1990-02-27 Prattler
They Might Be Giants interview — the 1st of 2
By Xaque Gruber, Prattler, February 27, 1990
Archived from: Pratt Institute Libraries, JSTOR
Part one of a two-part interview with They Might Be Giants conducted on the night of their November 17, 1989 show at the Pratt Institute, where John Flansburgh had graduated from five years prior.
The Brooklyn based duo They Might Be Giants were interviewed November 17, 1989 when they brought their colorful brand of wacky pop to Pratt. Their new album "Flood" has just been released.
(L- John Linnell (the voice), F- John Flansberg (the one with the glasses), X- Xaque)
L- Hi my name is John.
F- And I'm John Flansberg and we're They Might Be Giants. We're from Brooklyn, New York. I'm a graduate from Pratt Institute and I majored in printmaking. We're doing an interview here with Xaque—who is a fine arts major—also here at Pratt Institute. And we were just discussing the neighborhood when we moved onto the question of bogusness.
X- Yes. Your first 2 albums have been big successes with college radio stations nationwide. Could you ever see the day when They Might Be Giants crosses over into the upper reaches of mainstream pop like other college favorites (INXS, R.E.M., U2, etc.) have in the past few years.?
F- (Humorously) Nope—no way.
L- (Sarcastically) We care too much about our college following to want to destroy a good thing! Well the thing is we just signed a deal with Elektra records and our next album's coming out on a major label, so were basically casting our lot with these big guys in hopes that we'll sell more records because we want more fans—who wouldn't? I think were pretty much making the same music—he said—lying!
F- I think we were both surprised when we got to even make a record. I mean we're the kind of a band that usually isn't allowed to make records. We're just riding this whole thing out and seeing where it will end. We don't want to be some shabby shadow of a good band. The little sort-of-glimpse of success we've gotten isn't actually so wonderful. I mean it doesn't seem like that tempting a life. We're just trying to make good records and have good shows.
X- Do you feel it is "selling out" when alternative act reach top-of-the-chart mainstream success?
F- Well that's an interesting question. Some bands like, for example, Fine Young Cannibals were perceived in the U.S. as this alternative band. But actually in England they were big budget acts. They were signed for some absurd amounts of money, and they went into the fanciest studios and recorded their first record. I think college radio is a sort of "alternative" market place. It's perceived as something "outside" of the marketplace. Unfortunately, if you want to be a professional musician—if you don't just want to do it as a hobby—there's a point where you have to be very realistic. When we first started touring we really wanted to play at a show that payed us good money because we sure couldn't do it for very long at the level that we were. It was very nice at first to get a little success. I think people look at the work to see if it's selling our more than whether or not that bands are actually selling a lot of records. I don't think people even though "The Beatles sold out," because they kept on pushing their own personal music forward, and I hope we're perceived that way. However I am aware there will be certain people among our fans—if we reach a wider audience—who will say "Oh I like music more on the margin."
X- Do you do any visual art—painting, drawing, sculpture—in your spare time? Do you do printmaking anymore?
F- I don't do any printmaking anymore. Whenever I go to John's house I find cartoony sketches all over the place. I do all the graphic design work for the records; finding the artists that we want to work with. I'm more involved in picking typefaces than I am working with the silkscreen. The making of records has taken over our lives completely and it's really a...
L- ...a tragedy.
X- You said you're involved in the creation of the album covers—are you involved in the creation of your videos?
L- We definitely have our hand in that. We work with the director in developing the ideas for the videos. Any of the videos that you don't like as much we don't have as much input.
X- Who has over the years influenced your music?
L- Interesting question.
F- Interesting... embarrassing...
L- I think like anybody we were influenced by our friends. We both grew up in public schools in (Lincoln/Sudbuy) Massachusetts. There are a group of people who are kind of like us. We all talk the same, and when we answer the phone at somebody else's house they think it's... them. Our friends have had a big influence on our aesthetic.
X- How often do you listen to your own records?
L- We don't.