“Weird Al” Yankovic has been recording hit parodies for more than 30 years now, becoming the highest-selling musical comedy artist in history. He’s about to release his 13th album, “Alpocalypse,” which features the Lady Gaga spoof “Perform This Way.”
Yankovic will be performing in Waukegan, Illinois this Saturday at the Genesee Theatre and in St. Charles, Illinois on May 31 at the Arcada Theatre. His live show is a multimedia extravaganza with enough costume changes to rival Cher.
I spoke with “Weird Al” earlier this week. On Wednesday, I posted part 1 of the chat. Now for the rest of the discussion …
Hi, Al. I know you’ve started your new tour. How have the first few shows gone?
The first few shows are going really well. We had some server difficulties. We have a computer server that runs the films and the track for our drummer to keep everything in sync, so if that goes awry, it’s a real big problem for the show. But today we’re starting with a brand new server, so we should be pretty bulletproof from here on out.
Are you playing a lot of new material from your new album?
We are. It’s not the full-on Alpocalypse Tour quite yet, because I want to save some surprises for when the album’s actually released. We’re obviously playing “Perform This Way” and we’re playing several of the “Internet Leaks” tracks like “CNR,” “Craigslist” and “Skipper Dan.” And the polka medley, “Polka Face.”
“Perform This Way” is electropop, which is kind of a different genre for you. Did you record that song with your band, or was it all done electronically?
Well, my band did it, but here’s the thing, there’s no “real instruments” (laughs). My drummer had presequenced all his stuff in his home studio. My guitar player did all the synth tracks at home, so they walked in the first day of recording and both presented me with a DVD with digital files on it and said, “Here you go!” And then I just sang for a couple days.
It’s getting to the point where a lot of pop music … you don’t put up a drum set, you don’t tweak your guitar amp. It’s all done with keyboards and computers.
When might we expect to see the “Perform This Way” music video?
It’s going to be out about the same time as the album. We shot it last weekend. I just finished doing the offline edits and now it’s in post. I don’t want to give away what we’re doing, but it is a fairly post-heavy video. We’re gonna be working on post for about four weeks. The record label will have it in their hands on June 15 -- that’s the deadline we were given.
We know the story behind the Lady Gaga mix-up. I’m curious: How often do you actually reach the original performer for consent, versus going through their people?
More often than not, it is going through their people because I don’t happen to have Lady Gaga’s phone number, for example. And usually that’s not an issue. If we ever have a problem, then I will make every effort to contact the artist directly, but that’s not always possible.
You tweeted about the Lonely Island recently. What do you think of those guys and does their success sort of help you and the whole genre in general?
I think they’re extremely funny and they’re great at what they do. Their videos are amazing. I think that their success only makes comedy in music more accepted on the radio and in the zeitgeist, and I look at it all as a very positive thing, so I wish those guys all the best.
You had to cut short your vacation to record the Gaga parody. Do you find it a challenge to balance family and work?
It always is. I’m certainly not unique in this. Thankfully now, with Skype, I can look at them every night and talk to them over the computer, which I understand is not the same thing as being there in person, but we do what we can to stay close.
My wife and I have a deal where we try not to go more than two weeks without seeing each other. She’ll pick spots on the road to fly out with our daughter and have a little bit of quality time. It’s not ideal, but touring is an important part of what I do and we try to adjust where we can.
Your daughter is 8 now. Is it time for her to put out a single, like Willow and Jaden?
(Laughs) She’d better get on that! She’s slacking!
Your last album gave you your first Top 10 album & single of your career. Do you have any specific milestones left you’d like to achieve?
Oh, I’m sure I could make up some (laughs). I’ve done pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted to do. I guess there’s a few things I haven’t gotten around to yet. Maybe at some point I’ll do something on Broadway. I did my own movie a couple decades ago (“UHF”) and it was a cult favorite but it wasn’t what you’d call a blockbuster hit, so I’d like to have another shot at that and do it right.
I think my dream job would be to be a voice in a Pixar movie. That would be a personal achievement for me. Other than that, I’ve had a pretty blessed life and career so far and I’m very happy.
“Weird Al” Yankovic will be performing in Waukegan, Illinois on May 28 at the Genesee Theatre and in St. Charles, Illinois on May 31 at the Arcada Theatre.
Check out more of my Chicago live music articles.
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