KUGS
Truly Interview transcription Transcripted by Justin Akehurst
This interview was taken during Truly's concert at the Cosmos, in Bellingham,
on January 15, 1997. Krist Novoselic was the guest interviewer for KUGS, Western
Washington University's campus radio station.
Krist = Krist Novoselic, the ex-bassist from Nirvana, now in a new band
Sweet 75. Krist: Hello, this is Krist Novoselic from KUGS radio in Bellingham, Washington,
and we're here backstage with the rock and roll group Truly. Will you fellows
please introduce yourselves?
Robert: Hi, my name is Robert.
Mark: Mark Pickerel, drummer extraordinare.
Hiro: Hiro Yamamoto, on the low end.
Krist: Well, you guys seem like a bunch of fine young men, how would you classify
your music?
Robert: "Space City"
Mark: "Alt Rock"
Hiro: No comment.
Krist: If you had a choice between getting your genitals nailed to a board,
or blowing up David Lee Roth's used condoms, and selling them at Disneyland,
what would you do?
Mark: David Lee! David Lee!
Krist: You would do David Lee Roth as kind of a, uh, metaphor, euphemism
for sex, uh, sex act?
Mark: Uhhhh, what?
Robert: David Lee Roth is my grandfather, as a matter of fact. Illegetimate,
he barely knows I exist.
Krist: Hiro, what do you think Eddie Van Halen looks like naked?
Hiro: Heheh, as bald on top as he is on the bottom.
Krist: So, the rock and roll world has really gone through a lot of changes
recently, with, uh, the current explosion of, uh, "Modern Rock", the new sound
of alternative music. Where do you think music is going in the future, Robert?
Robert: I think music is the next thing...
Krist: Mark?
Mark: Uh, yeah, what he said.
Krist: Hiro?
Hiro: Hmm, that's a hard one. Music might be headed for the gutter.
Krist: So, there's a whole infrastructure built around, uh, the music scene
with, uh, music television, radio stations, and print media. What is your opinion
on the current status of this infrastructure, Robert?
Robert: The current status of the infrastructure of, of the visual audio media?
I think it's fully corrupt, and I think that it's a big farce, and I think that
it's a big manipulation. I think you're all getting ripped off.
Mark: [now say it with an English accent] I think you could have done a lot
better had you broken into your Johnny Lyden on that one.
Robert: Piss off! (with accent)
Krist: So, when you use the term, "rip off", what you're saying is the shareholder,
uh, mentality that's gripped the whole United States, is uh, even infiltrated
the whole rock and roll music scene?
Robert: I think that people have submerged themselves in a tunnel reality
of mass acceptance, and uh, sort of a gestalt where the masses, basically just
suck up whatever is fed to them.
Mark: Being a record store owner, I can back him up fully on that one. I've
seen them -- they're like lambs to a slaughter, believe me.
Krist: I can agree with that, in a way, because people are watching this stuff
on TV, they're buying the magazines, they're buying the music, it's their choice.
This is the United States, if you want information, you can watch KING 5 news
at 5:00, or you can watch the MacNeil Lehrer Newshour, which in my opinion is
a more comprehensive source of information. But if you look at ratings, people
are more inclined to watch the more sensationalistic. So that's why I say "Fuck
'em all", basically, right?
Robert: I say listen to Noam, Noam Chomsky, over MacNeil Lehrer, Dan Rather,
and the rest of them.
Krist: When you mentioned Noam, I thought you mentioned "gnome", like Gnome
Rock. Hiro, so Truly's music has been described as Tolkienesque, what do you
think?
Hiro: Ha ha ha, gnome rock, oh no, that stuff with the big black forest, no
light, oh no.
Krist: Mark, what do you think of the trend of role-playing games?
Mark: I would have to say that I wasn't aware of a trend of role-playing games,
but I say, "Go get 'em kids, it sounds like a lot of fun!"
Robert: I'll be the dentist, you'll be the nurse.
Krist: In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this morning, there was a story connecting
role-playing games and the recent murder of a family in Bellevue. Any thoughts
on this?
Robert: It's Highlander, it's all Duncan MacLeod's fault. The kid watched
too much Highlander.
Krist: It's interesting that you mentioned that because the kid did watch...
the Highlander was his favorite TV show.
Robert: Ya, this immortal thing is part of the whole collusion of corruptness.
Hiro: A "come back to life" kinda deal? Yeah?
(KUGS Truly Interview, January 15, 1997)
Mark, Hiro, Robert = Mark Pickerel, Hiro Yamamoto, Robert Roth, the members
of Truly.