Interview: Kramer
On Wednesday, Jan. 22, Citizen Vinyl will host A Celebration of the Life & Songs of Daniel Johnston, featuring performances by an excellent lineup of local songwriters. JD Pinkus, Chainer Mulkey, Lo Wolf, Drunken Prayer, Nate Hall, and Kramer are all set to cover their favorite Johnston tunes, and there’s also promise of special guests.
The event was organized by relatively-recent Asheville transplant Mark Kramer, who’s professionally known by his last name. A vital member of the underground music scene since the ’80s, his credits as a musician and producer are beyond impressive. Of everything he’s ever worked on, his role in the release of Johnston’s debut studio album, 1990, may be his greatest legacy. And considering his deep, decades-long connection with the idiosyncratic singer/songwriter, Kramer was the perfect person to organize an event celebrating the deceased artist’s oeuvre.
Asheville Stages spoke with Kramer about his relationship with Johnston, and what makes his music so special.
Jonny Leather: Can you tell me a little about how the Celebration of the Life & Songs of Daniel Johnston event came together?
Kramer: Jan. 22 is Daniel's birthday. It's also HI HOW ARE YOU DAY, which is celebrated each year with a concert in Austin[, Texas] run by the charity of the same name. Its goal is to raise public awareness of mental health struggles of those who suffer these often debilitating illnesses.
Daniel has, for better or worse, become somewhat of a poster-child for mental illness among musicians. In Jan. 2023, I held a concert in NYC on this date, and this year I'm doing it in Asheville. I've been living here nearly two years now, and the good people at Citizen Vinyl were anxious to partner with me in making this happen as a benefit for the group that helps emotionally challenged people in our area, All Souls [Counseling].
JL: How did you first come into contact with Daniel?
K: I first met Daniel in the mid-1980s in Texas. He was already churning out some of the greatest songs I'd ever heard, so I was anxious to get him into my recording studio in NYC with some fine microphones to make a truly great LP, after so many years of his home-made cassette releases. We made 1990 together in April of 1988, and I released it on my Shimmy-Disc label the next year.
JL: Your production of 1990 is perfectly unobtrusive, highlighting the intimacy and emotional rawness of Johnston’s songs and performances. What was it like working with him on the album?
K: It was difficult. Danny had stopped taking his meds when he arrived in NYC, feeling that he didn't need them anymore. This is not uncommon for people suffering from manic depression, bi-polar disease, and schizophrenia — all three of which it seemed that Daniel was struggling with. As a result, we were unable to complete more than just a few songs as Daniel would start crying and run out of the studio and disappear for a day. One day I found him on The Bowery next to CBGB giving all his money away to homeless people. It was nearly impossible to get him back into the studio, and each time he returned, he was more unstable than when he left.
In the end, I had to stitch some things together, filling in some instrumentation and vocals, and using a few live recordings in between the studio songs in a way that I felt was an accurate representation of the weeks that had just transpired. It's like a tragically beautiful documentary. I'm sad that we didn't get to do what we'd planned, but I'm very happy with the LP itself, as I edited and sequenced it, [and] as I chose to release it. I think it's just gorgeous.
JL: What aspects of Johnston’s music are you most drawn to?
K: LOVE. Danny wrote a whole book of songs that were just plain fun, but those aren't the ones that bring me to a place where I can look inside myself and see who I am today, and who I can be tomorrow. Daniel may never have experienced the physical highways of love, but he knew the internal off-roads miraculously well, and he wrote about things like longing and hidden beautifully. No one could express unrequited love the way Danny could. That's what drew me close to his work, and that's what keeps me there.
JL: You’ll be performing a short set of favorite songs at the show. Is there one that you find particularly meaningful?
K: "True Love Will Find You in the End." That's the song that sums it all up for me. John Lennon wrote "Julia." Townes Van Zandt wrote "If I Needed You." Brian Wilson wrote "Til I Die." Sufjan [Stevens] wrote "Fourth of July" (along with every other song on his masterpiece, Carrie & Lowell). But Danny wrote “True Love” — with far fewer words, and a melody so simple a child could have created it. Danny said more about love than any other songwriter on earth.
Simply put, there was nobody else like him, and I strongly doubt that we'll ever see another songwriter who even comes close. It's been 40-plus years now since his first cassette of songs and, to this day, no one else compares. He's the Jimi Hendrix of love songs. No one can approach him. A musician like Hendrix comes along once in a lifetime — or maybe just once, period. Maybe that's what we have in Daniel Johnston. These kinds of artists come down from a higher place to walk among us, just once, and then they're gone forever.
JL: This is a benefit for All Souls Counseling. Can you share a little about why you decided to support this specific organization, and about your more general feelings about the importance of access to mental health counseling?
K: Counselling and medication can't help everyone. Daniel's life provides sad proof of that. But most people with mental illness don't have to suffer the way Daniel did. They can be helped and All Souls provides that desperately needed help to people in and around Asheville. They make life a little bit more livable for so many people.
Please give what you can to support the important work they do so they can keep doing it. 100% of the ticket price for this show goes to All Souls, but you can give more at the door when you arrive at Citizen Vinyl on Jan 22. Please give more, if you can. See you there.
IF YOU GO
Who: A Celebration of the Life & Songs of Daniel Johnston w/ JD Pinkus + Lo Wolf + Drunken Prayer + Nate Hall + Kramer
When: Wednesday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.
Where: Citizen Vinyl, 14 O Henry Ave., citizenvinyl.com
Tickets: $24.25 (Benefit for All Souls Counseling)
(Photo by Kramer)