How different is this record from the one you made with Automator as Lovage?
MP: The only real similarity is that me and Dan are involved. I would say that there’s less of a kitsch angle to it. It’s much harder. It’s not sleazy listening or anything like that. It’s much more in the pocket, kind of pop, rock, with some hip-hop stuff thrown in there. The only other thing that I can really mention is a project called Mondo Cane, which is something I’m doing. It’s an Italian repertoire—my arrangements of ’50s and ’60s Italian pop tunes, a lot of which were arranged by people like Morricone, like I was saying before, some very cool, interesting arrangements. I’ve done four concerts—about to leave in a couple days to do another one. And the record should be out in early ’09. AVC: Is this similar to the Morricone project in that you’d found a bunch of artists that you were interested in and thought that they should be brought to light? MP: Yeah, I lived in Italy for a number of years and I was really digging around trying to get my hands dirty, trying to learn about I
