Q: How did they react?

A: My friend said, "You probably would never make it as a photographer." He said, "People don’t just accept random shots." Well, I knew that wasn’t true. In my years of being an artist, I know that many people who are [photographers], who are actually taking pictures of [musicians], many times have no clue as to when to shoot, especially when they’re doing live performances. I hear the shutters going off many times at strange times in a live performance. So he said, "Okay, let’s see if you can do this." He gave me one of his cameras, and I took a couple of pictures of all the people who were there, and some of them came back okay.

Q: What was your process like at that time, when you were just starting to shoot?

A: I guess at that time I was thinking I needed to hear or feel some kind of a voice, whether it was through an urge or through some part of the intuitive faculty. And I’ll tell you what: it didn’t fail me. I’ve come to believe, I’ve come to know, that if you really believe you can do something, you will do it.

Q: How do you respond to people who say, "If you’re taking good photos, it can’t be talent because you can’t see what you’re shooting, so it must just be luck"?

A: Well, then try creating some good luck for yourself. And try not to think of it as luck, but as fortune. Good fortune is very different from good luck. Luck is more happenstance. Fortune is something that can be earned. I think you can’t always change people’s minds and change people’s ways of thinking, but you can set a model before them, and let them see it. If they decide not to do anything with it, or better themselves, or evolve their state of mind, then there’s nothing that anybody else can do about that.

Q: Whose music are you listening to these days?

A: Mostly me right now, because I’m studying me a lot. I’m studying, and I’m trying to grow me a lot. Outside of that, I do still listen to classical. I listen to more ethnic stuff. Some older blues things. Folk music from other countries. I love Spanish choral music. And I love music of different countries in Africa. It’s whatever or wherever my awareness leads me. Unfortunately, though, I have to say, there’s not nearly as much uniqueness in the music coming from much of our society right now, because everything is becoming more and more bottom-line sensitive. There aren’t but two major record labels anymore, so a lot of the really unique stuff isn’t getting out from them, because they don’t think it’ll sell. Even many of the independents now, as opposed to maybe 15 years ago, aren’t getting a lot of really unique stuff out. I mean, they’re touting certain things as unique, but I’m telling you ...

Q: More of the same?

A: Yeah. We’re stuck right now.

Q: How do you think we get unstuck?

A: Everything now is tied to the bottom line. You need to just allow people to be who they are. Part of the problem is the image; everybody’s so image-conscious. If you go into the backwoods in states like Louisiana and Mississippi, you’re going to find some unique stuff back there, but they’re not going to look the way you think they ought to look.

I do know one thing: as the music gets weaker, the nation gets weaker. As we become more militaristic in our society, we become less artistic, and I’m seeing that. It’s going to come back and bite us in the butt. It’s probably already doing that. It’s a sad thing.

Q: What would you be doing now if you hadn’t become a musician?

A: At one time I thought about going into law. I was still in high school, and I was doing well in civics and political-science classes. But then I realized that it’s okay to have an understanding of some of this stuff, and go and major in something else. So I just left it where it was.

Q: Any regrets?

A: No, but I’m feeling the need to become wiser as it relates to a lot of the legal stuff. Because, let me tell you, the business side of the music community will try you. And it’s not even a double standard; it’s more like triple, quadruple standards. They don’t have the same standards for blacks as they might have for whites or other people. And believe me, there’s a lot of bias in the music business. A lot of pre-ju-dice. I mean, when a jazz person walks in the door, they pretty much assume that that person isn’t going to sell as much as some rock group. There’s a lot of assumptions. In my opinion, the music business has done much to keep a certain amount of polarization going.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up. I’m writing, I’m working on stuff. I’m trying to do more film stuff. It looks like that’s starting to happen more. So we’ll see. I’m not limited to anything. You can’t afford to be limited.

Henry Butler performs at Johnny D’s, in Somerville, on March 24. Call (617) 776-9667. Tamara Wieder can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com