Girl III Men
Loose Lips Hot Gossip talks to...
BOYZ II MEN
Boyz
II Men are one of my favourite bands from my youth. Emerging
from the Phillie R&B scene in the early 90’s,
this band has had a career run over the past twenty years.
God, I’m old. Speaking of… there certainly
aren’t any “Boyz” left in Boyz II Men.
And only three men at that as Michael “Bass”
McCary previously left the band due to health problems.
The current trio known as Boyz II Men features Nathan
Morris, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman who were all more
than happy to chat with me about their career highlights,
in spite of the hunger they must’ve felt as I took
over their lunch hour with my inquisitive mind and, according
to them, thick Canadian drawl.
Did you have any other name ideas before settling on Boyz
II Men?
Shawn: No… We’d rather not
talk about those names because they were really bad and
cheesy!
One? Give me one?
Shawn: Well, the name that we were before
Boyz II Men, if they allow me to say, was Unique Attraction.
Yeah, Boyz II Men is better!
Shawn: Yeah, we think so, so we went
there. And we kind of ditched the Unique Attraction thing.
And I think it has a little bit more staying power, we
believe, than Unique Attraction.
Wanya: Yeah, Kinda….
Shawn: We were on the fence, but we took
a vote…
How do you go about arranging your harmonies? They are
very intricate and wonderful!
Nate: It all depends on the given day
to be honest. The good thing is that we all tend to have
the same type of ear when it comes to knowing what we
like to hear and that’s kind of what we call the
“Boyz II Men sound”, and there aren’t
many other people that can recreate it. But for the most
part, it’s just really a matter of what you feel
that day for the song that’s given. Sometimes the
harmonies are stacked really really tight, sometimes they’re
really spaced apart but they may sound thick. You may
hear a 4 part that may sound like a 7 or you may hear
a 7 that sounds like a 4. It pretty much all depends on
the time of day or the feeling of the song, so there’s
really no set agenda of how you would stack the harmonies
and where you would put them. But we all know how we like
them to go, and usually whenever we do them, we’re
all in agreement because we just do the same thing.
You also take turns singing lead vocals as well. Is it
the same thing where you just feel the song out?
Shawn: Yeah.
Nate: Yeah. We hear a song and we know.
Take a Babyface song for instance; when we hear him play
the track we know right away who’s doing what part,
what guy is going where. While one guy is in singing his
background part, the other guy’s thinking of what
his next part is going to be and it’s kind of like
a machine that goes and goes and goes.
You guys started off as a quartet, but now there is three
of you. How does the dynamic of the group differ from
one version of the band to the other?
Shawn: The dynamic of the group is still
pretty much intact. I think that obviously, vocally we’re
missing a note, but the good thing about it, if you had
to miss a note, the note that we’re missing is the
one that you’d want to have missing because it’s
the bass. We’re still a complete three-part harmony
group, like we still can sing, and when it comes to arranging
things Nathan does a lot of the bass parts, which is something
that he always did anyway. So it really wasn’t anything
that was completely and totally missing, but just the
fact that our member who was a friend of ours and a brother
is no longer with us. But semantics, we’re still
very much a vocal group and we can still construct harmonies
and still sing harmonies live and things of that nature.
So there’s not too much missing, just a member,
but the music is still there.
Can you talk about your big break? Is it true you went
backstage at a Bel Biv Devoe concert?
Wanya: Back in school we used to dream
about this everyday.
Nate: Could it really happen?
It’s true though? Is it actually how it happened?
Wanya: It wasn’t actually a Bel
Biv Devoe concert. They were actually announcing the group,
Bel Biv Devoe was getting ready to start. They were breaking
off from New Edition and they were starting Bel Biv Devoe,
and when he came offstage from announcing it, we were
backstage. We had all snuck backstage and we actually
asked Michael Bivins could we sing for him, he said, yeah,
we sung for him and the rest is history. And then there’s
Motownphilly!
End of the Road wasn’t actually on the original
release of your album Cooleyhighharmony. How did you guys
end up going back and recording that track after the album’s
original release?
Nate: It was recorded for a soundtrack,
a movie called Boomerang, which starred Eddie Murphy and
Halle Berry. What happened was what typically happens
in a record company situation where we released a record
that was doing pretty well and we released a single afterwards
that really took off from the notoriety of the group.
So the record label felt that it made sense to put it
on that album because it would help album sales, and the
album went from probably selling four and a half to five
million to double that to about twelve million total.
You guys do a lot of cover songs as well as your own music.
How do you go about deciding which cover songs you want
to sing?
Shawn: We jot down a list individually
of songs that we like and that we enjoy, and we bring
them all together and we kinda see what coincides or what
we might not have thought’ve on somebody else’s
list. Our tastes are pretty similar so we pretty much
go in the direction of what can we do to add a Boyz II
Men element to the record. Not change it, because when
you do covers, we’re very keen on doing covers the
right way. In the sense of not going too far, but definitely
not doing anything to it. We still try to add our element
and our flavour to a cover, but it’s just all a
matter of what we like, the type of album we try to create
first off, and then the concept and then picking those
songs accordingly. Doing what we love and then just adding
our little flavours to it. That’s pretty much it.
We don’t do too much. We make sure we don’t
piss nobody off by changing a classic into a techno record,
you know what I’m saying. We keep it cool. So far,
so good. I don’t think anybody has been disappointed
with our covers, at least not publicly! (laughs)
If there was only one word to summarize “Boyz II
Men”, what would that one word be?
Wanya: Music!
Shawn: That’s who we are. We’re
music. This is what brought us together, this is what
defines us, it’s what defines our legacy, and what
will always keep us together.
Wanya: Two words: Music and Love!
Nate: She asked for ONE word.
Shawn: She asked for one of them. You
just changed her whole question! You gotta excuse him.
He does that sometimes.
These
guys are the most successful R&B group of all time,
selling more than 60 million albums worldwide! The fact
that they were so easygoing and nice made my job easy.
The fact that they are clearly still in it for the music
and friendship more than anything else is inspiring.
---
When I first introduced myself to the Boyz/Men, Shawn
jumped on the fact that I don’t have an English
accent and we are in ENGLAND! Deducing that I was some
odd Canadian English hybrid and coming up with fancy words
for me including CanEnglish, I was a bit taken aback by
Shawn’s imminent cheeky vulgarity. You can listen
to the audio clip below to hear what happened. Don’t
worry… it won’t ruin your image of Boyz II
Men - if anything, it will enhance it!
But the Canuck jokes didn’t stop there…. Read
on…
Shawn: I did hear some Canadian stuff
when you said aboot!
Did I?
Shawn: Yes. You said aboot. You said
aboot!
No! I don’t want to be a cliché!!!
Wanya & Nate: What did she say?
Shawn: She said Aboot!
Nate: She said Aboot!
Shawn: She said, “Yeah, what Aboot”
and I was like “Woaah, hey”!
PR Rep: Just say you’ve been to
Scotland recently and that’s why…
Shawn: Is that how they say it in Scotland,
is it? Aboot?
Yeah, that’s where it comes from because a lot of
them immigrated to Newfoundland and that’s where
that thick accent is.
Shawn: Ah HA!!
Now you’ve learned something today.
Wanya: So it’s NOT Canadian!
Shawn: So we learn most of that stuff
about Canadians from South Park!
My
other interview with Boyz II Men will soon be available
on the iPad
& iPhone User Magazine web site and print version
for your reading pleasure. There you can learn where the
name Boyz II Men really comes from, their thoughts on
the evolution of the music industry over their 20 year
career, and what advice they have to new music groups
who are just starting out!
-----------------------------------------
Jim Noir
The
Mancunian musician has completely lived up to his elusive
reputation. When I arrived at Corsica Studios where I
was scheduled to interview Jim Noir, I was greeted first
with confusion, then disappointment. He thought I was
supposed to interview him at a show two days prior and
was gleeful in the thought that he got away with evading
me! SURPRISE! Totally against his will, Jim Noir sat down
to speak with me about his music, retro synths, his boredom
and what have you.
Much like my previous interview with CHROMEO, I’m
multi-tasking and only posting half of my content here,
using the other half for an article with iPad & iPhone
User Magazine. Feel free to read my other interviews with
Chromeo
and Jim
Noir on that web site. But please, do read the one
here too as this is where I’m totally unedited and
free to write what I like! Sweet.
So yes… Jim Noir. For such a talented musician and
lovely person, the guy had very little confidence. Very
shy and humble. Hesitant to talk about himself, but very
chatty and friendly otherwise. It was like getting blood
from a stone to get him to pose for a picture! But he’s
a good sport and nice guy… so I got a couple of
crappy ones with my iPhone in the end.
For this photo, Jim has travelled back in time in
a vain attempt to stop me from taking it. Note his plan
is failing as you are viewing this photo, and he is nearly
ceasing to exist, starting with his right hand.
Why
do I suddenly have the urge to listen to Johnny B. Goode?
Anyway, after me prying about his musical influences,
especially from his hometown of Manchester, Jim Noir admitted
to me that he is actually more of a synth nerd than guitar
fan.
LLHG: So do you have a load of synths?
JN: I’m starting a collection,
yeah yeah.
LLHG:
Which ones do you have?
JN:
Just bought a Prophet 5. An old Prophet 5. So that’s
*me new baby. Nobody’s allowed to touch it except
me. It’s mostly just covered with a cover so rarely
get it out. NO, I do, I love it. Pretty much my entire
next album is covered in Prophet 5...
*I’m transcribing Mancunian dialect.
LLHG: So what is your next album going
to sound like?
JN: I don’t know yet. I’ve
not really figured out what I’m going to use yet,
but there’s a lot of stuff that I’ve written
that could be a direction. Just amazing. Yeah. That’s
all I need. All I wanna do is write the best album ever
made, which I definitely will.
LLHG: Ok, I’m going to hold you
to that!
JN: That’s going to be a quote
now, isn’t it!
LLHG: Do you record these tracks in a
studio?
JN: I use studio equipment, but I still
work in my flat. I’ve not got any sound-proofing
or acoustic stuff anywhere, it’s just a bog standard
room with two speakers and a load of old shite in it.
LLHG:
And that's the final album as well? You don't take it
to a studio to record the final product?
JN:
No, it’s all as is. I mean, it gets mastered I suppose,
but not much. Yeah I like to keep it as rough and raw
as possible. But I think for the next one I will record
it in a pro place.
LLHG: Why’s that?
JN: Well, because I’ve been doing
this for you know, what, twelve, maybe ten years with
the same approach to it. So I’m just a bit bored
of that now and really it'd be nice to have all the equipment
set up and wander around it as I want. Someone else is
recording it so I can just go, “right, quick I want
to play that” or whatever, where at home I have
to untangle loads of wires and it’s just a complete
mess. And obviously I get a bit bored so the tellie is
too easy to go and watch rather than write! Out of nowhere, Jim shows off his Karate
Kid skills and kills a fly!
LLHG: Very Mr. Miyagi of you!
JN: He was trying to get in on my interview!
For someone who feigns paling in the spotlight, the
man doesn’t want to share the attention! At this
point, I knew he was hiding something.
LLHG: Is Jim Noir your real name?
JN: No. No.
LLHG: What is your real name?
JN: I’m not telling you.
LLHG: Oh come on! I’ll just Google
it if you don’t.
JN: Ok… It’s Alan Roberts.
LLHG: Why did you change it to Jim Noir?
JN: Well, because Alan Roberts isn’t
a very rock n roll name.
LLHG: But you don’t want to be
a rock star!
JN: No, but I don’t want to be
Alan Roberts either.
Apparently the nom de plume of Jim Noir is an homage
to British comedian Vic Reeves whose real name is Jim
Moir.
LLHG: No regrets though?
JN: Well the only regret I’ve ever
thought about is that I chose only a singular person.
That means I have to do all the work. Should’ve
called it the somebodies or whatever.
It’s obvious why the man wishes he had some
help. Besides wanting to divert attention from himself,
the man keeps busy with creative bursts, releasing something
every month of this year for the Noir Club, a page on
his web site that fans can sign up to and obtain these
treasures on a monthly basis.
LLHG: What’s up next for you?
JN: Well, just next year I’m going
to have a little break and then hopefully in the summer
I’ll have the Noir Club compiled into an album and
then probably hopefully a brand new freshly written one.
I’m going to try to do as much as I can just so
it looks like I’m really busy because I only do
things sporadically.
LLHG: If there was only one word you
could use to sum yourself up, what would that word be?
JN: Annoying? Um… yeah…
LLHG: Annoying??
JN: No, um. Questioning! No. I don’t
know. Just quiet! Stupid!
LLHG: Just choose one!
JN: Ridiculous!
LLHG: Ridiculous! Ridiculous?
JN: Yeah I think ridiculous maybe!
LLHG: Ok, Ridiculous!
Yup, he’s fairly ridiculous. But, awesome. If you’ve
not checked out his tunes yet, do.
-----------------------------------------
"The
Ladies Love The Talkbox"
My phone call with P-Thugg from...
CHROMEO
Yup,
I got to talk to one of my favourite bands of modern times,
the Montreal-NYC based band Chromeo. Originally hailing
from Montreal, Canada, the band split their time between
their hometown where P-Thugg (I think I can get away with
calling him “Pee” now that we’ve actually
spoken?) has his mega synthy studio and New York where
Dave is currently doing his Ph.D in French Literature
at Columbia University.
The guys met way back in high school and played in many
bands together before officially forming Chromeo. The
name Chromeo has a very random background.
“Well it’s Chrome and Romeo. It’s
the mix of metal and you know, a romantic figure. A bit
of a mix of macho and lover.”
Talking to P-Thugg, it is apparent that he is an old skool
music and vintage gear lover. He spends most of his free
time on tour being a self-proclaimed “nerd”
checking out record and vintage gear shops. The man has
quite the collection of vintage toys and hardware, and
only uses modern equipment to record the final piece in
Pro Tools, rather than for the demos or sounds themselves.
He was even quick to answer my question about what his
favourite synth sound of all time is.
“Probably the MiniMoog Bass from Thriller.
It’s just, you know, one of the warmest and deepest
sounds that I know. I’m a bass player and I love
the synth bass. And I think the perfect example, if I
had to put the synth bass in the dictionary and a description,
I would put that song.“
In addition to being a nerd, P-Thugg is also a cool guy.
The man is a living contradiction! He’s quite confident
that he and Dave are funny guys and it shows in their
music. They don’t take themselves too seriously
and they make their music because they love it, not because
they’re trying to be rock stars. While Dave 1 handles
the main vocals with P-Thugg providing vocal support on
the old Talkbox, Pee reveals that his secret dream was
always to be a lead singer!
“The ladies love the Talkbox. They love
the sound, they love the tubes. I just fell in love with
the Talkbox the first time I heard it on Zapp’s
record, which was More Bounce to the Ounce. I
just knew right there, you know, that I had to try this.
Plus, I’m a really bad singer and my dream has always
been to sing. It allows me to sing without hitting bum
notes. Gives me a beautiful voice.”
Here’s the point in the interview where P-Thugg’s
beard starts dialling out on his iPhone. Probably an attempt
to seek help from my prying questions.
Chromeo have collaborated with many artists via duets
and remixes. Pee likes to keep the collaborations “in
the family” and states that they are not calculated
collaborations, but rather organic and develop naturally.
This band does not do anything it doesn’t want to.
It’s all about being true to themselves.
Chromeo’s influences are rather varied, but most
obviously include 70’s and 80’s funk alongside
some classic rock and even modern artists. Even with all
of their cool collaborations, the one person Pee would
love to collaborate with more than anyone living, is the
late Roger Troutman from Zapp.
“It’s hard to say, I mean I would
love to collaborate with dead people like Roger Troutman.
Yeah, I would like to have a Talkbox duo with Roger Troutman.“
Here’s the point in the interview where P-Thugg
puts me on hold for a few minutes as the hotel try to
get him to check out. I edited it out as what is interesting
about 5 minutes of room tone?
As far as their live shows go, Chromeo are fricking fantastic
live! They’ll be playing London’s O2 Academy
Brixton on November 25th. What can the audience expect
from Chromeo’s live show?
“A lot of fun. A lot of dancing. A lot of
ladies, that’s why the guys come. A lot of Talkbox.“
And what can Chromeo expect from the British audience
in return?
“Drunk English people, that’s my favourite
part. I love London.“
One word to sum up Chromeo? This one was way too easy…
“FUNK”
Thank you to P-Thugg for the chat and to Chromeo for their
amazing music, videos and image. This band bring the FUN
back to Funk. (This cheesy joke is acceptable because
Chromeo aren't pretending to be anything they're not,
so why should I? Cheesy and proud!)
Listen
to the highlights of my interview with P-Thugg:
Abandoman
is a very unique and talented breakthrough improvised
hip hop comedy duo. Man, that was a mouthful. Fronted
by quick-witted Irish charmer Rob Broderick on the freestylin’
vocals, and strongly supported by guitar virtuoso James
Hancox, the duo are no strangers to the festival circuit
and were more than happy to have a chat with me at Apple
Cart Festival in Victoria Park, London.
I was going to completely overlook the fact that I actually
know Rob outside of Abandoman and approach this interview
as completely unbiased. As a disclaimer, I feel it’s
more appropriate to lay it all out on the table. I know
Rob through a longform improv course we’ve been
doing recently with teacher David Shore of Monkey Toast.
Rob is clearly a master of improv, as I’ve had the
luxury to witness in class. I had no idea about his life
outside of class and only happened to come across his
act on the Apple Cart Festival bill as the Comedy Tent
headliners. Wow, I feel naïve – thank goodness
I made this discovery as it was so fantastic to see Abandoman
in action!
During the Apple Cart set, Abandoman graced the stage
with support from a full band to pad out their usual duo
of Rob on vocals and James on guitar. If you’ve
not seen Abandoman in action, check out this video so
you know how awesome they are:
They are super cool. I am a dork.
They
begin their usual set with a show-stealing “warm-up”
exercise entitled “What’s In Your Pocket?”
where they get the audience members to hold up oddities
which they gather from within their pockets and handbags
while Rob spontaneously goes around improv rapping about
some of the various items. According to Rob, since they’ve
gathered a following over the past year or so, some people
come to the show with prepared goods to hold up. The weirdest
that Rob has ever encountered was from a man who worked
in medicine and who'd brought a dead mouse in formaldehyde
for Rob to rap about. The most inappropriate item came
from a stag do when the groom-to-be’s mates gave
Rob his prosthetic leg!
Rob with an audience member
Better oddities than hostility. Abandoman is an act that
greatly depends on audience participation as the songs
are about YOU, the audience member! Rob sees this participation
not only as inspiration for his material, but a chance
for the audience to help create and see their ideas come
to life! This is merely a part of what keeps their audience
coming back for more. Rob’s sharp witticisms through
his fluid way with words is impressive to say the least.
He must think at least 3 sentences ahead of himself at
all times to get out these clever rhymes that are actually
in context! I can barely rhyme a one-syllable word, let
alone couplet after couplet.
Rob grew up in Dublin, where the hip hop scene was less
than prominent. He found his niche in spite of the lack
of mainstream availability and took inspiration from some
of his rap heroes, but is adamant about the fact that
his rap likes are different to his influences.
For an Irish improv hip hop comedy act, Abandoman is quite
the startling name. Nothing shocking about it, it’s
just a bit offbeat. In fact, so offbeat, people often
mistake it for “Abandoned Men” or “Abandonment”
as someone wrote on the Apple Cart comedy tent listing.
Rob and James had entered the Hackney Empire New Act
of the Year 2010 competition (which they went on
to win) and needed a name. They came up with some even
odder rejects which included “The Jazz Pandas”
for one, before settling for “Abandoman” which
comes from “A Band Of Man” – of one
man band beginnings.
Well, as odd and complicated as the name may be, it’s
still better than the former (JAZZ PANDAS??? Really???),
and soon everyone across the nation will know it, and
be able to spell it without that extra “N”.
One Word to sum up Abandoman? “Fluidity”.
Considering that just rolled off Rob’s tongue, who
am I to argue?
To hear the story of Abandoman from the man himself, ladies
and gentlemen, press play:
-----------------------------------------
Nona
Hendryx
Legendary
musican Nona Hendryx is not an obvious household name,
but most people are definitely aware of her body of work.
Forging her early career as a member of Labelle (as in
Patti’s girl group who sang the original LADY MARMALADE),
Nona has had some iconic collaborations with artists such
as Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and more.
In addition to being a prominent singer and songwriter,
Nona is also known for her social activism, speaking very
openly about her stance on Human Rights.
Nona visited London in June to play 3 very special events.
Loose Lips, Hot Gossip was fortunate enough to have a
chat over the phone with the one and only Nona. To be
honest, I was very nervous to speak to someone with such
an admirable musical career. I expected a total diva as
Nona has every right to be one. What I got instead was
one of the nicest women I have ever had the pleasure of
speaking to. I was going to write up an article about
this interview, but nobody says it as good as Nona herself.
I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as
I did conducting it:
Omg I can’t believe my voice sounds like that…
Did I take valium? How many times did I say “I
was wondering…” But doesn’t Nona
sound like such a sweetheart!? And a very interested and
interesting woman on the whole.
Even though she’s had a career spanning decades,
worked with the greats, is a great herself, she still
struggled with our usual question of “if there is
only one word that could sum you up… what would
that word be?”.
Ladies and gentleman, Nona Hendryx, one talented, funky
but chic, and “alive” lady.
As
we mentioned in our review
of the MEN gig as part of the Shockwaves NME Awards
shows, you may recognize MEN lead JD Samson from the band
Le Tigre. Often noted for their political, feminist &
LGBT themes which were prevalent in their awesome tunes,
JD Samson has taken what she learned from Le Tigre and
evolved it as the part of the Brooklyn-based band and
art collective MEN. Along with JD, I got the pleasure
to speak to MEN’s only literal man, Michael O’Neill.
Starting off her studies in art college, JD had the fortune
of meeting founding Le Tigre member Sadie Benning, which
forged her path into music as another means of artistic
expression.
JD: I was
in college for art and I met Sadie Benning, and then she
asked me to go on tour with Le Tigre for their first tour.
And then she left the project and suddenly I was in the
band. That’s how all of a sudden I was in music.
I always kind of considered myself primarily an artist
even though I’m in the music industry. Like I conceptualize
the music more as an artform than just
being an album that you sell in music.
As part of the visually artistic aspect of MEN, JD is
also spending her efforts designing the band’s visuals
and costumes. A sore point at the moment as Michael has
just lost his costume in The Netherlands… of all
places…
MICHAEL: We’re laughing
because I left my costume in The Netherlands and so JD
had to make a whole new one today. So, there’s paint
drying in the other room actually…
JD: It’s just,
it had to happen in Holland.
PHOTO BREAK:
The band MEN started with Le Tigre alum Johanna Fateman
joining JD in writing music. After Johanna got pregnant
and opted out from touring with the band, JD gathered
her other side project members, Michael and Ginger from
Hirsute, and went for it with MEN. JD and Michael seem
to be the last men (no pun intended) standing for the
touring side of MEN as the other members no longer could
be slaves to the traveling of the project. Tami Hart is
currently on tour with the band in lieu of Ginger Brooks
Takahashi.
The name MEN came from the days of the band that consisted
of Johanna Fateman and JD Samson as co-writers.
JD: Originally
it was because Johanna had... this philosophy of living
that was like a kind of confidence boosting feminist thing,
which was what would a man do in this situation.
So it’s like a way for you to be like I’m
not going to apologize for myself or feel insecure.
I’m gonna be confident and strong and stick up for
myself. So that’s how it started, and then I think
since then it’s kind of become more of like an umbrella
term to describegender fluidity and
also just kind of like men as beings,
as humans, like men as in the greater term of humans.
If you’ve heard the band’s album Talk
About Body, which is out now, you will likely notice
the politically themed lyrics. Somehow this band manages
to state their socio-political beliefs through their music
without coming across as preachy. A rare feat for bands
making such strong social statements.
JD: Well, I think
partly it’s because we’re not preaching -
we’re talking to our friends and
our people... I think a lot of it is not
using the word I. I think that we often use the
word we, and us and stuff, and I think
that that makes it have a touch of like it’s just
sentimental. Like realizations of feelings,
and I don’t know… I think that helps.
MICHAEL: We didn’t
even start with a mission like we’re
going to be political… it’s just sort of like,
we kind of just ended up being political or something,
you know. It’s just kind of like who we are and
what we do everyday. You know, what we think about, not
like a mission to conquer the world with our beliefs or
anything.
JD: Yeah, like I
don’t feel like we’re trying to change people’s
minds. I feel like we’re trying to bring people
together to share our common belief
or goal.
Asking if the band ever felt pressure to compromise
their beliefs or sell out to please the masses, the conversation
took a bit of a turn for the weird with MEN’s tour
manager suggesting Butt Implants, which JD mistook for
Button Pants (see 5:10 in the audio file to hear
what I’m talking about).
As JD has been doing DIY music since the days of Le Tigre,
she is an expert on how the music industry has changed
over the years.
JD: I mean,
really putting this record out was like a major
shock to me because everything that I had known before
was really very different. I mean, when Le Tigre’s
records came out, even in our last record, the Internet
was just in a really different place.....
I think that’s something really interesting - that
DIY musicians from ten years ago are actually the people
who know what they’re doing now because they don’t
have to learn…
And our usual question to terrify our interviewee subjects:
LLHG: If
there’s one word that could sum up MEN, besides
MEN obviously, what would that word be?
MICHAEL: Women.
JD: Do I answer
separately? (long pause)… God….
(long pause)… that’s my answer!
*May
I suggest the word "Like"? Works on a few levels....
whilst transcribing, I noticed that JD and Michael do
say the word 'like' a lot. I have edited a few 'likes'
out for the sake of readability. Don't worry... they're
all still there in the audio for all you like likers out
there (myself included). ♥ ♡ ♥ ♡
If you can’t get enough of MEN,
listen to the full interview below:
"The
Ladies Love The Talkbox"
