joe interviews guy picciotto
How is everyone? What are you guys doing right now? Anything special we
should know of that is coming up for you?
We're doing pretty well all told. We kind of went into a paternity
hibernation after the release of our last album because our bassist Joe had a
kid with his wife right around the same time. We are only just now starting
to practice again with any regularity after a break of around 6 months. For
a band that's been around for 15 years, we got ourselves into a weird
predicament....for the first time, we are without a practice space to play
in. We still don't really have one but a friend is kindly letting us use
his basement for a month so we can get our shit together before we go back
on the road. We probably won't be touring a ton this year but we are
planning some quick guerilla maneuvers here and there. People can stay
updated on those developments at www.dischord.com and www.southern.com.
Both will list any dates as they get confirmed. As for new releases, it
will probably be awhile because we just put out the ARGUMENT album, the
FURNITURE single and the INSTRUMENT DVD - so all that's going to hold us
for awhile till the new songs make themselves apparent.
We know that the majority of critics praised your disc, but how successful
was The Argument to you? And if it was, then why?
The fact that THE ARGUMENT even exists at all is probably the biggest
success to us really. Making records and writing songs is not a smooth and
easy thing for us....we really sweat the process so if we end up with
something that people can actually buy and hear in the outside world then
its a pretty big deal, to us anyway. When we started the sessions for the
record, we were trying to be loose about it - mentally, we were more just
taking stock of what we had written then definitively making an album. We
sort of suprised ourselves when it really started to come together ....when
it was over we actually had too much stuff for a single album so we exiled
a few songs off to a single. In terms of how it stands up artistically or
whatever, i have to leave that for other people to judge....to me judging
the songs is a little like judging family members - its just a completely
too complicated relationship to be objective about.
Name any specific momentthat makes you feel proud about being in
Fugazi? Any particular disc of yours that makes you tingle all over?
I'm not really proud at all, to be honest. To me it would be like being
proud that you can breathe oxygen or whatever - I don't see it as that big
of a deal.... I mean if we had cured cancer or something maybe i would feel
more puffed up but as it is, i'm just happy to be in a band. I don't ever get "tingely" concerning our records but i do feel a lotof
adrenaline when we play live - that to me is our natural habitat. When we
go for these long periods without playing, i start feeling like a hologram.
Was it ever a primary goal of Fugazi to remain politically active, or does
it just come with the territory now? Are there any organizations orcauses
as of late that you guys support or condone?
We really started with a very simple program: we wanted to make music and
we wanted to maintain our autonomy while doing it. Along the way, we just
tried to do every aspect of it according to what made us most comfortable
as well as what helped us to realize our interests the most. We are all
pretty engaged people politically so it just made sense for that to be
reflected in our music and in the way we worked. The types of organizations
and causes that we work with have varied over the years but generally we
like to support grassroots organizations that operate here in our hometown,
Washington DC - stuff like free health clinics, housing rights
organizations, needle exchange programs, prisoners' rights groups, etc.
Practically every show we have ever done in DC for the last 15 years has
been either a benefit or a protest so over the years we have generated into
the hundreds of thousands of dollars for various groups which is pretty killer.
When you think about Fugazi as a whole, what's the first thought that
comes to your mind?
Fuck if i know - really, the band has been such an encompassing part of my
life that its a bit hard to dissect it like that. Maybe something like
"back-breaking labor lightly seasoned with occasional laughter".
What do you guys do on the side to keep yourselves occupied?
All of us are pretty busy outside of the band - Ian still basically
manages the group as well as runs our label Dischord so he is always,
always working his tail off. Joe, like i mentioned, is newly a father and
he also runs his own label called Tolotta Records that releases stuff by
great bands like Orthrelm, Spirit Caravan and Dead Meadow (interested
parties should check out his web page www.tolotta.com). Brendan is also a
dad with 2 sons - on the side he does soundtrack work for things like
Discovery Channel documentaries, plays with Lois Maffeo occasionally and
does production work for people like Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. I have my
own label Peterbilt (which recently released a double CD by Octis) and I've
done some production work for bands like Blonde Redhead, Quix-o-tic and the
Make Up. But overall, since we are a self run band, there is also always
alot of grunt work we all need to split up to keep the band working.
How much of a priority is it to stay connected with your fans? (you
obviously do since you exchanged emails with myself) Do you have
difficulty staying socially intact with your public?
We definitely keep ourselves accessible to people who are interested in
what we do. We always answer all our mail (postal and email) - though
sometimes it may take us awhile depending on how swollen the mailbag is,
eventually everyone gets a reply. As for on the road, there its really easy
to hang out with people who come to our shows - we aren't hiding out in a
tour bus or anything. Generally, we have a pretty respectful, cool audience
so its not like we are suffering or anything.
What is so devilishly attractive about those Rickenbacker rock axes?
Are they a personal favorite of yours, or just something you've stuck with
since the beginning?
I was always predisposed to liking Rickenbackers because growing up i was
really, really obsessed with the Beatles and they played them. When I first
started playing guitar in bands i used Gibsons; for some reason they were
the guitar of choice for most of the DC punk scene. They had a thick sound
which eventually wasn't really what i wanted to sound like.... towards the
end of being in the band Rites of Spring, I saw an incredible looking 1971
blonde Rickenbacker in a store and grabbed it and that was it. It took me
awhile to figure out how to control their tendency for crazy ass feedback
(particularly when played through something like a Marshall) but now I
can't imagine playing anything else. Its not just a sonic thing, the chimey
tone or whatever, but its also the way they feel with the thin wood and
thin necks. I'm just a believer.
You had mentioned in a previous interview that you love playing Italy and
Brazil. What attracts you to these places? Are there any othersplaces
that get you particularly excited?
Honestly, i like playing everywhere. We've been to so many cool places like
Malaysia, Australia, Chile which all had major impacts on me but Brazil and
Italy just have a special place in my heart because the audiences there are
so warm - its kind of hard to explain but the shows there always seem to
have some special kind of explosiveness coming off the crowds.
How's the DC music scene doing? Are there any bands that you take a personal interest
in right now?
Its impossible to compare the scene in DC from the early 80's to what's
going on now and in a way, what would be the point because contextually the two
eras are just completely different. Still, there are always some
interesting things happening here musically speaking. Right now some of the
bands i'm digging are El Guapo and The Pupils (both of whom will have
records coming out on Dischord soon), Quix-o-tic (who have a new album
coming out on Kill Rock Stars) and Orthrelm (an insane guitar/drums duo
that features some of the most mental guitar playing you will ever here -
they are on our bassist joe's label Tolotta).
Even though you don't tour as much anymore, do you still get the same rush
out of it as you did from the beginning? Could you describe the feelingyou
get right before you take stage (do you still get nervous or excited, or do
you even have any feeling about it anymore)?
Yeah - its been weird trying to acclimate to not touring as much as we once
did. Having been on tour for what seems like 1/2 of the last 15 years - its
a bit like being an astronaut coming back to earth and having to re-adjust
to the gravity. Still, when we do get a chance to play it is every bit as
much of a release as it ever was. Though it depends on the night usually I
don't get crazy stage anxiety before we go on but its more like i just feel
pressure to play well. It helps that we don't use a set list because it
keeps us all focussed on what's happening - we can't ever zone out and just
phone it in.
You're in the studio right now, What's happening in there?
When I mentioned in a previous email that I was in the studio, it was
actually as an assistant on a session for the band Quix-o-tic I talked
about earlier. I was just sitting in on their mixing sessions to help out.
As for Fugazi, we have no plans to record for awhile....we've kind of
tapped out our song reserve so we have to get back into writing mode.
Well Guy, thanks a load for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer
these questions. best of luck to youand the rest of the folks and as a
final traditional request, could you leave us with a good catch phrase or
slogan to promote the doings of the Glove
All you need is Glove? or is that too obvious?