Friday, March 13, 2009

?estlove: The Jimmy Fallon Gig "Freed Up Time With Our Families"



?estlove of The Roots was interviewed by Coleen Nika of Papermag.com at (le) Poisson Rouge's last week at the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon kick off party. Coleen asks the question everyone wants to know: How does an uberhip band like The Roots risk their bohemian credibility by becoming the "house band" of a possibly formulaic late night network talk show. Ultimately it turned out to be a good move -- Fallon is hip -- but at the time it was potentially career-killing. Did they "sell out" for the financial security of a fat network paycheck? From Papermag:

"Papermag: Who initiated the arrangement of The Roots becoming Jimmy's house band?

"?uestlove: My former boss did -- I used to work for The Chappelle Show, and our music supervisor Neil Brennan dared Jimmy to hire us, knowing that we wouldn't accept it. And just to spite Neil, we took the gig.

"Papermag: Was there a financial motivation?

"?uestlove: No, but survival for us is bar none. That's job one: It's one thing when you are in your twenties and you don't have responsibilities, and you can live in your parent's house. Once you have those financial responsibilities, people to take care of, and a staff to pay, you think differently. It's freed up time with our families. And actually, The Roots have already conquered every possible medium except television. This is our last frontier."


Totally understandable. A mixed answer, yes (it wasn't for the cash but we have responsibilities?). Understandable, though.

1 comment:

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