Mash of inspiration
Adam Baumeister puts more than just musical influences into Littles Paia
Most musicians don’t have any qualms about wearing their influences on their sleeves. But few actually dedicate their songs to their heroes by name. Denver’s Adam Baumeister—also known as the deliciously disjointed singer-songwriter Littles Paia, as well as the pedal-steel player for local folk-rock heroes Bad Weather California—did exactly that with Dew On The Needles, his new full-length. Smeared all over the emotional and sonic spectrums, the disc is a buzz of experimental Americana, one that nods to everything from John Cage to John Coltrane to Bob Dylan. Among a host of quirky song titles and even quirkier compositions, Dew cites a list of its creator’s favorite historical figures and mad geniuses—six of which Baumeister explained to Decider in advance of his CD-release show Saturday at Bar Bar.
Philippe Petit
Adam Baumeister: He’s the World Trade Center high-wire guy. I haven’t seen [the Oscar-winning Petit documentary] Man On Wire yet; I didn’t even know it was out until someone saw his name on my CD and told me about it. But I did watch this PBS series about the history of New York, and it was kind of bland until they got to the part about Philippe Petit in the 1970s. He’s on there for about half an hour, and he’s so out of left field. He’s trying to conquer the Trade Center and spitting out all this weird philosophy about art and the world. He just cracked me up, so I put his name on the album.
Adam Baumeister: He’s the World Trade Center high-wire guy. I haven’t seen [the Oscar-winning Petit documentary] Man On Wire yet; I didn’t even know it was out until someone saw his name on my CD and told me about it. But I did watch this PBS series about the history of New York, and it was kind of bland until they got to the part about Philippe Petit in the 1970s. He’s on there for about half an hour, and he’s so out of left field. He’s trying to conquer the Trade Center and spitting out all this weird philosophy about art and the world. He just cracked me up, so I put his name on the album.
Baroness Pannonica De Koenigswarter-Rothschild
AB: She’s an interesting character, but I’m not any kind of expert on her. She was like a baroness from Europe who married some diplomat them moved to New York and left him. Charlie Parker died in her apartment. She was just a cool lady.
Decider: Associating with jazz musicians must have been completely outside the realm of social acceptability for her.
AB: That’s the cool thing. It didn’t matter to her. The music did. She could see through all that.
AB: She’s an interesting character, but I’m not any kind of expert on her. She was like a baroness from Europe who married some diplomat them moved to New York and left him. Charlie Parker died in her apartment. She was just a cool lady.
Decider: Associating with jazz musicians must have been completely outside the realm of social acceptability for her.
AB: That’s the cool thing. It didn’t matter to her. The music did. She could see through all that.
John Hammond
AB: He was another privileged person with a lot of money who loved jazz. He went to all the jazz clubs in Harlem. He discovered Billie Holiday.I heard about [De Koenigswarter-Rothschild] in one of John Hammond’s books, actually. I put them both on my list because they were both patrons of jazz. A lot of jazz wouldn’t have been around without them. They’re not musicians, but if you go back through the history of music, their names keep coming up.
AB: He was another privileged person with a lot of money who loved jazz. He went to all the jazz clubs in Harlem. He discovered Billie Holiday.I heard about [De Koenigswarter-Rothschild] in one of John Hammond’s books, actually. I put them both on my list because they were both patrons of jazz. A lot of jazz wouldn’t have been around without them. They’re not musicians, but if you go back through the history of music, their names keep coming up.
Charlie Rose
AB: Charlie Rose’s show is how I learn about a lot of things. I love watching him interview random people day by day. That’s how I find out about the past, the present, and the future. He has scientists on there, musicians, writers. He’s just such a great guy. I should dedicate a whole album to him.
AB: Charlie Rose’s show is how I learn about a lot of things. I love watching him interview random people day by day. That’s how I find out about the past, the present, and the future. He has scientists on there, musicians, writers. He’s just such a great guy. I should dedicate a whole album to him.
Conlon Nancarrow
AB: Nancarrow was great. He composed stuff with player-piano rolls, which took him years. I love eccentric people in the arts, and he was one of the most interesting. He also had a direct inspiration on my music: There are these two pieces of his that were made to played at the same time. They do their own things, but when you hook up two pianos and play both, they form the complete piece. That’s what I did with a couple songs on my album. It ties into the videos I did for them, too; the song “Shooting Shark” was written to a Blue Öyster Cult video, which was just the most ridiculous fucking video I could find. I had this idea years ago that I wanted to write songs to videos that were already made—kind of tell the story that’s going on in the video.
AB: Nancarrow was great. He composed stuff with player-piano rolls, which took him years. I love eccentric people in the arts, and he was one of the most interesting. He also had a direct inspiration on my music: There are these two pieces of his that were made to played at the same time. They do their own things, but when you hook up two pianos and play both, they form the complete piece. That’s what I did with a couple songs on my album. It ties into the videos I did for them, too; the song “Shooting Shark” was written to a Blue Öyster Cult video, which was just the most ridiculous fucking video I could find. I had this idea years ago that I wanted to write songs to videos that were already made—kind of tell the story that’s going on in the video.
Douglas Hofstadter
AB: I love his book, I Am A Strange Loop. I can’t pretend to understand the mathematics of what he’s saying. Some of the concepts he’s talking about, like how logic and symbolism are tied into music, are really hard to grasp sometimes, but he breaks it down in plain English.
D: Do you ever worry that your CD will go over people’s heads?
AB: I’d like to create something that’s not in one ear and out the other. I’m interested in all these things, and I get ideas from them. So yeah, I’d definitely rather be making music that has some content to it, even though the content is kind of, I don’t know, hard to explain. And strange.
AB: I love his book, I Am A Strange Loop. I can’t pretend to understand the mathematics of what he’s saying. Some of the concepts he’s talking about, like how logic and symbolism are tied into music, are really hard to grasp sometimes, but he breaks it down in plain English.
D: Do you ever worry that your CD will go over people’s heads?
AB: I’d like to create something that’s not in one ear and out the other. I’m interested in all these things, and I get ideas from them. So yeah, I’d definitely rather be making music that has some content to it, even though the content is kind of, I don’t know, hard to explain. And strange.
Littles Paia, "CC1 (Shooting Shark)"
