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 Sitting backstage at the O2 Academy in London's Brixton
before another sold-out gig, the singer tries on yet another
label for size as he discusses what drives him 30 years into a
career that many argue changed the face of music.
"What motivates (us)? ... It's not about being inspired by
something or being motivated by something. If you decide to
become ... pardon the expression, a 'troubadour' then you become
a troubadour, that's who you are," says the 51-year-old, also
known as Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV.
"Its not even like ' Do you feel like doing it today?' , It's
just like - that's what I do."
The Pixies began with four albums and an EP in the late 80s and
early 90s. They broke up, then after a few more serious bumps in
the road, came back and kept going.
That first seven-year burst cut through the gloop of 80s pop
with raw screaming vocals, loud-quiet-loud dynamics and songs
about lust, the bible and UFOs, among them "Debaser" and "Monkey
Gone To Heaven". Everyone from Nirvana to David Bowie queued up
to pay homage.
The band split in 1993 as tensions boiled over between Thompson
and bass player Kim Deal, then reformed to huge acclaim in 2004.
Deal left again in 2013, leading to the Pixies' third
reincarnation, possibly their most challenging yet, as a band
ploughing on after the revolution it triggered had been absorbed
into the mainstream.
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It is a shift underlined half way through the Brixton concert, when
the Pixies' new bass player Paz Lenchantin steps up to the mic and
sings "All I Think About Now", a song she wrote with Thompson, a
plain-spoken tribute to Deal.
"The only reason I am here is Kim, so I thought it would be good to
sing about Kim, like a thank you letter," says Lenchantin backstage.
"We're kind of waiting for her (Deal's) sung response," adds
Thompson, chuckling.
In an early blow, "Indie Cindy", their first album after the
reunion, secured dire reviews.
But many critics have held up their current release "Head Carrier"
as a return to form. And there is a new solidity about the band
since Lenchantin joined full-time.
"She completes the band because without her we're just like three
dudes who just used to be in a band," says Thomson. "We're a band
again. We're Pixies again."
(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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