Black Francis, lead singer of the Boston-based Pixies, could be considered a bit macabre.
"I knew this kid in third grade -- a horse bit his thumb off. And it grew back."
Pixies drummer David Lovering chokes back a laugh and refuses to believe the story.
"It's true, I swear. It grew back in three days," Black Francis says with a demonic grin.
Guitarist Joey Santiago doesn't seem to believe the story either and resumes his ping-pong battle with Love and Rockets' drummer Kevin Haskins, backstage at the two bands' concert Sept. 24 in Rec Hall.
What was a weight room the day before has now become a backstage dressing room for the Pixies. The band is preparing to take the stage for what is becoming known as one of the most ferocious live shows in rock today.
The critically acclaimed band has spent the summer shaking foundations across the U.S. as the opening act for Love and Rockets and the Cure. Their visceral assaults have made a lot of people pay attention. How can you afford not to listen with song titles like "Wave of Mutilation" and "Gouge Away"?
The band got its start in 1986 when Black Francis (who was then just Charles Thompson IV) dropped out of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to pursue a career in rock and roll. He convinced his old roommate, Joey Santiago, to likewise ditch college for music. The two placed an ad in a Boston paper seeking "a bassist for a Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary band."
Kim Deal was the only one who answered the ad. She answered it not because she was an aspiring bassist, but because she thought the ad was "cute." She did however bring her drummer friend, David Lovering who completed the band's line-up.
Their third and most recent album, Doolittle sat atop the indie charts for weeks and just last week the band worked themselves into, oddly enough, People magazine. A full page photo of the Pixies can be found behind the cover picture of Roseanne Barr's huge face.
Lovering explains that the magazine's ubiquity means "that anyone getting a filling or a root canal will now know the band."
"Or anyone taking a shit," Black Francis adds.
MTV viewers also got to know the Pixies since their video for "Here Comes Your Man" planted itself in regular rotation.
"The concept for the video was kind of obvious after 10 years of MTV, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, all in lip-sync," Black Francis explains. "So let's not lip-sync. Suddenly it's clever -- but clever's much too strong of a word."
All the flowers and the backdrop for the video were planned but the strange image distortion used wasn't planned at all, according to Black Francis.
"It probably would've been a really dull video if we hadn't stumbled upon the distortion," he said. "He said the band members were all just stoned" and the editor started playing around with distortion, which the band liked.
Could a dentist's waiting room journal and a hit video be the start of mainstream acceptance for the band? After all, the late 80s has seen the likes of U2, the Cure and REM emerge from the underground scene and make serious impressions on the top 40 charts.
The Pixies have already achieved mass success in England where they have performed in front of some of their largest crowds.
"I don't know why we're so big in England, It's just the way things go," Black Francis says. "We've played to huge crowds there. It must be the Benny Hill connection."
Lovering simply contends "that they have better taste."
The band would like their U.S. success to equal that of their success overseas, but the Pixies' fascination with breaking bones and taboo subjects like incest may cause the music industry to think twice about the band.
When asked about the lyrical content of his songs, Black Francis proudly picks up People and stumbles through his quote verbatim.
" 'We're not into violence. It's more abstract. I just like hard physical words because people hear them better. It's like throwing bricks out of your mouth instead of airy smoke.' "
The singer pauses and then adds, "Wow, I must've been really stoned when I said that."
