The genesis of the band Luscious Jackson actually took place a decade ago when Lower Manhattan streetkids Gabby Glazer, Jill Cunniff and Kate Schellenbach were sneaking out to clubs and absorbing the eclectic music of the early 1980s. Fellow street urchins were future members of the Beastie Boys, for whom Kate played drums before joining up with Gabby, Jill and European-bred Vivian Trimble on two live cuts of Luscious Jackson’s first EP, In Search of Manny, (named for a 17-year-old boyfriend of Gabby’s mother). This acclaimed first album, mostly demos, recorded in friend and producer Tony Mangurian’s basement, was released by the Beastie Boys’ own label, Grand Royale. The foursome has stayed together, touring as openers for such acts as the Breeders and Urge Overkill, and recording a second album, Natural Ingredients, now on the charts. A dense and spicy melange of influences, including jazz, hip-hop, punk, dance, overheard conversations, and street sounds, Luscious Jackson’s deep grooves and urban, post-feminist, mythical lyrics make their music impossible to categorize. Just back from the Lollapolooza tour and about to embark on promotional tours across America and Europe, they began lunch at Whole Wheat ’N Wild Berry with a discussion of the dreams each had the night before.
Gabby Glazer - I dreamt that my boyfriend was massaging Vivian’s shoulders.
Lynn Geller - How did you feel about that?
GG - I was watching it all from across the street and I didn’t really feel anything. But then I went over and pulled Vivien’s arm out of its socket.
Vivian Trimble - I dreamt that Mick Jagger insisted I come meet him after his performance. A car service comes to take me there and on the way I asked if we could stop because I needed to get some money. And then I kept stopping for money, accumulating more and more on my way to meet Mick Jagger. Finally we stopped one more time and when I came out of the bank, the driver had left. I saw him driving away with someone else in the car.
LG - Fear of success dream, I’d say.
VT - I kept saying, I have to get there and people would say, Where? And I’d say, I don’t know. And then my teeth started falling out.
LG - Vulnerability . . . Shattered . . .
Kate Schellenbach - I dreamt that all my equipment got stolen out of my apartment. From a window that I never knew opened. You know how dreams just change. I’d go out and come back and the sampler’s gone and the drums are gone. I was thinking, did I buy any of this stuff on Visa, can I get reimbursed?
VT - Having that dream about being in a car and not knowing where I was going, not having directions—it’s being out of control, which is something that exists on tour.
Jill Cunniff - I had dreams like that for five nights after we got back from tour: In a vehicle, I couldn’t find the hotel, was pouring rain. These other hotels, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, (laughter) were across the highway and I couldn’t get across the highway.
LG - Maybe since you all dreamt about touring, we should talk about Lollapolooza. (collective groans) Was it fun touring with other bands?
KS - Yeah, we made friends with the people from Flaming Lips and hung out with the Beastie Boys, who we already knew.
VT - Socially it was great even though we were rushing around. Everyone would share lunch and dinner hours. And there were these Tibetan monks. There was an opening prayer every day and they’d do a chant for it, and then do a closing chant and prayer—to try to help further the Tibetan cause. At first I was really worried about the monks and how they were going to deal with all these crowds circulating. What could be more alienating to them? But they dealt with it really well. There was a basketball hoop and the monks took over and became really good players.
From: https://bombmagazine.org/articles/1995/01/01/luscious-jackson/
