Menomena

[December 2003]

There is so much that can be said about the debut release of Portland’s Menomena. You could say it’s one of the year’s best albums, which would be absolutely correct; and you could say that we at TMT think it’s got some of the tightest “hip-hop-ish” beats since The Soft Bulletin, which is also correct. However, before we fill you in on all things Menomena, the most important thing to consider is their beautiful sense of humor. Whether it’s the midi file of “Oh L’amour” by Erasure on their homepage, their multi-colored website in general (which you must visit to understand), a dog that looks like (and is named) Geddy Lee from Rush, or the fact that if you jumble the words to their album I Am the Fun Blame Monster, it actually translates to “The First Menomena Album.” Don’t believe me? Try it!

Amneziak (Tiny Mix Tapes): Howdy gentlemen. Thanks for joining us here at TMT. Who will be participating today?
Menomena: Hello, hello. My name is Danny. On behalf of Brent and Justin, Thank you for having me. 

Amneziak: If you wouldn’t mind, please give us a brief overview of the band: where you’re from, how you met, how long you’ve been together, etc.

Menomena: Well, we’ve all lived in the Portland, Oregon area for the last 15 years or so. Justin and I used to play together in a teenage band. We got a show at a local, now defunct all-ages club, filling in for a more established touring band that canceled at the last minute. This was about 1996. Brent was at the club to see the band that canceled, and he ended up being persuaded by the club’s manager to stay to see us instead. Brent approached me afterwards and invited me to coffee. I thought he was a little odd and possibly interested in me romantically (my fingers were crossed). He shared some of the songs he had written on the piano. I thought his talent was incredible, but at the time, I had little interest in music that wasn’t based around a male screaming in a high-pitched fake British accent. 

A few months later Brent went back to his East Coast College and I went back to my band with Justin. The band continued to tread water. We finally broke up until 2000, which just so happened to be the year Brent finished school. Brent moved back home to The Great Northwest and we shared a house together for a few months. Justin and I were still playing music together after the demise of our band, and the addition of Brent was a logical next step. We played our first concert as Menomena in 2001. 

Amneziak: I Am the Fun Blame Monster is one of TMT’s favorite albums of the year. How long has it been in the making?

Menomena: Well first of all, thank you. It’s an honor to be included on your list. I guess you could say that the album has been “in the making” since we first started composing music together. Every song on that album except for two ("Twenty Cell Revolt" & "The Monkey’s Back," if you’re interested in such trivia) had been recorded and mixed in at least a couple different ways before the final recording sessions of I Am the Fun Blame Monster took place. 

We’ve taken for granted the ability to record a few different versions of a single song over a period of time and then ultimately decide on what goes into the final album version after repeatedly listening to and tweaking the demos. We wouldn’t be able to have this sort of creative control with our sort of budget (a big ZERO) without the digital format. The analogue purists have a lot of good arguments, but it would be nearly impossible for a band such as Menomena to be in existence today with out the use of the computer as a recording tool.

"She has nipples, so we always assumed she was a girl. I guess that’s not the most educated way to judge someone’s gender."


Amneziak: For those who don’t know, where did the name Menomena come from? 
Menomena: “Menomena” means different things to different people. I’d hate to spoil the fun for someone by laying down my personal interpretation as law. It came from a list of about 50 other band names that we were deciding upon. We like the way it rolls off the tongue, sexually, or something. Um... Next question?

Amneziak: Portland is increasingly carving its own niche in the independent music scene. Do you guys spend a lot of time going to shows in the city?
Menomena: Portland is the best city I’ve ever lived in. Then again, I was 13 when I last lived anywhere else. But yeah, people are so wonderful here. It’s getting crazy though. One of our friends that books shows here (Chantelle at Berbati’s Pan; more trivia) said recently that literally hundreds of bands have moved up to this city in the past couple of years. That’s sort of mind boggling, because Portland is still small in comparison to Seattle, L.A., or San Francisco. We’re honored to live in a place where there is so much talent all around us. The scene is very close-knit here, while still not becoming too much of a clique. But to answer your question more directly, yes we do spend a lot of time at local shows. It’s hard not to take this creative climate for granted sometimes. It seems like there’s an amazing band playing every night of the week. 

F U N S E C T I O N :

Amneziak: I’d like to get the obvious out of the way. Who’s responsible for your website? What gives?
Menomena: It’s the Fun Blame Monster’s fault. All of it. He/She/It apparently loves Jay-Z and Erasure, which is just fine by us.

Amneziak: I’ve heard that one or more of you like to skateboard. Very important question: How high can you ollie? 
Menomena: Ahh, Skateboarding. Skateboarding was the wind beneath my wings, the epitome of my adolescence. I’d like to say something like, “I used to live and die for skateboarding until it became an organized sport in which athletes showcase their skills on a piece of plywood in front of a prime time audience for the sole purpose of gaining endorsements from huge corporate entities that care more about increasing the size of their sweatshops overseas than about the art of focused rebellion by intelligent, talented youth who use aggression resulting from a childhood of misunderstanding and marginalization to creatively reinterpret the intended use of ugly man-made cement, metal and wood structures by perfecting carefully orchestrated and tirelessly rehearsed maneuvers with no compensation other than the unparalleled feeling of personal satisfaction that can only be realized after a long day of persisting through intense physical pain, the unpredictable elements, and constant harassment by the powers that be in order to create one’s art”. But alas, the truth is, I just ran out of time. I can still ollie over a parked school bus though, if you’d just give me a few minutes to warm up. 

"I compensate for the lack of firewater in my system by devouring gigantic amounts of sugar, which has given me terrible dental problems and horrific acne."

Amneziak: What do you want Santa Claus to bring you for Christmas this year?
Menomena: Ooh. Good one! World peace, an end to famine, a cure for cancer, and uh… A new iPod? Mine only has 6 gigs of memory.

Amneziak: What was the last restaurant you visited that made you sick?
Menomena: Well this one time back in the fun teenage years, I had an entire romantic evening planned out with my then-girlfriend/now-wife. I bought us tickets to see Weezer on their Pilkington tour. We were so excited! We were all ready to sing along with "El Scorcho" and everything (except for the naughty “God damn you half Japanese girls” line, which we changed to “gosh darn” so as to avoid taking our Lord’s Name in vain, not to mention condemning an entire nationality AND gender to eternal Hellfire). So on the way to the show, I started to feel all funny inside. By the time we reached the venue (La Luna, RIP) I was honestly ready to explode out of every public and private region of my being. I wouldn’t allow my girl to miss the concert of a lifetime, so I dropped her off at the door and broke the land speed record to the nearest restaurant, which happened to be Jack in the Box. I made an enraged beeline through the mass of confused customers to the bathroom and slumped on top of the toilet without even bothering to first apply a sanitary disposable seat cover. I’ll spare the lovely details. Let’s just say that “El Scorcho” took on a whole new personal meaning AND I missed the entire concert. Gosh DARN!

Menomena: Yeah, this is why my New Year’s resolution is to develop a love for alcohol!

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