1996 12 21 R.E.M. NME

REM

MIKE MILLS

What would be the best thing anybody could give you for Christmas?

“There’s a record of my father doing Handel's 'Messiah' that I don't have. That would be a nice Christmas present."

What’s the worst Christmas present you’ve ever been given?

"My father gave me a Rush record once. It was 'Hemispheres'. That’s gotta rate up there with the worst."

Bet you didn’t play it.

"Oh, I played it! I knew I wasn’t a fan but I give everybody a chance!”

What on earth made him give you that?

"He was trying to be cool! I never looked at him as an old fart or anything like that. It's just that he shot and he missed! That’s the way it goes.”

What do you think of Christmas?

“I love it. Well, not so much any more because now it’s this obligatory round of present-buying which is really kind of a drag. But I’m still able to feel things about it. I’ll do things like on Christmas Eve - or pretty much any night of the week before Christmas - I’ll get in my car and take my girlfriend if she’s around - if not, I like just as much going by myself - and just go right around and look at decorations.

"And I always try to imagine the people in their houses and I try to imagine how I felt as a little boy at Christmas. And I’m able to summon those feelings. I can take myself back if it’s nice and dark in the car and, y’know, you’re listening to Christmas music on the radio. I can take myself back and I enjoy that.

“Sometimes I’m just overwhelmed with cynicism about it all but on those quiet, dark nights when I’m riding around in my car, I go right back.”

REM do a Christmas single for the fan club most years don’t you?

“Yeah, we usually do some weird version of a secular Christmas song. We try not to do too many sacred songs - I mean, I don’t wanna mess with anybody’s head! Having said that, we did do ‘Good King Wenceslas’ once and that was great. Peter plays a vacuum cleaner solo in the middle of it! It’s awesome! And one of the rhythm instruments is a huge bag with about a 1,000 pennies in it. We also did a country version of ‘Silver Bells’. But we’ve also done things like Spizz Energi’s ‘Where’s Captain Kirk’ and The Vibrators’ ‘Baby Baby’.

“It’s fun. It’s just like a hello to the fans.”

PETER BUCK

What would be the best thing anybody could give you for Christmas?

“Well, I collect records by this gospel singer that I love called King Hannibal. He’s amazing. It’s kinda like funk gospel. He used to be a drug addict and he sings from the personal perspective. And apparently he’s had lots of little singles out on lots of little labels. Like, I’ve got the King Hannibal album, a different King Hannibal single, then, by the same guy, The Mighty Hannibal!

“And people tell me that there’s five or six other King or Mighty Hannibal singles out there and I’m kinda looking for them.”

What’s the worst present you’ve ever been given?

“Well my mother, y’know, bless her in every way, she really wanted me to be just a different person than I was so she used to buy me, like, these baby blue sweaters. Y’know, like, three button sweaters. Like,  I had hair down to my shoulders and an earring when I was at high school and wore leather jackets and then I’d get this blue sweater for Christmas and I'm like, ‘Mom, I would never be in a situation where I would ever consider putting this on?”

“I remember three years running I got sweaters. One was a purple one, one was baby blue with flowers on the shoulders, and I was just like, ‘Jesus!”’

So you never, ever wore one?

“No, really. I was like, ‘That’s nice mom but I can never wear this. They’ll hunt me down and kill me if I wear this in public!”’

Any plans for the fan club Christmas song?

“Yeah, we’ve done ‘Snoopy’s Christmas’ and a load of others. God, I hate that holiday though. Whenever we do a Christmas song for our fan club we purposely massacre it."

You hate Christmas!

“Uh, yeah. I’m not a Christian and even if I was I think I’d hate it because it’s just so materialistic. My kids now, I think they kinda dig it. They like the tree so we get that out and they tear some packets open and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it for the next eight or ten years but it’s just a massive pain in the ass. I mean, you have no idea how many people live in this f—ing world until Christmas comes and you can’t even leave your house without being inundated with all these mad, hectic people carrying packages everywhere! You can’t even park!

“I mean, I’m just trying to go about my daily business - y’know, I wanna go to the record store and I wanna go grocery shopping, and you just can’t because it’s just so insane.”

So basically you’re Scrooge?

“Yeah. Yeah. I just think this year I’m gonna try to do what I usually do which is go to a hotel or a place that’s off season. Like, I’ve had Christmas in Italy in the off-season and that’s cool. You just go and they don’t celebrate it! You’re in an empty hotel with these really bored waiters who are drunk half the time. It’s kinda fun.”

So it’s like an anti-Christmas Christmas?

“Yeah. I’m gonna go to Hawaii this year