Music Cue
"Into Me" Stew Guest Host - NHT exclusive performance (Telegraph Company)
"Rehab" Stew Guest Host - NHT exclusive performance (Telegraph Company)
"The Sun I Always Wanted" Stew Something Deeper than These Changes:
NHT exclusive performance (Smile Records)
"Ken" Stew TNP Blackboot - NHT exclusive performance (bootleg)
"Can't Forget" Yo La Tengo Fakebook (Bar None)
"I Believe in A Thing Called Love" The Darkness Permission to Land
(Atlantic)
"All Hands on the Bad One" Sleater Kinney All Hands on the Bad One
(Kill Rock Stars)
"Poison" Bel Biv DeVoe Poison (MCA)
"Since I Fell for You" Mel Torme & George Shearing A Vintage Years
(Live) (Concord Jazz)
"If There's Such a Thing As Love" Stephin Merritt (Nonesuch Records)
"I Die" Stephin Merritt I - NHT exclusive performance (Nonesuch Records)
"I Looked All Over Town" Stephin Merritt (Nonesuch Records)
"Tender Youth" Kitty
"Surrender" Cheap Trick Authorized Greatest Hits (Sony)
[Theme Music]
John Flansburgh Welcome to "Now Hear This" from WNYC in New York City. My name is John Flansburgh. You might know me as the guy with the glasses in the band They Might Be Giants. But right now, I'm your host for an hour-long exploration into the ever-expanding universe of popular music.
[Music]
Whether you're an active music fan or just want a better sense of what you've been missing, "Now Hear This" is here to hook you up. And you don't need an ID. There's no cover. No fear of RIAA law suits. And you don't even need a ride home.
[Music]
Performing in our luxurious, windowless studio is a singer named Stew in from LA. And later on, Mr. Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields will be performing a song on his ukelele. We'll check in with a rock 'n' roll therapist and talk to South Park creator Matt Stone about how the Velvet Fog taught him how to love.
[Music]
All this and a bunch more, coming up on "Now Hear This."
Our first musical guest is from Los Angeles and is named Stew.
[Music]
He's frequently compared to Cole Porter and Jacques Brel. He's been called the Black Bacharach on more than one occasion, which might seem inappropriate if his band wasn't called the Negro Problem.
[Music]
The Negro Problem is still active as a studio project. But in its current musical outing is simply called Stew, which is a collaboration with his musical partner, Heidi Rodewald.
[Music]
Flansburgh Stew, the individual, and the musical collective, is here in our studio for "Now Hear This" to perform songs old and new. Welcome, y'all.
Stew Thank you.
Flansburgh Stew, I hate it when people ask me this question about They Might Be Giants. And I recognize that the first thing a band does is give themselves a name. So it's, obviously, not necessarily that calculated or not that well thought through. But I have to tell you, my hosting privileges here at WNYC would be taken away if I didn't ask you: What were you thinking when you named your band the Negro Problem?
Stew That was way back in 1996, I believe. And given the fact that there were 14 million bands in Hollywood at that time, 14 or 15 million, we quickly realized that just having good songs wouldn't be enough. In fact, that could actually hurt us, you know, having good songs. So we figured we needed something to kind of just raise us above the fray. And the initial band name, Life's Great, just didn't seem to like, you know, do it. So we thought: the Negro Problem.
I suggested it, and the entire band, all of whom were white at the time-they have since become Negroes, but at the time, they were white. And they fell out laughing and said, "Are you sure we can do this?" And I said, "Well, I can-I'm upfront. I can do this." So they said, "Okay. Let's do it." We all fell out laughing and realized at that moment that if it made us laugh, that it was probably the right name.
Flansburgh So, how quickly did you realize that was a miscalculation?
Stew It never really, I mean, you know, ACLU would call us during the soundcheck, sometimes call the club. And this wasn't-I'm not being funny now. It really-we would roll into clubs and the sound man would look at me and go, "Oh, thank God! The ACLU just called wondering, you know, who do you have here? Thank God, it's you." You know. But you know, it actually did wonders for us. I mean, it really-changing the name, like within a week, suddenly, people were showing up, if only to see what kind of horror was being displayed.
Flansburgh But now you officially tour under the name Stew, which is, obviously, less controversial.
Stew In most states, yeah, yeah.
Flansburgh Was the change, in part, to get away from being protested?
Stew No, no, not at all, not at all. The change was due to the fact that the Negro Problem is sort of like this party. You know, in the studio, live, wherever it is. It's like seven or eight people, and we all get together, and we make this kind of fun kind of a-if the fifth dimension were really involved with like crack or something. You know, with Frank Zappa somewhere in the vicinity.
But that's what we do when we're called the Negro Problem. But I don't want to do that all the time. You can't party all the time, despite what you might think. So the Stew thing is more of, like, a private kind of quiet little ride with me in the passenger seat, and you're driving. And I'm just kind of telling you stories.
John Flansburgh Well, let's hear a Stew song.
Stew Okay. This song is a touching little number. It's called "Rehab." It's about some friends and acquaintances of ours back in Silver Lake. And it goes something like this.
[Music]
John Flansburgh Stew, I have to ask you about your writing and the boundaries of your subject matter. It seems like you have a lot of social observations in your song. Do you ever find yourself writing more overtly political things and having to step back from that? Or is there, or do you feel like there actually has to be some poetry involved in the observation? I'm just curious how you balance the songs. Because they are balanced.
Stew I'll tell you, yeah. I'll tell you. They have to be somewhat funny, and I think they have to be somewhat pretty. I'm always-I'm always in a great mood whenever one like over 55 says, "I really like your music." Because I know with them, it's not about-they're not appreciating my anger or my angst or my, you know, distortion pedal sound. I dig the fact that they dig it. Because they're generally more into melody and just, like, elegance, and things like that. So even though the subject matter is kind of messy, I hope it's elegant and pretty in some way.
John Flansburgh You've been accused in some of your press as being ironic.
Stew Right.
John Flansburgh Does that distress you as much as it distresses me?
Stew I don't know. My clothes are really, usually not very ironed at all. It's not too ironic. But, yeah, I don't know. Maybe that's just, like, the condition. You know.
John Flansburgh Well, there's another aspect to your songs I wanted to ask you about, which is sort of their theatricality. There's this-they're obviously story songs.
Stew Yeah.
John Flansburgh And there's kind of a cabaret element to them. And I've heard a rumor that you might be involved in some kind of theater piece. I know you did a show recently in New York City where you didn't even play the guitar, which is a big departure for any singer.
Stew Yeah, definitely.
John Flansburgh Is this a part of your evolution?
Stew Yeah. To me, theater is just like a chance to get people to sit the hell down and listen and watch. If they were as nice in rock clubs as they were in theaters, I'd probably stay in the rock clubs, you know, I'd be fine with that. But no, it's a complete scam-me going into theaters is a complete scam to get people to sit down and shut up and listen.
John Flansburgh Is that in the works? Is that part of your master plan?
Stew Yeah. We want something, though, you know, to develop kind of slow and organic. It's definitely not gonna be like Stew, the Rock Opera anytime soon. 'Cause I don't even know what the hell we would do. We just want to take what we do live, which is, what I don't like about most theater is that it's not very dangerous or electric. I want to take that "anything can happen in a rock club" kind of vibe that, you know, you know about that, and try to bring that to theater, instead of having it be this, every night's exactly the same.
Heidi Rodewald You know, Stew is taking tap lessons right now, don't you?
Stew It's true.
John Flansburgh That is something to look forward to, my friends. TKTS.
Stew That is true.
[Laughs.]
John Flansburgh You're listening to "Now Hear This" with John Flansburgh, on WNYC. Our guest is Stew, a founding member of the Negro Problem, and founding member of his current project, called Stew, who are in the studio with us, performing live today.
I'd like to present another aspect of your writing. This is a song from your new album, Something Deeper Than These Changes. And I think this song is about your daughter, although I'm not positive.
Stew You're correct, sir. It's-yeah. It's called "The Sun I Always Wanted." That's S-U-N. And, yeah, it's about my kid.
John Flansburgh Is there a story behind it or is it just in the song?
Stew Yeah, you know, it took me about ten years to get up the, you know, the courage or whatever to try to write a song about something very, very personal, like a kid. I can write about things and ideas pretty quickly and pretty easily. But when it came to writing about something personal, it took a very long time. So her tenth birthday was coming up. So I thought, you know, that's one of those ten-year kind of things. Let me, you know, I'm not gonna give her any jewels or anything, or you know. I had already given her some albums and stuff. So I just said, yeah, I'll write a song. So I did it. And then she, you know. You think a kid's gonna go like you know, this personal thing, this thing I'm gonna treasure and keep on my shelf forever. And she's like, "Why don't you put this on a record?" You know, like, okay.
John Flansburgh Sounds like she's got a future in rock management.
Stew She does, yeah. Definitely.
John Flansburgh Well, it's a beautiful song, so. So
Stew Thanks a lot.
John Flansburgh Lay it on us.
Stew Thank you.
[Music]
John Flansburgh You're listening to "Now Hear This" with John Flansburgh. The music you've been listening to is by Stew. I want to thank Heidi on the bass, Charlie on the piano, and Marty on the drums, and Stew himself
[Music]
On the guitar. The new album is called Something Deeper Than These Changes. Stew is playing tomorrow night at Joe's Pub in Manhattan. Thanks for being on the show.
Stew Thank you so much.
[Music]
John Flansburgh If you'd like to hear more about Stew or any of the artists on "Now Hear This," just go to our web page at www.wnyc.org.
[Music]
John Flansburgh Some bands are doing it. Nobody wants to talk about it. We'll talk to the therapist who puts some of your favorite bands on the couch. Next, on "Now Hear This" with me, John Flansburgh, on WNYC.
[Music]
John Flansburgh Hello. This is John Flansburgh, and you're listening to "Now Hear This" on WNYC in New York City.
[Music]
It's time for "Now Hear This" and the Cool Band Alert. Every week, we take a moment out to play a clip from a band we think you might be interested in, or not. This week's band is the Darkness.
[Music]
So the Darkness are pretty much the biggest band out of the UK right now, and they're on tour across the United States. I first heard about them from my friend Fred in the UK, who was trying to figure out if they were just a Spinal Tap tribute act or actually for real.
[Music]
They dress up in this heavy metal regalia, straight out of 1978. But the thing that really struck me about the Darkness when I actually heard their music was just how good the songs were. They've got these incredibly loud rock guitars. And probably the most spectacular thing about the Darkness is this lead singer, who seems to be able to channel Freddie Mercury directly.
[Music]
So let's listen for a moment to their current hit, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love."
[Music]
John Flansburgh So moments before the Darkness go into their "everybody put your hands together" arena-rock-breakdown moment, between the second and the third-yes, people, the third guitar solo on their hit single-check out the vocal range on this harmony.
[Music]
More rock, less talk. Public radio, WNYC. That's the Darkness. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," off their big, fat hit album, Permission to Land.
[Music]
John Flansburgh People who start bands are not being realistic. People get into bands thinking, it's gonna be fun all the time. Which is why most bands are ill-prepared for even the simplest of challenges, let alone the stress of a real professional setback, or even just modest success. It's been well documented that the band Aerosmith went into therapy. They've publicly thanked their therapist for putting the band back together. So we thought we'd look the guy up who did it. And we found him. His name is Dr. Lou Cox. He's a Manhattan therapist who specializes in working with rock bands. He says he starts working with a band by talking individually with each band member. Then he holds a two or three-day intensive workshop where he helps the band talk with each other.
Dr. Lou Cox When a band calls me in, they're usually in some pretty serious trouble. And they're in trouble with each other, and they've lost the connection to each other, and they've kind of lost the joy and the pleasure and the power and the excitement of what they can do. And they've been out of touch with that for a while, even though they still may be performing, it's gotten unpleasurable. So part of that workshop is going back in time to get them to remember, what is it that drew them together in the first place. And in a certain sense, you know, a lot of band members really love each other.
John Flansburgh Sure.
Dr. Lou Cox And then they have a falling out, almost like a marriage.
John Flansburgh What seems different to me, than about a marriage, which is, obviously, based on an idea of equality, for a good marriage-bands are often very unequal.
Dr. Lou Cox Yes.
John Flansburgh In the way that roles are divvied up
Dr. Lou Cox Yes.
John Flansburgh And what people's responsibilities are. And also just what people's abilities are. How do you sort of reconcile the inherent unfairness of being in a band?
Dr. Lou Cox Yeah. Well, some of that can't be changed. I think part of it is, every band member plays a different role simply because of the choice of their instrument, you know, whether that's a voice or the bass guitar, lead guitar, whatever. And the personalities that go with those instruments is usually different. You know, like when you think about the bass player, who's kind of a bridge between rhythm and melody, that person is probably gonna be a little more diplomatic, versus the star, let's say, who's gonna be much more self-involved, and has to be, in order to do that role. So if they get their roles clear, they're getting enough of a sense of contribution and validation, it works. But what happens is, a lot of times, especially when fame comes in. And now the public eye is looking much more at the star, rather than the drummer, let's say, or the bass player, that can really stir the ego issue up. You know, and then there's a sense of, you know, "I'm not getting credit," or "I'm not getting enough time on air," whatever it may be. And if you can't talk about that stuff, then you're not gonna be able to get past it. And it's gonna jam things up.
John Flansburgh But how far into the creative process, within the group dynamic of a band, can you go? I mean, I sort of see you driving home after the first day of therapy with a cassette of the drummer's songs in your car, and having to explain to the lead singer, "No, he's got some good tunes. You should check it out."
[Laughs]
Dr. Lou Cox That's a point-I stay way, way, way out of that.
John Flansburgh You're not gonna get into record production?
Dr. Lou Cox No. What I teach is: Here's the stuff that makes it impossible for you guys to talk about this. It's very human stuff. Getting defensive about stuff you don't want to hear, and stuff about being hurt, and stuff about feeling discredited, put down. It's stuff about being fearful of coming forth with what you have, I mean, when you come forth with a creative idea, and your band member says, "That sucks." You know, that's a hurtful moment. And most people in a band will not acknowledge that that sort of style, in a lot of bands, especially in the rock 'n' roll world, it's about being tough guys. So you don't acknowledge that you have sensitivity. I'm more interested in: How come you're not listening to each other?
John Flansburgh I can only imagine that the bands you work with are extraordinarily successful just because most small bands on the verge of breaking up, you know, have a hard time even getting their friends to return their phone calls.
Dr. Lou Cox [Laughs] Right.
John Flansburgh So, you know.
Dr. Lou Cox Yeah. I think it takes a kind of wise group to know they need this kind of help. It just seems like how it works is that, you know, We're young. We're gonna conquer the world. And if there is success, and they're really doing-they've had their first album, their second album, they're touring. They're getting a lot of publicity. Why mess with it?
John Flansburgh Dr. Lou Cox, we certainly want to thank you for being on "Now Hear This."
Dr. Lou Cox Thank you for having me. It's a treat.
[Music]
John Flansburgh So, after my conversation with Dr. Cox, I started calling up a lot of bands to see if anybody was going into therapy. And pretty much every band's answer was the same. It was either: We should, but we never will. Or: We are not gonna talk about that. Then we heard about the band Sleater Kinney. They actually have gone on the record about their experience with band therapy. So we gave them a call. And it turns out, it was actually in the wake of their breakthrough album, Dig Me Out, that they realized they were in real trouble as a band. The three members, Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker, and Janet Weiss, say it was after a show in Austin, Texas, that they knew things had gone from bad to worse.
Carrie Brownstein Corin and I had a little incident in Austin. You know, we just
Corin Tucker We had some killer fights. But I can't remember-no
Carrie Brownstein Corin, remember, you actually walked
Corin Tucker Oh, right.
Carrie Brownstein Corin, like asked us to, like let her off at the side of the freeway.
Corin Tucker At like, two in the morning.
Carrie Brownstein In Austin, Texas. And wandered off to some other hotel. We didn't know whether we would find her the next morning. 'Cause we didn't know where she was staying. It was in the pre-cell phone days. So, you know, we thought after that, maybe we should go and seek some help.
John Flansburgh But what was that eureka moment that made you say, like, "Hey, you know, we can treat this band like we're in a couple, like, we should go see a therapist." Most bands don't even, you know, they just storm out of the room.
Carrie Brownstein I mean I think that anybody that's in a band, whether they would admit it or not, knows that it's the most analogous relationship to either a family or a love relationship. I mean, it's like being in a family. We would just rather model it after a functional family than a dysfunctional one. And some bands, I think, really get off on the dysfunction of their band, and they kind of feed off that energy onstage, or that anger. And we just didn't really want to do that.
Corin Tucker It actually was really incredible. I had no idea that I could walk into a room feeling like I could just kill these two people. Like there's no way that I'm going to be in a band with them anymore. And an hour later, I would walk out, and we'd all be hugging. You know, it was incredible.
Carrie Brownstein [Laughs]
Corin Tucker It was really amazing.
John Flansburgh Was that the first session, or was that just every session for the first couple of years?
Corin Tucker That was pretty much-we actually didn't go that many times. We kind of would go for refreshers when we felt the tensions building up. We felt like we were about to break some of the rules, we would go back for a refresher. But it's mostly they just help you not get overwhelmed. You know, how to deal with these feelings that you're going to feel being with someone every day for five weeks, you know. And when you're on tour, it's really stressful. And they just give you some, sort of, ways of sort of talking yourself down. And if things get really overwhelming, you can like call an emergency session. And I think it's taught us to prioritize our friendship. And the relationship between the three of us as being the most important thing in the band. More important than the music.
John Flansburgh So, what were the guidelines? What are the rules that they kind of gave you?
Carrie Brownstein Well, the first rule when you have a three-person band is: No evil-minded buddying up. All configurations have happened. It's been two against one in every possible way. So the first rule was not to do that. And the second one-I think this, specifically, was addressed to Corin, was that you couldn't just walk off and leave. [Laughs]
John Flansburgh In Austin.
Carrie Brownstein Yeah. You had to at least talk and figure out a time to have a meeting about it. I can't remember what were the other rules. Oh, you couldn't quit the band.
Corin Tucker You couldn't quit the band. No making big decisions on tour. You have to say you're sorry.
Carrie Brownstein You have to say: Thank you.
Corin Tucker We didn't have that rule.
Carrie Brownstein Yeah, we did.
Corin Tucker Really?
John Flansburgh Now how difficult was it to actually do the multiple sessions? I mean, that seems like a big commitment. Even if you enjoyed what you're doing, just to have to like revisit all this stuff. I don't feel like people are really set up for that.
Carrie Brownstein Well, I felt like it was kind of the experience of, like, getting a sliver pulled out of your hand. Like, it's painful, but it already hurts, you know. And the experience was like a big release of this tension of, you know, working under really stressful conditions for years and not really having the tools to like you know, sort of work on our problems. You know, one of my tools was just sort of storming off. So I learned that that's not really the best way to handle getting upset or whatever. So
Corin Tucker Also, I think just hearing my bandmates reassert their love for the band and sort of their love for me was really important. 'Cause we'd been through some sort of bitter moments. And just to know that, you know, we still all really wanted to do this was a big deal, and really just made me feel much more secure and a lot happier. And that's just not something that people say to each other at band practice every day.
[Laughs]
John Flansburgh We've talked to a bunch of bands about going into therapy. And one thing everybody agrees is that it's a really good idea.
[Laughs]
But nobody wants to talk about it. And I'm just curious. It seems like you're, essentially, pretty vocal about it, pretty open about your experience. I just have to ask you, why?
Carrie Brownstein We're not ashamed of it at all. But you know, it's not a platform and we're not, you know, promoting band therapy. It's something that we did, and it worked for us. So
Corin Tucker I think a lot of bands don't realize that it's an option. I mean, a lot of great bands, a lot of bands that I love have broken up. And you really, I think to myself like, "Man, just a few counseling sessions, you could have worked through," you know, these sort of minor irritations that build up. But there are lot of people who think it's just a bunch of gibberish.
John Flansburgh You're listening to "Now Hear This on WNYC" with John Flansburgh. My guests have been Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss from Sleater Kinney. Thank you so much for being our guests.
Carrie Brownstein Thank you.
Janet Weiss Thanks for having us.
Corin Tucker Thank you.
[Music]
John Flansburgh We're doing something new here at "Now Hear This" on WNYC, and we wanna know what you think. Please respond to the listener survey at www.wnyc.org on the "Now Hear This page."
Our next guest is Matt Stone.
[Music]
With his collaborator, Trey Parker, Stone created the hit animated series South Park. With its unapologetically juvenile sensibility, the show also incorporates original songs and musical parodies. There are three South Park albums. And the songs of the South Park movie, given full orchestral, musical treatment, were even nominated for an Oscar. It is my pleasure to introduce Matt Stone to "Now Hear This," in our special segment, Guilty Pleasure/Hidden Treasure. Matt, welcome to the show.
Matt Stone Well, thank you. Thank you for having me on.
John Flansburgh This is how it works: A Guilty Pleasure is a CD you hide when your cool friends come over. It's a song that you suspect everyone knows and is probably sick of or might even hate. But you still love it. It's the song you sing in your car. And hidden treasure is just a song that you love that you suspect nobody knows. So let's play our game here. Your first selection for Guilty Pleasure. Tell us about this song.
Matt Stone Guilty Pleasure was the hardest thing for me to come up with, because I have so many. But what beat them all out as the guiltiest and most pleasurable of my guilty pleasures was "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe.
John Flansburgh Now I have to tell you, when this song comes on, my wife makes me change to VH1 Classics.
[Laughs]
Matt Stone Is it just-it's one of those songs that, it either annoys-and I have to say that there are some parts of it that even kind of annoy me. But there's something about that drumbeat that always-every time I hear it go: Kuh-kuh-ka-kuh-ka-ka-ka-kuh-and whenever I'm out, I just get psyched, and I start dancing around.
[Music]
John Flansburgh Now I remember when this song came out, it seemed incredibly cutting edge, and like so many things, later on, it seemed extraordinarily dated.
Matt Stone This is the way that felt to me the first time I heard it. It was like: God, that's such a brave drumbeat! It's so, like-you know, the snare's so upfront and everything, and I actually would just like go home and try to play it on the drums, 'cause it's really hard to play, like. In this part too, right here
[Music]
It's just unapologetically like swing.
John Flansburgh It's also got a healthy amount of like love and hate goin' on.
Matt Stone [Laughs] That's just the way you feel about certain girls.
[Music]
Matt Stone And one time I heard this song, I do remember, I went with Trey on a trip to China. We were in-we went to Beijing, and we were there over New Year's. And this was the song-they counted down New Year's. And then, right at zero, they played "Jingle Bells," for some reason. And then, right after they were done playing "Jingle Bells," they put this song on, and the whole crowd went wild. And I realized that Bell Biv DeVoe was international at that point.
John Flansburgh So do you have this song in your car?
Matt Stone I have it on my iPod. I downloaded it off iTunes. I actually went, specifically, to search it out. Because I needed to have it, you know, have it on my party mix when I have people over.
John Flansburgh So you share this. It's not such a guilty pleasure that you don't share it with your friends.
Matt Stone There's something-I want them to know-I want them to know and love it, too, I guess. I don't know if they ever will. But I try.
[Music]
John Flansburgh Now we're moving on to Hidden Treasure. This is the part of the show where we ask people to choose a song that they love that they believe the audience is unfamiliar with. You have a chosen Mel Tormé's version of "Since I Fell for You," which is really a beautiful standard.
[Music]
John Flansburgh How did you discover Mel Tormé?
Matt Stone I was into Primus and, like punk rock, like Bad Brains, and stuff like that. And I was always into that kind of music. I never was into love songs. I never understood why anybody wrote any songs about love, you know, like-and then, about a year before I heard this song, I had totally fallen head over heels in love with somebody and it didn't go so well. And I'd kind of gone through my first breakup or my first dumping, you know, by somebody who I just loved. And Trey was really into this kind of music, 'cause he's into standards and musicals and stuff like that. And we were doin' the South Park pilot. And Trey's out of the room, and this song-he had put on this CD, and it's Mel Tormé and George Shearing. And maybe I had heard the song before but it just-it just, at that point in my life, slayed me, like no other song had ever. And then, all of sudden, the whole world crashed in on me, and this song made me understand, for the first time, like, "Oh. That's why people listen to love songs."
[Music]
He says love with like, like in a way where he still is in love with the concept of love, but just, boy did he just get dumped. [Laughs] That's the way I read it, you know? And George Shearing would like, you know, get into, this is like the first time I'd ever heard the piano that-because the piano is so great in this song, too. You know. I'm sure a lot of people could screw up this song. But these two guys, doin' this song, I think, is just perfect.
John Flansburgh When you are introduced to Mel Tormé, it's usually about five seconds later that someone informs you that his nickname is the Velvet Fog.
Matt Stone Well, it actually is a good description, though, but you know, once you know his voice. But if anything, it probably made me that much more unguarded about ever being affected by it. It's like, I didn't mind it. But Trey's always playing it, and it was in the background. And it was pleasant music. But I never really listened to it, you know. And if it's anybody called the Velvet Fog, well, that's not my kind of music. I'm into something else. And it just made me that much more unguarded. And this song, it was like-it was such a sneak attack, it was such a-I was Pearl Harbor, and this song was the Japanese. Let's just put it that way. I was slayed by it, definitely. It took me out. So, I'll never forget. This song is still one of my favorite songs. And it probably is due from that first time I heard it.
[Music]
John Flansburgh I'm John Flansburgh. Coming up: a chance to relive your big hair and hard rock fantasies, even if you can't remember the words. We'll be right back with "Now Hear This" on WNYC.
[Music]
[Station Break]
John Flansburgh We're back with "Now Hear This" on WNYC. I'm John Flansburgh.
[Music]
Our next guest is Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. He got an extraordinary amount of public acclaim with the release of the three-CD set 69 Love Songs in 1999. But Stephin Merritt creates projects under many names besides the Magnetic Fields. He has released discs under the Noms de Rock, the Gothic Archies, the Sixths, and the Future Bible Heroes. He has also recently ventured into both film soundtracks and theatrical pieces. But the Magnetic Fields have finally returned with a followup to 69 Love Songs called i. And there are 14 new tracks, all beginning with the letter I.
[Music]
John Flansburgh Listening to the new album, I couldn't help but notice, there were still a lot of love songs. I mean, it seems like it's actually, essentially, still the theme of it. I would, you know
Stephen Merritt And actually, of the previous record, as well.
John Flansburgh Yeah. But I was thinking like after 69 Love Songs, you know, I was kind of expecting an album about, you know, werewolves or time travel, or you know, something-anything but what people would think of as a traditional love song.
Stephen Merritt Well, the last Future Bible Heroes album is kind of a science fiction record. But it's still an album of love songs. About death, actually.
John Flansburgh What is your attraction to this genre?
Stephen Merritt I have no idea. Because
John Flansburgh You don't ever..
Stephen Merritt I'm good at it, I suppose.
John Flansburgh Well, let's hear a song.
Stephen Merritt We were on tour in Australia, and I was imagining going and having a second career as a drag performer. And I was trying to think of what my drag name would be. Mine was Penny Dreadful.
John Flansburgh That sounds like a Bond girl.
Stephen Merritt Yeah, yeah. And I imagined Penny Dreadful's whole schtick, and her signature song. So I wrote her a signature song, "I Die."
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John Flansburgh That was great. You're listening to "Now Hear This" on WNYC. Our guest is Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields. The new album is called i. That's a lower case "i" for those not looking at their radios. Listening to that song, it seems like you really have a way of writing songs that draw on the standard form-you know, the first half of the 20th century kind of songwriting. You're a young man. What is the appeal of that form to you, as a songwriter?
Stephen Merritt I think I like music before 1950 because my mother hated it so much.
John Flansburgh How did she demonstrate that?
Stephen Merritt She wouldn't have any of it in the house. My mother was an early rock 'n' roller. All she liked was folk music and rock. And I liked that okay. But I also liked classic pop.
John Flansburgh I'm interested in how autobiographical your songs are to you. Do you feel like you're writing for characters, or do you feel like you're writing, like, are you just tearing pages out of your diary and putting notes to music?
Stephen Merritt I don't see a difference, really. Because the topics are so general that they could be me as well as the next person. Probably, I have experienced many of the situations in my songs, but by no means all. Certainly on 69 Love Songs, my life is not full enough. No one's life is full enough to have experienced all of the situations in 69 Love Songs.
John Flansburgh What's coming up for you in the next few months?
Stephen Merritt Magnetic Fields are going to tour in support of i.
John Flansburgh Well, I want to thank you for being on "Now Hear This." Thank you, Mr. Stephin Merritt.
Stephen Merritt Thank you.
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John Flansburgh Go to www.wnyc.org to hear another Stephin Merritt exclusive performance on "Now Hear This."
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John Flansburgh I don't usually go out on Monday nights. But a few nights back, I was invited to go to the club, Arlene's Grocery, in downtown Manhattan, for their punk rock, heavy metal karaoke night. And I went just because it sounded so totally weird. I was fully expecting to find a sullen mob of faded rockers doing their wallflower routine. But it wasn't that at all. Instead, they had somehow replaced the ever-present fear of public shame with this kind of support group vibe. It was as unlikely a center of spiritual empowerment as I could possibly have imagined.
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First Woman in Club Everybody's really talented and, you know, they're fun when they get up there. Like it's exciting. You come and you're like, "Oh, what are you doing tonight? What are you doing tonight?" So.
First Man in Club You look incredibly lame with regular karaoke, 'cause you got some dopey track. And over here, you actually got an audience. You got people jumping around. And you have like thousands of watts of power behind images. Kick ass!
Owen Comaskey The main thing is that it's a live band. So not only is it karaoke, but you get to act out your rock fantasy. You know, you're on stage for three minutes and, you know, you can be Robert Plant or you can be Ozzy Osbourne.
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John Flansburgh We're talking with Owen Comaskey here at Arlene's Grocery. The proprietor for the heavy metal karaoke. So Owen, how did you get the idea to do this show?
Owen Comaskey Originally, some guys in LA did it first. I mean, we're not the first. And someone I know, Lyle Stern, was at that show and came back here and said, "Somebody should be doing that here. It's really cool." And first, I think it was just punk rock. It wasn't heavy metal.
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John Flansburgh So this event sort of seems like a hands across the subcultures to me, because punk-I mean, in my high school, punk rockers and heavy metal kids-we were on the opposite ends of the smoking hall.
Owen Comaskey I was into the punk stuff. You know, I mean, I was a punk rocker in England in 1977. And the rest of the band were all real metal heads, you know. And eventually, I let 'em throw a few songs in. And then it took a whole life on of its own, you know because of all the hair bands and the-I began to see just how kitschy and fun it was, you know, and then I went on with it.
John Flansburgh What is your name, sir?
Vincent Vincent. Every Monday night, I come down here, rain or shine, and whenever possible, I sing. I have a long commute, so I find it a challenge to learn the song from the time I leave work to the time I get here. Like, I try to learn all the words. If I screw up, I screw up. But it's kind of fun to see if I actually memorize all of 'em.
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John Flansburgh So what kind of a clientele does it attract?
Owen Comaskey Nerds and hipsters. You know, guys come down and get up and, you know, there's a couple of lawyers that are regulars that come down and go for it. And then there's all the hip crew that come in and take part, you know. It's by no means a little downtown hip.
John Flansburgh You're telling me that the heavy metal karaoke is not a downtown hip scene?
Owen Comaskey [Laughs]
John Flansburgh Do you have-do you have a, like a-helmet hair kind of Cinderella people drifting in?
Owen Comaskey There's a few of them. But I'm not-the models aren't coming-I'm telling you that much. You know, it's not like that. There's groups of people that come for a while. Then they go, and then a whole new bunch come and think they've discovered it. And there's a core group of about 20 people that have been there since Day 1 and still come.
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John Flansburgh What do you get when you're onstage? Do you get the lyrics in front of you?
Owen Comaskey You get the lyrics, you know, in a plastic covered lyric sheet with a
John Flansburgh Plastic is important.
Owen Comaskey The plastic is important. And you know, sometimes the beer gets down into the plastic, and that's a bit sticky. But I always use a nice Helvetica font for them, you know. I always try to find the right font for people to read, and it's very important to me. So. I like a nice font.
John Flansburgh [Laughs] You appear to be in lines. So, what are you gonna -
Woman Friend She will.
John Flansburgh What's she gonna sing?
Woman Friend Ask her.
Singing Woman I have no idea. I have to look at the lists.
John Flansburgh What about your friend?
Singing Woman If I don't see anything that I like, I'm not gonna sing.
John Flansburgh What would your preference be?
Singing Woman Some female singers, of course.
John Flansburgh Joan Jett?
Singing Woman Joan Jett.
John Flansburgh Perhaps "I Love Rock 'n' Roll"?
Singing Woman Yeah. Maybe I'll do that.
John Flansburgh Here are the lyrics, right here.
Singing Woman Oh, great.
Owen Comaskey One thing I always say is, when people get up, and I go to give them the lyrics, and they go-and I'm like, "Wait a minute, you can't not have the lyrics, because if you don't have the lyrics, it's not karaoke. You must-you've gotta be reading the lyrics, you know." You can't just get up. Otherwise, you're just getting up with a band. I mean you can do that anywhere. You must read the lyrics.
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John Flansburgh So you don't want any showboating. You want real karaoke.
Owen Comaskey I don't want-no. I mean, if somebody performs, and that's what they do, and they get up and-it's always obvious, people that are in bands that get up. You know, straight away, they've got it. They're used to being onstage. And that's good. But the better ones are the ones that have never done it, and they've come and built up to the point now where they're really performing, and they're waiting, you know. I mean I have to make sure I get 'em, because they're really disappointed if I don't manage.
Owen Comaskey Here's how it works. There's no rhyme or reason to anything. Just because you signed up first doesn't guarantee that I'll call you. I have the power. I pick at will. Willy-nilly, I pick the people. Willy-nilly, I pick the songs. I pick the songs that the whole world sings.
Vincent I came here for months and did not sing because I was too afraid. Until finally, I got liquored up again and Owen was asking for virgins, and I figured, well, if I don't do it now, it's never gonna happen. So.
John Flansburgh And what was your debut here? What was the song?
Vincent Quiet Riot. "Bang Your Head." I was walking on air all week after that. It was so much fun.
Alissa My name's Alissa.
John Flansburgh And how long have you been doing heavy metal karaoke?
Alissa I've been coming for about a year and a half.
John Flansburgh What was your first song here?
Alissa My first song was "Come On, Feel the Noise" by Quiet Riot.
John Flansburgh And were you brought here by friends, or how did you hear about it?
Alissa I heard about it from a friend, and I came a couple times without singing, 'cause I was really nervous. And then, the first time I got up there, I was like, "Oh, my God, I wanna get back up again."
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[Applause]
John Flansburgh So, are you gonna start your own band?
Alissa You mean this isn't my own band? [Laughs]
John Flansburgh Well, for just a brief moment, I guess it is.
Alissa Oh, okay, yes. For five minutes, every Monday night, it's my own band. [Laughs] Yeah. We'll see. We'll see where it goes.
John Flansburgh So, do you ever get the itch to just become a legitimate performer?
Vincent It sounds lame, but I like having a regular job. I like knowin' how I'm gonna pay my rent next month. And you know, making a living as a musician is a very tough life. I'm sure-I'm sure you know.
Owen Comaskey Initially, you know, we'd have people moshin' and stuff. And I was just like, "Hold on. I'm like 40 years old there." You know, if I was 20, I'd be into it. But this is about coming and living off the nostalgia of these old songs and enjoying that. And everyone enjoying it together. And that's what I'm into.
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Owen Are you gonna sing?
John Flansburgh Well, I think the beer is gonna have to set in a little bit for me to
Owen Well, you think about it, John. I'll show you
John Flansburgh I'll get some Dutch courage going.
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Owen My wife's pregnant at the moment. She's six foot, two inches, and we realized, we read an article somewhere, and that means that our children-they might be giants. So, ladies and gentlemen, from They Might Be Giants, John Flansburgh!
[Cheers]
John Flansburgh We've got a new album. It just came out this week. And this is the first single. It's called "Surrender."
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John Flansburgh You have been listening to "Now Hear This" on WNYC. "Now Hear This" is made by Kerry Donahue, Jocelyn Gonzales, Ed Haber, Michael Raphael, and me, John Flansburgh. Our executive producer is Stacy Abramson, Our theme, "I Hear A New World" is sung by Robin "Goldie" Goldwasser. Big thanks to Todd Barry, Andy Gensler, and Alyson Levy. For more about what you've just heard, please visit our web site at www.wnyc.org. So long.
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