2003-06-06 Kittenpants
< Archived Interviews & Articles
INTERVIEW: John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants
By Darci Ratliff (kittenpants) with Corn Mo, Thomas, and Sam, Kittenpants, June 6 2003
Archived from: https://web.archive.org/web/20040610115245/http://www.kittenpants.org/27_ab/flansy.asp
kp: I haven't seen GIGANTIC yet. How involved were you in the making of the film (other than being one of the two principle subjects?)
JF: We were the subject--just the subject. We were happy to participate, but it is not our film.
kp: How did it come about, and how pleased are you with the outcome?
JF: We let people film us in a lot of different situations, and are essentially happy with the movie, but we had no editorial input or control, and we actually weren't allowed to see it until it was finished, so by the end it was a little nerve-racking.
I think it is essentially accurate. The personal revelation that I never would have considered before seeing the film was that I now realize John and I are cast, by necessity, as the heroes of the film--which of course is very complimentary--but actually we are just human beings with short comings and personality quirks like anyone else. Life is so much more complicated than a story can ever tell.
Honestly, I am grateful it doesn't really present me as a business man--which I kind of have to be in real life to a certain extent. I suspect audiences probably couldn't handle it or would see it as a contradiction of the spirit of what we do. But at the same time, I think I am a pretty good business man for the band, and that is one of the very real reasons the band has been able to endure as a creative entity.
kp: What was the first record you ever purchased?
JF: Hard Days Night, The Beatles
kp: The first concert you attended?
JF: The Eternal Lights at the local temple
kp: Do you have a favorite palindrome?
JF: Nope!
kp: When we interviewed Sparks and Tenacious D, we asked them about other 2-person acts (including TMBG). What do you think of Tenacious D?
JF: I think they are very interesting, and obviously very funny, and I am a little jealous of their success.
Sparks?
I will always love them.
Ween?
I like them a lot, too.
Barnes and Barnes?
I don't really know them.
The Smothers Brothers?
Genius.
Laverne and Shirley?
Shitty.
I love Sparks so much. It's funny because I feel like there isn't too much community among the odd-ball bands that your site seems to feature--and I have to admit I wished they liked us. I like everybody... except Laverne and Shirley (I have to admit)
kp: It's hard to like Laverne and Shirley. It's really hard.
JF: A lot of talent on that show, but I am sorry to report it is essentially shitty.
kp: What is the last book you read?
JF: I just picked up Black Monk Time again, but its so strangely written I don't know if I'll stick with it.
Corn Mo: What were you reading 13 years ago?
JF: Let's see, 13 years ago I was 30 so I was on the road with Flood going around the world. Was I carrying around a dog-eared copy of Low Life by Luc Sante? I read so little. For a dude who people say is smart, I sure get by on magazines. Actually, I read a lot of magazines. Up until 9/11 I was a real news junkie. Now I'm kind of played out on that.
kp: Were you in town on 9/11?
JF: We had a pretty complicated and dreary time immediately after 9/11. We actually were going to fly out that day to begin a very long and large national tour, with our first show in Boise, Idaho. Of course all the flights were cancelled, as was the first bunch of dates. We ended up having to drive across country- an experience that really felt like a one act play of intense tension and tedium. Eight guys in two cars for a couple thousand miles--with everybody wondering what was going to happen next.
kp: Have you written any songs about it?
JF: Nothing good came out of it, and I can't really imagine it sparking anything in us creatively. It was pretty much 100% bad times.
kp: On a less serious note... what do you think is the best evil robot/evil computer movie?
JF: 2001 is the only evil computer movie I can even think of. Harrison Ford on talk shows seems like kind of an evil robot...
You know, I don't see a lot of that sci-fi stuff, or mainstream movies at all. Just to give you a glimpse into how sideways my cultural intake is, here is just a taste. I have not seen the following movies:
Jaws Star Wars The Matrix Pulp Fiction Blair Witch Project Silence of the Lambs On Golden Pond Back to the Future Scream I Know What You Did Last Summer Die Hard Spider Man The Lion King Lord of the Rings Home Alone Saving Private Ryan Austin Powers Top Gun Rain Main My Big Fat Greek Wedding Pretty Woman Jerry McGuire Rambo
I don't think I have ever seen a movie with Tom Cruise or Bruce Willis except fragments on broadcast TV. I have, however, purchased almost every ZZ Top album since Eliminator. I have no explanation or excuse for this random behavior.
kp: That's actually really awesome. What is the last movie you saw?
JF: I saw "The Kid Stays in the Picture" in the theater.
kp: Now that May 22, 2003 is officially "They Might Be Giants Day", do you think you'll commemorate this date annually with some sort of celebration?
JF: I wish we had heard about it before 11:30. But you have a good point that we can celebrate it's ANNIVERSARY. I hadn't even thought of that! Maybe a dinner at Peter Lugers.
Sam: Did you guys PLAN the band of Dans? Did you seek out a bunch of guys named Dan or was it just a monstrously ridiculous coincidence?
JF: It was purely coincidence. We worked with Dan Hickey for a while before the other Dans came on board. It would not really be a reason to hire someone, but it does take the heat off of me and John having the same name.
Sam: How come TMBG haven't written a rock opera yet?
JF: We tend not to think that way, although I love the style of Hair, Tommy, and Jesus Christ Superstar. I've worked closely with my wife, Robin Goldwasser, and Julia Greenberg on a project called People Are Wrong! that incorporates a lot of the rock opera thing.
CM: What other projects are you and Robin working on together?
JF: The People Are Wrong! thing is a huge undertaking, and kind of hard for me to fit in with everything else I'm doing. Robin is doing a band thing with some friends but that is just starting casually this week. We're talking to producer people about taking it to an off-Broadway theater. I also would love to figure out how to make a flash site incorporating the songs.
CM: Is there a restaurant you two go to for special times?
JF: We eat out a lot, but our foody friends like going to different places in Manhattan. We usually just get Thai to go when we're in Brooklyn, and when we're at our hidden mountain laboratory we grill like fiends.
Sam: I read your essay "Four-Eyes About To Rock, I Salute You." It was really good. Do you ever think about writing something for a web literary site? Like, say, Kittenpants or Haypenny.com?
JF: I wish I felt more comfortable writing. I have a terrible memory so I tend to forget really important facts and factors in stories, much to the dismay and disappointment of my friends and family.
CM: Do you (and John L) sit together and write songs, or do you usually write by yourselves and bring them to the table? Have you ever manufactured ways of writing songs?
JF: Our big collaboration is on the arrangement and production. We're too shy to sit in the same room and bash out a song, although it has been done. The song "Mink Car" was done that way. We've handed off songs in various forms of completion-tracks or sometimes just fragments- or a lyric- or samples. "Spider" was some vocal samples Linnell put on a disc and I put the track together from that.
kp: What's your favorite TMBG song(s) to perform live?
JF: I just like putting a show together. I think of it as one big package deal. The great thing about the range of the show we do is I feel like we can rock the crowd in a lot of different ways, with manic songs complimenting quiet ones. It seems to me that shows end up really undynamic and bands become known for only doing one thing well.
Thomas: It's been like 20 years. Are they, or are they not giants? Would you consider changing your name to "Yes, We Are Indeed Giants" (YWAIG), or "We Apologize For the Misunderstanding, but No We Are Not in Fact Giants" (WAFMNWANFG).
JF: We'll take both of those into consideration. Perhaps we just do the name change to WAFMNWANFG and not explain why...
kp: Do you have any good "on the road" stories?
JF: I once was in a club located one block (not an exagerration) into Tempe, Arizona, on the town line next to Phoenix, Arizona. I did the classically dumb rock move: I said "Hello Phoenix" to which the audience in an almost universal response shouted back "Tempe!" I didn't even know what Tempe was, so I actually repeated what I said, and they screamed back even more pissed off. I felt like a total idiot when I found out what was really going on, but I was so clueless I am sure they just felt sorry for the idiot on stage.
kp: Do you have any questions for kittenpants?
JF: What is this kittenpants?
kp: Your favorite website of all time. I promise!
JF: How long have you known Corn Mo?
kp: For a long long long time. It's actually a funny story, how we met.
JF: Why did he sell out and change from guitar to accordion?
CM: In the words of Joe Seneca from CROSSROADS, "if you don't play accordion, you don't get pussy."
kp: All I know is, it's a damn good thing.
JF: I am in love under his voice...
kp: Yes. That happens.