New York Post

NY POST....By DAN AQUILANTE ------------------------------------------------------------- R.E.M. has been one of the most influential forces in music since the band's inception in the early 1980s. These framers of what would become known as new Southern rock combined ringing guitars, powerful rhythms and cryptic lyrics by singer Michael Stipe, and parlayed their popularity into an $80 million deal with Warner Brothers - the second-largest record deal ever.

In the early '90s, after eight years on the road, R.E.M. quit the rigors of the touring life and went back to the studio, where Stipe and his mates created some of their most beloved and best-known music, including their signature song, "Losing My Religion."

But now the band is back on the road as a trio (drummer Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm and later that year retired from the group). Their tour in support their of their album "Up" lands at Jones Beach Theater tomorrow and at the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey on Monday. They will also release a score to "Man on the Moon," the upcoming Jim Carrey biopic about comic Andy Kaufman.

In a conversation with The Post, Stipe, 39, came across as an introverted, quiet man - thoughtful, but at times giving answers that were as puzzling as his lyrics.

Post: You're currently at work on the score to the Andy Kaufman film "Man on the Moon," which stars Jim Carrey and takes its title from an R.E.M. song. How did you get involved?

Stipe: Kaufman was such a big influence on me.

Post: How so?

Stipe: I saw him on television when I was 15 years old, and he did the "Mighty Mouse" theme [as part of his stand-up act]. [That] struck me as something completely new and irreverent, and hysterically funny. I followed his career from then on.

Post: Did you ever meet?

Stipe: No, but he popped up [in the lyrics I wrote for "Man on the Moon"] in 1992 or '93, and then that song was a hit. I think ["Man On The Moon"] reinvigorated an interest in his work and his life, which eventually led to this movie being written and shot.

Post: Was it different writing for a project that wasn't an R.E.M. album?

Stipe: Scoring this movie was an exciting challenge to us as a band, because we have always just written for ourselves, and here we were writing for someone else's vision. It was a little easier in this instance, because we were writing about someone we all had a great deal of admiration for.

Post: Is the movie any good?

Stipe: It's really, really brilliant. It doesn't fall into the trap that most biopics fall into, because Kaufman was such a difficult character. He was so simple that he defied description.

Post: How is Jim Carrey as Kaufman?

Stipe: He did an amazing job. I initially had concerns about his ability to portray Kaufman, not because of his ability as an actor, but I just didn't know if he could pull it off. He did - it's a fantastic job. I thought I was going to be a much harsher critic of his performance because I'm such a fan of Kaufman, but Carrey won me over. He really channels Kaufman.

Post: Adored by other comics, Kaufman was largely misunderstood by the public. What will the film do for his image?

Stipe: It explains how comedy has changed since Kaufman. In that way, there are valid comparisons between Kaufman and Lenny Bruce, because Kaufman was understood on a basic level but also very misunderstood on a broad level. As soon as he thought people got him, he would shift into something else. He was the ultimate prankster.

Post: It's been a couple of years since your friend and R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry left the band. How has the psyche of the group changed?

Stipe: Our mandate was handed down, and we as a band had to decide if were up to mutating into a three-piece band and becoming something equal to what we were as a four-piece. The mutation was difficult. I feel like we have succeeded in creating something very different and very similar to what we had.

Post: R.E.M. has gone through a lot of stylistic changes. What do you try to accomplish from album to album?

Stipe: Primarily, I try to shake up myself. The idea is that if you write to please yourself, there's someone out there who is going to get it. I think when you become reactionary artistically, you're kind of screwed.

Post: The lyrics of R.E.M. songs are notoriously cryptic. But on "Up," your latest album, you included printed song lyrics for the first time. Were you trying to encourage more people to "get it"?

Stipe: That had more to do with the band mutating into a three-piece. No printed lyrics was an unwritten rule that no one had challenged for a decade. We kind of threw all the rule books out the window. Mike [Mills, the band's bassist] suggested we print them because he liked the lyrics a lot. And Peter [Buck, R.E.M. guitarist] and I were like, "Why not?"

Post: Do you consider any of your songs to be poetry?

Stipe: I don't think of them as poetry at all. I don't read poetry. I never really have. To me, their primary function is to work with music.

Post: So what is born first, the words or melody?

Stipe: It's usually different, but typically the music, and then melody, and lyrics are last. The lyrics are the hardest part for me.

Post: So you struggle with them?

Stipe: Struggle is kind of a strong word. Some songs are very easy to write, others are not. But yeah, I think anybody worth their weight does - maybe not Bob Dylan. I heard a story about him that while he was recording that last record he did - I can't remember it's name ...

Post: "Time Out of Mind."

Stipe: He went into the studio and handed the engineer, who was 19 or 20, two completely different sets of lyrics. He then asked him which one should he sing?

Post: Do the guys in your band ...

Stipe: You mean the guys in my family?

Post: We mean the members of R.E.M. Do they ever question the meaning your lyrics?

Stipe: They are always the first people to hear the stuff, so they help me edit myself - you know, truncate.

Post: Do they usually understand you?

Stipe: You mean what I'm trying to get across in the song?

Post: Yes.

Stipe: On some level, but if they really want to know, they ask what my intention is with a particular lyric. Often I think they enjoy coming up with their own interpretation. They know me pretty well. We've all lived side by side for the past 18 years. They have a pretty clear idea about my references. And everything doesn't have to make sense - linear sense. That's something I fight against.

Post: Have you ever corrected someone's interpretation?

Stipe: I'll honor just about anyone's interpretation. I honestly feel that after a song has been written and recorded, and it goes out into the world, it no longer really belongs to you. And the writer's intention is the least important. I don't want to sound all woo-woo and hippie about it. But it's more about the energy, that kind of gut feeling you get from being a music fan. That's more important to whether something is a success or not on tape.

9/4/99