Norwegian radio host Marit Karlsen interviewed Kurt Wagner for NRK P3's ultrahip program "Roxrevyen Tuesday" on Feb. 22, 2000.

A fan in Norway, Mads Lagesen, recorded the interview and was kind enough to transcribe and send it to me.


The host,Ms.Marit Karlsen, spoke with Kurt Wagner on phone early in the morning, about 6 o'clock Nashville-time, some time in week 7.

Marit Karlsen: "Why did you name the album after America's 37th and rather unpopular president, Richard M.Nixon?"

Kurt Wagner: "Why bring it up again??(laughing). Well,that's a good question. It sort of came after we made the record. There is a good friend of mine who is a painter named Wayne White, who does this paintings and different slogans and landscape backgrounds. One of these slogans was *Nixon* and so I was intrigued by that"

MK: "Has the song *You masculine you* something to do with Nixon and other tough guys?"

KW: (laughing).. Well,you know,I think in a way, whatever connection I make with *Nixon*, always would come after the fact that I certainly didn't write *You Masculine You* about Richard Nixon or anything like that. I simply was thinking about it in a more kind of general way, or from post-rationalisation if you will.

MK: You have been around since the early 90's or so,and it seems that *Nixon* will be your break-through. Did you feel that yourself while in studio that this time you had something great going on?

KW: I thought it was pretty good,I mean, we just worked at it really hard you know. And it's as good as we can possibly do. We tried to take our time and not let anything really get in our way. We needed to do something which figured out a way to accomplish that. A lot of work, but I feel good about it. I'm certainly glad that you guys seem to like it.

MK: *Nixon* is indeed more polished and The Nashville String Machine makes it even more impossible to ignore the whole soundscape.

KW: Yeah,that was the idea. I mean,to try to come up with a record that sounds as good as anything on commercial radio today or whatever. I think we've always had the potential to do that, but we've never really had the resources, and this time we sort of went to our piggy bank and shook it real hard and some extra coins came out.

MK: Critics and musicfans just love your new album it seems; and not to mention your twisted and heart-felted lyrics, as for the song *The Book I Haven't Read* which could also be called,as a famous ABC-album; *The Book Of Love*. Here you've been inspired by Curtis Mayfield, right?

KW: Yes,indeed! On that particular song I was listening a lot to Curtis Mayfield, and there's four little musical-notes from a song called *Baby,It's You* by Mayfield. And those four notes are in that song as well,and I sort of felt I should give Mr.Mayfield a little bit of credit there.

MK: How did you put together the puzzle of time? You are 13 musicians, plus The String Machine, and beside recording music you are all in full-time jobs etc..

KW: (laughing)Oh yeah,it's very difficult! It takes a lot of flexibility in your schedule(laughing)

MK: And your wife is in your schedule I hope?

KW: Yes.But you have to try to balance things, everybody has their lives, and to me, being a part of Lambchop, that is also an important part, as having a nice home life and a nice job. Something to have as a foundation so that the music can be more fun, and not so much of a struggle to survive economically or anything.