// Category Archive for: Interviews

Chewing Bubblegum and Kicking Ass: An Interview With The Bicycles

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

I saw The Bicycles play on my first trip to Toronto, in 2002. Impressed, I waited for news of a CD release. And waited and waited, along with the rest of their fans.

2006’s The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly was truly worth waiting for. It’s full of sweet—yet cheeky—infectious pop. After all, when a band wears matching T-shirts sporting the letter B, one could expect nothing less.
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Creating Utopia: An Interview With Jason Falkner

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

If I’ve ever made a mix CD for you, chances are, there’s been a Jason Falkner song on it. Whenever I’m asked to list my favorite musicians, he’s always included. But when it comes to the question of, “what does he sound like?” I am stumped. He sounds like. . . well, he sounds like Jason Falkner. When you hear his work, you just know it’s him. Then he has to go and outdo himself by writing his own songs, performing all the instruments himself, singing lead and background vocals, and producing and engineering everything.

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No Shame In Flamboyance: An Interview With Gere Fennelly

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

One of the coolest live performances I ever saw was in Dallas TX in 1993. Redd Kross was playing with a bunch of other bands (including pre-indie-cred Nick Heyward from Haircut 100) for the Live 105 Acoustic Christmas.

For their cover of PJ Harvey’s “Oh My Lover,” keyboard player and pianist extraordinaire Gere Fennelly performed the song on a baby grand, with singer Jeff McDonald dramatically sprawled on top of it.

Although she left Redd Kross soon after to concentrate on other pursuits, that amazing flair for theatricality and humor still infuses everything she does.
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A Conversation With The Cowsills

By Mandy Mullins and Jaime Sparrowhawk
(with lots of help from Paul Cowsill!)

Susan, Paul, and Bob Cowsill

The Cowsills are one of the foremost musical families in pop history. Brothers Barry, Bill, Bob, and John formed the group in 1965. Joined by their mother, Barbara (a.k.a. “Mini-Mom”), they recorded their self-titled debut album in 1967 and achieved their first hit, “The Rain, The Park and Other Things” (#2). A short time later, brother Paul and sister Susan (the youngest Cowsill) rounded out the lineup. With unparalleled harmonies soaring above an infectious bubblegum beat, The Cowsills went on to release a slew of LPs and singles, including the top ten hits “Indian Lake” (#10, 1968) and “Hair” (#2, 1969), and served as the inspiration for the popular television show The Partridge Family before disbanding in 1972.
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Speaking The Language Of Pop: An Interview with Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

Even if you have never heard of Roger Joseph Manning, Jr., you’ve probably heard him. You might know him best from Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, Malibu, Moog Cookbook, or TV Eyes. But he’s worked with dozens of other bands and musicians: from Air, to Beck, to Cheap Trick, to pretty much every other letter in the alphabet. Except Q and X (I checked).

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For Your Consideration: An Interview with Trztn of Services

Interviewed by Julie Finley

Trztn (AKA Tristan Bechet) may not be a household name, but you may have heard of him in a variety of instances, since he’s been circulating in NYC’s underbelly of musicians since the late 90s. Unlike many others in that circle, he’s not an unimaginative fashion plate riding the horribly coined “Now Wave” scene (I won’t mention names to protect the not-so-innocent). . . in other words, you’re probably not going to find him schmoozing with phonies like Sofia Coppola anytime soon, although he’s pretty tight with those that probably do.

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When You’re Not Excited, You’re Not a Fan: An Interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

Because the United States tends to dominate the entertainment industry, frequently one will hear entertainers referred to as another “version” of a well-known American pop culture icon. That’s what makes Vancouver’s Nardwuar the Human Serviette so special. There is no American equivalent. He is unabashedly Canadian.
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What The Music Wants To Be: An Interview with Mike Doughty

Interviewed by Barry Sanders

There is something special about being a fan of a band or musician with a cult following: you get all the excitement of being star-stuck but it’s excitement wrapped in nifty packaging that only a few can appreciate.

Mike Doughty qualifies twice over. First, as the lead singer of Soul Coughing through the 90s, and now as a prolific solo artist.
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Bearing the Smear of Madness: An Interview with Autodrone

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

Although it’s amusing to poke fun at MySpace (and if you’re The Fresh, you can make such mockery especially hilarious) it remains fascinating and fertile ground for discovering new music.

Several months ago, Popshifter was friended on MySpace by New York’s Autodrone, a band which combines some of the best elements of psychedelia, pop, post-punk, darkwave, and Goth while still remaining distinct from all of these influences.
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Crushing the Mold: An Interview with JG Thirlwell

Interviewed by Julie Finley

Manorexia (JG Thirlwell) at Bang On A Can
Photo © 2007 Julie Finley

JG Thirlwell is a man of many different talents. You may know him as one—or possibly all—of his many guises (i.e., Jim Foetus, Foetus, Inc., or many different variations utilizing the word Foetus; Clint Ruin; Frank Want; Wiseblood; Steroid Maximus; Manorexia; Baby Zizanie;, DJ Otesfu; that guy who does the music for The Venture Bros., the remix-dude; the gruff voiceover on MTV Sports; the swank, svelte red-haired guy you’ve seen on the NYC subway who wears white shoes and big sunglasses; etc). He seems to be omnipresent whether you realize it or not, and yet he also often seems to slip under the radar. (Some of you may already keep abreast of what he’s up to; he does have a fervid and endearing fan-base, present company included.)
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