The Pixies are one of the most influential bands in recent history and they are currently celebrating one of the longest and most successful comebacks of all time.
The band continues to dazzle fans both old and new and after two decades finally delivered amazing new music in the form of “EP1” and “EP2.” In anticipation of the upcoming show at the Fox Theater in Oakland on February 21, I called up Joey and spoke to him about the new music, Jimmy Fallon, and his vinyl record collection.
Congrats on the release of two new EPs. I know you decided to do this on your own, but were the labels banging on your door to release this music?
Yeah, that’s what our manager said then I forgot who they were. I’m really not into the business side.
What could a major label do for you that you guys couldn’t do for yourself at this stage in your career? Was it even an option or were you going to self-release the new stuff all along?
I don’t understand what the role of the record label is right now; I think they are mostly for distribution and publicity. We have that, we already have a publicist and distribution and that’s all we really need—that’s it. The role of the record label is almost kaput, that’s what I’m thinking.
I don’t know if I’m right, but I certainly don’t like the way they do the business with young bands. They give them three months and if it doesn’t stick on the wall then they forget about it and the poor band then has to recuperate the album. I mean that’s just a shitty way of doing business.
Why did it take 20 years to give the fans new music and what was the deciding factor to actually do so?
We always said that it would have to be organic. We really didn’t think about when it would happen, we were just too busy touring. We just had to make time for it. The breaks we had in between were not really the best time to go into the studio and practice new stuff. I suppose we would have recorded while on the road, but we are shitty multi-taskers.
Where is the most unusual place that you’ve heard your music over the years?
That’s a good one; the most unusual place would be Fenway Park. It was during the World Series and the Yankees back then would play “Monkey Gone to Heaven” when the pitcher was going to be changed, when Paulson came. It was sort of like “get out of here” and they would play that song instead of “Goodbye (Hey Hey Hey)” or Sly the Family Stone or whatever.
Did you have any idea that it was going to played?
No, no idea. We heard it and we were like, what the hell is this?
So you released both EPs on vinyl I’m wondering are you a big fan of vinyl yourself—do you have a collection?
Yes, I have a big collection of vinyl. I listen to a lot of jazz because you can really feel it filling the room. Anything engineered by Rudy Van Gelder I like, it’s guaranteed to be good coming from that guy.
Any prized pieces in your collection that maybe you don’t play but you just kind of hold in your hand and worship or anything like that?
I’ve got a copy of Who Are You on red vinyl that’s labeled wrong. Both sides are labeled side two. I always wonder if this thing its worth any money.
You guys debuted the new music last year on the Jimmy Fallon Show. Does Jimmy come back and say hello to the bands?
Not really. Questlove from the Roots came back and said hello. I know he tweets while he’s on the show and that’s kind of cool. I like him and I like the Roots a lot. I remember being on the Late Show once and Paul Shaffer stopped by the green room. He liked the way the green room smelled, of what was coming out of there.
Doolittle is ranked number 227 on Rolling Stone’s greatest albums of all time. When you were writing and recording this record did you have any idea the impact it would have moving forward?
We had in a way when we were mixing the record back in Stanford, Connecticut at The Carriage House. Gil taught us how to rewind the tapes and we would play it over and over. I think we knew that we started this killer stuff and we were really happy with it. But as well as being received like this, not really, no.
When is the last time you listened to that record by the way?
I listen to pieces of it just to relearn the parts maybe once every so often. I have to revisit it to make sure the parts are right.
Have you ever been in a bind where you had to buy your own record because you don’t have it with you?
No, I would go to You Tube.
I have read numerous articles mentioning that Kurt Cobain was really influenced by the Pixies’ sound; did you guys ever cross paths with him back in the day?
Krist would say hello when we do shows in Seattle and Dave Grohl comes to our shows on occasion. But Kurt I have never met, I think he was a really shy guy.
The Pixies are currently on tour now and will be at the Fox Theater in Oakland on 2/21. “EP1” and “EP2” are both available on vinyl and they sound fantastic that way.
