Conscious Choice: Conversations: Lou Reed

June 2007 | Conversations

Conversations: Lou Reed

Interview by Eliza Thomas

This year, Lou Reed — a man whose art, angst and excesses typified a particularly colorful turn in the history of rock music — turned 65. After a career that’s spanned such enduring hits as “Perfect Day” and “Walk on the Wild Side,” close to 40 studio, live and greatest hits albums, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the devotion of millions — where’s an aging icon to turn? A meditation album, naturally.

This month, we had the pleasure to conduct a phone interview with the notoriously journalist-averse Reed. In a gravely New York accent, the formerly hard-living rocker discussed health and wellness, tai chi, turning wind into music and why he’d like to run for President.

Music for meditation is quite the departure from what most people imagine when they think of Lou Reed. How did you come up with Hudson River Wind Meditations?

I’ve been playing around with this for a long time... years of this... different versions of these things for different applications. In my other recordings there are examples of it, used to — not for this purpose — but for other purposes... to surround an actor’s voice with a certain kind of feeling... make you have a visual picture of fire, things like that.

Originally, I had created the music [on the album] just for myself, to keep the sounds around me pretty. Something I could write to, I could read to, to drown out the sounds of the city... traffic, sirens, people, construction, the guy next door, whatever. I would listen to it just to have something very beautiful going on. And I found it helped me to focus. That’s something I could use, because I spend a lot of time writing, or thinking about writing, or thinking about this project or that. There are certain activities I would do, and I would try this thing out with it, and it worked. And different people would say “Could I have a copy of that music going on?” and I said, “Well yeah, sure.” And then I thought, well maybe this is something that other people could derive some use from.

What are some of the techniques you used to create a more meditative soundscape?

Well amongst other things... um, playing with the rhythm, giving you a sound you haven’t heard before that’s unique to itself, so you don’t get distracted thinking “Oh what a pretty violin!” or, “Isn’t that a nice saxophone?” So whatever you were listening to was unique onto itself, and you didn’t have to say “Oh, this is Indian music,” or “Ohhh, you know, this is chanting.” Something that would take you out of that.

I’ve heard you keep up a daily meditation practice. What do you do every day to keep you focused, motivated and hopeful?

Well, I can’t really tell you that. I just have a couple of meditations that I work on, and I study with some people... like one of my teachers, Mingyur Rinpoche, who has a book out, The Joy of Life, he’s a teacher of mine from India. And his book is very interesting. My meditations are very, very simple, to say the least — so that I could do them.

I’ve also read that you are a longtime practitioner of tai chi.

I have a DVD out where I did the music and narration for my teacher, you can look this up, it’s called Chen Taijiquan, and his name is Master Ren Guang Yi. So I’ve been studying tai chi for 24 years or so; I’ve spent the last four with Master Ren, doing classic forms. Some of the music [on the DVD] is very much like the meditation music. It’s just, umm, done from a different point of view, it’s written for a different application, so it’s slightly different. But tai chi is thought of as a moving meditation, so it’s not very far away. And the application there was to center your energy, which is pretty much what we’re talking about here. Very few fighting systems are also health systems. This is a marshal art that is also a health system.

How do you experience the practice affecting your daily health?

Foundation, focus, flexibility, strength, agility... stamina... power... internal/external power. Big time.

What is the most exciting idea on your radar right now?

I’m going to have a show of photos at the Warhol museum in Pittsburgh so I’m thinking about that. I’ve had shows in New York and Europe... I’ve been doing photography for years, and occasionally have gallery shows.

What are some of the issues that you think are most woefully ignored by the public?

Getting out of Iraq. There is nothing else these days that is on the level of that. Get out of Iraq, and get this guy out of there! Now having said that, it is a shame that in our schools we don’t spend any time on any of the inner arts. I mean, of course in our schools we can barely get people to read and write, but it would be nice if we were paying some kind of attention to the mind: cultivating the mind, using the mind, teaching young people how to quiet the mind, how to breathe, how to stand, how to sit.

Who would be on your dream presidential ticket for 2008 — this could be within the bounds of reality, or a dream ticket.

Me and John Zorn. [Editor’s note: John Zorn is an avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer and multi-instrumentalist.]

Why?

Honesty is the best policy.

What do you think John Zorn would say about that?

I don’t know. You’d have to ask him.

What’s your favorite conspiracy theory?

I’ve always thought that there is a more involved story behind 9/11. And I’ve seen some extraordinary films on this subject — it’s hard to believe that it’s not more complicated. Although, I have been assured by friends of mine who work in the government that the government is entirely too stupid to do anything remotely like a conspiracy.

We should wrap this up sweets.

What is a question that you think our readers should ask themselves?

Ask themselves? Oh, well I can’t even imagine... Your readers? What your readers should ask themselves? I don’t have a clue. I haven’t met your readers so I wouldn’t presume to say anything along those lines.

Well, is there anything else you’d like them to know?

I’m going to be playing Europe and most major capitals with a tour based around a live performance. And also... that I hope people enjoy Hudson River Wind Meditations. There is an organic part of that recording in the sense that that is the river and the wind that you hear there, and we mixed that in at the end just to ground things a little bit, when you come back from the other two pieces. I hope people enjoy it as much and it helps them the way I’ve enjoyed making it and it helps me.

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