The Pixies formed nearly 30 years ago in Boston, Massachusetts. Kurt Cobain once said that he was trying to rip off the Pixies. From 1988 to 1991, the band released four albums, including the widely acknowledged classics Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, before breaking up in 1993.
The band regrouped in 2004, and, though they continued to play shows, no new music surfaced until last year’s Indie Cindy, the band’s first effort in 23 years.
Founding guitarist Joey Santiago discussed the new record with Weld before the band’s upcoming show at Iron City. He talked about the departure of bassist Kim Deal and the band’s hometown of Boston.
Weld: After 23 years, why did you guys decide that now was the time for a new Pixies record?
Joey Santiago: We wanted to be a real band. If you’re going to be a real band, instead of touring, you’ve got to make new music. It feels fresh. We didn’t want to keep doing the hits. We didn’t want to be that band that just does that. We wanted to be a viable act again. And it’s a challenge for us. We like to be challenged.
Weld: The songs on the record — were you collecting them this entire time, or did you make the decision in the last year or two to start writing new material?
JS: We just started writing it — it was a very different process, [as opposed to] writing it in the studio like we did with Bossanova and especially Trompe le Monde. Now we’re going back and trying to bash out new music. Now we’re in the same room, same practice room, with the four of us working stuff out. We’re back to square one. This is going to be our sophomore attempt, again.
Weld: So there’s already another one on the way?
JS: Maybe! We’re working on it. The sophomore record, we were in college. Now it’s the sophomore record for another major. [Laughs] We’re going after our second major; we’re not going to go after our master’s degree yet. We don’t want to grow up that much.
Weld: After 23 years, were you worried about losing the edge of your previous works?
JS: We kind of were a little bit. But it’s time to stop being precious, for crying out loud, you know? It’s just rock music, you know what I mean? It’s music. We’re not going to ruin a legacy or something stupid like that.
Once we were in the studio it was the same thing. The work ethic is there. We’ve got to get the right rhythm part down. There’s got to be the right lyrics. They’re all being fleshed out there. They change. I’m in my little room trying to make up guitar parts and sweating it out.
Weld: Black Francis announced the band was splitting up before he had really spoken to you guys about it. What was that call like when you finally received it?
JS: I got the call and I hung up. My ex-wife said, “What happened?”
And I go, “The band just broke up.” [Laughs]
It was almost a relief for me. I thought we were bound to break up. We were on the morphine drip. It was like, “Okay. When are they going to burn me and put me in a shoebox?”
Weld: How have you guys managed to maintain your relationship with each other and not tire of each other after 30 years?
JS: We don’t hang around each other. God, when we started, aside from Charles [Thompson, birth name of lead singer Black Francis] and I knowing each other from the college years — we pretty much took off right away, so we didn’t really have time to bond.
Two years later or something, we were in Europe playing shows. We didn’t really have that time to be The Monkees. [Laughs] We came about it quickly. At that point, we just didn’t get sick of each other because we kept to ourselves in between recording and doing live shows. And we’re still like that.
Weld: Why did you finally give up on Kim Deal? Was it difficult to replace her?
JS: We mourned for a little while when we found out that she was going to go home. We just went at it again. I think Charles and I’s first thing that we did was go to a pub. We didn’t even talk. We were just going, “Ah, [expletive].” You know?
Then we had a half-baked record and we had four more weeks. We had booked seven weeks in Wales and we really had to finish it. Gil [Norton, producer of Indie Cindy] kept calling us to the studio telling us it was time to go in. It was nothing different with her not being around.
Weld: Who is the greatest band from Boston of all time?
JS: People think it’s us, and we’re known as a Boston band. When we met Robert Plant, we met him at baggage claim and we were near the carousel and it was during the World Cup and the manager there is also English, so they are way into the World Cup. And he goes, “Who are you working with?” or something like that.
And we said, “Oh, we’re the Pixies!” And I couldn’t believe it, but he went, “Ah! Boston’s finest!”
But for me? I like The Cars [deliberately pronounced The Cahs, with a Boston accent]. That’s a language that Charles and I had — you know, you have languages. I like that because you can’t really say, “Let’s sound like Beethoven.” Or, “Let’s sound like Yo Yo Ma.” Or, “Let’s sound like Stravinsky.”
We say, “Hey, let’s sound like — let’s try to get viable at playing guitar like The Rolling Stones or let’s chug like The Cars.” You know, the chugging. That was another vocabulary for us.
Weld: Bono once called the Pixies one of America’s best bands. Who are the top five American rock bands of all time?
JS: It changes day to day. Let me look at my record collection… I like The Cars. I like the Modern Lovers, Jonathan Richman. Were The Beatles ever American? [Laughs] I like Creedence Clearwater Revival. They never wrote a bad song. Not one. Talking Heads. That’s a solid one. Tom Waits.
Weld: That’s five!
JS: That’s five? Well, we’ve got to put the Velvet Underground in there.
Weld: So who should I take out?
JS: None! I don’t believe in lists! [Laughs]
The Pixies will perform at Iron City on Wednesday, May 6 before heading to Atlanta for the Shaky Knees Festival that weekend. John Grant opens. Doors open at 7 p.m., while the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $60. For more information, visit IronCityBham.com.