1990-03-13 Prattler
They Might be interviewed #2
By Xaque Gruber, Prattler, March 13, 1990
Archived from: Pratt Institute Libraries, JSTOR, page 1, page 2
Part two 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.
(F- John Flansberg (the one with glasses), L- John Linnell (the vocalist), X- Xaque)
X- The themes on your albums are very... varied.
L- A potpourri.
X- Exactly. Everyone is wondering what is it all about? Are they intellectual? Ate they purely fun?
L- It's really hard to give an answer that doesn't sound sort of retarded to that question. We generally don't know why we like the ideas we use. The thing that makes it valuable partly is that you can't explain what makes it funny or interesting about it.
F- It's like writing a short story. You think of the song as a unique object you don't think of it as I'm writing a song for an album of songs like this. I think the reason our records sound so schizophrenic to people is that we do approach each song individuallyânot as one big thing. We don't wonder how does this song sound next to another song or the rest of the album. There are some songs that are completely whimsical and then there are others that have that "secret message."
X- About the pick-hit number on the back of the record...
F- The dial-a song service? Oh, well we don't really advertise it anymore because we get so many calls already. People who own our records can hear even more songs. The number is actually in Williamsburgh-so its a local call in Brooklyn and it doesn't cost very much money at all. They Might Be Giants dial-a-song service is at (718) 96...whoa! That's my home number! It's (718) 387-6962. Please don't crank me like so many other people have. It's on the back of our records.
X- Do either of you have any formal musical training?
F- We're basically self-taught. I don't think we'd want to blame anybody.
X- How did you get started and take off?
L- Well actually we lived in a house down the street from here on Adelphi and Dekalb. we shared it with another Pratt student and we had a big room with drums, and somehow we got a gig.
F- A friend of ours got us a gig at Dr. B's. Which is this really horrible showcase club for all these Jersey band doing Springsteen covers, but it seemed like a really big deal at the time.
X- The new album is called "Flood."
F- We tried 18, it didn't work out as well so we put 19 on. Actually we wanted to put 17 on but we had too many songs and we didn't want to cut them and then the record company said "We'll cut them for you." And we screamed...
F & L- "No!"
F- Well about the recordâit's different from the others in that we recorded it in a "fancy" studio, so it sounds a little more hi-fi.
L- It's not as harsh.
X- John (Linnell) do you have any words about "Flood?"
L- I agree with just about every thing John said. Well we were working in a much bigger studio and we were running the risk of sounding too slick and then it turned out to be exactly the same kind of stuff we always do.
F- There are some tracks on the first 2 albums I find frustrating because we didn't have enough tracks to do a vocal harmony which was really intrinsic to the song. So on this album anything we wanted to do we could, which was very satisfying. It's actually a little over-produced, but that's our style.
X- I was talking to someone today who said they saw you perform at the Marquis in London. They said you put on a fabulous show...
L- ...that's true.
X- Is your crowd in England...?
F- We don't really have a crowd in England.
L- Up until 1989 we played there several times and didn't seem to draw as well as we were in other European countries. And then for some reason in the Winter/Spring of '89 we suddenly started getting attention. It could have something to do with the fact One Little Indian started promoting our record and they did a very good job.
F- It's the Sugarcubes label in England. They are a highly credible label. It was a really great experience to play at the Marquis.
L- Peter Tork of The Monkees was there.
F- Peter Tork's daughter is a fan of They Might Be Giants. When she approached us for an autograph and she had an American accent I asked what she was doing there. She said "Well I'm touring with my father." I said "Well who's your father"? She said "My father's Peter Tork." and she pointed over there and there was this guy who looked just like Peter Tork. So we ended up having a few beers with Peter Tork. He was a real nice guy...a brush with greatness.
X- Do you feel your European crowd is...
F- Smarter?
X- Well how is the feeling different from touring in the states?
L- Well judging from our experience it reinforces the stereotype of Northern Europe as attentive and silent and in the south people are partying all the time while you're performing. We played in Madrid and everyone was screaming before we even started playing and they didn't even know who we were and they were singing to all the songs. Then in Germany we played and the people were standing stock still, they were not taking their eyes off us, and when we finished the song they were perfectly silent for the next 3 seconds and then they all start going "OOOOOO!"
F- It's this really weird sort of excitement. I dig both places. It's funny because I really can't say what is an appropriate audience response. When an audience is really silent and respectful sometimes i feel that are not "rocking enough," and then when there's a mindless, drunken mob of peopleâit's a nightmare. I feel like saying "get it together, get a life, you guys are a mess!"
X- Do you have any pets either of you?
L- Yeah. I've got some fish. I've got a bunch of goldfish that I won at a fair. Some of them are gone now.
X- You have to watch out for the unexpected.
L- Yeah I know about that.
F- He's been through that.
L- I've had to do some burials.
F- How did you actually bury your fish?
L- I don't think we should talk about it.