on TCM of all stations , Penelope Spheeris The Decline of Western Civilization would pop up . And you guys looked like innocent teenagers in it . JD : Oh wow ! But no , I think I was … I would ’ ve been 26 ; Exene would ’ ve been 24 . So we weren ’ t teenagers . Pat Smear was just out of |
est . And we worked with Rob on ( 2018 release ) ** Live in Latin America , which was a band-funded CD from when we toured with Pearl Jam . And Rob really proved himself by mixing that , and Billy — who ’ s the most particular about who we work with as a producer — realized that Rob got it . And then we had |
X , 1981 |
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08 • 2021 |
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being a teenager , maybe . Darby was maybe 20 . But we were all grown up — we were 25- year-old bohemians , trying to look over the edge and see what ’ s on the other side . So we sort of went to the edge , walked around there for a while , and caught a lot of good songs and inspiration and images , and set up our life to be artists . That ’ s just what we did , and we were loved enough — or found enough of a connection — to not slip over the other side of that edge . And many , many did — the list goes on and on . IE : Inspiration-wise , Alphabetland is on fire , amped up to eleven by a canny producer who really understands you , Rob Schnapf . JD : Sure . He doesn ’ t put his stamp or his style of production on whatever records he works with . I mean , we ’ re pretty far away from Cat Power , but both of the records are really hon- |
Fat Possum do the reissues , so they said , “ Hey , motherfuckers ! Do you wanna make a record ? Because you ’ ve got the two things that are the most important besides songs to make a record — you ’ ve got a producer , and you ’ ve got a record company . So what ’ s your excuse now ?” So we did one session with Rob , and that was three old songs and the song “ Angel on the Road .” That was in the fall of 2019 , and once we did it and it sounded like X , we thought , “ Okay . Let ’ s do it for REAL .”
IE : And you also found the time to help out on She ’ s Automatic , the new comeback album from Tony Marsico ’ s great band The Cruzados , nee The Plugz ? JD : Oh , I just sang on it ‘ cause Tony ’ s a good friend of mine . And it ’ s good . It is a straight-up rock and roll record , and it is really , really good .
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IE : But you also stayed busy during the pandemic returning to the Bay Area to play local moter K . C . Turner ’ s novel “ In Your Driveway ( or Backyard )” private concert |
series . Everyone pretty much agrees that they were some incredibly special shows , especially being set against the COVID-19 backdrop . |