DJ Ron: Was it a conscious choice not to do a cover for this record or did one not just fit the path the album was taking?
Del Marquis: Yes, I think that was, you know, "Comfortably Numb" was kind of born out of naïveté, it was a really early song for the band and it was an experiment in terms of recording and was never meant to be our main song. So we just pushed ourselves to write songs that other people will cover.
Jake Shears: It wasn't a conscious choice, I mean if we had been inspired to do a cover. We actually did record a cover in a demo form and never took it from there, but we did a demo of a really weird song called "Oh Industry" from the Beaches soundtrack that Bette Midler co-wrote. It's a really strange song off that movie soundtrack, but that was the only song that we've covered in a while.
DJ Ron: So "Kiss You Off," it's like a Giorgio Moroder disco song, like a "Call Me" or a "Hot Stuff" with a rock-y vibe to it. Was that part of the concept of its creation?
Jake Shears: Not really, it's just sort of how the song ended up unfolding. I mean the first demos of that song, it was very, very hodge-podge sounding. And it was just a little too plinky-plonky, like it had to have a little more drive to it because it was almost too slim sounding. So that song went under lots and lots of revision and that was kind of what we ended up with. I don't know if we got it right. It's funny, you don't necessarily know if you've got them right or not until years later, you know, there's songs off of our first album that you look back and you're like 'oh my God, we definitely didn't.' So I think time will tell what decisions were best made on this record.
DJ Ron: What's the coolest thing about being famous in the UK?
Jake Shears: Being famous in the UK? I think that as far as being a popular musician and making popular music, the coolest thing is being amongst great company. I think the radio over there and the pop music in general is very interesting as far as like the range of what people listen to and the different styles of bands that people listen to and how alternative music can really find a spot within the mainstream. So I think the best thing about being a popular musician in the UK is just the company we keep, there's so many bands that are making great music and they get the attention they deserve over there. So to me that's my favorite thing, is just feeling like you're part of something that's bigger than yourself.
DJ Ron: Have you heard back from any artists about the whole Transworld drama?
Jake Shears: Have I heard from any other artists? No, I wish I had. I would love it if some other artist came out and had spoken out about Transworld CD pricing. But no, I haven't yet. That's all been really exciting to me, I've really loved that, I think it's been a really interesting discussion, and it's definitely got a lot of people talking. I think it is an interesting thing and I'm happy that Transworld has actually entered the discussion as well. We wonder why people don't buy CDs anymore and that's one of the reasons, because they cost too much money in certain places.
The Scissor Sisters are currently on a world tour that finds them swinging through the United States in the second half of October. Their second album Ta-dah (Universal Motown) is in stores (though not any stores owned by the Transworld corporation) now.
Posted October 9th.
Special thanks to FlyLife and Girlie Action for arranging these interviews.
