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Jemina Pearl Abegg may be the lead singer of Be Your Own Pet, a Nashville combo profiled in Westword’s May 8 edition, but she’s hardly rejected her family in favor of punk-rock mayhem. Far from it: The following conversation took place while she was riding in a car piloted by her father, photographer and guitarist Jimmy Abegg. She used his cell phone, since she’d lost hers a few days earlier, and even asked him a question to confirm her memory.

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John Reis, the subject of the following Q&A as well as a May 1 Westword profile, is the leader of a new band called the Night Marchers – but the group is hardly his first. He made his initial ripple as part of Pitchfork back in the ‘80s, after which he’s served as a member in acts such as Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, the Sultans and, most notably, Rocket From the Crypt, often simultaneously. However, he brought the last three groups to an end within recent years to concentrate on the Marchers, whose new CD, See You in Magic, recently materialized.

The conversation begins with Reis describing his decision to focus on one band. He then details the reasons he shut down Rocket, the Sultans and Hot Snakes; shares his musical philosophy, which emphasizes good times over angst; looks back on the Drive Like Jehu legacy; measures the benefits associated with major labels and their independent counterparts, including his own imprint, Swami; and admits to being a musical lifer.

That’s one sentence he’s eager to serve.

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Pharrell Williams, the subject of an April 24 Westword profile, is as busy a producer as any on the planet; among his most recent projects was Madonna’s Hard Candy, which reaches retailers on April 29. Still, he managed to squeeze in an interview to promote an upcoming appearance by N.E.R.D., a passion project that teams him with Chad Hugo, his partner in the Neptunes production clique, and old friend Sheldon “Shay” Haley, who makes a brief appearance in the following Q&A.

Because Haley’s inclusion on the phoner wasn’t planned in advance, I prepared my questions with Williams in mind – and that’s just as well, since Shay got disconnected very early in the conversation and didn’t return until near the end. In between, Williams spoke smoothly but succinctly, like a man for whom time is money, about a slew of topics: his claim several years ago that N.E.R.D. was dead; the trio’s pledge to participate in all of the dates on the group’s current tour, unlike a circuit in 2003 (see this item for details); the Child Rebel Soldier project that will reportedly team Williams with Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco, and Williams’ mild irritation that Fiasco talked to yours truly about it back in January; the Madonna recording, and his friendly competition with Timbaland, another superstar dial-twister who contributed to the disc; upcoming releases on his Star Trak imprint; a South By Southwest appearance at which Britney Spears turned out to be a no-show; the chances of him producing tracks for Lindsay Lohan, who guests in the video for “Everybody Nose,” the lead single from Seeing Sounds; new lines of jewelry and chairs he designed; and his insistence that he doesn’t need to be in the public eye to feel fulfilled as a creative artist, despite the buzz he gets from crowds at his show.

Please pay attention to the man in front of the curtain.

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The following Q&A with Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, staged for an April 24 profile timed to an upcoming solo appearance, got off on the wrong foot, unlike a 2004 quiz session that can be accessed here in its entirety. And yet Meloy’s professionalism and smarts make the conversation fine reading anyhow.

The chat took place about half an hour earlier than originally scheduled; Meloy’s handler said his interviews on that day had moved along more quickly than planned. However, Meloy was apparently unaware of this situation – so when I praised him for his punctiliousness, he thought I was expressing surprise that a musician would be conscious during the early afternoon, when we spoke, and launched into a somewhat snippy defense of his work ethic. Then, unwittingly making matters worse, I asked him about the show at the Larimer Lounge prior to which I had talked with him five years ago and was taken aback when he launched into a diatribe against the gig and its promoter. Hence, this blog contains a Backbeat Online Q&A first: a response to the speaker’s assertions. In this case, Scott Campbell, who’s overseen booking at the Larimer Lounge for years and is now a key staffer with the AEG Live production firm, concedes that mistakes were indeed made.

From there, fortunately, talk turns to a safer subject: Colin Meloy Sings Live!, his new solo CD. Meloy discusses the joys of performing for a smaller audience, echoing a sentiment expressed half-a-decade back; the differences between indie imprints and major labels; a cover-song nod to Fleetwood Mac; a selection that dates back to a pre-Decemberists combo; and the worst tune his ever written, as well as some other underperformers almost as poor. He also gives a hint about when the next Decemberists album will appear, but only after declining to reveal why numerous dates by the band were canceled last year.

Ooops – I did it again.

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At this writing, Colin Meloy, leader of the Decemberists, is on a solo tour; he appears at the Boulder Theater on Saturday, April 26, with singer-songwriter Laura Gibson opening. A recent Q&A is accessible here – but an interview conducted for a March 11, 2004 Decemberists profile provides additional context, as well as extra pleasure. As you’ll see, the conversation is among the most literate to ever grace this space.

At the time, the band had not yet signed with Capitol Records or made anything but the most modest amount of noise from a commercial standpoint: Meloy and company were touring behind Her Majesty, the Decemberists, a 2003 release on the Kill Rock Stars imprint. Moreover, Meloy talks near the beginning of the chat about the advantages of having a smaller audience, as opposed to a massive throng of followers who might or might not be truly into the music. Dylan Thomas, Charles Dickens and other literary figures are mentioned as well, and so are reflections about growing up in Montana – among the least likely locales for someone with his sensibilities to have come of age.

Then again, there’s plenty of unlikely things about Meloy – and that’s what makes him interesting.

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The April 17 Westword profile of Enon features quotes aplenty from John Schmersal, the band’s founder – and the changes he’s undergone of late come through even more clearly in the following Q&A.

The conversation begins with Schmersal discussing the reception to Grass Geysers… Carbon Clouds, the first Enon disc in several years, and the most immediately inviting to date according to many critics. He earnestly explores the possible reasons for this response, touching on the move he and lead singer Toko Yasuda made from New York City to Philadelphia as well as his decision to scratch his creative itches using inspirations other than music. Along the way, he talks about his fondness for vegetarian cooking, which adds irony to a prize he recently won – $500 in free food from Taco Bell; the challenge of translating some of the act’s elaborately produced tracks to the stage; environmental messages that may or may not be lurking inside the latest tunes; some insight about Schmersal’s previous group, Brainiac, which ended tragically when lead singer Tim Taylor died in a car accident just as the outfit was about to sign a major-label contract; the departure of two early Enon members and the prospect of adding another player to the current lineup; and a new tune featuring the Colorado-centric title “The Little Ghost of JonBenét.”

Sounds like a haunting tale.

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Kimya Dawson, the subject of an April 17 profile and the Q&A below, isn’t a new artist. She and Adam Green were part of the Moldy Peaches, a so-called anti-folk combo whose debut CD arrived in 2001 – and since then, she’s issued several solo albums and cut a disc with another band, Antsy Pants. But most mainstream music listeners were unaware of her existence until the late 2007 release of Juno, a crowd-pleasing film about Juno MacGuff (played by Academy Award nominee Ellen Page), a pregnant teen in search of the right couple to adopt her baby. Although the Dawson tunes used by director Jason Reitman weren’t written for the film, which was issued on home video April 15, they were perfectly in tune with the lead character, seeming like musical windows into her funny/smart/acerbic soul. No wonder the film’s soundtrack became an unexpected chart-topper upon its release.

The following conversation, which took place during nap-time for Dawson’s 21-month-old daughter, vividly named Panda Delilah, leads off with the singer’s comments about balancing motherhood and creative pursuits before dovetailing into a conversation about a song from Remember That I Love You, her latest CD, whose lyrics reference a drowning baby. From there, she talks about her tremendous admiration for, of all people, actor Danny DeVito; her deep knowledge of Juno co-star Jason Bateman’s TV credits; the advocacy organizations that have tried to take ownership of the movie, including a San Diego pro-life group; the silliness of suggesting that the flick promotes unprotected teen sex; the possibility that Juno wound up with an STD; the reaction of young women to her work; the pros and cons of having her songs described as “childlike” – a topic that naturally leads to comments about her next offering, an album for children entitled Alphabutt; and her disinterest in signing with major labels whose representatives have come calling in recent months.

Mother knows best:

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Eric Earley, who plays the frontman role in Oregon’s Blitzen Trapper, didn’t prove to be an effusive interview subject during a chat conducted for an April 10 Westword profile. Nevertheless, the following Q&A remains entertaining, if only because it documents the ways in which an increasingly desperate yours truly tried to draw out the singer and multi-instrumental, all of which failed miserably.

It’s not that Earley was surly as he gabbed via cell phone from the interior of a Dodge van headed to the Bay Area alongside his bandmates: Brian Adrian Koch, Erik Menteer, Michael Van Pelt, Marty Marquis and Drew Laughery. Far from it. But he preferred to answer questions as succinctly as he could – and his capacity for brevity proved pretty remarkable. He commented briefly – very briefly – on touring; his current digs; his lack of a permanent address over the past couple of years; his family background; his father’s status as an amateur bluegrass musician and the hours when young Eric played along with John Denver albums; the outdoors life; his college career and transition to full-time musicianship; the formation of Blitzen Trapper and the strong reception to its strong breakthrough disc, Wild Mountain Nation; signing with the Sub Pop imprint; and recording the Nation followup, to be entitled Furr.

By my count, Earley answers 27 of the questions below with either the word “yeah” or a minor variation. Keep your calculator handy.

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Interviewing Daniel Johnston, the subject of an April 3 Westword profile, is, to put it mildly, a unique experience, as will be clear to any reader of the following Q&A.

First, some set-up. I arranged my chat with Daniel’s father, Bill, who helps manage his son’s career and lives in a house next door to his in the small community of Waller, Texas. Bill told me to phone at 10:30 a.m. the next morning. When I did, however, Bill revealed that Daniel was still asleep and suggested that I call back that afternoon. I phoned again at the appointed time, but Daniel still hadn’t gotten out of bed. Bill speculated that the reason could have something to do with low blood sugar – Daniel suffers from diabetes in addition to an array of mental ailments generally grouped under the bi-polar heading – and advised me to try once more the next morning in the not-so-reliable 10:30 a.m. slot. Turns out Daniel hadn’t risen by then, either, and Bill didn’t feel like waiting to find out if he’d resurrect himself. This time, he said to call in just fifteen minutes, and when I did, Daniel answered, sounding a bit groggy – hence the moderately confused tone of the early questions below.

Fortunately, though, Daniel warmed up as the conversation progressed, ultimately revealing plenty about his day-to-day life. He touched upon his touring routine, which calls for him to perform with a different band in every town (just like Chuck Berry back in the day); the increased size of his audience since the release of the acclaimed 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston; the question of whether the film exploited the often tragic and/or tragicomic aspects of his life; the opportunity to meet again with a long-gone acquaintance named Laurie, about whom he wrote a vast number of tunes; past dust-ups in Austin, including one that landed him in jail; his last real job – at an Austin McDonald’s; the death of Captain America, one of his favorite comic-book characters; Target’s use of a ditty he penned in a commercial; and, recurringly, his ongoing bouts with depression, which causes him to “hibernate like a bear,” and the occasional relief he feels when he makes music and art.

May he continue to keep misery at bay for as long as possible:

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Having once played together in a short-lived punk band called London SS, Mick Jones and Tony James have been friends for thirty years. After embarking on successful careers with the Clash, as well as Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, respectively, pair reconvened in 2002 to form a new project called Carbon/Silicon. The two gave away three albums worth of material online before issuing The Last Poet, their first official release this past October. We recently caught up with James at his home in Glastonbury, England, and asked him about working with Jones, the history of Carbon/Silicon and the story behind its name and more.

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Right now, the most talked-about band on the rise among the nation's critical taste-makers is Vampire Weekend. But in Westword’s March 20 profile of the New York-based group, and in the following Q&A, lead singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig talks for himself.

Koenig begins by sketching in details about his background, including his mom’s efforts as a family therapist and his father’s career in the technical end of filmmaking, complete with a Spike Lee reference and a lousy review for one of the biggest budget productions on which he’s had the opportunity to work. That’s followed by memories of his first original composition and the seventh-grade graduation Koenig played alongside Wes Miles, a childhood pal now fronting Ra Ra Riot; details about L’Homme Run, a sorta hip-hop project that preceded Vampire Weekend; the set of guidelines Koenig and company tried to follow when establishing the VW style; the ease, or lack thereof, with which the band became a press darling; repetitious comparisons of the Weekenders’ self-titled debut album to previous recordings by Talking Heads and Paul Simon, referred to below as They Who Shall Not Be Named; and the plusses and minuses of being named MTV’s artist of the week.

Which lasts longer than the typical fifteen minutes of fame.

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These days, performers often prefer to conduct interviews via e-mail instead of taking part in a telephone chat. There are plenty of good reasons for this switch from their perspective, even if we assume that the individual in question is actually the one sitting at the keyboard (as opposed to a lowly assistant armed with a sheaf of canned answers). Subjects can respond at their leisure, and on their own time, and they don’t have to worry about a slip of the tongue, since they can carefully read over their responses before they press the “send” key. Too bad e-mail Q&As tend to lack spontaneity and the give-and-take that comes from actual lively conversation instead of an approximation of one.

Fortunately, the following cyber-exchange with veteran System of a Down singer Serj Tankian, staged for a March 20 Westword profile, is far better than average. Although his handlers limited the number of inquiries to a mere ten, Tankian tackled each topic floated his way in unexpected detail, exhibiting a depth, thoughtfulness and passion that leap off the screen. Along the way, he dissects a line about democracy from “Unthinking Majority,” a tune from his latest solo recording, Elect the Dead; discusses his juxtaposition of political themes with more personal lyrics; defends the use of a certain c-word in a surprising way; extemporizes about System’s post-9/11 airplay banning by Clear Channel-owned stations; defends the stylistic similarity between Dead and SOAD’s oeuvre; and draws a distinction between “musicians” and “artists.”

Tankian clearly knows the difference.

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Although crunk is no longer the trendiest form of hip-hop, Jonathan Smith – better known as Lil Jon, the self-proclaimed king of crunk – continues to flourish anyway. As a producer, he’s still churning out radio-dominating hits such as Baby Bash’s ubiquitous “Cyclone” while expanding his empire beyond the music. He even heads his own sports management firm, whose clients include skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, star of the hit MTV reality series Life of Ryan. But at the time of the following interview with Westword, conducted for an August 2004 profile, his profile was considerably higher. Indeed, Lil Jon was at his height of his popularity thanks to a slew of club smashes and hilarious imitations of him as delivered by comedian Dave Chappelle.

The Q&A below kicks off with a discussion of Lil Jon’s voicemail message at the time, which featured a Chappelle skit in lieu of tedious instructions about what to do after the beep. From there, he moves on to talk about making hits with profanities in the title; the connection between crunk and punk rock; the history of his style, complete with shout-outs to 2 Live Crew and Eric B. and Rakim; his past as an A&R man; the advantages independent labels have over the majors; and a brief commercial for crunk energy juice and the Lil Jon line of designer sunglasses.

His future was so bright, he had to wear shades.

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Say Hi has undergone some changes of late. Eric Elbogen, who for all intents and purposes is Say Hi, shortened the name of the project, which was previously known as Say Hi to Your Mom, and has taken what he considers to be a more serious approach to the music, as he outlines in the following Q&A.

The conversation, which informs a March 13 Westword profile, begins with Elbogen’s acknowledgement that he hasn’t always been forthcoming in previous interviews. However, he notes that he’s been shooting straighter of late, and his aim proves true as he discusses The Wishes and the Glitch, his latest CD. Along the way, he talks about his move from New York to Seattle; the shift in his songwriting away from tunes about vampires and robots to more personal material; his one-man-band recording techniques; rules he set for himself, including a prohibition against “whisper singing”; his decision to release the recording digitally before putting it on disc, supplemented with his insistence that he didn’t steal the idea from Radiohead; his preference for vinyl over plastic; and misunderstandings about his latest work that even his new earnestness hasn’t been able to prevent.

And so, without further adieu, say hi to Say Hi:

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The Whigs, a buzz band that gets the profile treatment in the March 6 Westword, plays music of the sort typically identified as indie rock – yet drummer Julian Dorio continues to receive the sort of love from percussion aficionados that’s all but unheard of in the genre. Dorio takes on that topic and more in the following Q&A.

The conversation begins with a discussion of the Flying Dorios, a casual family group that helped Dorio develop his skills and avoid stage fright. Afterward, he talks about the origin of the Whigs, which he co-founded at the University of Georgia in Athens with two fellow students, singer-guitarist Parker Gispert and bassist Hank Sullivant, whose spot is currently filled by Tim Deaux; the musical history of Athens, with nods to R.E.M. and the Kindercore crowd exemplified by Jeff Mangum; the contrast between the group’s low-budget debut recording and Mission Control, a disc made for Dave Matthews’ ATO imprint that found the performers working with big-name producer Rob Schnapf; and his surprise at the attention paid him by two of the nation’s most prominent drumming magazines.

Publicity like that can’t be beaten.

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