John Vanderslice is the nicest guy on earth - with noble opinions and a stack of mesmerizing albums Michael Moore would likely enjoy. The following is a conversation between Mister JV and a noble Macintosh.

Bill Gates must die.

+ You seem to be quite a fan of modern technology (songs mentioning GPS devices, albums with pixel in the title, etc.), yet a key line in "farewell transmission" is :"your dad didn't know the age of the sun / now we know the hour it was born. how does that help us now". Is this a hint that you think modern technology is moving to fast or maybe a corrupt side to the advancement?

How long can we hold on? I'm very pessimistic. Just look at New Orleans and you can see how willfully reckless our government is - and how fast things could turn to shit here. Maybe [Hurricane] Katrina had nothing to do with climate change, but maybe in 20 years there are overwhelming consequences to destabilizing our environment. And how secure do you feel knowing that FEMA is gutted, there is almost no federal infrastructure for dealing with natural disasters, and that you're going to have to fend for yourselves when something hits your town.

By the way, New Orleans shows you how much the war on terror is total bullshit. The amount of money we're spending on a potential threat that is vague and decentralized. Terrorism is statistically irrelevant, very few people (in the broad scheme of things) have died from terrorism in the past 20 years on US soil. you cannot defend yourself, you can only reduce demand for people to want to kill you. In that way it's similar to the war on drugs, you can't fight a demand side problem with supply-side solutions.

+ So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and take it you're not (like 97% of the country!) a fan of this W Bush creature - what are we as a nation going to do for 3 more years, John Vanderslice?! Isn't it about the scariest situation in your lifetime?!

Yes, this is the worst I can remember. I went into a frothing rage with a "Bushie" yesterday about the hurricane. I think I'm past the point of no return here, I'm wondering when I'm going to don the camo and go underground!

+ In direction to your thoughtful decision to post complete albums on JV.com, is that out of a love for technology or simply saying "if it's going to get out there, get it out there (internet-land) right"?

Well, it's mostly because I love file sharing to be honest. I don't think if effects record sales (it seems to help me), and I think the goodwill has to be a good thing. Also, some records I make are limited edition (like the remix records) or on Japanese editions or vinyl only, so why not post that stuff? I'll be adding another full remix record posting and a live to 2-track record of Pixel Revolt live in the spring - just me and an acoustic guitar in a chicken coop. On that - Scott Solter will do the remix record in January (2006), and I'll have it for the spring tour. It'll be a numbered run of 2,000. ( note: 3 complete MK Ultra albums are also available at mkultra.com, complete with lyrics and production notes. This all supports our previous theory that JV is a really nice guy. JV -vs- Lars Ulrich - take one. )

+ Where did this live to 2-track idea come from.. . that leaves very little room for anything other than voice and guitar.. yes?

Yeah, I wanted to strip it down to the essential elements: lyrics and melody. It was VERY hard!!
Also, we wanted to record in this chicken coop at Prairie Sun Studios up north of San Francisco, it's in incredibly live and unique sounding room.

+ You've done a couple small tours in Japan, and there are references to Japan and Japanese culture in your songs ("Dance, Dance Revolution", and Shibuya, a shopping district in Tokyo). What do you find fascinating about this country?

Japan is unreal! One of the best places I've ever been to. I've spent a lot of time there alone walking around at night with my camera. The visual sense of the culture, along with the very particular energy of the Japanese changed me.

+ What triggered this more personal approach to songwriting on Pixel Revolt? Why was it more appropriate to talk about your life on this album than any of your other records?

Well my life fell apart, so writing about things 6,000 miles away didn't resonate anymore. I had to write about my own life in hopes of working through it. That, by the way, doesn't work very well!

+ How large of an influence / editor was John Darnielle to the final lyrics on Pixel Revolt? Do you ever think you will share any roughs / original ideas with your fanbase?

I have a page I haven't finished called "notes on the titles and lyrics." I should have it up in a few weeks. JD was pretty big for me on these lyrics because was he was in from the start. I was writing these songs knowing they were going to go through him. So that was the most important part. He rejected some lyrics, suggested phrases and words, wrote a few verses and choruses on some, and made no changes on others, and everything in between. By the way, I've usually had an editor on lyrics. All the mk ultra records were edited by Amanda Yskamp, a Berkeley poet.

+ How do you generally go about choosing an editor for your song lyrics?

Well, I've only used two and I have to understand their work and feel like they understand mine. I worked with Amanda (Yskamp) for five years. I had known (John) Darnielle for at least that long before we started to work together.

+ According to your recording diary, the song titles on Pixel Revolt were changed around from time to time. What prompts these changes, and how much thought do you put into song titles?

Well titles are really important to me, and often they come at the very end. I asked David Berman to give me a list of titles to songs after he heard the record. So a lot of his titles were too good not to use. ("Peacocks in the video rain", "Letter to the east coast") some songs seem to me to need a misleading or overwrought title, other songs need the opposite.

+ One subject that is present on Pixel Revolt is the day of and surrounding 9/11 - but Cellar Door was released in 2004. Did you specifically pen these songs for the latest album after Cellar Door, or were they around during that release too?

They were written after Cellar Door. The more bizarre Bush and co. got post 9/11, the more political my writing got.

+ Seeing as how you are a huge fan of movies, would you ever consider scoring / creating a soundtrack for a film?

In a heartbeat. I am waiting for the day I am asked to do the right movie. Did you hear that Richard Kelley??

+ On the side-project journey, have you ever considered writing short stories (in bound book form)?

If you ever see me writing prose, a screenplay, or a novel, please Tanya Harding my kneecaps. I think it's hard enough to get good at one thing!

+ You've got quite a few photo slideshows documenting your days on tour. How did you get interested in photography? Would you (/ have you) ever use any of your photos for your own cover art?

My mom gave me a Pentax K1000 in 1996. Out of love and respect for her I thought I should use it on a tour, show her how much I appreciated the gift. I had no interest in photography whatsoever, hadn't even really thought about it.

I was hooked after I got back my first 10 rolls from Photoworks. It seems to stave off depression and meaninglessness on tour. It also helps document a pretty confusing and fast moving time, touring is incredibly compressed and visually overwhelming.

+ We hear you have some wacky battle bot-building neighbors behind the Tiny Telephone studio - what are those peeps up to?

Well, Survival Research Laboratories are the best neighbors I could ever have, they have kept peace order down at the yard where Tiny Telephone is. They don't have as many shows these days and they definitely don't run the V1 rocket as much as they used to, thank God - because that will stop a recording session in five seconds flat.

+ Did Angela's bunny survive? (from Pixel track "Angela")

Definitely not, unfortunately. But, "maybe those last days of freedom were the best of his life?"

+ What makes John Vanderslice happy?

Listening to records, eating sugary things and good food. Drinking strong as hell black tea. Watching Turner Classic movies or DVD, Arrested Development, Aqua Teen Huger Force, Robot Chicken, NBA Basketball. Wholesome activities.. . unwholesome activities.

++ BONUS: [ from the mind of JG ]: Ask him about why he is the friendliest and "awesomest"!

Because I have good job. Any musician who is not nice to the people around him/her should be bound and hurled in the San Francisco Bay.. .

PS: Hiller and Gibbard rule.

:!: A user's guide to Pixel Revolt - one of 2005's finest journals : page 1 | page 2 :!:

John Vanderslice is known for writing quirky pops songs about the darker and more obscure aspects of life. His topics include: a pedophile who wants to exact revenge on Bill Gates (from Mass Suicide Occult Figurines), the traumatic experience of watching a girl hit by a car ("Everything Changed", from Time Travel is Lonely), and a war veteran haunted by his days in Vietnam ("White Plains", Cellar Door). The messages in his songs are never handed to the listener on a silver platter, covered in a saccharine coating for easy swallowing. Instead, he prefers to express his thoughts and feelings by way of the explicit confessions and narratives of characters that find themselves in dire and strange situations.

For his sixth release, Pixel Revolt, the already-accomplished lyricist John Vanderslice worked with another music mastermind – John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats – to create a poignant record with frank, yet poetic lyrics. Like in his previous record, Cellar Door, Vanderslice once again travels down the path of war and politics in his songs. The song "Trance Manual" tells the tale of a journalist in Iraq who drowns out the chaos and disillusionment by seeking comfort from an Iraqi prostitute: "Just walk right through/past the bullhorns and sleepy 47s / right by the coalition guards /.. . Come to me now / you are warming weather / come to me now / the kind that comes with / sandbags along the river." War, however, is not the dominating theme; Vanderslice also touches on the struggles of daily life, including his own, which is something he rarely mentioned in previous albums.

Failed love and disappointment are scattered throughout the record, both in real and imaginary situations. "New Zealand Pines," a love song Vanderslice wrote to an ex-girlfriend, is full of nostalgia wistful imagery. On the track "Angela," a lost pet bunny suddenly prompts a couple to reconsider their dismal surroundings and circumstances. Taking a break from the melancholy, a delicate instrumental track called "The Golden Gate" perfectly captures the image of the graceful structure peeking out through the gray fog in the bay.

From his years as front man of MK Ultra to his solo career, Vanderslice has always produced records that are original, never trite or boring. Pixel Revolt is interesting both sonically and lyrically, a perfect blend of contrasting sounds and poetry. Let us hope that John Vanderslice never runs out of stories to tell.