But this story isn't about me. It's about The Mendoza Line, whose lazy crawl toward critical adulation has spanned a handful of labels and spawned a healthy handful of increasingly impressive albums, each a little more accomplished and a little less structured than the last. The band's latest opus, Lost in Revelry, logged a lot of time in my CD player; its low-impact strain of slacker-friendly country-rock and indie-friendly jangle was one of 2002's earliest delights. Sure, their name might be a baseball term for low-bar mediocrity, but The Mendoza Line has been knocking them out of the park with increasing regularity.

I was able to drag founding member Pete Hoffman away from the Golden Tee Golf machine long enough to discuss Lost in Revelry, the band's autobiographical lyrics and even certain Mendoza Line members' exercise regimens (and yes, I survived my latest brush with the Empty Bottle's stairs). It went a little like this...

Splendid: Did you guys soundcheck already? I didn't hear you.

Pete Hoffman: No. I don't know if we're even going to soundcheck.

Splendid: Oh, excellent.

Pete Hoffman: Well, two of the people are out running right now. They're obsessive runners so I doubt that they're going to make it back until...they'll probably get here at 8:45.

Splendid: All sweaty and gross and ready to go on stage?

Pete Hoffman: Yeah.

Splendid: Well, that'll help... Since you guys are a slightly larger-than-average band, is it kind of hard to coordinate who does what where and all that logistic stuff?

Pete Hoffman: Our entire schedule is centered around when Tim (Bracy) will run and when Tim will not run. I mean, he literally runs two or three hours a day.

Splendid: Wow.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah, so our whole schedule is like, we're gonna leave at this time so that Tim can get to the gym, and do three hours of running and then get there for sound check... It's pretty cool actually.

Splendid: It's interesting, for sure.

Pete Hoffman: He's in good shape, so...

Splendid: And the rest of you don't have a problem going along with it.

Pete Hoffman: Well, it's been pretty easy. We've had a lot of long drives and a couple of days between shows, so it's pretty easy for the most part. Sort of insane, but...

Splendid: Does he try to convince any of the rest of you to come along?

Pete Hoffman: No. Well, Shannon runs, but she'll run, like, three miles and Tim'll run maybe twelve or thirteen.

Splendid: Wow. That's a lot of running. I think that's about how far I drove to get here. Makes me feel ike a lazy bastard... Kind of getting back on track, though... Let's start with Lost in Revelry. What's the significance of the title and the minor wordplay therein, if anything?

Pete Hoffman: Well, I think that the idea behind the title is sort of... I wouldn't say a homage exactly, but it is, kind of, to the scene in Brooklyn, which is a lot of sort of college-educated kids who are not doing exactly what they want to do, and instead of doing exactly what they want to do they're spending a lot of time in bars and thinking they're having a great time when they're actually not. So...we're obviously a big part of that scene -- a lot of our friends live in Brooklyn, and we participate in the same sort of silly things -- but I think that's sort of what it's about. You know -- being in your mid- to late-twenties and not really having figured out what you want to do, but spending a lot of time rabble-rousing and having revelry. But of course if you sat down and thought about it, you're probably not having that much fun. That's kind of what it's about.

Splendid: Does that thematic core of "non-fun" extend to most of the songs?

Pete Hoffman: I think so. It's not exactly the happiest record in the world. There's a lot of... well, I didn't realize it until afterwards, really, but there are so many references to drinking -- it's unbelievable. I didn't really realize it, but... I think all of the songs kind of tell the story of who we are and where we are in this world and where a lot of our friends, our confidants and whoever we hang out in life, are -- in the middle, kind of figuring things out. It's from the point where you're kind of figuring out what you want to do to the point where you're not doing what you want to do, and then we move on to the actual doing that -- and I think we're moving towards that, too.

Splendid: How directly autobiographical are the songs?

Pete Hoffman: I would say that most of them are very close to what really happens in this band. You have to write from what you know -- that's obviously the cliché of clichés, but that's what all of us do. I think there are a lot of stabs and direct insults toward other band members sprinkled throughout the album -- not that I want to get into specifics. We spend a lot of time together and we're very dear to each other and we irritate each other a lot. I've been friends with Tim and Paul (Deppler) since I was thirteen, so they find their way into my songs and vice versa. So the songs are pretty autobiographical. Shannon (McArdle)'s stuff...I know pretty much the exact incidents she's talking about, in almost every one of her songs. Not that I'd like to share that information...

Splendid: So how does that go from real life into song form -- either from your own example, or Shannon's, or whatever. Does somebody come home from the bar fuming and sit down and write a song, or is it a bit more gradual?

Pete Hoffman: I wouldn't say it's that. I think people scribble things down and piece together portraits. I don't know how it happens. I don't think something happens, then somebody goes home and immediately writes about it. It's more like "Oh, time to put out a record. Better write some songs. Remember when this happened?"

Splendid: ...and you've got stuff sitting there in the back of your mind.

Pete Hoffman: That's kind of how it works.

Splendid: And the people outside of the band who occasionally find their way into the songs -- do they generally figure it out and come gunning for you guys? Are they pleased? Unhappy?

Pete Hoffman: People do find their way into the songs, and they ask, but they never, ever get a straight answer. That happens a lot, actually. All three of us -- Tim, Shannon and I -- one of the major things we have in common is that we make really good friends. So when we make really good friends, there are obviously good times and bad times, and those people find their way, and they want to know whether they're part of it. Most of the time they're not.

Splendid: I've noticed, over the years, that you seem to be relaxing more and more each time. The record seems -- and I mean this in a good way -- sloppier. How much of a conscious effort is that? Do you just let go of worrying about how it comes out? How do you pull that off?

Pete Hoffman: We record stuff in a very...kind of communal way, so the people who play on the records literally hear the songs a couple of times -- they'll never have heard them before -- and then they'll come in and write a guitar part, or play the pedal steel, or shake a maraca or whatever. That's why I think a lot of the songs sound a little bit looser. Actually, Shannon's brother Philip -- he's in this band, the Star Room Boys -- he's a great guitar player, and he played a lot of the leads on the record. He probably recorded five or six songs in three or four hours and had never heard any of those songs before. So that's why at least some of the guitar leads -- I love how they sound, but there's a lot of spontaneity in the recording, I think. Tim, Shannon and I recorded about 30 songs for the record, and a lot of them were about half-finished. Everybody comes in with an idea of what they want to do, and then over the week or couple of days in which we record a song, a lot of people who've never heard it before add stuff over the top of the mix, and that kind of adds a lot of that sloppiness. I like it that way; I'm not a great guitar player, and neither is Tim, and neither is Shannon, so we need somebody to come in and really play the stuff the way we want it to.

Splendid: Does that make it more difficult when it's time to take the songs on the road? Do you have to tell yourselves "Okay, we're never going to get these the way we did on the recording"?

Pete Hoffman: Well, we have a guitar player on the road with us now who plays pedal steel and lead guitar, and he basically plays very close to what the record is, but I don't think it's our goal to make it sound like the record.

Splendid: Yeah, I'm not saying that you want to exactly re-create the record, because that's not good -- but you kind of want to say "Yes, we're capable of playing these songs outside the studio."

Pete Hoffman: Hopefully you'll see tonight that some of the songs sound like a pretty close approximation of the record...and then there are others that just sound like "what song is this?" But we definitely hired some people to go on this tour who spent a lot of time learning the stuff. It would've been great if Philip could've come with us, but he's getting married, so we hired someone else. The guy who's playing with us on this tour, John Troutman, he's great. It's nice to have someone who can play pedal steel and lead guitar.

Splendid: Why do I recognize his name?

Pete Hoffman: He's in a band called Lowery 66. Their record is coming out in, like, a month.

Splendid: That could be it.

Pete Hoffman: J. T. Hotlicks is what we call him.

Splendid: It's got to be pretty cool, too, to be able to get a pedal steel up on stage. That's always a plus for a show.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah. We have a guy who plays with us in New York sometimes, named Bob Hoffner, who plays with just about everybody. Who's that guy in Rainer Maria -- Kyle? (Yes, Kyle Fischer -- Ed.) He played with him on tour, and he's played with tons of other people, but he plays with us a lot when we play in New York, because John lives in Austin. It's nice to have a pedal steel, because there's a lot of pedal steel on the record. It's a good way to try and make it sound a little bit like the record.

Splendid: Yeah, you're moving a lot more toward a country aesthetic. Is that something you guys are really into, or a happy accident?

Pete Hoffman: I think that's just what we listen to a lot. Like, if you were in the tour van with us, we play a lot of Willie Nelson, tons of Bob Dylan --

Splendid: I could kind of tell that. (laughter)

Pete Hoffman: Tons of Bob Dylan. I listen to a lot of country, lots of Gram Parsons, that kind of thing. Shannon's from Albany, Georgia, and most of the songs that she writes have a very distinct country feel, although we make them rock a bit. I think the next record will be a lot more country even than Revelry, because there's still a lot of indie rock influences in there. A lot of the more country stuff I like the most. I think it sounds the best.

Splendid: So many bands are moving toward a country sound. What is it that attracts you to the sound, and perhaps attracts others to it?

Pete Hoffman: I don't know why that is. For me, that's what I grew up listening to. All that stuff winds up finding a way into it eventually. I listen to a lot of Ernest Tubb and a lot of Hank Snow and a lot of that kind of stuff, and Hank Williams -- all these kinds of guys. That's what I listened to a lot in college and late in high school. And definitely Dylan, obviously. That's the difference between "scene" music and something that's a little more adult and serious and mature. Know what I mean? I don't listen to that many indie rock bands anymore. I like the Shins a lot, but I don't listen to that stuff any more. It's hard when you're sitting around playing acoustic guitar, not having that stuff find a way into the music.

Splendid: Is it hard to believe, under the circumstances, that you guys were on Kindercore just a handful of years ago?

Pete Hoffman: That relationship was never perfect. It was never perfect. I don't think we ever really sounded that much like a Kindercore band. I'd probably like to leave it at that. Our contract with them is up in the coming months...

Splendid: So you'll get those records back?

Pete Hoffman: Yeah. We're gonna do something with 'em. I really like those guys. I think they're nice guys. But I don't think we fit on the label.

Splendid: At the time, I remember thinking that that was a really good thing -- there was a momentary shift toward maturity that they had in 1999 or so. If they'd held onto it a little better, they might be perceived a lot differently these days.

Pete Hoffman: Bar/None asked us if we wanted to put out a record, which turned out to be We're All In This Alone, and Kindercore wanted to put it out, but... I just felt like I didn't want to go out on tour with one of those nameless bands that I don't like. I love The Beach Boys. I love The Beatles. But I don't want to be like them. Know what I mean? I don't want to badmouth (the label) --

Splendid: I'm certainly not asking you to.

Pete Hoffman: It seems weird to look back on that. We were all really good friends -- Dan, Ryan, Tim and I -- before Kindercore even started. We were one of the first bands on the label. It just kind of always was a strained relationship after it became business.

Splendid: Are you happy now? Have you found a home for a while?

Pete Hoffman: Well, I love Misra. I think it's a great label. There are lots of great acts on Misra. Distribution is still not perfect, but they're working out the kinks. Phil (Waldorf), who runs the label, is one of my dearest, closest friends, and I think he works his butt off. And he obviously has good taste -- Destroyer just signed with Merge. Of course, that's depressing to us, because they're so great... well, Dan (Bejar) is so great. But I'm happy with Misra. They're like old friends, from a long time ago -- Phil's just an honest, stand-up guy, and I really like him. We're definitely putting some more stuff out on Misra.

Splendid: So if major labels come calling, you're gonna tell 'em to get lost?

Pete Hoffman: Well...let's not get insane. (Laughter) I don't know. I don't see that happening.

Splendid: I know that that's not every band's aspiration, to do that, and I think that's a good thing.

Pete Hoffman: I think that if there was an opportunity to make a living out of this, we would.

Splendid: How do you make a living now? Are most of you forced to maintain flexible jobs when you're not on the road?

Pete Hoffman: Yeah. We don't tour that much, so... like Shannon's an ESL teacher, I work for a television production company, I'm a producer --

Splendid: Oh, that's nice.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah, I get paid for (touring). It's vacation. Paul and Tim don't work, but they just started a website, The American Book Congress, which is pretty damned hilarious --

Splendid: Yeah, I was looking at it today.

Pete Hoffman: So they're working on that. They live in DC right now, but they're probably gonna end up moving back to Brooklyn at some point. John Troutman, who is on tour with us right now, is getting his Ph.D. in Native American Studies at the University of Texas, and Sean, the new drummer, did radio promotion for London/Sire before they folded. So everybody does stuff.

Splendid: Everybody has something to fall back on.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah. Obviously, John would be great to have in the band full time, and he's gonna do serious things and be a doctor and whatnot. But I've worked in television for, like, eight years. It's okay. It's not the worst job.

Splendid: Not if you're in a big market.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah, in New York it's great.

Splendid: Yup. It's not like you're in Ass, Tennessee, trying to be a combination cameraman/receptionist.

Pete Hoffman: Or Bumfuck, Idaho. Actually, I was watching the Des Moines (Iowa) news this morning. It was really good -- it was really bad. Very, very bad -- awful.

Splendid: Is that part of the attraction of it? I don't know what you do in TV, but if you live in a major market and then you go to these tiny little places where the local stations are all UHF and they do local newscasts with "Local Girl Falls, Skins Knee" as the second story in the 'cast...

Pete Hoffman: I try and watch the local news everywhere, because where I work, our goal is to get our stories onto local news. So watching these things is...it's pretty hilarious, actually. I definitely watch. If I could do something else, though -- if I could make music a full-time gig -- I would.

Splendid: Is there a feeling among the band members that The Mendoza Line could never be a full time gig? Does that help to take the pressure off of it?

Pete Hoffman: We definitely have aspirations of making it a full-time gig. Tim, Shannon, Paul and I have been working on this -- Tim and I, at least -- for six or seven years. Shannon came in a couple of years ago, and she's very motivated. Paul is very motivated too. I think we're definitely looking for opportunities and ways to make it a full-time gig. A little bit of distribution here, a tour with some bigger acts there, and I think that we could be. I think there's a market for our stuff, but it's hard to find. Actually, most of the places we've gone to have been totally sold out of the record.

Splendid: Well, that's a good sign, right?

Pete Hoffman: It's a good sign, but it's also kind of frustrating when you see, like, 300 Dressy Bessy CDs pulsating out the store window...

Splendid: But you carry enough merch to cover the demand.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah, we sell CDs on the road, but we don't have t-shirts or anything. We're just not good with that kind of thing.

Splendid: I'm going to shift to another question now, and I didn't write this one, so I'll just read it verbatim. "What's with the flamingly ridiculous liner notes to Lost in Revelry? The previous records have mostly dealt with the flagging mental state of the band as a whole, and now they've moved into this delusional Vietnam thing..."

Pete Hoffman: Y'know, I wasn't responsible for that. That was Paul. You should ask Paul about it. I don't know what the hell he was thinking -- he was just like "I wrote a story! I'm gonna put this story in here." And I was just like, "Alright. Whatever." I'm sure that if you asked Paul, he'd say it was the Mendoza Line equivalent of the Aeneid. I couldn't comment on it intelligently. Paul writes constantly and that's just something he wrote.

Splendid: A bit of that skewed literacy that's part of the charm of the band.

Pete Hoffman: Yeah. Which I'm not a part of.

Splendid: So...for the sake of the argument: Bob Dylan comes knocking and says "Hey, open for me." Is that the key to the Mendoza Line's future?

Pete Hoffman: Oh my God, that would be great. I don't know if I'd be able to do it, 'cos I'd just be shocked. We're definitely trying to put our feelers out -- there are some bigger bands that we'd like to go out on tour with. I don't know if I should mention them by name... but I think if Bob Dylan came and knocked on our door and asked us to go on tour with him, I'd check him into a facility. I think he's the most important musical, or maybe literary figure of the whole last century. I think it's incredible that he can remain vital at sixty and come out with, really, two of his best records ever. I mean, like really up there with Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks. It's unbelievable how good Love and Theft and Time Out of Mind are. It's mind-blowing.

Splendid: And on the other side of the coin, there's Mick Jagger...

Pete Hoffman: Did you hear that record? I didn't hear it.

Splendid: The Mick Jagger solo record? There didn't seem much point in it...

Pete Hoffman: No. But if Bob Dylan came and knocked on our door, I think we'd be very interested. But I'm sure it won't happen. It's unbelievable what he's done, though. We're reading this Dylan Companion right now -- it's all these people writing letters about Dylan. Joan Baez is the saddest, bitterest woman... it's pretty funny.