Joey Santiago: Pixies Guitarist reflects on the band's success, their upcoming NZ tour

Pixies changed the alternative rock game forever. 

The legendary band out of Boston, Massachusetts has been credited by the likes of Kurt Cobain for their off the wall, guitar shredding influence. 

And they’re making their way back to our shores soon with a very special set of shows.  

Pixies are playing two nights each in Auckland and Wellington – one night showcasing the entirety of Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde, and the other a collection of their greatest hits. 

The reason behind the two shows, guitarist Joey Santiago explained to Jack Tame, is twofold. 

“First of all, selfishly for me, we get to stay in the same city twice,” he said. 

“And I get to look around and relax, you know, so that’s good for us.” 

The other reason caters to the fans, who Santiago says will be able to experience two different shows if they choose to go to both.  

It’s been over 30 years since the release of both Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde, but in Santiago’s opinion, they got them right the first time.   

“Every time we make a record, I’m proud of it,” Santiago explains. 

“After a while, when I get home I go, god damn ... did I do everything I can? Did I give it 100%?” 

“And I do, but it’s like, y’know, what’s more than 100%?” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talks at b.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
We've just seen all the Yeah, yeah, there'll ask me
where is my Mind?

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Where is my mine? Yes, Pixies changed the alt rock
game forever. That's Pixies with where is My Mind? Just
that opening Leaka. So the legionary band out of Boston,
Massachusetts have been credited by the likes of Kirk Cobain
for they're off the wall guitarsh reading influence and very

(01:07):
soon Pixies are going to be back here on New
Zealand Shores with a very special set of shows. So
they're going to be playing two nights each in both
Auckland and Wellington. On the first night they're going to
play classic Pixies albums bosson Over and Trump LeMond in
their entirety, and then the second night is going to
be a more traditional kind of classic Pixie's greatest hits set.

(01:29):
And a man who occupies stage right who's been at
every single Pixies gigba has ever been, as guitarist Joey Santiago.
He and I sat down yesterday and I began by
welcoming to the show.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
Oh thank you for having me and yeah, hopefully you
guys are having a beautiful sun Saturday morning.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, yeah, Hey, you are doing things a little bit differently.
This tour is a little bit different to previous Pixies tour.
Just give us an explanation about the different shows.

Speaker 4 (01:57):
Okay, so we're doing two nights. So the first night
is going to be BOSTONOVA and Trump Lamont the albums
all insequential order, just the way it's listed. And the
second night will be we call it our general set,

(02:17):
which will be just like a mishmash of every things
from the other catalogs, and you know, we'll concentrate on
some of the new stuff new album.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Nice. So why did you why did you want to
do things differently? Why do you want to do the
two quite distinct shows?

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Uh, you know.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
We don't we first of all, selflessly, for me, we
get to stay in the same city twice, two nights,
two days, and I get to look around and relax,
you know.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
So that's good for us, and.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
Also you know, for the for the fans out there,
you know, they get.

Speaker 5 (02:58):
Two different shows. If they choose to go to two shows.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, I think people will, but it's you know,
remarkable to reflect on things a little bit, so Boss
and Over I think is what thirty five years old?
This year Trump? My mom must be what thirty four
years old? How do you reflect on those albums?

Speaker 5 (03:17):
Well, it was a long time ago. You know.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
Every time we make a record, I'm proud of it.
After a little while, the first, you know, when I
get home, I go, God, damn, did I do everything that?

Speaker 5 (03:35):
You know?

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Did I was it? Did I do everything I can?
Did I give it one hundred percent?

Speaker 5 (03:40):
But I do? You know, but it's like, you know,
what's more than one hundred percent? Really? Yeah, that's it.
You just put it out, you know, that's it.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Do you find yourself reflecting on, you know, the different
creative choices you made thirty five years ago when you
when you're forced to go and reflect on an album,
even things like like the sequencing of tracks and that
kind of thing, do you find yourself going, Man, if
I were riding Boston over today, I would do something
a bit differently.

Speaker 5 (04:11):
No.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
I think the albums were sequenced right correctly. The only
thing that you know, had we thought about that we
were going to do this live, we would we would
sequence it better.

Speaker 5 (04:27):
So we don't change guitars as often.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
How many guitars do you have to bring on tour?

Speaker 2 (04:35):
I have?

Speaker 5 (04:35):
You know, it's not.

Speaker 4 (04:36):
That much comparatively, I bring let's see four four guitars, Yeah,
yeah it is.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
It is four Gibson's.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Ah, yes, three less balls and one three five.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah. Wonderful. So so the thirty fifth anniversary of Boston over.
But when I was doing the numbers for Pixies, I
realized that what has been described as the band's second
wave is now a longer period than your first wave together.
So I guess this is like the yeah, which which

(05:16):
is I mean, it's funny how these things kind of
kind of catch up on you. How do you personally
differentiate between the two different Pixies waves.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
Well, the first wave, what for me was I was
trying to have fun the whole time. Yeah, and it
is fun, I get it, you know what I mean.
And this time around, it's the balance of fun and work,

(05:50):
which is not a I'm not saying that in a
negative way at all.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
It's just a healthier way for me to look at it.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
That's interesting. Why is that?

Speaker 5 (06:01):
You know, it's just.

Speaker 4 (06:05):
You just gotta put it out there. You got to
just play your best. You gotta be at nine o'clock.
You gotta be, you gotta have, you.

Speaker 5 (06:15):
Got to be at your optimal best.

Speaker 4 (06:17):
You know, I'm not I'm not out there personally, you know,
I'm not out there belly up at some barn and
going to do the show.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah. So so, And was that the case in the nineties. Yeah, sorry, no,
it's that's fine.

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was exactly like that.

Speaker 4 (06:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
It's kind of the key to longevity, right, It's it
seems like the least rock and roll thing in the world,
but actually, like routine is kind of critical if you
want to be doing what you love. You know, after
after more than three decades of doing it, actually you
can't be necessarily living like you once did.

Speaker 6 (07:00):
I mean, you know what, it's it's it becomes that
and you gotta like count your count your lucky stars
that this is the work I have.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yeah, you know, I can't imagine doing anything else.

Speaker 5 (07:16):
So yeah, I love it.

Speaker 4 (07:18):
I love it, and I love the way I you know,
I treat it. I treat it very seriously and hopefully
it comes across that way, you know, I mean, you know,
I know there, you know, I mean that's the truth, guys.

Speaker 5 (07:34):
You know, Yeah, that is the truth.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
Well, you know, we're doing this to be of service, dude,
the best we can do.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
You find do you find yourself noticing a greater sense
of gratitude than you did previously?

Speaker 5 (07:49):
Yeah? I do, I do.

Speaker 4 (07:50):
I do, even when I have to like shut down
at four pm because I know I can't socialize, I
can't do anything.

Speaker 5 (07:59):
I just have to be in my.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
Room and just getting ready for it.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
I'm getting ready for some thing I love.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
To do, you know, And that's that's part of the
work is really you know, everything else, you know, it's
more important to have the good diet, the exercise and
all that stuff.

Speaker 5 (08:24):
It's just gearing up for something I love to do. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
What about the relationships within the band? Do you notice
that you know that that with the wisdom of a
couple of decades under the belt, now that that your
relationships have changed in the way that you work, the
way that you guys go about your style, whether it's
writing musical or performing it together.

Speaker 4 (08:49):
Yeah, you know, before the show, an hour before the show,
we're all in there practicing. It's for you know, for
Charles to warm up his voice and then we go
over some songs and we have fun with it.

Speaker 5 (09:08):
You know.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
I I tend to mess around with with with it
and uh, I play like silly stuff, other silly stuff.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
Honey, mean what what? What? What kind of silly stuff
do you play?

Speaker 5 (09:20):
Just noodling? Yeah, noodling, uh, noodling stuff. You know.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
It's like, hey, if you if you had a blues guy,
this is what the songs are gonna sound.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah. So I think your kids are in your twenties now, right,
and relatively recently they've been they've been coming to a
few Pixie shows. What is that experience?

Speaker 2 (09:41):
Like?

Speaker 5 (09:45):
You know, they're inviting their friends.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
What it is is when they were like in elementary
school that's what we call here, in fifth grade, they
they just didn't know because what I did and what
the band was.

Speaker 5 (10:01):
They had no clue. And I told.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
Them, you know, when you get into high school, you're
going to realize you're going to see Yeah, And sure enough,
you know they did that. There are classroomies. Now they're
in college, it's just everywhere. You know, We're We're lucky,
you know, we're the band is popular in the college circuit.

(10:29):
You know, if they want to, you know, because college
is the time you to explore other forms of everything.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
And I suppose you've got past the point where they
think you're not cool and you're kind of whereas it's
like a second a second wave for the band, you're
probably also in their estimation and a second you know,
in a kind of second stage where all of a sudden,
actually having dad, you know, shreading for Pixies is like

(10:57):
an amazing is an amazing thing to be able to
boast to your friends.

Speaker 5 (11:02):
Yeah, you would think they'd behave more, but they don't.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
Funny that, Hey, we really appreciate your time. We are
delighted that you're going to be playing in New Zealand
once again. So Pixies twenty twenty five New Zealand Tour
has a two night residency in each city, Auckland's Town
Hall on November twenty third and twenty fourth, and the
Saint James Theatre in Wellington on the twenty sixth and
twenty seventh of November. All of the details will be
on the News Talks z'b website. Joey, thank you so much.

(11:28):
We can't wait to see you here soon.

Speaker 5 (11:30):
I'm looking forward to it too.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
That is Joey Santiago from Pixies.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
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