Interview With Pixies Drummer David Lovering

Photo by Michael Barrett.

by Jonathan Cohen

nugs.net is streaming nine newly added, full-length concerts from alternative rock icons Pixies, including recordings from the band’s unexpected, massively anticipated 2004–2005 reunion tour — its first shows since their 1992 split. All shows feature the band’s original lineup of guitarist/vocalist Black Francis (real name: Charles Thompson), guitarist Joey Santiago, bassist Kim Deal, and drummer David Lovering.

Pixies’ reunion was initially pegged to an appearance at the 2004 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA, but the quartet understandably needed a little time to warm up before playing in the desert in front of 50,000 people at sunset. Hence, a run of small club dates in out-of-the-way locales was scheduled beforehand, opening April 13, 2004, at the 650-capacity Fine Line in Minneapolis. At that show, the group’s weird, loud, profoundly influential sound crackles through the speakers from the first seconds of “Bone Machine” to the last screeching guitar notes of the Deal-sung “Into the White” that closed the 27-song set, as screaming fans lose their minds.

Beyond the triumphant Coachella performance, the live Pixies collection also features a sold-out, four-night June 2004 run at London’s Brixton Academy plus several gigs from the following year, including a set at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Two rare 1991 shows from France (Lyon, May 27) and Bordeaux (June 1) offer an equally fascinating peek into the fierce live incarnation of a band that would be broken up less than a year later.

nugs.net spoke with Lovering about the early run of 2004 reunion dates, including that infamous Coachella set. Pixies are touring extensively this year, beginning June 22 in Rouen, France and wrapping Dec. 17 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Jonathan Cohen: Take me back in time to early 2004. How long did the band rehearse before the Minneapolis show?

David Lovering: Gosh, if I remember, I don’t think it was very long. I think we might have rehearsed for maybe two days, possibly? The Fine Line in Minneapolis was the first real test. If I recall, it was like riding a bike. It really was. There was nothing new I had to learn. It was all stuff that was nostalgic. This is what I grew up with and learned how to play. It was very easy, I think, for all of us. We just went over the stuff enough and trusted that the Fine Line would get us back in order.

That’s pretty remarkable after not having played together in 12 years!

Yeah! It’s funny now, because for this world tour coming up, we’re going to meet in France. We’ll do one rehearsal at the venue the day before the show, and it’s probably going to last four hours. Then we’ll say, yeah, we know it. We know it [laughs]. And then we’ll just show up the next day and start playing. That’s the way it is now.

Had you yourself played any Pixies songs on your own between the original breakup and the reunion?

Never, never. No. I mean, I pretty much gave up the drums for a period of time. I was resigned to the fact that the Pixies were a love that I had and something so special to me, but one that wasn’t going to happen again. I finally gave up drums and became a magician, believe it or not. It’s only a couple of letters off from ‘musician’ [laughs]. I really didn’t pick up the drums again until I knew we were re-forming, and that’s when I started playing. I bought a Roland electronic kit because I lived in a place where I couldn’t play drums, and an electronic kit was much more conducive for that environment. For two months, I started playing again.

What were those first few shows back like pre-Coachella?

I can say that it was the same feeling from rehearsals to actually doing the first gig. At the Fine Line, we were apprehensive and a little nervous. We hadn’t done it in a long time in front of an audience. But being out there, nothing had changed. The only thing that changed was, it was a different climate for us. In our absence, I know our popularity grew. At that first show, we were just kind of going balls out, if you’ll excuse the word. We all got blisters! We were sweating! But we were enjoying it. It was a small, intimate environment where you can feed off the crowd. We had a blast. That set us up for Coachella, but Coachella was another world in itself. When we went out there, it was a sea of kids who may not have been born when we were initially a band. But they knew the words and they were singing along. It was surreal. I had the chills playing. I’d never experienced that before. It was something else.

I was there at Coachella, and I remember you coming out from behind your drum kit to take photos of the crowd and the other band members.

Yes, I did. That was just something to behold.

The best part is that Radiohead went on right after Pixies. What a one-two punch!

Thom Yorke has said that he didn’t want to follow us [laughs]. He was a fan.

I remember talking to Charles around that time, and he told me the size of the Coachella crowd was almost lost on him because he could only really see out so far from the stage. Did you feel the same?

I did. At large festivals or shows like that, other than the first few rows that you can see, it’s hard to feel that intimacy. With Coachella, with everyone singing and holding up their lighters and phones, it gave the show a sense of unity.

How did the band evolve as a live entity during the time away? Or was Pixies in 2004 the same as it was in 1992?

I think it was the same as ’92. We knew how to play our instruments. It was really just, we came back to do what we did. It’s only in more recent history, from 2004 until now, when we’ve really been honing our craft, I think.

Were there songs you found a renewed love of playing? Or songs that were never or rarely played live in the original era?

I have no problem playing these songs. I love touring. I could play them forever. I don’t get sick of them at all. Nothing stood out in the gap that came to me later, but I know that we started playing “Here Comes Your Man,” which we never played back in the day. That was a pop song that was forbidden. We couldn’t play it. But once 2004 hit, we had the freedom and the right to do it, and we’ve been playing it ever since. I had to learn that song.

I know you had some personal challenges during that first tour as well.

My dad was dying. It was interesting, because in 2004, he did travel to England to see us, and that was a thrill. He had seen the Pixies years before, and for him to see us again on a different level, that was a treat for him. It was kind of heavy and did play a part in the experience. I remember him telling me that he was in the balcony with my mom — this older couple up there with all these young kids in Brixton. A conversation struck up and my mom said, oh yeah, that’s my son up there, and fans went wild. He hadn’t seen fans react like that before.

It’s hard to believe it has been almost 30 years since Pixies originally broke up.

At the seven-year mark of us having gotten back together in 2011, that was a longer period of time of us playing together than when we were initially a band. That was crazy. And to think now it’s 2022? It’s even more crazy.


New audio from nine 2004–2005 Pixies concerts is now streaming on nugs.net. Stream this latest drop and our entire catalog of live Pixies recordings.


Jonathan Cohen is a veteran journalist and talent booker known for his work at Billboard, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Variety, and Spin. He is also the author of the 2011 New York Times-bestselling authorized biography of Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam 20.

Weekly Live Stash Vol. VII, April 22, 2022

Listen to The Weekly Live Stash with nugs.net founder Brad Serling every Friday at 5 pm ET on nugs.net radio, SiriusXM 716.

  1. Carini
    Phish
    4/20/22 New York, NY
  2. Time Loves a Hero
    Eggy
    4/9/22 Boston, MA
  3. Here Comes Your Man
    Pixies
    4/18/04 Edmonton, CAN
  4. Seven Nation Army
    Jack White
    4/17/22 Boston, MA
  5. Black Clouds
    Billy Strings
    4/16/22 San Diego, CA
  6. Can’t Stop Now
    Kitchen Dwellers
    4/15/22 Bend, OR
  7. Ain’t That Wrong
    Spafford
    4/14/22 Hartford, CT

nugs.net Expands Live Concert Recording Catalog with Top Artists

nugs.net is thrilled to announce exciting new additions to its catalog of live concert recordings.

Over the past two decades, pioneer live music streaming platform nugs.net has evolved into the leading source for official live concert recordings from the largest touring artists in the world. With an ever-expanding digital archive of more than 25,000 concerts and hundreds of on-demand videos of full shows from marquee acts like Metallica, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Dead & Company, and Phish, nugs.net provides music fans VIP access to their favorite concerts anytime, anywhere. Throughout April, nugs.net is adding an iconic, genre-spanning collection of new artists and live concert recordings to their massive, unrivaled streaming library, including an epic selection of new and archival shows from Jack White, DARKSIDE, Pixies and more. 

Jack White’s Supply Chain Issues Tour Concert Audio

On the heels of releasing his eagerly awaited new album, FEAR OF THE DAWN, Jack White kicked off his Supply Chain Issues Tour last week with two sold-out shows at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre. The tour, which features White’s first headline shows in four years, will make 50+ stops across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom through late August. In partnership with nugs.net, White will offer official soundboard audio from every stop on the tour, available to stream exclusively via nugs.net here: nugs.net/jackwhite. Of the new partnership, Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell shares, “While we’ve been recording all Jack White live shows for years, only now did it finally feel right to release all of them quickly after the performance. And with nugs.net as our partner…we couldn’t be happier with the results.”

Six Epic Sets from Psychedelic Duo DARKSIDE

Beginning today, music fans around the globe can enjoy full-length concerts from DARKSIDE, the psychedelic collaboration between electronic producer Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington, who have partnered with nugs.net to bring two visually driven, atmospheric performances, as well as official soundboard audio from five epic concerts to the platform’s extensive streaming catalog for the first time. Watch DARKSIDE’s intimate sunset show overlooking the Manhattan skyline, Psychic Live set at Stereolux in Nantes, and more streaming exclusively on nugs.net here: nugs.net/DARKSIDE.

26 Pixies Archive Concert Recordings

Alt-rock icons Pixies also join nugs.net this month. 26 full-length concerts from the archives, including recordings from 1991 and the band’s 2004 reunion tour, will be available to stream on April 21 at nugs.net/thepixies. All shows feature the band’s original lineup: frontman Black Francis, guitarist Joey Santiago, bassist Kim Deal, and drummer David Lovering. Highlights include Pixies’ first show in 11 years at the intimate Fine Line in Minneapolis, a performance on the mainstage at Coachella, and a 2004 sold-out, four-night run at Brixton Academy in London. 

Immersive 360 Reality Audio

Throughout the month, nugs.net will continue to bring the live concert experience to music lovers worldwide. Stream iconic performances and classic albums by David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Janis Joplin in immersive 360 Reality Audio, which brings the electricity of live music and the energy of a crowd to you like never before. Experience exclusive live recordings from the Bruce Springsteen Archives, like The Roxy ’75, as if you were in the room with the E Street Band on the Born to Run Tour. Listen to the classic Jefferson Airplane Volunteers album the way it sounded in the studio, and hear David Gilmour play “Wish You Were Here” with the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra like you’re in the crowd of 50,000 fans. For more information and to start listening visit: try.nugs.net/360.