| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| brettwb1 |
Posted - 02/06/2014 : 21:42:17
I put in as many of your questions as I could, here it is! Spent 3 hours transcribing/editing tonight to get it done. Joey was awesome to talk to. Thanks for the questions!
http://www.alternativenation.net/?p=42844 |
| 35 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Discoking |
Posted - 02/19/2019 : 02:15:35
quote:
I’ve already said, just because my kids love it and I like the sophistication of it that they are finally liking, just because it’s out of the Disney music genre, is Lorde.
That’s funny because I was interviewing James Iha a couple weeks ago and he mentioned that he loved her.
Yeah. Who is he?
He’s the former guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins.
Oh okay.
ahahaha!
 it's educational |
| picpic |
Posted - 02/15/2019 : 18:08:20
Here's a repost of the interview
The link in the first post vanished from the www long ago. I eventually found it back thanks to archive.org !
Sorry for the dig, just updating the topic
Last month, fellow AlternativeNation.net writer Osty Gale interviewed Pixies drummer David Lovering and former touring bassist Kim Shattuck. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview the band’s guitarist Joey Santiago. Santiago was one of the best interview subjects I’ve had yet. He was very candid and willing to discuss anything, while also remaining self-aware and having a good sense of humor.
During our 30 minute phone interview Santiago discussed the Pixies’ recent EP releases, their rotating setlists on tour, the real reason Paz Lenchantin recently replaced Kim Shattuck as touring bassist, how much Kim Deal contributed to new material before quitting, his reaction to recent negative reviews of new material from hipster websites, whether there is any leftover material from the Trompe le Monde sessions, and his hopes for future Pixies albums.
Do you think you might record a new album between tours in 2014? Because I read you’ve already got one new track recorded with Paz.
Yes, we will certainly give it the old college try of course. The cat’s out of the bag, so we will pursue it, we will try our hardest. Charles has mentioned that in the few days off we have we should go in the studio or whatever and just hash out ideas, and record them.
That leads me to ask about the EP’s. So far there’s 2, everybody’s assuming that there’s going to be a third. Will the EP’s be released as an album along with “Bag Boy” and some extra songs? If that happens would you want to make any production changes?
Well when it comes to production changes, no. We did one for a song, we can’t really say. Everything’s secretive right now. It would be great if those 3 [EP's] converge into one album. There’s [the] motivation to do that.
So when you were recording that material did you see it working as either an album or a series of EP’s? Did you see it working as a sequence of songs at the time?
Yeah, it was a bunch of songs. It’s always been like that for me. I know there’s some thematic things with the music maybe. All the other albums [don't] really have much of a theme. I know people were going on about UFO’s with Charles, because he wrote a bulk of it with that in mind, but it’s always been a hodgepodge.
What was the extent of Kim Deal’s participation in the sessions before leaving, how much did she get done and were there any songs intended for her to sing on?
She never intended to sing on a song, or do vocals on a song. So I don’t know what that was about. Bass part wise they were kind of almost there, because it was just a root. She would change stuff arrangement wise, she would change things. She would come up with bass parts of her own at times. Yeah, that’s it.
Apparently there were 5 tracks already written before going into studio, do you remember what tracks those were?
Greens and Blues, What Goes Boom, Indie Cindy, Silver Snail, and Ring The Bell. Those were the songs.
When it came to getting going for this recording session you mentioned those songs, and obviously “Bag Boy” was the first one released. What was the song, or maybe couple of songs that really psyched you up about finally recording new Pixies music after all of these years?
“What Goes Boom” and “Indie Cindy.” I’ll just pick two of them, but those songs were the songs that were the standouts that I was excited to record.
I wanted to ask you about some of the negative reviews of the new material, and kind of the dilemma that you guys have been in. There was that one site that gave the 1st EP 1/10 that I think was just ridiculous. Even if you don’t like the EP, I don’t get how somebody couldn’t like “Indie Cindy,” which is a great song. What’s been your reaction to some of the negative reviews from some of the hipster community? Does it just kind of piss you off because for so many years people were telling you ‘record new material’ and now you get that crowd getting angry at you for it?
It’s funny that they don’t want us to just grow, or explore new territory because we’ve done that all the time. I don’t know what the reason is. It’s probably because they endear all the albums, or maybe Doolittle or Surfer Rosa, and expect us to sound like that. We got flack when we stopped sounding like Surfer Rosa with Bossanova. It’s almost the same deal, and now with this quick internet thing you see all this information. People have a right to their opinion, it doesn’t piss me off actually. I kind of like it in a way because it means that [we're] either ahead of the curve, or they don’t get it. In my fantasy one of these days they’re going to go: ‘Shit, I was wrong, I do like this.’
It takes a few listens for us, it doesn’t take one listen because we’re not a pop band. You’re not going to go from the first few notes: ‘Yay, I like this!’ You’ve got to see the whole journey of the song, because it just goes along. You can’t be like one of those A&R guys who will just play the first 5 bars and go: ‘I don’t like it. It doesn’t hit me right away. It’s not going to hit with radio right away, they’re going to switch the dial. They’re going to go fuck this, fuck WWKR or whatever I’m going to switch the station somewhere else.’ It’s that kind of mentality maybe people have, which isn’t fair for us. Some people just won’t give us a chance anyways, because Kim Deal left. We have no chance, these are the theories I’m thinking of.
Yeah I think a lot of it has to do too with the mindset of, you can’t really judge your reaction to new music especially from a veteran act until at least a year or two after it comes out. I mean this even goes for bands during their younger years too. But especially now people have their sentimental views of the band, so they might be overly excited and like something, or hate it because of how they felt about the past. So maybe in a year or two the views will change from that community.
Yeah, I mean as Charles said before, and I love what he said which is like, what are we going to do with that information? What am I going to do with that information? Yeah, someone said that, Pitchfork did that, but what the hell are we going to do with that information? There’s nothing we can do, we are what we are. You are entitled to your opinion, but this is what we are, accept it. We might make a few ‘mistakes,’ but that’s it.
When it comes to the band dynamics, you mentioned recently in another interview that the failure to communicate and vocalize feelings is a reason why previous sessions didn’t work when you were trying to write new material. Do you think the band today communicates better after having said that, and is that something you guys have discussed?
We certainly can communicate a lot better because we have recorded with Paz in a studio, one song. The communication is already there, almost already there, but we still do need that producer that will reign Charles in a bit. Someone that’s a fly on the wall that will go: ‘Hey Joe come on,’ or ‘Hey David, what the fuck? Come up with a better fill or something, what’s going on?’ I guess we’re still shitty communicators (laughs), but there’s a fine line between working together and hurting someone’s ego maybe. You kind of have to step around it, where as a producer will say: ‘No, change that bullshit. What the fuck Charles, what are you thinking?’ We just can’t do that with each other, we can’t be as blunt.
Do you think it might be Gil Norton again for the upcoming album or whatever the next project is? Or are you looking at somebody else maybe?
We don’t know, but we want to explore different sounds. So the most obvious thing to do is to work with someone else, so we don’t know. But then again Gil went from Doolittle and changed into Bossa Nova, and changed into Trompe le Monde, and then changed into where we are now. So we don’t know, we have no idea who that person is yet. We don’t even know the songs yet (laughs). The songs aren’t even there yet, let’s come to that first.
You’ve been changing up the setlist a lot recently, are there any more songs that you are hoping to dust off soon? Like maybe “Space I Believe In” and “Trompe le Monde.” Do you think those could make it onto the setlist?
Well we’d have to learn those, but what we have under our belts is what we think people want to hear. We actually don’t have a setlist any more, we always do the first [couple] songs. It’ll always be Bone Machine, Wave of Mutilation. From there it’ll change. Just those two songs are the only ones we’re going to do [for sure]. Just so the sound man can set up and hear the room with people in it. Then the rest of the time Charles will just call them out. It’s amazing still that we won’t have any thoughts that just kill us to keep going, it’s less than 1-2-3. It’s faster than you can count to 10, even that’s too long for us, that silence. 5 seconds tops, that’s the silence you’ll hear (laughs).
Now what other tracks were recorded during the Trompe le Monde sessions, and will they ever see the light of day? It was rumored to be a double album, and there was talk of “Brackish Boy” and “Surf Epic” possibly being recorded around then.
I don’t know if we have any leftovers from that one. We probably do, I call them the Widow Tracks (laughs). Because in a way they’re all of us like dead, and the widows are going to try to make more money out of us.
That’d be a good name for a B-sides album, the Widow Tracks.
The Widow Tracks, that actually is good. That’s a good idea.
Now when it comes to your favorite topic Kim Shattuck, was it always intended to move on from her after the fall tour and have different bassists live?
She was always just going to do that leg. It solidified as we played along the tours, like okay, good thing we gave that memo to her. Then with Paz, it was like shit we want her for awhile. She’s just the right fit for us now. Yes, we intended to do that, but in the back of our minds we wanted the first one to work out, but unfortunately it didn’t. It just wasn’t [appropriate]. So we moved onto another one, Paz, and she is working out famously. She has the chops, she has everything.
Now when it came to the switch, was it kind of a combination of things? Like maybe some differences with Kim, and Paz being available. Because I remember the day you announced Kim wasn’t going to stick around, I heard that you had already found a new bassist.
Yeah, but what were we going to do with that information regarding the tour? It would have been shitty for us to tell the current bass the player the news, ‘Hey we found another one, and we want you to be in a good mood when we play!’ There wouldn’t really have been an appropriate time to say anything. That’s really what happened.
One more question on that, was it musical differences or personal? Something like that?
You know it’s complicated, the band dynamic is very complicated. Yes, it’s all of those things. It’s everything, that’s what being in a band is about. People could guess why [they] think it didn’t work out. Give me the reasons, and those are probably the reasons, and they are the reasons. Yeah personality, yes. Musically, yes. It’s [nobody's] fault. You are what you are and you play the way you play. That’s it, that’s the bottom line. It’s like, does it fit in with you? Yes or no? Answer it. It sounds simple, but it’s more difficult than people think.
The communication that we should have had with her, that she wanted, was impossible. We were on tour, and everybody after the last show went home. We were going to tell her, but she already told everyone (laughs). We weren’t the first one, it was like fuck. Then after that, why should we even fucking bother calling her? I called her once just saying, “What the fuck are you doing? Stop it.” Now she’s known as the person that the Pixies fired, the person that played with the Pixies. I mean that’s about it, that’s the bottom line. That’s it, that’s her in a nutshell. That’s the grave she dug for herself, you can’t blame us on that. Once again, you can’t blame her, that’s the way she is. You can’t just blame anyone, she is what she is. That’s basically what she is in a nutshell, the way she reacted.
We’re in the year 2014 now, so 10 years ago was the initial reunion tour. That was documented in the Loud Quiet Loud documentary. I just watched it for the first time a few months ago, it’s a great documentary. Sometimes uncomfortable to watch, but very honest. How do you look back at it now 10 years later?
Parts of it were true, we are a quiet band. A lot of it is true, we are very introverted. The person that has to fill that has to be the same way. Kim [Deal] was, David is, I am, Charles is. We keep to ourselves, it makes some people uncomfortable when they see the four of us like that. We’re not, we’re just like, eh, this is what it is, we’re just quiet people.
What younger bands out there today have impressed you? There’s so many out there who cite you as an influence. Cage The Elephant praise you all of the time, and you’ve got Best Coast coming up opening up for you.
Oh god, ooooh. (Pauses) That’s a tough one. I’ve already said, just because my kids love it and I like the sophistication of it that they are finally liking, just because it’s out of the Disney music genre, is Lorde.
That’s funny because I was interviewing James Iha a couple weeks ago and he mentioned that he loved her.
Yeah. Who is he?
He’s the former guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins.
Oh okay. Yeah also the minimalist stuff, and also The xx. They like The xx, I also like them a lot. That minimalist stuff with a statement is great. That’s what I try to do, that’s my thing. I try to be minimalistic with notes, there’s not a hell of a lot of them. I don’t want to give people too much information.
Now one more kind of two parted question about the new material. What’s your favorite new song you’ve recorded so far, and were there any differences recording without a woman in the band?
The music that I like the most, I like playing “Magdalena” a lot. I didn’t really feel a difference without a woman in the studio. Because you put your head down and you work. What it is, it’s work for us. People might think it’s fun, no no no, not for me anyways. I put my head down and just suffer coming up with parts, I’m just suffering the whole time. I don’t have time to think about who is in there (laughs). It’s just all about me me me me me, and the person hitting record.
Now my final question is about the future of the Pixies. Are you guys in it in for the long haul at this point, do you see yourselves being around 5 years from now? Also what do you think is the future of the bassist situation?
5 years from now hopefully we have 4 more albums under our belt, and hopefully they’re as loved as our old catalog. Regarding the bass player situation, we would be really sad if Paz decided to move on. Because she is a traveling minstrel, we hope she would stick around. We can’t control that, so I can’t even answer that question. I can only say that we want to record new albums, but we can’t control who is going to be ‘the’ bass player. But I’ll tell you now, we’re fully enjoying her.
That’s very cool to hear about hopefully more new albums. Thanks a lot Joey, thanks for being honest during this interview and have a good one.
You too! Good questions by the way.
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"Service Unavailable" |
| Jason |
Posted - 02/13/2014 : 14:35:16
Yes, a setlist for the first few shows with a new bassist makes sense. Considering what an ultra-pro Paz Lenchantin is though, they eventually figured out, I guess, that they didn't need it. Now, they play it by ear. Very cool.
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| rivum |
Posted - 02/12/2014 : 05:06:56
that was for the first show (in toronto) |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/10/2014 : 11:30:45
frank did tweet a setlist for a show earlier in the tour (january). |
| Jason |
Posted - 02/10/2014 : 08:44:16
I like the tidbit about how the band doesn't play with a setlist anymore. That's how the Catholics did it, too. |
| ccuadros |
Posted - 02/10/2014 : 00:36:47
man, very good interview!, congrats |
| brettwb1 |
Posted - 02/09/2014 : 14:16:02
Thanks guys for the good feedback. I just finished editing a live video of "Blue Eyed Hexe" from a recent show for a project I'm working on called Concertfy, I'll let you know when that's up! I dig the song even more now having edited it and listening to a live version over and over again. |
| peter radiator |
Posted - 02/09/2014 : 13:11:19
quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
quote:
Originally posted by IBreed
quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
^ you felt that the notion someone on here had that G&B sounded like something Kim could've sang lead on was Bizarre and unfounded? What's so bizarre about it? It's not my theory but I could easily see what the poster was saying when the comment was made.
what do you mean? there was nothing suggesting or supporting it. it was a fantasy.
Half of the stuff we talk about on here or thoughts we have are bizarre fantasies then I guess.
This.
~ Peter Radiator
"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
| koabac |
Posted - 02/09/2014 : 06:12:20
Best Pixies interview in a long time. Great job! |
| johnnyribcage |
Posted - 02/09/2014 : 05:47:58
Great interview - very candid. Here's to 4 more albums! Actually lets make it 14!
"A word to the wise is infuriating." |
| jake3 |
Posted - 02/09/2014 : 03:41:28
quote:
Originally posted by IBreed
someone on the board had an unfounded and bizarre theory that greens & blues was written for kim deal to sing lead on. i think that was the impetus for wanting to know if she was going to sing a song (gigantic, silver style). it was a good question though. because it meant joey could have said "yeah, she wrote a song for the band but...". which obviously didn't happen so now we know.
i'm sure had kim stayed in the band she would have done backing vocals. maybe she even did a few and they were deleted.
Nah, I just thought it was a good question which hadn't been asked yet. Cheers though  |
| The Champ |
Posted - 02/08/2014 : 08:18:42
Great interview, thanks for doing it. |
| shineoftheever |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 19:07:37
AN: That’s very cool to hear about hopefully more new albums. Thanks a lot Joey, thanks for being honest during this interview and have a good one.
JS: You too! Good questions by the way
"Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates. |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 18:34:25
quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
quote:
Originally posted by IBreed
quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
^ you felt that the notion someone on here had that G&B sounded like something Kim could've sang lead on was Bizarre and unfounded? What's so bizarre about it? It's not my theory but I could easily see what the poster was saying when the comment was made.
what do you mean? there was nothing suggesting or supporting it. it was a fantasy.
Half of the stuff we talk about on here or thoughts we have are bizarre fantasies then I guess. My point is that it really doesn't seem that bizarre of a thought. Kim sings and she that song seems like something that could suite her vocals. A suggestion that Snakes was written for Joey to sing would be bizarre.
well there's just as much basis for that scenario as the other. 
i'm not sure dave's singing is a secret weapon of the bands, but it's certainly another color in their palette. isn't he doing the low bit in andro?
|
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 18:14:55
I think Frank had mentioned something about Greens & Blues being written as a song that could end a show, akin to Gigantic; perhaps this is why someone would think it was meant to be sung by Kim. I don't recall the details of that interview, nor if Frank explicitly said it was written to be sung by Kim but I understand why the idea is out there.
I'd actually like to hear Dave sing on another song; his voice is interesting and is another "secret weapon" Pixies have. |
| natenate101 |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 17:36:53
quote:
Originally posted by IBreed
quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
^ you felt that the notion someone on here had that G&B sounded like something Kim could've sang lead on was Bizarre and unfounded? What's so bizarre about it? It's not my theory but I could easily see what the poster was saying when the comment was made.
what do you mean? there was nothing suggesting or supporting it. it was a fantasy.
Half of the stuff we talk about on here or thoughts we have are bizarre fantasies then I guess. My point is that it really doesn't seem that bizarre of a thought. Kim sings and she that song seems like something that could suite her vocals. A suggestion that Snakes was written for Joey to sing would be bizarre. |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 15:40:23
quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
^ you felt that the notion someone on here had that G&B sounded like something Kim could've sang lead on was Bizarre and unfounded? What's so bizarre about it? It's not my theory but I could easily see what the poster was saying when the comment was made.
what do you mean? there was nothing suggesting or supporting it. it was a fantasy. |
| brettwb1 |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 15:08:26
Kind of unrelated to the interview, but does someone have a live MP3 version of Blue Eyed Hexe that they could PM or email me grungereport @yahoo.com? Working on a live video for a new project I'm working on, but the audio is shit lol. |
| natenate101 |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 15:01:19
^ you felt that the notion someone on here had that G&B sounded like something Kim could've sang lead on was Bizarre and unfounded? What's so bizarre about it? It's not my theory but I could easily see what the poster was saying when the comment was made. |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 13:13:06
someone on the board had an unfounded and bizarre theory that greens & blues was written for kim deal to sing lead on. i think that was the impetus for wanting to know if she was going to sing a song (gigantic, silver style). it was a good question though. because it meant joey could have said "yeah, she wrote a song for the band but...". which obviously didn't happen so now we know.
i'm sure had kim stayed in the band she would have done backing vocals. maybe she even did a few and they were deleted. |
| brettwb1 |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 12:52:02
I think he meant sing lead, that's the feeling I got. |
| Fissile |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 12:36:26
quote:
Q:What was the extent of Kim Deal’s participation in the sessions before leaving, how much did she get done and were there any songs intended for her to sing on?
A:She never intended to sing on a song, or do vocals on a song. So I don’t know what that was about. Bass part wise they were kind of almost there, because it was just a root. She would change stuff arrangement wise, she would change things. She would come up with bass parts of her own at times. Yeah, that’s it.
Huh? So why did she even show up? |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 10:56:06
quote:
Originally posted by Oui
I heard a snippet of ring the bells via mr. Francis' vine and it sounded great. I bet if Kim finished the recordings and the release was only those five songs the critics would of been very kind to the pixies.
agreed. that would have been a hell of a comeback. especially had they led with greens & blues.
i should say i guess ring could suck. i don't know. |
| Oui |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 09:46:18
I heard a snippet of ring the bells via mr. Francis' vine and it sounded great. I bet if Kim finished the recordings and the release was only those five songs the critics would of been very kind to the pixies. |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 07:14:06
also very interesting about the tracks that helped coax kim into the studio. having not heard ring the bells, the other four are some of the best of the bunch. i thought magdalena could have been one of them, but it's cool that frank tapped into that vibe while they were in the studio. |
| IBreed |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 07:07:32
great stuff, brettwb1. thanks for thinking to ask the community and following up so quickly. |
| matto |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 06:45:28
Outstanding work, this honestly made my day tops.
--------
baby poop, curry |
| picpic |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 04:03:28
A bit disappointed that he doesn't think people want to hear "Trompe Le Monde" or "Space I Believe in".
He's probably right, though. Most people don't care about those. But I'll dieeeeee to hear them live once again (and i'm sure i'm not the only one !).
I know Frank does not like those "play this one", "play that one !" injunctions, so let's not bother them anymore. I'm more than pleased with what the band is doing now, so I'm already thrilled.
___
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| jake3 |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 03:00:17
Fantastic interview. Thanks for stopping by! |
| natenate101 |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 02:18:49
Outstanding job and I must agree, all of the questions were along the lines of what a fan of the band would ask. That made for every answer being interesting. Thanks!
So Ring The Bell was one of the original 5 tracks eh? Interesting.
I like his point about needing a producer to reign each of them in, definitely seems reasonable considering their communication issues. I wonder if a Phil Ek or David Fridmann would be considered? |
| pixie punk |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 02:05:42
Outstanding interview Brett! When you get "Good Questions" from the person being interviewed you can be sure you did a great job.Joey didn't get bored with the same old questions we have read a million times.Glad many forum members participation was vital in creating this wonderful to read interview.Good job Brett and much success in your future interviews.
PUERTO RICO PIXIE |
| nadavatik |
Posted - 02/07/2014 : 01:04:29
This is cool:
'We actually don’t have a setlist any more, we always do the first [couple] songs. It’ll always be Bone Machine, Wave of Mutilation. From there it’ll change. Just those two songs are the only ones we’re going to do [for sure]. Just so the sound man can set up and hear the room with people in it. Then the rest of the time Charles will just call them out.' |
| Sprite |
Posted - 02/06/2014 : 23:57:22
I think we were reading this interview simultaneoulsy picpic! |
| picpic |
Posted - 02/06/2014 : 23:56:41
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