Adam Schlesinger
and Taylor Hanson
of the power-pop
all-stars hang out
with Korn so you
don’t have to

playing: BamBoozle

SCHleSinger: Subtlety goes out the window when you’re playing to a ton of people.

Who are some of the odder folks
you’ve bumped into backstage at
festivals?
SCHleSinger: Early on with Fountains
of Wayne, we did a lot of weird Euro-
pean festivals where we’d be the only
band with instruments; everyone else
would be dance stuff. But you learn
that everybody’s the same––hanging
out, being musicians, doing their
thing. We did share a trailer with Korn
at one of those. I think there was a bit
of an issue with us drinking some of
their beers, but other wise it was fine.
I do remember feeling semi-starstruck
seeing John Paul Jones sitting by
himself, eating lunch at Bonnaroo. We
didn’t really want to bother him, but
we felt it was our duty to.

Did he appreciate that? SCHleSinger: No. But it made a great photo.

ALL TOGETHER NO W Bun E. Carlos, James Iha, Taylor Hanson, and Adam Schlesinger

How do you think the economy is affecting festivals and touring this year? SCHleSinger: We’re trying to keep ticket prices low and just play small places, and not make it a big decision for people to go out and see music. HanSon: We have a catchphrase for our tour: four for the price of one. SCHleSinger: Four musicians you’ve maybe heard of for your dollar.

So how did a band featuring one
member of Fountains of Wayne, one
member of Hanson, one member
of Smashing Pumpkins, and one
member of Cheap Trick ever even
come into being?
SCHleSinger: Taylor and I met in
’ 96, when a guy at Mercury Records
suggested we write together. We
never did, but we stayed in touch and
kept saying things like “We should
do something, we should play shows
together,” but it was all very nebulous.
Finally, a few years ago, it came up
again. In the meantime, I’d been
doing a lot of stuff with James [Iha].
We own a recording studio and a label
together, so the three of us concocted
this idea of doing something with
loud guitars and Taylor singing.

How challenging is it to debut
this new band at festivals, where
you may not have the audience’s
undivided attention?
HanSon: When you start out new,
you’ll play wherever you get booked.
We’re going to have fun stretching
our legs and seeing what connects
because, obviously, making a record
and performing shows and engaging
people are very different things.
SCHleSinger: We’re really treating
this like a new band. We’re not
approaching it like something people
should have expectations about. I don’t
think we particularly sound like any of
our other bands. But playing festivals
with Fountains of Wayne, there were
tons of people who didn’t know who
we were, and we saw it as a chance to
win them over. Same thing with this.

SCHleSinger: Or maybe we’ll get pelted with stuff, and it’ll toughen us up as a band.

Did you ever consider adopting
new identities like the Traveling
Wilburys?
HanSon: No.
SCHleSinger: In Fountains of Wayne,
we’re always making up fake names
to use in hotels, even though we
really don’t need to. They’re just fun to
come up with. Matt Finish. We’ve got
thousands.

it probably helps that the songs have plenty of ooh-oohs and whoa-whoas.

Tinted Windows (S-Curve) is out now.

Ask a Townie

How did Bun e. Carlos get on board? SCHleSinger: Fountains of Wayne and Smashing Pumpkins had both played with Cheap Trick, but neither James nor I were really close with him. When we started kicking around names for dream drummers, his came up. We were like, “He’d never do it, but that would be awesome.”

Your first big show is at the Bam-
boozle. That’ll be a younger crowd
than Fountains of Wayne or Cheap
Trick would ever play for. although
maybe not Hanson…
SCHleSinger: Which might be great.
HanSon: Everyone will just be like,
“Who are these guys?”

“The first year of the festival, two college kids had
taken a bus from Canada to Tulsa, then decided
to walk from Tulsa to Pryor—that’s
45 miles. They had no plan,
nowhere to stay, so we took them
to a lumberyard to build a tepee
and camp out. We the community
are hosting a big party.”

Barbara Hawkins, director of the Pryor, Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, on Rocklahoma hospitality

Damien neva ( Tin TeD winDows)

68 may 2009 / see The ar Tis T of The Day a T sPin.Com