R.E.M. By MTV

- I think we probably Have the capacity

To write a hit song,

To record it in a way

That radio would really Accept it with open arms,

And that a record company

Could really get The machine going behind it,

And we could be incredibly rich And--you know, people

All around the country Would recognize our names.

I'm not willing to do that.

I don't that radio Deserves me yet.

- yup, you got a good reception Over there.

Now, it's peter buck?

- yup. - now, peter...

Introduce the members Of the band.

- this is mike mills. He's the bass player.

Bill berry, the drummer. - yup.

- michael stipe, the singer. And me, peter buck.

[r.E.M.'s carnival of sorts ]

- did you know each other Before you started the band?

How did you get together? - not really.

We met at parties.

That--we didn't know Each other very well.

he and i do.

- we were High school buddies.

- we went to the same Junior high school.

We were just the antithesis Of each other,

And we really Did despise each other.

I mean, it's like we just Took one look at each other

And it was like--

And as it turned out, We didn't know this,

But we had a mutual friend, A guitarist,

That lined up A jam session one day,

And who should walk Down the steps but mike mills,

And it's like, "oh, god," And to this day

If i had to play the clarinet Or the guitar,

I would have packed up My stuff and left,

But here i looked at the drums Like, "oh, boy.

I'm stuck here And it's his house."

So we made The best of it

And played and had A fun little jam session,

And we just--we Got over it right then.

We just shook hands And said, "look,

Let's put this In the past."

And we became best friends, And we still are.

- what's happening there In athens, georgia?

- well, nothing, and everyone Wants to do something.

You know, form a band, Go to a party.

- peter and i were kind of Toying around

With the idea of putting Something together musically,

And he had never been In a band before.

- pete was working At the wuxtry record store,

Which is still the best store In athens.

And michael went in there Buying records, and they met.

- i think i called him richard For the first three months

That we knew each other,

And, you know, This is so typically peter.

He never corrected me.

- he was kind Of an exotic character,

Michael was.

Had good musical taste,

And we became friends.

- well, if athens Wasn't the way it was,

We probably Wouldn't have gotten together.

- athens was influential in That there were

And there still are a lot Of people there that kind

Of have this Need to have

Some kind Of creative output.

- it was a typical athens story, You know?

Four guys meet at a party And want to play other parties

And drink beer and have fun.

the night we met mike,

He had maybe been Over-served at the bar,

And he was wearing A leather jacket

And sitting on the ground And yelling

'cause he wanted to get up To the bar to get to his drink.

- and he was like, "this is the guy who plays bass

Who i was telling you about." I was like, "no, way.

"no way i'm gonna be-- I'm not even gonna get on--

"i'm not gonna be in a band With this guy.

There's no way on earth."

- instantaneously-- Within, like, an hour,

We were a band. - wow.

- you know, It wasn't even an audition.

So we went over and play, And we wrote three songs,

And we just went, "what?" - boy.

"we're a band."

we had a couple of songs

That bill and i Had written back in macon

With a friend of ours... - yeah.

- and so we showed them To michael and peter,

And i remember being Incredibly impressed with

What they did with Our little basis of a song.

Both of them.

And i was like, "man, these guys Can take it other places."

- you--i heard that you Got together initially

Just to play one party.

Is that right? - we lived at a church,

Michael and i, in athens.

It was An old abandoned church,

And we threw a party For someone, a birthday party.

- right now this looks like A decrepit abandoned old church,

But ten years ago, it was A decrepit abandoned old church,

But with r.E.M. Inside of it.

- and the church had a little Proscenium in the back.

You'd have to climb Through a closet to get to it,

And it was a stage.

Holes in the stage and holes That fell down half a story

To the dirt basement Where the graves were.

- we just wrote ten songs And got ten covers,

And played for a friend of our's Birthday party.

- we let people know That it was going on.

We had kegs of beer and, Like, 700 people showed up.

Lots of free beer And a free show?

That's kind of an impetus To enjoy the band,

And three of the people That showed up

Were booking agents From clubs,

And all of 'em were just Like, "you guys want a job?"

And we're like, "you're kidding."

- athens was so totally Unselfconscious

At that time that people-- You know, you could do anything

And nobody would Think twice about.

No idea that there was actually A scene going on.

- it was real innocent; I've never seen a place

Where there was less attention To things like career.

You know, maybe you'd have A fire eater open for a band.

We had a guy That juggled chainsaws once.

It was real non-rock and roll, In that anything goes.

- yeah. - you know?

And a lot of people That were in bands

Couldn't play at all, You know?

And they were learning. It was--it was really exciting.

- none of us really Had that much experience.

I think that's really What the greatest thing

We had going For us.

We had just absolutely no idea What was going on.

- you really played the clubs And all that down there.

- bikers bars, Pizza parlors.

Any place That would let a band play.

We played more New wave nights

And gay discos Than any band i could name.

It was pretty interesting Actually.

It was more fun Than most the dates we played.

that's a proving ground.

- basically we were just playing Around athens.

Then we decided, "well, You know, let's go to atlanta.

You know? Try that." It was starting to work.

So we started booking tours Around the southeast,

And we'd start them On, like, friday.

So we'd take Friday off of school,

And maybe The next monday, too,

And that started Turning into thursday

All to the next tuesday,

And eventually we were all doing Quite poorly in school,

And more than one of us

Was invited To actually leave school.

- we finally started to realize That we might be

Able to actually Make a living at it,

And that was a revelation In itself.

We did go out And play everywhere

And anywhere That we could.

A lot of little towns Where no bands ever went.

And when normally The only rock and roll

They could ever see Was the big arena shows.

- we were actually playing In real little places,

And people Were seeing us.

We were probably the first band Some of those people saw

Who didn't have A record contract

And that didn't do, Like,

The hits of the day In the local disco or whatever.

- we were just, like, Speed freaks, you know?

And the faster we could go, The better,

And the faster we could play, The better,

And the more we could cram Into every day, the better.

We just wanted To get in the van

And see the u.S. Like jack kerouac did.

- with does r.E.M. Stands for?

- well, if you look In the dictionary,

It means rapid eye movement,

And that's the time When you dream,

When you're asleep.

Our name doesn't necessarily Have to mean that.

- we found it in a dictionary At 3:00 in the morning,

And we were desperate For a name.

We couldn't think Of anything.

That would just seem Not to offend anyone,

And it was very short And simple, so we picked it.

- we wanted a name That wouldn't put us

In any particular category Musically,

And at the time when we Got together four years ago,

Bands pretty much didn't have Names that were just letters.

- we spent, you know, A year and a half writing--

Kind of writing Abc elementary songs

Getting ourselves ready to Figure out how to write music.