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Ed: Say something unbelievable, and it’s probably not true.

Heidi: So anyway, can you introduce yourselves, and tell us a little bit about your band and that kind of thing ‘cause my listeners and I have to admit myself do not know that much about fIREHOSE. I mean, the first I heard of you guys was a couple of weeks ago when somebody just decided to put your album on as a feature to, as a full album feature of the night, so yeah.

Mike: Oh, that was very nice. My name’s Mike Watt I’m the bass player for fIREHOSE and fIREHOSE is two people and myself – George Hurley who used to be in a band called the MINUTEMEN before our friend D Boon was killed and when that happened we split the band up and some months after I got the calls from this young man over here.

Ed: Hello, I’m Ed – I play guitar now and sing and um.. Michael will continue to end the story… oh it’s my turn? .. Ah, so it’s like he said, I started calling him up and ah, I um, he really wasn’t thinking about getting another band together again, but ah, I had heard he was auditioning players, so I started calling him up and flew out and stayed with a friend in LA and kept calling his machine and finally went down and played with him and we decided that it was probably worth giving a go to it, so we started writing and rehearsing.

Heidi: Cool, so tell me, where do your musical influences come from?

Mike: Well, are you aware of MINUTEMEN?

Ed: More or less?

Heidi: I’m not too aware of it. Was that on Black Flag?

Mike: Yes, SST. We were SST artists and we put out 11 records. In that time we came up with a style that was of short songs with a large amount of gravity, you know, even though they were short, and yet, they still were songs. They had middles, beginings, endings, but we used short format. We used all kinds of music from funk to heavy metal to punk rock to anything, you know, to get our point across using those devices, and fIREHOSE is kind of a continuation. Me and George helped invent that, but Ed is a new man to rock and roll, he’s never written songs or been in a band. That’s one of the reasons I did a band with him, because it’s a new kind of thing, so now we’re starting over, and we use a lot of that, but, then he has a different sensibility. I mean, we learned, we’re almost 30 now, and we learned from old rock and roll like Blue Oyster Cult and T Rex and stuff and grew up playing together, and Ed is more a U2, REM, these newer bands. So you’ve got a band, or members of a band that made their own music in very severe formats and stuff and now getting together with some kid who’s never been in a band and is used to more these traditional bands like REM, Elvis Costello and stuff now fuse together and you have fIREHOSE.

Heidi: Wow, that’s pretty well put. So, do you have any philosophical influences to your writing or anything?

Mike: Oh yeah, but, you see, songs….

Ed: You’re the philosopher, oh sorry…

Mike: … with songs you can get away with a lot that you can’t in any kind of art, you can let the rhythm on the drum force works together, you know, you don’t have to worry about some kind of narrative or anything and so you can bring subjects in from all over and force them to deal with each other and make them make some sense to a listener. So I can get away with a lot. D Boon could get your beliefs across without them sounding like position papers or gospels, ‘cause the music, you can keep them vague enough and then concise enough where they’re not trapped, where they’re.. when they don’t have the trappings of both kinds of point of view, I mean you can get away with a lot more then. But I’ve always been a big believer in trying to get feelings across stuff, and issues too, and philosophically I like people like Mark Twain, Tim Voltaire, Jim Joyce, Aristotle, Tommy Aquinas… stuff like Sartre, Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson…

Heidi: It seems like you have a lot of feelings towards the 60’s. Can you elaborate on that?

Mike: Well, my mother worked for the Democratic Party. She was a canvasser in the 60’s a lot, so ah, early upbringing you had to participate in government in order to have a snowball in hells’ chance of working, and still underneath it all knowing that no government or system can actually sit and solve everything and that you’re usually going to do anything detrimental then it ain’t worth having stuff like this, you know?. So I’m from this sort of tradition of "you had to be part of it in order to gain any kind of benefits from it". If not, why don’t you just get rid of the whole thing, you know? It’s just like another gang out there that you have to deal with, so me and D Boon were Democrats, and we really didn’t make that known a lot in a lot of ways, but we were a part of that institution in change, in our songs, we used, like I said, ideas and feelings in such a way to paint very vivid pictures, you know? Politically we were more into that 60’s kind of thing of people getting together for issues, demonstrations – not things like small groups of elite going in and taking over governments. I’m more into mass movements such like this, but then, at the same time there’s these big pitfalls - marketing stuff – I mean how many beads were sold to all these people at the protests? I know that’s a lot connected with it, especially in America where we have no culture, all we can share is trends, and we’re in trouble sometimes when that gets mixed with politics, people don’t even know why they’re voting for things, or why they’re at the gig. ‘Cause everybody else is? And it’s like a rock gig, maybe it’s a rock gig, maybe it’s issues, maybe in some ways I like that kind of confusion in other ways especially in the viewpoints of the 60’s it was discussed. You had things like Woodstock, Pete Townshend pushing people like Abbie Hoffman off the stage. Pete Townshend said that Woodstock was just a bunch of hippies in the mud on acid, and I had to tend to incline to agree with him. Not much happens when, you know, when it comes time to running countries, building roads and libraries. You gotta have some kind of plans. It’s not really a party that way. You know, at the same time, there should not be committees worrying about what kind of stuff you listen to while you drink beer, see? Some governments and social movements get all tangled that we, I’m into a little order, we tangle in other things basically thinking before you get to the issues stage, before you get to the party stage – fIREHOSE, MINUTEMEN, both my bands I’ve been in I try to express stuff like that, you know? Those seem like the last chores usually in a situation after you’ve developed in this thinking and stuff… who’s there?…. we’re doing an interview…. Oh George, I gotta go to the head, George, take over…. This is our drummer.

Heidi: Thanks so much.

Mike: Ah.. I’ll be back in a minute… George Hurley.

Heidi: Cool, yeah, can you introduce yourself to us?

George: I think so. My name is George Hurley, I play drums in the fIREHOSE band.

Heidi: Wait a minute… are you related to David Hurlihey?

George: David Hurlihey? No, I’m George Hurley, no.

Heidi: Do you know who I’m talking about? The guitar player for O Positive?

George: No, I’m not, but actually Brockton is my hometown. I’m from Brockton, Massachusetts. I left here when I was five years old, and now I’m back rockin’ and rollin’. Hope it’s alright with everybody.

Heidi: Looks like you’re ready to rock tonight.

George: Of course, that’s my life folks.

Ed: That’s right.

Heidi: So, how long have you been with the band?

George: I….. me and Mike have been together ever since the MINUTEMEN,… Reactionaries… pretty long time. Nine years, that’s a long time pluggin away at my age… now what’s up here?

Heidi: You don’t look that… You look pretty young for 30 actually.

George: I’m not 30.

Heidi: Well, near 30.

George: No, I’m 28 years old, I’m not afraid to admit it, but I just don’t like this gray hair.

Heidi: What gray hair?

George: I’ve got a lot of it, no big deal… it’s artistic hair I guess.

Heidi: Looks good.

George: Thank you.

Heidi: Yeah, so tell me, how, what was it like to play with the MINUTEMEN and all that kind of stuff?

George: How did I like playing with the MINUTEMEN?

Heidi: Yeah, and how was..

George: It was fun, it was a great band, we worked together for quite a long time and I think we achieved quite a bit and I was very proud of it and I’m very sorry I lost my good friend.

Heidi: I can believe that it must have been a tragic feeling. I can feel that it’s very strong, like it hurts, I can tell from… what’s his name?… the guy?

George: Dennes

Heidi: Dennes, yeah, it seems like it hit him pretty hard and he really doesn’t like talking about it.

George: Mike’s, Mike is …. You’re speaking about Mike the bass player; yes me and Mike are still here.

Heidi: So, so yeah, so yeah… tell me, what were your feelings about, like, the ideas going behind the MINUTEMEN?

George: The ideas going behind the MINUTEMEN? Well… everybody had their own ideas in the band and they were free to express them musically in the band, so we all had pretty much our own ideas whether – did we uh mix our opinions between ideas? Not really much. We expressed what we felt, what we thought was our own ideas. Democratically it worked well, I guess.

Heidi: Neat, and what, and what, you know, did you, who, who, who wrote most of the lyrics and stuff?

George: Well, I think Mike, and then D, and then me the least, but D was more on the political side, Mike says mine’s kind of like poetry…. what’s Mike’s?… how would you define yours?

Mike: Headwaves, he’s got a like mind. George is a guy who can divorce all conscious thinking when he writes, like he’ll be working on his machine, won’t be aware and a lot of honesty and stuff will come out, and me and D Boon used to think about our words more, we were the other side. George had more of that kind of thing balanced, I always thought it was well balanced, you know, people couldn’t even tell who wrote what and to me and George and D Boon it was very obvious. Other people, see, ‘cause we got a harmony sort of, the way we write our parts for our music… make them so you do enough room and then keep it together…. Yeah it’s weird how we’re years and now he’s like a little saplin’, you know, with the little roots, and yeah, you know….. so tell them Edward.

Heidi: So, what is, yeah, what is it like, you know, working with these people who have been around the music scene almost for, you know, for a long… I feel like saying "forever" but, ‘cause they have such a well-known name, but…

George: Wah hey jack my hairs up!

Ed: You must be on the heater there Mike.

Heidi: So, what is it like?

Ed: To..?

George: To be in this band.

Heidi: Yeah, to come in as such a "young-blood", so to speak.

Ed: It’s all, it’s all real new to me, and it’s all real exciting, um, you know, it’s like everything I do is pretty much the first time I’ve done it. It’s in the context of this band, um, so everything is real, ah, you know, there’s always almost everyday to be had or something new happens on stage, you know, whatever, um it’s a learning experience, mainly for me, just trying to assimilate it all and try to, you know, find out when, you know, and try to keep your head a little bit above the water, too, which is a little bit hard.

Heidi: What exactly do you mean by "head above the water"? Just…

Ed: Well, within the last 6 months I have probably done about 100 interviews and, you know, after every show you have about 5 or 6 people come up and tell you you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, which you can’t believe, you know, ‘cause I know better.

Mike: He’s just beginning to learn.

Ed: Yeah, you know, because, you know if I believed that then I would just stagnate, quit working and just sit on my laurels and be shitty the rest of my life.

Mike: He knows.

Ed: You know. So, you know there’s a real conscious effort to try to not be, you know, to listen too much to what people tell you what they think you want to hear. It’s real nice and they’re being complimentary and you have to keep it in that context, you know? When I used to go up and meet rock dudes I would say the same "Oh-you-guys-were-great-tonight" or whatever, but, you know.

Mike: You can’t know.

Ed: You can’t know.

Mike: You weren’t on the stage with them.

Ed: Yeah, yeah, you know, that could have been the lamest night they ever had, really, um, so, you know, it’s real strange, it’s a learning experience.

Heidi: Do you get to write any of the tunes?

Ed: Oh, yeah, sure. When I moved out to San Pedro to start playing with these guys, um, you know, it was obvious that we needed to come up with some material and Michael had some songs that he had written and I added my two cents to those, and uh, you know, and I then had to set about working, working out how to write a song, you know, I just kinda sorta sat down and did it and I have, um, I don’t know, it’s, again, it’s a first time thing for me, it’s all a learning process, again, I’d never written songs before and so it’s all learning, you know, just sort of taking one thing at a time, go a little bit by instinct and try to temper that with input from these guys.

Heidi: And what songs would you guys want me to play?

Ed: Would you sit down?

Heidi: Yeah, ok it’s just..

Ed: It seems like you’re a roving reporter.

Heidi: It’s harder for me to…

Ed: Phil Donohue, what are you doing?

Heidi: Right, right, yeah, well, I have to get the mic up close to you.

Mike: Well, that’s very good though.

Heidi: ….so…

Ed: We’ll move closer to you.

Heidi: So, what songs would you folks want me to play the most up in Maine, and want them to hear, and what can you say?

Ed: Their favorite song.

Heidi: Well, I don’t know what their favorite songs are

George: Well, what you’ve gotta do is play the record for about a week, and tell everybody to listen to the record and we want you to pick two of your favorite songs and send it into the radio station and we’re going to pump the hell out of them for ya!

Mike: ‘Cause it’s hard for us to relate to why people like what they like. It’s really weird, you can’t know what’s on their minds, even though we get all our ideas for it, we record ‘em with all these ideas in mind, we might all get lost by the roadside. In MINUTEMEN this guy asked me about this song for Saccharine Trust and this guy thought it was about South America. You couldn’t really get angry with the man because that’s what he heard in it, you know? Even though I wrote it for another reason, see? That’s what I mean. Songs are loose enough where you can get away something. So, what I might think is a good song, somebody might hate, so I would like them to hear the whole record and pick.

Heidi: Do you have any personal favorites?

Ed: Ooh… personal favorites? No, I’m sure we all probably do, but I don’t think that would really have any bearing on what the public at large would hear.. oh…

Heidi: So, can I ask you a personal question about your bandage?

Mike: Yeah, a day before touring my VW bus burned up in my face and my head caught fire, and I’m healing from it. I’m real good now, I mean, a week ago I looked real bad.

Heidi: You do look pretty good, I’ll have to say that doesn’t..

Mike: Just a little molten wax lumped there now. I’m much better now. Mike Stipe saw us in Athens and gave me some stuff to cure it.

Heidi: Cool, Mike Stipe. Mike Stipe seems like a pretty cool person. I know some people that are connected up with him.

Mike: He knows natural stuff too, and herbs – a real health nut.

Heidi: Could you tell me a little bit about that?

Mike: Well, they asked us to play, open up for them, on a tour – REM – so we did it and then D Boon was killed like two weeks later … yeah, MINUTEMEN…. And then when we just played here in Athens he came and saw and let us play and he liked it a lot. He said he’s going to come sing and he wants to sing for me, he wants me to write him some songs next year, so who knows?

Heidi: Great. Can you tell me a little bit about your herbal remedies at all?

Mike: Well, I use Comfrey..

Ed: Comfrey tea aloe for the burns on the face and ah..

Mike: The aloe helped me a lot.

Ed: Goldenseal in the tea also.

Mike: Big green horse pills.

Ed: And green herbal vitamins, and he gave me stuff for my throat, because I was losing my voice really badly about Athens, by the time we got to Athens, so he gave me a little bit of his wisdom that he’s acquired over the years, you know, he’s done enough…

Mike: He’s done hundreds of gigs.

Ed: So, he’s real nice to us… I’m a real big fan of their band.

Heidi: Yeah, I think we all are, well, most people that listen to them.

Ed: Well I hope, you know, we like to think so.

Mike: They’re real regular guys, I like ‘em a lot.

Heidi: Yeah, I know a lot of people that…

Mike: What’s your name again?

Heidi: Heidi

Mike: Heidi

Ed: Heidi

Mike: Sorry

Heidi: No probs.

Mike: Heidi, do you have enough from me?

Heidi: Huh?

Mike: You have enough from me?

Heidi: Yeah. Could I get you to do a station promo?

Mike: Yes.

Heidi: Could I get you guys to do a station promo, as well as a little thing for my Regional Rock Shock Show?

Mike: Sure.

Ed: You have a show?

Heidi: Yeah, I do a show called Regional Rock Shock.

Ed: I must say you have a really good radio voice, very full voice.

Heidi: I want this recorded so my station manager up there… say really?

Mike: You have a nice voice Heidi.

Ed: He said that? Are you serious?

Heidi: Really, no.

Mike: What do we read?

George: Well, we’ll each do a set on our own, I guess.

Mike: Naw, let’s do it together, come on.

Heidi: Yeah, come on.

Mike: Edward?

Heidi: Yeah, go around, introduce yourselves and say….

Mike: Radio free Or-o-no?

Heidi: Orono.

Mike: Orono, o.k.

George: You’re listening to Radio Free Orono, WMEB 97.9 FM

Heidi: Yeah.

George: We’re just warming this up.

Heidi: Right.

George: Say "Hi, I’m so and so, and so and so…"

Mike: Hi, um..

Heidi: "….and we’re from…"

George: O.k. I’ll go first. Hi, I’m George Hurley,

Mike: and I’m Mike Watt,

Ed: and Ed fROMOHIO

all: and we’re fIREHOSE, and you’re listening to..

Mike: WM

George: EB 91.

Mike: 9

George: F.M.

Ed: Radio Free O-ron-o

George: Or-on-o

Mike: Or-ano

Ed: Oh, that’s cool, yeah, we should all be talking.

George: What do you say? Orono right?

Heidi: Orono, Orono.

Ed: This is a community chorus.

George: Orono

Mike: Orono

Ed: It’s just "fIREHOSE", "fIREHOSE" in unison… everything else take one line.

Mike: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE.

George: I’m George Hurley

Mike: Mike Watt

Ed: Ed fROMOHIO

Mike: You’re listening to WMEB

George: 91.9 FM

Ed: Radio Free Orono.

Mike: Thank you, I’m sorry Sean Penn.

Ed: Orono, which is?… O-ran-o?

Heidi: Orono

Ed: Orono… I got it right now.

Heidi: Yeah, could you guys?… let’s..

Mike: Do it again?

Heidi: Yeah.

Ed: That’s a good rehearsal.

Mike: Let’s just say "we’re fIREHOSE"

Ed: Take three.

Heidi: Right.

Mike: Why do we have to be separate guys? Let’s…

George: I’ll be "Radio Free Orono", because, since you guys can’t get it out.

Mike: Naw, let’s say "we’re fIREHOSE"

George: O.k, alright.

Mike: One.

all: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE

Mike: God..

George: (makes a raspberry sound)

Mike: Look, I want to count three… "Hi, we’re fIREHOSE"

George: Are we going to say our names, or what?

Mike: No, we’re just going to be "fIREHOSE"

Heidi: can you guys play in the rhythm?

(laughter)

Mike: Here we go.

Ed: One second.

Mike: One, two, three…

all: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE

George: You’re

Mike: Listening to WME..B……. you said you’re "Radio Free Orono"

Ed: No, I’m "Radio Free Orono", you’re "91.1"

George: No, really?

Ed: "91.9"

George: O.k., you’re "WMEB", I’m "91.9 FM" and he’s "Radio Free Orono"

Mike: O.k., o.k.

Ed: O.k.

Mike: O.k.

Heidi: And also, after you get that one down, can we do another one saying "you’re listening…

Mike: Sure.

Heidi: … to the Regional Rock Shock"?

Mike: Yeah.

Ed: Sure.

all: Hi, we’re fIRHOSE

Ed: No, wait, no, that sounds entirely stupid.

George: Naw, fuck, here, let me just do my own, you two.

Ed: (mockingly) Hi, we’re fIREHOSE, di-yup, di-yup, di-yup

Heidi: Do you guys want to get an instrument in the background, or something, would that be better?

Mike: Naw, no come on Edward, just do it.

Ed: O.k.

Mike: No wonder it sounds stupid.

Ed: Don’t drag it out, give it a little tempo, like this: (snaps his fingers in time)

Mike: O.k., one, two, three, four

Mike and Ed: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE

Mike: Where’s George?

George: Yeah, both you guys are all like: ".One, two, three (snapping his fingers)"

Mike: Don’t count though, you hear that and you sound like idiots.

George:… or people… I’m just teasing, you know?

Ed: You’ve never had this much trouble with a station ID have you?

Mike: Start it again.

Heidi: Oh yeah?

Mike: Look, one, two, three

Ed: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE

Mike: George!

George: I like when you come in on "three"

Ed: God damn, I can’t do it in the set tonight too!

George: Ready?..

Mike: What?

George: You seeping? Did you fart? If you did you fucked up.

Ed: Are you seeping Mike? Aw, no… honey, please. O.k., come on, let’s get this right.

George: Oh, my God..

Ed: Before it gets unbearable.

George: Mike, I can’t believe your asshole.

Ed: Here, fan the shit away..

Heidi: Maybe I should, like…

Mike: Good offense

Ed: Oh, look, "Hi, we’re fIREHOSE"… no, let’s…

Mike: How you were..(bursts into laughter)

Ed: Let’s just do it.. one…

Mike: How do you say "we’re" when you’re by yourself?

Ed: No… because we are, and there’s going to be three voices on there, so let’s just one of us do it.

Mike: No, let’s do it together.

all: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE (big pause)

Mike: You’re listening to WMEB.

George: Yeah, that’s real good, Mike.

Mike: 91.9 FM

George: That ain’t no good you joke.

Ed: Choke.

George: You could have put a commercial in between that pause.

Mike: Look, I’m not the guy whose supposed to say the first line.

George: I will, o.k.?

Ed: Let’s go, let’s go!

Mike: One, two, three… (laughter)… don’t say anything.

Ed: Stop.

Heidi: Seriously.

all: Hi, we’re fIREHOSE

George: and you’re listening to WMEB 91.9 FM

Mike: Radio Free

Ed: Or-ra-no

George: Wrong!

Heidi: Cool… even though you…

George: Orono

Heidi: …. Lot’s of people…

Ed: Orono?

Heidi: Yeah

Ed: Here, let me put "Orono" on that so that people up there will believe it

George: That’s close enough… he’s saying "Toronto", but he starts giving a "T"…

Mike: O.k., let’s do the "Rock Shot" one.

Heidi: "Rock Shock"

Mike: Rock Shock

Ed: Shock.

Heidi: Yeah.

George: What are you supposed to say?.. "hi, you’re listening.."

Mike: Hi, you’re listening to the Regional Rock Shock.

Ed: This is fIREHOSE, we’re fIREHOSE.

George: Hi, I’m George, this is Mike Watt and Ed and were fIREHOSE and you’re listening to the Regional Rock Shock.

Mike: Right! Ready? Go!

George: Hi, I’m George Hurley

Mike: I’m Mike Watt

Ed: and I’m Ed fROMOHIO

Mike: and we’re

all: fIREHOSE

Mike: and you’re listening to the Regional Rock Shock

George: …… Show

Ed: Aw, he blew it!

Heidi: Cool that’s good.

Ed: Rock Shock Show.

George: Shoe Shop.

Ed: Mo-fo, don’t cha know?

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(from the Glossary of Pedro Speak)

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