I’ve been studying the viola. I bought my first viola in Nashville during the Elena’s Tomb recordings and fell completely in love. I sold my original student viola (I used the money from that to buy a Nintendo Game Cube) and bought a proper instrument, which incidentally, I spent more on than any guitar. I’m currently learning Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A minor (transposed down to D minor for viola), Bach’s Prelude from Suite No. 1 for solo Cello (transposed up an octave for viola), and Dvorak’s Humoresque, a beautiful song that inspired the 1946 movie starring Joan Crawford.
2. Since 2000 when you first broke into the mainstream consciousness and started getting interviews with the likes of NME you’ve gone from touring small bars in the US to having an album put out through Interscope. How have these changes affected the band and the way you make music?
I don’t think any of those things have affected the way we play music, though two years of touring has made us better musicians.
Has there ever been pressure (possibly even sub-consciously) to make a more commercially viable record?
Probably only subconsciously.
3. Since 2000 there has also been a series of bands pioneering different genres. Around 2000-2001 you guys and At The Drive-In were at the forefront of the ‘post-punk’ movement, during 2001-2002 the Strokes and the White Stripes have led a ‘garage rock’ revival whilst ‘emo’ and ‘nu-metal’ have also been genres achieving popularity. Which of these movements do you think was the most important and which bands do you think history will look most favourably on?
I don’t find any of these genres, these “movements”, to be of any importance. I think the idea of musical genres is an absurd one, and I don’t subscribe to it.
4. According to some reports, the name of your band was influenced by a Japanese Manga cartoon whilst your album artwork has an undoubted Eastern influence. Do you fear that in an increasingly globalized society such differences in culture which you acknowledge are being eroded and if so, what can the individual do to prevent such a situation?
I don’t think we have to fear the sudden insipience of the internet and this fancy new “global society” concept as endangering exotic cultures any time soon. I mean, the herdsmen of northern Mongolia haven’t been affected too badly by the crash of the “.com” industries or anything. However, were it to be endangered in some way I suppose the individual could always put on a loin cloth and war paint, go down to the Capitol building and toss a spear at a congressman.
5. What is your view of your fellow Texan Governor George W. Bush?
I care so little about politics that if people in interviews didn’t keep asking me questions about the US president, I might have already forgotten his name.
Do you agree with Marilyn Manson that a Republican administration conversely benefits music by providing a force to rally around and provoke emotions that may have gone un-noticed?
I don’t know what you mean by that question, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you don’t either.
6. Do you believe that angry music is necessarily better then laid back, Beatles-esque music?
Is this a joke question? How could you even think that expressing one mood in music could be in some way better than another mood? Are you some sort of fascist? Are you going to put me in a work camp next?
7. Is there any underlying shared political drive within the band?
If you’re referring to governmental politics, the type that helps to run countries and such, then no. If you’re referring to human politics, the politics of art and its place in society, well of course we have many shared opinions about that. You see son, human politics simply don’t matter in the long run. Only art is eternal. When we look back on Egyptian society, do we remember who ran for head priest of the temple of Ra in 2040 B.C.? No, all we see is the temple – we admire its wonderful standing columns, the remarkable alter piece, the massive statue of Horus outside of it. Four thousand years from now the only thing that will remain of the U.S. government are a bunch of ruined capitol buildings littered here and there across North America. And hopefully someone will be around to admire their splendid neoclassical style.
8. Why do you think that there in an absence of well-known punk bands addressing political issues in the modern music climate unlike in the 70s and 80s when there were bands such as the Clash, the Sex Pistols and the Dead Kennedy’s?
Well that’s a really good question and one I’ve asked myself quite a bit. Perhaps people are simply less interested in politics these days. Perhaps we’ve been sedated by the internet. Perhaps the general improvement in economy and in our lives due to technology has made us complacent, and given us less to complain about. What do you think?
9. The band formed in Austin Texas in 1995, a place that’s spawned Scratch Acid and the Butthole Surfers amongst others whilst At The Drive-In came from nearby El Paso. What is it about Texas that fosters this kind of musical creativity?
It may be because the 33rd meridian passes through here, which is the same one the pyramids of Giza are on, and mystical energy is transferred along it. This is only a theory.
10. In a recent interview Cedric Bixler claimed that “everyone should take LSD”. What is your take on the drugs equals creativity argument? Have such suggestions become slightly clichéd?
I don’t think that everyone should take LSD. I don’t think Charles Manson was a good candidate for LSD exploration. I’ve done acid with a few people who I thought should not be doing LSD – and I tried to kill one of those people.
11. What climate do you think is most conducive to the production of great music?
Definitely the Mediterranean climate – with its warmth, nude beaches, great food, azure waters, this is the best climate for making music.
12 Your live show is renowned for the bands regular trashing of equipment. Is this reaction based on a feeling of frustration at being unable to fully convey to the audience the emotions and sounds which the band is trying to produce?
No .