"It pisses me off, that [people think] we're trying to make fun of Canada somehow." Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo bristles at misguided accusations that Ween's latest disc Quebec is a cheap diss against the Great White North. "Our vision is like this rainy, colder than Paris, Parisian place. The vibe of our record is like romantic and rainy with out being as classy as Paris. That was why we called it Quebec, it's like this B-version of Leonard Cohen."
Diss or not, Quebec was a long time coming; three years is the longest Ween have ever kept fans waiting. "It's narcotics and fuckin' liquor that was what the last couple of years have been like, without getting too specific," he laughs. "Those are just the kind of drugs that we've been abusing." Not that being dads, and writing music for TV, including a snubbed attempt at a Pizza Hut jingle, isn't justification enough for a delay.
"There were a lot of minor disasters along the way." Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman split up with his wife, Sarah, herself the subject of many Ween songs. And drummer Claude Coleman was in a horrible car accident. "[His car] got hit by a tractor trailer, from behind. Traffic was in a dead stop, and all of a sudden full throttle, right behind him, [the rig] hit him. But that's not even the end of it. [His car] flew across the interstate, into oncoming traffic, and got hit three more times. They cut him out of the car. The driver's seat snapped in half, that's how hard he got hit from behind."
Coleman is still plagued with serious complications, but he's back behind the kit, on tour with Ween, pounding out the punk rock six nights a week for their legendary, three-hour, anything goes shows. "But the real answer" Melchiondo says "is we're fucking slow. We're just lazy and slow."
Diss or not, Quebec was a long time coming; three years is the longest Ween have ever kept fans waiting. "It's narcotics and fuckin' liquor that was what the last couple of years have been like, without getting too specific," he laughs. "Those are just the kind of drugs that we've been abusing." Not that being dads, and writing music for TV, including a snubbed attempt at a Pizza Hut jingle, isn't justification enough for a delay.
"There were a lot of minor disasters along the way." Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman split up with his wife, Sarah, herself the subject of many Ween songs. And drummer Claude Coleman was in a horrible car accident. "[His car] got hit by a tractor trailer, from behind. Traffic was in a dead stop, and all of a sudden full throttle, right behind him, [the rig] hit him. But that's not even the end of it. [His car] flew across the interstate, into oncoming traffic, and got hit three more times. They cut him out of the car. The driver's seat snapped in half, that's how hard he got hit from behind."
Coleman is still plagued with serious complications, but he's back behind the kit, on tour with Ween, pounding out the punk rock six nights a week for their legendary, three-hour, anything goes shows. "But the real answer" Melchiondo says "is we're fucking slow. We're just lazy and slow."
