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You can choose to have one -- and only one -- super power. Other than gaining that power, you remain exactly the same as you are now. What super power would you pick, and why?
Robert Roth: I always wanted to be able to fly... Not only would it be exhilarating, wonderful and convenient, but you could just freak people out -- "Excuse me, I have to be somewhere... I'll call ya" and just fucking take off!
What was your favorite day job, and why? If you hated them all, what was the best (meaning most interesting) way you ever quit a job?
Robert Roth: In my early 20s I was working for an employee benefits company keeping track of the appointments of the president of the company's wife. To this day I don't know how or why but, they gave me my own office 48 stories up in downtown Seattle. I could wear what ever I wanted, come in whenever I wanted, crack jokes, sass back. It was like that movie Office Space -- the more I slacked, the more respect I got. I would be sitting there in jeans with holes in em', longish hair, Sonic Youth t-shirt, literally with the Walkman headphones going in one ear while in meetings with executives who were wearing suits and ties. They even asked my advice on a multi-million dollar merger... We toasted together with $1000 bottles of champagne when the merger went through -- my glass of which, of course, I accidentally spilled. They offered me ridiculous promotions, salaries et cetera... which I always turned down. They knew that I knew they were exploiting people's ignorance for profit. It paid for the first Truly EP until Sub Pop stepped in at which point I politely and permanently slipped out.
We've all heard variations on the phrase "there are two kinds of people in the world... Those who (do or think something) and those who (do or think something else)". What are the two kinds of people in the world for you?
Robert Roth: There are those people who split people into two groups and those people who don't.
If money/ambition/significant others/et cetera were all non-issues, where would you choose to live and why?
Robert Roth: I'd live in a different city in a different country every year.
You've been given the money and resources to produce a movie biography of the most significant, influential person in your life. Who's it about, what's the story, and who plays the central character?
Robert Roth: My Grandpa Hank... Henry Spitz. He worked in Hollywood as a producer and assistant director. He was hilarious and had a great way about him. His story is the 20th Century. He was born in 1903, started working in the movie industry in the late '20s. The last film he worked on was Charlie based on Flowers from Algernon in 1969. He worked on everything from Marx Bros. movies to westerns, to Ring of Fire. He traveled the world in extraordinary times. He retired in Olympia and I got to spend a lot of time with him in his last years in the late '70s and '80s and got to hear some amazing tales. I'm going with Christopher Walken for the starring role... Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents HANK!.
Summarize your driving ability in 25 words or less.
Robert Roth: I'm really good but when I first started driving I was too confident and drove really fast and on a flow like skateboarding or skiing, thus scaring myself and others around me. I now have the art of blending in with traffic down to a science... or the science of it down to an art, of course while still retaining streaks of self expression.
What is the function of your music in a capitalist society?
Robert Roth: To give the consumer/listener/proletariat something lasting that they can't get from any other source.
You've just entered a contest in which the prize is an MP3 player loaded with the complete, exhaustive recorded output of any artist you choose. You win. Who do you choose?
Robert Roth: Either the Beatles or Sonic Youth because either way you end up with at least three topnotch and well defined writers/artists per collection.
What are you carrying on your person -- in your pockets, purse, et cetera -- right now?
Robert Roth: Cell phone, keys, one beer cap, two guitar picks, three vitamin c (the kind with rose hips, 500 ml), small bag of weed, pipe that looks like a cigarette, wallet, $250, Rick James's cell phone #.
You're on tour, you're in an unfamiliar city, you haven't eaten in 24 hours, and due to some poor financial decisions, you have only a single unit of the local currency -- one dollar, one pound, or thereabouts. What do you eat?
Robert Roth: Espresso or beer depending on what hour.
What was the last song you danced to? Who, if anyone, did you dance with?
Robert Roth: "I don't want to go to Chelsea", by Elvis Costello. By myself... I just wanted to see if you could dance to that song without being a complete spazz... not possible.
When did you last make a mountain out of a molehill?
Robert Roth: What are you implying? What a ridiculous question! I can't believe you would ask me that! Fuck this! (kidding, of course...) Actually, I do it occasionally in my own head (don't most of us?)... I think it's called paranoia, though I'm much more laid back and diplomatic than I used to be. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you." I said that to Kurt years before he wrote "Get Away". he cracked up... He had never heard that expression. My dad, who thinks he is Mel Brooks, use to say it all the time.
Post-Schwarzenegger, are there any high-profile people you'd like to see run for governor or other high office? Who and why?
Robert Roth: George Carlin/George Clinton as the Presidential and Vice presidential ticket. It would send a message to the world that America's back. They could appoint Jon Stewart as feisty young attorney general.
Apart from cheeseburgers, what is the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast?
Robert Roth: Coffee.
You receive a series of e-mails stating that Grace Jones, Junior Brown, Missy Elliott, Ian Mackaye and Philip Glass are interested in a collaboration. How do you respond to each request?
Robert Roth: Grace: Sure! Let's cover "Love is the Drug".
Junior: Are you sure? Can I play slide? I'd be much obliged.
Missy: Absolutely... Immediately! BTW I also love the Delphonics... You want me to play Mellotron? I was kind of hoping to write or sing or play some Ernie Isley-style leads.
Ian: Beautiful. I'm in.
Philip: You're joking. You're not? I'd be flattered. You probably want me to play Mellotron... right?
Have you ever seen a ghost? Or a dead body? Tell us about it.
Robert Roth: Yes... I can't.
Everyone can do at least a couple of decent imitations -- of celebrities, maybe, or associates, friends and family. Who can you "do"?
Robert Roth: I've made a few folks wet their pants riffing on some Al Pacino as Tony Montoya in the studio making his solo debut. I can also do Mick and Keith having a conversation; I then launch into a full two and a half hour show doing the entire band circa '76 / Some Girls.
What was the last book you read and hated?Why did you hate it?
Robert Roth: If I don't get into a book after 25-50 pages I usually read something else and perhaps try it again later. Sometimes I'm more into the writing than the plot so it's not hard to tell if it's something I'm going to dig.
Let's assume that God is a DJ. What's on his playlist right now?
Robert Roth: The Vapors' "Magnets", Bonnie Guitar's "Meet me in Denver", some Pretty Girls Make Graves, Ohio Players' "Honey", something off my record, of course, X's "The World's
a Mess", the Delphonics' "Hey Love".
Who was your favourite teacher in high school? Why?
Robert Roth: Unfortunately, in my day, there was a severe lack of inspiring teachers at Capitol High in Olympia Washington.
What is your favorite Meg Ryan movie?
Robert Roth: Did you know her real last name was Hyra and she changed it to Ryan? This is true and kind of odd to me... Hyra sounds like the name of some Greek Goddess... It's none of my business, but why wouldn't
you just go with Hyra..."When Harry met Hyra"?
What is your favorite "comfort food" when you're on tour?
Robert Roth: Espresso.
Tell us about the least likely place you ever sent a CD/demo. Why did you send it? What happened?
Robert Roth: I'm not particularly proud of this, but my former band Truly was given $1500 by Pepsi to write and record a demo as an audition for a commercial for their mid/late '90s "Generation Next" campaign. It had to be exactly 60 seconds on the nose, have a verse, bridge, a key change and chorus and a refrain and last but most importantly be a catchy youth anthem that encompassed all of the hopes and aspirations of a new emerging generation. I wish I was joking. I knew we wouldn't get it but was up to the challenge and free studio time. I nailed it completely... like The Who "SellOut" meets Stereo Lab. We subsequently narrowly lost out to the Spice Girls. We put it on our next album as an instrumental.
What essential item are you most likely to leave at home when you're heading out on tour? What do you do about it?
Robert Roth: Our Chihuahua "Chico". Worry.
Aliens have just landed, and you get to select the Earth's goodwill ambassador. Who do you pick, and why?
Robert Roth: Prince, because he can write, play, perform and produce and could probably fit in their little spaceship. If Nelson Mandela was smaller and got into playing and singing, it would be him. Sorry Mr. M.
You wake up one morning and discover that you have dolphin telepathy. What do you do with it?
Robert Roth: Apologize to the real dolphins for humanity's mistreatment and general humiliation of their species and then just play them records and ask them questions.
You've just been hit in the face with a large chocolate cream pie. How do you react?
Robert Roth: It depends on my mood, but you would have to be flattered on some level... I mean, it could be worse -- like, a leather boot would not be complimentary!
Assuming that you must choose one, which would you rather listen to for an hour: Christian rock, mainstream country or Jessica Simpson?
Robert Roth: That's painful... Jessica Simpson?
What's the deal with those damn raccoons?
Robert Roth: I love them dearly and I think they have a cool look but they're cocky and smug and it pisses me off.
What is the most awkward moment in which you have caught a person adjusting, scratching, or otherwise handling his or her own genitals?
Robert Roth: I haven't had a memorable moment like that since grade school.
Where do you think Osama Bin Laden is hiding and what would it take to get him to come out?
Robert Roth: Crawford ranch maybe? Or maybe he's hiding behind that beard. Perhaps behind the beard lies a scrawny insecure little man, possibly strung out on Taliban skag, who makes up for this by being a pathological mass murdering megalomaniac. Either way, I think a certain someone didn't get enough hugs as a kid and maybe a hug is what can bring him out of his dark little hole and into one of our dark little holes.
You're sitting in a pub when an errant dart from the games area strikes you in the leg. With the dart pointing out of your body, do you pull it out, shout for help or attack the jackass who hit you?
Robert Roth: I would leave it in until I figured out whose insurance company was taking care of things, but not before saying "don't worry... it's nothing", and then falling to floor in a spasm.
What is sexy?
Robert Roth: My girlfriend's voice (among other things).
Which reality TV game show could you see yourself as a winning contestant on? Explain.
Robert Roth: The Price is Right. You win just by being on the show. How surreal would that be? Can you believe Bob Barker has been doing that show for over 30 years? That is a long reign of mediocrity.
What is the strangest thing you've ever had for breakfast?
Robert Roth: I had an evil step mother who, after not being able to get me to eat Roman Meal or Malto Meal, took a tip from Rocky I and the '70s shopping mall craze and started mixing two eggs with Tang and tap-water in a blender. Homemade Orange Julius! Right? It didn't taste as vile as it sounds but by the time I left for college I'm pretty sure I was mildly anemic and fairly malnourished.
Which non-music related product (i.e. -- no instruments, microphones, etc.) would you most like to be a celebrity spokesperson for?
Robert Roth: "Goo Gone". It gets anything sticky off any surface. It's not for dirt... It won't clean a coffee ring off a coffee table but it will remove sticker glue, gum, scum, resin from any surface and smells like orange Bubblicious. I love this stuff and keep a bottle at my side at all times.
Describe the skankiest, sketchiest place -- whether it's someone's home or a hotel/motel room -- that you've stayed in while on tour.
Robert Roth: Riverside Hotel, NYC, 1994... Uptown... Mattresses that looked like they were dragged out of a dumpster, cockroaches crawling out of the sink. I think it would have scared the Dead Boys. Nice view, though.
If you had an army of super-intelligent lab mice to do your bidding, what evil deeds would you have them do?
Robert Roth: I'd have these mice plant bugs in all the secret bunkers of the private right wing thinktanks, thus exposing these plotters and multi-level manipulators to the world.
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From the bio:
"Former Truly (Sub Pop, Capitol) frontman Robert Roth's solo debut, Someone, Somewhere, is an uncompromising statement of artistic dedication. Roth's soulful drawl and unshakeable soaring melodies weave together washes of haunted guitars, mellotron-soaked soundscapes and warped orchestral passages into an ageless epic that differentiates itself from imitations. A recent feature on a preview copy in Devil in the Woods magazine hailed Someone, Somewhere as a "truly timeless creation" and said "Roth's work overwhelms listeners one moment, then pacifies them in starkly bare passages seconds later. It echoes nearly every great blast of sound from the past 50 years, not in the order of its chords, but in its ability to shake listeners from their complacency."
-- George Zahora
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