I'm Surrounded by Losers!: the Joe Ongie Interview

Joe Ongie ignores the record industry, played with Aimee Mann, loves the Beatles album Revolver and can’t live being compared to the Eels.

Robert Pally: What is the best thing in your Gypsy Den Cafe shop in Orange County?

Joe Ongie: Well, we've got two of 'em and maybe the best thing about them are that we (my wife and I) built them ourselves and they feel like it - very un-corporate, very home-made, very "laid-back", plus we've got nice workers (lots of tattoos) and more importantly, great food (we make everything from scratch).

RP: Have you ever had the idea to a song while you were pouring a cappuccino at your cafe?

JO: Maybe. Luckily these days, I'm pretty much just the handy-man, and I'm sure I've thought of some tune or another during the mundane slog of handy-manning.

RP: What is so bloody special about your favorite album, Revolver by the Beatles?

JO: Actually, that record sucks! Although it sounds pretty good (very sparkly and jangly), and the songs are alright (Eleanor Rigby needs drums though, don't you think), and the pacing isn't bad, and it's certainly better than Sgt. Peppers, though it's not as good as the White Album. And the fact is, I haven't listened to it in years. I swear.

RP: Which instrument, that you play, do you like the most, and why?

JO: I play the guitar the most because I write on it and when I'm not playing it, it sits in the corner and doesn't bother me. The instrument I play best, however, is the bass - but it's no fun to write on it.

RP: People compare you to the Eels (me too, but not only). How can you live with that?

JO: I don't.

RP: The pretty ugly guy on the cover of your 3rd album Lovefest shoots himself with a love arrow. Do you mean by that, that loves kills itself? Or am I speculating too much!

JO: Actually, he's not shooting himself, he's been shot by a female in a mirror image of himself, who he's shot in a similar manner, you just can't see her 'cause I never got around to drawing her. I'd originally thought about
releasing each of the different covers on the CD hoping to trick people into buying more than one copy (like Led Zeppelin's "In Through the Out Door"). Just one of my many grand schemes (see next question).

RP: Is handmade cover the real one or just a promo ?

JO: Sadly, that's the real cover, hand made and glued up by yours truly. The original idea was to have the actual etching attached to the cover, instead
of the poor facsimile which now graces it. I thought it would be cool for the person who bought my CD to have an original piece of artwork as well as some original music. But by the time I got to actually printing the etchings, it became too big of an ordeal. Also, I didn't know if people would actually "get it". Now if someone want's an original, I have framed versions of the etching available. Would you like one for your wall?

RP: Many songs on Lovefest are about relationships and the problems with it. How is your love life?

JO: Real good. But I'm surrounded by losers!

RP: What is behind the album title Lovefest? How did you come up with it?

JO: It just popped into my head one day and sounded like a good title, and since most of the songs I'd been writing we're kind of on the pessimistic side, I also liked the irony.

RP: Who is "L'il Miss Smoke & Mirrors" in the song with the same name?

JO: No one in particular.

RP: There is a big variety of styles on Lovefest Can't you make up your mind for one style or don't you care about that?

JO: No, I can't make up my mind, and it does bother me, but I can't seem to do anything about it. I keep trying though. And hopefully, in the end, it all
sounds like "me".

RP: How old are you?

JO: 38 (he admits sheepishly).

RP: You played Bass, Accordion and Piano for Aimee Mann. How much did her way of dealing with the record industry influence you?

JO: Or how much did I influence her (ah-hah!). Well, the fact that her labels over the years couldn't hear that she was making some of the most worthy music around, just reinforced what I already knew about them.

RP: What is your attitude against the record industry?

JO: I ignore it completely.

RP: How did you release your album Lovefest? Label? How many pressed? Recorded? Financed? Etc.

JO: I released it myself to people I know at gigs etc., and to the world on CDBaby.com and Notlame.com. It's on my own "label" Granny Vegas. I press 50 at a time and wait until they sell before pressing more (because it's too depressing to have gobs of them sitting around staring at me). I recorded it myself in my little studio on ADATs (I've since graduated to the computer - how un-retro) and it was self-financed.

RP: Can you tell me more about your history as a musician. In what bands did you play before? When did you start to make music? etc.

JO: I learned guitar when I was 11 and immediately wanted to play the bass for some reason. I started writing songs right away and recording them. I played in the usual punk, ska, goth, Van Halen bands of the late '70s and eventually whored myself out in a bar band. Finally kicked that bad habit and now I only play my own stuff, if possible.

RP: From where comes the name Ongie?

JO: It's bastardized French (probably Angers) and it's pronounced awn - gee.

RP: Can you tell me more about the "Trainwreck Theatre", that was modelled after Cafe Largo?

JO: Well, Jon Brion's nights there, in particular, are so stupid and loose that some friends and I thought, duh, we can do that... and since I owned Avenue, we foolishly launched "Trainwreck Theatre" upon the world.

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