World of Weird Al Yankovic

Just listened to the archive of Las Vegas Backstage Talk from Feb. 28. Can't say the interviewer broke any new ground, but sometimes it's interesting in a train-wreck sort of way, listening to Al kind of tap-dancing around someone whose Google is apparently broken. I wouldn't have thought it was possible for someone working in entertainment to be so uninformed when interviewing someone who's had a 30 year career and who hasn't exactly been press-shy. No, Al doesn't have any history of substance abuse. No, he doesn't have a career as a musician that predates his career as a comedic artist, they happened simultaneously. Yes, Al does write original songs. No, he doesn't consider his fans scary. But he's always so polite, even when he's searching, searching, searching for the jokes that will keep alive an interview that wouldn't have needed so many jokes if the person knew enough about him to ask good questions.

Clips from a radio interview in Airdrie, Canada (where it's currently 10 degrees.... brrr!) Al answered my question (in the 4th clip). Glad to know he's feeling OK.

If this isn't enough to gladden the heart of an Al fan, I don't know what is:

It’s pretty safe to say that you love the live touring.

I do. Music is always my day job. It’s always going to be the center of what I do. I love recording, and doing the videos. And I particularly love the live touring. It’s hopefully something I’ll be able to do for a long time.

Whole interview is here.

I read the whole interview; if Al were to do Kickstarter projects for everything after his last contract album, it would be very successful. I'm totally on-board for that!

OneWAY wrote:I read the whole interview; if Al were to do Kickstarter projects for everything after his last contract album, it would be very successful. I'm totally on-board for that!

Kickstarter funders get physical CD's, everybody else gets iTunes/Amazon.

Psh, I'm still in the stone age of physical copies. Album art is always fun to browse too!

I'll probably download it anyway... especially if those weird one-day digital sales on Amazon pop-up again.

I love the deli tray answer.

OneWAY wrote:Psh, I'm still in the stone age of physical copies. Album art is always fun to browse too!

I'll probably download it anyway... especially if those weird one-day digital sales on Amazon pop-up again.

II am too. The only thing I have that plays digital media is my laptop. Anyway, I think at this point Al has a fanbase that gives him a lot of good options whenever he goes indie.

This is an interview that found its way into my Twitter feed thanks to Ludo Vica. In it, Al all but confirms that the album he's working on currently will be his last with any record label and after this he wants to look into more independent releases. I guess this means we can expect more "Internet Leaks" type singles/EPs in the not too distant future. I'm rather excited about this news.

I like the album format though. This means we could see a song a month, or a song a year. Its kind of scary