|
|
|
|
|
|
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
— by Rodrigo Perez
Wilco have seen their share of ups and downs over the past few years. The Chicago rock experimentalists became unwitting poster children for the ills of the music industry with 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The album was rejected by the band’s then-label, Warner Bros., — only to become one of the most critically lauded LPs of the year when it was finally released (on a Warner Bros. subsidiary, ironically enough). The band enraged the mainstream music business by streaming the album from its own Web site. And as if that weren’t enough, Wilco fired longtime guitarist/keyboardist Jay Bennett during the album’s recording, and had all of the drama captured on film in the 2002 documentary "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart."
Earlier this year, as the release of the band's new A Ghost Is Born approached, Wilco said goodbye to multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach, and then singer Jeff Tweedy checked himself into rehab for addiction to painkillers. Meanwhile, their album leaked onto the Internet early (again), their Coachella appearance was canceled, and the album's release date was pushed back a month. All just another day in the life of a band that considered calling its new record Wilco Happens.
But as Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt explained, Wilco are happy where they're at, and they don't mind at all if you want to check out A Ghost Is Born online before you buy it.
MTV: You guys aren't releasing a single or video to promote this record. How is it that you survive without taking the standard music-industry route?
Jeff Tweedy: We're not the video type. We didn't [make] one for the last record either. If we can figure out a way to do one for like 10 or 50 dollars, then we'll probably give it a go, but it seems like a lot of money to spend on something that just seems like a commercial. I'd rather do a commercial, to be honest.
John Stirratt: The only way to exist outside of the system [is] self-efficiency. You don't have to answer to anyone to be able to tour, make money and to survive, and it's helped us through a lot of trying times.
MTV: When Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was leaked online, you were one of the first bands to loudly embrace file-sharing, and when the album debuted at #13, what some had called a gamble truly paid off.
Tweedy: It doesn't seem like that bad of a business model, letting people hear your music.
Stirratt: It's like, what are you afraid of? It's almost like studios preventing press from screening movies.
Tweedy: Or closing down libraries because you're afraid people won't buy books anymore. A much more ridiculous business model is when big labels put out tons and tons of records and make them all fit into the same pattern of how they're going to reach people, and then take six-figure, seven-figure salaries for everybody and expense accounts and wonder why people don't feel like paying $19 for a CD. It's just incredibly wasteful.
MTV: Is the title of your new record, A Ghost Is Born, supposed to represent anything specifically?
Tweedy: A star is born, you might as well say a ghost is born. To me, that's like saying, "I am a ghost and I'm going to work hard to project it into the world." But in a sense we are all ghosts. We're swimming in ghosts. I love that idea. I love that there is some kind of thing that continually goes through us; the way we keep doing the same things, good and bad, as people.
MTV: The new album has a 10-minute krautrock-inspired track and a song with nine minutes of feedback. Do you ever feel you're testing the limits of your audience's patience?
Tweedy: There are definitely things we've put on our records and we've stepped back and said, "I bet there are a lot of people who might buy this record who would not normally listen to something like that." You have to just go by: "Can we enjoy it and feel something?" If so, logically there might be at least [one other] person out there that feels the same.
MTV: Your recent stay in rehab may have gotten you more mainstream attention than anything the band has done.
Tweedy: As long as they spell my name right. On the crawl on MSNBC — holy moly, man.
Stirratt: You've arrived.
Tweedy: Now they can do the VH1 "Behind the Music" special.
MTV: So how was your stint in rehab?
Tweedy: My stint? That's the only time that word is ever used, really. "Your stint in rehab." It was awesome, it was great. It was long overdue. [A loud bass sound goes off in the background.] That's my heart, don't worry. I get a little panicky when I talk about rehab. It was great, honestly. I feel better than I've ever felt.
MTV: Is it something you had resisted before?
Tweedy: Oh absolutely. I resisted anything that had to do with treatment. I really felt that I wasn't into partying, I wasn't pursuing oblivion, I wasn't embracing a rock life, so I thought that made it different. I just felt like I wanted to feel better, and I wanted to keep functioning because I wasn't feeling good for various reasons — from headaches to panic attacks to whatever. But that's exactly the way most people are. Everyone is trying to do their best. Actually, everyone is doing their best, only sometimes it isn't very good for you.
MTV: Was there any point where the future of the group was in doubt?
Tweedy: My sanity was in doubt. I would have been happy just to not have to feel so crappy to get through a day. It wouldn't have mattered to me to never play another note of music. That was all I really cared about. When I went into rehab I felt so destroyed, like I really needed it and I really would have given anything to feel better. And when I did start feeling better, I felt unbelievably blessed to have something to come back to that is something I love so much. And I feel like everyone I play music with is just the best people, they are my best friends. We have the best time. We've been through so much stuff. It was a total bonus that that was still there. To be honest I didn't think about [music] much when it was happening.
MTV: When you guys reunited, was it emotional?
Stirratt: Definitely. Everyone was concerned. It was heavy, beautiful.
Tweedy: It was a bloodbath, emotionally. [He laughs.] No, it was great. It was a total relief. Total tears of joy.
MTV: You've recently released a book of poetry.
Tweedy: I did. It's called "Adult Head." It has a picture of our cat on the cover. I decided to put out a book of poetry because I didn't feel like I had enough ridicule and scorn in my life. It's a lose-lose situation. I probably never was willing to admit to anyone that I was a poet because that's a good way to get slapped in the face. I feel pretty insecure and self-conscious even saying it now. I'm really happy I got the book out. So far I haven't received any death threats.
MTV: Is there a line or a song in A Ghost Is Born that sums it all up?
Tweedy: "I'm a cherry ghost" [from "Theologians"], because it's still fun to sing in a strange way every night. I really get excited singing that line. I have no idea what it means, but every night when I sing it I feel refreshed. Invigorated. It's beautiful.
|
|
|
|
Photo: Danny Clinch
|
|
|
|
|
