BEN: How are things going with 54 shows this tour, Matador and just in general right now?
TIM: Well, the tour has been crazy, it started at the end of July and here we are in October. The best part is that we played in a lot of different situations. We went over to Europe and played with a band which is about as large as Pavement is here. They play really large spaces and we never played in front of, to us, looked like seas of people. That was a lot of fun. We’ve had to constantly switch around and make adjustments, so it hasn’t been 52 of the same shows, it’s always been really different.
ERIC: What was the name of that band?
TIM: Tokatronic. That sounds like a techno band, but they actually play really good music. They sing in German, so no one outside Germany or Austria knows who they are. The Matador thing is going really well. I think if it wasn’t for them encouraging us to get our asses out off this continent and go over there it wouldn’t have happened. A lot of things are the still the same. It’s not like we make any more money or anything like that. They do help us with promotion and making a lot of phone calls that we never have time to make. We’ve only put out one record and been signed for six months, but so far so good.
BEN: What were your favorite bands that you’ve played with on tour?
TIM: We played with Pavement... I think we all agree Tokatronic is one of our favorite bands right now. They play between almost hard-core, but melodic and beautiful slow songs. Even though you can’t understand the words, the melodies carry the music along. What else, we played with Two Dollar Guitar on the first leg of our tour. They were really good. We played with a good band two nights ago, The Red Stars Theory.
BEN: Is it hard to keep things smooth with three other guys when you’re on the road for so long?
TIM: Things go really smoothly and we all get along really well. We’re all good friends and we were before we started playing. Sure, there’s tension, you’re in a van for hours and hours and hours, but nothing that we can’t talk about or give someone else their space if they’re in a shitty mood. We’ve never gone out this long and it’s actually worked out well.
BEN: That’s a good sign of longevity, that’s a real good thing.
TIM: Yeah, after I quit the last band I was in I was going to quit music just because I couldn’t imagine doing something so collaborative. I just started doing my own thing, then Fuck got together.
BEN: What other bands have you been in?
TIM: I was in a very small band in San Francisco for a couple years. Unknown, completely unknown. We’d all been in other bands so I think we all realized how important it is to get along. I was just reading about The Pixies, I used to love that band, and I guess that’s a perfect example. I guess they broke apart because of strife between the members. I was wondering if they were still together and they got along, would that be a good thing? Would they be putting out shitty records now or is it best that they just put out those four records?
BEN: If you think about REM, who has been together forever, maybe after Document should have hung it up. It’s almost, I don’t like them as much because of where they’ve gone, but I love Cap’n Jazz and I’ll always love Cap’n Jazz, who just put out one amazing record and it’s there, and everyone’s moved on to other bands that I like.
TIM: It’s like Peter Fonda. He was in all those fucked-up movies and all those crazy roles. Now he comes back and is in this movie Yule’s Gold [Sp?], which I haven’t seen, in a way I don’t want to see it because I want to remember him drug addled and out of his mind. I’m happy with that.
BEN: Jane’s Addiction (who’s getting back together), they could never top Nothing Shocking.
TIM: Velvet Underground. I could understand them wanting to do it again, and they have that right, but I’d just assume remember them as they were. I guess that’s kind of a close minded way to look at it.
ERIC: It’s close minded, but it’s also a bit of reality too. How many Greg Ginn solo albums can you take?
TIM: Exactly. I was a big Psychedelic Furs fan, I liked them a little bit in high school, but I found out that the singer has a new band. I haven’t heard them, but I read a review, and they’re not doing a rehash, they’re doing a new band and a new thing. That’s a good thing.
ERIC: That’s what you have to do, otherwise there’s no point... no more spontaneity. A lot of those bands, what was good about them was that they were doing they’re own thing, which was about discovery, taking a step forward and taking risks, and if you’re not doing that anymore then that takes away one of the key elements that made that band what it is in the first place.
TIM: Or when they get together again it’s like a retro act.
ERIC: Did you guys record the first two records yourself?
TIM: All three. We’re going to take a step away from that and go to a new studio. The problem with recording ourselves is that Kyle is our recording engineer and he’s always having to jump between the drums and the tape machine, and turn it on and run over to the drums... And also he place our studio’s located, it’s somewhat limited as far as the sound that you can get. It’s actually his house as well as the studio.
ERIC: It seems like a lot of good recordings come from studios that are actually where someone lives.
TIM: It’s nice because it really gives you the opportunity to relax. You don’t feel that clock ticking.
ERIC: That’s great if you can relax and the character can come out through the music instead of trying to make up for it in production.
TIM: It’s important for us too, since we don’t live in the same city most of our recordings...We get together and we don’t know the songs, play them a couple of times and then record. So they’re still really fresh. I think that a lot of people assume that some bands choose the lo-fi sound, but most bands do it because the atmosphere and the work environment is so much more workable.
ERIC: If you look at bands like The Grifters or Guided by Voices, who are originally known for being lo-fi, they recorded that way because they had no other choice. Now that they do have a choice, they go to big studios.
BEN: Sebadoh and Folk Implosion have moved on to big stuff too, which is cool because it’s a progression.
ERIC: At the same time I still like to think of Sebadoh as The Freed Weed.
BEN: At the same time Bakesale has such a different appeal then The Freed Weed or III. It’s like two different bands.
TIM: I think it’s good to branch out. One of the things for the first two records is we used a lot of different source material, like four-track stuff done at home. The third one we did all in the studio and it wasn’t as mixed. For the next record we’re going to try and mix it up. Keep the loud stuff for the big studio and then maybe some home taping stuff.
ERIC: Keep the rock stuff for the studio, it’s harder to rock out in a smaller space and make it sound good.
TIM: We’ve never been completely happy with the sound. I think that the sound that we want to get is harder to get in a small studio.
ERIC: Another plus to the lo-fi way of recording, is that you can record loads of songs and there’s no pressure to end up using things in the final product, because you’re putting a lot less in financially. Maybe all you have to buy is six cassette tapes for the four-track, where as if you went to the studio you feel more pressure to have to get it done right in one day because that’s all that you can afford to pay for.
TIM: Yeah, we record everything that we have and then we just use the best.
BEN: A lot of times I’d record stuff with Eric and then when I got down to the studio and re-record them with Rob they’d come out ten times better because they’d be milling around a while. You could listen to them as you’re walking down the street.
TIM: That’s another thing that’s really good, if you have an idea and you want to adjust something and you did it in a different studio, you’ve got to pay them a huge amount of money to get it going again. Whereas if you just wanted to lay down a new track or add a new part you could do it. You’ve got to keep the means of production in the hands of the artist.
BEN: Tonight, out of all the nights I’ve seen you, was the best that I’ve heard. I’ve played here so many times and it always sounds like shit, but you sounded really good, the guitar that sometimes used to seem a little too loud sounded perfect, like it all came together. Maybe that comes from playing 54 shows in a row?
TIM: Yeah, I think that has a lot to do with it. You could hear everything on stage too and that makes a real difference.
ERIC: That’s like one of those things too that I think in terms of lo-fi, when you have a good band it can transcend the quality of the sound. Lou Barlow or Daniel Johnston can play an excellent song into a boombox and you’ll still get the message above the hiss.
TIM: I can’t remember what book I read it in, but the scene was: a guy was in bed and he heard his favorite classical piece on the radio, but it was very staticy and other stations were cutting in on the frequency, but it didn’t matter because he could still get the essence of it. He wasn’t any less moved than he would be if he was in a symphony hall. That’s a rare thing.
BEN: There can be magic in the oddest places. It seems like in situations where everyone’s well rested and everyone’s well fed, everyone knows they’re getting paid... Then they suck. But you’re playing on an empty stomach, you're girlfriend just yelled at you and you’re just bummed, you can play really well.
TIM: There’s no set equation that works every time.
ERIC: I guess if you’re playing really bummed type of music (like Kind of like Spitting) you could play better in adverse situations, but if you’re the Cardigans maybe it won’t help to be kicked around before the show.
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