raygun interview w/ kim deal?

[bob]

anyone know where to find this on the web? i really want to read it.

[rambleon]

unfortunately not … i own that issue + i have it somewhere (possibly in storage) … if i find it, i’ll photocopy it + send it to you …

[bob]

thanks that would be much appreciated

[rambleon]

i just had a quick look around here + it really must be in storage … i will make a point of going there this week … either way i’ll pm you with the news :aliensmile:

[FlyingCloud]

what I found is this: Funny excerpt from 1994 J interview, by Kim Deal :aliensmile:

would be great, if you would make it available for us, once you fall over it, rambleon!

[rambleon]

sure, but it’s looooooooooong !!! actually it’s kind of funny b/c kim has all these questions, but j doesn’t answer a lot of them — not in a rude way, but just in a he doesn’t know what to say to that question way … also, if i remember correctly … the interview takes place in her parents’ house in ohio …

[rambleon]

hey, good news … i found it, but it is very long, so i’ll post it in sections … part one coming soon

… oh, + i was just thinking maybe this topic should be moved to the interview/review forum ? or maybe i should start a whole new topic ?

[rambleon]

this is taken from the october 1994 issue no.20 of raygun magazine

kim deals with j – talk the dinosaur

It’s a real mutual admiration society . Breeder kim deal and Dinosaur j mascis really like each other’s work – j has even produced a couple of breeder’s tracks and even sang a duet with kim on a version of "Do You Love Me Now?" Plus, they go back : Both Dinosaur Jr and the Pixies are oft cited as seminal Boston bands yet neither in fact took part in much scenestering, So no arm twisting was required to get these two together in a midtown Manhattan hotel.

Kim’s only other interview experience was a proper abortion with Kurt Cobain. ( ); hence she was kind of nervous and very well-prepared with pages of notes and questions. All publicists were evicted from the premises, but photographer stephen apicella-hitchcock – a former gobblehoof bandmate of j’s for about ten nanoseconds – was on hand, and the interview was briefly interrupted by a visit from kim’s parents + sister kelly.

j noodled kim’s custom-made acoustic guitar. At the conclusion of the two-hour tete-a-tete, kim + j convened at Tramps to catch Boss Hog and the Boredoms, and finally ended the evening at a bar with the members of guided by voices. Yet kim was still raring to go for the nyc stop of lollapalooza the next day.

[FlyingCloud]

thanks a lot for typing it out, rambleon!! sounds like an unusual interview seting, and it’s a very interesting read so far

[rambleon]

oh yeah + there’s lots more to come … LOTS !!! it’s over a few pages + it must be 10 point type … i was wrong about the setting though … i guess i remember her family coming in + i just assumed it was at her house … anyhow … part two coming up later … :aliensmile:

[FlyingCloud]

great !!! sounds almost like an amazing summer serial novel :aliensmile:
thanks a lot in advance

[rambleon]

(ok … i’m not going to put in caps, but everything else will be true to the way it’s written in the original (oh, except i’ll use "+" for "and") … caps just bug me + that’s all there is to it :aliensmile: * rambleon …)

kim deal : the girl on the tape is kim, deal, d – e – a – l, like "let’s make a deal." i’ve got 3 pages of questions. the man on the tape is j mascis.

j mascis : why don’t you just like speak in 2 different voices ?

kd : i know. i could answer all the questions. so when you’re recording in the studio, is it part of your routine to take it away and listen to it on a different stereo system ? like at home or a boom box or in the car ?

jm : it’s good to take it home. it’s the only place i can relate to.

kd : right. because you’re used to your own gear + …

jm : i don’t know why. it sounds normal all of a sudden.

kd : what song did you do on the kiss tribute thing ? what was your favourite ?

jm : "going blind."

kd : probably about masturbation ? gene simmons probably wrote it ?

jm : it’s about a 90-year-old blind guy who’s going out with a 16-year-old chick.

kd : no way. is it really ? oh, god. i saw him on a talk show. i don’t know if you’ve seen this but it was after they had stopped wearing make-up + he said that he’s got a passion for photography. he was proclaiming this story to the talk show host. "we toured a lot. a lot of times when you go home from the show, back to your hotel room, it gets really lonely. so i took up photography as a hobby. i’ve got a collection of about 2,000 nude women." that just reminded me of this guy in hibber heights, ohio, where i’m from, who was like really big into fleetwood mac + ….

jm : where’s that ? is that near dayton ?

kd : yeah. it’s like dayton. nobody even knows where that is. i just say dayton b/c nobody knows where hibber heights is. it’s like manhattan + brooklyn. you drive out of the city limits of dayton + you’re there.

jm : is that where you live now ?

kd : no, oakwood, which is the same thing on the other side.

jm : a friend of mine just sold his house in dayton.

kd : who used to live there ?

jm : neil blender.

kd : who’s he ? that’s the skateboard guy, right ?

jm : skateboard guy. yeah.

[rambleon]

kd : what thing is he in ? what’s the name of the thing ?

jm : he was with the alien workshop.

kd : alien workshop. don’t they have a skateboard park out in dayton ?

jm : i don’t know.

kd : like a ramp or something ? like a loop – de – loop. didn’t they build something ?

jm : i don’t know. you live there.

(there’s a knock on the door.)

jm : come on in.

kelly deal : hi, j.

jm : hi. how are you doing ?

kelly : so you’ve been interviewing ?

kd : yeah.

kelly : how long have you been interviewing.

kd : we just started. you guys are going to be on tape now.

kelly : oh, goodie.

kd : j just met ed + ann, that’s my mom + dad. + kelly. he’s met her before, though. kelly’s my sister.

[some inaudible conversation continues between kim + kin. they leave.]

jm : are they staying here too ?

kd : yeah. they just came up. so, anyway, number two : you noodle. i usually hate people who noodle. when you noodle it doesn’t get on my nerves. you probably play guitar when you’re at home. you probably pick it up + you’re playing like constantly, right ? i have this weird thing that when i’m in a room + my acoustic guitar is sitting down, maybe some people come over or something, + they pick up the guitar + play it. they noodle. i have this pet peeve. i can’t listen to somebody noodle. i’ve got to leave the room.

[rambleon]

jm : really.

kd : maybe it’s just people i know + the way they noodle.

jm : could be.

kd : they do late – night noodles

jm : i don’t know. i haven’t played much since we finished recording this album.

kd : but you used to noodle ?

jm : i don’t remember that far back. i remember noodling in the recording studio.

kd : yeah. and that didn’t bother me. that’s why i remember that. boy, you noodle! this noodling doesn’t bother me. it doesn’t make me want to leave the room. i’ve actually taken guitars away from people. it’s really bitchy, isn’t it ?

jm : yeah, it is.

kd : i actually think it’s bitchier to make somebody listen. i would never make somebody listen to my noodles.

jm : really ? i would.

kd : you can play, though. i would never.

jm : even if i couldn’t, i would, unless it was really like some instrument where it sounded like violin where it just killed people. i don’t know if i’ve really experienced much bad noodling from people.

kd : let me show you. here, let me noodle for you. [picks up guitar.]

jm : that looks like a new case.

kd : it’s new. i’m trying to work it in. it doesn’t feel good. the strings are brand new. i like them to get dead. [kim noodles.]

jm : sounds bad.

kd : question three : i love the 1st song [on without a sound]. you sing, " i feel the pain of everyone but then i feel nothing." scarily, that is kurt’s note precisely. was that written before or after kurt’s death ?

jm : before.

kd : before. all right. four : do you think the music, like chord progressions, are harder, or are the lyrics harder for you to come up with ?

[rambleon]

jm : in what sense ? i mean, the music takes a lot longer for me – i’m just writing the lyrics b/c i have the music. i wouldn’t just write the lyrics.

kd : so you don’t like write poetry ?

jm : i did just buy an emily dickinson book since i’ve never read anything of hers. i’ve heard she is very depressing. i’ve gone by her house a number of times.

kd : did you read her poetry ?

jm : not yet. i just bought it today. :aliensmile:

kd : when you have written a piece of music, is it hard for you to slap some lyrics on it or does it come pretty easily ?

jm : well, i only give myself a certain amount of time, so whatever i come up with the night before i’m going to sing it. i don’t have much time to worry about it.

kd : so you tend to procrastinate writing the lyrics until you’re pretty much in the studio playing ? i mean, you probably have ideas in your head.

jm : the only lyric i did write was the one you were talking about. "feel the pain." i wrote that a long time ago, + while i was writing, this friend of mine said… i was playing it for him + he said, "i feel nothing" after i said the other line. so he came up with that line.

kd : for me, the lyrics are my nemesis. i just can’t stand it. it’s hard for me. i try not to do it in the studio b/c you’re kind of busy.

jm : i don’t tend to stay there as long as you do.

kd : yeah. maybe.

jm : like the little house where i’m staying is where i go back + write the lyrics.

kd : while somebody is working on the other stuff, right ?

jm : no, just after. i do it for eight or ten hours + write one song + sing that one + that’s it.

kd : how is the time management on that ? aren’t you like, if it took you eight or ten hours to write one lyric …

jm : no. i’m in the studio for eight or ten hours recording the music, then i go back + maybe take an hour or two to write one song. the next day, sing that song + do some other stuff + then write another song that night.

kd : i guess i’d be scared that if i did that then the next day, when i woke up + listened to what i had just written for that song i wrote that night, what if i didn’t like it just b/c it’s another day ? i do that a lot.

jm : well, if i didn’t like it, i wouldn’t sing it.

kd : i sing what i don’t like a lot. or i have ideas that i throw away so often that i tend to like play out songs with the lyric in it, or the major lyric, the bulk of the lyric, just so i know if i can live with this lyric.

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