Transcript of TV Interview with Evan Dando by Paula Yates

from The Big Breakfast - May 1994

Paula Yates: Well, my guest this morning is something of a rock legend already because in the old days when boys were planning seductions you know they always put on the Matt Munro record and said "hey baby"? Well, now they don't, they put a Lemonheads record on and it doesn''t work at all because what happens is their girlfriend just go and sit in the corner and look at the album sleeve and cries, because they're looking at Evan Dando! And he's so fantastic, and the Lemonheads are so fantastic, and it says here (but I didn't like to do it) "The lead singer of the Lemonheads, and the man who has me reaching for my squeezer"! That's a bit much isn't it, at breakfast time? Now lots of people are probably stunned when they see you, because they're expecting long, luxuriant, mermaid hair - why did you cut it?

Evan Dando: It was really just for fun. Just to try something different. Y'know, I just wanted to...

PY: Were you very drunk?

ED: I was a little bit drunk. I just wanted to make a bit of a break with my previous image of the guy, like, with long hair.

PY: And do you miss it?

ED: Sometimes. It's a nice feeling to have hair. It's also a nice feeling to not have any.

PY: Right. But difficult to put in bunches now?

ED: Yeah, it's difficult...

PY: And I particularly liked your bunches, I thought it was very fetching.

ED: Aw, did you like my bunches? Did my bunches have you reaching for your squeezer? (laughs)

PY: They did, your whole career has had me reaching for my squeezer. Tell me about your new single.

ED: Uh, Big Gay Heart? It's a sort of a country song, a little country, it's a little country number we did. I wrote it when I was in Austin, staying in this house called the Big Gay House, my friend had rented a house, and he was calling it the Big Gay House. So, it just happened...

PY: Why?

ED: Just because it was a big happy house on a hill, and so, from the phrase Big Gay House came Big Gay Heart, and I just thought it was a good collection of words.

PY: And do people think that you're making some kind of big political statement with this song?

ED: I dunno. They might, they might. People think a lot of, make a lot of stuff up. It's just a song, a country song, with an uncustomary slant to it. That's what I think.

PY: You had lots of publicity recently for going out with Kylie, can you tell me what happened on the date?

ED: I just went out on the town with Kylie for a little while, that's all.

PY: It's made you sit up!

ED: Yeah (laughs) let me tell ya!

PY: Have you become tense in some way?

ED: No. Um, I can't get comfortable now. Um, right, Kylie, she's uh...

PY: Yeah. Come on, spill the beans.

ED: Kylie - all she did was she just showed us around Melbourne for a couple of nights, me and my friend Nic. It was fun, and we could get into all the clubs that we couldn't get into normally, 'cause we'd walk in and you're supposed to be dressed really, in Melbourne they sometimes dress up a little bit, and wear shoes, and we'd have sneakers on and they're try to stop us from going in the club, and Kylie would kind of stand there on the landing and they'd go "oh my god, I'm sorry" - a couple of bouncers almost cried because of that night, they were like "oh my god" (giggles), they just started, "oh dear", so they caved and let us in. So that was, we just went out on the town with her, that's all, danced and stuff.

PY: So, you didn't kiss her?

ED: Well, uh, erm, erm.

PY: Like, ish?

ED: Well, we were dancing you know, dancing around.

PY: You kissed her when you were dancing?

ED: (laughs) No.

PY: Come on, spill the beans, get to the nitty gritty of your passionate romance!

ED: It wasn't a passionate romance, we went out on the town a couple of nights, that's all, that's all.

PY: Alright. So do you have a girlfriend at the moment?

ED: Uh-uh. No, no, I'm really lonely actually, very lonely.

PY: There's probably lots of material for songs?

ED: Yeah, I guess so.

PY: And, what sort of girls do you like?

ED: I like, um, all different kinds of girls, that's the weird thing about me, I can't figure out a type that I like.

PY: Like, any girl?

ED: I like all different kinds of girls, so, maybe not like, not any girl necessarily, not all the time, I don't want to say any girl.

PY: (to camera) Could we just get a little bit closer? I mean, is that camera close enough? I mean, any minute now it's going to be one of those optic things that goes in your mouth and travels round Evan's intestines. It's really frightening isn't it? Stop. Do you, um, you're friends with Johnny Depp?

ED: Yeah. I haven't talked to him a while though, we've both been missing each other and stuff, 'cause he's really busy again, where, when I met him he was just hanging around sort of for a little while, about to start a movie, so we had time to hang out a bit. I haven't seen him in a while

PY: You've recently done a couple of little, sort of acting things?

ED: Yeah.

PY: Do you long to act then?

ED: I wouldn't saying longing is the right word.

PY: Do you have a taste for it?

ED: Yeah. I might want to try it once in a while. So, I am trying it. I did a movie with Shelley Winters and Debbie Harry and Liv Tyler - she's Steve Tyler's daughter - she's great, and the role... But, uh yeah, just two little things, I'm not going to do it for a long time, I've got to make another album, so, then maybe do I'll something else filmic.

PY: Sounds very glamorous "filmic". Do you have all your songs ready, or do you write them as you go along?

ED: I write them as I go along, I don't have them all ready that's for sure. I'll write a song about this today, about this morning.

PY: Will you? Will you say my name a lot in it?

ED: A lot, over and over.

PY: And make sure there's lots of black girls in the background going "Paula, woo!"

ED: That'll be the whole chorus.

PY: Will it?

ED: It'll be called "Paula"

PY: Will it? Oh, Evan, it's been absolutely one of the high points of my career to be on this bed with you!