Loud music blares. "Hey can you turn that off? I've got to record something that hopefully people can take and use to make their lives a little easier" Courtney Taylor-Taylor yells, only slightly phased by the interruption. I'm sitting in a booth hidden in the back room of Calsport; local sports bar by day, rock yacht club by night. Across from me Courtney Taylor-Taylor, singer/guitarist of the Dandy Warhols, continues into insight and advice on relationships, song writing, think-tank bands, Bowie, and what drives musicians:
Courtney Taylor-Taylor: [I've been] writing songs almost exclusively about my relationships to a woman, one at a time, consecutively. If you listen to our records, I make records to comfort myself. I do the most writing when I am in "that" state. I've had a lot of friends die. I am not a stranger to death of friends, close or just real friends, or your family. Yeah, I think those are the times I write the most. I don't want to be that guy who only writes from depression. I try to be the guy who writes, basically, the brightest music you can write in the darkest place. That's my thing, for all the seventeen year old boys with eyeliner and earrings getting elbowed in the halls in high school, like I was, knowing that they are smarter than those motherfuckers. Just knowing it. It's not even hate, it's just this acceptance of "I will go further than you, and you better enjoy it now, you eighteen-year-old fucking jock dumb piece of shit. You better fucking love it now because man, when we're both thirty, I'm going to be eloquent and intellectual, and have beautiful friends around me, and you're going to be kicking your dog." No one's perfect and we all have our shit, and that's the important thing. That's what I write songs about. That's why songs like "Godless," are really pathetic, bitter, spiteful. I had to write a song that at least said "Yeah, ok, I'm spiteful and bitter now, and I'm going to be cheap and small but fuck it, I'm a real person. I'm not a bad person, and I feel this." And probably other people who feel this bitter and awful, probably aren't bad people either. So don't beat yourself up about having that feeling, because it's an easy thing to do. If you're a person who has evolved at all, then you know that spite, jealousy, anger, doting on somebody, but you can't change what you feel; you can only change how you act on it. That's a big thing to realize, if you really think about it. Keep it with you. You can't change what you feel. Feelings happen before you can think. Once those feelings do happen to you, you can decide to get angry and yell, or you can decide to go "Ah shit, I got myself into this situation, and goddamnit, all right, it's going to hurt getting myself out." How's that for an interview? Are we done? Come on, that was a lot.
Anais:That was beautiful. The only other main question I had for you was to talk about the fact that you guys are going on tour with Bowie.
CTT: You know, if you want that Bowie experience look around your own world. There are plenty of Bowies out there that are young and beautiful and going for it, just fucking doing it. They are out there. Hopefully they'll get into a groove, and not see that there are some people that are better at music. For some reason, there is something about them, and how they deal with themselves- They might have zero social skills, but music is what they really want to do -- and they know they do, and they love people through that music, and hope they get love back. This is what all people do who try to be a big actor, actress, movie star, whatever. All of us, it doesn't matter who. You know, if you're talking [about] like, Camper Van Beethoven, or Leonardo Di Caprio. It's just people who want love so badly that they're driven to go and try to sell off bits of themselves in the hope that the true core of themselves will then be recognized by the way these other people have written a script for them, or [they] try to promote their record with advertising. "What do you want? What do think think it should be?" But it's passing handfuls of water; you're going to lose some as you pass it around. But I don't think [Bowie] takes artists, like us, or Placebo, or whoever.
A: I'm glad you mentioned Placebo...
CTT: Yeah. Or Grandaddy, he loves Grandaddy. Grandaddy's just a fucking brilliant band. I'm very impressed with him for noticing...
A: He has a knack for noticing random bands and...
CTT: I don't see anything random about it. I would imagine the first time he heard Grandaddy's record, Bowie felt the same way, the first time he heard it, you know. I've never heard my own records for the first time, ever. I make them. Now they're done.
A: Do you still listen to your first few albums?
CTT: That's why I made them. I really love other bands, but generally, not their whole records. This is why we put a band together in the first place. It was Pete who talked me into it. There was really nothing else to do. He was a painter, I was a drummer. All of my friends had moved back from New York. All of my friends were musicians, and they were what we know jokingly refer to, and I don't want to be mean, but we refer to them as "earnest" musicians... [After hearing] Stereolab, live, I'd never heard [them] live before, it was weird. They opened for some, you know, "Indie" band at the time, but Stereolab came out and they started [makes musical noises]. They started doing that with their french chick vocal harmonies, sexier than hell, and the room just filled up with vibe to about your chest. It just vibrated in a warm, accepting chord. These are the things that affected us and [why] we love pop music, so, it was really pop chord changes, pop music, pop things. Get the hypnosis on in like the true, early, Rock n' Roll ethic which is get a groove on and just enough of a mix in chords to get you off and get you going for three to five minutes. You know, Blueberry Hill, just get the groove on, sing some shit you feel, that's real and sounds cool, and it's fucking sexy, you know.
A: I didn't listen to the Dandy's, and hadn't heard you guys until I met Dave. In speaking to you, I can tell that you really do feel everything you've written. There's a difference between singing a song, writing a song, vs. being the song.
CTT: Yeah, I try not to ever do the other thing. I can't actually write songs. I mean, I've tried, I've done little experiments with myself over the years. You know, I've tried to write a song. It's just channeling that you leave yourself open to. There are great songwriters who are craftsman. They sit down and fucking hammer it out, cause they know they are good and they know what they are doing. For me it's- I feel like, yeah I know I am good, I know what I am doing, but I also know "Shut the fuck up, and wait
for it." So that it's there, it's real, it's something that I've taken from the real fever, but I was a drummer, my whole life, this is my first band playing guitar and singing. I've always been drummer. I've never done this before.
A: Do you miss being a drummer?
CTT: Hell yeah. I don't miss the pressure, though, because that's the most important space if you are going to be believed as a singer. The groove has to be truly real and invisible, like it's always been there, eternal, it just is, and it's still going, the groove, [music noises to articulate] you know. It's hard to switch songs, song song, three minutes, and then "Oh, change of emotions." That's what your set list is, your song order, we can't ever really nail it down. We get some good ideas, "Oh, these three songs go together well". "Oh yeah, let's do that", you know, and we have a set list but, you know...
Fathead [Dandy Warhols' drummer, who has joined us for a moment]: It's sort of just a list of all the songs we have.
A: Yeah, I don't see you doing "The Last High" followed by "Scientist".
CTT: You never know.
F: It might work.
CTT: Yeah, it might work, you never know. Then, say it works one night, you accidentally play "I am Sound" and oh, phew, you've played it after two other deeply, you know, heavy songs, and somebody yells "Scientist!" We don't play "Scientist" live, because we haven't learned it. We created this record in the studio. It was our new experiment with "What if we just created a record in the studio and learned it?" Anyway, and so you play it, and then it's great, yeah, it's beautiful. Every head's bobbing, all the hands are in the air, it's gorgeous. Next night, you're in a different city. And you go "That was amazing, so let's play those three songs in order and then play "Scientist" and all of a sudden it's just, no, that night because of some reason; shape of the room, the people there, how you feel, how they feel, how you think they feel, how they think you feel, how I think Fathead feels, whether I can hear Zia or not, whatever. All of a sudden you launch into "Scientist" likes it's going to be great and you're standing there naked, and you have the most shriveled, pathetic dick, [Laughter] and the rumor was you have a nice beautiful cock, and you're a great lover, and a sensual, beautiful person, and really chill and cool and smart and fun and powerful. [Fathead makes cute "zip it" noise] All of a sudden you're standing there, for no reason, and you're letting everyone down. You know what I mean.
F: Wah wah.
CTT: This is something that Bon Scott from ACDC said, if you get the box set, or whatever it is. Some geeky, American interviewer [in cheesy excited game show host/interviewer voice] "Oh yeah, well I hear you guys really cook live. So you going to cook tonight?", and [Bon Scott] goes "Yeah, yeah we always cook." The [interviewer] goes "Oh ha ha." thinking that's a real arrogant thing to say. You know, and he kind of goes "Oh, ahahahahaha, oh well, ahaha", and [Bon] goes "No serious mate, you can't make excuses to an audience." What are you going to do, travel 400 miles... You guys, can I, we're really sucking tonight. We can't get it together."
F: Sorrrrrry
Laughter]
CTT: "We're really trying. Why don't you guys all pay another fucking twenty seven fucking pounds, euros, whatever or bucks to go to the next city and drive four and a half hours. We'll probably be good, cause we had a shit gig tonight, we'll probably.." No. Which is why we play for three hours, man. There are people there who showed up to hear "Lou Weed' [from the first album Dandy's Rule, OK]. You know, and God fucking damnit, if they wait long enough, if there is a break in the silence between songs and they go "Lou Weed!" sooner or later we'll fucking play it. So we play for three hours, which is great, because if you get on stage, and this is going to happen, you sound like shit. You don't feel it, and you feel like you are miles away from these people who are your closest friends, in your band, and they are miles away, and their instruments are miles away. You can't "Who's, where are we? What fucking, where? What are we feeling? What is this? We're playing the song, we're playing the parts the right way." Etc. That can't last more than an hour. You play three hours, you'll have two fucking hours of-
F: You'll find out how to play.
CTT: You adjust the mix with your monitor engineer and you'll work it out. The worst gig you can have, that we can have, is thirty to forty minutes of just sound check. Then it just gets back in, and more in, and then it is just, fucking comfortable. We're on, and it's beautiful, and it's music, and that is the most important thing.
F: That's why we suck on TV. It's "Here, play!"
CTT: Yeah.
F: One song. It's totally foreign...
CTT: TV is ridiculous
F: "On the count of three.. Play now."
CTT: Yeah, we sit and watch other bands who are "SUPER PRO". They're not cool, but "Gosh, they sound so pro." Then they go "Ok, and now the Dandy Warhols" and then we kind of go "Uhhhhh-" [pantomimes a lethargic song]
F: The kind of bands that we all like, everybody here, don't really work that well on those kind of shows.
CTT: It's true. The great bands are always think tanks; think tanks of artist and feelers. You know, those are the great artists, and then you learn how to be good live, you know, because it's important to what you do. You make music, and that goes beyond, you know, sexuality, or intellect, or machismo, or anything, it's a balance of all things. It's good music, and it should appeal; it should really get an effect, and reach out. Or maybe not "reach out", whatever, it should just be there, as an energy field that supports people who think and feel like you -- who suffer the same pain, you know, and feel the same glories. Just make these pieces of music that are there so that those people can go "Wow, I'm not that fucking weird. These people are very cool" and I feel like this pretty much everyday of my life. It makes me realize I'm not alone, I'm not a fucking freak, or anything. My feelings aren't some fucked up bullshit. People will tell you, all through your life "Your feelings are bullshit." Randomly, you try to tell somebody how you feel, they'll "Ehhhh" They'll get weird about it. You know, whatever, that's just their trip. So it's important, you know, that there is music out there. Which is why it's always, you know, for rock, we're called a "rock" band and we have rock instruments, and we play them. To me we're just more of a very emotionally aware think tank, you know, who kind of has a job to do, and it is important to all of us, cause we were all sort of weirdo outcasts growing up. We know that most, almost, everybody feels that way. Accountants, or whatever, you know, most people feel alienated. If you are a person who wants to deal with it, our records are there for you. They're there, that's it, they're there if you need them. If you're not that kind of person, hopefully you'll find something else that is more you, and, you know, you don't hassle us, you don't hassle our people. Just leave us alone. Us, and our people, and people that are like us, you know, who want to be lovely and have something to offer and just want to have a good time, and know what the fucking shit is, and come to the conclusion that it's really not the thing that should dominate your life. Even though it's deep and powerful, shit is deep and powerful stuff, you know. You deal with it or you don't deal with it. I've actually become accustomed to people shaking when we talk, when we deal with them, you know? You start talking to them, "We love your music a whole lot. Hey, by the way, I really want to use your song, blah blah, in this movie." [I say] "Ok let me give you my number, I'll check it out. You know, if I like it, it's cool, money is not a problem. But if I don't like it you had better have a lot of money, you know?" and the hand goes to the paper, and it's shaking demonstrates]. Or the lads or lasses that I honestly feel I write songs for, if they know it, alone in their house, alone in their space, hitting play and thinking about what they are thinking about, and their lives, and listening to this music -- they know it's speaking to them. I know they really want to talk to me. They want to talk to me, Pete, Brent [Fathead], Zia. They know that we feel this too, and they want some more affirmation than just listening to the records. They finally, whatever, whether they follow us back to a bar after a gig and finally get the nerve to go "I really need to talk to you, hey-" or they say they want an autograph but what they really want to do is talk. Some of them do, some of them are really very cool.
A: That's what Brian Molko [lead singer of Placebo] is like too.
CTT: Yeah, yeah we hung out in..
A: I met him when I was seventeen first and..
CTT: We hung out one night after our gig. It was lovely. He's..
A: He's such a sweetie. I met him enough times to where, well- I've never been fascinated by stars. When I hear the music, I know who I am , and I understand what you're saying, or you know, what a band is saying, and it speaks to me -- but not where I am going to put someone on a pedestal. More like "Hey, you know where I'm coming from."
CTT: I think he is still at a place where he knows he is very, very bright, and he's right in his opinions...
A: And he is clever as shit...
CTT: And he hasn't tried to work out social skills that will, um, bring people up to his level, that are almost there. I feel like he still is, uh- looking for the worst in people, to write them off. I feel like it's a more gothic thing, and I know this, because I am this as well. Where you just, you know, you limit your peer group to only those that you can learn something from quickly, who are up to your level, rather than trying to slow yourself down. Open up, be strong, and learn something from anyone. I think the important thing in life, if there is anything to all this shit I'm talking here, or whatever, is that as an individual, whether you're in your car getting cut off in traffic and you want to flip them off "Fuck you." etc., and think of what you should've done, and then you think of, ooh you should have cut them back off, etc. You can think of what you should have done in this life, or you can think of what you can do. You know? I think, really, truly, if all of this is meaningless, which I think all intellectuals sort of either agree with or suspect that this whole life that we lead is actually truly meaningless. Then really, it's hard and it sucks, and it's fucking, it's hard. It's a hard world. You know? It hurts you a lot. So then therefore it only follows that if it all [life] is meaningless, you should spend as much time as you can enjoying the moments in between the pain and the shit. I think the way to do that is to just remember to try to focus your mind, to control your own mind, in a way that you can not think of what you should have done, in some kind of bitterness or whatever, but think about what you are going to do, and how great it's going to be. If you don't accomplish it, well then it was probably fun getting halfway there, and then you switch gears and you think of something else is going to be fun. Don't beat yourself up for not finishing this one job because you've got some new thing that you want. Just always stick to what you are going to do, just try to keep your mind focused on what you are going to do because you're going to do great things. You will, everyone can, anyone can.
Courtney Taylor-Taylor: [I've been] writing songs almost exclusively about my relationships to a woman, one at a time, consecutively. If you listen to our records, I make records to comfort myself. I do the most writing when I am in "that" state. I've had a lot of friends die. I am not a stranger to death of friends, close or just real friends, or your family. Yeah, I think those are the times I write the most. I don't want to be that guy who only writes from depression. I try to be the guy who writes, basically, the brightest music you can write in the darkest place. That's my thing, for all the seventeen year old boys with eyeliner and earrings getting elbowed in the halls in high school, like I was, knowing that they are smarter than those motherfuckers. Just knowing it. It's not even hate, it's just this acceptance of "I will go further than you, and you better enjoy it now, you eighteen-year-old fucking jock dumb piece of shit. You better fucking love it now because man, when we're both thirty, I'm going to be eloquent and intellectual, and have beautiful friends around me, and you're going to be kicking your dog." No one's perfect and we all have our shit, and that's the important thing. That's what I write songs about. That's why songs like "Godless," are really pathetic, bitter, spiteful. I had to write a song that at least said "Yeah, ok, I'm spiteful and bitter now, and I'm going to be cheap and small but fuck it, I'm a real person. I'm not a bad person, and I feel this." And probably other people who feel this bitter and awful, probably aren't bad people either. So don't beat yourself up about having that feeling, because it's an easy thing to do. If you're a person who has evolved at all, then you know that spite, jealousy, anger, doting on somebody, but you can't change what you feel; you can only change how you act on it. That's a big thing to realize, if you really think about it. Keep it with you. You can't change what you feel. Feelings happen before you can think. Once those feelings do happen to you, you can decide to get angry and yell, or you can decide to go "Ah shit, I got myself into this situation, and goddamnit, all right, it's going to hurt getting myself out." How's that for an interview? Are we done? Come on, that was a lot.
Anais:That was beautiful. The only other main question I had for you was to talk about the fact that you guys are going on tour with Bowie.
CTT: You know, if you want that Bowie experience look around your own world. There are plenty of Bowies out there that are young and beautiful and going for it, just fucking doing it. They are out there. Hopefully they'll get into a groove, and not see that there are some people that are better at music. For some reason, there is something about them, and how they deal with themselves- They might have zero social skills, but music is what they really want to do -- and they know they do, and they love people through that music, and hope they get love back. This is what all people do who try to be a big actor, actress, movie star, whatever. All of us, it doesn't matter who. You know, if you're talking [about] like, Camper Van Beethoven, or Leonardo Di Caprio. It's just people who want love so badly that they're driven to go and try to sell off bits of themselves in the hope that the true core of themselves will then be recognized by the way these other people have written a script for them, or [they] try to promote their record with advertising. "What do you want? What do think think it should be?" But it's passing handfuls of water; you're going to lose some as you pass it around. But I don't think [Bowie] takes artists, like us, or Placebo, or whoever.
A: I'm glad you mentioned Placebo...
CTT: Yeah. Or Grandaddy, he loves Grandaddy. Grandaddy's just a fucking brilliant band. I'm very impressed with him for noticing...
A: He has a knack for noticing random bands and...
CTT: I don't see anything random about it. I would imagine the first time he heard Grandaddy's record, Bowie felt the same way, the first time he heard it, you know. I've never heard my own records for the first time, ever. I make them. Now they're done.
A: Do you still listen to your first few albums?
CTT: That's why I made them. I really love other bands, but generally, not their whole records. This is why we put a band together in the first place. It was Pete who talked me into it. There was really nothing else to do. He was a painter, I was a drummer. All of my friends had moved back from New York. All of my friends were musicians, and they were what we know jokingly refer to, and I don't want to be mean, but we refer to them as "earnest" musicians... [After hearing] Stereolab, live, I'd never heard [them] live before, it was weird. They opened for some, you know, "Indie" band at the time, but Stereolab came out and they started [makes musical noises]. They started doing that with their french chick vocal harmonies, sexier than hell, and the room just filled up with vibe to about your chest. It just vibrated in a warm, accepting chord. These are the things that affected us and [why] we love pop music, so, it was really pop chord changes, pop music, pop things. Get the hypnosis on in like the true, early, Rock n' Roll ethic which is get a groove on and just enough of a mix in chords to get you off and get you going for three to five minutes. You know, Blueberry Hill, just get the groove on, sing some shit you feel, that's real and sounds cool, and it's fucking sexy, you know.
A: I didn't listen to the Dandy's, and hadn't heard you guys until I met Dave. In speaking to you, I can tell that you really do feel everything you've written. There's a difference between singing a song, writing a song, vs. being the song.
CTT: Yeah, I try not to ever do the other thing. I can't actually write songs. I mean, I've tried, I've done little experiments with myself over the years. You know, I've tried to write a song. It's just channeling that you leave yourself open to. There are great songwriters who are craftsman. They sit down and fucking hammer it out, cause they know they are good and they know what they are doing. For me it's- I feel like, yeah I know I am good, I know what I am doing, but I also know "Shut the fuck up, and wait
for it." So that it's there, it's real, it's something that I've taken from the real fever, but I was a drummer, my whole life, this is my first band playing guitar and singing. I've always been drummer. I've never done this before.
A: Do you miss being a drummer?
CTT: Hell yeah. I don't miss the pressure, though, because that's the most important space if you are going to be believed as a singer. The groove has to be truly real and invisible, like it's always been there, eternal, it just is, and it's still going, the groove, [music noises to articulate] you know. It's hard to switch songs, song song, three minutes, and then "Oh, change of emotions." That's what your set list is, your song order, we can't ever really nail it down. We get some good ideas, "Oh, these three songs go together well". "Oh yeah, let's do that", you know, and we have a set list but, you know...
Fathead [Dandy Warhols' drummer, who has joined us for a moment]: It's sort of just a list of all the songs we have.
A: Yeah, I don't see you doing "The Last High" followed by "Scientist".
CTT: You never know.
F: It might work.
CTT: Yeah, it might work, you never know. Then, say it works one night, you accidentally play "I am Sound" and oh, phew, you've played it after two other deeply, you know, heavy songs, and somebody yells "Scientist!" We don't play "Scientist" live, because we haven't learned it. We created this record in the studio. It was our new experiment with "What if we just created a record in the studio and learned it?" Anyway, and so you play it, and then it's great, yeah, it's beautiful. Every head's bobbing, all the hands are in the air, it's gorgeous. Next night, you're in a different city. And you go "That was amazing, so let's play those three songs in order and then play "Scientist" and all of a sudden it's just, no, that night because of some reason; shape of the room, the people there, how you feel, how they feel, how you think they feel, how they think you feel, how I think Fathead feels, whether I can hear Zia or not, whatever. All of a sudden you launch into "Scientist" likes it's going to be great and you're standing there naked, and you have the most shriveled, pathetic dick, [Laughter] and the rumor was you have a nice beautiful cock, and you're a great lover, and a sensual, beautiful person, and really chill and cool and smart and fun and powerful. [Fathead makes cute "zip it" noise] All of a sudden you're standing there, for no reason, and you're letting everyone down. You know what I mean.
F: Wah wah.
CTT: This is something that Bon Scott from ACDC said, if you get the box set, or whatever it is. Some geeky, American interviewer [in cheesy excited game show host/interviewer voice] "Oh yeah, well I hear you guys really cook live. So you going to cook tonight?", and [Bon Scott] goes "Yeah, yeah we always cook." The [interviewer] goes "Oh ha ha." thinking that's a real arrogant thing to say. You know, and he kind of goes "Oh, ahahahahaha, oh well, ahaha", and [Bon] goes "No serious mate, you can't make excuses to an audience." What are you going to do, travel 400 miles... You guys, can I, we're really sucking tonight. We can't get it together."
F: Sorrrrrry
Laughter]
CTT: "We're really trying. Why don't you guys all pay another fucking twenty seven fucking pounds, euros, whatever or bucks to go to the next city and drive four and a half hours. We'll probably be good, cause we had a shit gig tonight, we'll probably.." No. Which is why we play for three hours, man. There are people there who showed up to hear "Lou Weed' [from the first album Dandy's Rule, OK]. You know, and God fucking damnit, if they wait long enough, if there is a break in the silence between songs and they go "Lou Weed!" sooner or later we'll fucking play it. So we play for three hours, which is great, because if you get on stage, and this is going to happen, you sound like shit. You don't feel it, and you feel like you are miles away from these people who are your closest friends, in your band, and they are miles away, and their instruments are miles away. You can't "Who's, where are we? What fucking, where? What are we feeling? What is this? We're playing the song, we're playing the parts the right way." Etc. That can't last more than an hour. You play three hours, you'll have two fucking hours of-
F: You'll find out how to play.
CTT: You adjust the mix with your monitor engineer and you'll work it out. The worst gig you can have, that we can have, is thirty to forty minutes of just sound check. Then it just gets back in, and more in, and then it is just, fucking comfortable. We're on, and it's beautiful, and it's music, and that is the most important thing.
F: That's why we suck on TV. It's "Here, play!"
CTT: Yeah.
F: One song. It's totally foreign...
CTT: TV is ridiculous
F: "On the count of three.. Play now."
CTT: Yeah, we sit and watch other bands who are "SUPER PRO". They're not cool, but "Gosh, they sound so pro." Then they go "Ok, and now the Dandy Warhols" and then we kind of go "Uhhhhh-" [pantomimes a lethargic song]
F: The kind of bands that we all like, everybody here, don't really work that well on those kind of shows.
CTT: It's true. The great bands are always think tanks; think tanks of artist and feelers. You know, those are the great artists, and then you learn how to be good live, you know, because it's important to what you do. You make music, and that goes beyond, you know, sexuality, or intellect, or machismo, or anything, it's a balance of all things. It's good music, and it should appeal; it should really get an effect, and reach out. Or maybe not "reach out", whatever, it should just be there, as an energy field that supports people who think and feel like you -- who suffer the same pain, you know, and feel the same glories. Just make these pieces of music that are there so that those people can go "Wow, I'm not that fucking weird. These people are very cool" and I feel like this pretty much everyday of my life. It makes me realize I'm not alone, I'm not a fucking freak, or anything. My feelings aren't some fucked up bullshit. People will tell you, all through your life "Your feelings are bullshit." Randomly, you try to tell somebody how you feel, they'll "Ehhhh" They'll get weird about it. You know, whatever, that's just their trip. So it's important, you know, that there is music out there. Which is why it's always, you know, for rock, we're called a "rock" band and we have rock instruments, and we play them. To me we're just more of a very emotionally aware think tank, you know, who kind of has a job to do, and it is important to all of us, cause we were all sort of weirdo outcasts growing up. We know that most, almost, everybody feels that way. Accountants, or whatever, you know, most people feel alienated. If you are a person who wants to deal with it, our records are there for you. They're there, that's it, they're there if you need them. If you're not that kind of person, hopefully you'll find something else that is more you, and, you know, you don't hassle us, you don't hassle our people. Just leave us alone. Us, and our people, and people that are like us, you know, who want to be lovely and have something to offer and just want to have a good time, and know what the fucking shit is, and come to the conclusion that it's really not the thing that should dominate your life. Even though it's deep and powerful, shit is deep and powerful stuff, you know. You deal with it or you don't deal with it. I've actually become accustomed to people shaking when we talk, when we deal with them, you know? You start talking to them, "We love your music a whole lot. Hey, by the way, I really want to use your song, blah blah, in this movie." [I say] "Ok let me give you my number, I'll check it out. You know, if I like it, it's cool, money is not a problem. But if I don't like it you had better have a lot of money, you know?" and the hand goes to the paper, and it's shaking demonstrates]. Or the lads or lasses that I honestly feel I write songs for, if they know it, alone in their house, alone in their space, hitting play and thinking about what they are thinking about, and their lives, and listening to this music -- they know it's speaking to them. I know they really want to talk to me. They want to talk to me, Pete, Brent [Fathead], Zia. They know that we feel this too, and they want some more affirmation than just listening to the records. They finally, whatever, whether they follow us back to a bar after a gig and finally get the nerve to go "I really need to talk to you, hey-" or they say they want an autograph but what they really want to do is talk. Some of them do, some of them are really very cool.
A: That's what Brian Molko [lead singer of Placebo] is like too.
CTT: Yeah, yeah we hung out in..
A: I met him when I was seventeen first and..
CTT: We hung out one night after our gig. It was lovely. He's..
A: He's such a sweetie. I met him enough times to where, well- I've never been fascinated by stars. When I hear the music, I know who I am , and I understand what you're saying, or you know, what a band is saying, and it speaks to me -- but not where I am going to put someone on a pedestal. More like "Hey, you know where I'm coming from."
CTT: I think he is still at a place where he knows he is very, very bright, and he's right in his opinions...
A: And he is clever as shit...
CTT: And he hasn't tried to work out social skills that will, um, bring people up to his level, that are almost there. I feel like he still is, uh- looking for the worst in people, to write them off. I feel like it's a more gothic thing, and I know this, because I am this as well. Where you just, you know, you limit your peer group to only those that you can learn something from quickly, who are up to your level, rather than trying to slow yourself down. Open up, be strong, and learn something from anyone. I think the important thing in life, if there is anything to all this shit I'm talking here, or whatever, is that as an individual, whether you're in your car getting cut off in traffic and you want to flip them off "Fuck you." etc., and think of what you should've done, and then you think of, ooh you should have cut them back off, etc. You can think of what you should have done in this life, or you can think of what you can do. You know? I think, really, truly, if all of this is meaningless, which I think all intellectuals sort of either agree with or suspect that this whole life that we lead is actually truly meaningless. Then really, it's hard and it sucks, and it's fucking, it's hard. It's a hard world. You know? It hurts you a lot. So then therefore it only follows that if it all [life] is meaningless, you should spend as much time as you can enjoying the moments in between the pain and the shit. I think the way to do that is to just remember to try to focus your mind, to control your own mind, in a way that you can not think of what you should have done, in some kind of bitterness or whatever, but think about what you are going to do, and how great it's going to be. If you don't accomplish it, well then it was probably fun getting halfway there, and then you switch gears and you think of something else is going to be fun. Don't beat yourself up for not finishing this one job because you've got some new thing that you want. Just always stick to what you are going to do, just try to keep your mind focused on what you are going to do because you're going to do great things. You will, everyone can, anyone can.
VIEW 25 of 33 COMMENTS
Good job Anais.
I luv the Dandy gang.
can anyone take the job on a new interview?