(Cord Magazine's questions are in blue. Artist responses are in grey.)


We have a little ten question thing that we do with every band and these will probably be the most conventional questions of the entire interview.

J : That’s fine.

What do you do when you’re on your downtime, besides talking to people like me.

J : Uh I try to stay in bed as much as humanly possible. And record. I mean that’s not really our downtime… but it is. Record and stay in bed for me. I like to cook a little bit too.

B : Really?

J : Yeah I do.

B : A little bit of fancy goulash?

J : Hah. Yeah that’s about all I do. I don’t really do much. You know I visit my family and friends, whenever I get a chance to do that. Take my mom out for brunch.

What is your vice of choice?

B : Vice of choice?

J : Oh I would have to say girls. Girls and a bit of alcohol, though I’m trying to cut out on the alcohol. That’s not really working.

B : Mmm. Probably… drink. I like girls but I don’t think my girlfriend would like that answer. (laughter all around)

What’s your favourite venue or city to play in?

B : I like New York City. You know.

J : You know Seattle the other night was incredible. Seattle was incredible. Detroit. Uh yeah New York City’s incredible. San Francisco.

B : London. There’s a lot of them.

J : They’re all actually, I mean, every show we played on this last tour has been sold out. With the exception of Sacramento. So everything’s been actually really good, I can’t say that we have a complaint.

What issues and aspects of t he world most concern you these days?

B : Uh the value of the American dollar over in England. (laughs)

J : I’m a lot - very much concerned about the state of the world you know. I mean just in the last four years we’ve seen quite a lot going on to change the course of the world you know. George Bush, his… things like that you know - I’m not gonna get into politics on it but whether right or wrong, the world’s in a very very temperamental place you know. We need to be going in a certain direction I think and it’s hard to say that we are.

What is one interview question that you could care less to hear again?

J : Who are the influences or something. That would be one of them.

B : Who is your biggest influence, yeah. Cuz there’s so many of them.

J : I mean it’s not obvious but people always cap on T.Rex for us. If you listen to T.Rex songs for one, there’s not really much about sex and there’s not really much about, you know, this and that that is the same in our music. It’s not. People always assume that there is like... Oh yeah glam rock’s all about sex so we’re a fricking glam band or… you know, whether or not we’re a glam band. I dunno. That drives me nuts. We don’t consider ourselves a glam band [I think I struck a nerve]. We only started getting that like two months ago. It was in Rolling Stone and now ..

B : Oh look at that we’re glam.

J : They called us a glam band, and now everyone does. That’s like calling us a heavy metal band. It’s just not accurate you know. It doesn’t do us justice. Don’t get me wrong. We love T.Rex.

What was your favourite Saturday morning cartoon?

B : Woody Woodpecker.

J : That guy’s an instigator. What is he an instigator or something?

B : Yeah he was.

J : Uh-huh. Yeah he was a troublemaker. (some laughter here about how he relates to bands). I dunno, gosh, I wasn’t really all that big on cartoons.

B : Oh yeah you were. You loved the Wonder Twins. Come on, take the form of, the shape of…

J : Okay okay I did I admit. I loved that one, you’re right. Well, I don’t know if I loved it, but it was pretty good…

B : Oh you did.

Aside from a musician, what did you want to be when you were growing up?

B : A writer, I think I wanted to be at one point. Writer. Fireman.

J : I just wanted to be something creative. I remember when I was a wee little lad of like three years old, my first time after I went to the dentist, I wanted to be a dentist. I think every month I went by there… but then I figured I wanted to do something involving creativity.

You’d think that would scare the crap out of you.

J : What, dentists?

Yeah.

J : Yeah I know I know. Actually I don’t remember it. My mom always tells me that the first time I ever went, all I wanted to be was a dentist. He probably gave me candy or something. But I just wanted to be something that just involved creativity, you know what I mean? If it doesn’t involve creativity, it’s just mindless. I can’t imagine doing something like that every day of your life.

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be and what would you hope to accomplish?

B : If we could be any person for one day…

One day.

J : Alive or dead?

Either.

J : I would have liked to be John Lennon for a day.

B : So you could get with Yoko?

J : …Pre-Yoko. (laughs) during the making of “I Am The Walrus.”

B : I’d probably be Keith Richards for a day.

J : Oooh that would be fun.

B : The day before “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin.”?

J : Or during… yeah that would be fun.

B : Yeah yeah you like that? That’s right yeah.

J : Oh wow (Hill oohing away in the background for a while). I would like to be Keith.

B : Touche!

And you’d be accomplishing….?

J : Actually you know what? I’ll be Ronnie.

B : No. You’re John Lennon, you’re hanging out with Brian Epstein, while I’m Keith Richards and you know…

J : At least as Ronnie I’ve Got My Own Album To Do.

B : Oh yeah see that would be fun.

J : Haha when I’m done with you, I’ve Got My Own Album To Do.

B : See that would be a grand good time.

Okay there’s a shark, and there is a bear…

J : Who are you gonna be, the shark or the bear?

Oh wow, you guys are gonna role play? Let me ask the rest of the question and then you can decide. All right there’s a shark and there’s a bear and they’re gonna get into a fight. There’s a pool just big enough for the shark to fit in, swim a bit, stay alive, and there’s a small rock just big enough for the bear to stand on in the middle of the water. Grizzly bear and a great white shark. Neither have been fed for a few days and neither have been trained - they are pissed off and they fight to the death. Who wins?

J : Who wins between the shark and the bear? Okay the bear can only stand on the little rock. Wait explain it again to me… the bear…

The bear’s on a rock in the middle of the pool.

B : The bear can swim right?

J : Well how deep is the water?

Big enough for the shark to fit and swim…

J : Is it big enough for the bear to stand…?

I don’t know exactly how tall a great white shark is, but his tail has to fit in there too.

J : I would say I really want the bear to win.

B : I would want the bear to win but I don’t know if his chances are that good.

So now which one of you is the bear and which one is the shark?

J : I’m the bear.

B : Obviously I’m the one that would win. But…

J : So you’re the shark.

B : I do think the shark would win.

J : I think the shark.. I think the bear… cuz you know sharks have that like, odd texture to them…

B : They could keep swimming off around too you know.

J : He could come up and take little shots and swim off… I’m rooting for the bear though. But I think the shark would honestly win.

Okay so ideally the bear, but probably, in reality the shark.

B : The shark.

J : The shark.

And finally, if you could ask me one question, what would that be?

B : You dating anyone?

J : Phone number?

No (answering Karscig).

B : Mmm. All right. Question answered.

Did you have a question?

J : I already asked it when he did, I asked you for your phone number.

Oh. Well right on… thank you very much gentlemen..

B : Well thank you!

J : Actually no you know what, I do have a question for you. What is your favourite group? What would be your favourite influence? Musically.

Oh boy, I should always be prepared for that when people ask it. It’s so hard cuz it does change. But for perennial, always-go-back-to-it… well I have now-favorites and old favorites.

B : How about if you were to bring three artists’ albums with you, on a trip…

(laughter from Hill)

I get three? My goodness.

B : Three. Cuz it’s hard to do one. I cant do one.

Do I have to pick the album?

B : Nah, just the artist. Anything by them.

I’d take something… oh the third one’s a problem… I’d take something by Bowie…

J : Ahaaa… (approving nods).

…I’d take something by Bright Eyes.

J : Really!

...and I would take…

B : What Bowie? Any ideas?

You told me I didn’t have to pick that! Just a second… I would take… something by a friends’ band, to remember home. Sweetheart, who you don’t know, but you will.

J : Huh. If it was Bowie I would take Hunky Dory.

B : I’d say Ziggy Stardust. I love Hunky Dory but Ziggy Stardust I like better. Especially that double disc where it’s got all the demos on disc 2.

I tend to lean that way too. Maybe I’d take a best of.. That three-cd… but then I wouldn’t have that cohesive-album thing going…

J : Yeah there’s something wonderful about putting an album on and seeing how they put the order of the songs you know and just how did that happen?

Even with you guys with the full album how it starts off so rock and loud and at the end it just kind of flows away…

J : Yeah we sort of did that on purpose.

Yeah I kind of thought maybe my CD player changed over or something!

J : It’s sort of like the beginning of the night you, know, you’re having a good time and then by the end of it you know, it’s cool and sort of changes.

Winding down…

J : Yeah. Well thank you very much!

B : That was cool. Are you coming tonight?

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : April 2005.