sneakydave
Waiting Room
- Apr 12, 2022
- 298
- 217
John Neff has passed away.
This has been a terrible year for the Peaks/Lynch community.
This has been a terrible year for the Peaks/Lynch community.
John Neff (1951-2022)
- Thread starter sneakydave
- Start date
Mr. Reindeer
White Lodge
- Apr 13, 2022
- 606
- 1,332
That sucks. He was very generous with his participation in the dugpa community. mostly before my time, but I enjoyed going back and reading the anecdotes and information he contributed.
Jackwithoneeye
Great Northern Hotel
- Apr 14, 2022
- 99
- 131
I remember interacting with John Neff in the chatroom on David Lynch.com back in 2002-2003. I think he used to have BBQ's and invite people over. I've looked back on his posts on dugpa over the years and some of them are absolute treasures. I saw him pop up on some facebook threads last year, he went to see the Inland Empire re-release and had some words about the sound mix. Struck me as an absolutely wonderful guy who seemed really passionate about his craft.
This is 5 years old, but in case anyone missed it:
John Neff Discusses Working With David Lynch, His Career In Music & More!
I love the BlueBOB album they did together.
"I see you go - don't go. Don't leave this mountain."
John Neff Discusses Working With David Lynch, His Career In Music & More!
I love the BlueBOB album they did together.
"I see you go - don't go. Don't leave this mountain."
Jackwithoneeye
Great Northern Hotel
- Apr 14, 2022
- 99
- 131
He really is detailed how he tells these stories. Amazing stuff ! Loved BlueBOB
My word! This has been a terrible few years for the people of the 'Lynch universe'. Poor David must feel almost besieged. John Neff's comments were always interesting to read in the old days. With Angelo, Julie and John gone, the sound of Lynch's works will never be the same again. Very sad news.
Jordan Cole
White Lodge
- Sep 22, 2022
- 596
- 929
Oh wow. I didn't even put it together that this was the BlueBOB guy. I listen to that album constantly. Like more than is normal.
SaltedGinger
Sparkwood & 21
- Apr 12, 2022
- 10
- 28
Rest in Peace John. Spent some time with him at one of the Twin Peaks Festivals and spent some more time with him when he joined us for the WA premier of the Return at the Salish Lodge. He came with us to the Palmer house, the Hayward house , all of the TP related events in town that weekend and had the pleasure to sit and chat with him for lunch at the North Bend Bar & Grill. Stayed in touch with him on FB where he was definitely an active member of the community. Such a good guy, glad to have those memories of him. Here's a few pictures from that weekend.
Attachments
- Apr 11, 2022
- 581
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Great stuff. Thanks for posting.
Very curious about his thoughts now.
MasterMastermnd
Waiting Room
- Apr 12, 2022
- 285
- 378
Neff and Lynch split professionally after Inland Empire but it was really nice to see his work pop back up in The Return.
- Apr 12, 2022
- 211
- 778
From the interview posted earlier in the thread:
It’s very interesting. I haven’t dug very deep on this, but it appears that the song was written by Neff, Lynch, and Del Rio in 2001. Its first appearance was on Rebekah Del Rio’s 2011 album, Love Hurts Love Heals, so most of the above was done way before The Return. Did they actually record it way back in 2001? The particular mix used in The Return is about a minute longer, and for some reason auto-tunes Del Rio’s voice, which, imo, is not only unnecessary, but frankly a bit offensive. I don’t know why that was done with the track, but the general attitude in the music industry seems to be, “WE MUST AUTO-TUNE THE LIFE AND NATURALNESS OUT OF ALL THINGS.”
ORIGINAL:
THE RETURN VERSION:
A little more information concerning "No Stars" from John Neff:
“So, I watched Part 10, Twin Peaks - The Return and can now talk about my song "No Stars". It did not start life as No Stars, but as a concept I had in my mind called "Heavy Fifties". Dave and I had done a track in Mulholland Drive called "Pretty Fifties" that was all light and airy. This song idea was all dark and heavy. It was meant to be a contrast to Pretty Fifties. Neither song had words. As the track developed, Dave brought Rebekah in to listen to it. He had a word sketch called "No Stars" and wanted to see if she could do something with it. Well, she certainly DID have ideas ! She worked out a Spanish language section and I changed the ending sequence and Voila ! "No Stars" was born. The instruments are myself on guitar and "Guitarkestra", a large MIDI electric guitar rig and drums, and Dave on electric guitar. That's the total instrumentation, and we laid it down in 2001 or 2002. I mastered the mix in November of 2011 and the song was included on Rebekah's album, "Love Hurts/Love Heals". The version in Twin Peaks is recorded and mixed by me, but not the mastered version. Enjoy.”
It's a facebook link to the David Lynch Archivist - Lynchland page:
'NO STARS' STORY BY JOHN NEFF
“So, I watched Part 10, Twin Peaks - The Return and can now talk about my song "No Stars". It did not start life as No Stars, but as a concept I had in my mind called "Heavy Fifties". Dave and I had done a track in Mulholland Drive called "Pretty Fifties" that was all light and airy. This song idea was all dark and heavy. It was meant to be a contrast to Pretty Fifties. Neither song had words. As the track developed, Dave brought Rebekah in to listen to it. He had a word sketch called "No Stars" and wanted to see if she could do something with it. Well, she certainly DID have ideas ! She worked out a Spanish language section and I changed the ending sequence and Voila ! "No Stars" was born. The instruments are myself on guitar and "Guitarkestra", a large MIDI electric guitar rig and drums, and Dave on electric guitar. That's the total instrumentation, and we laid it down in 2001 or 2002. I mastered the mix in November of 2011 and the song was included on Rebekah's album, "Love Hurts/Love Heals". The version in Twin Peaks is recorded and mixed by me, but not the mastered version. Enjoy.”
It's a facebook link to the David Lynch Archivist - Lynchland page:
'NO STARS' STORY BY JOHN NEFF
Jordan Cole
White Lodge
- Sep 22, 2022
- 596
- 929
Yes, I've wondered why they autotuned her voice in the Twin Peaks version, as I also found it deeply offensive and awful. I've seen fans discuss whether it's some sort of thematic thing of "this is a recording"...and the Roadhouse not being what it seems...You'll find similar weirdness with James playing over his exact recording of Just You, emphasizing the unreality of it all, culminating in that Audrey sequence. But no clue if that was the thinking there. Cause autotune just sucks and I hate hearing it.
MasterMastermnd
Waiting Room
- Apr 12, 2022
- 285
- 378
That's interesting. The auto-tune may have been part of some early stage. Maybe she did other takes. Lynch didn't use the later version perhaps because the split between Lynch and Neff which wasn't entirely amicable iirc
David Locke
Sparkwood & 21
- Apr 12, 2022
- 19
- 42
RIP John. Very sad to see so many Peaks/Lynch folks passing away in just the past several months.
Re: "No Stars," I also was perplexed by the use of Auto-Tune. I think it's a gorgeous song and Rebekah has an amazing voice so the use of Auto-Tune really feels unnecessary. I also think the song / end scene of Part 10 could be a bit shorter - feels almost like too much of a good thing as it gets a little repetitive. But I find it very moving still and a very fitting and cathartic choice for the end of Part 10, which is such a tragic and violent hour.
That's very interesting that "No Stars" was originally conceived for MD, alongside "Pretty Fifties." If I'm remembering correctly, "Pretty Fifties" is the piece that plays during/after the "Kill the lights!" scene near the end of the film, when Diane's unravelling. It really does sound like a companion piece to "No Stars" - both have that slow, steady 50s doo-wop tempo & guitar arpeggio. It's actually pretty similar to the guitar and overall sound in "Just You and I"!
Re: "No Stars," I also was perplexed by the use of Auto-Tune. I think it's a gorgeous song and Rebekah has an amazing voice so the use of Auto-Tune really feels unnecessary. I also think the song / end scene of Part 10 could be a bit shorter - feels almost like too much of a good thing as it gets a little repetitive. But I find it very moving still and a very fitting and cathartic choice for the end of Part 10, which is such a tragic and violent hour.
That's very interesting that "No Stars" was originally conceived for MD, alongside "Pretty Fifties." If I'm remembering correctly, "Pretty Fifties" is the piece that plays during/after the "Kill the lights!" scene near the end of the film, when Diane's unravelling. It really does sound like a companion piece to "No Stars" - both have that slow, steady 50s doo-wop tempo & guitar arpeggio. It's actually pretty similar to the guitar and overall sound in "Just You and I"!
- Apr 12, 2022
- 10
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- Apr 12, 2022
- 10
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John and I met in 2001 when Eli Roth introduced us through the website as a way to get word back to the fans on the efforts of the New Line FWWM DVD. He invited me to his place and I spent the day with him doing our first interview for the site. That day he blew my mind on the level of detail he could recall on all the projects he worked on.
After that we became friends and would hang out with other members or David Lynch.com often at the Bobs Big Boys in Burbank or local bars in Los Angeles. In 2002 I got to be his audio assistant at the Twin Peaks Festival where he did the sound for Julee Cruise and I got to do his sound.
Photo above by Jared Lyon.
Over the years he would send me the nicest comments whenever I posted photos of my daughter on Facebook. We were even planning on getting back together for dinner in Portland next year.
I will truly miss you John. Rest In Peace my friend.
After that we became friends and would hang out with other members or David Lynch.com often at the Bobs Big Boys in Burbank or local bars in Los Angeles. In 2002 I got to be his audio assistant at the Twin Peaks Festival where he did the sound for Julee Cruise and I got to do his sound.
Photo above by Jared Lyon.
Over the years he would send me the nicest comments whenever I posted photos of my daughter on Facebook. We were even planning on getting back together for dinner in Portland next year.
I will truly miss you John. Rest In Peace my friend.
