Illinois Entertainer October 2024 | Page 10

then I worked on some of the stuff that he wrote , so sometimes it ’ s just a way of jumble writing a song , where I ’ ll say , “ You know what ? That should be the first verse instead of the second verse ,” or something like that . So we write the songs together , overall , because we ’ re constantly editing and doing other stuff . But it ’ s just nice to be able to sing on a song and not have to worry
too much about the writing . So I guess I wrote “ Big Black X ,” “ Flipside ,” and “ Face in the Moon .” And I wrote the full chorus for that song . And “ Winding Up the Time ,” too . And I can ’ t remember all the songs right now because they ’ re not right here in front of me .
IE : And it ’ s rather ironic that – during the album ’ s genesis – Elon Musk ’ s newly-acquired Twitter suddenly morphed into a , ahem , Big Black X . EC : Well , I was a little ahead of the curve on the ‘ X ’ subject , even before I met John , and I , in fact , did that back in ’ 76 , when I changed my name from Christine to Exene , because Christ was an ‘ X ,’ so I ’ ve been a little bit ahead on that ‘ X ’ thing . But I don ’ t care what people do with ‘ X .’ It ’ s just a letter , but I think it ’ s kind of funny that it became a very popular thing so many years after we started doing it .
IE : Dare I even ask ? Is X actually ON X at all ? EC : Iamnot . I don ’ t use social media , and I haven ’ t for ten years , maybe ? I haven ’ t gone on any social media . I never had Facebook or any of those things , like TikTok and all that stuff . So I don ’ t even look at most of that stuff because it ’ s just gossiping , and it ’ s quite dangerous , so I avoid it like the plague that it is . I just don ’ t do it .
IE : An offbeat question : Does “ Big Black X ” possibly reference the late Steve Albini ? EC : I don ’ t know anything about Steve Albini . I mean , I know Big Black , but No , I don ’ t have any connections to that at all . So it comes from the night that John and I were driving in the car , and we drove past the Starwood in West L . A ., and there were some names on the marquee , like some hair band names , and I said , “ That is so stupid . If I had a band , I would just have a big black ‘ X ’ up there .” And John said , You mean the band would be called Big Black X ?” And I said , “ No , I ’ d just put a big black X up there instead because the band shouldn ’ t have to have a name . I think it ’ s stupid to have to call yourself ‘ The ’ Something , like The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , you know ? So I just was being , well , ME , and so when I was writing “ Big Black X ,” it wasn ’ t a song , exactly – I was writing prose , and I was working on it in the studio , and John said we newreleases October 4
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October 11
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October 18
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October 25
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Leon Bridges
American Football
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10 illinoisentertainer . com october 2024