Kim Shattuck Talks Pixies Exit

Pixies

Kim Shattuck Talks Pixies Exit

Pixies

The Pixies 2013 has been a fascinating case study in what happens when a band stops operating like a band and starts acting like a business. After Kim Deal officially left the band, the band dropped the not-particularly-well-received EP-1, their first new record in 22 years, and named Muffs frontwoman Kim Shattuck — another ’90s-vintage lady named Kim — as their bassist. Then they fired her. There were lots of jokes about how they’d now have to reach out to Kim Gordon or Kim Coletta to fill in on bass, but instead they just named Paz Lenchantin, of a Perfect Circle and ZWAN, as their new touring bassist. And now we’ve heard from Shattuck, who, understandably, is not all that happy about how things went down.

Talking to NME, Shattuck mostly just seems mystified at the way she was told she was no longer in the band. Black Francis famously originally broke the band up via fax, and Shattuck’s exit seems just as unceremonious. Here’s how she describes it:

I was surprised. Everything had gone well, the reviews were all good and the fans were super-nice about everything. They were like, “We love you, New Kim!” We said goodbye at the airport, and the following morning, the manager called me and said: “The band has made the decision to go with another bass player.” I was shocked… I get the feeling they’re more introverted people than I am. Nobody really talked about deep issues, at least out loud. There was a show at the Mayan in Los Angeles where I got overly enthusiastic and jumped into the crowd, and I know they weren’t thrilled about that. When I got offstage the manager told me not to do that again. I said, “Really, for my own safety?” And he said, “No, because the Pixies don’t do that.”… I would have preferred it is they told me face to face as a group, but they’re nice people. I’m still a fan of the Pixies!

Shattuck remains with the Muffs, and there’s talk of a new album next year. And I have to say, she’s being really cool about all this.

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