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down to it, they can agree on the basics, and those basics are the foundation for everyone to live in harmony. I mean, you can’ t live in harmony debating more complicated ideas— it’ s the basic foundation, and that’ s what everybody agrees to get along on. So if you’ re just talking about extreme ideas, then of course you’ re going to all fall out. So it seems unfortunate that everyone’ s allowed themselves to be kettled into these positions, where you’ re fighting about ideas that really are irrelevant. People just want to get wisdom, as well, I would think. CM: Well, I think thatAmericans are a combination of all of this, you know? And I hope that, on the other side of this time of polarization, America will embrace its deep past. And I’ m sure that for many people, that is already happening. America is a culmination of thousands of years, and all of that has to factor in, not just the modern-day rhetoric. It’ s thousands of years of evolution and struggle. And now we find ourselves here. And for me, it is a strange home
Kula Shaker, 1996
14 illinoisentertainer. com march 2026 on with their lives. People just want to be left alone in peace and to work a steady job. People want to look after the people they love, and so, really, just leave us alone. And I think that’ s the actual essence of it.
IE: Tell me about the particulars of your recent tour. Were you traveling in a bus? How many did it seat? Were you ever behind the wheel yourself? CM: No, it was not quite a self-drive tour. But it definitely kind of felt a bit like a 1978 punk rock band tour— we really got to see the country. We weren’ t cloistered in some kind of plush tour bus. We weren’ t flying everywhere, so we were able to stop off every now and again when we just wanted to literally stand in the middle of the road. And it was all quite surreal. As soon as we got out of the familiar territory on the East coast— which was freeways and big cities— and we started to head out into the wild, vast landscape of Texas, we’ d come across this strange sort of thing called Buc-ees. And it had a gold statue of a sort of chipmunk-looking creature, and it was sort of a giant mega-service station, with mega-services, where you could go buy the golden statue of the beaver, or fill your boots with all sorts of branded merchandise, from soccer balls to fast food and caps. It was completely surreal, and we didn’ t know what to make of that. But we did buy a Buc-ee Beaver football. And when you drive from Texas to California, and gig along the way, I just couldn’ t stop thinking about Cormac McCarthy novels, more about the toughness of that pioneer spirit. And driving through a Navajo reservation, it’ s all there for you— you’ re not flying over it, you’ ve got to go right through. It’ s incredible, and it fills you with awe, a place that big. And you wonder how it could ever come together and become a country, but it did, and very, very recently. And I think that’ s what struck me most of all— America is very, very young.
IE: You must feel a kinship with Native American
away from home— my mom had a whole life there as a kid, and America changed my mom’ s life. It changed my whole family’ s life.
IE: But your final comment on the album, its coda, is“ Dust Beneath Our Feet,” right? In a cold, final ashes-to-ashes sort of way? CM: Well,“ Wormslayer” was going to be the last track on the album. It seemed like there was really nothing more to say after“ Wormslayer.” But“ Dust” is better, and it’ s nice to have an epilogue that could be the beginning of another story. So the stories don’ t end. It carries on, and you just have to be completely open to them. That’ s how it is.
IE: And you have another more optimistic track called“ Be Merciful.” Good luck with that! CM: Well, you know, there’ s always mercy. And they have this whole thing of Don’ t let the bastards get ya down. And that moment when you leave the house, and you sense the world tingling with life after a rainstorm? That’ s a metaphor for life, because the world is constantly refreshing itself and everything is infused with potential, everything is infused with new life, so you’ ve gotta keep focused on that, and don’ t let the bastards get you down.
IE: Ultimately, you’ re kind of left with that wicked smile on Josh Hartnett’ s face at the end of TRAP. Like,“ I am OUTTA here, muthafuckas!” CM: I liked that ending. It was good. I spoke to Night [ Shymalan ] about it afterwards, and he was insistent that it was a comedy. Because the famous Hitchcock( Truffaut) series of interviews is all about the fact that murder should be played as a comedy or a love scene. And as Mike Nichols once said,“ Even Hamlet is funny.” Even the blackest of stories should be funny,
Tom Lanham