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Text transcript follows:
GUTLESS: WHAT ARE THE DAY JOBS OF THE MEMBERS OF DISKOTHI-Q?
PETER HUGHES: Kevin Hughes drives for a construction company, Kevin Trapp will soon be a junior high school history teacher. Myself: you don't wanna know (because it'll make you wanna quit college NOW).
GUTLESS: WHAT ARE YOUR CURRENT SENTIMENTS OF THE UPLAND, CALIFORNIA "SCENE"? FRANKLIN BRUNO, IN ANOTHER EMAIL INTERVIEW I JUST DID, SEEMED TO HAVE THE FEELING THAT THE SCENE ISN'T AS MAGICAL AS IT WAS A FEW YEARS BACK, WITH PEOPLE (LIKE JOHN DARNIELLE AND WCKR SPGT) MOVING AWAY.
PETER H: Well, only half of WCKR SPGT moved away, and I think the only person involved in the Inland Empire rockscape who still lives in Upland is Allen from Refrigerator, but yeah. There's still tons of stuff going on in terms of there being lots of interrelated and incestuous side-projects etc., but there's not the same spontanety that existed when you could go down to Munchies in Pomona any Friday night and laugh your ass off or be moved to tears or be rocked til kingdom come or all of the above...but it hasn't been like that since 1992 and the fact that there are still half a dozen really great bands currently active in the Empire is pretty impressive I think.
GUTLESS: I HEARD OUR VERSION OF THE CARS' "JUST WHAT I NEEDED" ON THE CACTUS GUM COMPILATION CD, "WHISKEY, YOU'RE THE DEVIL". WHAT OTHER "COVER SONGS" HAVE YOU DONE? IS IT SOMETIMES MORE FUN TO SING OTHER PEOPLE'S SONGS?
PETER H: It is indeed sometimes more fun to sing other people's songs, especially when your own songs serve only to reinforce your negative self-image. Diskothi-Q has done ountlesss overs over the ears, but only a relatively small percentage of them have actuallybeen preserved for posterity. Most notable among these perhaps were the Beck and Simon Joyner covers (of Heartland Feeling" and "Javelin" respectively) that comprised a recent signle on Xmas---for about a year we opened every show with one of those songs--the Mountain Goats cover on "The Wandering Jew" ["Tulsa Imperative"] (notable because the song's still never been released in any other form), and "To Face the Truth" from Waterworld which is a Pet Shop Boys song. We're currently working very hard on a cover of the Beverly Hills 90210 theme, which was penned by our friend and labelmate John Davis.
GUTLESS: WHY DID YOU NAME THE NEW ALBUM "WATERWORLD" IS THIS IN REFERENCE TO TEH KEVIN COSTNER FILM OF THE SAME NAME? I DOUBT THE NEW DISKOTHI-Q ALBUM HAS THE SAME QUALITIES OF THAT FILM: MILLIONS OVER BUDGET, EXTRA SPECIAL EFFECTS TO STROKE MR. COSTERN'S EGO (AS IF IT NEEDED ANY EXTRA STROKING), A BOX OFFICE BOMB, BUT FINDING ANEW LIFE ON VIDEO TAPE, BUT I COULD BE WRONG. WHAT IS DISKOTHI-Q'S FAVORITE MOVIE(S), SPECIAL EFFECT LADEN BLOCKBUSTERS OR NOT?
PETER H: Diskothi-Q's "Waterworld" does in fact have a great deal in common with Kevin Costner's "Waterworld": it took about nine months longer to make than it should have, it consequently cost about twice as much to make as it should have, and it was all basically driven by one melaomaniacal ego, namely mine. So yeah, that is the reference. And it doesn't open for a few more days, but I suspect that Diskothi-Q's favorite movie is "Private Parts".
GUTLESS: IT'S NO SECRET THAT DISKOTHI-Q'S PLANNING TO RELOCATE TO SOUTH GERMANY THIS FALL. WHAT'S PROMPTING THE MOVE: THE SPERIORITY OF THE BAVARIAN SERVICE SECTOR, THE OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE THERE, OR THE SHEER BEAUTY OF THE LANGUAGE? IN SUM: WHAT IS IT THAT YOU LIKE SO MUCH ABOUT GERMANY (THIS QUESTION SECRETLY PROPOSED BY JOHN DARNIELLE OF THE MOUNTAIN GOATS)
PETER H: Well, all of the above, plus the huge show-going populace and wildly enthusiastic audiences which make playing in Germany fantastically lucrative for American bands, but perhaps above all, a desire to repay the Germans for all the kindness and generosity they shoved my people during the economic and political turmoil that occurred in Europe in the 1930s and '40s.... Unfortunately, due to some contractual obligations, it's looking right now as if DiskothiQ's move to Bavaria might have to be postponed, at least until they hold the winter Olympics in China and O.J. FUCKING SIMPSON GOES BOBSLEDDING IN HELL!!!!!!!
GUTLESS: HERE'S AN APPENDAGE TO THE GERMANY QUESTION. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF FRANKENMUTH, MICHIGAN? IT'S A TOURISTY PLACE, BUT THE ATTRACTION IS THAT IT'S LIKE A LITTLE PIECE OF GERMANY SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF MICHIGAN! GERMAN CUISINE, GERMAN BEER, GERMAN ARCHITECTURE, THE WHOLE BALL OF WAX. IF YOU AREN'T FAMILIART WITH FRANKENMUTH, YOU REALLY MUST SEEK IT OUT IF YOU EVER FND YOURSELF IN MICHIGAN, SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE A CONNOISSEUR OF ALL-THINGS-GERMAN [NOT!].
PETER H: Actually, Stehen, I gotta come clean. I think the preceding question was suggested to you as a joke. This is because I HATE Germany. It is the worst place I have ever been, period.... I am, however, quite fond of Michigan. Petoskey uber Alles!
GUTLESS: I'M FIND ABOUT YOUR SENTIMENTS ABOUT GERMANY, EVEN THO I AM PARTIALLY GERMAN MY SELF. I HOLD NO GREAT PRIDE ABOUT THAT, EVEN THO I TOOK GERMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL. HOPE YOU DIDN'T MIND THE JOHN-DARNIELLE-INDUCED-QUESTION....
PETER H: I didn't mean to offend anyone of German ancestry---my dislike of the place is only partially rational. And no, I don't mind John feeding you questions, it was actually pretty funny.
GUTLESS: I DON'T LIKE TO ASK ABOUT THE PRECISE MEANING OF SPECIFIC SONGS. WHEN SONGS ARE ANALYZED TO DEATH, THEY SOMETIMES LOSE THEIR MEANING, I THINK. I THINK IT'S FUN TO ASK QUESTIONS RELATED TO SONG TITLES, NOT TALKING ABOUT THE EXACT SONG THOUGH.
PETER H: First off, I disagree with this premise. I don't think that by asking one question regarding a song's meaning, one riss analyzing a song TO DEATH, and I don't think a song's meaning is something that can be lost. The main reason I listen to so little indie-rock these days is that too many bands are too chickenshit to give their songs meaning and risk embarrassing themselves by making it clear. A certain degree of ambguity and/or cryptic-ness is fine as long as it serves to heighten the effect of a song, but when it's used as a copout--i.e. the popular notion of "the lyrics mean different things to different people"---it's just lame. Have a take, for crying out loud. That said, I'd be happy to answer title-related questions if you wish.
GUTLESS: THERE'S A SONG CALLED "ARGENTINE DRINKING SON. TWO QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT: HAVE YOU EVER VISITED CENTRAL ANDOR SOUTH AMERICA? WHAT WAS IT LIKE? AND, ANY DRINKING STORIES TO TELL, FROM ANY TIME IN YOUR LIFE (NAMES MAY BE CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT IN YOUR "DRINKING STORIES" IF YOU WISH)?
PETER H: Answer 1: No, but Joel Huschle has. Answer 2: We used to drink just wine around the house, but then some old guy who thought the idea of young couples being wine aficionados was just too pretentious to bear, gave us a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin as a wedding present. Now my wife misses two days of work a week thanks to her drinking, and I've graduated to straight whiskey every night. Incidentally, if you'd asked about the actual song, you'd have gotten a story far more compelling than anything I could provide from my own life.
GUTLESS: THE TITLE OF THE SONG "VACANCY" MAKES ME THINK OF THE GLITTERING NEON SIGNS IN FRONT OF MOTELS/HOTELS: (NO) VACANCY. ANY HORROR STORIES TO TELL ABOUT SOME OF YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH BAD HOTELS, POSSIBLY WHILE ON TOUR?
PETER H: I don't think I've ever been to a REALLY bad hotel. There was the night in Miles City, Montana watching a late-night comedy thing on HBO w/ this woman screaming "I just LUUUUUV to suck that motherfuckin dick!" The "Good Morning Hotels" on the outskirts of Lund in Sweden was fun because the beds folded sideways out of the walls and it was just like the sleeper compartments on a Amtrack train. Our friend Gabel, who cursed us with the nameDiskothiQ, was in a creepy hotel room in Siena, Italy w/ her boyfriend once, and they both woke up at the same time in similarly cold sweats, having just had the same dream about being pursued and murdered. Those are the best hotel stories I have.
GUTLESS: THE SONG "WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM" ALSO INSPIRES SOME INTERESTING IDEAS. IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAD TO BE PUT INTO THIS PROGRAM, WHERE ELSE IN THE U.S. WOULD OU WANT TO LIVE, AND UNDER WHAT ASSUMED NAME WOULD YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN AS, IF YOU WERE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN COMING UP WITH A COOL NAME?
PETER H: I want to live somewhere where there is no traffic and lots of space---Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin--and I would change my name to John Darnielle. Or Terry Bradshaw.
GUTLESS: ARE THERE ANY TOUR PLANS TO SUPPORT "WATERWORLD"?
PETER H: Nope.
GUTLESS: OK, YOU TALKED ME INTO IT. I DIDN'T ASK ABOUT THE SPECIFICS OF THE SONGS BECUZ, AS YOU SAID, BANDS OFTEN PREER TO LEAVE THEM OPEN FOR INTERPRETATION.... IS THE "EMPIRE" REFERRED TO IN "IMPERIAL ANTHEM" THE INLAND EMPIRE?
PETER H: Yes.
GUTLESS: "POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE" REFERS TO A GRADUATION DAY. WAS IT WRITTEN WITH SOMEONE IN MIND? IT SEEMS TO BE DIRECTED AT SOMEONE IN PARTICULAR. IT MADE ME THINK BACK TO MY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION AND AHEAD TO MY COLLEGE GRADUATION.
PETER H: I substitute taught for three and a half years, in which time I met remarkably few kids who had anything approaching a clue. There was one girl, however, who had so much of a clue as to be a huge fan of SImon Joyner, and who in addition was as completely poised, self assured, and well spoken a person as anyone I've ever met. Every time I ran into her during her senior year I would feel compelled to relate to her every morsel of wisdom to which I'd been privy on account of my addition al half dozen years on earth, and she would do her best to follow me, but after a while I realized that my world view is so twisted and fucked-up, and hers was already so sensible and healthy, that I should just shut up. She must've thought I was a freak.
GUTLESS: OK, WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND "ARGENTINE DRINKING SONG"?
PETER H: The way the Argentine government dealt with dissidents during the 1970s adn 80s was to abduct them from their homes, drug them, load them into airplanes, strip them naked, fly the planes out over the ocean and throw the people out. Thousands disappeared this way. The people in charge saw to it that everyone in the military had to fly on at least a few of these missions, so that everyone who knew about it would be implicated and no one would ever come orward. It worked until a couple of years ago.
GUTLESS: WOULD YOU AGREE THAT "WATERWORLD" IS FASTER-PACED, OVERALL THAN "THE WANDERING JEW"? IT JUST SEEMS TO ROCK MORE TO ME.
PETER H: I would agree, but it's not so much the case that "Waterworld" is more rockin' than normal for us as it is that "The Wandering Jew" was less rockin' than normal. The next one will just about split the difference between the two.
GUTLESS: OK, THAT'S THE QUESTIONS. I DIDN'T GET BACK TO YOU FOR A WEEK BECUZ I HAVEN'T BEEN ON CAMPUS FOR A WEEK. I WAS SICK AND THEN WE HAD AN ICE STORM AND CLASSES WERE CANCELLED. BUT NO EARTHQUAKES, THANK GOD. OH, MAYBE THAT'LL BE ANOTHER QUESTION, ANY EARTHQUAKE TALES TO TELL, SINCE YOU ARE FROM CALIFORNIA?????
PETER H: Earthquakes get less fun as you get older because you have more invested in life and consequently more to lose. That said, they're still pretty freakin' cool.
FINAL FORWARDED QUESTION, VIA THE INLAND LIST.
INLAND GUY: IF ANYONE IS STILL INTERVIEWING PETER HUGHES, I WANTED THEM TO ASK HIM WHY HE KEEPS SAYING "TIGHT BUTTS DRIVE ME NUTS" IN MANY OF THE SONGS ON "WATERWORLD".
PETER H: This refers to subliminal messages that were mixed into some of the songs at our drummer's insistence. The actual line is "I love tight buns in 501s" but it's amazing to me that someone picked up on it at all....