Bill Mumy has just released on the Global Recording Artists label a new solo album, Illuminations
Harvey Kubernik talked to him for Cave Hollywood.

Q: Although you’ve released close to a dozen solo albums, the new Illuminations is sort of a continuation of your last three albums in terms of the musical format. Can you elaborate? 

A: I don’t consciously decide on a style or any specific type of songwriting arena to work in when I record. I usually wait until several new songs start coming to me, and they tend to come in bunches. What I do decide to do is use a sonic palette, when I feel like I’m working on an album; a core handfull of guitars, amps, etc… a specific amount of reverb and room ambience, to give a cohesive feel to each project. The last several albums, although they’re each very different to me, do share similar tones in terms of instruments, mics, and amps.

Q: Can you discuss each track on the new album.

A:Illuminations as an album is more of a reporting type songwriting, thoughts on what is seen and known, and thoughts on things that are unseen and generally unknown.

Q:  MAN WITH A GUN: 

A: In wake of all the insane shootings over the last few years in the USA, this song had to be written. It looks at multiple perspectives on the subject. 

Q: SURE OF NOTHING: 

A: The older I get, the less I feel I know about the real truths of reality. This is about that in Drop D tuning.

Q: THE ONE WHO SLIPPED AWAY: 

A: It’s my attempt at a Fogerty-Creedance type song. Love that swampy groove. Whether it’s a lover, a car, a memory or a dream, things do indeed slip away.

Q: NOTHING YOU OR I CAN DO ABOUT IT: 

>A: It’s really about the Illuminati, Secret societies, Nazi’s who escaped justice, Vatican “rat lines”, Government lies, it’s a conspiracy movie-song… written around a banjo riff played on my 1962 Vega Pete Seeger long neck banjo.

Q: ONE MORE LITTLE KISS: 

A: A rockin’ Bo Diddly beat… lots of guitars on this track… a retro groove… a turbo horny song… the guy is begging… with a cool leather jacket on.

Q: YOU IN THE LIGHT ME IN THE DARK: 

A: This is a love song to my wife Eileen. She is a very good person who does bring light to things and sees the good. I am a darker cat who sees the shadows in the shade. In slack key open C tuning on my old “Redwood guitar”, a well worn 1968 Martin D-28, I’ve owned for 45 years.

Q: WHAT I GOT: 

A: This was the very first song I wrote that started the process of making this album, and at the time I thought it was a toss off, just a warm up ditty… but it grew on me. There’s Brian Wilson influences in the track. I like the groove. One of two ukulele songs on the album. It’s a happy feel good song, and I don’t write a lot of ’em. The video by Kevin Davis came out really well I think.

Q: FOOLS GOLD: 

A: Another political number. We all fell for fool’s gold. It’s true. Our history is pretty heinous. (may not be as heinous as some others, but nonetheless…) Slavery, genocide and greed. Don’t buy into the bullshit.

Q: CONSEQUENCES:

A: This started out as a totally different song, a reggae tune I’d written a couple years ago actually, with the same chorus, “when you need a change, make a change”… I re-wrote the lyric and verses and re-arranged it. The chorus wanted me to find it a new home! It’s the story of a lover going off to war and his partner telling him what she thinks he wants to hear

Q: WINDING DOWN

A: Another love song to Eileen. We’re not getting any younger. We’re winding down. Together. Another slack key open C tuning, capo’d at the 4th fret.

Q: PULLING AN EMPYT WAGON: 

A: It’s about JFK. To me, the country has been pulling an empty wagon since his murder.

Q: THINK NOTHING OF IT: 

A: I wrote and recorded a demo of this song in the middle of the night on an ambien sleeping pill! Didn’t even remember doing it the next day! Re-recorded it and closed the album with it. Well, it’s about love and mortality, isn’t it? It’s a guy who knows accomplishments and success are bullshit, yet… he wants to be remembered and he wants to go out with love in his heart. I guess it’s me.

Q: So you write the music first and add words. Or is it different for every song? The Mumy songwriting process. 

A: It varies, but I generally write SOME lyrics first. I need to have something to write about. But a few started with the music… You in the Light, Me in the Dark was music first, the rest started with lyrics.

Q: So you write on guitar or piano? 

A: Usually guitar. Think Nothing Of it, Pulling An Empty Wagon and the verses and bridge to Consequences were piano compositions.

Q: Do you have any theories or philosophy about sequencing? How do you arrive and know the tracks should be in this order?

A: I wrote and recorded about 20 new songs and then weeded out the ones that didn’t seem to “fit” comfortably alongside the others… I have a lot of “orphan” songs in the can! Then I live with the mixes, and put them in many different sequences and drive around and listen to them until it all feels right to me or until I’m so sick of ’em I can’t hear ’em anymore! There is ALWAYS a scramble to REMIX and resequence or ADD that LAST “brand new” song that just pops out at the last minute! I wrote and recorded “Man With A Gun” after I thought I’d finished the album, and it ended up opening it… and I remixed “Consequences” after the package was done. It is a bit tough being objective when you’re doing it all by yourself. I share some of the tunes with friends whose musical opinions I respect, like Gerry Beckley. He and a few others will listen to stuff and give me suggestions as I follow the process through to completion.

Q: Talk a bit about how easy or how hard self-producing an album is. I know you play all the instruments. Do you spend a lot of time in mixing? In your acting life it was a much bigger team collaboration.

A: Well, I LOVE playing with other musicians, I miss being in a real band. But, I also LOVE playing instruments and the songs usually tell me how they want to sound. I’m very impulsive. I do not want to SIT on the muse. When I write a new song, I want to record it and follow that immediate energy. Sometimes I end up re-recording songs several times, sometimes the first approach is the best. I have a nice home studio. Everything is mic’d and ready to go with absolutely zero waiting time… the creative process is a real high for me. I really love the feeling of writing, then laying down a guitar and a rough vocal, then the drums, then the bass, then more guitars, keyboards, banjo, whatever… then getting the vocal and harmony down… Mixing does indeed take a long time, cuz of course you want it to SOUND great! Then living with it… and then getting away from it… and then hearing it again with hopefully objective ears… it’s a process. Illuminations took almost two years. And… the concept of making a solo album… it’s kinda cool to REALLY make a solo album. This is indeed that. And of course, working on a television show or a film is a huge collaborative process. Everyone from the guy who holds the boom mic to the prop man has to groove together to make it good. That’s like being a part of a huge big band!

Q: What is one or two of the best characteristics Lumania Studios has that inform your recordings? 

A: It’s always ready. It’s full of great instruments. And I know how to drive it.

Q: You’ve posted two videos for the album that are available. Who is  the producer Melody McGuinn and the back story of the first two videos. And you are also doing two more. 

A: I met Melody McGinn through her enjoyment of Barnes and Barnes’ work. She’s in to outsider stuff. I saw a video she made and suggested we might work together. She’s in Florida, I’m in LA. “Nothing You Or I Can Do About It” seemed like a song she might be inspired to visualize. We outlined it together, then Eileen and I shot my performance bits on a greenscreen and sent it to her… she worked hard on it. We tweaked it together, then she got it all edited and I think she did a real good job. I dig it. I think it’s “disturbing creepy beauty”. She co-stars in it.

I had worked with film maker Kevin Davis on the “I Owe A Little Money” video from my last album, “Until the Big Bang Whimpers”. He has a background as an animator, and is a UCLA film student graduate. He’s full of great ideas. The, “What I Got” video, which is a psychedelic homage to “The African Queen”, was all his concept. He’s great. Kevin’s working on a video of “Man With A Gun” right now. I very much enjoy working with him and hope we can continue the collaborations.
Karl Anderson and I are going to be making a video of “Pulling An Empty Wagon” together. This is the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. So…

Q: Do you like the music video arena? Ever feel it limits the imagination of the listener and viewer to paint their own mind pictures? Or is it a vehicle for you to give us some sort of clue.

A: I dig music videos. I think the Barnes and Barnes videos we made back in the 80’s were pretty groundbreaking and of course, I’m no stranger to film work. Rolling Stone named “Fish Heads” # 57 on the top 100 music videos of all time. The bottom line is, I want to REACH people. I want people to hear my music. I’m not driving around the world in a Buick playing funky club gigs, and I’m not being asked to be the opening act for Neil Young’s next tour, so… I think that by making videos… creative videos… more people will be exposed to, and hopefully want to delve deeper into my music. Yes, a video can limit the “mind picture” of someone who listens to the song and doesn’t experience the direction of the video… but, I’ll take that chance. The goal is to get people to hear the music.

Q: You’ve been around the music video world for decades. Your Barnes & Barnes video and recording still remains a classic. please revisit it for me. Just a general genesis of the journey and a couple of anecdotes. This was a situation where a song broke off Dr. Demento’s radio show. A video was done, and it took on a life. But in some ways, you are someone who came out of film, TV, and knew something about the medium. 

A: Right song. Right time. Right friends. Fish Heads continues to make people happy and to make me money. Bill Paxton, Rocky Schenck, Joanie Farber, me and Robert Haimer… we worked hard on those videos. Actually, they were all films. Shot on a hand cranked Bolex 16mm camera and some super 8mm too. It was the dawn of MTV, and Fish Heads had run on Sat. Nite Live, thanks to Billy Paxton being tenacious and talented. We had a blast. Those were great times.

Q: Unless I am wrong, you don’t have many songs that deal with acting or movie sets of your life. Is this is conscientious decision to keep these two worlds apart?

A: I have a few. No, there’s no conscious decision ever not to write about something. If it inspires me. I don’t censor my subject matter. But I also don’t want to look pathetic, like I’m cashing in on the old TV Boy. But, “The Ballad of William Robinson” is a genuine folk song from my first album. “Lost in Babylon” and “Stronger than Gravity” are songs about Babylon 5 and Lost in Space… The Jenerators first album has a song I wrote when I was 21 called “Grown Up Child Star”… I haven’t really shy’d away from the subject.

Q: Also, like the Beatles, you do have tunes with love themes and positive energy. Is that by design? 

A: It’s not easy for me to write “happy” songs. It’s easier for me to write from frustration, or a historical p.o.v., or from longing. I wish I DID write more happy songs. But only if they were good ones. “What I Got” is a real happy song. I’d rather listen to “…he blew his mind out in a car…” than, “… oh, Yoko, my love will turn you on…” That’s just the way I roll, Harvey.

Q: What are your feelings about social media?

A: It’s here to stay. Gotta join the modern scene if you wanna play the game. I enjoy Facebook. Kinda. I suppose one of these days I’ll start Tweeting… but I haven’t yet.

Q: And, as someone who was a child star on TV, the climate of worship and paparazzi is ten times as gnarly as you ever had it. On a funny level didn’t you and Angela Cartwright sometimes wear your “Lost in Space” costumes to the shopping center near 20th Century Fox? 

A: I had lunch with Ange today. Yeah, we did. We had an hour for lunch and sometimes we’d leave in wardrobe and we’d go off the 20th Century Fox lot with our mothers and go to Century City or someplace really close. And you know what? We were never bugged once! The world treats “celebrities” differently now. It’s kind of gross, isn’t it? Making all these no talent, reality show wrecks famous… It’s weird. And the way they hound people… I don’t understand why that’s legal. Obviously, people get hurt. Thankfully, that shit never happened much to me. I’ll get asked for my autograph, or take a picture with fans, but back in the day, the paparazzi showed up at red carpet events. Not at rehabs. Then again, if there were more rehabs back then, Janis Joplin and Brian Jones and a lot of other people might still be alive… It’s all crazy, man. All I know is when Ange and I went to lunch, even when we wore our Lost in Space wardrobe, no one hassled us and that’s a good thing.

Q:  However, what advice can you give to today’s child stars, or kids/teenagers in hit shows, many get into some serious trouble. 

A: Don’t be stupid. Appreciate the gig. Save your money. You’re just the flavor of the month. It’ll pass. Treat everyone with respect and kindness. You meet the same people on the way up that you’ll meet on the way down… Oh… and, heroin and cocaine are never good ideas. But, that’s a very serious subject and I’m not qualified to give advice. It’s a shame so many child stars have been messed up.

Q: I think one of the reasons you survived and thrived was that your parents had you in public schools, like Hamilton High, and not private schools or on set tutors all the time. You didn’t attend Hollywood Professional School. You grew up and mingled with normal kids, went to the Troubadour, had bands. Also, your mother had a piano you still own. Music was welcome.

A: Yep. I can’t argue with that. Although a lot of my education was indeed on set.

Q: Why have you remained pretty much self-disciplined and self-motivated for over half a century? 

A: There’s nothing I’d rather do than be creative. Whether that’s acting, music, writing, voice overs, producing… it’s what I live for. I’ve been very lucky to work in so many different arenas of the entertainment business and be successful in them. But… you gotta do what you gotta do. I hate to say, “I was born an artist.” cuz it sounds so fucking pretentious, but I think that’s kinda true. I’m motivated to create.

Q: You occasionally do autograph shows. You sell your albums and embrace your “Lost In Space” life. What are the encounters like? It must be cross-generational? 

A: It’s flattering. I’ve worked on a lot of projects. Some very popular like Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, Babylon 5… others more on the fringe like Barnes and Barnes or comic books I’ve written for Marvel or DC… but it’s always nice when people tell you they dig your work. Sometimes you run across a fan who’s a bit “over the top” and things can get a little weird… It’s all interesting. Why not embrace the old stuff? I loved doing it at the time. It was fun. Sure it was work, but it was fun work. Some of it holds up pretty well, too.

Q: Does anyone ask about Redwood? Do the fans want to know about specific LIS episodes? Does anyone want to discuss Rod Serling and “TTZ?” Or Hitchcock?  Do we now see Irwin Allen in a slightly different light? Briefly reflect on LIS and TTZ and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” All are on DVD. 
At age 9 or 10 or 12 you were in an ensemble and could not grasp the stories. But with TTZ and Hitchcock some heavy things were being explored you can really digest as an adult. 

A: Yikes, Harvey… Redwood does come up once in awhile when you don’t expect it, and that’s always a treat for me, cuz I loved being in that band. Some people will freak out over a “Perry Mason” or a “Bewitched” or “The Munsters” or some other show I was in… There’s hundreds of ’em… I don’t feel like reflecting on Hitchcock, he was a dick. I did three “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. He directed one. I suppose the shows hold up. I don’t watch them. Rod Serling was brilliant and I’m very proud to be a part of The Twilight Zone, which I think is the best anthology TV show of all time. I did three of the original Twilight Zones, had a cameo in the feature film, wrote one of the revised TV shows and then returned to “Anthony Fremont” alongside my daughter Liliana and the mighty Cloris Leachman for a sequel to “It’s A Good Life” in 2003 called “It’s Still A Good Life” and that was absolutely a treat. I loved every minute of making “Lost in Space: and I love the cast members like family. Irwin Allen ruled TV for a while. He put together some cool stuff.

Q: You’re friends with singer/songwriter and occasional Monkees’ member, Peter Tork. 

A: Peter’s a very nice guy. He’s also a turbo talented musician. We’ve had some good times together. I’m glad he’s out there making music and making people happy.

Q: Why have you always dug the Monkees and what do we need to know about Peter Tork? I know Micky Dolenz was a neighbor of yours in Laurel Canyon. A couple dozen of their records are terrific. Why are they overlooked by the media? 

A: I don’t know. They’ve done pretty well from where I sit! They sold out the Greek last year and are on tour right now. The Monkees are fun. They made some good records. Mike Nesmith deserves a lot more credit for melding country music with rock n roll than he’s gotten. He did that before the Byrds did. But they were four guys who didn’t know each other who were CAST as a band in a TV show. They’re never going to be in the same category as a “real” band like the Lovin’ Spoonful, who I believe was the original model for their series. But, they’ve done really well if you ask me. People still are very happy to go see ’em make music. And they sound really good. I was at the last run through of their rehearsals before they started this tour. They’re tight. Mickey’s vocals are amazing. Peter’s banjo was undermixed, though. He’s a really good musician. And even though Peter played “the dumb one” on the TV  series, he’s a REALLY smart guy!

Q: Also, and this is something I talk about with Henry Diltz and Chris Darrow. WHY have the Kingston Trio seemed to be overlooked in music history. The music media and the lack of reissues. You have always acknowledged their influence. What was  it about them or John Stewart?

A: Don’t get me started on the Kingston Trio, Harvey. I’ll do ten pages! They were the most successful band in the world for years. They had 4 albums in the top ten at the same time. 5 number one albums. Without a doubt, the Kingston Trio singularly brought folk music back to popularity several years after the Weaver’s had been blackballed into obscurity… The Kingston Trio CREATED “world music”. They were amazing. Their power, their intelligence, their humor, and their vocal blend…especially the original Trio led by Dave Guard… just amazing. Their music holds up brilliantly. Listen to the early Trio live recordings, they’ll blow your socks off. It SUCKS that they aren’t remembered like they should be. But their catalogue has been reissued. You can’t say it hasn’t. And as far as John as a solo artist goes… He did have some great successes… “Gold” was a big hit single… “California Bloodlines” is always listed in the critics top hundred lists… he wrote “Daydream Believer” and lived at the beach off that for a long time… But, I think John was a stronger songwriter than he was a lead vocalist. I think John’s vocal tone limited his commercial success a bit. His harmony and banjo and guitar parts when he replaced Dave Guard in the Kingston Trio hold up real well, though.

Q: Was it a thing that once the Beach Boys and then the Beatles showed up on Capitol Records it wasn’t cool to have stripped shirts and play acoustic? 

A: Well, the Beach Boys totally stole the striped shirt look from the Kingston Trio! Al Jardine was a huge Trio fan! If you really want me to hypothesize on it… I think the Kingston Trio kinda stopped growing as artists after Dave Guard left the group. They continued to play hundreds of gigs a year and make three albums a year, which is insane and amazing, and those albums hold up well… but they don’t expand on what came before… if anything, they got more predictable.
When Dave Guard led that band, he was a taskmaster who pushed them to get better and better all the time. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons he left the group, because Bobby and Nick didn’t want to mess with the formula that was working so well. It’s very similar to Mike Love not supporting Brian Wilson when he was stretching as an artist! And artists can’t just stand still… they must experiment and grow… maybe make some missteps that don’t work, but they can’t just stagnate. Dave Guard was an artist. The Kingston Trio without him as their leader, after three years or so, kinda began to stagnate. In my opinion. And of course, when you look back at the mid sixties… which is when this all went down… The Kingston Trio’s last studio album was released in 1967…there was SO much change everywhere, so much rejection of the establishment, that the Kingston Trio seemed pretty tame and a bit passe.

Q: Please run down some of your 2013 and 2014 projects. Acting or comic book ventures? 

A: I’m writing a comic book for Bluewater Comics called, believe it or not, “The CURSE OF THE MUMY”. Issue # 3 comes out in September.  It’s an 8 issue project.  I produce and host “The Real Good Radio Hour” every Wednesday 7:00 pm on www.ksav.org.  I’ve been doing some animation voice over work on a series called “Bravest Warriors” alongside my daughter, Liliana. I play her father, and that’s fun. I also recently voiced a character on “Rescue Bots” with Levar Burton. That was cool. I’m cast in the upcoming sci-fi film, “Space Command”, based on the old 50’s franchise that is set to start filming the end of the year or early January, 2014. I’m going to finish up the next two videos from “Illuminations” and may be playing some gigs to promote the album… we’ll see. Maybe I’ll form a band and pack up the Buick. Barnes & Barnes have been “talking” about recording, so… that would be special! Eileen and I have a lot of stuff to fix up here at old Mumy Manor… can’t neglect the pad! And I plan on making time to listen to the Kingston Trio and the Beach Boys! Brian’s working on some new solo recordings and I can’t wait for that!