Rotor zitty madman

>> The one and only Bobby Conn on helicopters, death metal and the ultimate bong

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

On his new record The Golden Age, the strange and diminutive Bobby Conn proves himself one of Indieville's most advanced songwriters. Songs take unexpected twists down the cocaine-laden corridors of Studio 54, with heavy leanings toward glam-meisters Bolan and Bowie, platform-shoe groove, orch pop and straight-up Vaudevillian panorama. The Mirror connected with the wacky Mr. Conn, speaking from his home in Chicago.



Mirror: The orchestrating and arranging seems to be a giant undertaking in your songs.

Bobby Conn: I think the record is almost denser than it needs to be, with almost too much going on. In any one of my songs there is enough material for 10 lesser artists to generate over 10 records. I kind of think, "Oh my god, this is far too much for people to figure out." When I first listened back to the whole album at once, I fell out of my chair and was gasping for air. Songwriting to me is like some guy obsessively drawing the ultimate bong. Like adding different parts and chambers with special flaps to put your papers in and then having a skull growing out of a mushroom--

M: What kind of people do you hang out with?! I don't know anyone who draws bongs.

BC: Bong-drawing is a staple of Midwestern outsider art. Songwriting is even more like your cousin building the Taj Mahal out of sugar cubes, or building the ultimate rec room in my basement, or the ultimate art on the side of your van that takes, like, 20 years to complete.

M: It seems your adolescence is fuel for a lot of your lyrics.

BC: Yeah, this record is kind of about what happens when you let your adolescence continue into your thirties. There is something beautiful about it, but also something really, really pathetic.

M: You also seem to have an obsession with helicopters.

BC: I think the personal helicopter is a perfect metaphor for wealth and power in America. It's this machine that allows you the total mobility to go anywhere you want to go. At the same time it's incredibly loud and people are aware of where you are and if someone comes too close they get their heads chopped off. I read this thing in the paper in Brazil where the crime rate is through the roof, so wealthy people use private helicopters because it's so dangerous to drive. I like the idea that they have to be above the peasantry. For our tour shirt, I drew this thing called a Bobbycopter, which has my head and human feet to land. Our record company found it horrifying.

M: Do you also draw bongs?

BC: No, but when people hand me a pipe made out of a carrot, I just love that human ingenuity. I love bong culture but I think it makes for some pretty boring party guests.



Unspeakable evil is fun

M: On the back cover of your album, you're wearing a T-shirt that says, "Rock Sucks." Is this a movement that you're starting?

BC: Actually, when my mom saw that she thought it said "Suck Dicks," so what's up with her? In a lot of ways, I do think rock sucks. Rock is a sad, old man at this time. He seems very comfortable in an easy chair with his cooler of beer beside him. We thought if we said it sucked, maybe people would be outraged and make it not suck. Like when "Disco Sucks" made people think, "Hey, wait a minute, disco is cool."

M: What's your take on rave culture?

BC: Rave culture is more like a newly minted MBA. Y'know, like he just started his first job making $35,000 a year and he is very pleased with himself because he just bought a new car.

M: What about death metal?

BC: It's a little grey, sonically, but they're incredibly entertaining to watch. When you are dealing with a vast concept like unspeakable evil, and seeing what four human beings trying to express what unspeakable evil is on stage, it can be hugely entertaining and a lot of fun.

M: You missed your last scheduled show here. Are you going to be giving 100 per cent at this show, to make up for the last one?

BC: I would say that 110 per cent is baseline. If it's a make-up show, you are getting up to 170 or 180 per cent. With this situation, I think Montreal may be in for about a 220 per cent show. I don't want to give anything away but I know it will be--quite good.

With Canned Hamm at la Sala Rossa on Thursday, Nov. 8, 9pm, $10