1987-12-09 Nye Takter
In Search of the Elf
By Marit Nielsen, Nye Takter, December 9, 1987
Archived from: Nasjonalbiblioteket
The photo taken for this article by Steinar Buholm would later go on to be used by Bar/None as a press photo for They Might Be Giants; translated from Norwegian.
They Might Be Giants is the name of a rather unique American duo that recently performed in Oslo. They have been compared to The Housemartins, Timbuk 3, and XTC, but none of those comparisons hold up once you experience them live.
This duo consists of John Flansburgh on guitar and vocals and John Linnell on accordion, saxophone, and vocals. Flansburgh is exceptionally active on stage, but away from the spotlight, it turns out that they are both exceptionally calm and friendly. They seem to agree happily on most things and will therefore be referred to hereafter as John.
John is one of the few who claim not to be in this business for the money.
— Look at us — we've never been as poor as we are now! We had to buy warm clothes at a flea market in Amsterdam.
CALL FOR A SONG
It's not all that surprising that they aren't the richest people in the world. John believes it's far too expensive for people to buy records, so he's launched a "call-for-a-song" project.
— It would be a shame if people didn't get to hear our music, so we set up a kind of automated answering machine at home with a whole bunch of songs. Anyone can now call in to hear a song—and we're constantly making new ones. We'd prefer it if people called from work or from their parents' house, because then it won't be so expensive...
— It must be pretty stressful having to constantly come up with new songs for the answering machine, right?
— No, not really. We want to change the songs very often, but we have a lot of songs and are constantly making more. It's a great learning experience — you can't make music like U2 when people are going to hear it over the phone. You have to be concise and have a catchy melody.
CONFUSING
When it comes to the lyrics of They Might Be Giants, it's easy to get confused. They don't deal with your typical declarations of love; "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" and "Stand On Your Own Head For A Change." They themselves don't think their lyrics are particularly deep.
— Some of our lyrics are straightforward stories, but we like things that aren't fully developed or explained — that way, they're already kind of used up from the start. Stories without endings give people a chance to use their imagination—it's actually pretty fun to try to figure out what people are thinking...
— The music is a wild mix of rock, pop, country, drinking songs, tango, and much more, performed in a pretty bold way. Are you guys just making fun of people?
— Oh no, we don't make fun of anyone. We just mix different kinds of music and rhythms, experiment a little. Our songs are almost like comic strips made up of different musical styles — we're characters in a comic strip! Actually, we're not really trying to be all that funny either; that's not the point.
John, by the way, thinks that all music is exciting when it's something new. The first album people release is usually the most interesting.
— Punk was great; it was bursting with energy—it radiated energy. It made people want to go home and start doing things on their own; you no longer had to be perfect. That's part of what we want to convey, too!
ENERGY
Whether or not the two Johns drew their energy from punk, they had an incredible amount of it in store when they played at Sardine's last Sunday. The few who were lucky enough to be there ended up screaming and shouting in front of the stage, while John (Flansburgh) jumped around, playing the guitar and a wooden stick with reckless abandon. The rhythms and bass were on tape, while John (Linnell) pulled sounds out of the accordion and saxophone. The whole time, they hummed and sang along to catchy, snappy tunes that kept bouncing around in your head long afterward.
— We're looking for Santa Claus! Buy our album — if we sell 50 copies in Norway, we'll definitely release another one!
Be prepared, call Dial-a-Song: (718) 387 6962 (New York). They'll be back in the spring!