Curate, connect, and discover
On this day the 30th of June last year, a singular songwriting talented passed away. Back then I wrote this tribute to him and would like to share it again.
I met Bill Doss only once, a few years ago in Dublin on the tour for The Apples record “New Magnetic Wonder”. What first struck me was how a mind that had crafted some of the most deliciously off kilter, psychedelic pop, music that seemed re-routed to Earth from the depths of some melodic distant galaxy, was just so darn approachable. That he was a straight ahead and gracious individual was inspiring to me since his work was the province of the surreal, the elusive and the bewildering. We spoke of REM, briefly touched on Dublin as a City and then I got a bit fan boy-ish on him and began to enthuse over his work. In a somewhat cringey conversation I waxed lyrical on a few cuts from “Dusk…” and “Black Foliage” but due to not having a clear delineation of song writing duties on the Olivia Tremor Control albums my first two pieces of praise were for what he told me were “Will songs”. He took all this in his stride laughing as I fumbled around listing song after song in a mock panic, a few more Will pieces, but I did land on a Doss gem, and happily explained how much his work meant to me.
They say never meet your heroes but that old axiom was irrelevant in this case, here was a sweet man who happened to be a wonderfully inventive writer and musician.
In fact speaking of heroes, I wrote him as one and one of the most vital in the story, I was creating. My desire was to take the Apples and by extension a few other E6 acts and fashion a superhero universe of bands who rock out while also saving the universe. This community has always felt so vibrant to me and full to the brim of optimism and goodness, a superhero gloss seems pretty logical and inevitable. As each member was turned into something fantastical, Bill was given a very particular and fitting persona. Due to the nature of his music across the board and his unique energy he became a version of an inter-dimensional being, like DC’s “Mister Mytzlplk”. For those of you not well versed in Superman lore that character is an incredibly powerful entity from another universe who can manipulate the laws of physics in an astounding manner. Bill or Y2K as I dubbed him would be studying humanity, our tics and personality traits endlessly fascinating to him and while this version of Mr. Doss began as a somewhat cold, deeply logical character, his arc was to mature into someone who would articulate the strange beauty of inner landscapes and who would approach human interaction from a distinct angle ultimately becoming affected by humanity in startling ways.
A very strong story for the character was for him to have to sacrifice his powers at one point and become human for a period. This, he would do to stop the Sun from dying due to the machinations of some nefarious villain but in the offering of his powers Bill would literally become a “Sunshine Fix” for our heroes and for the entire world, a loving nod to Bill’s personal avenue for his song writing prowess. (Note: His powers would have been restored later by use of a very special scale of music, that of the Non-Pythagorean variety).
Due to my age I was young when Elephant 6 started but my love of what it has achieved and what it stands for continues to burn brightly and Bill was a main architect of something which has given me so much joy and his passing has touched me considerably. In my personal view of the music and in my own version of it’s story, he will always be the man who with his talent and heart actually re-ignited a Sun. To Bill. Love, Emmet O'Brien Always Jumping Fences 2012