By Mark McSherry
Reuters
NEW YORK – American musician Donald Fagen — half of jazz-rock duo Steely Dan alongside Walter Becker — is in no rush to put out a fourth solo album, having taken 25 years to produce the first three.
Outside of Steely Dan, Fagen’s three albums — “The Nightfly,” “Kamakiriad,” and “Morph The Cat” — have chronicled various stages in his life and encompassed his love of science fiction and jazz.
Fagen, 59, spoke to Reuters as a box set called “Nightfly Trilogy,” pulling together his solo work, was released by Rhino Records:
Q: From the first track of “The Nightfly” and throughout your solo work, the future and science fiction seem to be your thing. Was that always the case?
A: “When I was a kid, I liked science fiction. I actually belonged to something called The Science Fiction Book Club, since I was about 10 or 11, and every month you would get another book. Used to get these big anthologies … I was pretty deep into science fiction when I was a kid.”
Q: Do you look at your three solo albums, from 1982, 1993 and 2006, as one piece of work?
A: “I did the first one (“The Nightfly”) and when I was through with it, I realized it was kind of a picture of when I was a kid and I realized it might be cool to look at it a few years later. Then, while I was working on “Kamakiriad” I thought it’s almost like those “7 Up” movies where the director looked at these kids (every seven years) and then made “14 Up” and he is still doing it now these kids are in their 50s. It might be interesting just to do one every, you know, whenever I had enough material to do one.”
Q: So, you envisage a few more to come then?
A: “Yeah, kind of … but you know I’m almost 60.”
Q: Is there any difference in writing lyrics and music for Donald Fagen as opposed to for Steely Dan?
A: “When I’m writing for myself, it’s more autobiographical I guess in a way …. When you are alone you tend to be more intimate or personal. When we are together, we just start laughing and create these characters which I try to embody when I sing. It’s kind of like acting.”
Q: You went to Bard College, a liberal arts college. Has that been a factor in your career?
A: “The fact that Walter and I both grew up in the 1950s and early 60s as somewhat marginal kids for various reasons in our childhoods. He had a similar interest in science fiction and also we were both jazz fans, which was very unusual for kids who were 11 or 12 … we were kind of little mini beatniks and somewhat cut off from the junior high school society. So we kind of gravitated toward Bard, which was a liberal arts college, which was very small, and a lot of kids with similar backgrounds gravitated towards the school.”
Q: Do you feel there is so much (solo work) still to do?
A: “I’ve kind of squeezed it in, in between Steely Dan work, both touring and albums, so I sort of do it when I get a chance. When I do it, I focus on it. In a way, I think that is good, because I have time to … polish it. There’s no pressure, there’s no deadline, so I just work on the songs until I feel I have something that is really representative of both the years that have just gone by and any musical advancement that I might have made.”
Q: Are you always looking to recruit top-notch musicians?
A: “We are always looking. I think the band that we have got right now is our best band really in a way … In the old days, we were always looking for musicians who had equal facility with jazz and rhythm and blues, which was very difficult to find in those days … Now, these guys can play anything.”
Q: What’s next?
A: “I’m back into songwriting mode … for myself and also talking with Walter about a Steely Dan album. We are planning to go out with Steely Dan in the summer (playing live) and maybe next fall (2008) I’m hoping to go out with my band …We are having a lot of fun in our old age.”
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