[chat transcript]
sonicmod: Radiohead should be arriving any moment, now. They are HERE!!!!!!!
Kevin: Has it been hard for you guys to get along while on the road and during the course of making the album?
RADIOHEAD: I mean, we have been together 11 years. Our friendship has grown a lot stronger over time. We have a lot of history, these things help fill this common bond. We are also touring with Teenage Fanclub. They get along very well. The best bands have friendship.
synapse: What are your favorite bands of the moment?
RADIOHEAD: Teenage Fanclub, Tricky, Laika, Supergrass, Sparklehorse.
synapse: Do you guys feel OK Computer is different from your previous albums?
RADIOHEAD: I hope so! There is a real sense that this is a band that has developed quite a bit from making Pablo Honey and The Bends. In some ways we were unrecognizable as the same band. But between The Bends and OK Computer there is more of a line of development.
lil_boy: What time is the David Letterman show on at with Radiohead performing?
RADIOHEAD: We are doing Letterman next Thursday, but I am unsure of the time that it will air.
Dew: Has the tour been fulfilling?
RADIOHEAD: This tour has been brilliant. The audiences have responded to the new material and the old material really well. It's been a sold out tour and it's been very exciting. It's our first tour for the album. And it started in North America.
rubbersoul: Radiohead, do you guys have favorite albums?
RADIOHEAD: We are listening to Al Green and Burning Spear on the bus. Personally I have been listening to PreMillennium Tension by Tricky and In It for The Money by Supergrass.
synapse: How do you feel about bands like Hanson?
RADIOHEAD: They kept us off the singles chart in the #1 spot in the UK! There has always been a demand for this bubble gum pop.
Spoonman: Is Pablo Honey an album you'd rather forget about or are you proud of it still?
RADIOHEAD: I think now that there are 4-5 years between it, we can now be proud of it. It's a good debut album, and shows that there is promise in the band. Towards the end of touring, it was the only benchmark of the band. Now that we have further benchmarks with The Bends and Ok Computer, they probably represent the band in a much better light. We can have some affection for Pablo Honey again.
Aoif: Who's Temm Betts?
RADIOHEAD: I haven't got a clue.
Claire: What is your favorite novel?
RADIOHEAD: Waterland by Graham Swift.
Kevin: Do you plan to do any more remixes for songs from OK Computer like you did for "Climbing Up The Walls"?
RADIOHEAD: There was talk at one point of Massive Attack remixing the whole album, but no solid plans of that yet.
Kevin: The Bends is dedicated to the late Bill Hicks. Why? Did his work give you any ideas for songs or lyrics?
RADIOHEAD: At the time I think that Thom felt that Bill Hicks was saying a lot of things that Thom was feeling at the time.
guccipiggy: OK Computer is very technology oriented. Have your thoughts on the Internet, etc. changed since the album's release?
RADIOHEAD: Computers, we all had them when we were recording the album around us. We haven't been able to log onto the Internet as much since we have been tour. To be in a chat room with people where people believe it's us is quite novel and fun.
Kevin: Why do you think most critics have mistaken OK Computer for a concept album?
RADIOHEAD: I think critics are looking for the next Pink Floyd of the moment. When we were getting into music Pink Floyd was a very dirty word. Looking at the album, it is a cohesive album. The art work was put together the same time as the tracks. Everything in the album seems quite related to each other. The people thinking that there was a concept came at the end since we organized the tracks and artwork together.
Vampirella: Hello loves, are you going to make a stand against moshing?
RADIOHEAD: It's something that Thom has been very keen to get kids to stop doing on this tour. We are not a band that that is appropriate for. It spoils the gig for people who just want to listen to the music. It also lets people down front get hurt. And Thom is very against it. So don't mosh at our gigs or you will incur the wrath of Thom.
TheCure: Who came up with the idea for the "Karma Police" video?
RADIOHEAD: Jonathan Glazer, who directed the video for "Street Spirit" had the idea for the video. It gained quite widespread support from the band since 4 of us didn't have to appear in it, which is always a bonus.
Dollydaydream: How does it feel to have attracted interest from Madonna??
RADIOHEAD: They weren't actually the real people at the show in NY. They were doubles that we hired to create media hype.
twyg-: Will you give credit to your soprano during the first verse of "Airbag"? Her voice is priceless. Was it sampled? Was she with you in the studio?
RADIOHEAD: Thom was there all the time and he's got a lovely voice. We had to hold him in some very peculiar grips to get him to sing that high!
synapse: If you could tour with anybody, who would you tour with?
RADIOHEAD: We are touring with Laika in the UK, later in the year we are doing some shows with DJ Shadow, which will be amazing.
itai: Are you guys feeling more self confident about yourselves now than you were before OK Computer?
RADIOHEAD: We are great.
Tourist: Did you enjoy yourselves at the Tibetan Freedom Concert, and if you have the chance, would you like to return next year?
RADIOHEAD: The whole weekend was an amazingly organized event and was a very important concert for us to be involved in. If Milarepa would like us to play again next year we would only be too happy, if the situation continues in Tibet. If we can lend any weight that we can to Milarepa , we would consider this an honor.
elia: VOX Magazine presented you as the first album of the next century? What do you say about that? If at all?
RADIOHEAD: Jumping the gun there, really, we still have another 2 years to live out. Maybe we will be the last band of this century.
synapse: Do you guys feel overwhelmed at your success?
RADIOHEAD: I think when "Creep" was a hit we were shit scared, because it seemed to be rapidly running out of our grasp. But any level of success that has come with OK Computer has come with a more gradual process of people listening to The Bends, seeing live shows and the diversity that is in the band. I think that we feel much more in control of this response now.
RADIOHEAD: Well I have to go, I am off. Bye Bye. See us on the highway, be it virtual or real.