Q "A Joyful Noise (In Time with R.E.M.)" continues. The last song we heard, 1991's Losing My Religion prominently featured strings that were arranged and played by Mike Mills. '92's "Automatic for the People" had orchestration on four songs that Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones did. And the use of strings continues: Latter day pieces like The Great Beyond. What inspired REM to make strings such a distinct aspect of its personality?

MS: Mike Mills.

MM: Well, I think as you play music for your life for ten years or more, you write songs all the time. It's one of the things, I think, we're all most proud of is the consistently high level of our songwriting. But you find that you want to try different things. I mean, you can only do the same thing so many times. And so -- and you want to see, for example, how strings would turn out, if you arranged them, you know, instead of bringing in some big heavy hitter from New York, just to give it a shot and see, you know, whatever's inside you comes out via the strings. It's also a way to enhance songs or to just give a new layer of texture to them.

Q Over the course of the last seven studio albums covered by "In Time," you co-produced the first five with Scott Litt and the last two with Pat McCarthy. Just briefly, how did they contribute to the process of making R.E.M. albums?

MM: Well, they kept us from killing each other.

MS: Significantly (laughs).

MM: That's one of the reasons we have producers. We are an equal voting group. And we've got to have somebody to break the ties and make decisions and give us some outside perspective that sometimes you don't have.

MS: That objectivity, I think, is probably the most significant contribution that those two and any producer we've worked with can offer us, because we are so in the music when we're making it that it is hard to -- it is hard to see where we're headed. If it's really, really good, maybe great or if it's really, really bad, maybe suck. And to have a producer with a strong opinion is a great thing.

Q: There's a special edition of "In Time" that includes rarities and B-sides on the second disc. Did one of you sift through all of these, because there's still a slew of 'em out there.

MS: Peter.

PB: I kind of -- I remember that stuff. And I -- you know, some are better than others. I just kind of went down and made a list. And that is chronological. So it's just some things that we felt would be a nice little added bonus for, you know, the fans. That's probably the package I'd buy. I'm the guy who always buys the one with the extra tracks or the -- you know, the DVD video or, you know, the poster or whatever. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. So it seemed like a natural thing to do. And I kind of am the catalogue guy. I kind of enjoy doing it.

MM: It's not as though they're throw-away songs. I mean, a lot of those songs, when we actually sat there and listened to it, we were thinking, "well, why didn't we put this -- this is a really great song, why isn't it on the record?" Just because at the time it just seemed -- for some reason, it didn't seem to fit or we thought the record was too long or for any number of reasons. But looking back at them, it's -- I think it's a viable record in its own right.

SONG: Drive (Live)

Q: That was an electric, live version of Drive. Originally on the "Greenpeace NRG" record. It's now found on the Rarities and B-Sides second disc that's part of the special edition of "In Time 1988-2003: The Best of REM. " REM has never released an entire live album. How come?

PB: The bootleggers are doing it for us. They're all over the place. And I think it's kind of cool.

MM: But even earlier on, I think we all kind of felt like live albums are kind of coasting, in a way. Unless you can really capture the energy of a particularly great live show, what's the point? It just seemed a little easy to do a live record. We never wanted to do that.

MS: Well the same as putting out a greatest hits record (laughs). It was one of those early REM --

MM: We're ambivalent about that, too. I mean --

MS: It was one of those rules that these guys, again, being encyclopedic about music and the people that make it said, "Okay. This is why bands break up. This is why bands start to suck. This is why bands stagnate. These are the things that you have to kind of move around in order to -- in order to continue making music." And one of those things -- one of those indicators that a band is coasting or has hit a fallow period is a live record or a greatest hits. I think that's why it took us 23 years to put out a greatest hits record.

Q: Peter, you said you're the catalogue guy. We kind of alluded to this a little while ago, so someday, we could expect a box set, maybe, with different periods of live tracks and some of the B-sides that have gone uncollected?

PB: That'd be really fun to do. I think it might be at the time when the band is over, when you can have a real perspective on it. And, you know, again, my house looks like a record store. I probably have 300 box sets. I've got the 15 CD Johnny Cash box set. And I haven't played all 15 CDs. But it's good to have! Eventually, we'll do something like that. We've recorded every tour we've ever done since like '83 on 24 track or 48 track or whatever.

September 21, 2003 backstage at the Austin City Limits Festival.

Q: There's also a companion DVD of videos being released with this hits package. I would recommend to anyone interested in the video side of R.E.M. to visit the videography at REMhq.com. Michael, I know you're a photographer. You have interest in film production companies. Are you the driving force in developing R.E.M.'s video identity and compiling this DVD?

MS: It kind of got handed to me in the early days because I was the art student. And so it was understood by the four of us at the time that I was the one who would kind of handle that stuff. So yeah, I learned a lot about film and the people that -- you know, people that make it and how to choose a director that we could work with, et cetera.

Q: I've always loved REM's graphic presence, the way --

MS: Well, thank you.

Q: -- the discs look. Do you guys have a concept that you then give to someone who does graphics... how does that come about?

MS: I'm not a great graphic artist myself. But I have pretty strong opinions about what I like and what I don't like. I'll often -- and I've done this historically for the band -- work with someone who is a graphic artist or someone who has a very different sensibility to my own.

Q: The next song we're going to hear is called The Great Beyond. And in fact, "In Time" begins with both the Andy Kaufman inspired Man on the Moon, as well as this song. Did writing a song specifically for a movie require a different approach than just writing one from inspiration?

MS: Even harder was writing another song about Andy Kaufman, because Man on the Moon was one of my favorite songs that we've ever written. And it's a song that fell out of me. I didn't -- the late comedian, Andy Kaufman, was not, you know, at the top of anyone's list, I don't think. It just kind of happened that way. But I love that song. And to then have to go and kind of write a Part 2 to Man on the Moon, was really, really challenging.

SONG: The Great Beyond

Q: Ah, R.E.M. broadcasting A Joyful Noise with The Great Beyond from their new collection "In Time 1988-2003: The Best of R.E.M." We talked a little bit about R.E.M.'s songwriting process before that song. How has that process evolved over the years from when Bill Berry was involved to the latter day writing for the CDs "Up" and "Reveal?"

MM: Well, in the early days, we were all either living in the same place or virtually living in the same place. We were always around each other with guitars sitting around and so we would sit, you know, on the road or at home, whatever, and write songs together. You know, as we, you know, got older and developed our own personal lives, which we had none of back then, we tend to write more individually now. That was sort of a process that was already started. And then Peter moving to Seattle sort of, you know, made it a little more necessary that we write individually. But what we find is that when we get together to rehearse or to record, whatever, we still end up grabbing guitars and piano and sit around writing more songs. So, you know, we feed off each other creatively, as well as being able to do it by ourselves.

Q: I know you're still friends with Bill Berry. Is there any simple explanation for why he decided to leave REM?

MS: He had just had enough. He had done what, I think, he wanted to do as a musician. And he loves being still and he loves not traveling and he loves not doing exactly this kind of thing. I think he had just reached a point where, you know, in a very personal way, he wanted to move into the next phase of his life. And although it's still sad and a little bit hard on me, and I think on us, I'm really happy for him as a friend. He's doing exactly what he wants to do. And I -- I admire the courage that it took to walk away from what this is.

Q: Peter, was there a time after Bill Berry left the band that the group seriously considered calling it a day? I heard about a band retreat in Idaho or somewhere at some point?

PB: I think Bill kind of precipitated -- his leaving precipitated a crisis. I'm certainly not blaming him. I don't think we were communicating. I felt that not everyone was really working hard in the studio. I was getting really grumpy. You know, we weren't talking to each other. And also, I just kind of went, "you know, if it's not fun, why am I doing this?" And we talked about it and, you know, met and talked things out. And, you know, I think the realization that we have is that this really important work for us, you know. Aside from what the rest of the world thinks, this is what we do. And I know I'd miss it. I mean, if I had quit and gone home, you know, I could play in public and I could put out records and stuff, but it just wouldn't be the same thing. And we still have things to do. I mean, we wouldn't have "Up" or "Reveal," two records that I'm really proud of. And the next record, which we're halfway into and I'm really excited about.

Q: Your guitar sound has remained so consistent over the years and that -- and yet, you play a guitar solo about as often as Ringo does a drum solo. I mean, there's not a lot of guitar solos. You have the same guitar and amp since you started?

PB: I actually do. I have the same Rickenbacker that I bought in 1980. It was on every record, except for the first single. I went back and forth on amps, but I've had Voxes for years and years. And, you know, I'll -- I experiment and get a lot of different tones. But then there's just the straight rhythm tone, it's something that's pretty easy for me to get, I like the sound, I know how to mic it. And it's weird. We were going on tour and doing some of these songs from 1984 and I'm probably the only person alive that uses the exact same equipment he used then. I mean, you know I have the same distortion pedal. I mean, the exact same one. I've got the same amp, same guitar. Same guitar strap. I've had that guitar strap since 1986. It's -- so it's kind -- it's not as if it's really hard for me to recreate that stuff. And I just plug in and it sounds exactly the same.

And by the way, there's no such thing as a guitar solo in the world of R.E.M.. They're called musical interludes where Peter steps forward.

Q: The only one I can think of is during Stand, which is kind of the non-solo solo.

Mike, your vocal harmonies and arrangements in REM are such an integral part of these songs, as well. Do you create those during the composition period or is that a studio thing?

MM: It's usually a little after the fact. I tend to wait till Michael puts his vocals down and then -- but sometimes I hear melodies beforehand and I'll throw those down. But generally, I like to work around Michael's vocal. I think that's the best way to arrange. And you know, occasionally, we do like dual lead kind of things. But generally, it's a lot more fun to put a little, what The Troggs' call fairy dust on some of the songs.

Q: And that fairy dust works well and compliments the melancholy that - there's this melancholy that flows through so many REM songs, whether they're rockers or ballads. Michael, do you perceive that and do you know where it comes from?

MS: Oh, yeah! (Laughs) Yeah, I think -- I think I would be -- I think I would be the melancholy. And Mike and Peter's pop sensibilities are kind of what keep us from just being complete navel-gazing, you know, sados. I'm, in fact, a very, very happy person and probably the most grounded person that I know. But we're just really good at writing sad songs. And even the really happy songs tend to have a little bit of a darker or sadder, melancholic edge to them. I can't explain it.

MM: But by the same token, it seems to me, that even the sadder, more melancholic songs have a note of optimism in them somewhere.

MS: There's always hope there. There's always -- even, I think, Sad Professor might be one of the more grippingly tragic songs that we've ever written. And yet, at the end of the song, there's some hope for the guy that he may have had the epiphany that turns his life around. I don't know.

Q: There's a song we're about to hear, called Imitation of Life. And it has a melancholy to it.

MS: It does? Damn it. I thought I nailed one! (Laughter)

Q: Surprise! Is part of its vibe that all art is an illusion compared to reality?

MS: That song I've never even interpreted what it's about. I have no idea.

SONG: Imitation Of Life

Q: This is A Joyful Noise (In Time with REM). We're almost out o' time with Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe. The last song we heard, Imitation of Life, alludes to illusions and what's behind them. There's a lot of songs that R.E.M. had done in the latter period, like Electrolite, E-bow The Letter, All the Way to Reno. They deal with the illusion of fame and celebrity at one point in the song. Is there a danger when you become famous that you lose touch with your original inspirations and motivations? How do you stay grounded?

MS: I think there's a danger to that, but a lot of those songs really are me as an East Coaster, exploring and discovering the West Coast, which is a very, very different part of the country. And what that was to me as an abstraction, versus what it is to me as a reality.

Q: The two albums R.E.M. has made as a trio have both been very textured records and both had more commercial success out of the United States than at home. Do you think it was because you stepped outside of what was perceived as your signature sound?

MM: Well, I mean, who knows. There are probably so many different reasons that go into that. You know, tastes change. America is a very faddish kind of country and will shift gears on you really quickly. You know, when we had the huge success with "Out of Time" and "Automatic for the People," all the new fans that came on got used to that one particular kind of sound. And then the next few records didn't have that, necessarily. And so a lot of them were like, "well, that didn't sound like exactly what I was listening for." And you get the people that are not necessarily hard-core fans that are going to stick with you through all the twists and turns that your musical path is going to take.

MS: Well, we've just been on our own trajectory from day one. And from time to time, particularly in the U.S. pop culture would spin around and we would wind up in its orbit once again.

Q: Before you left on tour, you were in the midst of recording your new album. What can you tell us about the sessions so far, where they've been held, the musical tone of the songs. And breaking in the middle to go on tour, is that going to change things when you go back to 'em?

MM: I think it probably will. I hope so. I mean, it's -- one of the things is, the last couple of records we made, especially "Up" after Bill's departure, we had to learn new ways to record. And one of those ways was to build the song like a wall, piece by piece and brick by brick. But I think what we're going to try to do a little more with this record, when we get back in the studio, is record them as a group. You know, and having been playing together all this time, we're getting better with every show. And I think that's certainly going to carry over when we get back in the studio. We're going to work on these songs, try to learn the new stuff and then go in there and knock it out and make it like a band record, instead of a brick wall.

Q: Well, it's been really delightful to spend time with you three gentlemen, as an R.E.M. fan. We're going to finish up with the joyful noise of another new REM track from "In Time." This one's called Animal. And it's a rock song. And Michael, you had a great song introduction line onstage when I saw you recently. I wonder if you could use it to introduce Animal?

MS: Of course. Hi, we're REM. And this is what we do.

SONG: Animal

Q: That was Animal, one of two previously unreleased songs on R.E.M.'s new collection "In Time 1988-2003: The Best of REM." And you've been listening to A Joyful Noise (In Time with R.E.M.). Thanks to Julie Muncy, Tom Biery and all at Warner Bros. Thanks to Ken Beck and the staff at the Museum of Television and Radio. A big thank you to Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. for their time, insight, inspiration and music. And most of all, thanks to you for listening and making, as R.E.M. once sang, "a perfect circle of acquaintances and friends."

(End of interview)