Now we have to choose one,
so...
Let's do that.
Alright, alright, alright,
never mind, this one is...
Go ahead.
Whatever.
No way.
No way.
That song sucks.
It really sucks.
No way.
This song's stupid.
This song is really stupid.
OK, "Next Fire",
what do I do in the intro?
I-- I dunno, why don't we do it
out front on the porch.
Ok, after that plane passes.
I'm Steve Malkmus,
singer of the group.
Here in Portland, Oregon...
Pretty close to the airport
here.
That's quite a plane.
Yeah...
Yeah, it was pretty loud.
It's not really fair to the
people that live here.
Yeah, it's pretty loud!
Not really fair to the people
that live here.
I guess we are pretty close.
Yeah, it's good for travel.
I wouldn't mind living out here.
...living out here.
Ready?
Hey, thanks a lot for having
us here
in the middle of the f*ck'
amazing America...
Oy! That was f*ck' brilliant!
What did I tell you?
Here we are, Pavement.
I'm sure that you are surprised,
but in fact it is true.
Pull up a chair,
open the windows,
and turn off the lights.
Her mom's basement
in Stockton, California...
I've been waiting
Anticipating
The sun comes up
the blisters burn my soul
I've dreamt of this
but it never comes
but it never comes
the rising
the rising
the rising
Nature's dry
Faux
We're not trying to stay
underground or trying to be big,
we're just...
existing.
Sun comes up
The skies won't sink my soul
Dreamin'
Of something now...
Of something now...
Of the rising
Nature's dry
All the groovy ones
A lotta bands of the 90's sold
out.
They're the best band
of the 90's,
hands-down.
When they announced their tour,
he called me crying...
And was like,
"Mom, they just announced it."
And like-- he was crying,
and I'm crying! Oh my God!
The cosmology has been missing
a God head,
and I really feel that
Pavement fulfills it.
There's sort of a life
of any idea.
There's limits that you can't
transcend...
naturally...
I always was hoping that
it was music for the future.
You know, I mean I think
everyone
who's not that successful in
their time
tries to think that.
Well done, Pavement, well done.
You're really on the ball!
Muchas gracias, thank you.
Thank you.
Logan Miller, 5'6", reading
for the role of Mark Ibold.
Hey I'm Fred Hechinger,
I'm reading for the role
of Bob Nastanovich.
For "Range Life".
Thank you.
Let's go.
Yeah, what if we just
do our own thing?
I mean we're more comfortable
at a CBGB's,
Maxwell's, Pyramid Club...
Let's go. Should we go?
Lemme go back.
Soon as they notice the little
indie bands make a little money,
all they want to do is...
Make them make
a little more money.
Right, ok?
I'm Joe Keery.
I'm 5'11".
I live in New York City,
and I'll be auditioning
for Stephen Malkmus.
Is this what it's all
gonna become?
Bands like us doing gi-normous
corporate commercial things?
What a bummer.
And now, right here
on our stage tonight,
the Beatles!
That was jolly good!
Jolly good.
I'm not in Rock ann roll
but give me some g*ns N' Roses
cause I like the--
Hi guys!
Hi!
- On the green?
- Yeah!
Yes, my name is Justice Hayword.
26 years old.
- Live in Brooklyn.
- Yes!
Mhmm.
What song are you gonna sing?
- "Gold Soundz"...
- Ok.
- Yes, yes, yes.
- Try it.
Let me figure which pitch
I'm gonna do...
Yeah take your time,
whenever you're ready.
Go back to those gold soundz
And keep my advent to your
self because it's nothing
I don't like
I keep my advent
to your self
Cause we need secrets,
we need secrets...
Right now
- Nice.
- Wow!
Thank you.
I believe that these songs can
transcend their original form.
And I believe that because
I love Pavement
and I love musical theater.
Honey, I'm a prize
and you're a catch,
And we're a perfect match
And I thought,
"Hey wouldn't it be funny
"to take all these Pavement
songs,
"Slacker songs, alternative,
whatever you want
to call it, ironic,"
Put them into the most sincere
art form possible:
musical theater.
"See if it works!"
...back right now.
Thank you. Yeah.
We've got your info.
Are you a Pavement fan?
Yeah, I'm a huge Pavement fan.
It's the only reason I'm here.
I had to see what you guys
were doing.
It sounds incredible.
Does it make sense now?
Yeah!
I thought: "Is this a prank?"
No.
So we go 1, 2, 3...
I went to see a lot of musicals
in research for this,
I watched American Idiot,
A Green Day One.
I watched Alanis Morissette.
I watched Almost Famous.
I watched Fame.
I like this girl, I mean
she's very like musical theater,
she was very like--
Was she's the one
who kinda like...
She was like pumping her heel
and she was singing
I don't know, can all these guys
tap? We might have to--
There's enough tappers
in that group.
The cymbal's nice, too.
See those rockers
with their long curly locks
Good night to you
rock and roll dickwards
We don't need you anymore
Waoooo!
I feel like I'm louder
than everybody sometimes.
I get that a lot of times
too at home.
We gotta get it going
a little faster.
Let's practice your part, Scott.
The biggest thing on
everyone's mind right now...
How's this rehearsal
gonna go?
What songs are we gonna play?
Speaking for myself,
I'm very excited about
playing all these songs again.
You know thrilled--
thrilled to do it.
I love playing Pavement shows.
We get to practice
for about 10 days.
And then 5 more days.
Pavement is gonna utilize a 6th
member for the first time ever.
We have Rebecca Cole
in our band now.
The more people you play to,
you have to be a little more...
You know, you can't screw around
as much.
C'mon in.
Let's go!
Grave architecture
Walk the marble malls
The monuments to those who
fall
And it's a pocket less than
narco shell-bit...
Some the critics
and some of the fans say
that you will save rock 'n roll.
-Can you agree with that?
-Yeah, great.
- We already have...
- Well, yeah...
It's a hard burden,
but we'll save it.
We could do that one.
People would like that one
I think.
But I gotta remember
how it goes.
Yeah, well actually I met Steve
on a soccer team
when I was 10 years old.
He was kinda the brat
of the neighborhood,
and I was the black sheep
of the neighborhood.
We bonded a little bit cause
he used to tease me
and I'd beat him up.
Every year about this time
Stockton community leaders
put together 3 weeks worth of
fun and games
brought to a cl*max by a giant
parade through the streets
of downtown Stockton!
Every building same height
Every street a straight line
Team colors, yellow and blue
As it is, we're from
suburban California,
and I think our music has
that kind of 2nd-hand distance,
reflected in suburban culture
where everything
is slightly artificial.
There's always gonna be that
Stockton chip on your shoulder.
We're gritty, of course I'm like
a bougie dude or whatever.
But at least I'm from Stockton.
We're from the Cleveland
of California.
This is fine.
We're all just in Stockton,
California,
have released reports focusing
on that trance-like state.
And nothing ever happens
Nothing ever happens
Stephen and many of the others,
were responsible students
but I cared more about,
going to see bands,
and working in a record store,
driving a bus,
and washing dishes.
Hello.
Everyone out there,
you're listening to WGJU,
91.1 FM.
My name is Stephen...
We're all the same age,
more of less,
and so We were listening
to the same things.
Bands like Well Map, Wire,
Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth and...
- Butthole Surfers ...
-I like Can a lot.
Weird like Captain
Beefhearty- type stuff.
My Bloody Valentine was a big
one.
Creedence and Devo are kinda of
a mix between these two bands.
-Alex Chilton.
-A lot of SST.
I used to always think
he sounded like Buffalo Tom.
The Smiths and The Cures.
I think I was a little more
of a punk guy.
Black Flag.
Mixed with The Doors
and Creedence and Velvets.
Verlaines and Chills,
Cyclops, Tanks.
Sneaky Feelings.
The greatest rock band
of all time, The Queen
Real fans, like us, bought
the 12"s as they came out.
Scott was
the Echo the Bunnymen guy.
Like The Replacements
he knew about before me.
The Flying Nun stuff
I never would have heard.
We both liked Dinosaurs.
"You're Living All Over Me."
Everyone has to go through
that album but
we obviously mixed it pretty
heavily with The Fall.
It took me a while,
to get even in college,
I liked The Fall.
I was sorta like not The Fall
fan at my school.
I mean this is when I was a kid,
I kinda wanted to be cool.
I was a bit of a poser.
I still am.
I was buying new wave punk,
and I tried to listen to
Elvis Costello,
didn't do it for me.
I'd listen to The Jams,
didn't do it.
But then like X,
The Specials' 1st album...
Like the whole record collection
kinda melts
into what you are.
The music, you do as a...
Some of it is you,
but 80% of it is like a fantasy
of other people you like.
Some bands I like to name
check
And one of them is R.E.M.
We had a noise band,
it was called Ectoslavia.
Bob and David, a couple of bros
just from Richmond.
And we fought a lot.
I was dressed for success
Success has never come
I can't remember
when I first heard them or
who first played them for me?
How I first got into them?
But I was pretty young,
I guess i was in...
Maybe it was my freshman year
of college or early,
it must have been earlier.
Some time in high school.
They just immediately became
one of my favorite bands.
I was obsessed with Slanted
Enchanted!
My first Pavement album
was on cassette...
It was Crooked Rain,
Crooked Rain
and It truly, like, changed my
life.
I remember pouring over
the liner notes
so I could learn every single
esoteric lyric.
Pavement 's discography
is sort of like...
I can like mark where I was
in my preadolescence
and adolescence and you know,
like college...
I heard Pavement
for the first time 6 weeks ago.
When I dove into the lyrics
and started learning them,
all the songs really reminded me
a lot of musicals,
more than any other genre.
I'd like to invite you
to taste from my chalice...
It's a special one,
it's made of gold.
Not real gold.
It was a question of how do we
capture this really specific
tonality of Malkmus' lyrics
and this group of friends
making music?
And at first it was,
"Should we make it crazy
and elevated "and have
everything be orchestral?"
But when you start getting
in to these open tunings,
And then like purposefully
out-of-tune guitars
in certain places?
You start realizing how
complicated the songs
actually are.
And so I do think that putting
it in the sanctity of a theater
in that context is like,
so brilliant.
I love them so much,
I'd just do anything.
I just didn't care either,
whether it would work or not.
k*lling me
You're k*lling me again.
It's not my fault,
It's not my fault again
The first song is
"You're k*lling Me."
And that's the first song
that we ever recorded too.
Fitting choice for a first song.
I just remember when we started,
we didn't want to have any
bass guitar.
We thought that that was a
radical thing at the time but...
Of course it's not that radical.
The place has always
been called Weber Point,
although until this year,
there hasn't been much
to commemorate it.
Now, civic leaders have given us
this rock.
We went to this hippy dude's--
I'll just call him
a "hippy dude."
Like earlier generation,
Yes was his favorite band.
We just happened
into his studio,
and he recorded those albums.
So he was just the engineer,
as the cheapest
and the only one
that you could go to.
I mean initially the thing was
we started the band,
it was just going to be me
and Scotty,
and Gary was going to be this
extra guy
that's not even credited really.
But he did contribute a lot.
It started with the cover art
of the first record.
I just made up
all this mumbo jumbo on there.
Just made it weird.
I mean people
are a little confused.
Yeah.
- What's up with "S.M."
- and "Spiral Stairs"?
If it sucks, no one
will know it was us.
Pavement members were re-tuning
and they're gonna do
another song for you
in just a moment.
Ba-da-ba-da-ba... f*ck you!
Ba-da-ba-da-ba... f*ck you!
The original thing that we were
doing was deliberately
trashy sounding in some ways
cause
I'd made this record
with these friends of mine,
in Virginia, where we tried to
sound kinda nice,
and no one paid attention to it.
So I decided I should make
something that sounded
really awful.
There might have also been
at the start, "Well you know...
"f*ck you, we can't play."
That's cooler, you know?
We're brats,
and you don't have to play
to make good music.
Which you don't.
Who came up with the name
Pavement?
Scott.
The other founding father,
Spiral Stairs...
He arranged to press the record.
He's the life blood of the band
in many ways.
He bleeds Pavement.
Ok...
Shall we?
A nice review in K was like
great to us, or it's like
the woman from K says
"Your single's so great."
Back in the day, there was like
a fan-zine culture.
Fans, making their fan-zine,
the same way
we made the records.
We got some validation there.
You know Gerard Cosloy
said he liked it.
I hear you are
one of the keepers
of the band's full history.
- Did you...?
- I'm one of the guys.
Did you ever think that
you would be here, in 1989?
I thought I'd maybe be
on this block in 1989,
but certainly not in an
installation documenting
the band's history,
and their place
in the whole scope of things.
No, I could not have imagined
it.
It looks incredible.
Talk to me about
putting together this exhibit.
You want to be as clever or
as witty as a Pavement song is.
There's only a few bands
that have the intense fan base
where every detail
is worth scrutiny.
And we're like,
"We're gonna tour again."
It seemed like, "Why shouldn't
a Pavement have a museum?"
It's gonna be
an outstanding autumn.
They wanted to take the band
to the next level,
from being like this "hobby
band"
to being a band
that actually tried to assemble
some sort of live show.
Stephen's like,
"Yeah, you have to come."
And one of the reasons I did
is cause I had
a Chrysler LeBaron station
wagon.
Stephen sorta decided that...
"You might have to play,
because I'm not really sure
"how Gary
is going to handle this."
Slo-mo...
Got his hand stuck
in the kitchen sink
I remember at first Gary was
kinda concerned if this kid
maybe knew
how to play drums.
And I had to quickly convince
him that all I had to do
was play, that I was no threat
to his role in the band.
And the stories you hear,
you know they never add up
I hear the natives
fussin' at the data chart
Be quiet, the weather's
on the night news
Effectively we're Pavement,
in focus, welcome to the show.
Plastic cones, stolen rims,
are they alloy or chrome
Well, I've got style
Miles and miles
So much style that it's
wasting
So much style and it's wasted
So much style and it's wasted
I mean everybody
wants to be considered
for these sort of things.
And People told me
I could kinda look like him.
And yeah, I guess...
It's a good opportunity,
and, you know,
I wanna like try it out.
It's good for my career,
maybe win an award or something.
And I don't know if--
I can't play Billy Joel.
Starts in the A,
then it goes to the F Sharp,
And then you went to the G?
Yeah, I was there.
Ok, it sounds right.
You will be my...
You will be my something.
You will be my bedpan wipers
Junior-Leaguer, candy-striper
Convalescent enema essence
Enema's in there.
Better to be gray
I live to be gray
That's how the hospital
was that I was at.
That was bad.
Yeah, Mic 2...
Were you a kid in the 90s?
We were a band called Pavement.
We were big on MTV.
They need to try harder.
Yeah, yeah, it's like
they're not even trying!
C'mon, I want you to start
over again, and this time try!
C'mon, let's go!
Pick it up! C'mon! Here we go!
1, 2, 3, 4, c'mon, rock!
You're just on the kick drum
at the start West.
There's a shake,
there's an egg.
There's an egg
through the whole song.
Our first show was in Brunswick,
New Jersey at the Court Tavern.
We lived in Hoboken.
And the drummer
and the guitar player Scott,
they flew to our house.
I really hope that we rehearsed,
but you know what,
I don't remember that either.
Like I hope that the first
concert wasn't a rehearsal.
I was dressed for success
Second verse drop out
And success it never comes
Are the only ones who laugh
At the jokes when they are so
bad
It's the one band, I don't know
how to talk about Pavement.
I really cannot understand,
it's like talking about...
Like it's its own lifeforce,
like an underground reservoir
or something.
Instead of being a band,
it was its own world, that you
could feel that instantly.
That this was symbolic
of a bigger thing.
What do you mean you're down?
How "down" are we talking?
Son-of-a-b*tch!
I'm trying to do
the hair like Spiral.
In the 90s, did you have any...
facial tics?
There must have been
some facial tics.
- Maybe that?
- Maybe that one...
How's that?
I think our profiles are fairly
similar.
Ok, that sorta looks like
something I do.
Being in a musical bio-pic
is all I've ever dreamed of.
I have auditioned for so many,
I mean we're talking
Motley Crew,
we're talking Beach Boys...
Bob Dylan...
So I said...
Pavement 's gonna be the one.
And here I am.
Malkmus is ridiculously skilled.
And he has really benefited
a great deal
from his association
with David Berman.
Which started in college.
Everybody else can be good
but...
Everybody has to work at it.
Bob becomes this glue
to the entire band so
I think a big part of it was...
audiences feeling like...
the people up there
aren't so far away,
that they're rooting for them,
and they care about them.
Pavement supports lowering the
price of insulin for all.
That costs f*ck'
$8 in America,
it's bullshit!
I went to the horse races
with him,
we talked a lot about the band.
We played music
and we just co-existed.
I was very up front that
I didn't know how to play drums,
and I also didn't have the time
to take any lessons.
So for me it was really like
an exploration into
what is the soul of a drummer?
You know, can I identify
the inner metronome
of what defines a drummer,
without ever having to identify
the actual
metronome of how someone
knows how to drum.
Here he is, let's hear it for
Stephen Malkmus!
...Music!
He's Mister Pavement,
wearing his Bernie shirt!
Causing trouble!
They're like the Slacker-
Rolling Stones of the 90s.
That was the thing that
captured me,
on Crooked Rain,
it was the line,
"Hand me the drumstick"
I was in.
Obviously we're telling a story
about Pavement,
but it's the story about
mankind.
And it's a story about
human beings,
And it's a story about the way
we treat each other,
The dynamic of the band was
a pretty unique situation
where there was
the four and the one.
and...
it was isolating for me,
cause I felt...
I was just being honest in a lot
of these situations
and I guess I felt
a little misunderstood maybe.
Slow it down,
the song is sacred
Slow it down,
the song is sacred
There's an emotional current
that I connect to
in Spiral and in his
relationship with Malkmus...
that...
When I talk about it,
I can't help but just get
a little bit emotional.
You know?
I feel it!
I'm getting angry!
I can't even tell if it's
Spiral getting angry
or me getting angry,
but I'm getting f*cking angry!
You're rewarded for dying young
in this business.
You're struggling
over some notes?
Probably have an ulcer
over that.
He's like "You gotta quit school
"because Sonic Youth wants us
to open up for them in Europe."
And I was just like...
"Ok, I'll do it. I'll do it."
So I left school.
Like to go on tour
with Sonic Youth,
Of course the Pavement thing
happened forever,
and then in 2008,
I was living in Seattle
and I was kinda super low
on money.
Alright I've gotta...
I've tried to go back to school
a couple times,
got divorced...
So I went down and I applied
to be a Seattle bus driver.
Wow!
I was like, alright,
that's what I'm gonna do.
A day later, Steve calls:
"Alright, we're gonna do
a reunion tour."
That's how rock 'n' roll works!
I was like, oh,
I can never be a bus driver!
I think the first time
I saw Pavement,
it was after we'd asked David
to play with us.
I was totally prepared for
Stephen to be completely snotty.
So look at me and say
Sometimes they were
annoyingly boyish.
Stephen told me he used to
call up and leave
long really obnoxious
music messages
on our answering machine.
That was our initial tour
with Gary.
Going to all the towns for the
first time is a full band,
and we were feeling
the pressure of it too.
I f*cked up, what do I do here?
And then what?
Then you go back to the chords.
-So it's just straight...
-The end of the chorus.
-Lower keys.
-Ok.
-I'm still confused.
-You can do it, Gary, c'mon.
- We had a bunch of crap.
- All our stuff is broken.
Sonic Youth had an incredibly
elaborate production,
which at the time
completely psyched us out.
I was dressed for success
Success it never comes
And I'm the only one who
laughs
At your jokes
when they are so bad
And your jokes
are always bad
But they're not
as bad as this
Come join us
in our prayers...
Ok, hello, everyone!
My name is S.J. Malkmus.
I'm in that little group,
Pavement.
You might have heard of us.
If you haven't,
I'm not surprised either so...
I'm here anyway to,
as you can see,
Cologne's premiere, indy,
vinyl expos,
parking lot, sewer.
So come on, I'm gonna tell you
a little bit about Pavement.
This is actually
the next thing that came,
"Slanted! Enchanted!"
This is our ground-breaking LP.
Summer babe
Summer babe
Summer babe
Summer babe
Alright, now we're in it!
New York City!
We weren't playing, we were
just going to Maxwell's,
seeing bands,
working in the city.
Worked at the Whitney
I was a security guard.
Steve West
took a job there as well.
They would talk about
the miseries of being
an art security guard,
and it would drive me crazy
because I would have driven bus
for 10 or 11 hours.
That really was useful,
to go to New York,
and be in that environment.
Some of the post-modern
philosophies that were in there.
As long as you have the kind
of bullshit to back it up,
you can kinda spin anything.
You know, anything's valid,
I mean, it's like down to being
a really good singer,
or having in-tune
or great technique,
That's over with.
It's time for something new.
I would have been
in the art gallery,
writing down sh*t,
trying to be cool.
I was going to write
some real songs, by my mind,
like catchy ones.
I don't really listen
to lyrics very closely so,
I was just like,
"Is anyone really listening to
this?"
Ok, so it's:
Stories they tell
You know they never add up.
I hear the natives fussin'
at the data charts.
Be quiet, the weather's
on the night news.
Empty homes, plastic cones
Stolen rims,
are they alloy or chrome?
They get in knife-fights
and their guts will spill.
My cigarette's cupped
to the inside
Is it about wind or something?
It's about Stockton,
I don't know.
Spilling guts.
Ice, baby
I saw your girlfriend and she
was eating her fingers,
Like just another meal
But she waits there
in the levee wash
Mixing c*ck
with a plastic-tipped cigar
Minerals, ice deposit daily,
drop off
The first shiny robe
I've got a lot friends I,
I want
Not here, babe, you took 'em
Every time, I sit around,
I find I'm shot
Every time, I sit around,
I find I'm shot
Every time, I sit around
Every time I sit around
Every time,
every time, every time
You're my summer babe
This is where it all started,
with a lyric pad
in his chest pocket.
I just imagine him
in his uniform showing up.
You know these young--
these kids showing up,
in charge of guarding
all this priceless art?
And here they are making
their own priceless art, it's...
You couldn't write it,
you know.
It's stranger than fiction.
I mean, I thought about going to
Stockton but
this is where it all happened.
"Slanted and Enchanted"
was birthed in these halls.
I'm doing this project about
Stephen...
Do you know the band Pavement?
-No.
-No?
This guy, Stephen Malkmus
used to work at this place
back when it was the Whitney.
I recommend you speak with
my colleague over there
with the curly hair.
- Ok, cool.
- These guys need to chat.
This used to be the Whitney,
right?
It did.
Do you know the band Pavement?
Have you heard of that band,
Pavement?
Yes.
I know all those guys used to
work here, in this building.
They were security guards here,
guarding all the art.
Wow! Wow.
I thought there'd be
a Pavement area,
a gift shop,
maybe a couple of records,
T-shirts or something,
but there's nothing in there.
It's funny, ever since we
started working on this project,
and I've been working on the
accent and stuff.
I feel like my appetite
has actually changed.
Coming back here
in about a week.
without you guys and maybe...
they might let me work
a couple of night shifts.
I got a lot of research to do,
I got a lot of work to do.
It's going to be a long sh**t.
On an icy island in north
in the woods
beside the church
We can bury crimson lockets
filled with dirt
And when the April thaw
brings us out again
We can bless the arrows...
Should have wore a hat today.
It's going to have a little
effect on your self-esteem
I suppose.
It's going to have a little
effect on your self-esteem
I suppose.
Lalalalala.
Lala!
The songs have a playfulness,
which I think is
definitely a part of it
what I would call "the Pavement
spirit".
We've got these weird different
tunings, yeah,
almost like blues tunings.
How does it go?
The process of song-writing
you think with Pavement?
Who comes up with the
initial idea?
Professor Malkmus.
- Hey, what was that?
- Hey!
I heard something catchy.
I dunno.
Your melody's pretty good.
-Mine's pure Bob...
-The chorus is just D...
He's playing it bad
because my singing it...
It's not appropriate
and it's your song.
It's hard, you don't want to
sing another person's song.
But I like when you sing my
songs.
Yeah, cause you don't have to
sing.
That still knows the tricks
Tricks are everything to me
I feel like I can step outside
to a certain amount
and kind of like think,
"Well, that's the singer
of the band,"
And I just like-- I see this
other person down there.
Of course it's me, but I manage
to just like say,
"Oh that's the singer,"
you know,
Whenever I sing, I think, well,
"What's a singer supposed to
do?"
Not what I'm supposed to do.
I told her o lip suction
fragment
With some lyrics,
they just come out...
They come out as just as you
imagine
what you're imagining is
what a singer-- a cool singer
would sing, you know?
You're so beautiful to look at
when you're spry
freeze
don't move
You've been chosen
as an extra
in the movie adaptation
of the sequel to your life
We sent them the tape,
we sent it all around,
the "Slanted and Enchanted"
tape,
thinking who's gonna like it,
just pretty exciting
to see who wanted to do it.
We didn't send it
to major labels or anything.
We sort of randomly
put 'em out, you know?
We just sort of randomly
put it out, you know?
One more time for that one.
We just sort of randomly
put it out, you know?
One more time.
Stop right now.
So, yeah, it was actually,
it took 2 years--
Actually it took about 2 years
for it to come out, so...
Sort of randomly
put it out, you know?
All the songs on those tapes,
I tried to sell it that day.
Even though that album
"Slanted and Enchanted" became
synonymous with this
"LowFi" thing that didn't
really exist yet,
in our minds it was not a
"LowFi",
that was like a big pop record,
you know.
You treat it
like an oil well
when it's underground,
outa sight
I came back and played it
for Bob Nastanovich and David.
They were like,
"You're set dudes."
"Get ready, people
are gonna like you for a while."
I was still working at the
art museum,
and these people are coming
to do meetings with me, like...
When your dreams come true
like that, it's quite...
Quite scary.
And you never get it back
- What I want
- What I want
- It's what I want
- BOB: What I want...
What I want is what I want
is what I want...
Is what I want now...
Tell me, tell me, tell me
I've been crowned,
the King of Id
And it is all we
have so wait
To hear my words
and they're diamond sharp
I could open it up,
if it's up and down
- Ok so, softer.
- Softer.
-Shorter.
-Shorter.
-Lower.
-Lower.
He's not really rounding
his lips very much.
He does the classic California
thing of that claw sound.
It's super flat but people don't
normally use their mouths
all that much.
Yeah.
Some, but they don't go crazy
with it.
Definitely not Stephen.
No, no...
I'd say the opposite.
Yeah, he keeps it pretty tight.
And he has a lot of "vocal fry"
going on which is
when you're pressing down
on your soft palate,
-That's this part.
-Yeah it just seems like he's
Living in this sort of world.
Yeah.
Another thing he says is
"Tunes"
Oh, I didn't hear that.
Yeah, he says,
"I have some fun tunes."
He seems like he's a man
of contradictions
because he has this...
really relaxed thing going on,
but it's super tight
in the back, yeah.
I feel like it would be possible
to get a picture of
Stephen's tongue.
It would be super helpful to
know just what it looks like.
Yeah, it would.
- Is it announced?
- Yes.
- It's announced?
- It's announced?
Wow!
Where is it?
It's on the Pavament's band,
Pavement's Instagram.
It's on Pavement's Instagram?
Shut up!
I mean this is crazy.
When you take that tape...
You say a prayer...
And you hope
the big boys upstairs like it.
Next thing you know,
you're signing
a record company contract,
and recording an album for real.
The character's kinda making
sense now that you're getting
to study these archives.
Yeah.
You know obviously I have so
much of his personal wardrobe
that he's been able to give me.
All these clothes that
he's been keeping for 30 years
because he thought maybe one day
this could happen,
they would make a movie and...
It's happening right now.
When you meet
the other guys in the band,
introduce you as "Joe" to them.
- No.
- Oh, ok.
No, no, no, it would be helpful
if you did introduce me
as Stephen, because that's how
I'll approach...
the conversation with them
just fully in character.
Again.
No more absolutes
No more absolutes
Great, one more time.
No more absolutes
No more absolutes
Stick your penitentiary.
Stick your penitentiary
Clothes inside the vent
And run along, Leigh
Is that rhythm right?
Stick your penitentiary
clothes ...
Stick your penitentiary
clothes inside the vent
One more time, 3, 4...
No more absolutes
No more absolutes
Stick your penitentiary
clothes inside the vent
Run around me
One more time!
Gary ws great, every gig,
he had this performance
art thing going through
the whole tour,
where he would find something
to give the audience,
to pass out to the audience
as they were coming in.
Like one place in Germany,
it was leafs.
Compost is really important.
It was kinda borderline,
some nights it was sort of, like
"What are you gonna do tonight,
Gary?"
That kind of thing.
That you could see like--
see him getting frustrated.
I ain't playing
if I ain't drinking!
Yeah, Gary would be
drumming along,
he would be playing the song,
and all of sudden,
you'd just hear Bob drumming,
And you'd see Gary, like...
You know...
On his head,
or out in the crowd,
something, you know?
Gary was just--
thought that we were...
You know, a giant band
just because we were playing
with Nirvana.
We were playing with
Sonic Youth and stuff.
Look at all these people here!
He saw it as
he'd finally made it.
But, a--
there's a bar over there.
But he was in really bad shape
by that time.
But he made all these
irrational demands
in this Copenhagen hotel room.
He flat out
at the end was like, "I quit!"
"I absolutely quit!"
When I was a drum cadet
Sold her
The skins off my second set
Yes
See myself come running back
See myself come running back
Running back,
running back
Running, running,
running back
See myself come running back
See myself come running back
Stephen had become friends
with Steve West in Brooklyn,
they were jamming all the time.
Stephen was making up all
the "Crooked Rain" songs,
and fleshing them out
with Steve West.
Let's go back in, guys!
We dedicate that one to Gary.
When he decided to get the band
back together again,
he decided to hire on Steve
West.
And I felt extremely immoral,
playing those shows,
cause I'm sure that I promised
Gary that
"I will never do
a Pavement show
without you in the band."
And the fact that his place was
being taken by a friend of mine
from high school,
since I was 13 years old,
also is really heavy duty.
I remember the day
that Gary told me
how he wanted me to play
this song.
After that,
that's all I've ever done.
He said,
"Don't f*ck with my rules, man!"
I don't even know what
"going platinum" means.
But I'm ready to take it on
if it happens.
It's like a million records,
I think that's pretty far out.
We'll never do that.
-A million records?
-That's a lot of records.
Yeah.
Music scene is crazy,
bands start up
Each and every day
I saw another one
Just the other day,
a special new band
Advertising looks and chops a
must
No big hair!
I think the quandary
that I have is how you resist
becoming pretentious,
when it seems like everybody,
everybody, all the press is...
like prostrating themselves,
paying homage to Pavement,
and putting away
their typically cynical selves,
just pouring on the praise,
pouring on the praise.
Maybe you have become
pretentious?
That is a kind of sad thing,
to just be a critic's band,
like to always be talking
about that?
I guess we feel a little bit
annoyed by that,
not only...
We want to glide
without the critics,
straight into the tube.
No big hair!
Songs mean a lot
when songs are bought
And so are you
Great.
We're Pavement
and that was the Pavement
with "Cut Your Hair".
Face right down
to the practice room
Attention and fame
Career Career
Career Career
Career Career
Career...
Neighbor,
You call me neighbor
You do me favors
I'm not your neighbor
Don't do me favors
I'm not your neighbor
'Cause I'm your neighbor
I'm not your neighbor
I'm not your neighbor
That was always
the great thing about Pavement,
from "Demolition Plot"
and the first 7-inch on,
there was always a gradual
progression...
Alright, do you want to try
"Stop Breathin"?
"Crooked Rain" was just like,
ok well,
because the Nirvana thing
had happened,
because that was like
the time when
"most-eligible-to-be-signed
band" stuff was floating around.
But I knew it was getting
bigger.
1, 2, 3...
Got struck...
1, 2, 3...1, 2, 3...1, 2,
3...1, 2, 3...
Got struck by the first volley
Of the w*r in the corps
Never held my service...
You have different things
we can do with each record.
Maybe this record is a little
more straight ahead,
and stuff like that.
And the next time,
we can do something different.
We think, you know, we have
different cards
to play every time, we played,
you know...
This time we played gin rummy,
and next time we'll play
strip poker.
I'm kinda like taking music that
made me feel sick a little bit,
But trying to make it good.
Like classic rock,
and Silent Kid
or The Eagles,
with "Range Life,"
so it was like bands I hated
sometimes, I still do that now.
Yeah, I don't know
why I'm compelled to do that.
...Breathing for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad they broke me...
Come work on your backing
vocals, on "Cut Your Hair"...
They often sound like sh*t.
Get in here.
It would be cool for like
"Range Life."
we could-- we could have like--
there could be one song
where we--
that actually have the lyrics
like karaoke, you know?
After I made "Crooked Wings,"
everyone heard it
and thy're like,
"This is gonna be so great."
"You're set."
This is a proper f*cking album
like...
- Get ready!
- It is, yeah.
Strap it on
cause it's going off!
And then so-- then I was like,
"Oh I don't have to--
that's all I have to do."
I can just act like I don't
care.
It's gonna be so big.
It's what Kurt Cobain would do
too, so...
But then it didn't happen.
At least fill me in--
but we're not making an album,
we're just like rehearsing...
It's not quite as strong as that
Beatles movie by Peter Jackson
that got so much traction
on social media.
We're too soon together.
We're not at each other
I was busted in my gut that
time
That time I said
"I know it's true"
Why didn't I ask?
Why didn't I ask?
Why didn't...
So sorry, everyone!
So sorry.
We didn't know...
You suck!
Try to get through this one!
I think it's gonna turn out to
be a good idea to be here.
It's kinda weird,
but you know...
So is a lot of good music.
Scott.
Yeah.
Do you want me
to take my bass back, or not?
Umm.
Or are you ok,
are you getting it?
I'm ok...
I'll practice some songs
on my own.
What time do you usually come
in?
Tomorrow maybe
stay a little later
and go over some stuff
that I'm kinda...
stuck on.
OK guys, I'll see you later.
For kids who felt that
everything was stupid
and everything sucked,
- They were your band.
- "Range Life"
One thing I'll never forget
You gotta pay your dues
before you pay the rent
In the song "Range Life,"
the dig-- the famous dig
at Smashing Pumpkins.
It just felt a little,
not "dangerous",
it's the wrong word but there's
a lot of humor in Malkmus.
Out on tour with the Smashing
Pumpkins
Nature kids,
they don't have no function
I don't understand
what they mean
And I could really
give a f*ck
Stone Temple Pilots,
they're elegant bachelors
Did you know that you were gonna
get reactions to talking about
the Smashing Pumpkins
and Stone Temple Pilots?
We thought it would be free
publicity for the Pilots
and the Pumpkins actually,
that's why we did it
not for ourselves.
In the 3rd quarter,
their record sales were lagging,
and we were paid off.
I hope they paid you well.
I mean seeing them
on The Tonight Show...
Just goofing on the whole thing.
The idea of selling out,
I think it was first established
as a concept...
I remember in the 80s
when you saw "Revolution"
used in the Nike commercial.
That's not what you're supposed
to do with your music
or with your art.
Doing something you're not
comfortable doing
for the sake of the market,
or for the sake of money.
I think it's radically
changed...
No one really cares anymore.
Like if I'm able to con somebody
into giving us money
to do a commercial,
Then I feel like we've won.
Nobody really cares.
No one's looking at it
like they looked at the Beatles
and the Nike commercial.
I keep my address to myself
because it's secret
Cause it's secret cret cret
cret
Cret cret cret cret cret
Cret cret cret cret cret
Back right now
Sitting watching that with
my 6-year-old nephew.
And we were like--
both really excited
to see lots of Santa Claus.
But then it left us extremely
confused, "What was it about?"
Yeah, I guess it was confusing.
So you've got a reputation
for being hard to pin down.
Anything I've read about you
guys...
You just sort of like--
have this fear of success.
Not a fear,
just an unwillingness to be
successful.
No, we've done everything
we can do actually
to be successful.
Maybe the kind of success,
what you consider success,
wouldn't be success to us.
You know.
I don't like to think of music
in career terms at all.
Hey, Stephen, this looks like
the most painful experience
for you, is it?
- It's not bad.
- It's not bad?
It's just sitting next to me.
You're grimacing?
It's not for you?
Well...
I think you misinterpreted me
again.
Maybe I shouldn't
even be singing.
If I was John Cougar,
I would have blown the show off,
or Radiohead or something,
but we're not that big,
so I have to keep playing.
I apologize.
We got the money
We got the money
There's no survivors
There's no survivors
What's the best part about
being in Pavement for you?
The best part...
Alright, never mind,
this one is...
Go ahead, you decide, whatever.
No way, this song sucks.
No way, this song is stupid.
This song is really stupid.
Well I was dressed
for success
But success it never comes
And I'm the only one who
laughs
At your jokes
when they are so bad
And your jokes
are always bad
But they're not
as bad as this
Come join us in a prayer
We'll be waiting, waiting
where
Everything's ending here
Ladies and gentlemen,
on the lead guitar
your lead vocalist tonight
all the way from
Stockton California,
Stephen Joseph mother-f*cking
Malkmus!
That was actually pretty
good there.
Scott, there's a beautiful bird
in your throat, soaring!
Yeah, that was good today.
Sounding so good!
You did it great.
She's a tough critic, too,
Scott.
I would take that.
A very tough critic.
It all sounded good.
What's the musician bio/pic
gold standard for you?
I think a Bohemian Rhapsody .
Yeah something like that.
I can imagine this...
Well, in some ways, kind of
pushing a little further.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, it's the sort of character
you can see yourself playing...
for a decade,
like a Rocky or like a Boyhood,
or something to come back to.
Right, because we're covering
the '95 era.
Right.
Not to say we couldn't then very
quickly make the '92 or '94 era
movie as well.
Yeah, of course.
And when you go that deep
into characters,
it can be difficult
to re-surface,
so sometimes it's easier
to just hold your breath
and keep-- keep swimming.
Did you take
one?
- I got one.
-Oh my god, love to see it!
-From production, yeah.
Oh wow, that is just...
He allowed us to take a photo.
We went up to his house.
He had just eaten,
you can see it.
Did you get one of the tongue?
He was about to go play
tennis...
So we had to do it very quickly,
but...
He's trying to lay it flat
whether he knows it or not,
because he's taking a picture.
It's also really cool to think
about the fact that
all the music and the work
that I've been doing
has all come from this place.
Mmm.
I've been so deep
in "S.M." that,
to go back into Steve, "S.H"...
You know, I'm thinking it might
be difficult to kinda
shake it off,
because that "fry" is something
I've really gotten used to.
Yeah. Yeah.
I feel like, I mean,
I can't really tell anymore,
but I feel like my body has
really adapted to the "fry."
You're doing it now.
Right now? Yeah.
I thought this was something
that would just--
you could just...
you can--
you can just-- you can--
You can drop it and go away
and it will be all.
You can't just sort it out?
It might be, I don't know.
It's the first time
we've worked together on this.
Yeah, I think
I've made a big mistake.
It-- It's--
I-- I wouldn't say... you
don't...
Yeah, I think
I've made a really big mistake.
Okay. No, no, no, no, no.
It's a possibility
but that doesn't...
I don't think
I really want to be Stephen...
I don't want to be Stephen
anymore I don't think so much.
Good job.
Good job.
- Stephen?
- Yeah.
You almost ready?
Joe being Stephen...
I can't even believe
I'm calling him "Joe".
It's weird cause now when I look
at pictures of Stephen Malkmus,
I think he looks like Joe Keery.
So they're becoming like a
thing.
Who puts out a 3-sided record?
Chris, why'd we agree to this?
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
was a hit for us.
Nearly doubled the sales of
Slanted and Enchanted.
The singles were top-notch.
You were on The Tonight Show...
which we all agreed was
lame and fake,
and you played poorly,
which we appreciated.
Which I appreciated.
And what do you do
with this complete freedom?
How do you repay us for
keeping this operation
as intimate as possible?
You release a sprawling 18-track
record with no clear hits.
There's 3 sides on it,
we left the 4th side blank!
Just baffling choices, guys.
Nonchoices.
I didn't think ever
made a 3-sided record
so I thought it was kind
of funny.
- Oh, it's hilarious.
- You know why no one's done it?
Because it's masturbatory,
pretentious bullshit.
Alright, rolling sound.
Steve.
Quietly listening to the blank
side of Wowie Zowie
-Camera.
-f*ck.
Speed, take 1, d mark.
And...
Can I have a little bit of Jason
to start right there?
And Action.
I know I listened to it,
I liked the record.
There's lots of
interesting sounds on it.
And you know,
It's just a record where we got
out of our heads a little bit.
I think it's more fun to listen
to.
And there's more there, it's a
long album, it's an hour long.
And my hope is that...
To buy this film, the listener
gets value for money.
Yeah!
It's a better value.
I thought a 10-song record
would be cool.
That this was like the re-issue
before the re-issue,
but I lost that battle.
At that time, we were
pretty c*ck, like...
Smart thinking, I mean--
You know,
we could put out anything.
When that record came out,
it was really the first time we
got any backlash.
It's still our least amount
of records we've ever sold.
3-sided vinyl...
A record with 10 B-sides on it,
that's smart thinking to me.
I think it's our best record.
I think it's a "f*ck you-
we-don't-want-any-fans record."
It's a virtue of deficiency,
it didn't work as a--
What would you say is
your favorite Pavement album?
Do you have one?
Yeah, Wowie Zowie would be mine.
It felt that it kinda captured
the--
the weirdness
perverted side of our band.
...half-baked...
Remember how Smashing Pumpkins
had you black-listed
from Lollapalooza last summer?
They've come back to me,
and offered to you again,
And you're doing it...
This summer, because of record
sales the way they are...
We don't want to be the band
that like...
sells out and sounds worse,
that's reaching for something
they're not...
We're very satisfied with
our level of success.
But there was a thought maybe
that we're gonna be just like...
Pow!
Nirvana-type band...
But then we gave them
Wowee Zowee,
and I picked "Rattled by the
Rush,"
and "Father to a Sister of
Thought,"
These two really mellow songs.
Just slow and not...
But I didn't know,
I think I was smoking
a lot of grass back then.
To me, they sounded like hits.
Chris, when the f*ck have we
cared about
what the Rolling f*cking Stones
thinks, dude?
Look, you guys made a
loosy-goosy, bullshit record,
to avoid becoming the band
that your last record
promised that you might.
It's not Mental Machine Music,
but it's a cool record.
I like it.
Yeah, well, if you you gave us
that record,
we'd all be in here celebrating.
Malkmus!
Stephen.
Stephen!
I would never do anything
to compromise your integrity.
Gerard and I have your back.
-Yeah, I know.
-Yeah?
Mm-hm.
Okay.
After we signed our distro deal
with Atlantic,
who kept their logos off your
record?
Do you remember what you said
when Nirvana asked
you to play with them?
Hmm? You said...
"Who plays first?"
And what did I do?
You went back and asked,
"Who plays first?"
Because I support you.
Does the tour come to New York?
What if it really was
a moment like this?
In life?
Yeah, like where he's like
Stephen.
Yeah, as far as I know,
it never has been.
What do you mean,
"It's gonna be in New York?"
I mean that was a-- that was--
that was a factual concern
because he specifically said,
"Does Lollapalooza play New
York?"
And he was
embarrassed about doing it
in front of the New York crowd.
It has a nice ring when you
laugh
At the low life opinion
And we're coming to the chorus
now...
With our type of music,
it was not always so immediate.
It's not the hits right away,
like Oasis?
People have to love it
like an album,
and they have to get into it
over time,
and kinda develop
a relationship with it.
We're doing our own thing,
we hope people can understand.
And you never quarantine the
past
All this content is so
mind-blowing.
I don't know if this is a good
idea.
I just think that of all the
bands you could do this for,
bands that Pavement touched up
against, in one way or another,
Sonic Youth, Nirvana,
all these bands from the 90s,
you couldn't do a stage show
like this with any of their
songs.
But you can translate Pavement
right up there onto that stage.
And that means you have to try.
We're a couple of months
into this process here.
Michael, he's nervous.
He says he went through this
when he starred in American
Idiot.
He's talking to me about this
and I can't answer because
my answer is, "Yeah, this could
be a terrible idea."
There is no
Castration fear
In a chair,
You will be
With me
We'll dance
We'll dance
We'll dance
We'll die
But no one will dance
with us
In this zany town
Chim-chim-chim,
sing a song of praise
For your elders
They're in the back
Pick out some Brazilian nuts
for your engagement
Check that expiration date,
man
It's later than you think
You can't enjoy yourself,
I can't enjoy myself
You can't enjoy yourself,
I can't enjoy myself
Move that swing
And watch it break
straight like an arc
Maybe we could dance
Maybe we could dance
Maybe we could dance together
Scene 21, Interior Ohio
Mark and Bob are just
playing pingpong once again.
Doubles against Elastica.
That dude Opie was no nice.
We should have him over
to play pingpong sometime.
I think you mean Moby,
the bald guy with the glasses?
You saw what happened out there.
People were turning and walking
away as soon as we started.
I don't know what kind of band
you'd have to be
to succeed at 3 pm like that.
So I've been thinking,
for these shows...
The venues are horrible.
We're mostly playing in the
daylight,
so it's like a red planet Mars
out there.
So we need to be called Pi,
Like the symbol.
Yeah, f*cking hilarious, you
can't spell Pavement without Pi.
No, no Pavement. Just Pi.
Sounds like craftwork
or some weird thing.
So because you think
we're in a ridiculous position,
you want to try to screw it up?
You take something that could go
alright,
and do your own what-the-f*ck
version?
Lollapalooza '95 off to a great
start.
Imposters.
Imposters.
We can't deliver the goods.
It's hard to imagine
being so comfortable
behaving in this fashion.
Isn't it more effort to go
against the flow like this?
Wouldn't it be simpler
to just say "Sure".
I'm-- I'm rolling too.
Remember that show,
"Stranger Things"?
In that part where I say,
"frenetic"
or "genetic,"
then I say...
Eleven!
Cause they have a cult following
they'll hear that and be like...
"Wow! I like them too."
Eleven!
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
I am here, live,
and in the studio with Pavement!
who are going to be playing
at the E-Center today,
as part of Lollapalooza.
New album by the way is called
"Wowee Zowee".
I love to say it!
But you know, it's a weird
album, I gotta say that,
I got the record here and
I think there's something wrong
with mine because
one of the sides of the record
is completely blank.
It's just...who am I to say,
but it seems like with this
album
maybe you're trying to
deliberately alienate
your fans or potential fans?
Sorry, is that a question?
You were one of the first people
to sort of have that
vocal style of like...
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
You can try to sing other ways,
I can't sing like Eddie Vedder,
I don't have a baritone.
I would if I could maybe.
Singing out of tune is...
a revolutionary act.
The style captures the message,
practice, you know?
So it's what?
Activism on your part?
-Called "Slacktivism"?
-The first question, Stephen?
First record you ever bought?
The first record
that I actually purchased
was "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog".
I enforce power structures.
I'm not sure
who wrote the music,
but you might know the song...
Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine
Where are you trying
to take this band?
This is the album
that you want to put out.
No, we don't think about it
in the same way.
You know, this is music.
This is fun.
No, it's fun.
I don't have the fire
in my a*s.
It's work, and that's not fun.
We want to reach people
but only with the most pure
intentions.
I definitely feel people think,
"Dude, why are you
f*cking this band up?"
I guess I already knew
that the music business
was a weird place to exist.
When you're younger,
you have a little more like,
think you're the hottest sh*t,
maybe, even if you don't say it,
you're modest in the interviews
and stuf.
He's given that up.
He admits that.
I wasn't thinking
about that at all
when we were making the record.
I was just like,
everything is going to be great.
People are going to love it.
But there are other people
on the business side,
that are working their butt off.
Hello.
Hey man, listen.
Forget Rolling Stone.
f*ck Rolling Stone.
We got something better
Alright...
We just got a call
from Lorne Michaels,
And they want you, Pavement,
to be the musical guest
on an upcoming episode of SNL.
Hello?
Yeah, I'm here.
Yeah, so listen,
the other thing is the host
apparently is Quentin Tarantino.
And if you buy into this kind of
sh*t,
that's the episode that all the
so-called cool kids are going to
be taping.
-So--
-Right.
We feel like this is a
no-brainer.
Let's hear you say, "Great"
or "f*cking, yes!"
- When do we show up?
- When should we be there?
Nah, I don't wanna do that.
I could go back and I could see
if you could f*ck it up
like The Replacements but...
Not like The Replacements but...
-Elvis Costello?
-I don't know.
-Wear a f*ck' dress?
-Yeah.
I'll do this show.
Show the animal doing tricks.
Yeah. We could go on after the
animals.
Stephen.
This is an opportunity to get in
front of 5 million viewers!
Maybe more!
That's a lot of ears,
that's 10 million ears!
Whatever you want,
man, you know?
Just let us know
what you want to do,
and we got your back, alright?
Everything else good?
Not great.
The sets are poor,
the attendance is mild...
Vibes are generally poor.
- Alrighty then.
- Alright.
-Check in soon.
-Bye-bye.
Check, check, check,
check, check, check.
The new word is "fungi".
"Fungi."
What's the word?
-Fungi.
-Fungi?
Like he ran into the woods
and found some fungi.
I take my mushrooming knife
into the woods...
Fungi. You are a Fungi.
Fun--
Scene 11, Interior,
Pavement's room, Backstage
We see a good poster for
Lollapalooza '95,
and the date for the show,
July 4, 1995.
There is a calm normalcy to this
all,
but a tension that suggests
the dam is about to break.
I would love my parents to see
the great Pavement show.
I have a feeling that this show
may be in fact legendary.
Yes
Your jokes are always bad
But not as bad as this
Maybe
Someone's gonna save me
My heart is made of gravy
And the laps I swim
from lunatics don't count
Open up your stocking
Pull out all the things
you never wanted
From room service calls
I'm in New York City in front of
472 Greenwich Street,
where Chris Lombardi lived
when he co-founded
Matador Records in 1989.
Today, Matador's signature band,
Pavement, is being honored with
the opening of their very own
museum show.
- Everyone here we go.
- Welcome to Slanted! Enchanted!
Doctor's leaving for
the holiday season
Got crystal ice picks
no gift for the gab
And in the parking lot,
is the sedan he bought
He never, he never
complains when it's hot
He sold his swollen daughter
to the sauna
On the Tucson ridge
They're smoking marijuana
or doing blotters
I don't know which
Which, which
Boys are dying on these
streets
In a netherworld of foreign
feeds
In a netherworld of foreign
feeds
Well I've got style,
miles and miles
So much style, it's leavin'
...in your Major Leagues
Thank you, West Virginia!
Pavement are up next!
Dicky Barrett, the singer of the
Bosstones, drenched in sweat,
and wearing a suit,
comes over to them.
Heads up, they started
hosing down the crowd
since it's so f*ck' hot.
So there's kind of a mud pit
in front of the stage.
Meaning what?
There's some
lunkheads lookin' like
they want to fling some mud.
So look out is all.
Dicky gives an enthusiastic fist
pump,
and the suited Bosstones
all leave the stage.
We focus on our guys.
There is a sense that they are
on the precipice of major league
test,
and perhaps troubling moment,
waiting on the edge of a battle
vibe.
I can't
so I won't stand up
Chuck
break luck
Look for the splinters, you
might see where they come in
So go down
sweet Yardley
I won't let you fall down,
sweet Yardley
I won't let you fall down,
here now
Generation
Generation
Generation
Generation
Hey you have a cigarette?
Fight this generation
Fight this generation
Fight this generation
Fight this
Fight this generation
Fight this generation
Fight this generation
I can only get mud thrown at me
so many times.
f*ck you! f*ck you!
m*therf*ckers!
f*ck you! f*ck you!
f*ck you, m*therf*ckers!
f*ck you,
f*ck you, m*therf*ckers!
f*ck you!
f*ck you!
f*ck you!
f*ck you!
f*ck you!
f*ck you!
f*ck you!
f*ck-- oh god!
I'll get muddy!
Man, f*ck that sh*t.
- Yeah!
- That f*cking sucks.
You're all from f*cking D.C.!
f*ck You!
Man, that just f*cking sucks!
Look at these guys, the band
that ruined Lollapalooza.
Is that what you want
your legacy to be?
It's like being
a heavy metal band in 1992.
Can't ruin something that's
already been ruined.
We can't do it.
We're not Sonic Youth.
We're not Hole.
We're not Opie.
Moby. Moby.
Can't figure out how
to be like those bands,
while still being in this band.
I don't want you to be like
those other bands,
I want you to be Pavement!
Mirror! Huh,
let's use the mirror!
It doesn't matter.
Why don't you just
use the mirror.
That doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
You know, if I had a buck
for every single time you said
"It doesn't matter,"
then I'd make more money
than I'll ever make in this
f*ck' band.
It doesn't matter, it doesn't
matter.
There it is, 2 more bucks in my
pocket! Thanks.
Are we a band?
Are we a group of buds jammin'
tunes, or is this a job?
Because when we started this
band 5 years ago
back in Nowheresville, Stockton,
I didn't think
we'd get much further
than selling a few hundred eps,
so it's all gravy, it's all
good.
Why does everything have to be
a strategic decision?
Because I want to be
as good as we can be.
Alright? And I want to be
as respected as we can be.
I want to be as popular
as we can be.
Every time you say,
"It doesn't f*ck' matter,"
you rob us of going
the next step forward,
-it's bullshit!
-Maybe we already are and
you don't realize it yet!
Alright! Take it down a notch!
I've been in the same band as
you since the beginning!
It's bullshit.
I got hit...
in my body with a rock
so I thought the show was over.
I'm sorry.
There, are you happy?
Yep, I am.
So f*ck' uncomfortable,
I've got so much dirt
and mud in my as*h*le.
They want to kick you off the
tour,
and part of me thinks I should
let them,
but I know you don't want that
and I know that you don't want
to get fired,
I know you want to get that 100%
of that 50%
that you think you might
be able to give.
I didn't know how they got
all that clothing
from the West Virginia show,
Lollapalooza,
where they threw mud at us.
But that's it.
And it's still dirty after all
these years.
Nobody did their laundry.
I've got the actual amp with
the mud on it, the bass amp.
Do you still have the same bass
amp?
Yeah, we got
a lot of great press
out of that really tough moment.
And the best thing about being
the drummer
and facing the crowd,
I could dodge all the mud
that was thrown.
And I had cymbals to block me
too.
So I didn't get hit like I think
Stephen got hit.
I was dressed for success
but success it never comes
But I'm the only one who
laughs
You're just arriving,
this must be a little
overwhelming?
Sorry, I'm getting
a little freaked out.
Yeah, right, this is your life?
I'll start crying.
Oh.
But it's not as bad as this
I thought it was supposed to be
fake.
This is all real.
No, I never thought that
I would be an art museum.
My god.
I could stand a long time
just looking right here.
And they're coming to the
chorus now
I keep my address to yourself
'cause we need secrets
It's a bit overwhelming...
But it's amazing to see it all
up here.
That was on a door in Toronto,
I believe it was, at
LollaPalooza.
My daughter said,
"Oh yeah, I remember seeing that
in the basement for about 10
years."
This is the slow, sick,
sucking part of me
This is the slow, sick,
sucking part of me
This is the slow, sick,
sucking part of me
A lot of this stuff I haven't
seen probably since it came out.
Of course I never
thought it would be of
any significance
besides from ourselves.
Actually I work in horse-racing
where nobody's ever heard of
Pavement.
So it's weird to go from a world
where
people celebrate this kind of
band.
We always kind of figured
it was kind of obscure.
So we're here with a treasure
trove of Pavement archives.
It's true.
He just walked in.
First impressions?
Um, it's,
I like the Stevie Keene artwork
and there's a lot of people
here.
Does it feel vulnerable to have
some of these things
in the public for the first
time?
Yeah, I'm impressed that I took
the time to write
all this stuff by hand.
Unfortunately
you only get a museum
with old things and stuff, you
know.
It's a little bit like that
stuff you see
where the people are in the
kitchen,
and they're honoring an older
artist,
before they turn ashes to ashes,
dust to dust, so...
Time is a one way track
and I'm not coming back
I dream in beige
Why'd you leave me so far now
I dream in beige
Why'd you leave me so far now
These give me a little PTSD
to be honest.
Um, so,
it's kinda like too many shows.
This sh*t means a lot because...
You know,
the industry always doubted us,
said that we were...
slackers
that we didn't have a hit in us,
you know
and people believed, cause, you
know
look, no one would have
thought
at the time that these albums
could go gold,
let alone platinum.
-And these records don't lie.
-No.
We had a very
problematic relationship
with media corporations.
It's another group that
tried to keep us down.
I think of this as sort of
an olive branch,
saying, "Hey, we were wrong."
"You guys are cool."
Don't you know,
I could make you try
Make you try, make you try,
make you try
I been crowned
the King of...
Not proud about this.
Sometimes you got bills to pay,
and stuff, you--
A little embarrassing this
corner,
it's a little sell-out corner.
But there was no kombucha back
then.
Did you see
the Abercrombie and Fitch ad?
Yeah. It's funny, right?
It's so insanely bad.
Ah, ooh
Starlings in the slipstream
See how rowdy it gets, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
People might just,
like in real art museums,
people steal things off the
walls.
No, It's an amazing...
We got to see so many incredible
bands,
play some of my favorite
Pavement songs.
It's just a dream come true.
I took one of the shirts off the
wall.
I hereby christen Pavement 3322.
It can mean a lot to you,
even if it's not like...
It can mean enough to do this.
It kind of reified that we are
an important group.
I mean there's a lot of joy to
be sentimental.
And people relate to that, I
think.
We're kind of like fitting and
doing stuff
and then filming
all these scenes
with Chris and Gerard
over the weekend.
Right, Chris and Gerard in
quotation marks.
That's pretty amazing prop
stuff.
Yeah you know we got some Gold
Soundz premium lager...
See that's not realistic.
It doesn't taste realistic
either.
If someone had said,
"We're sh**ting something about
a band,"
I wouldn't think,
"Oh this is Pavement,"
or whatever.
Like cool...
So what's happening now?
What are you guys going to do?
That actually sounds alright.
You in?
You guys, go for it.
I'm going to hang back,
work on some tunes.
Something new.
I can't wait to hear it.
I love you, man.
See you in a few.
Hey, listen to me,
I'm on stereo
Stereo
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby
Stereo
Please welcome Pavement!
Please welcome Pavement.
High-h* silver ride
Takes another ride
to me home
Get off the air
I'm on the stereo
stereo
Oh my baby baby baby
baby baby babe
Gave me malaria, hysteria
I'll try to look like you,
you try to look like me.
It sounds good.
Thank you everybody
for coming here
to the New York premiere of
"Range Life."
It's been an amazing journey so
far,
and now it's finally coming out.
Joe Keery.
Pavement has a very interesting
story,
but they're not the Motley Crue.
And that was kind of my
challenge as a writer,
how to like, heighten this
story,
to the most epic rock saga of
the 90s.
The movie I suppose
got compressed into this thing,
I totally forgot
or blocked out of my mind.
So I have to watch it again
I think...
I would be curious as to how
people will interpret this.
You know, uhm.
I can't really process,
you know, any of this.
The selling out thing,
that's weird for me
cause it's like a blip in my...
like...
so relatively irrelevant
to my feel of the band.
The cl*max is where the cl*max
is,
and then we tell the story,
we had to tell.
It's fine it's a movie.
I hear you.
Thank you.
As long as people are seeing
films,
as long as they're listening to
music,
you'll be listening to Pavement,
and watching Range Life.
Maybe we can start doing
some exercises to remove...
like an exorcism of
Malkmus from me.
Kind of a up sound.
We had people who knew the band,
people's parents who knew the
band
come up to me,
while we were working and say,
"I just saw a ghost."
"I just saw Stephen,
young Stephen."
But it was me.
To Keery, ladies and gentlemen.
You know,
that's cool for me.
Ow, buddy.
Ow, buddy.
Oh.
So I'm going to ask you a
question:
Why did Pavement break up?
Just too much touring,
too many interviews.
-Too many questions.
-Fair, yeah yeah. It's fair.
I get it, I hear you.
That's pretty much it, yeah.
Stop breathing.
Are you onto stop breathing?
One, two, three, nineteen
million,
thousand little birds explode.
In the Pavement style.
Let's just do the fast part.
That other part sucks.
Just do the fast part.
...I'm happy to say
Oh, sh*t.
The damage has been done
I am not having fun anymore
I am not having fun anymore
The damage has been done
I am not having fun anymore
Do what you do
when you try what you get
When you see the light
Come down I'll set my hope
In a wonderful hospital man
At that point in those years,
when you played so many shows,
and you're that burned out,
you're just...
All you really want to do is
get it over with on a good note.
And thankfully I really thought
that we did that.
Hi, I'm Steve.
-Do you want to come in?
-Sure.
-Give me your hand.
-Okay.
And lock up the shots again
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Don't you cry
Bring on the major leagues
Bring on the major leagues
Bring on the major leagues
You know it's the band who
enjoys getting the records and
playing shows, it's very simple.
Open call for prison
architects
Send me your blueprints ASAP
Stack the walls such
that I cannot breathe
Man is breedin' forever
Because of the weather
I hope soon to leave from the
east
Someone's gonna save me
No more absolutes
No more absolutes
Stick your penitentiary
clothes inside the vent
And run along, Leigh
I like them so much more now
that
they've sold out and gone
on the Report.
We'll be back with a performance
by the Pavements.
Do you think the 90's
is having a moment now?
Is that what we're saying?
Yeah.
Um, I think that's a good thing
because that benefits me.
So I hope if goes on forever.
Well, show me a word that
rhymes with pavement
A word that rhymes with
Pavement
A word that rhymes with
Pavement
A word that rhymes with
Pavement
And I won't k*ll your parents
and roast them on a spit
And don't you try to etch it
or permanently sketch it
There was new life breathed into
"Harness Your Hopes".
New life in Pavement really.
Now I know and it made me feel
bad.
Yeah. Bad but I didn't
put it on the album
like nobody said, "That's a
great song."
-Or something.
-Oh, I'm sure I did.
Welcome back to the Mina Kimes
Show.
It's the best.
The massive problem--
Co-host Linni.
I wish I was Stephen Malkmus.
- Greta!
- Hi.
-I'm a huge fan!
-Oh. Thank you.
Yeah. Yeah.
Bob, nice to meet you.
- So nice.
- Yeah. Yeah.
Nice to meet you.
I remember at Barbie.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
I know.
My one daughter, Nicole,
she heard her last name==
-Oh, she did?
-Yeah.
Oh my God.
It's one of
my greatest happinesses
that's it's in the movie.
If you're trying to sound
cool and smart,
you're gonna talk about
Pavement.
- That's right.
- That's right.
What therapy the movie was for
you!
I love you, buddy.
Okay. Okay.
I'm going into my character too.
-I know!
-Stew things over!
I'm in the dressing room
backstage,
right before Pavement
play our last New York show.
Yeah.
Yeah.
"Spit on a Stranger"...
-An important song...
-Roll it.
To all of us.
However you feel
Whatever it takes
Whenever it's real
whatever awaits
Whatever you need
However so slight
Whenever it's real
whenever it's right
I'll be thinking long and hard
about the things you said to me
Like a bitter stranger
Now I see the long and short
The middle and what's in
between
I could spit on a stranger
Pull me out
You're a bitter stranger
Pull me out
I see the sunshine in your
eyes
Former art museum
security guards Pavement
have taken the main stage and
the Tibet freedom concert.
You're bonding together again on
stuff
that you did all those years
ago.
Uh, but now you've got
a different outlook on life.
Have you kind of maybe
considered
prolonging this-- this-- this
honeymoon?
All our sharing our children
and all the things we share now,
we would say,"Why don't we
also share the band?"
We're like wrinkled and gray and
stuff but
everyone in the band is like
so grateful and psyched
to be there this time because
You just kind of remember all
the good stuff and...
It means a lot to all of us.
Bring on the Major Leagues
Bring on the Major Leagues
Bring on the Major Leagues
Bring on the Major Leagues
They'll wind you down
sometimes
Kids like wine
Magic Christians chew my rind
cause bad girls,
always bad girls
I was dressed for success
Bring on the Major Leagues
But success it never comes
Bring on the Major Leagues
k*lling me
k*lling me
k*lling me
k*lling me
k*lling me
So bad
Bring on the Major Leagues
Whenever
Boys are dying on these
streets
Whenever ever ever ever
A shady lane,
everybody wants one
A shady lane,
everybody needs one
That's it, that's the finale!
Woo!
I'll have it for anymore
The damage has been done
And I'm not having fun
anymore
For those above
Take us out
Throw us down shove us out
Don't you cry,
don't you cry
Come join us in a prayer
We'll be waiting, waiting
where
Oh, yeah.
Everything's ending here
All I'd like to say about this
is we're touring Europe
and they haven't
had a chance to cut my hair.
So as far as I'm concerned,
I look like an idiot.
This is where he got his idea
for cuttin' his hair.
I love that hairstyle, it's
funny.
You look like a mushroom man.
It's real stupid.
You look like a mushroom man.
Yeah.
- How do you look, Mark?
- I think it's a--
I haven't see myself
and I probably won't, either.
I disagree with Stephen,
I think that it's an
important document of our past.
Your western homes
are locked forever
The new frontier
is not that near
Magnetic screens that fold
in backward
Will only bring you years
of fear
Do you know, I don't have any
yangs on there anymore.
I made a little mistake.
I made a little mistake.
Pueblo, Heckler Spray
and Debris Slide.
Heckler Spray.
-Pueblo.
-Pueblo.
Heckler Spray, Lindin,
Embassy Row, Debris Slide.
We have some very minor change--
it's a wardrobe change.
After Pueblo.
Yeah.
He puts Heckler Spray/Linden.
O'Roxy changing around.
O'Roxy wants to hear Cut Your
Hair, so and Steve agreed,
so we got rid of--
Advertising looks and chops a
must
No big hair
Songs mean a lot
when songs are bought
So are you
Face right down
to the practice room...
Listen up.
As one of the divisions from the
Pavement group,
when there is a parent in
residence.
-Which I am.
-Residence? Oh no!
Just let me introduce: Pavement.
We gotta get your--
Stephen, the singer.
Grave architecture
Walk the marble malls
The monuments to those who
fall
I'm going to encourage you
to listen to this song,
Otherwise, go to the f*cking
bathroom.
Let's just stick to the list,
I didn't make it.
Let's do it.
Two, three.
It's going to be in the credits
as the movie goes down,
like you have to watch
for another 15 minutes
as people walk out.
This is what huge assholes these
guys are!
Yeah. We were trying so hard to
find an as*h*le moment,
and we finally found it.
You're fine, summer babe
You are a babe
Summer babe
Summer babe
Thank you.
Thank you all.
I need to sleep
I need to sleep
I need to sleep
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Pavements (2024)
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