Talk to Ya Later

Talk to Ya Later!
An Interview with the Voice of The Tubes

by Brian E. Phillips

MODE Weekly: Let’s start off talking a little about the history of the band. Where did it all begin?

Fee Waybill: My god, you’re kidding me. What? They’ve never heard of us in Hershey? Well, we’ve been around forever. If you haven’t heard of The Tubes by now, don’t bother to come. It’s too late. We were eligible last year for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s 25 years. We’ve made a shitload of records.

I suppose shock is nothing unusual for Fee Waybill and The Tubes, who have written about white punks on dope and 50-foot women. And, yes, Waybill does wear women’s clothes. Why, then, should Waybill’s flip, somewhat condescending comments surprise me? The answer is simple. They shouldn’t. But they did.
And he’s right The Tubes have been around forever. The band that reached its heyday in the early ’80s with “The Completion Backwards Overture,” has been making music for over a quarter of a century. At the peak of their career, the Tubes were the one of the top alternative bands in America, scoring hits like “She’s A Beauty.” Their records topped the charts and their live concerts were an exciting tourdeforce, with elaborate sets, outlandish costumes, and even a blow up doll. Today, however, Waybill and The Tubes rest in almost virtual pop obscurity. The band is without a record deal, and there is no future record in the works.
From young struggling unknown San Francisco musicians to new wave gods with all the fame that alternative music could buy and back again, The Tubes have come almost full circle. But the long-time lead singer has not fallen off the earth — despite his claims that California may do that soon enough. He is alive and kicking, busy with his life and his projects. Waybill graciously took time out of his schedule to talk with MODE Weekly. Here is a portion of what he shared with us.

Waybill: We’re not doing a reunion tour. We’re just doing some gigs. We’ve been back together for five years, maybe. And with four of the seven original guys, we’re just having fun. We’re not holding out any great expectations for our careers. Everyone has pretty much gone on to other things in their lives. I’ve been doing a lot of song writing with other people. Roger [Steen, guitar and vocals] works as a technical director for ABC Television. And, actually, I’ve just gotten involved with an online music company that’s trying to fill the void that Napster’s going to leave. I’m working and an A&R guy for this company. And we’re one of the only companies that is still going to offer free music to download once Napster is gone. We’re going to pay the royalties. Everyone else who’s trying to fill the gap is going to be charging money. And the kids are not going to pay. Not when they can go somewhere else and get it for free.

MODE: That sounds pretty exciting.

Waybill: I’m very excited about it. And doing the band shows just kind of keeps everyone happy. It’s not like we all have jobs. We still get to go out play and have fun. We usually don’t go out for too long. I think this run we’re going out for 12 days. Going back east for 12 days and doing about eight shows in the Northeast area. And then we probably won’t go out for another three or four weeks …don’t stay long enough to burn out.

MODE: You can enjoy the important parts of performance and leave the other shit behind.

Waybill: Yeah, I don’t want to go tour for six months on a bus. At this time it would be a waste of time. Plus it’s not economically feasible, especially in the venues that we’re doing.

MODE: All smaller venues, I presume.

Waybill: Oh yeah, and actually it is the best way to see us. It’s a lot more fun to watch when you’re up close. You’ll see all the expressions better. The holes in our outfits.

MODE: Costumes, blow-up dolls, the whole nine yards?
Waybill: Oh yeah, whatever we can get in there. It just depends on the room.

MODE: I think that I would be safe in saying that you will be limited. The space at Shakey’s is not huge.

Waybill: And that’s OK; we’re used to it. Like I said it’s more fun when you can see our eyeballs. Of course, you would rather be playing for thousands of screaming throngs for 16 times the money, but that’s not what’s happening these days. Plus, I think people would rather go to a club. I hate going to big old barns, 15,000-plus seaters. I mean sometimes, you don’t have a choice, but if I did, I would rather go to a club. So it’ll be fun. We had a new record out last year [Tubes World Tour[TWT] 2001] — a live record — with a couple of new songs, so we’re playing some new material. It’s always fun to play new material.

MODE: Yeah, I heard “Digi-Doll.” Good song.

Waybill: Good. That’s our tribute to cartoon porn and Laura Croft. So we’re busy. I write music with other people. In fact, that’s, basically, what I do. I have done some acting, including a short run in Michigan as Frank Furter in a live performance of “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” plus my Internet project. Unfortunately, I don’t write more with The Tubes, but the simple fact is we don’t sell records anymore. There is no demand. In fact, we may never make another record. But we get to go out as a band and perform, and that’s fun.

MODE: Is there anything that you would like to share with our readers

Waybill: It should be a good time. We don’t come back East too often. I would just say don’t miss this opportunity. You never know when the next one’s going to come along.

The Tubes will be at Shakey’s, 312 Mill Street, Hershey on March 29. For more information or tickets call 533-9824 or get them at the door. For more information on the tubes, check the-tubes.com.