These days, the music business seems like just that—a business. Bands come down the assembly line and regurgitate yesterday’s top 40 hits. Has everyone forgotten the artistic aspects of music? Not so, you silly goose. There are still many bands who strive to push boundaries and explore the inner forces driving them, regardless of how marketable the end product may be. One such band is Buffalo’s very own Global Village Idiots (who have recently released a most excellent debut CD, New W’age Slaves). Recently, I got a chance to sit down with the Idiots, and tried to find out what makes them tick.

Generation: The band has a unique style. What are some of your musical influences?

KornDog: The sources change all the time. I like getting inspired by weird things, like seeing the Sgt. Pepper's movie, the really bad one. Like, actually taking something bad but then finding something interesting in it. The part where Sgt. Pepper had a heart attack and came back to life at the end, I actually turned that into a performance piece. I did this death/rebirth thing based on the camp value of that.

Dave: My musical influences? I don't know.

Kristin [laughing]: Metal... We have the pictures to prove it.

D: I don't know. Lots of different things. [looking at nearby vinyl records] Half Japanese and Sly & the Family Stone, I guess.

Sakura: Our musical tastes are all over the place.

D: We do intersect at certain points.

K: If need be, we can be put in a box.

KD: I'm trying to put everyone in a box. [points at Dave] Indie Boy. [points at Kristin] Show tunes. [points at Sakura] Gloomy scary girl. I don't know what the hell I am. Miscellaneous asinine.

G: Was there a conscious decision to go for a different sound or was it something that evolved more naturally through jamming?

D: I think it just happens because of our diverse musical tastes amongst each other.

S: I mean, that kinda happens with any band. Yeah, maybe it's a little more obvious in other bands, but we each just try to bring a part of ourselves and we're all pretty unique individuals. I think a lot of people, when they start a band, they go, "Oh, I want to sound like this." And they kind of emulate. That's not to say we're not derivative in any way. We are.

K: Oh, certainly.

D: The Rolling Stones were basically a blues band that contributed in their own unique way.

KD: Then they started to get really imaginative and inventive. They got unpopular and went back to being a blues band. But for myself, the sound I wanted to contribute to the band, on my part, was very willful. I definitely wanted to deliberately make something that was really post-modern in the sense of having a million different styles, even if they do conflict with one another. See how it merges or doesn't work, just kinda take risks.

G: Even though the music seems to get complex and challenging at times, it's still pretty catchy. How important do you feel hooks are in the songwriting process?

KD: I think it all depends on what you're trying to communicate. Sometimes, we'll come up with a song, and it's purely on a hook and everything else is secondary. But then, if you're trying to communicate something that's more of an atmosphere, then you don't even want a hook, because it's supposed to be this sweeping ambient sort of thing.

D: I think hooks exist inside riffs or melodies that just naturally have a good feel to them.

K: While you're jamming, you'll get hooked on something yourself. That's why you use that. I don't think it's something we try to do.

S: It just kinda happens.

K: We'll get hooked by it, and that's why we keep playing it. That's why we develop it. We don't have a sign that says, "Where's the hook?"

G: What was the motivation behind including two live tracks on the album, as opposed to recording them in the studio?

D: Oh man, where do you start there?

S: Do we tell the made-up version or the real version?

K: Well, we can take a few different angles with this.

S: The motivation? Well, the opportunity was given to us.

K: We tried recording "Mama" in the studio, but it just didn't work and we weren't going to use it for the CD.

KD: And "Jake Snake" only works live.

D: There's a few tunes we wanted to capture in a live situation, because of the band and the way it is. Y'know, how the tunes come over live vs. what you lose in the studio. We were presented an opportunity to record our songs live...Can we slag anyone?

K: Can we not mention names, but slag somebody?

G: Sure.

D: It won't be as interesting. Kama Sutra was recording their live CD at Nietzsche's. We were asked to play the show--to open for them, although we ended up closing. We ended up playing very late and waiting a long amount of time.

K: It was supposed to be at 10. It ended up being around two in the morning.

D: So only certain things worked because by then, we were pretty frazzled and angry.

K: And drunk.

D: It came across in an interesting way because those two particular songs...

KD: They have a nasty vibe to them.

D: I think it worked. Those songs sound different, depending on our mood.

K: I didn't want to use them.

KD: I really pestered to get them on [the disc].

S: That's one thing about the CD. I don't think we really captured our sound live.

D: That's a difficult thing to do in the studio, because of the environment you're in. It's a sterile environment; there's no interaction. I think it works for certain songs, and for other songs, it doesn't.

S: Plus you start to overthink things.

D: [Whereas] Live, things just happen.

G: Have you ever given thought to Global Village Idiots action figures and comic books, a la KISS?

All [in unison]: Oh yeah.

KD: I actually made these rough sketches for a comic book of the band. I made alter egos. We were supervillains, trying to take over the world. [pointing to Kristin] She was Miss Direction. Her power was superhypnosis.

D: I was the evil Dr. Timmy.

KD: It all comes down to money. If I had the money to do something like that, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's too much of a burden being a human being. The more two-dimensional I can get...If I can turn into a cartoon in some way, I could do anything. I want to be a cartoon.

G: Korndog, where does the nickname come from?

KD: I dunno. I was named a long time ago. It was weird. I named my friend, we were doing this voodoo on each other. We'd name somebody a name, and they'd become that person. I'm not sure what Korndog was supposed to be the embodiment of. It's kind of vague. In a way, that's good, because since it's so vague, I can turn it into whatever I want.

G: If William Shatner asked any of you to join his Priceline.com band, would you do it?

D: William Shatner? Sure.

K: Dave's a big fan.

KD: I'd do it if it paid well. If it were like, "This is just for the status and thrill of being with the great William Shatner," nah. But if I were going to be paid decent for it, sure. I think it'd be funny anyways.

K: I would at least try it.

D: I want to work with William Shatner. I want to have him do "Rocket Man" with us.

S: I'd rather play in a band with Leonard Nimoy.

G: What are your thoughts on the Buffalo music scene?

KD: I think a good way to gauge it is by the festivals. The Artvoice Festival was cool. I checked out a lot of the bands. Obviously, there is a music scene, and there are a lot of people doing a lot of music. There are a lot of people who are intensly into it and sincere.

K: But nobody’s watching.

D: I think nobody’s watching ‘cause there aren’t a lot of great bands happening.

KD: There are a lot of great players. There’s tons of guitar players and drummers who can really play, but I’m not sure if they’re really pushing the medium. It doesn’t blow my mind. I want my mind blown.

D: I think the bands that are doing something really unique aren’t playing a lot. Susan & The Rockets is a good example.

KD: I wish there was more variety. There is solid rock n’ roll bands. Doombuggy and Girlpope being the obvious examples. I wish there was more experimental. I wish there was more noise. I wish there was more experimental jazz bands. Far out jazz is my favorite now.

S: Part of the biggest problem with the music scene, as far as the audience goes, is that the only places to play are "over 21" clubs and bars. Most people, by that time, aren’t interested in hearing new musical styles.

K: And all the "all ages" shows are either so genre specific, or there aren’t enough of them.

S: Another thing about the scene is that there’s a certain amount of self-deprecation involved. Like, "If you’re from Buffalo, you can’t be all that good anyway." Everyone kinda caters to that mentality.

G: Do you think bands of the future will be categorized by which era of Van Halen they were most influenced by?

S: I hope not.

KD: "Let's see. Is this a Sammy Hagar band or a David Lee Roth band?" I think it might be a judge of whether the band is good or bad. If you judge a band as one of Van Halen's first four albums, that's a good band, because those were great albums. But anything after that, the band sucks.

S: Are we a Diver Down band?

D: Geez, I hope not.

KD: We're Mean Streets.

D: Or 1984.

K: Do you think that's us? Really?

D: No, but we're definitely Mean Streets.