>> funding for overheard is provided in part by hillco partners. texas government affairs consulta consultantan consultantancy hundred hillco health. and madison mattsson mchale. all the allic cle -- alice kleburg fawned oigz. and viewers like you. >> he just released his 8th st studio album. this is jeff tweety. this is overheard. >> most americans want the same thing.

they want a good job. >> a realized not a lot of people writing things in my voice. i realized i had to do it myself. >> he said kid i love you. >> we're a better country than we used to be. we have more to do. we need to get at it. >> i love the buzz you get for working at the absolute top-dollar. [laughter] >> jeff, tweedy, welcome. glad to have you here. >> glad to be here. >> congratulations on the record. >> thank you. >> been about two months since it is out. how is it going? selling how you like? people reacting to it like you like? >> um, things are going great. it is kind of hard to tell. i don't really pay that close attention to -- i don't know.

my interaction to the audience on the stage is the closest thing i have to gauge how people are reacting to a record. that is generally pretty good. >> you have been touring for a few weeks, still in venues and hearing good things? >> yeah, i think almost immediately before the record was out, we had it a few times. people were pretty responsive to the material, which is, hard for a band, i think, have an audience sit through new material. certainly a band that has been around for 17 years. carry a lot of songs that people want to hear. yeah, it has been really encouraging. >> they probably judge you by the past as well? >> oh, i think that that is almost exclusively. you get judged by all of those things that have managed to find a place in someone's life. that is a good thing.

a good problem to have. it is definitely something that is very difficult to overcome. >> how do you judge a record like this, yourself? how hypercritical are you? when it comes out do you spend weeking going i wish i had done this differently or that, or do you say it is out there, it is for them to decide how good it can? >> i don't spend a lot of time at all being remorseful about finishing records. actually, i think that is one of the most beautiful times when you are getting to create something. actually, i'm really easy on it. >> really? >> yeah, i love it. i want to make shove that i love to hear. as a band, we are really excited about it. if anything, we kind of dilute ourselves into thinking this

is undeniable. people will flip over this. this is great. it is not hurting anybody to love making your record and love listening to it. >> right. >> it is the same when i was 18 years old. it is just the joy of it. and then, yeah, there is a certain amount of mourning when you let go of it. and you realize that you tonight have any say in it anymore at all. how it is going to be perceived in the long-term, you have no say over that. and in the short term, especially, especially with the way social media is today, it is like a consensus form is almost instantaneous. it could be hurtful not to be a part of that. even when it is good. it is generally good for this record. it is weird. your not a part of the creation anymore. >> let me ask you about the specifics of this record. i'm interested in the mix of

it as i am interested in several aspects of it. there is a noisy, almost experimental song art of almost. that i have heard compared to radio head and it ends with a quiet, beautiful, sad song. my 14-year-old daughter gets weepy listening to it called "one sunday morning." it is a real abrupt, but major shift in tone from beginning to the end. how much is conscious and how much is deliberate? >> first of all, i'm impressed that you have a 14-year-old daughter that will listen to a 12-minute song. >> yes, she will. [laughter] >> and her parents make her. >> ok. [laughter] >> you don't beat her if she doesn't? >> no. you must listen to this or you get no dinner. [laughter] >> there is a general art to

the record that is intentional. it starts in the coldest -- >> is that right? something i really haven't seen anyone say. the record starts with the sound of hard drive starting up. all the whirring sounds are basically crappy disk drives that we had laying around. the sound of data dying. you know, so it starts in this really cold place. the general theme of the record was to try and work toward and trance end communication without affect, which is the way we all seem to communicate these days and get to a place where is communication with just really open, raw emotions. it is not perfect. not completely linear.

and general. that is the art of the record. just getting there. that is a place i struggle to get to. i want to spend more time this. >> it is conscious. i have heard you say before, it matters what song is first on the record. we may listen to songs in different ways, may hit shuffle or encounter something. you said to an interviewer, if heavy metal drummer would have been the first song, our perception might be different. >> i don't think there is any doubt in my mind it would be different. as a rule, every record we have ever put out has had a critical shorthand that basically described the first song. the yankee old foxtrot. fabulous died the mellow record. it was something it took us eight records to figure out. >> do you accept that?

the way people shorthand your records? do you not care? >> ultimately, i really don't care. i can't make a record thinking about those types of things. but i would be lying to say that when your attention is drawn to that fact, it can be -- i don't know, annoying -- it is a little disheartening. >> what is the message of this record? let's play it out. what is this record shaping up to be? >> i don't really know. i don't know, you tell me. >> too soon? >> i don't know. to be honest, anything i have seen written about this record talks more about our old records. [laughter] >> i really don't have any idea. i haven't seen a lot of people spending a lot of time introspecting what is going on in this record. the records just aren't what

they used to be. >> literally a dying art. >> many few are rock criticism. >> many that believe read it and believe it are rock critics. >> people in bands, i don't think they read it. people that listen in music, you have to be self-conscious to read record reviews and believe them. because you have the ability to listen to anything. you know, you could have somebody tell you bet river or get in the river. >> actually get in the river. >> what about the characterization of the band? let me go one step further. the band in general and you specifically are hard to characterize as well. alternative country, is it rock, pop, jazz, punk? elements of all those things in the music you produce. it makes it hard to say what you are or do, maybe that doesn't matter either? >> it doesn't matter to us. i mean, i have always felt

like rock music or pop music or both were perfectly good enough for me. we watched a little bit of the monterrey pop festival dvd on the bus last night. the monterrey pop festival, you have blues project, mamas and poppas, the who. all of the things that don't sound like each other at all. >> it is not pop. >> no, but they were popular. selling lots of records at that time. >> right. >> to me, just rock music, i'm still i like the idea that rock means that basically, you follow your inspiration. you make something you don't have already. i always felt like it is kind of missing the point. there is not as much freedom in it.

you could just say we're music fans. >> that would cover it. >> that sounds really weird and silly. >> yeah. [laughter] earlier in the introduction that you released this record on your label. made a decision to have your own record label. i wonder how that affected your decision on the creative aspects of it. the fact that you're releasing it on your label as opposed to doing battle with folks of the traditional label? how different? >> the creative process for us wasn't very different at all. after the public relations debacle of yankee hotel foxtrot for warner brothers and the fact that we gained this reputation of being somewhat difficult. >> the exact quote was jeff

tweety is a twat. >> you can't say that on tv. >> they may believe it, actually. >> i don't remember who said that. >> it was an anonymous record executive. >> that is not ok. >> that is not ok. >> should i ask you for the record, do you believe you are a twat? >> i don't believe so at all. if anything comes of this interview, i hope that is highlighted, underlined. >> so the reputation had been that you guys were tough to work with? >> i guess what i was getting at is that we haven't had a label present in the studio for a long time. we have afforded ourselves through obstinance or through warranting a certain amount of creative freedom, either way it doesn't matter because that is how it worked for a long time. >> pretty much your show?

>> yeah. >> and it is officially your show now with the label creation? >> yeah. >> you're no longer created with the and now it is your label, so you want to produce a product that people want to buy. you talked about a character, i don't sell art by the yard. i thought that was a good way to think about the work you do. you are no longer the artist, you are the gallery. in the new world, if the concerns about the commercial aspect of this are present as you think about the work? >> well, this has opinion a commercial endeavor for a long time. whether or not we had our own label, we were hoping, you know, to feed our families, make a living. and we have done that primarily by touring.

it has never been a primary source of income for us to sell records. but at the same time, you know, we have hoped for the best and done things to try and sell records. i don't feel there is anything wrong with that. but at the same time, i feel like we trusted -- all along the way, i think we trusted putting making music, putting the things that got us there first. everything else followed from that. i think we had that really well -- i don't know, reinforced over the years. it is not with massive success, but certainly with consistent ability to take care of our families. so i think it is pretty easy for us at this point in time to separate the two things. i don't know, for me personally, i don't spend nearly as much time thinking

about the creative -- i mean, the creative side of things -- >> no. >> the commercial side of things. i think we have been able to delegate to a lot of people that we have had in the organization for a long time, like tony margarita, our manager. >> he was my manager at the record store. >> in st. louis? >> right. ted. it is familial at this point. >> they worry about that? >> they worry about that. there is a fair amount of reasonable atmosphere of trust. >> right. >> that stuff will get taken care of. that frees us up to do the things that hopefully make it easier for them to do that. >> you say touring is the bigger commercial piece help how many days are you on the road? >> i think we probably averaged 80 to a hundred shows

a year for several years. >> does that feel like a lot to you? >> i feel like that is a lot. that mean it's i think the beatles nam played 2,000 shows in four years. something crazy. they did two shows a day, 20 minutes long. if you divide up our two hours and three hour shows. it is a lot. it is a lot. every year, it is just a tiny bit better. and last year, for example, we didn't spend as much time on the road, we were able to keep ourselves solvent anote. >> you started when you were 27. you are 44 now? >> um, i am. i will take your word for it. >> take mine. i'm trying to do the math in my head. it is probably as you are older, each passing year feels

like it takes more of a toll. >> rock 'n' roll is a contact sport. it is kind of amazing how much wear and tear it puts on your body. i have always been hesitant to complaint or characterize it as work. my dad worked on the railroad for 46 years. i don't feel like i have any claim to hardship. at the same time. as i get older, i realize this are a lot of things about us that a lot of other people may look at it say that is sweet. but that is hard. >> give me an example. >> well, the european tour we did. we had two 27-hour bus rides with 19 people on a bus. i don't think many people would enjoy that. the second of the 27-hour bus

rides, three of us had food poisoning for the last eight hours of it. >> oh, good. >> yeah! so there is that. i can't feel these three fingers hardly at all. >> right now? >> right now. >> why? >> i guess pinched nerve, carpal tunnel. my arm falls asleep during shows. i'm sure a lot of the guitar players out there are saying ah, that explains it. >> it is a toll it takes? >> yeah, it is like -- it is pretty interesting, walking around after the show. a lot of people being iced down. >> yeah. >> pretty -- you know, i don't know -- it is embarrassing. actually, none of us are in

really bad shape, either. you know, it is just what happens, i guess. >> the way things go. let me ask you about something you alluded to earlier with yankee hotel fox trop. the legend is the record label drops you, you get it back. it becomes wildly popular. a huge bidding war to get it back on to distribution channels. the division of the label that drops you. it goes on to be the best-selling record before and since. the streaming aspect of the concept of putting it out, there letting us listen to it before buying it. you were early in embracing this. there is a lot of stuff on the internet, live shows, music blogs, this hasn't been an impediment to you commercially. it seems the opposite. it is hard to say, i guess.

certainlier on it was better for us to have people hear our music. that is -- i think we took our attitude started becoming a viable way for people to hear. i mean, that is good, that is the whole point. we want to play our music. it is what we do to spend energy and letting people interact. i don't know what things are like now. the landscape keeps changing. the industry has definitely -- you know, it shrunk. it shrunk quite a bit. i still prefer to have people listening to our music than not learning. i think it is obvious there are a lot of people doing that. >> in the newspaper business, if they give away something, they say that is the reason that fwhoowe're in decline.

in the film business they won't let us consume it without paying for it. in your corner of the music business, i'm impressed that this you don't feel has been an impediment. >> i mean, primarily, i think that has been easier for us, because the business model for us has been centered around touring, playing shows and doing things you can't download. hopefully creating environments where people are paying for an experience as opposed to, i guess the file or a record. >> it would be nice if more people bought our record. >> we will get that word out. >> i don't know what you can do to make that happen.

>> there are people that say take it down, if it is being out there free. >> that is a full-time job. again, i don't think it would work. then i guess you ruin whatever goodwill you have with your audience. >> which you have a lot. >> hopefully. >> we have a few minutes left. i want to ask you about you personally, the perception of you out in the world. greg cotton book would tell you we talk about this. it is a very different you than the you we see on stage today. you talk about yourself on stage. i have seen you do this. i should be talking to the audience more. you seem very reserved, shy. it sounds like in the earlier days you were more of a rock-god kind of guy.

what kind of responsibilities do you have to give of yourself on stage? what do you feel like you have to be? a public person? >> i am a public person. some days i'm comfortable on stage, being more of a showman, still. other days, i feel painfully self-conscious. i think that is kind of giving as much of myself that i can give, to be honest about that. to not thinking when i don't feel like i can. to share it, if i am having a carefree moment. but i think it is much more important to put yourself into your music than -- i mean, i worked at getting better at being on stage. i like the idea of it being a challenge and getting more

comfortable in front of a bigger audience. at first, it was very difficult. over the years, we have gotten more comfortable with it. i think that that has been enjoyable. that has been gratifying. i don't really wrestle too much with the idea of what is public and what is private. i am pretty grounded in my home life. i guess that makes it a lot easier than having a persona. sort of like putting your record out there. you don't have a lot of is an at some point. >> a lot of people spend a lot of time honing and shaping their persona publicly. i have never had that skill or energy or ain't, i don't think. >> if this turns out the way you want, do you go back to the first years in music, if you could have looked ahead to how it turned out. we met you, we're comfortable, would you consider this a

victory? >> what willco has managed to create and the organization that we have and the relationship with an audience, all of that is way beyond my wildest imagination, where i was when i was a kid. most of my hero bands haven't achieved what we have achieved. certainly didn't tour as comfortable. except for maybe the big rock bands. but i don't think i would have known this in my future at all. >> we're out of time. thank you very much. congratulations. >> thank you for having me. [applause]

♪ >> funding for overheard with evan smith is funded by hillco partners, hillco health and mattsson mchale, in support of public television and also by mfi foundation, improving the quality of life within our community. and also by the alice