I think we probably Have the capacity To write a hit song, To record it in a way That radio would really Accept it with open arms, And that a record company Could really get The machine going behind it, And we could be incredibly rich Andyou know, people Thatwe didn't know Each other very well. he and i do. we were High school buddies. we went to the same Junior high school. We were just the antithesis Of each other, And we really Did despise each other. I mean, it's like we just Took one look at each other And it was like And as it turned out, We didn't know this, But we had a mutual friend, A guitarist, That lined up A jam session one day, And who should walk Down the steps but mike mills, And it's like, "oh, god," And to this day If i had to play the clarinet Or the guitar, I would have packed up My stuff and left, But here i looked at the drums Like, "oh, boy. I'm stuck here And it's his house." So we made The best of it And played and had A fun little jam session, And we justwe Got over it right then. We just shook hands And said, "look, Let's put this In the past." And we became best friends, And we still are. what's happening there In athens, georgia? well, nothing, and everyone Wants to do something. You know, form a band, Go to a party. peter and i were kind of Toying around With the idea of putting Something together musically, And he had never been In a band before. pete was working At the wuxtry record store, Which is still the best store In athens. And michael went in there Buying records, and they met. i think i called him richard For the first three months That we knew each other, And, you know, This is so typically peter. He never corrected me. he was kind Of an exotic character, Michael was. Had good musical taste, And we became friends. well, if athens Wasn't the way it was, We probably Wouldn't have gotten together. athens was influential in That there were And there still are a lot Of people there that kind Of have this Need to have Some kind Of creative output. it was a typical athens story, You know? Four guys meet at a party And want to play other parties And drink beer and have fun. the night we met mike, He had maybe been Over-served at the bar, And he was wearing A leather jacket And sitting on the ground And yelling 'cause he wanted to get up To the bar to get to his drink. and he was like, "this is the guy who plays bass Who i was telling you about." I was like, "no, way. "no way i'm gonna be I'm not even gonna get on "i'm not gonna be in a band With this guy. There's no way on earth." instantaneously Within, like, an hour, We were a band. wow. you know, It wasn't even an audition. So we went over and play, And we wrote three songs, And we just went, "what?" boy. "we're a band." we had a couple of songs That bill and i Had written back in macon With a friend of ours... yeah. and so we showed them To michael and peter, And i remember being Incredibly impressed with What they did with Our little basis of a song. Both of them. And i was like, "man, these guys Can take it other places." youi heard that