MTX: Songs About Girls
From Tom's Right Foot #3, September 1996
This interview was done way back in September of 1996 at the Lookout/Mint Records night at Coney Island High in New York City. We apologize for its datedness (if that is a word), and hope you enjoy reading it all the same!
Kenny: How long have you guys been doing this whole thing?
Dr. Frank: Yeah, well this band has been around for about 10 years, maybe a little longer.
Joel: You might want to speak up, I don't know if the shoe can pick you up...
F: and um...
Steve: Why don't we just move the shoe up here.
K: There ya go!
F: Yeah, about 10 years and to varying degrees of acquesity and seriousness at various times depending on what was going on. The current line up has been for about 2 years.
K: And how did the whole new, current line up get together?
F: Well what happened all along was people would quit and we would sort of beat a dead horse trying to talk them into ding just one more show until they finally would quit for real, that is not just say, "I'm not gonna play the show" but "call me up again and I'll kill you!". So that's when we'd sort of be broken up for good until we managed to replace that person with someone else. And that just sort of gradually happened so, ya know, our guitar player quit and we were a 3 piece and then the drummer quit and we got Jym and the bass player quit and we got Joel.
S: You guys met at a show right?
J: Yeah it was actually a Sicko show, it was Sicko and Corrupt Peasant Farmers, Gilman Street, October 31st 1994, a night I will never forget.
S: Oh, Jym!
Jym: Hey dude!
J: You're missing the interview.
S: In every interview (w/ MTX) I've read you always come late.
F: Is that true?!
Jym: Always?
J: Well, he is conspicuously absent from many of them.
K: Just talk into the shoe, we've got a nice little set up thing going. Anyway, are you (to Joel) really a National Merit Scholar?
F: Yeah!
J: Yeah! I really am.
Frank: He scored best in the country on the dates section, "Remembering Important Dates". He only missed one, which is Groundhog Day, otherwise, he got 'em all!
J: I made my mother very proud by achieving that esteemed rank.
K: Did you go to college or...
J: I went to college for exactly 7 days. I didn't do any homework or buy books.
S: What school did you go to?
J: I went to the University of California at Berkeley it was a good school, especially for the weekends there, I have nothing but nice things to say about it. But then I broke my poor mother's heart... and here I am today! Still breaking it, 2 years later.
K: Do you have other jobs, or is this it?
J: You're looking at it!
F: I had a job for many, many years that I quit recently, not even a year ago. They wouldn't let me take so much time off so...
K: So basically you're at the point where you can basically live off of the band...
F: Well, it's kinda hard to say, I wouldn't say that. The impression from saying it like that is sort of inaccurate. It's not like this band is making a lot of money. It's just that we've sort of made the decision that we're gonna try to make it for a while just scraping by with what little we have. Ya know, it may all come crashing down sooner or later.
J: If you refer to it as making a living, that implies that we have lives, and I wouldn't call what we're doing, it doesn't constitute having a life. It's more like suspending reality.
K: In the "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba" video which we've all seen, you guys did the "Geex, Jerx, Dorx" thing which was hilarious, um, do you have any bad feelings with Rancid?
F: Ya know what? I get in trouble for saying bad things about people, and I was lectured by everyone that I'm not supposed to say any bad things about anybody, so I just wanna say that Rancid is a band of 4 fine Americans, and generation X has finally found its voice, I'm very happy about that.
K: Hey, I thought that was Kurt Cobain.
F: Well, now that Kurt Cobain is... move over Kurt Cobain! Get ready for Lint! But that "Geex, Dorx" thing was just trying to be funny.
S: It was funny!
F: No but, you can get into trouble trying to be funny. You could just never say anything at all, and never do anything at all, and you'll never get in trouble.
J: That's the best policy.
F: That's what I should have been doing all along.
S: Well basically the video portrays you as kind of... accident prone, is that the way you are in real life?
J: Is that referring to me?
F: Yeah well, this is a very accident prone band regardless of whether or not Joel is in it. Disasters just happen all the time, that was the concept of the whole video.
J: Unfortunately, everyone was filmed in sort of bumbling and ineptitude, but mine seemed to be more predominantly featured so I sort of came off...
F: Actually, ya know after the weekend that we did it I was bruised all over from all of those prop falls. I was black and blue from head to toe, but a lot of them didn't make it in, which is too bad.
J: All of mine make it in so everyone looks at me like I'm the one with poor motor skills.
S: Well actually, they got you (Frank) dropping the mic.
F: Yeah, there were all sorts of little-
K: Frank dropped the amp.
J: No that was me. And I dropped the bass. Knocked over the lamp...
S: Would you guys ever consider switching record labels or are you totally happy with where you are or...
F: Well yeah. Us and Lookout, we have a long and complicated story that I couldn't even begin to tell you, your tape would run out. There've been all sorts of different phases of our relationship with Lookout. Everything's pretty cool now. I can't think of a better label for us to be on. We're just this little loser band and it's a little loser label and we just match perfectly. If we tried to be on a big deal "we are the great successful guys of the world" label then it wouldn't work because they'd say, "these guys don't cut it." Lookout is forgiving of how unsuccessful their bands are so you gotta hand it to them, 'cause I have a feeling that David Geffen wouldn't be understanding.
J: Although, and this has nothing to do with anything, but I hear that him and Keanu Reeves have a little thing on the side.
F, S, and K: Yeah, I've heard that too!
F: Still, that doesn't change the fact that I think we're on the right label.
J: Right! I love being on Lookout a lot. I feel this whole warm, family oriented, touchy, feely thing about it, and there's a comoradory between the bands which I enjoy. I feel like I belong somewhere.
S: Usually we abstain from asking this question, but-
K: Where did you come up with the name "The Mr. T Experience"?
F: You're going back into my years of young adulthood, and I really can't remember exactly... it actually wasn't even really a band. We were gonna play at a birthday party that we were having for ourselves, because Jon Von and I had birthdays within a few days of each other. And we just thought, I guess that was what was on TV at the time, "Ok, we'll call it that!" It never was supposed to be a band. And then over the years it's been like 'the smart thing to do' for rock & roll career wise to change to something flashy and catchy. You know like, "Feelin' Free" or something. I see a lot of good band names on Star Search when it used to be on like um... "On the Air," "Feelin' Free."
J: "Prior Engagement"
F: "Prior Engagement," yeah. I mean, that would have been the smart thing to do but instead we opted for "no matter what" just stubbornly sticking to this stupid name.
J: I guess it doesn't work. I mean, can you imagine (Joel switches into Star Search impersonation mode...) "Challenger, Feelin' Free receives 3 3/4 stars... champion the Mr. T Experience receives..."
F: Four and a half stars! The thing is, at this point as stupid as it is, obsolescence has its own charm, and now I feel kinda, in a weird way, if you're so stupid, if you take being stupid to a ridiculous degree it can be kinda cool. And I think we're testing that hypothesis. But also, frankly changing the name would not fool anybody at this point. They know what to expect, and here it is.
J: Our new motto could be, "Deliciously Ironic."
F: Oh boy, yeah well, I'll submit that to our lawyers and get back to you on that one.
K: Actually I have a comment to go with that whole ironic thing. Has anyone else noticed that the only thing ironic about the Alanis Morissette song "Ironic," is the fact that it made money?
F: Well, I've noticed that there are things that she mentioned in that song, the ones that I could make out through her thick Canadian accent, aren't examples of irony.
S: Yeah, they're just things that suck.
F: Irony has sort of become a buzz word that people throw around not actually using it precisely enough to actually have any meaning. Like that guy, that um, you hear that Offspring guy, when in that song, that "Self Esteem" song. Everybody sort of made comments about that as... well, let's just say it's not one of the great works of western civilization, and he claimed that, "No! You don't understand. It's irony! But I can't see any way that it's irony. I think all it means is he doesn't understand the meaning of that word. I think that's probably the trouble with many young people in show business these days. Which is a sad fact.
S: So what are some of the best and worst parts of being in a band?
F: Well, I don't know. It sort of depends on how it's going. The things that are the best sometimes like, I'd have to say that, one of the best things when things are going well is you get to go to these places and meet people like you. Ya know, people who have heard of the band. You get to talk to them and see what, ya know all I see is sales figures. Which is like, "Oh! Last month sold 3 records!" and you wonder who these 3 people were. And you figure now I'm meeting 2 of them.
K: Exactly! You think like, you were from California and we're all the way from NY and we heard about your band all the way out here.
F: So that's kinda cool. I still get a kick out of that. But in the past that exact thing would be kind of a bummer, 'cause you'd get the sheet and it'd say, "0 records." Oh plus they like, kick you in the teeth, or something, just sort of out of spite. And then you think like, "Just rather not be there for the show, that no one shows up to, just for the privilege of getting your teeth kicked." It all depends on how it goes.
J: There's a lot of excruciating tedium involved in being in a band too, which can takes its toll on you. It really is mentally and physical exhausting to do nothing for such a large amount of time. People would be surprised. You try doing nothing half the time!
S: I do. It's called summer vacation.
J: Well yeah, it's like when at first you're so happy when summer vacation comes. But then after a few months you can't... you're dying to go back to school.
K: Like right now we're at that point where we want school to start again because it's just, whatever.
S: Speak for yourself! Today was my first day, and I'm ready for summer again. But I see your point.
K: Yeah.
S: Ok, I have another question. Do any of you have a cartoon fetish? Ya know how like the Queers have a Felix thing.
Jym: We like cartoons.
F: You know, I think actually the Queers related person with the Felix fetish is Chris Applegreen and I don't think any of the members of the Queers really like that cat.
Jym: They kinda got stuck with it.
F: Yeah.
Jym: (Impersonating Chris Applegreen) "Here, use this ok?"
J: It was a good idea!
F: They could have just come up with something on their own and said, "No, substitute this for the cat." But they didn’t do that. So they've got the cat. What do we have?
S: The siloette of a lady with a bloody knife.
F: We've got the color blue. We've got that cover. We are-
J: We've got the "blue market."
F: Not cartoons, but... the cover
K: the spectrum
F: the hue... blue!
J: I thought you meant something else entirely (with the fetish question). I thought you meant, have any of us ever lusted in our hearts after a...
S: Oh, you could take it that way!
J: Oh, well, you know.... who hasn't!
Jym: Yeah, I know! There are some sexy cartoon chicks!
K: I mean, there is always Jessica Rabbit.
Jym: Dude, yeah!
K: That was a big one.
J: But, I wasn't about to divulge that information to you. I was gonna have to make up some sort of (at this point the Queers are doing a sound check in the background, so we can barely hear each other, but Joel says something about making up a false statement to avoid revealing with cartoon character he has been secretly lusting over).
K: Speaking of your favorite things, do you have a favorite breakfast cereal?
J: Well, it sort of goes in flux. I can't since I moved out of my parents home, I can't afford the extravagant prices of breakfast cereal myself. It's like, you know, they have the price per ounce of those things at the super market, and you look for certain things like for rice for example.
F: You've gotta be a smart shopper...
J: Yeah. It's like 3 cents an ounce, and you get cereal and it's like $3.25 an ounce.
K: And you look for the rip off brands. Like "Toasted Sugar Bombs" is really like Corn Flakes.
J: I wouldn't buy anything from the Rip Offs.
S: No, it's more like, "colored fruit rings" instead of Fruit Loops. But it's still not worth it.
F: I just eat a cheese burger for breakfast.
J: Two hot dogs.
F: I am aware, and I fully approve of the hallowed tradition of punk rock bands claiming that breakfast cereal occupies a huge part of their conscious thoughts, but I have to say that I don't eat much cereal.
J: I don't eat cereal anymore, but when my parents were fitting the bill, I was fond of any breakfast cereal that had the highest concentration of sugar available.
S: Clinton, Dole, Perot, or Anarchy?
J: Umm, I think Perot is Anarchy.
F: Frankly, not that it makes too much of a difference, but I think we could do worse than having another Clinton administration. Despite all the possible avenues of finding fault and ridicule. My only reservation really is that ever since Bob Dole has started to become more in the Public Eye, I kinda feel, like, a sort of, affection for him in a weird way...
K: Like a sort of grand father type person?
F: No, just sorta, I mean the guy is such clearly a loser and I just sort of feel... still, I had the same feeling about Nixon. Ya know, Nixon wasn't a loser. There's just something, your heart goes out to him. He's had a rough time with everything and- what's going on down there?
J: Oh, I'm just reading these punk rock bands he has written on his backpack, just like the girl in my high school who had Nirvana written on her shoes.
S: Oh! Don't even!
J: Sorry! It just reminded me... Yours is much more tasteful.
F: I think that thankfully for us and for our children, such there be, that the 4th option that you listed, anarchy, won't actually be an option on the ballot.
J: It's fortunate for everyone that anarchists are not very organized by nature, 'cause I think anarchy is a pretty bad idea. This is the 1st election where I am of age to cast my vote.
K: How old are you?
J: How old am I? I bring the average age of the band down from 30 to 26.
K: Oh, pretty young.
J: I was born the year that "Meat Room" and "Rocket Torch" from the Ramones were released.
S: How old is your sister?
J: I have 2. The oldest one is 28 years old, and the middle one is 22.
K: So that makes you the youngest. Ok, what else do we have?
S: I don't know, just random things.
J: Lay it on me baby, lets all get random!
K: Really! You partly answered this already, but have you had a Mr. T experience?
F: Um, well no. There's the photo that was put on the new print of the CD, the reissue of "Everybody's entitled to their Own Opinion." That is actually Mr. T holding one of our records. I wasn't there or anything. He appeared at a comic book store and a lot of kids in the area where he appeared showed up with their MTX records for him to sign them, and he flipped out. He threatened to kill a kid. And now, as it happens, what goes around comes around. Now he's kinda in bad shape, so he should never have threatened that kid. Next time, any of you potential tough guys out there, next time you think of threatening a kid in an MTX shirt.
J: I'm not saying God is on our side, but the facts speak for themselves.
F: Statistically your chances of getting cancer are pretty damn good if you hassle one of our minion. So you have been warned.
K: Just get one of the Groovie Ghoulies to cast a spell on them.
F: Yeah, we could do that. That's another option.
S: Are YOU a Groovie Ghoulie?
J: Yeah, yeah, yeah!
F: Yeah, yeah yeah!
S: Lucy says "Blech," Charlie Brown says, "Oh Brother," Homer says, "Doh!"... Do any of you have any of your own personal sayings, like your own catch phrases?
F: Well, I think I say this thing a lot. Everybody always makes fun of me for saying, "Oh, maaaan!"
Joel: I often find myself at a loss for words which often comes out sounding something like, "Duh..."
John (from Pansy Division): Somebody asked me earlier today what my prediction would be for the year 2000, and I said that it would be that by then men would be wearing bras, because so many of them are doing the muscle thing and then they're gonna get older and they're gonna start to sag. So, bras for men, that's the next trend.
K: Actually, well I don't know if you know what "Friendly's" is, but I work at "Friendly's." It's this little fast food sort of a chain thing. This guy was talking about how his boobs grow when he works out! And they get up to about a "D." So I could definitely see that guy braI thing as a great idea.
John: Where do you work, what town?
K: I live out on Long Island.
John: "Lowng Oilind!"
K: Long Island.
S: No! We don't all talk like that!
K: No, we don't!
S: Some people do, I know people who talk like that.
Joel: Do you know Amy Fisher?
K: Omigod!
S: That's the typical "Oh, so you're from Long Island" question.
K: That's the L.I. question. Everyone thinks that!
S: God! I don't know Amy, and I don't know Joey Butafucco!
J: I'm very pleased I got such an enthusiastic reaction. You guys were like, "Aaaaaaaagh!"
S: Oh, the worst is when I'll be talking to someone from elsewhere and I'll be like, "Yeah, I live in New York," and they'll be like, "Oh really, my friend lives there. Do you know a kid named Mike?" And I'm like, "Hello?! McFly!" there's like 8 million people in NY City alone, 1/4 of which are probably named Mike.
K: Yeah, I mean it's not like LI is this little community.
John: I guess there's not much about LI that people know to talk about.
K: Basically yeah.
K and S: LI pretty much sucks!
S: Some girl on AOL was like, "where is LI, the Caribbean?"
F: Jamaica's on it, yeah!
S: I just have a question, from looking around today. Is there a rule with Lookout bands that when you're on tour you have to wear converse?
John: No, but it sure is convenient. It's like convenient, light weight clothing on the road. You can't beat it. Like the Smugglers, you'll see them on the road tonight. They're wearing like big army boots, so they break the trend. They break the fashion mold, but they're Canadian.
K: Ok, well, it's getting a little big loud in here so... would it be ok if during your set we jumped up on stage to take a picture with the shoe?
F: Well, if you can do it without having someone like rough you up or something, then yeah. But I can't guarantee that someone won't try to like, push you off or something.
J: Well, Steve, Kenny, I just want you to know that-
F: Well, I'm gonna leave you in the able hands of my young assistant Joel and I'll see you guys later.
J: Just wanted to point out that since the two of you are such loyal supporters of the MTX, that when our scheme for world domination goes into affect which should be sometime very soon now, both your names will be on the list of those whose lives will be spared.
S: So, if you're a loser, then what are we?
K: I know. We're like the followers of losers. We're like the lowest of the low.
J: Let's not go there. That's a question best left unanswered I think.