From our German friends-
Cupid's Odyssey: The rise, fall and rebirth of Bobby Beausoleil- Essay and interview
From what I can tell, this is one of the most recent interviews with Bobby.
I have copied the interview part for you all. To read the essay and interview go to-
http://www.blackmagazin.com/?p=4273
It is in German but there is an English translation option at the top of the page. Enjoy.
Q- As Of 30 January to 26 April 2009 showed the Kunsthalle Hamburg, the exhibition "Man Son 1969", which was dedicated to the employment of contemporary artists in the counterculture of the late 1960s, with a particular emphasis on the activities of Charles Manson and his Family. In the catalog to the exhibition there is also a new edition of the infamous interview that Truman Capote had with you, I know, one of the few German publications on you. Do you get some form of support and attention from persons or organizations from Germany and Europe?
A- It is unfortunate that one of the few I attributed texts that have been translated into the German language, the invention is almost complete.In the Dialogue section of my website, I describe in detail how Mr. Capote has this "interview" distorted in the early 1980s, probably in his recollection of an interview that took place ten years before. This interview says far more than from Truman Capote, as it would ever be able to say about me. I have the curators of the exhibition mentioned by you, carefully explained, as they contacted me prior to the opening of the show in January 2009. They used the Capote-text yet, and indicated that it was more likely been their intention to use a cult figure to present authentic materials instead. That was a disappointment, but no, I was not accustomed to. Incidentally, a short passage of the interview Michael Moynihan has done to me for the Seconds Magazine, also appeared in the exhibition catalog. At least this excerpt is from an authentic interview.
I receive from any country grants from organizations or individuals. However I get from people from many countries, including German, explicit support. Most of the letters I receive, are friendly and often show appreciation for my art and music.
Q- In January 2010, the former member of the Family, Bruce Davis, asked the probation prospect (Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, has refused to release Davis from now). Do you still have the hope of one day being able to leave the prison as a free man?
A-The Government of the State of California, including its Parole Board, competes with the Almighty about whose ways are mysterious. It is impossible to predict how the parole board to decide the case. I come since 1976 for a calling into question many times and I've gone through the ordeal of an appeal hearing. The parole guidelines seem to change with the weak economy, but whether what has happened in the case of Bruce Davis for me is true or not, one can only guess. I stand on the threshold of a new day.
Q- Do you already have plans for new musical projects and do you see opportunities for further collaborations with other musicians, such as the recent Axis of Blood?
A- I'm currently working on new music for an album that I Voodoo Shivaya call. It is so far a departure from my previous albums because I sing and the emphasis here is more on gitarrenerzeugtem sound than anything I since Lucifer Rising did. Of course I am looking forward to working with other musicians, many of whom have expressed their interest to play with me to act and record music. I have for so many years mostly done solo music, and that can be very restrictive, compared to what can happen when musicians play together. The technology has made it possible to do this all over the world, without ever leaving your home! I look forward to exploring these possibilities.
Q- 2006, a Swiss label old recordings of The Orkustra on vinyl that you have 2009 published on your label White Dog Music again. Significant proportion of this was your ex-combatants Orkustra David LaFlamme. You're still in touch with LaFlamme, and do you see a way to work with him again? (By the way, have you ever noticed that Child in Time by Deep Purple sounds largely like the song Orkustra Bombay Calling?)
A- There David LaFlamme is thanks to them that even some footage of The Orkustra have survived the decades, which also applies to the recording of the 1967 version of the Lucifer Rising soundtrack of The Magick Powerhouse of Oz Anyway, except my box of tapes for keep me, David had no part in it, to arrange the release of an album of Orkustra recordings. Both, the 2006 album Orkustra the European label as well as the recently released double album in the U.S. with Orkustra recordings were produced as a collaboration between me and the White Dog Music LP two respective labels. The opportunity to make music again with David would be a delight. Sadly, his wife clearly does not agree that he has some kind of connection to me. Bombay Calling is written by David long before Deep Purple to Child in Time even thought - any similarity is purely coincidental anyway.
Q- In a way, you were in the seventies to a pioneer of electronic music. Have you ever had the opportunity to get to know the other artists who worked with electronic sounds, such as the German avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen or bands and musicians such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Monte Cazazza or NON ?
A- My fascination with electronically produced sounds and music has never waned, but during my captivity 42jährigen there was rarely an opportunity to experiment and explore this medium. I feel lucky to even get the opportunity and contributed little to the development of this exciting genre to have.
In my situation was the discovery of what other electronic musician who made a matter of luck, because in here I have no access to or record collections online music libraries. Electronically produced avant-garde music is found only sparsely in the U.S. radio, but sometimes I was just lucky. By most of the artists that you've mentioned, I've at least heard of music. I hope to hear much more.
Q- You came during your time in San Francisco, mid-1960s, in closer contact with the Satanism, especially Anton LaVey and his circle, or other types of occultism (apart from Kenneth Anger and his Crowley cult)? Will not you call today as a religious person (if so, in what way)?
A- Satanism is a farce, a tool invented by the Church in the Middle Ages to justify genocide and the subjugation of the population. At times he was among some groups as chic as an expression of rebellion against oppressive dogmas. But what Satanism is, honestly? A closer look, it can quickly identify a rather silly form of mockery, as would be the head of Catholicism, and played the role of a fool.
What this tells us so on Anton LaVey, the self-appointed high priest of Satanism? Yes, I met him `67, as Kenneth invited him to his apartment one afternoon. At that time I held it, as I even now do, a charlatan, who has found a way to provide for his livelihood by serving the fantasies of a group of people who buy his willing his particular brand of snake venom.
About my personal spiritual orientation, I would say that I tend to be a mystic, not so much an occultist. My practice is rooted in the ancient Vedic and Tantric traditions - traditions the same way in which Crowley himself so freely made use in his attempt to form a new religion. These traditions have known in their interior to appreciate that there are many valid ways to God, whom I consider the cause of the divine being, or as a pure, unmanifestiertes defining consciousness.
Q- Right now, you write on your memoirs. Can you estimate when the book will be finished? In what form will it be released?
A- The writing of my memoirs, as well as my life, an eternal work in progress. Nevertheless, I do like some progress. When the book is finished, I plan to publish it in traditional form and as e-books. I also thought to publish it as an audio book, read by me, with self-produced music in the background.
Q- One of your pictures that I like most, is The Green Man . Please tell me something about your painting and the ideas and inspiration behind the paintings.
A- The picture Green Man is of course my interpretation of nature's God of European mythology. God looks at this painting from nature back to us, even though God is not of this nature and romping only as a reflection in it.
All of my paintings, as well as my musical compositions are merely chanting the divine spark that is in each of us. I would prefer to avoid them to be overloaded with meaning.
Q- How did you have a favorite book or writer, and they influence your work as a musician?
A- For many years I've enjoyed getting lost in books, works of pure imagination - the more imaginative the better. Now that I'm the titles of about twenty books that surround me in my cell, scan, I know a bit surprised that almost all of them deal, in one way or another, with the self-knowledge. The journey to the heart, it seems, has broken through the imaginative.
Q- Could you please describe a typical day of your life behind bars?
A- There is no normal day behind bars. Here in the prison, a mindless, brutal routine vies with the unexpected and unpredictable for supremacy. I work hard at trying to avoid it like you're caught between these unintelligent forces. This is a kind of balancing act, and the execution is not quite perfect. It seems to work best when I focus my energy on some form of creativity. The result is that I will not give in to the inclination, to lose myself in either routine or blind chaos that threatens one with meaningless distraction.
Thank you so much that you have you taken so much time to answer my ten questions. Greetings from Germany and good luck!
