25 Questions Asked of Mike Doughty at the Cactus Cafe Last Night

Mike Doughty’s show at the Cactus Cafe here in Austin last night was part of his tour called The Question Jar. He invited the audience members to each put one question into a jar, then he answered a few in between almost every song. C-Man and I did our best to remember them without being obsessive or taking notes, here’s what we got. His answers are in parentheses.

• Do you know the Muffin Man? (No.)
• How much bacon is too much? (Fifty cubits.)
• Will you play American Car? (No.)
• Do you like robots? (Yes. These are easy questions!)
• In the early/late 1990s, do you remember getting an email from a guy in Houston inviting you to a high school debate party? If so, why didn’t you come? (I told you guys I was on drugs during the 90s.)
• Which is your favorite leg? (Left leg.)
• Which of your songs is your favorite? (Fuckin’ shitfuck, I don’t know. It changes. There’s a pansy-ass answer.)
• With the advent of digital music distribution (mp3s), why are there no more supergroups (Foreigner, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Poison)? (Summary: you’ve been getting screwed by record companies for a long time, I’m glad they’re not making money anymore.)
• My lovely wife and I met at a Soul Coughing show in New Orleans. Will you play our fifth wedding anniversary? (Probably not, but congratulations.)
• Would we have fashionable babies? (Obviously we would.)
• Why did you go to northern Africa? (Summary: Listened to some 1970s records from Ethiopia.)
• Was there one event that made you realize you needed to get sober? (Summary: There were a couple, here is the funny one. He was in a hotel room in Cleveland, shitfaced at 10am, ordered room service, and when the server showed up he had his daughter with him because it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day. He felt terrible.)
• How is recovery? (Great!)
• What three things do you most often think about? (Food, girls, music.)
• Were you ever thrown out of a bar in Rochester, NY for looking at porn on a computer? (No.)
• How do you feel about Steely Dan? (I like Steely Dan. I’m not going to be one of those not liking Steely Dan guys.)
• Can you play Purple Rain? (We think so… and they did!)
• Did you give Sebastien a beat down for playing bass for Vanessa Carlton? (I didn’t know he did, but hats off to him.)
• Do you still talk to the Cuban girl? (Yes. She’s bummed about the song.)
• Since Soul Coughing, your songwriting has become more spiritual. Was there something in particular that caused that? (I used to be a junkie who listened to Sam Cooke records and decided to believe in Jesus. So it started a while ago.)
• Who was the favorite person you have worked with during your musical career, and do you have any more collaborations coming up? (Summary: The producer on the first couple of Soul Coughing albums, because he was a freak. He thought there were 6 singles on Ruby Vroom and that Circles was a crap song.)
• What do you get when you cross a tree and a metronome? (I don’t know, what do you get?)
• How do you deal with writer’s block now that you’re sober? (Summary: drugs were more of a writer’s block.)
• What’s the inspiration for the chorus of True Dreams of Wichita? (Summary: his girlfriend dumped him for his drummer, they went on a roadtrip and kept calling him and leaving messages cause they assumed he was still their friend. One call was from Wichita.)
• What’s your perfect day? (Eating good food . . . and DOIN’ IT.)