Giants: Band released its first kids' album to positive reviews in 2002
Continued from page 5
"('No!') seemed like a very easy
side project. We weren't at the risk
of being redefined as a kids' act. We
were so established as an adult act,
we knew we weren't going to really
confuse people," Flansburgh said.
"The record we put out turned out to
be wildly successful and that sur
prised everybody. We just didn't
have the commercial aspirations for
the album at all, but it really struck a
chord with parents and kids. It's re
ally been an entirely new audience."
But this new audience hasn't been
left in the dark. In 2003, TMB6 re
leased a bedtime picture book titled
"Bed, Bed, Bed," which was released
with an accompanying CD. "Bed,
Bed, Bed" contains four original
songs, which were illustrated by
Canadian artist Marcel Dzama forthe
book. Ea rlier this year, TMBG also re
leased a DVD/CD titled "Here Come
the ABCs," which has also found suc
cess with this new audience.
But TMBG never stopped dipping
into other creative outlets. In 2002,
TMBG won its first and only Grammy
award for "Boss of Me," the theme
song for Fox's "Malcolm in the Mid
dle." This success was another sur
prise for TMBG.
"Like a lot of things we've done in
our careers, we didn't really have any
preconceived notion of how success
ful the show would be," Flansburgh ex
plained. "And the show justtook off.
They had finished about four shows
when the first episode went on the air
and it was instantly Fox's number one
show and that just added this whole
level of pressure for everybody."
But while "Boss of Me" might be
TMBG's most well-known theme song,
the band has also lent its musical bril
liance to such shows as "The Daily
Show with Jon Stewart," Disney
shows and The Travel Channel's
"Amazing Vacation Homes."
Although these creative projects
have produced much success for
TMBG, Flansburgh still sees himself as
a guy just doing what he loves, regard
less of whether people like it. Fortu
nately for him, people seem to like it.
"We don't really project much into
what people think about us or what
people know of us.... We don't
spend a lot of time and energy into
trying to figure out how we connect
with the world. We're really involved
with this inward-looking, creative
project and we welcome the world
to check it out," he said. "We really
respect individuals and individuality
and we just want to be an original
band. In some ways, we're more pri
vate than people realize. Our goals
are personal and our interests are
personal. Being a performer and be
ing famous really doesn't motivate
us. I think there's a general notion
that if you're in a rock band, you're
on an ego sled to the moon."
ButforTMBG, egos aren't getting in
the way of doing what the band loves
to do: rocking out and enjoying every
minute of it
"We've been doing this for almost 25
years now, and it's a very common
question that people ask, 'How come
you've kept on doing it?' And it's never
been hard," Flansburgh said. "It's al
ways been a very interesting, satisfy
ing, challenging project I think we've
done a good job in designing our dream
project atthe beginning and keeping
John
Flansburgh,
left, and
John Linnell
ofThey
Might Be
Giants
celebrate
thier 2002
Grammy
win for
"Boss of
Me'.'
up with it has really been a pleasure."
The pleasure is continuing as
TMBG gears up for yet another al
bum to put under its already large
belt. TMBG has also recently re
leased a DVD/CD combo titled
"Venue Songs," which Flansburgh
described as an "unusual project...
unlike anything else." "Venue
Songs," which contains original
songs written for every venue that
the band played in during a certain
period of time, is only available at
concerts or by visiting
www.tmbg.com.
"We're working on the difficult
12th album but we're reallyjustin
the thick of the whole writing
process right now. It's in the pre-pro
duction. For me and John, it's the big
scary part. But definitely, we're mak
ing a new album that will be out
sometime very soon," Flansburgh
Comic: Show allows greater creativity
Continued from page 6
and the satire and the points and all
of those things, ultimately, have to
come wrapped in a whole lot
of jokes."
Since the launch of his cartoon
strip, many media outlets have por
trayed McGruder as a representa
tive political voice foryoung black
people. Tnis is a classification he
feels unprepared to take on. In fact,
he said his audience often takes his
work far too seriously. He'd rather
let black political leaders, who he
believes are lacking in numbers,
take on the responsibility of true
political dialogue.
"I think we're too quick to turn to
entertainers to fill that void," he said.
"It used to be we had politicized en
tertainers and then actual political
leaders. We had both. So, James
Brown could make a political song,
but he wasn't a political leader and
nobody mistook him as such."
Additional pressure has fallen on
McGruder to create a show that will
follow in the footsteps of "Chap
pelle's Show." However, this is a
task he is more willing to take on,
and he believes "The Boondocks"
will achieve audience expectations.
"What (Dave) Chappelle did was
seta really high bar, but there's noth
ing wrong with that," McGruder
said. "He did a great show, and I
think people loved it for a reason.
And that audience is out there now,
and I think it should expect some
thing of that same quality."
"The Boondocks," with its emphasis
on race and pop culture, falls into the
same category as "Chappelle's Show."
Although this type of satire also exists
in adult cartoons such as "The Simp
sons," "King of the Hill" and "Family
Guy," it is this unique hybrid of presen
tation and subject matterthat McGrud
er believes will propel the show's suc
cess on Adult Swim.
In addition, a number of stars have
signed on to bring vocal life to "The
Boondocks" family. Regina King,
known for her roles as Margie Hen
dricks in "Ray" and Marcee Tidwell in
"Jerry Maguire," will voice Huey and
Riley. John Witherspoon, who played
father Willie Jones in the "Friday" film
series, will voice Granddad. Cedric
YarboroughjWho plays Deputy Jones
on Comedy Central's "Reno 911," will
voice several supporting characters,
and guest appearances will include
hip hop artist Mos Def and Charlie
Murphy from "Chappelle'sShow,"
among others.
When asked how he will respond
to criticism of the show, which has al
ready raised some eyebrows with its
abundant use of "the N-word," Mc
Gruder seemed unaffected. He said
he doesn't need to be criticized in or
der to be motivated and instead tries
to shut out audience input entirely. He
is even-handed in his ignorance, dis
regarding fan mail and hate mail alike,
and plans to take a similar approach
with responses to the new series. He
understands criticism and confusion
of his work comes with the territory.
"When you decide to become a
satirist, you're deciding to be misun
derstood by a lot of people," he said,
explaining thatthe only way to avoid
that is to not make anything at all.
"I'd hate notto create out of the fear
of being misunderstood or misinter
preted. It's not worth it."
kgerhard@dailyemeraid.com
said. "And this venue thing that just
came out with a DVD and a CD — it's
like a two disk set — it's a real spe
cial item. It's kind of our holiday gift
for the front row."
Tickets can be purchased for $20
from www.ticketswest.com. The
show begins at 8 p.m. in Agate Hall,
located on East 18th Avenue and
Agate Street. And although
Flansburgh can't remember whether
TMBG has been in Eugene before,
he is definitely excited to rock out at
this Saturday's concert.
"I really look forward to this show;
it's going to be a gas," Flansburgh
said. "Bring your crash helmet and
we'll see you there."
alichty@dailyemerald.com
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