Tav Falco (Self Portrait) Slovenia 2004

The indie & alternative rock world was hit hard last week by the death of the musician Alex Chilton, the former singer of The Box Tops (in the 1960’s), and founder of the band Big Star (with Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummell), widely touted as one of the most influential bands of the 1970’s. Following Big Star’s breakup, due to record company distribution problems, and the death of his co-founder Chris Bell, Chilton embarked on a mercurial solo career of musical exploration that left no musical stone unturned, earning himself a reputation in rock circles for his refusal to adapt to record-industry norms.

It was during Chilton’s period of music-building and destructing, that he fell in with an animated figure named Tav Falco, a local performance-artist-musician in the Memphis scene, who impressed Chilton with his stage-act that included the destruction of a plugged-in electric guitar with a chainsaw. The resulting cacophony inspired Chilton to join forces with Falco, forming the band Panther Burns whose live shows were legendary for leaving their audiences shocked, confused and blown away simultaneously. To get insight into Chilton’s brilliance as a musician, we tapped Tav Falco who’s performing with Panther Burns to this day.

How & when did Panther Burns come together?
[It was in] 1979 in Memphis in the aftermath of a art-action guitar destruction/manifesto/ blues violation, on the stage at the Orpheum Theater with Mudboy & the Neutrons.

When did you first meet Alex, and what was your initital impression of him?
Formally at a soirée at my pad. The bass player of the KLITZ girl group had called him from my party, and he heard me playing guitar on the telephone. He came over that night, and I thought he was amusing.

When Chilton joined you in Panther Burns, the shows were rumored to be legendary.
Are there any moments and/or events with Alex that stand out in your mind from those years of playing?
[I have a] my new book coming out on Creation Books in the UK called Memphis Deathtrap. It covers some peeing off the stage episodes.

Upon Alex’s leaving of Panther Burns, (which I’m guessing was in the early 80’s) was this an acrimonious situation for you, or was it more “let’s both move onto other projects”?
Hardly. Alex had offered to get the band started, then Tav Falco would take over. He had a big hand in selecting guitarists for the group.

Chilton was into everything from rockabilly to R & B to jazz. As eclectic as his tastes were, did his guitar playing style fall directly in line with what you were trying to achieve with Panther Burns?
Alex defined the wreckabilly/atonal/Anold Schnönberg style of Panther Music guitar playing.
He also played classical as well. Alex could play anything from any genre.

You’ve always been a film/photography enthusiast – did Chilton share these interests as well? William Eggleston had contributed album artwork for Chilton over the years and I understand you studied with him as well?
Alex painted aquatints [and] I make films. Eggleston taught me photography.

On your Myspace page you mentioned the last time you saw Alex he was in Paris at Hotel George le Cinq. Was he in good spirits then?
High spirits, I should say. His wife Laura tells me there was absolutely no depression leading up to his demise. It came totally out of the blue.

Lastly, you’ve been a fixture in Europe for a quite a while. When is Panther Burns going to come back to the US and show us how rockabilly is done Memphis style?
Panther Burns are not a rockabilly band, we play Panther Music. There are rumors that the Unapproachable Panther Burns will play in Memphis in July after [our] new album, CONJURATIONS: Séance for Deranged Lovers, is released on Stag O Lee in May 2010[!]

Thanks Tav for answering our questions!