Today was the longest day of the workshop so far. I woke up early to review notes from yesterday to craft and finalize my questions for Dave Day, the “man about town.” I felt a lot of pressure going into this interview because this man has a sprawling personality and footprint on the town. When I was trying to lock down an interview before I even got here and people suggested Dave Day, they also said he was an important man. “He does a lot for the town. Dave’s important.” I met him the first night we arrived because his organization, the Bombay Beach Arts and Culture Center, hosts regular community feasts and one was happening that night.

During a short spontaneous pre-interview I did of him on that night, he seemed more “media trained” than anybody I might find around town. He’s owned several businesses and has lived in Orange County for decades. He’s clearly had some press coverage and interacted with media people. He knows all the buzz words, how to sum up his activities in pithy lines, so I was worried that was all I was going to get today. I also noticed a man who really hides behind his work. He’s always moving around and doing something. So my goal today wasn’t to crack him necessarily, but I just wanted to know more about his interior life. Where he comes from, what does he think about when he’s still, and the why behind all of his building and creating in this town. Why here. Why this. Why here. All the whys.

I won’t reveal too much about the conversation because I have to log the tape early tomorrow morning and I want to save morsels for the final story, which I’ll share here, but it was good. I arrived at the center around 9:30 am this morning and recorded ambient sounds. Crunching gravel as I walked up to his door. Doves cooing in the palm trees. I walked around the BBAC compound and described each structure and workshop space, like the tool shed and art barn, to set the scene. Most of this tape won’t even get used, but I wanted to practice Weinberg’s suggestions and gather as much tape as I could.

When Dave was ready, he offered me a coffee and I got some amazing ambi of him making me an espresso and also feeding his doggie some treats. I put my mic right in front of the dog’s mouth and got some great sounds of him chewing. I think I just did this for myself to have fun with the shotgun mic, and I want to do that again. I want to just go around recording sounds, like pasta boiling or an egg frying. I’ll quit my job and be the ambi queen.

We ended up doing the interview in his soft-top open Jeep in the driveway, which is a very important detail. If the Jeep origin story doesn’t make it into the final story, I’ll share it here in the final newsletter. But I chose this spot because everywhere else had massive buzzing equipment or echoed. So yeah, I interviewed Dave Day in a tiny Jeep for 52 minutes, our faces four inches from each other, our eyes closed at times, crying at others. It was an extremely intimate experience, and although I have to trim it all down, narrate, and produce something only 5-7 minutes long, I foresee using the interview tape (watch, I accidentally deleted it all) for something more. Maybe a podcast or something. We’ll see, but it felt really good. I wanted to learn more about the man, and I did.

By the time we finished interviews and reconvened for lunch, it felt like ten hours had gone by. My adrenaline completely crashed. It was weird because the interview time went by so fast, but the time leading up to it planning, writing questions, and making sure all of my gear was working was stressful. I changed my batteries even though they were brand new, and I honestly felt like I was changing my top a hundred times to go on a first date. There was this excitement, but also fear of messing up, like, what if I accidentally burp into the mic or vomit on my recorder.

The rest of the day was going around the group again and discussing how it went, and that was an amazing full circle moment where all of our anxiety from the day before was tied up. Everyone left their interviews with tape they felt really great about, and more importantly stories they felt were compelling. We all felt changed, and that feels like a very important part of this process. Everyone seemed wiped out though, so we walked to the shoreline to watch the sunset.

P.S. Everybody smokes here! I feel like that’s a story in itself. I don’t often see smokers in California. I actually love occasional smokers because because my dad smoked until I was 22 and ciggys are attached to these long cinematic outdoor memories I have of my childhood. It’s very sensual and nostalgic. So I’m delighted. Do radio people just smoke?

But it was a long day. After sunset, we walked over to Sandy’s house for a short lesson on dropping audio into Hindenburg and logging tape, followed by some dinner. But my social battery had died hours ago, so I walked back to the house alone and thought about the guy and gal I had recorded some VOX with yesterday who talked about ghosts in windows and sex traffickers, and how people come here to hide with their evil secrets. And I felt eyes following me to the house. I checked the doors once I got there and took a hot shower to clear my head and wash away the day. As much as I love hanging out, I know immediately when I need to be alone in complete silence. Today filled my head with voices, and I just couldn’t add more, talk more, without some of it draining.

I’m going to wake up early to log my tape. The day couldn’t have gone better, and I’m just so glad my interview felt substantial and that there were vulnerable moments that surprised me. Again, it’s a privilege to do this and to have people’s time in this way.

Anyway, I don’t even know if this is making sense. I’m exhausted. So here’s a picture of the sun setting on the Salton Sea and then I’ll shut up. But remind me later to talk about the girl sitting on the pier talking about how everything except Bombay Beach is a simulation and how the 111 is where the portals between the worlds are and how she sees boundaries everywhere. I would have found her more interesting if I wasn’t tired and irritated by all the flies. But I confess, I most always find people like this nuts. My kneejerk response is, “Get off the internet, learn your ZIP code, and get a job kid.” Am I terrible? I might be.

But today was great!