KFOG Morning Show. Dave Morey, Peter Finch, Renee Richardson, Irish Greg.

Greg: That's all I said.

Dave: Both shows sold out. Doing a tour of some legendary venues. When they first announced the tour, I was on vacation so I was totally out of the loop on this one. But we found a Russell Crowe and 30 Odd Foot of Grunts is the name of the band found a cut on the

Renee: Found it on the "Hollywood Goes Wild".

Dave: ..on the "Hollywood Goes Wild" CD which also features Dogstar and Jeff Goldblum and Billy Bob Thornton.

Renee: My favorite album. (Laughs.)

Dave: But I guess you guys played this cut and trashed it?

Peter: NO! No!

Greg: I don't remember that.

Renee: We played it.

Dave: I heard that Rene was the only one in the room that liked it.

Renee: It's true! I liked it a lot. And I still like "The Photograph Kills".

Dave: Take a listen to it here.

(They play a verse from "The Photograph Kills" )

Renee: But there's . . .

Dave: So meanwhile?

Renee: The Russell Crowe fan site. We went looking around there and, um, it says that KFOG needs to apologize to 30 Odd Foot of Grunts because we trashed them. I guess they heard us. The fan heard us talking about 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and, um, and this song "Photograph Kills" and now here on the fan site now that Russell Crowe is coming in to see visit the KFOG morning show, we need to apologize for trashing the tune. *

Greg: I'm not sure that we really trashed the tune. The tickets were going on sale for the show and I suggested that people were going to go and see him having never heard him. Which is true.

Peter: Well, and you questioned whether it would sell out and Anna Lisa who was filling in for Dave said "No, you watch. The show is going to sell out." And BAM! It sold out.

Renee: It's going to sell out. And I think you had a bet on it too. And I think you lost money.

Dave: He did.

Greg: It sold out, yeah. Like in a few days.

Renee: I think you lost money on that.

Greg: So I think that was the extent of our trashing. But I don't, you know.

Dave: Is an apology in order, do you think?

Renee: From Greg.

Greg: Okay, I'm sorry. But the worst thing about this is, is that Russell Crowe is aware of this and plans to bring it up this morning. Which I'm just petrified about.

Renee: Yes, yes, he read about it on the fan site.

Peter: I'm really shaking, so.

Dave: Practice the position, Bub. (Everyone laughs.) You're 15 minutes away. It's 11 past 8 o'clock at KFOG.

(Russell arrives)

Renee: Hello. Welcome.

Russell: Good morning. How ya doing?

Dave: We are great now.

Russell: Cool.

Dave: Uh, this is very cool for us. Um, you are totally on top, a master of your craft. People you work with are totally impressed with your dedication and skill. Everybody loves you. Got a band, you're being -- doing sold out shows, legendary venues including the Fillmore here in San Francisco. First question -- are you having fun?

Russell: Oh, yes indeedy do.

Dave: I'll bet. I'll bet.

Russell: Yeah, we're having a lot of good, good fun at the moment, actually. The shows are going really well and the crowds are going crazy, so its nice.

Peter: Obviously this is something you don't HAVE to be doing. But you're doing it. Is it a creative outlet? Is it a chance to hang out with some friends in a band and play some music? What do you get out of it?

Russell: Well, I get a lot out of it. Um, you know, my day job tends to be about constructing characters in your lounge room and then you do the performance of that -- you know, basically in private. And then a year, year and a half later, you examine it, you know, maybe in front of an audience and you see whether or not those points on an emotional journey are being followed by the people in the audience. Whereas, with a band, its completely immediate.

Peter: Yeah. The audience is there.

Russell: and the responsibility is all on my shoulders. And if somebody has paid, you know, well, not all on my shoulders, particularly on the band's shoulders, if somebody had paid money for a ticket, we've got to make sure they have a good time before they leave, you know? But apart from that surface energy, you know, for me somebody from my age, my generation, you know, a pop song is a perfectly credible medium to express yourself in. And we tell stories that have actually happened or, you know, combine situations to tell a story whether it be, you know, a factual thing like a song like "The Legend of Barry Kabel" which is on this latest record. Or "Memorial Day" which is about my grandfather, you know. We just, for me, growing up the way I have, that's just the way I've always done it. You know, I'm not necessarily a garrulous person by nature, but within the poetry of the lyric is how I find a way to express myself.

Renee: Do you are you the sole writer of the music? Or do you write with your partner, Dave, is it Doug?

Peter: Dean.

Renee: Dean. Sorry.

Peter: See, I knew.

Russell: Its so hard to read those CD covers day after day, isn't it? (laughs.) I write the -- basically, I write the lyrics. And a lot of the time I'll write the lyrics and music. But the majority of the time, I'll combine some, a story that I've been thinking about with a piece of music that Dean has written. But all the band members write songs. On this album, there's a collaboration between myself and Dave Wilkins as well, who's the other guitarist. And there's also one song which includes the -- the bass player as a collaborator. So you know, that the usual thing is me and Dean. But you know that's by no means the only way we do it.

Peter: Growing up in Australia, who were your musical influences? Did you listen to the same bands that folks your age in this country were listening to?

Russell: By and large, probably. Um, you know, I tended to get caught up in certain people though, you know, I was -- I was sick at home from school once and (laugh) my mum brings me a record. (Imitates mother.) "Hello, darling, you know. You're feeling bad. I bought you a record so you could get better." (Laughter)
What?

Peter: That's sweet! Anyway, anyway! (Laughs)

Russell: And it was a Jim Croce record. But the thing is, the real reason for buying it is it had one of those stickers on it, it said, you know, $1.99. (Everyone laughs.) You know, she didn't want me to get THAT well.

Peter: Did it have "Time in a Bottle" on it?

Russell: Yeah, it did. Which is worth it, you know. "Time in a Bottle" and "Roller Derby Queen" and all these strange songs about places that I'd never been to. And that's kind of who I get obsessed with, you know. I think the next major obsession was Elvis Costello. You know, I've got a very varied and eclectic music taste. But in terms of my own personal expression, you know, the singer/songwriter type of fellas and ladies as well. That's what I gravitate towards.

Renee: Do you guys cover anybody? Well,

Russell: On this tour, we're covering uh, a Canadian band or a band from Newfoundland called "The Great Big Sea." And also sometimes we do a Johnny Cash song.

Renee: Excellent!

Greg: The Australian bands we're familiar with INXS, Midnight Oil. What was your favorite Australian band? AC/DC?

Russell: No, I mean, the band all have different --different tastes as far as that goes. But in that era, bands, I'd say something like Paul Kelly who is a singer/songwriter. Yeah, no, I've got a lot of favorite Australian the Hoodoo Gurus.

Renee: Yeah, right.

Greg: Yeah.

Russell: They're a cool band. In fact, when I saw them first, I was working in New Zealand. Me and Dean were actually playing together because we've been playing together 17 years. And I thought the Gurus were like the most powerful band on the planet. Just fantastic.

Peter: Aside from 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, what other Australian bands should we be looking for these days? Any bands you can turn us onto?

Russell: Well, the girl that's doing the support act on our show, a young lady called Danielle Spencer. She's fantastic. Her songs are just multi-layered. I've tried to explain it to people. I kind of say, you know, you take Kate Bush's compositional construction and you jam it into the vocal melodies and harmonies of ABBA.

Peter: (Laughter.) Intriguing!

Russell: It's somewhere there. But I mean, she's been doing shows with us now for a week and, you know, she's going out into -- in front of a crowd of a couple thousand who've never heard of her songs. And she's just seducing them completely. Her songs are fantastic.

Peter: All right. By the way, the name "30 Odd Foot of Grunts." Explain please.

Russell: Well, we tried to come up with a number of different explanations that were radio friendly. (Laughter.) You know, but basically we were all lying. And there WAS one convoluted one which was about the last two minutes of a sexual experience. But we dropped that too. Because the reality of it . . .

Renee Excellent. That's funny.

Russell: . . . the reality of it is that, um, we just wanted a name that wasn't pretentious. That didn't sit under, conveniently under any other form of music so you know, people like your radio programer could go "Oh, that's a such-and-such type band."

Renee/Peter: Right.

Russell: You know, the words mean nothing. What we're trying to do is get to a point where people know the songs and then the name of the band takes on its, on its own meaning because of that. I mean, what does the "Beatles" mean until you've heard a half dozen of their songs?

Dave: That's true. We've got the new CD in here. We're going to play it if it's okay, play a tune off of it right now called "Sail Those Same Oceans". Any story to tell, that goes with this?

Russell: Well "Sails", it's a traveling song, you know. There was a point of transition in my professional career where I went from making independent movies where I would be home, I'd be away from home for, you know, 7-8 weeks, to making moves in America where I would be away for, or England or Morocco or wherever else it happens to be -- where I would be away for five or six months. And the young lady that I was going out with at the time was very patient for a while. But then one time I got home and she'd stopped being patient.

Peter: Whoops. I bet she's kicking herself now! (Laughter.)

Russell: (Amused) Not necessarily.

(Laughter)

Russell: She's a pretty intelligent girl.

Dave: Right now, here's "Sail Those Same Oceans" on KFOG.

(Play "Sail Those Same Oceans")

Dave: KFOG San Francisco and San Jose, and Russell Crowe is in the studio with us and we've just popped the top. Actually Rene did.

Renee: Well, actually I asked if I could drink this Fosters. ..

Russell: Well, I had to help her. She's so boldly, bravely going to have a beer in the morning. She couldn't even open her own can. There's probably actually a bylaw in this city, isn't there, if you can't open your own can, you're not allowed to drink.

Dave: If not, there should be a law.

Peter: Come on.

Russell: Come on. Down . . .

Renee: You mean, you don't have a problem with me drinking your?

Russell: . . . down it goes. It's Fosters. I couldn't care less if you drink it.

Peter: Dave, Greg

Russell: I couldn't care less if you pour it on your garden. It shouldn't be drunk by a man, anyway.

Peter: Do we think Rene couldá

Renee: Actually, we're not getting any beer drinking challenges.

Dave: It's one of those things.

Russell: Wait, wait, wait, just a second. Look at this, right? (Reads beer can.) "Made in Toronto, Canada."

Peter/Greg: Ohhhhh!

Renee: See how that is?

Russell: That's terrible.

Dave: Is there anything on the tray that isá..?

Peter: Well, Dave brought Russell Crowe a platter.

Russell: I'm nicking the vegemite. I'm taking the Vegamite. I'm taking the Vegamite definitely. Now, you've got here, you've got Marmite and Vegamite and . . .

Renee: What's the difference?

Russell: Well, they're both yeast extracts. But normally Marmite is made with a little bit of a beef base. But this one is a vegetarian version of it. But basically, the only difference is that Marmite tastes like crap and Vegamite tastes good. But they're both they're both (laughter) both are an acquired taste sort of thing. And I grew up with Vegamite so it's the one that I gravitate to.

Peter: Well, thanks for that . . .

Renee: Is it salty or sweet?

Russell: It's very, very salty. It's very savory. You know, what we do, (laughs) we have this on toast. But you're dealing with like, say, about half the size of your -- your pinky nail is what you put on a piece of toast.

Renee: Oh, really?

Russell: You see, the cool thing to watch Americans do is to open it up (switches into a Southern accent) grab it like it's peanut butter (Everyone laughs.) spread the thing over here like this so it's nice and thick and then they pick it up and they go "Ahm gonna try this." and they take a bite and they start to cry and they hit the ground.

Dave: That's why I didn't like it when I tried it.

Russell: And we laugh. You see, it's that little piece of information that we leave out. (Laughter.) Actually, I was on "Conan O'Brien" once a few years ago and gave it to him and he just opened the top and he just licked it. It was just -- and he's looking at me like a little puppy dog. He's like "What have you done to me?" -- Dude, I brought it on as a present. I didn't tell you to do THAT.

Greg: If you don't like Fosters, what Australian beers do you like?

Russell: Ah, there's a couple of great beers.

Greg: Do you even like Australian beers?

Russell: Yeah, I do. There's a couple of great beers made by the same company, actually. One called Victoria Bitter and another one called Melbourne Bitter. There's also, see Australia is funny, even though it's a small population, pretty much every major city has its own brewery. So it really depends on where you grew up. And where I grew up there's a company called Reschs. And their, their slogan is "The beer we drink around here." And you normally point to your mouth as you say it.

Peter: When your band's playing, are you guys kind of like a pub band when you take the stage? Or if folks go to the Fillmore for these sold out shows tonight, tomorrow night, what can they expect?

Russell: Well, I don't know. If they know the music, they can expect that. Yeah, you know, we don't, we're not one of those backs to the audience sort of bands. We get out there and we have a sort of a bit of fun. But I don't know what 'pub band' really means, you know. We tend to read that a lot in the reviews both in Australia and here, since we've been playing here. You know, I think, we just go out and we play our songs. I mean, we don't fit easily into any category. We're not, you know, heavy this or, you know, contemporary that, or cross-over whatever. I mean, the confused crap that you guys break all this shit down into. (Laughter.) You know, we just play songs. And the feel of those songs change, you know, it changes. It just depends on what suits the mood or the emotion that the song‰s talking about, really.

Peter: You've picked some cool venues on this tour. The Fillmore here in San Francisco. Some House of Blues shows, things like that.

Renee: Irving Plaza in New York. My favorite.

Peter: Yeah. I mean, did you have somebody that knew what the cool venues were or were these just the right size and you went around and shopped for them?

Russell: We're very , we're very prepared. We send our road manager and the band manager on recis before we tour anywhere just to make sure, you know, just, we have certain requirements, certain gear requirements and stuff. And if the stage isn't right and the access isn't right, then we don't go and play in that place. You know, so what it's basically boiled down to is the classic rock and roll venues are what suit us. You know, in terms of. you know, we like to have a certain depth in the stage and height of the stage so we can hang things and fly things if possible. You know. I mean, it's not like a hugely sophisticated show or anything like that. But there are a couple of elements that we like to include.

Greg: Is it hard for you to clear a space in what I'd imagine is a seriously busy schedule?

Russell: You've got kind of an Irish thing going on.

Peter: He's from Ireland!

Greg: Yeah, but I've been here a while though.

Russell: Right.

Greg: Well, is it hard for you to get enough time off of, you know, like you said, your "day job," to do this?

Russell: Yeah. Well, you‰ve got to be very schedule-sensitive. (giggles) But you know the bass player works for a merchant bank, so we've got to be, you know, sensitive to that as well. The drummer is, has a post-production facility, an editing suite, called "Expresso" in Sydney which is very busy and so we've got to be sensitive to that as well. So pretty much everybody's got other stuff going on, you know. So, it does take probably a little bit more organization than the next band.

Greg: You've been playing with these guys for years. When your movie career started to take off, did they go "oh, no, there goes that" or "yea! here comes the gravy train!"?

Russell: No, it was more the former. They were like, you know, because we started, the structure of our audience started to change. And we started getting a few more ambulance chasers. (Laughter.) You know, people who were there for the freak show. But I mean we've been doing it for a long time. And apart from anything else, I mean, I've been playing with Dean Cochran the guitarist for 17 years, apart from anything else musically, we're a very tight group of friends. And you know, we all have the same emphasis in terms of our priorities. We love doing this together. And we're a very powerful unit. And that's not bragging or being egotistical or anything. We've been doing it for a while and we know our shit.

Peter: We're talking with Russell Crowe.

Dave: We're going to play another song off the album. The one that you co-wrote with Dean called "Swept Away Bayou". Any story with that? Or should we justá.

Russell: Yeah, well this is actually one of the few positive songs. See, I'm not, I don't really write songs if I'm happy. If I'm happy I've got . . .

Renee: Isn't that always the way?

Dave: That's the best way to do it.

Russell: If I'm happy, I'm just happy, you know. But you know when I'm spending time by myself and I've got things to think about, I usually kind of, ahh, you know a little depressed or sad about something and that's what will actually, you know, clarify my thought process. But "Swept Away" is one of those songs where I actually was (chuckles) pretty happy about a situation and just kind of realized something that had been bugging me for quite a few years. I mean, it's, the subtitle of the song is "Facing the Headlights Alone". And that's what it started off with. But by the time we finished, I finished writing this song, I'd taken that lyric out. (laughs)

Dave: Okay, we'll take and listen to it right now on KFOG, San Francisco, San Jose.

(Plays "Swept Away".)

Dave: That's great, that's good. We like that.

Russell: Cool. Thanks.

Dave: That's 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. Swept Away Bayou. Russell Crowe with us in the studio on KFOG, San Francisco, San Jose.

Peter: You are for all intensive purposes the lead singer of this band. When your're up on stage, you don't do the Mick Jagger chicken thing, right? But think of some lead singers and their moves on stage, have you developed a persona on stage -- I mean you're used to playing characters in your other job. But is this "Russell Crowe" up there on stage and what are you doing up there.

Russell: I think you just have to see the show mate. I couldn't really describe it. You know, as we were discussing before every night is different. Everything. Everything changes depending on where the audience is, where you are and all that sort of stuff. And some nights you really deeply feel the lyric and other nights are a little bit more frivolous you know, so ah, you know, I don't do that Mick Jagger thing. Do you guys . . . Except I do do the tennis balls down the front of the pants thing. Oh right on!!! (Laughing)

Peter: You do do that . . . but no sausage?

(All laughing)

Russell: Oh you have to -- you're actually not allowed on stage at some of these venues without doing that, yeah.

(All laugh)

I have girls that come around and test ... it's (imitating a tester) "Wow, you guys take this rock and roll thing seriously.

(All laugh)

Renee: A lot of bands have their riders . . .

Russell: Sometimes I don't put them in and I get tested and they go (imitating a tester) "I'm sorry." (All laughing) I mean it's cheap, right? (laughing) It's a way to get attention.

(To Rene who is cracking up) She's had two sips and she's off her trolley.

(All laugh)

Peter: She wants to see if you've got the tennis balls.

(All laugh)

Russell: I want the "CPH" back in here again now.

(All laugh.)

Renee: Do you guys have a crazy rider . . . ..

Russell: "CHP" isn't it?

Renee: You know how bands . . . yeah "CHP"

Russell: What's "CPH" --that's some kind of Canadian Pacific something-or-other. (giggles) No. Ok. Moving right along.

Renee: I have no idea. Do you guys have a rider, you know how bands pick things they want at their shows . ..

Russell: (Sarcastically) Do we have a rider . . .

Renee: What do you have on there.

Russell: Oh we do have a rider . .

Renee: What do you have on there?

Russell: Alcohol. In many differnt forms.

Renee: Anything whacky though?

Russell: No.

Greg: Like do you ask for the vegemite?

Peter: Like Van Halen with the certain colored M&M's

Renee: M&M's. Nothing like that?

Russell: No we don't do anything like that. But funny how people anticipate that we're gonna be like that. (All laugh) We go to Portland Oregon the other day. We did a couple of shows up there which was a lot of fun. And, you know, when we were doing the rider one night in rehearsal in Sydney, Andrew the band manager said" Is there any particular beers that you might like?" and it was kind of cool because I realized my knowledge of America was increasing because I named a local beer in every place we were playing.

Renee: Nice. Right.

Russell: This is one that I like there and this is one that . . . so I'm thinking, well -- I mean it's not rocket science, but it's something to know. So we asked for Henry Weinhard's in Portland. and we got there and the rider was all Coors light and Budweiser .

DJ's: Uh oh!

Russell: And I said to this lady, I said "any chance of getting any Henry Weinhard's?" and she was like "OH .." (imitating annoyed sound)

(All laugh)

I beg your pardon. It's a beer made in this area, I was just kind of wondering if it was ok to support the local industries (all laughing) for Christ's sake! (all laughing) So she begrudging went off and got me six bottles, I think but four of them were the green label and two were the white labels. Like oh . . .

Renee: Geeze!

Greg: It's all the same anyway.

Russell: Yes probably!

Peter: Well anyway. You're talking about expectations, you know and I mean we were told this morning you know -- he's Russell Crowe, just ask him about the music and stuff. But you're turning out to be like a regular guy that we can just hang out with ...

Russell: Jesus man . . .

(Renee giggles.)

Russell: What does that mean?

Dave. Oh you just blew it Peter. Thank you!! (all laugh)

Peter: Now he's going to storm out of here.

Russell: But what does that mean?

Peter: (stuttering) Well no, no, well no, alright, cause you're like . . .alright . . . people consider . . .

Russell: Ok . . . He's holding his fingers up above his head . . .

Peter: I'm about to do a quotation . . .

Dave: They're crossed!!

Russell: (laughing) This is not a visual medium, you got to realize how ridiculous this is getting folks at home.

Peter: I'm about to do quotation marks. Here we go. He's doing his quotation marks.

Peter: You are a "star" right? That was the quotation mark part. So because of that, we're wondering as you come in, well . . you know, how is he going to be . .

Russell: So you put all of this shit in front of me, and you put me on the crappy chair.

Peter: Yeah.

Renee: Right.

Russell: And you gave me the coffee and you can't have any real cream I think, because apparently it's too high above sea level . . .

Dave: It's against the law in San Francisco to have cream above the fifth floor . . .

Russell: Then I sit down here and I chat to you really nicely and the bloke pulls out the old quotation marks . . .

(All laugh)

Russell: What's a fellow suppose to do?

Dave: Tell you what, Russell would you like, would you like . . .

Russell: . . . something else in the quotation thing? Actor.. . .

Peter: Uh huh.

Russell: "Australian." Right. Chill out!

Peter: I'm going to put my hands in my pockets for the rest of the interview.

Dave: Would you like to take a smoke break sir?

Russell: Absobloodylutely.

Dave: I'll join you if that's alright.

Russell: Cool.

Dave: We'll be back with Russell Crowe in a second. It's 9:41 at KFOG. (Cut to commercials)

Dave: So what kind of cigarettes are those you were smoking out there?

Russell: Benson and Hedges Extra Mild. Those are Australian cigarettes.

Dave: Extra mild?

Renee: Extra mild? Whimp!!!! (laughs.)

(All laugh!)

Peter: Uh Oh! Don't mind her. She's drank that Fosters!

Dave: She's half way through a Fosters.

Peter: She's been doing Fosters!

(All laugh)

Russell: She's forward now, isn't she? And a little Dutch courage.

Dave: It's 9.48 at KFOG.Russell Crowe in the studio with us. Again, thanks for stopping by this morning.

Russell: Cool.

Peter: So what movies do you got coming up, we should go see?

Russell: Uh, just the one that I finished. I didn't want to have, you know, a whole stream of things coming out. Just like usual. You know, it took a long time to make the decision but I ended up working with little Ronnie Howard.

Peter: Oh, wow.

Russell: And the movie is called "A Beautiful Mind". It comes out in December.

Greg: I read yesterday in Liz Smith (laughter) she was saying that

Peter: Oh, no! God!

Greg: No, so you know it's true.

Russell: That says a lot about your personality, now doesn't it? We've just been discussing you outside. (Laughter.)

Greg: That you play a psychiatrist or a psychologist in the movie?

Russell: No. I don't.

Dave: There you go. Thanks, Greg.

Greg: Oh.

Russell: There you go, thanks for your contribution. EEENNNHHH! [imitates game show buzzer noise] Next!

Greg: Well, she was saying that whatever role you played in the movie that it..

Russell: Well, you see? Okay, here's another example. Because that thing before, when you were waving your fingers around you know, this is a kind of a perception thing that's purely provided by people that like to make stuff up. Like Liz, you know. She's one of the great bullshit artists of her time. Which is probably why she gets paid so much money, you know? I said to Ron Howard in an email, that the negative dreams had stopped because that was a very intense character. And you know, as usual, at a certain point in the film schedule no matter how well organized it is you don't sleep very much. You know. Your hours are very long. I'm playing a schizophrenic mathematician.

DJ's: Ahhhhhhhh.

Russell: And so if anybody knows the reality of that disease, it's not actually about being having a split personality, it's about thinking and imagining on numerous planes and having complete lives on a different plane.

So I was having very,very strange dreams. And I said to him in the email the bad dreams have stopped. And he said that to somebody else a reporter and said, "You know, I was talking to Russell and he told me the bad dreams had stopped." And so Liz takes that, you know, injects steroids in it and blows it up to some point where (frentically) "I would wake up in a cold sweat. I would not know where I am! My heart beating like a bunny!" (Laughter.)

Dave: That was the quote. **

Russell: You know. Now you get the idea what she says to her lovers, right? ( All Laugh.) Get at me like a rabbit, big boy! (Laughter.)

Peter: Well, let's see. Irish Greg and I have both alienated Russell Crowe now, but we've still got Rene and Dave to ask questions.

Russell: But that's not alienation. That's just taking what you were talking about and entertaining the folks at home.

Peter: Yeah. You've got the full beard thing going these days. Is that for the band or for a part?

Russell: I'm just lazy, mate. I mean, like shaving is not a male invention. It's a, you know, it's a female thing. And anybody who thinks it‰s a good idea to get up first thing in the morning and rub sharpened steel across your bare skin is an idiot.

Renee: Do you feel that way about women too?

Russell: I think, mate, if it's supposed to be there, just let it be there.

Renee: Let it be there. Rock and roll. Cool!!!

Greg: Really?

Renee: God. (Laughing)

Peter: Have another Fosters, Rene.

Dave: She's toasting!

Renee: Cheers!

Russell: But hey, don't show me anything. Even if you get through both of those cans. Um, I'll be okay -- with the imagination.

(All laugh)

Peter: So, you're a schizophrenic mathematician in this upcoming movie. What what haven't you gotten to be in the movies yet that you want to be?

Russell: Oh, I dunno. We'll find out one of these days.

Peter: As they come up.

Russell: I don't covet roles and, you know, go looking for certain things, you know. I just try and stay open and loose about it and respond to the thing that gives me goosebumps when I read it. And you don't always you know you don't -- well, some people do. Some people sort of overly control these things. For me, there's got to be an immediacy and an electricity that comes with being excited about -- by something so , I try not to, I could book myself up for the next five years. But I just try not to. Because that takes part of the fun out of it.

Peter: Sure. We've got to leave time for the band too.

Russell: Well, yeah, and my farm. And my horses and my dogs and my cows and stuff.

Peter: Oh, man, getting jealous. No, that sounds like a great life.

Russell: It's been pretty rough the last couple of years because I haven't got to spend much time at home so there's , you know, people, they might have the best intentions and all that sort of stuff. But you know, I still have that thing where I look out after my cows better than anybody. (Laughs)

Peter: But you do have somebody there feeding them, right, yeah? Yeah, they're not going hungry.

Russell: No, they're not going hungry. But you know, it's just I do get a little worried sometimes that I'm not as hands-on with that as I should be.

Dave: Russell Crowe play another song from the album, if that's okay with you? Got any requests?

Russell: Yeah, I suppose. Play track 2.

Dave: Track 2. "Memorial Day". Yeah, I was reading a little bit about this in the PR. What's the story on this, if you don't mind?

Russell: Well, this is this relates to my grandfather. He was a cinematographer in the Second World War. Ended up getting the MBE from the Queen of England for contributions to his country's war effort. When he was dying, he flew to Australia. At that time I was living in like a doss house, sort of hotel. You know, where your room has a bed and a set of drawers in it. And you go down the hall to your bathroom and stuff. And I was busking in the streets with Dean, actually. The guy who's still the lead guitarist in 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.

And he came over to visit me, to tell me basically that he was dying. And um, he asked, you know, if he could take me out to dinner. And, you know, I was living on $3.50 a day amortized over fried rice and cigarettes. And so the thought of getting a free meal was pretty cool. So I said yeah, yeah. There's this Japanese restaurant right next door where I was living, and I passed it every day. It would drive me nuts, you know. And so I said, let's go and eat there. And about halfway through dinner, I realized that he hadn't eaten anything. And he was kind of red in the face and his hands were shaking.

And it occurred to me that, however many years later, the totality of the experience that he had in the Second World War was still within him. And it wasn't that he was a racist or a bigot. He just had not been able to get past that experience and what Japanese people actually meant to him and the destruction that he had recorded then, being the destruction that they were responsible for. So, that's what this song is about.

Dave: So we'll listen to the tune. Here's "Memorial Day" on KFOG.

(Play Memorial Day.)

Dave: "Memorial Day". Russell Crowe and 30 Odd Foot of Grunts on KFOG. 104.5 San Francisco. 97.7 San Jose. Russell Crowe in the studio with us. Now, if you'd like to, you could slap them up for trashing you a few weeks back.

Russell: Come on. Now, we've been on the internet and we've, we've read the transcripts and uh, what was the great quote? "Who would in their right mind would buy a ticket for a show like this?"

Peter: Irish Greg. Did you say that?

Dave: Sounds like Gregism totally.

Russell: So, two sold out shows at the Fillmore later . . .

Greg: I know. Now, Russell, Russell listen. Do your best to listen to me.

Russell: Come on, so do your best Liz Smith impersonation.

Peter: All right! Let's all listen to Irish Greg.

(All laugh)

Greg: No, you were just saying how Liz Smith ruins everything, pumps it full of steroids and changes the story entirely. What happened was here. Tickets for 30 Odd Foot of Grunts were going on sale.
(laughing)

Peter: Yeah?

Greg: And I was skeptical as to how fast they'd sell out. Because a lot of people aren't familiar with your work. You'll accept that? Right?

Russell: Yeah. Except that at the same time the band has been around for a long time. And it's built its own audience, without radio stations, without television, without multi-national record companies, without advertising campaigns.

Dave: 17 years, right?

Russell: Based on the music. But go on.

Greg: But what I said was that it , it WILL sell out. But based on..

Peter: No, you said it WOULDN'T sell out. You are such a LIAR!

(Everyone laughs. Except Greg.)

Greg: Now listen to me for a second.

Russell: Now, remember. I didn't say that.

Greg: That your celebrity through the movies obviously helps sales, right?

Russell: Obviously.

Greg: Okay. That's all I said.

Renee: Oh, whatever!

Dave: It wasn't quite said that way but . . .

Peter: Wait, I want to see that tap dance he's doing over there!

(All laughing)

But you proved them wrong. And also due to the fact that you've come on with us this morning and have been such a cool guy, we can never, like say rude things about you ever again. Or your . . .

Russell: Oh, no, you have to. Because that's what makes life fun.

Renee: Right.

Peter: Really? So we can still but good natured.

Russell: Okay. Slag me off.

Peter: Good natured. Good natured.

Russell: Whatever you want to do. (Laughs.)

Peter: Okay.

Russell: The thing is that hopefully, you know, you might want to come to the show. And you'll see what your roommate is obsessed by, you know.

Renee: Uh huh!

Russell: It's just a band. It's not going to change your life or anything like that, folks. You know? Um, but we've been together for a while and we do know what we're doing. And you know, it's from the heart. And that's what, where all of these art forms should come from.

Renee: But Dude, tickets are hard to get.

Peter: Yeah, it's sold out.

Renee: Sold out.

Russell: Yeah, you can't get any more tickets today.

Peter: Oh, your buddy's . . . okay.

Russell: We wanted to do a third Fillmore show but we could only get one date from Los Angeles, on a Sunday at the House of Blues. So we just had to . . .

Peter: Well, all this means is, you've got to come back to San Francisco and play some more gigs. And Irish Greg will be in the front row, cheering you on.

Greg: Let me ask you this. We get emails all the times individually or whatever, saying "you suck." Does a bad review in a movie or of your band bother you?

Russell: Well, you have to be ridiculously insensitive to not be bothered by it. But at the same time, you know, I've been doing this for a long time. And when I was in the theater, I learnt a very good, sort of catch phrase to live by. And that's, you know, "Today's review is tomorrow's fish and chip paper." You know, I don't do the things that I do to garner praise from anyone else. I just do what I do because that's what drives me. And, you know, you can slag me off or you can build me up and neither will actually affect the way that I approach my work.

Dave: Pretty good. Are you ready for "On the Couch?" (Laughter.)

Russell: What's that?

Greg: It's innocuous. You'll have fun with it.

Russell: I dunno. She's been drinking.

Dave: Not that kind of couch.

Russell: She also just dropped the curtains down. So we could have a little bit more privacy. (Laughter.)

Dave: No, this is sort of a way we can take a look at . . .

Russell: Is it a big couch, baby?

Renee: It's huge.

Dave: . . . at serious psychological stuff.

Russell: Does it have Corinthian leather? (Laughter.)

Dave: Come on, you guys. We have three questions that we will ask you and this will give everyone the [missing part]. What is the one thing you would run into the house and grab to save it from a fire?

Russell: (long pause) I dunno. Nothing.

Peter: Material goods don't mean that much to you?

Russell: Not necessarily. I mean, there'd be a lot of things in my life that I wouldn't want burned but um, it would probably be a painting. Probably something like, I've got a couple of, I don't know if you know this artist, Norm Lindsay? Paintings, I'd probably go and grab that. Whichever one was closest.

Renee: To the door.

Peter: Fair enough.

Russell: I don't know. Whichever one I could grab. Probably end up being more than one. (Laughs).

Renee: Have you ever been in a fist fight? And if so, why? Or a barroom brawl?

Russell: I'm an Australian man at the age of 37 years. You know, I played rugby growing up and my dad was a pub manager. You know? I was working security at the door of his pubs from the time I was 15, 16. So, the short answer is yes. And the second answer is really elusive. Those situations change all the time. I tend to be somebody who, you know, gets really upset if somebody else is being bullied. So I've put myself in a couple of ridiculous situations defending other people just to find out later one that they really weren't worth defending in the first place.

The worst one I think happened when I was about 17. My brother was working the door upstairs in this bar and I was doing I was working in the kitchen in this pub the Albian in Auckland. And these four gang members came in. My brother kept getting on the intercom and going "Mate, I'm really need you to come up here. Cause we've got these four blokes up here." And I thought he was pulling my leg. And I had things to do, I was cleaning the grill and everything and I said just deal with it your self, you know. And he got more and more sort of (frantic) "Mate, get UP here!" So when I got up there it was sort of like hooley dooley. These guys are dead serious and they're all sort of in their mid-30's, you know. Both of us were less than 20 -- I can‰t remember exactly how old and we had one other friend there, so it ends up being this huge big thing trying to get these guys out of the pub. And all that.

But the funniest situation was when we got out into the street, this guy swung at my brother and it's the same thing now I'm being very passive until I get into that sort of situation. And I saw my brother getting hit and I went absolutely crazy. And it ended up, and I don't exactly know how -- with this gang member bloke, about 34-35. He's in the middle of the street and he was trying to get away from me so much that his pants opened up (laughs) and fell down. So he's kind of running and scrambling down the street with his pants around his ankles. And it's like, this is funny as hell. So, I kind of went out of that mode and just started laughing.

Yeah, I've been in a few things, you know. We have a very masculine up front culture where I come from. And we have less laws that lead to litigation. So people tend to get their frustrations on the table straight away. But Australia is a strange sort of place like that. Because it is very bold and very big, but at the same time, as soon as something happens, the majority of the people in the room work on solving the situation. Whereas in New Zealand, it's a little different. If a fight starts in a pub in New Zealand, ambulances will be called and somebody will . . .

Renee: It gets gnarly.

Russell: Yeah, it gets really weird.

Dave: And final question on the couch.

Russell: On the couch.

Dave: Song that will be played at your funeral?

Russell: I don't know. Do you actually think that people go around thinking this stuff? Do you guys think about this stuff?

Renee: Oh, all the time. Every day! (laughs)

Russell: By the way you drink, I'm not surprised. (Laughter.)

Greg: Touche!

Peter: Well done!

Russell: Well, actually, my favorite pop song in the whole world -- "Alison" by Elvis Costello.

Dave: That would be the one.

Russell: Might play that. Not that it would be relevant to my death or anything .

Renee: Just the song you like.

Dave: Good tune. One more question.

Russell: (to one of the dj's) Your fingers . . . singing along. Yeah, burn me!

Dave: We're going to do a Motortown, all Motown set on 10 at 10, which gets started in just a couple of minutes. Are you a Motown fan at all?

Russell: Yeah, I am. I was just wondering. Do you have any really early Steve Wonder? Like Little Stevie Wonder stuff?

Dave: Oh, yeah.

Russell: Cool.

Dave: Okay, we'll do some early Stevie Wonder stuff for you. Thank you very much for coming up this morning.

Russell: Cheers.

Dave: Cheers to YOU!

Peter: Russell Crowe. (All applaud him.)

Greg: Sorry!

Dave: It's a little after 10 o'clock. It's KFOG.

Russell: Can you tell your roommate . . .?

Peter: Toni.

Russell: Your roommate --Toni?

Peter: Yeah.

Russell: Tell her she's got great taste!

Greg: In roommates.

Russell: No in music.

Cut to "Allison" by Elvis Costello.

(Special thanks to Carolyn for transcribing)