00:04Hi, I'm Jordan from NME, and we're here with Joey and David from Musical Icons, The Pixies.
00:11Hello. How are you doing, guys?
00:12Very well, Jordan.
00:13It's really amazing to meet you. So you're playing on the main stage here at Mad Cool in a little
00:19bit.
00:20It's probably not escaped your attention that this year marks 40 years since The Pixies formed.
00:26I had to keep double-checking. I kept Googling it in case I got a different answer because it seems
00:31absolutely mad.
00:32Yeah, yeah.
00:34How have the shows changed, or perhaps not, since the late 80s, early 90s?
00:42They haven't really. Go ahead.
00:46I think the only change is we don't have set lists. We haven't done a set list in maybe 10
00:51years, maybe, or less than that.
00:55It's our shtick where we just know songs that go into others, we have hand signals, Charles has a microphone
01:02facing us, so we know what we're going to play.
01:04The only song that we do know is the first song, and that's what we do when it's an adventure.
01:11Well, that's got to keep you on your toes. Does that not make things, I was going to say unnecessarily
01:16difficult, but I think it probably shows in the spontaneity of the shows, but does it not make things quite
01:21hard?
01:25The set list has its own challenges, too. We usually screw up more when we have a set list because,
01:34you know, someone will bound to start a song.
01:40Right, because you get lost and it happens. And you're always looking down at a set list. You can get
01:48a vision of time when you're looking at a set list, which is maybe not the greatest thing to do.
01:54Okay, yeah, that's interesting. You're in a very interesting position now, of the fact that the Pixies have now released
02:02almost as many albums since reforming as you did back in the day.
02:06Yes. And like, okay, like a lot of bands reform, but not many bands are as prolific as you guys
02:14and consistently still releasing great records.
02:16So to what do you attribute not only your longevity, but the fact that you're still banging out these great
02:22records after all these years?
02:24Hmm. Geez.
02:27Work ethic?
02:28Work ethic.
02:29Yeah.
02:29You know, we're still from that school where you have to release one album a year.
02:39Right, right.
02:40You know?
02:41Yeah.
02:42So we just think that's a normal thing to do.
02:45I mean, the normal thing is wash, rinse, repeat. Record, tour, record, tour. And that's what we do.
02:52Great. Well, I think we're all benefiting from that.
02:55Dave Gould, Food Fighters played on the same stage earlier in the week. Dave Gould did an interview recently where
03:01he described Surfer Rosa as the perfect record, quote unquote.
03:05Is he right?
03:06I have to agree.
03:07I agree. It's my favorite one.
03:09Yeah, yeah.
03:10Like 100%.
03:11He said perfect?
03:13He, it's quote, the perfect record.
03:16Okay, yeah, perfect.
03:17Good, good, good.
03:18As long as he didn't say great.
03:20Right, right, right.
03:21Okay.
03:22All right.
03:22He's right.
03:23Have you knocked about with him much over the years? You know, Foos and Pixies have had kind of parallel
03:28careers, notwithstanding the hiatus.
03:31No, we have not crossed, we've crossed paths once, I think, right?
03:35Yeah, in airports or in shows.
03:37Oh, airports and stuff, yeah.
03:39And other shows that we might be doing as well.
03:42Right, interesting.
03:43If we were to return the favor, what's the perfect Foos record?
03:46Oh, gosh.
03:47Oh, gosh.
03:47Oh, gosh.
03:48Oh, gosh.
03:49Well, I had to give it up for, what, Colored Shapes?
03:52Yes.
03:52Because, you know, Gil did that.
03:54Gil did that, yeah.
03:55So, okay.
03:56Gil Norton.
03:57And it is.
03:57Yeah.
03:58Can you talk to me about the record?
03:59What do you feel like?
03:59What's so great about that album?
04:02Pop.
04:03You know, good songs, good sonics, you know?
04:06Awesome.
04:07Mm-hmm.
04:09It's often remarked upon that you guys just bang through the songs and put on this amazing
04:14show, but there's not a lot of interaction with the crowd.
04:17That's kind of a thing, right?
04:19Have you ever seen anything out in the crowd that was so mad and brilliant that it made it
04:25really hard not to comment on it or to kind of concentrate?
04:29Oof.
04:30I don't like it when they pass the person around, you know?
04:35I don't like it because I'm looking at them and I see this bar and they're going to hit
04:42their head.
04:43Or someone, but they're always paying attention, you know?
04:47The crowd.
04:48The security.
04:50Right.
04:50And sometimes they don't see someone and I'm going, dude!
04:54And he's coming over there, who's going to catch that guy?
04:58Right.
04:58You know?
04:58And then when they fall, I'm like, oh, geez.
05:02Yeah.
05:02You know?
05:03And there's been instances where security, for example, back in the day we had in Baton
05:09Rouge in Louisiana.
05:11This is a long time ago, but they hired the local police and they had cattle prods.
05:16Oh my gosh.
05:16And they were just...
05:18Was it a local police?
05:19It was local police.
05:20No, I thought the guy had like one arm.
05:23Probably.
05:24The guy had one arm, like a hook, chaps on...
05:28I think he was like a...
05:29Yeah.
05:30Someone else.
05:31Anyways.
05:31That's not what I saw.
05:33It wasn't nice to watch.
05:35Yeah, yeah.
05:35Oh my gosh.
05:36And then another instance at...
05:38Which one was it that had the water in front?
05:40It's in England.
05:41And...
05:42Oh.
05:44Uh...
05:44It wasn't the Crystal Palace.
05:46It was...
05:46Not Crystal Palace, but another venue where there was water separating the audience from
05:51the stage.
05:51And then during...
05:52What was it?
05:53Where's my mind or something?
05:54Whatever.
05:54But he was swimming towards us.
05:55Someone swimming towards us.
05:57Coming up with the electrical.
05:58All the...
05:59All the...
06:00You know?
06:00That was another kind of, uh-oh, what do we do?
06:02Whoa.
06:03Okay.
06:04I would like to remind you for more of these stories.
06:06But if you can give me one more question, which is that...
06:08Uh, Joey, in a recent interview you talked about, um, the fact that you did some demos,
06:12some new material in 2024, with Tom Dalgetti, who did, um, The Night the Zombies Came.
06:18What's the status with the new music?
06:20We're always in the works, you know?
06:23Same formula.
06:24Same formula.
06:25We have a break coming up in October and we're gonna get together.
06:29And, uh, you know, piece more songs together.
06:33Okay.
06:34Yeah.
06:34Alright, well, I can't wait.
06:35Amazing.
06:36Uh, Joey and David from the Pixies, thank you so much.
06:38Thank you, George.
06:44You
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