M.C.: About a month ago you released your third album, Perpetual Insanity. To me it sounds like you took a different approach to this one compared to your previous album called Oddities. Can you describe the differences?
K.R.: Yeah, my brain was like a tennis ball since October. I had a title for this album before I even started it, but wasn't sure if I could create a theme based on the title. In many ways this was like the first album, but not like the second album, but I thought I had a title for the second album before I started it too. So I think all three albums had titles before recording ever started. I guess they're all the same.
M.C.: But musically, and I think thematically, this one is different than the last one. It seems to me the theme for Perpetual Insanity is stronger and more tighter than on Oddities and I don't notice a theme of any kind on Lexicographic Lint. Don't you agree?
K.R.: Well, yeah, musically they are different. It's like having different kinds of eggs. You know the first one was like a fried egg and the second one was like an egg salad, and this one is like scrambled eggs. I think when I do the next one I should aim for an omelet. Or a pair of pants.
M.C.: How did you approach making this album?
K.R.: Well, in terms of eggs, I guess I must have opened up some eggs into a pot or something. And then maybe I stirred them, or no... How do I make scrambled eggs again? I got some English muffins or... yes, it was waffles and cheese and Doritos. And I carefully added salt although they say you can't have salt, but I had salt anyway because I usually don't salt things, so I thought let's salt some scrambled eggs. I think that's what I did, unless I forgot.
M.C.: Is there some sort of cryptic meaning behind that answer?
K.R.: Well, you can try finding millipedes when you're walking along a sidewalk. I always make sure I look for them. There was one time when I used to see a lot of them. I found it odd that some of them seemed to ride on top of each other and I've been wondering if the top one was sleeping or taking a break. I can't imagine what they could be doing as it seems they must get up at the crack of dawn and then walk around in the shade all morning until the sun comes out. I just can't imagine getting up at the crack of dawn, let alone waking up underneath a rock, and then walking around all morning. I'd have no time for making sandwiches.
M.C.: I found the song "The Möbius Strip" interesting. What's it about?
K.R.: I read a short science fiction story a long time ago. I can't remember who wrote it. But the idea behind the story was that time "flowed" not in a straight line, but curved into itself so that everything kept repeating. The Möbius Strip takes this idea and applies it to humanity. Although the song focuses on the negative qualities of humanity, which are hard to overlook, it implies in a subtle manner that the loop can be broken if we only learn from our mistakes. It's probably the only song I have written that portrays a message that is more easily understandable. And if it isn't then I guess I might as well count my Q-Tips and hope I get an even number.
M.C.: I find the middle instrumental section with the piano in it interesting.
K.R.: Yeah, I was playing with fractions. Math is strange.
M.C.: What is the meaning behind "Sork?"
K.R.: It's a warning that evil approaches and that you should steer clear. Make sure you have spoons.
M.C.: "Bumblebee" is a fascinating song. How did you approach making this song?
K.R.: Ummm, it's kind of about walls between people and the possibilities of breaking them down. But it has a double meaning. Like when you think you have to burp and a fart comes out instead. The bumblebee is symbolic of a fart. I also thought that if Al Yankovic ever covered a song of mine, it would be this one. You know, like, Bumblebee, I have to pee. I also didn't use any synths in it.
M.C.: Dementia is a haunting song. It's got the craziness of Zappa, but it has such an eerie soundscape. I find it fascinating.
K.R.: I'm glad you like it. It started off with that driving bass line and then I played around and found this cool sounding backdrop. As the song progresses I run a piano line in sync with the bass line. The effect should be exhausting to the common brain. It kind of covers a lot of topical ground with respect to the universe and everything happening at the same time. It covers dog biscuits in a field and shoes looking out windows. And then newspapers and bananas watching TV and dirty dishes and parked vans. There is stuff about vacuum cleaners, and playing with toilets, and milk cartons in the basement. It's sort of the center of scrambled eggs.
M.C.: Did it take a long time to record?
K.R.: I think it took about two weeks unless I forgot. I might have taken a break and worked on something else, but then I might have worked the whole way through it. I also could have forgotten what I did. I don't know.
M.C.: "The Moment of Clarity" has a haunting and dark piano sequence. How did you make this?
K.R.: Quite by accident I think. This song is the representation of the opening of the clouds of insanity. It is when things become clear. Like the clear point of an album, or the clear point you reach when Gilligan's Island ends. It's like having a salad and noticing the dressing has already been put on without knowing if you put it on or if it arrived with it already put on. This is when things become clear and not so angular. Just like what I said about salads. Unless I had something else in mind.
M.C.: The last song, the title track, is made of several parts. I don't fully understand what the meaning is behind these sections and what the song as a whole is supposed to mean. Could you explain it?
K.R.: In many ways it is the evolution of oddities, like the culmination of all that is odd in the universe, like swimming pools and sewing machines. I took these juxtaposed ideas that came from the mixing brain and applied them carefully to a multi-part structure in such a way that you can't tell where the beginning and ending of the story is. This is supposed to represent the cyclic nature of the bouncing universe, which we may or may not be in. But somewhere I know, there is one like this. Firstly, we enter the realm but we have squatting brain problems because things we see we do not understand, so it is our river of illusions. Think of ripples on a lake and think about them over and over until you get confused. This is what they did in the Roman days. But when Galileo, or Kepler and Maxwell came along, we were no longer in the Roman Empire and the ripples made sense, but in the beginning they didn't. Next comes the consumer, but the consumer was always there except they didn't have TV commercials. This is what is represented by babbling about for cookies. When I see cookies, I see little edible frisbees made for the consumer to consume. In some cases, the greatest consumers break their own toilet seats.
M.C.: So this song has something to do with humanity in general and where we have been and maybe where we are going?
K.R.: Yes, I think so, but more on a scale beyond that of humanity, like big green hampers and fuzzy dice kinds of things. Anyway, this world full of cookies causes the universe to fall asleep. This leads to tea and macaroni and cheese and saber-toothed tigers. And when marbles start rolling through a puddle of butter on a table, the somnambulist appears, and he or she or it is looking for treats. Then when this happens it all goes backwards back to the beginning. After all that you have to wonder what the point was. Unless we all forgot.
M.C.: That's the strangest thing I've ever heard.
K.R.: I'm afraid the universe is stranger than that, my friend. You may not see any bird's nests around, but there sure are birds around. And Cadillacs, too.
M.C.: What do the backwards voices mean?
K.R.: It's when everything goes backwards although there are moments when things are going backwards at the same time as things going forwards. Some of the voices are referring to thinking about bladders. When you think about them, you become dual. And that's what makes this process perpetual.
M.C.: I... I don't know what to say.
K.R.: Neither do I. Unless I'm in a laundromat or driving a car on I-80.
M.C.: How has the success of Perpetual Insanity been?
K.R.: It kind of reminds me of bowling. You know when you stand there and wait for the neighbors in the next lane to finish. Then you let all that air go around your hands and up your nose. Then you figure out which hands, but not toes, go into the ball. Then you stride forward and loft the ball half way down the lane. I think that explains the success of this album. Or maybe not. Or... I guess.
M.C.: This has been a most entertaining interview. Thanks for your time and the thoughtful answers. Good luck to you.
K.R.: Thanks for the kielbasa.