Interview in bwcitypaper

Very interresting interview led by J.R. Taylor for www.bwcitypaper.com:

"At the Swami label," he explains, "they were prepared to sell X amount of records and get bands into cult status and turn people on to new music. I never wanted more than that, and so everything else was gravy. The thing is that this new record is the most cohesive one I've ever made, and I'd like it to be more successful. I'm thinking it's my best record, and maybe I've done about as much as I can on the bar circuit. I tell you this, though: you sell a lot more merchandise at the bar shows. You do a show opening for the White Stripes or The Hives, and you're lucky to make 20 bucks at the tables."

[...]

"A lot of my songs are about struggling against the mass mind," he says. "That's because so many people think I'm crazy when I'm talking to them, so maybe I don't need to be talking about what a song like 'Bohemian Grove' is about, because I might start sounding like I'm insane. But you can type in 'Bohemian Grove' on the internet and see it has nothing to do with me. It's about a place where rich people get together and burn an effigy and have this ritual called the Cremation of Care. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I think there's something weird going on there. I don't know why these rich and powerful people have to go naked and act like primitives living before the age of civilization. They're supposed to have the most money, but do you need a lot of money to go act like a f***ing primate and run around in the woods? It's silly. It's like in the U.K. when rich people go fox hunting on a full stomach. There are poor people who can use that meat. F*** those rich guys having a Boys' Club meeting. I know about being poor, and I have poor friends who can't pay their bills, and they might go crazy for a while, but not in a controlled environment. If those guys are so rich, why don't they just go to Bonnaroo and have fun? You can do drugs there."

For the whole interview, click here.