Blinking On Out
Handling Images and Holding on to Innocence with Singer / Songwriter Joe
Webber
By
Jeffrey W. Ackler
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Singer/Songwriter
Joe Webber. photo detail, www.gomoho.com |
"I always write the lyrics second…I try to fit the mood."
Joe Webber reclines in a dilapidated office chair in the basement of
his south Philadelphia home where the air is heavy and warm on an
unusually balmy March evening. He seems relaxed. However, the sweat
soaking his red t-shirt reveals his exhaustion. I am here to compose a
segment of a book on the artist, record our conversation, ask Webber
about songs he wrote five years ago. Webber's mind is still mulling over
riffs and rhythms written minutes before my arrival.
"Sometimes I have to record a song and play it over and over
again until I find out exactly what it is that I want to do with
it," Webber says.
Webber sings and plays fierce guitar for Motumbo's Hospital and puts
aside his Gibson to front North Star Infinite. Webber discusses the song
writing process with a reserved manner, his boyish cheeks glow warmly,
masking the uneasiness below the surface.
"It brings, like, images. That's what it is all about--- just
all these things flashing and coming at you,"
The Lenten season brought forty days of hard work for this Catholic
boy born in Drexel Hill. After playing five shows in March at venues
including Doc Watson's, Abilene's, and The Mill Creek Tavern, Joe
traveled to Ithaca with NSI to play The See Spot Art Gallery. April
provided no lenience to his hectic schedule. NSI played Doc Watson's on
April 8, his appearance followed a week later by a MoHo show at the same
venue. NSI regroups to play The Barn Door in Wilmington April 17 and
finishes the month at the Pontiac Grille on April 30.
Wisps of brown hair rest on Webber's moist forehead. He is surrounded
by recording equipment, amplifiers and instruments entombed in his
foam-lined basement. He offers comfort with a smile creeping around his
cheeks and reaching up to his pale blue eyes; his hand gestures display
what his wide eyes do not. The tumultuous creative process manifests in
the imagery of "Tomato Man" from NSI's 2003 EP "Ghosts
that Hide in the Walls":
"Blood from the sky And lightning storms Ancient marksmen
Testing their aim, I'll explain A man is staring the sun down Burns out
his eyes just to prove That no god could strike him blind-eyed."
I have been following Webber since I saw his band M87 win a battle of
the bands at St. Joseph's University in 1999. I think he is the most
charismatic person I know, but he would not agree. Webber cannot hear
the compliments over the revving of his interior engine. Writing and
singing for two bands--- plus composing solo music and working full time
as a case manager for developmentally disabled adults at The MBF Center
in Norristown, Webber's engine runs at the red line and he translates
the fervor into the up-tempo, caustic rock music he creates. The build
of "Tomato Man," communicates the momentum as the rising
volume and rhythm reach catharsis, describing a star "blinking on
out".
"It's supposed to conjure the idea of something you can't
explain…the idea of ancient man looking at a lightning storm and
thinking it's the gods… ancient marksmen thinking the [lightning
storms] are the gods fighting one another and I'm standing on the earth
saying, 'Come on. Come and get me.'"
Abstract imagery is not the basis for all of his lyrics. The piece
"Frightened / Numb" from Motumbo's Hospital's 2003 CD
"Sharks & Anglers" deals with a familiar situation for
Webber - a counselor attempting to communicate with a child.
"We sit and stare at the wall He draws me pictures of all his
brothers that Died in the fire in fall."
Webber works as a Case Manager in MBF's business skills training
program, helping developmentally disabled people receive the education
necessary to function more independently. He meets with his clients to
evaluate their progress and assesses new students for placement.
Motumbo's Hospital plays two songs about disabled people. It is clear
that the emotional value of his day job inspires his music. If his music
became his primary source of income, could he sufficiently supplant the
emotional value wrought by his day job with something inspirationally as
valuable?
"That's a scary thought. I would hope to think that I'm going to
have things in my life that are going to drive me to write about
them."
I hope to think that, too, Joe.
For more about Joe Webber, visit www.gomoho.com
and www.northstarinfinite.com
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