Dries Van Noten: "record curation by Jesse Tobias" (August 23, 2023)

Jesse Tobias is a songwriter, guitarist, producer and music director that has been working in Los Angeles for the past 31 years. Hailing from Austin, Jesse moved to LA with his band Mother Tongue in 1992 and signed to Sony 550 records. Shortly after that he went on to play with The Red Hot Chili Peppers for a brief time. From there Jesse went on to play with Alanis Morrissette on her debut record’s Jagged Little Pill tour for the next few years. Jesse has worked as a music director and touring guitarist with such artists as Frente, Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, Jason Falkner, Twillight Singers and Gutter Twins.

Jesse served as producer and music director on the celebrated cult classic musical episode Once More, with Feeling of the television show Buffy The Vampire Slayer. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the episode. Jesse also appeared on the show as a musical guest with his band Splendid several times. Jesse is currently the songwriter, guitarist and music director for Morrissey. Residing in Los Feliz California. He has co-written over 35 songs and played on 10 Morrissey studio records over the span of the last 20 years.

Songs chosen:

1 THE SUPREMES
Where Did Our Love Go

2 LINK WRAY
Link Wray

3 THE SOFT BOYS
Underwater Moonlight

4 THE GUN CLUB
Fire Of Love

5 DIZZY GILLESPIE
Afro

6 BRIAN ENO
Here Come The Warm Jets

7 THE CLEAN
Vehicle

8 MOONDOG
Moondog 2 (Extended Version - Remastered 2000)

9 LOU REED
Berlin

10 CASS MCCOMBS
Dropping The Writ

11 WIRE
Pink Flag (2006 Remastered Version)

12 TELEVISION
Adventure

13 LEO NOCENTELLI
Another Side

14 ARTHUR RUSSELL
Love is Overtaking Me

15 WAR
Why Can’t We Be Friends?

16 BAD BRAINS
Bad Brains

17 BUZZCOCKS
Love Bites

18 THE KINKS
Face to Face

19 JIMI HENDRIX
Electric Ladyland

20 CAROLE KING
Tapestry

Jesse Tobias | Dries Van Noten

Discover the record curation on the Official Dries Van Noten website.

www.driesvannoten.com

Bit of an oddity, but included as an insight to his musical taste.
Jesse chooses a playlist for a 'luxury' fashion brand.
What no Morrissey!?
Regards,
FWD.

 

[hand in glove]

if you cant identify with his music anymore then why are you on here,if i didnt like M and his music anymore i wouldnt be anywhere near this place.

Gordy it’s not that I don’t love Morrissey anymore. I do. That’s why I’m here. I’ve been here for 23 years and will stay. I won’t stop supporting him.

 

[JerryCan]

If you actually watch the video, the humungous man is actually going to deliberately hurt Morrissey and something bad would have happened if not for Jesse and security. In fact, Jesse is the one who blocked the attack.

That was a scary moment and I was glad Jesse was on the case. That bloke was dangerous.

 

[Juan Dulces]

Besides Alain's songs, which many became all-time Morrissey classics (so the deck is stacked against Jesse from the gate), he provided excellent backing vocals the whole time he was in the group - something that was crucial to Morrissey's classic sound. To me, that's the biggest difference between the musicians Alain and Jesse - the vocals. Both of them can learn and play each other's music, and they are both pros.

I think Jesse is a good guitar player. He plays with a rougher style compared to his guitar partners in the Morrissey Band, but he's a good player. In a way, it's similar to early Aerosmith where Joe Perry was the 'sloppy on purpose' player and Brad Whitford (here akin to Boz B.) was the classically trained, almost 'perfect' guitar player. Not comparing Jesse to Perry, but you should see my point. Tobias is creative with his effects and also uses an E-Bow. Morrissey most likely has always approved of Jesse's specific playing style/abilities, hence why he's been around for this long.

I just think he gives off the 'Morrissey Appearance' since he's been around the man for so long

 

[vinceevert]

If you actually watch the video, the humungous man is actually going to deliberately hurt Morrissey and something bad would have happened if not for Jesse and security. In fact, Jesse is the one who blocked the attack.

Doesn't look like he was gonna deliberately hurt Morrissey. The humungous man as you call him does look a bit over excited when running towards Morrissey but you can see Jesse intentionally block his path causing the humungous man as you call him to crash into him. It is very easy to see that Jesse chose to fight with the fan instead of letting the guy in the blue shirt and crew member handle it. You got to admit it doesn't look very good.

 

[hand in glove]

Doesn't look like he was gonna deliberately hurt Morrissey. The humungous man as you call him does look a bit over excited when running towards Morrissey but you can see Jesse intentionally block his path causing the humungous man as you call him to crash into him. It is very easy to see that Jesse chose to fight with the fan instead of letting the guy in the blue shirt and crew member handle it. You got to admit it doesn't look very good.

Yeah. I was about to say, he should let security do their job and they are quite capable of doing so…

 

[Juan Dulces]

Doesn't look like he was gonna deliberately hurt Morrissey. The humungous man as you call him does look a bit over excited when running towards Morrissey but you can see Jesse intentionally block his path causing the humungous man as you call him to crash into him. It is very easy to see that Jesse chose to fight with the fan instead of letting the guy in the blue shirt and crew member handle it. You got to admit it doesn't look very good.

You've got to know that Morrissey is much lighter (weighted) while on stage than off. He wouldn't be prepared to 'stand his ground' and put his weight down during a performance. That goes for all musicians on stage really - minus the drummer, who is already in an athletic state during a performance (even someone of slight size would still be full of oxygen w/muscles pumped due to the drumming cardio) Morrissey could easily fall over if someone put their weight on him, and you've seen this either live or in clips, where he loses balance slightly when leaning forward to shake hands in the front row, people hugging him from behind, etc. He's focused on performing. He doesn't play Rugby (maybe).
Plus, the fan entered the stage right near Jesse while he was playing, and smacked straight into his guitar with his chest - so Jesse was almost forced into making some decision...if Jesse plays wirelessly, that's one thing - it's another if he is corded to the guitar amp/effects, because that fan may have tripped/caused cords to eject. That's in addition to him wanting to protect his boss (and himself) from a large-sized fan coming directly at him particularly hot. So, it most likely wasn't the fan's intention to hurt Morrissey, but he might have anyway if he was allowed to get to him.

 

[vinceevert]

You've got to know that Morrissey is much lighter while on stage than off. He wouldn't be prepared to 'stand his ground' and put his weight down during a performance. That goes for all musicians on stage really - minus the drummer, who is already in an athletic state during a performance (even someone of slight size would still be full of oxygen w/muscles pumped due to the drumming cardio) Morrissey could easily fall over if someone put their weight on him, and you've seen this either live or in clips, where he loses balance slightly when leaning forward to shake hands in the front row, people hugging him from behind, etc. He's focused on performing. He doesn't play Rugby (maybe).
Plus, the fan entered the stage right near Jesse while he was playing, and smacked straight into his guitar with his chest - so Jesse was almost forced into making some decision...if Jesse plays wirelessly, that's one thing - it's another if he is corded to the guitar amp/effects, because that fan may have tripped/caused cords to eject. That's in addition to him wanting to protect his boss from a large-sized fan coming directly at him particularly hot. So, it most likely wasn't the fan's intention to hurt Morrissey, but he might have anyway if he was allowed to get to him.

Morrissey clearly sees the big guy coming towards him. Jesse clearly takes 2 or 3 steps into the path and blocks the fan causing him to slip and crash into him. The point is even after causing the crash (accident or on purpose) Jesse continues to try to fight with the fan instead of letting the crew handle it. Jesse even appears to try to remove his guitar and hit the fan with the bottom of it.
I understand you and some others are trying to justify and defend his actions but it just doesn't look good for Jesse. This isn't the first time Jesse has done something like that. There is also a video of him trying to kick a fan from the stage. The posted clip clearly backs up peoples stories of Jesse not being a very nice guy to fans.

 

[Juan Dulces]

Morrissey clearly sees the big guy coming towards him. Jesse clearly takes 2 or 3 steps into the path and blocks the fan causing him to slip and crash into him. The point is even after causing the crash (accident or on purpose) Jesse continues to try to fight with the fan instead of letting the crew handle it. Jesse even appears to try to remove his guitar and hit the fan with the bottom of it.
I understand you and some others are trying to justify and defend his actions but it just doesn't look good for Jesse. This isn't the first time Jesse has done something like that. There is also a video of him trying to kick a fan from the stage. That clip clearly backs up peoples stories of Jesse not being a very nice guy to fans.

Your observations are fine, and yes the crew could have possibly handled it, but sometimes (as in Jesse's case) being in the wrong place/wrong time happens. Plus, he's got an expensive guitar that the fan just blasted his chest and stomach into, that's a big investment and his 'tool' for work. There's a lot of risk involved...and this example here - the clip we keep coming back to - doesn't prove anything about Jesse besides that he can exert himself and physically defend when needed. That seems very normal to me in my world.

I love the stage invasions, but you have to do it cleanly and courteously. The band is there to perform (for fans) and make money, they don't need to be physically assaulted or have their property damaged.

 

[js138]

There are too many non-guitarists in this thread calling him terrible. You can not like him, you can hate his tone, or types of guitars he uses, but to call him an awful or terrible guitarist is some of the biggest bologna on this forum.

I much prefer Alain Whyte to Jesse and i've made that no secret on this forum. However, so many of you act like scorned lovers over the fact he's in and Alain is out. Jesse has written MANY forgettable songs for Morrissey, that's no secret. But it's also no secret he is a scape goat for many post 2010 Morrissey's missteps and unwarranted hate.

Jesse Tobias, a yes man, indeed. Awful guitar player? Stop embarrassing yourself.

 

[vinceevert]

Your observations are fine, and yes the crew could have possibly handled it, but sometimes (as in Jesse's case) being in the wrong place/wrong time happens. Plus, he's got an expensive guitar that the fan just blasted his chest and stomach into, that's a big investment and his 'tool' for work. There's a lot of risk involved...and this example here - the clip we keep coming back to - doesn't prove anything about Jesse besides that he can exert himself and physically defend when needed. That seems very normal to me in my world.

I love the stage invasions, but you have to do it cleanly and courteously. The band is there to perform (for fans) and make money, they don't need to be physically assaulted or have their property damaged.

I strongly disagree. If Jesse was worried about his guitar or equipment why did he risk it by intentionally stepping into the path of the fan? It seems like you are just making excuses to justify his terrible actions. Yes Jesse is successful at slowing the big guy down, but you can clearly see after the crash the big guy kinda hugs Jesse to keep from falling then lets go (while Morrissey reaches for the fans hand). Then Jesse who is no longer blocking the fan's path once again steps towards him to continue fighting with him after the guy in the blue shirt grabs hold. It looks like an obvious and extra act of aggression towards the fan from Jesse. It doesn't look good at all.

I think the point of posting that clip was to prove Jesse can act aggressively towards fans. It proves that point pretty clearly.

Stage invasions can be fun and they aren't a new thing, there were many that night and during that song. Morrissey appears to be very aware of the big guy coming towards him (you can see Morrissey lift his arms near his chest like hes preparing to be hugged, he even reaches for the fan's hand after the crash). Morrissey looks very uncomfortable while all the drama is going on in front of him

We can agree to disagree but it still doesn't look very good for Jesse.

 

[goinghome]

I feel like I've wandered into a second boxing thread, with all this replay commentary.

Let people be different.

 

[Jack Frost]

The guy is stampeding with all his weight towards Morrissey - it’s not a normal stage invasion where a fan just wants a hug. He could have hurt Morrissey and Jesse managed to block that from happening. The aggression did not subside when security and Jesse were holding him back - for all you know, he may have hurt Jesse or damaged something or said something about wanting to harm someone. I think the guy deserved what he got. Jesse is a hero for this and Morrissey would have been grateful.

 

[Mimi Ramone]

Don't know what Jesse's intentions were, maybe he felt threatened because the guy came skidding at him accidently. But what surprised me was that the team, Jesse and the Tour manager were onto him instantly. This guy wasn't out to hurt Morrissey, that's ridiculous. He just wanted his chance as the woman before him. And they all put on a fight to get through. Not even Morrissey seemed to mind and stretched his hand out to him. And as Jesse was standing in his way he tried to slow down and hugged him apologetically. So I really don't see much difference to the girl before him other than him being a somewhat bigger guy, but that doesn't equate a threat, so it seems a little strange that they were all onto him and Jesse even took off his guitar to have a go at him (so much for the protection of his expensive work tool).
At the end we will never know, maybe he pissed off security before getting onstage or they thought they wouldn't get him off stage again. It nevertheless looks very peculiar and aggressive from Morrissey's team and not so much from the fan.

 

[Jack Frost]

Don't know what Jesse's intentions were, maybe he felt threatened because the guy came skidding at him accidently. But what surprised me was that the team, Jesse and the Tour manager were onto him instantly. This guy wasn't out to hurt Morrissey, that's ridiculous. He just wanted his chance as the woman before him. And they all put on a fight to get through. Not even Morrissey seemed to mind and stretched his hand out to him. And as Jesse was standing in his way he tried to slow down and hugged him apologetically. So I really don't see much difference to the girl before him other than him being a somewhat bigger guy, but that doesn't equate a threat, so it's seems a little strange that they were all onto him and Jesse even took off his guitar to have a go at him (so much for the protection of his expensive work tool).
At the end we will never know, maybe he pissed off security before getting onstage or they thought they wouldn't get him off stage again. It nevertheless looks very peculiar and aggressive from Morrissey's team and not so much from the fan.

Maybe he’s known by security as someone mentally unstable who has made threats to Morrissey in the past - not everything is as it all seems to outsiders.

 

[marred]

One night after a show I was with a few other fans waiting at the bus. We were hoping, of course, that Morrissey would come out. Even if he didn’t stop, at least we were able to see him, Well suddenly the door opens and it’s the band. I was so excited. But here comes Jesse, like a soldier at war, face pinched up (just like above photo) stomping his way towards me. I couldn’t get out of the way fast enough and he actually clipped me with his shoulder and nearly knocked me down. He didn’t stop to say excuse me or I’m sorry - nothing. I don’t know if it was at that moment it hit me. Not only did I find his playing too rough, but he was a jerk. That sealed it for me.

I guess I’ve come to terms with the fact that Morrissey is not the artist he used to be. I can’t identify with his music anymore. Even with some of the newer Whyte songs. He’s Americanized himself way too much. He croons through Suedehead these days…

He will alway mean so much to me and I will always love him, but maybe his music is just no longer for me. Which is truly tragic, really…but here we are.

But it's not "but here we are", it's here you are. It sounds like you're taking it a little too personally.

 

[hand in glove]

But it's not "but here we are", it's here you are. It sounds like you're taking it a little too personally.

Yes, that’s what I meant, myself. In my world of Morrissey. I wasn’t including you or anyone else on solo. Taking it too personally? Well, maybe I am. I’m super sensitive. May seem odd, but in this world you meet all kinds of crazy.

 

[Jack Frost]

Yes, that’s what I meant, myself. In my world of Morrissey. I wasn’t including you or anyone else on solo. Taking it too personally? Well, maybe I am. I’m super sensitive. May seem odd, but in this world you meet all kinds of crazy.

Crazy indeed.

 

[hand in glove]

Crazy indeed.

 

[johnny marr is sh*t]

If you actually watch the video, the humungous man is actually going to deliberately hurt Morrissey and something bad would have happened if not for Jesse and security. In fact, Jesse is the one who blocked the attack.

Stop embarrassing yourself. That's a fact, the guitarist is a d*ck. The proof goes right in your face, you wanted it right?
And yes, he smacked that "humungous" man.

 

[Jack Frost]

Stop embarrassing yourself. That's a fact, the guitarist is a d*ck. The proof goes right in your face, you wanted it right?
And yes, he smacked that "humungous" man.

Would you rather Morrissey he knocked over or injured? There’s a humungous difference between a fan jumping on stage to hug him, and someone rocketing towards him with such force and craze that he is STILL going for him when restrained by security.