1997
Interview with Anton Newcombe and Joel Gion
By: The Rocket
[Rocket]: You sound jittery, Anton, what's going on?
[Anton]: I just got a lot of head trips, you know what I mean? I have also had a lot of coffee.
[Anton]: I really loved their music and shit, and it just seemed like they changed. A lot. I was so proud of (their sound), a continuation of the Pacific Northwest vibe. To me, they were like the Kingsmen. And that vibe (the Dandies) projected was just... I kind of dug it. But (the music) changed.
[Rocket]: So what? Why go to such lengths as to send shotgun shells with their faces pasted on them and recording a song called "Not if You Were the Last Dandy on Earth".
[Anton]: I was just into like fucking around with them a little bit, you know what I mean? They took it all like I was kind of jealous of their success. But I don't really see that they've had a tremendous amount of success. And so I thought it was interesting to manipulate the press a little bit... I just thought it was funny. I see them on MTV fucking doing anti-drug messages and I see him in his fuckin' house doing lines longer than the fuckin' table. I don't like that shit.
[Rocket]: Anton, you've beaten up lots of your own band members over the years, are you managing your anger better?
[Anton]: That isn't how it is. If you look at how brothers are, shit happens. We've gotten into more fights than people know about. We're trying to deal with that. If I knew a better way to deal, I wouldn't be purposely sabotaging everything.
[Rocket]: So Joel, still flicking cigarette butts at audiences?
[Joel]: Oh man, well, I gotta put 'em somewhere. I don't want to burn these nice stages they got in these clubs.
[Rocket]: Besides your obvious duties in BJM--flicking cigarettes, playing tambourine--how would you define your role?
[Joel]: You know, there's this way of thinking that to be legitimized on a stage, you have to have a guitar or drum or something like that. To be a performer, to be in a band, you can do whatever you want. Even if you're sittin' on a lawn chair, havin' a drink, watchin' TV up on stage, you can still be the frontman.
[Rocket]: Any theories as to why you think the Australopithecus Man went extinct?
[Joel]: Were they the kind that, like, beat the chicks over the head and drug them by the hair back to the cave kind of guy? Well, that's probably why right there, man. You can't go around treatin' your brothers and sisters like that, man, and expect to get too far in life.