"Words and Magic from... WEEN"

Probably the hottest up and coming punk band on the East Coast is the two piece extravaganza known as the brothers WEEN. This interview was conducted by myself with Poppa Gene Ween and Dean Ween on the evening of July 26th, 1990 before a free performance by the band at Princeton Community Park in Princeton, NJ. It went something like this...

Q: = Chris Griffith

G: = Poppa Gene Ween (Vocals & Stuff)

D: = Dean Ween (Guitar wizardry & Stuff)

Q: Where, when & how did you guys start this phenomina that is Ween?

G: Well, ah, we started back in '83. What we were doing was, ah, trying to scrounge by, ya know, trying to pay the rent, pay the bills things like that, get as many women as possible at all times, so we desided we would start a rock band and get really fucked up and play some rock'n'roll, right man?

D: Yeah, right. That was the basic idea... Back then.

Q: How did the name come about?

D: We started back in 1983 to fuck chicks and play rock'n'roll, right dude?

G: That's right man, you see the basic concept of Ween was formed back in '83. That's when we were trying to pay the rent and fuck the chicks. Now Ween, Ween is a sucking... Ween is a suckage... Ween is ah, ah...

D: ...dudeman, what was the question...

Q: The name.

D: I can up with it...

G: BULLSHIT, that's such bullshit, he did not. You did not you fuck. All you want is to get laid.

Q: (For all you unknowledgables out there, Ween is a two piece band, so when they play live they use a tape with prerecorded bass and drum tracks.) Who plays the drums and bass on the tapes?

D: Tom Nickles.

G: Tom Nickles? Yeah, Tom Nickles, he's right there.

(Tom Nickles is the band photographer. He was taking pictures at the time.)

Tom Nickles: Hi.

Q: But, your last name's not Ween?

Tom: No, well I keep separate, I've been playing separate for years.

Q: You guys were young when you first started, did you have trouble getting booked?

G: Ah, no. We used to just play small clubs and bars in Philly, and ah... Alright it's a lie! We never played clubs in Philly.

D: No, we never had to call for a show in our lives, to this day.

Q: You had a 12" out before, is it still available?

D: It came out in 1988. No, it was never available really it was a personal pressing.

Q: How did you get signed to Twin Tone?

G: We were asked to play at this party and we got, ah... We played at the party and, ah...It was a party for, ah, it was a party for these guys that were signed to Twin Tone, Skunk, and ah, back then they were Might Joe Young...and Frank Alberstein from Twin Tone was there and Frank said, you guys are something special and ah, he said I got the brains, you got the, you got the, you got, ah, the time let's make lots of money. Frank bought us gold and jewels, and told us that we would be stars..

D: I remember that night. Frank Alberstein flew us to Minneapolis and tried to impress us with large piles of cocaine on his desk at the Twin Tone office, and Prince was there, and we just couldn't believe it, we got sucked into the Prince Rock'n'roll world...cocaine on his desk in '83, this is back in '83...

G: We were just trying to pay our rent, we didn't need to be snorting cocaine..

D: ...so, we were impressed and we signed and that was a bad thing.

Q: When is the album due out?

G: The album is due out October, October...

D: 12th

G: ... October 12th, and in Europe October 25th. And then we will be hittin' the road and doing the thing.

Q: You just went to Europe, how do you make out?

D: I don't remember.

G: Dean made out with this girl one night, I just stayed inside.

D: Yeah, I did good, I did good in Europe.

Q: Your songs about girls, what are they about?

Q: They are...FUCK, is that really a question?

Q: It was designed to confuse you.

D: Our songs about girls are about girls.

G: They are just about girls, you know, it's about life, it's about girls. Yeah man, all there is in life is is fucking, ah, Tasteykake Jelly Krimpats, Frank Alberstein, Prince and chicks, man, know what I'm saying?

Girls like when you sing about them.

Q: Speaking of jelly, how did you come up with such great songs like "Jelly?"

G: Jelly? Ah...

D: The earliest influence on Ween was jelly. All there was was jelly...

G: ...jelly, yeah, jelly...

D: ....the axxis of Ween is lubricated with jelly...

G: ...jelly, like grape, apricot, merange. Jelly.

Q: What do you guys listen to?

G: The stereo mostly...

D: Steely Dan.

G: ...and Steeli Spam.

Q: What else do you guys do besides the band?

G: Grapple, grapple with the orbital buffer. Squander our existences in the miasma of fluid. Fluid Truth, yea. Fluid Truth, we, we Boing, Boing Into the Spheres of Influence.

D: Also, let it be noted that Ween likes food. So, if you come see us bring food. That is our new thing. We want you to bring us food when we play. Even if we don't eat it, we will take it home and eat it later.

Q: Do you have a good following?

D: No. We have no follow anywhere. In Cronagen (sp?) Holland, we have a following, and in Boise, Idaho.

G: They love us in Idaho.

Q: Future plans.

G: (With a British accent) I'm going to London to rent out a house and work on my solo album entitled "Wash"... ah, no, It is all a wait until the album comes out. We're just working small jobs trying to pay the rent, still trying to pay the rent and pick up chicks. When the album comes out we'll hit the road. We might move to Pittsburgh...

D:...but it rains like, 300 days of the year in Pittsburgh...

G:...that's what everybody says but I like Pittsburgh a lot...I don't know, I don't know what I'm gonna do, I don't know what I am going to do, I just got busted...

Q: What for?

G: The PA state police busted me for under age drinking, wait I shouldn't have said that..I'm gonna loose everything, I'm ... Gonna.... Loose...Every... What?

Q: Any Final Comments?

G: I like jelly.

D: Time is but the fringe of eternity.

G: We are gonna be big stars. We are gonna be big stars, O.K? O.K., you fuckers? You fuckers, we are gonna be big fucking stars, you fuckers. Love me, Listen to me, you fuckers.