his work at the time...who knows...who cares?

JW: I love the line "Colors are raining into turpentine." A great image. What were you conveying?

MM: Emotional breakdown...probably...everything running together into one messy, temperamental...mirror reflecting, self-defeating...(smiling)...excitable, morally deficient ruin.

JW: Whoa...

MM: You asked genius. Is my time up doc?

JW: Is it hard to write music?

MM: I don't really write music, I...create it. Burt Bacharach writes music. I can't write what I can't read. A lot of us...my friends and myself included, fancy calling ourselves songwriters and I'm not so sure that we've earned that right...the honor to wear that badge...

JW: Well, you do write songs.

MM: I know but...I can't help in thinking that there are too many cheaters out there. You know, just because you string three chords together and throw some words at them doesn't make one a songwriter...it's tricky, this subject.

JW: Do you consider yourself a songwriter?

MM: I'm someone who puts songs together (long pause, eyes closed)...and slowly I'm learning to get better through practice, study, listening and patience. I fancy myself a serious songwriter...yes. Have I earned the right to stand in the same room with Randy Newman Paul McCartney or Laura Nyro...I don't quite think so...yet. I've got a lot to look forward to. In a way, I have this hang-up about who gets to be called a songwriter. It's sort of a sacred title to me and I feel it should really be earned...like being a New York City cop or firefighter now. You know, that special club. Saying what I've just said will probably piss off a lot of so-called...writers.

JW: Do you care?

MM: I don't care. (Smiling) They can meet me out back if they don't like it. I just have to think about all those GREAT writers ...Cole Porter, Vincent Youmans...Leonard Bernstein. Those men would laugh at many of us for taking the liberty to calling ourselves songwriters. I know guys who sequence a few cowboy chords together with a pretty embarrassing lyric and THINK they've REALLY written something! I mean...if you can sing it it's a song, right?...but it's not REALLY songwriting...what a lot of these people do out there.

JW: When is it really songwriting?

MM: When growth and knowledge are evident and steps forward can be gauged by...I think what I've been TRYING to say is that not enough of these so-called writers put enough time into their crafts. Many of them are just people who make music...is what it boils down to...but to wear that songwriter crown...that's something different...to me. I hear the same song over and over again from a lot of these...songsters. The same passing chords, the same melodic structures, the same little tricks on every song. They write with blinders on and somehow that's not good enough for me. It's good enough for a lot of the power pop crowd...anyway. I aspire to becoming a very good songwriter one day and the one honest answer I can give to you about myself is that I'm trying really hard to get there by putting in my time into the work. That's probably the closest I can come to any of those great composers at this point in time...I put a lot of hours into my work and I still have many rivers to cross.

JW: What will make you a better writer?

MM: Knowledge. If you have more knowledge you then have more courage. Courage will lead me to exploration and versatility. Then maybe I will find myself walking on a higher ground. I'll never get there if I don't continue to gain knowledge. None of us will. I'm not saying that any of my work is Earth-shattering or fresh. I've not broken any new ground with my songs, but I've taken personal steps forward. I'm not writing the same songs now that I wrote in 1995 or 2000 even and that's an important advancement for me to recognize and accept. Hopefully I will continue to improve.

It was time for a break. With the release of a new Rooks CD (From The Shelves Of Soundscape Studio) around the corner and knowing all about the bonus disc that is for sale which will contain some of Mazzarella's demos, I asked to hear those demos that will be available on the premium package. I was very impressed in his personal steps forward as a writer. There are no Love Said To Mes and not a hint of a Girl Cried Nico even. Songs like Girl At Pier 47 and From A Star sound like a different composer wrote them almost.

Piano songs, In The World After The War and Balloon are more Harry Nilsson in tone and mood than anything we've heard come from Mazzarella's imagination. The underlying movement in his piano changes in these songs give the melodies a gentle push. Heartbreak begins with a shimmering guitar arpeggio that sits warmly under a childlike lullaby. Once the chorus lands, your heartstrings tug with the falling of his chords. Christine Obscene, a ballad, could easily have sprung from Todd Rundgren's piano and the song is just complete ear candy. From A Star's piano scale introduction is simply one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I've heard in a long time. When the melody finally appears, you're floating in starlight against the twinkling of piano and harpsichord.

This Grey Scene begins with...well, gray sounding piano notes which set the tone and mood for a dreamy, melancholic experience, slightly reminiscent of Brian Wilson's 'Til I Die. Girl At Pier 47's chordal shadings did place me near the water at night in the summer as the lyric suggests. Just wonderful. I'd love to hear these songs recorded properly in a studio so Mazzarella could paint them the colors he hears in his head. Still, the magic comes across even in these monophonic home recordings. He was kind enough to let me hear them twice through. As a writer, Michael Mazzarella is growing in leaps and bounds.

JW: In The World After The War. Appropriate title for what's happening all around us these days.

MM: Coincidence.

JW: Did the events of September 11 not inspire that theme?

MM: Strangely enough, that song was written on April 11, 2001. I only know that because someone else recently asked me when it was written which forced me to look it up. No, five months BEFORE everything changed I was thinking about the world after A war. I had this idea of myself being the only one left or something, not having to deal with anyone, answer to anyone, expect anything from anyone. It would only be me...I'd be thankful for still being around...

JW: Is that thought something that appeals to you, being left alone?

MM: No. I dig people. I can't say now what truly inspired it but I think someone may have disappointed me or let me down and it was my way of expressing that disillusionment through music. Why I used war to set up my story, I don't know.

JW: What is From A Star about? I'm sure I know but I want to hear it from you.

MM: Just what it says...the song is taken from a star's perspective. A star in the sky looking down at this mess we've made...and singing a sad song about how we're destroying everything. The world isn't deep, it's shallow...what else does it say...the world doesn't weep, it bellows. A star in the sky making simple observations on the sorry state we've created down here.

JW: That's post 9/11.

MM: Again, no. It's a bit freaky, but that was written about a week prior to September 11th. I even scratch my head now and think it's a bit near the knuckle...eerie.

JW: Have the events of 9/11 colored your writing at all in subject matter...

MM: No. To even think that would be reaching for something that isn't there.

JW: Even in your song Balloon, you seem to be hinting at getting away from here. The song is about flying away in a balloon and I see where you've written the line We'll go forever and weather whatever's evil down there.

MM: Yeah, well...THAT was even written before September.

JW: You're kidding me!

MM: I'm not. That was written about a month or two before...sometime in the summer. Maybe someone up there...my mother maybe...was feeding me subliminal hints as to what was about to come down. After what's happened, as I've stated, I even find it spooky.

JW: Did you wonder at the time why you were coming up with such strange lyric material?

MM: Well, I just thought...yeah...where did this come from? I had a heavy feeling at that time about how screwed up this whole place is in so many ways and how it's all our faults to some extent. Just a dark feeling of chaos and thinking is it too late? Are we taking this...whatever it is...WWF...celebrity boxing mentality too far? Never in a million years did I ever think about something as horrid as what happened on September 11. It was just an overriding mood that was following me for a number of months.

JW: You mentioned your mom...she's obviously passed?

MM: 1977...the last time I saw her.

JW: Have you ever written about her or for her?

MM: I've got one good song for her...

JW: Written for her?

MM: Just for her.

JW: It's called...?

MM: Mariann...I'm sure she hears all of my work (head down)...hope so...

JW: Girl At Pier 47 is beautiful. Were you near a pier?

MM: Where do you think I came up with that? Of course I was at the piers. On the West Side of Manhattan...last summer.

JW: Was there a girl?

MM: There was a girl, yes. I thought I should have gone up to her. We made eye contact and she smiled at me. She stood in her spot for maybe five minutes while I thought long and hard about what I should do...because I NEVER bother women. I never want to make them feel uneasy, especially strangers...but this time it felt different and the nagging feeling inside kept telling me to just go over and talk with her. I felt a connection and the longer I debated with myself the faster the sands of the hourglass shifted out of my favor. I turned and she was gone and I really felt angry with myself for doing that...for letting that opportunity slip away.

JW: The soul mate that got away?

MM: (looking pained) Maybe. I'll never know now, right? I went home and that night wrote Girl At Pier 47. It's about taking a risk; jumping in without thinking...maybe something nice can come out of it. My act of hesitation turned into a feeling of great loss and stayed with me for a while. Maybe there was something to it that goes way beyond our understanding. I will never know. The door closed while I was thinking about whether I should knock on it...idiot.

JW: Your choice of chords and melody really do put a sense of loss into the song. What's going to happen to all of these songs that you write? Will you record soon?

MM: Not soon enough. I've got to find someone out there who believes in this music enough to want to back us up financially so it can be recorded properly and then put it out...give us a push...a new day with a new morning.

JW: What about the label you're with now?

MM: Changes are happening. It may be time to move on. I think Not Lame is looking for the same band that recorded Reasons. We're slowly changing with each album and this probably doesn't figure into the Not Lame philosophy as such. The industry is at an all-time low. I'm open for anything. Anyone interested in a band called The Rooks? We're hard workers...I own our catalogue. Step right up, let's talk!

JW: The rarities CD will be on Not Lame, right?

MM: Right you are James.

JW: Are you proud of what The Rooks have done?

MM: Sure. More than proud. There is a lot more I want to do. This band could make some great albums if we had the money to do so. We're just getting started really. We have the material. We need the backing. It costs money to record.

JW: What are your options?

MM: Maybe get the word out that we're interested in dealing with another label and see what, if anything opens up. We're simple people. We just want to give everyone some music. Sometimes it feels like we're being squeezed. Sometimes it feels like there's nothing left for us. No resources means no music...not the way we want to present ourselves anyway.

JW: But you continue to write and stockpile your songs. I admire that.

MM: Recording or not recording with The Rooks has nothing to do with my writing exercises. I NEED to write songs. It would be nice if someone got to hear more of them but that's the world we live in now. It's the part of the territory that makes me sad but not sad enough to stop writing.

JW: Would you ever consider writing for other artists whom are established where you could maybe collect a royalty or get a song into a soundtrack...

MM: Any and all of that would be great because the first thing I would do with any money would be to turn it back into our music by recording more of it. I wouldn't buy a houseboat or a car or new clothing even. I would want to record with it. That's all I want man.

JW: Makes me wish I could just hand you $20,000 and say take this and don't worry about it. Go make some great music.

MM: Thank you. I'm beginning to like you Jim.

JW: (Laughing) So it's my money you're after!

MM: (Smiling) And better questions!

WISE ASS!!!