Hanging Out With Billy and Jimmy
November 9th, 2008 by christags: news, interview, radio
As previously reported, Billy and Jimmy appeared on WXRP with Matt Pinfield for an extended interview. WXRP’s website has posted the interview in three parts (mp3, mp3, mp3), so you too can hear their thoughts on…
…young vs. old fans…
Jimmy: Our fans…they like to claim ownership, and everybody has their own version of ownership especially in these days when you are living in the YouTube world and everybody wants their YouTube moment, so I think what used to be an endearing rabid(?) fan has now turned into the entitled “I want what I want and I want it now and I’ve already seen the highlight reel so only play the hits at the concert”. You know it’s a difficult time right now to be a rabid fan.
Billy: The thing that shocked us was that we found from the younger fan a lot more of the curiosity about where we were going and the older fan was the one who was like “can you just play the hits?” So we had this crazy divide where we would go into one city and a very young fanbase for whatever reason would go insane for the concerts and then we would go to the next city and play for an older group of fans and they’d be disappointed because we didn’t play enough hit songs.
…Jimmy’s explanation on why Asheville’s residency was better than San Francisco…
Jimmy: I think it’s kind of interesting to, looking back at both those experiences, I think what’s interesting to me is to see the difference between being in a real kind of geological energy center that really has a consistent resonance, planetary resonance, and being in a place that kind of has a fake manufactured resonance where you have rich hippies with expense accounts.
…the 20th anniverary setlist…
Jimmy: We don’t really look at it in any kind of mathematical way, we just kind of - as far as old songs go - we just kind of pick the ones that are fun to play and the ones that are still resonating with us. But we kind of look at the whole set as a complete painting.
Billy: I think what we’ve figured out in the year and a half since we came back is that what the fans want more than hit songs is excitement. And if the hit song provides that level of excitement then that’s fine but not every hit song provides that level of excitement so we’ve tried to crank up that level of excitement at our concerts and it’s the most excitement we’ve seen come out of the crowds since probably since ‘96.
…plans for future releases…
Billy: We’re trying to figure out a way to release music in a new way, and I don’t mean just like on the internet. Maybe there’s a different way to release music in terms of a pattern in which you release it, more multimedia-related. So maybe an album would come out more over time, and it would come out in pieces and then at some point you assemble it with some other stuff and put it out in a different configuration. Not ask a fan to put all their marbles in one place and then love it or hate it and go away. I think that model is dead.
…plans for future live events…
Billy: We were talking the other day…this is a live thing…thinking about maybe going into a town and going a four day event, so maybe it would be something like the first night would be like a dinner and like a Q&A and then the next day we would play in essence a conventional concert. Maybe the third day it would be more of like a Storytellers thing, and then the fourth day we would play another concert. So a fan could basically buy a four-day experience with us, very intense experience with us, and maybe we could even do multiple ones in the same city so that we could write some new songs while we’re doing this. And if you’re the fan who just wants to go to one show you could buy the one-show ticket, but you also give people the option to go and do the entire experience and by doing so get the level of intimacy. I think there’s lots of new opportunities out there now that we’re getting the major labels and their sort of dogmatic system of how they control things and why they control things out of the way.
…politics…
Matt Pinfield: Did you guys vote?
Billy: I’m not a voter. That’s my controversial position. But I’m very happy.
Jimmy: I’m a voter but I didn’t vote because I’m in the process of moving and have a new address.
Billy: Is it better to be a nonvoter or a voter who didn’t vote?
There’s a lot of interesting stuff there about the band’s relationship with the fans, which Billy likens to a romantic relationship, so you’ll want to listen to the whole thing.
November 9th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
i listened to this the other day. it’s a great interview.
if that 4-day experience thing ever happens, I would be all over that
November 9th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Wow — Thanks for transcribing this, Chris — a great read and I can’t wait to listen to it. You know, after seeing them the last three nights, their comments really resonated with me regarding the fans.
I think there’s a distinct third group too — old fans that are really excited and curious about the upcoming / ongoing material. I think the blog sits pretty squarely in this group, and I think that group is growing, but I can see why it’s fairly black/white to them. I’ll definitely share my thoughts on this week’s podcast. :)
November 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Corgan doesn’t vote… But he gets to bitch about being spied on by Bush. I don’t think so. I think non-voters really should just lie when asked.
November 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
PS Chamberlin is crazier than Corgan, now. That’s a high bar.
November 9th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Great interview. One of the best I’ve heard in a long time.
November 9th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I agree completely (in spite of my snarky comments)
November 9th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Count me in that 3rd group.
I’m looking forward to listening to this. Matt is a great interviewer; he really knows his stuff, he’s a genuine music fan who is very enthusiastic and not full of attitude despite his experience/knowledge, and he seems to really bring the best out of his musical guests.
I say this based on his days hosting 120 minutes; I admit I haven’t been listening to his radio program.
November 9th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
after listening to this, can someone upload Adore Demos II? That’s where that song “Jersey Shore” is on. I only have Adore Demos I.
November 9th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Cheers for the transcript
November 9th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
A Jersey Shore upload would be nice, I haven’t heard it…
November 9th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
http://www.rspaa.org/rspaa/Demos/Adore%20Demos%20II%20%7BStArSeEd%7D/
November 9th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
:-O Thanks melanie
November 10th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Planetary resonance?
Wtf?
November 10th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Check out this LiveJournal post from today - it’s like the perfect example of the entitled older fan (though one who is redeemed by humor):
http://u2jok3r.livejournal.com/2833.html
November 10th, 2008 at 12:43 am
BTW, Brain? I win our bet!
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?f=Hot+Modern+Rock+Tracks&pageNumber=Top+11-20&g=Singles
November 10th, 2008 at 12:54 am
How high did Tarantula get, again?
November 10th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Jersey Shore is surprisingly good…
Puts me in the mind of Tom Waits, oddly…
November 10th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Tarantula made it to #2. The bet was whether GLOW would peak higher than did That’s the Way, which only got to #23.
rC: “last Empire”
November 10th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I do believe I remember that bet, or at least some discussion about the song’s chart placement.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Re: …Jimmy’s explanation on why Asheville’s residency was better than San Francisco…
I think the “resonance” jimmy is referring to can be attributable moslty to size. sure in asheville they were the front page story and the whole town was turned upside down by their presence, but you can’t expect the same thing in san fran. sure its a shadow of what it used to be, but between the rise and fall of the fillmore and the the whole haight ahsbury scene, esepecially a scene improtant to the bands’ influecenses, i don’t think he really believes it all to be “manufactored resonance” but rather just manufactored today, relative to what it used to be.
i think its probably just an issue with clashing expectations and size. in san fran the world moved on while SP came through, relative to asheville at least. watchign If All Goes Wrong, similar moments could have been documented from both residencies, though the bands attitude would vary. even during the supposedly “dead” show they played to open the fillmore, there was plenty of isolated pockets of positive energy in that crowd. i saw it with mine own eyez. i’m sure by their estimation, which is completely valid of course, the overall energey was certainly down…but for the reasons above. not due to lack of “planetary resonance”.
jimmy — if you’re reading this, you’re the man! but lets keep it real. drbenway is right….you’re starting to sound like billy! ;-)
November 12th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[…] than a week after doing a radio interview with Matt Pinfield on WXRP in New York, Billy and Jimmy entered another radio studio for another extended interview. […]