B-52s' Fred Schneider rules out "Funplex" follow-up; says they're primarily a touring band now
The B-52s were nearing the end of another one of their annual New Year's Eve shows when, right after "Roam," they were asked to stop for the countdown, champagne toasts, and balloons.
After midnight, it might have been 2011, but the band finished the night just like they would have 30 years ago, in typical garb — Schneider a gold jacket, the gals sparkly mini-dresses — and with a couple of classics, "Rock Lobster," and "Love Shack."
That they're still playing them is further proof that the Athens, Georgia veterans have yet to overstay their welcome, their music as defiantly optimistic as it when "Rock Lobster" first charted.
The new year finds them in the mode that may very well last the rest of their career: Out of the recording studio, touring tons, and playing sets that are split between "Funplex," their 2008 comeback, and material from before 1992, the last time they released new original material.
Singer Fred Schneider confirms a new live album might appear soon, but that there are too many obstacles to do a "Funplex" follow-up — age, the declining music industry — and that they prefer picking worthwhile gigs, like Baltimore's Rams Head Live last year.
"It's a crazy time if you want to make a living in music," he said. "We are lucky to have a big fan base and that we can support ourselves doing live shows."
On Wednesday, they'll perform at the 9:30 Club.
The rest of the interview with Schneider is here.
During the interview, Schneider also talked about his side project, the Superions, which played one of their only live shows at the Visionary Art Museum last year. The museum let them shoot the video for "Who threw that ham at me?" there.
He said he doesn't get to spend that much time with the band because the B-52s are still his full-time job, and the other members, Noah Brodie and Dan Marshall, live in Orlando, Fl., he said.
But that when he does, they usually get a lot of stuff done. Their "Destination... Christmas" album, which was released in October, was finished in just three weeks at Brodie and Marshall's Florida homes.
"The first EP I sang everything in the bathroom," he said.
The songs, like the single "Fruitcake," are goofy - like wackier, DIY B-52s cuts - but they've got an audience. The album landed at No. 13 on the Billboard comedy chart.
He doesn't plan on touring with them - though, he notes, they've gotten offers - at least until they put out a full-length, proper album.
For now, they're working on a Halloween album, for which they've completed a song called "Bat Baby."
Below, the Superions' homemade video for "Santa's Disco":
Photo: B-52s Handout photo
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
