Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 19:14:39 -0400 (EDT) From: PackageThf@aol.com Subject: humidifier Hello and welcome to a special addition of the Superchunk eMailing List. Why special? Instead of your normal issue jam-packed with different info, the list instead presents a special interview with Jim Wilbur about his side project, Humidifier. The interview was conducted by Pete (CMIBWA2@aol.com) for issue #3 of the Permanent Drummer fanzine. The issue also has interviews with run on, the lynnfield pioneers, built to spill, man or astro-man?, and an old mail in interview with yo la tengo - as well as essays, poems, reviews, and the like. For more info email pete or write to Permanent Drummer, PO Box 7152, Garden City, NY, 11530-7152. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Pete: to start this off, just spell out the line-up for the famous humidifier. Jim: well, it’s me(from superchunk), jon king (from spent), and dennis. that’s it. there used to be another guy in the band, and actually there used to be a woman briefly, but now it’s just a trio. jon and i switch on and off bass and guitar. Pete: sort of like spent? Jim: yea, well we don’t really play live much, but when we do we both play guitar and there’s another guy who plays bass. but we’re probobly not going to be playing live too much. Pete: well, you played new york a couple months ago. Jim: yea, we played three shows in one weekend, but it’s so difficult. i live down here in north carolina, jon being in new york, and our drummer is in boston, so we have to pass through heaven and earth to get together. Pete: is dennis in any other band? Jim: he plays in some bands, but i don’t even know the names of them. it’s him and his brother and stuff, and they don’t really play out... not yet anyway. Pete: eventually. Jim: yea, hopefully Pete: how did you get together, in the formation you’re in? Jim: we’d all gone to college together, in fairfield, connecticut. we met that way. that was like 1986, and that’s when it started. it’s crazy that we’ve... Pete: stuck together? Jim: did it again. it’s completely different now than what it was. i mean, the people who were putting out the record, when they heard it, were like ‘oh my god! it’s totally different!’, and i was like, what did you expect? years later that people are going to be the same? Pete: was it different music? a different style? Jim: well, back then, we tried to play everything really fast, generally speaking, to be more like a punk rock band. we were too poppy to really be considered punk, so we couldn’t really get shows at punk rock clubs, because we weren’t hard core enough. and we couldn’t get shows any where else because we were too noisy, or abrasive, or whatever. there are songs on the record that are very similar to old style humidifier. the song “rubber gloves” is an old song that we had recorded once before actually, back then. that’s pretty much what the style was, you know: poppy, punk rocky stuff. Pete: did you have any released back then? Jim: yea. we had a full length record, called “misery’s redeeming”... Pete: that doesn’t sound very happy! Jim: no. all the songs were depressing. then there was a seven inch called “louder than your mom”, which had 5 songs on it. and then, after i moved to north carolina, we got together like a year later and recorded another seven inch called “gazer”. that had six songs on it. Pete: were they on small labels, or... Jim: we put out the lp ourselves, and the seven inch that followed it a couple years later. and then a record label out in washington state- in decoma, called meat records put out... Pete: isn’t wwax on that? Jim: yea. wax. Pete: or, wax with two w’s. Jim: there’s a guy in chicago who always calls it wwax (double u wax), and mac is like, no it’s just wwax (pronounced wax). Pete: i always thought it was wwax (1st pronunciation). people always gave me strange looks. Jim: it’s wax. there’s every reason for you to believe that it would be w-wax, it’s not stupid to think that. and it’s kind of funny that mac would be suprised that anyone would call it w-wax, when, in fact, that’s what it says. Pete: was there any reason why humidifier wasn’t released on merge? once merge started going and could actually put out lp’s. Jim: the guy at link [records] had gone to school at fairfield, too. i didn’t know him-none of us really knew him, but apparently, he liked our band. and when he had this job at link, he contacted us, and asked us if we’d consider getting together and doing it. so, it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for like... Pete: some unknown guy who used to hang out in the back of the room at the shows? Jim: well, we never really played shows. we played parties. it was kind of crazy. Pete: humidifier’s ‘main’ bands, that is to say, the bands that you’re into now, whether it’s spent or superchunk, drinking seems to be a full throttle influence. Jim: yup. Pete: i don’t want to make a broad generalization, [the spent record] “songs of drinking and rebellion”, or any given superchunk song has some kind of drinking reference Jim: there are a lot of them. Pete: there certainly are. do you think that that’s been a big influence for humidifier? Jim: well, we always drink when we’re together. the songs that i wrote the lyrics for on that record, there’s only one with a drinking reference on it, but that had to do with philip k. dick, who was an alcoholic and a drug taker, so it had a point, i guess. when you’re writing lyrics, something that is familiar is probobly going to pop into them. especially being on tour, and being in a bar every night, you probobly do drink more than you should. so it just becomes a metaphor, or a part of you, in a weird way, though not necessarily in a good way. Pete: i understand. Jim: i used to be so straight edge, and i wouldn’t drink at all. and that went down the drain. Pete: was that in college? Jim: yea, i met jon king- he was a heavy drinker in college, and i never drank. i had a bad experience with a woman, and jon was saying ‘get drunk’. i was feeling sorry for myself, so i did. i’ve been doing it ever since. Pete: do you have any future plans for humidifier? a new 7 inch perhaps? Jim: i think it would be fun to make another record and play a few shows. i mean, we recorded this record so quickly, and we only practiced over two weekends to get it together. so, it was very much a rush job. there are things about it where i listen to it now, and i wish we had more time. to have done it properly would have been much better. Pete: had you all heard the songs before hand? Jim: we got together one week in north carolina, and we worked out about ten of them. in the studio, every time we did a take, it was like a practice. after each take, we were like, ‘let’s do it again!’. it was most likely the fifth time we’d ever played the song, and we were recording it. Pete: do you think what you’re listening to directly affects the music you’re writing? Jim: it can, but it’s usually a conscious thing. Pete: what you think sounds right. Jim: i listen to mostly classical music, so when i’m writing songs, i really use a sense of melody. there are some composers who use four major notes in them instead of three or two. you can get all fruity like that. and then you can say consciously, i’m going to write a song with a four chord progression, instead of a three, and i’m going to have the third chord not held for so long. i mean, that’s about how far theory goes with me, because i’m pretty stupid. Pete: so, in a sort of way, the technicality of classical music incorporates itself? Jim: well, i like the sound- the texture of classical music, and i like orchestras. i like the idea of orchestration, not that you hear it much in pop music, like humidifier. i mean, there is a certain element of layering and going for the sonics of something, rather than just a tune. ------------------ Well, that's it for the special edition. For the next issue (a normal issue), look for: information on the new Superchunk album + rarities made available + the merge records upcoming release list + more! If you have any address changes or if you've written me or haven't heard back or have a question, please drop me a line! Also, if you want to write the band, just a reminder that they now have a band email address: superchunk@mindspring.com (for the requested ettiquite for writing the band, please check out the last mailer on the Here With Superchunk website.) Until next time.... ------------------- CHUNKontheWEB