Jay Lane

Today, Daniel speaks with Jay Lane, a San Francisco Bay Area drummer known for his incredibly diverse style. He has recorded/toured with Further, Primus, RatDog, Scaring the Children, Alphabet Soup, and currently with Golden Gate Wingmen. Lane began drumming at the age of 9 and by 16 was playing in his first band. Jay has gone on to critical acclaim with a number of groups throughout his 30-plus year career. The guys chat at length about all kinds of fun stuff today. Enjoy!

Quotes:

Jay: My ideal place to trip is simply a safe place to laugh. 

Dan: It’s really interesting, the difference between what the sober person thinks is trippy and what the tripping person thinks is trippy.

Jay: My only ‘bad trip’ was the time Bob Weir kicked my drum onstage. It was a complete misunderstanding! We were playing Sugaree. At a prior gig I’d left a silence at this one part, left a little space, & Bob didn’t like it. The next time we played that tune, Bob was like ‘don’t do the stop’ but I heard it as ‘do the stop’ so I went for it. He thought I’d defied him & he got pissed, hauled off & kicked my drum! 

Jay: I was wondering about where intolerance comes from, like that voice in your head saying ‘no’ repeatedly, what’s the source? Psychedelics are great for that, like your brain just wants to say ‘fuck yeah’ to everything.  

Jay: If there’s ever music that comes in your head just let it come & wash over you & then later on when you’re playing music, you’ll know what you were hunting for. It may not be specific melodies or rhythms but more of the remember the feeling of inspiration”

Dan: Civilization’s built on people learning to trust & love one another. It’s a miracle that it works, it’s such a dangerous game, two people trusting each other. They build something new & that’s progress.  

Jay: There’s this system in place to keep us all apart, to keep us angry & preoccupied, distracted & pissed at each other 

Jay: The first time I ever tripped on anything was at this summer camp for musicians as a teen. One time I was really high on mushrooms & I had to go work in the kitchen. I was trying to act normal & they asked me to cut carrots. I said ‘ok’ but realized I’d forgotten to ask how to cut them—diced, sticks? Then I cut my finger & started bleeding.