Dave Matthews grew up in South Africa, moved to the states, and started a little band cleverly named The Dave Matthews Band about three years ago in Charlottesville, Virginia[a note from Barb- WHAT??!! Let’s see, 1996-1991= 3 years. Oh well]. Their small but devoted fanbase- about 150,000 who bought th first CD Remember Two Things and has seen them tour relentlessly- has blossomed, to the band’s delight, with the release of their latest CD. Under the Table and Dreaming is well on its way to selling two million copies- and Dave Matthews is buying his friends McDonald’s to celebrate. In interviewing Matthews, Johnny Riggs wanted to dig beneath the surface to see what the artist was really about, and discovered that Matthews was a pretty ordinary kid. He loves Thanksgiving, he dreams about Great Danes, and yes, he has urges. He’d like a third eye on his palm, and if you want to know about his music, you’ll just have to buy the CD. What you see below is not polished or slick. It’s just a conversation with Dave Matthews.

Riggs: Hi, Dave.

Dave: Hello, sir.

R:Neither of us has to be particularly literate because it’s going into print and we’ll make it better.

D:Change it around. Make me seem like whoever you want me to be.

R:You’re working on a new album as we speak.

D:Yes we are...in a relaxed fashion. There is some really nice stuff coming out. Some new things and we’re playing some stuff we’ve been playing for a while. It’s very different from the last album, but it’s not very different. It’s still us.

R:What;s been your biggest royalty check?

D:My biggest royalty check- I think it was $34.00. I was psyched. I took everyone to Mickey D’s.

R:Dave, what were you like as a kid? Were you a class clown, class bully?

D:No, I wasn;t a bully. I was a swell, nice guy. I was a class clown. No, I wasn’t a class clown. In school I kinda kept to myself. No...I’m trying to design an interesting childhood. I was tortured as a child. It’s hard to see what kind of kid you were. I liked all my teachers and my teachers liked me, except for Ms. Dixon, but then she came around.

R:Who are the people from your past that you’d like to see now that you’re famous?

D:I don’t want to gloat.

R:I;d certainly gloat if I was a big star.

D:You’d go around and say “See I told you.” You’d go rub their nose in it, and say “Smell my bottom”?

R:definitely.

D:I guess I have those people, but I don’t want to go and rub their nose in it. I think I can rely on them to do the nose rubbing all by themselves.

R:Isn’t there a girl you used to love in sixth grade?

D:Oh sure. I have urges...this going to be a cryptic interview. “I have urges.”(laughs)

R:That;s gonna be the byline under your picture. “I have urges”. So do you remember your dreams?

D:I don;t remember my dreams. I used to have a lot of nightmares and I remember those really clearly. Like dropping the world on the most special person, and not being able to find the Chinese Mothballs to save me from the Frisbee. those kind of really sensible nightmares. Like a family of Great Danes having a terrible car wreck and there’s all kinds of dogs everywhere, and I’m walking through this mass of bent steal and broken dogs, and I just feel so helpless.

R:What’s the best part of being a big rock star?

D:It certainly gives an authenticity to some of what I do, and gives me a sort of reassurance since I’m not as confident in my heart about what I do as some artists. Hopefully, I’ll hold back from becoming a big ass.

R:What’s the worst part?

D:Well, we’re not huge. I feel like I’m still fairly incognito, so I don’t have the Eddie Vedder(I’m recognized everywhere I go) syndrome. The hardest part in the entertainment industry is that there’s only one of me, but a lot of people portraying me. I’m a little paranoid about how I’m perceived. Also, the industry is an incredibly false industry. There’s a lot of people who, if I were bartending, wouldn’t give a damn if I was squashed under an 18-wheeler.

R:Do you still have your friends who were with you before all of this started?

D:My best friends certainly don’t give a damn[about my status]. They’re psyched for me, but they really don’t care. And, as long as I don’t start treating my friends as if I’ve somehow done something greater than them, I guess they’ll remain my friends, as always. And if I did start acting like that, I would hope they’d tell me to bite it.

R:Did you know you were going to do this forever?

D:I dreamt about it, and stumbled with it and found myself here- with a lot of work in between. At 19 I was sitting behind a computer at a little store selling software, and I think I was dreaming about getting up and playing music but I didn’t know if it was going to happen. I’m no more of a musician than I was five years ago, it’s just that more people know I’m a musician.

R:Who do people lump you in with?

D:A lot of bands, usually the touring bands- Phish or Blues Traveller. Though I met a Russian guy who told me we sound like Scottish music. The Swiss think we are Celtic and in America they think we’re a jam band.

R:What are your worst habits Dave?

D:Smoking, drinking, etc. etc.

R:What size shoe do you wear?

D:My left foot is 9. My right foot is 10 ½.

R:Really. Do they let you piece together shoes in a normal store?

D:No. I’m lying to you. I should have let that one go.

R:Lots of people read this. It’ll get around and people will say he’s got misshappen hooves...How do you relax, Dave?

D:I’ll go for a drive or take a hike or [indulge in] my bad habits. I also talk, I don’t mind talking with fans. That’s relaxing sometimes because you’re reminded of why you’re on the road. You sort of become a nomad. But if you resign yourself to being a nomad, being a nomad isn’t that bad.

R:Do you like Christmas?

D:I actually prefer Thanksgiving. I wish the whole world had Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is good. It’s when we all sit down, stuff our faces, and enjoy our lives in between chews and swallows and sips of wine, when family drinking laws sort of fall to the side and teenagers sip on a little wine, and everyone gives their gratitude for being together. You can just be grateful without having to say or give anything.

R:If you had a third eye on your body somewhere, where would it be?

D:On my palm.

R:What if you’re lifting weights or something like that? What if you are throwing a baseball- you are going to jab it into your eye a lot.

D:I;d have a big strong eye that I could close and suck back into my palm.

R:Alright, is there any last thing, any huge quote that you would like to be the last quote of the article?

D:The last quote is that...”Nothing means anything and everything is made up.” What do you think?

R: It’s maybe just ethereal enough to end it on a scary note.

D: And now I need to go to the toilet.