Newspaper Page Text
Page 12
Flagpole Magazine .
March 18, 1992
Orral Dissertation on the Point of Poi
“We're notorious for ducking interviews,
man. When we’re on the road everything
goes out the window except for eating and
sleeping, ‘said Frank Ouimby Orrall (touted
as ‘words" and various forms of percus
sion), talking a mile an hour enthusiastically
about Poi Dog Pondering's adventures.
"Sorry about the barking dogs," I said as
I stood outside and made faces at my
neighbor's Great Danes. Then the birds
started in...
Poi Dog Pondering's latest release,\'o\o
Volo and the Jack Ass Ginger EP feature
such notables as the Dirty Dozen Brass
Band and a Hawaiian Christmas song ",Mele
Kalikimaka.'
Poi Dog is currently made up of Dave
Crawford (organ/ trumpet), Adam Sultan
(guitars/ back vox), Susan Mary Voelz (vio
lin/organ/back vox), Ted Cho (guitar), John
Nelson (congas/ timbales/ percussion/ vo
cals), and Daren Hess (drums), Bruce
"Shoofly" Hughes ("bass of love '/steel "hula'
guitar/vocals). The band v/ill play the Geor
gia Theatre on Tuesday night, March 31
with Dr. Dream recording artists Tiny Lights.
Frank Orrall: The band is really happy
with this record. I mean it’s one that we really
wrote collectively as opposed to each one
of us bringing in a bunch of songs. This one
was written a lot more collectively and so
everyone has a lot invested in it. It really has
brought a whoie 'nother vibe over the band
right now which is really enjoyable.
Flagpole: All the same members?
FO: A new drummer. He still does play with
Green on Red sometimes. His name is Daren
Hess. We met him in Austin. He also plays
with the Ronnie Laine band sometimes.,
FP: How did you come about working with
the Dirty Dozen Brass Band?
FO: They're on the same label [Columbia]
and there’s someone at the label that works
with them all the time and he just suggested
it. We said, "Hell, yeah!’ [laughs]
FP: It had to be quite a change for them to
work with such different music. They play on
the Hawaiian Christmas song...
FO: Oh my God! I just hope Hawaii gets it.
I hope they play it ’cause it came out last
year in Hawaii and I was over there during
Christmas and no one knew it was out there.
You know, Hawaii is kinda funny. It’s like,
whether things grab or not there, and I
thought it was the coolest thing to pick this
sort of camp Hawaiian song and the Dirty
Dozen Brass Band and they just do this
amazing thing to it. I hope they play it.
FP: To a lot ofAmericans, Hawaii seems like
this far away country... what is the music
scene there like?
FO: There’s a lot of Hawaiian music and
actually there’s a lot of reggae there now,
which is funny, they call it “Jawaiian." It’s a
mixture of Hawaiian and reggae and that’s
actually like a “new’ thing to happen in
Hawaii now since the early 70s when there
was a complete explosion of Hawaiian pop
bands [names a few but the spellings...] A
few of them tried to make it over to the
mainland but they never made it. They were
kind of like this mellow, Hawaiian pop sound.
And, urn, but other than that the music
scene there is a bunch of people that just
live in the import section of record stores.
They write stuff, they form bands, but they
can’t play anywhere so they end up break
ing up. [laughs] That’s what happens.
FP: I don't blame you for moving to Austin!
FO: Yeah, there’s only one club in Hawaii.
There’s this one club and they only allow like
at most they allow half originals and then the
bands play half original music and half
covers. Every once in a while there’ll be
another club that will open up that’ll be just
a full punk club, a full anything goes club.
They only last alittle while, there’s not enough
people to support it and they end up going
under.
FP: You went from Texas Hotel Records to
Columbia... there are a lot of artists around
Athens that are or were on Texas Hotel like
Hetch Hetchy and Vic Chesnutt... did it not
work out for you on Texas Hotel?
FO: Yeah, that was a really hard one. I’m
totally in love with the people at Texas Hotel
and luckily our friendship has survived the
whole thing because it was like this weird
series where all of a sudden all of these
labels were interested in us and everybody
was saying, “Yeah, you cughta sign with a
major, lawyer, manager, everything. You’re
going to need the distribution.’ It was this
hard situation where here I was very at home
and felt like a very loyal base with Texas
Hotel and realized that the distribution was
not going to get out there like we wanted.
So, what we tried to do was craft this deal
where Columbia would take charge of na
tional promotion and distribution and Texas
Hote 1 would take care of the indy press,
mom and pop stores and all the things they
had a really strong connection which they’d
really stomp on that and keep it going.
Everyone from Columbia said, “Well, we
can’t really do a deal this way but we can
work that way.* Then we tried to go this way
and as soon as it happened, they both...
they didn’t get along. They iced each other.
Texas Hotel was like, “Blah’ and Columbia
was like, “Oh, we don’t need them. We can
do it just as well.’ It was terrible! So, I’m
surprised I made it through without ulcers,
you know? [laughs]. It was really difficult,
but, yeah... it’s definitely one of those strange
ones. I mean, I know that it’s really nice to
have the distribution, whether or not we
made the right move is one of the things I’ll
never know. I’m just glad we’re still friends.
I’m going to put out something on Texas
Hotel. They’re going to release this solo
project that I’ve been working on that I’m
stoked about.
FP: What is it?
FO: Just a collection of stuff that I actually
started recording for the new Poi Dog record
and Columbia just pushed the panic button
because it was mostly instrumentals c
when there were vocals there weren’t any
words [laughs]. ..“You’ve got to make pop
records.’ And that’s fine because I love pop
music. I also love doing my other sides too.
So, I’ve actually, I mean, I don’t know... it’s
a coup [laughs]! Because I know that’s the
kind of stuff on Texas Hotel, they completely
understand that stuff, so when I bring in my
stuff, Michael Meister [owner Texas Hotel] is
going to go, “Oh yes, I love this!’ I bring it to
Columbia and they go, "Ehh, I don’t know
what to do with it..." But yet, I bring in pop
songs and Columbia knows what to do,
so...
FP: Do you feel Columbia has a bit too
much control over what you would like to
do?
FO: Oh, no, actually. Since we had so many
labels interested in us we got incredibly
strong bargaining power at Columbia, it’s a
mark in our contract, it’s amazing. We’ve got
so much good stuff in our contract—’cause
we had a kick ass lawyer that we paid
through the nose for! [laughs]
FP: What made you chose the New Order
song on Fruitless?
FO: It was one we used to play on the street
all the time. What originally attracted me to
it was that it just sounds like an old Carter
family song to me, like "I’m Dreaming To
night in My Blue Eyes," or something like
L, >
90.5FM
WUOG Athens • University of Georgia
Rotation for the week of
March ^£>, 1992
HEAVY
Bongwater
Pom Orchard
Flat Duo .Jot*
Ween
Cow*
Nuked Lunch OST
Uncle Tupelo
Undone
Woggles 7’
&ooqte Down Prod.
Bad Religion
Wedding Present
Palsy T
Etta James
Senetor Flux
Jazz Butcher
Something’s Gone
Wrong Again Comp.
Unrest T
Gultamortlsts Comp.
MEDIUM
Clarence "Gatemouth"
Brown
Miracle Legion
Sea Monkeys 7’
Chicken Scratch
Popdefect T
Pag Nasty
Parkslde
Cranes
Happy Flowers 7*
Smugglers 10"
Astro Zombies 7*
Plllon Fence
Tiny Lights
Tort Amos
Ren Nordlne
.John Moran
Pogbowl 7*
Flying Saucer 7*
Swamp Terrorists
Rats Of Unusual Sbe
T
LOCAL
Flying Fish
Fuzzy Sprouts
Pay room
Laggerhead
Mystic Boom
Boom
The Go-Figures
Hayrlde
Five-Eight
Lenny
Vision
Regina Strap
The Violets
The Plants
Shawn Mullins
Blltzen
Heavy Ethel
Hubbard's
Cupboard
Jack Tripper
APPS
Jack 0 Nuts 7'
Ouh
Psychic TV
Unrest (LP)
Bewitched
Rronos Quartet
RMFPM
Fish and Roses
SSP
Mighty Mighty
Bosstones
Shrimp Boat
Sugancubes
Curve
Anne Pudley &
Jaz Coleman
Big Wheel
Posies 7*
Fatima Mansions
Phlsh
Cracker
Stumpy Joe
Buffalo Tom
Think Tree
Plrty Pozen brass
brand
ATHENS
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ALTERNATIVE
ATHEN S ONLY FROZEN DAIQUIRI AND LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BAR.
w 18th: Cheap Drink Night
with 'Dos Guys"
25C Draft & Mixed Drinks
T 19th: Dollar Night
with Chico & the Man
$ 1 Drinks, Draft & Daiquiris
F 20th: 7-9 5C Draft
The Healers
$ 1 Kamakazies & Sex on the Beach
S 21th: Plate-EyeBlue
7 - 9 pm Nickel Draft
$ 1 Draft &Orange Crushes
S 21th: Plate-EyeBlue
7 - 9 pm Nickel Draft
Si Draft&OrangeCrushes
f 27th & S 28th Call for
Entertainment & Drink Special
7-9 Nickel Draft
M 30th: Monday Madness
with The Simpletons
' 7-9 Nickel Draft
T 3 ith: 2 for Tuesday
with Chico & The Man
2 for One Drinks & Draft
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jiz E - Washington St. - 613-0021