U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE: ME? - Slowing It Down with Chris Bilheimer

Episode Date: December 12, 2018

Adam Scott Aukerman are joined by R.E.M.’s in-house art director Chris Bilheimer, the quiet master of the music world behind some of the most iconic rock album covers to discuss all things R.E.M. Plus, holiday movies are discussed in another episode of “I Love Films.” This episode is brought to you by Leesa (www.leesa.com/REM).

Hey everyone, thanks for listening to RU talking R.E.M. Re-Me, and before the show starts, Adam and I want to talk about a great company. Oh man. Do you want to say who they are? Can I? Go ahead, buddy. Lisa Mattress. Lisa Mattresses, we both have one now. They're the best.

We're a Lisa family in my household, and I believe Adam is a Lisa family as well. More than anything. My family is not. You identify as is a Lisa family as well. More than anything, my family is not. You identify as being a Lisa family. Lisa's mission is to provide a better night's sleep for every body. With over 30 years of experience and hundreds of hours of testing, Lisa has developed the perfect mattress for all body shapes and sleeping styles. Give yourself the gift of a better night's rest this holiday. Get $160 off a Lisa mattress at lisa.com slash REM and use the promo code REM at checkout.

That's L-E-E-S-A dot com slash REM promo code REM. $160 off. From chronic to collapse, town and into now, respectably that is, this is Are You Talking R.E.M. ReMe, the comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things R.E.M. This is good rock and roll music. Welcome back. We have Adam

air-guitaring, but it's an upright guitar? Is that right? It's a sitar today. And the look on your face is like, I'm very good at this, and yet I'm feeling it as well. Like, God. Overconfident. Yeah, and i'm feeling it as well like god over competent uh confident yeah and over competent and as well like you're really really good too

good at it thing isn't it overconfident and over is it well i mean overconfident implies that you should not uh you don't have the skills to back it up and yet overconfident is almost like you're better at the sitar than you really need to be. Is that the perfect mixture? Overcompetent and overconfident? Yeah, and then you're just good at everything. And you have the confidence to back it up. Speaking of both of those things, I want to say hello to my good friend. He's across the table from me with some very sexy lighting.

We're both wearing wintry sweaters on a rainy day, and I want to say hello to him. You know him from such television shows that are still current as Big Little Lies, maybe? I mean, you got a sequel coming out? Sure. What do you call a sequel to a TV show,

though? Yeah, because it's not a spinoff. Other than another season. Is there a cooler... That's the thing. So many shows... By the way, Adam Scott is here. So many shows are getting around... getting awards noms. You had to have seen those

Gigi noms. Oh, the Gigi's. The Gigi's! Did you wake up at 5am to get the Gigi's? Oh, of course! To get the Gigli's? The Gigli's. Oh, I get the Gigli's. I wake up at 5 a.m. to get the GGs? Oh, of course, to get the G-lees. The G-lees. Oh, I get the G-lees. Oh, I wake up with the G-lees. And I got to go turn on the TV to get the G-lees. Honey, throw off the covers.

I got the G-lees. But in the miniseries or movie category or whatever, what are they called? It's like a movie. It's not a series limited series yeah limited series or whatever they're just putting in series that have 10 episodes in there that are getting second seasons and stuff they're not like uh beginning a middle and an end with no plans to do anymore there's there's not it's not actual limited series yeah it's like it's like castle rock i think got uh a nom nom for that. Okay, okay. You know what I mean?

And Castle Rock, we all know Castle Rock is going to have season two, season three, season four, season five. I haven't seen Castle Rock. I heard it's good, though. So anyway, I mean, Big Little Lies, you guys truly thought that that was one and done, did you not? That's right. And that was the question everyone asked in the and behold. In the press was, one and done? Yeah. Hey, Adam, Adam, over here.

One and done? One and done? Yeah, I've said, am I Adam in this? Yeah, I was calling you. I was impressed. Oh, okay, okay, good. Start again. Hey, Adam, one and done, huh?

Yes. Is it one and done or what? That's the only. Hey, Adam, over here. That's the only question you're all asking me. Yes, I see you. Adam, not you. Adam.

What Adam? Adam. Is there an Adam behind me? Behind, wait. Oh no, yeah, you. Adam. Yeah. One and done?

Yes. You are literally six inches from me. Adam. Stop it. You're shouting in my ear. By the way, my mic came off and I am, try to stall

for a little bit while I try to put this on. And we'll all hear the sounds of screwing if you know what I mean. Adam! By the way, Engineer Ryan came in

to assist me. He knows how to do it. Anyway, keep going. Adam, one and done? Adam! Got anything else? Adam! Got anything else? Adam!

One and done? What's going on? Forget it, give me a different mic. Give me a different mic. Wow, this is a real Keystone Cops over here. Okay, we're back. Great, we're all screwed in. We're all screwed in. We're all good.

I feel like watching the news, people still use Keystone Cops on the news. As a reference, no one knows what Keystone Cops... No one knows. Do you even know what the Keystone Cops are? Vaguely. I have an image in my mind

of the funniest policeman. The Trump administration. It's like keystone cops over there but no one knows what they are anymore no i mean we're gentlemen of a of an advanced age some might say yeah and we don't even know like i think they chase people around it's like they look like benny hill or something picture the cop on the monopoly box that's what i picture and i don't know i picture i picture like uh one of the cops from homicide the life on the Monopoly box. That's what I picture, and I don't know why. I picture one of the cops from Homicide. The life on the streets? Yeah, John Pulido.

I picture him. John Pulido? Yeah. Rest in peace. Rest in peace. Hey, speaking of rest in peace, some big rest in peace news for music lovers. Yeah. earlier I mean I'm not going to

spill any secrets if I tell everyone that we're taping this mere hours after Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks passed away sad news I'm sure we've talked about them on this show and if you're a fan of music in general

but also REM I'm sure that they traveled in similar circles, perhaps. In fact, I'm going to play a little bit of Buzzcocks here while we talk about them, but from Singles Going Steady. I saw a lovely tweet from Mike Mills. From who? Mike Mills today. Did he mention it?

He did. What did he say? See, tying it into REM. This is great. Mills today. Did he mention it? He did. What did he say? See, tying it into REM. This is great. I'm glad he tweeted about it. I can find it if you'd like. You don't remember what it was? You hyped it up.

It was this lovely tweet. Suddenly you're like, I don't know what it's... I memorized it, but oh. Damn, Pete Shelley gone. The Buzzcocks were and are a favorite of mine, and I was fortunate to be able to hang with Pete a few times and tell him so. R-I-P-P. He probably could have cut the were and out of that and just said are.

Sorry, where was this? Were and are a favorite of mine. He could have just said the Buzzcocks are a favorite of mine. Well, I think he's saying that he's been a fan for a very long time. He could have said that still that would have been more words than were and were yeah but still were wise are a favorite of mine but why make that distinction like they were a favorite they are a favorite just they're a favorite i don't know man i'm just saying you know what i use it. You know what? I'm going to stand by Mike Mills' tweet here.

I'm saying he could use a copy editor on those tweets. That's all. That's all I'm saying. Did you ever see the Buzzcocks? No. It's a real bummer. What about you? Yeah, I tell you.

When I was up in San Luis Obispo, I was going to school in Santa Maria, California. We went up to San Luis Obispo to see the buzzcocks uh and opening for them were my friends in no doubt this is 1993 if i had to guess okay and um wasn't really didn't really know what to expect for the buzzcocks i was pretty much just there because my friends were passing through town sure uh so you ever call san l Obispo, do you ever just call it San Louie? I try not to. Okay. It's disrespectful.

Okay. And so I said hi to my friend who's a drummer, no doubt. I was like, hey, man. We talked for a little bit. And then. What did you guys talk about? As I recall, how was your trip? That was something that was covered.

How was the drive? How was the drive? How long are you going to be playing? How long are you going to be playing? What exact songs are you going to play, and what's the running time of all of those songs? Are you going to divert from the chronology of the track listing on the album? Right.

Yeah, they didn't have an album out at that point. Still, though. But they were going to diverge, they told me. Right, yeah. They didn't have an album out at that point. Still, though. But they were going to diverge, they told me. Also, we got into what they wanted for Christmas. Okay. Was it around Christmas time? No, no. This was months and months before,

but I like to cover that just in case. So I'm like one of those guys who likes to figure out what someone wants for Christmas and then surprise them. Oh, my God, I talked about this 10 months ago. You remembered. And you buy them everything on their list. Every single thing from a private plane down to the cheapest piece of shit wood toy. Yeah.

I get them all. I have so many piece of shit wood toys that you bought me. I got to say I was kind of lying about the private plane thing, but the piece of shit wood toy, I was. wood toy i was um and then um and so it's a little tiny club because san luis obispo is is not necessarily a a town that people stop on in tours okay uh because it's it's you can just stop in santa barbara and then drive up to san francisco from there yeah it's a collage town it is a college town but they don't have large venues so this is like the largest venue they had which that's right santa barbara has that the santa barbara bowl and yeah so but they decided to stop there and do and do one and so uh it's it's in a little tiny club not even the size of like the roxy here in town which is a 500 or the whiskey which is about 500 i would say it's

like a 300 maximum and i don't think it was sold out and so buzzcocks and no doubt yeah well no one knew who no doubt was right but the buzzcocks uh you know and so i'm there in the front literally right there at the stage uh and no doubt we're great but then the buzzcocks came out and man was it amazing and they're doing all of these they're doing all of these classic old songs and they look great they're in dark suits and the drummer is mike joyce of the smiths that was the other big surprise for me yeah and so uh that's what a show and they just ripped through so many great songs and was the place did you say the place wasn't even i don't think it was

Full necessarily But it was full enough Where it was like A great show And they were having A great time That's so cool When a place isn't full

And they come out And rip it up anyway Yeah it wasn't like So packed That I I saw some shows In that club Where it was so packed

It was hard to move It was just really fun I was right there In the front Because I got there So early Yeah Man it was so good.

That's amazing. I never saw him again, but definitely a favorite. So rest in peace, Pete Shelley. You can check out his great solo records. But if you're looking

for a Buzzcocks album to get, you got to go with We Are the Buzzcocks. Yeah. Well, isn't the singles top list? Yeah, but We Are the Buzzcocks

is so good. Yeah. It's their mission statement. They talk about We Are the Buzzcocks yeah well isn't the singles yeah but we are the buzzcocks is so good yeah it's their mission statement they talk about we are the buzzcocks that's who we are that's who we are we're gonna play songs for you we have guitars we have guitars yeah you know it all rhymes yeah some good shit um how have you been adam by the way i'm scott ackerman didn't introduce myself welcome scott how have you been we haven't done a show in a little bit of time. How long has it been, like a week and a half? No, it's been a month or so since our previous episode. Of course it has.

I'm good. Scott? Yeah, good. Just keeping biz, which means busy. Busy in the biz, you know, show business. Yeah. Keeping biz in the biz. You got requests for that jolly old fat man who's coming down the chimney?

Oh, man. The old, I call him Saint Nick. I don't know if you, I love it. You know what, Scott? I'm kind of weird. I love Christmas. I never really cared for it until yesterday, and I was like, You know what, Scott? I'm kind of weird. I love Christmas. I never really cared for it until yesterday, and I was like, I fucking love Christmas.

Isn't it great? It's so good. Can I tell you something? Just being totally honest here. Strip away all artifice and just be totally honest. If I could just be candid with you really quick, I'm so glad to hear you say that. You know what?

If I could be even more honest than you and i know it's not a competition oh well okay let's see if you can i'm just really going to show you my soul right now okay i'm glad i said it okay i feel like that's exactly what i said and i love that you said you said you were glad that i said it no you were happy to hear i was happy to hear it and i was glad to say it So it's kind of very similar. I almost feel like you wouldn't have said your part. It was pretty different, okay? If I hadn't said what I said.

Goddammit, I hate Christmas! Anyway, got any plans for the fam? You going to the North Pole or? We're gonna go skeet shooting. Are you really? No. Great. No, we, let's see here.

Let's see here. I'm trying to think. Is that a stalling technique or are you literally looking at, you have a photographic memory, I know, and just looking at plans, looking at to-do lists? Wait, what about you? The old gray man in the suit, You have a photographic memory, I know, and just looking at plans, looking at to-do lists. Wait, what about you? The old gray man in the suit, what are you thinking this year? You want a new pair of headphones?

You know what? I just got a new pair. I want to thank my friend Paul for giving me these. Those ones you have on your head? These ones I have on my head. They are here to help me with sort of sound issues. Are they comfy? They are very comfy. I'll tell you what, they fit around my ears,

and they have this strap that goes over the top of my head. Oh, it kind of, does it hold those two? I think it holds them together so they don't slide down my cheeks and just plop in my lap. Because I'm accustomed to headphones where there's nothing holding the two, what do you call them, cans? Cans, yeah, yeah, that's what we call them. There's nothing to hold them together,

so you just glue each one to the side of your face. How long does the glue last? Is it a permanent glue? No, it's Elmer's glue, so you have to put them on. Shout out to Elmer's, by the way. They've been in the glue game for a long time, and they have no plans of stopping, as far as I can tell. And non-toxic.

Mm-hmm. You know, I used to use glue all the time, and it was so toxic. Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, no, toxic glue. Ugh. So many deaths. So many death, so many glue-related deaths in the world,

until Elmer's was like, guys, things can stick together without being toxic. Yeah. Plus, we got a little goat. Listen, cool your jets, guys. Cool your jets. Hey, you ever see West Side Story with the jets? I sure did. Yeah.

That's a fun movie. Were you ever in that? Was I in it? Yeah. No. It was made before I was even born. You know it was a musical, not just a movie, And so my question actually makes a lot of sense, right? Well, the movie is a musical as far as I remember.

It's their songs. Okay. All right. No, I never was in a production. Spielberg is making that new one. Have we talked about this? I don't think so. Who I would play?

Yeah, who you would play. Oh, yeah, the shop owner. Yeah, you would have to be the shop owner. Because I could be the parent of any of the... You could be the guy going like, Tony, can I come in? Are you okay, buddy? But aren't the actors in the original movie...

You've been in your room a long time, Tony. ...are a bit older than teenagers, but probably still younger than we are. Yeah, you know Russ Tamblyn? Yeah. Yeah, in the original movie. Good looking fella. And of course

Tony played by oh God, why am I blanking on his name? But also similarly in Twin Peaks. Natalie Wood. Natalie Wood. Famously slain

by Christopher Walken. Oh my God. Allegedly. Don't sue me. Also, this is a comedy podcast. So we couldn't be joking. Just the word slain. Really hardcore.

Thrown off the side of a boat. Jesus. Remember that movie Brainstorm, her last movie? Yeah, I do. I remember that being on Showtime when I was a... I never saw it. I do believe I may have on Showtime when I was a I never saw it I do believe I may have The Blu-ray

But I haven't watched it yet I think it's a bad movie Is it really Is Dennis Quaid in it as well No I think you're thinking Dreamscape Yes

Remember Dreamscape I do yes That was awesome We gotta have a movie night You and me And when I say a movie night Of course I'm talking about Film

Oh yeah Is this an episode of I Love Film Yes film oh yeah is this an episode of I love film yes hey guys welcome to I love film this is Scott and this is Scott and we're just talking about film right now you know what we're talking about we're talking about a movie night but I think we should rephrase it film night film night and we're just talking about two bros just chill it and grabbing some some corn and yeah these aren't gonna be popcorn movies but Film night. Film night. And we're just talking about two bros. Chill it. Just chill it.

And grabbing some corn. And yeah, these aren't going to be popcorn movies, but I like to eat popcorn. I love a little popcorn with my films. A little popcorn while you're watching a film never hurt anybody. Oh, no. Just crunch away. Opposite of hurt. It makes it a better experience. It makes it a better experience.

It makes you feel like it's a special occasion, doesn't it? And look, you know, when I'm eating popcorn, I don't want to watch anything that's going to distract me from the popcorn all that much. You know what I mean? I want to watch something

with a complicated story or with a lot of silence. You know what? I want to use my brain. Yeah. Is that asking too much? Well, when I'm eating popcorn, I don't want to have to use

my brain all that much. Exactly. That's what I meant. I want to just turn it off, let half my brain just devoted to the chewing sounds that I'm making on that popcorn, and then just turn the other half off. Just put the other half on ice. Lord knows we've got enough to deal with in this world these days. I mean, in this climate, I mean, since you know who has been elected,

it just feels like every day is such a... This tweet storm. This new person getting fired. Indictments. Listen, I just want to watch a movie. I just want to turn my brain off and watch the Transformers fight each other. Can I just do that?

Bumblebee. Can I not watch Bumblebee in fucking peace? You know what? Holiday times. A lot of time at home with the fam, getting the fire going in the hearth. Chestnuts roasting. Hearth. Hearth, sure. The hearth.

The hearth. Hearth donut. You know, it's great to throw an old film on the idiot box up there. Turn on the idiot box, and I'm like, let's throw a film onto the idiot box. I know this is incongruous, and maybe it doesn't quite fit, but let's throw a film on there. Anyone hear the Criterion Collection? Yes.

Because that's what I'm talking about. The Criterion Collection. And you know what? Maybe during the holidays things are pretty busy. Maybe I don't have the attention span to really focus on it. So maybe instead I'll throw like, I don't know, a computer animated or a superhero thing on. Just for the background, you know what I mean?

What's your favorite holiday movie, Scott? I would say Batman Returns. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Classic Christmas film. Oh, the best. The best.

And it came out in the summertime, which made it even better. Yeah. So cold in those theaters too. I remember they had to turn down the heat that summer and they had to just turn, blast air conditioning because they're like, if the movie on the screen is cold and people are hot, that's not going to make sense. We got to make it as cold as possible. Because they had to get the AC cranked up so hard that it would snow in the movie theaters. Yeah, exactly. To match what's happening on screen.

And they also – this was 1993 when – Two, yeah. Two, right, yes. So they had to turn on the AC because everyone was like, in a couple of years, everyone's going to be talking about AC Crowley driving OJ Simpson around in that Ford Bronco. So we've got to crank it while we can.c crowley yeah driving o.j simpson around in that ford bronco so we got a remind crank it while we can the adam scott story is this sorry is this an episode of crank it while we can i think it is hey everyone welcome to crank it while we can this is scott and this is scott and we're just talking about cranking it while the good Lord is letting us.

Listen, while we can. While we have it. Look, and I don't want to take Viagra just to crank it. No, no, no, no. But while we can, why don't we all just get together on this? Can we put our heads together and crank it? Let's get together and crank it. And this ties back to our previous thing.

Let's end this episode. All right. Thanks, everyone. Bye. Anyway, when I put on this Bumblebee movie, I just want to whip my dick out and crank it while I can. While you can. While you can. And people don't seem to want to let me do that in the theater.

No. It's the kind of thing that's better to do at home. And that is why I'm a big proponent, and you know, I've talked about this on I Love Film Forever. Many, many times. Of just like, why are we even showing things in the theater? Let's just stream them to our phones. Sure. You know what I mean?

Let's just stream movies to our phones. Well, what we're talking about watching a movie at home is everyone gathering around a phone. Exactly. Playing their own separate movies on their phones. Yes. Pants down. Yep. Just cranking it.

With AirPods. If you had to make a choice. Yep. It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Elf. Oh, three great films. Or what's another great holiday movie? Why do you need another one? You've named three great ones.

This is a game. Oh, Godfather Die Hard. Die Hard, yes. Oh, and? Die Hard 2 as well. And Die Hard 2 and Die Hard 3. What's your favorite holiday? And by the way, Paul Tompkins pointed out Phantom Thread also.

Is that a Christmas movie? Yeah, well, they have Christmas decorations in one scene. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. I'd count it. Yeah. If I had to pick, for what? What's your favorite?

What am I doing with it? Oh, in terms of quality? I guess. You've already bailed on wanting an answer? No, no, I want to know. I want to know. You really want a real answer? Sure.

Well, It's a Wonderful Life is classic. It makes me cry every time when he says Zuzu's petals because he's got the petals. And he's like, I'm alive. And Zuzu's real. He was in an alternate universe where Zuzu didn't exist. And she's a precious little girl and he wanted to get make his way back to the universe where he had you know ejaculated into

Mary's womb creating Zuzu and then he got a Christmas story where they sing that funny song in the restaurant in the last scene

with all the Chinese waiters and it's so funny offensive and then what was the other one oh Elf Elf Elf

Elf which has you know a lot of you know they make fun of Peter Dinklage's hide in it so that's really funny and then Die Hard gotta go Die Hard

okay how about you who cares yeah alright see you next time bye bye that was All right, see you next time. Bye. Bye.

That was a long episode. Long, but took a lot of twists and turns, but it was fascinating. Fascinating insight. Were they talking about masturbating next to each other? They were talking about cranking it while they could. While they could. While they could. Like they're on the cusp of not being able to?

Yeah, I'm not sure what that's all about. I don't know. Anyway, I remain a fan. I was going to ask if there's anything, and you're more the kind of hosty person who runs the show in a way, kind of drives it. But is there any REM-related news this week before we kind of move on? Well, I got to say that thanks to everyone who has been writing to us on Twitter, last week when we're recording this, Spotify put out, I guess they do this thing,

or they started doing this thing where they track everything that everyone has listened to on Spotify, each individual listener. And then they send them the stats of like, here's what you listened to all year. And we have received tons of messages saying that people are listening to REM as their number one artist this year. And because everyone was listening to the albums along with us and so they're like I didn't even realize it

but I have far out out played REM from any other band this year really

so they've sent us the graphics for that a lot of people over the past few days so that's been really nice so more people have been listening to REM on Spotify

as a result of the show exactly so that's cool you know I mean REM if you're out there That's really nice. More people have been listening to REM on Spotify as a result of the show. Exactly. That's cool. You know, I mean, REM, if you're out there, we're your biggest cheerleaders. And all we're asking for is just purely for you to reform. All four members, non-negotiable. Billberry has to be there. In my backyard.

In your backyard because you're getting your pool redone, right? That's right. Okay. And two sets, 90 minutes. Each set, 90 minutes. Each set, 90 minutes. You can't duplicate songs. Nope.

We'll have a stage for you that's approximately one foot off the ground. Yep. So you have a little bit of height and people are looking up to you slightly. That's right. You can't. I mean, I know you want to end each each set with you know

Man on the Moon but I'd really prefer that you end only the first one with Man on the Moon and you end the second one with maybe something like

End of the World as we know it something like that but aren't the songs all going to be our specific request they are going to be well that was the other thing

they're all going to be specifically requested by us no deviations not at all not at all i it's we're a lot like you know sugarfish the rest uh the restaurant over here no substitutions right you just you you gotta play it like we lay it down that's right um you know we've been exactly like sugarfish the entire entire time we've been doing this every episode Every episode is like Sugarfish in certain ways. And none of the money – we're going to charge, by the way. We're going to charge people to go to this party. And we're going to charge the members of REM.

To play it. Yes. None of the money goes to charity. Nope. All goes to us because I think it's a bigger deal if they get back together. Everyone expects them to get back together. Oh, what if there's some charity thing that they could do? Everyone expects that.

I think it's cooler if they get back together and the money goes to us. Yeah, or will they get back together for a payday? Like if they went on tour, of course they would make a ton of money. They would make a ton of money or a charity would make a ton of money. What if we made a ton of money? We make a ton of money. Exactly. From them.

From them. They pay us to play. You've heard of pay to play? We make a ton of money. Exactly. From them. From them. They pay us to play. You've heard of pay to play? This is a lot like that. I'm sure they had to do that kind of thing when they first started at the 6-8 club or wherever they started. I'm sure they had to pay to play out there. Guys, you're not too big to pay to play.

Right. So that's all we want. That's it. That's all we want. Simple. You're biggest fans and we're directing people to Spotify, but that was really cool to know. And then the other thing is we got a very nice email since our last episode where we groused that we could not get copies of the REM at the BBC box set. We got a nice email from Mr. Bertus Downs. Oh, really?

said we got a nice email from uh mr burtis downs oh really who uh sent us a nice email uh saying that he listened to the show and and loves the show and uh wanted to send us uh did we really grouse about i'd characterize it as grousing oh my god that's gross that we groused no it was not i don't even think we were grousing i think what we were doing was saying we hoped to get those so we could put out the episode in a timely manner, and we did not receive them. For me, though, I got it on iTunes or whatever and didn't even think about the fact that it was a box set because that's something I would always go out and get because there'll be a line of notes.

You buy three different copies. Exactly, yeah. And I just never really, until we were talking about it on the show, I hadn't really thought about, oh, I should go get that thing. Well, fear not, Mr. Downs is sending us that, and it should be here momentarily. That's 100% unnecessary. We want to thank him so much for that and for listening,

because I'm sure also we've talked about him on the show, have we not? Yeah, it's cool that he's listening and that he's writing letters to you, I guess. I believe he joined Twitter just to send a message. Oh, well, that's nice. So that's very nice of him. So we've emailed back and forth. So I'm looking forward to that box set. You know, when Burtis downs on the REM.

What was that? Behind the Music. Remember Behind the Music on VH1? I do remember that. It was a television program, for those of you who don't know, Video Hits Classic, or Video Hits One, actually.

Video Hits One. They put out a television program where for approximately 45 minutes with commercials, it would take an hour. An hour block. Yeah. They would comprehensively go through a band's career. Yes.

Interviewing the members of the band. Yes. Interviewing loved ones sometimes. Loved ones. Fans. Hated ones sometimes. Hated ones. And it was always about a band that had a lot of ups and downs, like Motley Crue or Van Halen.

Exactly. Really interesting. REMs came out when Up was coming out. They came out with a behind the music on them. It wasn't as, you know, there weren't as many soap opera theatrics with them. But they were like, we need some downs in the show. Let's get Birdis. And Birdis was talking about, you know, when Bill Barry left the band

and it was still kind of fresh. And I remember he got kind of fresh and I remember he got choked up and I got choked up right along with him and you're getting choked up right now telling the story

about you getting choked up looking at him getting choked up that's how choked up this whole thing is no I'm just choking are you okay?

I know your hands are next to your throat in the universal sign language for I am choking. Do I need to go over there? Hold on. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to need the Heimlich.

I don't know the Heimlich. I know it's sort of off-brown, and I know the Henderson movement. Yeah, do you have – can you do that for me? It might work. Yeah, I need it right now. Can you come to me, though? Oh, sure. I just kind of got comfortable here in my chair.

Here I come. Yeah, come on. Wow, what was that? Just chicken bone. Why were you eating a chicken bone? Hungry. Yeah, but just eat the chicken, not the bone. Oh, Jesus.

You know what? I forget every time, and I just go for the bones do you go into like Boston Market and you say gimme the bones gimme do you say

gimme da bones gimme da bones like okay I think Adam Scott is here okay wanting more chicken bones gimme the bones do they charge you

for these things no I get them for free yeah they should be free cause they're in the back yeah anyway I'm happy to save your life. Oh, yeah.

You owe me. Thanks. Big time. Thanks. You kind of owe me your life or one of your children's lives. Oh, okay. Well, maybe you could just have one of the children for the holiday season. Meaning I get to watch them?

Wait a minute. Is this like a babysitting scam? You weren't choking. Let me see your throat. That's bigger than a chicken bone. You were faking it. All right. Will you please just babysit my kids?

All right. You know I love them. Yeah. Okay. Well, great. Then I'll drop them by. Okay. What time?

What time is it now? It's about 5 p.m. right now. I'll drop them off at 5.01. Okay, see you then. We got to end this episode. Is this an episode of Great Bits? No, not yet. Okay, look, we have to take a break.

Yeah. But, by the way, we haven't even talked about what the title of this episode is. Oh, shit. This is slowing it down, and we have a very special guest coming up after the break. Now, this is— This is exciting. This is very exciting because this is someone who has worked with the band and can probably forward our requests for the Backyard Barbecue to them,

and that's what I'm really hoping to get out of this. So we'll see exactly what happens. But Chris Bilheimer is here in the studio. We'll explain if you don't. First of all, you got to know who that is. But if you don't, we'll explain everything about him when we come back. This is a little bit of what we call Are You Talking R.E.M. Remy. We'll be right back after this.

Hey, man. Hey. So good to see you. Oh, man. You too. The band. You too oh like our old show yeah yeah yeah no i yeah i what hey i um have you listened to hello from the magic tavern yes yeah hilarious good stuff great great show have you been a guest on it i haven't been a guest on their show but they in character came on to my show on comedy bang bang and we did a crossover episode fantastic it's so good um hello from the magic tavern is what it is is a um they improvise

it it's fully improvised it's a it's sort of like a talk, a chat show set in a magical world, and it's hosted by a wizard, a talking badger, and a guy from Chicago who fell through a dimensional portal into their universe. It's so funny. It's like Cheers. You know the show Cheers? Yes. Ted Danson show? That's the one I'm thinking of. Okay. uh ted danson show that's the one i'm thinking okay it's like cheers but in middle earth or

it's like it's always sunny but set in narnia or i guess it's like always sunny in middle earth or cheers in narnia i'm gonna take cheers in narnia always sunny and uh okay great that's the way yeah that's i'll take the opposite since you're you actually hold on a second i i'm gonna take cheers no cheers narnia i'm gonna take in both, in Middle Earth and Narnia. I'm going to take Always Sunny in Outer Space. Okay, got it. So this week they're doing a special book club episode where the hosts, a barbarian and a talking flower, read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,

drink wine, and they try to understand all of the Earth stuff. We promise it's the only podcast that you will listen to this week where a wizard tries to figure out if he's a Lizzie or totally a Mr. Darcy. Do you know what those references are? Those are reference Pride and Prejudice. Some guests that have been on recently include Paul F. Tompkins as a satyr,

Lauren Lapkus as a genie, Felicia Day as a wizard, Jordan Klepper as a phoenix, even Seanan Hayes were on this. Wow. Wow, can you believe it? You can start at the beginning to follow the whole story or just jump into any episode that appeals to you.

Check out Hello from the Magic Tavern on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or look, wherever the fuck you happen to listen. Ha ha ha. Welcome back Are you talking R.E.M. Remy This is from the album The Scary One Sorry

I know we've been saying that But can I show you something? Yeah I'm going to show you a picture Of the cover of this record Yeah It's frightening and i'll tell you what we have a guest here on are you talking rem re me that either drew that or found it online and or online wasn't even a thing then maybe in a book and traced it or maybe it's a

pumpkin or looks like a cat or a pumpkin either way this person needs to explain himself i have a lot of questions about where he found this picture because it scares the fucking shit out of us yeah every single time that we look at it um he uh is the has been the art director for REM for many years since the, as far as I'm concerned, I consider him to be that since the early 90s. And he is a personal friend of yours, I believe, Adam Scott. Please welcome to the show, Chris Bilheimer. Chris Bilheimer. Hey, thanks for having me here.

Chris, it's so good. Now, you and I have never met before no is that correct is this your card I was going to say it sounds like the beginning of a trick

but we have a little bit of history you did the cover for the Mr. Show What Happened book I designed the whole book

you designed the whole book that's right sorry not the cover I was getting to the pages if you would have let me finish. I'm gonna go page by page. Will you let me finish, let me finish? Can I finish, can I finish? Is this an episode of Can I Finish? I think it is. I started something, forced you to a zone, and you were clearly never meant to go. Hey everyone, welcome to Can I Finish? This is Scott. And this is Scott. And can I finish, And you were clearly never meant to go. Hey, everyone.

Welcome to Can I Finish? This is Scott. And this is Scott. And can I finish? Can I finish? I can't finish. Hey, by the way, speaking of can I finish, RIP to the other guy, the old Nagada. What?

The old Nagada. RIP to him. You know what I mean? I mean, I know we're in an episode of Can I Finish? But Nagada. Nagada. Can I finish? Can. You know what I mean? I mean, I know we're in an episode of Can I Finish? But Nagada. Nagada. Can I finish? Can I finish?

Can I finish? Bye. I started something. Forced you to a zone. And you were clearly never meant to go. Yeah, I was going to get to the pages. I was just hyping up the cover because the cover was so good. And then he designed page one.

Then he designed page two. Then he designed page three. Okay, all the pages. Oh, all the pages. Yeah, all the pages in the book. And I remember Bob Odenkirk. I remember being at his old house and him being very excited by that and announcing that you were doing that.

And we all went, oh, that's cool. Anyway, welcome to the show. Thanks. And you have had such an incredible career with him, and your work has really defined the band for such a long time. Really, the first question that comes to mind that I really, really wanted to ask you is when did you first hear of REM? Probably, it would have been early, early 80s. I have an older sister named Dina.

Dina. Hold on. Let me write this down. How do you spell this? D-E-N-A. D-E-N-A? Correct. Only four letters? Mm-hmm. All right. I would say throw an extra E in there. It's all we Correct. Only four letters? Mm-hmm. All right. I would say throw an extra E in there.

It's all we could afford at the time. They're cheap. All right. You could only afford one E. But it's not Denna, just to be clear. Correct. Okay. Is her last name Billheimer, by the way?

Or did she change it for marriage purposes? She changed it for marriage purposes. What is her last name? I'm not going to tell you. Okay. Fair enough. O'Neal. Oh, hey.

Someone's getting a Facebook request. Jesus. Would that be weird if I started dating your sister who is currently married? Because if I like broke up their marriage. Just because that's the reason you are taking this name down right now. Because you want to break up a marriage. Look at Chris. He's a good looking guy.

Absolutely. And he's the heir to the R.E.M. fortune. And if break up a marriage. Look at Chris. He's a good looking guy. Absolutely. And he's the heir to the R.E.M. fortune and if I kind of get in with his sister. Wait, why do you think he's the heir to the R.E.M. fortune?

I would imagine, okay, this is how it goes. Once one of them passes away, and we hope they don't, or Adam and I hope that we pass away before they do.

Is that fair to say? Why are we even talking about people passing away? Everyone passes away, but we hope that we don't live to see it. Like Pete Shelley is a big, with a heavy heart. I read that news today.

I don't want to do that with the members of REM. I want to die before them. This got dark fast. Oh my God. So what I'm trying to say is, is like, once they go, they probably have left all their money to you, right? Why would you even say, what about their family? Like, this makes no sense.

Well, he's worked with, I don't know how bands work. Well, I'm sure they don't work like this. Okay. I can almost guarantee. But anyway, he's a good-looking guy, and, you know. Yeah, he is a good-looking guy. I'm sure his sister is a wonderful-looking person. But lay off the hitting on his sister.

All right, okay, all right. I can take notes. Give it a rest. So you have an older sister. Yeah, and so. D right, okay, all right. I can take notes. Give it a rest. So you have an older sister. Yeah, and so- Dina O'Neill. She went to the University of Georgia. Where did you-

It's in Athens, Georgia. You were living in Athens, Georgia? We were living in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah, where I was born, by the way. Are you kidding me? Who cares? Are you talking R-E-M-R-E-E-M-E? Yes, I was born there.

She went off to University of Georgia and was working at the college radio station and would send me cassette tapes of all the stuff that they were playing at the time. Would she send you tapes of her talking over them on the radio or she would just make tapes of the songs? She mostly did promotions. She wasn't on air very often. But she's a great big sister that she's making you tapes of all the cool music. Exactly. What's the age difference, by the way? Four years.

Four years. Yeah. Because there's no other way for you to get all this cool music, bro. Not at all. I was a sophomore in high school getting cassettes. And that's where I found out about U2 so you're about 15

she's about 19 yeah and so that's right U2 Violent Femmes awesome 10,000 Maniacs like I start

that's how I started getting turned on to a lot of these bands just through her and and how often would these come or is this like a

daily thing in the mail it's not like a Columbia House thing it was it would be two or three a year two or three a year. Two or three a year?

Wow. Okay. And what are we talking? 90-minute tapes? 60-minute tapes? 90 minutes. TDK. TDKs.

Yes. Great. Love it. All right. Do you still have any of those? Maybe. That'd be great to dig those up. There is a box.

I don't know what's in the box. Wow. Wait. There's a box. A mystery box. what's in the box. Wait, a mystery box. Is this like one of these boxes where there's a button inside and if you press it, someone dies? No, I think it just has cassettes in it. Oh, okay. It's a very different situation.

Totally different box. So that's how I first discovered. So REM was one of these bands. That's cool. That's how you first heard of REM. That's how I first heard of them. Did.M. was one of these bands Yes That's cool That's how you first heard of R.E.M. That's how I first heard of them Did you hear of them

before you heard them? No I didn't Okay And was it like Sorry go ahead I was just gonna say Adam

Let the man talk She took me to my first concert my first big concert Yeah Previous to this my parents took me to see the Charlie Daniels band Oh okay

The Devil Went Down to Georgia tour. Did they play that song? Weirdly enough, they did. So she took me to see R.E.M. They came and played on the Fables tour in Savannah, Georgia with the Minutemen opening. This is your first cool concert. My first cool concert. Wow.

What year is this? 85? 85. I think that would have been 85. So around Fables? Yes. You just said it was the Fables. Well, I wasn't listening, clearly.

No. And so it's one of those things I get to say like, oh, I saw the Minutemen live before, you know, a couple months before Dee Boon died. And I sound, you know, really cool. I was terrified. Of the Minutemen? Oh, really cool. I was terrified. Of the Minutemen? Oh, my God. Mike Watt was dressed as Fidel Castro.

And I was, I did not understand it. It all went over my head. I was terrified. You just wanted to see REM. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Later on, you probably, like. Oh, now I, yeah, I just, you know, I talk about double nickels on the dime and how I was there at the beginning. That's funny. At the time, you were like, oh, the beginning. At the time you were like, oh my God.

At the time I literally, like a tiny bit of pee came out. I was so scared. When you say a tiny bit, what are we talking? Are we talking like 16 ounces? Noticable stain. Exterior. Okay, great. Exterior stain.

So that's, she was my introduction to REM and would call me and tell me like, oh, Michael Stipe came into the studio today because one of his friends was DJing and he came in and played records with a friend. Can I ask, did you gravitate towards REM off of the tapes that she gave you? Were you like, this is my favorite stuff on the tape? Yeah, definitely. And that's where you guys were bonding? Yeah, definitely. And what was it about it were bonding. Yeah, definitely. And what was it about it that you connected with,

do you think? As far as I'm concerned, there are four elements within REM. There are the drums, the bass, the guitar, and the singing. And there's also a combination. And you have to choose one of those four things. Is the one song with piano? Yeah, that's true. He got us.

Should I mention at this point I've only listened to one R.E.M. song? Yes. For the last 25 years. And you think one of them is Piano Man? I think it is Piano Man. I think that's what it's called. Tonic and Gin. So she was very nice enough to go like, oh, REM is your favorite?

I'm going to give you secret intel of Mike's type coming to the – and you as a – I'm sure you were a sophomore and then you got up to be a junior and then a senior. Yeah. I got held back. You did, really? No. This son of a bitch got me. My mom worked at the school she pulled some strings but um uh my favorite story though is that one time my sister called and left a message uh to tell me she wanted to tell me that michael stipe would come into the radio station

and uh i wasn't home and so i got back and my dad is notorious for never getting names right on this. And he goes, oh, hey, your sister called and she wanted to tell you. Stripe from the Gremlins. She met Ronnie Stump from RPM. Ronnie Stump from RPM. I love it. That sounds like a prototypical southern band, RPM. The thing is, he didn't get any of it right. He didn't get the first name right, the last name right, or the band name right.

RPM is like... But you knew exactly what he was saying. Oh, I knew exactly what he was saying. RPM is just as good as R.E.M. Totally. You know what I mean? Actually, it has more to do with records than R.E.M. does. Yeah, good point.

Maybe a little more torque in there, too, because R.E.M. is going a little faster. Yeah, Peter Tork. Yeah, speaking of Tork. The movie computer torque. Yeah, speaking of torque. The movie torque. Yeah, yeah. You're just trying to fit in. No, I'm just trying to fit it in there. How are Zids?

Still on DVD. Still there. The Zids are still coming in, so torque, everybody. Check it out. I came and stayed at your house one time when you had the script. Yeah. And you were trying, you had written like a chart.

Do you remember this? No. A chart of what? It was not like a chart, you had written like a chart. Do you remember this? No. A chart of what? It was not like a chart, but it was like a graph. You're trying to figure out if the movie literally made any sense. Really? Character motivations? Oh, like you're trying to graph, like this is supposed to have happened,

and is any of this possible? And I think you gave up. That's so funny. Does that sound familiar at all? No, but I believe. It sounds like Adam, like early on in his career, used to take it very seriously. Yeah. I think you gave up. That's so funny. Does that sound familiar at all? No, but I believe. It sounds like Adam, like early on in his career, used to take it very seriously. Yeah, I was actually trying to make sense of torque.

And nowadays, when he shows up on set, it's like, just tell me what you want me to say. Where do I stand? Where do you want me to stand? Sit? Oh, you only sit act now? Fine. Yeah, I'll stand. I'll stand for approximately.

Whatever. Two sentences, and then I have to sit down again. I'll stand. I'll stand for approximately two sentences and then I have to sit down again. Um, that's amazing. So, so you, you, how many times did you see REM, uh, in those early years? Um, uh, saw the fables tour, saw the fables tour. Uh, no, I did see the document tour, the, uh, pageant tour, uh, some sort of punishment thing went on where I was not allowed to go. Punishment. Still a little bitter. Yeah, and then definitely document.

I saw Green. And then by the next time they toured, I was working for the band. You were working for the band. Okay, so. Right, because after Green, it was like a five-year break. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so do we ask him about how he started working for the band at this point?

I don't know. How should we ask him? Sorry, can we turn the mics off just for one second? Yeah, let's turn them off. Okay. Hey, how do you think it's going so far? I think that I'm interrupting too much. Yeah, you're not really giving him much of a chance to answer the questions.

Although, to be honest, he's answered a lot of them, and we've gotten some really good stuff. No, I know. He's a good guest. He's a good guest. I'm a good interviewer. I think it's going really well. You're doing a great job. And you're backing me up, buddy.

Thank you. Thanks. Thanks. So it's good. Let's turn it back on. Yes. Hey, so. Sorry about that. Sorry. Yeah, turn it back on. Yes. Hey, so. Sorry about that.

Sorry. Yeah, we just occasionally have to confer. So approximately when did you start working for the band in years? It would have been 94. 1994. So because they did not tour for Out of Time nor Automatic, you did not see those tours. No.

So we should also say that Chris and Lance Bang's previous guest are good buddies. And did you guys meet through REM and did you start working around the same time? I'll try and make it a short story. Sure. A lot like Stephen King's The Body, upon which Stand By Me was based. From the book Different Seasons, I believe. Oh, my good man. Yes, yes, yes.

So I actually met Michael at the very end of the Green Tour in 89 through a mutual friend. 1989 through a mutual friend. And so then 1990, I guess, we started hanging out. And we would go to – there's a bar called The Globe that we used to go hang out at. And I at this time was still under 21 and not legally allowed. In 1990, you're still under 21. I was not legally allowed to be in the bar. But since I was there with Michael Stipe

no one really no one's gonna kick you out literally gonna say hey Michael you're cool but your friends get the fuck out of here

get the fuck out of here out the door or through the window because that's how they talk in Georgia get the fuck out of here get the fuck out of here that is

that is perfect spot on spot on thank you so one of the things the bar would close and we would That is perfect. Spot on. Spot on. Thank you. So one of the things, a bar would close, and we would walk a couple blocks to the old post office and go through his – get his mail from the P.O. box. The old post office, just meaning – It's like the original – Is that something in –

In Athens. In Athens. Okay. So the old post office. It's that old. I didn't know why you said It's like a big We would walk down to the old post office Implying it was closed or something

No it's It was an old Like marble Oh wow Like Cool Vintage post office When you think of like

When you think of post offices Which I hope is often Yeah Unless you have stamps.com Jesus Christ Stamps.com All the wonderful attributes Of the post office.

Sponsoring the show. They're not sponsoring the show? No. Fuck them. Fucking get the fuck out of here. Sorry, Chris. So we were going through his mail one night and he had this letter that was forwarded from Jim McKay, who's a filmmaker. Yeah.

And Michael and Jim had a film company called C100 Films for a little while. And it was this young filmmaker who was writing in asking if C100 had scholarships because he has a really long, really emotional, personal story about why, you know, with family drama and sort of things

that he wasn't going to be able to go to college unless you get a film scholarship. And, uh, Michael read this story out loud and we were both kind of like floored by this, this letter. And, um, he gave the letter to me and I was like, why are you giving it to me? I'm just a 20 year old who's kind of failing out of college right now. And he's like, I don't know. I think you can figure something out, which was a puzzling thing to hear.

You can figure something. He's asking you to give this guy money. And, uh, you know, he's like, got it. You know,

this letter is amazing. I wish I could give everyone money who, you know, but I can't. And so the, this person had included their SAT scores in there, and they were really high. What are we talking? We're talking 980?

I think it was in the 1400s or something like that. Wow. Get the fuck out of here with your 1400s. So the next day I'm walking on campus and I walk by the financial aid office and I think, oh, my God, what score is that good? He could totally get into this college. Right. Because they accepted me, for Christ's sake. So you were at University of Georgia by this time.

Yes, at this point I was at the University of Georgia. But on a scholarship you could get in? I didn't. You didn't know. No. You didn't, but you didn't. By the way, in 1992, I wrote a letter to C-100 too, asking if I could come sweep floors or do anything for them. I did not get a response. But carry on.

Nor money to go to college. No. My first job was basically sweeping up at C-100. It was. Okay. I've always heard they had really dirty floors. Disgusting. Constant sweeping was required.

I always needed to sweep. So basically I went in and talked to the people about financial aid and blah, blah, blah. Got all the forms and then I mailed them. To this person. To this person. That's so cool. And it was kind of like, hey, Michael got your letter. Really want to do what we can to help. We have a

decent film program here at University of Georgia and you would qualify for this if you fill out these forms. I'll turn them in for you. And long story short, that was Lance Bangs. Twist! Twist. It was Lance Bangs. And he ended up coming

down and slept on my floor for orientation because his parents were not behind him going to school and all that sort of thing. So he's two years younger than you. Yeah. So I met him. Good question. Incredible. Yeah.

Incredible question. And so that's how Lance and I met. That's incredible we were roommates for years he a lovely thing for a person to do

for another person so he got the financial aid and he went to University of Georgia and he started working with REM and now he's an incredible filmmaker

and works on television shows and films and all thanks to you he he did he did a little bit he put in he put in the work but, but none of us can achieve what we achieve without helping hands from others. A hand that helps.

I helped Adam get into the podcasting game. Yep. And look at me now. Yeah, yeah. Listen. That is a high bar. I'm wearing a sweater. Yep.

That's incredible. That was an incredible story do you remind him of that every time you see him or take credit you guys just know that you guys just know that that's inherited into your dna yeah incredible yeah incredible so you guys are now both uh at university of georgia and working for rem like stuff, and he's making films. Yeah, what are you doing? You swept floors, but what did you do for the REM organization? Well, I started at the beginning in 94, and when I— So there's a long gap between 1990 and 1994. You go to the old post office and help out Lance Bangs in 90.

Yep. Flash forward to 94. I don't know. Like what's going down in between 90 and 94? 90 and 94, let's see. I think I was. But shorthanded. I mean, don't go into everything, but like really like nutshell it for us.

We were going to school. Nutshell it. We were both going to school. I was doing a lot of work for local bands. Simpler. Less. Less. Give us less.

Shut up. I was doing work for local bands and going to school, and then RM hired me. Okay. So were you, while you were working for local bands and kind of hanging out, were you sort of creating stuff with Michael or was Michael hanging out like in an unofficial capacity where you were working with him?

Yeah, I would help him out on a few little things for C hundred or, uh, just little jobs here and there. Um, I always stayed friends with them and you know, when I would do art for local bands, I'd always make sure to give them a copy like, Hey, so you're making like posters and flyers for local bands, Seven inch covers, cassettes, sleeves. What was the first one that you had made? The very first one that I had made was a seven inch cover for a band called Mercyland, which had David Barbie, who later became the bass player for Sugar with Bob Mould. Oh, wow. Wow. And David Barbie is now an engineer, produces most of the bands in Athens now, and also teaches entertainment law at University of Georgia.

Okay. And I credit – Shout out to David Barbie. David Barbie gave me a huge, huge boost when I was a snot-nosed little kid. And he just – we don't have time to get into every detail, but that's how amazing. But you did a lot of stuff for a local band. And were you kind of hoping michael would see yours or did you have no aspirations to that were you just like hey this is what i like doing oh no i was trying to you were trying to weasel your way in there yeah yeah day one yeah day one how do i how do i make my way into this exactly

i mean because they're in 90 they're one of the biggest bands in the world. I mean, they're certainly on the cusp. It was pre-global superstar days, but they were a huge band. I mean, Green, they were filling arenas. So were you, how long did it take for you to like relax around the band members and stuff? Or were you always like- And put your feet up and like, you know. Still hasn't happened. Yeah.

Really? Yeah. You still have that like when they're walking around a little like, oh, here we go. Yeah. I mean, that's what happens. That's cool. That's what happens with celebrities and personalities, especially like people like Adam and I who are well-known. Hugely intimidating.

Yeah. Very well-known within our fields, our respective fields. Our fields. I in entertainment and Adam podcasting. What are you doing? Podcasting. I in entertainment and Adam podcasting. So what happens in 1994?

Because this is around when The Scary One comes out. I've always wondered this. You have, you know, their records seem to, everyone seemed to be almost designed. They're similar, but maybe designed by different people. I don't really know. Previous? Previous to you. Yeah.

Michael has always directed the packaging. So the first few albums, I think he was doing a lot of it himself. Then he would work with whoever was running the art department at IRS Records at the time, would work back and forth, usually through mail at the time. And then they go to Warner Brothers. Then they go to Warner Brothers. And they were working with a fellow named Tom Ruchon. He's a wonderful guy who did Out of Time and Automatic for the People. And Green as well or not

Green I don't think he worked on Green got it so I can kind of tie this whole story together oh man

this is like an M. Night Shyamalan film just like everything okay awesome in 93 Michael was in Los Angeles and he was going to drive back cross country back to Athens.

Is that how he came up with the song drive? Shut up. This is after that. This is so gripping that I need to shut up. This is, this drive was inspired by the song drive. Oh, okay. Oh, so he listened to the song drive. He was like, I need to drive.

I should take a trip. It sounds like something. See, it was worth it. Yeah. See, it was worth it. Yeah. So I flew out to LA on a plane ticket that I bought out of the newspaper. I bought, you could do this back, this is Stone Age. Like someone bought a ticket and they didn't need it anymore or something?

I bought the second leg of a unaccompanied miner named Marcus Jackson. They put it in the classifieds and for $75 I bought his return ticket. To Atlanta? Yeah, from Atlanta to Los Angeles. So I flew out to Los Angeles and then Michael and I drove back cross-country. And while I was out in Los Angeles, I was

like, I want to design albums. Michael, do you think you could call Tom Rashan and I could go meet him and find out do they do interns yeah yeah yeah can i do some other band at warner brother i want to work with you guys i'm a college kid well he's just saying he wants to work in the field not yet with you right i'm just like i'm a college kid i want to design album covers can i come meet you? Yeah. You're still in college, though? Yes. In 93?

It was in 93. I was still fifth year of college. Okay. See, the math to me was not quite as – Exactly. All right. So I get to Los Angeles, and I'm calling Tom, and we're playing phone tag, and he's kind of like, oh, I'm kind of busy. It didn't quite work out to see him. So he busied himself out of a job.

So I didn't get to meet him. Michael and I drive back cross-country. And we spend five days on the road and just taking pictures and driving. And then I get a call from REM's office. And they're like, hey, Michael wants you to design a t-shirt based on a road sign that you guys had seen. So it was a t-shirt for Find the River.

It's the tail end of Automatic for the People's massive success. And so I did this t-shirt. They really loved it. And they said, hey, can you come in next week? And I assume, oh, great.

They're going to pay me for doing this t-shirt. And I went back in and they offered me a job to assist Michael. Is this the sweeping job. And I went back in and they offered me a job. Wow. To assist Michael. Is this the sweeping job that you do? Yes, this is the sweeping job.

No, they hired me to assist Michael. Okay. In the graphic design. Correct. Okay. Which meant that the next year I had to go out to Warner Brothers and meet with Tom Rashan to tell him I was now doing R.E.M.'s albums. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Remember last year when you were supposed to? When you were too busy to meet me, Tom Rashan? Later, Rashan. So you went out to, Tom Rashan worked at Warner Brothers? Yes, he was one of the art director, in-house art directors for Warner Brothers. How my ass tastes, Rashan. So you went out there to sort of fire him. Not fire him. Did you get to fire him

from Warner Brothers too no but you you were just telling me you're off the the REM account yes but I had to go in and say hey I'm taking over REM but I have no idea what I'm doing. Can you please teach me how to do it? Oh, train your replacements. Yeah. And he is a charming man and taught me a huge amount. Oh, that's cool. I still have much love for the man. What a great guy. That's cool.

Is he still at Warner Brothers? He's not at Warner Brothers. He's still in the industry. Did he design the covers for everything from monster on just like like hoping he like maybe well he is credited on monster because that was the first one i did for them and he helped me through the process that were michael me and tom are all credited whatever happened to marcus jackson uh i wonder that Did he ever get to Los Angeles? Yeah.

I think he's still, he's got to be out there. Forties at this point. Yeah. I think he's still in the terminal at the Atlanta airport. Wow. Um, well,

this is what an incredible story. We need to take a break, but when we come back, we have so much more to talk about. we so many things that I want to ask you about. But we do need to take this what I call a break. So we'll be right back with a little more Are You Talking R.E.M. Remy after this. Hey, Adam.

Yeah. I know I talk about it in the body of the show, but I wanted to do a little ad here for PCAST Blast. Oh, Adam. Yeah. I know I talk about it in the body of the show, but I wanted to do a little ad here for PCAST Blast. Oh, yeah, please. PCAST Blast 2018, the second year. We had a ball doing it last year. Yeah. It's basically what it is.

Does that mean a good or bad time? I had a testicle. Oh. Doing it. Yeah. How this came about was I wanted to do, like, an end-of-the-year comedy bang-bang show at the Ace Hotel where we had a great show there a few years back on the comedy bang-bang tour. But I thought like, you know, what would be cooler is if I got a lot of my favorite podcasts and we just did an all-day thing. So we did it the first time last year.

It was awesome. I had a really good time. And so this year, uh, I wanted to do with all new shows, different shows, uh, other than comedy bang bang.

So it's a comedy bang bang show with myself and Paul F. Tompkins and Lauren Lapkus and then other special guests. But the, uh, supporting shows are the Andy Daly pilot, uh, podcast project. Great.

Andy Daly. Amazing. And Great. Andy Daly, amazing, and is going to do one of his favorite characters for this. We also have- Which one? Do you know? I do know, but I cannot say. He is, goddammit, that guy's funny. So then we also have Doughboys with Mitch and Nick.

Oh, cool. Reviewing restaurants. We have Throwing Shade, which is a great show. We have Off Book. I, which is a great show. We have Off Book. I'm really excited about this. Off Book, the improvised musical. Oh, that's cool.

They're going to improvise a musical with a piano player and band right on stage for you with a special guest. And we have Teacher's Lounge, which is one of the funniest shows on Stitcher Premium with Big Grande, Drew Tarver, and everyone there.

It's so funny. Drew's so funny. So that is a really good lineup. This is Saturday, December 15th at the Theater at the Ace Hotel here in LA. Tickets are still available, but they're going to sell out. So get them while you can.

I think there are still VIP tickets available where you can meet everyone from the Earwolf family. I wouldn't recommend that one. Yeah. I mean, you know, just... You're going to be awkward. I'm going to be awkward. Take a pass. I wouldn't recommend that one. Yeah. I mean, you know, just, you're going to be awkward. I'm going to be awkward.

Let's just take a pass. Just get a normal ticket. So go buy tickets. You can get them at the theater at the Ace Hotel website. Go check it out. Bye.

Bye. Welcome back. Are you talking R.A.M. Remy? Our guest of honor here in a very special Slowin' It Down episode is Chris Bilheimer, who has designed all REM records since 1994. So 25 years you've been in the game. And you started with the scary one. And we have a lot of questions about this.

What is the face? What is this thing? Is it your face? No. Because I talked about how handsome you were. I didn't think it could be you. If you squint, I could see the result. Hold on.

Let me squint a little bit. No. You're too good looking. You're too good looking. Thank you. It's so scary. It's frightening. So if you saw where it came from, it came from a balloon that was bought at a department store.

And it was a large balloon that would blow up. It would be about four feet tall. And the idea of it. Scott, it's okay. Four feet tall. It's not that tall. Scott, it's okay. Four feet tall. It's not that tall. Frightening. It's not that tall.

So this balloon would have, it was kind of had two parts to it. What? It looks very phallic. And so they had different things on different balloons, but on all of them, the main part of the balloon was the body. And then on the tip part was the head of the balloon. Of the balloon. Oh, okay. Because you mentioned phalluses.

Yes. But also the head of the bear? So, the bear body was on the main part of the balloon, and then the head. So, supposedly, I think when you blew it up, it was supposed to be attached. Okay. It was supposed to look like a balloon animal. Yeah. blew it up it was supposed to like be attached like it was supposed to look like a balloon animal yeah but when it's deflated it just looks like the animal this bear's head is just sort of like popped off his shoulders and it's just floating yeah it's really just strange yeah okay um now

wait how did you run across it and buy it or did michael did okay michael saw this balloon michael saw this balloon like this thing is hilarious because this bear just looks sort of startled and his head just like went. And it looks like a giant dick. Yeah, well, there's that too. And so was Michael at a department store and saw it? As far as I know. Weird. Like a Sears or JCPenney?

Sure. I like to imagine him. Just someone at JCPenney like, where is it? Michael Stipe came in today? He's walking around looking at the slacks. And so he brought it in and said, I want to use this bear head on the album cover because I think this is hilarious. And I don't know if the story's ever come out or not. Wow.

But the original title for the album was Exploding Head. Really? That's what they were going to call the album. Okay. Based on the balloon? Or just because those were words that they liked? I don't know. Exploding Head.

Yes. So I did all these mock-ups, all these different versions with this bear head. It was called exploding head. And then, uh, Kurt Cobain. Uh, Oh,

and, uh, which was devastating for Michael, devastating for everyone in the band. Yeah. And, um, we thought we can't put out a record.

No, no. After that. And so, but you want to put out something that, Exploding Head has like, just the words have an energy to them, which they're probably trying to.

Yeah. Get across as like, hey, this is going to be exciting. And I know that, you know, Michael's talked about the whole kind of sexual undercurrent of the lyrics and the album. Yeah.

So Exploding Head. Yeah, yeah. Right. Especially taking off a giant phallus balloon. I get it. A lot of things can be interpreted. i get it i've done it yeah i've done it before so so you have actual mock-ups yeah that say exploding head correct are those going to be a surface at any point uh it's not my decision you know since our last since our last episode someone close to the band i can't remember

if it's someone in the band or not, has said that next year there will be a reissue, 25th anniversary of The Scary One. And that's very exciting

because now I feel like we got this in with Bird of Stands. We might get this like a week early. Whoa. So that's exciting for us. But are you working on that? are you working on that are you working on that uh no i i'm sure we'll be starting at some point you will early next year so uh can

i just say i'm excited to hear the demos from monster that's i can't wait to hear demonstration tapes yeah yeah yeah so now you you have mock-ups for Exploding Head. You have, do you have pictures of, what exactly is the cover? Is it the flattened down balloon? What happened, this is kind of the funny thing. So yeah, I Xeroxed it and taped it on the wall. And I hired a friend to come photograph it because I didn't think I was a very good photographer. So I hired this woman named Patty to come over. Patty Smith?

Yes. Wow. And hired her to come over and take a photo of it. And she was like, okay, can you go ahead and just frame it how you want it framed, and then I'll make sure it's lit and that sort of stuff. And so I framed it and accidentally took a photo of it. And then it was like, oh, sorry. And so she lit it properly and focused everything

and took all the photos. We got them back after having them developed. And the one photo- This is before digital photography. The one picture I took is shitty, out of focus, and underexposed. So it has this kind of like weird orange color yeah and of course michael picked that one yeah so so i actually you you fell into your style

exactly your whole style accidentally accidentally so that is a wow out of focus photograph yeah it does have a fuzzy look it's fuzzy a lot like, I mean, I'm going to compare it to the guitar sounds with those electric guitars. What? It's fuzzy like that. What the fuck, Eddie? So the original is a much sharper image. Correct, yeah. And did that, what about the art?

Were you able to track down the artist who made the bear design? Not the artist, but we contacted the balloon company and said we would like to use this. And they were like, why are you bothering us? They're like, what? We just sell balloons. Get the fuck out of here.

We thought, okay, we're going to go the biggest band in the world right now and we're going to go ask these people, hey, can we use your art?

And like, oh God, they're going to try to squeeze us. They're going to give us the REM discount, which is where they jack up the price. And we're like, oh, geez.

And so we wrote them and we got the best letter back from them. And they said, oh, we would absolutely love for you to use it. And if you want to buy some extra balloons, we would be happy to sell you some. How adorable. That's really sweet. They let us use it and we bought a couple thousand extra balloons to give away. Oh, that's so nice. It was absolutely adorable. That's cool. That's really sweet. They let us use it. For free. And we bought a couple thousand extra balloons to give away. Oh, that's so nice. It was absolutely adorable.

That's cool. That's great. Wow. So you took this photo. It had a little bit of an orange tint. And then you tinted the whole album orange? Yeah, I made it a lot more orange. Wow.

That was Michael's kind of favorite color at the time. And he was where all of the graphics kind of, you can't really see it by looking at it, but it was sort of like 70s. How else are you supposed to see it? No, the inspiration was like 70s cereal box. Yeah. Like color scheme and big block letters.

Yeah, how did you, okay, because your type, the fonts that you would use throughout the years, and even on the Mr. Show book and everything, they seem very do you create them or but they all seem within the same universe do you know what i mean yeah um some of them i create uh one thing i do with a lot of stuff is i might use an existing font but a lot of times i will print them out and rub them with sandpaper or get them wet or, you know, rub them on the carpet or just do something to distress, distress it,

to get rid of the, the digital sheen of, I want everything to not seem as though we're created on a computer. Right. And so there's, there's a lot of these processes that we would, I would do, uh,

Michael and I would work on together, uh, to, to distress them and get rid of that. I was thinking about this when I was looking at a record from the, I believe the sixties, it has something very similar, but I saw this, uh, just yesterday, um, Mel Torme's, uh, coming home Home Baby. Have you ever seen this record? I have not. Okay, let me show you a picture of this. Is that the Velvet Fog? The Velvet Fog, yeah.

He distresses it in kind of a similar sort of way. This is where it's like duplicated a little bit. It reminded me of your work. And when you mentioned that, it's- Oh yeah, that's cool.

Yeah. Anyway, that was the first time I'd ever seen that. I looked at it yesterday. I was just listening to Mel Torme and I was like, how weird that he's, because normally albums back then were very like pristine, like this is Mel Torme or whatever, and a nice picture of him.

And it's like weird typesetting and distressed and everything. Will you invite me back on when you guys start doing, are you talking Mel Torme, Torme? Torme. Are you talking Tork and Mel Torme? Tork and Torme. A Tork, Mel Torme-centered podcast. You know what I did notice?

I remember at the time, the album came out in like the fall of 94, and that kind of block lettering with the slightly italicized really started, like you guys set a bit of a trend, like Natural Born Killers, all their font was that exact same. It was kind of a 90s thing that you guys started. I did not know that. Really? You you guys started i i did not know that really you didn't know it was all over the place just a dude in small town in georgia right how did how were you attracted to that kind of thing were you like when you saw that photo that you took were

you like oh well i get it you just fuck everything up and just like you know it's funny because my uh sort of entrance into getting into music and album covers and like you know listening to album and staring at the vinyl cover was rem albums so you know i was looking at murmur which is a weird blurry black and white photo right and um you know reckoning which is an incredibly bizarre, you know, folk artist. I was like, I was looking at things that were not slick. Yeah. That were not, you know, kind of mass market design. And that's what I grew up on.

Were you also influenced by any of the punk records where they would do, like, cut out headlines and cut out letters? Well, similar to my reaction to Minutemen, I was scared. Too scary. Too scary. But I mean, it's a lot like your album cover for The Scary One. It's very, very frightening. That's – And I'm not convinced that when you took that photograph,

that you didn't actually photograph a ghost. That's too scary. That's too scary. I'm so sorry. Turn off this podcast right now. I will – too scary. That's too scary. I'm so sorry. Turn off this podcast right now. I will, I should say though that Chris did design

the American Idiot album cover with that logo with the grenade heart. That's Chris Bilheimer. Yeah. Okay. I met

Billy Joe Armstrong at, with Lance Bangs and I were, so, when Monster was touring, I don't know if any of you guys saw the monster tour, but there were a lot of times.

Yeah. Who do you think you're talking to over here? Of course he did. So, uh, one of the first jobs Lance did for our aim was some of the films that were during, during that show.

And so, uh, he and I, uh, wanted to go see the tour. He worked on it. I worked on it, but,

uh, it started over in Europe and there's really no need for the band to fly the graphic designer to the shows. So he and I decided, fuck it, let's just fly to San Francisco on our own and go to the show. And that's an episode in itself,

just the trip and flying the Flying Spanx could probably be its own podcast. But so we went to see them at Mountain View. Yeah. And we're backstage and we look and there's this dude in the corner, these really long dreadlocks and a hat pulled down over his eyes. And he's just kind of this gnarly punk rock dude.

He's sitting in the corner all by himself and like literally no one is talking to him. And Lance looks over and goes, kind of looks like the dude from Green Day. But he's got really long dreadlocks. Well, turns out Billy Joe, huge R.A.M. fan, wanted to come to the show. But didn't want to be noticed. Didn't want to be noticed. And his wife had just cut off all her dreadlocks recently. So he put on a stocking cap

and just shoved all the smart dreadlocks up in there as a costume. Yep. And so you can't do that these days. It'd be very culturally inappropriate. But back then, I guess you could do stuff like that.

Because everyone knows that it's a common disguise now. Yeah. Sure, yeah. You see anyone with giant dreadlocks. Just go pull on them. They'll come right out. That's probably a famous common disguise now. Yeah. Sure, yeah. You see anyone with giant dreadlocks. Just go pull on them. They'll come right out. That's probably a famous punk rocker.

Yeah. So he's just sitting there. So he's just sitting there. And Lance has this amazing ability to walk up to people and befriend them almost immediately. Right. And so that was in 95. And so Lance and Billy Joe and I became friends. And then I started working for them in 97.

And so I did all of Green Day's albums. Oh, because, yeah, around the 97, yeah, that first one had, like, the typeface. What was that first one you worked on? Nimrod. Nimrod, yeah, exactly, yeah. The distressed typeface. Yep, there it is, yeah. So your whole type of, I want to say not oeuvre, but like your aesthetic.

Yeah, exactly. Became sort of how a lot of alternative records looked in the late 90s, early 2000s, right? I mean, just like you have a very distinct, it's almost like that photographer who took all the pictures of Kurt Cobain and Soundgarden in the fisheye lens or whatever that's a very like that's very like early 90s yeah you're that was yeah that was my my start and and i still i still lean on that a lot of times it still comes up i've tried to branch out and do do other different stuff but that is kind of but that stuff is so i mean it doesn't't really go out of style in a way. Like certain elements of it may seem kind of trendy at the time, but like your whole thing of like, no, no, no.

Why are we making stuff that looks like. Just trying to make it organic and feel real. And that's. That's incredible. What is your favorite album cover that you did for rem uh uh i would probably accelerate oddly enough accelerate yeah okay yeah that's a great one i'm really that was a really fun one michael just gave me a whole bunch of photography he had done traveling around europe and i just took buildings of buildings i just took all of the buildings

from all of the photos and Xeroxed them and cut them out with a glue stick and an X-Acto knife and created, he was talking about a dystopian society that being the sort of the undercurrent of the theme. And so I just kind of created this

really, really awkward, just cobbled together cityscape from his old photos. And it was just really, really awkward, just cobbled together cityscape from his old photos. And it was just really fun to do such a lo-fi. I mean, literally, I was at Kinko's with an X-Acto knife

and a glue stick and not caring that, oh, this is a big album for Warner Brothers. Like, yeah, I'm just going to... Just make something cool. That's my favorite of,

of yours as well. Oh, incredible. What about the, the, that font for accelerate? Where did that come from? That,

uh, I made times new. You made, you made the, yeah, you made that font really fat. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh my God. Did you make it? Do you, when you make a font like that, do you do it for every letter of the alphabet in case they need to do tour? Yes. Uh, posters and all that kind of stuff. And then there's a, do you do it for every letter of the alphabet in case they need to do tour yes uh posters and all that kind of stuff and then there's a do you do exclamation points

and question marks all of that comma semicolons sometimes hashtags semicolons are three hashtags oh thank god they're scott's favorites yeah um incredible and uh, how did you get to know Adam over here? Um, you'll probably remember kind of. Cause you mentioned Lance Banks has a way of approaching anyone and becoming their friends. He has sort of the opposite of that. So I'm interested in how did this. Approaching someone and becoming enemies. Yeah. Um, you'll probably remember the, probably the, the high point for rem's career the one that they're most most remembered for is their appearance on party of five ah yes of course we've talked about that yeah most people like yes there's the pre-party of five rem and the post-party of five yes of course party of five being the pinnacle yes yeah yeah and adam being

on the show uh pre-getting fired adam sc, weaseled his way into the performance taping. So I actually was out here in LA. I think I was still working on artwork for the Up album cover. And this is still 99, so there's the internet. I still actually had to travel out here to go to the pressing plants and the printing place and the pre-press stuff. So I was in town for that so I came for the taping.

And I don't actually remember how we met at the taping. Undoubtedly, Adam figured out who you were, went up to you, and just glommed on. I knew exactly who Chris Bilheimer was. By sight? When we met, I was like, holy shit, it's Chris Billheimer.

It's Chris fucking Bill. But I think the first time we really hung out and chatted was at St. Nick's Bar after the taping. Remember they played like a full show after they shot the party of five so on one episode i told the story of after we shot the scenes i don't think i was even in the scene um and rem took a break and everyone came in to watch them play their show i went up to the very front and stood there and no one else was everyone else was too cool nev campbell yeah everyone was like i'm not gonna go up and yeah and adam's like i will this is my one opportunity to be right up front in a tiny place to see rem with only like 70 other people and so i just stood there for an hour and i

remember naomi being like what are you doing um but after that a bunch of us went to St. Nick's to speaking of St. Nick do you remember that bar? no I just he's you know Christmas is coming up Santa Claus

yeah and some of you guys the REM folks came and I think do you remember that? yes okay

and I think that's where we chatted and hung out for the first time yeah um and you guys struck uh struck up a friendship that has lasted to this day yeah chris and now i know you're you're running out of time adam isn't that right uh can we just briefly run down you you were nice enough to make your top 10 rem songs we have to play them but can you just briefly run down exactly what they are um, is this a difficult thing for you to do to come up with your favorite REM songs

being so close to the band for so many years and stuff? No, not really. Okay, cool. All right, well, let's hear them. I mean, there is definitely a change of perspective when you're you're a fan of the band yeah and then you start working for the band yeah you definitely have a different perspective but you know i never really stopped being a fan of the band i can tell you that i don't i don't have any albums that my former bosses have ever sung on you know like i don't my manager at Marie Callender's never put out a record

really? you don't have a favorite? so I imagine it would be like oh that's my boss singing yeah but you know honestly it does skew

more towards the fan era the fan era yes got it the working for them era and also part of this a lot of them are a lot of them are kind of the first songs off the albums I've always this a lot of them are a lot of them are kind of the first songs off the albums

I've always like a lot of the bands I've worked with over the years like I've worked with a lot of cool bands but I'm actually not nearly as cool as the bands I've worked with and I'm kind of the person that well if you were you'd be in the band like you're the guy who's designing their covers

no one expects you to be as cool as them it's like the Minutemen like at first I'm like, I don't get this and I'm terrified. And then eventually I can kind of work my way back in. Right. With Sonic Youth, they would have to put out Goo, which is kind of a much more accessible record. And then I can go like, oh, okay, now I get it. I can hear some of their early stuff, but you really like from Goo on.

Yeah. So I'm a little bit of the hits guy. Yeah. Me too. Green is like maybe my favorite of the REM records still. Yeah. Yeah. I probably, Pageant was probably the one that at the time had the most impact.

That's mine. That's my number one. Yeah. All right. So what do we got? Let's- The top songs that I just kind of jotted down. Camera. Oh, yeah.

Wendell G. Yep. I would argue is the most beautifully sung R.E.M. song of all time. Oh. If you really focus on his vocals on that song, it is for what could kind of be considered maybe a throwaway last song on the album. He sells? He really is.

It's amazing. Is it his tone or the way he sells it? Both. That you think? Both. Okay. It's a real lump in the throat. It really is.

That song. Do you have another lump in your throat? Yeah. Do you have a cup I can spit into? Off Dead Letter Office Office Bandwagon oh yeah such a happy song oh so good

such a happy song yeah Driver 8 classic Driver 8 classic trying to get some of the

older Leave off High Five yeah I loved that song me too Leave

and then as I was making this list it's's like Finest Work Song, Begin to Begin, Pop Song 89. All of them are the big announcing the album. That's so funny. We have some of the similar favorites. Yeah. Well, that's why you guys are friends. Yeah. Because of this list.

Exactly. Talk About the Passion. Yeah. And trying to go back to Accelerate for my favorite album cover Living World's the Best Revenge again

great stuff kickoff song great stuff what's your favorite just curious what's your favorite later stage post Bill Barry record

probably Accelerate yeah yeah good shit me too yeah also me also me

also you good shit Chris I want to me also me also you good shit Chris I want to thank you for being here I mean we could sit and talk with this guy for hours for every album

I could ask questions about the arts as you can see I'm interested in how you made the records and just that story about Monster is incredible

I don't know that anyone knows that but also you're doing the art for all of these box sets that are coming out the automatic box that. But also, you're doing the art for all of these box sets that are coming out, the automatic box that came out. All of that stuff.

Like the automatic book that comes in the thing is all yours. Every issue I've been working on. Incredible work. Do you get points on the record? What do you... Not at all.

Flat fee, huh? Yeah. That's too bad. I think that's great. I think that's great for Chris. It's like Steve Albini. He just gets a flat fee. Just a flat fee. That's all you want.

You don't need points on these things. Who wants that? You have to deal with the checks. Just get a flat fee, baby! That's the way to go! I want to thank you so much for... You flew out here to be on the show as well. A lot like the story

did you get uh another ticket from marcus jackson or did you are you still following marcus around to find his tickets actually marcusjackson.com now is uh you can just get any target anywhere you want he's a travel agent now um thank you so much for doing for flying out here to be here uh you know i mean obviously your your whole aesthetic is such a big part of the band so much for flying out here to be here. Obviously, your whole aesthetic is such a big part of the band, and hopefully we've shed a little

light on how much of that is, because I don't think people even really realize it who don't pay attention to names like Adam does when he hears your name and goes, I gotta befriend this guy. So hopefully we've... He is. Hopefully people have grown

in appreciation for you and look up Chris's name and look up all of the records. A lot of your favorite records are his work and some of the whole reason that you sit there and think about the songs

and think about how cool they are are because of what he's done. So thank you so much for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, thank you. That's going to be it until next time. And by the way, we are going to do an episode next week. We're going to have a special Christmas episode, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we'll see you next week as well. And thank you so much for being here for a very special slowing it down episode. Let's take it out on one of your favorite songs. This is Bandwagon by R.E.M. We'll see you next time. And until then, we hope that you found what you're looking for.

Bye. Bye. Hey, Queeros. It's me, Cammie Esposito, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, Queery. You can sit in on hour-long conversations between me, Cameron Esposito, and some of the brightest luminaries in the LGBTQ family. Queery explores individual stories of identity, personality, and the shifting cultural matrix around gender, sexuality, and civil rights. Plus, it is fun. We have had some incredible guests.

Uh, Emmy winner Lena Waithe? Yes, definitely. Congressman Mark Takano? You bet. L Word creator Eileen Shakin? Yes. President and CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis? We definitely have. We've got celebs. People like Trixie Mattel, Evan Rachel Wood, Tegan and Sarah, the band, and the people separately on two different episodes. We also have activists and changemakers in our community. I think it's a one-of-a-kind show full of chats you have never heard before. It's identity, it's community, it's query. You can find Query every Monday on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.