PIXIES up the pace
JOEY SANTIAGO TELLS SHARON O’CONNELL HOW HE SHOOK OFF HIS LOCKDOWN LETHARGY
COMFORTING news for the rest of us: even acclaimed musicians who’ve helped define the sound of epochal alt.rock bands struggle with lack of motivation. ‘I was good at the beginning,’ guitarist Joey Santiago of Pixies says, of his time spent in lockdown in Los Angeles. ‘I was trying to learn classical guitar and then it just fell off. And then that turned into guilt and shame and
I was thinking, by this time I should have learned about five languages. And I should have learned how to play the harp.’ He chuckles. ‘But it ain’t happening!’
Instead, the man who’s been a cornerstone of Pixies since they formed in 1986 – and whose own influential playing style was inspired by Hendrix, Angus Young, Wes Montgomery and Ennio Morricone – started enjoying his time off. Now he tries to cycle every day (‘I look like I belong in an Eighties metal band, with the outfit’) and he plays golf.
When the shutters were slammed down on touring in March, Pixies were in Australia, playing both their 1987 mini-album, Come On Pilgrim, and 1988’s full-length debut, Surfer Rosa, in full. But they had to hotfoot it back to the US to avoid being stranded. They’re used to long layoffs, of course; the band broke up not entirely amicably in 1993 and it was 11 years before they reunited. Bass player Paz Lenchantin, who replaced Kim Deal in 2014, is now very much a permanent Pixies fixture.
Said break aside, what has sustained Pixies for so long? ‘After a while there’s necessarily going to be downturns,’ reasons Joey, ‘depending on what’s going on within the band. And you’ve just got to trust that it’s going to pass, because it does. Not all work places are perfect, nor are the people around you. But deep down, we know this is the perfect job for us. So, we’re gonna keep it, no matter what. It’s like, OK, so it’s weird today.
When I get on that bus I’m just gonna go in my space and do something by myself. But as long as you’re putting out good music, you’re good. This time around, there isn’t much tension.’
There’s been a burst of recorded Pixies activity this year. In January and February, they released parts one and two of the demos for 2019’s Beneath The Eyrie album and just a few weeks ago, a brand new, characteristically surf-twangin’ single, Hear Me Out, with a cover of T Rex’s Mambo Sun on the flipside. Looking ahead to 2021, live dates are being put in place, including a performance at BST Hyde Park in July, with Pearl Jam.
Joey is philosophical about the uncertainty involved: ‘If it happens, it’ll be great but it almost seems like a miracle needs to happen, y’know.
I’m OK about not being on the road at the moment but sometimes I itch for it. Then it only takes me a trip to the grocery store to know that no one’s ready to be together in a room yet.’
Given that back in the day, alt.rock fans were almost exclusively on the side of either Pixies plus Nirvana or Pearl Jam, there’s some irony in the two bands playing together now. Does Joey acknowledge this was the case in the 1990s? ‘Yeah, it certainly was and Eddie [Vedder] is smart enough to know that was the case, also. It’s just the nature of music fans and there’s no such thing amongst musicians as to who’s “the enemy”. You’ve got to look at it from the outside perspective and it’s a show. People are gonna want to see this.’
Pixies play BST Hyde Park with Pearl Jam on Friday July 9, 2021, bst-hydepark.com