The Pink Spiders Interview
What do you love best about music?
Matt Friction (Vocals, guitar): 'One good thing about music, is that when it hits you, it doesn't hurt.' That's Bob Marley.
Do you guys have an expected release date for Sweat it Out?
All: Nope.
Have you recorded it yet?
Jon Decious (Bass): Mmhm! We're just going through some red tape. We've been working on it. It's been done recording for about five months.
It must be irritating to have to wait that long. Like, you just want to get the new record to your fans, but you have to wait so long.
Matt: Yeah, then they set a release date, and start with taking it to the radio and promotional stuff, so fans can't get it for another five months anyway.
Jon: And then they just keep pushing it back. And then it just annoys you.
And then it's like old material to you?
Jon: Yeah, oh yeah.
But you still have to play on it for so long after that.
Matt: We only play a few new songs now so we don't get burnt out on it. But now we're playing other old songs that we're sick of! [Laughs]
There are a lot of fans that want to get a hold of your first album, The Pink Spiders are Taking Over, so is there any chance that it would ever be re-released?
Matt: Well, when we recorded it, it was when we first started the band. We don't have master tapes to it. We wanted to remix it and change some things about it before we repress it, because there are only 1,000 CDs out there. And it turns out that we have no idea where the guy is that made it, so we'll probably get someone to re-master it. We haven't gotten around to it, but now that we're getting broke again we'll probably re-release it. [Laughs] We did that album in two days after we'd been a band for a month. We're not embarrassed by it, but we'd like to spruce it up a little.
If you could choose any band to tour with, who would you choose?
Jon: Rolling Stones! The Hives would be fun too. They would be no Rolling Stones, but it would be fun.
Matt: I think Scooby Doo and the gang formed a band in one of the episodes. They would make cartoon versions of us, and we'd do voices, go in the studio!
What would you like to see change in the music industry over the next few years?
Bob Ferrari (Drummer): I'd like to see people buy records!
Matt: I think the easier question is: What shouldn't change? It's pretty much all screwed up.
Jon: People who work in the record industry should work, would be the first thing that I think should change. If that happened, then everything else would kind of domino.
Matt: It should be like the end of Fight Club when he blows up all the banks and they have a clean slate for everybody—there's no credit, no debt. Like that, but destroy all the major labels and all the suits and start over.
Jon: It's a very incestuous thing that's starting to mutate over time.
Matt: No one gives a crap about music. People invest time and money and other things into your band, but no one ever bothers to listen to the album.
Jon: People only care about what the people at the other record labels think. They don't listen to it either. It's kind of the blind following the blind at this point.
Matt: It's all about buzz and hype at this point. People spend millions of dollars helping musicians make records, and never really listen to the songs.
When you write songs, do you write to appeal to an audience, or only for yourself?
Matt: I write whatever makes the most money.
Bob: It ain't working! [Laughs] And it turns out, he has no idea.
Matt: I'm not as in touch with the kids as I thought I was, apparently. I thought we liked doing drugs and having sex, but apparently it's crying and talking about being sad.
Bob: We grew up on fart jokes, you guys grew up on crying.
Matt: It's always about crying yourself to sleep.
Have fans ever done anything crazy for you guys?
Jon: One time a fan made a—what are those dolls called?—voodoo doll of me. I thought that was weird. But they gave it to me, so it's safe. Actually, Oscar ate it!
Matt: Oscar's his dog. Not like, our merch guy.
Can you guys tell us what your real names are?
Matt: Matt Friction.
Yeah, right!
Bob: Robert Bartholomew Ferarri. [Laughs]
Jon: My name is Jon Decious. That is my name! Would you like to look at my license?
What weird talents do you have?
Matt: I can touch my butt with my hand! [Everyone laughs] That kind of came out wrong. I can reach over my back and touch my butt. Most people can't do that!
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