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T O P I C    R E V I E W
Carl Posted - 08/09/2006 : 09:24:14
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640199729,00.html

Black can't escape the Pixies
Former member last visited Utah 2 years ago for a reunion

By Scott Iwasaki

Deseret Morning News


Frank Black, also known as Black Francis of the Pixies, says he remembers the last time he was in Salt Lake
City. He was part of the Pixies reunion in Kingsbury Hall two years ago.
"I was having some problems," Black said by phone from his home in
Eugene, Ore. "It's so dry in Utah that my sinuses were acting up."
Black — whose real name is Charles Thompson — says he's looking
forward to coming back for his solo show. "But I know it's going to be hot
and dry."
The tour is in support of his new album, "Fastman Raiderman," his
new double-CD for Back Porch Records. "I had a feeling that sometime I'd
make a double CD. I mean we've been beyond the vinyl format for some
time, and the CD can hold up to 74 minutes of music. And I had a lot of
songs I wanted to do."
Within his original works that include "In the Time of My Ruin," "Kiss
My Ring" and the title tracks, "Fast Man" and "Raider Man," Black also
remade the Pogues' "Dirty Old Town." "That song was recorded at the last
minute. I enjoyed making this album. It was a long process with different
sessions at different times, but the last day in the studio is always
depressing. Things are getting cleared up and it's basically empty, with
just a single microphone on the floor.
"I hadn't written any more songs, but I didn't want to stop recording.
While I had messed around with 'Dirty Old Town' live, I'd never recorded
it. So a thought came to me, and I announced that I wanted to do it. So we
worked up a nice little arrangement and did it, I think, in one take.
"I used to do it the Pogues' way verbatim, but we changed it around and made it feel like that last day in the
studio — bittersweet. We changed it around and did it in 6/8 time. It was great."
Reflecting on his career, Black said the most frustrating part was trying to live up to the Pixies. "It will always
be a shadow I'll have to live under. When I make my own music, it will always be compared to what the band did.
Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the Pixies, but there will always be this feeling of Pixie rock vs. Frank Black
Nashville sound.
"While people flip out about my change of style, to me it's always been a natural progression. There are times
when I get tempted to whoop it up in my solo shows. And maybe I will in the future, I don't know. But I do know
it is impossible to escape the shadow of the Pixies. And it's something I have to cope with."
Another thing that Black says has been dogging him lately is his physical appearance. "I'm overweight. When I
started in the music business, I was thin. But I'm not now. And I don't look like those pop-star, teen idols. And for
some reason, in most of the reviews I read about me and my music, there is always a pot shot taken at my
pudginess. I always find it funny that being overweight is not sexy, but being a heroin addict might be —
especially in England. But I'm trying to lose it. Being a fat bald dude does affect me.
"And I don't think I've ever answered a question with that kind of answer before, but you caught me on a good
day."

If you go

What: Frank Black
Where: Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
How much: $15
Phone: 467-8499 or 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com

E-mail: scott@desnews.com



Michael Halsband

Musician Frank Black is touring in support of
his new double CD album, "Fastman
Raiderman."





www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/15195234.htm" target="_blank">www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/15195234.htm" target="_blank">http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/15195234.htm

Posted on Sun, Aug. 06, 2006

IF YOU GO

Frank Black explores the alternatives

Former Pixie is doing his own thing now


By Walter Tunis
CONTRIBUTING MUSIC WRITER


Those pesky deadlines. All his professional life, Frank Black has faced them.

From his '80s days with alternative-rock favorites The Pixies (when he was known as
Black Francis) through his prolific years as a solo artist with albums that shifted from
Pixies-ish rock to bright pop to absorbing Americana, Black always has had a deadline
in his sights.

Make an album. Do a tour. Make an album so you can do a tour. Over and over the cycle
would repeat. Not that Black has complained about keeping himself so active. But the
time had clearly come for something different.

So Black started recording songs. That's not a big leap, perhaps, except for the fact that
he was without a record contract and had no specific album in mind to make.

"We had recorded my last album (Honeycomb) without a record contract, so it took
some time for my manager to figure out a way to get it out," Black said. "I also had a
Pixies reunion tour going on. But there was still a lot of down time for recording. So after
cutting a few songs, the thinking wasn't, 'Is what we cut good enough?' It was like, 'That
was fun. Let's do some more.'"

Then producer Jon Tiven (who also worked with Black on Honeycomb) began calling
friends to sit in on the sessions. High-profile friends. Diverse names. Among those
who accepted the invite: Americana giant Buddy Miller, veteran R&B guitarist Steve
Cropper, Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson, veteran country music session player-
producer Jack Clement, Tom Petty drummer Steve Ferrone, Bad Company drummer
Simon Kirke and The Band's legendary Levon Helm. And that's just a partial list.

"I certainly don't have those kinds of contacts," Black said. "But Jon does. He's got this
little black book chock-full of names. And he has no fear about asking them to join in on
a session. He even tracked down Paul McCartney to see if he wanted to play bass.
Sometimes, as in Paul's case, they politely said no. But a lot of them said yes. Levon
drove all the way to our session in Nashville from New York."

Perhaps the most unexpected guest on the session was Kentucky country singer Marty
Brown, a fireball talent who cut a string of popular albums for MCA beginning in the late
'80s.

"Man, oh, man, I didn't know who he was," Black said of his first session with Brown.
"But we were perfectly thrilled working with each other. He's my age, but he's like a kid.
In the studio, he was like, 'Aw, man, Frank, we gotta put a choir on this one like Pink
Floyd did on The Wall.' His enthusiasm was just so full on."

Eventually, 27 songs were completed for a new album. But instead of playing pick-and-
choose, Black packaged everything as a double CD and titled the resulting opus Fast
Man Raider Man
. It was picked up by the Americana-heavy Back Porch label and
released this summer.

Fast Man's repertoire turned out to be as varied as the guests who played on it. I'm Not
Dead (I'm in Pittsburgh)
is a slice of sardonic country. In the Time of My Ruin is all
tough-knuckled pop, and Dog Sleep is a brassy bit of funky surrealism. And for those
yearning to hear the Black and Brown team in action, there is a hot-wired, honky-tonk
reading of the folk chestnut Dirty Old Town.

"I don't think the record is necessarily for everybody," Black said of Fast Man. "But what
can I say, man? I got to play with Steve Cropper and Levon Helm. Now, I'm sure there
are people who think that something like this is oil and vinegar. They're like, 'How dare
Steve Cropper play with that alternative rock guy?' But, you know, it's like Iggy Pop said:
'It's all disco.'"

If Fast Man seems to possess a just-for-the-fun-of-it aura, so should Black's solo
acoustic concert Saturday at The Dame. The singer isn't slated to tour again with a full
band until the fall. He decided to squeeze in the Dame before opening a series of
acoustic concerts for the Foo Fighters later this month.

The Dame concert will be Black's first local performance since a Pixies show at the
University of Kentucky more than 18 years ago.

"This Lexington show will be very 'There I am.' It'll just be me and an acoustic guitar.
There will be plenty of room for me to mess up and ... for the audience to yell stuff at
me."

Frank Black

When: 9 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Dame, 156 W. Main St.

Tickets: $12.

on the Web: www.dameky.com

Call: (859) 226-9005
35   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
fbc Posted - 07/20/2010 : 07:53:15
Oh I believed you. Is that a Gibson you're playing in the photo? Do you still play now? So many questions....sorry.

I borrowed the photo from Le Blackolero blog. I'll have a good search for the Standard Times pic. Hey! Great chatting with you. Frank Black's original wingman!!
djmartins Posted - 07/20/2010 : 07:15:50
I don't know whose panda that was, but then again that was in 1983 when I was 18 years old.
I generally don't need to lie since most people don't believe me when I tell the truth!
Since you found that old yearbook picture, look up the 1983 Westport High School graduating
class top ten picture that was in the Standard Times newspaper and note the name of the guy
with the beard.......
fbc Posted - 07/20/2010 : 01:36:20
No way?! I so believe you but I'm also Mr. Gullible :)

Was the panda yours?
djmartins Posted - 07/19/2010 : 09:35:15
Yes, the guy playing lead guitar......
fbc Posted - 07/19/2010 : 06:32:55
Ah, cool. Were you there, dj?

djmartins Posted - 07/19/2010 : 04:06:10
"Not sure if it's the very first but Wilson Pickett’s "In The Midnight Hour" gets a mention here and there."

It was.
Back in high school.
Don't think he played publicly before that....
matto Posted - 07/01/2010 : 06:31:16
quote:
Originally posted by Carl

She Likes To Watch - Back to Black: A conversation with Black Francis.



"After studying anthropology at the University of Maryland Amherst"...

a good song, that "UMARY"!

sminki pinki
Carl Posted - 06/30/2010 : 14:36:52
She Likes To Watch - Back to Black: A conversation with Black Francis.
fbc Posted - 05/07/2010 : 13:32:30
FORGET IT!
ALL YOU GUYS WANNA TALK ABOUT IS WHEN I'M GONNA DO IT WITH THE BIG P-WORD AGAIN.
F*** YOU! THAT'S WHEN I'M GONNA DO THE NEXT F***ING PIXIES' RECORD.
SEE YA! DEAL WITH THIS RECORD, SELL THAT F***ER.
Jose Jones Posted - 05/07/2010 : 13:14:20
these interviewers who seem to be fans somewhat of the man should read previous interviews he's done. then they'd know what kind of questions to ask in order to get an interesting interview going. people ask him the same things over and over, and he gives the same answers over and over. "difficult genius?" seems to me he's just tired of talking to people who don't listen.

------------------------------
they were the heroes of old, men of renown.
fbc Posted - 05/07/2010 : 12:21:15
Not sure if it's the very first but Wilson Pickett’s "In The Midnight Hour" gets a mention here and there. Co-written with Cropper?

quote:
http://www.loudandquiet.com/2010/05/black-francis/

He may be the genius who wrote such captivatingly twisted songs as ‘Debaser’, ‘Gouge Away’ and ‘Bone Machine’, but, as Tom Pinnock discovers, Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV is more interested in talking about iPhone tariff charges and people’s ‘agendas’ than his past glories…

A man who wrote songs about incest and outer space, peppering them with askew rhythms, pidgin Spanish proclamations and that blood-curdling howl, Black Francis is a legend who, with the four albums he wrote for Pixies in the late ’80s and early ’90s, redefined alternative rock, thrilled David Bowie and effectively invented Radiohead and Nirvana in the process.

Seeing a guy any Pixies fan knows only as the singular, crazed freak screaming on ‘Surfer Rosa’ sit down to a genteel drink on the swish rooftop bar of a central London hotel was always going to be weird. However, what was really strange was that the man formerly known as Frank Black seemed keen to avoid the questions any fan would want him to answer and preferred to talk about business models, mobile phones and bakeries…

New album ‘NonStopErotik’ – his 14th solo album proper by our reckoning – is a messy, rugged selection of craggily performed paeans to, unsurprisingly, sex. While it’s nowhere near the sublime treasures of his older work – the less said about the stomach-churning ‘When I Go Down On You’ the better – it boasts some strong, fiery songs and strangely is perhaps one of his most Pixies-sounding solo albums. We decided to start with the obvious enquiries…

—–

L&Q: So your new album ‘NonStopErotik’ has obviously got a very sexual theme to it?

Black Francis: “Yeah, all the songs on it relate to that general theme, but there’s a complexity if you get into it on an arty level or whatever. I wanted to approach it from the point of view of psychiatry or sociology. [Sex] is ‘it’, it’s the thing; it’s the baton of life. [Waiter brings over hot chocolate] I stopped drinking coffee a couple of weeks ago.”

I’ve never seen hot chocolate in a teapot like that.

“This place has class up the ass.”

And I’ve heard the album was all written on a kind of magical guitar?

“You know, I could tell you the tale or whatever, but the short of it is there was a guitar I was given, it was unwanted by myself, and somehow ended up back in my possession a couple of years later, and it went from being unwanted to suddenly being [long pause] given a certain kind of special status, as in, ‘You’re magic, you’ll be the catalyst to make something happen, something great’, and that’s when it all happened, a few days in LA then maybe two weeks in London.”

Is that the quickest you’ve ever written and recorded?

“No. For a record, the fastest I ever did it was two days. It feels good if you can pull it off, something quickly, it suggests prowess or something, or suggests magic, it suggests being in the right place at the right time, all those sort of feelings or thoughts. You always have a few months to have perspective, because there’s no business model that people are doing on a regular basis where you’re going from the creation of stuff you’re working on to its formal release.”

And there’s a film by Judy Jacobs to go with the album too?

“Yeah. I might do a screening of the film and a Q&A and a band performance and then it gets simulcast to other arts cinemas around the country, or in different countries. But the source screening would be here in London. I’m kind of excited about that, about being able to be in more than one place at once. At the end of the day, with people becoming less connected as they get electronic devices, I think the truth of it is that people like to go out and mingle with other people. The live concert scene’s actually pretty healthy, as people just want to get out of their day. And they’ll still have their iPhone with them at the gig, ha! I can see the lights from all the phones when I’m playing a gig.”

You approve of iPhones then?

“Sure, but I’m very disappointed in it internationally. All the stuff is great but they have extremely high premiums to use any of the data on it abroad, not just expensive, but crazy – like they warn you don’t check your email ’cause you might get charged $4000 to get a few emails. Literally, people are getting a $60,000 bill downloading a movie while on holiday in Portugal. The phone works fine and I still do some texting, but all the cool shit that you normally do with it you can’t do. Unless I was like Elton John…”

—–

Talking of money – while most reunions are money-oriented, it’s hard to shake the idea that Pixies’ is more than most – perhaps they’re entitled to milk all the profits they missed out on in the bad old days? Speaking to Black Francis, though, it makes us suspect even more that the band are perhaps just a convenient gravy train to keep their various solo projects solvent. After all, as drummer-turned-magician David Lovering knows, those white rabbits don’t come cheap…

L&Q: You’ve been reformed for about six years now with no new material – are you planning to continue playing?

Black Francis: “Yeah, the phone keeps ringing, so… We’re not soliciting but, like I said, the offers keep coming so we keep saying yes.”

Any talk about new material?

“There’s always talk about that.”

What are you saying about it, though?

“My theory is that the more I talk about it in the press, the less likely it is to happen. It gives the impression that I have a very strong personal agenda that others are not informed of so it creates strain on the band relationship; see what I’m saying? If I’m spouting about, ’see, we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna do that’ the others are like ‘what the…? I didn’t hear about this’. More than ever, there’s nothing to say, and even if there was, if I say it, it’s misunderstood by other people and it just inhibits rather than promotes.”

Well, obviously, I don’t want to cause band friction…

“I know you’re not trying to, but I’m just explaining what’s going on. Some people just think I’m being reticent or something, or whatever, but that’s the honest answer.”

People often talk about Pixies as legends, kind of behemoths of alt-rock – do you ever think you shouldn’t have reformed, to keep some of the mystery there?

“You’re only legends in other people’s minds. From my perspective, you know, you’re just in the band and you didn’t play for a while and now you’re playing again. I don’t personally have a lot of poignant thoughts about, ‘what if this?’ or ‘do I regret this?’, or hypothesising or reflecting. It’s not that there’s no magic in it or anything, but the magic is the playing, the being on stage or in a studio.”

So you don’t think about your ‘legacy’ either?

“You don’t think about it, it stands, either you’re gonna be good or you’re gonna be shitty, that’s the thing about legacy. The only thing I think about in terms of legacy is since I have children I think that they might at some point in their life gain something out of who their father is. Just like if you owned a bakery you’d work really hard in your bakery and you’d say, ‘one day, this is all going to be theirs’…”

Do you see yourself as two separate parts – one as a family man, you know, looking after kids, and the other half writing these weird songs?

“Yeah, it is separate. I create art or rock-art or whatever you want to call it, so it doesn’t have anything to do with my children. Back to the baker analogy, ‘Now that you’ve had children Mr Baker, how are your breads changing? Are you having more confectionary items because of the children?’ Really? You really think I’m going to switch from my black leather rock’n'roll avant-garde, arty-farty kind of scene, that I’m going to somehow let that be affected? I’m too proud.”


Ok, could you signal out a couple of albums that you see as high points in your work?

“The ones that sold the most.”

So ‘Doolittle’ then?

“That’s the best-selling. [So] that’s the best one.”

Really? There must be one that sold nothing that you really like too?

“Yeah, and I like that one too, the one that sold the least.”

But if you really thought like that you wouldn’t make the kind of music you do, you’d try and tailor your stuff to the masses?

“Like I said, it’s all one big album.”

Do you have a handful of favourite songs you’ve written?

“Sure, I have an A list and a B list.”

What’s at the top of the A list?

“It depends on what side of the bed I got up on.”

What about today?

“Today? I haven’t thought about it today until just now. I don’t know. Throw a dart at one, that’s the one.”

‘Alec Eiffel’ just came into my head…

“[Sarcastically] Love it. That’s my favourite one… I’m not very good at hypothetical questions, my personality rejects that. It isn’t that I’m a grump… Some people’s personalities are lighter, they can flow – it’s just some hypothetical scenario that I have to discuss in order to get interesting insights from me. I’m too animal-like, I’m like a snake.”

Let me ask you a more snake-ish question, then. It’s been 50 years since the creation of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), do you think there’s still life out there?

“I think what people, myself included, forget that is equally fascinating, equally haunting, equally interesting, is what if there isn’t? If this is the only thing going on, it really puts it into perspective, that this is the centre; this is an important place, at least for us. I’m not saying that’s the way it is, I’m just saying in theory. There’s distance and there’s space, but it doesn’t mean it’s insignificant; it might be very significant, what’s going on here. And maybe one day the whole place will be flooded with life forms.”

Would you like to see the place flooded with different life forms?

“Of course I would, everyone does. That’s why we go to the movies.”

What if they’re evil, though?

[Silence]

You think they’ll be nice then, the aliens? Because I’d be worried they might enslave the human race or something.

“There’s a fine line between our discussion right now and, ‘oh, let’s write a science fiction script’, do you see what I’m saying? You can only carry that kind of chit-chat so far, then you’re like, ‘What’s the purpose of this?’”

Well, I’m only asking because I think people are interested in what you think.

“That’s what I’m saying – I don’t think [about aliens]. Maybe occasionally, but it’s not like it’s a primary motivator. ‘Tell us more about these aliens that you don’t seem to think about much’, it’s like, ‘Wait a minute…’”

But a lot of your lyrics in the early ’90s suggest you did think about that a lot.

“Like what?”

Well, on ‘Bossanova’, there’s…

“Which ones?”

‘The Happening’?

“Yeah, but you can simplify that and say, ‘He’s singing about aliens’, but it’s also singing about human culture, Las Vegas, it’s moviemaking, I’m just mirroring back popular culture at that time. The fact that I did a few songs doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m obsessed with the topic – it doesn’t mean I don’t have thoughts about it either.”

They’re just some songs you wrote then?

“They’re just some songs I wrote. I can’t say, ‘yes, this is the world of thought and forethought and vision and everything that’s behind this song’. No, it doesn’t work like that. Maybe it represents all this stuff, maybe it doesn’t, I just do it. Everyone has an agenda, everyone in this room. That’s not something aggressive, you know? Sometimes when you’re writing a song that’s your agenda, but it doesn’t mean that’s your agenda 18 years later – it’s hard when so much time has passed, you can’t even remember. I can’t remember. ‘Was there even an agenda?’”

—–

When someone is denying they were really interested in UFOs when they’ve written at least this many songs on the topic (‘Allison’, ‘Lovely Day’, ‘The Happening’, ‘Old Black Dawning’, ‘Planet Of Sound’, ‘Motorway To Roswell’, ‘Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons’, ‘Space (I Believe In)’, ‘Distance Equals Rate Times Time’, etc. etc.) it’s clear something’s wrong. Perhaps Black Francis had a problem with talking about Pixies rather than his solo work, perhaps he’d had enough of hypothetical questions after over twenty years of interviews, or maybe he really is as animalistic in his personality as he says he is? Whatever. What is clear is that Black Francis is as difficult and infuriating as geniuses are supposed to be.

By Tom Pinnock
joe FITZ of molly BANG Posted - 04/25/2010 : 05:43:08
quote:
Originally posted by joe FITZ of molly BANG

quote:
Originally posted by CheekyDan

Not sure if this has already been posted...

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11129244/frank_black_on_the_road_again

And now Im gonna sing the Perry Mason theme....



i've read three different articles quoting him as saying the FIRST song he played pubicly was by this particular person.

steve cropper
woody guthrie
elvis (Song of the shrimp)

which is it?

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang



I edited this.

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

joe FITZ of molly BANG Posted - 04/25/2010 : 05:41:06
haha!

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

vilainde Posted - 04/15/2010 : 04:30:15
To be exact, what I meant was "I wouldn't sleep with him anymore"


Denis

"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say."
trobrianders Posted - 04/15/2010 : 04:23:17
quote:
Originally posted by joe FITZ of molly BANG

really? the first violent femmes album is in my top 25 fave albums of all time. so good and ahead of it's time. 1982!

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

He means he wouldn't sleep with him. Nobody wants to sleep with Gano.

_______________
Ed is the hoo hoo
joe FITZ of molly BANG Posted - 04/14/2010 : 22:02:21
really? the first violent femmes album is in my top 25 fave albums of all time. so good and ahead of it's time. 1982!

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

fbc Posted - 04/10/2010 : 11:21:32
Heh. Don't be shy. I haven't listened to the album, but I'm pretty sure I've heard the song worth hearing.
vilainde Posted - 04/10/2010 : 10:59:12
Run is a real fun song, I like it a lot. The rest of the album ranks from terrible to atrocious.
I hate Gano.


Denis

"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say."
fbc Posted - 04/10/2010 : 10:21:04
Mine too. Gano's comments makes it all the more wow (for me, anyway).

quote:
AD: On your excellent “Hitting The Ground” album, you have worked with a glut of outstanding performers that would make other artists green with envy. If you had to pick one standout track, which would it be and why? Also, did you give each artist a guideline for how you wanted the tracks to come out, or is it totally their own interpretation?

GG: Thank you for enjoying ‘Hitting The Ground’. There isn’t one track that’s most special to me. I could make an argument for each one. For example ‘Run’. When I heard Frank Black sing this I thought, and still do, that this is one of my favourite lead vocals of all time. With some artists we discussed how to approach the song and with others nothing was discussed except here’s the song and do you want to do it. Anyone that likes any of these artists I believe will really like what they do on this record. In sports lingo: they are all “on top of their game” or “in the zone”.
Jose Jones Posted - 04/10/2010 : 07:57:55
easily one of my favorite frank vocal performances.

------------------------------
they were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Grotesque Posted - 04/09/2010 : 22:22:28
It's true that those vocals are greats (and the song too). I'm sure Charles wanted to impress on of his "heroes", and it worked pretty well!
joe FITZ of molly BANG Posted - 04/08/2010 : 09:30:02
quote:
Originally posted by fbc

Not Frank, but Frank. You'll see what I mean.

quote:
ALONE TOGETHER
Violent Femmes Frontman Gordon Gano Goes Solo -- With Some Friends in Tow

Never one to do the expected, Gordon Gano took an unusual approach to his first solo album away from the Violent Femmes. Hitting the Ground is a collection of songs Gano wrote for David Moore's film of the same name, almost all of which are sung by others, in this case all-stars including PJ Harvey, Lou Reed, John Cale, They Might Be Giants, Mary Lou Lord, and Frank Black. The songs were inspired by the film, but the collaborative pieces are held together by Gano's smart and funny songwriting and propulsive straight-ahead rock 'n' roll sensibility. Barnes & Noble.com's Steve Klinge caught up with Gano to find out how Hitting the Ground got off the ground -- and to get the skinny on Rhino's recent deluxe reissue of Violent Femmes' classic debut album.

Barnes & Noble.com: What's the relationship between the album Hitting the Ground and the film?
Gordon Gano: The music was originally written for the movie, and most of it is in the movie but some of it isn't. The movie was done a little while back, and it never got a theatrical release. In my view [the album] is not a soundtrack. This may be completely wrong thinking, I guess, but I always think a soundtrack would involve some of the scoring for the movie, and this is just the songs from the movie.... When I wrote it, I wrote it with the possibility and the hope that these songs would stand apart from the film.

B&N.com: Many of the songs are loud and rocking. A song like "Run" would overwhelm anything else that was going on in the film.
GG: [laughs] Yeah, I'm trying to think right now of the scene in the movie when that happens. Obviously, there's a lot of energy going on right then. You know what, I'm willing to bet somebody's running. Brilliant guy that I am, I'll write a song called "Run" because somebody's running. Actually, I'm sure. That had to have been it!

B&N.com: And you ran with the idea.
GG: Right, right, that's it. And got the perfect person to do the vocals. That's one of my all-time favorite lead vocals that I've ever heard, is Frank Black on that song. He took that song to a place that I don't think anyone could have done it better.

B&N.com: He sounds like he's hyperventilating.
GG: Every song and every artist, there's always some story about it. In this case, I was on tour in Australia with Violent Femmes when Frank Black became available. So Warren Bruleigh, who co-produced the record, went from New York to L.A. and got in the studio and did it. I wasn't there, but I heard a lot of stories. The engineer in the studio wanted to stop: From what I'm told, Frank Black would actually go running at the microphone, and it turned into some very physical event when he was doing it, and the house engineer was like, "Somebody stop him!" And Warren Bruleigh was like, "Nobody moves, keep the track rolling. It's okay that it's distorting, it's okay that he's hitting the microphone with his head or whatever." [laughs]

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/features/interview.asp?z=y&NID=581082






that is so awesome.

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

joe FITZ of molly BANG Posted - 04/08/2010 : 08:29:12
i really like those first two articles.
and along with everyone else i'm sick of the nirvana references but i think this is the best intro i've read so far for him:



"If you've paid attention to rock music in the last decade or so, almost all of
the most challenging and diverse bands have somehow been influenced by
Frank Black."

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

joe FITZ of molly BANG Posted - 04/08/2010 : 08:23:24
quote:
Originally posted by CheekyDan

Not sure if this has already been posted...

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11129244/frank_black_on_the_road_again

And now Im gonna sing the Perry Mason theme....



i've read three different articles quoting him as saying the FIRST song he played pubicly was by this particular person.

steve cropper
woody guthrie
elvis (Song of the shrimp)

which is it?

________________________________
my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang

jediroller Posted - 10/22/2007 : 05:32:54
Just came across this one - in French:
http://playbackboum.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-de-frank-black-francis.html

quote:
« Je ne suis pas Madonna mais j’essaie »

Une compilation en juin, un nouvel album, Bluefinger, en septembre : le programme de Frank Black est chargé cette année. Malin et bien déterminé à faire parler de lui en dehors de la reformation des Pixies, il a décidé de reprendre le nom d’artiste qui l’a fait connaître : celui de Black Francis. Rencontre avec un boulimique de musique qui n’aime pas trop réfléchir et change régulièrement de musiciens (« je ne choisis pas les meilleurs mais ceux avec qui je vais pouvoir m’entendre et réussir notre mission commune : faire un bon disque »).


Tu n’arrêtes jamais de donner des concerts, de sortir des disques. Tu es infatigable ?
Pourquoi j’arrêterais ? Je ne sais rien faire d’autre que de la musique. Je ne vais pas aller en mer avec mon yacht. Je suis un troubadour. Et puis, combien de disques ont sorti Lou Reed, Neil Young ou Elvis Costello ? Si c’est bien pour eux, alors c’est bon pour moi, non ? Quand tu as beaucoup d’énergie, il faut t’en servir.

Tu as quatre enfants, c’est facile de rester actif tout en ayant une vie de famille ?
Pas vraiment mais, en même temps, j’utilise mieux le peu de temps dont je dispose. Il m’arrive de courir au studio et je n’ai rien à enregistrer. Je demande à l’ingénieur du son : « prépare moi le micro, j’aurai une chanson dans une minute ! ». Avoir une famille, ça te force à être bon, à travailler très vite. J’aime avoir ce genre de contraintes. J’ai un autre projet avec ma femme, on s’y met quand notre fille au pair s’occupe de nos enfants. On court au studio et on tape rapidement sur nos instruments. On fait de la musique sans y penser – enfin, surtout moi. Ça sonne très pop et aussi très brut parce qu’on joue tout nous-mêmes.

Ton nouvel album, Bluefinger, a été enregistré en cinq jours…
Je sais comment ont été conçus certains disques des sixties que j’adore. Les jazzmen, par exemple, enregistraient très rapidement. Frank Sinatra en un jour : « allez, les gars, on y va. Il est cinq heures, j’ai une fête ce soir ». Quand tu travailles rapidement, parfois ça marche, parfois non.

Ça t’est déjà arrivé de mettre à la poubelle des chansons ?
Non, j’en fais un disque, ha ha ! Malheureusement, je n’ai aucun recul sur mon travail. Mais je ne crois pas non plus avoir des regrets.

Tu reviens avec quelque chose de plus rock après être allé à Nashville pour tes précédents disques, plus country, folk ou soul…
En allant à Nashville, je voulais simplement marcher sur les pas du Dylan de Blonde On Blonde. Personnellement, je n’avais pas besoin de revenir au rock. Mais mon public si, il en avait marre de Nashville.

Bluefinger est consacré au musicien hollandais toxicomane (un temps fiancé à Nina Hagen) Herman Brood. Pourquoi ?
Je regardais sur youtube de ses concerts tout à réfléchissant à de nouvelles chansons – mon nouveau manager me demandait un inédit pour mon best of. Rien n’a été planifié, il faut accepter ce genre de choses. Avec les Pixies, on lutte pour enregistrer un nouvel album, on dépense beaucoup d’efforts à discuter entre avocats interposés. Comme dit ma femme : au lieu d’aller vers l’énergie négative, va vers la positive !

Tu savais en reprenant le nom de Black Francis que tu allais faire parler de toi…
Bien sûr. Comme tout le monde, je sais comment manipuler les médias. Je ne suis pas Madonna mais j’essaie. Je ne pense pas que tout le monde accepte cette manipulation mais pour beaucoup ça va être : « Black is back ». Il faut savoir se venger des journalistes : ils trahissent mes mots, mentent.
Alors, je joue un petit jeu !


C’est vraiment ton père qui a trouvé, au début des Pixies, le pseudonyme de Black Francis?
Oui, je cherchais un nom de scène et c’est ce qu’il m’a proposé. J’ai dit : « ok, ça sonne bien ». Et je ne me suis pas livré à une analyse. Est-ce que je t’ai dit que j’étais un serpent ?

Heu non. Comment ça, un serpent ?
Je suis né en 1965, l’année du serpent. Le serpent ne regarde pas la route en se disant : « voici ma vision artistique ». Il n’a aucune perspective de son environnement, il sent juste ce qu’il y a sous son ventre et réagit à ce qui se passe. Depuis que j’ai compris être un serpent, ça me permet de me défiler pendant les interviews. Si on me demande à quoi je pensais en reformant les Pixies, je réponds : « je ne sais pas, je suis un serpent ».

Tu n’a donc aucune vision à long terme ?
Non, je n’aime pas regarder vers l’avant. Les managers et promoteurs essayent toujours de me projeter dans l’avenir. Moi, je veux juste penser à aujourd’hui, demain, et peut-être la semaine prochaine. Pour moi, plus loin ça devient abstrait.


Awesome! I fuckin' shot this!
"Les Blackolero, y sont forts en sacramant" - Czar | 06/26/2007 | 20:10:34

free music | Blackolero | Frank Black & Pixies Tributes
Carl Posted - 07/17/2007 : 03:33:24
Soren, I know I use term 'great find' a bit much, but that is a real gem! Now playing a Tele isn't enough-New Balance shoes and Brooks Brothers shirts are essential items for the discerning Frank fan! ;)

Actually, I only saw Brazil a while ago, it is a pretty unique movie! I'm just gonna grab a can of Moxie Cola from the fridge!!




NOTE: Gonna start pasting up even small 'pre-gig chat' interviews in this thread (rather than in threads in the live section) seeing as they are interviews after all, no matter how small, and it's handier to have them in all together in a single interviews thread!!




The Register-Guard.

CONCERT PREVIEW
This Black Francis sounds familiar

BY SERENA MARKSTROM
The Register-Guard

Published: Friday, October 5, 2007

Charles Thompson looks like someone who might be in front of
you in line at a local coffeehouse. In fact, for the last four years
he might have been - and you didn't notice.

Thompson looked similarly ordinary 10 years ago singing
"Fashion" with David Bowie for the glam rock pioneer's 50th
birthday celebration at New York's Madison Square Garden.

But close your eyes and listen to Thompson, better known as
Pixies' frontman Black Francis, and you'll hear the signature
style that Kurt Cobain often was quoted as saying was his
biggest vocal influence.

When Pitchforkmedia.com, a respected source for indie music
news, announced the Pixies reunion, its writers were beside
themselves with glee. They declared rock 'n' roll saved.

"Short of the Velvet Underground, there's no band more beloved, more
important, more cited as an influence in indie rock than the Pixies,"
they wrote.

In the 14 or so years between the
breakup of the Pixies and his mail-
order solo release, "Christmass,"
Thompson had performed and
recorded as Frank Black. During the
Pixies international reunion tour
starting in 2004, he continued to
publish as Frank Black, but fans
could call him whatever they
wanted.

Now Black Francis is back. Maybe
it's a media manipulation. Or maybe
some revisiting spirit of his former
self, the one who turned away from a
successful band on the brink of
superstardom, still has something to
say to the world.

Old sound draws new attention

For the past four years, Thompson
has lived in Eugene with his wife,
Violet Clark, and four children.
Thompson is getting some attention
from the music press for returning to
a more Pixies-like sound on his latest
solo project, "Bluefinger," a concept
album inspired by iconic Dutch
musician and painter Herman Brood.

"I can't give the world my old band again. That is gone, that is lost," he said, tuning a guitar
before a late-September rehearsal at Eugene's Sprout City Studios. "That band is not a vital,
creative band anymore. The band is dead.

"I can't give you the Pixies, but you can have Black Francis. I am doing my best to be that
again."

Thompson's show today at the WOW Hall is part of the Sprout City 10-year anniversary
concert series. The show features two other bands that have worked at the local studio:
Ahimsa Theory and 20 Minute Loop.

The date falls in the midst of a 14-concert tour that features the artists who recorded on
"Bluefinger," including Clark on vocals, Dan Schmid (Cherry Poppin' Daddies, the Visible
Men) on bass and Jason Carter on drums.

Around the time of the reunion tour, rumors circulated that the four original Pixies might
once again record together. But while the tour sold out shows all over the world, including the
McDonald Theatre, no new songs emerged from it.

"Bluefinger," Thompson said, came after his new manager wanted to release a best-of
compilation with a new, unreleased bonus track. The result, "Frank Black 93-03," came out in
June, but it didn't generate as much interest as his Sept. 11 release, "Bluefinger."

Thompson had pressured his manager for more studio time so he could include four bonus
tracks. But he came back with a full album worth of material, the fruit of a two-week obsession
with artist Brood (pronounced "Broat").

Black Francis penned 10 songs that relate to stories of the Dutch star's life. He included one
Brood cover: "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It."

"Threshold Apprehension" became the bonus track on the
best-of album, perhaps for its radio potential, but the album is
rich with other tuneful tracks. Plus, that Pixies-day howl
reappears here after an absence from much of the Frank Black
material that he did with his other band, the Catholics.

The most biographical Brood song, "Angels Come to Comfort
You," also captures some Pixies flavor. That's thanks in part to
Clark's haunting backing "ooooos," which would rival Kim
Deal's harmonies in the Pixies classic, "Where Is My Mind."

Brood was an outspoken drug addict who threw himself from
the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel, the site of Yoko Ono
and John Lennon's weeklong honeymoon bed-in for peace in
1969.

"I think he kind of was, in a humorous way, reclaiming the place for the
Dutch," Thompson said in obvious admiration for this very rock 'n' roll
way of leaving the world stage. The suicide was in July 2001, when
Brood was 54 years old and doctors told him he only had months to
live.

Before this project Brood was just
someone Thompson was curious
about, someone he meant to Google
one day.

"I think we all have these lists in the
back of our minds," he said. "And
sometimes you get really involved
with the subject."

But a whole album? What about
Brood was so fascinating?

"He's handsome and he's
charismatic," Thompson said. "He's
also an artist very beloved in his
native country. He's an underdog
and an unapologetic alcoholic and
drug addict and all-around hedon-
ist."

This summer, after "Bluefinger" had
long since been completed,
Thompson was in Europe with his
family. He got a personal tour of
Brood's studio and saw it exactly as
he had left it when he died, complete
with hypodermic needles, drugs,
pornography and clothing.

It was, he said, "spooky."

One foot in two worlds

Thompson now leads a sort of dual existence. He has two children with Clark, whom he met in
Eugene when she had two children from a previous relationship. Yet he still tours the world as
a musician.

Rather than disrupt the kids' world, Thompson moved here. He said he's up early making
pancakes, loves to buy groceries at specialty shops in Eugene and overall finds Eugene a
comfortable fit for him.

Eugene is "not that far off the beaten path." And he said he likes the fresh air and to "still feel
like I'm part of West Coast culture."

He's working on a project with his wife called "Grand Duchy." She's the only female voice on
"Bluefinger."

When he met a couple of journalists for a photo shoot and interview, he wore all black. When
asked if that's his signature style now, he said no.

"Just the past nine months or so," he said, noting Clark was complaining that when they first
started dating he was "edgier."

Their 9-year-old son, Julian Clark, did all the artwork for the album. Thompson is helping him
set up an online gallery.

Although critics often have said Thompson, under all his pen names, writes cryptic lyrics,
Thompson doesn't think he's a difficult person to figure out.

His music, he realizes, is a different matter.

"All the records I've made are fairly a hodgepodge and all over the map," he
said. "Usually, people don't have the time to get into the
nuances and subtlety (of the music) for a small fry like me."

In connection with the Pixies reunion, Eugene's "small fry"
appeared on "Late Night With David Letterman." Many critics
believe the band he started made the grunge explosion in the
1990s possible.

Thompson laughed at that idea, but said being a little hard to
pin down can work to an artists' advantage.

"There's an upside to confusion," he said.

For one thing, it means people are wondering about you. If no
one were listening to his music, he said he didn't think he would make it.

"My ego would not be satisfied to
just make music in a vacuum," he
said.

As a solo artist, Thompson hasn't
reached the kind of stardom he had
as the Pixies frontman. But there are
several Internet fan sites dedicated
exclusively to his solo work.

Changing his stage name back to
Black Francis feeds into this
mystery.

"It was just something I decided to
do. I don't analyze such things," he
said.

"It was a symbolic act. I didn't know
what the outcome was going to
produce. At the very least it was to
manipulate people like yourself. ... I
do think there was some type of
shift.

"I just make songs. The suggestion is
already there. I don't sit there and
try to make it sound more like the
Pixies."

Though management wasn't initially thrilled to back a solo project so close to "Frank Black 93-
03," "Bluefinger" has proven to be a good idea.

"I felt vindicated because really that's what's gotten me noticed again," Thompson said.

You can call Serena Markstrom at 338-2371 or e-mail her at smarkstrom@guardnet.com.


CONCERT PREVIEW
Sprout City Studios 10-year anniversary party
With: Black Francis, Ahimsa Theory, 20 Minute Loop
What: Indie rock
When: 9 p.m. today
Where: WOW Hall, 291 W. Eighth Ave.
Tickets: $12 at the door
On the Web: Hear music clips visit links to related sites at www.registerguard .com/ticketfiles

Click to expand:

www.registerguard.com/news/2007/10/05/includes/bigpicture.php?picUrl=tk_blackcover4_1005.jpg&creditA=Thomas Boyd &creditB= The Register-Guard&cutline=Black Francis latest CD, Bluefinger, was inspired by the life and death of Dutch musician and painter Herman Brood.&storydate=Friday, October 5, 2007" target="_blank">
Black Francis' latest CD,
"Bluefinger," was inspired
by the life and death of
Dutch musician and painter
Herman Brood.


THOMAS BOYD
The Register-Guard





www.straight.com/article-111572/spirit-of-dutch-debaucher-inspired-black-francis" target="_blank">Straight.com.

Music Previews
www.straight.com/article-111572/spirit-of-dutch-debaucher-inspired-black-francis" target="_blank">Spirit of Dutch debaucher
inspired Black Francis

www.straight.com/issue/2075/section/88" target="_blank">Music Previews By Shawn Conner
Publish Date: September 27, 2007

The relative merits of Charles Michael
Kittridge Thompson IV's output with the
Pixies versus his solo career have long been
a source of debate among alt-rock fans. With
the reunion of his seminal band a few years
back, the minor controversy was stirred
further, and his decision to readopt his
former nom de plume for his latest release
isn't going to quell message-board
discussions.

But more interesting than his decision to
release Bluefinger under the name Black Francis rather than his usual solo moniker, Frank
Black is the inspiration behind the disc. Herman Brood was a pioneering Dutch rocker and
painter who, after years of ravaging himself with hard drugs, committed suicide at the age of
54. In the press release for the album Thompson admits to having been "gripped by the spirit"
of Brood while recording a bonus track for a Frank Black best-of disc, titled 93-03. The result is
a disc that is, directly and indirectly, related to Brood.

"I'd heard about him but never really listened to him," says Thompson, calling from his
manager's Portland, Oregon, office. "I discovered a performance of his on YouTube, and it was
riveting."

What he unearthed while researching the European musician's life motivated him to write and
record a new batch of tunes. The most obvious Brood-indebted song may be "Angels Come to
Comfort You", which features Violet Clark (Mrs. Black Francis) on backup vocals and pays
sombre tribute to the musician: "I saw the statue of Herman Brood," sings Thompson. "It had
a lump down in its throat." "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It", meanwhile, is a scorching
cover of a Brood thrasher.

Other homages, though, are less obvious. "Threshold Apprehension", a manic meltdown that
most closely approximates the Pixies' sound, includes the line "Grand Marnier and a pocketful
of speed", which was the doomed Dutchman's cocktail of choice later in life. The grungy title
track, written from Brood's perspective, is full of striking imagery ("the pepperbox bell blowing
my brains") as he tells of coming from the Dutch city of Zwolle, whose inhabitants are
nicknamed blauwvingers ("bluefingers") for reasons too medieval to get into here.

For Thompson, the inspiration came at an opportune time. He had agreed to the best-of
collection against his better judgment ("I'm not retired I had no emotional stake in it, it was
just a bunch of old songs") and wasn't sure what to do next.

"I really didn't have any plan at all," says the singer. "I was like, 'Here I am, the Pixies reunion
is over, they're not going to make a record, I'm 41. What am I going to do?'" Now that
Bluefinger is out, Thompson is typically nonchalant about where it fits into his career.

"It seems to be getting a lot of good reviews. Is it going to change my life? No. It will maintain
it. It's not going to tear up the charts." He's a small fish, he says, and he's fine with that. "I
can always get a gig and put out a record. That's the goal of a musician. What more do I
want?"

Black Francis plays Richard's on Richards Wednesday and next Thursday (October 3 and 4).





www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-wk-pop11oct11,1,355619.story?coll=la-entnews-music&ctrack=1&cset=true" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times.

POP MUSIC
Black Francis' Dutch tribute



Michael Halsband

Black Francis conceived "Bluefinger" as a tribute to the man who metaphorically brought him back:
beloved Dutch rocker and painter Herman Brood.


The former Pixies member finds inspiration in late rocker Herman Brood.

By Natalie Nichols, Special to The Times
October 11, 2007


WHAT'S in a name? The freedom from a previous incarnation, and maybe a touch of
nostalgia, at least for singer-songwriter Charles Michael Kittredge Thompson IV, a.k.a.
Frank Black. In 2004, his iconic indie-rock band the Pixies reunited. And last month
he released a new album, "Bluefinger," under his recently re-adopted Pixies nom de
rock, Black Francis.

So, what should we call him now?

"I always liked what David Bowie's called me: Francis," the guitarist says with a
chuckle, speaking by phone from Vancouver, Canada, the second stop on a two-week
tour ending at Safari Sam's next week.

The regenerated Black Francis conceived "Bluefinger" as a tribute to the man who
metaphorically brought him back: beloved Dutch rocker and painter Herman Brood
(pronounced "Broat"). Notorious partly for being upfront about indulging his appetites
for drugs and sex, the late pianist's sole claim to U.S. fame is the Top 40-skimming
1979 single "Saturday Night," by Herman Brood and His Wild Romance. (Last year,
popular Dutch trance DJ Armin van Buuren remixed the tune.)

"I kind of fell in love with him, with the whole tragic element," says Francis, 42.
"Bluefinger" features 10 originals, all rather impressionistically concerned with Brood,
and a cover of the Dutchman's delightful "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It." Brood
struggled, but never managed, to get clean and, at 54, committed suicide upon
learning he had only months to live. In July 2001, he leaped off the Amsterdam Hilton,
a dramatic exit pondered in Francis' "Angels Come to Comfort You."

Resurrecting Black Francis, however, also indicates he can't keep the Pixies alive. He
notes without rancor that co-founder and bassist Kim Deal isn't interested. "While I
may have tried to convince her otherwise, maybe she's got a point," says Francis,
whose recent sets have included Pixies tunes. "She doesn't need a new [Pixies]
record, so maybe there doesn't need to be one."

"Bluefinger" has a ragged excitement akin to such venerated Pixies albums as
"Doolittle," and it's personal yet not confessional, by turns comic and poignant. The
nakedly lustful "Your Mouth Into Mine" and playfully deviant "Tight Black Rubber"
display an unabashed sexuality that reflects Brood but is also an element of Francis'
work. However, the occasional speed and junk references are all derived from Brood.

Francis isn't endorsing drug use, and neither did the Dutchman, at least for other
people. "A lot of his songs are cautionary tales: explicit, but not pro-drugs," Francis
says. This contradiction made Brood more compelling. "He's like, 'Yeah, this sucks . .
. and I love it.' " He laughs.

Obsessing over the libertine was perhaps a way to indulge debauchery without risk for
this working family man, traveling the West Coast with wife Violet Clark (a band
member alongside bassist Dan Schmid and drummer Jason Carter) in the clan's
minivan, with two of their four young children (and another on the way).

But also, perhaps not surprisingly for an artist who's a revered modern-rock influence
and a persistent cult figure, he was drawn to Brood's rock-outsider status.

"He was always gonna be a second-class citizen in the world of rock," Francis says.
"It doesn't matter that you love Little Richard; you're some guy from Holland."

Watching old videos on YouTube, he says, might make one conclude Brood was
"kinda cheesy." But the musician's sincerity is palpable, and "his lyrics are really
good, honest and real."

"You Can't Break a Heart" clinched it for Francis. And Brood's story transported him. "I
remember driving down the road and crying and stuff," while writing the songs. He
laughs. "It was ridiculous. I'm [usually] a little more cynical."

Stranger still, when visiting Amsterdam upon finishing "Bluefinger," Francis heard from
Brood's former manager that the artist was a Pixies fan. The proof was in Brood's
dusty studio, a stopped-time shrine straight out of Charles Dickens.

"Right there, with the paint drips everywhere, next to his old piano, is this huge stack
of tapes and CDs," he says. "And there's one of my records!" He pauses. "It was all
the spookier. Like there's someone from beyond the veil going, 'Hey, I'm not done. I
mean, I'm outta here, I'm dead.' " He laughs. " 'But I got a little job for ya . . . .' "

Black Francis
Where:
Safari Sam's, 5214 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

When: 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday

Price: $20

Info: (323) 666-7267; www.safari-sams.com





www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/oct/11/identity-heft/" target="_blank">VenturaCountyStar.com.

Locey: Pixies leader carries around lots of aliases, but
on Saturday in S.B. he'll be Black Francis


By www.venturacountystar.com/staff/bill-locey/" target="_blank">Bill Locey
Thursday, October 11, 2007


Hey, check it out! Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV
is coming to Santa Barbara Saturday night!

Who, you ask? Perhaps you know him by another name.
This multi-monikered artist has more aliases than a failed
felon. Over the years he's called himself Frank Black,
Black Francis, Mr. Black but probably not Chuck. If this
whole scenario was any more schizophrenic, he could
interview himself. In any case, Black Francis is coming to
SOhO in support of his latest CD, "Bluefinger.''

Now, once upon a time at UMass, the name-changing
musician and some friends started a band called the
Pixies in 1985. They had some hits until 1993 when
friction between our boy (then Black Francis) and Kim
Deal temporarily ended festivities.

Anyway, it's music and anyone who either played a chord
or sang a song will either come back or not go away, and
this wild ride is still rolling along.

The Pixies have been back since '03 but Frank
Black/Black Francis has been working steadily, too.

On the new "Bluefinger" CD, Black Francis channels the
energy of Herman Brood, a Dutch rocker who was big in
Holland and may or may not have made a bad career
move by jumping out of a hotel window in Amsterdam,
the very same hotel that John Lennon and Yoko Ono
staged their famous bed-in.

Fortunately for Black Francis, SOhO is only on the
second floor. And fortunately for fans, he still knows
some Pixies songs. Maybe he can explain all this better
than I can. Hope so.

Hey, Frank. Mr. Black. Francis. Charles. What should I
call you?

Oh, call me Joe.

Hey, Joe. Didn't you used to be a song? Anyway, how do
you suppose your new CD fits into your vast body of
work?

Well, my take? The most striking aspect is that I did not
have a guitar player. There's no lead guitar. So that was
kind of a new one for me and I'm fairly proud of that.

Couldn't find one or didn't want one?

Well, both. I couldn't find one in the beginning and then it
was suggested that one was not needed and so I didn't
bother.Besides all that, I have a really hot woman singing
on seven of the songs.

She's cuter than you?

She's Violet Clark and, you know, it's kind of a yin and
yang kind of thing. Some people are saying a Kim Deal
kind of thing but, you know, we're just making music here.

What should people know about Herman Brood?

Herman Brood, yeah. This is a concept record, I guess.
He's Dutch. A painter. Junkie. Rock 'n' roller. Underdog.
I'd heard about him for some years but I discovered him
on YouTube. That's where this all started, this whole
situation. I just became quite enamored of some clips I
saw on YouTube. I've never written a whole record about
one guy and it just sort of happened without any
planning. It was all conceived, written and recorded all
rather quickly.

So you were grasped by the spirit of ?

That's kind of what it felt like, yeah.

So did he make a bad career move?

By jumping? I don't know if he had a choice, really. I don't
think he was long for this world, anyway. That's the
rumor. So that was just sort of a final encore. One of the
songs on the record, "Angels Come to Comfort You,''
tells the story — the beginning, the middle and the end —
in pretty plain language.

What's the difference between the Pixies, Black Francis
and Frank Black? And, also, are there separate fans for each?

Well, it's kind of a create-your-own-pizza kind of thing. Do what you will, you know?

What's been your relation to record labels?

I don't know. It's easy to demonize the record labels for all of their bad moves and overpricing
everyone on CDs for so many years and all that kind of stuff, but what is a record company? I don't
even know what a record company is. You've got an office, some phones and some people in there,
some computers. They have their work cut out for themselves as well. To be fair, they do lose
money on a lot of acts but, of course, now they're paying for all their bad moves.

Where do songs come from?

I pick up the phone, call a recording studio and book a session and then the muse, she comes.
Deadline, you know? The only way I can be creative is on a deadline.

What was your last day job?

Shipping and receiving.

This is much better.

Yes.


www.venturacountystar.com/photos/2007/oct/10/20993/" target="_blank">

Courtesy photo Black Francis has an
unorthodox method for writing songs. "I pick
up the phone, call a recording studio and book
a session and then the muse, she comes," he
says. "Deadline, you know?"


Black Francis

The Pixies co-founder performs a
solo show at 8 p.m. Saturday at
SOhO, 1221 State St., Santa
Barbara. Tickets for the 21-and-
over show are $20. Call 962-7771
or visit www.sohosb.com for more
information.
fbc Posted - 07/15/2007 : 01:52:15
i knew you'd like that bit.

sumo wrestling is alright. kabaddi does it for me.
coastline Posted - 07/14/2007 : 15:18:50
It's indeed significant to learn that FB doesn't wear underwear on stage. Good find, fbc.


Please pardon me, for these my wrongs.
fbc Posted - 07/14/2007 : 13:30:54
Did we miss this one first time around, Carl? (summer o6)

http://www.filter-mag.com/index.php?id=14947&c=2

In an effort to save you, dear reader, some time, money, embarrassment and a trip to Portland, we got Frank to share some of his favorite earthly pleasures. Because really, how well can you know someone if you don’t know how they take their mineral water?

KITCHEN ITEM: Brawny Paper Towels
The “brawny” looking feller on the package looks like my cousin Mark Thompson. Google him, he’s got a great voice.
wheels: Ford Town Cars circa late ’80s to early ’90s
They’re so fat and fast. I’d like to have 10 of them and just run them into the ground.

TOILETRY: XS Aftershave by Paco Rabanne
I went from wearing no aftershave to this stuff many years ago. It is hard to find in the U.S. now for some reason. I can be seen stocking up on the gel douche when at Heathrow.

BEVERAGE (PART ONE): Gerolsteiner Bottled Water
My brothers and I are all addicted to some kind of carbonation and this popular German water is full of fizz. I prefer it cold, un-iced, but chilled from cool weather as opposed to refrigeration, or “chambre,” as some would say.

BEVERAGE (PART TWO): Moxie cola
A bitter cola brewed in Georgia, but mostly a New England favorite. You can get it in Oregon where I live, but somehow they’ve tamed it a bit. It always tastes best right out of my grandmother’s refrigerator on old Cape Cod.

FOOTWEAR: New Balance running shoes
Mostly I just walk in them, but I’ve been wearing these for over 20 years. I don’t go much for the fancy models; I prefer the simple gray ones.

OUTERWEAR: Brooks Brothers button-down shirts
You can take the boy out of New England, but I always seem to have 10 of these hanging around, mostly blue and white, but an occasional pink one puts me in a grand mood. Tails out. Comfy.

UNDERWEAR: Calvin Klein boxer briefs
Black is good, gray is great. Truth be told, I don’t actually wear undergarments unless I’m not wearing anything else. So my boxer briefs are great for cleaning the garage, cooking, composing, sipping mineral waters; I can’t answer the door in them (unless it’s family) because it is an undergarment after all, but I will take the trash out in the wee hours in them. You now see why I wear my Brooks Brothers tails out.

HAND WASH: Sofitel hotel soap
Now I have had many a cake soap, and most any old cake will do, but the kind provided in Sofitel hotels worldwide always causes me to smell and reflect before I even moisten it.

NEWS SOURCE: BBC News online
My main source of information about the outside world. I suppose some news junkie out there is screaming at me for not realizing that they aren’t as “pure” a news source as some obscure extremist website. But hey, I just want to know who’s shooting missiles at who; besides, there is no pure information.

PLASTIC PRODUCT: Ziploc plastic bags
I like this technology and I love this brand the best. They even have huge ones now, big enough for a winter coat.

SPORT: Sumo wrestling
One of the few sports I like to watch. Apparently it’s a lot more complicated than I’ll ever understand, but it’s got soul.

THING WITH A PLUG: Electric hair clippers
They seem to be available everywhere I go. If I forget to pack one, I buy another; I give myself a haircut to the scalp and I feel great.

FILM: Terry Gilliam’s Brazil
Love that song, the actors, the humor, the darkness, the love interest; when Ian Holm pretends to break his hand and says, “Oh, Sam!” that just kills me.

TV SHOW: The Twilight Zone
They don’t call it the “Golden Age of Television” for nothing. It is a cultural treasure, this show. Writers, real actors, a host/creator with a soul, a killer theme song by an avant-garde French composer...it goes on and on.
theonecontender Posted - 02/19/2007 : 13:57:43
That's good. I like that. Kind of funny seeing the kids dancing to Bullet..
SPEEDYMARIEGONZALES Posted - 02/19/2007 : 12:26:30
anyone seen this strange little interview and dance number
hope it hasnt been posted yet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLxaiaitAIE
Carl Posted - 02/17/2007 : 15:19:22
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/139605/frank_black_wants_to_hear_the_roar.html

Frank Black Wants to Hear the Roar for the Pixies

By Jim Lundstrom

February 12, 2007

While Frank Black has a larger discography as a solo artist than that
of the Pixies, he knows the music he made fronting the seminal punk-pop band until
calling it quits in 1993 will always be his calling card.

Black understands he will forever be dogged by the band that he founded with guitarist
Joey Santiago while both were attending the U of Massachusetts in 1986, a band some
say paved the way for Nirvana and others that waved the flannel alternative flag in the
early '90s.

Knowing that, Black says if you really want to hear a Pixies song as an encore when he
plays shows, you better clap as if you want it.

"If people still are wanting more, and especially if, gosh, they really want to hear one of
those Pixies numbers, I'll be backstage and I'll be listening," Black said by telephone
from his home in Eugene, Ore. "So I'll do my thing, then I am going to go backstage
and wait, and if there is demand..."

Black is touring on the heels of his great new double CD, "Fastman Raider Man" (Back
Porch Records), in a quartet that includes Nashville Americana music impresario Billy
Block on drums, Eric Drew Feldman on bass and keys (his credits run from being
bassist in Capt. Beefheart's Magic Band from 1976 until the Captain gave up the
musical ghost in the early '80s, to keyboardist in Pere Ubu, P.J. Harvey's bass player,
keyboardist with the Pixies on the 1991 release "Trompe le Monde" and obviously an
invaluable player in various Black projects), and Duane Jarvis on guitar (DiVinyls,
Lucinda Williams, Giant Sand, Dwight Yoakum, etc.).

The sprawling, 27-song "Fastman Raider Man" has received good reviews, but Black
has looked on from the sidelines as the record company that released it this summer,
Back Porch Records of Milwaukee, underwent a reshuffle at the hands of parent
company EMI. The Milwaukee office was closed and the label was moved to New York
(along with other label imprints such as Narada, Peter Gabriel's Real World Records
and Higher Octave).

"Classic showbiz," Black said. "I'm pretty aloof to those kinds of developments. It's happened so many times in my life - the guy
that was your contact quit or he got dropped or the label folded. Whatever. No big deal. Showbiz as usual."

Black said most of "Fastman Raider Man" was recorded during the 2004 Pixies reunion tour, with a rotating cast of characters
that includes legendary session men such as Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham and Jim Keltner, Levon Helm of The Band, Tom
Petersson of Cheap Trick, and two of his three current band members.

More than one listener has remarked that the new record has several songs that sound reminiscent of Van Morrison circa the
early 1970s. Black, too, has heard those comments.

"I certainly am a fan," Black said of Morrison. "I don't know all of his records. He's got a lot of them. The stuff I know best is the
early stuff with Them. I don't know his career obsessively, although I actually did read a book about him recently, but I don't sit
around and listen to Van Morrison records all day."

Still, Black said he understands how people might hear a connection

"I noticed that in recent times I've been able to, I don't know how to
describe it, I've obtained a little bit of vocal flexibility or vocal phrasing that is
reminiscent of him, and also, probably, it's just from years and years of being exposed
to him and other singers, too, and so one day you're doing a song or you're writing a
song and maybe it's got a thing going for it that's rootsy or Stonesy or Van Morrisony.
It's got some je ne sais quoix, and you just do it. It's not planned."

Black (who went by Black Francis in the Pixies, but whose real name is Charles
Thompson) credits the great singer/songwriter Stan Ridgway for helping him to
achieve his current vocal stylings when Ridgway served as co-producer, multi-
instrumentalist and photographer (he took the cover photo) on Black's cathartic 2003
release "Show Me Your Tears."

"We were doing some stuff for that record that was a little more folky in song style or
structure, so there was a lot of repetition of melody," he said. "(Stan) was like,
'Charles, why don't you sing that line in the fourth verse a little different than the
previous verse. We all know what the model is, what the prescribed melody is. Let's
break out of it a bit.' He said that's sort of an old folky trick. It's just what you do to
keep things interesting. You just drop a note here, add a note there. So I think that
kind of made me aware of that. So now I think when I'm doing something that's
repetitious, you don't try to totally destroy it because that's what's good about the
song, it's repetitive thing, but you try to play around with it a little bit. I think that's part
of the schooling, you know?"

It has to be asked. Will we hear more the Pixies?

"We're supposed to play some gigs in Australia sometime in the next six months,"
Black said. "We don't have any firm plans for anything else. It'd be nice if we could get
it together to make a record, but that has yet to be worked out. Little bit of hesitancy, I
suppose, or a lot of hesitancy."

Why the hesitancy?

"Lots of reasons," he said. "Some people don't want to make a bad record. They don't want to mess with the gospel. I think that's
part of it. Part of it's not real yet. It's got to be a vital kind of creative friendship going on when you're in a band. If it's just a
reunion tour where you're getting together for old times' sake and playing the old songs, that's a different scenario than getting
into a rehearsal space and trying to create something new. Different kind of headspace. Some people in the band don't want to
force it. They want it to be friendly like, for all the right reasons."

Black said he doesn't believe in making a campaign of a new recording, so expect to hear a mixture of songs from "Fastman
Raider Man" along with songs from his solo projects and recordings with The Catholics.

"I've experienced enough times of having anew record out, thinking, OK, I'll play a bunch of songs from my new album, and then
getting no reaction just because people are not familiar with it and don't respond the same way," he said. "Sometimes you don't
feel like playing new songs, so you resurrect others. It's a nice position to be in, to have 10 or 20 albums to choose songs from.

"I think the one thing we're going to be avoiding is Pixie numbers," he continued. "I've done a lot of that recently, most notably
with the Pixies themselves. So I think I may avoid that. Yeah, it's my calling card, but, you know, I've done enough crowd-pleasing
of late with that particular part of the repertoire."

But, he adds, if you really, really want to hear a Pixies tune, "They'll really have to demand that encore or second encore," he
said.

Remember, he'll be listening.




Frank Black's
sprawling 27-song
CD rocks, rolls and
does everything in
between.




Frank Black's sprawling 27-song CD rocks, rolls and does everything in between.

Credit: Back Porch Records

Copyright: Back Porch Records
Daisy Girl Posted - 01/02/2007 : 12:25:26
Thanks Carl. Although I am hoping Frank's next recording gig is with the Pixies, I hope he gets his wish. I think that it would be cool to have the "new Doors" fronted by Iggy.
matto Posted - 01/02/2007 : 12:07:03
is an iggy-frank collaboration only a matter of time?

sminki pinki
Carl Posted - 01/02/2007 : 11:16:03
Good find, Daisy-Frank dreams of producing The Doors with Ian Astbury? Hmmm....

Merry Christmas!

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