2001-04 Pulse!
"Impertinent Questions with They Might Be Giants"
Author Unknown, Pulse! Tower's Music Monthly, April 2001
Archived from: https://web.archive.org/web/20031023061435/http://www.tmbg.net/articles/pulse01.html
They Might Be Giants found quirky success in the late '80s and early '90s with "Don't Let's Start" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." Now they're back with the bratty theme to the hit TV show Malcolm In the Middle, "You're Not The Boss Of Me," and "Older," both of which appear on Music from Malcolm In the Middle (Restless). Brandy Gibson and Michael Bergstrom catch up witht he duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell and go two on two for a rousing session of impertinent questions.
Flansburgh: Impertinent? Well, let's see how impertinent it gets.
Who is your favorite member of the Village People?
Linnell: I always liked the leather man.
Flansburgh: The motorcycle guy?
Linnell: I always thought of him as a leather man. He had really powerful muttonchops.
Flansburgh: Construction worker.
If you could overthrow a country for the purposes of imposing your interior decorating sense - which country would it be and how would it be decorated?
Flansburgh: It would have to be England for me. I think you could start with a healthy coat of primer and go from there.
Your video was featured in the opening of Malcolm In The Middle this season. Is this the high point of your career? Can you die happy now?
Linnell: With all due respect to Malcolm, the answer to the first question is no and the second... part is yes, but irrespective to the first part of the question. In some ways, doing a theme for a TV show, no matter how you do it you are sort of entering into the world of Gilligan's Island. It sort of doesn't matter, it's a noncritical plane in the culture, you know, kind of interesting to be part of. We're a very easy band to ignore, and it's strange to be suddenly catapulted into the impossible-to-ignore catagory of bands. Makes you feel like Metallica.
So, what ever happened to the Hamburglar and the Fry Guys?
Linnell: I don't know. That's not a bad question. I get the sense that they have held on to...
Flansburgh: (interrupts) I have no idea what you're talking about.
Linnell: Hamburglar was part of the McDonald's campaign... They have held onto Ronald's like totally '70s hairdo. He is still styled exactly the way he was when they first rolled out the campaign, but they got rid of all these other characters that were all kind of H.R. Pufnstuf offshoots.
Flansburgh: I always wondered if every time those things came on if Sid and Marty Krofft weren't like 'How come we can't call our lawyers? How is this not a blatant rip-off?' I guess McDonald's sort of survived. And Sid and Marty are just an E! True Hollywood Story. Which actually was quite a tantalizing episode.
Most embarrassing guitar-geek song you've learned and why?
Flansburgh: I wish I knew more of them. We did a version of "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers. I don't know; it's not really a guitar-geek song - it's just a little bit off the beaten path. It's not like we're doing "Whipping Post."
Linnell: I think you could direct that question to our other guitarist, 'cause he's actually nailed songs by Journey.
Flansburgh: And Styx.
Linnell: And Styx. And who's that guy? Surfing With The Alien guy? [Joe] Satriani - He can play any of that stuff. He's an '80s crap-music aficionado. Though he didn't know "Crazy on You" by Heart. Because I was actually thinking of doing that cover. But uh...
Flansburgh: But he could learn it in 10 seconds.
Linnell: He could probably fake it...