Since joining R.E.M. as a supporting tour musician on the 1995 Monster tour (“Aneurysm ‘95” to the fans), McCaughey has become more than just a multi-instrumentalist. He has become a part of the very fabric that now makes R.E.M. today. Having been with the band at a time when it knew its identity and then suddenly had to search within itself for a new one after original drummer Bill Berry’s exit in 1997; McCaughey is now a fifteen year veteran with the band which now enters its third decade in existence. R.E.M. closed the last decade with two of its most solid releases—2008’s Accelerate and 2009’s Live at the Olympia. The latter became the band’s second live album after 2007’s R.E.M. Live (coincidentally both albums are recorded in Dublin, Ireland). And although the band has opened up its vaults by including bonus live performances in its recent reissues of Murmur and Reckoning (and producer Joe Boyd revisiting Fables of the Reconstruction in the works), R.E.M. Live and Live at the Olympia were fully tailored live releases. If R.E.M. Live is the reminder that the band can still pull off arena rock and still make it look fun, then Live at the Olympia is the best testament of how far the band has come since 1997. What the album says is that this is R.E.M., plain and simple.

McCaughey spoke about those five nights at the Olympia Theatre, current work on the next R.E.M. album and the Baseball Project.

Do you remember the earliest conversations of this idea (a live album) being proposed?

I don’t remember exactly when. I guess we were working on the record (Accelerate) in Vancouver. I don’t know if it was planned all along. I think it might have been, even before we started the record; it might have been in everybody’s head to go out and play the songs before the record was actually finished so we could test run them and see if there were things we discovered about them by playing them live. That definitely happened. Some of them didn’t change at all after playing them for the 5 nights in Dublin. Some changed quite a bit, and, on other ones we were able to fine tune them; we were able to kind of figure out what wasn’t working, maybe, by playing those nights. I think it was kind of in the plan all along when we were making that record. I could be wrong, but that’s the way I remember it.

At the time Accelerate came out, a lot of the interviews that Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Michael Stipe had done really gave me this impression that the post-assessment about Around the Sun was less than desirable. What was it like having gone through that recording process to now take a different turn, incorporate live performance and hit the refresh button?

Since Bill (Berry) quit the band, we’ve made three records that were all real studio records, and that’s not a bad thing. We were having a really great time. Each one kind of got, maybe, a little more convoluted and a little more drawn out. By the time Around the Sun got finished, I think we were kind of done with that process for a while (laughs). Peter, especially, was like, “I never want to make a record that takes that long, again.” I think he felt like that record was better after we had just gone in and played the songs in the studio before they got as much window dressing as they got. Some of the guitars got lost in the process.

We were pretty much determined to make a record where there was no possibility that could happen. Really, that meant mostly just playing songs with 2 guitars, bass and drums; play them live in the studio and not do a whole lot of overdubbing. So, it fit in perfectly to go and play them live with that kind of material. A lot of the Around the Sun songs ended up sounding—when we played them live—probably a lot better; a little more direct, a little more guitar oriented and stuff. That tends to happen with some of the studio stuff, anyway. It gets simplified when you play it live. With the Minus 5 it’s always like that. Most of the songs that we record that are piano songs we end up playing on guitar, ya know? Two guitars, bass, drums and let it fall where it may.

This time it just made sense for us to make a record that was not going to be as labored over and can just be really fun, bash it out live and not get hung up in the process of making a record.

In listening to everything that you’re saying, it seems like Accelerate kind of tied back to, in some ways, how 1996’s New Adventures In Hi-Fi was made.

Yeah, that’s true to a degree. The difference with New Adventures was mostly songs that were being developed as we were actually touring. There were a few things from Accelerate that had probably gotten developed on the tour before that, things we played at soundchecks and stuff. Yeah, there’s similarities to the approach.

What were your feelings as you were walking out on stage for the first of the five nights? I assume Peter still does the setlist. So, once the setlist was written up and you guys were ready to go, what do you remember back then?

It was kind of frantic. Besides the fact that we’re playing all these new songs that we never played before live, we kept adding, everyday during a two hour soundcheck, other songs to play. Most of those other ones that I played live I’d never really played before; we did a lot of really old songs, and I just never really played most of those. Neither had Bill (Rieflin)! We were learning songs for hours at soundcheck before each night, as well as going over the new stuff. Then we’d have about an hour or two off and then play the show. It was pretty hardcore. It was a full day’s work, everyday, and, after soundcheck, I’d be cramming and trying to remember how to play “Little America” or something like that that I’d never played before, so, it was actually really intense. Once we got on stage, they were super fun. I had a great time. I didn’t worry too much about playing everything perfectly. I tried, of course, but I’m sure I failed on occasion (laughs).

It’s kind amazing how great it sounds. I know that Jacknife (Lee) didn’t fix a lot of stuff or anything. He just kind of found the best takes. You can tell there’s rough edges to it, but that’s cool.

And it keeps in spirit of what the whole project was all about.

Yeah. It’s kind of a great record though. I like the pacing and sequencing. It’s just such a bizarre huge grouping of songs. The focus of it is really early stuff and then the really new stuff. R.E.M.’s most famous and biggest songs are totally unrepresented. Their biggest records, Automatic for the People and Out of Time, aren’t there at all…I think “Drive” was played. It’s pretty cool. I like the selection of songs. We were just picking them each day. They were just coming out of nowhere. It wasn’t like we had this big masterplan. We didn’t (laughs).

From the musician standpoint, I know most of these songs, the older material, have popped up here and there—not very often—since the Monster tour. Thinking about songs from Fables of the Reconstruction or Chronic Town, what did you appreciate about those songs and the work that was originally done on them once you got to play them? For how old some of those songs are, they still sound great…

Because they’re really weird songs (laughs). Musically, stuff like “Little America,” “Wolves, Lower,” and “Carnival of Sorts,” I’m like, “What the hell were you guys doing? How do write songs like that?” You can tell they’re songs that are written by a band and not by one guy sitting around with a guitar. They’re not singer/songwriter songs, which is kind of what I’m used to. There’s a different logic to the way they’re constructed. They’re a little tricky for me to get my head around. Peter’s guitar playing is so individual and so precise. A lot of the songs, I just wanted to stay out of his way. I had to figure out things that I could play that wouldn’t muddle up the songs but add a little force to them. I think it worked out well. They sound really loud and trashy. It’s kind of cool to hear them sounding a little differently than they do on the original record. Peter’s got a heavier guitar sound, and you can actually hear the lyrics (laughs). You start realizing songs like “Second Guessing” have basically one verse sung over and over again (laughs). It works somehow. They’re very strange songs, and it was really interesting to play them, for me, because it’s a whole different style of songwriting than what I’m used to.

Did you get any impression from Rieflin? I would have loved to ask Bill this, about taking on Berry’s early work. ’95 was the only time I ever saw Bill Berry with the band. But to hear Chronic Town songs and hear how much is going on with the drums, however direct, there’s still a lot of presence there. Did he (Rieflin) share any thoughts of what it was like to perform that work?

I think there were times when he was definitely really, really impressed with how cool the drum parts were, and, other times, he was probably slightly amused because Bill’s (Berry) drum parts are really cool and really unusual. A lot of people don’t give him the credit that he should get. Bill Berry was a pretty amazing drummer, and he wasn’t really playing like anybody else back then. Rieflin did an amazing job at being faithful to those parts, not slavishly, but they kind of have to be there to make the songs work the way they did because they’re pretty intricate and precise kind of songs. I think Bill really appreciated Bill Berry’s drumming and really nailed it. The thing that I was most impressed about on the record was listening to Bill’s drumming. I just think he’s so awesome on this, and the drums sound really amazing, too. They’re super powerful and really rock. Hats off to Rieflin.

So, what’s currently happening in R.E.M. land? You guys were down in New Orleans doing some recording.

We did 3 weeks of work and tracked a bunch of new songs. Michael sang on about half of them, probably. So, we got a really good start on the next record.

Are there other locales in mind for recording, like Vancouver?

We’re not going to Vancouver. We’ve got a couple more stops in mind. I don’t think they’re exactly nailed down, yet. We’ll do two more three week stays, but the next one probably isn’t going to be until April into May. So, there’s a lot of time right now to sit around and ruminate on the songs or come up with new stuff; mostly for Michael to work on lyrics, melody and stuff. He’ll probably end up doing something before the rest of us get back. He might just go somewhere with Jacknife and record some more vocals. He’s got some great stuff. We got a really good start. The tracks all sound amazing, and the stuff that Michael has come up with are super cool, too. I’m pretty excited about it.

Right now, I’m not thinking about it for a little while. I’m going to let it go a bit and then get back to it, but I’m really happy with the stuff we did in New Orleans.

So, what’s currently on deck—no pun intended—with the Baseball Project?

We started recording a new record. We had a couple days off on our last tour with the Baseball Project, Minus 5 and Steve Wynn. In Portland for 2 days, we tracked twelve songs all live. Peter was there for the session this time, which was great, because he just did overdubs on the last record. So, we had the full on four-piece going to track all these songs, which was great.

We were going to try and get it out for the next baseball season, but it seems like it would have been a little bit of too much of a push. We want to try and do some different things with this record. I think we’re going to take our time and finish it over the first half of 2010 and probably not release it until just before spring training 2011. So, it’ll be over a year old by the time it actually comes out, but that gives us time to work on it. We have a few more songs we want to record, and we haven’t done any overdubs on it. We’ll get other people to play on it, too. We’re going to take our time. That’s ok. Steve, Peter and I are all usually bash something out-release it. I think Yep Roc wants to really make something happen with the record. So, if it’s good for them to have more set up time, then we can deal with it.

The Baseball Project will performing tomorrow at the 4th Annual Len & Bob Bash for Chicago Cubs Charities on January 14th at the House of Blues

Comments

Nice! Written by Guest on 2010-01-13 14:31:03 I'm a big Scott McCaughey fan!

Appreciate shout-out to Rieflin Written by Guest on 2010-01-13 19:01:27 I'm a Jurassic R.E.M. fan, not present at the beginning, but not far from it. I've always admired Bill Berry, but Bill Rieflin deserves big kudos for the dynamic current interation of R.E.M. He's a driving force on the drums, and even better, like Berry, he's just got good sense and taste behind the kit.

Love that Scott McCaughey! Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 07:12:50 Looking forward to more music from one of my musical heroes!    ML

Great! Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 08:16:46 I am looking forward to the new R.E.M. album.  Great band, great music.  I love this band since "Accelerate" but I love all the songs of them, also the songs of the 80´ies.  The new live-album is really great, too.

Thank you... Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 11:50:28 I'm looking forward to the new R.E.M. album, too & hope to see the guys + Bill and Scott pretty soon again. BTW: Scott is a real nice guy - always friendly and he laughs a lot. Stay as you are, Scott.

Ubergrier Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 12:01:39 What a great guy! Really looking forward to the next album, too.

Nice Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 13:37:49 Great interview, love REM and can't wait to hear the new stuff.  And Scott/Peter or both, if you're reading...would love to see the Baseball Project or Minus 5 play some gigs over here in the UK.

Seeing them in front of 150 in 1987 Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 15:48:40 Trying to say it in English I claim it seems my favorite REM-Song is the one to which I´m listening at a time.

Great interview! Written by Guest on 2010-01-14 18:43:04 Hey, fantastic to see an interview with Scott. Never knew much about him given I am from Australia. He's obviously been a big part of late to post Bill Berry REM so interesting to hear his insight. Seems like a great bloke. Can't wait for the next album, 14 studio albums on constant rotate repeat just aren't enough for this fan

What a band! Written by Guest on 2010-01-15 08:51:08 Nice interview.  Love R.E.M. and think that they're really showing everyone why they are so great again.  Can't wait for the new album - it's always a huge event by which I mark my life's time frame.  Would love to know when they are aiming to release it - please let it be this year!  I love the studio videos on their website where they're experimenting with horns.  Some of R.E.M.'s best work comes from them experimenting with new instruments (e.g. mandolin on Losing my Religion) - They are master craftsmen after all!

Great Written by Guest on 2010-01-15 12:11:59 Im looking forward to REM new record! from Japan.

Great Written by Guest on 2010-01-15 12:12:10 Im looking forward to REM new record! from Japan.

Scott is great Written by Guest on 2010-01-15 15:25:17 I really enjoyed this article about Scott. He's a nice guy and deserves some attention. He's been working with REM for so long now! Great guy. I love REM.

Scott McCaughey is a pretty cool guy Written by Guest on 2010-01-15 15:29:24 I've traveled many, many miles to see Scott play live. He's about the coolest rocker I've ever had the pleasure to meet. The last time I saw him was in Louisville, KY at a free church picnic on the awesome Minus 5/Baseball Project/Steve Wynn 4 tour. It was pretty funny singing along to 'Ted Fucking Williams' with lots of rowdy drunk Catholics under a big white tent. Who says the church isn't inclusive?

Mrs. Richards Written by Guest on 2010-01-15 19:47:32 In my opinion, about the time Bill left and Scott came aboard, the emphasis shifted from REM the band to REM the corporation. Peter is quoted saying something akin to 'i don't like pro sports' because of the competition or some such thing (he's also been said saying he contradicts himself, so go figure, or ignore his pearls of wisdom). My interest in pro sports has waned, even my interest in minor league, high school etc - (pick up games are where it's at?) but this cliche predicament of nostalgia is a hoosegow. A saving grace has been the strange adage "boredom after a while becomes interesting." Think it was first heard from John Cage. So I continue to cheer and sustain the challenge of drudgery. Call me a weakened shill. Support REM's shameless promotion to visit their merchandise store. They're the most influential pop band in the world. They can't enough money for their missionary kitty. I've long ago said enough already. You go Bill, whatever you're doing. At least someone took the Future Farmer's of America jacket literally. Nostalgia, it's no good, the future is in the past, what??

Great Article Written by Guest on 2010-01-16 22:26:40 Another jurasic REM fan (from Cronic Town) it's nice to see the 2nd generation REM fans have the same passion as us old timers.

Mrs. Richards Written by Guest on 2010-01-17 09:35:45 jurasic- ya think it'd be great for the next tour- mag7, tuatara, schizo hand job - the opening act be someone talk about the passion? Bill B is ideal, but any old incomplete quadroplastic farmer talking about her passion. i think the 2nd generation will appreciate stories of family farm contentedness (it certainly exists). just an idea, participating in the generous offer to submit a hollow man jpg wasn't my thing.

Mrs. Richards Written by Guest on 2010-01-18 07:09:25 Here's my Long Distance Dedication:    http://jaycut.com/mix/126145/preview    I call the official title "crad6 (and I do fine ball projects)"   Looking forward to the next cd guys. A New Orleans Instrumental long player? If the U.S. votes hope, I can too.

Mrs. Richards Written by Guest on 2010-01-18 09:14:55 Hey folks,     I'm aware that supporting a Christian association isn't cool in today's politically correct liberal media celebrity world.     But 'Cheap Joe's Art Stuff' in Boone, North Carolina (keyword: Haiti)) is soliciting donations.     Peace,  Diana Richards

J Written by Guest on 2010-01-18 18:37:56 Scott is super cool. Hung with him a lot when a friend and I followed REM in 95 on about 20 tour dates. he even snuck us into the end of tour party in ATL! good egg and talented dude!

Fall on Me Written by Guest on 2010-01-19 01:37:56 To the idiot who said this: "I'm aware that supporting a Christian association isn't cool in today's politically correct liberal media celebrity world."    What the hell are you doing on a board for a liberal band if you hate the "liberal media" so much? Go back to watching Limbaugh, you moron. I'm surprised you like REM - I figure Toby Keith would be more your style.

Mrs Richards Written by Guest on 2010-01-19 18:54:29 Fallonme,  Toby Keith sounds like familiar country music guy but I don't know any of his songs. My coworking gal said she sort of knows some step-cousin of her husbands, who married the brother of some Matthew Webb. And the conversation led to Nashville and Jimmy Webb. And I got excited, I think that's the guy who wrote "Witchita Lineman". I could be wrong though.     Are they a liberal band? I'm not sure. You do know that R.E.M. is famously known to be"enigmatic." plus michael or some of the others (i forget [but i don't forgive]) seemed less than happy on stage when Barack won. I may have had an acid flashback, but was Peter wearing a Reagan pin in one of those S. America jpgs?    Go Cubs! Superbowl champs of 1979! throw up on my shoes    p.s. and that's Amerikan Idiot to you sir!

Mrs Richards Written by Guest on 2010-01-19 18:54:29 Fallonme,  Toby Keith sounds like familiar country music guy but I don't know any of his songs. My coworking gal said she sort of knows some step-cousin of her husbands, who married the brother of some Matthew Webb. And the conversation led to Nashville and Jimmy Webb. And I got excited, I think that's the guy who wrote "Witchita Lineman". I could be wrong though.     Are they a liberal band? I'm not sure. You do know that R.E.M. is famously known to be"enigmatic." plus michael or some of the others (i forget [but i don't forgive]) seemed less than happy on stage when Barack won. I may have had an acid flashback, but was Peter wearing a Reagan pin in one of those S. America jpgs?    Go Cubs! Superbowl champs of 1979! throw up on my shoes    p.s. and that's Amerikan Idiot to you sir!

Whole Lotta Scott Written by Guest on 2010-01-21 15:24:59 The full interview with Scott got posted on:    www.gettingintune.blogspot.com

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