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Tape starts halfway through side A
Peter:
Does this work, does this work, does this…..[looking into the
tape recorder] Lets go for it. Alright. So, what’s your name?
Patrick: Patrick uh Clen-denin.
Peter: Oh really, cause uh, I thought you had
a different last name.
Patrick: My uh, actually Clendenin is my middle name. And uh.. harsh
feelings towards the last name Roberts, I guess
Peter: So is it kind of like a rock n roll thing
to like, use your middle name?
Patrick: I don’t think it’s really about that, I mean that’s
not my logic at least. I know a lot of people who you know….
Peter: Yah, cause I kind of, cause I kind of thought
that, you know.
Patrick: Yah, yah, naturally. [laughs]
Peter: No, no I didn't really think that.
Patrick: A few of my teachers, who read the review on uh, Lawrence.com
[Chuckles] came up to me and said“so what’s this with your
ROCK STAR fake last name” and I go through explaining to them,
my logic behind changing or behind me using a different last name.
A Few Minutes
Later
Peter:
So you mentioned earlier this Lawrence scene, what is, what is Lawrence?
Patrick: Well I think as far as musicians go, a lot of what is attractive
about Lawrence is the fact that is small enough to feel like you are
reaching people and to feel like, you know your music is spreading.
I think it has a lot to do with a college town because there a lot of
young people who uh, tend to be um great vehicles, for for uh spreading
information and uh news about shows or, or just about new bands that
come up on the scene. So I think that Lawrence is really special to
me because of that, but it also has a really, well in my opinion it
has a really reputable, um cooperative scene. And I know some people
feel like that isn’t true and some people dwell on what Lawrence
used to be like.
Peter: Yeah, there is a lot of that.
Patrick: uh. Yah. I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t really know, just
cause I am younger than a lot of the people here. So I wasn’t
really around to see bands like Vitreous Humor and Kill Creek and all
that. You know, I was going to uh elementary school or preschool here
in uh Lawrence while that was happening, so.
Peter: So you have been in Lawrence for a while?
Patrick: I was born here.
Peter: Really?
Patrick: mmm hrmm.
Peter: How was that, to live here, and sort of
see things?
Patrick: Well Lawrence, Lawrence is great because it’s such a
cultural town, I mean it has such a focus on the arts and on music and,
um I think that’s rare in Kansas as you would, as you would know
if you have driven across the state, just stopping at different towns,
it’s not so common for these small farming to towns, these towns
to really, to really carry that kind of stuff, I think that it looses
some of its cutting edge by the time it reaches the Midwest.
Peter: [looks across the street at a large SUV]
So I look at this SUV here, what, what are your thoughts on sort of,
America… and it obsessiveness with cars and, and SUVs and...
Patrick: Well I, I am sort of hesitant to uh, well I used to be really
hesitant to talk about, just my beliefs on that, maybe just out of being
nervous because that, that I wasn’t really living the lifestyle
that I suggest Americans convert to. I mean I, I certainly indulge,
in a lot of luxurious that, you know, that aren’t necessary at
all. And I feel some, some feelings of guilt about that but.
Peter: Some hypocrisy perhaps?
Patrick. Sure, sure. But I think a lot of people would agree that, that
you know no one is really free of, of you know, ever once being called
a hypocrite about something. And I think that regardless if whether
or not you are a perfect roll model for, for what you are suggesting
to be like it is important for people to feal like they can speak out
about it and so. Uh, my personal views on it are just that, America
has been really consumed in, in uh in business and in making money and
in looking out for the interest of the wealth of the country, which
just happens to lie, in a small percentage of the population, you know?.
Um, I think that is, that is what’s really caused the government
to uh, to shift from being a really honorable office to, you know, something
that a lot of people sort of mistrust and a lot of people are just misinformed
about, which is sad so..
Peter: What, have you thought of ways, to perhaps,
uh the country could improve itself in that sense?
Patrick: Well uh, I think it would take a pretty dramatic shift in,
in just uh, the traditional values and traditional views of what it
is to be an American um, I don’t think that being an American,
necessarily means that you uh subscribe to the, to the ideologies of,
of uh democracy and capitalism, our county isn’t defined by those
necessarily, in my opinion um…
Peter: So being an American isn’t necessarily,
flag totten’, war mongeren’…
Patrick: No, no certainly not. I, I, the difficulty is that there are
a lot of people who want to argue that, that is the truth, to be a good
citizen you to do that, you need to blindly support the actions of your
government or you need to, you know bare flags to show this, this support.
Uh,,I just think that, really to be a good citizen, is uh, it takes
more just looking out for the well being of the institution of, of your
state, or of your country you know? I think that people don’t
want to be responsible for being, for being sort of watchdogs on what
government officials are doing, and that is what leads to a lot of this
scandal.
Peter: Do you think a lot of what goes on in Lawrence
as far as like the DIY thing, you know we are here tonight talking outside
the Pink House show, lots of bands, sort of lots of artists and musicians,
sort of, do you think that sort of reflects of what, of what, you know
what is America to a lot of people. You know to have the freedom to
have these shows, and to, and to just be free in our expression and
have the opportunity to do that.
Patrick: Sure, I mean its, [clears throat] it’s, it’s incredible,
how, how, you can just see, I mean tangibly the number of people who
come out in this community of um, of um of people who feel that they
don’t necessarily have to live the traditional wealthy American
lifestyle. Uh, you know, regardless of whether or not they have the
money they are choosing they’re, they’re in some cases choosing
just not to uh exploit, exploit our freedom to earn money or our freedom
to save money for, you know whatever reason you have. You know regardless
of whether or not you have the money, people here, people here choose
not to, not use it for causes that they, that they see as being sort
of meaningless. That’s why it’s hard for me to believe that
so many people are uh, some many people don’t get offended at
the fact that, that their, that the people ruling their country are
so far separate from them.
Peter: Why do you think that there is sort of
like, that the community we both sort of, are in, that there is sort
of…uh… an apathy or a sort of a reluctance to be involved,
to try and get involved.. even by, even by voting or just by trying
to change? A lot of people sort of, they feel like they just want to
be outside of it and they don’t want to have anything to do with
it. But in a democracy that seems counter, sort of counter intuitive
to the whole process, why do you think that, why do you think that sort
of happens?
END OF SIDE A [To Be continued]
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