Steve's interview on WKDU Radio
~~ as transcribed and submitted by hello nurse ~~
I missed the beginning. It was so funny, the DJ sounded so young and inexperienced in interviewing rock godlets. He kept trying to help her out. There was a lot of dead air. They played Troposphere, MLM, WIDOS, and a couple of other songs from T-Rex, Postal Service (?), and The Trachtenberg Family Slide Show Players (?) during the interview. So here's where I came in..............
Kelly (DJ) asks if he will ever visit NZ, and he says that he has been there once, and that it is about 6 million miles away, or something to that effect, and that the album has not been released there so, "NO" he will not be visiting there. He did however invite all of NZ to Brooklyn for a free concert in his apartment. He also says that there are more sheep in NZ than people.
He then goes on to describe how someone brought their 4 yr old to a show; he thought it was strange for people to take their kids to a rock show. (YA THINK?) He said he tried to come up with a witty rap, like "Wave your kids in the air like you just don't care", but he was apparently at a loss for words at the time. He said he would love to meet the kids, but at a more appropriate venue. He said he gets a lot of mail that would not normally be inspired by a children's show.
DJ asks him who he listens to now, and he lists Postal Service (again?), T-Rex, Journey (Escape—hmm, Remember Kliph hearing “Faithfully” from behind a door?) HEE HEE. He also mentions a band called Sigaros or something of that nature. I KNOW I am spelling it wrong. Forgive me.
DJ reads a fax or call in from Shalagh, wanting to know what he thinks of the fans that he has met from the boards, and he says he really doesn't know any of them. At this point he reveals that he and Paul have worked on a children’s rock opera about a squirrel and a rat.
He said it was good to tour in the UK, because they do not know him there, kind of a fresh start, so to speak. I lost track here, but he says something about how the kids that watched him on BC might be upset to see the "balder, fatter, older Steve". (He mentions this again later)
Dead air happens and Steve, being the gentleman that he is, tries to help her fill the time. He begins to talk about when he was a kid, his Dad took him to Old Town Philadelphia, and how he used to run up the steps of the Art Museum, and his affection for "Rocky". Here I notice he sounds a bit tired, (I attribute this to burn out, and boy am I proven wrong, as you will see in a minute)
DJ asks him about the Blog, and he says he didn't want to do it, and that "someone made me do it". Next they talk about Christmas on Mars. He says Wayne is shooting it (in OKC) basically scriptless, and that the movie will be his first priority until it's done. No more touring for the Lips until it's done.
The radio producers are in the background waving a sign with the station phone # because DJ is not saying it enough and they have no callers. So Steve keeps trying to help, and reads the number for her.
He says he would like to do a cover of T-Rex, then says he will do a Sabbath cover tonight (Electric funeral) . I really don't know if he is kidding or not. He says he also should do "Raining Babies" because for 6 yrs of his life it was basically raining babies in Steve's world.
He then talks about how Drozd has a signature drum sound and you can hear his stamp on the songs.
More dead air. DJ asks what else he would like to say, so he says (of SFD) "Check it out, you might really dig it". She asks which song from the album he would most like the people to hear, and he says MLM. DJ proceeds to play it, after again much dead air, she cues up the CD.
Here is where I find out I was mistaken on the burn out theory. He says that the band shows up on his doorstep (from OKC) with the bubonic plague, and that everyone is ill, including himself. He says that the band “would actually have to get better in order to die". Now I am truly sorry for thinking burn out.
Moving on to more music, he gives kudos to Mike Rubin, and that he has a number of fab musicians he can call at any given moment. (Hence the cello parts) He also says that the first bit of Troposphere was done in his bedroom in Brooklyn.
The DJ is now interrupting him, he is answering her questions, and she is talking to other people in the station. JEEZ!!! I am guessing she is truly flustered to be in the presence of a true rock star.
He talks about the 2 projects he had decided on after BC. 1) children's book with Paul 2) Rock album. He says he thought he had hit a "home run" with the books, but everybody hated them, and that they were too dark and "Tim Burtony". Go figure. Then the record deal came through......
Now here's some news, he says everybody from SFD is on board for #2, So there will definitely be a #2. YAY!!!
He interrupts music talk for science talk. The role of science in our lives, who we are fundamentally, and that science is now answering questions that religion used to answer. Then he steps back from profound, and calls it "Cool". That’s our Steve.
He says that the Robin Williams of Korea is the BC host, and that the Turkish use the US version of BC, and that they have to dub over Steve's voice. He feels for whoever has to dub, because the phrase “sit down in your thinking chair and think" has about 140 syllables in their language.
He takes a shot at Linkin Park, they are talking about how some things that are popular/successful are not necessarily good, and he says "Yeah, look at Linkin Park". HEE HEE HEE I love Steve.
DJ asks who his dream team is, who he would like to work with, 1) Bowie 2) Drozd 3) Neil Schonn (Journey) then he starts to sing the first line of "Don't stop believing" and calls it a song for the ages.
DJ asks what local bands he has liked from the tour, and he has got to use this opportunity to say "Vagenius" again. He says he got to say that a lot that night.
Apparently, Southpaw is just up the street from his house.
DJ asks what is the big plan, and he says that things will start up again in Jan/Feb. Woo Hoo! more tour.
He goes on to talk about some NZ MTV show he did with a host named Jabba, and how he did a rock version of "We are looking for Blue's Clues." He said it was just awful. Steve awful--NEVER.
He talks about how self conscious he is when he is playing in the NY area, because he knows some of the people in the audience. His sister will be at the show tonight, and said he is "horrified". He told her not to talk to him until after the show. He says his friends understand the rock thing, but they didn't understand him doing BC.
DJ asks him if he has met the "purple one" I assume she is referring to Barney. He says “The great purple blight?" And "no" that he has not met him. He doesn't like him or the Teletubbies and he doesn't mind saying so. Apparently they do a great amount of research on what will get the attention of a one year old, and then don't give them anything to think about. Called it MTV for 1 yr olds. It gets them to passively watch TV......I’m scared now.
He addresses the issue of Urban Legend---"No I am not dead, and if there was heroin in this room I wouldn't know what it looked like".
He wrote 20 songs in 2 months after quitting BC. He says he was "creatively constipated", and that maybe he should do 6 yrs of a soap opera before the next album.
More dead air.....He starts interviewing the DJ--"So, how long have you been a DJ?"
Then we get a question from Kreeli (Yay) He obviously recognizes the name and repeats it several times. She has a question about SFD being a concept album. He says that it is kind of, because it's "uniformly about Science and Love". Then goes on about how a concept album is beyond his skill. (PLEASE) He says the next one will be a concept album about Deep Sea Recovery Efforts. He is slaying me. He calls it Discovery Channel rock.
This is where I get the nerve to call---I don't think they had too many calls because they kept putting the phone # out there and asking for calls. So I figure what the hey.... I call and it takes about 30 seconds for them to get the question to him. So Steve, Robbin from Texas wants you to describe the UNIFIED FIELD THEORY. (Now I asked this because he seemed to have PLENTY of time to tackle it) He gets about two words into the explanation, and gives up, saying "let's just say it explains everything" and something about deep quantum something or another, and that he doesn't trust it. Good try Steve....
They go on to the A&F catalog subject. He says it's been banned for being borderline pornographic. He then leans into the mic, and says "Scandalous” in that deep voice. I love him all over again at this point. He says that he was not offended by the photos, but surprised because they were "obviously trying to shock people".
Here he does a tag for the radio station--WKDU-Philadelphia
More dead air.
Talks about how 12 hour work days in the studio are different from 12 hr days on BC. He says that in the studio when you work that long and you haven't eaten, you don't care.
Now he talks about "What fun is" and that he doesn't get tired of playing night after night. He says that he had his own bunk on the Lip's tour bus in the UK. He said he was always the first one up "looking like the dog from the Grinch." And the guys would growl at him because they have been touring for 2 years. "C’mon Burns!"
He begins to interview her again, turns out, she worked on a kids show, and is a musician as well. They sing the theme song to the Banana Splits, and he sings the theme from Spiderman and laughs at how simple the lyrics are -He's a spider and he's a man he sticks to walls wherever he can......or some such. I love to hear him laugh.
Someone named Becky or Betsy calls and asks if he will ever do Sharkpark, and he says that if she asks tonight he will do it. Then he gives credit to Paul for writing it. I would love to hear Sharkpark live, I wonder if Paul could get that squeak part live?
Now he's talking about wanting to tour with The Trachtenberg Family Slide Show Players, because they already have the screen. He puts out a call to them if they are listening. Apparently this is a group that scores song to other people’s vacation slides, and show them on a screen behind the band. He is looking at a Trachtenberg CD that someone hands him, there is a photo of a wiener dog with the caption "looking for sausage." He says he can write a song about that.
I lost track of the conversation when I hear him saying something about a McOpera, he calls it McWagner. I am rolling at this point. Dang I wish I had heard the whole story here.
He says he would like to work with Elvis Costello, and Spike Jonz.
Now we're talking, he starts to tell about the new MLM video that has just been shot. He starts to describe it and get sidetracked talking about how well Gabe can dance, so I am sure we will see a dancing Gabe in the new one.
DJ asks him about being a SEX SYMBOL. He laughs, and I swear I can see him blush through the mic. He says he was on People magazine's list of most eligible bachelors. He said that they took all these photos, and between takes he was in his undershirt, hamming it up, making a muscle, and they snapped a shot. Guess which shot they used? You got it!!! He said it was so bad, and then calls himself "a modest little humble thing." Then he says he is "Short, dumpy, and bald" and that a friend of his calls him the "George Costanza of Rock." Stop that Steve!!!!
He tells about his afro wig, and that he picked it up on Canal St. for $15 (perhaps with a certain gold tooth?). He said he wears it to annoy people, and that it really looks real, so he often shows up with it on.
Now they talk about how many actors have made the transition to music successfully. DJ pulls out a CD of her own, it is Rick Moranis and on it is a cover of the Doors "Light My Fire". YES, she plays it. Steve is cracking up, and says that it sounds like a drunk Kermit the frog on karaoke night. He sings a little along with the CD in his best Kermit voice. Swoon! He's killing me. They also have a laugh at William Shatner, but he clarifies that these guys are not taking this seriously, and that’s cool. Then he laughs at the fact that Nimoy made 7 albums. Russell Crowe fans prepare to be jabbed. He says that his attempt at music is "legitimately bad", and that is just a sign of too much money. HEE HEE HEE
He blurts out that he has NEVER done an interview this long, and that he is running on Sudafed and coffee.
Now they are trying to decide which song from SFD to play and this is what I hear,
Steve- "A Reason? No that's boring." Now I could be completely wrong here, but I swear that was it. They decide to play WIDOS.
Afterwards he starts to interview her AGAIN; she is clearly out of questions. "So what are your hobbies?" "What do you do on Saturday?" It finally deteriorates to "What's your sign?” They decide to play a song from the Trachtenberg Family.
That is all I heard, I had to leave to pick up my son. When I returned 20 min later, they were playing the CD, but it stopped after about 4 songs. END