Craig Wedren, Musician

Vital Stats:

- Craig Wedren
- 35 years old (as of this Sunday, 8/15 -- Happy Birthday!)
- Musician: lead-singer of BABY and Film Composer -- "I make music for love and money, in sickness and in health, till deaf do we part."
- Born in NYC; Grew-up in Ohio and D.C.; now lives in "Fucking 'Nolita.' Pussy-ass New York neighborhood names."

Craig's World:

On the possibility of a Shudder to Think reunion:
There's internet 'chatter.' We deliberately parted company with enough love gasoline left in the tank that we shouldn't burn down the house altogether, and that maybe we could resume at a later date. If and when that is remains to be worked out.

On battling and beating Hodgkin's Disease:
Writing (Shudder to Think's) 50,000 BC was my creative life-line which kept me sane. It occupied my imagination. While I was going through treatment, I had roughly enough energy for about one activity per day, and that seemed like the only option -- writing, rehearsing, and recording 50,000 B.C.

On his current band BABY and his solo work:
BABY is a band comprised of friends who were all too punk or too cool or whatever to let themselves indulge Top 40 music after the eighth grade. We are now making up for lost time, and intend to twist the tired genre into something genuinely new with the express purpose of tits-and-ass-washing you (it's brain washing for your sexy parts) until everybody who's cool enough to not worry about being 'cool' (read self-conscious & boring) shows us their secret dances. It’s obviously very different than Shudder To Think.

My solo stuff is a cross between music I would have written for Shudder To Think, songs I've written for movies, and the more textural feel of my film scores. Everybody in BABY has multiple gigs; we'd love to be giving it more of our time if we could afford it. So far the entire endeavor has been out of my deeply shallow pocket.

On creating music for films, the differences between film and band work, and how he feels about becoming (we think) the Danny Elfman of the indie rock and film worlds:
One balances out the other. When I started doing soundtrack stuff (beginning with music for The State on MTV, then First Love, Last Rites with Shudder To Think), it was the result of feeling frustrated and straight-jacketed by the relatively rigid rock song/album/band format. There was a lot of music that I was making in my spare time that simply did not fit into a 3-5 minute, verse-chorus, guitar-drums-bass-vocals structure, and soundtrack work gave (and continues to give) me a forum for all that other stuff. I mean, if you think about it, the pop song is such a small piece of the musical pie, both genre-wise and historically. With movie music, diversity, flexibility, and a degree of musical-style hopscotch/schizophrenia is considered an asset and a strength; the same qualities in pop/rock music are frowned upon as dilettante-ism by the fans, and a marketing nightmare by the business.

On the impact of NYC on his music:
Living and writing in NYC is a knife that cuts both ways. On one hand it's New York: constant stimulation, cultural collage, bodies on top of bodies, sound and vision all the time. Every night there is some memorable, if not historic, performance (or ten of them) happening within spitting distance of home. This can be very inspiring. However, the very same factors can create a spoiled, numbing effect. There are too many options; there is too much noise. Overstimulation can lead to paralysis. It's hard to hear the sound of your own voice (both literally and figuratively) above the din.

There is also the very real problem of cost of living. It forces one to make different choices -- career-wise and therefore musically -- than one might in a cheaper and more spacious environment. It's more of a schlep to play live. It's a fortune to have your own rehearsal space, or a recording studio where you can actually fit a full band. (I make records in the second bedroom.) All of these factors and limitations change the music, for better and for worse.

On the commonality and community of New York bands:
I would say that the only real thread is some sort of darkly romantic, bohemian allure that New York has, or used to have, that still draws artists, dreamers, and freaks from the four winds. Sadly, with the Sex And The City-fication of New York, it has all but priced itself out of being any kind of real creative hotbed. In New York, you can't afford to fail, and the most exciting music requires a kind of experimental approach which necessarily risks failure at every turn. In short, New York artists have become a bit safe, despite the bluster and bravado.

On his musical influences and favorite current bands:
X, John Cage, Rolling Stones, Ennio Morricone, David Lynch, Kenneth Anger, The State and related projects, my friends, noise, silence, Meggan, Nino Rota, Aaron Copeland...the list goes on and on. Their influence is prevalent in everything I do, not stylistically so much as inspirationally.

Lately I've been listening to Joanna Newsome, TV On The Radio, Devendra Banhart, Services, and Coco Rosie. I saw Joanna Newsome and Devendra Banhart recently at Bowery Ballroom, and Joanna Newsome blew me away. She's the real deal -- jawdropping. Services is a band that hand-plays death metal samples like hip-hop and disco beats, and then rants over them. Kind of like Suicide meets Scratch Acid at a Danceteria party for remixes of classic Slayer.

Ten Things to Know about Craig (with debt to Proust, Krucoff, Meyers-Briggs and previous G.I.s):

What's the best thing you've ever purchased/salvaged from the street?
My girlfriend, Meggan, and I just found an Eames chair on the street in Little Italy.

Which city establishment sees more of your paycheck than you do?
The band BABY.

Gotham Madlib: When the ________________ (noun) makes me feel _______________ (adverb), I like to ______________ (verb). Feel free to answer, or explain your answer.
When the dream makes me feel randy, I like to rock.

Personality problem solving: Would you consider your personality more hysterical or more obsessive, and have you changed since living in New York; has "New York" become a part of you and vice-versa?
I'm more obsessive than hysterical, although the two do co-exist nicely as spices in my otherwise neurotic Jew stew. I've probably changed quite a bit since moving to New York seventeen years ago at the age of eighteen; but the main (change) is my haircut.

NYC confessional: do you have a local guilty pleasure?
Umberto's Clam House.

When you just need to get away from it all, where is your favorite lace in NYC to be alone, relish in solitude and find your earthly happiness? (We promise not to intrude.)
- East River.
- Anywhere on my bicycle.
- There's one place in Central Park around 79th with great paths and a pond – I don't know what it's called.

Describe that low-low moment when you thought you just might have to leave NYC for good.
Saving pennies and ticking off the minutes for my sole daily meal of Wendy's 99-cent chili a few weeks in a row, a few years ago.

What's one thing you've done (or regularly do) in NYC that you could not have conceived doing anywhere else?
Single-handedly carry 30lb amplifiers up 4 flights of steep stairs in all weather on a regular basis.

311: Help or hoopla? Have you ever put it to use?
What is it?

There are 8 million stories in The Naked City. Tell us one, but try to keep it to a New York Minute.
When I was a freshman I college (1987), I went to see The Sugarcubes play a "secret" show at CBGB with my girlfriend. We drank a few 40s of Bud on the street beforehand, so as to keep our bar-tab low (we were shrewd students, after all), and so we wouldn't have to move from our place in the audience. The show was mobbed, but we were right near the stage -- very exciting. Unfortunately, we both had to pee real bad. So (my girlfriend) takes one of those little red, Italian candles from off of one of the little tables within reach (which, for some reason, nobody had bothered to move), sticks it under her skirt, pees in it, then puts it back on the table. "Genius," I think, and follow suit, surreptitiously unzipping my fly and sticking my dick in another Italian candle. But she was a little girl, with an even smaller bladder, and I am a big-bladder man. So I start filling one candle after another, trying not to be seen by any of the crush of audience members (no pun intended) around us. Each time I fill a candle, I have to force-cut the flow, hold it, put the candle back on a table, find another, then do it all again, each time getting a little more piss down my pant-front, until, by the third or fourth candle, I'm drenched and there are piss-filled candles everywhere.

Then the Sugarcubes come on. It rocks.

Afterward, soaking wet with sweat and urine, I walk back to my dorm (Brittney) and, in the winter chill, the front of my pants freeze.

Craig Wedren will be playing a free show of solo material at The Living Room on Thursday 8/26. BABY's next scheduled show is on September 30 at Pianos. BABY's new album is available via their web site at www.babynyc.com or at cdbaby.com. Wedren was formerly frontman of the band Shudder to Think, and in recent years has written the scores and other original music for films such as Roger Dodger, Laurel Canyon and The School of Rock. He is currently scoring Dylan Kidd's upcoming feature P.S., and wrote the title theme for Comedy Central's Reno 911. You can also visit Craig's personal site at www.craigwedren.com for more information on his current projects and shows.

-- Interview by Aaron Dobbs and Lily Oei