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So the songs that featured Rey on Animositisomina, he didn't record those at the Sonic Ranch?
Right. I think they were probably four songs that came from the Dark Side Of the Spoon writing sessions, that were left over. I'm not sure. They sounded like tracks of somebody with a boombox in a room with Rey and Louis jamming on some stuff and they ended up edited into song ideas. They were sort of lo-fi. Probably recorded in Chicago at their rehearsal space or in a small room at Chicago Trax somewhere. You'd have to ask Barker. First time that I heard them, Barker and I were working on the A.I. movie stuff at his house in Austin.
So the whole record was played by you on the drums, and some of it just credited to Rey? Like, original drumbeats?
No, Rey's parts are on the final takes, too. It was blended together, see. In other words, I'd go in there and either overdub some real drums or maybe just individual drums one at a time, or just sit there and drag-and-drop some drum samples on the computer; in order to re-create his parts or add my counter-parts. You get what I'm saying? It just depended on the situation.
But back to the tour real quick, any interesting or funny stories that come to mind at this moment?
That question always makes me draw an immediate blank. [laughs] Sorry, I don't... you know, I don't mean to be that way, but... there are a lot of great memories. That was a crazy tour. Most tour managers and any kind of management people are trying to isolate you from the world, so they prefer you to be in your hotel room or on the bus and nowhere else. Really. And they really don't want you hanging out with a bunch of fans because that's when you get into mischief. [laughs]
After the tour ended at the end of '99, what was the main focus from 2000-2001?
A.I. First, writing in Austin, then recording in Chicago. Then to the movie set. It was totally surreal. It was filmed in Long Beach at the Spruce Goose Terminal. They took the plane out and made the inside of its hanger into that scene, the Flesh Fair scene. A 'huge' outdoor festival, but indoors. We slept in the Queen Mary, which just happened to be right next to it. Kickass catering nearby... basically everything was taken care of for us. We were getting, like, movie-star treatment... it's different than rock-star treatment. Being a total outsider, though, I mean I could give a shit less about any of that stuff, y'know. I don't keep up with what's currently hot or who's important or what's on TV or cool or whatever, and seeing everybody all upright... it was such a scene. I really had to laugh. And all the Hollywood big wigs and actors thought we were cool because we weren't acting or actors. Well, except John Williams who just sneered at us. We got stared at a lot. It was odd.
And your cameos in the movie were like, seven seconds long.
I know! Can you believe it? It took us two weeks to do that scene, filming-wise, and I think I was on a corner of the screen for like two seconds... or nanoseconds.
The song "What About Us?", did you write any of the material on that?
Yeah, that song was written at Barker's house. It was me and Barker. Al liked what we gave him, and he did some things to the arrangement up in Chicago.
The first time I heard the song, I couldn't help but notice Al's rap delivery throughout it. Was that intentional?
No! I'm sure it's because of the drumbeat; with a drumbeat like that, I mean, I'm sure he was trying his damndest to be anything but rappy. I don't think, uh, heh, Al has any interest in that kind of thing.
Adam Grossman is on the track.
No, he's not on that track. He's on "Animosity".
Wasn't he going to go on tour with you guys on the Animositisomina tour?
Yeah, he actually was going to go on tour with us, but decided not to do it. I don't know what his deal was... I just don't think that he thought that he'd do a good enough job. He's a great guy and a great musician, though.
Was there any other material featuring him recorded?
No, just "Animosity". I think that he and Barker had done some other work together at some point, but nothing had gotten finished with that.