STARPOLISH: A lot of people who will read this are people in bands, dealing with the issue of being in bands, and you have managed to keep one together for more than two decades. So I wanted to know what it was like when you added a member, Jim O'Rourke, to do some production and engineering for you, and whether that changes the dynamic of the band itself in terms of how you do things, particularly live. I think the studio is a little different, as it doesn't have as much of an impact, but Jim is touring with you, right?

SHELLEY: Oh yeah, he has been for the last few years. You know it's funny because we were saying this before; it's changed a lot of stuff on some levels, and on some levels it hasn't changed anything. We still work and operate in the same way that we have. There's just another voice in the mix now.

RANALDO: So it really wasn't that we were searching for somebody to play live with us, it just kind of happened. And it's worked out really well.

STARPOLISH: Do you have any advice for bands in terms of keeping a band together? Sonic Youth is an interesting band because everyone has a really strong personality in it, and there are going to be conflicts. Is there any advice for emerging artists who are going to have to deal with those things?

RANALDO: I don't know. I guess the main thing that's kept us going is that we've stayed focused on the music and the community that we exist in, and we've gotten what we wanted out of it. We weren't looking to make a hit single and go for that dream that for most people is fairly unobtainable. We wanted to make really good music and we kind of just went about it and did it and focused on that.

Expectations

STARPOLISH: I just wanted to ask one more thing about the new album in terms of the expectations. Given the environment that you see where people are complaining that CD sales are down, does the fact that you don't operate in the huge pop mainstream benefit you? What are your expectations for this album in terms of how it's going to do?

SHELLEY: Sales-wise?

STARPOLISH: Yeah, sales-wise but also the reaction from your fans. It seemed like with Murray Street there was some feeling that you were pursuing a slightly more commercial direction that was more song oriented, and listening to the new album I thought it might be similarly perceived. I was just curious how you think your fan base will receive it.

SHELLEY: There are no expectations sales-wise, it's just sort of whatever happens and we never think about that when we're getting together. Murray Street, we didn't conceptualize it before it happened, it's just the way it came together. About the other stuff, we just sort of embrace the taping and file sharing and we hope that if someone hears something [they like], they'll be excited enough to go look for the record.