No Age are a guitar/drums duo from Los Angeles whose noisy, distorted, ragged take on lo-fi rock has found unlikely success. After their debut album, 2007's Weirdo Rippers was a strictly underground affair, 2008's Sub Pop-issued Nouns thrust No Age into the limelight, earning much critical acclaim and, most surprisingly, a Grammy nomination for 'Best Recording Package.' The day after their Grammy gong, guitarist Randy Randall talked about his band's wild 2008.
Interview: 5 December 2008
Many have told me, recently, about feeling proud to be an American for the first time this decade. Are you feeling that?
“Oh, yeah. It’s hard to say exactly what the feeling is, but it’s the sense that change could happen, that things could go in less of the bad direction they've been going. But, now, it’s still the same. We have to wait until January. It feels like a bad breakup, lingering on, taking a while.”
Were you amazed Obama somehow managed to win even after you were forced to remove your t-shirt on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson?
“Yeah, I didn’t think he’d be able to win without the support of that t-shirt. As much as that was a crazy experience to go through, this kind of weird censorship, it was always pretty clear that there were, this time, enough people that felt the same way I did.”
How strange has it been to ‘crossover’ this year into foreign realms like television?
“It’s definitely not something that happens comfortably. The reality of it is always so much funnier than the idea of it: you go into these tiny little freezers, these refrigerated studios, and perform to a camera and ten people. Other than the cameras, in that way it feels less like crossing over, than going back. Like: ‘I remember awkwardly performing to ten disinterested people!’”
What’s the strangest circumstance you’ve found yourselves in over the past year?
“Backstage in Washington, DC, we managed to befriend Bob Mould from Hüsker Dü. Dean [Spunt of No Age] was a huge Hüsker Dü fan when he was growing up, and he was asking him about all these demos and rarities. We were working on doing a cover of one of their songs, and I couldn’t get the guitar part right, and Bob just took the guitar and went: ‘oh, it’s like this!’ Getting a guitar lesson from Bob Mould was the strangest thing that’s happened.”
Not being nominated for a Grammy?
“Well, that's crazy. But, we actually really did spend a lot of time on the packaging of the CD, to go out of our way to create this awesome, 72 page, full-color booklet. We felt like it was a real accomplishment to be able to get that done, have it manufactured. That was, I think, in my mind, an artistic triumph, to make this art catalogue for a CD that you can just download for free, anyway. It’d be funny if people just started bootlegging the book.”
You’re not on some Lars Ulrich-esque crusade against the bootleggers?
“Nah, for us, it’s all digestible, it’s all up for grabs. Money’s not floating around everywhere, so you steal and borrow what you can. I think that's cool. I don’t trip out when people say that got the record for free. Usually because I’m meeting them at a show. The fact they cared enough to download it, then liked it enough to drag their asses out to a show and have a good time, that's awesome.”
You don't ever worry about some perceived loss of income?
“No, because I know I’d be making music, just for myself, even if no one gave a s**t. It’s part of who I am: I’ve been playing guitar, now, for just over half my life. I’ve spent more time playing the damn thing than doing anything else. So, it’s just something I'll always do, regardless. I’m not relying on [No Age] to pay the bills forever, but for the moment, it’s definitely nice to be able to eat out at a good restaurant, or go see a baseball game and not freak out about the inflated cost of everything. I don’t live too far from Dodger stadium, so it’s nice to get some friends to go down there, have some beers, and enjoy just being outside.”
Has it definitely felt of recent like something, musically, has been brewing in Los Angeles?
“Great music has come out of LA for years; there’s really such a rich history. But, recently, there’s been a lot more attention given to bands that’ve come out of similar places to us, bands of kindred spirit. It’s really been cool to see these great underground bands who work hard, and are doing things in their own way, and not doing it for the attention, get a little recognition for it.”
Have you been particularly happy to see the world ‘discover’ Abe Vigoda?
“Oh yeah! We’ve been friends for years, and have played piles of shows with them for the past five years. It’s cool that their out there, holding their own in the world, f**king s**t up in their own way. And our good friends Mika Miko are over in Europe now, and though we never get to see them, we can always swap strange stories and stupid pictures.”
This year, playing all these shows in other countries, have you had to forsake your shows-in-odd-places beliefs?
“Well, it’s never shows in odd places for the sake of odd places, it’s always for the sake of a better show. To go out of your way not to just play the standard halls makes it exciting for everyone. But we’re not that connected, yet, with all these foreign cities; we don’t yet know where all these cool, out-of-the-way places are. So, we’ve had to compromise to a degree. But often, after shows, someone will come up and say: next time you’re here, you have to play this place. And, then, there you go: we have an in. We have to learn this one city at a time.”
What’s the least traditional rock-venue type space you’ve ever played?
“A grocery store. It was after-hours, so there were no unsuspecting shoppers pushing around their trolleys, just people who really wanted to see the show. But there was still crowd-surfing, and knocking over jars of spaghetti sauce whilst playing. That was fun”
Do you ever join the kids in crowd-surfing?
“I’ll get out there once in a while if it looks like the kids’re strong enough to hold me. I have to be cautious, I’m not a small man, I require some support. I’m six foot, but I’m carrying about 200 pounds on me, so I don’t want to crush the kids. Those’re our fans, we have to look after them.”
