At the halfway house I was listening to the Grifters Eureka EP that had just come out and it was just so good -- it was dark and sexy and electric guitars. That's really good when you get all those three. I got his number from Easley Studios, just picked up the phone and called him. And he said, "Well, I'm getting married on Saturday so I can't get there 'til Tuesday." I was like, nice, I've got more pull than your wife! Actually, they had delayed their honeymoon so he had time.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SONGWRITING APPROACH.

I feel good about something I've done if I successfully, in my own mind -- since there's no way I could do it so you get it -- if I describe a very specific emotion. Like in German, they have words for things that English doesn't have words for. They mean very, very specific things. That's kind of what I'm trying to do with these songs -- explain very specific things.

TELL ME ABOUT "DAMMIT"

I remember reading a phrase that said something like, "She's so self conscious that she hurts all over." I just really liked that. Kim used to always tell me, "Kelley, you are so self conscious. Loosen up." I would be really self conscious about everything. And apparently that's one of the things that addicts are totally known for -- they're totally involved with themselves, they're total egomaniacs. I never thought I was an egomaniac. I just thought everybody else was an egomaniac and I just gave and gave and gave. But it's not true. Egocentric is maybe a better word. And then Jesse said something about how "Rock is king." And I thought that was really funny. And it was the summer, so I was thinking back to when I used to be a lifeguard. In high school, there was always one couple who were inappropriately close to each other -- they said "I love you" to each other, they had sex. And the guy stayed over at the girl's house when they were in high school and the mom and dad didn't care. And I'd be lifeguarding and those couples would be this close to fucking with their swimsuits on. And I remember really trying to look real hard -- "Oh man, what are they doing?"

SO THAT'S WHAT THAT SONG IS ABOUT?

Yeah.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO COMPARE YOUR SONGS TO KIM'S?

I don't give a shit. But I'd be really surprised if they said that. Which song? Do you hear it?

I THINK EVEN IF SOMEONE HEARD IT BLIND, THEY'D HEAR SOME BREEDERS INFLUENCE.

Well, that's cool. I can live with it, I guess. As long as people don't say it sucks. I guess people will compare it. I did this with my eyes open, knowing that people would do comparisons. And I've already come to the conclusion that there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. It absolutely just doesn't matter. One thing about Kim's band and my band: my band are way better looking. And that's really all that matters.

YOU GOT A LOT OF SLAGGING IN THE PRESS -- AND FROM KIM, FOR THAT MATTER -- ABOUT YOUR GUITAR TECHNIQUE.

Part of it is just that was an interesting story -- that she got her sister who didn't know how to play guitar. And I think there are a lot of frustrated guitarists who have been playing ten years and they suck. And that's not my fault [laughs]. It depends on why you're doing it. If you're doing it because Joe Satriani is your idea of a great guitar player, then it's a different type of thing. I just don't care for that, and it's OK. But those people are definitely going to think I'm a shitty guitarist. And I'm pleased about that. I'm glad they do. Because if they thought I'm good, I'd be really scared.

HANG IT UP NOW AND TAKE UP THE TAMBOURINE.

Exactly, exactly.

SO HOW DID YOU GET THE NAME, THE KELLEY DEAL 6000?

At first we were called Solid State but then I had to change the name because some band in New York has the name. It comes from the Arica cult, which started in New York; it's now in Hawaii. Some people I met out here were actually followers of the cult, way into it. So they were talking about it and I found it fascinating, this whole cult thing, maybe because they made it all up. They have different states of consciousness that you can achieve. State Three is one of them, so I put in this line that said "I'll still be a solid state three." And also when we were doing another song, I really wanted an AM radio in there. When you were on the beach in the Seventies, you'd have this AM transistor radio and I just really like that. So we put some static from a transistor radio in one of these songs. I just like the idea of solid-state technology. Three years ago, solid-state technology was very uncool. Now there's enough distance where solid-state technology is kind of antique now.

BUT YOU HAD TO DROP THAT NAME.

Yeah, so I was thinking about the name State 6,000. That's a state of total pettiness. It's not a good thing but I like the sound of it. But then I thought the twelve people who knew who we were wouldn't know it was us. So Nick came up with the Kelley Deal 6000.

ARE YOU GOING TO TOUR THE UNITED STATES?

Oh yeah. We did some shows with the Grifters and Red Red Meat.

BUT ARE YOU GOING TO DO A NATIONAL TOUR?

Nobody wants to tour with me! Nobody's offered me a tour.

WHY DID YOU PUT THIS OUT ON YOUR OWN LABEL?

I couldn't afford to sign with a big label. A few labels made offers, but say they gave me 50 grand for the first record. First, take a third of it away for taxes. Then pay back what I spent on the album. Now, when am I going to see another penny? Not until the album recoups. When is that? Who knows? And then they'd add a bunch of shit on top of that and I'd never see any money. I couldn't afford not to put it out myself.

IS IT MORE WORK THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?

It's not more work than I thought it would be. What else am I going to do with my time? I like it, it's fun. The only thing that's bad so far is that when you work with distributors, the independents don't pay you until like sixty days after you deliver your record. And I don't have the means to manufacture any more CD's until we get paid. But you can get advances -- there are probably ways around that.

BUT WILL IT BE HARD TO FIND THIS RECORD?

I don't know. But you can always visit my Web site and order it there. Or you can write to Nice Records.