THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

From Adam and Eve on the song 'Tiny Decision,' to a stoned friend on 'Pop,' to a 'crazy messed up kid' on 'Kid,' to hanging out in 'the market of love' on 'Be Killed,' openly gay brothers John and Frank Navin of The Aluminum Group once again set their unique perspectives to music that will have you swooning and swinging. These songs are sure to sound as good coming from your speakers at home as they will playing in your favorite cutting-edge salon, bohemian boutique or avant-garde eatery. The Aluminum Group's plugged-in pop is a distant, more sophisticated cousin to the electro-clash tunes currently making the rounds. The Aluminum Group's songs cross their legs at the ankle, never leave crumbs, and send thank-you notes.

Gregg Shapiro: Happyness marks the end of The Aluminum Group album titles beginning with 'P,' such as Plano, Pedals, Pelo. What was behind that change?

Frank Navin: I think it was the fact that we couldn't say them all without tripping over our tongues and getting confused. All the Ps, Ls and Os … what were we thinking?

John Navin: Also, we were driving one day in the ghetto of Chicago, the West Side, and we saw this post, an old railroad tie standing on end, whitewashed, and hand painted with the word 'happyness.' It was spelled incorrectly, which I really liked. There were other posts with other words on them, like 'charity,' 'grace,' 'forgiveness.' I love the ghetto. There is always sweet and naïve things like that, but danger, too, and murder and drugs, and signs which ban kids from loitering on the streets.

GS: There was a period, between 1998 and 2000, when there was a new album by The Aluminum Group every year. What was going on during the two-year gap between Pelo and Happyness?

FN: Family had to be attended to.

JN: Plus, we started recording Happyness, which was a bitch, because we decided to do so many songs, too many. That's why there will be Happyness 2 & 3. It's another series. Oh god!

GS: I never expected biblical characters —namely Adam and Eve—to make an appearance in a song by The Aluminum Group. What was the inspiration for 'Tiny Decision'?

JN: Why not expect The Aluminum Group to do the bible? It's literature, ain't it? Besides, The Aluminum Group could be Christian rock if we weren't queers who suck dick through glory holes. I mean, we don't shoot up or anything, so besides being gay, our one bad point, we do this soft rock thing (our second fault?), which we adore. It's so fun to do, really. And we do sound kind of Christian. I believe in Christ. 'Tiny Decision' is one of my favorite songs on the album. I love that song by Frank. It reminds me so much of Prefab Sprout. We worked so hard on that song. So yeah, we read the bible, believe in Christ, suck cock, get banged up the butt, and sing like Christians do, uptight and proud. Plus, the bible has the best stories.

FN: Nothing and no one is immune from an Aluminum Group song. Well, maybe Tootie, the Facts Of Life character, maybe her and a couple others. But I like the way that Adam and Eve are used in the song, both expelled and human. Eve is dead and Adam has a shovel and is burying her. Later in the song the characters are replaced with the present-day singer and his regretful lover. I thought of the song while I was waiting for the #66 Chicago bus.

GS: In the song 'This Is How It Goes' on her new album Lost In Space, Aimee Mann sings 'it's all about drugs,' and drugs do, in fact, come up a few times over the course of the disc. Drugs are also mentioned in a few songs on Happyness. For example, in 'Pop,' you sing 'Pop goes another friend/because you're too stoned to listen,' and in 'Oxygen,' you sing 'I've seen more drugs and alcohol than a chemistry set.'

FN: Pop is a 'Just say no!' or better, a 'Just say no thank you' (song). A polite little song that packs a wallop. It's an old song about a friend who came over and had smoked too much pot, ate a whole bag of Cheetos and got them all over the sofa. It should be noted that my cat, Deadtail, was bright orange too. Oxygen is really a song about maintaining a relationship between totally opposites through denial, and not really about drugs. It's really hard to find a rhyme with 'Eucharist.' 'Chemistry set' was the closest thing I could come up with.

JN: Drugs or songs mentioning drugs do appear on this, and I think, every Aluminum album. Come on, of course drugs appear. They're like one of the most important aspects of our culture, of our world. I'm constantly on the lookout, monitoring my intake of external substances, not heroin, coke, scrips or dope, but booze, cigarettes and coffee. That's what makes our world go round. People live and die for drugs, revolve their lives around drugs, kill, steal, destroy their lives for drugs. It's a frightening aspect of our world, a sad thing. Pop is about some loser overdoser who might get back on track if they would just listen to themselves and their friends.

GS: Love and 'kisses' are a recurring theme on Happyness, in songs such as 'I Blow You Kisses,' 'Two Lights,' and 'We're Both Hiding.' Are these songs about anyone in particular, and if so, are they still a part of your life?

FN: ('I Blow You) Kisses' was written for (singer/songwriter) Rebecca Gates. I thought that if I wanted to be a girl, I would want to be her. But I don't want to be a girl, so instead I just use Rebecca when I am writing. For '…Kisses,' I just imagined her walking down the street in a certain skirt, in that nice way that she does. 'Two Lights' was actually a love poem where the other person was a rhino in a zoo cage at four in the morning, during a blizzard. When it became a love song, I got rid of the rhino. ('We're Both) Hiding' is about ... well, have you ever been fucking someone and ... thinking, 'I don't want to be doing this'?

GS: Amy Warren's vocals are once again an essential part of The Aluminum Group.

FN: I'm glad you used the word 'essential.' Any song would benefit from her singing. The trick it to just use the essence of her voice. We really wanted to use the girls as back up.

JN: I love Amy Warren! Her voice is spectacular, and she works so well with Frank and I. We decided that Frank and I would sing all the leads. We just wanted it that way for Happyness. But we knew that we wanted Amy all over the album, singing duets and harmony. I'm just bummed we couldn't use her anymore on Happyness. She's an awfully busy actress, and she's constantly running off to rehearsals and such. I love that girl. GS: In the past, you've included members of Chicago's avant-garde music scene in The Aluminum Group. I was especially interested to see that Susan Voelz (who was with Poi Dog Pondering) and Allison Chesley (of Verbow) provide strings on Happyness. FN: Hectic. Susan has a very full plate, but when it came time to record it was great, they kind of plopped down on this Oriental rug and whipped it out. I kind of felt like I was in Kris Kristoferson's studio in the remake version of A Star Is Born (without Barbra or the potted ferns). JN: I was very, very bad during this period of production for Happyness. I split the country for three months. I went to study Italian in southern Italy, Puglia. I left Frankie holding the bag as far as horn and string arrangements, which he did with such relish, drive and enthusiasm. He did a great job, and I was an asshole about it. I just had to go. It was something I had wanted to do for years, and nothing stops me from doing what I like to do, or want to do. I had the most wonderful time. Frankie had work, work, work to do. I like working with both of those women. They're great. GS: You've worked with some amazing producers over the years. You both share production credit on Happyness—why did you decide to go it alone in that regard? FN: You never really do it alone. We both had the deciding vote in everything, so, really, we are the producers. 'Producer' is sure a weird term to me. I don't know why they didn't use 'director' when this started. JN: We decided, too, that it was time for us to go it alone, to try things without any one else's opinion but ours. It was hard, but we succeeded. We always do, Frank and I. We always end up happier than when we began and proud of our accomplishment. ... We think alike or if we don't we get into the differences and can see those things in each other. You could say we bring out the best (in each other) just like mayonnaise, I guess. GS: If The Aluminum Group did a children's album, what would it be like? JN: Oh, I don't know, Gregg. It would be special and sweet or just plain nasty. Take your pick. I love children, but have no interest in making music for them. And that goes for 19-20-21-22 year olds. ... [That] age group seems a bit void in the head department. They don't get things. FN: I wouldn't have such scary imagery, like biblical characters with charcoal briquettes for eyes. But it wouldn't be filled with characters like Snuggles, which I find to be completely scary and offensive. It would be more directed to the inner child of the child. The child's child. The invisible baby. GS: Prada is your tour sponsor? JN: Yes. They did the clothes styling. Frank said, while we were being fitted, 'My goodness, we look like chic Mormon elders.' I was so happy when he said it. The tour is going to be a cross between Matthew Barney meets American Idol meets Amway seminar, with a molecule of the budget of Cremaster 1-2-3-4-5. So, we're ready to fly across the country, thanks to Prada, our friends, our label, yadda yadda yadda. We'll see how it goes. To say the least, the look of the tour is hot hot hot.