Companion interview in K Composite No.8, pages 177-179

Born 09 Aprill 1974 in Indianapolis, Indiana
Favorite Atari game: Pitfall

Curtis Mead is kind of a wanderer. He used to play in a band which toured America and Europe several times. After moving to Austin for a while, now he's back living with his mother, who raised him, in his hometown of Carmel, Indiana, just outside Indianapolis.

Have you ever gotten anything cool out of a cereal box?

Cool out of a cereal box... [12 seconds] Does a... No, Cracker Jack is not cereal, unless you put milk on it.

Most people don't do that.

[laughter] Anything cool out of a cereal box? Yeah, well, I don't think it's cool anymore. I can't tell you what kind of cereal it is, I don't remember, but those really cool “make your quarter disappear” magic tricks... I got one of those.

If you were involved in the making of a summer blockbuster film, would you prefer to be the star, the director, or the writer?

Oh boy. I've never thought about... well... [eight seconds] I'm going to go with the candy bar answer and say that I'd probably want to be the star. I don't know. The star is a lot to... Yeah. Star. Because I've always wanted to be in the movies, ever since I saw [laughs] the performance of “BJ and the Bear.” The Bear. The Monkey. I've always wanted to be in the movies. It was actually a TV show, so I've always wanted to be on prime time. [laughter]

How often do you wash your hands?

Well, when I'm combating my huge allergy to poison ivy, such as I am now... I've done it though. I wash my hands probably five times a day

Have you ever been arrested?

[laughs] I've never been arrested. I have been handcuffed when I was 14. [laughter] I got handcuffed for being on federal property... Actually it was “federal” property, because at the time it was the Pan Am Games and the ping-pong championships were being held at this place in Carmel, Indiana. A friend of mine and I snuck out, wearing all black, of course. We crossed a field and all of a sudden a K9 trooper came out from behind a tree and asked us what we were doing, blah, blah, blah. They handcuffed us. I think they were just trying to scare us more than anything. But they put us in a holding cell and I had to call my mom, and augh... but, [laughs] it wasn't anything foreign to my family because my brother had visited the cell - the clinker - quite a few times. [laughter] So, just being held up for a curfew violation was not a top priority.

Do you think Evel Kneivel has ever cried at a movie?

[laughter] Um, I'd go with... Evel Kneivel, gosh. What movies would he have cried at? Probably no. No. I don't think so.

He's a pretty tough dude.

He's a tough individual. Is he from here?

No.

I thought he was from here. Where is he from? I thought he was from Kentucky.

I don't know. Probably Arizona or something. California? Somewhere around the Snake River Canyon.

Do you have any pre-scheduled rituals that you like to do every week?
Every week? A weekly ritual? Yeah, I like to watch TV once or twice a week. What do I like to do weekly? [eight seconds] I like to take my dog to the park, which I don't get to do every week, but I'd like to.

What's your dog's name?

My dog's name is, um... Smoky. [laughter] I voted for Fatty and Shithead.

As a Steve Martin fan, I can really appreciate Shithead.

[laughter] Yeah.

Companion interview appears
in K Composite No. 8
Pages 177-179