HI JOHN, last year you released 52 new songs through your revived Dial-A-Song service and put out two albums, Glean and the children's record Why?. How is 2016 going so far?
Very well, thank-you. We kicked it off with a three night stand in Brooklyn which was a crazy amount of fun.
All through the 1980s and 90s we would usually end up playing in some hockey rink in the mid-west on New Year's Eve, but this year all our friends and family were there, which made for a much more celebratory, easy thing.
It was quite magnificent actually.
You and John Linell (vocals/keys) formed They Might Be Giants in 1982, but you didn't make your Belfast debut until 2013. What happened?
We finally cracked the code! We entered in the middle of the night, then left and no-one could tell we'd been there.
No, it was great, it was a lot of fun – international touring for us is roughly 1,000 times more interesting than regular US touring. I like playing shows in general but there's just a whole other dimension to working outside of the United States that makes you feel fully alive.
So we're definitely looking forward to coming back over. It would be nicer to have more days off, but for economic reasons we just have to keep the ball rolling.
In fact, I think there's one show this time round where we have to leave for the ferry pretty much as soon as we finish playing. It will kind of be like: "Thank-you very much! Goodnight! And goodbye!"
In addition to your 'normal' releases, the band has had great success with its recent run of children's albums, including 2009's Grammy-winning Here Come The 123s!. Are you playing any kids' shows over here this time?
We're doing one kids' show, in Glasgow at the Celtic Connections festival. And I'm glad that has already sold out, because explaining to people that the adult shows are strictly for adults only is one of the most confounding things I have to deal with these days.
Admittedly, the kind of parents who want to take their kids to bars in the middle of the night are like a self-selecting group. And I mean, we're not (legendary monster make-up shock rockers) GWAR or anything – but I don't even think you need to be GWAR to not really be a good fit for kids.
It's such a bad idea I can't even explain it and it makes people nervous. It makes us nervous, just because we have people stage-diving and on any given week we'll do a show where there's someone who is off their meds and throwing drinks around.
Basically, the combination of drunk people and children is a bad one. If you arrive with a child at one of our regular shows you will be turned away, that's for sure.
You've enjoyed major label success with the Flood record and made history with the world's first Grammy winning TV theme song, Boss of Me, written for Malcolm in The Middle. But did you ever expect to have a parallel career as childrens' entertainers?
I guess it seems pretty unlikely – but then everything about our career is pretty unlikely. I mean, we've been working as a band for 30 years.
Formats have changed, means of communication have changed, industries have collapsed – it's crazy.
When we first started putting out records (their self-titled debut was released in 1986) we had to convince our record company to make CDs. Bar/None was run by an Irishman (Tom Prendergast) who also ran a double-cool record store. They were proto-indie rockers who thought CDs were bourgeois BS.
The truth is, I don't even know why it's worked for so long. I mean, it hasn't been difficult – because if it had, I think we would have stopped.
The fact that you and the other John have such a solid relationship must be at the heart of it though, right?
I guess so. I think our ambitions kind of run parallel to each other, which is probably the most useful thing.
There are a lot of things that are kind of bogus in this world but John and I enjoy the same take on a lot of things, which really does make it easier. We disagree on some things but we always try to figure out an accommodation.
Whereas a lot of people in bands seem like kittens in a pillowcase, like those guys in Oasis. They're brothers – you would think they'd have a lot in common, besides their love of fighting.
So, when people ask how we keep on going, I'm like, well probably because it's kind of fun – and in many ways easier than getting a real job.
:: They Might Be Giants, Saturday January 30, The Limelight, Belfast.
