DJ - You’re from Los Angeles?
E - Yes, we are.
DJ - Do you understand French? Just a little?
E - Uh, no.
DJ - So, my question is: You started with a solo career, and it’s kind of a
reverse process than a regular musician. Usually you’re in a band then you
go for a solo career, but you didn’t exactly...
E - Well I’m into doing things backwards.
DJ - (something in French)
E - Well, yeah, whatever you said. You know, I was perfectly happy being a
solo artist and then I met Butch and Tommy and it seemed like a more exciting
situation, and a way to move forwards... in a backwards way.
DJ - You’re one of the first acts to be signed on the Dreamworks label. Was
it something easy to deal with, to be on such an expected label? I mean,
everyone was looking for the first release to know if it would be...
E - Well there’s a lot of pressure on us, because you know, everyone thinks
it’s very easy for us because we’re such good friends with Steven Spielberg,
and because Butch was babysitting for him That’s how we got our deal, if you
want to tell that story Butch.
Butch - Um... this is Butch, drums. Yeah, I was babysitting for Spielberg,
and I knew this guy E... gave [Spielberg] a tape... here we are.
DJ - We’ve just seen in a French magazine that you were actually produced by
Spielberg, which isn’t true of course...
E - Uh, Spielberg is the brains. We don’t do anything. I don’t produce
anything. Spielberg actually plays all the instruments and sings all the
lead vocals on the album, also.
DJ - We are about to play “Novocaine For The Soul.” What’s novocaine?
E - Um... it’s a chemical that Steven Spielberg invented and dentists in
America put it in your mouth to make it feel numb before they drill your
teeth. So the song is about not feeling, or being afraid to feel.
DJ - [These songs] don’t sound very optimistic to the ears. If you listen to
the lyrics of the new album, and even the previous one.
E - Well that song, “Novocaine For The Soul,” is not really an optimistic
song, because it’s about everything that the rest of the record is the
opposite of. “Novocaine For The Soul” is about not feeling your feelings but
the whole record is about getting down to the bottom of what’s underneath
everything on the surface. It’s actually, I think, a very optimistic album.
DJ (to Butch and Tommy) - Did you first hear [E’s] solo records before you
joined to form eels?
Tommy - Yeah, we were familiar with him. I heard “Hello Cruel World” quite a
bit in Los Angeles.
E - We used to play frisbee with the first album.
DJ - Were you friends before, or have you been in touch between musicians,
or...
E - Uh... Spielberg.
Butch - Well I babysat, Tommy did dishes for him.
E - I washed his car.
Tommy - And I was really good friends with E.T. and I met E through E.T.
DJ - Was it easy to find a record deal in the USA after two albums, which
were not a great success?
E - Well it was easy because Butch was working at Spielberg’s house.
DJ - Is it true that there was a radio DJ who put your records on the air and
had them heard by not only listeners but record companies also?
E - Yes... yes.
DJ - No details about that? Don’t want to talk about that?
E - Oh, you want details?
DJ - Yeah, sure.
E - Yeah, a radio station, KCRW in LA was playing our demos.
DJ - You once said that one of your biggest influences about songwriting and
making music was Randy Neuman. Was it a joke, or...
E - No, Randy Neuman is a good friend of Steven Spielberg’s, and they make me
say that. It’s part of the Dreamworks deal. I have to say that.
DJ - So you just want to talk about Steven Spielberg this afternoon, or...
E - Well that seems to be the only thing everyone in Europe wants to talk to
us about, is Steven Spielberg.
DJ - No, no, we ask you questions about something completely different, but
you always answer Steven Spielberg. It’s your problem, it’s not our problem.
E - It’s all our problem.
DJ - Well thanks for coming the afternoon. Thank you.
E - You’re sick of us now, you’ve had enough of us?
DJ - Yeah.
E - You want to get rid of us now?
DJ - Yeah.
E - Alright.
DJ - OK.
E - Well we enjoyed “Hello Cruel World.” And the name of the album is
actually “Beautiful Freak,” not “Freaks.” “Freak.”
Tommy - “Freak,” not “Freaks!”
(this in reference to the DJ, who keeped calling the album 'Beautiful Freaks')