The influential rock band brings its North American tour to Grand Rapids on Saturday. The Local Spins interview with “frustratingly cool” guitarist Joey Santiago.
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Rock historians will forever – and rightly so – fawn over some of the Pixies’ earliest albums, like 1989’s quirky and dark “Doolittle,” which put the cutting-edge Boston alt-rock band on the map and eventually earned acclaim from several media outlets as one of the most influential rock albums of all time.
It was a heady, rollicking time period for frontman Black Francis and his bandmates, but ask guitarist Joey Santiago about how it compares to the more mature band’s current situation and he doesn’t hesitate to describe his enthusiasm for the Pixies, circa 2017.
“It’s awesome,” he said in a phone interview with Local Spins. “Are you kidding me? Compared to what it was like then? We were hustling and paying our dues. It paid off, and right now, the benefits are here. You’re more comfortable. Definitely, it’s the ultimate. It’s where I belong.”
Santiago, Black Francis (aka Frank Black, aka Charles Thompson IV), drummer David Lovering and new band bassist Paz Lenchantin continue to tour behind the Pixies’ latest album, 2016’s “Head Carrier,” making a much-anticipated, sold-out tour stop Saturday at Grand Rapids’ 20 Monroe Live. Mitski opens the 8 p.m. show.
Santiago proudly points out that “Head Carrier” actually reflects the same recording and production process the Pixies first employed for the aforementioned “Doolittle,” with all the band members in the same room hashing out the songs, picking tracks and then going into the studio to record.
And he said he loves performing everything from this second “post-reunion” album, which also is the first to feature the much-admired Lenchantin on bass.
“I always get excited about anything from ‘Head Carrier,’” said Santiago. “It’s familiar and we like to prove it live. We’re owning the songs now. We’re wearing it well.”
A ‘COOL’ BASSIST AND A MASSIVE REPERTOIRE OF SONGS
For fans, that’s a welcome sign, following the departure (again) of original bassist Kim Deal in 2013.
Lenchatin brings to the table an engaging “personality” and “her chops,” Santiago said.
“Just her overall experience: She’s very musical,” Santiago said. “She’s always working. She’s always doing projects. She’s involved in any kind of art and she doesn’t judge any kind of music. Everything is cool. Just like us. We like everything.”
That includes almost all of the Pixies’ extensive catalog: The band prepared about 90 songs to play during the current tour and the set changes nightly. Indeed, band members don’t know what songs they’ll play next until Black Francis calls it out on stage.
“It’s all in our heads. We’ve been doing this for awhile. … The songs are called right on the spot,” Santiago said, though he added slyly: “It comes to the point where I can guess what’s going to come next.”
Of course, many of those songs are the classics that longtime fans hope to hear, including “Debaser,” “Gouge Away,” “Where is My Mind,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Here Comes My Man.” And that makes these older tunes a blast to play, Santiago insisted.
‘NO DRAMA’ AND DISTINCTIVE GUITAR WORK
“Yeah, because I know they’re going to get a kick out of it,” he said. “I’m not doing it for my jollies. In the studio, we do that. That’s when we’re selfish. When you’re playing live, they (fans) are the boss. They’re the ones that are employing us. We’re good workers (and) our bosses are good to us.”
These rock ‘n’ roll laborers will keep hitting the road hard through mid-December, the latest leg of touring that started last fall with a series of sold-out shows in the United Kingdom and Europe, followed by dates in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa.
“No drama,” Santiago said of the touring thus far. “It was uneventful in a good way. We just did what we’ve been doing: playing good shows, and I could be anywhere if I’m in a good mood and have a good time.”
Beyond that, Santiago expects the band will begin the process of “’thinking about” its next album.
“When you start thinking about it, you start listening to music in a different light. That’s good,” he said. “It’s such a big machine (Pixies) that it does require at least six months to have things get rolling. We kind of go in six-month chunks.”
As for the guitarist himself, he’s just pleased the way his career has unfolded.
“I guess what inspires me is to be good, just to be different. I don’t know, but from what people tell me, I consider myself lucky to have carved a niche for myself or my own sound, so I’ve got to run with that. It’s frustratingly cool,” he quipped.
And while things outside the Pixies have changed dramatically over the decades, Santiago insisted the band experience continues unabated.
“Internally, it’s still the same,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m 52 at all. I’m still an imbecile.”
VIDEO: The Pixies, “Here Comes Your Man” (London, 2014)
VIDEO: The Pixies, “Um Chagga Laga” (from “Head Carrier”)
VIDEO: The Pixies, “Debaser” (from “Doolittle”)
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