Was the initial low-end riff on “Elephants” inspired by “Baby Elephant Walk”?
No, but I do know that song; I think they used to play it on a game show. Elephants and rhinos are kind of a motif throughout my work – a recurring theme – something I picked up from Frank. With him, it was dwarves and pumpkins; with me, it’s animals. Usually, they’re metaphorical for some sort of human condition. Once again, the riff you alluded to is a loop, and I just started playing guitar over it, and I felt like the guitar things had an “elephant attitude” – they were low, big, rumbling, and brazen. Then we sprinkled in some jungle sound effects. You even did the cover artwork for Side One. I started painting about a year and a half ago. I always told myself I’d take up painting when I got to be an old man, but decided to start a little early. Like my guitar playing, I’ve invented everything with my painting on my own, with no knowledge of how to do it correctly; I just picked up some brushes and a couple of canvases. It’s turned into an explosion of ideas for me, just like music
