![[The
Interesting Guys]](http://kmp1754.tripod.com/G-interestingguys.GIF) |
We sat down, and in due time, onstage walked a man dressed in
something resembling pajamas, only covered - as pajamas rarely are, in
our experience - with a subtle layer of glitter. There was also a bass
player and a drummer, wearing what appeared to be day clothes. Sans
glitter. You never know what these rock musician types are gonna do.
The concert proceeded, and we got our first listen to such gems as
"Sniff" (From a dog's point of view - "Everybody says you need a
sexual persona / but you put me in a coma, with your aroma"), "Lather,
Rinse, and Repeat" ("She said lather, rinse and repeat / we'll do it
all together/ we'll smell so sweet"), "Children Who Eat Cheese" ('nuff
said), as well as a cover of "Close to You" introduced by lead singer
Conner Tribble as "a song I really hate" - it kicks the hell out of
everything on the Carpenter tribute album. To finish the evening off,
Mr. Tribble proclaimed: "We love you more than food!" That was the
final blow. We were charmed. We bought their CD (sold by the bassist
out of a plastic bag, on the edge of the stage) and signed up for
their newsletter.
A few weeks later, after returning to our other life as inconspicous
Chicagoans, we got a chance to speak with Conner about the band. We
even got to ask him about the dog. And, of course, we got in our
obligatory "NY scene" question, as well as the scoop on the Guy's
recent La Bar Bat show (where Franny had her prom. Better not to ask).
******
up: How was the show at Le Bar Bat?
ct: It was great. That's a really fun place to play. In fact, it the
was the first place we played outside of the Continental. I believe it
was around in February, because we played in the Continental for about
a year, building up our show and making that CD. I remember going in
there a couple times when friends of ours were playing, at Le Bar
Bat, and I'd just look at the crowd - if we played in here they'd go
crazy. It was, it was good.
up: I saw you a few years ago...I'm trying to think when... I remember
you were giving out tapes, presumably home-dubbed.
ct: That might have been when we were already the Interesting Guys.
It was probably when we were first starting. We would do that [give
away tapes], and everybody told us to sell them, but I didn't want to
sell them because we just wanted everybody to like the songs, and we
knew we'd be putting out a CD and charging for that. People are
always telling us we should charge more money, or do this, but I don't
really agree with that.
up: You had a different name before? What was that?
ct: Yeah, it was called "Come Again."
up: Ok... How'd you come up with that?
ct: Well, you know, it had the sexual connotation, and it also was
like, "Come see us again." But I thought it was...I like our new name
better. I forget exactly how we came up with it, but it just seemed
appropriate. Not that we think we're the *most* interesting or
anything, I think everybody's very interesting, I just like it. I
thought it was very simple.
up: Why - and when - did you decide to change the name?
ct: We did that I guess that year we started playing the Continental
in Februrary, that was last year, and about six months before that, we
started getting really more serious about the band, started really
writing more songs, and trying to get more work. I forget how that
name change actually came along, I think I just liked that name, plus,
again, the "Come Again" thing, if you're serious - although there are
a lot of filthy names for bands - you know how a comic without using
filthy words, if he's just clever about it, he can be funny and then
you can use that in any context, in any medium anywhere, and I always
thought that was a lot more clever than just getting up and saying
four letter words. You can get a laugh that way, and get attention,
but it's not as cool. So, I think, with the "Interesting Guys," it's
like "What's so interesting?" you know...I think that's funny.
up: Ok, obligatory question: what's so interesting about you guys?
ct: The main thing is, we're really honest. A friend of ours, a new
fan, was saying, a lot of your stuff certainly isn't politically
correct. And it certainly isn't, but I think it's what most people
think about. If you're trying to be politically correct, you're not
really politically correct, you're just doing what society tells you
you're supposed to do...and so the songs are about whatever you think
of normally - what I think most people think about, anyway. I think
that's interesting, and also, we're not concerned with being - how can
I say this? - like a *band*, as far as music - it's more like, just
come, have fun...and we're liable to do anything. I don't really care
about playing a guitar, in fact, a lot of times I don't even play the
guitar, it's just a vibe, and you're not necessarily coming to see a
band - it's like a spectacle.
up: Presumably, this started out as sort of an aside, but you said you
started getting more focused, and more interested in making it a band,
and getting the CD together...what, ideally, do you hope to get out of
all this? I mean, is it still something you're just doing to satisfy a
part of you, or would you love to be a rich and famous rock star?
ct: Of course we would, and we're all taking it one step at a time,
but yes, I would love to have 20 sold-out shows at the Garden, and -
let me be totally honest here - yes. I want to be like when the
Beatles first got famous, and number 1, number 2, number 3 on the
charts were all the Beatles - yes, that's what I want, that's what we
want. But on the other hand, we also - and this sounds kind of corny,
but it's very true - we just want people to have a really good time.
You know, I love the grunge Seattle thing - I love that, but there's
also a lot of some depressing stuff, and sadness, and young people are
depressed, concerned about their futures, which of course, I guess
you'd have to be concerned about your future, but when you come to our
show, or listen to our songs, it's just to have fun and just for the
hour we're playing - or if you put in our CD - just laugh because you
really gotta laugh. Everybody has things in life that make them
unhappy sometimes, I just like to see people laugh, and have fun. I
hear this over and over, people come in to see us, and they go "Oh my
God, I was so stressed out today, and I saw you guys, and had such a
great time." I literally do hear that so much...and when they say,
"Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I'll put your CD in," again, this sounds
corny, but that really makes me feel great. That's the main thing, I
just love to see people having a good time. But yes, I would like to
be more famous than Elvis and Michael Jackson and the Beatles all
rolled into one.
up: How long have the three of you been together?
ct: The bass player and I have been together for several years, and
our current drummer has been with us for two years. We were living a
bit of a wilder lifestyle for a while. We weren't really too concerned
with getting a band together...The bass player and I, we've worked
together for about three years, then our drummer, Woody Shannon, we
were lucky to find him about two years ago. About 6 months before we
really started working hard. And I love them both dearly.
up: Did you guys get together with the idea of putting a band
together, or were you already hanging out together, and it went from
there?
ct: No, it was purely a band thing. Bert, the bass player, had seen me
playing around town with another band. A lot of our main songs have a
different theme, unlike most bands; it's like a whole identity to these
songs themselves, and he always liked it. That band broke up, and he
told me that if I ever wanted to get another band together to please
call him, and I did. So it was purely a musical thing. We just love
working together.
up: What was the name of the other band?
ct: It was "Reverend Tribble and the Angels." It was a New York bar band.
up: How long was that together?
ct: That was together about 2 years or so, and it was just a gimmick
kind of band.
up: This CD is full of different styles. What are some of your musical
influences?
ct: Just everything in the world, like when I'm walking down the
street in Manhattan, you hear some crazy noise - you know, we love all
kinds of music, everything, just everything - that's why the record's
like that. Because, you know you hear all kinds of stuff on there;
"Close to You" gets pretty heavy, then there's the song "Lather,
Rinse, and Repeat," which is obviously about shampooing your hair. And
so, for instance, when I wrote that song, I was simply in the shower,
shampooing, and just happened to glance up and see that - so
everything from a shampoo bottle, to hearing thunder...it's just
everything, literally everything in the world.
up: Doesn't sound like you're from NYC originally...
ct: Nope...
up: Where are you from?
ct: I'm from Georgia.
up: What made you come to NY?
ct: I came up about 12 years ago, and I came up here, you know, to
play, to seek fame and fortune, because that's where you're supposed
to go for that sort of thing. And always, I thought it'd be very
exciting up here, which it is.
up: What one place in NY, besides the Continental on Thursday nights,
should every visitor see?
ct: I tell you, I'm the wrong person to ask that, because I never go
out. You have, like, the trendy things...I could lie to you...The
most fun I have is lying in bed, I guess because I'm out every night.
I'll tell you what I like to do. For 50 cents, you can ride the Staten
Island Ferry at night. And that's great, when you do it at night,
you've got a spectacular view, if you have a date or something, you
can go outside and really see the water. I like doing stuff like that.
You've got the harbor and the city and everything. It's great. Plus,
it's only 50 cents!
up: Whose dog is it?
ct: That dog belongs to our producer, his name is Dave Dachinger, and
the dog's name is Sonny Bone-o. Both of them are absolutely fabulous
people. This dog, he actually is on the record too, that's not a joke.
up: Have you ever taken him to a show?
ct: We haven't yet, but we sure would like to...Dave's a really busy
guy, he rarely can get to one of our shows, but we would love
to. That dog gets more attention than anybody in the band! He's a
wonderful dog, and he was there for all the recording. He helped us
spiritually as well as helping us sing and stuff.
up: The author of this review in your newsletter calls your record
"novelty dependent." How do you feel about that?
ct: It's fine with me. The guy gave us a really great review. That was
our first review, and it was in the Post. It doesn't bother me the
slightest, because these songs are just songs that we write, and if
people say this was novelty, I don't care what they say. At least the
guy liked it, and I can't worry about that. When I write a song, I
would never go "well, this might be considered novelty." I don't care.
If you listen to it, that's wonderful.
up: But do you worry at all about being labeled as a "gimmick band"?
ct: No, I don't. That aspect has come into it, and we hear that.
And it is a concern, I guess. You could ask the other guys in the
band, unfortunately they're not here, but personally, I just want to
make a lot of money, and I don't care what they say! (laughter) No, I
don't care.
up: We read in your newsletter about your public access show. We
haven't had a chance to see it yet; could you tell us a little about
it?
ct: It's actually a lot of fun. What we'll do is, we'll show a clip of
us performing, and then it has a clip of me talking, telling you about
life, it'll have clips of other stuff, anything from human
reproduction, to the crucifixion, to showing baby walruses, to geese,
to anything like that. I think it's a very entertaining show. Not only
is it entertaining, it's also very informative. I've done a lot of
stuff, and been through a lot of stuff, and so I just talk about my
experiences, and oddly enough, I get really good reactions. We offer
for people to call in...It's funny, it's like our band, you either
really really like it, or it's just too much for you...but for a lot
of people, it's entertaining, and I love it. I think we're only going
to do it for another quarter, which means we'll have done it for a
year, but I'm very proud of it, and we'll always keep those videos.
up: How did you get into public access?
ct: Well, you know, the show is really visual, and people are always
saying "you should try to get on one of these local shows," and I
always, stupidly, assumed it'd be tough or something. I looked into
it, and it's very easy. You just call in, make an appointment, talk to
them, and you start sending in your show. We got a really great time
spot. We actually spent a lot of time on the show every week, until we
started recording the CD. The main thing was to use it as an
advertising thing. You can't actually advertise, because it's free,
you're not supposed to say "come see us," so we say give us a call,
and people call up and we have on our voice mail where we're playing.
However, the TV show seemed to take on a life of its own. Oddly, I
think we have fans who watch the show, who watch that talking stuff as
well as the clips of us playing, and don't necessarily come out to see
us, which is kind of odd. I don't think it's really worked in that
way, but as long as we entertain whoever it is, wherever they are,
that's great.
up: But you're stopping after this quarter, why is that?
ct: We're planning a summer tour. We're now on about 40 college
stations, and we're going to be touring the areas where we're most
popular on the radio, also feeling out the clubs during the summer, to
figure out which ones will be the best to come back to in the fall
when school really gets going in full gear. Bearing that in mind, I
don't want to be responsible for getting a show together every week.
And that will be kind of cool, because we'll have done if for a year,
given it a big shot, and did it.
up: And maybe that will force people to actually come out and see you,
if they don't have the TV show any more...
ct: Right! You know, people actually call and leave like, 10, 15
messages on the voice mail, just talking about different episodes. I
love that. I love the aspect, again, with the band, that it's more
than just guys playing music. I talk during the shows, I also say this
stuff. It's not that I think I'm smart, it's just that when you
experience things in life - everybody goes through practically the
same things, and talking about it is good, because everybody realizes
that everyone goes through it. I love that people who come to the
show, and watch the TV show, have said that to me, that they can
relate to that. It's just another whole dimension to our show.
up: How do you feel about the music scene in NY right now? Some people
complain that certain aspects of it are really dead right now...Does
it feel fresh, like there's innovative stuff going on?
ct: Can I be totally egotistical and blunt here? I think that's what
sets us apart, I really really do. And if that sound like I'm blowing
our own horn, I am. I just feel that way about it. And people tell me
that, too. I tend not to say this, but on the other hand, I'm very
very proud of what we do. I'm not saying that it's everybody's taste
or anything, but the little bit I go out and see, and from what I
hear, there's nothing like us out there. We try really hard, and I
like the fact that we try to make sure you understand what we're
saying. You know, I go see a lot of bands where I can't understand what
they're saying. I just really like to look into people's eyes when I'm
performing and *talk* to them, to really come across like that.
******
The Interesting Guys can still be found at the Continental in New York
City on Thursday nights as well as other NY dates and venues. If,
however, you're not lucky enough to be a New Yorker, don't despair!
They'll be touring this summer, and their CD is available by mail.
Just call (212) 265-8436 to hear the latest show dates, get on their
cool newsletter, or order their 11-track CD, "While You're Down
There," for $10.
![[Interesting image]](http://kmp1754.tripod.com/G-iglogo.GIF)
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