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The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online.
Quintron and Miss Pussycat perform on the Austin Fuzion Stage/Tent at 6:50 p.m. -- The Editors
How is the tour going for you so far?
Great... even though we have broken our rule of never touring with anyone ever, ever... just like Venom, who never opened for anyone in their entire career. But the drummer for Peaches used to play with Hole and Motley Cru so we kind of had to do this... you know, to get close to that energy.
How would you say that your most recent record, Swamp Tech, differs from your earlier recordings?
Well... not that much, I guess, except that it is totally recorded live... not live like "live in concert," but live like I played everything at the same time in one room and didn't overdub vocals or anything. It's like a Quintron record recorded in Sun Studios. Oh yea, and it doesn't have any naked or half naked pictures of me on it. Which might have been a mistake, marketing-wise. The big difference for the release itself, though, is the inclusion of Miss Pussycat's Electric Swamp puppet DVD.
Your use and innovation in electronic instruments is pretty legendary. What’s your favorite electronic instrument and why?
Oh, I have lots of favorites. The Casio digital sax is one of the craziest electronic instruments ever made... also, the SK-1 (when circuit bent) has a HUGE world of possibilities, really complex, dark electronic sounds. The Hammond tone wheel organ, of course. The Drum Buddy is right up there with the Moog and the Theremin. If you want to get technical, though, I would have to say that nothing has beat out the electric guitar yet. It is probably the instrument with the clearest link between human hands and electronic voltage.
Any plans to make more Drum Buddies, or are you working on developing any new instruments?
I am working on some things (a Drum Buddy organ) but I would rather not discuss it right now. Drum Buddy will make a return to the marketplace when I retire from the stage. Keep your fingers crossed, I guess.
You’ve been involved in a number of other creative projects, including the 9th Ward Marching Band. What links the work you do on different projects?
They are all really simple (musically) and they all could only exist in New Orleans... if I acheive anything in my life, I only hope that I can give some people hope that they don't need to move to New York or LA to make culturally-valid music. I want to take that dominance away from the
power centers and give it back to the people. Violent localism. We need a good rock label here so we don't have to depend on those fuckers for anything anymore.
What are you personally listening to on this tour? Any musical recommendations?
Go out and buy Lil Boosie's "Ratchet" song right now--hands down, best post-K dirty south rap song.... and it's not even from New Orleans... it's from Baton Rouge. Maybe it's huge nation wide right now and you all alredy know about this, but I doubt it.
You and Miss Pussycat were able to reopen the Spellcaster Lodge in September, but, as you’ve noted on your website, a number of New Orleans musicians are still homeless or still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina in other ways. Are there any particular things fans of that scene from other parts of the country can do to help out?
Come to New Orleans and spend your tourist dollars and buy a copy of Swamp Tech for everyone you know. Merry Christmas.
[Image from the Quintron and Miss Pussycat website.]
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whoa, dj mel? i'm totally there.