ryan adams interview

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I had already read that...but you probably figured that.

My favorite Ryan interview is the one he did with Filter in May:

~~~~~

My college roommate used to have a saying. A catchall phrase which summed up just about every question that came up in life. ?People,? he would say, wiping the pepperoni grease from his mullet, ?are stupid.? He let the intellectual dust settle for a moment, then add, ?but children are even dumber.?

I have no idea what this has to do with Ryan Adams, but I thought it was a nice story.

Ryan Adams isn?t stupid. He?s just bored. Bored with the same old questions, bored with the same old interview over and over again. He told me so as we sat down to talk, so fuck it, I asked him about Kris Kross, tequil,a and if he?d ever shit his pants.

He?s a rock star, and he just finished two albums, and he dates Parker Posey, so who the fuck am I? But dude bought me dinner, so I guess I can?t complain.

FILTER: Do you think you?ll ever write a song as good as ?Eat It??

RYAN: That?s a good fucking song. Weird Al.

FILTER: Do you remember that group Kris Kross?

RYAN: They both wore their shit backwards didn?t they? I?m not talking shit about Kris Kross because I don?t know what those guys look like now and I?m not going to get my ass beat. They might be, like, DMX or some shit.

FILTER: Who was cooler? Peter Kriss of Kiss or Kris from Kris Kross?

RYAN: I don?t know, that?s a really good question. I?m glad you?re staying up late trying to figure that out.

FILTER: Have you ever been addicted to diet pills?

RYAN: Diet pills? You mean like laxatives?

FILTER: No, like Dexatrim or something.

RYAN: I take them sometimes, maybe like three or four and then I end up in a cradle position behind some bar and having to get carried home. They don?t mix well.

FILTER: Did you ever see the Family Ties where Alex P Keaton was hooked on diet pills?

RYAN: I think I did see that one. His sister Valerie or Mallory, she freaks out on him and I think they have to take him to the hospital.

FILTER: Would you consider yourself the white Tracy Chapman?

RYAN: No, but you know Tracy Chapman almost accidentally ran me over in Los Angeles. I was getting some smokes and chips and shit from the corner market and I swear to god she skid on the breaks and I ran to get out of the way. There were no cars coming or anything but she skidded out and I almost got killed.

FILTER: You looked in and it was Tracy Chapman?

RYAN: It was her. She looked at me and growled and honked the horn.

FILTER: Who are you more scared of: a dude in an old school 80s Ozzy Osborne t-shirt, like the real kind of guy that would wear one, or a guy wearing a designer yarmulke?

RYAN: What colour is the yarmulke?

FILTER: It?s a designer one, like Adidas or Gucci.

RYAN: I would say that the guy in the old school Ozzy t-shirt because I grew up around people like that. Actually, I was one of them. I had southern red neck metal tendencies.

FILTER: Is it true that Bryan Adams is your older brother?

RYAN: Yes.

FILTER: Did your parents name you Ryan as a joke because they knew that there was going to be a real popular 80s singer named Bryan Adams?

RYAN: I wonder exactly what he was doing around when I was born because he was born in the 50s or some shit.

FILTER: Definitely before 1969, I know that.

RYAN: I don?t know if that song is literal, ?Summer of 69?. I talked to Bryan Adams once. We were staying in the same hotel in Munich. I had broken my hand and I also had a chest infection so I was totally fucked. When I got to Munich I had to cancel my agenda and we got this German doctor to come and he hooked me up with this liquid Valeron. If you knew what this shit was you would go to Germany immediately and slam yourself in the face with a hammer. It?s like liquid morphine which they give to ex-junkies, and they give it to me in this dropper, so you could put like two or three drops in your Coca Cola and in 10 minutes you?re so fucking high that your itching your skin.

FILTER: Sweet. Can you score me some?

RYAN: Um, so after he gave me all this shit he asked me to sign a CD for his boss and hands me The Best of Me by Bryan Adams. And he didn?t have any idea that I wasn?t Bryan Adams so I signed it. I was laughing about it all night until I got this very disturbing message from somebody in Bryan Adams? room, who was staying one floor above me telling me that they had charged all the doctor services and pills to Bryan instead of me.

FILTER: For real?

RYAN: Later, I got a call from Bryan himself and he wanted to come meet me and talk. I told him not to come down cause I was really sick but he was insisting. He was saying, like, ?I?m sure it must be very hard for you to have a name so close to mine? and he said he?d like to call a truce. I said, ?I?m not at war with you man, I don?t give a fuck?. Later that night I was all fucked up and I called him back and asked him if he wanted to play the tin man in my music video. It was like a Wizard of Oz theme and all my friends were in it and I thought it would be cool, and he said he would check into it but he never did it. I?ve been getting the whole Bryan Adams thing since I was in grade school. Not from everybody, just like three kids.

FILTER: Do you think you?ll ever write a song as good as ?Summer of 69??

RYAN: I don?t know. People really like that song. I?ll never refute that that?s a really good song.

FILTER: Who?s the most famous person you?ve done karate with? Do you do karate?

RYAN: After a kung fu flick I?ve fucked around and, like, socked a girl a couple of times.

FILTER: Word? Can you do a round house?

RYAN: Not well. I can do a drunk round house.

FILTER: What?s better: being a brown belt or a black belt?

RYAN: Black belt. This is the best interview I?ve ever been involved in. In my whole life.

FILTER: Have you ever given your heart to the Lord?

RYAN: No. Unfortunately, I should probably think about doing that soon.

FILTER: When was the last time you shit your pants?

RYAN: I don?t remember. I was probably in school or something.

FILTER: What are the most crazy drugs you ever did while in school, like in class?

RYAN: Oh man, everything.

FILTER: What was the craziest experience out of all of them?

RYAN: LSD in French class. I started speaking in tongues. I took a lot of cold medicine too. During my last year of school I got bad grades because I was trying a lot of different drugs. But I never did coke or heroin or any of that at school. I had some friends who just got fried, you know? They would take a lot of acid, sometimes it would be old.

FILTER: Like from the 60s?

RYAN: I don?t know, we would get sheets of this shitty acid and I wouldn?t care. I would just dive in.

FILTER: Do you remember that show T.J. Hooker?

RYAN: Yeah, that was a good show.

FILTER: Do you think it?s weird there was a show on TV basically called Tijuana Hooker?

RYAN: How do you mean?

FILTER: T.J. Like Tijuana. Tijuana Hooker.

RYAN: You are totally reaching with these questions.

FILTER: Do you think Sammy Hagar parties with Tijuana hookers?

RYAN: Is he married? I know he owns his own tequila factory. There?s a good chance he probably would.

FILTER: Have you ever thought of coming out with an album called ?Saving Private Ryan??

RYAN: No. But I really should.

FILTER: Have you ever seen that after-school special about that fat white kid who breakdances?

RYAN: No.

FILTER: There was one.

RYAN: Cool.
 
Last edited:
Basstrap said:

:up:



Bonochick said:
I had already read that...but you probably figured that.

My favorite Ryan interview is the one he did with Filter in May:

~~~~~

My college roommate used to have a saying. A catchall phrase which summed up just about every question that came up in life. ?People,? he would say, wiping the pepperoni grease from his mullet, ?are stupid.? He let the intellectual dust settle for a moment, then add, ?but children are even dumber.?

I have no idea what this has to do with Ryan Adams, but I thought it was a nice story.

Ryan Adams isn?t stupid. He?s just bored. Bored with the same old questions, bored with the same old interview over and over again. He told me so as we sat down to talk, so fuck it, I asked him about Kris Kross, tequil,a and if he?d ever shit his pants.

He?s a rock star, and he just finished two albums, and he dates Parker Posey, so who the fuck am I? But dude bought me dinner, so I guess I can?t complain.

FILTER: Do you think you?ll ever write a song as good as ?Eat It??

RYAN: That?s a good fucking song. Weird Al.

FILTER: Do you remember that group Kris Kross?

RYAN: They both wore their shit backwards didn?t they? I?m not talking shit about Kris Kross because I don?t know what those guys look like now and I?m not going to get my ass beat. They might be, like, DMX or some shit.

FILTER: Who was cooler? Peter Kriss of Kiss or Kris from Kris Kross?

RYAN: I don?t know, that?s a really good question. I?m glad you?re staying up late trying to figure that out.

FILTER: Have you ever been addicted to diet pills?

RYAN: Diet pills? You mean like laxatives?

FILTER: No, like Dexatrim or something.

RYAN: I take them sometimes, maybe like three or four and then I end up in a cradle position behind some bar and having to get carried home. They don?t mix well.

FILTER: Did you ever see the Family Ties where Alex P Keaton was hooked on diet pills?

RYAN: I think I did see that one. His sister Valerie or Mallory, she freaks out on him and I think they have to take him to the hospital.

FILTER: Would you consider yourself the white Tracy Chapman?

RYAN: No, but you know Tracy Chapman almost accidentally ran me over in Los Angeles. I was getting some smokes and chips and shit from the corner market and I swear to god she skid on the breaks and I ran to get out of the way. There were no cars coming or anything but she skidded out and I almost got killed.

FILTER: You looked in and it was Tracy Chapman?

RYAN: It was her. She looked at me and growled and honked the horn.

FILTER: Who are you more scared of: a dude in an old school 80s Ozzy Osborne t-shirt, like the real kind of guy that would wear one, or a guy wearing a designer yarmulke?

RYAN: What colour is the yarmulke?

FILTER: It?s a designer one, like Adidas or Gucci.

RYAN: I would say that the guy in the old school Ozzy t-shirt because I grew up around people like that. Actually, I was one of them. I had southern red neck metal tendencies.

FILTER: Is it true that Bryan Adams is your older brother?

RYAN: Yes.

FILTER: Did your parents name you Ryan as a joke because they knew that there was going to be a real popular 80s singer named Bryan Adams?

RYAN: I wonder exactly what he was doing around when I was born because he was born in the 50s or some shit.

FILTER: Definitely before 1969, I know that.

RYAN: I don?t know if that song is literal, ?Summer of 69?. I talked to Bryan Adams once. We were staying in the same hotel in Munich. I had broken my hand and I also had a chest infection so I was totally fucked. When I got to Munich I had to cancel my agenda and we got this German doctor to come and he hooked me up with this liquid Valeron. If you knew what this shit was you would go to Germany immediately and slam yourself in the face with a hammer. It?s like liquid morphine which they give to ex-junkies, and they give it to me in this dropper, so you could put like two or three drops in your Coca Cola and in 10 minutes you?re so fucking high that your itching your skin.

FILTER: Sweet. Can you score me some?

RYAN: Um, so after he gave me all this shit he asked me to sign a CD for his boss and hands me The Best of Me by Bryan Adams. And he didn?t have any idea that I wasn?t Bryan Adams so I signed it. I was laughing about it all night until I got this very disturbing message from somebody in Bryan Adams? room, who was staying one floor above me telling me that they had charged all the doctor services and pills to Bryan instead of me.

FILTER: For real?

RYAN: Later, I got a call from Bryan himself and he wanted to come meet me and talk. I told him not to come down cause I was really sick but he was insisting. He was saying, like, ?I?m sure it must be very hard for you to have a name so close to mine? and he said he?d like to call a truce. I said, ?I?m not at war with you man, I don?t give a fuck?. Later that night I was all fucked up and I called him back and asked him if he wanted to play the tin man in my music video. It was like a Wizard of Oz theme and all my friends were in it and I thought it would be cool, and he said he would check into it but he never did it. I?ve been getting the whole Bryan Adams thing since I was in grade school. Not from everybody, just like three kids.

FILTER: Do you think you?ll ever write a song as good as ?Summer of 69??

RYAN: I don?t know. People really like that song. I?ll never refute that that?s a really good song.

FILTER: Who?s the most famous person you?ve done karate with? Do you do karate?

RYAN: After a kung fu flick I?ve fucked around and, like, socked a girl a couple of times.

FILTER: Word? Can you do a round house?

RYAN: Not well. I can do a drunk round house.

FILTER: What?s better: being a brown belt or a black belt?

RYAN: Black belt. This is the best interview I?ve ever been involved in. In my whole life.

FILTER: Have you ever given your heart to the Lord?

RYAN: No. Unfortunately, I should probably think about doing that soon.

FILTER: When was the last time you shit your pants?

RYAN: I don?t remember. I was probably in school or something.

FILTER: What are the most crazy drugs you ever did while in school, like in class?

RYAN: Oh man, everything.

FILTER: What was the craziest experience out of all of them?

RYAN: LSD in French class. I started speaking in tongues. I took a lot of cold medicine too. During my last year of school I got bad grades because I was trying a lot of different drugs. But I never did coke or heroin or any of that at school. I had some friends who just got fried, you know? They would take a lot of acid, sometimes it would be old.

FILTER: Like from the 60s?

RYAN: I don?t know, we would get sheets of this shitty acid and I wouldn?t care. I would just dive in.

FILTER: Do you remember that show T.J. Hooker?

RYAN: Yeah, that was a good show.

FILTER: Do you think it?s weird there was a show on TV basically called Tijuana Hooker?

RYAN: How do you mean?

FILTER: T.J. Like Tijuana. Tijuana Hooker.

RYAN: You are totally reaching with these questions.

FILTER: Do you think Sammy Hagar parties with Tijuana hookers?

RYAN: Is he married? I know he owns his own tequila factory. There?s a good chance he probably would.

FILTER: Have you ever thought of coming out with an album called ?Saving Private Ryan??

RYAN: No. But I really should.

FILTER: Have you ever seen that after-school special about that fat white kid who breakdances?

RYAN: No.

FILTER: There was one.

RYAN: Cool.

:lol:
 
heartbreaker truely is his best stuff

Though love is hell is good too

I'm not a big fan of his alt country rock stuff
 
Bonochick said:
FILTER: Would you consider yourself the white Tracy Chapman?

RYAN: No, but you know Tracy Chapman almost accidentally ran me over in Los Angeles. I was getting some smokes and chips and shit from the corner market and I swear to god she skid on the breaks and I ran to get out of the way. There were no cars coming or anything but she skidded out and I almost got killed.

FILTER: You looked in and it was Tracy Chapman?

RYAN: It was her. She looked at me and growled and honked the horn.

I can't believe nobody made a joke about Tracy Chapman's fast car. :angry:
 
This is a wee clip from my fave interview of his, (I can't remember when it's from or whom it's by:reject: ) but it really makes me laugh.

************
He?s too busy trying to find somewhere to eat.

?[To his companions] I don?t know, the bar looks kind of crazy inside doesn?t it? Alright I guess we can eat here. You?re totally Captain Beefheart? What the fuck does that mean? What? Did you guys smoke pot? [To me] Hello? Sorry, we?re tyring to find a place to eat. I?m being picky. OK, let?s eat here. It looks like a diner but it also looks like a bar. Does anybody here not drink when they eat? Jesus fucking Christ. Sorry, I?m going to have to do a couple more then go to lunch.?

Eventually Adams leaves the search for lunch to his companions, who include his girlfriend, uber-cool indie actress Parker Posey. Adams decided to have Posey serve as executive producer on Rock N Roll, although nobody?s quite sure what she did ? even Adams when I ask him.

ADAMS TO POSEY: ?Parker, what did you do on the record as executive producer??

Posey comes to the phone: ?I danced and I inspired and I read poetry and showed up with a smile on my face and got the boys to make a record.?


?Did it work?? I ask.


Too late. They?re not listening.


POSEY TO ADAMS: ?Does he like the record??


ADAMS: ?I don?t know. I don?t think he does.?


POSEY: ?He might like you. He might just be provoking you.?


ADAMS: ?I don?t know.?


POSEY: ?It?s not a big deal?


Adams, back talking to me again: ?It?s OK, we?re just talking about you. We?re just interested in you, that?s all. We?re interested in people. We?re in Scotland and we?re bored so we?re interested in everything we don?t know about. OK, final question.?


I don?t see why you assume I don?t like the record.


?Because I fucking don?t like my own record, that?s probably why.?


Sorry?


?Because I?m self-defeating and I don?t like my own record, so that?s probably why. I?m always looking for a thing to not like it. But it?s not going to matter. In a year, none of this shit?s going to matter. None of it. It doesn?t even matter now. That?s the whole joke. It doesn?t fucking matter. It doesn?t matter because I don?t matter and I don?t want to matter. [To Posey and co.] Ok, let?s not eat here. Look, you guys, there?s an ambulance here, good sign that we should not fucking?I?m not eating here. You don?t eat in places where there?s an ambulance picking up people out of the place. Jesus fucking Christ. Can you believe we almost ate there??


They?re not stretchering someone out, are they?


?I told them that place didn?t look right. I have an ear for bad restaurants. I may have eaten in many. [To McNabb] Johnny?hey man look. A fucking ambulance pulled up and two medics go there to pull somebody out of the place that you chose to eat in. So let?s go eat at McDonalds or something safe. [To me] Hello? You want to ask Johnny a question? Here he is. Cool.?
 
I like this one too...

~~~~~~

The best thing about Ryan Adams, 29, is that it's impossible to guess what he's going to do next. Whether it's kicking dumb people out of his shows for shouting out requests for Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" or trading in Winona Ryder for Parker Posey, he's always up to something good. Now he's ditched the bittersweet Americana of last year's "Demolition" in favor of a jangly '80s pop sound on his new album, "Rock 'n' Roll." We called Adams at Posey's apartment.

Q: Why are you all out of breath?

A: We were moving a rug. Parks needed a rug and she has four floors to walk up, so it was a little crazy. But it's up here now.

Q: Why didn't you give some homeless guys a couple dollars to move it for you?

A: Give some homeless guys a couple dollars to move it for us? Well, in New York it would never get here.

Q: Is it your birthday this month?

A: Yes, it is. We're celebrating double birthdays because we have two Scorpios here.

Q: From what I've heard, you like to celebrate your birthday every day.

A: From what you've heard I like to celebrate my birthday every day?

Q: I can't open a newspaper without reading about you falling down drunk in a bar.

A: You can't open a newspaper without reading about me falling down drunk in a bar?

Q: You know, if you just repeat all the questions, then that's not really an answer.

A: I'm just doing it so Parker can laugh at me. Um, that is bull--. I have not fallen down drunk in a bar. That's not my style, man.

Q: Isn't that pretty much all there is to do in New York for fun?

A: No, you are wrong that all there is to do in Manhattan is go out to bars.

There is everything but that to do. If those are your limitations, then sure, but, no, are you kidding? There's so much s-- to do.

Q: Like, what else?

A: Like, today I went to ABC Carpet. The reason you don't hear about that is because it's not fit to print in rock mags.

Q: What else?

A: What else have I been doing? I went to a friend's house last night for homemade lasagna and talking, which was cool. You know, there's a bunch of new museum things going on around town that I've been invited to but haven't made it to yet. Friends coming into town on tour, so you've got to make time for them. There's lots of things to do.

Q: What about falling down drunk in a bar?

A: No. I don't know. I think people like reading about me being in a bar because that's what they've decided I should do, that's the character they've decided I should play. I'm like the drunk guy in the bar, which is really funny because it's not true. I probably go out as much as anybody goes out. How many nights a week do you go out?

Q: Eight?

A: You go out seven more nights than I do. That's the thing. I guess I'm supposed to go out every night because I play rock music or something.

Q: Nobody cares when I go out.

A: Nobody cares when you go out? You know what? Nobody cares when I go to ABC Carpet either. I think that cliche of being a barfly is probably interesting on some level, to be lost in magic hour, but there's only so many tricks you can learn from that before it gets pretty stale. I mean, how much can you learn from debauchery?

Q: When did you get that tattoo on your arm that says "Sleep"?

A: I guess I got it three or four months ago. It's pretty new. It was in my last set. I got the spider underneath my Black Flag bars filled in better, and then I got the "Sleep" tattoo. I have a very interesting relationship with sleep.

Q: Is it because you love it?

A: I love my tattoo.

Q: No, sleep.

A: Do I love sleep? I love it when I can get it. Sure.

Q: Do you always try to find out what your dreams are about?

A: No, I have ones I remember every once in a while. I apparently dream regularly, but I think the consensus is that they're mostly nightmares and talking in tongues.

Q: Do you talk in your sleep?

A: I don't know. Parks says I do.

Q: What do you say?

A: I guess I don't say anything phonetical. Here, ask her.

Q: What does Ryan Adams say in his sleep?

Posey: Awwwaaaarrrrghaaarrgh!

Q: I have no idea how to spell that.

Posey: Are you going to talk about his music?
 
I haven't told anyone because then they will want to see it, and it isn't in a place I can show just anybody.

I like this interview too...from NME...

~~~~~~~

Kelly Osbourne or Pink?

"Neither-- Mariah."

Hard or clever?

"Hard."

Do or don't?

"Do."

Bush or Saddam?

"Sweden, run for your fucking lives."

Jack or Meg?

"Neither, yuck."

Half-full, or half-empty?

"Fill it up."

Jay-Z or Nas?

"Jay-Z, man, all the way."

Liam or Noel?

"That one's tough. For a pint, Noel, but in regular convention both of them because you got to have both of them to make up Oasis. So I guess I'll say both."

On top or on the bottom?

"Fuck, either, man."

Drunk or sober?

"Drunk then sober. Then drunk again. If you can't find anything else."

Red or black?

"Definitely black."

Zep or Sabbath?

"Shit... Sabbath."

Mod or rocker?

"Fucking neither. Wankers all that stuff. Bollocks."

Boxers or Briefs?

"Neither. Nothing at all."

Beatles or Stones?

"Stones."

Spit or swallow?

"Thank you."

Badgers or squirrels?

"What the fuck are badgers?"

Little mammals that come out at night. They have black and white stripes and live in sets.

"Like Jack and Meg?"

They eat grubs and live in the earth.

"Really? They're The White Stripes! I guess I'll go with squirrels, then."

Tattoos or piercings?

"Well I don't have piercings, but I have tattoos. (Goes off on tangent) Wouldn't it be awesome if you could see Sophie Ellis-Bextor throwing up because she drank too much, throwing up on a fur jacket? What was that about? Rather her than someone else, I suppose. I like her kind of naughty schoolmarm thing. Makes you want to misbehave and bend her over your knee and spank her. She's probably just dirty as hell too."

Fischerspooner or Strokes?

"Fischerspooner-- that pop band, right? I guess I would say The Strokes, except I feel like I read about them every week in NME. It's like Albert Hammond blows his knows - update. Or Fabrizio gets an ear infection - newsflash. It's weird to me. They're my neighbors. I have to look at them every day. Imagine if someone published your neighbors, weekly. I don't even have to ask them what they've been up to. I just pick up NME."
 
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