See... we took pictures of eachother talking on the phone to him... pretty bad, eh?? (BTW- It's me on the left and Liz on the right) Oh... if you're wondering what the sign says... it says, "I'm talking to Jim Creegan!" (nice misspelling Liz... there's 2 g's!!)
Liz- Do you say "wasabee" or "we're sorry" on the last verse of, One Week?
Jim- I think we say both, let me see. Ya, I'll still be two days 'till we say wasabee. It's wasabee.
Liz- Ya, because like in Say What? They say it's "we're sorry", but we didn't think it was.
Jim- Ya, I think it's wasabee at the end. I think they're just messing around.
Jennifer- We saw your show in Cleveland last night and last Friday I went to the one in Buffalo when Kevin showed up. They were excellent.
Jim- Ya, that was awesome on Friday.
Jennifer- Your bass solo to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" was amazing.
Jim- Ah, cool.
Jennifer- I loved it.
Liz- It was the best part of the entire show. Wow.
Jim- Ya, well it's really interactive. Like, I'm jammin' with the audience on that one, ya know? So, it's fun for me because it's different every night depending on how the audience picks up on it. When they realize, ya okay, we're all speeding up. Ya know, so it's a fun one for me in the show.
Jennifer- A lot of people throw Kraft Dinner at you, which I would never do because I know how much you guys can not stand it.
Jim- Right.
Jennifer- Where is the strangest place you have ever found Kraft Dinner after a show?
Jim- Ya, I find it in my bass. Like macaroni, you mean?
Jennifer- Ya.
Jim- I find it in my bass, it gets into the F-Holes and stuff like that. Ya, I find it in like my shoes and in my pockets.
Liz- Where are you guys going now?
Jim- Right now we're in Detroit.
Liz- Are you on your bus?
Jim- No, I'm in sort of the loading dock of the Palace Arena in Detroit.
Liz- Since people throw the Kraft Dinner so much, do you get endorsed by Kraft Dinner?
Jim- No, they're really old school. They don't really endorse rock bands.
Jennifer- I have the Sarah McLachlan CD, which I got just because you played bass on it like on Angel. So, what as it like working with her?
Jim- Oh, it was great. I played on four tunes with Sarah, but it was great. I went up there for five days in Quebec and there was snow everywhere and we just had a great time. Just hanging out with Sarah and hiking around the hills and playing her music, which is so evocative. Ya know, it was great. We ate lots of food. Also, the last song on the CD, the Last Dance, won a Grammy for best pop instrumental. It was pretty amazing that a simple little song like that got such big recognition.
Liz- Did Ed really have his picture on the wall at Wendy's when he was employee of the month?
Jim- Ya, he did. He was actually employee of the month.
Liz- Have you ever heard of Barenaked Chatter?
Jim- It's the web page, right?
Liz- Ya, everybody just posts messages. They are considering that next summer sometime to have a big gathering of all the people that chat in there. We were wondering if the band would want to go, because they want to have it in Toronto. We don't really know much about it yet, I just saw something posted on it today.
Jim- I have no idea. We might be on tour. It might just be more of a fan thing than a band thing. But you never know. I'm open to it, put it that way.
Jennifer- On Gordon you have songs about Yoko Ono, Brian Wilson, and New Kids on the Block. Especially about New Kids on the Block, did Donnie Wahlberg ever say anything about it?
Jim- No, they haven't said anything at all. I haven't heard of anything from those guys. Well, actually we heard from Yoko Ono. She was interviewed by a Canadian interviewer and when they asked her about the Barenaked Ladies she said, "Oh ya, Sean showed me the tape and oh, we laughed. Somehing about a lot of money, the song is about money. Oh, we laughed."
Liz- In "If I had $1,000,000" have you ever considered just cutting out the Kraft Dinner part, just leaving everybody dumbfounded?
Jim- I think there would be a mass, sort of mob scene, if we did that. We're afraid of the onset of violence if we didn't bring it to that. Plus, we don't want to censor ourselves either.
Jennifer- In three videos: Jane, Alternative Girlfriend, and One Week, is the girl with the red hair the same person?
Jim- They all have red hair?
Jennifer- Ya, all the girls look the same.
Jim- In the video?
Jennifer- Ya.
Jim- Alternative Girlfriend, Jane, and One Week. Which girl in One Week?
Liz- The stunt girl.
Jim- You're right. But there's a secret about the Alternative Girlfriend girl.
Jennifer- Really?
Jim- I don't know how to say it, but let me just say that what she seems to be is not actually what she is.
Jennifer and Liz- (Laughter)
Jim- So that's that. Ya, and I think there might be a red-haired girl. And you know what? There's a video with Good Boy that there's a red headed girl as well. I think you're totally onto something there. I don't know what it is. Maybe the songs are sort of about, maybe there's an angle that the songs all have in common. I think that red hair represents sort of strength in a way. And being a red head, I guess I know they're sort of strong willed or that's what the stereo type is, or what they're known for, being strong willed and stubborn. Maybe the songs have sort of a common sort of element in them, which seems to them themselves to be speaking to a strong willed woman. So, they bring it out in the red hair. That's my little theory.
Liz- The kid on the Born on a Pirate Ship cover bears an uncanny resemblance to you. Was that meant, or was it just like this kid is going to be our actor.
Jim- That wasn't meant at all, but it does look like me when I was a kid though. I think mainly, again the red haired thing it comes from, we just wanted the brattiest looking kid on the front of our album. And again, being a red head I know that red heads are often seen as little shit raisers. Jennifer- Going on with the red haired theme, what do you think of the people who compare you to Carrot Top?
Jim- What do I think of the people who compare me to Carrot Top?
Jennifer- What do you think about that?
Jim- Well, in a way I don't blame them because I do look like carrot top or he looks like me, more accurately. Ya, and ya know I think Carrot Top did a thing on TV where they held up a picture of me and the Barenaked Ladies and said that I was his brother or something. So, he must be getting it the other way.
Liz- This is off the red haired thing.
Jim- (Laughter)
Liz- Why aren't you ever with the band when you guys get interviewed on TV and stuff? It's always like Ed, Steven and occasionally Tyler and you and Chris are never there.
Jim- Well, I think that in an interview there is only so much time to talk and those guys are more talkative than I am in the group. So, it's often that I just choose to, unless it's a one on one interview or me and someone else, just two guys talking that I just sort of step out because I end up just sort of sitting there most of the time and it's sort of like there's a certain rhythm and it's undeniable that Steve and Ed and Tyler have as a trio or a duo. I'm sort of the odd man out, I don't really talk that fast. (Laughter) So I kinda just let them do their thing and I'll go play the bass or something like that.
Jennifer- I bought the Brother's Creeggan, the first CD last night.
Jim- Oh ya?
Jennifer- Ya, I was looking for it and I could never find it so I bought it at the concert. Are you and Andy planning on making any more?
Jim- Ya, actually. Well, we have two Brothers Creeggan CD's, there's a second one, and I think we're gonna get together around January and make another one. I can't wait do go play with Andy.
Liz- Did Andy ever consider coming back when Andy got sick?
Jim- No, well I think he kinda offered to sit in for Kevin while he was away but I think that the guys weren't crazy about it because it would seem, like it might put a little pressure on Kev in a way. Because he is hopefully gonna get over the cancer and it would sort of be good for his spirits to know that we weren't gonna get together with the old guy and stuff. But ya know, it would kinda be confusing for the people too, I think. And as well, Andy sort of has his own thing going in Montreal, he's learning composition and things.
Jennifer- When you made "Spider in my Room" with the Native American chanting, what was that like?
Jim- That was amazing. It was one of the richest musical experiences I've ever had. The way we did it was that we recorded the bare track in Toronto and I had been in contact with the guys from Stoney Park and heard that they were going to be in Saskatoon writing and doing their own album. So, I flew out with the tapes of the bare tracks and met them in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and without a lead vocal we laid down, there was ten guys, we laid down all of the hey-ya's and the hey-yo's using sort of a number method. Like we're gonna do four and we're gonna do six and we're gonna do three. If you just listen to the hey-ya's and all that it's pretty complex and it fits around the lead vocal like a puzzle. But when we did it we didn't have a lead vocal. It was just amazing working with a Native American pow-wow-singing group that was so tight. And since then I've become very good friends with them.
Jennifer- Is it true that they gave you a feather that you sometimes put on your bass during concerts?
Jim- Ya, they gave me a feather and that's a big honor. It was a big honor and is a great honor for me to have. I carry it with me wherever I go. It represents friendship with them and you know whenever I think about them I just bring it out or whenever I wanna say hey guys or say hello to them or on TV or something I'll just put it in my bass. So, ya it's a great honor because they're so very inspiring to me as well, good friends.
Liz- What is something that no one else would know about the band?
Jim- Well, you guys seem to know more than anyone I know and you're asking questions that go deeper than I have ever had in an interview.
Liz- Trust me, we're like really, really, really obsessed.
Jennifer- I got her started. My dad got me started with Barenaked Ladies probably about six years ago when Gordon first came out and I've just been a fan of yours ever since.
Jim- Wow, amazing.
Jennifer- I have all the CD's and everything.
Jim- That's cool.
Liz- And we're in my bedroom right now and we're just kinda looking at pictures of you and wondering about stuff.
Jim- Ya, that's kinda like what I used to do with Rush. I used to look at all of the pictures and go like, ya man, and just think about them, ya know? What do they do in their lives and what makes them do this or that, what makes them play like this? It's kinda neat, eh? It's fun being in a band. I'm still like that. I'm into like lots of bands and stuff.
Jennifer- What's your biggest pet peeve?
Jim- Biggest pet peeve?
Liz- Probably people who know more about the band than he does.
Jim- (Laughter) My biggest pet peeve? Today perhaps is having no fresh laundry, which comes down to being my own damn fault.
Jennifer- Okay, one more thing about your hair. Why did you cut it?
Liz- I like it cut, she likes it long. We had to ask.
Jim- (Laughter) I cut my hair just mainly for a change. I just wanted to, I was ready for a change. I just woke up one day and said, "Time to loosen the load a little bit." And it was pretty easy. I was actually, the first time I cut it was on a mountain in the middle of this island in Indonesia called Silhouaisy and I remember walking by it, it was like on the side of a trail, this big clump of red hair. It was kinda funny because when I was walking through Indonesia, I'd walk into little villages and I'd have huge hair and they've probably never seen a red headed white person before, with that much red hair. I'd frighten these little three-year-old toddlers out of their minds, they'd be terrified of me. Like screaming in terror and crying, so maybe that had something to do with it. I think that the reason I wanted a change was, I found that in retrospect that the hair was sort of gave me a lot more of, I made sort of a statement with the long hair and I sort of had more power because of that. It was part of saying, "I have red hair! It's big and flying around!" At that time in my life I wanted to assert myself that way, sort of putting myself on the map in a way. But, I think now that I have shorter hair I feel less of the need to assert power or assert a bigness. I'm more into being a little more humble and looking at people around me instead of being the main attraction, you know?
Liz- Did you attend Tyler's wedding?
Jim- Ya.
Liz- That was sad, the day I heard of that it was a sad day.
Jim- It was sad? (Sarcastically) I know, I've had a crush on Tyler for as long as I've known him. And now I know that I'll never be able to go on a real live date with him.
Jennifer, Liz, and Jim- (Laughter)
Jennifer- What's your favorite song?
Jim- My favorite song? It's a jazz song called "I remember Clifford". It's a song written by this sax player named Benny Goldson remembering his good friend Clifford Brown who was a really great bee-bop player who died at a young age. It's a pure song and it's really beautiful.
Liz- Do you guys get your own rooms in your hotels?
Jim- Ya.
Liz- That was just one stupid question I had to throw in there.
Jim- We never used to, but just within the last couple of years we started getting our own rooms.
Jennifer- Going back to your favorite songs, what is your favorite song to perform with the band?
Jim- To perform with the band? I think I like playing "Great Provider" because it sort of has more, we leave it open to change. It's often very different every night.
Liz- What is your favorite song all together, not to perform with the band, but your favorite song by the band all together?
Jim- That's been recorded?
Liz- Ya.
Jim- I like "The Flag".
Liz- That's a sad song.
Jim- Ya, I know. I like the sad songs. But ya, it's a sad song. Either that or "Spider in my Room".
Liz- Why didn't you have any songs on Stunt? You had "Spider in my Room" and things like that on the other ones, but you didn't have any songs just by you on Stunt.
Jim- I think because I chose not to write for this album. In a way, I had my head in different things like for instance I was organizing a Brother's Creeggan tour that didn't work out because our visas didn't go through, so we got stuck at the border. I was doing that and also I found that even though it was really fun doing those songs on Born On a Pirate Ship it was in a lot of ways, the band was flexed in a way that it didn't naturally go. It was more difficult to go against the grain in the band and I was more interested in letting the band do what it naturally does best. For instance, like you know, I wanted to sort of support what was naturally natural for the band. Some people in the band are better leaders than followers. And I made sort of an effort to let the guys who sort of lead the best do what they do and I would leave my music in Brothers Creeggan. I think it's like, for instance if I bring a song to the band I have a couple of guys going, well what do I do. Because they are usually the guys who bring in the song and it's harder for them to adjust because when Steve or Ed brings in a song there's already a drummer and a bass player and a keyboard player ready to take that song on and change it and morph it to understand and play it. Just to add to that as well, usually in the band if you write the song then you sing it, which sort of off sets things a little bit. But, I'm pretty happy with "Spider" and "In The Drink" and stuff.
Liz- What are you eating in the beginning of the Alternative Girlfriend video?
Jim- I big, huge, dry, baguette. My mouth felt like a desert.
Jennifer- Was that just something you improved, like ya, I'm going to eat a baguette.
Jim- The guy just sort of handed it to me and put the camera on me so I just ate it. It was shockingly dry.
Jennifer- What is your favorite bass to play?
Jim- My favorite bass to play is my stand up bass, the big one. I like the one that I did the solo on and I like the electric bass as sort of a challenge. But, ultimately my favorite bass is my big, big bass.
Liz- Why did Ed dye his hair?
Jim- I think he was looking for a change.
Liz- We were just wondering, and are his eyes really that blue?
Jim- Ya, they are. He's got crazy blue eyes.
Jennifer- We met Steven, Ed, and Tyler at the H.O.R.D.E. festival.
Liz- Ya, but you and Chris ran off.
Jennifer- We were like, where's Jim and Chris? Andrea Kramer was like, I don't know!
Jim- Were you interviewing them?
Jennifer- No, we just met them backstage because I take pictures for the paper here and I took probably seven rolls of film of you guys. Ya, my dad was up there last night taking pictures of you guys. I just wanted to enjoy the concert again.
Jim- Well, ya know what guys? I think I have to go because I have another interview.
Liz- Thank you very much. I enjoyed your show last night and I am looking forward to seeing you in the future.
Jim- Ya, you guys are awesomely perceptive.
Jennifer- Maybe we can meet you sometime at the next show.
Jim- That would be fun.
Liz and Jennifer- Thank you!
Jim- See ya.
Liz and Jennifer- Bye!
