Interview with Rich Cheney

[ Conducted in August 2004 ]

Intro to Rich Cheney to go here.

Tell me your vitals (name, age, place of residence, etc).

My name is Joe, but there have been many aliases along the years. Currently I'm stuck at Rich Cheney due to a regurgitation of what was probably the crappiest song ever released, "In a World Gone Mad." But seriously, how many Dicks run by batteries make it to be the Vice President of the USA? The man has my respect. I'm a Metropolitan from the big city currently settling down in Queens.

You've met the Beastie Boys on a few occasions, could you give us the stories?

I have met them on several occasions over the years and I made sure to always take a memento from the time away with me. All of my luck stems from the Check Your Head tour in the spring of '92. Seeing the Beastie Boys at the Roseland Ballroom in '92 had the aura only Lewis Carroll could articulate. Long story short, I was 19 at the time and I followed the Check Your Head tour along the east coast eventually winding up at Michael's Ballroom in Maryland. We arrived at the venue early, live out of our car in the parking lot, and along strolls Ricky Powell asking if we can take him to buy film. The rest is history. Over the years, living in the city, I would provide him with porno mixtapes and he used to let me chill in his apartment rummaging through his photos and baseball card collection. I don't kiss and tell so use your imagination as to what that must have been like.

Do you still keep in touch with Ricky? What has he been up to?

Living in New York puts you near many Beastie Boys landmarks. What are your favorite places to visit?

My office is downtown and I can look down on the street where they filmed the two videos from To the Five Boroughs; it's a landmark area. While the Beastie Boys name drop Joe & Tony's Barbershop and Murry's Cheese Shop I am strictly a Katz Deli man. You can't front Grimaldi's Pizzeria under the Brooklyn Bridge, Joe's Pub if you're looking to pickup, and Cocktail Lounge UES [editor: Upper East Side] if you're looking to impress.

How do you feel about the new album? Was the wait worth it?

The new album is good, very good. It's probably great to the left wing loner of 2004 just as Paul's Boutique was great to the eternal youth of 1989. Was it worth the wait? It didn't seem like 6 years, the gap between Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head seemed like 12 years. What I find disappointing can best be described by the first time I heard the Hello Nasty instrumentals; without the vocals the hip-hop tracks seemed like masterpieces. The lyrics template of funny lyric, not so funny lyric, odd reference, filler lyric, random thought gets dated real fast. The choruses feel off over the years also. Mind you it's all too easy to fall off when you have to live up to High Plains Drifter.

What would you like the next album to sound like?

I would rather them surprise me.

You've posted some of your photos, and they're amazing. What type of camera/equipment do you take to shows? Any advice for a first time photographer?

Any last words?