"WEEN"

After 15 years, Dean and Geen Ween want be taken seriously. Sure, they've changed genres every album (occasionally with hideous results), and written a boatload of goofy and/or naughty-sounding songs-- "Piss Up a Rope", "Waving My Dick in the Wind", "She Fucks Me", "The HIV Song" for starters, not to mention their messed-up hit "Push Th' Little Daisies". But they have another side that fans know well, the side that pulls out righteous jams (complete with Pink Floyd-sized light shows and fog machines) that have the ability to turn concertgoers into a bunch of googly-eyed Phishheads (though Ween fans probably couldn't get out of bed long enough to travel to the next city). To prove the point, the brothers have released their first-ever live album-- a two-sided box set spanning 10 years.... While they may be a cult band, Gene Ween finally tasted the fruits of rock stardom he has longed for, and coincidentally, the Zine was there to share it. Yet, as could be expected, the magic moment didn't happen in New York or L.A., but a Holiday Inn in the middle of Iowa-- a pure Ween moment.

ZZ: When did you get in town?

AARON (aka GENE WEEN): Just now! And I'm gonna take a jacuzzi.

ZZ: You have a jacuzzi in your room?

GW: Yeah, I don't know what happened! We're at a Holiday Inn (hint of sarcasm) and I lucked out... half of my room is this giant jacuzzi! Very rock n' roll.

ZZ: This isn't another Ween lie, is it?

GW: No, no! I swear to God... you can hear me fill it up, hear it?

ZZ: Are you filling it with champagne?

GW: Totally! That's for after the show. Get three or four groupies (laughs).

ZZ: So you wanted to make this an online album first? Are you computer whizzes?

GW: Well, pretty much, both of us. We didn't design the website, but we're on the Internet all the time at home, absolutely. A lot of our fans are web designers, so we had them do it for us. We always check our newsgroups and talk to the people in the Ween newsgroup and stuff like that.

ZZ: Is this going to be the first in a series of live albums? (They claimed that in their first-person bio, but again, it could just be rumor.)

GW: Well, we were saying that because we have a lot of material. Our sound man has been recording every one of our concerts since 1989, so we've got hundreds and hundreds of live tapes. We could put out a 20-CD volume if we wanted to. Every month.

ZZ: Or just sell'em as bootlegs on eBay for 40 bucks each.

GW: There's already a lot of bootlegs. We allow people to record our shows, so there's a lot of trading and stuff.

ZZ: Congratulations on making it fifteen years, by the way.

GW: Thanks. We just like to make music, that's all. We finally got to quit our day jobs.

ZZ: Tell me the "story" about you guys living in a commune (another self-propagated Ween rumor).

GW: No, that was-- we never lived in a commune. I lived in a house with a few other people about five years ago. That picture on Pure Guava, that's where that's from. We're homeboys. We like air-conditioning and TV.

ZZ: What is the biggest misconception people have about you?

GW: When "Push Th' Little Daisies" came out, our first hit that went copper, people had a lot of misconceptions then. They just thought we were a wacky, crazy, goofy pop- whatever band. And I can see why; that song is so fucked up. But people think that sometimes we make fun of things when we really don't. We actually do take writing music sort of seriously. We're not smart enough to be witty-- or we don't try to be as witty as people give us credit for. Leave it to They Might Be Giants to be witty! We're just scumbags.

ZZ: On the other side of the coin, what's the best lie you've gotten away with?

GW: (laughs) I don't know, there's too many to think of right now... I'm too burned. You should ask me that after my jacuzzi.

ZZ: Quick, go break into that minibar and have a few swigs.

GW: Totally!

ZZ: You know what I found really funny was all the "Related Artists" they put next to your name on SonicNet. There's Laurie Anderson, Zappa, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Prince, Bob Seger, Beastie Boys... Do you agree with all of those?

GW: Yeah. People put us in there with all of that because we listen to a lot of music, and it does influence us a lot.

ZZ: Zappa I can really see.

GW: You know, Zappa's the only one I don't really like much. Neither of us do. I liked Mothers of Invention, which my father was really into when I was little. I listened to Freak Out and stuff like that, and I think it really affected my musical writings. But now I go back and listen to him in the 70's and I think it's crap. Like "Dynamo Hum". I mean, give me a break.

ZZ: He got pretentious there sometimes.

GW: Yeah, he was just guitarded. At the end he was just a big guitarded dum-dum, just like "Ha, ha, I'm not in to it, man." And he was bitter and shit... ah, whatever.

ZZ: Who did really tweak you?

GW: Tweak my shit out? All the classics. Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Prince. In every musical genre there's someone amazing that I've found in my musical travels.

ZZ: Your country album was great. You caught that just when it peaked... Think you'll ever do another one?

GW: We might... A Silver Anniversary album or something. That was a really a cool experience, working with those people. Most of 'em were retired cats who played on just about everything that came out in the '60s and '70s from Nashville. They'd seen everything-- nothing we did even fazed them.

ZZ: They could outdrink you, huh?

GW: Oh yeah, I wouldn't even try.

ZZ: I read somewhere where the Germans didn't quite get it...

GW: Oh contraire! The Germans loved it-- especially "Buenas Tardes Amigos". We're big in Germany, for some unknown reason! We always end up playing like 12 shows when we go there. (All of sudden there's the big "whoosh" of jacuzzi jets being turned on in the background. Dean cracks up.) Didja hear that? This is awesome, I tell you! It'll put me right to sleep-- in time for the show.

ZZ: Did everyone get one, or just you?

GW: Just me. I called a couple people and asked 'em, and they said, "What????" I guess the party's in my room tonight. Oh wait-- ahhhhh! This rules! I'm relaxed, got my Eucalyptus bubble bath.

ZZ: Are you going to Europe this time around?

GW: Nah, after this we're going home to record a new record. This is just like a summer fun tour of America.

ZZ: Has the label been giving you a push?

GW: Nah, they just kind of let our records come out. It's so political up there; I don't know how it works. If they like our record they'll give it a push... it's the same shit. "Do I hear a single?"

ZZ: Did they pick "Pushing Up the Little Daisies"?

GW: The radio stations actually did that. They let them pick which song they wanted to play, and they chose that one.... Oh, Shit! I've never put bubblebath in a jacuzzi before, and I'm slowly tilting the phone up more and more because the bubbles are rising. It's really brewing. I better let out some water right now! This thing isn't even in the bathroom either, it's in the room itself because it's so big. Oh wait, this is totally out of control. I should probably go and fix this.

ZZ: May I ask one last question?

GW: Sure.

ZZ: If you had to do one of those "Drugs Messed Up My Life" PSAs like Art Alexakis did, what would you say?

GW: You're puttin' me on! That requires too much thought. We don't do that many drugs anymore, to tell you the truth. If I had to do a drug PSA I'd do one like I acted-- "uhhhhh", like Beavis and Butthead. "Don't... do... drugs.... It'll... fuck.... you... up................. really bad." Then I'd have my face get mutated by the camera. Put it special effects and make it into a psychedelic video. Achhh, I'm surrounded by bubbles!