Not Today, That Is. It's a long story, with too much nonsense to go into just yet, but I managed to catch Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore on the road in the car in Massachusetts, listening to, according to him, "bottom-of-the-barrel 'Sister' outtakes" with Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley. Would have been nice to have gotten the interview nailed down one of the two other times I saw him in the past week, in person, with a digital recorder in my jacket pocket, but hey, the watery, craptacular quality of the cobbled-together Skype recording I have here provides a nice contrast with the pristine audio I delivered with the earlier portions of this series. My bad, sorry.In any event, I've got about a half-hour's worth of audio to whittle down into some semblance or order and intelligibility. But! Jon's webmonkeys have an excerpt for you. Please enjoy. Think of it as an amuse bouche before the 32-oz. porterhouse. One of the bits I am immediately trimming out occurs not long after my questions ran out of steam and we both got bored with the whole thing, at which point Thurston decided to turn the tables on me. "Hey man, I wanna ask YOU a couple questions." So here, in full, is the transcript of this "interview," because why not, you will never hear it:
TM: Who are all these men in blue pushing me around?
CG: Um, is that a song lyric? I have no idea. Are they cops?
TM: (Pause. Vibe of disappointment hangs thickly in the air.) What's your favorite Crucifucks track?
CG: Oh, man. See that's ... that's not fair, because you've got the drummer in the car with you. It's, um ... I can't really pick one. Can I get the next question?
TM: Who's the most famous music personality you've ever slept with, naked? Besides Tom Smith.
CG: (Sharp intake of air.) Uh ... It's ... This is, um ... Ooh, wow ... I'm a virgin.
TM: You're a virgin?
CG: Yeah, I'm going with that.
TM: Hey, uh, have you ever seen Andrew W.K. naked?
CG: Define naked.
TM: Without the wig.So there you go, a little taste of the sort of insight and hilarity, &c., you can expect once I edit this puppy down. Oh, and tomorrow? Nearly an hour's worth of spiel with America's foremost record-collecting badass, Byron Coley. Until then, cgP.S. For the record, I have never slept with Tom Smith. (Naked.) 
Chris Grier Interviews Thurston Moore | Excerpt | The Vinyl District Podcast (Mp3)
Saturday, April 17, 2010 is Record Store Day as any reader of this blog knows. It's a day set aside to promote the history and longevity of DC's—and the nation's—indie record stores.In conjunction with Record Store Day this year, Olivia Mancini, Paul Michel, Tone, and New Rock Church of Fire are playing in support of another DC landmark, the outdoor summer concert institution, Fort Reno. The event runs from 8:00PM - 10:30PM at St. Stephen's Church which is located at 1525 Newton Street, NW, in DC.Tickets are just $10.00 with all proceeds going toward the overhead for Fort Reno's Summer 2010 Season.
Those of you who patronize one of our local independent record stores on Record Store Day will receive half off the price of admission with the presentation of a store receipt dated Saturday, April 17, 2010.
Yesterday Olivia Mancini gave us one of her favorite Fort Reno memories and today Tone's Norm Veenstra chimes in with his:
"Fort Reno, Fugazi, and friends is an easy reference point for many of us to start at I suspect. Been here long enough to have actually seen the "Ice Cream MF show" but that's not unique I would guess. But I always remember running into folks not seen in awhile out on the grass, and having the chance to actually chat, finding out what was new in friends' worlds.
As a band we've only played on that open stage once, or 1.1 times more accurately. And the .1 time is the stellar memory for sure. Collaboration within the music of DC seems to always be happening, and often in a pleasantly low-key way (Chad Clark and Bluebrain and cherry blossoms, for example). While not unique to DC, the manner and constant-ness of how it happens might be...
During the wonderful all too short years that they existed, Tone had a great connection with the duo known as Southkill. We played a number of shows together, often in 'different' spaces, such as Signal 66 in Blagden Alley. Jason & John invited Tone to "back them" for their closing song when they opened up for Black Eyes at Fort Reno in the summer of 2002? 2003? We actually rehearsed it, and all crammed into our tiny 200 sq. ft. Brookland Studios practice space (later used by Q & Not U, most recently by Title Tracks and Justin Moyer.)
We all set up before the Southkill set on the Ft. Reno stage, and then watched them throw down a full set with their wonderful precision and spaciousness. The 'extra' gear brought to 'back' them was set up behind, which the size of the stage allowed for amply - a line of four guitar amps in the very rear of the stage, and drummers Gregg & Andy set up each with one large rock version of timpani, right behind John & Jason.
And then we all got to play — together. Which just wasn't the same as doing a show at the same club together, it was adding a hugeness and density to a sound we already loved, and the feeling of opportunity that an environment - Ft. Reno - existed that enabled something this FUN to happen. I know - it was one song, so big deal right? At the time, it was big to us, because it was outdoors at Ft. Reno, because sound guy Phil didn't mind the extra work, and because it was with friends, being a part of their musical art, it was awesome!"
Tone - Prototype (Mp3)
