BIG BLACK DELTA - Feature Article
Pictured: Jonathan Bates - BIG BLACK DELTA
Photographer: Josh Giroux @g_i_r_o_u_x (left)
Edited by: Tom Wilson (right)
From Sinner to Sober with the Master of Bates
Written by: Tom Wilson | Sense Music Media
There is a common misconception amongst recovering addicts that giving up your vice will solve all your problems. In reality, sobriety often uncovers mental health issues that were previously masked by getting shitfaced. Dealing with these issues without the insulation of a substance can be so unpleasant that it can knock you off the wagon if you let it. Put simply, there is more to recovery than just putting down the bottle. When multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Bates – AKA BIG BLACK DELTA – publicly announced that he had undergone mental health treatment while promoting latest single Lord Only Knows, I reached out to find out more.
The Interview
What have you been working on in quarantine? Have you been able to keep being productive?
Lots of guitar and working on things I’m not allowed to share at the moment. Gardening. I adore it and love being with flowers. Reading a lot of sci-fi and alien stuff. Trying not to hate humanity and its current state.
You’ve stated online that you’ve been tackling depression through medication and therapy. I started taking medication for mental health issues in February this year, so it would be amazing if you are willing to talk more about it. What are some of the ways that treatment has changed your life, and how you live it? Do you try to stick to routines?
I’m so excited to hear how this works for you. Does it change your physiology? Do you move quicker and lighter? I do. Before professional help, anything nice that happened to me (notice the language: “to me” – I thought things happened to me, not that I made them happen) was just a cruel prelude to getting fucked somehow. I only felt alive and with other people if I was drunk. Me drunk was like a normal person on a weekday. Just functioning. But then hangovers. If you’re drinking two bottles of scotch or six bottles of wine a day, you’re gonna feel like shit the next day. Then you smoke tons of weed to deal with that. Rinse/repeat, and life starts to slip away. Because of the standards and experiences of when I grew up, depression was a ghost. It didn’t really exist to others as disease. I felt I had this teenage monster drinking bro sitting on my shoulders all the time telling me everything sucked. Also with how boys and girls were raised back then, admitting pain or needing help was an invitation to ridicule or being ostracized. Embracing this part of me that’s not my fault (at least the chemical part) has made my life somewhat beautiful in relation to others who suffer the same affliction.
Mental health treatment inevitably leads to a lot of self-analysis. In what ways do you understand yourself better now? Does life make a bit more sense?
To be perfectly clear, the following came about after years of solid psychotherapy and finding an anti-depressant that works chemically with my symptoms. Learning to reroute fear. It’s a useful state of mind when in danger, but if you have things like PTSD, the body doesn’t know that those firecrackers aren’t incoming mortar shells. I’m not a soldier, but that’s the best universal example I can give. Once the chemical dump of a PTSD episode happens, it takes quite some time for the body to chemically normalise. I’m not even talking about mentally or spiritually. The person behind the eyes is gone when that happens. It is reptilian instinct that takes over until the adrenaline subsides. Adrenaline when you don’t know you’re getting dosed can be very physically painful. Things like meditation make a lot more sense. I used to cringe when people told me to be present, because that’s when I suffered the most. Now presence is where resilience and peace can be if you invite it. Again, at least for myself. Part of it is learning everyone has their own regimen.
A big part of Jonathan’s regime, it seems, is control. He plays all the instruments, he runs his own label, Master Of Bates, and I noticed that when I asked to do this interview, he opted to do it via email, allowing himself time to answer precisely, and not get misquoted. I get the impression that quality control is very important to him. The calibre of his musical output so far is testament to this. In fact, I can’t help but be reminded of another prolific multi-instrumentalist …
I see a lot of parallels between you and Trent Reznor, both musically and in terms of releasing music on your own label. What impact do you think Reznor has had on how people make music?
Tonnes. He was the laptop hero before laptops. I’ve heard stories of his earliest shows just being him in a cage dancing to his own music being played back on cassette or cd. The mythos of “bands” is just that. The shit you read or see in movies isn’t true. It just isn’t. I have a lot of musician friends who suffer because they still are trying to live the archetype they read in a book that came out in the nineties. I was the same. Luckily the universe has repeatedly shown me that the only path I can take is my own. Every time I tried someone else’s out of fear, I failed harder. I’ve never met the man, but I would assume he figured that out at an early age, before internet et al. That says something about the dude’s vision.
Described by the man himself as “starting like Whitesnake and ending like Liberace,” Lord Only Knows comes out guns-blazing with a massive fuck-off hair metal riff, before Jonathan’s signature melancholy croon and plinking synths take the driving power rock in a more thoughtful direction, and a bold, dazzling crescendo of keyboards soars to the finish. It’s ballsy, confident stuff. The music video will be instantly familiar to fans of Huggin’ & Kissin’, as artist Adam Osgood uses animation to tell the story of a humanoid figure arriving on earth in the meteor that killed the dinosaurs.
You’ve once again enlisted Adam Osgood for the Lord Only Knows video. How would you describe the process of working with him? How much direction do you give?
Fucking lovely. If you surround yourself with talented people, then you just have to stand back. When he graciously accepted doing Lord Only Knows, I had one or two superficial notes. Ultimately, I trusted him and didn’t inject myself in his process. Adam’s the real deal, and it’s better for all of us if you just let him do his thing.
Music is the soundtrack to our lives. Our memories, good and bad, are often scored by whatever music we were listening to at the time. When I quit drinking in March 2018, the last song I ever listened to drunk, the night before going to rehab, was Huggin’ & Kissin’. It’s still one of my favourite songs, but it always reminds me of that time. What are some of those songs for you, and why?
I am so humbled to be part of this journey with you man. The Cardigans’ Gran Turismo is a powerful psychosomatic experience for me. That record was on when I went out on my own and ungracefully began learning to be a self. Van Halen’s 5150 reminds me of first coming to the States. Those early childhood memories have a high saturation visually in the mind’s eye.
Like a lot of people, my first exposure to Big Black Delta was The Sinner, the Netflix mini-series from 2017. In it, happily married mother Cora (Jessica Biel) is at the beach one day with her family, when she hears a song playing on a nearby radio and, seemingly at random, takes a fruit knife and savagely murders a young man in front of hundreds of beachgoers. The song that turns Biel from doting mum to Manchurian Candidate? Huggin’ & Kissin’, off Big Black Delta’s 2013 self-titled album. Best described as 80s pop meets Nine Inch Nails, it’s an infectious mix of melancholy vocals, malevolent bass and retro sparkle. I was instantly hooked, and it remains one of my favourite songs.
How did this come about? How did they pitch it to you? Was “your song is going to make her kill someone” a hard sell?
That’s all Antonio Campos and his editor Matt Hannam. They dropped it into a scene and I suppose it worked. I’d love to take credit for it but that’s 100% them. The email was very simple, something like “this character goes nuts when your song comes on.” But watching it is another story. Just random chance they heard it honestly. Life’s a trip.
Your new LP 4 is coming out this year. To what extent do Summoner and Lord Only Knows represent the album musically? How does it compare to the catalogue of BBD thus far?
100%. I’m in it, so I don’t have objectivity. It’s funny when I see people say something doesn’t sound like me. This record is me. I literally wrote, played, produced and recorded all the parts. I understand some people just want songs like Huggin’ & Kissin’. I get it. But I’m in this meatsuit for an indeterminate amount of time. I have to do what instinct calls on me. It’s why I’m here. In order to be truly of service, I have to be my creative best. Otherwise, what’s the point? Plus I like to shred now and then.
Can you see anything more happening with Mellowdrone in the future?
That depends on Tony Dematteo. Tony’s become quite an amazing songwriter and I’ve found Mellowdrone is better when he takes on at least half of the songwriting. As far as shows and shit, probably never. The last shows we played as a reunion we were heckled and shit. I was like, “Fuck this, y’all asked us to play.” I’d rather be gardening then having some drunk jabroni use that moment to shine. Mellowdrone seems to have a lot of die-hard fans, but whenever it came time to support us, no one outside of friends showed up. Critics and publications were bummed on us. We played to empty bars all over the States and Canada. We went broke trying. We just thought we were taking the hint. I remember getting emails from Lorde to Marilyn Manson of all people telling me how much they dug Mellowdrone ... life does what it wants.
When we eventually go back to whatever “normal” is going to be, what are some ways you hope people are going to live their lives differently?
I hope this quarantine has given people some time to redefine their definitions of happiness and growth. Maybe this late stage capitalism thing we’ve all been riding on isn’t so good for everyone involved? As an alcoholic, I understand continuing destructive behaviour because it’s all you know. I’m hoping that this shake has given people space to make their own definitions of what makes them happy, not what advertisers and gatekeepers have been guilt-ing them into following. I’ve seen how absolutely random and cavalier death can come in and take you. This isn’t a rehearsal. Be whatever you need to be to feel your fullest. Then you can be of service to others. Or not. I dunno, I’m not your dad.
If mental health or alcohol misuse is becoming a problem in your life, you aren’t alone. Check out these resources:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Five Essential Cuts
Huggin’ & Kissin’
BBD’s most well-known track, with over 3 million views on Youtube. Don’t play it on the beach, just to be safe.
Summoner
A pulsing dance beat that could’ve come from a NES game with a video that looks like America’s Got Talent meets The Blair Witch Project. That’s an endorsement, by the way.
IFUCKINGLOVEYOU
A soaring, glorious choir takes flight on the back of galloping synths. It is not physically possible to listen to this song loud enough.
Lord Only Knows
Well, duh. BBD’s most ambitious track to date, swinging from hair metal swagger to 80s pop without missing a beat.
Steer The Canyon
Surging, urgent synth-rock that wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of Night Rider. Chuck this on your running mix and smash some personal bests.
Download
BIG BLACK DELTA’s new album comes out July 10th. What will it sound like? Lord Only Knows.
