Lou Reed: Podcast That Shit

Waiting for Lou Reed:

Trials and tribulations of getting to work early for a good reason after the jump

[My AIM conversation with Synthesis Lynchpin Bill Fishkin at 6:15 AM, 10/11, Wednesday Morning. Bill sees I'm logged on early and writes me.]

fishkin: lou reed eh?
Kiku: hahah
Kiku: yeah, Spencer wakes up at 5:30 to speak with Lou and Lou only
fishkin: mornin
fishkin: yeah
Kiku: good times
fishkin: blog that shit
Kiku: hahaha, will do
fishkin: yeah - you probably haven’t seen 6am in a while
fishkin: unless you stayed up anyway
Kiku: hahah, probably so
Kiku: I catch more sundowns than sunrises
fishkin: i think i’m running about even these days

Five minutes later I’m connected with Lou Reed. The publicist refers to him as “Mr. Reed.” For the next ten minutes I speak with Mr. Reed, who, true to his reputation, isn’t about to make this an easy interview. It’s a somewhat bumpy start, however, once we start talking about recording gear, specifically M-Audio’s MicroTrack 24/96 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder, he becomes easier to connect with on a recording geek level.

I could hear his bemused smile when he asks me what I record with and I respond “a clock radio.” We then talk about Stephane Sednaoui’s short film “Walk on the Wild Side,” and how he feels when other artists reinterpret his work. Although he is a little salty, questioning my questions, I am a little salty back to him; we’re speaking about intellectualism in pop music, and I’m setting up my question by stating “you’ve written pretty smart songs…” and responds, “What do you mean have written? Continue to write,” and I reply something like “I would hope so,” with just a touch of attitude. Whatever though, he has me schooled throughout our time together. What would you expect? It’s freaking Lou Reed.

[6:45 AM. The interview's over. I hang up the phone and hit Bill back with an IM, telling him how it went]

Kiku: haha, that was rad
Kiku: he was salty
fishkin: yeah?
fishkin: nice
fishkin: salty eh?
Kiku: 10 Min interview
fishkin: wow
fishkin: what’d he have to say?
Kiku: usually all I have to do is set up an idea and the interviewee takes it from there. With Lou, it’s like “Yeah, and what’s your question?”
fishkin: nice
fishkin: that’s rad
Kiku: he did turn me on to some recording gear that he uses
fishkin: sounds like it’ll make a good podcast
Kiku: We talked about Stephane Sednaoui’s movie Walk on the WIld side
Kiku: his answers were pretty short
fishkin: typical lou
Kiku: that’s what I hear….he’s not one who candy coats things
fishkin: nah - he’s too core to do that
Kiku: exactly
Kiku: I was like, So you’re going on tour right now with no album out, what brings you on the road?
Kiku: “So, I have to have an album out to play”?
fishkin: damn
Kiku: “No, but you know that it’s typical of most artists to tour when they release an album, I know you’re not a typical musican…
Kiku: (not listening to me) “So I’m like most artists?”
Kiku: “No, I was just saying you’re not typical.”
Kiku: “Thank you. Maybe I’m just a musician who likes to play….”
fishkin: damn
fishkin: that’s fucking cool shit
Kiku: he’s fucking that cool, he made me nervous
fishkin: sounds like it
fishkin: those are usually the best though
fishkin: that’s for the weekly?
Kiku: yeah, but probably a periodic table for Jan/Feb
fishkin: nice
fishkin: let’s podcast that shit right now
Kiku: cool, I’ll give it to Dain
Kiku: my favorite quote of the interview: “Writing’s too hard.”
Kiku: (he prefers performing)
fishkin: i can’t wait to hear it

Lou’s right, writing is too hard. Podcasting is way easier (as long as we make Dain do the tech work).

Check back to Synthesis Radio later this week and maybe my Lou Reed interview will be up. I may sound like a douche or whatever, so just tune out when you hear my voice, and tune back in when Lou responds and puts me on the spot.

“Writing’s too hard.”

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