From PackageThf@aol.comTue Jul 30 09:34:24 1996 Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 02:10:41 -0400 From: PackageThf@aol.com Subject: FINALLY! MAC INTERVIEW (pt. 1) + OTHER BIG NEWS Hello there chunk fans! Lots of stuff this issue, so let's just get right to it. Sorry to say, but there is some bad news first: The Australia/New Zealand Superchunk tour has been cancelled against the wishes of the band, but they are trying to reschedule for the fall if possible. But, on the upside: A few weeks ago, Superchunk recorded four songs; three of which were to appear on an Australian-only split CD with Guided By Voices, as a kind of tour promotion. Well, as you know, GbV cancelled from the tour (due to illness and the fact that one of the member's wife was/is due to give birth to twins!) and, now the tour is off alltoghether. So, the band is _TENATIVELY_ going to put all FOUR songs (not just the three) on either a 7" or CD single due out in fall. Because some of the songs may be re-recorded for the next Chunk album, this release may be mail-order only so that the overwhelming public at large doesn't feel that it's just getting the same material over and over. More release/ordering info to come in the future.... As far as the four songs: "Her Royal Fisticuffs" (Jon Wurster: "an up-tempo number") "The Mine Reverts To Its Original Owner" (Jon: "It was inspired by a friend of ours who had bought some real estate. When he was signing all the legal documents, there was a clause about how, if gold or other valuables were found on the site, then the mine reverts to its original owner.") "A Small Definition" "Hero" (a cover song, originally by Ruin) Other tour info: SUPERCHUNK> Sept 7 in stony brook, long island w/ tuscadero. PORASTATIC> aug 6 in chapel hill at the lizard & snake opening for mark eitzel; sept 6 at merge night at cmj..also confirmed for that show are lambchop, guv'ner, and spent Also in my talk with Jon, he told me that "Basement Life" from the Dope, Guns, and Fucking - Vol. 8 (7") was originally recorded for FOOLISH. Me: "But that song doesn't sound like anything else on FOOLISH..." Jon: "Which is why it never made it to the album." Also, he told me that the song that the Portastatic band had recorded without Mac in the studio (See my interview with him for full details on that) was "On Our Hands." In other news, the "here with Superchunk" web site has just undergone some major reconstruction: new pictures, new design, and the STRINGS lyrics are up - plus more! So check out all the new goodies today... (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mransfrd/superchunk) EVEN MORE NEWS - UPCOMING FALL MERGE RELEASES: guv'ner album "the hunt", spent "a seat benesth the chairs" album, east river pipe "mel" album, and all of these bands have cd5's coming out before their records...new portastatic 7"...new Cakekitchen album "the devil and the deep blue sea" A question from sleepy@twave.net: Is there ANYBODY who has the tab to "Never Too Young to Smoke" and could send it to me? Thanks in advance... I simply cannot figure that stuff out. Some other fun stuff (a veritable wealth of info!), from frequent contributor JARERO@PANAM1.PANAM.EDU: If you remember, I had told you that Novazine issue 3 had an interview with Laura Ballance, as well as other Merge-related interviews. Well, the copy I ordered finally arived, it's pretty good. If anyone wants it, they can send $1.50 to Novazine c/o Oliver H. Rosenberg 297 North Mountain Avenue Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 Here's a few clips from the interview: Oliver [He's the interviewer]: Did you like Tom Hanks better as Forest Gump or in Bosom Buddies? Laura: I didn't see Forrest Gump or Bosom Buddies. Or wait, maybe I've seen Bosom Buddies. O: It was an old sitcom. L: Yeah I've seen Bosom Buddies a few times. I didn't like it that so much. But I haven't seen Forrest Gump, so I can't really give... O: Are you planning on seeing it? L: Probably not, I'm not a big movie gal. I saw Speed though. That was hilarious. O: were you on the edge of your seat? L: Oh yeah! I was like going "Whoo" and you know... which I hated. I hate when movies make me do that, because I used to not do that. O: Did you drop your popcorn? L: I didn't have any. O: No? Did you have any condiments? L: I'm stingy. I didn't buy popcorn. O: If you had a vanity license plate what would it say? L: I wouldn't. There's no way. O: Did you know that slyvester Stalone paid to have a random vanity plate? L: Random vanity plate? O: He paid to get random number. Ok, anyway are you gonna celebrate the new dark age with Polvo? L: I do it everyday. We're all celebrating the new dark age. O: Ok, what is that? L: It's the post cold war um... doom sorta thing coming on, you know, we all know, we all know the world is ending because we totally fucked it up, you know. The biosphere is totally breaking down on us, there are comets hitting, what is it Jupiter? Yeah, and it's gonna fuck us up, I know it is. California is gonna break off any minute now (Laughter). O: So that's what the new dark age is? L: That's what I think. I totally made it up. O: What inpact do you feel your portrayal of a child abuser in "The First Part" video will have on the indie music world? L: (Laughing) Oh-no. I was not a child abuser, I was among the children. Well, no, seriously, this guy in Arizona got all righteous with me. O: Really? L: Yeah , he was like: "Why are you depicting this sort of thing in your videos when you could be doing more positive things?" You know, "Why were you beating up a black guy?" I was like oh-no, it wasn't like that, he [the child actor] was just like the one who was big enough for me to take on (she laughs). I felt really bad about it, and he had a hard time too. O: No, it was a fun video, I really enjoyed it. L: And he was going like "I'm gonna have nightmares about this." Cause he's like a 13 year old kid and he had to go like this (she lightly pushes me on my sholders) to me. And he never had to touch a woman before, and I guess it was just like really weird for him. So it was weird for both of us, because I knew he felt weird, and felt bad about it. >>>>The interview also has two good pictures of Laura. Novazine contains Interviews with: Laura, Yo La Tengo, Archers of Loaf, tanner, The Magnetic Fields, Polvo, Butterglory and New Kids on the Block mad libs by Mark robinson and drawaings by rebecca Odes. It's a nice magazine overall, 38 pages long and on 8x11 paper - a little silly but it does have band picktures. >plus a little more info> Here's some stuff I learned from Merge: Mrg100 will be avaliable for purchase in the Spring of Next Year! It will probably cost $8. I asked Spott a question about Laura's 4-track recording. In an interview She had mentioned that she was thinking about recording some solo stuff to 4-track; so I an(asked) Spott if Laura had ever released anything. Spott said that a long time ago some guy had approached Laura about recording a solo song for a split 5" and she had sort of aggreed to do it but nothing came of it. Merge employes four workers and they are hiring a fifth. Also, Foolish has sold about 40,000 copies while Here's Where the Strings Come In has sold about 60,000 copies. - - - - - - now, some other big stuff, long in the making, so thanks for waiting: by fax, phone, and email: an interview with Mac McCaughan by david krinsky - P A R T I o f I I - DK: How did you wind up in Chapel Hill? MM: My parents live in Durham, which is about 11 miles away. We moved there when I was 13. Although Durham has a certain cultural life of its own and is in some way more of real town than Chapel Hill, we started going to Chapel Hill to hang out, going to the record stores, going to shows at the Cat's Cradle, etc. I also lived there for a year when I took a year off from school, so I have a lot of friends there. DK: What did you major in at Columbia University? MM: History DK: How did you come to be involved with Bricks, Wwax, and Seam? MM: (Wwax:) A friend of mine, Wayne Taylor (formerly of No Labels, he also ran for mayor of Raleigh a couple of years ago), was starting a band. He played bass, I played guitar (an ovation breadwinner on loan from Pen of Honor Role) and Brian Walsby, of Shiny Beast, played drums. Wayne has a peculiar sense of time, Brian did an admirable job, and I ended up playing the same note over and over a lot...I like those songs. (Bricks:) My roommate Andrew Webster (Tsunami) and I started this as a 4-track thing in our apartment on 108th St. in NYC. Later Laura Cantrell and Josh Phillips made us a live band. (Seam:) Soo Young and Lexi were living in Chapel Hill - Bitch Magnet was sort of falling apart and they wanted to start a new band...I had the kitchen and the drum kit... DK: Why did your association with Seam end? MM: Soo Young and Lexi wanted to tour more than my Superchunk commitments would allow, they were moving to chicago, and i got tired of soo young making us listen to Bitch Magnet b-sides in the car. DK: How did the band get named "Chunk" and why was it changed to "Superchunk"? MM: Our drummer Chuck was listed in the phone book as "Chunk," so that seemed good, but there was already a percussion group in NYC called Chunk who asked that we change our name. My mom suggested the "super" part when we couldn't come up with a completely new name. DK: Considering that you had just started Merge, why did your first album come out on Matador? MM: When Merge started out, we couldn't afford to do albums. We were having to borrow money to just do 7" singles one at a time. DK: What role did Steve Albini play in the recording of No Pocky For Kitty? MM: Steve set up the microphones, pushed record, helped steer us toward a very "live" recording sound, and brought us root beers and chessmen cookies. DK: Why did you decide to release Foolish on Merge as opposed to Matador? MM: Our contract was up with Matador and Merge had grown to the point where we could afford to do albums, so we figured "why not?" DK: What's your most interesting touring story? MM: Hmmm....you better ask Jim or Jon - they make up better ones than I do. DK: I have a Superchunk bootleg from Sept. 1990 that includes a song listed as "I Want To Go Home"? I gather that it's a cover, so who is it by originally? MM: That would be the New Order song "Love Vigilantes"...I love New Order. DK: Why were "Dance Lessons," "Nancy Sin," and "Girl U Want" left off of Incidental Music? MM: A - Incidental was getting really long; B - we wanted those other records, two of which are benefit albums, to keep selling; and C - Laura really hated her singing on "Nancy Sin." DK: Any chances of there ever being a Superchunk live album? MM: Live albums tend to be boring, although there are certain bands, like Yo La Tengo who tend to rework songs radically live, by whom I wouldn't mind having a live record. Sometimes I wish that we did that, too, but we don't, so I don't know how different a live record would be from a normal record...who knows... DK: Any ideas about who might be opening for you on your next US tour? MM: Our next US tour is so far in the distance that it's hard to say, but we would gladly open for a re-formed Pigbag. DK: Er, who's Pigbag? MM: If i have to tell you, you don't need to know. DK: Will the Superchunk video compilation (whenever it comes into existence) feature such clips as "The First Part" on Conan O'Brian? MM: It'll probably just be video clips made to be videos, but that includes more than one that people have probably never seen since MTV hasn't always been so supportive of us. DK: "On The Mouth" and "Foolish" don't appear on their namesake albums, although that doesn't carry through with "Strings." Did the first two songs not fit into the albums named after them or was there some other reason? (in other words, is there a method to your madness?) MM: It's not really a method...it seemed funny when we did it a second time with FOOLISH, but we really just chose the title because they sounded like album titles and because we're not creative enough to come up with one that's not a song title. DK: NO POCKY FOR KITTY was never a song title, so how did it end up being an album title? MM: It was something Jim Wilbur said to my cats as they devoured some pocky. DK: Will Superchunk continue along the more melodic route of Strings or return to the more rugged No Pocky sound? Or is it all up in the air? MM: It's all up in the air - i.e. we don't plan for an album to sound a certain way, we just write songs and practice over a period of time and then that's what the album is comprised of...it's not so planned... DK: You've done artwork for almost all Superchunk releases. What influences you as an artist? Have you ever exhibited your art outside of a record cover? What technique did you use on the Incidental Music cover? (that's a mouthful...) MM: I guess other artists influence me to do art, including friends who are artists (like Kurt Wagner of Lambchop), my printmaking professors in school, as well as the regular folks you see in galleries and museums. Also, a general interest in graphic design and aesthetics, but I'd say the main inspiration would be everyday life. The only "show" I've ever been involved with was a small photography exhibition in college, when I had access to a darkroom. The Incidental cover was done by thinning out oil paint until it was really watery and then pouring it down the canvas, an amateurish attempt at a technique used by a guy named Morris Louis, a famous painter who made huge paintings and was a distant uncle of mine. DK: At what point did you decide to start up Portastatic? MM: It wasn't really something I decided on...I had always, or since high school, anyway, recorded stuff of my 4-track, either by myself or with friends, so when Tom Sharpling of 18 Wheeler Records asked my to release a 7" of some of those recordings, it was just a matter of coming up with a name. DK: Since Portastatic is mostly you and anyone else you choose, how do you pick who you're going to record with and on what songs? MM: Who plays on what Portastatic songs comes out of whoever recently played live i the group, or just whomever I think would sound cool playing/singing on a particular song. I like keeping it loose. I like the way jazz people have always played with each other in different combinations on different recording dates to produce different results based on the various chemistries of the combinations. A Portastatic song will often be recorded two or three different ways before it's released. I like the challenge of playing a song five different ways and making it interesting. DK: Since there are alternate versions of Portastatic songs, will there ever be a disc of these song versions? MM: I think that there will be a release of some of the alternate versions of Portastatic songs, maybe on 18 Wheeler, home of the first single. DK: On Slow Note, you have a solid band line-up on a few tracks. Is this the band we're going to see on the next Portastatic release? MM: Probably not for a whole album...Ben, Jennifer, Claire, and Jon are definitely the most consistent Portastatic members and each bring pretty distinctive things to the equation, but I can't see making a whole record with one line-up any time soon. DK: How did you wind up recording "St. Elmo's Fire" with Georgia and Ira? MM: _Another Green World_ is a record I was listening to a lot at the time and it seemed like Brian Eno wrote some classic songs, though unlike many of his contemporaries (Cale, Reed, etc.) very few are ever covered. It seemed like a good one and Yo La Tengo happened to be in town at that time, so they were kind enough to come over and contribute their stuff. DK: What kind of 4-track recorder do you use? What kinds of equipment do you use with it? How do you get such good 4-track recordings? MM: I think it's a Tascam 464. I don't really have any "outboard" gear. On vocals, sometimes I'll use the reverb or delay from a Roland Space-Echo. I have one sure sm57 microphone. I think the key is just learning little tricks that work with what you have by recording a lot. Even modern equipment has quirks and nuances you can learn. DK: When laying down a final track, what instrument do you usually start with? I can't picture starting with only bass or drums, but on tracks like "In The Manner Of Anne Frank," that's really all there is. MM: It's different in every case..."anne frank" went: keyboard noise first, bass, drums, and then vocals. DK: You can play a number of instruments, including guitar, drums, and trumpet. How did you wind up knowing how to play all of these instruments? MM: Except for the trumpet, which I played between the ages of 10 and 18 in school, all of the other instruments are self-taught. I think that the experience of being taught an insturment formally and playing in school bands (marching, jazz, etc.) for so long makes it a lot easier to pick up other instruments. DK: What drove you to pick up playing other instruments after learning how to play the trumpet? MM: When you're fourteen and you’re really into AC/DC, it's hard to rock with a trumpet. DK: What's the story behind the special packaging on Portastatic's Scrapbook ep (in its original release)? MM: The package was made by Bruce Licher's Independent Project Press. I've always liked his screen printing and package design, so we just just contacted him and he was very helpful. DK: What is that big green thing next to you on the back cover picture on Slow Note? MM: That's a rock on this beach in New Zealand where all these huge bolders are completely spherical...they say it was caused by volcanos, but they don't really know. DK: What exactly is the hidden track on Slow Note? MM: Oh, that's just me fucking around. DK: If Superchunk ever came to an end, would you continue with Portastatic or start from scratch with a new band? MM: Well, there's no reason for Portastatic to end whether I'm in another band or not. DK: I was wondering something more along the lines of: if Superchunk ever came to an end, would you make Portastatic your prime focus, or leave it as your secondary project and pick up with a new full band? MM: I don't think i'll really know until that happens. DK: Where do you see the Portastatic sound going? MM: I recently acquired a piano that a church was getting rid of. I just had to have it moved, so maybe on the next record, my uninformed piano techniques will be showcased - who knows? DK: When writing songs, how do you choose what songs would be for Superchunk and which ones would be for Portastatic? MM: Superchunk and Porta songs are written in different ways. Superchunk songs are written as a band, usually working out parts in rehersal with all four of us around a part that one of us has brought into practice. Porta songs are sometimes written on a guitar or something, but often times are written as they're recorded, part by part, lyrics last. In other words, it's not usually a choice since they're all different processes. _Here's Where The Strings Come In_ is an example of an exception; it was all written as once on an acoustic guitar, recorded, then brought to Superchunk, so I guess it could have gone either way...even so, everybody came up with their part once it was put in the band setting. DK: Creatively speaking, do you put more into Portastatic projects or is there and equal balance between that and Superchunk? Which provides you with more personal satisfaction? MM: There's an equal balance. It's just a matter of dividing up time so you can do two projects and still have a life. Superchunk is more intensively time-consuming because, when we tour, all you can do is be on tour. They're both satisfying in different ways. DK: Why don't you include the song lyrics in your CD booklets? MM: Lyrics are lyrics, not poetry, so, in general, they look a lot sillier written down then they sound when sung as they were meant to be. It's also more fun to go to the Superchunk home page and find out what everybody else thinks the lyrics are. Maybe I'll put them in sometime, but probably more likely in a Portastatic record than a Superchunk record because I wouldn't force anyone to be associated with my college freshman poetry. DK: I know you haven't spent a lot of time pouring through Chunk lyrics on the Superchunk web site but, in general, how accurate have people been? MM: From what I remember, people are pretty accurate, but when they're not, it's hilarious, so I like to leave it that way. DK: When writing songs, do you work it through in your head first or experiment with instruments first? MM: I usually mess around on the instrument first, though sometimes I'll have an actual tune in my head or a concept of how an unwritten song should be structured, what sounds good together, i.e. a concept before I start messing around. A lot of instruments, especially if you haven't played them in a while or ever, lend themselves to writing certain types of songs...in other words, the tool suggests what you should make with it. DK: Why do drinking references appear so often in your lyrics? MM: I think all the drinking references come from touring so much over the last few years and with touring comes the constant presence of alcohol. Though none of us (usually) drink to the excesses of many of the folks we've played with, you still end up doing some pretty silly things, regret them later, have good stories, etc... DK: Do you have a fear of flying? (in reference to "Animated Airplanes...") MM: I don't have a fear of flying, so much as a fear of landing. We fly a lot, but we drive more and, when you think about it, that's a lot more scary in terms of bad shit happening to people everyday. DK: On the Bricks album, the song lyrics seem to be a bit more fancifully based than on Superchunk or Portastatic albums. Were the lyrics a collaborative effort or just a different side of your writing? MM: The Bricks lyrics were always written by everybody and were usually fictional constructions about someone we knew or everyday occurences on the block...fancifully based is a nice way of putting it, I guess. DK: Are your lyrics meant to be personal or universal? In other words, if we spend a lot of time on your lyrics, will we be able to understand them or not? MM: I think they're personal, but abstract enough so that they could be interpreted in a way that's personal to the listener...does that make sense? Universal, in that I don't think I have any moods or feelings that other people don't have. DK: Are any of your songs about Laura or any other personal relationships you may have had? MM: Of course if you're writing from experience, any relationship you've had is bound to make its presence known in some way, whether the relationship is with a girlfriend or someone in your biology class in 9th grade. DK: In "Detroit Has A Skyline," what album are you referring to when you say "played track 6, track 7 again and again"? MM: All I remember is that it was a record I was listening to the night we got back from the Belly tour. I could have been Belly for all I know, but, more likely, it was Everything But The Girl or American Music Club. DK: What exactly happened with you leaving the Belly tour? MM: Gail made me promise on a bible I'd never tell... DK: You guys have always done such an outstanding job coming up with brilliant guitar-based melodies. What made you decide to add in keyboards? MM: "Deciding to add in keyboards" wasn't really something we ever did. That is, there wasn't a meeting about it or anything, we just happened to write some songs that lent themselves to melody lines that would be better supplied by an organ or a mellotron than a guitar. You can get bored listening to strictly guitar-based music, the same sounds and textures all the time, and you can definitely get bored making the same kind of music all the time. DK: Why "Merge"? MM: We saw a road sign, honestly. DK: When you started the label, was it to release a specific band(s) or was it just the idea of starting a label? MM: More just the idea, but we had Bricks and a couple of local bands like Erectus Monotone in mind, also. DK: Have you decided what the big MRG100 is going to be? MM: MRG100 will be a 7 or 8 song EP consisting of Mark Robinson remixes of songs by Superchunk, Spent, Lambchop, Guv'ner, and others. DK: New remixes or old remixes, like "Precision Auto (#3)"? Also, when can we expect to see it in stores? MM: MRG100 will be new remixes- as for a release date, talk to Butterglory and Neutral Milk Hotel about sending in their tapes... DK: Will there ever be re-releases of the out-of-print early Merge stuff, such as Metal Pitcher, Superchunk's Freed Seed ep, et al.? MM: One Metal Pitcher song was on _Rows Of Teeth_ and that's one Metal Pitcher reissue too many... DK: Metal Pitcher aside, will there be any other re-releases of out-of-print Merge Releases? MM: Hmmm...I don't think there's much that's out of print that anyone would really want back in! DK: What upcoming Merge releases can we look forward to? MM: In the fall, new records by Guv'ner, Verbena, East River Pipe, Spent, and more. A bit sooner, there's a new album by the Karl Hendricks Trio and a 10"/CDEP from Lambchop. DK: When I talked to you a while back, you mentioned a Merge website. When do you expect it will be up and what kind of information do you plan to have on it? MM: Hopfully, it'll be up in a few weeks with catalog stuff, upcoming release info, tour dates, etc. DK: What aspects of Merge do you handle? What parts does Laura deal with and what gets delegated out? MM: The Merge duties are divided up among Laura and I and the other folks who work here. It's a bit boring and vague and complicated to get into...we both do A&R, however. DK: How many people work at Merge now? Are they friends, just people you've hired, or both? Also, who desides what bands to release? MM: At Merge right now, it's friends that we hired for their talents...laura and i still decide what bands we release. DK: What is the relationship between Merge and Touch-n-Go? MM: Merge full-length releases are manufactured and distributed by Touch-n-Go. DK: I know that Merge used to just release bands that you liked, no contracts or anything. Is that the way you're still running things? How do you decide what bands to release? MM: It's pretty much the same now except if a band specifically wants a contract, we'll use one. Sometimes we want one if we're dealing with another label (eg. licensing the Cornershop record from Wiija in the UK) DK: How many albums has Merge Records sold to date? How many albums has Superchunk sold? MM: Don't know the answer to that one - too much math involved. DK: What plans do you have for Merge in the future? MM: Our future involves our publicist Spott designing new and exciting Solitaire-inspired software. DK: If Kurt Wagner and Stephen Merritt had a fight, who would win? MM: Kurt says Stephin would definitely win. DK: How do you deal with hecklers at concerts? MM: Just heckle back..but that's usually Jim's job. DK: What do you think of other bands in the "Chapel Hill" scene and do you mind being grouped in with them? MM: There's lots of bands, some good, some bad, but i don't mind being grouped in with them - though none of us sound alike. DK: Why don't you play your Red Gibson anymore? MM: The red gibson is a backup and I still record some with it, but the marauder has a better, cleaner sound. I still record sometimes with the red one, but the marauder is more versatile. DK: Do you put on your pants or socks first? MM: pants! pants! pants! DK: In addition to Superchunk and Portastatic, you've also been involved with Seam, Wwax, Bricks and others, as well as running Merge Records. Do you feel the need to be constantly busy or are you only happy when you're working with music? MM: I just keep thinking of things I want to do, I guess. -- -- -- -- one other thing of minor interest: I turned up a Japanese import of "Here's Where The Strings Come In" (which is on King Records there) to find that "Never Too Young To Smoke" and "Detroit Has A Skyline (acoustic)" were included as LP tracks...interesting. well, that's all for now. all in all, a good issue, which i hope makes up for some of the slacker past issues. Sorry NZ/AU chunk fans...which i could have let you know sooner. Thanks to Jon and Mac for putting up with me and doing what they can to help me out. Thanks to Gabriel for his continued support and information. Hope you liked (this part) of the Mac interview, more to follow (soon, hopefully). I'll also be bringing you new release and tour info as it comes + check out the CHUNK web site, too. - dave