AUDIO: the radical origins of Mecca Normal guitar player David Lester – long time mixer of art and politics, profoundly influenced by the Emma Goldman bio “Living My Life”
Mecca Normal
a r c h i v e
Category Archives: The Listener a graphic novel by David Lester
Amplitude Equals One Over Frequency Squared, David Lester interview, 2012
Page from The Listener – a graphic novel by David Lester
DAVID LESTER interview
of MECCA NORMAL, 2012
conducted via e-mail
by Dan Cohoon
Dan Cohoon: How did Mecca Normal come about? Talk about what was going on in music/art at the time that inspired you to start a band.
David Lester: I met Jean Smith while we were both doing graphic design in the production department of a weekly newspaper. So in a way, our collaboration started then, nearly 30 years ago. We were both visual artists (Jean is an excellent painter) and we shared an interest in hearing live music, which at the time included a lot of hardcore punk bands. I was also designing album covers and posters for some of these bands, most notably D.O.A. There was a very active, radical political scene in Vancouver at the time, which was reflected in the lyric content of many of the cities punk bands. Jean and I took inspiration from this convergence of music and politics by deciding to start our own band. But it would be a band without drums or bass. We wanted to challenge the very notion of what makes a band, and demonstrate that a single guitar, a voice and ideas could unleash a powerful fury against social injustice.
Continued: Amplitude Equals One Over Frequency Squared
David Lester Book Tour 2011
David Lester’s video at Type Book in Toronto, 2011. Featuring Canadian sensation Robert Dayton.
Mecca Normal 