TINA PEEK: Hey Jason thanks for taking the time to chat with me today. I know you've just gotten home from the Alice Cooper Tour [Along Came A Spider], are you enjoying your time off?

JASON HOOK: Oh yeah, I love my time off. I live for my time off.

TP: What do you do during your time off?

JH: All I do is write and record. I spend most of my time in my home studio, but there hasn't been a lot of time for that right now because I just got back and I'm going away for Christmas this year. Normally when I'm on a break from tour, I'm only off long enough to open mail and catch up on bills and stuff like that. I'm having some guitars built from a guy in New Jersey called Rob Mondell and his company Just Insane Guitars, so I've been spending some of my time ordering parts, you know, nothing glamorous, no rock star stuff really.

TP: You've just come back from touring Germany. I've heard that fans in Europe are a bit more rabid than their counterparts in North America, is there any truth to that?

JH: I think in general, whenever we travel outside of America, the excitement level seems to be heightened. I think that people outside of America look at it as a special event, or more of a rare opportunity to see someone like Alice, ya know?

TP: You've played with some very diverse artists, everyone from Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff and Lee Aaron, to the Bullet Boys, Vince Neil and now Alice Cooper. How difficult is it to switch gears from one type of genre of music to another?

JH: You know, I've been asked this question a lot and I don't know if it's necessarily difficult, it's just a question of making sure that you understand the job and making sure that you have all the tools to make sure you adapt to the job. It's like someone saying to an artist, "I know you usually paint with oil on canvas, but can you paint a wall?" or "Can you paint watercolor on some other medium?" You just have to learn what's expected of you and make sure you come in prepared. As far as musical styles go, I'm primarily a rock guy, so it has been a little tricky to stray outside of the box and go into something like pop. I do a lot of research on my way in, I find out exactly what the guy before me was playing, I ask what guitars he was using, what kind of equipment. I show up prepared.

TP: So what made you decide to go out with Mandy and Hilary? Knowing that you're a rocker and you love the heavier stuff, they seemed like unusual choices, was it simply for the experience?

JH: Yeah, when I moved to Los Angeles, I was working some shitty jobs just for cash. I was an illegal alien at the time and I took a job moving people. I was working for about a half a day and by lunch time I had moved this entire apartment and I just said to myself, "You know, I'm not cut out for this. I'm not cut out for this regular hourly wage nonsense." So at some point I decided I'm just going to stick to playing guitar and if opportunities come up, as long as it's not completely ridiculous, I'm going to take them. And every job that I've had has taught me something that has been important. You can't just go from clubs to sports arenas; you have to work your way up. In my mind it was like going through University or going through College. These were classes that I needed to take, like when you're going through high school, you're forced to take math, English and history, even though you may not end up being that interested in geometry or history, but when you get into the work field it's helpful to have that education. All that education helps to send you off in that one direction. I just look at it as a chance to gain an experience, a chance to get an education. It has made me a better professional today. You know, I've thought about this question a lot because my heart really is in heavy music. That's my favorite type of music, hard rock, heavy metal, stuff like that, and people are like, "How can you play with those other artists?" Well you know, I was young and I was eager to learn, so I just decided I'd learn. I could've taken jobs painting houses, but that had nothing to do with where I wanted to go, so I just ignored that type of work and I took work doing music.

TP: What's been your favorite tour so far in your career?

JH: It was definitely, by a landslide, Vince Neil 2003.

TP: And why that tour?

JH: Because it was loaded with all sorts of debauchery, you can use your imagination. [laughs] You know, touring for the most part can be many things. It can be really lonely or really routine or almost, I hate to use the word boring, but there's a lot of down time where you're alone and there's really not much you can do because you're in a strange place with no car. And if you're out of the country, you're cell phone may not work, the money might be different, the language might be different. You're sort of just confined to your hotel and the people you're on tour with. I remember being on tour with Vince Neil in the States. It was a small band. It was just Vince and three musicians. I was with Brent Fitz, of course, he's my boyeee. [laughs] So it was just Fitz and I and this bass player, and we were having an amazing time. There was lots of partying and fun. Vince is 100% pure fun, I mean, that's just all he wants to do is have fun. It usually includes a lot of strippers, models, or lesbians, or whatever. [laughs] He's great.

TP: Favorite country, besides North America to tour?

JH: I really like Australia, for a lot of reasons. Not only is it attractive, but also, the people in general seem to be very friendly and pretty easygoing. I love that their language is English and that the money is easy to figure out. Sometimes you get into areas where the language is different and the money is weird, like Japan. Japan makes me crazy…

TP: Really? Why?

JH: I mean, the people there are really nice, but they're really big on cigarettes over there, everyone in Japan smokes and the language is funky. [I laugh] I mean there's definitely a language barrier. The money is completely fucked. You go into a McDonald's and they'll say, "Big Mac is 500 Yen," and you go, "Whoa whoa, what?" You know what I mean? It's fucked. And they drive on the opposite side of the street. It's just one nightmare after another. You can't even order water without having to go through a huge charade because they don't get it. I mean, it's just really tough. I remember people sitting down at a restaurant and ordering their food and then everyone starts smoking. They're big on smoke there, so it's a nightmare. I've met some nice people. I don't want to completely dog Japan, but I would not want to go there by choice.

TP: That's interesting.

JH: Yeah, it's funky.

TP: You've been with Alice Cooper since the spring of 2007, how did you get the Alice gig?

JH: Well the truth is, I basically got it through Eric Singer and Brent Fitz, because Brent and Eric and I have been friends for a while and Brent would substitute for Eric, so Brent's kind of in the fold with the Alice Cooper gig. And when they found out that Damon [Johnson] was leaving, the first person to know about it was obviously Eric, and then Eric was chatting with Brent, and Brent said, "You've gotta call Jason." And Eric was like, "Oh yeah, what's he doing?" And Brent was like, "Well he's not doing anything right now." "Oh yeah, he'd be great. blah blah blah". So I didn't audition or anything, I was basically called up and I said I was available and I talked to the tour manager over the phone and that was it.

TP: So you didn't even have to promote yourself.

JH: No. Well, the good thing about reaching a certain level at this game, is that once people know what you've done and you've proven yourself, you don't have to start over every time, people just assume that if you've had one pro gig, than obviously you can handle it on many levels, a personal level, a professional level.

TP: And word of mouth, too?

JH: Yeah, and word of mouth, I mean it's kind of like once you've done a few of these gigs and people already know you're at that level they just snag you, ya know?

TP: Alice obviously has a huge catalogue of songs, do you have a personal favorite?

JH: I like "Go To Hell", which we don't play.

TP: Which song is your favorite to play live?

JH: I'm trying to think of the set. [laughs] I think "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "Billion Dollar Babies". I don't even mind playing "Poison" because the audience reaction is usually elevated and I get to play a solo which is kind of a highlight of that song. So that's what I like to play.

TP: Now that you're back from Germany, what's next for you?

JH: Well, the Christmas Pudding is coming up on the 13th of this month with Alice, in Phoenix.

TP: So what is the Christmas Pudding, is it a charity of some sort?

JH: Yes it's a charity event that Alice puts on every year. He's raising money to build a school for kids. I believe it's going to be a music-based school for teenagers.

TP: Do you plan on sticking with the Alice camp for future tours and recordings, or would you like to branch out and start spending more time doing your own thing?

JH: The Alice gig is a great gig, but I would like to do something where I have a bit more of a role to be honest with you. I love to be creative, and I'm not delusional about the impact of my music. I don't sit here and think, "If I could only be doing my music all the time I'd be rich and famous." I just do it because I enjoy it. And so, in a perfect world, I would be involved in something where I could be more creative, or where people would require me to be more creative. So the truth is, and I'm not afraid to say this, is that I'm always looking for something that would be closer to that, you know?

TP: What surprised me a bit, was when I went to Alice's MySpace site, it didn't list anyone else in the band. If you go to most artist's sites, it'll list for example, Eric Singer-drums and Jason Hook-guitar, but none of the other band members are on the site, it's just Alice Cooper. I guess what I'm saying is, aren't all the members of the band important? Would the live show be as good without all the other players? I guess I was kind of surprised to not see any of the other band members listed on the MySpace.

JH: Well it's like this, Alice is a smart guy and Alice should have a young, energetic band. And he certainly forks out the dough to have that. And whether one of us disappears or not, he'll still have that. He's doing exactly what he should be doing, and that's hiring good players. If any of us were not in the group, or were replaced in the group, the fans would still come out to see Alice Cooper. I don't really care about the money to be honest with you. Money is easy to find. I want to hear a song of mine, or one that I co-wrote, or that my band did, on the radio, and you can't buy that, you can't pay for that, that's just being good, that's just being creative and that's what I'm interested in. I'm not bitter about having a good job though.

TP: Well you don't sound bitter, you sound like you're just expressing the facts and how you feel.

JH: Yeah.

TP: I'm going to mention 10 names and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind and by all means, elaborate on them if you like, okay?

JH: Okay.

TP: Killer Dwarfs

JH: [long pause] Go dunk.

TP: Am I supposed to know what that means?

JH: No. They used this word "dunk" like, "Right on dunk". Everything with them was "dunk". It's an inside joke. Go dunk.

TP: Okay, Monkeyhead.

JH: Monkeyhead was one of the first releases that I had, it's old music basically, an old project. Monkeyhead are for sale on-line somewhere. You can buy it on-line.

TP: Alice Cooper.

JH: Are we doing one-word answers?

TP: No, you can tell me whatever comes to mind.

JH: Poker. We always play poker.

TP: KISS [the band].

JH: Lords.

TP: Rebecca Seven.

JH: Rebecca Seven? Who's Rebecca Seven?

TP: [laughing] I can't believe you don't know who she is!! I know who she is…you're going to be embarrassed.

JH: Okay...[he sounds unsure]

TP: Hint. Doesn't she make custom clothing?

JH: Oh, I never knew her last name!

TP: [laughing] Viva Rebecca or something?

JH: Yeah Rebecca, I didn't know it was Rebecca Seven. How do you know Rebecca?

TP: Well funny thing, I was researching you and she came up and happened to make those pants you wear on stage.

JH: Does she have a new website?

TP: I'm not sure if it's new, but yes, she does have a website. [www.vivarebecca.com]

JH: Oh, there it is! [Jason has gone on-line to find her] Does she have Mick Mars on there?

TP: Yes, she made that amazing coat that Mick wears, the one he's been wearing out on tour. It's friggin awesome. And she made Kate Beckensale's cape for the Underworld poster. She's very good. And I love those pants she made you.

JH: Thank you. Yeah they are...they are, um... [Clearly Jason is busy checking out her site]

TP: Hot.

JH: Yeah. [bursts out laughing--I got his attention back] Hot. [we're both laughing]. Yeah, I just know her as Rebecca and she's awesome. What can I say? And she really did make me a great pair of pants and I've been thinking of her and I wanted to get her to do a whole new set of clothes for next year. I just don't…I'm never home, so it'll have to wait until after the new year.

TP: Yeah, she's good. Okay, Vince Neil.

JH: Party on dude. Yeah, I dunno, Vince is fun. Vince is sober now.

TP: Ritchie Blackmore.

JH: He's one of my big influences. I only have been able to see him play once and it was the Perfect Strangers Tour in 1984. And I guess I was exposed to Deep Purple through a friend back when I was younger and just went out and bought all of it and it became my thing. I like to think that I have some sort of him in my playing, but I don't think that you would be able to detect it though.

TP: Allister Morrison.

JH: Wow, now you're on crack!!

TP: [I break out laughing] Well I did my research, what can I tell ya?

JH: [laughs] Wow. Well Allister was my private teacher when I was just a wee lad and I haven't seen him or talked to him in decades. You know, when I started playing guitar I was six years old. I took lessons from maybe seven or eight to eleven or twelve, I think? I have a picture of he and I when I was maybe ten or eleven years old and we played a little concert in the high school gymnasium, a little band I had, and he came up to see it. I have that photo on my computer so maybe I'll send that to you, but I haven't talked to him in decades and I don't know where he lives or what he's up to. I think my dad had some contact with him a few years back, and I think he's a painter now.

TP: I wonder how proud he would be to know that a student he taught as a child is now playing guitar for Alice Cooper?

JH: Yeah, maybe. I think I still have an email address for him, I should check just for fun. Rebecca Seven! [I break out laughing] I have to call her.

TP: Well I wasn't expecting you to know her last name. I am trying to throw you off a bit here Jason.

JH: No that's good!

TP: Jeremy Spencer.

JH: Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. I talked to him today, actually. Jeremy is one of my best friends and we have a lot of history together. Jeremy was one of the first musicians I met in Los Angeles when I moved here. I didn't really know too many people, and I was playing with Mick Sweda, who was the original guitar player from the Bulletboys. And Jeremy was this skinny, geeky kid. He's a few years younger than I am, and Mick is a few years older than I am. So you get this young kid with Mick playing. Mick had put a new band together after the Bulletboys and I moved down there and somebody said, "I've gotta introduce you to Mick Sweda, he's looking for a guitar player," and that's how I met Jeremy. And that was 1994, 1995 maybe? So I've been playing with Jeremy since 1994 and we've been best friends and musical comrades since.

TP: I know he played on your CD and also helped you produce it as well.

JH: Yeah, but we've done ten times more music than Safety Dunce together, in all sorts of original projects and writing songs and all sorts of different things. He's an extremely talented and extremely creative guy, and I really like his style of playing. He's super-aggressive and super high-energy exciting. He has a very good work ethic, and he's very creative, and he's sort of my musical soul mate, if that doesn't sound too corny? So it was only natural when I decided that I was going to do something on my own, that he would be involved on many levels, and we're still working together!

TP: Last name, Kyler Clark.

JH: Oh Kyler, Kyler's a rock star! Kyler is a really lucky find for me. I'm extremely picky when it comes to people who do work on my guitars and I can't say that I've had a tech that has had his skill level and his ability, his knowledge, well just his skill, I guess. I mean, he's a fully qualified guitar repair technician.

TP: So how did you guys meet?

JH: Well when I got the Cooper gig, they asked me if I had a tech, because the last tech for Damon [Johnson] was no longer around and they need to have a tech for me, so if I had someone, great, and if I couldn't come up with somebody they'd find someone for me. So I started asking around, "Who's the best guitar tech in town?" I called ten guys, you know? I talked to Dave Navarro's guy, Eddie Van Halen's old guy, I talked to all these different techs, and some of them were busy and some of them sounded great, but they were leaving on tour with somebody else, blah blah blah. There were a lot of little things, and I would meet them at Starbucks and I could tell within the first two minutes if they were going to be compatible with me or not. And Kyler, God bless his little heart, showed up a little nervous and was just a really pleasant guy, and I had him work on a guitar and I asked him what did he expect to get out on the road. I just didn't want somebody who was smoking pot and chasing pussy and not focused, you know what I mean?

TP: Of course.

JH: There are a lot of meatheads out there that just get into touring because they want the lifestyle. I wanted someone who was serious about taking care of my instruments and me. And he has ended up being everyone's "go to" tech by the way; I mean everyone who needs something goes to Kyler because he's a smart kid and can pretty much fix anything.

TP: You've been living in L.A. for about 14 years now and there was an interview you did a few years ago where you were quoted as saying that your only regret was not moving there sooner, because Canada is useless. I know that was in reference to your musical career, you obviously weren't referring to Canada in general. I wanted to ask you about that.

JH: Well that was one of those times where you always hear about people who have their words printed out of context and what I said was, "The Canadian music business seems useless to me," which I still stand behind. I've tried both countries and I'll stick with the States, thank you very much. I may have been a little sour that day as well, because I've been paying thousands and thousands of dollars in immigration fees.

TP: I bet you have.

JH: Yeah, I'm probably up to, somewhere in the $15,000 to $18 Grand range.

TP: Why does it cost so much? What's the process? Not being American, I wouldn't know.

JH: I don't know either. All I know is that I'm glad I started the process, I'm working on a green card right now. You can't earn money, you can't go to work legally here, without being certified, and it's critical that I always have my papers because I'm always going in and out of the country. And at that re-entry point, they're always wanting to know, "Why do you have one Canadian in your pack?" "Who is that guy?" "Is he part of your organization?" "Does he have a visa?" Blah, blah, blah, Work permits and these things are sort of short term. They last anywhere from a year to three years when you apply for them, and when they show up six months later, they don't start the two year visa from the time it shows up, the visa starts up from when you first submitted, so the first six months that you don't have it are gone. So you only get 18 months out of a two-year visa, even though you paid full price. I mean, it's a bit knarly for me and I keep having to pay. The green card costs $12 Grand, and I still don't have it, and I started it in 2005.

TP: Why did you wait so long? I mean, you've been living out there for fourteen years?

JH: Well it's expensive, and even though you have to pay for the green card, you still have to pay for the visas while you're here, so now you have to double-pay. I have to pay for visas to keep me here and the green card is working in the background and it shows up when it shows up, because they warned me it takes years, four, five, six years. Especially after 911, the waiting list is long and the procedure is slow. So when I did that interview, I think I just wrote a check and I was annoyed and I was just expressing that.

TP: Do you think with the Canadian Content Laws we now have in place and the fact that record labels don't have the hold on artists like they used to, do you think it's easier for artists now, than when you were here fourteen or fifteen years ago?

JH: As far as musicians trying to make a long career in Canada, I just don't think it's a possibility. As far as being easier now, I don't think I can really answer that because I don't really know anything about the Canadian music scene really. I haven't been exposed to it since 1994. I go up there periodically to play a show or two, but that's it. And it's kind of interesting to go up there and you turn the radio on and you're hearing all this music and you don't even know what it is.

TP: Really.

JH: Well I don't live there, so I couldn't name you one Tragically Hip song. I couldn't name you any of the bands that have been out in the last 10 years. I'm not exposed to it. I'm not saying that's cool or anything, I'm just saying that I really don't know about anything that's going on up there, ya know?

TP: So you don't hear bands like say, Three Days Grace or Nickelback in the States?

JH: The bands that have crossed over in the States I have, but the bands that are popular in Canada that haven't made that cross over yet, I just don't hear on the radio over here.

TP: So smaller bands, like Indie bands, wouldn't be heard in the States right now?

JH: I don't think so. I haven't heard them, no.

TP: Do you come from a musical background? Is your family musical at all?

JH: No, I wanted to be in KISS when I was six, that's it. I took a look at the Destroyer cover and I was like, "What is that?" And I insisted that I be put in guitar lessons or drum lessons. I mean, I did it all. I took piano lessons, violin lessons, drum lessons, guitar.

TP: I was going to ask you about that. I know you took piano lessons and was wondering what made you decide to play the guitar instead. So it was in direct relation to KISS?

JH: Mmm hmm. You know, young kids are heavily influenced by pop and rock'n'roll. And the excitement and the fire, it was strong imagery and edgy music and it was great. I absorbed the whole thing. I was like, "I wanna do that, for sure!"

TP: Who were your musical influences growing up, because surprisingly it's not guitarists, right?

JH: No not really... Well I can't say not really, because people think I'm into instrumental guitar music and I can't stand it. But KISS sort of clobbered me over the head when I was very young and I just thought it had all the elements to draw me in and I loved being a part of that, you know? I thought every part of that band was exciting and the music was great and the posters were great and the lunch box was great and Ace Frehley was great and Paul Stanley was great. Ibanez Iceman's were great and the blood was great and everything was great! Every bit of it.

TP: Just your favorite band.

JH: Yeah, and it was just awesome! And I still love it, but I try not to go too crazy over it now, I'm older and I'm touring, I've met the guys. I play with Eric and I just try to keep it under wraps, but it clobbered me over the head. I mean, that was a big part of my youth. And then as we got into the '80s and KISS dropped off the map a little bit, I strayed into other things like The Police, I thought they were great. I listened to a lot of Police and then was turned on to Van Halen in 1982 or '83—Diver Down and of course 1984 blew up for them, so I digested heavily on Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen had a magic and an energy and it didn't come from being an educated player, it came from his heart. He just had that energy, and when I see him play nowadays, I'm reminded of why I was attracted to it back then, because listening to him play and what he chooses to play and the music that he wrote, it grabs you. It's very exciting. Things like, "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" and "Unchained" and the music he wrote was really exciting. And there's nothing like cranking old Van Halen. It's really awesome. So that was it. Basically I never really got heavily into Led Zeppelin, I know a lot of people love Led Zeppelin, I definitely can appreciate it, but I never really got into that.

TP: They're my all time favorite rock band.

JH: Yeah, they're legendary, legendary, but I just didn't, I thought Jimmy Page as a guitar player was a genius, but I thought he was sloppy as a player.

TP: Did you really?

JH: Yeah and I think that even Jimmy Page fans would tell you that that was part of the charm. Keith Richards is sloppy, too, but it's Keith Richards, ya know? As a teenager, I was just a little too old and Led Zeppelin were just a little too old when I was at that teenage age and Van Halen was the guitar player to be listening to at that point. I think Zeppelin called it quits in 1980, I think? I can't remember.

TP: When Bonham was alive, I was too young and by the time I was old enough to go to concerts and see them live, he had already died and they broke up, so I never had the opportunity.

JH: Well when I was a teenager, there were a lot of new age guys that were taking over the guitar hero spot. There was all sorts of like, Eddie Van Halen certainly and then there were guys like George Lynch, bands like Iron Maiden, Jake E. Lee, stuff like that, Warren De Martini, those were the kind of guys that everyone was like, "Fuck, that's the new age of guitar right there!!" And even though Jimmy Page was awesome, it wasn't the language that was being spoken at that time. Kids just grab whatever's current, you know?

TP: That's true. But you know, having said that, I find that a lot of kids are into the old stuff. Everything old is new again. Case in point, Alice Cooper. I went to two of his shows and noticed people of all age groups in the audience, from as young as seven right up to people in their 60's, people who saw him when they were teenagers and they're bringing their kids now. So a lot of young people are going very retro, like a lot of these older bands, Uriah Heep is another example, they've just released an album, first one in over a decade and are touring and kids are buying it, ya know?

JH: Yup, you're right. I think Alice Cooper has a very rare thing going, where he transcends all of those generations, ya know? And to a lot of people, he's just pure cool, it's like a surviving legend that's passed through decades of genre changes and that's very difficult to do and very rare to see that and only The Rolling Stones and Alice Cooper are bands that are still out there doing it. And Alice Cooper started in 1969, I wasn't even alive!

TP: Okay, I want to talk about your CD. You released an instrumental CD called Safety Dunce in 2005 and the disc won "Best Instrumental Album" at the L.A. Music Awards. From what I've read, you actually wanted to record a CD with some artist friends of yours, with singing, etcetera. What made you decide to go in a different direction?

JH: I'll tell you how that project originated. I was trying to get Vince Neil, this is the truth, I was trying to get Vince to record a new record and Brent [Fitz] and I talked about getting together and working up some riffs and just getting the ball rolling, Brent Fitz of course being the drummer at the time. Brent lived in Vegas, and he wasn't immediately accessible for me to set up and jam with and record riffs, and so I called Jeremy [Spencer] in and said, "Can you help me please? I'm just trying to put some riffs down, I hate drum machines, I hate programming drums. It's slow. It's clumsy. Can you just spend one night a week with me to work on riffs and I'll just record them and then I'll have something to show Vince and then hopefully we'll light a fire under Vince's ass and maybe we could get him interested in making a brand new Vince Neil record." So that's how it all started. And so I started working on music with Jeremy and recording it and then I would try and get together with Vince to play him some of the music and he was always too busy, "Oh I have a Palm Springs golf tournament", "I've got a Hawaiian Tropic appearance", "I'm going to be away that weekend", "I've got my charity thing". He was just always busy and I started to realize, I don't really think that he was interested in doing it. So I was like, "Okay fine." So I have all this music now that I've started with Jeremy and instead of just throwing it away or sticking it on a shelf, I said to Jeremy, "Look, we've always talked about doing just a ridiculous shredder record of nasty riffs and drumming, so let's take this music and bump it up a notch". Because we kept it kind of simplified because it was supposed to be songs for Vince, you know, so I said, "Let's turn it into a record that...let's turn it into our record." And he was like, "Great, let's rock!" So that's where that started and we just kept recording it and things got more, it turned into music that he and I were more capable of doing, that we heard and that we wanted to do. As soon as you're not making music for someone that's gotta sing over it, the sky's the limit.

TP: You also signed a deal earlier this year with MVD (Music Video Distributors), how did that come about?

JH: That was courtesy of my manager and good friend, Jamie Talbot at Sanctuary. Basically, he made a relationship with them and said, "Hey, how about a Jason Hook solo CD?" And they were like, "Well who's that?" And he said, "He's toured with people, he's out with Alice Cooper, it's kind of a neat little thing, it's got a DVD, blah blah blah, you should listen to it." And they listened to it and were like, "Okay, we'll put it out." So that was that.

TP: I've heard you have a weird sense of humor, so I need to ask you about the artwork on Safety Dunce, it's a wheelchair with a stick person falling out of it and you also have that sticker on one of your guitars. Who's idea was that and how did you come up with it? [I start laughing].

JH: [laughs] It's funny, huh?

TP: Oh it's very funny Jason!

JH: [laughs] Well again, Jeremy showed up one day and he had purchased on-line, a t-shirt with that graphic on it, and it's funny, because we're so used to seeing that symbol as a [we both laugh], in every day life and so that's a variation on that symbol, which is clever, it's funny, it's not supposed to be taken too heavy. Anyway, I thought it was funny. So when it came time to try and pick a title for the record, we were just trying to think of things that were funny because everybody likes to laugh. It doesn't matter if you're female, young, old, musician, not a musician, everyone likes to laugh, so humor is a pretty safe way to go when you're trying to get people's attention. So we were thinking of album titles and I was coming up with some really ridiculous titles at the time, like I was going to call the album at one time, Keep Your Receipt and we had come up with things like, Toys In The Addict and so we were going with plays on words, there was Safety Dunce and we were laughing about that, but then I thought, "What about Safety Dunce with that t-shirt graphic on the front?" And he was like, "Dude, if you do that, I'll hail you man!" [I'm laughing] But he said, "I don't think you have the balls." I'm like, "I'll do it, I think it's great!" So we did it. Just being silly.

TP: With titles such as "Love Flap Candy Corn", "Patience Tester" and "Number Three" on your award winning CD, I was wondering how you come up with titles for an instrumental piece of music, as opposed to music with lyrics, it seems that it would be more difficult, is it?

JH: Yeah.

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