EDGE LIVE RADIO INTERVIEW-July 11/96 This was done the day before performing at EDENfest KIM HUGHES: Please join me in welcoming BUSH (crowd screams...) KH: I had a feeling I might regret doing that...Let me welcome the band by name : Gavin & Nigel & Robin & Dave...It's lovely to have you in Toronto and we're very pleased to have you here... BUSHmen: It's lovely to be here... ...in your window ...(general laughter) KH: It's a little bit of a fishbowl existence but hey,it's something to think about on the porch as an old man when it's all behind you, I guess... GAVIN: Definitely... KH: So, I want to start with talking about something very current and something that I'm very interested in which is the new record...and your working with Steve Albini, which to me is such an interesting thing because people have such extreme feelings about him. Someone like P.J. Harvey, loves him and seems to feel that he can bring something out of her and her work and really nail it down..on the other end of the spectrum is a group like Urge Overkill that have had maybe not such a good thing..Did you factor any of that into your decision..Did it come about in a generic way? GAVIN: Well, I think first off...The only way of ever finding anything out for real is to find out first hand....so having kinda hung out with him few times...uh, we saw that really he was into making a record that made you happy and we've done two weeks already with him and his whole aim...was our record and I think he got burned by a few bands that he worked with in the past... a few big bands, that they complained about him...so I hope that it turns out good...so far we've been happy with what's been going on and found him really cool to work with. KH: Right, so with respect to the stuff that he does, generally speaking, he doesn't take a production credit, so one would assume that his function is largely enginneering and getting it on tape. GAVIN: He records bands, yeah... KH: so that could suggest to me that the songs are very fully formed that this point and you've probably had alot of time to work on them as well... BUSHmen:(general laughter) GAVIN: You'd be wrong then....You'd be really, really wrong. ?:On the contrary... ?: Yeah... GAVIN: We've been on tour all the time and that doesn't allow you time to do anything but play, so... KH: Although, what I was getting at is, you know it's sort of a funny thing that this album came out in late '94 and it's sort of like a funny thing happened on the way to the normal tour, it became a monster hit and suddenly... GAVIN: right, right... KH:...a year later when in the normal course of things you might have been inclined to go back and woodhouse a liittle bit... GAVIN:take time out, right, we haven't really stopped. I mean, I think we had about a week off just before Christmas, around Christmas, and generally apart from a couple days off here and there we've been playing all the time ROBIN?: I think the thing you have to remember with bands is that they spend most of their lives as unemployed musicians or out-of-work musicians trying to get a gig, so when it all happens you just tend to make up for all those years when things weren't going right, so you just work really hard, 'cause it's perfectly natural to make up for all the time you coudn't and the opportunity wasn't there. KH: With respect to your songwriting, I would think that experiences such as these, and others would have a wierd way of worming themselves into what you're trying... (interviewer had to start question over because of audience noise)...where are you drawing your inspiration from? GAVIN: I don't know how much of these things play into actually writing songs; like for me, I just like write songs when the stuff I'm not so happy about or just stuff ...ways of working stuff through...I don't know, these kinds of situations just make you want to smile and have a laugh, you know, maybe go and have a beer and think how crazy it all is. I don't think it makes me want to run back to the hotel and write a song. KH: Actually that was my point, that because that's so much a part of your periphery...that it must be difficult to focus on the thing you want to document for a long period of time and document in a musical sort of way. GAVIN: Right KH: Maybe, not....(laughter) GAVIN: Well, you know there are mental powers of separation and so, assigning a certain way of thinking for one moment and trying to go with another for the next as in, this takes a certain kind of demeanor, psychic demeanor, and songwriting is completely different; both are fun, this is easier. KH: Fair enough...you guys are gonna stick around for a little while... BUSHmen: GAVIN: Excellent ?: No, we're leaving ?:Right (general laughter) KH: You'll have to work through that... BUSHmen: We'll have to work through that...you have no exits here...that's the only exit right there....that's pretty cool...(general laughter) KH:...Blah, blah, blah>>radio stuff. GAVIN: Can I ask you a question? KH: Yes of course. GAVIN: Sorry to interrupt you.Do you always work, like, here? Do you always do the show from here? KH: Everyday GAVIN: So people can just walk by and just check you out and wave and stuff. KH: To be honest Gavin, I don't draw the same crowd. GAVIN: You're being modest now. Second part of the interview is missing. To clarify, the EDGE is an alternative rock station in Toronto whose station front is basically a big, mother window and as Gavin remarked you can walk right by it and wave, say hi, whatever..... so during this interview there were at least 100 BUSH fans standing outside. Many thanks to Latoya for transcribing this. Screaming Daisies by Ace of Space Backgrounds.