Gregory Lee from Hepcat
Gregory Lee from Hepcat.
I got to know Gregory a few years ago while mixing his band Hepcat on the Warped tour. He is a tall, lean, mild-mannered fella with a dark complexion, striking blue-green eyes, and the kind of smile that leaves you feeling good.
I hadn’t seen him much since about 1998 outside of a Quik Stop at the Hannibal Burress show, where I was working. Recently we met in Santa Monica for a play-date with our daughters. We caught up on the last decade or so, and as always, he had some interesting insights. He’s a thinker with a lot to say about the world and a deep concern for where humanity is heading. His Facebook feed isn’t full of the usual drivel. Recently he posted a great quote by Joe Strummer that rang true to me:
“People can change anything they want to, and that means everything in the world.”
Without further ado, Gregory Lee…
Q: What is your favorite sandwich and who makes the best one?
G.L. Grilled cheese, avocado and tomato with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. I make it.
Q: What is your favorite meal your mom makes?
G.L. Her stuffing around the holiday seasons cannot be beat.
Q: How did you meet your best friend?
G.L. We nearly had a fight at a Toots and The Maytals show. Both of us were cocky, but luckily both of us loved Toots. We still sing together in Hepcat.
Q: When or how did you find what you wanted to do?
G.L. The day I got out of the back of the station wagon on a trip with my family to Sequoia, I knew I wanted to be a Park Ranger. Sadly, I never found the time to get the schooling necessary to do it. So I play music…
Q: Did you have a mentor/mentors in pursuing it? Who were they and what did they do for you:
G.L. The only mentors I have had have been things and people I have seen. When I see people happy in their skin and they fit naturally into their surroundings, I have been inspired.
Q: What do you dream of doing or are you doing it? If so then what is the goal?
G.L. I dreamt of being a Marine Biologist. I would hope to be the first they called when there was water found on another planet and needed someone to see if it was safe for the rest of us to drink.
This thought came to me while out on a very small boat with my grandfather when he was alive behind his home in Columbia, Maryland.
Q: What would your 15 year-old-self say to you now?
G.L. Do you really know what you think you know? Check again and be sure. Then check again.
Q: If life were a person what would you say?
G.L. I’d ask life if he/she could tell me their favorite poem.
Q: If you were in charge of the world and you have no restrictions, real or imagined, what is the one thing you would give it?
G.L. Reverse “for profit” development at all levels and make it a crime to profit from suffering or be responsible for it.
Q: Has morality disintegrated to the point that we now need Yelp for people?
G.L. I hate Yelp. Yelp has ruined all the places anyone could go to and peaceably reflect in solitude.
Q: How is society getting things right?
G.L. I have no answer for this. I think this can only be answered in 20 or so years from now. So I think the answer is society has done nothing right.
Q: What do people need in order to see each other as equals?
G.L. Humility, possibly poverty. I have never seen people look at each other as equals until the Northridge quake. Such a horrible thing brought out the best in people. If it takes a catastrophe, well.
Q: Do we still need religion?
G.L. Every person needs to at least believe that there is a power, or an energy that drives the promotion of life and is the same through all living things. Without this, the individual looks to him or herself as that energy, or finds something they think is better. Problem is, the energy of all things has no limit, no expiration date. Everything else does. Some may live their whole lives and with luck may never see what they believe expire. But those that do see it expire, I’ve seen become lost somewhere behind their own eyes, trapped in their head.
Q: Do you have hope for the future?
G.L. My hope is that all people begin to add water to whatever it is they truly love. I think that if all people began to see water for what it means to every living thing, nearly all world problems would cease. In protecting water, one would find they are against everything that is bad in the world that they never imagined were connected to the fight to preserve water.
Q: What are three things that work for you: For example, I can’t find a good razor. Because of a near unbridled need for massive profits, I find that many products don’t live up their advertising. What works for you?
G.L. Baking Soda, Tomatoes, Vinegar
More thought-provoking questions:
1: Do Americans have the right to complain about immigration?
G.L. I would say no, but there will always be someone explaining to me how I don’t understand the negative economic aspects of immigration. What they don’t understand is that I do understand. I just don’t care about economics. If economics are used as a ruler to measure a society, then there is no hope for 70% or so of the people in the world. It’s the same way that common sense works for everyone, anyone. Where logic, though a very good way to look at things, works mainly for robots.
