Pixies

Charles Thompson – the man formerly and currently known as Black Francis, having spent much of his solo career as Frank Black – is delighted when the operator connects the interview by announcing that "you are now on the line with Black."

"Oh, please call me Black!" he laughs, delighted. "That could be a tacky album title for me, huh? Call Me Black! [puts on grizzled bluesman voice] 'I loves the blues – people don't know that 'bout me, but I always loves the blues...'"

It's worth noting that few honest-to-god rock stars are this funny and casual in an interview situation. Given that Thompson more or less invented indie rock as we now know it as singer/guitarist/songwriter with Pixies, he could justifiably be a complete tool rather than, for example, answer facetious questions about whether the blues are better than, say, prog rock in terms of a possible new musical direction. "I'll pick the blues," he answers without a second's pause. "Although actually, the first concert I ever went to was Jethro Tull, so perhaps I'm more suited for the prog."

Actually, he has a point: while he's yet to compose a side-long, multi-section epic rock paean to the Elven Queen, both of his most recent records have been written about one central narrative. 2007's magnificent Bluefinger was inspired by the life and work of Dutch artist Herman Brood, while 2008's mini-album Svn Fngrs dwelt on mythological Irish warrior-hero Cúchulainn. "Yeah - and I've resisted it all this time and even gone on to say in interviews 'oh, I don't believe in that sort of thing, all people remember is that it was a three-minute song and that's what it's all about, it doesn't matter how highbrow or interesting your overall concept is, screw that' - and then lo and behold one day I make this record and it's all about one thing," he laughs. "I find that by having that unifying concept I'm able to write more quickly. I've got that railroad track that I'm on, instead of just wandering around going [plaintive, sulky voice] 'what should I write about in this song?' So yeah, I love these concept albums. And now I'm a hypocrite.."

That said, if there's one thing that has characterised Thompson's writing from the very earliest Pixies records to the present day, it's that they're very specific: the subjects may not be obvious, necessarily (after all, at various times the man's muse has taken in Biblical stories, extraterrestrial women with velour skin, the Mariana Trench, ham radio, scenes from Un Chien Andalou, alien abductions and the architecture of Los Angeles municipal water system, to name but a few) but they're never vague ideas like "love" or "awesomeness".

"Though I don't always remember what the songs are about," he shrugs. "When I'm there in the moment it's all very clear to me and I understand it and it all makes sense - and I have an agenda, of course: I've got to figure out what rhymes with 'elephant' or whatever so I can finish the damn song, but I usually have this contextualised feeling about what the song means. But time goes on and I sometimes don't remember anymore," he laughs. "I forget what the fancy word means!"

Pixies play their Doolittle album in its entirity at the Hordern Pavilion on Sun 14, Mon 15 and Tue 16 Mar.

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