As
many of you already know, Suzanne Bodoin is the person most responsible for the
comprehensive web site entitled "The Tim Buckley Archives". She was
kind enough to indulge my curiosity - and I'm sure the curiosity of many others
- by granting me a short interview via email exchanges - Jack Brolly I
thank you Suzanne for allowing me the opportunity to ask you these questions.
I hope I come up with one or two that you've never been asked before? So if you
don't mind, I'd like to start at the beginning.
Where were you born and where did you grow up as a teenager? I
was born in Boston, Massachussetts and grew up in Sudbury, Massachussetts.
You don't have to answer this one, but when were you born? January
5, 1973.
How long have you been using a pc? I
have had my own pc(s) since 1994; before that I would use the ones at school.
Of
course, you have to be aware that just about everyone loves the Tim Buckley Archives.
Did you compile all that information yourself? I
input about 90% of the articles and lyrics, 60% of the photos, and just about
everything else but the tabs and the front page title - which was kindly created
for me by Taylor Buckley’s wife Susanna. Whatever
possessed you to take on such an in-depth project to begin with? I'm guessing
here, but did the Archives evolve from some kind of a college assignment? I
could write a book about this! The page originally evolved from Carol Mariconda’s
(the original list manager of the Jeff Buckley mailing list, who unfortunately
had some personal problems in late 1995) Tim Buckley page, although I contributed
most of the material being an insomniac college student. I credit her with seriously
introducing me to Tim and getting me to deeply appreciate his music. When
she gave up the list and I took over, she also gave up the page although it was
passed on to Johnny Walker Black - or whatever he goes by. You might recognize
his name as he is a frequent contributor to online music magazines - especially
Addicted to Noise. However, he was completing his PhD at the Univesity of
Toronto so after about six6 months he gave it to me, and I’ve had it ever
since.
How long did it take to gather all that information and transcribe all those
articles? I'm assuming that you didn't use a document scanner at that time. Forever!
Literally years, and that was when I was being really ambitious and had a lot
of time to spend on the page. I worked intensively on the page from summer/fall
1995 to spring 1997, since then it’s been only bits and pieces - particularly
because I’ve pretty much run out of material.
I started typing things up and posting them to the Tim mailing list because I’m
a documentation nut and I believe that you can find out an awful lot about a person
through their interviews and other kinds of articles - this used to be cause for
great debate on the Tim list. Then Carol would put them up on the page. In 1997,
I tried scanning some stuff from the scrapbooks but it came out really terrible
and I just found it easier to type it all in.
When did you start your research and when was the web site finally ready? I
can remember going to the Boston Public Library on weekends and hunting through
the microfiche and old back issues for articles. My memory is really hazy about
exactly when Carol started the page – I joined the JB mailing list in Jan/Feb
1995 and the Tim page & list must have been started sometime in spring/summer
and that’s when I got involved. Then I hit a goldmine with the scrapbooks
which Paul Rhodes so wonderfully told me about. Without those, my life would’ve
been much more difficult. "
I wanted to give an as in-depth view of Tim as I could – make him more 3D
as a person and an artist. I named it 'Archives' because I thought that would
be a good description of the page, and it’s why it isn’t a very chatty
or interactive page..." |
When did you first become aware of Tim Buckley's music? In
1995, so I’m a latecomer. I have to admit, I was a Jeff fan first because
I found out about him first and then was told about Tim. I was completely mindboggled
when I first heard Tim because I couldn’t believe both he and Jeff were that
good. How many other father & sons have there been that have been so incredibly
talented in their own way?!
Has the effort that you put into the Archives been rewarded at all? Monetarily,
not much, although I figured out how to do Cosmic Credit at CDNow and I think
I’ve made about $50 in credit in the past year or so. I think it’s actually
costing me money because I have to pay for the Yale server each year. I
used to get incredible emails though from people who knew him or liked him and
were able to find out more about him through my page. The Buckley’s have
also expressed their appreciation, and even more importantly, have given me permission
for the page. A
major reward that would mean much more to me than money would be to finally get
a copy of the Tim Tribute Concert. I've been trying to get a copy of it for many
years but every time I've made a deal with someone, it's always fallen through.
It used to be known as the Holy Grail, although it doesn't seem to be as hard
to find as before.
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