What's the Deal: Adam Gregory Pergament

S.J. Barlament | 9/18/2007 10:48 am | Tea in the Yahara

You may be asking yourself, "Who is Venice Gas House Trolley, and what are they doing here?" For that matter, you may be asking yourself, "Who the hell is this 'Adam Gregory Pergament' I keep hearing so much about?" Even if you're not, I went straight to the source to find the answers to all of those questions -- and more, of course -- for the latest installment of TIY's randomly re-occurring feature, "What's the Deal."

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Hey, Adam Gregory Pergament: What's the deal with Venice Gas House Trolley, anyway?
Venice Gas House Trolley is a three-piece band mixing spoken word poetry and music. Vocals and poems by me [Adam Gregory Pergament], double bass played by Tim Peeters, and percussion and other implements employed by Benny Seger. We play composed "songs" and also improvise. Tim and Benny sing a bit and have started adding some spoken word to our improvised jams. The project started in September of 2006 when Tim approached me and said that he would like to work with a poet and see what happened.

And the name? What's the deal with that?
The name is in honor of the Venice West (Southern California) Beat Poetry scene that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s on Venice Beach near LA. The Gas House was the place where the poets would gather to read and freak out, sometimes accompanied by musicians. By that time, Venice Beach was truly a "beat" place, as the tourist trade had declined after the war and the beachfront was in disrepair. A small tram would roll the few tourists who still came along the promenade. To read more about that scene, check out the book Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton. For more on the Gas House and the scene around it, check out http://home.mindspring.com/~carmabum/GasHouse.html.

So Venice Gas House Trolley was picked as a Top 20 show at the 2007 Minnesota Fringe Festival, right? What's the deal?
The 2007 Minnesota Fringe Festival gathered some 160 acts from around the world in a two-week festival of theater, music, dance, and spoken word. We were honored to have been picked by one of the Fringe reviewers as a Top 20 show, and had a great time playing and meeting other artists. For a look at the reviews, check out http://fringefestival.org/blg_showPost.cfm?blogID=4&id=2542 and http://fringefestival.org/blg_showPost.cfm?blogID=4&id=2784.

How would you describe Venice Gas House Trolley?
Chill grooves with an intense spoken under-vibe; musical and at times theatrical. Sometimes we fly off the tracks and sometimes we glide down them smoothly. When we take the stage we want to communicate a love of words and sounds and the ecstatic possibilities of artistic community. The nexus of flowpoetry is a spoken word form that places a priority on sound and that can exist as improvised music. I originally also conceived of the term as two distinct words: "flow" [here an imperative verb form meaning the dynamic action of moving out into] and "poetry." For more on this, please check out http://www.dane101.com/arts/2006/09/21/flow_poetry_entry_1

This conception continues to be informed by the happenings surrounding the canceled 9-11 White House poetry reading. For more on that, check out http://www.dane101.com/arts/2006/10/10/flow_poetry_entry_2_rediscover_the_urgency

Your website mentions that you were appointed the King Club's first-ever Poet-In-Residence. What is that, exactly?
My appointment as Poet-In-Residence arose out of a few developments. The owners of the King Club had seen and heard me perform and saw in me a way to reaffirm their very sincere and earnest support of innovative Madison based performers. The idea crystallized when the Summer 2006 wave of violence hit King Street and the appointment was made as a positive artistic and creative vibration put forth into that landscape. Providing a residence for a spoken word performer in a music and dance nightclub is without precedent, and both The King Club and I hope to build community across the arts, put on great shows for rockers and lovers alike, and stir up as much dancing and fun as possible. As Poet-In-Residence, I perform regularly at the club on a variety of bills that would have heretofore never considered including spoken word. I will also emcee shows from time to time and help with the copy on the club website [http://www.king-club.com].

You've performed with Hanah Jon Taylor and Vincent Davis. You've shared billing with The Jerry Garcia Band. Is there a particular type of crowd that seems to best embrace your work?
We've been really excited to find that our music and words have been accepted and enjoyed by a wide range of folks with a wide age range as well. People who like to jazz, jam, and freak will dig us.

Do you consider yourself part of the spoken word scene in Madison? Or is yours a different "thing"?
Madison has a very vibrant spoken word scene and it is great to be able to participate in that. I hosted spoken word and music open-mics for three years before starting to play in the clubs so I feel that my stuff is no different than any other poet out there who writes and then snarls, spits, and coos.

So you've got a self-titled CD coming out soon, right? And a release party for it coming up at the King Club?
Come one come all come all come one... We are really pleased to release our self-titled debut CD on Friday September 21 at King Club. For a preview of the CD, check out http://www.flowpoetry.com/paperandink.htm

The show starts at 9 pm, and we've got some great Wisconsin homegrown music on tap as well as our debut CD to celebrate. For more on the show please check out http://www.flowpoetry.com/whereitsat.htm

Any other big news on the horizon for you? What's the deal?
Venice Gas House Trolley has a full slate of shows scheduled for the Fall and will be headed to Chicago and St. Louis to play. For a full schedule, please go to http://www.flowpoetry.com or http://www.myspace.com/flowpoetry. We're really excited to be able to spread some of the Madison vibe in those places and to meet friends and poets along the way. The world needs more poets and the local poets in your area (no matter where you live) need support. Wherever you may find yourself, if you've got ears to listen, open them wide. If you've got words to say, speak them out loud!

Morning Star

Ask "Where does Morningstar glow?"
I'll swear, it glows everywhere.

Ears bend low:
Spread ashes over cobblestones,
Ride home.

Fold steel and knead clay,
Stamp on every gunwale,
Bale bale upon bale of hay.

Twist shiny hemp
Rend rip from rip
Run blind

Trust no longer held at bay.
Bless gently every head held high as high can see:
Pour for each a loving cup.

blog entry tag reference

adam gregory pergament | arts | interview | music | poetry | the deal | venice gas house trolley

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