Pitchfork

Photo by Michael O'Brien

Few artists embody the entertainer role quite like Tom Waits. And whether he's doing his entertaining with his songs, his all-too-infrequent live performances, or his wacky press dispatches, the man sure as hell knows how to get our attention and keep it.

Same goes for his interviews, particularly when he's both answering the questions and asking them. Mr. Waits today posted an enlightening, intriguing, and-- above all-- entertaining "conversation with himself" on the Anti- website, rife with amusing esoterica and, hey, a few newsworthy tidbits too.

For starters, Waits had a few words to share on the role he nabbed in the forthcoming flick from imaginative director and Monty Python descendent Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (not to be confused with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium). Waits joins an all-star cast that includes Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer, Colin Farrell, and the late Heath Ledger, and he's got one heck of a part.

"I am the Devil in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus-- not a devil...The Devil," Waits "explains" in his self-interview. "I don't know why [Gilliam] thought of me. I was raised in the church." Guess that makes Waits the mortal enemy of Alanis Morissette?

Waits also had some praise for his filmic colleagues. "Gilliam and I met on Fisher King. He is a giant among men and I am in awe of his films. [The Adventures of Baron] Munchausen I've seen a hundred times. Brazil is a crowning achievement. Brothers Grimm was my favorite film last year. I had most of my scenes with Christopher Plummer (He's Dr. Parnassus). Plummer is one of the greatest actors on earth! Mostly I watch and learn. He's a real movie star and a gentleman. Gilliam is an impresario, captain, magician, a dictator (a nice one), a genius, and a man you'd want in the boat with you at the end of the world."

Doctor Parnassus is expected to hit theaters sometime next year.

Waits the interviewer was also able to elicit some new song titles from Waits the interviewee: "Ghetto Buddha", "Waiting for My Good Luck to Come", "I'll Be an Oak Tree Some Day", "In the Cage", "Hell Broke Loose", "Spin the Bottle", and "High and Lonesome".

Also amusing: the list of things Waits considers "scary", which includes "turbulence," "gunfire," "sirens," "a dead man in the backseat of a car with a fly crawling on his eyeball," and, yep, "McCain will win."

Needless to say, the complete Waits on Waits "True Confessions" interview is well worth neglecting your homework/job stuff to read. Do so here.

Tom Waits kicks off his "Glitter and Doom" tour June 17 in Phoenix.

Tom Waits:

06-17 Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum
06-18 Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum
06-20 El Paso, TX - Plaza Theatre
06-22 Houston, TX - Jones Hall
06-23 Dallas, TX - Palladium
06-25 Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre
06-26 St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
06-28 Columbus, OH - Ohio Theatre
06-29 Knoxville, TN - Civic Theatre
07-01 Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theatre
07-02 Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
07-03 Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
07-05 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre