anti-complacency.org 2001

A-C:
So, we saw you guys a couple months ago were blown away at how much frickin' stuff you brought up on stage. There were a lotta fucking plugs and dials and switches and chords stickin' out of everything. Boggled our minds. Isn't that a bitch to set up and take down every night? yes. too much of one to talk about. it's really quite boring.

A-C:
When you record yr albums is it like way, way worse? Yr studio must be a mess, no?

no. it's actually very, very clean. we're neat freaks.

A-C:
Do you guys have some kind of collective tech/electronics background? Doesn't really look like it's a simple, "grab-my-geetar-plug-in-and-rock-out" life being in IAS.

none of us have ever even had shop class.

Dustin Diamond:
Hey, hey there ... uh, so, I know you guys say "I am Spoonbender," but, really who in the band is ACTUALLY "Spoonbender." I mean you say "I," so it can't be all of you? Who is it?

so dumb.

A-C:
You guys played a really big show at the Great American Music hall (SF) back in January. A-C really wanted to be there, but sadly, had prior engagements. How'd that go?

really well. we picked all the bands, it sold out, we had fun, and it seems that the crowd had fun. great show.

A-C:
How do you record yr stuff? Is it more of songwriter-y thing or do you improv in the studio like a lotta experimental bands?

we record to pro-tools, a hard-disc based system. as far as songwriting goes, we do both. we record "jams" and then edit them into songs, or sometimes via the more 'traditional songwriter' route. i need to say here that we don't consider ourselves an experimental band at all. (read the 'our first interview' on our site for more on this.) we are not experimenting with anything.

A-C:
Has yr songwriting process changed over the years?

not really.

A-C:
Who's in charge of writing lyrics?

i write them with cup. we sit down and figure out a vocal melody, start 'feeling for words' and then sculpt them out over time. the lyrics are pastiches of cup and i.

Dustin Diamond:
So, do you guys enjoying "spooning" in bed? I do. No girls really ever wanna spoon with me, though. I've got three extra ribs and an oversized left lung. It's weird.

we don't enjoying spooning in bed together. that's what light guys are for.

A-C:
What bands are you into right now?

residents. beautiful skin. meshuggah.

A-C:
What were the last five records you bought?

who pays for records?

A-C:
Is there anybody out there that you would consider peers in playing yr type of sound?

well, no one really sounds like us, i don't think. conceptually, i think we have many peers: brian eno, devo, residents, coil, this heat, morton subotnick, late 70's bowie, throbbing gristle, gary numan.

Dustin Diamond:
So, I heard it said that "a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down." In your experience is this true?

yes, this is true.

A-C:
Every once in a while we come across I am Spoonbender on remix credits. Who in the band is responsible for that?

no one in our band is responsible for those credits.

A-C:
What went into, and who worked on, the track you did on the locust remix album, "Well I'll Be a Monkey's Uncle?"

lots of time went into it - plenty of that time was spent just thinking about how i wanted it to actually unfold. LOTS of editing and re-arranging. our old bass player brian and i worked on it. i played the synthesizers also.

A-C:
1.You guys are on the same label as the Locust, but yr music couldn't be any more different. 2. What yr opinion of their stuff?

1. yes, but all the bands on GSL are very diverse, musically.
2. i think it sounds like good music.

A-C:
How's yr setup with GSL records work?

very well.

Dustin Diamond:
So, why spoons? Why not salad forks or butter knives?

spoons have an inherent "wholeness" by the nature of their circular shape. anthropomorphically speaking, butter knives give off the psychological profile of a gay gym coach on a 'lost weekend'.

A-C:
Who came up with idea of the phones on stage?

chance itself.

A-C:
How do those work?

pretty well.

Dustin Diamond:
1. So, were you guys inspired by the spoonbending scene in "the Matrix?" 2. Would you guys consider yourselves "Matrix-core?"

1. i was more inspired by the amount of email we got from people about that scene, after they saw the movie. 2. yes, we would.

A-C:
How much of yr stage act is theatrics vs. serious artistic expression?

WHAT??

A-C:
Do you have some kind of dogma behind the uniforms ... like a Devo/Devolution type of thing, maybe? Or is it just fashion?

we have NO dogma. concept, yes- if everyone wears the same thing, then small and important details begin to emerge: differences in speaking voice. eye color. shape of face. the list could go on. the things that inherently make us unique humans are already there, physically. choices of clothes tend to get in the way. people can be 'more different' if we all wear the same thing.

Dustin Diamond:
So, who in the band is Soundgarden singing about in their song "Spoonman?" That song reminds me of my prom. I didn't go, but still ...

they are singing about a man who lives on the street in seattle, who actually plays spoons very well. i've seen him in person. they saw him on the street all the time and just asked him to come in the studio to record his playing. pretty cool.

A-C:
How's the music scene in San Fran cater towards experimental acts?

it's ignored just like everywhere else, just less so.

A-C:
Any local SF bands that yr really into?

residents, metallica, matmos, aislers set, ghost orchids, weakling.

A-C:
Where do you guys usually play when yr in SF?

our last 5 shows have been at the great american music hall and the fillmore. we've only played 12 shows here.

Dustin Diamond:
So, does anybody in the band play the Spoons?

no.

A-C:
We saw a story on you guys -- an interview, if we remember well -- on San Francisco's Citysearch online site last year. It was about electronic music. Do you guys consider yrselves electronic music?

if you've read that article, you know the answer.

A-C:
As far as electronic music goes, who do you think really does it well, nowadays?

currently, i think matmos are great. amon tobin. soul oddity. many, many more...

Dustin Diamond:
Do you ever have people at your shows come up to you after you play and ask you to sign spoons? When my band, Screech and the Mr. Beldings, would play, people would always try and make us sign slices of ham.

that's absolutely amazing! i wish more people were that imaginative. yes, we've signed some spoons, but it's sooo hard....

A-C:
Going back to the equipment thing, how do you truck all that stuff around when you tour?

department of redundancy department.

A-C:
What kinda action usually goes down on yr tours? Is it Led-Zeppelin-coke-and-drunk-teenage-sluts or Pedro-the-Lion-milk-and-cookies-early-to-bed-early-to-rise?

for cup and i it's the former, for marc it's latter. you should see his "giraffe" slippers- SO cute and cozy.

A-C:
In yr interview with Buddyhead, you discussed the importance of paying attention to the details, to the things most people overlook. You also alluded to synchronicity. How do these concepts materialize in yr music?

experiences with these things are the reason for the music's existence. they inform the music- we are attempting to encode in the music the feeling of ESP.

A-C:
Yr "lists" section is fantastic.

thank you.

A-C:
You've mentioned film as a powerful influence on yr music. 1. Do cinematic techniques like recursivity translate well into a sonic landscape? 2. What goes into the creation of the IAS mise-en-scene?

1. we think so, but we're only 4 of the who-knows-how-many people hear it.
2. what goes into it? everything we have.

Dustin Diamond:
So, do you think the spork, or the spoon-fork, has made a mockery of the spoon?

it is a valiant, commendable and logical attempt at cutlery evolution, but it still comes across as the 'special' younger brother.

A-C:
1. Do you think that having all sorts of really intellectual influences makes yr music less accessible to the average listener? 2. Or does the pure sensory pleasure that music produces - and yrs in particular incites tremendous bliss - sort of break barriers and attract a larger following than, say, a really complex film or book?

thanks for the good words.
1.- probably. but we have a plan to reach LOTS of people- but this will take 4-5 more years. it's our feeling that truly smart music reaches millions- so smart that it appears as its opposite. and we are not just music, we're an idea. our band is a very-calculated slow motion sell-out: a hypnotic virus-cult that can't be forgotten once encountered.
2. the avenues used to get these things you've mentioned to the public are very different, so i don't think they can be compared.

Dustin Diamond:
Finally, and sorry to get so serious on this one, but what do you think happened after the "dish ran away with the spoon?"

Love - resulting in life-affirming genetic mutation.