What is there left to say about the Pixies? As it turns out, not so much, and original guitarist Joey Santiago seems to agree. On the other hand, their upcoming show at the State Theatre, where they're playing their most famous record in full, sold out months ago, so they don't have to say anything at all. Here's the (not especially edited) transcript of our recent interview with Joey, and yes, it was just as awkward as you think.
HEY JOEY. I'M WONDERING, SINCE YOU'VE BEEN DOING THESE (INTERVIEWS) FOR A WHILE NOW . . . FOR SOME YEARS; WHAT THE MOST PERSISTENT ANNOYING QUESTION THAT YOU'VE BEEN ASKED ABOUT THE BAND IS? Uhhh . . . (long pause) . . . about the band. Oh, god, you know . . . if we're still enjoying it? You know? Or when are we gonna make new music.
YEAH. Yeah, you know . . . I mean . . . (long pause) . . .
ARE THOSE QUESTIONS THAT ARE HARD TO ANSWER? Ummm . . .
OR ARE YOU JUST TIRED OF ANSWERING THEM? Uhhhh . . . yeah. Just, you know. Tired of answering it. You know. Always making up stuff — some of it's true, some of it's not.
RIGHT, RIGHT. UM . . . SO ARE YOU GUYS RECORDING NEW MATERIAL? Ohhh . . . (laughs). That's pretty cool, I guess. You tricked me. Uhhh . . .
YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT ONE IF . . . I DON'T MEAN TO TRICK YOU. Okay.
UM . . . COOL! WELL, HOW DID YOU GUYS CHOOSE THIS BAND SURFER BLOOD TO TOUR WITH? Surfer Blood? We had a list, and uh, you know, we listened to 'em on YouTube and we liked 'em. Kinda like on the mellow side — mellowish side — we don't wanna wear out the audience's ears.
YEAH. UM, HAVE YOU GUYS PLAYED IN PORTLAND, MAINE BEFORE? Yeah. A long time ago. Possibly maybe the first time around, and uh, it was cool. You know, we liked it. Yeah.
UM, DO YOU HAVE — I got a brother-in-law that lives there, so . . .
OH, OKAY, SO YOU HAVE SOME . . . It's actually a good food town.
IT IS, IT'S A BIG FOOD TOWN. IT'S BEEN RATED . . . PRETTY HIGHLY . . . UM. THAT'S COOL, SO HAVE YOU BEEN HERE IN A PERSONAL CAPACITY THEN? TO VISIT HIM? Yeah, yeah to visit him. You're talkin' about Maine, right?
YEAH. YEAH. Yeah. Actually both Portlands are good. I was talkin' about Maine, too. Yeah! We visit there.
(PAUSE) NICE. SO YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS WITH DOOLITTLE FOR A LITTLE WHILE. ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR ANOTHER RECORD, OR . . . ARE YOU GONNA STICK WITH DOOLITTLE FOR A WHILE? Yeah, you know. We don't have any plans for next year. So probably not. I think we're gonna bury this one and uh . . . we don't know. We're kickin' around Surfer Rosa, and, you know, we have no idea.
SO THAT'S A POSSIBILITY THEN? Uhhh . . . maybe, you know? Maybe a possibility, you know?
IS THERE ONE THAT YOU'D SAY THAT YOU LIKE ABOVE THE OTHERS? OR SITS WELL WITH YOU NOW? You mean album-wise?
