Go read some interviews with David Thomas of the legendary band Pere Ubu.
He sounds kinda mean. Add to this a precarious cell phone connection,
and it could be a potential nightmare in the making. I already had a hangover,
so I popped a couple of aspirins, and dialed the number of his hotel in Chicago,
where he's promoting Pere Ubu's latest record, 'Why I Hate Women.' To my surprise,
the person on the other end was extremely friendly and talkative.
Tuula: My phone is totally on the fritz. Okay, I have service now. I basically can't leave one little cramped up corner.
David Thomas: Just don't move for the next half hour and you're be fine.
Tuula: Okay, you too, suffer with me. Where do you live now?
David: I live in England
Tuula: Why England' Is it due to the social commentary on America that you seem to hint at on Pere Ubu records?
David: I'm married to an english woman, she's an only child, blah blah blah. We're not a terribly political band, the social commentary
is more about living in spaces and sometimes living in places that don't exist, living in earlier days, in a particular environment .
And those environments are personalized, not necessarily the issues. But in the end it's what you're thinking, you basically are the place.
(He pauses to think for a second.) I don't want to come off as too arrogant or anything, I'm just a stranger in a strange land.
Tuula: I've been reading the Pere Ubu 'Manifesto' (note - collective statement issued by Pere Ubu regarding the music industry and their band)
and one of the first lines is, 'Don't seek success.' This almost seems to go against the grain of how bands aggressively market themselves
these days.
David: Well, people get to do what they want. But the problem with the music industry these days is it's just a conveyor belt,
6 months in your bedroom, and the next you're a superstar. You really do need that period of self-discovery, you need a certain
amount of obsession with music as an art form. It's always been a scummy business, the same as 30 years ago. The business hasn't changed,
the musicians have changed, there's a lack of development. If this sounds all terribly therapeutic, I'm sorry. It's just..there needs to be
this hardening process, so people can figure out what they want to do and get to know what they're capable of. The industry would prefer cannon
fodder, the industry would prefer Macdonald's all ground beef patties.
Tuula: Mostly ground beef.
David: (laughing) I'm not gonna say any more. I can't get into a lawsuit with Macdonald's about this. But you can't really blame the industry,
you can only blame the people who want to be made by the industry. What stardom leads to is not very satisfying.
Tuula: Do you feel your career has been satisfying?
David: It is a satisfying career in that i still get to do what I want. I mean, I'd love to be a pop star.
Throw a bag of money at me and you'll see this hardened facade drop away...(the phone connection dies)
Tuula: Sorry, I had an itch.
David: You moved! I knew something had happened. I knew you moved!
Where were we...Oh, so when we started out, no-one was going to hear us, it was pointless. And so we recorded the first
album to leave something behind, our legacy, if you will, something to be remembered by. In the hopes that some kid
would go someday to the Salvation Army and find it and say, 'hey, this is good, this is some really weird band from Cleveland.'
That sort of mindset.
Tuula: It's like now, bands aren't really allowed to grow, their second album comes out and they're being pushed to produce another
record just like the first, in the shortest time possible.
David: The great thing about Pere Ubu is that we don't know how to repeat ourselves. The thing that is interesting is not doing
the same thing over and over again, if you can do something once, why would you do it again' But to be a pop star, you have to
find your niche and bang away at it, you have to care, you have to devote your life to it and do all sorts of what we would consider ugly things.
Tuula: Listening to you talk, and reading your interviews, is there a particular religion or philosophy that you subscribe to'
It seems like there's something there.
David: It's not religion, just that we came up in a very weird generational window. We saw the whole hippie thing of the 60's,
it was counter culture that didn't go anywhere, and we were enamored with consumer culture, so we were in sort of an odd place.
We insisted on having our own way, and to a degree, we're all middle class kids who knew we could do anything more successful
in life then be in some weird rock and roll band. We were slackers, the original slackers. None of us graduated college.
Tuula: Okay, speaking of consumer culture, you know how Vanity Fair has that Proust questionnaire on the back page' They always
ask some boring fashion designer, but I'd like to ask you some of their questions.
David: I'm so bad at stuff like this, but I'll try.
Tuula: What's your idea of perfect happiness?
David: (laughing) I knew it! I just knew it!
Tuula: I mean, you can say 'beer' or something.
David: I've never thought of perfect happiness because I'm a musician. I lack the imagination.
Tuula: Which living person do you most admire?
David: Hmmm. Well, I've always been taken with Henry Rollins' work ethic. Boy, that guy was a hard worker.
I don't know if he's still doing anything.
Tuula: Yeah, the Rollins band was just in town here.
David: I can't say I know anything else much about him, but that guy's a hard worker.
Tuula: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
David: Deplore...good word. I don't deplore any trait in myself. I can make an excuse for anything I do that's hideous.
Or intolerant. But original.
Tuula: What is your greatest extravagance?
David: Sitting around doing absolutely nothing. I consider it to be highly decadent. I never answer the telephone,
it's always someone wanting you to do something.
Tuula: On what occasion do you lie?
David: I'm a musician, it's my job. Never trust a musician.
Tuula: They should put that on a bumper sticker.
David: They should put that on our foreheads.
Tuula: What do you dislike most about your appearance?
David: The fact that my teeth don't show. I have FREAKISHLY small teeth. You wouldn't believe it if I pointed it out to you.
Tuula: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
David: People in the band do wonderful impersonations of me. They all start off with 'Jeez...'. I have that whiny, 'jeez' kinda voice.
Tuula: It's the midwestern in you. What is your biggest regret?
David: Getting into music. Very, very bad decision. I was perfectly happy on a science-oriented life course before music came along.
Tuula: What or who is the greatest love of your life?
David: Hmm...I'll have to pick the 'what'...My dog. (laughing) The wife is going to be upset, but I did say that I picked a thing.
I have a whippet. JJ Cool Dog is his name.
Tuula: Which talent would you most like to have?
David: Singing. (laughter)
Tuula: I'm gonna leave that as a one word answer. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
David: One thing. Huh. Have more hair.
Tuula: Ahh, now we're getting to the grist of the conversation...
David: Yes, more hair, and bigger teeth. It's really suspicious when you can't see someone's teeth when they talk to you. It makes them look all spastic. The hair thing is superfluous, but the teeth...I'm not a vain person, but...
Tuula: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
David: Still being around for 36 years making records, considering what a commercial disaster we are. We should be in the Guinness Book Of Records.
Tuula: I'll help you petition for it.
David: Well, you're gonna have to be able to walk around with that phone of yours.
Tuula: I know, my legs have fallen asleep. It was worth it though.
An interview with David Thomas of Pere Ubu
By Tuula Ala
