Q 1

PLAYBOY: Why would Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band have to do a solo album?

Dave Matthews: Yeah, I thought about that. It comes back to the idea of the badly named band, the lazy guys who said, "Fuck it, we'll just call it the Dave Matthews Band 'cause you're in the front." We never had the foresight to change it, and I think our fans know that the band really is the five of us and that taking the four letters away from the end of our name does make it a really different thing.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: What was the band's real reaction to the solo album, Some Devil?

Dave Matthews: It's not like there was a big discussion. I wanted to put some songs down. Some are very acoustic, some are with other people. I wanted to sit there and go, "What do I do next?" It was like having a day job: Wake up in the morning and go to the studio and mess around and get embarrassed by my own incompetence. I really want people to know how at home I am in this band that I've been a part of for so long. It's good to stick your head out of the water sometimes.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: You're as big a rock star as this country has. Do you ever wish you were more of a celebrity?

Dave Matthews: As I get older, when I walk past a group of teenagers I do start to think, Will they recognize me or am I an old-timer? And they often don't. But I cover myself by saying that if they were 25 and listened to my record, they still might not recognize me. I'm Johnny Boring. I work so fucking hard at being a regular guy -- 'cause I'm as regular as an orange fiery turd flying out of an elephant's ass. I don't feel regular at all, but I make an effort to be as regular as I can. I don't know why, but it seems important that I don't get a house behind a wall, that I don't insist that my Pepsi be at exactly the right temperature -- because I'm really terrified of what a pathetic existence that is.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: So you're scared of fame?

Dave Matthews: It's so pathetic to get that far away from the fact that your shit stinks. It's almost paranoia, not to venture too far from what I think is normal. I'd rather not be too different when I get to the end of this strange ride than I was in the middle of it -- which will probably fail miserably. I'll probably say, "Why didn't I wear a pink tuxedo and take it up the crapper from that guy, just to see what it was like?"

Q 5

PLAYBOY: Surely you've gone in for some rock-star indulgences.

Dave Matthews: The bathtub in my house in Virginia is made from three old cast-iron tubs, the ones with the feet. I had the middle of one and the ends of the two others glued together. I always said that if I had the money I'd get a long bathtub here in America. In England they like to lounge in the bath. In France they don't take baths often, but when they do, they like to lounge. But here everyone takes showers because they're so busy. I want a bathtub that, if I ask my wife to climb in, she can get in there with me. It's a hell of a tub.