Kennedy:
Hey there brothers and sisters, how are ya,
it's Kennedy here, very nice to see ya. Very nice to see you, Robin.
Robin:
Thank you, it's very nice to be here, it's a beautiful day...
Kennedy:
Beautiful night. The sun never sets at the MTV Malibu Beach House.
Robin:
How could it? The sun never sets on MTV.
Kennedy:
Live, Natalie Merchant, a lot of other good stuff...
Robin:
Elastica!
Kennedy:
Elastica? Really? Coming up this hour...
Robin:
Yeah, that's what the guy said, Elastica's coming up. I just wanted to
say that Elastica's great. I love that group. They're really cool.
Kennedy:
I really like Elastica. I've seen them perform a couple times this summer
and I was just blown away.
Robin:
And actually, y'know their videos have been made by the same guy that we
did the "Hey Jealousy" video with.
Kennedy:
Oh really? That's a nice song.
Robin:
Yeah, a fellow named David Mould.
Kennedy:
Say, speaking of which, New Miserable Experience...
Robin:
Old record! Isn't it old?
Kennedy:
It's not new. It's not current.
Robin:
That's so nice.
Kennedy:
There are other things that I could say. I mean, I could reach. I don't
want to do that.
Robin:
Please don't. We were just talking about that.
Kennedy:
What about a new record? Are you guys working on a new record?
Robin:
We've been working really, really hard, ever since last summer. We've written
a lot of songs. We have far more material than could actually make the
record...
Kennedy:
That's a good sign.
Robin:
That is a very good sign, and we're leaving
in just a couple weeks to go to Memphis, Tennessee, back to Ardent Studios
to record another record. And we are psyched, we are psyched to go back
to Memphis, you bet.
Kennedy:
Will you stop by Graceland?
Robin:
We have to go by Graceland, you know it.
Kennedy: I love Graceland. And I love the Smashing Pumpkins who are hard at work on their double album right now and here's Disarm.
Kennedy:
We're back with Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms.
Robin:
Hi everybody.
Kennedy:
How are the other guys in the band?
Robin:
Everybody's great.
Kennedy:
How's Jesse?
Robin:
Jesse's really great.
Kennedy:
Jesse worked with Marshall Crenshaw. In the studio.
Robin:
He sure did. Well not in the studio. He came
out here to LA and wrote the new single with him here somewhere, in a hotel
room or the back of a car, I don't know...
Kennedy:
Whoa! Stop right there with that visual, with Jesse kind of leaning the
seat back...
Robin:
But that's Jesse's hero...
Kennedy:
Yours too.
Robin:
Well one of them, certainly.
Kennedy:
Who else, what other heroes?
Robin:
Well, Tom Petty, Rick Neilsen...
Kennedy:
You ever worked with Tom Petty.
Robin:
No.
Kennedy:
Would you like to?
Robin:
I'd love to work with Tom Petty.
Kennedy:
Y'know we have a couple of slots open in the
Tom Petty do-it-yourself workshop.
Robin:
I just want to direct all his videos from now on.
Kennedy:
He has some good videos. That "Freefalling" one with the girl on the skate
ramp, that's great.
Robin:
Yeah, that's pretty good. You like that? Did you really like that? Or are
you just saying that. I think you're just saying that.
Kennedy:
No, that video came out when I was in high school and we used to watch
it and think how great would it be if I could wear a body glove and skate
a ramp...
Robin:
That would be great. You know Kennedy, you
should realize that you can make your dreams come true. You should just
reach out and grab what you want.
Kennedy:
Can you? Did you have that attitude when you released New Miserable Experience?
Robin:
No, we were trying desperately just to keep
the band together. We were really fortunate to be able to keep the band
together in those days.
Kennedy:
From the sound of it, yeah, every time you guys come in someone's getting
kicked out or you're not bringing up someone's name, but now you told me
that you guys have really kind of gotten things together.
Robin:
Go figure!
Kennedy:
I don't know what happens. I guess it's maturity.
Robin:
That must be a part of it...he's telling us to move on, this is pretty
boring.
Kennedy:
No, it's good.
Robin:
I think it's pretty boring.
Kennedy:
Shut up Robin, dammit. Y'know we have more
with Robin Wilson from the Gin Blossoms and we're even gonna tell ya, I'll
let robin tell ya, what the name means...
Robin:
Howdy...
Kennedy:
How are ya?
Robin:
I'm fine. We screwed up that last take though. They made us start over.
Kennedy:
Well, they don't really want to know what it was about.
Robin:
This is television. The kids will never know.
Kennedy:
The kids will never know. We can't lie to them though.
Robin:
Hey I just saw a pelican dive into the water.
Kennedy:
Did you really? Oftentimes we see a flock of porpoise.
Robin:
I've heard. It's really beautiful here. Do
you get paid for this?
Kennedy:
No, I don't. A couple of sandwiches and some nonfat milk. When I hear the
term "gin blossom," I think of like a beautiful tree with these pretty
little flowers that grows maybe in the French countryside...
Robin:
That's sweet. That's great. That's a great
image. I'll just go ahead and say it, although I know this won't be the
last time I have to say it. It's those things that W.C. Fields had on his
nose from drinking too much. It's a condition.
Kennedy:
Like a blood vessel?
Robin:
It's burst capillaries, and I love it because it sounds really pretty and
it's actually quite grotesque. Isn't it? Except for years and years when
we were just a local band we were gonna have W.C. Fields on all our t-shirts,
but then we were gonna get sued if we tried to do it as a major label band.
Isn't that a drag? You really don't care? I took up too much of your air
time, didn't I?
Kennedy: Yeah, that's not good, that's not a good story. Let's check in with Idalis, she's pretty...
Kennedy:
We're back with a distracted Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms. If you could
have any kind of accent in the world, what would it be?
Robin:
Um, Utah, a Utah accent.
Kennedy:
They don't have an accent.
Robin:
It's so subtle. That's what's great about
it.
Kennedy:
There is no accent in Utah. You have probably not even spent more than
5 minutes in Utah in your life.
Robin:
I've spent a lot of time in Utah.
Kennedy:
Doing what?
Robin:
Waterskiing.
Kennedy:
Oh yeah, what are you, Sammy Duvall? Scottie Black?
Robin:
No, what are you, Nina Blackwood? Come on, let's move this thing along,
he said quicker.
Kennedy:
All right quicker, let's talk about liquor,
Gin Blossom. No, let's talk about this next record. Is it going to sound
like your first record,Bleach?
Robin:
It's gonna sound a lot like Bleach. It's us. We wrote some songs, we play
guitar and that's what it'll sound like.
Kennedy:
Is it gonna have like a country twang, is there gonna be anything different
that we can look forward to? Any sort of new movement we can grasp?
Robin:
No, I think you're just gonna get us, the five of us, trying to make the
best record we can, gosh darn it!
Kennedy:
Do you guys ever fight?
Robin:
Only when we're on tour.
Kennedy:
Really? Which is gonna be a lot of the time.
Robin:
Yeah, as soon as this record's out we're gonna
tour for a long, long time. And we want you to manage the tour.
Kennedy:
All right, I'll come out and tour manage,
I'll pass out the laminates baby. We've got more with Robin Wilson, Gin
Blossom, liquor on the nose...
Robin:
Quality television.
Kennedy:
That was Elastica with "Stutter."
Robin:
Cool band.
Kennedy: Good band. There's some great music out now. Matthew Sweet, Gin Blossoms still to come this half hour. What are you listening to right now? Robin: This year, my favorite records are the Goo Goo Dolls...
Kennedy:
Yes! Yes!
Robin:
Isn't that a great album?
Kennedy:
"A Boy Named Goo," go out and get that! There's
so many great songs on there. They released the stupidest single in the
world, "Only One." It was the dumbest song they could have released and
they're such a great band. That's such a good record.
Robin:
Awesome record. Congratulations to the Goo
Goo Dolls on your fine new record.
Kennedy:
There are so many good songs on there...
Robin:
The Jayhawks have a great album that's out, and some guys from Tempe, Dead
Hot Workshop, have an awesome new record out.
Kennedy:
That's good, supporting the local...
Robin:
Darn right, I spent 20 bucks...
Kennedy:
Hey, that's why I'm into Everclear. Everclear rules, "Sparkle and Fade."
They're from Portland, I'm from Portland...
Robin:
Portland's a really cool town. My mom lives
there.
Kennedy:
That's right, so does mine.
Robin:
Yeah, you didn't know that.
Kennedy:
Yes I did, because last time you were on the
Alternative Nation program we spoke briefly about our mothers living in
Portland.
Robin:
We talked about that? Well, it's a beautiful town.
Kennedy: Still a big city and a small town all in one, and you know what, it's the Dave Matthews Band, "What Would You Say..."
Kennedy:
Robin Wilson from the Gin Blossoms...
Robin:
Howdy everybody. I'm really jealous. You got to meet David Hasselhoff today.
That's incredible. I have a Baywatch Barbie. I collect toys, and I saw
a Baywatch Barbie and had to get it.
Kennedy:
They're amazing there at Baywatch. You know
what they have on their craft services table? What would you think they
would have on their craft services table?
Robin:
Breast implants?
Kennedy:
No Robin, that's a crass, condescending attitude and that's not the kind
of attitude we promote here on Alternative Nation.
Robin:
No, I'm sure you don't. That's the type of attitude you promote on the
Real World!
Kennedy:
That's 10 o'clock p.m. on Wednesdays, the
Real World Four...No, I'm just kidding...No, they have crap. They have
like, M&Ms, Starburst, silicone...
Robin:
Go figure!
Kennedy:
No, I love Baywatch.
Robin:
Well, I'm really jealous because I have a
David Hasselhoff lunch box.
Kennedy:
I have a David Hasselhoff...
Robin:
Wow...that was pornographic folks you couldn't hear it.
Kennedy:
That's why I whispered it.
Robin:
She's really quite a nasty girl, this Kennedy.
Kennedy:
When does the Empire Records soundtrack come
out?
Robin:
I don't know. Any day now, it's out yesterday, I 'm not sure. I'm too busy
to keep track of all the comings and goings of the music industry.
Kennedy:
Well, best of luck with your recording. You're going back to Memphis. What's
the album gonna be called?
Robin:
We're not sure yet. We've got a few ideas.
Kennedy:
Well, submit them here to the Nation if you would like, and we'll see you
very soon I'm sure, you'll come by when the record comes out?
Robin:
Absolutely.
Kennedy: We're going to leave you with some Matthew Sweet. Robin Wilson, people.