Mailing List Archive/2003-10-14
Free shows in book stores around the country: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albany, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, and Minneapolis (most of these are early evening shows so the workers of America can get their free shows in without sacrificing study or pay!)
Big fancy rock shows and family shows with computerized lighting coming up in NYC, Chicago, IL, Ridgefield, CT, Seattle, WA See end of this email for details
Flansburgh appears w/ "Gigantic" in NYC! Showing this Saturday the 18th (Flansburgh Q&A after) and Sunday the 19th at the elegant Thalia Theater in New York City's fashionable upper west side (Broadway and 95th) at 9:15. Box office is 212 864-5400 or charge at www.symphonyspace.org - search "they might be giants"
' ' ' ' ' ' Most Ridiculous Item of The Day: Our good friend Geoff at Simon and Schuster tells us "Bed, Bed, Bed" has rocketed from number one million and a half to a highly respectable #230 on the Amazon chart, totally on the response from last week's mass email. This is very exciting news, and we thank everyone who took part. We hope that any stragglers out there aren't holding out for a lower price, because believe us - at $11.87 (where did the 87 cents come from?) it will never be lower, and those Amazon bookbots are very good at the quick delivery.
Why is it important to buy it now? Because we have a secret plan to knock Bill O'Reilly's "Who's Looking Out for You?" from the #1 position - if just for an hour. It's not that we have a problem with "The Factor" or it's hate-mongering style-don't misunderstand. We have a problem with him, and his monochromatic debating skills - and what better way to say "Would you please leave?" than through the purchase of a loving, gentle children's book & CD set! Help us shame him!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743250249/qid=1065739411/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_
1/102-3546882-5824123?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
They also let you look at some of the first few pages!
Tickets to the book release concert as Symphony Space are going fast - get your tickets at this link: http://www.symphonyspace.org/genres/eventPage.php?genreId=5&eventId=623
' ' ' ' ' ' New web stuff update: The free MP3 of "Idlewild" is just going to be up for a few more days at www.tmbg.com. Check in with www.giantkid.net and its brand new look. It's not completely done yet (the killer animation for "Idlewild" is still in the beta-testing process, and the home page will have special magical features in a week) but the site gives you a good idea of what's going on in "Bed, Bed, Bed" Also be sure to check in with all the new, rare tracks on the AM band of TMBG's Clock Radio. This tidy little audio streamer lives on your desktop, and is updated automatically from the web, and works perfectly with Mac or PC. Download it now at www.tmbg.com. (We've made the download extra easy now, for anyone who couldn't find the hotlink before.) ' ' ' ' ' ' New York City October 24 WNYC-AM/FM/ 'New York & Company' October 25, 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Symphony Space, Family Concerts Nov. 18, 6 or 7 p.m. Virgin Mega-Store Union Square, in-store performance & signing December 10, 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble Union Square, Other Thing! in-store performance & signing
Ridgefield, CT October 26 The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Family Concert
Seattle, WA November 2 Experience Music Project, Family Concert & Rock Show
San Francisco, CA November 4, 7 p.m. A Clean Well-Lighted Place Square, in-store performance & signing
Los Angeles, CA November 5, 7 p.m. Vroman's Pasadena, in-store performance & signing
Albany, NY November 9, 2 p.m. Book House, in-store performance & signing
Boston, MA November 10, 7 p.m. Borders 10-20 School St., in-store performance & signing
Providence, RI November 11, 7 p.m. Borders Providence Place, in-store performance & signing
Philadelphia, PA November 14, 7 p.m. Borders South Broad St., in-store performance & signing
Washington DC November 15, 7 p.m. Olsson's Books - Arlington City, in-store performance & signing
Baltimore, MD November 16, 3 p.m. Barnes & Noble - White Marsh, in-store performance & signing
Chicago, IL December 4 The Vic Theater (very adult "super swearing" rock show) December 5 and 6, 2 & 4 p.m. Old Town School, Family Concert
Minneapolis, MN December 8, 7p.m. Wild Rumpus Books, in-store performance & signing
John Flansburgh addresses your hard-hitting questions with mumbles and evasive hedging!
>From Suzie M. I hear you've written a new song called "Bed, Bed, Bed, Bed, Bed." Is it like the song called "She Was A Hotel Detective"? I'm not sure where the fascination with writing new songs to old titles comes from, but the "Bed" remake is different. It's actually the same lyric as the song on No!, but the melody has been completely changed. The recording on the new book/CD thing is sung by Kimya from Moldy Peaches. She has a really interesting voice, and brings a lot to it.
>From Ruby S. How do you guys feel about file-sharing, and the suits brought against kids regarding "music piracy?"
I think it is a complicated question that divides people in unproductive ways. The recording companies seem like they are focusing their energies on the present, trying to regain the past, when they really should be thinking about the future-if there is going to be any for them- and suing consumers seems damn cold. TMBG have benefited a lot from MP3 since we don't have much mainstream media access, but we also know that many great, but still struggling songwriters and musicians rely on the current setup for their livelihood, so it's not something we want to be flip about (as tantalizing as being flip can be). It's already a hard enough world for musical people. Unless there is a meaningful shift toward an equitable digital music scene it seems very possible it's just going to get a lot harder for us lifers.
>From Joslyn E. Do you ever notice regulars at concerts when you're on tours? I've become aware of regulars over the years. Not too many people actually following us from show to show a la Phish, probably because the miles are so crazy, but that's okay. I think it might be better that it's like the carnival coming to town, rather than the cult.
>From Sara K. Just saw the Cartoon Network songs. How does it feel to be a cartoon character? I hear it's cool but I haven't seen them yet (I know it's online but my computer won't show the "real" stuff right now). I must admit it felt funny being a pig in the Tiny Toons. We did this thing for "Home Movies" (on Adult Swim) that is coming out in a few months, so it'll be interesting to see how we look there.
>From Amy A. Like the kids' stuff okay, but when is your next regular album coming out? We are working on it right now with Pat Dillett, and have made some serious progress. We were planning on having it done for right now, but other opportunities keep knocking and it holds us up.
>From Erik B. Imagine my surprise when I found out you guys toured with Frank Black and I missed it. Any future plans involving him? We just heard that there is going to be a Pixies reunion, so he's probably tied up, but we are big fans of Mr. Black. He's one of the few true originals.
>From Joe M. Did your parents influence you to become musicians? Are they musicians themselves? My parents were supportive, but not too into the professional part. My dad played the coronet and my mom played the piano and sang a lot. Don't know about John's folks.
>From "Mr. Bean" Have you ever been hit by a projectile thrown from the audience? Yes. It hurt a lot, and ruined the show. Not the kind of thing we want to encourage.
>From "Conan" I think it's awesome that you guys are hooked up with 'Malcolm In The Middle'. How did you get to do the music for that show? They called us kinda out of the blue, but it was a big break for us.
>From Jack E. What current rock music do you like? I like the new Nada Surf disc, the Long Winters from Seattle, and though I didn't know much about them before I recently got turned on to Teenage Fanclub who have a "greatest non-hits" compilation out that's really cool. There is also a very low key NYC songwriter named Peter Salett who I like very much.
>From "Skabeedoo" How do you decide where to go when you tour? We don't. Our booking agent hooks it up.
>From "T-bone" Who is your favorite professional wrestler? Strongbad from Homestarrunner.
>From Alan M. Which of your rock heroes have you met, or do you hope to meet one day? I actually have few, but I met Elvis Costello -who's up there for me- and he was very nice. He likes "Youth Culture Killed My Dog," which was exciting.
>From E. Y. What is the largest crowd that you've ever played to? We've played for a number of 30,000 and 40,000 crowds (like at the Hatchshell in Boston) but I think we did a show in Chicago that was actually much bigger, but the setup was such that you couldn't really see over a hill to the rest of the crowd so it didn't feel so big.
Submit your questions to qa@tmbg.com
