Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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That band went on to become the hugely influential Pixies.
But cmon man, how cool can I possibly be?
I live alone in Dayton.
Best song to get an Olivia Rodrigo fan into your music
Its gotta be Cannonball.
Olivia is so personable.
She has a section of the show where she thanked the Breeders.
Im paraphrasing, but she tracks her life as before and after she heard Cannonball for the first time.
In front of all these screaming fans, she says It blew my little brain apart.
I dont know how younger people listen to music anymore, but they knew that song.
Im not sure if Olivia put it on a playlist.
I cant figure out how else theyd know it.
I have stuff thats marinating.
I had the title for, Are You Mine?
We worked on that song in my basement in the middle of the aughts.
I brought out the riff on my old cassette tape from the 4 track.
Thats how that old riff got turned into a song on theAll Nerverecord.
That was at least ten years of marinating.
This new album is a collection of songs Id recorded solo over the years as 7 records.
I asked Steve if he knew of any drummers, and he mentioned Britt.
It made it very cinematic.
I usually dont like those reverb songs, but he did it so well.
Another one is Summerland off the new record, with all the strings.
But, Summerland has viola, French horn, violin, and like ten different instruments.
I had it in my head, the whole orchestra, and Steve helped shape it.
He was someone who was good at their job and confident and super laid back.
He was also really friendly and had everything prepared.
All the headphone boxes were working, and there were always enough chairs for everyone.
I said yeah, and he said, Well, theres no reason to do it again.
Coolest bass line
Biker Gone, with Britt on drums.
I was using the Ostrich tuning, which tunes the strings to the same note.
Venus in Furs by Velvet Underground does it.
They had a bad guitar so they tuned everything to low D. Why?
Who the fuck knows why anybody would do that if they werent high.
But, I really like that bass line.
Im primarily a rhythm-guitar player, and have been playing since I was 13.
But I love playing bass.
I also love recording, and microphone porn.
I have some beautiful mics that I cherish.
Ive written tons that were really cringey.
The other day I was talking to Kelley and my friend.
They both gasped and said, We love that song!
That song is so weird to me, because its just me going, Has anyone seen the iguana?
Thats all it is, just me asking if anyone has seen the iguana.
Back in the day, if you bought pot, the dealer always had a terrarium with an iguana.
My life was not going great at that point, but I think the song is hilarious.
That was the only one I can think of that was just too weird.
Maybe Ill release a collection one day calledThe Cringe: Vol 1-5.
Most vulnerable song
Gigantic and Drivin on 9 were my moms favorites.
My mom loved going to our shows, not just as support, but she absolutely adored it.
As a dancer from the 50s, she really liked stuff she could dance to.
Lyrics you associate with the worst time in your life
So many!
Other people might do this, but I never think, Im feeling fantastic today.
Im gonna put my feelings down on paper.
It would be a cool challenge to try and write when Im happy, but I never do it.
I think Cannonball is happy, but its all about going to Hell.
But, if I had to pick one song, itd be Bragging Party from the Amps record.
That whole period was rough, but that song in particular makes me sad.
Favorite stage names
I think Mrs. John Murphy is my fave.
But she would say very seriously, My name is not Ethel.
It is Mrs. Robert Goldstein.
You had to call them by their husbands name, which blew my little mind.
I also used Tammy and the Amps, which was originally going to be a solo record.
See, I told you Ive been trying to put out a solo record for years.
Anyway, there were numerous players on the album, so I wanted to call it a band.
Id been using Tammy Ampersand around town for years.
Id walk into a bar and people would yell, Tammy!
So, I dropped the Tammy and just called it the Amps.
Song that reminds you of Dayton
Walking With a Killer, and theres a story behind it.
It was one of the solo 7 songs I put out which ended up on a Breeders record.
Growing up, we were surrounded by miles of cornfields, and they can be very creepy.
We were in Huber Heights, which is a suburb of Dayton.
It was dark, and suddenly these dudes in a van sped by and yelled out, Rape victim!
It was so fucking creepy and weird.
It was like I was asking for it, because I was taking space on the earth.
Most joyful track
I like playing Cannonball.
I think its still a lot of fun.
I get to use my brothers harmonica microphone and put it through distortion.
The beat is fun and really zingy, because it goes back and forth.
Its really challenging to play, which is part of the fun.
Divine Hammer is another fun one.
I think its a really well-made pop song.
The structure of it is good, and I worked really hard on it.
The guy I got that guitar lead from worked with my brother at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Hed come over and wed jam together.
Hes passed, and I always associate that song with him.
The CannonballMTVvideo had a bowling ball that Spike Jonze threw down the street.
With Gigantic, peoples minds are just filthy.
We dont have to get into that.
Cannonball really simply came from doing a cannonball off a diving board.
But now that the secret origin is out, no ones gonna like it anymore.
Best Kelley Deal moment
All of them!
Every time Im on stage with her now Im just dumbfounded at how amazing she is.
Shes so on point, and shes really worked on curating her pedals and her sound.
She has great creative ideas, and every time we play now she comes in loud and strong.
It didnt always used to be like that, so Im really proud of her.
Theres never any clashing if were trying out ideas or figuring out a certain part that isnt working.
You want someone to swoop in and take it to another level, and Kelley is great at that.
Correction: A previous version of this story mislabeled the band Deal is standing with in the photo.
