Luck O' The Dandys (Warhols)

Chart Magazine #89
by - Lisa Ladouceur
November 1997


“We acted like rock stars then and we act like rock stars now.”

So says the Portland, Oregon quartet The Dandy Warhols in the self-penned bio for its latest album …The Dandy Warhols Come Down (EMI). “Then” was 1994, before a record called Dandy’s Rule OK on indie label Tim/Kerr – also responsible for (what)Everclear – got the group out of a “crappy little basement” and into the faces of every record label going for the “next big thing.” You see, Dandy’s Rule OK was a great record of fuzzy guitars and melodic psychedelia, and in 1995 (the year of Portishead, PJ Harvey and White Zombie) the folks were looking for a few well-adjusted, happy people.

“Now” is summer 1997, time for …The Dandy Warhols Come Down to make its big splash. Only it’s the year of Hanson and The Spice Girls, so a single like “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth,” no matter how poppy and singalong, seems like a downer. And the folks at the label have probably realized by now that the four members of The Dandy Warhols (Courtney Taylor, Peter Holmstrom, Zia McCabe and Eric Hedford) are, shall we say, “high maintenance.”

“If we didn’t have somebody as cute as Zia in the band, we’d get in trouble a lot,” says Courtney.

“I’m usually the one who gets in trouble!” counters Zia. “Somebody always gets me out of it, though,”

There’s not much chance of shenanigans today. The interview happens over dinner at a fancy restaurant, record label folks and the band’s Web site keeper in tow. Upon entering, Eric confesses that they just ate, but he orders anyway. When you’re the next big thing, you get a lot of free dinners.

You also get a lot of leeway. …The Dandy Warhols Come Down is actually the band’s second attempt at an EMI debut. Back in February 1996, the band began recording in a Vancouver, Washington studio, but the resulting demos were not to their liking.

“When you’re trying to make things up in the studio, rather then having finished songs, you want to be able to just fuck around, to really try and invent things,” explains Courtney.

“The fucking around part went really well,” adds Eric, “but the song part didn’t.”

Courtney agrees the band “lost perspective.” So in September 1996, The Dandy Warhols moved back into their crappy little basement with producer Tony Lash (who produced Dandy’s Rule OK and banged out 14 new songs. A year behind schedule, the record is released.

Many might consider this a disaster, but The Dandy Warhols are actually quite pleased. They put out an album that they like, and within the next year they plan to finish working on what is currently referred to as The Black Album and release it as their third disc.

In the meantime, …The Dandy Warhols Come Down is being given the royal treatment by the band’s record label, and praise from critics. To be sure, it’s a solid collection of laid-back grooves, shimmering melodies and harmonies, a few vocal nods to Neil Young, lots of fun keyboard noise, and great song titles (“Cool As Kim Deal,” “Hard On For Jesus”). And of course, the brilliant “Junkie” single. The video for “Junkie” was directed by David La Chappelle, the photographer behind those oblique Diesel clothing ads, who has never before agreed to work on a music video (not even for Madonna). Courtney calls the clip’s budget “ungodly,” and all members agree they had little to do with its conception. This is particularly disturbing for the singer, who likes to be in charge. He’s even still bitter about an industry show in Vancouver, BC from many months ago.

“We got held up at the border,” Courtney recalls, “and showed up late at this club that had no monitors. We basically spent our set soundchecking. Finally, after about 30 minutes of this, with everybody waiting, wondering if this is the show yet, we just kind of gave up. I didn’t even bother pretending that it didn’t suck.”

In keeping with the Dandys philosophy, Courtney sees the whole event in a positive light. “We’re lucky like that. We’d keep getting talked into playing stupid industry shows if we were any good at them. We will probably never have to play one again!”

Stories like this eventually make it on stage. When Zia’s not busy disrobing (honest!), Courtney likes to rhyme out all the stupid good luck the band has had. Today he shares a favourite about rehearsal space karma.

“We went on a tour and when we got back somebody had moved in,” he says. “We had to take this small practice space. It so happened that at the same time the toilet just started overflowing. It seeped across the carpet and they were all smelly.”

With their star on the rise (and able to fall just as quickly), The Dandy Warhols would be wise to remember that sometimes luck comes in small dark places.