INTERVIEW DECEMBER 2015 Q: So, Donnie, I understand you are working on a new album?? Donnie: Yes. It's called "1969: A World Without Windows". Q: Tell us more. Donnie: Well it is a concept album as a retrospective on the decade of the 1960s. The subtitle "A World Without Windows" is intended as a metaphor as windows representing perspective and viewpoints to identify how things have changed from the 1960s to the 21st Century. But the subtitle is also referring to Microsoft Windows to represent high technology and how our world has changed under the influence of technology and especially what it was like before the modern personal computer and computer-based technologies. The first two "Austin Powers" movies identified some of these changes although mainly from a humorous perspective and that was completely valid but in this album I am not seeking to use humor or to make judgments. I am hoping to simply identify how different things are. Q: Can you give some examples? Donnie: Sure. The first track I completed is called "The Smell Of The Sixties". The sense of smell is a sense that provokes Studio as the smell reminds us of a time or place so when I think of the smells of the Sixties, there are three primary smells that come to mind. 1. The smell of patch AKA pachuli. It is interesting as some pronounce it as patch-a-louie while others pronounce it as patch-choo-lee. It must be a regional "thing". Patch was the scent of hippies. I recall visiting "head shops" (places where hippy paraphernalia was sold) and them wreaking heavily of patch. Many of my friends wore patch especially when they attended a concert and oftentimes beads or headbands to go with it. Patch was not a subtle scent. 2. The smell of marijuana, which almost always reminds me of a rock concert as that was the place where one was sure to smell it and the one place marijuana could be used freely -- as it would be virtually impossible to arrest hundreds or even thousands in a single setting -- espeically one that was in favor of the use of marijuana. 3. The smell of napalm. We all know the famous quote from the movie "Apacolypse Now" of "I love the smell of napalm in the morning..." Of course, the Viet Nam war and the protest against the war are major themes of the 1960s -- which, of course, had a huge impact on popular music and culture. Another track is called "Mystery Maker". The "Mystery Maker" of the song symbolizes the military recruiter -- as one who attempts to set and predict the future of a perspective candidate. So in this case of the 1960s, it is recruiter for the Viet Nam war. I tried to express some of the mixed feelings one might have. On the one hand a desire to serve one's country and be a hero to the local community but then on the other hand, possibly objective to war in general or, at least, objective specifically to the U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. I was not seeking to take a position either in favor or against the war per se but recall the mixed feelings that existed then concerning that war and war and military violence in general. Musically it is probably more akin to the 1970s and 1980s than the 1960s but the album title is intended to act as a springboard of ideas and not as a restriction or an imposition.  Yet another track is called "Obsession". To act as a catalyst for this album I downloaded the top 1000 songs of the 1960s as the top 100 songs chartwise for each of the ten years. I noted songs that presented different attitudes than we are likely to encounter in the modern age. For example there was a big mid-1960s hit called "Hurt So Bad". In the modern age rather than merely bemoaning the pain, the author may have proposed anti-depressants or some other form of medication to aid the "sufferer" in dealing with the emotional pain that "hurt so bad". I also note that back in the 1960s there was in many ways less judgment -- less telling the audience if something was good or bad -- leaving it up to the audience to make up their own minds -- which I think is a good thing. There was more just stating something as is. So I wrote this song "Obsession" as the feelings of obsession while omitting that obsession oftentimes may be a bad thing.  I wrote another song called "Train To Freedom" and it is inspired by the political movement for social justice and against racism which took place in the 1960s. Both the lyrics and the style is reminscent of the Gospel flavored call to get involved in bring about social change as the metaphor of getting on board a train. Q: So when will this album be complete and available to the public? Donnie: Well there is no specified release date but I expect that it will take close to a year so probably at the end of 2016.