POPBYTES INTERVIEWS JAKE SHEARS!

Hey everyone! So this past Friday I got to do a phone interview with Scissor Sisters main man hottie Jake Shears but the night before I was able to catch the first show of their North American tour in support of the band's second album Ta-Dah that just released in the US on Sept 26th. The show was amazing (although some complained the acoustics sucked in the venue - the band felt the same way - the Shrine Expo downtown probably won't ever see the band play there again) but luckily I was quite close to the front and it sounded fine by me. It was the first time I got to see them live and I was in no way disappointed - Jake in person was everything I thought he would be - on fire! They performed an awesome set, which was a nice mixture of songs off their self-titled debut album as well as their new one. Everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun - including the band who all looked so comfortable with each other - Main lady Ana Matronic & Jake were both adorable - providing clever quips and tidbits between each energetic performance.

The energy got kicked up an extra notch when they played their super popular cover of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb', which had me moving my ass right along with the rest of the crowd. For their final song they performed their hit 'Filthy Gorgeous' which was a perfect cap off to the evening. (plus the fact Jake had stripped down to almost nothing) By the time it was over - I was beyond beat but gosh I had so much fun - it's so refreshing to see a band (which writes their own songs) that obviously loves what they do and have their own unique vibe & energy that's unlike anything else going on in music today. Although they are hugely popular over in the UK (the album and single are #1) the 'Sisters' still have yet to properly break into mainstream music in the US...which was one of the topics we covered when I spoke with Jake the next day!

Rather than trying to write the quotes into some smart ass article (remember I'm far from being a proper journalist - i'm a blogger yo) I thought it best to toss out some subjects and let you know what Jake had to say - He did provide me with some great quotes on a variety of topics...He was beyond sweet & so sincere on the phone and made me totally feel relaxed - by the end it felt just like a conversation between friends - all my nerves had been washed away. Many special thanks to Mr. Shears for taking time out of his very busy rockstar schedule to talk to popbytes - it really made my day and I knew it would be a fun post for all of you. So let's get to it...

ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF THEIR NEW NORTH AMERICAN TOUR It was the first night of our tour and oh my god I hated that venue - I was so upset - I'm not sure what it sounded like out there but I suspect not great (no more Shrine Expo for them - other bands be warned!) ON THEIR NEW SUPERB ALBUM TA-DAH We worked our tails off on it! THE SECOND SINGLE & VIDEO The second single is 'Land of a Thousand Words' - We just saw a rough cut of the video and it's fucking beautiful! I'm not going to give anything away about it but it's definitely our best looking video yet - this one is really gorgeous and it's very sincere - it's beautiful - it just gives me goose bumps watching it - I think you'll really like it... THE THIRD SINGLE & VIDEO We're getting ready to shoot for the third single...I can't confirm but off the record we think it's going to be...(oh i love a little inside info - they're deciding between two awesome tracks...) ON ALBUMS LEAKING AND ONLINE MUSIC SWAPPING I think leaks are fine as long as you can if you contain the leak to a few days before release - if it leaks two months before your album comes out you're fucked...but if it hadn't been for our demos being online when we were first starting out we wouldn't be making music today - that's how we got around five years ago was just people sharing our music - so for that sorta thing I think it's amazing... ON THEIR NEW VIDEO ON YOUTUBE (The video for 'I Don't Feel Like Dancing') was getting taken down right away and then I threw a fit about that and made sure it could be put up and not taken down...we make a video and a video is a promotional tool so it's just like as many people - whoever wants to see us should be able to see us...video shouldn't be a commodity (unless your doing a video collection DVD or something like that) videos they're commercials for your music so it's just like if people want to see them - they should have access to them (watch the video here) ON LACK OF US RADIO PLAY Radio is a huge piece missing for us - we don't get played very much on the radio (in the US) you have to be creative and go around it - even doing something like 'Dancing with the Stars' - it could lend itself to possibly getting on the radio here - the songs work all over the world on the radio - it's such a weird market here it really amazes me, like the FYE thing... ON FYE NOT CARRYING THEIR ALBUM It's plain as day CDs shouldn't be that expensive! It's a disgusting company I'll say that - it's just a really gross company and obviously they care nothing about music... (This is in response to FYE (and other retail outlets all owned by Trans World Entertainment) not carrying their new album after some comments Jake made about CDs being too expensive at a retail convention in Florida - you can read more about the whole situation over on VH1) ON APPEARING ON DANCING WITH THE STARS We're not above anything like that - some kid in middle America deserves to see us just as much as anybody in some hipster club downtown in some city somewhere - so to have the opportunity to do that is amazing - it's for the kids - you want to like freak out some six years old! (with an adorable devilish laugh...)

WHO IN THE BAND IS UP ON POP CULTURE?
I consider myself a pop culture junkie but I've shut TV out of my life...I'm completely out of it in certain regards but I'm obsessed with music - I'm obsessed with books and so with those sorts of things I'm on them - like movies - there are certain aspects of pop culture that I totally eat up - as far as other people in the band Del (Marquis) and Ana (Matronic) are way more up on trashy celebs and stuff like that...

DOES JAKE READ STUFF ABOUT THEM ONLINE?
I try not to...

WHAT THE BAND HAS IN COMMON WITH TORI AMOS
I love her - In some weird way I think we have something in common with her - and what I think that it is - is really loyal fans - I think we've developed a really loyal fan base and she does as well and that's one thing I think we've got in common with her (of course being a diehard Tori fan I had to ask what his take was on her)

ON WORKING WITH KYLIE MINOGUE
Oh my god - I can't confirm the title, but yes we've started writing some stuff together for her next record (her new single is reportedly called 'White Diamond' but Mr. Shears couldn't confirm...)

WHEN I TOLD HIM I WANT TO RUN OFF WITH HIM...
Well you never know...we could fall in love! (Oh he is such a flirt - I love it!)

So there you have it...I do hope it was a fun read - I worked my ass off on it - transcribing from a tape can be a total bitch! If you still haven't gotten a chance to listen to the Scissor Sisters - some songs are streaming over on their myspace page and if your one of those people who love to call your local radio station please tell 'em to play their new single I Don't Feel Like Dancing! Finally please boycott asinine places such as FYE, Sam Goody, Strawberries, Wherehouse, Specs or Coconuts who are refusing to carry the new album - don't let anyone control the music you can or can't listen too - it's ludicrous! Popbytes over & out - xxoo!

PS A big Happy Birthday goes out to Jake - he turns 29 tomorrow on October 3rd!


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