Tataye : Can you tell us a little bit about this new tour ? You've played in Italy, yesterday you were in strasbourb... How was it ?

Jeordie : Reception has been great ! It's always great in Europe, you know... The Audience is always excited to see music, so it's a lot of fun for us. Last night the show was great so I'm sure tonight it'll be great too... Audience seems to enjoy, so it'll make some more fun for us...

Pierrot : Tonight there's no first band, do you know why ? Didn't you look for a band to join you ?

J : Hum, it's because the shows were added on the last minute... We didn't bother...

Tataye : Do you prefer playing in big festivals or small clubs like tonight ?

J : Both have their advantages. And disadvantages. It's just great to play in clubs because everyone's here to see you, you get the energy of the crowd being so claused, it's your show. In festivals the energy is different because it's outside, there's thousand people and it's day time... But it's also nice to play in festivals because you play with other bands, you turn your music on to the people who normally wouldn't see you, so they're both great, but different...

Pierrot : Let's talk about "thirteenth step"... Why did you decide to play with A Perfect Circle ?

J : Hum, Good music, good players ! Josh is a great drummer, Maynard is one of the better rock singer in that gendra... The songs were good, it just made sense...

Pierrot : When did you meet them for the first time ?

J : Actually I've known Billy for many years actually, he used to work in a tour I was on, in the early nineties (NDW : Marilyon Manson + NIN) and I then met Josh... I just kind fall in the place, it was natural !

Tataye : Can you explain us the cover ? The slug, the woman, is there anything behind ?

J : People can look into it and figure out what it means, but you know it just pretty much happened on accident in a photo shoot, and it just looked better thant the rest... Basically it's just a slug on a girl face, there's no particular analogy with it...

Pierrot: I've heard that, I don't know if it's true, the title, "thirteenth step" was a play on word with the twelve steps program for the alcoholic person ?

J : Yes, that's one of the meaning, there's several, but this one... In the twelve steps program there's a 13th step where people who've already gone through the program take advantage of people who come into the program and usualy, you know... When they're weak minded, take physicaly and sexualy advantage of them... It doesn't really exist but that's what they called the thirteenth step.

Pierrot : who do you take advantage of ? What would your 13th step be ?

J : I don't know... I haven't got there yet...

Tataye : it's like for the cover, everybody has to decide...

J : Yes, exactly, it's like for any songs, music, a piece of artwork or whatever, it means something different for anybody... The best is not to reveal what it means to the person who wrote it because it could spoiled what it means for you... It's the beauty of music, you can listen to it, or play it to your own experience... You know, we could wrote a song on potatoes and it could mean something really important to someone who listen to it...

Pierrot : What do you feel when you listen to the album ? happiness, sadness, anger ? Are you satisfied with the result ? Would you change anything ?

J : Well, I enjoy it because you could play it in all different experience in your life... It's kind of rollercoster, creepy up and down... And it ends up in an happy place ! I think it's a great improvment from the last one and I'm excited to be a part of it... But I wouldn't change a thing, it just what turned that way, that's what happened...

Pierrot : On stage, do you try to play songs a different way, do you like that or not ?

J : Well, you write a record, you write songs, you record the songs and then you go and play them on the road for a few month, you say, "oh I should have done this, I should have played this way", and play them differently... I think they get really better live...

Tataye : what part do you prefer, being in the studio or being on the road ? Most people say it's difficult to be on the road...

J : Both, it's nice to be creative in the studio, I like being on tour too... It's sure when you're on the road you really don't have time to do anything, you just play, go to city from city...

Tataye : Besides the music you play do you listen to other kind of music ? Would you play other kind of music ?

J : Yes sure, I listen to all kind of music, as every musician do, I think... It just depend on what kind a mood I'am in that day... So I would play other kind music...

Pierrot : You're producing a band this times ? I've heard about March...

J : yes, sometimes I produced band, I can't do anything right now. For March, it's different, they needed some demo to be done, so I just helped them a little bit... But I plan on producing again, for sure.

Tataye : Is it another step, I mean, being a musician, and then being a producer, is that what you're looking for ?

J : Yes, that's something I would like to do, that's a lot of fun ! I also think the artist will probably respect somedbody that's been on a band than somebody who's just a record producer, a person who hasn't really gone through... Someone like myself or any other musician certainly have more to offer to an artist than a producer. It's nice to have someone else opinion, the producer is also important for this.

Pierrot : in the band you all come from other band, different kind of music, is it easy to gather and agreee about everything ?

J : We've all been through the business before, the whole rollercoster ride, so we can come with an easy attitude, all the bull shit doesn't matter to us, so it's easier to get along !

Pierrot : what's the next step for A Perfect Circle ?

J : hum, we have some european dates, then some american tour to do again. Then we'll come back for the festival I imagine. We'll probably be back in Europe for some festival, anything ready yet, so I can't tell you... and then perhaps do another record !

Tataye : Have you already started composing it ?

J : No, not yet but we plan on doing it on the next american tour !

Pierrot : I've got one last question, that I ask to all the band I meet... What question question would you like me to ask you ?

J : Huuum... Do you have any pets ?

Pierrot : So ?

J : I have three cats ! Sally, Coco and lola ! And I missed them !

Interview by Tataye and Pierrot
Translation by Pierrot