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I guess because everyone forgot how bad it was. It was a new generation and it was a new kick so they all jumped right on it. It wiped us all out so maybe now people will shy away from it again for a while then all of a sudden they’ll go back to it again.
HIP: So now what do you do for fun these days?I don’t know man, it’s difficult. Not drinking is difficult, drinking is difficult. I don’t know, It’s hard to have fun. I like to sit in my room and make up songs.
HIP: What would Motorcycle Boy be doing if say, none of you guys had any musical skills?
I guess we’d be victims of some girlfriend or something, I don’t know.
HIP: I see you've been playing the same bass guitar for a long time. Is that the only one you have or do you just have a distinct preference for it?
It just looks good on me. It’s kind of like putting on a jacket that works, that one just works for me. It doesn’t sound that great but it sure does look cool. I used to throw my bass after every performance and it never broke. It started breaking so I had to stop throwing it.
HIP: So you’ve been playing that bass for how long?
It’s weird to be able to say this, but I guess over a decade…Hey, I used to drive an ice cream truck!
HIP: Really?
Yeah. I’ve had many, many jobs and one of the strangest jobs I ever had was driving an ice cream truck. I had this fantasy about being given this little white outfit with the white hat and stuff but that didn’t happen. No outfit. It was just a bunch of burned out hippies driving these trucks........I just had to throw that in.
HIP: I heard you guys just got back from New York. What were you guys doing there? Working with Sylvain Sylvain?
No, basically we needed a vacation so we went to New York and played a few dates. We played a club called Life, a club called Don Hill’s and a club called Squeeze Box. It was very cool. It was a blast. New York’s amazing, I didn’t want to come back. People there are very nice.
HIP: Do you guys still talk to Sylvain Sylvain?
He’s living somewhere in Texas, to my knowledge. I’d love to talk to him but he’s kind of like, in Texas. When we were in New York it was Rat Boy’s birthday and he got up and played a song with us, it was pretty cool......Hey, Bebe Buell (Liv Tyler's mom) is doing one of my songs! I wrote this song called Get Some and she does a cover of it. It’s really good. It’s weird watching her do it. I see her perform and I feel like a father or something. I keep telling everyone, “I wrote that song! I wrote that song!” It’s pretty flattering when people do your songs. There's a band called The New Bomb Turks and they do a cover of one of my songs called Feel It. It’s a really good version. It’s on some label, I don’t know what. I don’t know where they’re from but they sure flattered me by doing my song.
HIP: What's the clue to Motorcycle Boy being together for so long?
Well, we took a break for about 7 years. We all got on drugs and it all kind of blew up. Then after not really hanging out or talking we all got sober. Then we talked to each other and we realized we all got along. It was like “Hey, he’s not so bad.” It’s weird, I listen to some of the music and to me it still holds up. I don’t know, that’s such an introspective question.
HIP: What's the first thing you do after getting off stage?
Look around to see if any girls are paying attention to me. Wait around to see who comes up to me first to ask me if I want a beer, and then I go “Okay”.
HIP: What do you get out of being in Motorcycle Boy?
Well, I get up on stage and I get to show off. Then like a week later I’ll be at a barbecue or some party and some girl will come up to me and go “Hey, I saw you perform” and it’s like BAM! You got ‘em. I don’t even have to use a pickup line to meet chicks. It’s all about meeting the girls, you know. It’s the easiest way. I’m so lazy. When I wasn’t playing I realized how handicapped I was. I don’t know really how to go up and talk to girls. So what I do is I perform and if they like me they’ll come up and say, “Hey, I saw you perform” and then I’m able to go “Oh, thanks for coming to the show” and then I can talk to them. It’s weird if you’re not in a band. I mean, how do you talk to girls? It’s so strange. I don’t know how to do it. So as long as I’m performing it’s cool.
HIP: What are you guys doing for the eve of the new millennium?
We never perform on New Year’s. There’s just too much going on. It’s not worth it.
HIP: You’d rather be enjoying it?Exactly. It’s asking for trouble to perform on New Year’s. We’re performing on Halloween and I think that’s trouble enough. We’re playing some club called Vinyl. It used to be called Moguls. On some strange street off Hollywood Boulevard. We’re supposed to be opening up for some band called The Newlydeads.
HIP: Oh, Taime Downe’s new gothic band? (Ex- Faster Pussycat vocals)
Yeah, Taime’s band. You should come as my guest.
HIP: Cool, I will. I’ve been wanting to hear what they sound like. What's been the most climatic moment in the band's existence?
Well, there was a time we were playing Al’s Bar and Kenny came out from behind the drum kit and smacked me in the face and I fell down. There was a time in San Diego when I was onstage and I had the spins and I fell on somebody’s mother. This poor girl brought her mother to the show and apparently I fell off the stage, on top of this girl’s mother. I didn’t mean to. Afterwards she said I was a very nice boy. You get drunk, fall on someone’s mother and they say you’re a very nice boy. Strange.
HIP: What about the worst?
I remember just not caring about performing anymore. Being on stage wondering when the fuck it’ll be over so I can get my next fix. Being so bored on stage, just wanting to get off stage so I could go get heroin.......Hey Vic, are you clean and sober?
HIP: Okay, so anyways, since this interview is going on the Internet, are you familiar with computers yet?
(laughter)....It’s being brought more and more to my attention. I’m pretty computer illiterate. I’m from the old school mentality of “computers are not our friends”.
HIP: Well man, I'm all out of questions. Want to throw anything in?
Yeah, give them my phone number, ***-****. Call me and tell me a funny story. (I don't think Francois realized how many people would be reading this so I left the phone number out)
This interview was also published in
Night Moves Music Magazine (issue #45)
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The Official Motorcycle Boy website
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Francois in Lip Service Catalog
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Promo pics of inside CD cover
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Old Motorcycle Boy promo flyers
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Promo pics found on the net
