Louisville, Kentucky based indie dance rockers VHS or Beta will be in town again Monday, Nov 12th, still touring for their latest “Comets on Fire”. And I’m not complaining, these guys kill it live. I sat down for a minute with founding member and friend of BYT, bassist/guitarist Mark Palgy, who is also 1/2 of the VHS or Beta DJ team with frontman Craig Pfunder. Just a heads up, this interview is a bit more serious than the usual BYT fare. I really wanted to get to the emotional core of what drives Mark, and for the first time let him speak openly about his struggle with paint thinner addiction and living with the condition known as bifid-micropenis. We’re taking deeper than whale shit here.

Brightest Young Things: If your house/teepee/whatever caught fire, what are the first 3 things you’d try to save?
Mark Palgy: My sweaters. I’ve spent years collecting fabulous sweaters that can never be replaced.

BYT: So… three of them?
MP: Right.

BYT: What’s your favorite song you’ve written?
MP: My crowning achievement is “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Garfunkle really got to shine sans Simon.

BYT: What fashion advice would you give to the youth of America?
MP: I think American youth are doing great! I love emotional rock and emotional haircuts. Take ME back, Sunday!!!

BYT: Has success gotten to your head?
MP: Yes. I’m getting *so* sick of caviar. And what’s the deal with the 1998 Chenin Blancs?! Barf-o-rama!

BYT: Let’s do a little word association, just say the first thing that comes to your mind, go quick:

Vibraphone
MP: Vibrator

Tuberculosis
MP: Tickler

Webinar
MP: Webster Popadapolis

4 Non Blondes
MP: The absolute worst ever. I can’t even come up with something snarky and clever. They fucking suck.

Seahorse
MP: Vibrator

Passover
MP: Delicious. Pass the shankbone and ask the 4 questions, already.

Team Player
MP: Vibrator

Skittles
MP: John Oates

BYT: Klosterman question: At long last, someone invents “the dream VCR.” This machine allows you to tape an entire evening’s worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device of you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don’t agree to this, you can’t use the dream VCR. Would you still do this?
MP: Regardless of the dreams, getting my whole entire family into one room and actually getting them to shut up long enough to watch something is impossible.

BYT: Give me commentary on a few songs from the new album and we’ll stream them, like you’re writing the the liner notes of the VHS or Beta box set 20 years from now.
MP: I think “Fall Down Lightly” is my favorite track from Comets. It’s also really fun to play live. The drum fill at the end is fun to hear up close pounding my eardrums.

MP: “Bring on the Comets” is a personal fave as well…We wanted a southern rock feel and I think we pulled it off in a weird way.

BYT: Any hot new tracks you’ve been burning up the Kentucky dancefloors with?
MP: Our myspace dee jay page got erased somehow. We’ve contacted myspace about it, but are still waiting to see what the hell happened. Since it’s been erased, we haven’t DJ’ed or anything. Maybe it’s a sign.

BYT: Tragic. When you and Craig get in a fight do you ever give each other the silent treatment?
MP: We are like a married couple. We spend all of our time together on and off the road. We finish each-other’s sentences and know all of our jokes, etc. Sort of like Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield from Metallica. I can get DIRECTLY under Craig’s skin in 1.2 seconds. We argue from time to time, but mostly it’s because of something retarded. After 12 years of friendship, we still have to have a talk every now and then. Love him to bits.

BYT: Hot. VHS or Beta? (get it???)
MP: No, could you expand on that?

BYT: Moving on. Do you shop on tour or is there some tight pants emporium in Louisville?
MP: Our secret: girls’ jeans. We love getting into girls’ jeans.

BYT: Don’t we all. Do you have a day job or do you just DJ and rock out and buy cool pants and play internet poker all day long?
MP: No time for a day job when we are on tour for a year at a time. Luckily, we’ve reached a point where we can do music full time. It’s the best thing anyone could ever hope for. (And, yes, internet poker consumes us)

BYT: Thanx buddy, cya soon.

Monday, Nov 12
VHS or Beta
Moving Units
Soft Complex
The Black Cat mainstage
$13 8:00
http://www.blackcatdc.com/
http://www.vhsorbeta.com/

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