From The Vaults E03: Beck

In 1995, I went with then-Program Director of CFMU Janis Nixon to cover Lollapalooza in Barrie. The line up was great that year, the headliners were Sonic Youth and there were a number of other great Main Stage acts including Pavement, Cyprus Hill, Jesus Lizard, Elastica, and the focus of this interview, Beck.

It was decided between Janis and I that she would interview the smaller stages and I would take the main stage acts. It was all quite exciting, I had done band interviews for the Hammer magazine and for CFMU before but not a big festival like this, so it was quite an experience. Basically the way I would get interviews was to linger in the press tent and ask the tour managers of the bands whether I could get an interview or not. I was estatic to hear I could interview Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth later in the day (I'm a huge Sonic Youth fan), but also got the ok from Beck's tour manager. I was happy to get it.

I was taken to Beck's tour bus which I have to say right off the hop was a star in itself. The interior was decorated like a 1970's lounge, lots of purple velvet and comfy booths. I sat down with Beck and was immediately at ease, he is a super relaxed, very nice, easy going person. He offered me a beer and I said yes, so we both had one and started the interview. It turned into a conversation more than an interview, since he was so friendly. He talked about his mom with great fondness and then we got into the subject of literature. We were both happy to learn we were both fans of J.G. Ballard! It turns out Beck is very well read as well as being a groovy guy. It was a great experience and one of the most enjoyable parts of the day for me, and of course his performance was great as well. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did! And it's good to see he's still producing great music.