"In some ways, they've made their most ambitious record yet." "And ambition is not synonymous with record sales." "You know?" "I mean, this is not..." "This is a masterful, dense, artistic statement." "It could bomb." "I need more piano." "Less noise?" "Less noise." "Yeah." "I could take less noise." "One, two, three." "# It's my father's voice dreaming #" "# Of sailors sailing off in the morning #" "# For the air-conditioned rooms at the top of the stairs #" "# His jaw's been broken #" "# And his bandage is wrapped too tight #" "# His fangs have been pulled #" "# And I really want to see you tonight #" "No." "I'm sorry." "# I am an American aquarium drinker #" "# I assassin down the avenue #" "# I'm hiding out in the big city blinking #" "# What was I thinking when I let go of you?" "#" "# Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightning #" "# Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers #" "# This is not a joke, so please stop smiling #" "# What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt?" "#" "# I want to crawl through those brown eyes dreaming #" "# Take you from the inside #" "# Baby, hold on tight #" "# Well, you were so right when you said I've been drinking #" "# What was I thinking when we said good night?" "#" "# I am trying to break your heart #" "# I am trying to break your heart #" "# But still I would be lying if I said it wasn't easy #" "# I am trying to break your heart #" "What are you doing?" ""Hello!"" ""Hello. "" ""Welcome to our movie." "We are going to be seeing lots of film about Wilco today. "" "I've got to say we're pretty lucky." "I think Wilco is in a position where they can make the record they want to make." "I mean, there is definitely..." "I don't know if I'd call it pressure, but there's definitely a feeling that this is sort of the moment." ""They are very funny guys. "" "Give him a cigarette." "Oh, yeah." "I got one." "I need a piece of gum." "I think..." "and, of course, hope... that this record is gonna be a pretty big priority for Warner when it comes out." "And... you don't get that every time you put a record out." ""So, anyway, I was touring..." "I was touring on the road with Wilco. "" "Oh, here's your gum back." "One, two..." "# The cash machine #" "# Is blue and green #" "# For a hundred in twenties #" "# And a small service fee #" "# I can spend three dollars #" "# And sixty-three cents #" "# On Diet Coca-Cola #" "# And unlit cigarettes #" "# I wonder why we listen to poets #" "# When nobody gives a fuck #" "# How hot and sorrowful #" "# This machine begs for luck #" "# All my lies are always wishes #" "# I know I would die if I could come back new #" "You know, there are two kinds of potential." "There's artistic potential, which I think for them is unlimited, and there is commercial potential, which is really quite mysterious to us because there are so many factors that are out of your control, and we try not to think about it too much and just... try to make a great record," "and hope and push the label to make the right decisions and do the right things promotion-wise and so on." "This is an interactive band." "These are four or five people, you know, who make music together, and the music wouldn't sound the way it does unless these five people are together in the room at the same time, making the music." "It's a constant process." "I mean, we make records, and they're, um..." "Like, that ends up being a thing that you're making, and you have a million options as to what that thing can be and what shape it can be." "We generally go for a pretty straight, definitive version of what the song sounds like it should be and then deconstruct it a little bit and see if there's some more exciting way to approach it." "# Echoes in my heart #" "# And gravel in my palm #" "There's no reason at all not to destroy it." "You know?" "We made it, so it's ours to destroy, and that's liberating and exciting in a really creative way." "# I need a camera #" "# To my eye #" "# To my eye #" "# Reminding which lies that I've been hiding #" "# Which echoes belong #" "# I'm counting on #" "# Two days in Central Park #" "# With gravel in my heart #" "# And echoes in my palm #" "# Phone my family #" "# Tell 'em I'm lost on the sidewalk #" "# And no, it's not okay #" "# I smashed a camera #" "# I want to know why #" "# To my eye #" "# Reminding which lies that I've been hiding #" "# Which echoes belong #" "# I'm counting on #" "# Two days in Central Park #" "# With echoes in my heart #" "# And gravel in my palm #" "I think this record's more of a leap for the band." "This is probably the closest to pure collaboration" "Wilco has ever got." "Personally, I'm really happy 'cause Jeff and I have done a lot of this stuff together." "This is the first time that Jeff and I have made a conscious effort to get together at the loft and write songs." "Not that things don't happen spontaneously, um, with the Wilco recordings, but there is a lot of conferring with each other, a lot of deliberation, a lot of, like Jeff was talking, destroying what we've done," "trying it from the back door, turning it upside down." "# I'm counting out #" "# The days to see how far #" "# I've driven in the dark #" "# Echoes in my heart #" "# Phone my family #" "# Tell 'em I'm lost on the sidewalk #" "# No, it's not okay #" "# No, it's not okay #" "# No, it's not okay #" "Uh, okay." "It's the first record where we've really done everything ourselves." "We're engineering it ourselves, and we're doing it in our space." "We're doing two seemingly contradictory things... we're making a record in a very relaxed environment with no outside input, but at the same time, we're accepting a certain kind of pressure that we're putting on ourselves." "It's nice not to have a producer for Wilco because we're all, any one of us, perfectly capable of... directing or shaping a musical moment." "Everything is just kind of set up to just keep making records." "I know it's cool to bitch about your record label, you know?" "But, I mean, they're letting us make a record in our loft, and they haven't heard a word of it." "They're giving us $85, 000, and they haven't heard a word of it." "You know, that's trust, right?" "They trust us." "You're always playing the..." "You're pretty much doing 1, 5, 6, 4 on all the..." "A lot of times, when you're playing, if you don't have any, like, sonic landscape behind you, everything turns into a folk song." "That's pretty much what you do, right?" "Yeah." "We just wanted it to not sound like a little folk ditty, you know?" "So we wanted to have just, like, some kind of sonic weight under all of that and, uh, just something kind of weird and fucked up." "# It's my father's voice dreaming #" "# Of sailors sailing off in the morning #" "# To fight the war #" "That picks it up some." "# For the air-conditioned rooms at the top of the stairs #" "# They head to the table #" "Tune the "A" string to a "B" flat and it..." "# And it makes no difference to me #" "And then you put them together and you'll get some really magical moments." "# They cried all over overseas #" "# And it's hot in the poor places tonight #" "# I'm not going outside #" "And we thought that might be rhythmic enough to play to." "# There's bourbon on the breath of the singer you love #" "It's kind of along with some of the more noise tracks, but it's rhythmic, so it's something that they can play along to." "# He takes all his words #" "# From the books that you don't read anyway #" "It was about 3:00 in the morning." "We were either gonna get something great or lose our fucking minds." "All these things are just blaring in here, you know?" "That's when it all kind of exploded." "# They cried all over overseas #" "# And it makes no difference to me #" "# When it's hot in the poor places tonight #" "# I'm not going outside #" "# And it takes all the breath out of me #" "# When they cry all over overseas #" "# When it's hot in the poor places tonight #" "# I'm not going outside #" "# It's hot in the poor places tonight #" "# I'm not going outside #" "# I'm not going outside #" "# I'm not going outside #" "Yankee..." "Hotel..." "Foxtrot..." "Yankee..." "Hotel..." "Foxtrot..." "Yankee..." "Hotel..." "Foxtrot..." "Hey." "How you doing, man?" "Good to see you." "Now, the Latin voice." "We're going to do something with Jeff Tweedy, who plays rock 'n' roll." "# One, two, three, one, two, three #" "# Gonna rock and... #" "So, with the community that you are doing now, did you play music, uh..." "porque..." "Do you think that your music, uh, reaches out to children who don't have a fighting chance?" "Um..." "# The rolling perfume in the night #" "# It's not even half as nice as you #" "# Set my sights on one whispery kiss #" "I'll sign that." "If you know how to spell "Simón"... go for it." "S" " I-M-O-N-E?" "That sounds like right, yeah." ""Real pal"..." "Do your record..." "My..." "I have an idea." "Does it come out on..." "compact disc?" "M m-hmm." "# I dreamed about killing you again last night #" "# And it felt all right to me #" "# Dying on the banks of Embarcadero skies #" "# Sat and watched you bleed #" "Let's just do a lot of good crowd control tonight and, you know, bring up the whole political thing, just fuckin'..." "The whole thing about women's rights, lesbians' rights, and stuff like that." "I'm gonna play to it." "I'm gonna play to the crowd." "Cool." "'Cause, you know, the Dow is down about 30%, you know." "And as soon as I looked at that," "I just knew what kind of position you're in and stuff." "I've got to kiss some major ass to, you know, to get it..." "my portfolio back together." "Totally." "I know." "I know." "I have..." "I hear you, man." "Totally." "I totally..." "I canned my stockbroker two weeks ago." "How's the place out in the Hamptons?" "Good?" "M m, it's a fixer-upper." "I mean, the pool is shit." "Yeah." "Spielberg told me..." "He's like, "I went over to Jeff's... "" "'Cause he knows your fuckin' music is a big bullshit thing... and he was just like, "I saw his fucking pool,"" "you know, and he was just, uh... he's funny." "You know, he reminds me a lot of you." "You are stupid." "# Springtime comes #" "# And the leaves are back on the trees again #" "# Snappers are harder to see, my friends #" "# You're weeding out your weekends #" "# Summer comes and gravity undoes you #" "# You're happ y because #" "# The lovely way the sunshine bends #" "# Hiding from your close friends #" "# Weeding out your weekends #" "# Candy left over from Halloween #" "# The unified theory of everything #" "# Love left over from lovers leaving #" "# Books they all know they're not worth reading #" "# It's not for the season #" "That's, uh one of the new songs from our upcoming Wilco record." "They sound nothing like that on the record." "Poetry?" "Are you saying that my lyrics are poetry?" "I like you." "Here's some more... poetry for you." "I wanted to go out and play some shows acoustically." "It seemed like the good time to do it." "We haven't really toured for a while." "The record's still being made." "And take a little break from the record, go play some music, and see how things go." "# There are rows and rows of houses #" "# With the windows painted blue #" "# With the light from the TV #" "# Running parallel to you #" "# There is no sunken treasure #" "# Rumored to be #" "Jeff, do you remember Scott from Reprise?" "Yeah." "How you doing?" "Hey, great job, man." "Well, thanks." "Thanks." "You know my friend Sarah?" " Yeah, yeah." " Oh, excellent." "# In a sea #" "# Black with ink #" "Nice to meet you." "I work at WEA." "Jim." "That was great." "This is the whole WEA contingent..." "M itch." "M itch?" "All right." "All WEA folks?" "Not all of them." "Hoyt..." "Last Record Store, Santa Rosa, California." " Pushing Wilco all the way." " All right." "# Try to fold it over #" "# If I had a boat #" "# I'd probably... #" "# Roll over #" "Hey, is the new record more like..." "Is it gonna be more like "A. M.,"" "or is it gonna be more like..." ""Summer Teeth"?" "Uh, it's really not that much like either one of those records, I don't think, so..." "Ooh." "Really?" "# Surely there is somebody #" "# Who needs #" "It sounded like it was a trip-hop album or something." "There were tape loops and samples and..." "There are those things, but it's not like a trip-hop record." "Tricky." "# I am so #" "# I am so #" "# Out of tune #" "# I am so #" "# Out of tune #" "# With you #" "I'm happy with it, and we're almost done with it, so, uh, you just have to wait another month or so." "A month or two months." "And you guys are gonna tour on that straightaway, then?" "Maybe." "I don't know." "Well, hopefully it'll come out in July." "It's, um... it's got a lot of the drums and holes... and holes in the songs in it." "That's..." "So you're like..." "Is Courtney Love in there?" "No." "Sorry." "A lot of big, open spaces between what's supposed to be, like... the music part." "I don't know." "I'm gone." "# We all return #" "# Music is my savior #" "# I was maimed by rock 'n ' roll #" "# I got my name #" "# From rock 'n ' roll #" "Uh, it's Jeff." "Cool?" " Yeah, it seems fine." " Great." "That's exactly the mix you'll have out there." "# How can I convince you it's me I don't like #" "# And not be so indifferent to the look in your eyes #" "# When I've always been distant #" "# And I've always told lies for love?" "#" "# I know this isn't what you were wanting me to say #" "# How can I be closer and get further away #" "# From the truth that proves it's beautiful to lie?" "#" "# I've got reservations #" "# About so many things #" "# But not about you #" "And then maybe..." "Something..." "I don't know." "You know, it's..." "Sure." "Yeah." "It's only a single." "It's the first time, where he goes," "# I got a reservation... #" "Yeah." "Yeah, the first one is the double one." "Okay." "I think he's gonna stay away from..." "What's that?" "Uh, I guess the next..." "four or five days." "Yeah." "We're mixing." "I'm not at the loft." "I'm at the studio." "Tony's here." "# I... #" "All right." "#... got a reservation #" "All right." "Well, I'll call you later." "Pajama day?" "This is, like, this is the record that needs to take the band to another level." "If that didn't happen, it would be a tragic sort of missed opportunity and that it would damage the band." "I think every record I've ever made, somebody has said," ""This is the big one. "" ""You guys are gonna be huge. "" "And when I saw the reality of the situation," "I felt a little dumb for believing it." "# Make no difference ever known #" "# Make no difference ever known to me #" "We do have a new AR guy, M io, who's really, like, younger and cooler than our last guy." "So who knows?" "Maybe he'll come in and say something really cool." "Maybe he'll be great." "# I'm the man who loves you #" "# I'm the man who loves you #" "I think this sounds great." "Yeah." "It's a song." "Do you want to hear the new one again?" "Can you guys tell me what it is about the drum sounds on this that's not happening?" "You said you can't get a good snare sound?" "You can't brighten them up." "I think that's what's kind of cool about it." "They're murky-sounding, you know?" " This is all you can get out of them." " I think it's great." "If the overall song feels good to you, you're gonna fall in love with the little parts of it that are fucked up." "To sum up what I'm thinking..." " You can't change one piece of the puzzle." " Right." "I don't think well-defined, bright drums with presence and definition would serve the feel of that song." "You know, it's a $ 150-an-hour argument, but that's okay." "Whatever they lack" "I say are actually a virtue in this cut." "If we go with this new one, there is more redoing than..." "Jeff thought before he left, for instance." "What is coming up right now is exactly what came up when I first started talking to Jeff about it, which was, "I think this does create a domino effect. "" "Did anyone have any problem with this song" " until last night when you tried to E. Q. The snare?" " Yes." "Absolutely." "Always." "Always since day one." "Maybe we should mix stuff that we know is done." "There is no fucking pressure, man." "This is day two in the studio for this record." " Three." " Three." "Okay." "There's still no pressure." "I just know if we mix both of these, we're gonna go, "Neither one's it. "" "I just know it." "I think it'd be great if we just mixed and leave all tracking for the loft." "Honestly." "Jeff's on his way down." "Oh, his..." "Alert the media." "Has he..." "Has he been..." "Was he alerted to the situation?" "No." "He just called for a status report." "Oh, and you said, "Status not good. "" "We had a little bit of a work stoppage... a grinding... grinding to a halt, like, "Well, hold on." "What exactly..." "How are we supposed to do this?"" "It was like really readjusting to how things are gonna work when we're in a different environment from our luxurious..." "little dreamworld." "We're spending $ 1, 000 a day to be here." "Anytime we get stumped from here on out, we should just... move on." "That's what we're deciding." "I think we've all kind of decided that." "Like, I don't want to mix them both." "At the same time, I don't want to get too hung up on this." "It's an important decision." "Oops." "We happened to make it the day we were here." "Or not make it." "You know, whatever." "Let's move on." "You know, we've spent $ 1, 000 in stupider ways in this band." "Like all that blow in Amsterdam." "That was..." "Well, I must have missed out on that." "There's more pressure on Jeff, you know, externally and self-imposed, I think." "He is aware that the success or failure... artistically, primarily, of the record reflects mostly on him." "Cut to the real mix to "Heavy Metal Drummer. "" "Why couldn't we do that when we're mixing "Heavy Metal Drummer"?" "Well, why not do it now?" "Because we got to go off-line, unmute everything to find out what track that thing's on." "Can't you just look and see what track it comes up on?" "Yeah." "But I don't know if it's just one track or two or what part of the kit it is." "Okay, how would we do it..." "How would we overlap it mixing it separately?" "We'd just say the orchestra at the top of "Heavy Metal Drummer" is there." "It wouldn't have to be a, like, mastering thing?" "Well, no, 'cause the orchestra is in "Heavy Metal Drummer"... in the top of "Heavy Metal Drummer. "" "But it seems..." "That seems backwards to me." "Why not mix it up to the cut point instead of trying to mix the other one from a new starting point?" "Why not mix it..." "mix it to the edit?" "Do you know what I mean?" "Instead of, like, making a new edit for the... when we mix "Heavy Metal Drummer. "" "All right." "I guess..." "I" " I... to me, it's the exact..." "There's..." "It's the exact same thing." "You mix one up to here, or you start the other mix here." "M ix, start." "Right there." "All right." "I didn't know that you wanted it to sound exactly like it does here." "I thought you wanted it to be the noise going over whatever was really on "Heavy Metal Drummer" there." "I don't want the orchestra to go into "Heavy Metal Drummer. "" "It cuts right there." "Right." "And I..." "Okay, okay." "Let me try to explain myself." "Um... what I..." "I didn't know that..." "This is taking a lot longer than doing one mute." "I know, but can I explain myself, please?" "I didn't know until now that you wanted it to start with a little kit..." "Big kit." "Well, we can do it both ways." "No, I don't..." "I don't give a shit." "You just..." "I just..." "You misunderstood what I was saying." "I" " I assumed, apparently wrong, that it was noise until "Heavy Metal Drummer" started." "But now I understand that it's orchestra until a subset of "Heavy Metal Drummer" starts, then, two measures later," ""Heavy Metal Drummer" really starts, right?" " Sure." " Okay." "I didn't know that." "I thought we were just saying, "Hey, that would be cool if the noise went right up to 'Heavy Metal Drummer. "'" "Does that make sense?" "Well, whatever." "I don't know." "I don't know what the problem is." "I don't." "I just want you to understand me, like understand..." "Why is that so important?" "I don't have to understand you all the time." "It's okay." "Like, we found it, and..." "and we can do it." "Okay." "It..." "It seems to me like you're making a-a big deal out of not wanting..." "Not wanting to..." "Okay." "I've just been sitting here trying..." "I've been listening to you explain yourself." "And do you understand it?" "Sure." "I understand it." "Why couldn't you just say," ""I understand what you're saying"?" "I did." "Two seconds ago, you said," ""Why is it so important that I understand you?"" "Well, because it doesn't seem like you were gonna let me understand you." "You were gonna have to explain it to me again and again and again." "# Who will rock the cradle, who will sing the song?" "#" "# Who will rock the cradles when I'm gone?" "#" "# Who will rock the cradle when I'm gone?" "#" "# I will rock the cradle, I will sing the song #" "# I will rock the cradle when you're gone #" "I think I'm gonna go throw up." "# Done all I can do and I've said all I can say #" "# I'll tell it to your mother next payday #" "# I'll tell it to your mother next payday #" "# I've got no sugar baby now #" "# I've said all I can say and I've done all I can do #" "# I can't get along with you #" "Because of the medication?" "No." "I just throw up all the time when I have migraines." "When I was a kid, I threw up..." "I used to throw up like 30 times in a night and get put in the hospital for dehydration." "# Who will rock the cradle, who will sing the song?" "#" "That feels better." "You're right." "It's six of one, half-dozen of the other." "I'm sorry." "Yeah, I-I guess I wasn't explaining myself..." "See, now we have to do all our outro mutes on everything else." "Why?" "Well, because we have a bunch of other things open." "I mean, it just cuts right there." "No, but up to there." "You know what I mean?" " Oh, right." " Up to there." "Well, we would have had to do that anyway." "Yeah, some of that we would have, yeah." "But I was..." "I was..." "Yeah." "I was just thinking it'd be..." "We'd just start "Heavy Metal Drummer" that way was what I was thinking, you know?" "I'm cool." "It's..." "I'm totally cool, all right?" "It's over." "Right now, um," "Reprise Records is in a pretty serious state of flux, which I'm a bit nervous about." "I mean, I'm not worried about the record not coming out." "The record will come out, but you don't know whether we're gonna be getting the... same sort of enthusiasm out of whoever the replacement person is." "It's just a mystery." "What about "M ust be High" or "Casino Queen"?" "Nah." "I'm just thinking in terms of rockers, man." "Yeah." "If we got easy rockers, we should probably..." "I don't want to do that anymore, man." "You don't want to rock?" "No, I don't want to just fall back on a bunch of easy rockers." "No, I'm just thinking with four days to practice and four shows." "# Why, I wonder, is my heart full of holes #" "# And the feeling goes but my hair keeps growing #" "# Will I set the sun #" "# On a big-wheeled wagon?" "#" "# I'm bragging #" "# I'm always in love #" "# When I let go of your throat-sweet throttle #" "# Clean the lash of your black-belt model #" "# Will I catch the moon #" "# Like a bird in a cage #" "# It's for you I swoon #" "# I'm always in love #" "# I don't get the connection #" "# This is only a test #" "# I hope I do my best #" "# You know I won't forget #" "# Fold the cold in my jet-lag palm #" "# And I soak so long I forget my mother #" "# Will I set the sun #" "# On a big-wheeled wagon?" "#" "# I'm bragging #" "# I'm always in love #" "# Drag I sang #" "# I'm always in love #" "# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm always in love #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm always in love #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm always in love #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm always in love #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried #" "# I'm worried 'cause I'm always in love #" "# Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo #" "I'd go either way." "When this record ended up being finished, it actually felt fresher to me than it had felt for months." "After..." "We did a bulk of the recording in a, you know, over a year or so, and somewhere towards the end of that year, it got to be kind of nit-picking and going back and retracking songs" "and knowing exactly what we were going for..." "less exploratory." "And..." "And that was starting to get kind of rough by the time we went to CRC to mix." "We got bogged down in certain things like, um, redoing drums or, you know, certain calls that were good that helped us later on." "But for whatever reason, it..." "it just bogged down." "Doing the record..." "the final mixes... at Soma and hearing them through Jim O'Rourke's ears, actually hearing it with someone who is coming at it with some fresh perspective and being able to collaborate on the final mix is kind of like..." "Well, we're kind of throwing everything out the window, but we're also kind of getting back to what the original thing was." "When it went to Jim with completely fresh ears, he heard them a little differently, and right away, as soon as we heard how he was mixing... like "Trying to Break Your Heart,"" "the first thing he mixed, then it was like, "Oh." "This really works. "" "That's why bands don't mix records." "Definitely it was like a..." "It was a final stage of collaboration." "Like mixing the record..." "That's what I always felt like mixing should be... like it should be the last stage of, uh, of inspiration." "I think we tried to make it powerful, like with two guitars." "Can you beef up your tone a little, then, or something?" " Yeah, yeah." " Okay, okay." "This is so steady now." "Yeah." "I thought it was feeling great, man." "God, I thought it felt great." "No, I mean, we can try the two guitars again if it feels too weak." "I just think that we've tried the two..." "I think the two-guitars thing is, like..." "M ight be obsolete, you know?" "Uh, I'm not sure what that means, but I'll try." "No, I just..." "It's just that it was..." "What's that?" "That felt great to me." "That's all." "It just felt fuckin' rockin', you know?" "That's all." "# Jesus, don't cry #" "# You can rely on me, honey #" "# You can combine anything you want #" "# I'll be around #" "# You were right about the stars #" "# Each one is a setting sun #" "# Tall buildings shake #" "# Voices escape singing sad, sad songs #" "# Tuned to chords #" "# Strung down your cheeks #" "We actually officially delivered the record... or sent them the final mixes of the record." "I must have had 50, 60 definite possibilities for magazine features, let alone television appearances, which were starting..." "Offers were coming in." "And I just thought like, "Boy, this is gonna be so great, you know, it's all set. "" "I think the press has always loved Wilco, but now we're gonna take it even to another level." "When we delivered the record, though, we didn't hear from them for like two weeks, you know?" "So we... we thought that was probably not a good thing." "I knew that I was sitting on something that people were gonna beat down the door to get." "And then the advances didn't get made." "So June is rolling along, and I'm going like, "Well, we're losing time," ""we're losing... we're losing people to deadlines." ""They're not gonna be able to cover this record if we don't hurry up. "" "And then, about the third week in June," "I'd heard, "There's a problem. "" "Next thing I heard was that... they asked us to change the record." "I don't know how they..." "what they wanted us to change." "And Tony told me that..." "that was their response, and... and I told Tony that we weren't interested in changing the record." "Their AR representative was M io Vuchovich, and what I had heard..." "Like I said," "I never talked to Wilco about the way this chain happened, but what I heard from my side was that M io had some ideas about changes to the record or additional recording or mixing or things like that," "and the band had felt like, "That's the record." "We're finished, " you know?" ""We're not really in the mind to make changes, and it's sort of a take it or leave it. "" "And I think it went up to M io's boss, David Kahne, the head of AR for Warner's and Reprise, felt like M io was right and that changes did need to be made, and if the band wasn't interested in making them," "then they should probably be on another label." "Next thing I heard was that they wanted to know if we wanted to leave." "Well, I just think we've been jerked around so many times and that this is the ultimate jerking-around." "You know, like this "We're gonna drop you" shit or whatever it is or "You can get out of the deal. "" "Either way you want to look at it, it's still... majorly being jerked around, and... you know, why should I think that things are gonna change?" "Actually, when Tony first told me that this was a possibility..." "I have to be completely honest... it hurt my feelings." "It's like a feeling of rejection." "It's got to be more than some sort of promise of, you know," ""We love you and we're going to take care of you. "" "Do you know what I mean?" "Because we've heard all that before, and I just think that the wound from this episode of making this record, delivering the record, and getting, basically, nothing but headaches in return is pretty deep and gonna be pretty tough to heal," "and you're not just dealing..." "you know," "I'm not the only person you've got to make feel good." "We never got too specific about what exactly, uh, made them hate it." "Okay, but I just want you..." "I want you to understand one thing." "This is really important." "Right now I believe that the best thing for the band... for the band... the present and future of the band... is to be away from Reprise Records." "It was at a weird time in the Reprise inner circle because Howie Klein, who had been president of Reprise for a long time... since Reprise was reactivated... he'd also been at Sire when Uncle Tupelo was on Sire" "and a big fan of the band..." "had just left the label." "In fact, I think the day that the band turned in the record... the end of June..." "right around then, he... that was his last day." "A day or two after I retired, I got a phone call from one of Wilco's many, many, many, many fans at Warner Brothers... and that was the first of many phone calls I got... telling me that Wilco was dropped." "I would guess that if I was an executive at a record company... high-up executive." "I don't mean the people working in the trenches, but I mean the guys with, you know, the gold-plated cellphones, you know?" "If I was up there and I listened to "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,"" "I probably wouldn't get it." "Why don't I get it?" "Because it doesn't tell me exactly who it's for, it doesn't tell me exactly what it's about, and it doesn't tell me exactly how much it will sell." "From what I gather, I think that they didn't even think there was a single to work on." "There's pretty stuff in there, there's hard stuff in there, there's mystery in there, there's... there's really sweet... tunes." "And there's, you know, an abrasion in there as well." "But it's all there, and you really have to kind of sit with it." "You have to allow yourself the time to get something out of it." "There's no chance that Wilco would have ever been dropped when I was president of Reprise Records." "We're now in a... a culture... not just a business, but a culture... in which we expect everything to happen" "Like that." "You know, you have people outside, standing around talking on cellphones." "You know, the gist of the conversation is," ""I'll be there in five minutes. "" "Who gives a fuck?" "Just be there in five minutes." "Don't talk about it." "You know, it's..." "You get..." "People are just so impatient, and as a result, you know, we're looking at things in ways like," ""Well, how much time do I have to devote to this?"" "And it's really sad because, you know, music, art, literature, poetry, you know, even great technical..." "technological inventions... they're not meant to be" "Done and done with that quickly." "It was, like, kind of just a shock to be, like, slapped in the face with, um... um... this calculated world of... international, multinational... whatever..." "corporation." "# I'd like to thank you all #" "# For nothing ' #" "# I'd like to thank you all for nothin ' at all #" "# I'd like to thank you #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' #" "# Nothin ' at all #" "I see a band here that is really ambitious artistically." "It's not a VH1 "Behind the Music" story." "It's not a drugs-groupies- celebrity kind of story at all." "This band's story is the music." "Twenty years from now, they're probably gonna get more of their due than they are now." "I don't think they're a band that fits in with a lot of what music gets played on the radio." "The appreciation for its records is going to increase as time goes on." "In the making of this record, I felt like I got no support... zero." "Emotional, financial..." "whatever." "Then, at some point in the process, you start asking yourself, "Why are we..." "What are they doing?"" "We don't need the money." "You know, the band can go out and play gigs and make the money to pay for the records, so..." "They're not getting the band on the radio." "Um... you know, it's really..." "at this point, to me, their value is really, really questionable to us." "# I've got you and it's all I need #" "# I've got you and it's all I need #" "# I've got you and it's all I need #" "# I got you #" "# I got you and I still believe #" "# That you are all I will ever need #" "# It's you #" "# All #" "# All the way back in the Seventies #" "# You were my little TV queen #" "# Your Tarzan and your friend Janine #" "# I got you #" "# I got you and I still believe #" "# That you are all I will ever need #" "# It's you #" "# All #" "# It's the end of the century #" "# And I can't think of anything #" "# Ex cept you #" "# Now it's the end of the century #" "# And I can't think of anything #" "# But you #" "# All #" "# All #" "# I #" "# Ne-e-e-e-ed #" "# I got you #" "# I got you, babe #" "# Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo, hoo-hoo #" "Aah!" "Thanks a lot." "Have a good night." "Good to see you, brother." "Aw." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Wait, wait, wait, wait." "They won't let you just do it yourselves?" "Hoarding it, pig." "I'm stealing the band's pizza." "Oh, I got busted!" "I'm sorry, dude." " Is that cool?" "Is it cool?" " Does anybody have a pen?" "I don't have nothing for you to sign!" "Tell him to sign your ass." "I'm just kidding." "Yeah, I can do that." "You'll have to sign my boobs." "Actually..." "Would I?" "I don't know." "I've never..." "Someone in our band did that once, actually." "You can sign my ass." "I have nothing else to sign." " Really?" " Do you wanna?" "If you sign her ass, you have to sign my ass." "And if you sign her ass, you have to sign my ass." "You can sign my chest." "That's what Jimmy..." "Oh, we saw Jimmy in the, uh..." " Are we on the lighting stage?" " Sound check." "...with Straitjackets in the elevator last night." "Remember the guy who sat in..." " Oh." "Oh, my God." " Jimmy Lester?" " What?" " I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "This is a..." "I met Bob from "Sesame Street" yesterday... last night." " Bob?" " Oh." "Do you know Bob?" "Does anybody know who Bob is?" " Yeah." " I can't remember that." " How'd you meet him?" " He was in our hotel." "He's doing a kids' show right now as we speak." "Oh, man." "He's like, "Yeah, I got..." "Big Bird's coming in tomorrow, and we're... "" "There's Jay right now as we speak." "So also, although it's already been blown, but J. P. Asked if we could sort of steer clear of the stage for a little while." "Until..." "Until sound check is over?" "Until Jay gets, uh, done?" "Has Jay been here since like 6:00 in the morning?" "Gentlemen, we have about 35 minutes to do all of this." "Yeah, we're going Glenn, we're gonna go..." "Jay Bennett, the entire keyboard world and Jay Bennett electric rig." "Keep him there." "After Jay, we'll do Johnny real quick," "M r." "Tweedy, let Leroy get his world sussed out." "We're only gonna have time to do about two songs." "Check." "Hey, hey, hey." "Yeah, the delay's not working." "# You have to learn how to die #" "# If you want to want to be alive #" "# You have to die #" "# You have to die #" "# You have to learn how to die #" "# If you want to want to be alive #" " Whoo!" " Whoo!" "# I know we don't talk much #" "# But you're such a good talker #" "# Oh, oh #" "# Well, I know we should take a walk #" "# But you're such a fast walker #" "# Oh, oh #" "# Well, all right #" "# I know where I'll be tonight #" "# All right #" "# Outta mind, outtasite #" "No, no." "John's introducing me." " Oh, okay." " And then I'll go to you." " Okay." " Okay?" "When is the new album actually available to people to go out and buy?" "That's a good question." "# I know you probably hate me #" "# That's okay with me #" "# All right #" "# I know where I'll be tonight #" "Good afternoon, good evening, and happy Independence Day, everyone." "Please welcome one of America's most exciting and innovative bands," "Wilco!" "# You don't see me now-ow-ow #" "# You don't want to any... # # how-ow-ow #" "# Well, look out #" "# Here I come again and I'm bringing my friends #" "# I said look out #" "# Here I come again #" "# I'm bringing my friends #" "# Okay?" "All right?" "Okay?" "#" "# All right I #" "# I know where I'll be tonight #" "# All right #" "# Outta mind, outtasite #" "# Outta mind, outtasite #" "# Outta mind, outtasite #" "# All right I #" "Show some gratitude!" "Let's talk about Jay." "All right." "I probably won't have much to say." " Okay." " Just warning you." "Okay." "It's my understanding, from what I heard in the grapevine, that that was sort of an amicable separation and that, um, I..." "And I don't know that this is true, but the hearsay is sort of that he didn't feel that he had had as much a role in the songwriting as he wanted to have or, uh..." "I think that there's some truth to that, and I think there's an effort... there's an effort made for it to be amicable." "Since Jeff's solo tour and Glenn joining the band, uh, some dynamics in the band had altered in... many different ways." "I think Jay's contribution to the band over time and our collaboration was important and was valued in the band." "As for the circumstances surrounding him leaving," "I really think that that's up to Jay to define." "And as far as my, uh, feelings about it," "I couldn't be happier." "Jeff was convinced that he really needed to tell Jay directly and he needed to be the guy to do it." "We sat down, and he said," ""I don't think I can make music with you anymore. "" "And I said, "Why?"" "And, uh..." "I'm not sure I ever got an answer that made any sense." "Jay wore out his welcome in a lot of ways." "It's hard to be working with somebody, uh... that... that needs more than you can... than you can give him." "And, um, you know, I'm more interested in being... playing music with people that I can share with than give things to." "Jeff was threatened by me." "It's clear." "By the attention I was beginning to get." "Um..." "He wanted the band back." "That's simple." "That's a simple answer." "You know, Jeff went into this big, long analogy about how a circle needs a center, you know?" "Well, he was gonna be the center, right?" "I wasn't gonna be the center." "It's hard for me to talk about." "Um, I mean, I've known Jay for... 16 years?" "17 years?" "And... our friendship had, uh... run its course." "There's a lot of power-related issues in Wilco, and people are..." "They don't want to lose their gig, man." "And so they don't want to step outside of their little, uh, um... uh... scripted role." "'Cause if they do, this is what happens." "I think we all knew everyone would be happier in the end, and I think Jay would totally agree with that." "It did not come as a total shock to me to be asked to leave Wilco." "It had been in the back of my mind." "In fact, I'd talked to Leroy about this extensively... that, to quote myself, "My days in Wilco are numbered. "" "I had thought very, very seriously about leaving the band." "I just happened to be beaten to the punch." "When you're Jay Bennett or whomever and you leave the band, you have to kind of start over." "You're going back to playing for 35 people or 100 people or whatever from sold-out theaters." "# So sleep now #" "# M y darlin ' #" "# And I will keep all the bad dreams away #" "# And breathe now #" "# Breathe easy #" "# And I will say all the right things to say #" "# Because we made you #" "# M y darlin ' #" "# From a love that was in our hearts #" "# We were a family #" "# M y darlin ', right from the start #" "# Grow up now #" "# M y darlin ' #" "# J ust don't grow up so fast #" "# Be careful #" "# M y darlin ' #" "# But make all the good times last #" "They delivered a great record, and I think it's a record company that, for whatever reason, can't handle that type of great record." "And so, fantastic." "Let's go do something else." "I don't know how to make" "I don't know how to make something other than the record we made, and I think to entertain any of their half-assed, fearful, frightened bullshit would be to compromise something that is a big part of my soul." "You know?" "Like, it's a part of my heart." "And I don't have any interest in doing that anymore." "I think it's a really, really, really strong record." "I think it's a statement." "I think it's the right record for them to make... now in their career." "And I think there are dozens of labels that would be ecstatic to have it and who, if you delivered this record, would call you up and, you know, be excited about it." "That's all." "You know, that's what I'm tired of is, like, no enthusiasm." "Why is Wilco dropped, uh, 24 hours after they deliver a record like "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"?" "Um..." "I mean, we've contemplated that question at great length over the summer, and in the end," "I think Tony and I both just sort of put our hands up and said, "I guess we're glad that it just happened," ""and we won't try to overintellectualize it any further. "" "But I really think, looking back on it, it's because of marketing." "And it's because you have an artist like Jeff Tweedy who's put out, uh, you know, four or five records in a row with a record company and they haven't been able to bring sales up to a level" "where it's really significantly affecting their bottom line." "They, uh, I guess, stop thinking about it from a pure artistic level and just say, "We don't make money on this guy. "" "And then he delivers a record which, for whatever reasons, they evaluate as being difficult to raise to the next level of public appeal, so they say, "Well, okay, we're not going to... "" "I guess, to use a phrase..." ""throw good money after bad." ""We've spent $ 200, 000 recording this record," ""but it's gonna cost us another $300, 000 or whatever" ""to launch a marketing campaign for it, and we just don't think we're gonna make our money back. "" "So they drop the artist." "Um, this, of course, creates a situation for us where we have a finished record and we want to put it out." ""Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" has actually turned into a kind of metaphor." "It's now a measure of what record companies... or not even so much record companies, but the corporations that own record companies... are willing to put up with." "Ultimately, what it came down to was they had told Jeff Tweedy, "We don't like your album." "We don't want to release it. "" "In the end, you know, it doesn't really matter who puts the record out." "Eventually, either in the near future or in the way-far, distant future, someone's gonna get it." "As long as music is available, someone will hear it." "The record label must have found it to be something of a public-relations problem, because the press really latched on to the situation as something of a... using Jeff as a poster boy as to what problems were going on in a lot of record companies... and in particular Warner Brothers... with their artist rosters." "And they didn't want it to blow up any further than it did." "So they, um, after a certain amount of, uh, anxiety-ridden conversations, said, "We think the right thing to do" ""is let you take your record somewhere else... wherever you'd like. "" "Every time we put out a record, the length of time that a record company is willing to actually even, uh, humor you about, like, working on your record has gotten shorter." "Music is not limited to what happens in a business quarter." "And..." "You know... this is a record, okay?" "This is something that, probably, someone will buy." "They'll pay, 15, 16..." "whatever... bucks for it." "And that's cool, but, you know, what's encoded somewhere in the bottom of this thing... this dopey little disc..." "you know, that's what matters." "This... the artifact, the actual object... is not." "What's encoded in here, if it's any good... you know, you'll hear it." "And you'll either get it or you won't, and just as... as a..." "as a writer, as a fan, as a guy who just listens to music a lot... you know, if you don't get it... you know, I just think that's kind of too bad." "# There's a magazine called Sunset #" "# And a tape machine that won't let #" "# Me ever forget this impossible longing for you #" ""Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" has been finished now for about six months." "The band have done a little bit of touring, um... word got out that the band were out of their deal, and we started getting a lot of calls, um, and basically started talking to people." "I think we were dealing with about... 25 or 30 labels initially, and then, as time passed, we have been whittling the list down, and we're now talking to five or so and hope to have that resolved in the next week or two." "I don't have any money." "I don't have very much." "Oh!" "I only have $6." "You want something to eat, Sammy?" "Yes." "I want something to eat." "What do you want?" "Soda." "Soda." "Honey, I don't have enough money." "I know." "I'll go get some money." "Never in my wildest, most optimistic moment did I think that we'd be sitting here in the position we're in right now, which is with a finished record that... is ours to take wherever we want." "You could certainly say that they fucked up by letting the band go and walk away with a record." "It's really an opportunity that maybe comes along once in a career." "The claw machine ripped him off." "It wouldn't play?" "No, it... it went by itself." "Tony, smell Sam's butt." "No, thanks." "I need to know if he needs a diaper." "I think he does." "I was surprised at the number of record companies that were willing to pay a large amount of money to be sort of in the Wilco picture." "# Oh, yeah #" "Recognize it?" "What is it?" " Guess." "It's one of your songs." " It's one of my songs?" ""I'm Trying to Break Your Heart"?" "No." "Uh, "I Need a Camera"?" "No." " "Dreamer in my Dreams"?" " No." "No?" " "Casino Queen"?" " Unh-unh." " "California Stars"?" " No." "Tell me." "It's something with a drum in it." ""Heavy Metal Drummer. "" "Yes!" "How's that go?" "# I sincerely miss those heavy metal bands #" "# I used to go see on the landing in the summer #" "# She fell in love with the drummer #" "# She fell in love with the drummer #" "# She fell in love #" "# Shiny, shiny pants and bleached-blond hair #" "# A double kick drum by the river in the summer #" "# She fell in love with the drummer #" "# Another, then another #" "# She fell in love #" "# I miss the innocence I've known #" "# Playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned #" "# Unlock my body and move myself to dance #" "# Into warm liquid, flowing, blowing glass #" "# Classical music blasting masks the ringing in my ears #" "The record had started to leak a little bit from labels and so on, and copies were starting to float around." "And initially we tried to slow it down... we knew we couldn't stop it..." "and then, at some point," "I think we just decided, "You know what?" "It's out there." ""Let's embrace it and make it available through our website if people want to hear it. "" "A lot of people were really aware of the new songs, to the point where, I think, a lot of people, in the front rows, at least, knew all the words." "# Playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned #" "# I miss the innocence I've known #" "# Playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned #" "# Playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned #" "# Playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned #" "# Whoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo, hey #" "# Whoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo #" "# Whoo-hoo, hey #" "After months of..." "discussions and ruminations, we have decided to sign..." "The band's gonna sign to Nonesuch records." "We've agreed to all the major terms, so the record will come out on Nonesuch in April." "I do find it ironic and a little humorous that Time Warner is the parent company of both of these labels..." "Reprise and Nonesuch." " Are you Jeff?" " Yeah." " Nice to meet you." " You too." "One way to put the reason for picking Nonesuch is that they were the best combination of sort of the business deal and a creative home." "In hearing the record, you know, in the first 30 seconds," "I felt that there was something going on with this record that I hadn't heard in a Wilco record before and that it, you know, was..." "it sounded brave to me." "Um, you know, it may have been the same 30 seconds that convinced Reprise that they didn't want to put out the record." "Okay, you ready to start signing things?" "M m-hmm." "Yeah, it looks good." "Hold on." "One more." "This is to get paid." "Definitely sign that one." "And I sign here." "You sign there." "And you're back in the fire." "Thanks." "It's a deal." "# Be not so nervous #" "# Be not so pale #" "# Someone watches you #" "# You will not fail #" "# Be not so nervous, be not so pale #" "# Be not so nervous, be not so pale #" "# Be not so sorry for what you've done #" "# You must forget them now #" "# It's done #" "# And when you wake up, you will find that you can run #" "We're about two months away from the record coming out." "The advances are here." "Jeff is in town doing press." "He goes to Europe next week to do press." "It all begins now." "# Be not so fearful #" "# Be not so frail #" "# Someone watches you #" "# You will not leave the rails #" "What are we, almost eight months or nine months since the record was originally planned to come out on another label?" "So it's been a long road, but it's the beginning." "# Be not so fearful, be not so pale #" "# Be not so sorry for what you've done #" "# You must forget them now #" "# It's done #" "We're..." "couldn't be more excited about the long-term prospects of being able to work with this band." "# And when you wake up you will find that you can run #" "# Be not so sorry for what you've done #" "It's a long road to here, but, you know, it's a new chapter now, and, uh, we're, um..." "couldn't be more optimistic." "# Choo-choo Charlie had a plenty good band #" "# But he couldn't understand why no one would go #" "# The World Record Players on a tour of Japan #" "# Charlie's fixin ' his van with the left arm tan #" "# He said, "Monday, I'm all high #" "# "Get me out of F. L. A. #" "# "In school, yeah, I fooled ya #" "# Now I know I made a mistake" #" "# Blister on the turnpike #" "# Let me by #" "# I only want to wonder why when I don't die #" "# Ooh, I shot ya #" "# Yeah, I know #" "# I only want to go where my wheels roll #" "# Monday, I'm all high #" "# Get me out of F. L. A. #" "# Well, I fooled ya in school, yeah #" "# Now I know I made a mistake #" "# Everybody's wonderin ', "Where'd he go?" "#" "# He must be down in Pensacola hiding ' from the snow" #" "# The World Record Players on a tour of Japan #" "# Charlie's fixin ' his van #" "# He's waitin ' for a postcard #" "# He said, "Monday, I'm all high #" "# "Get me out of T. L. A. #" "# "I cut class in school, yeah #" "# Now I know I made a mistake" #" "I made a big mistake." "Whoo!" "Whoo!" "Whoo!" "Whoo!" "# All right I #" "# All right I #" "# All right I #" "# All right I #" "# All right I #" "All right." "All right." "All right." "That's the coup." "That's like the coup of all time for us." "To basically get, you know, one of the biggest entertainment corporations in the world to release us from a contract essentially scot-free with a record that they had already paid for and then sell it back to them for three times the money." "They just liked the record so much that they paid for it twice." "Hold your breath." "Make a wish." "Count to three." "# Come with me and you'll be #" "# In a world of pure imagination #" "# Take a look and you'll see into your imagination #" "# We'll begin with a spin #" "# Traveling in the world of my creation #" "# What we'll see will defy #" "# Explanation #" "# If you want to view paradise #" "# Simply look around and view it #" "# Anything you want to, do it #" "# Want to change the world?" "#" "# There's nothing to it #" "# There is no life I know #" "# To compare with pure imagination #" "# Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be #" "# If you want to view paradise #" "# Simply look around and view it #" "# Anything you want to, do it #" "# Want to change the world?" "#" "# There's nothing... to it #" "# There is no life I know #" "# To compare with pure imagination #" "# Living there, you'll be free #" "# If you truly wish to be #"