By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
April 12, 1996
The Jesus Lizard is about the last band anyone expected to sign to a major label. But seven years after its inception, the exhilarating hard-core alternative band has jumped to Capitol – home of the Beatles.
“Capitol had been wooing us for a while, and we were, of course, suspicious of them – us being us and them being them,” vocalist David Yow said, sipping on a cup of coffee. “But they promised us that we could do what we’ve always been doing without any interference from them, and that’s pretty much how it worked out.”
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Added bassist David Sims, 32, “We wanted to push boundaries with our music, and part of that meant leaving the known for the unknown, and Capitol was part of that.”
Another part was leaving longtime producer Steve Albini for GGGarth Richardson, who co-produced the band’s new CD with Jesus Lizard. Richardson is best known for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“It was just time for a change,” Yow said, after playfully giving out Albini’s home phone number “for any readers who might want to call him.” “I think Steve did a great job for us in the past, and our decision to try another producer is in no way a reflection on him. It was great working with GGGarth, though, because he helped us keep this album sounding uncluttered, which was really important for us.”
The new album, “Shot,” will be in record stores Tuesday. It includes a spectacular track called “Too Bad About the Fire,” which Yow, 35, credits to his wife, Suzy Korn. She compiled local newspaper clippings, and he strung them together into a song that pokes fun at tabloid sensationalism.
The band’s visibility has been crossing over into the mainstream. Last month, Yow shared the stage with Yoko Ono at her Park West show. So Ono’s a Jesus Lizard fan?
“No,” he said. “I don’t think she even knows who we are. But (her son) Sean is into us and asked if I’d want to join them. I wasn’t too sure about it, but my wife said, `Are you crazy? You have to play with Yoko Ono.’ So I did. It was a lot of fun.”
Any crazy Yoko stories?
“Not really,” Yow said. “But I have a Sean story. He was asking what food is indigenous to Chicago, and we told him he had to have a Polish (sausage). He gets one of these, and he also happens to do a really good imitation of John Lennon. So Sean takes a bite and says, in John’s voice, `We’re eating sausages for peace,’ which I thought was pretty funny. He’s such a 20-year-old.”
Yow kept his clothes on at the Park West show, saying he’s grown tired of disrobing on stage – and getting arrested, as he did at last year’s Lollapalooza tour in Cincinnati.
“I was pretty wasted when I did that,” he said. “When the police took me to prison, they were doing everything really slow, kind of like to show the rock star who was boss. A couple of them asked for my autograph, and I said I’d be happy to sign things for them – on my way out.”
That sped up the process?
“- – – – no!” he said, laughing. “They took even longer.”
