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Stephen Malkmus.
"We're going to try to come over in December or January. I'm always pleasantly surprised by the crowds and the interest when we go to Australia. And we go to the army/navy outlet places in Adelaide and buy moleskin pants."
So this summer, when you're looking to replace those old galoshes or finally giving in to that long-suppressed urge to dress like shrubbery, don't be surprised if you have to wait in line behind one Stephen Malkmus, laying down some of his hard-earneds for the privilege of owning another pair of RM Williams finest. Right now, though, Malkmus and his band the Jicks are ensconced in the task of adapting the more synthesiser-heavy songs from their new album, 'Face The Truth', for the live arena.
"I'm rehearsing for a two week tour to try to introduce the record a little bit and try to get something going. With the last record we wanted just the band sound, so the idea here was to make it more urgent and screwed-up sounding and I used the instruments I had at my beck and call here because I did it at my house. It was nice to use some of these keyboards that I have that I haven't used before. They're kind of fragile, so I don't generally transport them, but they make me laugh a little bit when they're trying to be 'real' players and trying to compete in the music arena with the guitars and drums.
"We're thinking we're not going to do the disco song, Kindling
For The Master, because we tried it and we sounded like
a frat-boy funk band. We might be able to do it if we bring
an arsenal of samplers, but then we'd have to have the drummer
wearing the headphones and stuff..."
This is not the only challenge the band has to contend with.
"In the first song on the record [Pencil Rot], I sing
this rap thing where I doubled my voice so I sound like Eminem
or something, at least in my mind. We're doing it live with
regular drums so it sounds a little more like a Wipers new-wave
song, but when I do that part and everyone else stops, my voice
isn't very strong, so I don't sound very convincing. It's kind
of funny. I'm begging for people in the band to sing along with
me, and they might do it, but right now they just keep laughing."
Malkmus is pleased with the fruits of his most recent studio labours, even if this is tempered by apprehension about the audience seeing it the same way. He seems to have enjoyed what was a fairly intense level of involvement in the album's creation.
"Generally, I'm happy with it, but I've been disappointed before by what I thought was good and it turned out it maybe wasn't so good or it wasn't connecting with people. It's kind of important for me to be connecting. I feel like it's kind of special, maybe, and I'm hoping it is.
"Gigs are great, but the recording is where you're really put to the test and it's the most rewarding, really, getting out of your head a bit and getting caught up in it. It's more of a release for me to play loud rock music and yell a bit and make some stuff up off the top of your head on guitar or whatever. You get to do that in bits and bobs in the studio, but there's more sitting back and listening. It's a little more of a bourgeois thing to do, I guess. You need those 'work ethic' values or nothing gets done."
That being said, Malkmus is clearly happy at the moment to have a less stringent schedule so as to allow time with his partner and new daughter, though he's not sure if fatherhood has had any drastic effect on his outlook thus far.
"There are just those new feelings in your heart for someone else, you know. Those genuine feelings that are really nice, but it hasn't really changed me that much. I'm still the same person through it all. We're still at the nurturing the hungry or cold child. She's great, but she pretty much just hangs out and makes noises and stuff. She's doing some funny stuff, though."
Jeremy Reglar
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'Face The Truth' is out now through Spunk!/Inertia.
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