SPOON INTERVIEW

Absolutely everything went wrong with this interview. Britt Daniel and I played e-mail tag until we finally got it together to meet at an Irving Plaza Guided by Voices show for which Spoon was opening. I sent the final confirmation e-mail and I got no reply. Huh? The last few e-mails seemed so definite. I was pissed. I thought, once again, in classic rock and roll tradition, I’m getting a snow-job from a lead singer on one of his little whims. Just great.

I had tickets so I went anyway. There he was. Britt Daniel. Blonde hair flapping all over the place rockin’ out in true form, hunky as ever in that all-American kind of way. I knew all the lyrics. I noticed much of the sold-out audience knew them too. Girls Can Tell is still on my rotation. Still pissed, I managed to enjoy the whole show even though said hunk blew me off.

Afterwards, I watch GbV. What can I say? Bob Pollard hadn’t looked this good in two years and the leg kicks were higher than ever. As he gave the front row beer from the band’s cooler, I looked over to the V.I.P. area where bands, managers, journalists, invited groupies etc. hang out. Since there was no interview being conducted, I wasn’t invited. There was Britt. I frowned and watched the end of the GbV show and bolted.

The following day there’s an e-mail from Britt. The bastard is e-mailing me to tell me how sorry he is he couldn’t do the interview I say to myself lighting a cigarette and almost chose to ignore it. But I can’t. It reads something like, "Where were you? I searched the whole V.I.P. area for you." Needless to say, this wasn’t a good omen for things to come. We manage to put together a phoner and it gets worse.

I call Britt’s number - no girls, I’m not giving it out - and he picks up. The first thing I notice is that he’s not as laid back a rocker as I imagined... that is, most of the time they’re really mellow on the phone. But with the history of Britt having to explain his ex-relationship with Elektra I figure he’s had it with those questions and is on guard. Trying to feel him out, I talk about the show. He seems flattered but is still a little stiff but cool nonetheless. We talk for about twenty minutes when I notice my tape recorder had died sometime into the interview and I can’t exactly stop everything to figure it all out. After all, I’d fucked up already, not getting the interview at the show to begin with. Britt’s going to think I’m a moron.

I grab a pen and start writing longhand, which I haven’t done since high school.

It’s an interesting thing, I tell him, that they released three albums on different labels. There is a silence that screams back-off-bitch coming through the phone and I’m worried that I’ve made a big mistake. He’s come off, so far, as a brooding and intellectual, as opposed to the usual drunken slurring-every-word lead singer in most bands. He rationally says, "We weren’t sure we were a band anymore after Sneaks. Merge (owned and operated by Superchunk's Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance) was the only label who would talk to us. We couldn’t even get a small indie to listen to Girls Can Tell!" Huh?  Am I hearing right?  One of the best albums of the year and they couldn't find a label?

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