misc. quotes from various interviews '98-'04

TELEPHONES:
"The telephone is a visual idea for the live show, born out of the time when Cup still lived in Vancouver. We developed a relationship that was based solely on the telephone because we lived in different countries, so it became the most precious object for our friendship. one day while talking to each other , i just imagined us onstage, singing through them. It just became a central image. If you were to take the telephone back 200 years, it''d be perceived as a magic object from another dimension that people would fear or worship. now, It's almost become invisible because of how perfectly it works."

THE NAME:
"What we like about the name I Am Spoonbender specifically is that at its heart the idea is controversial. it functions both as a silly/serious statement and a reference to telekinetic power, and therefore neutralizes any attempts to perceive the band in a binary position. I have encountered people who are very apprehensive about saying the whole band name because it boldly says 'I AM SOMETHING.' It's like they don't want to draw that much attention to themselves." - Cup

"things that interest us need to have a sense of mystery- not be too literal, or make it explicit what kind of thing you're going to hear/see. when choosing our name we wanted something that would have subjective meaning: something that would sound enigmatic, powerful, or silly depending on what one's individual associations are. most importantly, it had to be MEMORABLE. there are a million examples of tedium in band names like the big 'one word' trend of the 90's (HELMET, ETC) and the ridiculous scourge of current bands unimaginatively called 'THE (blank)'. snooze. the only thing i regret about our name is that it has too many letters, which makes it hard to enlarge on flyers, marquees and blimps. oh, and we were the first of all these "I AM _____" bands around these days..."
- DUSTIN

TECHNOLOGY
"(We're asked a lot) about our use of technology, like we are sitting in a secret laboratory somewhere using esoteric new gear that nobody else has found. not true. your imagination and ears are more important than what gear you use. believe it or not, we're not tech-heads. we're just tired of the sound that has been forced into our heads from 30 years of listening to dad's rock and roll. We like dad's rock and roll but its his music and we want to make something else."

"although, in the grand scheme of things, in the chronology of human evolution, there's really not much of a difference in using technology that's 10-weeks-old versus 40-years-old. - MARC KATE

"REALITY"-
"experience is proof. 'voices in your head', for example- i don't understand the distinction being made in the question "are they real or imagined?"- i mean, what reason do we have to doubt that they're the same? the experience of imaginary voices in your head is no less a 'real' experience than 'real' voices in your head!" experience of something IS PROOF of something. that's all! everything you experience is 'real'. truth is just a matter of the angle you happen to be watching from, and everything is real, with one exception: nothing is also real." -DUSTIN