A Quick, Odd, Fun Email Exchange with Oneida

oneida-email A Quick, Odd, Fun Email Exchange with Oneida

I shot a message over to Fat Bobby shortly before Preteen Weaponry, part one of the Thank Your Parents long player series, dropped in August with a couple of fun questions. He got back to me to January. What he loses in punctuality, he makes up for in dedication. My questions were goofy, and the responses were equally so.

Bobby felt bad about the delay, writing “no worries if it’s way too late to post, and I agree about me being a fucking unreliable bastard…but in my defense, I haven’t answered anyone else’s questions, at least not meaningfully, so I hope you can take my delay as just the odd gearings of a fucked up clock.” Part two in the series, Rated O, has been pushed back to a summer release date, but in the meantime, enjoy picking the brain of 1/3 of Oneida…

KB: Let’s talk about the three-album jam canon Thank Your Parents. What can we expect with the next two releases, sonically or otherwise? We know that it has Fat Bobby’s Personal Guarantee of Quality.

FB: Ha – my guarantee is so shopworn. Every time I tell people about good music, guaranteed, they come back to me with that look on their face that can only be described as quizzical. It’s like that, but a little more hatin’. I don’t know, I came to grips over the past couple years with the fact that I’m probably damaged or enlightened or “special” or a combo – what I like doesn’t track with what you like, although we probably both like mostly the same things and everyone seems to have excellent taste. At least you, I, and most people like Fleetwood Mac, so we can chill together when it all comes down. Anyway, Rated O (next one) is divided into different things. It’s three discs – but each one is just juice, in a different flavor. No ice, no bones – just juice. Different flavors. Lots of bass, treble, midrange – allllllllll the frequencies represent. Sorry, this sounds like a drunk man’s email, or maybe that of a man on drugs, but I’m actually just riffing in my brain. Anyway again, the third component of thanking our parents will be one deep thing. There are discussions now about which thing, but it will be deep.

KB: “Preteen Weaponry (Part1)” has some serious jazz hands about the percussion. I’ve always admired the many, and often disparate, influences you all seem to have. What’s been rocking your world lately?

FB: Despite your use of the word jazz, I’ll answer your question. Kid [Millions] is going to be really pissed when he sees that, though. By the way, I don’t think our influences are anything different from anyone else’s influences – sometimes we’re “influenced” by just one thing, sometimes by a combination, and sometimes just by a tv episode or a Family Circus comic, and every band is pretty much the same as that, give or take. So it’s not about our profound influences or excellent taste, it’s just that we’re a really good fucking band. Anyway (again, that word), I’m going over to my stereo and I’ll list the first 15 records I have out next to the turntable, no faking:

Genius of Charile Parker vol 1 (ohhh, so busted)
War: first album
Upsetters: Clint Eastwood
Felt: Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty (this is REALLY GOOD!!!!!)
The Band- self titled
Neil Diamond: Shilo
Nina Simone: Nina’s Choice
Nina Simone Sings the Blues
Modern Lovers: Modern Lovers
Arlene Smith and the Chantels – box set
Flamingos: Serenade
Paper Lace: self titled
Dr. West’s medicine show: the Eggplant that ate Chicago
Trio: Trio and Error (my favorite album since 7th grade, by the way, and
if anything’s an infuence it’s that.)
Ohio Express: yummy yummy/down at lulu’s (and that.)

KB: One of my favorite Oneida moments was when you all and Liars duked it out proper on Atheists, Reconsider. Would you consider doing something like that again, either with another band or Liars again (which would sorta be like a different band considering the state of things in ‘03)?

FB: Yes. I think Liars, like us, Prince, and the original Funkadelic lineup, gets a free pass on anyone judging us. It would be fun to do this with any band I like. The Band would be awesome, or maybe someone from Texas, or Liars again.

KB: I always find it fun to guess what kind of pedals, equipment, and samplers you all use to create those ultra thick tones. What’s some of your go-to gear?

FB: Personally, I use an Ace Tone organ live and on a lot of recordings – extremely percussive and solidly constructed Japanese organ action. Music Man and Traynor amps are heavily used in our band. But really, what gear a band uses is irrelevant. Samplers, though – please, we’re an
anachronistic white blues band, we don’t do that kind of thing (because of fear and incompetence, not ideology – except we have a really, really good drummer and some other skills). Wait, did I just qualify what I meant to say straight? Good bands just fucking shred, on sitars or hurlothrumbos or samplers or software, whatever their jam is. Yeah, I said jam. Email
your fucking complaints: [mailto:mayor@cityofboston.gov]

KB: Your label, Brah, which has a decidedly excellent name I might add, has a pretty choice discography. Will that continue as a vehicle for Oneida, its side projects, friends, et al. or do you plan on expanding it further?

FB: Brah is just here to rock out and dance up a storm and party in general. We like to follow a policy of not making bold claims, except when we feel like it, and I can’t say I’m feeling it – except that Brah is here for general awesome purposes, and the things that are on Brah are pretty awesome. Other than that, it’s just a thing that you can check out and make up your own mind about, or compile blog mentions on, or even send a postcard to:

Oneida
112 Ardale St
Roslindale MA 02131

Also, I listen to every demo you send, and we won’t release it on Brah, but it still rules to get random music that’s usually actually pretty good (and better than whatever the dipshits are into). Much love. By the way, last comment: MS word is all putting red lines under blog and dipshits and brah. That’s pretty.