Even if you aren't familiar with Arthur Russell, the film capturing his life and music, Wild Combination (watch trailer here), will intrigue and likely make you an instant fan. The late musician's partner, Tom Lee (pictured to the right of Arthur), is a major voice in the film. Still living in their East Village apartment, he recently talked to us about what life with Arthur was like, and how it has changed since he died in 1992.

When did you meet Arthur? I met Arthur in the summer of 1978. I had just moved into New York from New Jersey and I was working on West 29th St for a fine art silk screen printing company. Through contacts at work I found a cheap studio on Avenue A, between 12th and 13th streets. I used to come home each day on the R train and walk along St. Mark’s Place. I started to notice Arthur on the phone along the wall of the Gem Spa, a newspaper and magazine store. I was also going out to some bars and clubs to hear music with college friends and it seemed over the course of a few weeks I would spot him. It intrigued me that I kept noticing him and I became determined to say hello and meet him. When I think back to that time I think I was looking for a way to make some friends in New York and he seemed like a good place to start!

Finally one night I saw him at the Gem Spa buying an ice cream around 2 in the morning on my way home from the club, Hurrah’s. I followed him a bit and we began to talk. In the week that followed I saw him again on the phone and he didn’t have a pencil but gave my number to his friend Ernie, with whom he was talking. We soon started to hang out together, either at his apartment on East 12th Street, where I live now, or at my apartment on Avenue A. The advantage to staying at my apartment was that I had a telephone and electricity.

At the time Arthur was working on contrasting sounds of the male and female vocals of “Is It All Over My Face?”, which I found very odd compared to the music that I favored, but we fell into each other’s worlds quite easily. We went to see music together, usually people who he knew or groups I was interested in. We’d go to places such as The Kitchen, Tier 3 and CBGB.

What drew you to him? Arthur had a laid back manner with a spiritual foundation from his interest and study of Buddhism. His would sometimes go to talks at a center. He had close ties to this world through his friends Tej. I would sometimes be on the sidelines at these events or just not in attendance. At times I would enter his apartment, tapping on the unlocked door of this six floor walk-up, to find him quietly meditating on a raised shipping pallet behind a curtain in the living room. He was a gentle person who could easily have a strong, vocal reaction to recording studio mishaps but would not dream of killing a roach, mosquito or mouse!

What was your day-to-day life like back then? We soon developed a domestic relationship amidst his busy music work. While we did not live together until 1980 we were generally staying at one another’s apartments, making food for each other, going to movies and meeting friends through those years. Arthur usually always made the same meal, a one-pot mixture of brown rice with carrots and onions. Butter and tamari sauce finished it off. We were both vegetarians and only when he was very ill and on the advice of his doctor did he eat fish or chicken for the extra protein in hopes of giving him some extra strength. He also taught me his Iowan ways of buttering corn on the cob by rolling it in a piece of buttered bread. He could eat ear after ear of corn in the summer!

He shared with me his frustrations with studio recordings, feeling like the engineer failed to get the balances right or missed a great take. I would try to talk to him about the successes but it was rare that he came home particularly excited about a new recording. I think because he generally considered so much of it as works in progress, waiting for an additional vocal, keyboard, drum, or guitar track to be added, after he listened endlessly on his walkman to all the ‘takes’ from a particular session. He faithfully purchased a small lunar calendar each year and scheduled his studio recording times, and moments when he would cut his hair, around the times of a full moon, which was thought to give you an extra boost of energy and spirit. With the help of his friend, Kirk Winslow, he also looked to numerology to make sure he was choosing the best dates and song and album titles, in relation to proper number sequences and totals.

What is your favorite memory of him? As I cooked dinner most nights we would usually coordinate eating with watching the “Muppet Show” at 7:30. We both liked the silliness of the various characters and how they would tease and interact with the guest hosts. About an hour later we would have a nightly ritual of determining if we should go get some ice cream, who should go get it and what kind. Being somewhat ‘health conscious’, but still wanting a treat we would finally agree on Hagen Dasz honey vanilla, Arthur usually being the one to go up and down the six flights of stairs to get it! Since I had the “9 to 5” job I would soon be off to sleep while he put on his headphones and played the Casio keyboard, quietly recording into the night in the next room. I still have one of those keyboards, the Casio MT30, which he worked with many, many years ago. He often placed a battery on a key to create a sustained drone along with his playing and singing. Besides his interest in various drum machines, and keyboards Casio’s, DX7’s, etc., Arthur went through innumerable boxes of cassette tapes, each new version of the ‘Walkman’ and batteries, batteries and more batteries!

I have fond memories of Arthur preparing for various performances with his and Steven Hall’s group, the Sailboats or with Ernie Brooks and The Necessaries. As usual there might have been some frustrations for him if a particular music executive didn’t show up or a complaint about the sound system but I also remember the tenderness of our personal time together. I remember one particular late night walking home from a gig with him along a very quiet, desolate lower Broadway, just above Houston Street. It was perhaps 1:00 AM and there were no cars or businesses to be seen. We might have easily walked a few blocks right in the middle of the road. That gradually changed to the busy area it is now. I was so happy just ambling on home with him carrying his cello.

How have you seen the city change, both personally and through the music/social scene, from the era that was shown in the film? Of course there were many parts of the East Village that were not safe in the early ‘80’s, and you were always looking over your shoulder or had a heightened sense of awareness that I feel isn’t as necessary now. But it was also our ‘neighborhood’, and if we didn’t know where the other one was we would know to stop in at The Bar on Second Avenue, or at the St. Mark’s Bookstore. In that time before cell phones we would leave each other quick notes on the kitchen counter, such as: “I’ll be right back,” “I went for a run,” “Be back at 9:00, put the rice on.” There would also be ones that might say: “Here’s $20.00..make it last,” or “Can you leave me $5.00?” He bought a lot of cassette tape on Canal Street in those early years!

His music spanned different genres, do you have a favorite period of his work, or song? When I first met Arthur I wasn’t crazy about his ‘dance music’. It was not something that I enjoyed previously and I did not get the connection that he was making with it to other genres. I really loved the old tapes that I would find in bins around the apartment with many of the songs that are now on the recent record, “Love Is Overtaking Me.” I would ask him to sing me those songs and he did go back to many of them over the years while working with other musicians. I soon grew to like all of his music, because I could hear and understand it more from its genesis. Songs like, “Tell You Today,” and “In The Light Of The Miracle,” he worked so hard and passionately on. I loved the dreamy quality of “The World of Echo” music and when he performed that music in many downtown venues I always hoped that my friends would hear it and like it as I did. I might have felt particularly connected to much of this music because it was developed concurrently to our relationship. Together we started to print post cards and album covers at the silk screen printing company, where I worked.

I love so much of Arthur’s music. It feels deeply personal and tender to me. After he died I couldn’t stop listening to “The World Of Echo” music, which for me means all the many cassettes with alternate takes and versions that didn’t make the final cut. I can happily listen to a 45 minute take of “Being It”! I can also drift away to the hypnotic sound of “Platform On The Ocean.” I have memories of our conversations about that song and can picture sitting on the floor with him around the big reel-to-reel tape machine making suggestions for splicing various segments together. After making an especially lengthy edit he would make me a cassette copy and I would go out for a walk with it and then return to talk to him about my reactions.

What do you think of the documentary, Wild Combination? I think that Matt’s movie captures the essence of Arthur. He establishes an historical context and weaves in a personal story. It is evocative of Arthur and the time we were together. I feel honored that Matt chose to have our relationship be a ‘touchstone’ for this story. Arthur was involved with many different musicians, engineers, producers, and record company people. Matt told this story through a few people and I think it makes it very personal while at the same time allows people who did not know Arthur get a strong sense of him.

Where do you think Arthur would have gone with his music, did he talk about a direction he had wanted to go in? It is hard to say what Arthur would be up to now. On the new CD, “Love Is Overtaking Me”, is included the song “Love Comes Back” that was one of the last songs that he worked on. Perhaps he would have wanted to have some do a mix of that song, bringing in some drums or additional keyboards or vocals. I do know the he would have kept working each day, negotiating studio time and listening to music on the radio and new CDs. He would have been thrilled that his fan base has grown as it has. He always liked to point out a young fan at one of his concerts, or ask his nephew Beau what he thought of some of his music. When we would talk about record album designs he would ask me if my nephew, Kevin, who was around 5 or 6, could draw a “dinosaur disguised as a space ship”, or was it a ‘spaceship disguised as a dinosaur?” He was very interested in fresh ideas that were not influenced by things that were overly familiar or popular. He wanted to make the sounds that people would be listening to hear on the street…from boom boxes, (which today, would mean what people are hearing on satellite radios or on their iTouch.)

Arthur would constantly bring home records from record stores and I would be a little irritated because we didn’t have the money to buy these records that he would listen to for just a few times. He was mostly interested in hearing the quality and sound of the production, how the drums were balanced, the mix and levels of the vocals. I always remember when he brought home a Chet Baker record and while I at first thought he shouldn’t have bought yet another record I was mesmerized…it quickly became a personal favorite and I was grateful to have it. Arthur was interested in vocal music and he liked Chet’s a lot. He would listen consistently to Indian vocal music, both traditional and contemporary, which seems to have influenced him a bit on his cello and vocal styling. He was also a big fan of Terry Reilly’s, too.

What bands/musicians are you currently listening to? I’ve always been a big Nick Drake and John Martyn fan so when reviewers make mention of Arthur sounding like either of them I am very pleased. Currently on my regular playlist is the music of Jose Gonzalez, Low, Little Dragon, Great Lakes Swimmer, Teddy Thompson, Sam Cooke, Arcade Fire, Mark Kozelek, Chet Baker and Nat Baldwin. I would go to see any of them if they were playing in New York. (Of course Sam and Chet would not be playing anywhere that I could go to!)

What's the best venue to see music here now? It can be hard to see music in New York because you generally have to stand at the places that the people I like to see perform…but I still go to the Bowery Ballroom, Brooklyn Lyceum, Highline and others.

In the film it shows a lot of Arthur's music on tapes that were never released, what are you doing with these now? I feel fortunate that Steve Knutson has brought forth so much of Arthur’s music on Audika. He’s been so passionate about each project and is responsible for nurturing Arthur’s legacy. We have had a good working relationship and friendship since we first met!

Best cheap eat in the city. I like the restaurant on my street called S’mac/Sarita’s Macaroni and Cheese. I can take care of my own vegetarian cooking so this is a fun indulgence. They have some great combinations of ingredients in their macaroni and cheese and while their clientele may be mostly NYU’ers I like that their staff seem like they are friends and family. It’s friendly, always busy and yummy! While I am waiting for my brie, fig, shitake mushroom, rosemary mac and cheese I can go up First Avenue, between 13th and 14th to the Birdbath Bakery. Their huge cookies are so good and I brought a delicious almond cranberry tart to a Thanksgiving dinner.

Which New Yorker do you most admire? When Arthur started to get more ill over the last couple of years of his life we would be more and more at home. Our social circle grew smaller and he was working at the tape machines, keyboard and drum machines in the apartment, still booking a little studio time but mostly keeping up with doctor’s appointments and trying out a variety of medicines. With more time at home I remember we started watching baseball together and watched a lot of Yankee games during some years that they were not doing so well. I have since grown to be a very big fan and go to games with my friend, Mark. For the past number of years one of my favorite New Yorkers has been Jorge Posada. He represents to me a ‘regular guy’…hard working and passionate about what he loves to do. His young son had a lot of health challenges when he was born and I admire how Jorge and his wife have dealt with that, too.

Another New Yorker whom I admire is an old friend of mine, Mikel Rouse. He is a composer and musician and he is some one who has kept working on his music over the years. Check out his website and give him your support. He has passionate and caring political views tempered with a good sense of humor.

What are you doing these days? I’ve been a schoolteacher for the past 14 years and I feel lucky to go to work each day in my first grade classroom. I am fortunate to work in a great school with supportive colleagues. I am happy to keep at it BUT, if I could leave New York, it would be to live in Maine, where I have a small house and wonderful community of friends (including Arthur’s sisters, Julie and Kate)!

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? As many people might hope for I wish that New York was an affordable place for people to live…not just artists and musicians and dancers, who enrich our lives with their work, but for anyone who might want to live here and take advantage of life in the city.

What drew you to him? Arthur had a laid back manner with a spiritual foundation from his interest and study of Buddhism. His would sometimes go to talks at a center. He had close ties to this world through his friends Tej. I would sometimes be on the sidelines at these events or just not in attendance. At times I would enter his apartment, tapping on the unlocked door of this six floor walk-up, to find him quietly meditating on a raised shipping pallet behind a curtain in the living room. He was a gentle person who could easily have a strong, vocal reaction to recording studio mishaps but would not dream of killing a roach, mosquito or mouse!

1208arthurrussell.jpg What was your day-to-day life like back then? We soon developed a domestic relationship amidst his busy music work. While we did not live together until 1980 we were generally staying at one another’s apartments, making food for each other, going to movies and meeting friends through those years. Arthur usually always made the same meal, a one-pot mixture of brown rice with carrots and onions. Butter and tamari sauce finished it off. We were both vegetarians and only when he was very ill and on the advice of his doctor did he eat fish or chicken for the extra protein in hopes of giving him some extra strength. He also taught me his Iowan ways of buttering corn on the cob by rolling it in a piece of buttered bread. He could eat ear after ear of corn in the summer!

He shared with me his frustrations with studio recordings, feeling like the engineer failed to get the balances right or missed a great take. I would try to talk to him about the successes but it was rare that he came home particularly excited about a new recording. I think because he generally considered so much of it as works in progress, waiting for an additional vocal, keyboard, drum, or guitar track to be added, after he listened endlessly on his walkman to all the ‘takes’ from a particular session. He faithfully purchased a small lunar calendar each year and scheduled his studio recording times, and moments when he would cut his hair, around the times of a full moon, which was thought to give you an extra boost of energy and spirit. With the help of his friend, Kirk Winslow, he also looked to numerology to make sure he was choosing the best dates and song and album titles, in relation to proper number sequences and totals.

What is your favorite memory of him? As I cooked dinner most nights we would usually coordinate eating with watching the “Muppet Show” at 7:30. We both liked the silliness of the various characters and how they would tease and interact with the guest hosts. About an hour later we would have a nightly ritual of determining if we should go get some ice cream, who should go get it and what kind. Being somewhat ‘health conscious’, but still wanting a treat we would finally agree on Hagen Dasz honey vanilla, Arthur usually being the one to go up and down the six flights of stairs to get it! Since I had the “9 to 5” job I would soon be off to sleep while he put on his headphones and played the Casio keyboard, quietly recording into the night in the next room. I still have one of those keyboards, the Casio MT30, which he worked with many, many years ago. He often placed a battery on a key to create a sustained drone along with his playing and singing. Besides his interest in various drum machines, and keyboards Casio’s, DX7’s, etc., Arthur went through innumerable boxes of cassette tapes, each new version of the ‘Walkman’ and batteries, batteries and more batteries!

I have fond memories of Arthur preparing for various performances with his and Steven Hall’s group, the Sailboats or with Ernie Brooks and The Necessaries. As usual there might have been some frustrations for him if a particular music executive didn’t show up or a complaint about the sound system but I also remember the tenderness of our personal time together. I remember one particular late night walking home from a gig with him along a very quiet, desolate lower Broadway, just above Houston Street. It was perhaps 1:00 AM and there were no cars or businesses to be seen. We might have easily walked a few blocks right in the middle of the road. That gradually changed to the busy area it is now. I was so happy just ambling on home with him carrying his cello.

How have you seen the city change, both personally and through the music/social scene, from the era that was shown in the film? Of course there were many parts of the East Village that were not safe in the early ‘80’s, and you were always looking over your shoulder or had a heightened sense of awareness that I feel isn’t as necessary now. But it was also our ‘neighborhood’, and if we didn’t know where the other one was we would know to stop in at The Bar on Second Avenue, or at the St. Mark’s Bookstore. In that time before cell phones we would leave each other quick notes on the kitchen counter, such as: “I’ll be right back,” “I went for a run,” “Be back at 9:00, put the rice on.” There would also be ones that might say: “Here’s $20.00..make it last,” or “Can you leave me $5.00?” He bought a lot of cassette tape on Canal Street in those early years!

His music spanned different genres, do you have a favorite period of his work, or song? When I first met Arthur I wasn’t crazy about his ‘dance music’. It was not something that I enjoyed previously and I did not get the connection that he was making with it to other genres. I really loved the old tapes that I would find in bins around the apartment with many of the songs that are now on the recent record, “Love Is Overtaking Me.” I would ask him to sing me those songs and he did go back to many of them over the years while working with other musicians. I soon grew to like all of his music, because I could hear and understand it more from its genesis. Songs like, “Tell You Today,” and “In The Light Of The Miracle,” he worked so hard and passionately on. I loved the dreamy quality of “The World of Echo” music and when he performed that music in many downtown venues I always hoped that my friends would hear it and like it as I did. I might have felt particularly connected to much of this music because it was developed concurrently to our relationship. Together we started to print post cards and album covers at the silk screen printing company, where I worked.

I love so much of Arthur’s music. It feels deeply personal and tender to me. After he died I couldn’t stop listening to “The World Of Echo” music, which for me means all the many cassettes with alternate takes and versions that didn’t make the final cut. I can happily listen to a 45 minute take of “Being It”! I can also drift away to the hypnotic sound of “Platform On The Ocean.” I have memories of our conversations about that song and can picture sitting on the floor with him around the big reel-to-reel tape machine making suggestions for splicing various segments together. After making an especially lengthy edit he would make me a cassette copy and I would go out for a walk with it and then return to talk to him about my reactions.

What do you think of the documentary, Wild Combination? I think that Matt’s movie captures the essence of Arthur. He establishes an historical context and weaves in a personal story. It is evocative of Arthur and the time we were together. I feel honored that Matt chose to have our relationship be a ‘touchstone’ for this story. Arthur was involved with many different musicians, engineers, producers, and record company people. Matt told this story through a few people and I think it makes it very personal while at the same time allows people who did not know Arthur get a strong sense of him.

Where do you think Arthur would have gone with his music, did he talk about a direction he had wanted to go in? It is hard to say what Arthur would be up to now. On the new CD, “Love Is Overtaking Me”, is included the song “Love Comes Back” that was one of the last songs that he worked on. Perhaps he would have wanted to have some do a mix of that song, bringing in some drums or additional keyboards or vocals. I do know the he would have kept working each day, negotiating studio time and listening to music on the radio and new CDs. He would have been thrilled that his fan base has grown as it has. He always liked to point out a young fan at one of his concerts, or ask his nephew Beau what he thought of some of his music. When we would talk about record album designs he would ask me if my nephew, Kevin, who was around 5 or 6, could draw a “dinosaur disguised as a space ship”, or was it a ‘spaceship disguised as a dinosaur?” He was very interested in fresh ideas that were not influenced by things that were overly familiar or popular. He wanted to make the sounds that people would be listening to hear on the street…from boom boxes, (which today, would mean what people are hearing on satellite radios or on their iTouch.)

Arthur would constantly bring home records from record stores and I would be a little irritated because we didn’t have the money to buy these records that he would listen to for just a few times. He was mostly interested in hearing the quality and sound of the production, how the drums were balanced, the mix and levels of the vocals. I always remember when he brought home a Chet Baker record and while I at first thought he shouldn’t have bought yet another record I was mesmerized…it quickly became a personal favorite and I was grateful to have it. Arthur was interested in vocal music and he liked Chet’s a lot. He would listen consistently to Indian vocal music, both traditional and contemporary, which seems to have influenced him a bit on his cello and vocal styling. He was also a big fan of Terry Reilly’s, too.

What bands/musicians are you currently listening to? I’ve always been a big Nick Drake and John Martyn fan so when reviewers make mention of Arthur sounding like either of them I am very pleased. Currently on my regular playlist is the music of Jose Gonzalez, Low, Little Dragon, Great Lakes Swimmer, Teddy Thompson, Sam Cooke, Arcade Fire, Mark Kozelek, Chet Baker and Nat Baldwin. I would go to see any of them if they were playing in New York. (Of course Sam and Chet would not be playing anywhere that I could go to!)

What's the best venue to see music here now? It can be hard to see music in New York because you generally have to stand at the places that the people I like to see perform…but I still go to the Bowery Ballroom, Brooklyn Lyceum, Highline and others.

In the film it shows a lot of Arthur's music on tapes that were never released, what are you doing with these now? I feel fortunate that Steve Knutson has brought forth so much of Arthur’s music on Audika. He’s been so passionate about each project and is responsible for nurturing Arthur’s legacy. We have had a good working relationship and friendship since we first met!

Best cheap eat in the city. I like the restaurant on my street called S’mac/Sarita’s Macaroni and Cheese. I can take care of my own vegetarian cooking so this is a fun indulgence. They have some great combinations of ingredients in their macaroni and cheese and while their clientele may be mostly NYU’ers I like that their staff seem like they are friends and family. It’s friendly, always busy and yummy! While I am waiting for my brie, fig, shitake mushroom, rosemary mac and cheese I can go up First Avenue, between 13th and 14th to the Birdbath Bakery. Their huge cookies are so good and I brought a delicious almond cranberry tart to a Thanksgiving dinner.

Which New Yorker do you most admire? When Arthur started to get more ill over the last couple of years of his life we would be more and more at home. Our social circle grew smaller and he was working at the tape machines, keyboard and drum machines in the apartment, still booking a little studio time but mostly keeping up with doctor’s appointments and trying out a variety of medicines. With more time at home I remember we started watching baseball together and watched a lot of Yankee games during some years that they were not doing so well. I have since grown to be a very big fan and go to games with my friend, Mark. For the past number of years one of my favorite New Yorkers has been Jorge Posada. He represents to me a ‘regular guy’…hard working and passionate about what he loves to do. His young son had a lot of health challenges when he was born and I admire how Jorge and his wife have dealt with that, too.

Another New Yorker whom I admire is an old friend of mine, Mikel Rouse. He is a composer and musician and he is some one who has kept working on his music over the years. Check out his website and give him your support. He has passionate and caring political views tempered with a good sense of humor.

What are you doing these days? I’ve been a schoolteacher for the past 14 years and I feel lucky to go to work each day in my first grade classroom. I am fortunate to work in a great school with supportive colleagues. I am happy to keep at it BUT, if I could leave New York, it would be to live in Maine, where I have a small house and wonderful community of friends (including Arthur’s sisters, Julie and Kate)!

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? As many people might hope for I wish that New York was an affordable place for people to live…not just artists and musicians and dancers, who enrich our lives with their work, but for anyone who might want to live here and take advantage of life in the city.