This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Pixies’ monumental album, Trompe le Monde. A departure for the band at the time, Trompe marks a shift in both their sound and the themes of their songwriting. While the album is bittersweet to many fans because it was the final release before the Pixies’ highly publicized breakup, it is also undeniably some of their best work.

On the tail end of the hair metal and glam pop boom of the ‘80s and just before grunge took hold of the collective conscious, Trompe le Monde felt different, even for the Pixies. From the album’s opening title track to the distorted martian jam “Planet of Sound” and the spaced-out surf rock on “Alec Eiffel,” Trompe le Monde wasn’t just a new kind of alternative rock. It was an asteroid from an alternative planet. And it still feels futuristic 30 years later.

A precursor to the eventual demise of the original lineup, fans could tell bassist Kim Deal was staying on Earth while the band took this long, strange trip on Trompe. Save for a couple of standout bass parts and the few-and-far-between backing vocals, Deal was heading in a different direction than the band. If you go back and watch the Pixies’ network television debut, performing “Trompe le Monde” on Letterman in 1992 while on tour with U2, Deal is quite literally facing a different direction, and not even playing bass. Just a short time later, the Pixies were disbanded.

Thankfully, the original lineup reunited in 2004 for another decade before Deal ultimately left the band for good, but Trompe le Monde feels like the true swan song of the OG Pixies. Listening back to it now transports you to an early ‘90s show in a cramped, sweaty club, swigging a beer and passing around a sneaked-in joint in the dark before some signature Joey Santiago chords bring a rise to the lights and the cheers from the crowd.

One of Bobby Hundreds’ favorite albums from one of his favorite bands, worlds are colliding once more between streetwear and early ‘90s alternative punk as The Hundreds collaborates with the Pixies. The Trompe le Monde capsule features the brand’s take on Trompe’s iconic album artwork across Graphic T-Shirts, Pullover Hoodies, and a Trucker Hat.

I caught up with legendary Pixies guitarist (and composer!) Joey Santiago to talk 30 years of Trompe le Monde, working with Judd Apatow, and that infamous Letterman performance.

DUKE LONDON: Does it feel longer than 30 years since Trompe came out or does it feel like yesterday?
JOEY SANTIAGO: God, I guess it feels shorter than 30 years because I can’t believe it’s 30-years-old. Time flew by. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Yeah, it’s crazy to even think about it.

When you think back to that time, what were you going through, outside of the band? What was 1991 like for you?
Oh, man. For me, 1991 was a train wreck. I partied my ass off doing those recordings and I kinda wasn’t around anymore. It didn’t matter because everyone was taking their turns recording. At that point, we were really, really separate from each other most of the time. We would all try to get it together but it’s one of those albums that we forged through because of… you know. Our work ethic got it done.

That album was recorded in LA, Paris, London, and you said you were all doing your parts separate. Where did you record most of your contributions?
I did one in Paris, and isn’t there one in Geneva on there or something? That’s when guitar parts were really happening when we got off tour. That’s the last part of the equation. It’s really the guitars. I’d see the producer there, and I’d go, “Ah, Fuck.” I wanted to party. We just played a show, but nope! We would go to the studio to record.

Was it a different process recording that album versus your previous albums, as far as the creative process? Was there a different direction you guys were trying to take it with Trompe?
We’re not really a concept album band, so we weren’t trying to take it anywhere. Maybe trying to sound harder, and we accomplished that with a different amp that we were using. It sounded more brash because it was a different Marshall that we were using. It had a solid-state front end. Sort of all tube. So we thought, “Let’s really make this abrasive.”

When you listen back to it in the context of the band’s entire discography, it does feel like there was a shift. Did you guys know you were taking more risks in real-time with the sound?
It just happened that way. I do remember Charles coming in when he was showing me “Velouria” and he was saying he doesn’t want something like fucking Dolittle or blah blah blah, we didn’t want to write the same fucking album twice. It’s just boring and it’s really not good for a band’s career. It’s a double-edged sword with the critics. They’ll either say, man, they haven’t grown, or ah, they went too far, they don’t sound like “them” anymore. We’d rather the adventure side.

Has your favorite song on the album changed over the years?
Yeah, I mean I listened to it the other day, and there’s one song I like that’s really weird. It’s “The Navajo Know.” And I like “U-Mass.” That’s the one, I still like that one.

I was just going to ask you what that song “U-Mass” means to you and Charles, and why is it the best party school in America?
[Laughs] It was called the Zoo. Zoo-Mass, mainly because they managed to put a cow up on top of a highrise. And Charles had that riff at UMass. It was that long ago that we had that. And I gotta say something too. For myself, the direction I took, I try to be more of a “guitar-ish” player because on Bossanova, I heard a little slam saying my playing was too simple, blah blah blah. So Trompe le Monde starts out with me doing hammer-ons, you could hear it.

As far as how out-there the album was, the artwork is so crazy. How do you feel about the artwork?
I Love it. I love it. What the hell are those things?

[Laughs]
And then we found out they were bullseyes. It’s pretty cool. I was never in the conversation of what the album cover concepts were. Neither was Charles. It’s better that way. It’s better that way because it really puts more pressure on the artist.

What was it about Charles that really magnetized you guys together and made you wanna make music?
It sounds corny but it really was magic. When I picked up the guitar and I was living in the burbs, I just wanted to do something different. Something different. I just wanted to be in a band that does real shit and Charles had the goods. So he had that and obviously, we got along. Those are the two elements that really bond musicians together.

The band infamously broke up after that album and the subsequent tour. You guys have spoken on that a bunch. But one piece of it that I wanted to ask you about specifically was the performance on Letterman.
[Laughs] Oh yeah.

It must have been exciting because it was your network TV debut, but there was also, as we know now, a lot of internal turmoil in the band when that performance happened. What was that performance like, and have you watched it since?
We were kinda nervous, and it was kinda weird that David and Kim weren’t on their instruments. That was weird. And I like what David Letterman said after we left the stage. He said, “One word for that band, the Pixies. Outfits.” [Laughs] You guys could’ve dressed us up, man!

Were you guys forced to let Paul Shaffer do that organ solo?
I wanted him to do it. [Laughs] He did a good job. I wanted to see the Paul Shaffer bobblehead move. Just the excitement he put into it was like, fuck, he’s having a great time. Wish I could have a great time like that. But I do remember Paul was like, “We should extend the solo,” and I was like, “No, we shouldn’t.”

While the band is broken up, you start scoring different film and television projects, including Undeclared, which is a cult classic. What was that process like compared to making music with the Pixies?
Man, let me get this out for the first time, alright? [Laughs] I was getting close to broke, so I had to start doing something. Composing, that’s what I’ll do. I was about to read fucking gas meters. [Laughs] Then, I went to community college just to try getting my degree in fucking something. Meanwhile, I got an agent for composing just in case it doesn’t work out. I get a phone call, they go, “Hey this guy Judd Apatow wants to meet you.” I didn’t know who Judd was. Good thing I didn’t because I would have freaked out. But I went in there and I got the fucking gig. Then I dropped out again. [Laughs]

What is that job like?
It’s fucking hard and a lot of pressure, especially for someone that’s doing their first TV show. I think it was on Tuesday nights. It would air, the next day you go into their office and it’s a spotting session. You discuss where the music goes blah blah blah and then you have four days to write everything and then revisions for one or two days then BOOM and then they put it up, mix it, then it’s on that night. Then the same thing the next week. It gets easier though, it gets a lot easier once you get a palette for it but it’s a lot of pressure.

Was that the hardest job you ever had?
Yeah, it is. It was the most pressure. But I want it again because I know what it takes now. I had the toughest time coming up with stings, they call it. Like just sting out to the commercial. It’s a lot harder because you don’t want to sound like whatever. It’s gotta sound good. Write something, then just chop off the beginning.

Did you pick up any new hobbies during your time off throughout the pandemic?
I’m playing the acoustic guitar now at home. Hobbies? I would like to say I’ve kept up on cycling but I fell off it. I’m sorry I didn’t. Should I lie?

No, no, I didn’t either. I was just curious.
[Laughs] It’s a shame because I had guilt on it for a while. I should’ve learned at least three languages by now.

You guys just had to cancel your upcoming US tour. Where were you looking forward to playing most?
I don’t fucking care at this point. I swear to God, I’ll play in front of fucking penguins and Eskimos. I don’t fucking care just get me out there. I think we’re at the end of the world.