9. The Moth

I can probably count on maybe two hands the number of movies I’ve seen in a theater in the last decade. One of them was Juno.

I saw that movie so I could write about it for a weekly I worked for in 2007. I was tasked with covering the Oscar-nominated movies of that year.

A few things struck me about the film. One of them was that it was a hilarious and poignant comedy about teen pregnancy, not a normal topic for comedies. The other was, hey, I know this song! It was The Moldy Peach’s “Anyone Else But You.”

The movie was a hit and as a result the song became an even more unlikely hit. By that time the Moldy Peaches had long since broken up already.

The song that was featured in the film had come out more than five years before when the Moldy Peaches released their ironic “anti-folk” album. It was actually released on Sept. 11th, 2001. I was a sophomore in college and I wrote about music for the school newspaper, and during this phase I started to expand my musical palate. I remember reading a review in Rolling Stone, and it just sounded crazy.

The duo — Kimya Dawson and Adam Green — would dress up in giant bunny costumes. They sang deadpan, raunchy and absurd lyrics over minimalist folky song structures. Their songs had titles like “Who’s Got the Crack” and “Downloading Porn with Davo.” It was unlike anything I’d ever heard before.

I was fascinated. So when I found out they were coming to a small venue in Milwaukee just south of campus called The Cactus Club, I had to check it out. I found Kimya’s email on their site and sent her a message asking if it would be OK if I interviewed them after their show when they came to Milwaukee. I got a short reply that said it that would be fine.

On the night of the concert, my friend Jeff gave me a ride to the venue, about 6 or 7 miles away in a neighborhood called Bay View. Nevermind that we weren’t 21 and weren’t technically allowed there. I talked our way in. It was a bar with a tiny back room where bands like the White Stripes had played before making it big.

I don’t really remember much about the show. I think Kimya was wearing a giant bunny costume. They probably played “Anyone Else But You.”

But I do remember after the show, when the band was packing up their gear and I attempted to interview them. It didn’t go well.

I tried to introduce myself as the guy who emailed them about the interview, and they showed little recognition or desire to slow down their process to talk with me. It was late and cold and they just wanted to get their gear loaded up. They didn’t seem malicious at all, just awkward and really tired and ready to get going to the next stop on their tour.

Fast forward to today. I was listening to the Halloween episode from the spoken-word podcast The Moth. And my first thought was, Hey, I know this person!

Kimya Dawson told a story stemming from the travels of their 2002 tour, the same tour where I saw them at the Cactus Club. And then I realized why they were so tired on that night when I met them.

You can watch her performance here.

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