PLAY MAGAZINE (Russia), June 2026
MOVING PICTURES
Guitarist Gary Lucas shared his thoughts on cinema, life, and gods and monsters with Artem Lipatov
page 1 | page 2
Gary Lucas is a distinguished figure, even legendary. Whose biography could possibly include playing in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, writing songs for Joan Osborne, working with The Future Sounds of London? This could be explained by the musician's versatility, but it doesn't work out that way—Gary's own distinctive voice is so clearly evident in every work he collaborates on. The New York Times called him "the guitarist of a thousand ideas", and they were right—one look at Lucas's discography immediately reveals that only a strong and talented musician can resist being lost in so many works. Lucas is currently linked to our country by two events, both of which were facilitated by Andrey Borisov, head of the Exotica association. First, on July 21st, the 35MM club will host a screening of one of the masterpieces of silent cinema, the 1920 black-and-white film Golem (music was composed by Lucas — in fact, Gary will perform it live during the screening). Second, the new album by Lucas's band, Gods and Monsters, is being released by Exotica label — in Russia ahead of the rest of the world. This, in turn, is a good reason to connect with New York, where Mr. Lucas resides.Hello, Mr. Lucas? Tell me, how did the idea for scoring 'Golem' come about?
"As a kid, I absolutely loved old horror films and supernatural literature. 'Golem' was one of those films I'd read a lot about but never seen. Then in 1989, I received a commission from the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a project that involved music in conjunction with another artistic form, and I thought: what if I scored a silent film? Then I remembered 'Golem'. I saw it at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and I instantly fell in love with it." I invited my old friend Walter Horn, whom I've known since childhood—he's a composer and a wonderful keyboardist—and we performed the film's score live in 1989 at the Next Wave festival in New York... Since then, I've successfully presented this work in fifteen countries around the world—Walter has ongoing commitments that prevent him from traveling, so I'm now solely responsible for Golem. It's pure cinematic magic, with magnificent special effects, a fine example of expressionism. And, incidentally, a source of inspiration for Hollywood in the 1930s: the film's cinematographer, Karl Freund, emigrated to the States when Hitler came to power, and shot Dracula and The Mummy here! I read Meyrink's novel of the same name in the mid-1990s. I liked it, but it's a slightly different take on the myth—more of a psychological study of 19th-century Prague than the true story of Rabbi Yehuda ben Lev, who lived in the 16th century. The book is wonderful, but the Golem itself—the artificial clay creature that ben Lev created to protect the Jews—never appears in the novel!
What was the most challenging part of working on this music? And what's it like to play live 'to a film'?
"The hardest part was breaking the film into sections and extracting the different characters' motives from the overall framework. And playing 'to a film'... oh, it's pure ecstasy for me! I've played hundreds of such performances and never tire of it. I'm constantly improvising and feeling the spirit of the piano player, understanding how the player would always change his music based on spontaneous inspiration..."
The Magic Band's revival was a real surprise for Captain Beefheart fans. How did this happen? I doubt fans could have imagined the band without the Captain...
"It was all our drummer, John 'Drumbo' French, who started it all. He was convinced there was a need to bring the Captain's music back to people who have been deprived of it since Don Van Vliet—you know Beefheart's real name, right?—dedicated himself to painting in 1982." Well, how else could we do it except unite, even without the Captain? We needed to preserve the spirit of his presence, and that's precisely what prompted the many hours of rehearsals, re-learning the music we once played... The absence of a vocalist is somewhat compensated for by Drumbo singing, in a very Beefheart-esque way. He even sometimes takes to the front of the stage—for that occasion, we have a backup drummer. Of course, there are die-hard fans who don't like this idea, but no one has ever left our shows disappointed.
You've worked a lot in documentary filmmaking. What's so interesting about this genre for a musician?
I think my music is very visual, and I've also been madly in love with cinema in general—ever since I was a kid. I love film composers like Bernard Herrmann, who wrote the music for Hitchcock's Psycho, Nino Rota... I've played a lot of cover versions of film themes. Incidentally, my trio Gods and Monsters and I are playing a very sinister version of the theme from Psycho on our new album. I really like Prokofiev's music for Alexander Nevsky, Eduard Artemyev's music for Mikhalkov's Erga, and, of course, Tarkovsky's soundtracks are simply brilliant!
The list of your film works shows that they mostly deal with pressing issues—tolerance, terrorism... Aren't you one of those who prefer a blazing, blood-scented morning newspaper to an ivory tower? Or is an ivory tower far more befitting for an artist?
"No, of course, I closely follow world events. And I respond to what's happening, reacting emotionally... Sure, it's easy and pleasant to create in an ivory tower, but it can turn into a ghetto for an artist—that's what I'm trying to say. A balance between the real and the ideal is needed. Generally speaking, I don't follow musical trends, and I enjoy sticking to my roots, responding to what excites me, and being as authentic as possible in that response."
ADDITIONAL REVIEW
Gary Lucas & Gods And Monsters
...follow
Exotica Frontier/CD Land Records
2005
The Exotica Association has often pulled off tricks few others have managed. Such a trick was once the release of the debut album of the Volga project, which largely predetermined the development of one of the paths of Russian ethnic music. The release of an album by former Captain Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas and his band Gods And Monsters proved to be similar. The trio has been in existence since 1989; at the time of this album's release, the trio included, in addition to Lucas himself, bassist Ernie Brooks (ex-Modern Lovers) and drummer Jonathan Kane (ex-Swans and LaMonte Young's Forever Bad Blues Band).
...follow - almost the first record by Lucas that reached the domestic music lover - is distinguished, firstly, by the musician's amazing versatility, his ability to feel at home in almost roots blues, folk ballads (in this capacity, the instrumental version of Jeff Buckley's song Grace, written, incidentally, together with Lucas), a famous film theme (Psycho by Bernard Herrmann) - in fact, in practically any genre! This album is also great for the presence of at least two original covers (Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine" and Kraftwerk's "Autobahn"), and for the fact that, in addition to Lucas himself (who sings with great variety and conviction), the vocals feature David Johansen (New York Dolls), Richard Barone (The Bongos), Rolo McGinty (The Woodentops), Sascha von Oertzen (Notorische Reflexe), and the legendary French-Uruguayan Elli Medeiros (ex-The StinkyToys); all of them are a boon to the album. Overall, it's sad to think that this music might never have made it to us.
Lust for Life (Netherlands), March 2026
Gary Lucas on working with Jeff Buckley
Gary Lucas, who made a splash in the early 1980s as the guitarist for Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, has long since realized just how exceptionally talented the young Buckley is. "In the lead-up to that concert for Tim, I was rehearsing at St. Ann's Church with another vocalist," Lucas recalls. "Without realizing it, Jeff was watching us. He was sitting there on a chair, and when we finished and I was packing up, the boy came up to me. He stared at me intently; he had a very energetic vibe. I thought: this must be Jeff Buckley, because he looks like his father. 'Gary Lucas, I love your guitar playing,' he began. 'I've read about you in Guitar Player Magazine and I know your work with Captain Beefheart.'"Buckley suggested they jam together. "The very next day, we met in my apartment in New York," Lucas recalls. "I shoved my microphone his way—my God, what a voice! I handed him my guitar, but he shoved it back in my hands: 'No, you play.' At that point, he only wanted to be a lead singer, even though he was a really good guitarist. That worked out well, because working with the singer in my band, Gods And Monsters, was proving difficult. We'd been offered a contract with the major label Columbia, but I'd been wanting to work with a male vocalist for a while. I wanted us to sound a bit heavier, like Led Zeppelin. And when I met Jeff, he told me his three favorite bands were The Smiths, The Doors, and Led Zeppelin! We soon wrote our first song together: "Bluebird Blues."
Lucas couldn't believe his luck: he'd found the ideal singer for Gods And Monsters. And not only that, the two men also had a perfect rapport as songwriters. During this period, they wrote the songs "Mojo Pin" and "Grace," which, much later, formed the opening tracks of the only studio album Buckley saw released during his lifetime. Grace, released in 1994, is now a staple on lists of the best albums of the nineties—and often even of all time. "It was almost telepathic," Lucas says of the writing sessions. "In all, I wrote about thirteen songs with Jeff, all of which started with my guitar instrumentals. I'd give him recordings of them, he'd work on them for short or sometimes longer periods, and he'd come back with a good song, complete with a beautiful melody and lyrics. I never had to give him any pointers, except that one time when we were in the studio recording a Mojo Pin demo. 'More Robert Plant!' I'd shout, because I knew how much he loved Led Zeppelin and I wanted to get even more of that out of him. But he could have sung the phone book, as they say, and it would still have sounded amazing." Lucas later called Buckley his "greatest collaborator," even though he also worked with illustrious names like Captain Beefheart and Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator) during his long career.
The explosion of creativity from the two musicians couldn't have come at a better time for Lucas. "So, with Gods and Monsters, I had a contract with Columbia, but the person who signed us left for Polydor Records, and then we were thrown to the wolves. I'd worked as a copywriter at Sony for thirteen years, and I knew how ruthless the music business could be—it was a bit like that Pink Floyd song, Welcome to the Machine. Gods and Monsters also didn't have a manager, and we knew nothing about the business side, so after a while, Columbia let us go. And right around that time, Jeff came into my life. He wanted to be our new singer, and I felt good again. I'd written some of the guitar parts we were working on before we met—then I'd get an idea in a dream and record it in the middle of the night with a cassette recorder. I'd give those tapes to Jeff, and at the next meeting, he'd say, 'Okay, this song is called Grace.' And he'd start singing, 'There's the moon asking to stay...' One afternoon, I made a demo with a bassist and a drummer; Jeff wouldn't be joining until later. After a few hours, he walked into the studio to record his vocals. The lights were dimmed, I was in the control room, and he started singing. "Was I any good?" he asked afterward. "Jeff," I replied, "you're a star!" I walked out with the recordings and thought: I have an atomic bomb in my pocket! This music will shake the earth. And that proved to be true: Mojo Pin and Grace have stood the test of time.
That Buckley himself didn't seem to realize his immense talent at the time is perhaps hard to grasp all these years later. Lucas, however, offers an explanation for this modesty, whether false or not. "I think he secretly knew, but maybe he was embarrassed to be proud. As far as I know, he was often put down by his friends before. He came from a scene where people would just tell him, 'The only reason people are nice to you is because of your dead father.' That must have hurt him terribly. So when he met me and other people in New York, it was like night and day. Here, people told him how amazing he really was." For Lucas, his younger writing partner was sometimes difficult to fathom. "He could be very open, but he also had a quiet side—at those moments, he just kept looking at you with those wide eyes of his. Sometimes I thought he was very sad. But I also had a lot of fun with him." The guitarist digs into his memory and shares an anecdote to illustrate: "I have a lot of books in my apartment; I'm an avid reader. One time, when Jeff came over, he noticed a book about Kabbalah [a form of Jewish mysticism, ed.]. When Jeff saw it, he said to me, 'You know Jimi Hendrix was the Voodoo Child, right? You're the Kabbalah Child!' He could be really funny."
Unfortunately, the friendship between the two musicians was tested to the limit when Buckley decided to leave Gods and Monsters before the band even records. And not only that: it turns out he's signed with Columbia Records of all places to pursue a solo career. Lucas felt betrayed. "On Friday the 13th, 1992, we gave another concert at St. Ann's Church, a showcase for the Imago record label where we had a development deal. We played all our new songs, plus covers of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing" and Bob Dylan's "Dink's Song," after which we received a three-minute standing ovation. The next day, my wife and I listened to the recordings: we thought they sounded fantastic. Jeff sang beautifully that day. But the phone rang, and Jeff told me, 'I don't want to continue with it.' That was, of course, a huge blow. Even after that call, we continued to perform together—or he'd join me for one of my solo shows as a special guest. But at some point, he stopped calling me. I heard through the grapevine that he had a contract with Columbia, which, of course, also made me sad. But I don't want to dwell on that too much. He just did what he had to do".
A year later, completely out of the blue, Lucas received another call from his former bandmate. "At that point, I could have yelled, "You bastard," and hung up the phone. But I remained friendly, and he told me he wanted to record two of the songs we'd written together for his solo album. "And I want you to play on it," he added. I was naturally thrilled to hear that, and at the Bearsville recording session, it was all very friendly. Jeff sent me some early mixes of his album. I have to admit, I liked those early versions better than the final mixes on Grace. But it was a beautiful album nonetheless, and I thought the strings on the title track were a great addition".
While the EP Live At Sin-é a year earlier already showcased Buckley's immense appeal in an intimate solo setting, Grace truly reveals Columbia's multifaceted talent. From Zeppelin-esque rock and the popular Leonard Cohen cover "Hallelujah" to a jazz standard (Lilac Wine) and a stunningly sung hymn (Corpus Christi Carol): rarely has a debuting musician gained such artistic freedom with a major label, and rarely has a pop artist transitioned so seemingly effortlessly between widely divergent genres. Lucas is duly credited as co-writer of the title song and the opening track, "Mojo Pin." And Buckley thanks him for "magicalguitarness." "A few years ago, Rolling Stone included Grace among the 500 best songs ever made, which was quite an honor," Lucas says proudly. "If you listen to the album, you'll notice that the first two songs sound completely different from the rest. That's because I wrote that music, in a style that's characteristic of me."
In the period after Grace, Buckley once again turned to his old writing partner for material to record for the follow-up album that never materialized. Lucas: "Grace was what we call a 'slow burner.' The album only really became popular after Jeff's death, sad as it was. Grace had already achieved gold status in France and Australia, but that didn't matter much. The label was hoping for a hit. When Jeff was preparing his next album, he asked me for more music. I think I sent him four instrumentals, but I don't know if he actually worked on them or if any of them survived. It's something I deeply regretted after Jeff's death: what great songs could have been written."
"The last time I saw him was at a private party," Lucas continues. "He asked me on stage, we played Grace, and the reaction was euphoric. At that moment, I thought: I really still love this man, despite our ups and downs. And I was convinced we would work together again. That was a really good feeling. That's why I was so sad when I heard he was gone. I just couldn't believe it."
What remains of the collaboration between Buckley and Lucas, besides those first two songs on Grace, are their recordings from the early nineties. Some were released in 2002 on the compilation Songs To No One 1991-1992. "But there are still five songs we wrote together that still haven't been released officially," Lucas adds. "They're really good. Of the thirteen songs we composed together, some are even as good as Grace. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to record studio versions of them. The only thing we have are demos and that concert at St. Ann's Church I mentioned earlier. Those recordings were supposed to be released, but the estate canceled it at the last minute".
Since Buckley's passing, Lucas has regularly paid tribute to his much-missed friend, for example, during solo performances. "Even when he was alive, I was already putting in a good word for him," nods the now 73-year-old guitarist. "There probably wasn't a show that went by where I didn't talk about Jeff. After all, I'm proud of my friend. Early in my career, I often joked that my tombstone would probably say 'Gary Lucas, ex-Captain Beefheart.' After working with Jeff, that changed to 'Gary Lucas, ex-Captain Beefheart/Jeff Buckley.' It's quite possible."
Lucas says he's always a little anxious looking back on his time with Buckley, because it's a sad story with, as mentioned, many ups and downs in his relationship with the singer. He described the negative aspects in detail in his book Touched By Grace: My Time With Jeff Buckley (2013). "Now I just want to remember the good times," Lucas says lovingly. "He was amazing. A talent like Jeff Buckley doesn't come around very often—at most once every 25 years."
For It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, Lucas—to his disappointment—wasn't interviewed, and his role in the now-legendary singer's story remains underexposed in the documentary. "But I'm glad this new documentary about him has come out, even though I wasn't asked to be in it," he adds immediately. "All the attention for Jeff is a beautiful thing in my opinion. His story and his romantic aspects appeal to young people, because he was such a great singer and a beautiful boy. The fact that he suffered that tragic accident has frozen him in time, in a sense, and his legend has only grown over the years. Every day I still get fan mail from people I don't know, thanking me for writing a particular song. For them, it's a living oeuvre, a legacy that any writer or artist can only dream of.”