Kings among runaways

Published May 25 2005, 03:46 PM by webteam

1. Since the Decemberists tumble into Avalon tonight (five/six piece from Portland, Oregon? they sing about waifs?), we’d like to inform you that Colin Meloy is an indie-rock heartthrob, just in case you didn’t read it here and here and then here again. Some outtakes from a wintry conversation we had with Mr. Meloy last February.

Q: Do you ever bring a song to the rest of the band and they’re like, 'No more waifs!'
A: No, thankfully, they’re really great sports. From the very get-go, even when they had no reason to trust that what I was doing was okay, they were really great about it, really supportive.

Q: How'd you convince them in the beginning, anyway? It is kinda weird that you sing about mariners and waifs and eighteeth-century whores.
A: I don’t know how I convinced them myself. Jenny [Conlee, accordion player] moreso than anybody else would be constantly rolling her eyes, just like being, “Okay.” And she would always have issues with all the, like the, dirty stuff too. She would always object to certain things. And be kind of embarrassed about it. But everybody else has always been really supportive.

Q: Your 'dirty stuff' isn't really, ah, dirty. You're no Nelly.
A: Yeah, the dirty stuff is like sophomoric humor. It’s like junior high.

[Interviewer's note: when we referenced Nelly, Meloy looked bewildered. In retrospect, we're pretty sure he didn't know whom we meant. Maybe his cultured sensibilities had him suspecting we meant Nelly Sachs?]

2. Ohmigod, he really is crazy! (Doesn't stop being funny.)

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