酥皮炸鸡

一个维果莫滕森的采访，关于他和桶的合作。

食用愉快。

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To the world at large Viggo Mortensen is known because of the various characters he's portrayed in films like A Perfect Murder, G.I.Jane, and of course the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yet Mortensen is one of those celluloid thespians who spends much of his spare time between films working on other artistic endeavors. Not only is he an accomplished photographer and poet, but he's also dipped into the realm of music. To date he's collaborated several times with the outlandishly bizarre experimental guitarist Buckethead.

对于多数人来说，Viggo Mortensen的知名度来自于他演绎的角色，比如他出演的电影《超完美谋杀案》，《魔鬼女大兵》，当然还有《魔戒》三部曲。除此之外，这位演员在闲暇之余也参与其他艺术创作。他不仅是个有名的摄影师兼诗人，他也在音乐领域有所建树。至今他已经和一位怪异的实验吉他手Buckethead合作了好几次。

Ask Mortensen about his Buckethead connection and he'll calmly inquire "Do you know him? Have you seen him play?" Say that you have (truth is, I actually have seen Buckethead perform several times with the likes of Praxis, Painkiller, and The Deli Creeps, not to mention that once I even caught a glimpse of him sans his trademark KFC bucket and white kabuki mask) and Mortensen's face will light up, excited that he's not the only one hip to the six-string slaughtering of Buckethead.

如果你向Mortensen问起Buckethead，他会礼貌地问你：“你知道他吗？你看过他的演出吗？”如果你回答是的（没错，我真的看过Buckethead参与的Praxis, Painkiller还有the Deli Creeps的乐队演出，而且我还曾经一瞥他面具之下的真容），Mortensen会很开心有人也是这位速弹吉他手的粉丝。

Interestingly enough, several recent interviews, like one in Vanity Fair, for example, have mentioned Mortensen's alliance with the guitarist, though most of them have incorrectly referred to him as a Japanese guitarist. Mortensen laughs at this oversight. "He said 'Man I'm so happy you told 'em I was Japanese. I love that!' I mean [to the world at large] he's just a guy with a mask. And also he likes Japanese culture. He said 'That's so genius.' I don't remember saying that he was Japanese, though. I might have said that he has an underground following in Japan, but now it's been repeated in other interviews. So now he's this Japanese [guitarist]. People think that's cool, I've got a Japanese guitar player I work with. But I'm not gonna correct it. Let's just say that he was raised by Japanese chickens." Mortensen'svoice trails off in laughter at the mundane nature of it all.

有趣的是，近期的好几个采访（比如《名利场》杂志）都提到了Mortensen和这位吉他手的合作，但不少都错误地说这位吉他手是日本人。Mortensen觉得很好笑。 “他说，‘天啊我真高兴你说我来自日本！我好喜欢！’我是说，大部分人都认为他只是个戴面具的人，而他也的确很喜欢日本。他说，‘真是太棒啦！’我其实不记得我说过他是日本人，我可能说的是他在日本小有名气，但现在这个说法已经传出去了，那么他就是个日本吉他手了【酥皮：噗】。人们认为我和一个日本吉他手合作很酷，但我也懒得纠正了。也许他是被日本品种的鸡养大的呢。”Mortensen也为这个滑稽的说法笑了起来。

Regardless of Buckethead's origins, one thing is true. Despite the fact that he's part of Axl Rose's re-formed G-N-R band, to the average Joe on the street he is pretty much an underground, cult musical figure. A tall, lanky underground, cult musical figure who wears KFC buckets on his head and hides his face behind a porcelain kabuki mask. "He's very pure, as a person and as a musician, at least in my experiences with him. I know that's the reason I like working with him," explains Mortensen. To date the two have collaborated on several recordings that Mortensen released through his publishing company, Perceval Press. Albums with titles like The Other Parade, One Less Thing To Worry About, and One Man's Meat. Many of these are now long out of print. The duo recently released Pandemoniumfromamerica, which also features turns from Mortensen's LotR chumlies Elijah Wood, BillyBoyd, and Dominic Monaghan.

不论Buckethead的国籍，有件事是真的。除去他是Axl Rose重组的GnR乐队的一员之外，他只是一个地下音乐人，鲜有人听闻。一个瘦高个的地下音乐人的形象，头上戴着一个肯德基的纸桶，脸上戴着一个瓷白色的歌舞伎面具。 “他很纯粹，无论是作为一个人还是作为音乐家，至少从我的的经历来说是这样的。这也是我喜欢与他合作的原因。”Mortensen解释道。他们合作的专辑已经通过Mortensen名下的厂牌Perceval Press发行，比如《The Other Parade》，《One Less Thing to Worry About》，还有《One Man’s Meat》，许多已经绝版。他们最近又发行了一张《Pandemoniumfromamerica》，而《魔戒》的其他演员Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd和Dominic Monaghan也参与了制作。

"The reason I think he has a good time when we're in the studio coming up with stuff is because I don't try to make him fit into repeating  anything he's done and I don't try to make him fit a certain mold," Mortensen continues in regards to how the two of them interact in the studio. " From piece to piece that we work on, I don't have a set way that I do it, so I allow him to do whatever he wants to a degree, too. I mean we would never put anything out or call it a 'final mix' of any kind if he wasn't completely happy with it. But he also feels safe to experiment and do whatever, you know, mess up. Though I don't think he ever messes up, he's so amazing. It just makes him have more fun when he doesn't feel like I'm trying to steer him [in a certain direction]. I mean [when working with me] he doesn'thave to fit into a style of a band, he can just be himself and be appreciated for being himself. And I like working with him, too. He just inspires me and I feel like I can try different things, too or even suggest stuff. Another guitar player might be kind of touchy if a person who is not really a musician in the way they are says 'Well, I know it sounds weird, but what do you think about trying the thing in this style or playing a lot slower or faster in this one section? I don't know, it's just a thought.' Or even the terminology, I might not use the proper term, but he'll know exactly what I mean and it's like no big deal. I mean there's a good back and forth [between us] and it's a safe place to experiment. And what comes out of that is some interesting stuff. I think people have enjoyed it to some degree. I mean we do. We're working up something now that's gonna be one long piece in several movements. He's great. I'm so glad that in my life that I've gotten to know him a little and work with him. He's one of the most original, genuine, most sincere, and most gifted individuals I've met in my life. He's incredible."

“我认为他乐在其中，因为我不会强迫他重复他已经做过的事情，或者让他照着一个模板做。”Mortensen解释着他们在录音室的合作过程。 “我们一点点做起，我自己没有一个固定的方法，所以我也给他很大的自由。如果他觉得不好，我们绝不会说这是个‘最后成品’。他也可以尽情实验，或者说胡闹。我不认为他会真的搞砸，他真的很棒。我不会试着掌控他，这样他会更放松。他不需要考虑乐队的风格或是其他事情，他可以开开心心地做他自己。我喜欢与他合作，他给我带来很多灵感，让我能尝试不同的东西，而且允许我提建议。有些吉他手可能不大喜欢一个非专业的音乐人说‘这个听起来有些不对，不如我们尝试下其他的风格，在这一段弹慢一些或者快一些’；或是一些专业名词，我不一定知道叫什么，但他明白我的意思，也不认为这有什么问题。我们之间交流很通畅，可以自由发挥，而成品也非常有意思。有些人觉得不错，我们自己也很喜欢。现在我们还在合作，也许会是个不小的工程。他很棒，我很高兴我能认识他并且能一起工作。他是我见过的，最独特、诚恳、真挚，也是最具才华的人之一。太不可思议了。”

Given their seemingly disparate background (Mortensen beingan actor, Buckethead being a cult musician), one can't help but wonder how they actually managed to connect.

他们毫无联系的背景（Mortensen是个演员，而Buckethead是个地下音乐人），让人非常好奇他们是怎么认识的。

"It was just sort of coincidence really, or what we call coincidence," Mortensen begins. "Dove Audio--they do sort of educational CDs--had heard that I did spoken word sometimes and had recorded some stuff. They approached me asking 'Would you consider writing a piece for us? We're doing a recording of Greek myths. Can you do one?' So I made a recording and added some sounds that seemed appropriate, you know water sounds. Then I sent the rough mix of that to them. And then when I heard the final result it had a guitar part on it that was really beautiful. I asked them 'Who's that?' And they said 'Oh, it's this guy Buckethead.' I had never heard of him. So they sent me some of his stuff and I listened to it and thought 'This is incredible.' Anyway he moved to California and so I called him up and asked him if he wanted to try to record something else like that. So we did a few things, then we did a few things more, and then we did a lot more. We have hours of stuff that we haven't used that we'll probably put together sometime. The last couple of records, he and I have been the core of it. The Other Parade and then there's a new one called Pandemoniuminamerica. It's fun and it's a really good experience. Being in the studio with him and just spending a day at work, I walk out of there always feeling a little lighter, all my problems and responsibilities just feel a little less daunting somehow. It's like going for a nice walk in the woods. You just feel a little more able to deal with thing 'cause you know that you've used your time well and gotten something special out of the day. I feel that working in the studio and in particular working with him."

“有点像个意外，或者说是个巧合。”Mortensen说道， “Dove Audio，一个做教育相关CD的厂牌，知道我录过一些作品。他们联系了我，问‘你要不要考虑给我们写点东西？我们在做一个希腊神话相关的作品，你有兴趣吗？’于是我录了一小段，加了一些声效，像是流水声之类的东西，然后把一个大致的混音寄了出去。后来我听到了成品，里面有一段吉他美丽极了。我问他们‘这是谁？’他们回答‘一个叫Buckethead的家伙’。我当时从没听说过这个人，于是厂牌的人给我寄了一些他的作品，我听了之后觉得太棒了。当他搬到加州之后【酥皮：啊哈？可是桶一直都在加州啊？？？】我联系了他，问他想不想一起做一些类似的作品。我们合作了一小段，然后又一小段，就慢慢积累了下来。我们还有许多没有发行的素材，也许以后会用上。最近的几张录音作品就是以我们两个为核心的了，比如《TheOther Parade》和《Pandemoniuminamerica》，过程很有趣。每次我和他在录音室里工作了一整天之后，我总会觉得十分愉快，所有的问题和责任都不再那么让人气馁。就像是在森林里散步一样，总能让你再次有动力，因为这是一段非常特别的时光。在录音室里工作总是让我有这种感觉，而与他合作的时刻更是如此。”