Since then, Horovitz has been acting, and Mike D has been scoring films.
But for several years the duo have had their minds on returning to Beastie world and its history.
AD-ROCK:Were calling intoyourradio station.
Credit: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images
But I dont have sound effects to play.
MIKE-D:Oh, I have that.
Anyway, congrats on the upcoming…uh, memoir?
Freeberg/Mediapunch/REX/Shutterstock
Actually I dont know how to describe it since this book follows a non-typical format.
MIKE-D:I dont know.
Im not comfortable with the term memoir.
Lester Cohen/WireImage
AD-ROCK:Can you say it with a French accent?
MIKE-D:[In a French accent]Memoir….
I feel like memoir implies sexy stories, and we dont really have many sexy stories.
Amanda Schwab/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock
[Laughs]Im sorry, Mike.
Come on, you threw it out there for me.
MIKE-D:That was just an easy put back for Horovitz.
Like a Vince Carter dunk.
AD-ROCK:That was so long ago.
MIKE-D:I know, but aVince Carterdunk…
AD-ROCK:That was like agenerationago.
So whats the origin story of this book?
MIKE-D:[Raps]Well, it started way back….No, seriously it did.
Adam Yauch was still alive, and Yauch had this concept of wanting to do [one].
He even started to make motions to do a band documentary.
Until somehow, we started talking about a book.
Weve read some things about us where were like, Thats not our story.
We should tell our story at some point.
Obviously, it got put aside; we were very sad when Yauch died.
It wasnt something we were willing to pick up for a [bit].
And then it took us a while to figure out what we were gonna do.
Theres a lot of weird stuff that happens when youre in a band.
You have a very insular experience.
Also, Adam and I, we dont necessarily remember that much.
So we realized short stories were our sweet spot.
We just tell things as if the band is this series of all these different stories.
How did you divvy up each one?
AD-ROCK:We just made a big list of what might be an interesting story.
MIKE-D:There are a couple of other big elements.
Because we couldnt have been who we became or made what we made without that being a huge play.
How did it come to you?
MIKE D:Adams clearly a natural.
AD-ROCK:Yes, but not at rapping.
We just made a bunch of records, and the way you get better is by just doing.
And so we made a few songs for Def Jam and the first couple were not the best.
MIKE D:Definitely not the best.
AD-ROCK:And we kind of just kept at it and figured out a way.
MIKE D:I think we started to find our own voice.
As kids we probably wouldnt have said important, but it really was.
Thats what we wanted to hear.
You know what I mean?
MIKE D:We would just memorize every word to every record and do that.
And then we really wanted to be Run DMC eventually we [realized], Wait, were not.
AD-ROCK:Definitely not.
MIKE D:Definitely not Run DMC.
And you start to figure that out.
And that the penis is still kept in storage in New Jersey.
AD-ROCK: Well, we dont keep it.
We just pay for it to be stored.
MIKE D:Sadly, yeah, we pay.
AD-ROCK:We actually were gonna get rid of it years ago.
When George Bush Jr. first got elected, we were gonna ship it to D.C. as a thing.
And then we didnt and its still there.
MIKE D:Now weve accrued even more storage fees, sadly.
AD-ROCK:Do you wanna buy it?
Because you could sell it.
MIKE D:You could make a great deal.
I dont have the money, sorry.
AD-ROCK:Madonna doesnt actually return our calls.
So, I dont know.
We dont know Madonna.
Itd be cool if we knew Madonna, though, right?
MIKE D:Yeah, I dont know what her take would be.
We should probably not have them on tour.
Im saving them from these idiots.
In 1985, you released (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)
and it became a hit.
But it also turned the group into a caricature of what you were initially trying to mock.
When did you realize that song had become something you werent intending?
AD-ROCK:I dont know.
MIKE D:Its kind of a thing that has that trajectory too.
And youre pulling it off, and were getting big.
And then you look out and people arent laughing the same way you are.
Youre like, Whoa, wait a second.
Lets rewind the tape here a little bit.
And then you actually start to have feelings for having hurt those people.
Its like a gradual thing that happens.
We were lucky enough, or fortunate enough, that we got to keep making records through this trajectory.
You know, a lot of people obviously dont.
Do you remember getting the news thatLicensed to Illhit number one?
MIKE D:I remember being told.
And we were like, Huh?
You dont feel so connected to it.
AD-ROCK:It was definitely tough on us.
Where did we used to go?
Mr. Pizza was bad.
[New York] bagels suck?
MIKE D:They suck because every place, they make the bagels filled with air.
Bagels arent supposed to be filled with air.
AD-ROCK:You dont like Murrays?
MIKE D:I like my bagel…No, Murrays isnt real bagels.
These are the bagel hot takes 2018 deserves, honestly.
MIKE D:Im just putting bagels on blast right now.
AD-ROCK:Well, basically, Mikes starting a bagel company, and its called Bagels on Blast.
Did you feel discouraged about making music going forward right after the lack of commercial interest?
MIKE D:It was confusing.
We kind of gotta focus on Donny Osmond right now it doesnt feel great.
Nobody wanted anything to do with us.
You started to experiment more in the studio, especially with your next record,Check Your Head.
Theres that great story in the book about Yauch creating a cardboard tube to make the drums sound bigger.
MIKE D:Yeah, Yauch was a technical wiz.
We gave him that name way back when and he lived up to it all the time.
But that was one of the many, many Yauch stories.
We wanted to get this big drum sound.
Hes like, Okay, here.
All of a sudden, he just sort of took charge.
Were like, Huh?
Will this be the final Beastie Boys-related release?
Do you have plans on doing any reissues, or do you have demos sitting in the vault?
MIKE D: Theres a lot of stuff, and theres probably other stories to be told.
But, I mean, it definitely was never like, Okay, this is gonna be it.
That wasnt the plan.
Weve never been a band thats been terribly good at planning things.
This is the thing that felt right in the moment.
Beastie Boys Book is out Oct. 26
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