Yo La Tengo's
James McNew
One of the Indie Kings of Rock!
Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan & James McNew
An Interview
with
Yo La Tengo's
James McNew
One of the Indie Kings of Rock!
Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan
& James McNew
I n t e r v i e w
Miae Shin and Jessica Rotter
________________________
Introduction and background
photo
of Ira Kaplan by Karena Bernard
J&M: If you were a power head of a major music company,
what would you do to change the music industry? In other words, what are we missing
in music?
1998
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Jessica & Miae: So where are you guys now?
James: Home, temporarily. We're leaving for Europe
tomorrow.
J&M: Well first off, we had to ask, why the
name "Yo La Tengo"? We know it means "I have it" in Spanish.
J: Well, it was basically chosen in a hurry because
the band had their first show and had to think of something. At the time, the concept
was never really considered, but here we are...twelve years later still answering
that question.
J&M: Do you opt to play in smaller venues or
do you prefer larger audiences?
J: It depends, I guess. Its hard to say. On our last
tour we played two shows in Chicago. We played one very large place first and then
played at a small bar that we used to play in that we haven't played at in a long
time. Both shows were terrific, but I guess it all depends. You can have a crappy
show anywhere! You can a great show too, it depends on the people.
You can have a crappy show anywhere! You can a great show too; it depends on the people.
J: It all depends on
the listener. If the listener is motivated to listen to something good, they'll find
it. My music collection is tremendous and I never have a problem finding something
to listen to. I would make all records cheaper though!!
J&M: Why were you the only group ever to get
a video rejected from Atlantic Records?
J: I honestly can't remember. It was years ago. It
was not obscene or anything! I think they were concerned that it wasn't a rock video,
because it really didn't look like one. It was a beautiful video though. It was directed
by Hal Hartley, who directed Amateur, it was like one of his movies. It was shown
in Europe, though.
J&M: What is success to you? Do you feel after
all these years that Yo La Tengo has achieved it?
J: I think so. The thing that feels like success the
most is that everyday I wake up, I don't have to go on a subway in a suit and tie
and go sit in an office all day. We're doing what we want to do and that's something.
I'm the luckiest guy in the world!!! If that's not success, I don't know what is.
The thing that feels like success the most is that everyday I wake up, I don't have to go on a subway in a suit and tie and go sit in an office all day.
J&M: Would a corporate white collar music industry
person be a failure?
J: Maybe to some, maybe
not. When they were eight years old they probably didn't want to be an A&R representative...
J&M: You guys have
been on a ton of movie soundtracks. What is it about them that appeals to you? Do
you think it reaches higher audiences giving more exposure?
J: We actually get chosen for movies. We don't actually
go fishing for them, they come to us. Hal Hartley found out about us from somebody
working on his set, so he started buying our records and asked us to put previously
released material in some of his movies. We haven't scored a film yet, people just
sort of come to us, whether we like them or not, we say yes or no.
J&M: You guys were in the movie "I shot
Andy Warhol", were you playing The Velvet underground?
J: In a way we were like Velvet Underground. It doesn't
bother me that we're compared. I literally take it as a tremendous compliment. Cynically,
its just a lazy short cut for people to describe our music. That's the first stop
on the way to a description of us.
J&M: Who really shaped your music?
J: Its gotten impossible to narrow our influences
down. It's hard to say. All of my records, all of the movies I see, some of the TV
I watch...its everywhere.
J&M: Did you approach the new record, "I
Can Feel The Heart Beat As One", differently?
J: Well, we recorded it a lot differently. We booked
a lot of time and sort of left a lot of stuff unfinished. We were able to improvise
it more into completion. There was a lot of stuff added on the spot, etc. It was
a lot of fun.
J&M: For the "Sugar cane" video,
how did you guys hook up with Mark and Brian?
J: I think that video is hilarious! The whole thing
started when Ira and Georgia met them while on a vacation in California, and they
sort of knew who we were, so we had mutual admiration. They offered to do a video
for us. Ira had the concept, and the rest of it was improvised by Mark and Brian.
We filmed for 2 days in LA. There must be eight hours of film to make just this three
minute video. It was all hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. They are so funny!
J&M: Where did you get the name for the "Hot
Chicken" saga?
J: Well, "Hot Chicken" cuisine is indigenous
to Tennessee, where we recorded some of our last records, they are referring to the
hot chicken take out we used to order. There is a restaurant there called "Princes"
which I can't recommend highly enough. If you're ever passing through Nashville,
and you're in the mood for some damn good hot chicken wings, that's the place to
go.
J&M: When is Yo La Tengo going to be on the
Simpsons?
J: I kind of feel like I already am because this guy
that works at a comic book store -and this worries me - says that that character
was modeled after me. Whenever I don't shave and I see that guy on the show, I know
I gotta take care of myself! I would give anything to be on The Simpsons.
J&M: What are your weekends like?
J: Slow and low. I come home and lock the door. A
good day is when I don't have to go out of my house!!
J&M: Quickly, your 5 best albums of the week?
J: 1- The Simpsons: Songs In the Key Of Springfield
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