Interviewing Exene Cervenka from X in just over half an hour and and extremely excited. The best part is that preparing for the interview, I’ve been rocking out to X albums/video clips.
X on David Letterman, ages ago.
I’m supposed to have an interview with X this week, and I’m really excited. Not sure who in the band yet, though John Doe isn’t available for certain since he’s filming a movie.
John was my first in-person interview around seven years ago in front of Old Ironsides in Sacramento. I asked him a particularly long-winded and obnoxious question, because that’s the sort of thing I did back then. I thought it would make my interviewees take me seriously—I doubt it worked. He paused and laughed, and said “Well, James, I don’t know if I have the time to answer all that.” I told him that was my essay question, which he got a kick out of. Good times.
Just edited an interview with Fashawn for the new issue of Submerge. I really dug his music—intelligent hip-hop with catchy beats. His debut album Boy Meets World is out now.
My interview with Dane Cook
When Dane Cook flaked for our first interview time, I figured it was a case of the publicist blowing smoke up our asses. Love him or hate him, he is a pretty big name. He packs arenas around the country, and not a lot of comics can say that. When the interview was rescheduled, I waited by the phone for half-an-hour and figured it was a bust. Sure enough, he called. I’d heard he was a dick, but he was pretty friendly on the phone, and even called me back when someone came to his door. He did most of the talking, and I’m cool with that.
Interview with Mike Skinner (The Streets)
I had a good time interviewing Mike. I’ve only heard The Streets in drips and drabs, but I really liked the Everything is Borrowed album. Since they’re all so different, that might be the only one I’ll be into, though. In any case, I like how this one turned out.
My interview with Gregg Gillis
Don’t tell anyone this, but Girl Talk music makes me dance in my chair.
My interview with Les Claypool
The first time I heard “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver”—more specifically saw the video—I was hooked on Primus. They were just so strange and didn’t sound like anything I’d heard before.
Also, I’ve always wanted to be a bass player. I can blame Gene Simmons for that. I thought that if only I would grow up to paint my face like a monster, spit fake blood from my mouth and play a battle axe-shaped bass guitar, everything would just fall into place for me. Maybe it would have, if only I had chosen that path.
In any case, Les was really easygoing after we broke the ice. Lots of laughs.
My interview with Pretty & Nice.
I met Pretty & Nice for an interview at SXSW in 2008. That was a crazy day: hot, and I’d probably been drinking more than I should. I really liked their album and performance the night before, but I didn’t really know anything about them, nor did I come up with any questions. We ended up talking for half an hour, and it was a blast, one of the highlights of that trip.
Now over a year later, two of the people who were in the band at that time have left. I spoke with Holden Lewis over the phone this time around. The interview isn’t as fun, but the song that accompanies the story really is.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Rogue Wave - Eyes
I saw Rogue Wave play at a small record shop/venue (R.I.P. Fulcrum) in Chico, Calif. There were maybe 20 other people there, and I think everyone had a huge smile on their faces, which is a peculiar sight at an indie rock show. Live, they sounded a lot more like a rock band, at least on that occasion, and stands as a treasuered memory of my old homestead.
Months later, I interviewed Zack Rogue over breakfast in Emeryville, Calif., at Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe. The establishment is owned by Mike Dirnt, the bass player for Green Day. In the middle of our interview, Zach said, “Look! He’s here.” And sure enough, there was Dirnt, with a gorgeous female companion who might have been half his age. (via: myownmelt)
My Interview with the Black Lips.
I think The Black Lips are a love them or hate them sort of thing. I listened to their new album, 200 Million Thousand, a bunch of times before the interview and tried to be objective, but I had a difficult time with it.
Maybe that’s the point. It felt like it was more about feel than it was about songwriting. In that sense, it’s successful, because 200 Million Thousand very provocative. I’m happy with this interview, even though it treads ground I’ve seen in other Black Lips articles. Melissa did a great job on the cover, as usual.
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