Q&A: They Might Be Giants Rock The Grown-Up World

Our Stage, August 9, 2011

In almost thirty years of musical collaboration as They Might Be Giants, John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been involved in a mind-boggling array of projects.  They have won two GRAMMY awards, written numerous TV show theme songs, released the first ever full-length online-only album and recorded three albums of children's music.  After such a varied and successful career, it might seem like the band would be content with resting on its laurels, but the Johns have no intention of stopping just yet.  We caught up with Flansburgh to discuss the band's relationship with technology, their close work with producer Patrick Dillett and the need to preserve the classic pop song format.

Recently, you've been releasing a lot more children's music than rock music.  After your two most recent children's albums, what prompted the decision to write a new album of "adult rock" music?

After the GRAMMY win for [Here Come] the 123s there was a lot of momentum for the kids stuff so we broke our "back and forth" rhythm of releases and did the Science album which is ostensibly for kids but certainly was celebrated within the fact-based community. But the truth is we live for our regular stuff. We don't want to lose that side of things even if it's not the money pot of doing kids stuff.

Did your foray into children's music shape your process of writing music for adults?

For the most part, the opposite scenario was the real process-shaper. I think that's always been the secret to our success with the kids stuff--it's still our basic sensibility in a very undiluted way. The one specific thing I can point to that working on kids stuff brought back to our recordings was general basking in the psychedelic moment. The cycle of touring and recording had wound up the arrangements pretty tight over fifteen years. Making a kids record--especially recording songs we figured we'd never be called on to reproduce--that brought our loosey goosey home recording vibe back in to play.

The producer of Join Us is Patrick Dillett, who has worked pretty consistently with you for the past twenty years.  How has his continued involvement influenced the band?  What keeps you coming back to work with him?

Pat's a gent and he's fast and he cares a lot about quality. He's a little bit younger but not so much that we feel old! He also has a unique blend of modern and classic studio skills. He has a quality that I think everybody we end up working with long term has--which is he lets us go when it's clicking and jumps in when we're stuck. A lot of producers want to make their mark on recording from beginning to end, and they really want to dictate the process. And sometimes that's an education--there is a lot to learn. But over the years we've figured out a way to work that gets good results and Pat's approach fits in well with those little strategies.

Your songs are packed full of references to history, literature and science.  How do you feel about your tag as an "intellectual" rock group?

Meh.

You've been consistently at the forefront of the intersection between music and technology.  How do you foresee technology further transforming the music business in the next ten to fifteen years?

Generationally, we were the kids who grew up with a synthesizer in our band. A synth wasn't "weird" or a novelty--it was another instrument. Because we worked with tape recorders to make our rhythm tracks, then later with drum machines and samplers as that stuff emerged, I guess we're used to technology advancing at a pretty good clip. That said, both John and I are reluctant to give up our original Performer program so we are a tad luddite on that front. It's actually called Digital Performer now--it's a competitor with Pro Tools, but it started as a MIDI sequencing program on a floppy disc--so we've been rocking that program for a while!

As for the future--who could say? As a person kind of obsessed with sound, I find glitchy electronica very entrancing, but I find my wife hates it, which makes me wonder if I wasn't so absorbed by sonics if I'd have the same relationship with that stuff. But, man, I love those buzzes and clicks.

A lot of contemporary pop is so rhythm- and hook-based it suggests regular song structures are going out the window. I kinda hate the idea of verse/chorus songs being seen as antiquated or even worse--a pastiche--just from its form, but the popular song has really been going for a long time. Still, it's hard to see how it can stay vital forever. Sigh.

Your album release show will be at the legendary New Jersey venue The Stone Pony.  What was the thinking behind planning the concert at such a historic performance spot?

Whatever its reputation, it's not a glamorous place. But it pretty much sums up what's good about a club. Everyone can see your face and you can see theirs. It's more challenging than a lot of bigger shows actually, but it's also more exciting. They make posters of every show, and I've been collecting ours for years. It's one of the only souvenirs I have up in my house. They're in my basement.

In July, you played a couple of free concerts in New York and Boston.  Why did you decide to preface your big upcoming fall tour with free summer concerts?

What's better than a free show?

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