The Best Part About Los Angeles
We are in Los Angeles still, and I have started remembering that my favorite thing about LA is the part when we leave. We have two more shows here and then we drive east. It’s not that I dislike LA, it is just too weird for me, and our schedule is way too hectic when we are here. People driving everywhere, and the weird rules, like if you flip someone off on the highway they shoot you, and worrying about earthquakes all the time makes me nervous. There are parts of the city that I love, (like the restaurant Versailles and the Warner Brothers office) but it is fun to leave because I experience such a relief. That, and you get to see all those windmills on the way out of the city.
The Troubadour is Wired!
The club we played at last night is called The Troubadour, and I drooled with envy as I watched them hook up a brand new 56K modem in to their soon-to-be ISDN phone line, up in a cigarette-smoke-filled office. They will have their own web page in a matter of weeks or days. This club is probably my favorite to play in Los Angeles now. The show went ok, and there was a “meet-and-greet” for us which means that label people and other industry-types go upstairs in the club, eat pizza, and talk to us. I found it sort of nice to talk to these people, for some reason. I used to make fun of bands who had this sort of thing, but it really isn’t bad at all, because most of the label people are friends now, and it is nice to be able to meet and talk to them in person, instead of on the phone. I reiterate what I have been spouting off about for the past 3-4 years; Warner Brothers, at least OUR Warner Brothers, is not a normal major label. It is completely artist-oriented. We still love it.
Interviews at the Ski Lodge
So we go to the Warner Brothers offices (known as The Ski Lodge) today, to do interviews and get free Pavement and Flaming Lips CDs; you know, the free CDs that Steve Albini always talks about; every promo CD gets charged to the band, etc., etc. Actually, anything that is a “promotional item” does not get charged to the band, however, he is right; the money does have to come from somewhere. Anyway, this is another story, and another notesfile. Here’s a sample of one of our interviews:
INTERVIEWER: So, where did you guys find Howie? (Drummer #6)
HOWIE: I was working in a toll booth on I-294 (Chicago) and they kidnapped me.
ROSE: It was easier than paying the tolls
INTERVIEWER: Is that really true?
HOWIE: No, it’s just my dream job; working as a toll booth operator on I-294.
ROSE: Hey, guys, what are your dream jobs?
RICK: I have two now; my first was always to be a postal worker with a route, but I just found another dream job if I don’t make it into the postal workers; I would like to be one of those guys who drives those billboard trucks around; you just drive around the city all day with a billboard attached to you, and nothing else.
ROSE: My dream job is to be able to work at Kinko’s, and have access to that color copier. I could wreak havoc with 24-hour free color.printer.access.
INTERVIEWER: (rolling on the floor laughing)
JIM: (dreamily) I want to be a shepherd.
ROSE: What would you shepherd, though? Goats? Sheep?
RICK: Llamas? You could shepherd ostriches, you know.
JIM: Just sheep. I would be a classic shepherd.
Tonight’s show: Spaceland, in Los Angeles.
What can I say? We all dislike the new trend of people NOT dancing at the shows. Word of encouragement from our manager, who watched the show: “I was going to get really mad at the guy who was laying completely prone on the floor while you played, but then I looked over and noticed that he was tapping his feet.”