june
1, 2002jojo asks *SPIRAL STAIRS* of preston school of industry seven questions...
june
1, 2002
location: Reckless Records - Chicago, IL
Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg (yes, he was in Pavement) is a swell guy. After all, he allowed me to interview him before his in-store performance! If you haven't already done so, pick up a copy of the Preston School of Industry CD (there are some EP's out as well - "All This Sounds Gas" is on constant rotation on my stereo) on Matador or heck, see them live. He tells you why you should see them live below...
Question #1: In the CD booklet, there are eleven words/sentences written backwards after the lyrics to "Take a Stand". Does this have something to do with the infamous themes of the album?
Spiral: They're the themes to the different songs. It gives you insight - it's "answers to the quiz". The songs are the quiz, and the "inside/out" are clues/answers to the songs. A lot of the time, they're just nonsense - things I make up. You gotta look in the mirror to see the words. Have you figured out the first song? Before the first song, there's a whole song hidden. If you rewind back (from track one) - some CD players can't do it - it's before "Whalebones".
Question/Comment #2: Complete this sentence: "Owning my own record label is..."
Spiral: (very long pause, looks at particular movie on rack)Ummm...owning my own label is...ugly. I just saw the "Ugly Duckling"! It's not really anything. It's a small label that I have with a friend of mine. We put out cool records of bands we like. It doesn't take much time; well, it does, but it's well worth it.
Question/Comment #3: If you could do it all over, would your moniker still be Spiral Stairs?
Spiral: No! Well, actually, it would be Laura Scutter. Spiral Stairs is too...too many people ask "Why do you call yourself Spiral Stairs?" If I had called myself Laura Scutter, they'd be like, "Oh, that's a normal name".
jojo: I like "Spiral Stairs"...
Spiral: Thanks!
Question/Comment #4: Tell me your best joke.
Spiral: Why is there no asprin in the jungle?
jojo: Dunno, why?
Spiral: The parrots eat 'em all.
Question #5: When will the "Slow Century" be released? (Pavement's long awaited DVD)
Spiral: We're going to try to have it out by Christmas. It pretty much depends on the guy who's doing it. He's off doing movies, so...this guy Lance (Bangs)...we're still waiting to hear from him, and we still have to edit it. Hopefully Christmas.
jojo: Didn't he direct yr video?
Spiral: Yeah, he did a few videos. He did a Preston video ("Falling Away").
Question #6: Why should one attend a PSOI show?
Spiral: I dunno - that's hard! Well, it's fun, I guess! A lot of shows aren't that much fun anymore - we're pretty fun. We smile a lot.
Question #7: Do yr amps go to eleven?
Spiral: Nope - Three. Three and a half.
Thanks to Alisa from the Red Lights for assisting me with this interview!