| Thomas |
Posted - 09/05/2004 : 18:29:06
Black scoffs at Pixies reunion frenzy
Angela Pacienza
Canadian Press
Friday, September 03, 2004
TORONTO (CP) - All the fervour over the Pixies' reunion is "much ado about nothing," scoffs frontman Frank Black. And fans shouldn't anticipate a new record just yet, he adds in an interview with the Canadian Press.
"Only mild, vague discussions have taken place regarding whatever," he says of what might happen when their tour ends in December. "We're just focused right now on, 'Should we play Is She Weird or not in the set?' We're not thinking about what will be our next grand statement."
The band comes to Canada on Tuesday with a show in Vancouver, the third stop on a four-month North American tour. They'll return in November for dates in Toronto, Montreal and Hull, Que.
"We made our grand statements and now people are flocking to see us in much larger numbers than they ever did before," adds the 39-year-old, whose real name is Charles Thompson. "We're just enjoying that."
The frenzy over the Pixies reunion - which brought Black together again with drummer David Lovering, guitarist Joey Santiago and bassist/vocalist Kim Deal in April - has reached nearly hysteric heights. Tickets are selling for upwards of $400 US on eBay, music magazines are calling the Pixies "the band that changed the world," and hipsters are practically tripping over each other trying to get to the front of the stage.
All this for a band that was scarcely on the rock radar when they were together between 1987 and 1992. Their records barely charted on Billboard.
They were the quirky band who were relegated to the underground rock scene until Kurt Cobain came along and brought the grunge, alt-rock movement to the forefront. The Pixies parted ways after a 1992 show in Vancouver citing personality clashes. The group's fame grew significantly every year the members remained foes.
That fact isn't lost on Black, who with a bald head and a few extra pounds looks more like Uncle Fester than a typical rockstar.
In fact, he admits to being a tad cocky about the red carpet treatment.
"I would say the band has always kind of, even in our earlier days starting out, we've always been met with applause and an atmosphere of celebration," the singer says in a booming, almost cartoon-like speaking voice. "It has kind of caused me to take this reaction for granted."
To lessen the reunion spectacle, the Pixies put on more than a dozen warm-up gigs last April in what they hoped were obscure, out of the way cities, to make the whole thing more "low key."
Those dates included stops in Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Victoria.
Thompson says Canada was key because "even though the jet age has made it possible for all of us to travel everywhere, let's face it, there are probably not a lot of London-based journalists that are going to get their editors to buy them a round trip ticket to Regina."
"We wanted the shows to be away from, you know, we didn't want it to be L.A," he adds, speaking via cell phone while sitting in a "vehicle outside of Starbucks in Eugene, Oregon."
So did they need the dress rehearsals?
"We learned that we missed our lighting guy," Black snaps. "The lights were too bright. It wasn't anyone's fault. We just never thought about it."
Other than the beaming lights, there were no issues to give band members pause for thought about launching a more extensive roadshow.
"I don't think anyone would have said, 'Yeah sure' if we weren't willing to," explains Black. "The whole idea that we wouldn't get along assumes that we were the most famous fueding band in history."
But the delirium over the reunion by fans and rock critics has nearly granted the foursome, which broke up in 1992 citing personality clashes, such a status.
"It's because the band has no image. The band is slightly weird. It's kind of hard to figure out where we fit in. It's not a nice easy 'To sum these Pixies up all in a nutshell you could say this,' " he says, his voice rising to imitate an announcer.
"It seems to me exploitation journalism being what it is, it's kind of hard to figure out what our whole thing is. People latch on to things like, 'Oh, they've got this rivalry or feud between two of the more visible members of the band,' which was, and is based on some truth, but of course that being one of the few truths that someone can exploit it kind of gets blown out of proportion."
So why get back together after all these years? For the money? The fame? The love of the craft?
After about 25 minutes on the phone with Black the reasons aren't very clear.
"This tour is about, 'Hey, this is the band that brought you Surfer Rosa and Doolittle," he says by way of explanation.
He does add that touring is far more lucrative than making records, given the state of the industry.
"From a purely financial, crass point of view, if we were to make a record right now to come out in January do you think that record would sell millions of copies? I think not," he says.
"The band did not sell millions of records the first time around and it was a much friendlier atmosphere to quirky music than it is now, in terms of radio and all that."
So since everyone wants to see the band live, that's the road best to travel down, according to Black.
"Our focus is 'Whoa! All these people want to come see us play live. Let's go play live.' I'm not going to go book a studio tomorrow. It has to be right. We're not just going to throw it together."
The band remains without a record contract, which has allowed them to sell CDs produced from the live shows. On most dates - except Vancouver and Seattle - up to 2,000 copies of Pixies Live will sell for $25 US. As well, the company burning the discs, DiscLive, is offering a NetBurn pass for $18 US for a single concert. That pass allows fans to burn CDs from their home computer from any concert on the fall tour.
Towards the end of the conversation, some truth behind the reunion peaks through.
"We're all older now . . . definitely more mature," says Black referring to getting back together with the band and leaving past hardships behind.
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The Pixies Canadian tour dates:
Sept. 7: Vancouver, Plaza of Nations
Nov. 24-25: Toronto, Arrow Hall
Nov. 26-27: Montreal, CEPSUM Arena
Nov. 28: Hull, Que., Arena Robert Guetin
© The Canadian Press 2004
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