1999-09-10 Savannah Morning News

From This Might Be A Wiki
< Archived Interviews & Articles
They Might Be (busy) Giants
By Gene Downs, Savannah Morning News, September 10, 1999


The scheduled Savannah show mentioned in this article did not happen (see Shows/1999).

Here is a partial — we stress PARTIAL — list of what They Might Be Giants is working on.

"There's no road, particularly," TMBG co-founder John Linnell said this week. "We're just wandering around in the woods. We define it as we stray." Linnell, his longtime musical cohort John Flansburgh, and their band will stray into the Historic Railroad Shops for their Savannah debut Tuesday night.

Calling on Tuesday afternoon. from Winston-Salem, N.C., the first stop on a six-week tour, Linnell was as amiable and approachable as his music — even after an 11-hour drive to Carolina from his New York home.

Diversions: How do you feel as you begin this tour?

Linnell: We're in that state of good physical health and clearheadedness that hopefully you start out a tour with, and six weeks from now we'll all be delirious and weak and exhausted.

Diversions: Speaking of states, why no Georgia song on your new solo disc "State Songs?"

Linnell: There are only 15 states on this one. It appears as if — of course, the record hasn't been released so we don't know how it's going to do — but it seems that Rounder (Records) is pretty happy with this project. I'm guessing now they'll be interested in Parts 2 and 3, which should be able to cover all 50 states. But it may take a long time. This record was 11 years in the making. It was very off and on. Obviously, I have a lot of other stuff on my plate.

Every one of them is a different kind of challenge. And I must say, these songs are not necessarily addressing anything specific about the states. It's sort of like the way you write a pop song with a girl's name in it; there's not necessarily a real person by that name who you write the song about. The words are pretty tangential to the actual states. And unfortunately, some people might consider them insulting. I've spoken to people from Oregon, and they're not bothered by the fact that their song is titled "Oregon Is Bad," but they're very bothered by the fact that I mispronounced "OR-uh-gun" as "Or-uhGONE."

Diversions: Do you like having so much work?

Linnell: No, I'm totally lazy. I'm into sitting around. But I do like this kind of work a lot, and I'm glad we have this kind rather than the burg er-flipping kind. And it appears as if doing movies and television work is going to give us more time at home. That's really good news for us as we enter our middle age.

Diversions: There is a perception that TMBG is an overnight success story, but you've been doing this for more than 15 years.

Linnell: Yeah, it's pretty hilarious at this point. We were having that experience a lot early on. John and 1 started in '83 and our first record came out in '86 and everybody thought we were new. We had a hit in Britain in 1990, and everybody thought we were a brand-new band. And that was nine years ago.

One lucky thing is, we haven't gone bald yet. Our hair is still there and it's still the same color. So, we don't look like we've been on the road as long as we have.

Diversions: Speaking of appearances, congratulations on placing ninth in People Magazine's online poll of the most beautiful people in the world.

Linnell: It was exciting. My wife was very impressed. And it was ridiculous, of course. The winner of the poll was Hank the Angry, Drunken Dwarf (of Howard Stern fame). So, I was No. 9 on a list headed by Hank the Angry, Drunken Dwarf.

But aside from that and the questionable nature of how the poll was run, it gave me an opportunity to write a piece for the New York Times. For me, that was the real perk about it.

Diversions: Doing the song "Dr. Evil" for "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" has been your biggest boost recently. How much effect has it had?

Linnell: The first thing in the movie is our song, and then it closes the movie. Yet, I think a lot of people who don't know who we are wouldn't particularly notice — although we got a good credit at the end, which was nice. And it's a good resume item. But I don't know that it put us on the map with anyone who didn't already know about us. And the song is not on the soundtrack, although they're coming out with Vol. 2 and it will be on that one.

Diversions: Why the decision to release "Long Tall Weekend" only online?

Linnell: We got a very attractive offer from the company now called Emusic. They were trying to position themselves as one of the big movers and shakers of online music. So, we kind of qualify as a name brand, as far as they're concerned.

Diversions: One thing I'm getting from all this is that you like to have fun.

Linnell: Basically, John and I established that what we do is DIY (do it yourself). We get to roll along and do our own thing. That's what continues to make it interesting for us. You can always make it up as you go along.

Retrieved from "https://tmbw.net/wiki/index.php?title=1999-09-10_Savannah_Morning_News&oldid=372810"