Pixies frontman Black Francis calls bassist swap a “big woop-dee-doo”

After the recent firing of bassist Kim Shattuck, who replaced co-founder Kim Deal after she left the band in June, Pixies frontman Black Francis explained the lineup change in an article wit Yahoo!. He said that Shattuck was never meant to be a permanent member and didn't think an explanation as to why was necessary.

"Frankly you don't want to explain it to anybody - it's a lot of its personal, private sh*t" Francis told them. "It's like politics and sports and people's personal lives have all been smeared together in this modern world. It's a very presumptuous attitude about a lot of things. [People say] 'Oh you're shifting something in your world — we demand a statement as to why.' I'm not the mayor, this isn't the bus service for a town. This is a rock band. There's been a shift in the lineup, big woop-dee-doo . . . as far as we're concerned it ain't that big of a deal."

The Pixies have added a new touring bassist to their lineup, Paz Lenchatin, whose résumé includes playing with A Perfect Circle, the Entrance Band and Billy Corgan's group Zwan.

"Paz is really good," Francis said. "She's really nice and we played with her a couple of times before. We're very curious about working with her and so we are gonna work with her."

Francis explained that despite fans welcoming Shattuck, the band had its own reasons for letting her go. "The big question mark is, if it was going so well, why are you changing it up again?" Francis told them. "I guess it's a fair question, but what I would say is, just because some shows went well or a recording session went well with somebody, that doesn't mean that now you guys are married and this is forever. It's not really how it works when you're a band. And it's hard to explain to people, especially if they get emotionally attached to one person."

He also mentioned in the interview why he thinks Deal ultimately left the band. His theory was that their decision to make EP-1, the first release of new material since 1991, was the culprit.

"We were becoming a vital creative entity again," he said. "Creativity is a new paradigm - it's more intimate. Playing the old songs is less intimate. It's like for old time's sake, let's play it again. Playing new music is definitely another level in a band. I think that it ended up causing the band to break up again, so to speak. Or in this case, not break up but [undergo] a lineup change. Now the onus is on Joey and David and I to make it valid or not."

The new lineup with Lenchatin will hit the road January 15 for a 33-date North American tour with festival dates in South America and Europe to follow in the spring.

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