THE BREEDERS

- ok, lets do some questions

Kim - one question, one song

- ok, well first of all I want you to all introduce yourselves

(band does this)

Rich - I'm Rick
Kim - RICK!! RICK!! haha

- that doesn't count as the first question though, its so I can tell the difference...!

Kelley - ok

- so what have you all been up to since the last time? Its been so long

Kim - slowly destroying myself..... whaddayoubeendoin?

- waiting for your new record!!!

Kelley - ooh there you go, good answer! good comeback

-does that mean we get a song now?

Kim and Kelley - yeaaaaah!

- play something by The Cult! ooh She Sells Sanctuary (rest of room crack up laughing)

Richard starts singing in mad Ian Astbury voice and rest of band join in

Kelley -I don't know this song

Kim la la's along

-okay, so, next question, how have all the shows gone? coming back over here again, playing live again....

Kelley - we've only done three shows
Kim - Kelley says (everyone laughs)
Kelley - that's good, that's good - I like that
Kim - says Kelley. Kelley squeals!
Kelley - she laughed, no she laughed. Thats not a squeal!
Kim - I'm doing your starway, like the sun. (moves up to mic) Kelley squealed with excitement
Kelley - soooo.... the shows went really good (pulls face)
Kim - squealed Kelley with excitement (cracks up laughing)
Kelley - this is gonna be really hard jo,

- I can cope, I've had a vodka

Rich - ooooooohhhhhhh

- say like the Water Rats last week, that was fantastic!

Kelley - it was great, it was really good fun. were you there?

-yeah! too right! I was right down the front!!

Kim - really?

- yeah! (voice goes wibbly, Rich copies me) too right!!!

Kelley - the ATP, they were good. The boys have never played over here before

- really!

Kim - the lads

Rich - known as the lads-eh
Mando - the lads-eh?
Kelley - so what was it like playing over here to an english audience?
Rich - the same
Kim - answer Mark E Smith style!
Rich - (does mark e smith impression)

- you should do a Fall song next

Kim - yeah! do you know any Fall songs
Rich - no (another Mark E Smith impression)
Mando - that's the new single
Jose - do that classic one off the first record!!
Rich - (another Mark E Smith impression)
Mando - man I love that song!

- I wish I'd gone now - its been so long since I've seen them

Kelley - I've never seen em and I thought they were great!
Kim - did you go to ATP?

- nope

Kim - they were weir-d

ATP sounds pretty strange anyway, with the whole holiday camp thing

Kim -and I'd peeked around.... Kim squealed (laughs) in delight... (cracks up) I'd peeked around the corner and he was leaving the stairs, but I thought they were leaving but they were waiting for somebody, so they were just waiting and their faces were up. And I peeked around to look because we were on next and I was all...... he was staring cause he was looking up there so I said "I thought you were gonna turn into a bat and fly away" he says "WHAT?" "I thought you were gonna turn into a bat and fly away"
Rich - (makes Mark E Smith noise)
Kelley - oh, that's such a compliment to give someone though "I thought you were gonna turn into a bat and fly away." god thanks!

- so your third album is coming out in a couple of weeks.. so tell us a bit about it....! (pause...) it was recorded with Steve Albini again, wasn't it... and.....
Kim - yep.
Kelley - its called Title TK. Which is journalistic slang for "title to come" which is kind of funny because
(Kim blows nose)
Kim - Kim squealed with delight, mumbles something
Kelley - whaaat?
Kim - nothin (laughs)
Kelley - Kim's drunk. OH GOD. Anyway. People. So whats the fuckin question, I forgot
Kim - what you been doin for the last 9 years
Kelley - oh! no! she said to talk about the album! Its called Title Tk which is journalisic lingo for Title to come which is kind of funny as its seen as being "oft delayed" which is not really the case, it came out exactly when it was meant to come out

- are you going to put out any more singles from the album?

Kelley - I dunno. The single thing is a weird thing

- because you've already put out ‘Off You'

Kelley - you see what usually happens is, what the music industry does is they do "push tracks" which they give you a sample of the album or something like that and they don't really give the album to the radio station and they say "we suggest this one and this one and this one" and I guess they do that. I dunno how it works, I don't work in the industry. I don't work in the music industry. I really don't (Kim cracks up). Honestly. Funnily enough. Thats what they do. I think. push tracks, you know. And so - THEN - for instance with Cannonball, it gets picked up by radio and it became a single and it was released as a single so erm
Kim - in America

- and over here

Kim - oohh.... oh.
Kelley - okay. was Divine Hammer released as a single?

- yep

Kelley - oh okay!

- but ‘Saints' wasn't

Kelley - Saints wasn't, okay.

- it was only released in Canada and somewhere else like that um (bumbling stops talking)

Kelley - and so er we release this single, record. one of the push tracks is called ‘Huffer' and there's several and I know its getting radio in the US now. Whether its a single or not, I don't know.

- how did you meet the other three..... (feels stupid calling them the other three when they're in the room)

Kim - the lads!
Rich - the lads!
Jose - lad number three, go ahead.

-how did you all meet up?

Kelley - batchelor number one
Rich - we met by chance in Old New York
Kim - Old New York?
Rich - yeah. We were at a bar. We got drunk
(Kim starts laughing)
Kim - its true too
Rich - we met. She invited us over to her studio to Jam out. And we did
Kim - I did not say the words "jam out"
Rich - no you said "rock out"
Kim - fuck you!!! do you know what I said. I said "the bars closed right now, but there's beers like two blocks down, you wanna go?" and they went "ooooakay!"
Rich - our eyes lit up
Kim - your ives it up? can you do Debbie Boon
Rich - she's not on Beggars Banquet. Is Debbie Boon on Beggars Banquet?

-no

Kim - okay we gotta do another song now

- it can only be a Beggars one, cause we can only play those ones on the radio at the moment

Kim - we're only doing Beggars songs

Rich launches into Huffer in a really high voice

Kim - you fucker!!! every time he does me he makes me sound like a 15 year old
Mando - a duck
Kim - a retarded girl. is that pc to use?
Kelley- simple

- I was gonna ask about a song that didn't make it to the album ‘Fire The Maid' - you've not played it live over here even!

Kelley - hm! ohhhhh!
Kim - squealed Kelley with exclaim
Kelley - Kim didn't like that song

- I heard you were doing votes at your gigs asking who wanted it on the album

Kelley - that was once... same thing happened on Last Splash actually.... she had this song ‘I Just Wanna Get Along' couple of years old or whatever, and I was "what about that song? I love that song!" she's like "I don't like it" "I like it!"
Kim- then you sing it. Well then you sing it
Kelley - okay. So we sang it and it made the final cut. And a similar thing happened with Fire The Maid. Except this one, it didn't make the final cut.
Kim - I still don't like that song
Kelley - I know you don't
Kim - I just don't know...
Kelley - I know, we're gonna fix it
Kim - you guys don't like it do you?
Jose/Rich/Mando - I like it
Kim - (creases up)

Rich starts playing Fire the Maid in a silly voice

Kim - do Cannonball

Rich plays Cannonball and silly Kim voice and gets everyone giggling

Kelley - its that subtle vocal effect

- what about the Buffy song? will you ever record that?

Rich plays it

- are you ever going to do a proper recorded version of that?

Kim - it never occurred to me
Rich - Its already done by Nerf Herder

- you could always cover it

Kim - you know Nerf Herder?

- yeah, I've heard of them

Kelley - some people who work on the set of the show, heard that we play it. They came to the show in LA, the last one we did and they introduced themselves to us after the show .. and we were all "oooh what kind of swag can we get"
Kim - We wnated to play At The Bronze. You know on the show they've got the entertainment at The Bronze, there are bands. The guitarist in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whatsisname
Rich & Kelley - Dave Navarro?
Kim - HIS band played. At the Bronze. Or was it Charmed? It was Charmed. But we want to try and play on The Bronze, like Willow's gettin bit, in the neck
Rich - from me
Kim - from Rich
Rich - I wanna bite her
Kim - you're the one that likes her, right? You like Willow?
Rich - She's cute
Kim - do you guys like anybody?
Mando - I'm not familiar with the show. I'm in love with the girl that's in American Pie.
Kim - I'm not wastin my fuckin life on that fuckin show (not sure what she's referring to)
Kelley - okay, is it time for a song or a question?

- I think a question

Rich - AAAAAAAAAAA

- that'll give you time to think of a song then

Kim - okay.,

- How long before the next album? Are you gonna start writing new stuff?

Kelley - in a year
Rich - one year.
Kelley - I want it out in a year, this is Kelley talkin
Kim - Kelley squealed

- and if it doesn't come out, is there a Kelley album planed?

Kim - a double album! a double album in a year
Rich - what they don't know is that we already have one finished and ready to go
everyone - shhhhhhhhh
Rich - oops sorry about that
Kelley - oot and aboot
Rich - oot and aboot
Kim - did you do Cars yet? do your Cars

- yeah!

starts playing Gary Numan's cars

- you should sing! (Kim shakes her head)

starts singing

Kim - how do the lyrics go? here in my car? he's doin something in his car. I dunno what though. What else is there though?
Mando - question

- okay, so while you're busy being in The Breeders, you're also in Fear.

Rich - yeah
Kelley - Richard and Mando

- will it ever clash?

Mando - no
Kelley - they're playing May 9th
Kim - well we know they are. Jose's band are opening

- you should do a triple header tour!

Rich - Kim and Kelley will be singing on one of our songs
Kim - here, here, we're gonna do I Don't Care About You, come on
Rich says something really quietly
Kim - and it goes something like this

Rich starts ‘I Don't Care About You' with band singing vocals on chorus

- so, Kim you've been signed to 4AD now for 14 years or something like that

Kim - oh hell yeah. mmm hmmm. mmm hmmm. 1986 a very long time

- did you know it was 10 years ago the other day the Pixies played their last ever gig?

Kim - somebody told me that
Kelley in english accent - played your last gig 10 years ago todaaay

- that was quite a good accent there

Kelley - oh really?
Kim - they're weird. They're still weird. They've always been weird, they always will be weird. 4AD. Vaughan, still there. Well, ish I guess. Still. Weird. Ed and Chris are not. They're weird.
Kelley - they're weird
Kim - they're weird.

-in what way?

Kim - weird. D'you know. Albini's weird. He's weird.
Kelley - Richard was setting Chris, one of the guys at 4AD up with a joke
Rich - whats the definition of "unabridged"
Kim - answer the question

- uuuuuuhhnnuuhh (brain goes dead)

Kelley -so this guy went to Oxford, or something like that
Rich - he's really smart - he goes into this lengthly definition of what this word is
Kelley - so like 15 minutes later with him trying to explain.. tell em
Rich - the definition of unabridged is a river you have to swim across

- tell us some of your jokes (he'd previously said some at the Water Rats gig)

Kim - oooh I gotta good one snigger... oh forget it
Kelley - is it bad?
Kim - what is the difference between a blonde and a mosquito

- dunno

Kim - one of them stops sucking when you slap it

- ouch!

Rich - what do you call two mexicans playing basketball?

- dunno

Rich - juan on juan

- haha. ok, so what are you all going to do now? you've done these dates, you're going back to America, then you're coming back in June

Rich - May

- may?

Rich - we start in Dublin

- ohh yeah

Rich - we're "doublin" back

- ahaahaa

Kim - oh dearrrrr I quit

- so then you're going all round Europe

Jose - 5 weeks
Kim - we don't have a schedule
Rich - we have two weeks off then we go on tour around America
Kim - do a song!

(Mando and Jose leave the room, for a smoke break)

Kim - give me one!
Kelley - we're gonna try do three shows in Mexico, and we're doing Reading

- oooh really!

Kelley - the festival

- excellent! its the best tent too cause you can escape from the wet there,

Rich - thats the cool stage, right?

- too right!

Kelley - too roight!

- oh no I didn't did I? got an accent

Kelley - oh no
Kim - where you from?

- York

Kim - thats north
Rich - old York

- as opposed to the new one. Near Leeds

Kim - I played Leeds. Its not called New Leeds!!

- no no

Kelley - phew
Kim - like they changed it to New Leeds?

- if I'd told you that would you have believed me?

Kim - yeah

- oooooh

Kelley (laughs) - jo's starting to think...

- Kelley I was going to ask about your bags

Kelley - yes, handbags I make purses, I knit
Kim - obsessively
Kelley - obsessively, yes

- can people still buy them easily?

Kelley - yeah, cause I'm like over here, its not like I have fifty mexicans working for me
Rich - awwwwww no you only have three
Kim cackles
Kelley - so its not like I have a sweatshop in an office or anything, I hand knit each one

- so like each one is totally Kelley

Kelley - yeah, each one is different, and I sell them via my website, I'm not there right now, but I don't have a laptop yet, I'm going to get one, but I don't have one yet

- I saw you had the site, as well as the Breeders part, is that the official Breeders site?

Kelley - well it is for us

- cause you haven't really got one - there's a really cool fan-site

Kelley - oh yeah! No Aloha? That's actually...
Kim - and you can link up to Kell's site by going through NoAloha
Kelley - and you should because there's Suckers Parole...

- also, is it true you made a font?

Kelley - yeah! I did yeah!

- can you still get it anywhere? someone has been asking

Kim - that's weird isn't it
Kelley - that's weird
Kim - we were talking about this before
Kelley - its called Saltwater
Kim - they check your font right? is that what they do?
Kelley - I'm sorry?
Kim - check your font? rip it off? they take it off? and use it?
Kelley - they can

- I think you can download it for free?

Kelley - yeah, on something called Chank Fonts
Kim - whats that?
Kelley - a guy called Chank, from St Pauls, Minnesota um Minneapolis and he's really into fonts and stuff and music
Rich - is he a chinaman?
Kelley - no he's not. but yeah, its called Saltwater, I wanted to do a font like tears

- ah right, I had a look and there was nothing obvious saying it was you

Kelley - he's got lots of links in there, you know. I actually need to get it again

- I found it hard to find - well it was a while ago (http://www.dafont.com/en/voir.php?libelle=Saltwater)

Kelley - yeah, it was 97
Kim - I don't have a computer, I have no idea what you're talking about

- oh no! you need a computer!

Kim - no thanks...

- ah right cause I was gonna ask about the All Wave stuff, cause that's all anti-computer, isn't it?

Kim - well its not really anti-digital, its really anti-anti-analog, hmmm

- explain

Kim - well, when I was trying to record once, I was thinking I was recording, I was by myself in the studio in New York City and I was playing the drums regular speed and laying back on the bass guitar, really laying back, far back so that the kick drum and the bass guitar would flam when the notes hit - it sounded cool. And then I was gonna put a moog... Brainiac - have you heard of them?

- yeah

Kim - well I had Timmy's moog, and I was gonna lay down that moog in the seam with this big width or pulsating mass, going (then mimics The She noise) and in my head it sounded cool, and I was walking around the studio for two days, thinking "whats wrong" cause you have to leave the control room to record, I was thinking "what the fuck am I doing wrong? why is that sound so bad?" and then some friends came and visited, this graph writer, Carl, came and visited, they were in the control room and I'd done playing "you know he's taking the first two measures of your drum and the first and the third bassnote and he's looped it" so for two days I'm goin around goin "why doesn't it sound fucking like I fucking recorded it?" and we're going tape, tapes spinning, we're goin, right? the ProTools was on because he had to do his bills, and that's why the monitor was on. and I've been sat here for two days, going "this sounds funny" and that guy's sampled me! now if I'm sampled, I'm gonna be the one that picks it! And I specifically said I'm just going to tape, I specifically said it. So that's not anti-digital, that's anti analog. That's just like being a prick. Though it does make you realise that actually I do have to check this every point, even mastering,

- you came over here for the mastering, didn't you?

Kim - there's not that many places that will do analog mastering - that's the half inch plays and it goes to the lathe. the lathe cuts a groove in your album - it used to be black lacquer and now its metal alloy that's got this beautiful copper stuff so when the lathe cuts the groove out, the stuff you see, thats vacuumed out, is beautiful copper shavings, its called Swarf.
Kelley - its where they have a name for the negative space on the record - thats called swarf.
Kim - I saw it accumulate in the back of the machine and I said to the guy Steve Rourke, "hey man, can I have that?" cause I was gonna give it to Vaughan Oliver, cause it looked absolutely beautiful and it was in a container, he was "yeah, I'll give it to you tomorrow" cause we had the 10" single, and the album to actually cut, and when it was done, he gave it to me in a plastic bag, cause you can't touch it because its metal shavings it'll cut your skin like insulation or something, so I put it in the little bag and gave it to Vaughan, the v23 guys.
Kelley - what did they say when you gave it to em?
Kim - errrr I dunno. What would you do if I say "here! I kept the swarf!!" so what do you do, snort it or shoot it? (cracks up) And you know, they ended up using that swarf, and I don't know if they know what I'm talking about, or if I even explained it thoroughly, and it ended up being on the cd itself! The swarf is on the cd!! I don't even know if they'd get how funny that was, I saw it and was "pfft! good place" and they went "hmmm" they might know.
Kelley - they probably do
Kim - yeah
Kelley - I dunno
Kim - I dunno
Kelley - I dunno. we'll have to ask them.

- I just wanted to ask, to finish off, whats coming up? what can we expect from The Breeders now? And will we see another Kelley solo record?

Kelley - oh I don't know
Kim - double album

- you could do loads of different versions of Fire The Maid...

Kim - ahaahahahahaa I'M GONNA KILL YOUUUUUUU

- oh Kim you must like it.....

Kim - uh-uh. There's some points of it I like, I dunno.
Kelley - I'm gonna fix it, I'm gonna fix it. It will be on the next record.

- cool!

Kelley - we've got to end with a song

- yep. Its got to be a Beggars Banquet song. What about the Icicle Works?

Kim - mmmmmm!
(Rich looks puzzled)
Kim - you don't know that? that's totally bad.
Kelley - 80's metal?
Rich - when in doubt, whip to metal.

- what about Bauhaus?

Rich - ohhhh! erm. All I know from Bauhaus is their version of Ziggy Stardust.
Kim - lets hear it!
Mando - do you not have any metal bands?

- well there's not really metal bands, but there's rock bands. but there's not really metal. Metals more you're kind of "WAAAAY" thing with metal, rather than just rock.

Rich- we could do The Cult again?

- yeah, baby baby baby baby....

Rich - ohhhhhhhhh

- yeah, do that one! especially for backcatalogue

(launches into Love Removal Machine)

everyone launches into fits of giggles and Rich does mad Ian Astbury vocal

Kelley - I've never heard this song either
Kim - are they all still alive? Wasn't one of them going to kill himself?
Rich - noooo that was Depeche Mode.
Kelley -ohhhhhh

- no, The Cult reformed, and have just been dropped by Atlantic. Major labels suck.

Rich - did you hear Duran Duran got dropped?

- noooo

Rich - they got their original line up

- they were the first band I ever saw live.

Kelley - nooo!
Kim - we were just talking about that - first concerts

- what were yours then?

Kim - first?

- yeah!

Kim - first?

Kim - I'd call it Blood Sweat and Tears. with Dad. and mom. and you. and probably Kevin.
Kelley - I don't remember which was first. probably The Carpenters.
Kim - oh my god, yeah, that's right.

- ohh totally unrelated but you just reminded me - about Collage, on the Mod Squad soundtrack. It doesn't sound like you at all!

Kim - thats good!

- I was really suprised when I heard it, as I didn't know if it was the right song

Kim - its this old song, its a b-side, yeah, its on the other side of "Maybe" and it was dad's 45.
Kelley - its the Three Degrees

- so is it just the two of you?

Kim - yeah
Kelley - well yeah - she bought it by mistake, she went to the record store to buy a 45 called "Maybe" or a song called "Maybe" that we liked, and we bought this one, and it was wrong
Kim - its Prince Charles's favourite song
Kelley - I heard that
Kim - why is that wrong if "Collage" is on the back of "Maybe"? Then that was the right single? well we just got obsessed with the b-side and its this old 74 song, sung on the Mod Squad, and I wanted to be blonde! I wanted long blonde hair so bad. Peggy Lipton.
Kelley - Julie
Kim - yeah. She turns around, looks out the corner, a little out of breath, (sighs) (Kelley laughs), she keeps goin, on the tv introduction.
Kelley - for the show - for the old show.
Kim - yeah, so we were a bit obsessed with this anyway. Yeah! kickin ass without a gun!
Kelley - without a flaw in her hair
Kim - damn right! whooomp!
Kelley - exactly

- oh I did wonder! oh and you three, what was your first gig as well?

Rich - I saw Quiet Riot at the Roxy in Hollywood
Mando - I saw the Scorpions
Jose - Soldier Field, cheap trick (I can hardly hear this) . I went with my Uncle. Bless his heart. Bless his truck driving heart.
Kim - is he still alive, Jose?
Jose - yeah
Kim - does he remember taking you to the show? " I was in a blackout son, I don't even remember your name"
Jose - I visit once in a while. Of course.

(lots of chatter)

band then records some trailers for the station