Best Interview Subject: Mickey Hart

Graham Haworth reflected on his "more colorful" interviews in 2006. He had this to say about Mickey Hart:

Best interview subject: Mickey Hart. I'd heard that Hart, former drummer for the Grateful Dead, is a notoriously hard interview. I guess I asked him the right questions, because he was friendly and forthcoming with me. He was in town for a reunion of Planet Drum in September. I think he was relieved I didn't ask him anything about the Dead, instead sticking to his historic Planet Drum project and his work exploring the physiological effects that rhythms have on the body — he serves on the board if the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx

Hart on Planet Drum: "Planet Drum is about the neurology of rhythm. We want to find out what parts of the brain light up with what rhythms. This isn't a band as much as it is a rhythmic genome project."

Hart on rhythm: "The Big Bang was a rhythmic event. Scientists have figured out that the Big Bang resounded at 52 octaves below middle-C, and continues to vibrate throughout the universe at a
B-flat tone. That's the sound of the birth of you, the planets, the universe."

***photo by David Gans***