End of Days

A while ago I was horrified that KiS was bringing this beast on stage with Pixies.  Call it coincidence, reverse-foreshadowing, a trend, or the end of days...but this photo pops up yesterday on KeD's twitter feed:

It makes one wonder if the piece of shit was KiD's contribution to Pixies sessions back in fall 2012 after all. To which I say...I have to rethink everything I've ever believed.

Side note: I'm also really sad that KeD isn't playing the Aria in this pic. 

That Disgusting Thing at Her Feet

So I've not really talked about the whole "new Kim" thing here. And I'm not gonna get into it now.

But a while ago the "new Kim" posted this photo online:

Which is this horrible thing:

And looks like this on stage:

Anyway, it implies that future live Pixies shows will feature bass effects either on old or new songs or both. I like to think that I'm open-minded, but in some things I guess I'm a purist, and one of the things that I like best about the Pixies is the simple, un-affected bass lines.

Plus, this fucker costs TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

The boys can go any direction they want and go with god. But I don't think I'm ever going to want to play this thing and I hope no one asks me to.

The New Baby

I don't know why I got it in my head that I wanted a circa 1987 MIJ Fender '62 P bass reissue in Fiesta Red. It really isn't neccessary to be so precise. But I wanted it anyway. I did some research along the way (surely documented on this blog, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now like here) and found them hard to find...at least in the correct color...and generally more money than I wanted to spend (not over the top money, but more than I wanted to spend). Along the way, Fender put out a new model...the Squire 60's Vibe P Bass. I've always avoided Squire products, believing them to be inferior in quality. I always figured that one could get any crappy instrument for less money and that you really were just paying for "Fender" to be written in very tiny letters. But I read some decent reviews of this new model (in comparison to other Squire products) and learned that, actually, in 1987 the '62 reissue was a Squire product...they just didn't put Squire on the headstock at the time. That's what I heard anyway. New the bass sells for $335...and that's more than I wanted to spend for what it was. I decided that if I ever found one really cheap (like under $200) I'd pick it up. I wanted to try it out, but it seemed unlikely that I'd ever see one in a store (though I looked at every store I stepped into).

So on Friday things were slow at work and I went and did my occasional check for basses on the internet. There were two Squire 60's Vibe P Basses in Fiesta Red on ebay for under $200. I decided that I didn't even want to spend $200 though...that I wanted to spend more like $160. That knocked one out...and the other had $40 of shipping tacked on...bringing the final total over my $160 cap. Plus, the idea of buying an instrument online sight unseen and having it shipped (who knows how well), kind of gave me pause.

The next day I decided to go over to GC because I'd recently bought a prepack of drum heads and they came with a kind of shitty bass pedal slam patch (cheap bastards...Remo used to include a regular falam slam with these prepacks). I wanted the regular falam slam patch and I wanted it right away...I went to get it.  I walked into the store and strait ahead. In a bit of a fog I thought "hmm, what did I come for and where do I need to go". As I'm working this out, my eyes start to focus on what I'm standing in front of. It was a used Squire 60's Vibe P Basses in Fiesta Red for $179. I kind of thought I might be going insane. I double checked the label. I took it to an amp. Played like a dream (I'm not thrilled about the tone range, but it is good enough. Also the strings were pretty new and bright and buzzy...but the action was really good...it played comfortably). Bought it. Took it home next day (it was on a hold until the next day).

Once I got it home I took off the tortoise shell pick guard. There was only a half shield underneath (this is how Squire builds em so cheap) and it was a sticker on the back of the pickguard. I read somewhere along the way (who knows when or where...the constant obsession) that she didn't like the white pick guard, so took it off and left the "shield" underneath exposed. So I went online and bought a full '62 reissue shield, which seems like it will fit based on my research.  It isn't meant to be used as a pick guard, but I'm hoping I can jerry rig it (there is certainly precedence). It'll be here in a few days. And then the thing will look kinda like this:

I did not need this instrument. It is essentially the exact same instrument as my Yamaha P bass. And no one actually will care that I have the proper looking bass (and what is proper is subjective anyway, since this is just the Doolittle era bass...and I'm not going out and also getting an Aria, a Music Man, and a Steinberger...I think this is the bass she is most known for, especially since the reunion). But it is one fewer obsession for me to have. The funny thing is, I probably will only have ONE chance to play it with CJ on stage this year...Oct 11th....since our June gig is acoustic, we'll likely take off July, Aug-Oct will be spent learning non-Pixies tunes for our special Halloween show, and Nov-Dec are notoriously slow gig months due to holidays and post-Halloween malaise (why do we agree to do Halloween shows year after year when they only end up making us sad?). But here's hoping that we pretend to be the Pixies for enough years to come that this won't have been a TOTAL waste.

Actual photo to come once I get the shield on.

UPDATE: Here she is.  Realizing that the shield alone would be too thin to support the input jack (this I suspect is what led to that duct tape on KiD's bass), I simply put the shield over the tortoise shell pickguard. There is a strip of shielding tape under the pickguard, so all should be well. I rest my thumb on the end of the finger board and it turns out that there is a sharp edge on the shield there, so I put a little bit of masking tape over the edge and it seems to be safe enough. I played it for an hour or so last night and didn't cut myself. I may invest in black knobs to replace the silver, but we'll see. I've already fallen down the rabbit hole so I might as well go all the way (UPDATE 6/10/2013...Happy Birthday KiD! A little research today and I'm fairly convinced that the black tone/volume knobs are not original to this instrument. Those appear to be jazz bass knobs. I suppose it is possible that they came with hers, but seems unlikely. Anyway, 12 bucks will correct the situation).

I like the way it plays, especially at the high frets, because the action is super low. It MAY be too low, as I'm getting a tiny bit of fret buzz, but I think that might lessen as the strings deaden. It's hard to tell right now if it is just a brightness thing or actual buzz. It sounds really great played with a pick. Loud and clear. Played with fingers the tone is very muffled and the volume low...more so that with my other basses...even with the treble turned up. So I guess I'll have to start playing with a pick most of the time on this one, which for accuracy sake wrt to Pixies is actually more appropriate anyway. For the same reason, this may not end up being a great bass for the ska band, because I don't think that I'm going to be able to learn to play fast moving lines with a pick any time soon, but I may try using it at the ska show on Sunday and see how it goes. 

Acoustic Pixies

Last night CJ tried playing acoustic. It was the first time we've done this other than a drunken impromptu set at beer fest last year in which I played drums. Last night again we were sans drummer due to illness, but we solidered on and I (mostly) stuck to bass. We are prepping for a busking event in about three and a half weeks...and a likely acoustic summer show at some local coffee house in town. It was also just on our to-do list. "1)Learn all album tracks 2)play a Doolittle show 3)play a set in alpha order 4)play acoustic show"...ya know, just trying to keep up with all the little gimmicks the kids have tried. We try to be loyal to our source material whenever possible.

I had been worried that it would be hard to hear the bass and that I'd strain my voice, but neither turned out to be true. It mostly went well. Of course...with drums and playing outside and with street noise...all bets are off. But I guess we're in better shape than I'd feared.

Playing acoustic is interesting because it changes the way you hear the songs. I found this to be the case last summer when SSW went unplugged. It made me realize times when the bass is key and times when we are all doubling parts. It made me notice places where there is opportunity for dynamics. It made me notice when the drums are important and when they aren't. Overall I was glad that we had a chance to run things once without drums because I was really able to hear so many things that I've never heard before and that will surely be covered up a bit by drums, no matter how delicately the drums are played.

Given the choice I think I'll always want to be amplified, but playing unplugged is an interesting exercise and it probably a good thing for anyone to try here and there.

Finishing Out the Albums

Just a note that next week CJ will attempt to play the last two album cuts...Havalina and All Over the World...and then we'll have tried all the album cuts that there are (though a handful of these have yet to be played at a gig).  It will have taken just shy (by a couple of weeks) of 3 years to do.

It leaves the following untouched as of yet:

 Bailey's Walk
 Bam Thwok
 Boom Chicka Boom
 Make Believe
 Rock A My Soul
 Santo
 The Thing
 Theme from Narc
 Ain't That Pretty at All
 Born in Chicago
 Evil Hearted You
 I Can't Forget
 I've Been Waiting For You
 Wild Honey Pie

As well as the 3 questionable tracks:
 Hang on to Your Ego
 All Around the World
 Brackish Boy

For a long time I didn't think that the boys would push through the entire catalog, but it is starting to look like we very much just may do it...or at least pretty darn close to it.  We seem to go in waves of excitement and apathy, and right now, despite having no shows on the books, we all seem engaged.

Not sure what will happen when we've tried them all, but for a split second last night, I ALMOST thought we were gonna write a song together.

Long Notes

It has always bugged me that I can't hold the last note in Debaser for the full 15 seconds. Likewise, that I have to take breaths during the intro to River Euphrates and its 20 seconds of "ride". Now, I'm learning The Happening and it has 18 second long notes...and you have to do them up to 12 times consecutively.  So it is like note-for-18-seconds-big-breath-another-18-second-note...and that goes on for nearly 2 minutes.

I've never been good about doing vocal exercises or breathing exercises or even about practicing my vocal parts. I hate singing in front of people. I also hate trying to mimic someone who has one of the best voices in rock and who I personally look up to a bunch. I mean...I love doing it...I just hate that anyone else has to hear it.

But I recognize too that I'm usually too hard on myself. In point of fact, no one in the world but me cares if I nail these vocals.  We do a pretty good job with the songs in general, so I think that the average listener's brain fills in the missing bits. Essentially we sound like them...and they (the listener) don't know the songs as well as we do anyway...so they probably could not tell you how accurate we are.

This morning I went looking for a live clip of Debaser where she holds the note the whole time. I've been on this search before, so I know that there is evidence out there.  But this morning the first four examples I found were these. In the first three she bails really quickly. In the last, she tries, but runs out of breath right about where I always do.









This last one I find particularly endearing, because she's doing what I'm doing...which is trying to reproduce the record.

Here's any interesting twist...Charles comes in and covers the breath and drops out when she's got it again. After watching several vids from the Doolittle tour, this seems to be the way that they resolved it. She takes the first 4 bars, he covers the second, then she comes back in. It actually looks like sometimes they traded back and forth for all four times through the progression.


Anyway, the moral of the story is...it's hard. And it doesn't matter. But what else is there in life but to sweat the small stuff?

All the Rest and the Future

CJ rehearsal was cancelled last night and so I got to thinking about what the hell lay in store for us ahead. It has been easy for the last 3 years to continue to plow through the catalog 2 to 4 songs at a time.  But the remaining list is becoming small.  I took a look last night and played through those that I have worked out.

The boys and I argue from time to time as to what songs count...but here's my full list of the remaining songs:
Albums Cuts (these are probably all must haves)
All Over The World (RS hates this song, I think it is actually pretty well known and overdue for us to learn)
Havalina (I like this song, but I think it is tricky for the guitar players and the lead vocal)
Stormy Weather (this is a terrible song)
The Happening (this is a terrible song)


B-sides/Rarities Bailey's Walk (a screamer but maybe one of the better known b-sides)
Bam Thwok (I'm sure not even they count this as one of their songs, but I love it and it would be a vocal break for RS)
Boom Chicka Boom (pretty obscure)
Make Believe (I read once that KiD thought she should be shot for writing this song, so I'm conflicted about playing it)
Rock A My Soul (the boys love this song)
Santo (pretty obscure but I think the boys like it. It's kind of a good song).
The Thing (this is really just The Happening)
Theme from Narc (useful as a vocal break for RS)
Weird At My School (I feel like this is a must have)

Covers
Wild Honey Pie (really the only defensible song on the cover list)
Ain't That Pretty at All (I really like this song)
Born in Chicago
Evil Hearted You
I Can't Forget
I've Been Waiting For You (worth looking into as a vocal break for RS only)
Hang on to Your Ego (known far more as a FB tune)
All Around the World (only covered at Newport...it is a stretch)

No One, Not Even Me Counts This Though I Saw Something that Said It Was a Demo Once
Brackish Boy (known far more as a FB tune)

The exercise of me playing through the ones that I know last night sort of made me think the future is bleak. No one in the world would miss if we never learned any of them. It seems ridiculous to get this far and NOT go ahead and learn the last four tunes off Bossa though. It's like running a marathon and then deciding there's no point to cross the finish line. Bailey and Weird and the only B-sides that I'd be truly sad not to attempt...actually I'm okay not doing Bailey because I feel like it is kind of a torture for the singer.

I think that we could yet learn an acoustic set and milk that at coffee shops for a while...and that we all have an interest in playing in other towns. But for that you almost kind of have to let go of the rare tunes and play an all hits set. Some might argue that isn't true...but you're selling a known product...so if you don't stick with the known I think you alienate the average audience. There's always the whack job who wants to hear Make Believe...and I'm usually that whack job...but they are a minority for sure. Probably they'll be satisfied with something like Manta Ray, which is always so well received that we'll surely keep it in rotation.

So what does a "tour" set look like anyway? Here's my stab in alpha order:

Gotta Have
Caribou
Debaser
Dig For Fire
Gigantic
Gouge Away
Here Comes Your Man
Hey
Manta Ray
Monkey Gone To Heaven
Nimrod's Son
River Euphrates
Tame
Vamos
Velouria
Wave Of Mutilation
Where Is My Mind?

Play If Time
Alec Eiffel

Allison
Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons
Bone Machine
Cactus
Crackity Jones
Dead
Ed Is Dead
I Bleed
Into the White
La La Love You
Mr Grieves
Planet of Sound
Something Against You
The Holiday Song
Trompe le Monde

The problem with the gotta have list is, of course, that is is half songs from Doolittle. But I guess there's a reason they could tour on that album exclusively for years. And there's nothing from Trompe, which could be a mistake since some people came to them via the last record. That could be fixed by throwing Alec and maybe Planet of Sound on there instead of something else. 

But this is still a LOT of songs. If you are in a strange town and no one has heard you play before, it is very likely that you'll only get 30 minutes. And if you had to do only 30 minutes it gets pretty tough to get anythign in there other than a certain list of songs. You'd have like 10 songs maybe. What would they be?

Debaser
Dig For Fire
Gigantic
Here Comes Your Man
Hey
Monkey Gone To Heaven
Tame OR Gouge Away OR Trompe le Monde
Velouria
Wave Of Mutilation
Where Is My Mind?

Yeah that's gotta be what it boils down to, eh? Still half Doolittle.



 

CJ, 1/23/2013, HNS

I'm feeling hollow this morning. It is because I'm thinking about how I spend about 20-40 hours per week learning, practicing, rehearsing, and performing music...plus many more hours distracted when I ought to be doing my day job researching music...and no matter how hard I work or how much I care, nearly without exception...performances do not go well. I mean, they go OKAY...but there's always more flubbed notes than in rehearsal, there's always some sound issue that makes things sound sub-par, or there's some total technical breakdown. It is just disappointing to work so hard and for the final product to nearly always come up short. I'm bummed.

So last night CJ played a happy hour show at HNS. Two sets...just us on the bill. We haven't had a Pixies show since last August. RS has been struggling with a sinus infection for like 6 weeks, and he just got his full voice back a week or so ago. Our last rehearsal went really well. I was looking forward to the show.

It was sparsely attended...until later on...but I think the bar was filling up because of some "Nerd Night" event that was to happen after our show. I have conflicted feelings about a sanctioned "Nerd Night" event. Not to be a snob, but if you didn't attend NMIMT or similar than I bristle a bit at you calling yourself a nerd. I know real nerds...and you, sir, are no nerd. There is some level of "otherness" to being a nerd...so the idea of filling a 400 seat venue with them...I don't know...if felt like the term was being co-opted by the mainstream. Being a nerd can't, by definition, be trendy...ya know? I know I'm being judgmental and a bitch. Maybe these were the true 400 nerds that live in Madison. Not my business. I digress (did I mention that I'm in a bad mood?)

During set up there was some funniness. I couldn't get any sound and at first we thought it was my amp and then a cable and then everything seemed fine except for some buzzing and some vibration sounds.  Shrug. Oh...and RS found out a speaker on his VOX amp was blown. Other weirdness...I was getting lots of microphone shocks...so they gave me an "Afro-Jack" style mic cover and all was well (except it was hard to get used to the cover). Oh and I didn't have any guitar in my monitor, which seemed fine during sound check, but then I realized that I had to stand in front of RS's amp, not to the side, or else this weird sonic thing happened where I was getting all CT and no RS and it made the songs sound unrecognizable.

So we played. I played ok. I was feeling oddly paranoid about forgetting parts...the dread of too much muscle memory. But when you've got almost 70 tunes memorized (well...more than that if you count the tunes I have memorized for other bands) there just comes a point where you worry that your wires will cross and you'll go blank. Just such a thing happened to me during D=RxT.  I was really looking forward to the tune and then when it came I blanked the third note. I probably had 20 shots at figuring it out during the song and missed every single one. What a weird fucking song to forget. Anyway, it was an exercise in getting off the wrong note and trying out others. Bleh.

That said, I felt ok about the first set.

Second set I forgot to take off my tuning mute so missed first few notes of Crackity Jones. Whatever. Something weird happened during Debaser...I think I was right on but maybe RS didn't go to the outro at the right time...I dunno...we fixed it, probably no one noticed. Alec Eiffel sounded horrible to me. We made it through 6 songs and then Nimrod's Son started. Half way through my amp made a loud noise and then I had no sound. The boys kept playing the song. I remember that I had bass during the first chorus...but during the second chorus I sang without bass. The sound guys scrambled.  After some testing the diagnosis was that it was my bass...a loose wire. The sound guys took the bass away to look for solder and I grabbed CT's backup guitar and played it through my amp. We skipped There Goes My Gun and played Hey. No luck finding solder so the sound guys switched me to DI in the house and we did Gigantic.  CT's guitar sounded super distorted through my amp, which I didn't understand because I had no effects on. I wondered if I'd blown my speaker too. It was unbearable so I stopped us a few bars into Bird Dream and had the sound guys put me all DI and in the monitor. The sound was the same. We played BD. It sounded really weird. I was super loud in the monitor and had trouble communicating it to sound guys, so I turned down, which of course annoyed them. After the song I explained to them the situation and they adjusted.

By now we were way over time. We skipped Allison, Wave, Isla, Vamos (CT always gets screwed out of his solo...see the first paragraph above), and dropped Tame. We played Where Is My Mind (sound guys made me sound like an angel on that) and Gouge Away and we were done.

I had two beers during the show, the first I've had in 3 weeks. I do not think this contributed in any negative way to the situation, but it did make me feel like an asshole the whole time (perhaps self-conscious and paranoid a bit) and meant that I didn't sleep all night. I don't like having to second guess if substances are contributing to problems. It's hard to take total responsibility for every thing I say or action I take (because I always feel like I say and do the wrong things)...but that's better than not knowing if I am in control or not. I think that I am always going to have this weird brain fart kind of feeling at a show. It just isn't like rehearsal unfortunately. But better to know that it is just what it is and not something else...if that makes any sense. I shouldn't have drank. That was stupid. I don't think it hurt anything in reality, but I didn't like the way it made me feel.

I think I know what happened to the equipment, but I haven't taken a look yet. Hopefully the amp is fine (though I really think something is loose inside that causes a rattling noise at high volume) and the loose wire in the bass is an easy fix. Lesson learned...always bring a backup instrument.

CT said he wants to debrief about all that went wrong. I get the sense he was struggling last night, though I didn't notice other than him mentioning it. What is there to debrief ABOUT really though? Apparently playing out just sucks. It just isn't as awesome as sitting in a closed room together just the 4 of us.

I feel really discouraged in general at the moment. I plan music to challenge myself and because it is fun. We play these shows though and they nearly always go poorly. They are a pain in the ass logistically and we don't make any money at it. Very few people come out to listen. It just feels like a stupid thing to do, playing out. I've always said that I only play out to force my bands to play to a higher level than people tend to attain if they stay in the basement. But I have two start-up bands that want me to book shows and I feel like...really? Why the fuck would we want to play out?

Sometimes life is just a struggle ya know? Where are we going and what are we doing? And why? And what difference does it make?

The sad footnote to last night's show...it was professionally recorded. What a frickin' waste of 1's and 0's.

Set 1:
Bone Machine
I Bleed
Motorway to Roswell
Navajo Know
Ed is Dead
Build High
Dig for Fire
Letter to Memphis
Dead
Monkey Gone to Heaven
La La Love You
Winterlong
Subbacultcha
D=RxT
Lovely Day
Manta Ray

Set 2:
Crackity Jones
Debaser
Alec Eiffel
Holiday Song
River Euphrates
Here Comes Your Man
Nimrod's Son
There Goes My Gun (skipped for time)
Hey
Gigantic
Bird Dream
Allison (skipped for time)
Wave (skipped for time)
Isla de Encanta (skipped for time)
Vamos (skipped for time)
Where is My Mind
Gouge Away
Tame (skipped for time)

Dave...on Drums

Speaking of Stretching from 4th to 7th Fret...

I don't remember when I wrote out the part for Motorway to Roswell (it was probably well over a year ago) but I started practicing it right around the time that I joined the ska band. What's funny about that is that most of the ska music I've been playing I've been playing between the 4th and 7th frets in a kind of "box". This was new to me because I never understood enough music theory in the past to know how such a box relates to major and minor scales. But once I figured that out...well I'm kind of constantly playing in that box now.  So Motorway to Roswell, at least the way I wrote the song out...is played in that same box.

When I figure out the bass part to Pixies songs I start by getting a recording of the song...then I search the internet for any and all tab I kind find...I look for videos of people covering just the bass line...and then I look for live versions of the band playing the songs to cross check and verify. I usually only get to reviewing the band playing the song if I'm stumped. The upshot of this is...I end up playing the parts totally differently than KiD plays them. I play the same notes...but in a different place on the guitar. This happens way more often than you'd think possible.  She's kind of a slidey bass player and I think her bass playing is informed by her guitar playing, which seems to involve lots of barre and power chords.  I was never much of a guitar player and I'm not great with barre chords or power chords. I play open chords mostly on guitar. And my bass playing is informed mostly by my cello playing. And on cello if I could avoid a shift I did.

So it kind of cracked me up when I watched this video of Motorway yesterday.



I had seen it before but never watched her closely. She's way up there by the 12th fret...no where near the 4th to 7th box that I'm playing the song in.

I know it's a stupid thing to find interesting. I guess it is just facinating to me how we all fall into our habits or learn things in certain ways that seem intuititve...but everyone's intuition is totally different.

Oh...and they are singing totally different harmony shit than we're gonna do for this song. I really don't get what the hell they are doing in this video at all. There's probably 4 or 5 or more overdubs of vocals at the end of this song on the album...and yet CT and KiD are doubling some vocals here. Seems a waste of two voices. Very strange.

I wish there were more live videos of this and all the other late game tunes to see how the performances evolved. I suspect these songs were written in the studio and not well rehearsed before they trotted them out on tour (unlike things from the Purple Tape, that they worked on as live tunes before recording them)...so they probably changed.  Whereas, when they perform Doolittle today, they work really hard to make it sound like the recording. The songs evolved to the point of being recorded...and then stopped. The late game songs would have done the opposite...been birthed at the recording session and then evolved away from the recording. Maybe.

"The" Bass

A note here that Kim Deal's Doolittle bass is probably made in Japan and based in part on Pino Palladino's bass, which was an original '62 P bass in Fiesta Red with a tortoise shell pick guard. I've seen some indication that all late 80s '62 reissue P basses were made in Japan. The Japanese instruments of this era are well regarded as quality playing instruments. I can't be for sure, but I'd bet that hers is a 1987 Fender '62 Reissue made in Japan in Fiesta Red with dark fingerboard. It probably came with a white pick-guard that she seems to have subsequently replaced with a silver one. It also probably came with a little black finger rest, that she's since removed. (see video for Here Comes Your Man for likely original configuration...photo below). Doolittle began recording on October 31, 1988...so it is possible that it is a 1988 model, but it seems that 1988 and 1989 models might not exist...1987s seem more common. I suppose it could have been a 1986 too. I'm shooting at 1987 though.


This article is a great resource.

"Accordingly, Fender Japan was established in March 1982 and began building quality Fender instruments while U.S production was reorganized. One of the earliest results was the Vintage Reissue series, a high-quality new family that featured two well-built and largely historically accurate Precision Bass models, the ’57 Precision Bass and the ’62 Precision Bass. These Japanese-built Vintage Series instruments were soon introduced into the European market under the Squier name.


The short-lived Elite Precision Bass appeared in 1983 in several configurations with special electronics and hardware, but the concept lasted barely a year.
[...]
The first sign of recovery for Fender itself, on the other hand, came in 1984, when CBS decided to sell off all its non-broadcast-related holdings. Fender was on the block, and Schultz, backed by a group of investors he enlisted, bought the company he’d presided over since 1981 in a sale that was completed in March 1985, ending 20 years of CBS rule.

Owning very little in the way of resources—only the name, distribution and some leftover inventory and machinery (no U.S. factory)—Schultz set about rebuilding and revitalizing Fender. While Fender Japan now became the world’s main producer of Fender instruments, Schultz and his staff established headquarters for the newly renamed Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in Brea, Calif., and acquired a 14,000-square-foot factory in Corona, Calif., in October 1985.

It is at this point that the modern-era history of the Precision Bass truly begins.

With that new mid-’80s beginning under Bill Schultz, Fender started by concentrating on quality rather than quantity, beginning with a small number of vintage reissue instruments and redesigned back-to-basics modern guitars and basses dubbed American Standard models. Production began in Corona in 1987 of the first new U.S.-built models, the American Standard Precision and the Precision Bass Plus; the latter of which featured a 22-fret neck (up from the traditional 20), Lace Sensor active pickups with series/parallel switching and an elongated upper horn for improved balance (this last imparted a noticeably odd look to the instrument, but nonetheless remained in place until the model was discontinued in 1993).

Also in 1987, the Fender Custom Shop was established, with one of its very first creations (work order No. 0003) being a 1962 “Mary Kay”-style Precision Bass with an ash body and gold hardware; the instrument was logged in on May 15 of that year and logged out just under a month later, on June 22. From that point onward, the Custom Shop would repeatedly elevate the Precision Bass from workhorse to work of art."

These instruments, especially in this color, seem relatively rare, and can cost up to $5,000...but deals are to be found. I'm kicking myself a bit because an 87 was on Craig's List recently, though in Candy Apple Red, for $450. Candy Apple Red seems much more common.

Here's some gold...a 1987 MIJ Fender catalog. There's a picture of a '62 reissue in Candy Apple Red with light fingerboard.

And finally...in the "no harm no foul" catagory...I could just make my own using this paint for $19 and these pickups for $90. I have a Lotus P style bass with a dark finger board...

CJ, Mickey's, 8/31/2012

We played a 40 song (ended up being 39 actually) show at Mickey's. Wife (metal) opened. We played 5 new songs: Hangwire, Winterlong, Lovely Day, Build High, Dance the Manta Ray. The new songs went over well except Dance MR, which seemed to clear the room. Slow = bad.

Things started well. Good crowd. But something wasn't right with the PA and we didn't figure out until set break that the right speaker wasn't on. So RS and I strained our voices in the first set and the vocals were too quiet and were distorted. I don't know if that's why, but the place cleared out for the second set.

I had one beer before, two during (one per set), and one after the show. And plenty of water. Ate a good meal. Had good sleep.

I played well aside from the strange PA situation messing with my vocals. Once the PA got fixed I felt really good about my vocals. There were some mistakes here and there but they mostly weren't mine. The show went off fairly well except for the technical problem and the audience leaving.  We moved the bench over so that I could put my bass amp up against the wall behind me and I was able to fit in sort of to the side of the PA speaker and I didn't have the troubles with feedback that I've had in the past.

A note too that CT had an excellent Vamos solo...in particular the spring crash from dropping the amp was possibly the most awesome he's ever hit.

Setlist (note that we skipped Rock Music at start of 2nd set because Rick's voice was bugging him)

1st set
Wave
Broken Face
Holiday
I'm Amazed
Brick
Winterlong
Ed
Build High
Planet
Alec
Allison
Dead
Monkey
Blown Away
Hangwire
Isla
Crackity
Vamos
In Heaven
Wave UK

2nd set
Rock Music (skipped)
Debaser
Bone
River
Dig
Subbacultcha
D=RxT
Lovely Day
I've Been Tired
La La Love
Here Comes
Manta Ray
Dance the Manta Ray
Gigantic
Hey
Bird Dream
Nimrod
Where Is My Mind
Gouge
Tame

I Don't Understand Animated GIFs...but

Duh...I'm sure I've seen this video before.

I'm forever surprised about the new things I notice after thinking I know everything there is to know about these songs. Admittedly I noticed her singing on the 2nd chorus months ago. But why did it take that long to notice? Maybe I noticed long ago and just couldn't pull it off with the moving line. Funny to think that this bass line once seemed really hard. I feel like I'm in fast forward with the bass these days.

Ska Progress

The ska bass stuff has been pretty challenging. I was sort of discouraged for awhile. But like everything else...it really just takes dedication.

There are 8 songs on the list to learn. It is a lot for only 3 weeks of time. I have to figure out the part and then learn to play it. I'm pretty clear on the part for maybe 4 of them (though still mastering), have a start on two more, and a couple I haven't really touched. This stuff is fast...and very scale based. If I knew my scales better and had lots of scale practice under my belt...it would be easy. But I'm kind of starting from scratch.

The Transcribe software has been amazing. It has greatly helped with figuring out the parts, but also been a great way to master then with the speed slow down. I like it better than the Amazing Slow Downer interface because you get the wave form...so you can precisely pin point where you're at...and you can loop. Maybe the paid version of Slow Downer does that too, I don't know. But it helps.

Much to my surprise...if I work hard for 30 minutes or so each day...the parts start to fall under my fingers. Faster and faster each day. It is work for sure, but work that is attainable. Terrifying work...but a little amazing too.

A side bonus to the software is being able to go back and check my Pixies tab. Songs like Letter to Memphis or Mr Grieves that I long ago gave up learning the real part and wrote my own...I can now check and revise. In the case of Letter...I like my part better...but I might change Grieves. There are a couple of others too that I should check...like Lovely Day. Anyway...it is pretty awesome to be able to play just KiD's bass part and be certain what I'm hearing. Maybe in the pre-mp3 days everyone had such a clear shot at the low end. We live in an age of wonder, but we've lost some things too for sure.

I doubt that I'll ever REALLY feel confident about anything musical...but if I play this ska stuff for a year or more I will be in a totally different place in terms of speed and understanding scales and intervals. I hope that happens. I don't remember where my head was on day one with the Pixies. I remember Nimrod's Son coming to me out of thin air and thinking "yeah I can probably do this"...but I'm sure that I never could have imagined having 65 songs figured out, mastered, and memorized...with another 24 tabbed out and just waiting to be memorized. Looking back now it seems like it was easy and I discount it all. But there were so many, many hours spent. And now over two and a half years have passed. I've gone from "kinda maybe wanting to pick up the bass again" to feeling confident that I can reproduce note for note all of the parts of one of the most iconic female bass players in history. I probably shouldn't discount that so quickly. In three years I could feel totally confident playing any ska song you could throw at me...and then what? The mind boggles.

Effects Pedals

Not having a fully developed identity as a player yet...and not having a great ear for sound quality...means that I don't mess much with effects. KiD plays a pretty clean, straight signal bass...so I haven't needed to mess much with it. I have takent the baby step to notice and react to the fact that she played a different kind of bass at different points in the Pixies' career and that this changed the tone. I might not have noticed this on my own admittedly, but I read it online.

Aria Pro II Cardinal Series – The Pixies' first bass belonged to Kelley,and is heard on Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and seen on the Town & Country live video. It later reappeared in the Kelley Deal 6000.

1962 Fender Precision Reissue– Acquired for use on Doolittle on Gil Norton's insistence. It appears in the video for "Here Comes Your Man". On the Bossanova album, the Precision was used on "Dig for Fire" for its "lazier, growlier sound" that was "not as boingy-boingy-sproingy".

Music Man Stingray – Added in time for Bossanova "because it was active and had a different sound" and became her main live bass "because it was a little less country-sounding than the Fender". The instrument was afterwards played by Josephine Wiggs in The Breeders and Luis Lerma in The Amps.

Steinberger headless (but full-bodied, two-cutaway) bass – Bought during the recording of Trompe Le Monde because the other basses were out of tune on the higher frets. Deal described it as having a "weird, organ-y sound".

The upshot for me as a practical matter is that there are a few songs that I either play with a pick or turn the tone knob "brighter" on. Well...now that I think about it...I really only do this for one song...Bird Dream. I turn the knob all the way bright (I normally play all the way the opposite). I play with a pick on Debaser, Blown Away, and Is She Weird...not for tone reasons per se, but because there are parts of those songs where I play alone and the boys couldn't clearly make out the notes (and thus the tempo) because they were too muddy. So I play with a pick to make them more articulated and louder. But as we are getting into the last of the Trompe le Monde and Bossonova songs I AM more aware of the different, brighter, tone. And I will probably adjust the tone.

My only other experience with effects or tone was for the Flaming Lips tribute. I bought a bass distortion pedal for that (that, even though it is the actual pedal that Michael Ivins uses live, I only ended up using on one song for an over the top punch in wall of ridiculous sound)fuzz pedal for that and borrowed a Peach Fuzz pedal (which is awesome, but pricey). I also briefly experimented with a multi-effects pedal on one song...but we ended up having the keyboard player use that pedal instead for that song.

I don't much fiddle with the knobs on my amp. I'm not sure what I'd even be trying to accomplish. I also have a modern and a vintage channel on my amp...but I don't much know the difference. I know that I like a fatter, less treble, bass sound. That's all I know.

I feel like I ought to try and understand more about effects and the quality of sound. Not so much because I care, but because it is part of the language. It would be nice, when RS and CT are debating this or that tone, if I had any idea what they were talking about.

So I've been obsessed with R Ring lately. And they use some serious effects...and in weird ways I gather. I took some pictures of their pedals the other night.

Here's KeD's guitar pedals. It is a little hard to make out what they are. Left to right it looks like...Boss tuner, Boss Digital Delay DD7, Ibanez/Tube Works Tube King Overdrive TK999 (maybe an older one), and Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb.  It helps to look at these pics on Flickr blown up and flipped right side up.

Here's KeD's vocal pedals. She kneels on the floor and adjusts these throughout the songs that she uses them on (personal side note here...the setlist is in this photo!). Left to right below is Boss Digital Reverb Delay RV-3, Boss Distortion DS-1, and...and...the label is covered...but it sure looks like a second Boss Digital Reverb Delay RV-3. I'm not sure if she runs these through her amp or through the PA. There's a direct box sitting there. I'm pretty sure that the acoustic guitars were run through the amps, so there's good odds that that direct box is for the mic that runs through the pedals. I don't remember her switching mics though. She would unplug her guitars/keys and run them through the same cable. But I don't remember that with the vocal mic. Hmm.

Last but not least here's MM's board from two angles. Top left to right: Boss Delay DM-2 (red), Boss Tuner, Radial Tonebone JX2 Pro Switchbone AB/Y Pedal. Bottom left to right: Boss Equalizer GE-7, Death by Audio Fuzzwar

I really have no idea how these particular combinations result in the sounds they produced on stage. But at least I know what they were using.

David's Grip

Okay...has David ALWAYS played traditional grip and I'm just noticing it now?



What the fuck is wrong with me?

Ok, if this is true it explains a bunch...because he always has the hella whip thing going on the snare and I always wonder how that is possible to whip that much. But maybe it is just that he doesn't use matched grip. It bothers me that I've never noticed this before.

Other weird thing about this video...Joe has a mic.

UPDATE:
Observe...1988...matched grip.

Okay. I feel better now. What is it about old farts that makes them think that they have to switch to traditional grip? It's like age-induced jazz disease.

Why I Love CJ

So last night at CJ rehearsal we played through all four of the new songs (Hangwire, Winterlong, Lovely Day, Build High) plus half a dozen others. Everyone was feeling a little run down and sick...and we don't have any gigs coming up...and most bands probably would have called things good and finished for the night. But CT says, "I want to play some more".

We've started to struggle with how to pick which songs to practice. When you have 65 available...it's hard. Last week we used a Fibonacci sequence to pick songs (well, we tried, until we forgot how to do a Fibonacci sequence). Last night, since we had just finished playing Debaser, I said "Let's play Doolittle".

And barely had the words left my mouth and we were off and running. We skipped Tame since RS wasn't feeling well (and that made us fuck up the order for a few songs accidentally)...but other than that we played straight through. One into the other. Not stopping. Not warning each other what came next really. We even played Silver, which was a little rough (for god's sake, we only ever played it for a few weeks in Dec 2011), but other than that everything was about spot on.

As Gouge Away's last notes faded into the air I thought..."Jesus...we're good." And then "Damn, this is fun."

Oh My God

Pixies Central just posted this photo and it totally takes my breath away. I've been looking for a good still of this instrument forever. This pic is just amazing. You can see every little scar and the cracking of the finish. More than ever I think this is faded Fiesta Red.  And the hand closeup with little green turtle pick and everything. Just. I can't even say. So awesome.

Planet Out/Gay.net Kim Deal Interview

http://www.gay.net/entertainment/2009/05/kim-deal-breeders-interview-pixies.html

Catching Up With the Breeders' Kim Deal


By: Jenny Stewart

5.19.2009

If musicians were only as dynamic in Q&A's as they are on record, then music interviews would remain as unforgettable as classic albums. But those are few and far between.

During one recent interview with a well-known pop star, I asked a simple question: "What part of the creative process do you enjoy most when making a new album?" Granted, the question was a bit cliche, but hardcore music fans tend to be interested in those kinds of things. After three minutes of silence, I thought we'd been disconnected.

"Are you still there?" I asked.
"Yes," she responded.

Another minute went by before she finally added, "I think it's nice that [name of record label] took a chance with this. It’s like, nice that they did.”

Two weeks later I met with a bona fide female rock legend for an interview. But after a series of uncomfortable pauses and countless one word answers, I just gave up. I've never published the piece, and I've never been able to bring myself to listen to the playback. That's how disastrous it was. Sadly, I can barely listen to her music anymore without having flashbacks to the silence.

But truth be told, you can't really fault musicians for the way they sometimes come off in interviews. They are artists, so music is their preferred mode of expression -- not Q&A's.

With that in mind, Pixies bassist and Breeders frontwoman Kim Deal is a rare breed of rocker, blessed not only with talent, but also with conversational skills. She has an opinion on everything asked of her -- and it's always entertaining. You could even mess with her and say, "Kim, which would you rather talk about: The discontinuation of oscillating fans, or the controversy about blind people thinking that electric cabs are dangerous because they're too quiet?" “Oh my GOD!!” she’d likely say. “I mean, you can’t get rid of fans now, can you? In the summer? During the sweet corn crop and all? And, I mean, the blind people have a point, but dude, please!” [Note -- that was just an example, Kim didn't really say that].

I recently chatted with Deal about The Breeders' stellar new EP, "Fate to Fatal," and the latest news on the Pixies. Along the way, we also chatted about celebrity dreams, "American Idol," her mother's struggle with Alzheimer's, the crazy things parents say about their kids, and a possible reality series for Deal and her twin sister Kelley. "Grey Gardens," anyone?

Hi Kim. First off, congratulations on the new Breeders EP. I also hear you're in LA doing some stuff with the Pixies?

Yes, I'm down here in Los Angeles for a few days. The Pixies are doing a few shows in Isle of Wight this June, and I had a really bad dream that I forgot a song! And the dream just seemed so real -- we were playing the song and then I forgot it. So I called Joe [Santiago] and he told me that he had a dream that he forgot a song! He didn't dream it the same night as me, but still, we thought it would be a good idea to get together real quick and go over parts. Charles [Black Francis] was in a different state touring, so I didn’t even ask him to come. I thought the three of us could get our parts down quietly.



So the dream was so vivid you decided to fly to LA to practice? Do you remember which Pixies song it was that you forgot how to play?



[Laughing]. I can't remember the song, but yes, the dream was so vivid I remember how scary it was forgetting the song onstage, but I don’t remember the song. But I do remember it was an outdoor show, and there were a lot of people there.



Speaking of dreams, we just ran a piece on celebrity dreams and how vivid they can get, and hundreds of people are commenting in great detail about their celebrity dreams. Have you ever had a celebrity dream?



[Excited]. Oh my God, yes! I have had them and I totally know what you mean about them being vivid. I had this dream once -- it was when Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were together – and I remember it so clearly.



Ok, in the dream, there was this big party. Now, I don't remember where the party was exactly, but I do remember clearly that it was in fact in a southern state. And the party was outdoors. And it was daytime. Now, I don't remember if the three of us went to the party together? Or if I had like just met them there? Whatever, the point is they were there, you know? It was just like, wierd.



And it was super vivid?



Oh it was so super vivid! And it wasn't some boring dream where you just…meet a celebrity or something, it was so much more than that – I mean, there was a lot going on, you know?



And it was just so weird, I don't even know how to describe it -- and I know I sound crazy -- but we were going through all these different rooms. But like, there didn’t seem to be any order to the rooms, or to anything. I mean, sometimes Brad was there in a room, sometimes the three of us were in a room. Sometimes I'd be alone in a room and Jennifer would walk in. Or both of them. I mean, it was just weird, but I remember it so vividly! Isn't that odd that you would ask me that? Have you ever had a celebrity dream?



I keep having this dream lately that I'm in a bad relationship with Angelina Jolie, and she won't let me break up with her. Have you had any other celebrity dreams or is that the only one?



[Laughing]. Angelina won't let you break up with her! Isn't that weird though that we're both sort of dreaming from the same celebrity tree? Now, I have had more celebrity dreams since then; I only chose that particular one because it sticks out in my head so much and I'm absolutely sure about that one. But let's see. I think I've dreamt about Jennifer Aniston since then. But I think it's just her and Brad isn’t there. I don't know what she's really doing or anything and I don't remember specifics, but she has been in a few of my dreams since the one at the party with all the rooms.



Do you really like Jennifer Aniston or something?



[Laughing] Do I really like Jennifer Aniston? Oh my God, I don't know! I mean, I have no idea! I didn't think so! I mean, she like…seems nice, I guess. I just remembered her being in my dreams. But I have no idea if I like Jennifer Aniston, and I have like no idea why she's been in my dreams! Who knows? Oh my God!



The new EP is out and it's pretty great. God, "Pinnacle Hollow" is the best song.



Isn't that a nice song? I think "Pinnacle Hollow" is a pleasant song to listen to? And usually, that's a bad thing – I think – to say about something, but I really found it really, extremely pleasant music to put on.



It's a great song, and it is very pleasant. It's like soundtrack music, almost. When I'm listening to it, I feel there's a camera on me...



[Yells] And you're with Angelina Jolie and she won't let you break up with her!



[Laughing]. Yes! But seriously, the song is so gorgeous and pleasant it's almost like a continuous valium drip. When you record a song like that, does it make you crave drugs?



I sometimes want to take drugs but it absolutely has nothing to do with whether I'm recording or not. Sometimes the craving or the thought (of doing drugs) will come along when I'm doing nothing. Sometimes it will come along when I'm... I have no idea at all when it's going to come along.



Would you ever want to be a judge on "American Idol"?



No, probably not. And I don’t think I'd even be a good judge because I think I would be "opposite" judge. I would be like, 'Look, if you do the exact opposite of anything that I tell you to do, you'll probably be extremely popular in the United States.' I'd be like, 'No, don't wear all that makeup, and just wear jeans and [a] T-shirt! God! Why are you going to wear that and how can you walk in those shoes?'



Do you watch the show?



No, I wouldn’t watch it by myself, but when I'm at my parents house, I'll watch it with my mother; it's one of the few shows we can watch together. Like, dude, I can't bear 'Dancing with the Stars,' but I can sit down and watch 'American Idol' with her. And that's a good thing that she can do.



How is your mom doing? [Editor's note: Kim's mother is struggling with Alzheimers].



She is…not doing well. She has recently begun saying stuff like, 'Now, you're mine, right?'



Oh man, that’s so sad…



I know, and she's like, forgetting the family connection. Like, she said to my brother the other day, 'You're my son, right?' And she knew it was a 'Kevin,' and she knew generally his personality and stuff.



You know, watching her lose so much information really underlines how much information we actually have to learn. And I'm not talking about schooling. It was weird to watch her lose the grip of time, and to lose it in every way.



Can you give an example?



Like right now, she really believes that her mother and father, and my dad's mother and father are laid out in a nursing home side by side next to each other in a bed across the street from my old high school! Oh my God, and you've got to hear the names of these people -- there's Hobart, Ruby, Blanche Myrtle and Grace. Oh, and Fred!

[Laughing]



And my poor dad! She'll say to my dad, 'Why don't you go visit your mother? I can't believe you won't visit your mother! She'd be so surprised if she saw you.' And of course, sometimes my dad can't stand it, and he has to say something like, 'You're right, she'd be surprised to see me…she's been dead for 30 years!'



Oh my God! I used to work with Alzheimer's patients in college, and once a woman escaped. Luckily we found her safe at the lake, but it was absolutely terrifying.



Oh my God, I know my mom's going to be a runner! I just know it.



Do you ever worry that you might potentially inherit Alzheimer's from her?



Honestly no, because I take after my dad so much for all of his bad qualities that I can't possibly get my mother's Alzheimer's. I mean, I didn’t get her pretty legs. I didn’t get her nice body. We [Kim's twin sister Kelley] don't even look like her, and that's why I couldn't possibly have the one bad thing that she has. I mean, I didn't get any of her good stuff, so I don't think I'll get this.



The last time I interviewed you, the piece got hundreds of comments and a lot of them were about how both lesbians and gay men are attracted to you. I have to ask, do you have a gay bone in your body?



[Thinks] You know what? I'm just so…asexual, I wish I had a gay bone.



That's so wierd. You don't seem asexual. Does it seem weird to you that both are attracted to you?



I can see the lesbian thing, but like, then again, I don't really know because I have no idea what attracts people.



I was just talking to a gay guy friend and it was interesting because he was saying that he didn’t think he was gay all through high school, right? His older brother was gay, so he was used to it, and he just never thought about it. He said the only gay guys he would think of back then were the really 'fabulous' types. And he said he had no idea he was gay until he opened up a copy of Bear magazine in his mid-twenties, and he was like, 'Shwing! I'm gay.'



My point being how would I know what lesbians or gay guys were attracted [to] because one can never know what can turn on a particular lesbian or a particular gay person.



Do you remember when, in an interview a few years ago, you said you looked at all your musical contemporaries and that they were all married with children, and then added, 'I could use a wife?'



Yes, which is really, really insulting to women, of course!



No, it's not! You have every right to want a wife. Even certain women want wives. So, speaking of families, did you ever want children?



I used to always think that in my future self, I would want kids. And I read a 'Newsweek' article in the early 90's and it was an article about women hitting the glass ceiling, blah, blah blah, whatever.



Anyway, there was this female CEO and one of the things she said in the article was for women to not forget having kids. And to make sure you make time, because there's a time limit for that. So that always stuck with me, I made a mental note.



And then, it wasn't like I forgot, it just never happened. But maybe if I was more organized in my life, maybe I could have done something about it, but you know then I think that maybe I'm too lazy to be a mother.



Would you want to adopt one now, or do you just not even care?



I don't know, I worry I'm too lazy. I think I was extremely depressed when I was hitting 40, but then what I think happens is as my mother would say, 'nature takes its course,' and it gets less, it drops off, you know what I'm saying? I'm glad the [brooding] didn’t go into a square root of like, "Oh my god! I still don't have one, Oh my god!" So it just alleviated.



And Kelley doesn't have kids either. I like that you both don’t have kids.



Oh God, I'm going to sound like a fucking weirdo for saying this but I'm going to. OK -- Kelley and I have been noticing all of these things parents say and we get alone and we just -- oh my God, I wish she was here.



What do you mean?



These things parents say! Like, [Serious voice] 'You know, children change your life completely. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I was nothing until I had kids.'



[Laughing] I mean, the quotes are just...endless! 'My children give me all the perspective in the world.' 'I didn't even know what living was until I looked into my daughter's eyes in the nursery.' I mean, it just goes... on and on! And then I'm like, 'Well, I guess I blew it, didn't I?'



[Laughing]. What you just said makes that one scene in "Loud Quiet Loud" even funnier. Charles tells you and Kelley that he and his wife just found out they are going to have a baby. You and Kelley light cigarettes and start screaming, "OH MY GOD THAT IS THE BEST NEWS! THAT'S SO GREAT!"



[Laughing hard] Oh, I know! It's all so...strange! But the thing is, I really feel like..that, well, obviously not everyone in the world can be wrong about this. [Whispers] I mean ... can they? Ok, I get it everybody, I mean, obviously I made a HUGE error, and obviously I can't rectify it. Whatever!



There was that fascinating 2002 documentary about you and Kelley, and I just read that your bass player is making a new documentary about the band. Have you ever instead thought about making it a reality series about you and Kelley for like, A&E?



Huh, you know a couple of people have actually asked us about that. I wonder how one would get to do that.



Just get someone to pitch it to a variety of cable channels – A&E, VH1. I think they'd be interested off the bat if they saw the 2002 documentary and recent footage of you two. You and Kelley together on film is entertaining anyway, but when you throw in that you're twins and rock stars, it's just a major hook. Would you do a series?



I don't know if I'd do it. I don't know! I mean, I think Kelley's funny and I enjoy hanging out with her. I'd have to think about it. It would [be] fun to try, though, and see what happens. I don't know.



Here's the final question. Over the years, the one word that is always used when describing you is "cool." There have been songs about it, it's been on web sites, reporters say it, fans say it...



Yeah, but you know what? I could just Google 'Kim Deal is an asshole' and I bet things would come up.



Wait, why did I even just say that? Why would I even Google 'Kim Deal is an asshole?'



I don't know why, but you shouldn't do that. So anyway, since that word is always associated with you, can you think of one characteristic or attribute you possess that's been the reason for people always coming back to that same word about you?



Yes, I know what it is [Pauses].



What is it?



It's cuz I smoke. [Laughs hard].



[Laughing]. Oh you jerk! It would be so "cool" if you really answered!



That was my answer! I used to smoke, and that was cool, but I don’t smoke anymore so I'm not cool anymore. I'm fat and uncool.



Interview by Jenny Stewart, PlanetOut.com/Gay.com Editorial Director

Sad

It's been like a week or more now since I've played Pixies music. It'll be another 3 days at least...maybe 4...before I can play it again. It's been two weeks since our last rehearsal and it'll be a solid two more weeks before our next. I miss it. I don't mean the wrong thing by saying this...but the other bands, as much as I enjoy them, I don't mind taking time away from. I'm ok if we skip a few rehearsals or if I don't play the music on my own outside of rehearsals. But Pixies. I miss it.

I need to be thankful for this experience and all the things it has meant to me. I know that it won't last forever. Someday it might even end in a way that I can't really enjoy the memories...or maybe it won't. But someday it'll end. For now...I am so glad to have this thing in my life.

UPDATE 5/21/2012:
Played some tunes on Saturday and Sunday. I do have to say...I've forgotten a bunch already. The muscle memory is there and it does take over...but it is pretty shocking how quickly the total confidence in remembering the tunes fades. It's a good reminder that, as we work up to the full 89 songs (or as close to that number as we settle on getting) it's a good idea for me to try and get around to playing every single song at least once a month or more often if possible. Or they will fade. I'm very glad that I've mapped out the tab so diligently for the day when they do really fade. And it reminds me how important getting the tab correct and as detailed as possible is.