An exclusive interview with Mark Williams

NP: I AM NEON PHOSPHOR

MW: hey, guy

NP: I HEARD YOU RECENTLY PUT TOGETHER A STUDIO UP IN DAVIS. IT'S ABOUT TIME. TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING RECORDING PROJECTS.

MW: it is about time. well, the first project is cleaning my four track's guts so that things will sound a bit prettier. part of that is producing a new vocal track for the clapping song. then comes alpha and omega. and then, well, the sky's the limit

NP: THE TONICS ARE PLAYING ON DEC. 28, ALSO THE RELEASE DATE OF THE ALBUM. WHAT SHOULD THE WORLD EXPECT?

MW: popular music by young musicians that's worth listening to. the beginning and end of that are meant to tie together.

NP: HOW IS THE ALBUM COMING ALONG?

MW: swimmingly. it'll slaughter.

NP: WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE? WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS ALBUM THAN ALL THE OTHER STUFF OUT THERE?

MW: authentic personality. as i wrote in the craigslist ad, this isn't about commercial success so much as it is about music that we, as a couple of guys with instruments, want to make. the alluring thing to me about any art, but especially folk art, is a persona coming to grips with its culture. and that seems to be wholly lacking in the music that's played on the radio today. leadbelly to woody guthrie to bob dylan to the beatles to the jam to the velvet underground seemed to have that personal interaction with their cultures

NP: WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TONICS THAN OTHER SO-CALLED "INDIE POP" SUCH AS THE SHINS AND THE POSTAL SERVICE?

MW: they seem a little too made-up, a little too afraid of making mistakes or seeming "pastiche," as the fuckers on somesongs glibly say. i remember reading some interview with billy corgan in which he talked about how difficult it was to come up with music that sounded original, and i think that all these indie bands feel so desperately that need to innovate that they've forgotten how to meaningfully innovate, that they've abstracted innovation out of the personal realm and into a strange public context. that's a dangerous thing to do, in my mind, and a little sheepish. very sheepish. i mean, elliott smith openly admitted that he had always listened to the beatles, which is a faux paus in indie music these days. it's ok to like the beatles

NP: SO WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? HAVE YOU MADE ANY NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THE PAST LATELY?

MW: steven just told me to listen to a bobby vee song, which i think is great. i've been listening to the band quite a bit. i've also been listening to the jam's "the gift" a bit, which was poppy when poppy was not so acceptable. and it's good stuff, though i'm getting a little sick of the I vi chord change

NP: LET'S SHIFT GEARS AND TALK GEAR. ARTA'S GOTTEN A NEW AMP AND PEDALS. WILL YOU BE GETTING SOME NEW EQUIPMENT YOURSELF ANYTIME SOON?

MW: i'm trying to get together the money to buy a strat and a new amp. it'll depend on what the pawn shops have.