Mesmerized By Its Sound And The Mechanics Of It At The Same Time

Cris: In addition to keyboards, you also play the organ, which has become more of a rarity in the world of rock. Is it an artform that is going away?

Jeremy Lawton of Big Head Todd and the Monsters: I think it’s still a pretty big deal. When I was in college in the early 90s, there were still a lot of bands that had organ players. And back then the keyboards were not so much better and so much smaller, like they are now. The sound of a Hammond organ is very specific. There are so many nuances that it is really hard to recreate. And I was always mesmerized by the mechanics. It weighs 400 pounds. It’s as complicated as a car in a way. There are gears and motors and wires everywhere. And I was always that kid who took everything apart and put it back together. So I was mesmerized by its sound and the mechanics of it at the same time. And I think that is the allure of it, that it is so strange. To think that a guy built that in the 1930s. Or the Hammond organ that I use is probably late 60s maybe. Even that one is one of the newest ones and it’s 50 years old.