Nikki Neil
An interview with Little Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence According to Little Jimmy Urine (real name James Euringer), vocalist/programmer and main songwriter for Mindless Self Indulgence, the band members met while selling Beanie Babies on QVC. While this may be a gross distortion of the truth, it was actually Urine's disdain for musicians that led him to encompass friends in his wacky world that would become Mindless Self Indulgence. "I hate musicians. I hate them with a passion," states Urine. "As a kid, I stayed in my room and tinkered around with musical instruments-eventually, this happened." Instead of playing Cowboys and Indians, Urine and Vanessa (bass), Steve (guitar) and Kitty (drums) formed a band. The title of the band's major label debut, Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy, is a precursor to their tongue-in-cheek humor. The album's thirty tracks (arranged in alphabetical order), unapologetically poke fun at a variety of topics, including Urine himself. "We're not a political band," Urine states flatly. "The only agenda is to amuse ourselves. It does not matter what it is as long as I'm amused by it, or I can make Steve crack up. Nobody is ever bored with our music. They either hate us with a passion and want to kill us, or they love us and want to have sex with us." Mindless Self Indulgence could very well be the Beastie Boys of 2000. Not easily categorized, their unique blend of industrial, jungle, new wave, hip-hop and punk is a welcomed relief from the boy band / bubble gum pop acts that are currently saturating the market. "We're like some bizarre fucking thing," says Urine. "We came up with the term, industrial-jungle-pussy-punk to describe our music, because the record labels and stores needed some [identifying label] to gravitate towards. They didn't know what to do with [us], and we want them do everything with [our music]." M.S.I.'s strategy seems to be working-the band's eclectic sound has enabled them to recruit fans while on the road. "We have a lot of different flavors and there are a lot of different bands out there, so we end up stealing a little bit from each audience." "On stage it's pretty much a free-for-all," Urine adds charmingly. "This ain't no shoe-gazer band-live is live." Urine is right; almost anything can happen at a M.S.I. show. On any given night one could witness, Urine getting his ass kicked by Vanessa, or engaging in a number of bizarre rituals. M.S.I may be unpredictable, but one thing is for certain; no two live shows are ever the same. However, M.S.I.'s wild antics are not always appreciated. During the band's recent stint with Insane Clown Posse, hostile fans threw change on the stage in response to M.S.I's set. "Sometimes we would make thirty-five bucks a night in change only," recalls Urine. Fortunately for M.S.I., hostility is nothing new. "We're used to the hostility," Urine states in a jovial manner. "We've had so much shit thrown at us-from nacho cheese to shotgun shells." Love 'em or hate 'em, Mindless Self Indulgence are anything but boring. Nikki Neil