G.P.: So, James what's the deal with the bunny head?

J.M.: Uh, it's a self portrait. {laughter}

G.P.: Ah! It's the inner you!

J.M.: It's the outer me!

G.P.: Has, or can, or will Dump ever tour?

J.M.: Um, has? Not really. Closest I ever came to touring. I did two shows, I think, two shows in Holland. On consecutive days and I also played two shows in New York once, on consecutive days. Those are the two tours that I've had.

G.P.: Big tours!

J.M.: Big, big tours. Well, they were big for me, they were huge for me. I play like, once or twice a year, at most.I played once in New York this year and once in Glasgow and that's it, I'm done! During the Yo La Tengo European tour in July, our last show on that tour was in Glasgow. A two night affair, that was in a cathedral, it was set up by that band, The Pastels. The first night it was Yo La Tengo and Cornershop and then, the second day, The Pastels asked me if I wanted to like, stick around an extra day, and the bill was, Belle and Sebastian, The Delgados, The Pastels and Dump. It was a stacked bill, I couldn't say no. It was really great.

G.P.: One of my favorite Dump songs is Good Medicine, Jim Woodring wrote the words to that one, and he's done some cover art for you. How did you hook up with Jim?

J.M.: It's when I was in Christmas and we were recording the record Vortex, which came out on Matador. posthumously. and, while we were recording it, I had like discovered those books. I guess Jim number three had just come out. I'd never experienced anything like it. There were only three comic books and that's all I read all Summer. I just read the same things over and over and over again. I just looked at them, like, I was wondering if they were even made by humans. I've never seen anything like it, it's like a transmission from another world.

G.P.: You've actually met now though, haven't you?

J.M.: Yeah! Well, yeah, that Summer I sent him a letter. Like, "I just wanted to tell you who I am, right now I'm in New York and I've been reading these three comics over and over again, and they're fascinating." and I sent him a tape of what we were working on. And, he wrote a really nice letter back, and he really liked the tapes. Um, and myself and Michael Cudahy, who was In Christmas, now he's The Millionaire in Combustible Edison, sorta struck up a correspondence with Jim, and wound up contracting him to basically illustrate the Christmas album, so he did like an illustration for every song and the cover as well.

G.P.: Is there any chance of you doing anything more musically with him?

J.M.: I hope so. I've been in pretty regular touch with Jim. He always comes to see us play in Seattle. And, um, I'm hoping to do a lot more with him. I somehow talked him into sending me some of his throwaway poems and things, and I set a few of them to music. One of them came out on a compilation a couple years ago, it's called Bunny Boy, naturally I picked that one. The compilation was called I Like Walt, for Walt records, run by a former Matador employee, he also put out some records by Railroad Jerk, His brother's in Railroad Jerk, actually, his brother's the drummer. A really great guy named Dave Varenka, who sort of runs a little label out of his house, every once in awhile he puts out a record. I think he's like put out The Mountain Goats and Alaistair Galbraith and stuff like that.

G.P.: So you must be pretty covered creatively. You've got the Dump outlet and the Yo La Tengo outlet. How much do you feel like you contribute to the songwriting aspect of Yo La Tengo?

J.M.: I'm totally satisfied with the Yo La Tengo contribution. I feel like it's the most I could aspire to, to write as a third. It was just such an established group in my mind. And, once I started playing with them, they were even more established than I ever thought. I sort of have this feeling that it's ridiculous for me to have joined a group that's been together for so long, and just start bringing in songs of my own, just seemed...

G.P.: Hey, get outta the way...

J.M.: That's right. I'm drivin' this ship now. That we write songs together, the three of us. That's all I want, it's very satisfying.

G.P.: It also helps that your songwriting is really good. Does Yo La Tengo ever do Dump songs?

J.M.: A couple, it's happened. I've actually played three times as a rock band, as the Dump rock band, which has always featured Ira and Georgia. So I'll play guitar and Ira'll play bass and Georgia drums.

G.P.: So, they're convertible.

J.M.: Highly. Um, we played two, like the super rock band, like, really loud. And then we played a Lambchop derived set, where we all set down, and Georgia just played percussion, like, a snare and some cymbals with brushes. Two electric guitars, like really quiet. Sort of did Dump songs and covers in this really quiet, subdued setting. That was like, opening for The Cannanes at Maxwells last year.

G.P.: Sounds fittin'.

J.M.: That was my favorite of the live Dump shows last year I think.

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