This interview was sent to me by Ian Taylor from Australia.
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This is a transcript from an interview Al did while over here in Australia
to promote "Off The Deep End"  It appeared in a music newspaper called
On The Street around four years ago.


'Weird Al' Yankovic releases a new album titled Off The Deep End this week,
featuring his usual assortment of polka medleys and pop star parodies.
Seattle's favourite sons are the latest victims of the man that has sliced,
diced and tickled the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson, his new single
being a strangely familiar tune called Smells Like Nirvana.  The Weird 
One's humour stems from a finely tuned knowledge of TV, music and film.

OTS: So what's it like being a self confessed media junkie?

AL: I watch more TV than a healthy person probably should, but I justify
    it by saying that I'm a student of pop culture.  It's part of my job
    to keep my finger on the pulse of what's happening.  I take it all in,
    scramble it around in my brain and spit it out at people.

OTS: What is it about certain songs that makes you want to send them up?

AL: There is no set parameter for why I pick certain songs to parody,
    although they're usually superstar acts or songs that are perhaps
    being overplayed on the radio.  I prefer doing male artists for obvious 
    reasons - I like uptempo songs as opposed to ballads, but the main 
    consideration is that they have something that suggests a funny idea.
    There are some songs that would seem to lend themselves to parody,
    but I just can't think of any clever ideas to make it come together so
    they get ditched.

OTS: So why Smells Like Teen Spirit?

AL: Besides filling most of the criteria I mentioned before, to this day I
    still don't know what half the words are, and I've worked pretty closely
    with it.  It was a fairly easy angle to take, that and the fact that
    they come from Seattle.

OTS: Is Michael Jackson due for another working over?

AL: Yeah, I think he's due for one, but I don't think I'm the guy to do it.
    I've done him a few times and I don't want to get typecast as the guy
    who does Michael Jackson all the time.  That's one of the reasons I
    did Nirvana, I wanted to take a left turn and do something different.
    Besides, there isn't much work around for Michael Jackson impersonators
    these days.

OTS: Have you ever had a bad reaction from the people you've impersonated?

AL: No.  I always let people know beforehand what I'm up to, so everybody is
    happy and I keep out of trouble.

OTS: Is it considered a privilege for an artist to have one of their songs
     sent up by you?

AL: It's been looked at that way.  I was just reading an article in Billboard
    that said: 'Forget Nirvana have had a number one album, and the fact
    that they've been on the cover of Rolling Stone.  The real honour is that
    'Weird Al' is doing a parody of them now.'  It's like a trapping of fame.
    First you get your Grammy, and then 'Weird AL' takes the mickey out of
    you.

OTS: Is polka music a big part of your life?

AL: Oh, yes.  I polka down whenever I can.  I grew up learning the accordion
    so I really don't have much choice.  Everything you play on an accordion
    ends up sounding like a polka.  I think most of the songs in the medley
    on the new album sound a lot better as a polka.  Motley Crue, Vanilla
    Ice, Metallica - I'm sure all those guys originally wanted to do those
    tracks as polkas, but the record companies no doubt turned them against
    the idea.

OTS: Has doing parodies of other people's songs made you rich?

AL: No.  I'm comfortable though.  I can buy the large fries when I go to
    McDonalds these days.  I had the opportunity to make more money than
    I care to think about a couple of years ago, though I turned it down.
    It was for a beer endorsement - a lot of my fans are kids and I 
    thought it would set a bad example.  I could have retired and lived 
    happily ever after, but I decided against it.