Onlands verscheen Face The Truth, het derde soloalbum van Stephen Malkmus. Naar aanleiding van de cd deed 3VOOR12 een email interview. Dit is de uncut versie. >Q's: > >-Is Face The Truth a record by a guy facing a major midlife crisis? >-What is the truth you are facing? Well it could sound that way. I’m definitely not going gently into the night like one might expect. I tend to think of it as a rebirth instead of a crisis. But that may be denial!! Self deception is CLEARLY the primary trait of the HUMAN ANIMAL. We would go insane without it. So what I am saying is if we face the truth, in a greater sense, the results would be rather earth shattering. I can’t really ask you to do that. It is a personal choice. So, in the end, I find it to be a funny title for a record. Because if it is not funny, then it is VERY serious, and the sound of the record is not serious like that!!! >-To me it seems you don’t care about current trends in music. And so >Face The Truth is a genuine Stephen Malkmus record. Do you think there’s a >difference with the former two records? Or do you think Face the Truth is a >somehow trendy record? I n not sure what is exactly trendy now. We really want to cut through the trends and get to what is fun and great about music regardless of the times. I wish Face the Truth was trendy--it would mean the world sees music the way we/I see it. It would be comforting. But as you know, that is not the case. Still, we stick to our guns. >-What kind of music were you listening at the time you recorded the >record? OUTSIDER/LONER records of the private pressing variety. Kenneth Higney, BAD AND GOOD CHRISTIAN ROCK-water into wine band, for instance PARTY/POOL PLAYING MUSIC-status quo, colored balls, 80's English DIY-homosexuals, disco zombies, the record players >-What musician/songwriter do you feel akin to at the moment? M Ward, Palace Bros, Fiery Furnaces, >-How did you record Face The Truth? Alone? Homestudio? Pretty much alone at my house 16 track Atari mx 70 1 Inch, i have a patch bay, good compressor, two good mics...... That’s it >-Did you fire The Jicks or just drop the name? Why? We are still a band. Since I kinda took over this record, I thought it was truth in advertising to put the band on the back of the cd. But we still jam as a live unit, sound like a band, not some backing band.... In fact the ‘and the jicks’ makes it sound more like just a backing band, and was bothering me. >-As the years pass, do you write better songs or do they just come easier? I feel like I have a better grip on what is good about what I do as I get older. So I can focus on my strengths...but i could be wrong...... >-Could you please write a one or two line summary/sneak preview about each >song? Pencil Rot: geek spazz nu wave romp It Kills: was supposed to be neil young-ish but just comes off as a jicks song I've Hardly Been: we want to annoy you on this one. but keep you humming the chorus anyway. childish song Freeze The Saints: pretty one. singer songwriter of the 70s variety. with a vague nod to REM first album that I can ever hear anymore Loud Cloud Crowd: was supposed to be Simon & Garfunkel meets joy division with the verve sample sitting in No More Shoes: brit folk guitar line, evokes Creedence jammy moments, can mother sky, more out there psych Mama: straightforward Kinks indie song. nice distortion on vocals Kindling For The Master: try to do late period/bad CAN funk with some half assed daft punk moves. a funny one for sure Post-paint Baby: straight up indie tune with biting lyrics. Moog was probably unecessary.... Baby C'mon: baby come on, party song. get wild with the vocals on this one. guitar could be louder.. Malediction: poppy one, could be looser but still nice melody, funny moogs >-Do you still enjoy touring? Yes i do. I like the "release" of playing live. It is thera-peutic. It’s more body that head. studio is for the head, live is for the body. >-What does an average day in your life look like? Lot of internet these days, play sports with other lazy guys (soft ball basketball tennis) read, cook, tv. Go see band once a week maybe, if lucky.