FAIR OAKS ENTERTAINMENT ONLINE (UK) (May 2002) http://www.hmpge.com/roots2rockmusic/page5.php

An Interview with American Singer/Songwriter: Doug HOEKSTRA: - Dave Walmsley

DW - As I'm new to you & your music, tell be a bit about yourself and who your influences are?

DH - I grew up in the Chicago area, played in bands in those formative years, and moved down to Nashville about 8 years back. I have a wide taste in music, I'd say, with key influences including the Beatles, Dylan, Prince, Al Green, soulful
reggae like Ken Boothe & Delroy Wilson, Antonio Jobim, and all sorts of other stuff.

DW - I've listened to a couple of tracks from your 1999 album - "Make Me Believe" and I'm going to say that lyrically you remind me a bit of Suzanne Vega. Where do your song lyric ideas come from?

DH - Personal experiences, conversations with friends, newspaper articles, films, paintings - all sorts of places. I have my attenae up all the time, and when things strike me as interesting, I get 'em down. As you can probably tell, I gravitate towards
a narrative form, and often I'll put the lyrics in third-person, or from what is obviously a character's viewpoint (as opposed to "the singer"). Whatever best serves the story.

DW - I really like your vocal delivery style, which is slightly conversational and draws the listener into your music.
Is this a deliberate way of getting your songs across? Sort of like an actor playing a part?

DH - Thank you. Yes, it is deliberate, and designed to draw the listener in. I used to sing louder in my ol' band in Chicago and kind of force my range to get over the clatter and din. When I started doing my first solo record, I pulled back
and got deeper into my natural range (lower than your typical rock singer) and the engineer was very responsive - he liked it, thought it drew the listener in. I think my voice has more texture with that approach, as well. So, I've continued to try and refine that and push the envelope in the studio, to see how quiet I can go. Live, I tend the range between very soft and what
is more typical, to further accent dynamics in the songs.

DW - I noticed in the track/musician listings for "The Past Is Never Past" album that your arrangements are quite sparse - you obviously feel it's not necessary to "overload" a song with instruments to make it work?

DH - I think it really depends on the tune - how the music is laid out and what the song is supposed to say tends to naturally dictate an arrangement. Just like lyrics can suggest a melody, a melodic structure and lyrics can suggest an arrangement. It's funny you mention "Past" because that's far more stripped down than the two CDs before it ("Make Me Believe" and "Around The Margins"), which included a lot more bells and whistles.

DW - For your May/June UK tour, I see that it's basically going to be you, an acoustic guitar, guest vocalists + a "bevy of musical friends" and your trusty "loop machine Harold Mock 2"! Who exactly is "Harold"?

DH - Well, when I was in Bucket Number Six, back in Chicago, we were three guys and a boom box, sort of in the Timbuk 3 mode. We had all sorts of rhythm tracks and sound effects on the beat box, andwe named it Harold, and at one
point in the set, we'd even introduce the band, and have "him" take an extended "drum" solo. Despite the self-effacing humor, we took a lot of gruff for having Harold there, like we were trying to replace a drummer with a machine. Which was never the intent - we just wanted to keep things small and lo-fi, true rock 'n roll sensibilities, we thought. We wound up giving in on that
one and ditching Harold for a human drummer! Anyway, times have changed and people are a little more accepting of loops, both on record and live, so on this tour, I thought I'd bring along a CD player ("Harold Mock 2") and let him do his thing on a few tracks. But, I'm just going to play each gig by ear, so I can't promise he'll be up there for every show. Or, he may just sit there. Sort of like the harmonicas - as Dylan said, they have a juju all their own - sometimes you pick 'em up, sometimes you don't.

DW - Your songs appear quite intimate, so I can imagine them working really well live - do you enjoy playing live?

DH - Yes, I do, though I'm one of those people who was drawn to music first by the writing, arranging, and recording element. Maybe that says something about our personalities - some get into the game to sequester themselves in dark studios
to sculpt little musical novels, others do it to bathe in the bright lights, up on stage. That said, the "one-off" quality of live performance, the immediate feedback and interplay with the audience, is great. And while I've never had
stage fright, but I do think I've become more at ease with live performance as my material has become stronger and I've pulled more confidence from that.

DW - Is there a difference between performing over here in the UK to performing in the US? Or are audiences much the same the world over?

DH - Well, I tend to think, overall, that people are people, and they tend to respond to similar things. And what's that cliche - prophets are never honored in their hometown? I get on well in Nashville (not that I'm a prophet, mind you), but
there is something to be said for people paying more attention to something that comes from somewhere else. Like early rock and roll and blues had to be reintroduced to many Americans via the Beatles and the Stones. So, that
makes it difficult to judge. That said, UK audiences seem to be a little more open-minded, particularly to things that are either left-of-center, or require a little more investment of thought and response. They come into a show and let it unfold for what it is, sizing it up on its own terms, as opposed to being predisposed to a comparative sort of reaction.

DW - In the short space of time that I've had to do some research on you, I see that you are a "Man Of Letters" with Degrees to your name and that you're writing some stories for publication? How's that project going?

DH - Good. I just finished the non-fiction book that combines aspects of my personal artistic experiences with studies of pop culture, hard-boiled detective writers, Romantic poets, and the likes of Dylan and Springsteen. I'm also working on
some short stories, to beef up a collection of published and non-published short fiction that I'd like to get out.

DW - After this tour, what next for Doug Hoekstra?

DH - Well, I'll do a bit of gigging in the States this summer, but primarily, I want to work on demoing and recording music for the next album, in addition to getting those prosaic works out there in some form.

* Thanks to Doug for taking the time out to talk to us - good luck with the UK tour!

* Dates for Doug's forthcoming UK tour are in the "Tour News" section of the site. There's
also a review of his "The Past Is Never Past" album in the "Roots Reviews" section.

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