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Relix Revisited: John Bell Feeling Free

Our weekly countdown to Widespread Panic’s new release continues this week with a John Bell archival interview. This one originated in April 2008, as JB discusses befriending Jimmy Herring, exploring reincarnation and recording Free Somehow.

Meet Jimmy

Jimmy Herring has his genetic imprint on Free Somehow because he was there for its birth. But through the recording experience as a whole… just us hanging out together… we ended up getting to know each other better. It’s a little tougher now that we’re older, because, when we were younger, we loved and trusted everybody. There was nothing to lose, there was no history and it was still a daydream. We made hundreds of friends a night, going out to parties and sleeping on people’s floors, so we could play out-oftown gigs. You lose friends along the way either by death or just people changing their venues or moving away. You get a little more guarded about your friendships. With Jimmy, it’s neat to have met somebody who’s cutting through the cynicism you acquire over the years.

Internet Killed the Radio Star

Jimmy comes with his own fans, but he’s brought a huge respect for what we’d already been doing as a band, the songs we’ve written and a respect for Mikey [Houser’s] imprint. I don’t go on the Internet and look at chat rooms because I’d probably just go insane. It’s like, “Whoa! Dude, go to therapy.” But I get a report from our agent and I’ve never heard one negative thing about Jimmy. He walked in with his own sense and his own abilities, but, for the time being, it’s some-body else’s neighborhood, somebody else’s house and you have to wait until the dog gets used to you.

Deep Thoughts

When I’m tapping my subconscious for lyrics, I try to remember that we’re all working in these shared realms of illusion, where you’ve got a reality that’s uniquely your own. Some elements are shared, so there is a kind of connectivity, but there is still this tug between realizing that it’s all an illusion. I really believe that I’m working with and around other entities that are experiencing some separateness with their own assumed realities. And, hopefully, my lyrics are left in enough of a metaphorical state where other people can find their own experiences within that, by getting away from specifics and stuff. My intention’s really trying to get away from intention, but still trying to put together a meaningful song that’s going to mean something to as many people as possible… where it ain’t a country club where nobody’s allowed in or somebody’s dictating what the reality is.

Philosophy 101

You and I can both agree to stop at a stoplight when it’s red because we’ve put enough force into this illusion that it becomes a recognizable reality for us both, even if we’ve never met. But there is the notion that within that belief we’re having a collectively conceived and created “movie” in our existence. That’s what I’m toying with in my own life and, hopefully, not too seriously, because I’m still pretending this whole thing. But then again, other things come up lyrically, like out-of-body experiences and reincarnation. I have no doubt that reincarnation exists. But again that’s part of the illusion.

Leasing vs. Buying

We’ve never organized our own festival. It’s kind of like the difference between buying verses leasing a bus. If you buy a bus, you got all the headaches that come with it, including insurance, liability and taking care of repairs, but, if you lease, you got a brand new bus and, if the bus messes up, then you get another one.