(Photo: Jake Chessum)

What are you up to today?
I’m basically enjoying the fine fall afternoon and going to get a copy of Wax Poetics. It’s a magazine about funk, soul, jazz. It’s academic-ish.

It’s late afternoon. Do you not have a job?
Not currently. I’m just borrowing money from people who love me.

So you’re a musician?
I’m a guitar player, a front man. I sing all of my own songs and I play the guitar. Nobody really plays the guitar anymore. It’s almost like if you know what you’re doing and you are a virtuoso, it puts you at a disadvantage. But I’m a virtuoso, and I don’t hide that fact.

Does that mean you haven’t been signed?
Yeah. I’m totally independent. But I’d like to get paid to make records because playing music is the only thing I really dig.

What’s your music like?
It’s psychedelic soul and blues-rock stuff. I like music where you’re not afraid of different styles.

Let’s talk about your hair.
I’ve had long hair in various forms since high school. I’ve had dreadlocks a couple of times. This phase has been going on for a couple of years.

How do you care for it?
A couple of times a week I wash it. It’s curly. It’s big. And since I just woke up, you’re seeing it in a totally raw state. Not that the unraw state looks very different.

Related:

• Archive: “Look Book”
• Articles by Amy Larocca
• Table of Contents: Oct 30, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!