2000 people in the audience, and *I* get the point from Tim White.
HI. My weekend was eventful: greensilver's going-away party on Saturday, which was fun but very very sad, and then on Sunday, curling up on my couch with belmanoir and mrs_laugh_track and rum (possibly a bit too much rum, in my case) and Headstones stuff. SUCH A DELIGHTFUL DAY. ♥
And I still TOTALLY owe comments on my last entry, and I SWEAR I will do that, but Ma Noir-whose Google-Fu is clearly superior to mine-found this on Saturday and I really really wanted to share… A recent (late December) interview! With the Headstones! Tim and Trent, specifically! EEEEEEEEEEE THIS HAS MADE ME SO HAPPY. I have been DYING for someone to interview someone besides Hugh; I mean, naturally, I love me some Hugh interviews, but they are not exactly difficult to find these days, and I KNOW what he's been doing for the past seven years, whereas I have very little idea with the rest of the guys, so. VERY EXCITING.
Anyway, it's here:
Tim White and Trent Carr, with Dave Martin and Darren Frost: December 22, 2010
And I believe you can either stream it from the site or right-click and save-as from the link. It's a longish interview (34 minutes), and it's a podcast for two guys who are comedians (and long-time friends/fans of the band, at least in Darren Frost's case-among other things, he played the superfan in the video for "Come On"), so that angle is definitely present in the interview, and there's a fair amount of talking by people who aren't Trent or Tim (which is obviously appropriate to the venue, if frustrating for my Headstones-centric self *g*). However, what there is, Headstones-wise, is AWESOME. Tim does most of the talking, and serves up some really really excellent voice!porn as well as being generally panty-meltingly articulate and thoughtful and funny, and Trent pipes in now and then to be REALLY REALLY ADORABLE and enthusiastic about Hugh (he describes present-day Hugh as "this hilarious uber-Hugh"; BEST EVER) and about music (he describes himself as a "fanboy" of another guitarist, AWWWWW) and we find out that he spent at least some time in the past seven years bartending and that is REALLY FUCKING HOT to me for some reason and it's all just really really good.
I have also transcribed some highlights below, because… I'm not really sure why, honestly. I thought it might be useful to people? I really wanted an excuse to listen to it over and over again? I had Things To Say about it? I thought that maybe the 35-minute length of the interview would put some people off, and I really want you to see how great it is and love it like I do? Some combination of those things. :)
OKAY SO. I'm gonna give time-stamps where I can in case anyone wants to jump in and out of the interview, and also, my apologies to Dave Martin and Darren Frost if I've misappropriated any of their quotes, it's sometimes hard to tell who's talking. And the comments in brackets are mine, fairly obviously. Anyway. The whole first part is pretty great; they talk about the reunion, and at around 1:40:
FROST: When was the last time you guys performed together?
TRENT: Seven and a half... well, actually--
TIM: When was the last gig?
TRENT: Well, six months ago at your wedding, you and Dale and I played together. [I think the "your" here is Tim, but it's hard to tell for sure.]
TIM: That's right, that's right.
TRENT: That was fun.
TIM: That was fun. And it actually sounded really good. Y'know, it was impromptu, we hadn't practiced it or anything like that.
FROST: And you did, what, two songs?
TRENT: (laughing) We played Blonde and Blue for about 15 minutes.
FROST: Why didn't you do Ace of Spades? I still say that, why didn't you do Ace of Spades?
TRENT: I was... not in the zone for singing, at that point.
(laughter)
TIM: He was only in the zone for moving his hand up and down. [O RLY] [Also I find it kind of interesting that Trent's still drinking; I wouldn't have expected that. Not that there was ever really much evidence of anyone besides Hugh having actual addiction problems, at least not that I've heard, but I guess I just sort of assumed.]
TRENT: I could play two chords, at that point.
FROST: Trent's already got lead singer disease: "I don't feel like singing."
MARTIN: It was a wedding, it might've been an open bar, so...
FROST: Yeah, it was.
TRENT: That night was the first night Tim and Dale and I played together in...
TIM: Seven years.
TRENT: Seven and a half years, that's right.
AWWW. Then they go into some cute talk about their last gig, and how they broke up on the same day as the SARS concert, and about Justin Timberlake getting bottled at said SARS concert (Tim: "We were so upset about the bottling that... 'We can't go on.'" HEE). Then they talk about how Trent played with Tara Sloan for a while (a year; so WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SIX YEARS, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW), and Tim moved on to producing, and also playing with David Wilcox, who apparently has a song called "Do the Bearcat." At 3:41:
TRENT: When I saw Tim first play The Bearcat... I kind of pissed myself a little bit.
(laughing--Tim is laughing really hard throughout this, it's ADORABLE)
MARTIN: Out of nervousness, or excitement...?
TRENT: Just pure excitement. Yeah, seeing Tim play The Bearcat made me... like, "ah, my life has come full around."
TIM: Full circle, yeah.
[some more talk about that song at shows, and how sometimes Wilcox plays it twice]
TRENT: The best part is, I was actually bartending at this place and Tim was playin' with Wilcox. [Cue Brynn having MANY MANY VIVID FANTASIES ABOUT BARTENDER!TRENT.] And Tim... Bearcat started, and Tim and I have had this joke about The Bearcat for some reason.
TIM: Yeah, for years.
TRENT: And he starts playing the riff, and he points at me. [TRENT'S VOICE IS SO CUTE HERE.] It's like, y'know, there's like 2000 people in the audience, and *I* get the point from Tim White. [<333333]
(Tim DIES laughing)
Ahhhhhhh, it's good. Then Frost (I think?) goes off on this little thing about how when you first get into show business, you do it for certain reasons (i.e. to get chicks), and then later, you do it for different reasons. So he asks them if they're still doing it for the same reasons they did when they started, and (about 5:44):
TIM: Well, that's what's interesting about it, is that we are doing it for exactly the same reason we started. We started doing it because it was fun, and it was a laugh, and it was just... great. And gradually as you make records, and you start to tour, and the people that are involved with you get larger and larger and larger, you wind up doing things for other reasons, right? And sometimes you don't understand those reasons but they all seem to make sense at the time. And now, we all agreed that we're only going to do this if it's fun.
TRENT: Yeah.
TIM: Right? And that's what's great about it, is that we don't have to do it. We really are just doing it 'cause we want to.
FROST: Right. And I think the big difference as well is you guys disbanded... there wasn't any major bad blood, it was just maybe a matter of more kinda burnout, need to take a break [Tim is saying "yep" throughout all this] so it's not like you guys are The Eagles, and hell has to freeze over for you guys to get back together, you know what I mean? And I think that's an important fact, you know?
MARTIN: You don't have five different tour buses that you're all riding on.
TIM: We each have two, actually.
HEEE. I found this part fascinating; I can't believe there wasn't some bad blood, yet the whole band and now these guys too have always said it wasn't a big deal. But IT HAD TO BE A BIG DEAL. Happy ending and all now, so whatever, I just think it's kind of sweet that they're all casting it in that light, and they always have, even though it seems so unlikely that's how it all went down.
Then there's a cute little thing where Frost is asking them why they could never make an album that sucks, and Trent goes, "I thought we did that already!" and Tim's like "I'm pretty sure we must've done that," [my money is on NFYN for that--that seems to be the one they're all the least pleased with in retrospect] and Frost disagrees, and Tim talks about how they really had a lot of creative control with their albums, and Trent tells a story about how one of the A&R guys--whom Trent names BY NAME, hee--came in and told them that "Cubically Contained" would never be a single, and it was one of their biggest hits. Then around 8:25:
MARTIN: Are you guys doing new music, or is it just...
TRENT: We actually jammed on a new idea--
TIM: We did.
TRENT: --when we were rehearsing just last week [!!!!!!], but. There's no agenda, there's no... that's what I love about doing this right now, is that there's no pressure from any angle at all. It's like, we don't have to write new songs, we don't have to promote an album, or worry about album sales, or are we added to that radio station, are they playing us enough... it's like, "Fuck, let's play a show."
AWW. Then they go into a whole discussion about bands playing new stuff vs. older hits when they play in concert, there's some cute things (especially Tim talking about Iron Maiden at around 9:45), but it's not particularly riveting. (I will say that throughout this whole interview, I love how Tim and Trent--Tim especially--talk about fans; they seem to approach the whole thing from the perspective of people who are fans, too, in addition to having fans, and I just find that really refreshing.)
And then there's kind of a long discussion about stand-up comedy vs. music, and how Trent and Tim really admire comics (awww). There are a few things that interested me, but mainly it's just the two comics talking, so. Anyway, then Martin goes on talking about how he had an obnoxious woman in the front row at one of his recent shows, and how it really messed up his show and he felt bad for the rest of the audience, and then (around 15:02):
FROST: See the problem is, you guys [Tim and Trent], you can just either have Hugh spit on them, or jump in the crowd and beat the fuck out of 'em.
TIM: Well, yeah. And we have volume and distortion at our disposal [ngggh I find that choice of phrasing really hot], right?
FROST: Right. 'Cause I've been to some of the shows where that kind of shit has happened, and it's pretty crazy, and there's no doubt about it. Do you think that kind of thing is going to happen on this tour, or do you think it's a kinder, gentler Headstones?
TRENT: Oh, I hope not.
TIM: I'd never say that.
MARTIN: Hugh might actually have an assault rifle back with him now.
FROST: (laughing) Yeah, Flashpoint!
TRENT: That's what's funny about Hugh these days, is he's a different guy now. It's funny, he's the same guy, but he's, like, more in control, more... well, he's kicked all his vices, and he's just, like, this hilarious uber-Hugh now. [<333333333333333333 FAVORITE. DESCRIPTION. EVER.] His voice is AWESOME. [Y'all, Trent is REALLY REALLY ENTHUSIASTIC about Hugh. It's SO GREAT.]
FROST: He's very health-conscious, and his voice is very strong, and yeah.
TIM: Yeah, I mean, he hasn't lost any of the intensity, or...
TRENT: Not at ALL. It's like he's GAINED some. It's really weird!
FROST: When you have to smile more for the press, the intensity can grow when you perform.
TIM: That's right, the hatred grows in equal proportion to the love. [NGGGGH]
Then they talk about how a lot of comics hate comedian guitar-acts, because it's "cheating" (basically, they use a prop that can distract from how funny they are or aren't). He asks Tim if there's any equivalent in music, and (17:09):
TIM: Well, if the lead singer plays guitar, we consider that cheating.
(laughter)
TIM: Yeah, um, seriously, I don't know... is there something like that?
TRENT: It's kinda like when Tim takes his shirt off onstage.
FROST: Aw, yeah. Aw, yeah.
TIM: That won't be happening.
AHAHAHAHAHA. Then, around 17:49:
TIM: There is one thing that drives me crazy that bands do, and you only see this if you're on tour with them, is if the singer tells the same fuckin' joke or story the night before...
TRENT: [at least I think it's Trent, in this hilarious faux-emotional voice] "I just got back from Egypt..."
(more laughter)
TIM: That's right. He [maybe "Hugh"? can't tell] was awesome at it. Yeah, but--
TRENT: And with this weird little guitar that you've never seen before.
TIM: Yeah, "Let me tell you a story about it, I bought it from a peasant woman..."
MARTIN: Did that band have a tea party before every show?
TIM: I don't wanna talk politics, dude. (more laughter) But if it's a story that really twangs on the heartstrings, that's, you know, addressed to a sensitive young girl or something... that, if they do it again and again and again, I'm just like, "You're a fuckin' ASSHOLE, why don't you just play some good music?"
*laughs and laughs* Then there's kind of a cute thing about how apparently on one tour, Hugh used a lot of Frost's material at the shows (Tim: "That was probably because it was ringing in his head and he didn't know what to say," aww), and fans were writing to Frost thinking that he'd ripped off Hugh's material. HEE. Then there is a brief discussion of Headstone children at about 19:08:
FROST: (re: Tim's son) He's, what, 20 now?
TIM: 22. [So Tim had a kid the entire time he was with the band. INTERESTING. I wonder how that worked?!]
FROST: And Trent has two children that are 12, and Dale has... three children? Is it three?
TIM: Mm-hmm.
TRENT: He's accumulated six children.
TIM: Five or six.
FROST: (I think) Ah, he's a fuckin' drummer, that's all they do, drum and fuck, that's all they do.
TIM: He calls his drum students his children, is that weird?
(laughter)
Snerk. Then more discussion about stand-up shows they've seen, yadda yadda. (Trent calls The Wrestler "the most depressing movie ever." Aww. Trent, you live in Canada, HAVE YOU SEEN CANADIAN FILM? Heee.)
AND THEN, probably my favorite part of the whole thing, at around 21:29, where Martin asks if there's such a thing as a "musician's musician" (i.e., one who's respected by his peers but not necessarily popular with the public):
TIM: Most of jazz, I guess is like that.
TRENT: What's funny is a guy like Ian Thornley, for example, who's like--I'm not really big on his music, but he's definitely a musician's musician. That guy can play the FUCK out of his guitar, and he can sing like a freakin' GOD. [OH TRENT. I REALLY LOVE YOU.]
TIM: And he's a great drummer, as well. It's crazy.
FROST: Oh, really? He can drum as well?
TIM: Yeah. I remember hearing this demo of one of their records, and, y'know, it sounded great, he sounded great and stuff, I said, "Wow, this is good stuff. Who's playing drums?" "Well, I... I did."
TRENT: Yeah. He's RIDICULOUS.
TIM: "Really? Wow. Who's playing bass?" "Oh, I did that." With no ego about it, either, y'know, he's just very talented.
TRENT: Yeah, he actually came in and played a guitar solo on one of our songs on our last record--
FROST: Nothing Changes, right?
TRENT: Nothing Changes was the song, yeah. I remember I was just like... kinda like a little fanboy, 'cause he's one of those guitar players that can just, like, technically play anything. I was just like [CUTEST TINY LITTLE GOBLIN WHISPER EVER], "Play more, play more, fuckin' rip it, fuckin'..."
GAAAAAAAAAAH TRENT I LOVE YOU, YOU LITTLE GUITAR FANBOY. *million billion hearts* Then they talk about little kids suddenly being really good at playing guitar ("ever since Eddie Van Halen," Trent says, which is interesting, and Tim mentions Guitar Hero), and Trent says, "You can just search for 'awesome guitar player' and you'll see kids playing, like, sweet picking, and alternate stuff," and I am really REALLY amused by the picture of Trent sitting there googling "awesome guitar player." HEEE. <3
And then Martin asks if there are any musicians who are great showmen, but not technically great, but they're popular because they're good showmen, and he gives Dane Cook as the stand-up equivalent. At around 23:25:
TRENT: Like Our Lady Peace, you mean. [AHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. THIS AMUSES ME DEEPLY, mostly because I so very badly want to take out a restraining order on Raine Maida on David Cook's behalf. DAVE, STOP WRITING WITH HIM. I KNOW YOU LOVE HIM AND I'M SURE HE'S A NICE GUY BUT HE'S A BAD INFLUENCE.]
(everyone cracks up)
FROST: Yeah, that's a good example, maybe.
TIM: Yeah, I... I dunno. I guess if you're talking about Dane Cook, you mean it lacks substance, but they're hugely popular?
FROST/MARTIN: Yes.
TRENT: Hello, did I not just answer the question?
(laughter)
TIM: Yeah. 'Nuff said.
*DYING* Then Frost goes on to talk about this really great show the Headstones played in Simcoe, Ontario, and how everyone there was really into it, and how Headstones fans are crazy and dedicated and really like to party. So then, around 24:35:
FROST: One of the problems Hugh had with his vices is that everybody out there always wanted to party with the band.
TRENT: Yeah. And party with Hugh. [I find this FASCINATING. I'd never thought of that before, that it was the fans as much as anybody who made it hard for Hugh to stay clean.]
FROST: And party with Hugh, right? And obviously that's a problem. Because it was like, I was there at some points with the audience, and them being like, "I'm gonna go backstage and get all fucked up with the band," and I know what's going on backstage, you're all like, "Are you riding with me? Are you driving with me?", you know what I mean, but the illusion is still there, and your fans obviously love you, and they're gonna come to your shows, but is there any time where a fan is getting kind of nervous, how dedicated they are? Like they've come to 10 shows [dude, 10 shows is a lot to you? um, okay], or is it just mainly arms-length, all right?
TRENT: We've had some pretty intense fans over the years, where guys are like... it's funny when guys are, like, groupies. Like, that's the weird thing.
TIM: Yeah.
TRENT: And you kind of expect it from girls, that's kind of cliche, that happens, but when guys are, like, super-excited to hang out with you?
TIM: Or they're super-excited to hang out with you, and they're really tough and violent.
FROST: Well, yeah, because your fans drink, and then it gets blurred, and then they get all fucked up.
TIM: Yeah, like Steve... well, I won't say his name. But this one guy came up to us, and we'd seen him a few times, but we didn't really know him, and he was just a tough guy, it looks like you could hit him a hundred times and he wouldn't fall down.
FROST: Yeah, that's a Headstones fan, right there.
TRENT: (I think? honestly, it's a totally Hugh voice) And he'd go, "That's HILARIOUS."
TIM: Yeah, like with a pipe, y'know? And he comes up and he goes, "You guys gonna play Absolutely tonight?" Like [slightly scared voice], "Uh, yeah, if you want."
FROST: (laughing) Just don't hit me!
TIM: He's like, "I'll tell you what, you guys play Absolutely, I'll punch somebody right in the face!" It's like, "Thanks."
FROST: Yeah. "And you can have my woman, too!"
Heee! Then they go on to talk about how many guys are really into the Headstones, and how devastated they were when they broke up, etc. etc.. And then Frost makes a vaguely disparaging comment about that level of dedication, and Tim (26:46) goes:
TIM: But that's great, y'know? It... who cares how it affects us, it's awesome that they're that into something, you know?
TIM. YOU ARE AWESOME. ♥ ♥ ♥ (I actually have a lot of thoughts about Headstones fans-myself included, of course-and their connection to the band, and how that seemed to have its healthy and unhealthy aspects, and this just totally adds to that. But I love that the band is so respectful of their fans, as long as their fans are respectful to each other, y'know? That's really sweet.) And then Frost rambles on about how the kids these days (in their late 20s/early 30s) don't seem to be as dedicated to music anymore [uhh… *raises hand*], and Tim goes:
TIM: But what's still the same, and this has to do with comedy as well, is that people who are live music and live comedy, live performance fans? That's a type of... that's a genre. [TIM. YOUR ARTICULATENESS IS REALLY GETTING ME HOT.] So if you like live stuff? Then that's who our fans are.
Man. What an AWESOME POINT. I fucking love that. Then Frost asks if they're ever going to release a live record (Trent: "Oh, god, I know," HEE) and Tim says he has a recording of a show (WAAAANT), but they've never done anything with it. And then they talk about the Headstones' acoustic show they did, and it's cute and funny, and how acoustic shows showcase that the band is better than people sometimes give them credit for, and how Frost's favorite album is NFYN (Trent: "Really?") precisely because it's such a departure from their usual stuff, and then there this whole little thing about how Trent thinks "My Perspective Fades" is a really weird song (and for the record, I agree), and how Tim loves it. HEE.
Then Tim mentions (29:50) that a portion of the proceeds from the Toronto show are going to the wife and child of Randy Kwan, a good friend of theirs (and the band's original bass player) who died of cancer recently. He was the guy they dedicated "Three Angels" to at the show, in fact. Aww. Very sweet. They also talk about how much he helped them, and:
TRENT: He was pretty much the driving force of the creation of the band. [I've never heard this before; I always thought-based on how Hugh tells it-that it was just Hugh and Trent to begin with. Interesting!] He was pushing Hugh, and pushing everybody, and there was like a million guitar players, I happened to slip in one day, and... and all of a sudden it clicked.
AWWWWW. And then they wind up talking a little about wondering if and how new people might have discovered the Headstones through Hugh's TV work, and how that's going to affect the audience at the shows, and how rare a situation like Hugh's is, where someone was really popular as a member of a band, and now is really popular as an actor. And they talk about how some rap and hip-hop artists have made that jump, but Hugh seems to be playing a character who's less like his public persona than a lot of musicians who get into acting, and it's all pretty interesting, though it's too long to transcribe.
And a funny little thing at the end about how the band didn't really have an online presence at that point because (says Tim) "we didn't know until recently if this was going to work or not." Hee! And how the same guy is going to have Dale and then Hugh on his show "in the next month," but we haven't found those interviews, if they happened! Which is a bummer, because I've never heard Dale say more than about five words at a stretch and I AM CURIOUS. Ah well.
And then that's it! AAAAAAAND I'M SPENT.
And I still TOTALLY owe comments on my last entry, and I SWEAR I will do that, but Ma Noir-whose Google-Fu is clearly superior to mine-found this on Saturday and I really really wanted to share… A recent (late December) interview! With the Headstones! Tim and Trent, specifically! EEEEEEEEEEE THIS HAS MADE ME SO HAPPY. I have been DYING for someone to interview someone besides Hugh; I mean, naturally, I love me some Hugh interviews, but they are not exactly difficult to find these days, and I KNOW what he's been doing for the past seven years, whereas I have very little idea with the rest of the guys, so. VERY EXCITING.
Anyway, it's here:
Tim White and Trent Carr, with Dave Martin and Darren Frost: December 22, 2010
And I believe you can either stream it from the site or right-click and save-as from the link. It's a longish interview (34 minutes), and it's a podcast for two guys who are comedians (and long-time friends/fans of the band, at least in Darren Frost's case-among other things, he played the superfan in the video for "Come On"), so that angle is definitely present in the interview, and there's a fair amount of talking by people who aren't Trent or Tim (which is obviously appropriate to the venue, if frustrating for my Headstones-centric self *g*). However, what there is, Headstones-wise, is AWESOME. Tim does most of the talking, and serves up some really really excellent voice!porn as well as being generally panty-meltingly articulate and thoughtful and funny, and Trent pipes in now and then to be REALLY REALLY ADORABLE and enthusiastic about Hugh (he describes present-day Hugh as "this hilarious uber-Hugh"; BEST EVER) and about music (he describes himself as a "fanboy" of another guitarist, AWWWWW) and we find out that he spent at least some time in the past seven years bartending and that is REALLY FUCKING HOT to me for some reason and it's all just really really good.
I have also transcribed some highlights below, because… I'm not really sure why, honestly. I thought it might be useful to people? I really wanted an excuse to listen to it over and over again? I had Things To Say about it? I thought that maybe the 35-minute length of the interview would put some people off, and I really want you to see how great it is and love it like I do? Some combination of those things. :)
OKAY SO. I'm gonna give time-stamps where I can in case anyone wants to jump in and out of the interview, and also, my apologies to Dave Martin and Darren Frost if I've misappropriated any of their quotes, it's sometimes hard to tell who's talking. And the comments in brackets are mine, fairly obviously. Anyway. The whole first part is pretty great; they talk about the reunion, and at around 1:40:
FROST: When was the last time you guys performed together?
TRENT: Seven and a half... well, actually--
TIM: When was the last gig?
TRENT: Well, six months ago at your wedding, you and Dale and I played together. [I think the "your" here is Tim, but it's hard to tell for sure.]
TIM: That's right, that's right.
TRENT: That was fun.
TIM: That was fun. And it actually sounded really good. Y'know, it was impromptu, we hadn't practiced it or anything like that.
FROST: And you did, what, two songs?
TRENT: (laughing) We played Blonde and Blue for about 15 minutes.
FROST: Why didn't you do Ace of Spades? I still say that, why didn't you do Ace of Spades?
TRENT: I was... not in the zone for singing, at that point.
(laughter)
TIM: He was only in the zone for moving his hand up and down. [O RLY] [Also I find it kind of interesting that Trent's still drinking; I wouldn't have expected that. Not that there was ever really much evidence of anyone besides Hugh having actual addiction problems, at least not that I've heard, but I guess I just sort of assumed.]
TRENT: I could play two chords, at that point.
FROST: Trent's already got lead singer disease: "I don't feel like singing."
MARTIN: It was a wedding, it might've been an open bar, so...
FROST: Yeah, it was.
TRENT: That night was the first night Tim and Dale and I played together in...
TIM: Seven years.
TRENT: Seven and a half years, that's right.
AWWW. Then they go into some cute talk about their last gig, and how they broke up on the same day as the SARS concert, and about Justin Timberlake getting bottled at said SARS concert (Tim: "We were so upset about the bottling that... 'We can't go on.'" HEE). Then they talk about how Trent played with Tara Sloan for a while (a year; so WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SIX YEARS, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW), and Tim moved on to producing, and also playing with David Wilcox, who apparently has a song called "Do the Bearcat." At 3:41:
TRENT: When I saw Tim first play The Bearcat... I kind of pissed myself a little bit.
(laughing--Tim is laughing really hard throughout this, it's ADORABLE)
MARTIN: Out of nervousness, or excitement...?
TRENT: Just pure excitement. Yeah, seeing Tim play The Bearcat made me... like, "ah, my life has come full around."
TIM: Full circle, yeah.
[some more talk about that song at shows, and how sometimes Wilcox plays it twice]
TRENT: The best part is, I was actually bartending at this place and Tim was playin' with Wilcox. [Cue Brynn having MANY MANY VIVID FANTASIES ABOUT BARTENDER!TRENT.] And Tim... Bearcat started, and Tim and I have had this joke about The Bearcat for some reason.
TIM: Yeah, for years.
TRENT: And he starts playing the riff, and he points at me. [TRENT'S VOICE IS SO CUTE HERE.] It's like, y'know, there's like 2000 people in the audience, and *I* get the point from Tim White. [<333333]
(Tim DIES laughing)
Ahhhhhhh, it's good. Then Frost (I think?) goes off on this little thing about how when you first get into show business, you do it for certain reasons (i.e. to get chicks), and then later, you do it for different reasons. So he asks them if they're still doing it for the same reasons they did when they started, and (about 5:44):
TIM: Well, that's what's interesting about it, is that we are doing it for exactly the same reason we started. We started doing it because it was fun, and it was a laugh, and it was just... great. And gradually as you make records, and you start to tour, and the people that are involved with you get larger and larger and larger, you wind up doing things for other reasons, right? And sometimes you don't understand those reasons but they all seem to make sense at the time. And now, we all agreed that we're only going to do this if it's fun.
TRENT: Yeah.
TIM: Right? And that's what's great about it, is that we don't have to do it. We really are just doing it 'cause we want to.
FROST: Right. And I think the big difference as well is you guys disbanded... there wasn't any major bad blood, it was just maybe a matter of more kinda burnout, need to take a break [Tim is saying "yep" throughout all this] so it's not like you guys are The Eagles, and hell has to freeze over for you guys to get back together, you know what I mean? And I think that's an important fact, you know?
MARTIN: You don't have five different tour buses that you're all riding on.
TIM: We each have two, actually.
HEEE. I found this part fascinating; I can't believe there wasn't some bad blood, yet the whole band and now these guys too have always said it wasn't a big deal. But IT HAD TO BE A BIG DEAL. Happy ending and all now, so whatever, I just think it's kind of sweet that they're all casting it in that light, and they always have, even though it seems so unlikely that's how it all went down.
Then there's a cute little thing where Frost is asking them why they could never make an album that sucks, and Trent goes, "I thought we did that already!" and Tim's like "I'm pretty sure we must've done that," [my money is on NFYN for that--that seems to be the one they're all the least pleased with in retrospect] and Frost disagrees, and Tim talks about how they really had a lot of creative control with their albums, and Trent tells a story about how one of the A&R guys--whom Trent names BY NAME, hee--came in and told them that "Cubically Contained" would never be a single, and it was one of their biggest hits. Then around 8:25:
MARTIN: Are you guys doing new music, or is it just...
TRENT: We actually jammed on a new idea--
TIM: We did.
TRENT: --when we were rehearsing just last week [!!!!!!], but. There's no agenda, there's no... that's what I love about doing this right now, is that there's no pressure from any angle at all. It's like, we don't have to write new songs, we don't have to promote an album, or worry about album sales, or are we added to that radio station, are they playing us enough... it's like, "Fuck, let's play a show."
AWW. Then they go into a whole discussion about bands playing new stuff vs. older hits when they play in concert, there's some cute things (especially Tim talking about Iron Maiden at around 9:45), but it's not particularly riveting. (I will say that throughout this whole interview, I love how Tim and Trent--Tim especially--talk about fans; they seem to approach the whole thing from the perspective of people who are fans, too, in addition to having fans, and I just find that really refreshing.)
And then there's kind of a long discussion about stand-up comedy vs. music, and how Trent and Tim really admire comics (awww). There are a few things that interested me, but mainly it's just the two comics talking, so. Anyway, then Martin goes on talking about how he had an obnoxious woman in the front row at one of his recent shows, and how it really messed up his show and he felt bad for the rest of the audience, and then (around 15:02):
FROST: See the problem is, you guys [Tim and Trent], you can just either have Hugh spit on them, or jump in the crowd and beat the fuck out of 'em.
TIM: Well, yeah. And we have volume and distortion at our disposal [ngggh I find that choice of phrasing really hot], right?
FROST: Right. 'Cause I've been to some of the shows where that kind of shit has happened, and it's pretty crazy, and there's no doubt about it. Do you think that kind of thing is going to happen on this tour, or do you think it's a kinder, gentler Headstones?
TRENT: Oh, I hope not.
TIM: I'd never say that.
MARTIN: Hugh might actually have an assault rifle back with him now.
FROST: (laughing) Yeah, Flashpoint!
TRENT: That's what's funny about Hugh these days, is he's a different guy now. It's funny, he's the same guy, but he's, like, more in control, more... well, he's kicked all his vices, and he's just, like, this hilarious uber-Hugh now. [<333333333333333333 FAVORITE. DESCRIPTION. EVER.] His voice is AWESOME. [Y'all, Trent is REALLY REALLY ENTHUSIASTIC about Hugh. It's SO GREAT.]
FROST: He's very health-conscious, and his voice is very strong, and yeah.
TIM: Yeah, I mean, he hasn't lost any of the intensity, or...
TRENT: Not at ALL. It's like he's GAINED some. It's really weird!
FROST: When you have to smile more for the press, the intensity can grow when you perform.
TIM: That's right, the hatred grows in equal proportion to the love. [NGGGGH]
Then they talk about how a lot of comics hate comedian guitar-acts, because it's "cheating" (basically, they use a prop that can distract from how funny they are or aren't). He asks Tim if there's any equivalent in music, and (17:09):
TIM: Well, if the lead singer plays guitar, we consider that cheating.
(laughter)
TIM: Yeah, um, seriously, I don't know... is there something like that?
TRENT: It's kinda like when Tim takes his shirt off onstage.
FROST: Aw, yeah. Aw, yeah.
TIM: That won't be happening.
AHAHAHAHAHA. Then, around 17:49:
TIM: There is one thing that drives me crazy that bands do, and you only see this if you're on tour with them, is if the singer tells the same fuckin' joke or story the night before...
TRENT: [at least I think it's Trent, in this hilarious faux-emotional voice] "I just got back from Egypt..."
(more laughter)
TIM: That's right. He [maybe "Hugh"? can't tell] was awesome at it. Yeah, but--
TRENT: And with this weird little guitar that you've never seen before.
TIM: Yeah, "Let me tell you a story about it, I bought it from a peasant woman..."
MARTIN: Did that band have a tea party before every show?
TIM: I don't wanna talk politics, dude. (more laughter) But if it's a story that really twangs on the heartstrings, that's, you know, addressed to a sensitive young girl or something... that, if they do it again and again and again, I'm just like, "You're a fuckin' ASSHOLE, why don't you just play some good music?"
*laughs and laughs* Then there's kind of a cute thing about how apparently on one tour, Hugh used a lot of Frost's material at the shows (Tim: "That was probably because it was ringing in his head and he didn't know what to say," aww), and fans were writing to Frost thinking that he'd ripped off Hugh's material. HEE. Then there is a brief discussion of Headstone children at about 19:08:
FROST: (re: Tim's son) He's, what, 20 now?
TIM: 22. [So Tim had a kid the entire time he was with the band. INTERESTING. I wonder how that worked?!]
FROST: And Trent has two children that are 12, and Dale has... three children? Is it three?
TIM: Mm-hmm.
TRENT: He's accumulated six children.
TIM: Five or six.
FROST: (I think) Ah, he's a fuckin' drummer, that's all they do, drum and fuck, that's all they do.
TIM: He calls his drum students his children, is that weird?
(laughter)
Snerk. Then more discussion about stand-up shows they've seen, yadda yadda. (Trent calls The Wrestler "the most depressing movie ever." Aww. Trent, you live in Canada, HAVE YOU SEEN CANADIAN FILM? Heee.)
AND THEN, probably my favorite part of the whole thing, at around 21:29, where Martin asks if there's such a thing as a "musician's musician" (i.e., one who's respected by his peers but not necessarily popular with the public):
TIM: Most of jazz, I guess is like that.
TRENT: What's funny is a guy like Ian Thornley, for example, who's like--I'm not really big on his music, but he's definitely a musician's musician. That guy can play the FUCK out of his guitar, and he can sing like a freakin' GOD. [OH TRENT. I REALLY LOVE YOU.]
TIM: And he's a great drummer, as well. It's crazy.
FROST: Oh, really? He can drum as well?
TIM: Yeah. I remember hearing this demo of one of their records, and, y'know, it sounded great, he sounded great and stuff, I said, "Wow, this is good stuff. Who's playing drums?" "Well, I... I did."
TRENT: Yeah. He's RIDICULOUS.
TIM: "Really? Wow. Who's playing bass?" "Oh, I did that." With no ego about it, either, y'know, he's just very talented.
TRENT: Yeah, he actually came in and played a guitar solo on one of our songs on our last record--
FROST: Nothing Changes, right?
TRENT: Nothing Changes was the song, yeah. I remember I was just like... kinda like a little fanboy, 'cause he's one of those guitar players that can just, like, technically play anything. I was just like [CUTEST TINY LITTLE GOBLIN WHISPER EVER], "Play more, play more, fuckin' rip it, fuckin'..."
GAAAAAAAAAAH TRENT I LOVE YOU, YOU LITTLE GUITAR FANBOY. *million billion hearts* Then they talk about little kids suddenly being really good at playing guitar ("ever since Eddie Van Halen," Trent says, which is interesting, and Tim mentions Guitar Hero), and Trent says, "You can just search for 'awesome guitar player' and you'll see kids playing, like, sweet picking, and alternate stuff," and I am really REALLY amused by the picture of Trent sitting there googling "awesome guitar player." HEEE. <3
And then Martin asks if there are any musicians who are great showmen, but not technically great, but they're popular because they're good showmen, and he gives Dane Cook as the stand-up equivalent. At around 23:25:
TRENT: Like Our Lady Peace, you mean. [AHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. THIS AMUSES ME DEEPLY, mostly because I so very badly want to take out a restraining order on Raine Maida on David Cook's behalf. DAVE, STOP WRITING WITH HIM. I KNOW YOU LOVE HIM AND I'M SURE HE'S A NICE GUY BUT HE'S A BAD INFLUENCE.]
(everyone cracks up)
FROST: Yeah, that's a good example, maybe.
TIM: Yeah, I... I dunno. I guess if you're talking about Dane Cook, you mean it lacks substance, but they're hugely popular?
FROST/MARTIN: Yes.
TRENT: Hello, did I not just answer the question?
(laughter)
TIM: Yeah. 'Nuff said.
*DYING* Then Frost goes on to talk about this really great show the Headstones played in Simcoe, Ontario, and how everyone there was really into it, and how Headstones fans are crazy and dedicated and really like to party. So then, around 24:35:
FROST: One of the problems Hugh had with his vices is that everybody out there always wanted to party with the band.
TRENT: Yeah. And party with Hugh. [I find this FASCINATING. I'd never thought of that before, that it was the fans as much as anybody who made it hard for Hugh to stay clean.]
FROST: And party with Hugh, right? And obviously that's a problem. Because it was like, I was there at some points with the audience, and them being like, "I'm gonna go backstage and get all fucked up with the band," and I know what's going on backstage, you're all like, "Are you riding with me? Are you driving with me?", you know what I mean, but the illusion is still there, and your fans obviously love you, and they're gonna come to your shows, but is there any time where a fan is getting kind of nervous, how dedicated they are? Like they've come to 10 shows [dude, 10 shows is a lot to you? um, okay], or is it just mainly arms-length, all right?
TRENT: We've had some pretty intense fans over the years, where guys are like... it's funny when guys are, like, groupies. Like, that's the weird thing.
TIM: Yeah.
TRENT: And you kind of expect it from girls, that's kind of cliche, that happens, but when guys are, like, super-excited to hang out with you?
TIM: Or they're super-excited to hang out with you, and they're really tough and violent.
FROST: Well, yeah, because your fans drink, and then it gets blurred, and then they get all fucked up.
TIM: Yeah, like Steve... well, I won't say his name. But this one guy came up to us, and we'd seen him a few times, but we didn't really know him, and he was just a tough guy, it looks like you could hit him a hundred times and he wouldn't fall down.
FROST: Yeah, that's a Headstones fan, right there.
TRENT: (I think? honestly, it's a totally Hugh voice) And he'd go, "That's HILARIOUS."
TIM: Yeah, like with a pipe, y'know? And he comes up and he goes, "You guys gonna play Absolutely tonight?" Like [slightly scared voice], "Uh, yeah, if you want."
FROST: (laughing) Just don't hit me!
TIM: He's like, "I'll tell you what, you guys play Absolutely, I'll punch somebody right in the face!" It's like, "Thanks."
FROST: Yeah. "And you can have my woman, too!"
Heee! Then they go on to talk about how many guys are really into the Headstones, and how devastated they were when they broke up, etc. etc.. And then Frost makes a vaguely disparaging comment about that level of dedication, and Tim (26:46) goes:
TIM: But that's great, y'know? It... who cares how it affects us, it's awesome that they're that into something, you know?
TIM. YOU ARE AWESOME. ♥ ♥ ♥ (I actually have a lot of thoughts about Headstones fans-myself included, of course-and their connection to the band, and how that seemed to have its healthy and unhealthy aspects, and this just totally adds to that. But I love that the band is so respectful of their fans, as long as their fans are respectful to each other, y'know? That's really sweet.) And then Frost rambles on about how the kids these days (in their late 20s/early 30s) don't seem to be as dedicated to music anymore [uhh… *raises hand*], and Tim goes:
TIM: But what's still the same, and this has to do with comedy as well, is that people who are live music and live comedy, live performance fans? That's a type of... that's a genre. [TIM. YOUR ARTICULATENESS IS REALLY GETTING ME HOT.] So if you like live stuff? Then that's who our fans are.
Man. What an AWESOME POINT. I fucking love that. Then Frost asks if they're ever going to release a live record (Trent: "Oh, god, I know," HEE) and Tim says he has a recording of a show (WAAAANT), but they've never done anything with it. And then they talk about the Headstones' acoustic show they did, and it's cute and funny, and how acoustic shows showcase that the band is better than people sometimes give them credit for, and how Frost's favorite album is NFYN (Trent: "Really?") precisely because it's such a departure from their usual stuff, and then there this whole little thing about how Trent thinks "My Perspective Fades" is a really weird song (and for the record, I agree), and how Tim loves it. HEE.
Then Tim mentions (29:50) that a portion of the proceeds from the Toronto show are going to the wife and child of Randy Kwan, a good friend of theirs (and the band's original bass player) who died of cancer recently. He was the guy they dedicated "Three Angels" to at the show, in fact. Aww. Very sweet. They also talk about how much he helped them, and:
TRENT: He was pretty much the driving force of the creation of the band. [I've never heard this before; I always thought-based on how Hugh tells it-that it was just Hugh and Trent to begin with. Interesting!] He was pushing Hugh, and pushing everybody, and there was like a million guitar players, I happened to slip in one day, and... and all of a sudden it clicked.
AWWWWW. And then they wind up talking a little about wondering if and how new people might have discovered the Headstones through Hugh's TV work, and how that's going to affect the audience at the shows, and how rare a situation like Hugh's is, where someone was really popular as a member of a band, and now is really popular as an actor. And they talk about how some rap and hip-hop artists have made that jump, but Hugh seems to be playing a character who's less like his public persona than a lot of musicians who get into acting, and it's all pretty interesting, though it's too long to transcribe.
And a funny little thing at the end about how the band didn't really have an online presence at that point because (says Tim) "we didn't know until recently if this was going to work or not." Hee! And how the same guy is going to have Dale and then Hugh on his show "in the next month," but we haven't found those interviews, if they happened! Which is a bummer, because I've never heard Dale say more than about five words at a stretch and I AM CURIOUS. Ah well.
And then that's it! AAAAAAAND I'M SPENT.