10 QUESTIONS : Peter Buck of R.E.M.

L ike most of the group’s earlier album titles, R.E.M.’s new “Out of Time” has any number of possible meanings--the most ironic and self-deprecating one being that perhaps the quartet from Georgia thinks its salad days of being recognized as the great American alternative rock ‘n’ roll band are past.

In the early and mid ‘80s, R.E.M. was the quintessential college/alternative combo, with every tousled-haired art-school dropout group in the land striving for an approximation of that thick, jangly sound.

Mainstream success wasn’t far off: “The One I Love” single was a Top 10 hit in 1987, and the band’s most accessible album, “Green,” was a smash in 1988, followed by an arena tour that prompted the predictable cries of “sellout” from the abandoned-feeling underground.

But, except for the well - received “Tourfilm” home video documenting that arena jaunt, the once-busy group has been unusually quiet the last two years. Returning finally to the scene with “Out of Time,” an album full of eccentric orchestration and no obvious hit singles, and with no concerts on the horizon, can R.E.M. return to its rightful place as figurehead of a movement?

Reached at his hotel in Amsterdam, where the group was doing one of a series of acoustic shows to promote the new album on European radio and TV, guitarist Peter Buck professed not to care, saying he thinks R.E.M.’s days of substantial influence on the alternative rock market are over--despite feeling confident that the new album is the best work the group has ever done. Question: Even though you’ve moved on to new musical avenues, R.E.M.’s original style continues to be slavishly imitated by younger groups. When you hear them, are you proud of the band’s legacy?

Answer: I don’t think we’re so influential anymore. When we were, I was pretty flattered. But right now I turn on the radio and hear a lot of Sonic Youth influence and a lot of Red Hot Chili Peppers, that funk-metal thing. Mostly the R.E.M.-sounding bands were during the mid ‘80s. So I guess our influence days are over.

Q: But if you pick up the CMJ Report (a college radio tip sheet concentrating on new rock bands) and read the reviews, R.E.M. is probably the name still most cited for comparison’s sake.

A: Yeah, but I think it’s (tied to a certain spirit). Us, Black Flag and a couple other bands, (we) pioneered (the concept) of doing exactly what you want to do and playing where you want to play and actually kind of vaguely succeeding. So it’s not so much the influence of the sound anymore as it is kind of the D.I.Y. (do it yourself) ethic that we picked up from the punk-rock thing.

Q: What about those folks who think R.E.M. sold out to the mainstream--signing with a major corporate label, playing arenas, crafting hit songs?

A: It’s hard for me even to think about stuff like that. I just don’t know how to answer it. . . . We’re just some band and I’d prefer to think we’re not at the head of a parade waving a flag. At this late date, in 1991, it’s hard to reconcile our ambitions and where we want to go with where we came from. I assume everyone else probably has those problems too.

Q: After the years of rave reviews, were you surprised by the mixed reaction to “Green”? And do you see the new album polarizing fans in the same way?

A: A lot of fans didn’t get “Green,” but some did. I think it’s a pretty great record, and I think this one is better. All of us in the band think it’s the best one we’ve ever done. And I would hope, actually, that the people that like us would be taken aback a little bit by both records. That’s the ideal--you hope that it’ll make all the people who’ve been following you for 10 years think twice, whether they get it or not. I’d say that I think the best thing you can do for your audience is totally ignore them and do what you have to do.

Q: How satisfied were you with the “Green” tour and what’s the band’s plans regarding touring this time?

A: The answer is not touring. Let me put it this way: We’re not going to play for money for a long time. We’ll play for free for a while, which is pretty cool. That relieves us of the responsibility of actually having any kind of dates and plans. I assume that we’re going to tour again, but none of us are really interested in doing it the way we’ve done it in the past. I thought we did (the arena tour) about as well as anyone can do it. Which is one of the reasons why we should probably not do it again.

Q: Are you getting any pressure from the record company or management about not touring? Are there worries that “Out of Time” won’t sell as well as “Green” if you’re not out plugging it in hockey rinks?

A: Our management is the same people we’ve had for 11 years, and their job is to protect us from the pressure from the record company. So I guess I can safely answer no. We get absolutely no pressure whatsoever. It’s in our contract: We do what we want to do.

Q: Thinking about the next album yet?

A: We’re going to start the next one in September and it should be out around next January. We really intend to make a lot of records in the next couple years, and then after that, who knows? We’re more committed to the idea of being in a band and writing songs, and less committed to the idea that being in a band means getting on stage in front of people and playing.

We’ve been talking about playing live in the studio and doing nothing else, doing the next album with 13 or 14 musicians, going direct to two-track. I imagine it’ll have a real bluegrass feel--people walking up to the mike and playing and then walking away, that kind of idea. (He laughs.) I’m serious. I didn’t make that up.

Q: If for no other reason than the fact that Michael Stipe is enunciating his lyrics now, R.E.M. probably has less of a “sense of mystery” about it than in the early days. Do you think the band has become less opaque?

A: I don’t know about musically. Some of the hallmarks of what the band was are still around, but lyrically, yes, it’s a lot more straightforward, though still not as straightforward as a lot of the stuff you hear on the radio. I think Michael actually wanted to approach something he’d never done before, which is a series of songs about relationships.

Q: On the last album, you started to bring in mandolin and steel guitar and other new elements. “Out of Time” continues in that vein and takes it a few steps farther--with a rapper, female vocals, strings and brass on several tracks. Didn’t you worry about smothering the songs?

A: I guess one of the things you worry about most when you do something like that is turning into the Moody Blues. (Buck laughs.) I probably shouldn’t have said that, but you don’t want to be this “string-laden” band.

When we were doing the album, we had this strong idea that the songs would stand by themselves. That’s one of the reasons we brought in (ex-dB’s guitarist) Peter Holsapple to play with the band. They were going to be live tracks--along with the overdubs you have to do, which were mainly the Atlanta Symphony and (horn player) Kidd Jordan and (rapper) KRS-One. But essentially it’s still a real live record with all the (mess)-ups and stupid playing that I do and all of us do regularly. It’s like a rough record that has the sheen on it too.

Q: There’s less trademark R.E.M. guitar emphasis on the new album. Was that a problem at all for you?

A: It was my idea. We’re songwriters, and we can make a great record with no guitar whatsoever. This record was kind of a chance to get away from being a “guitar band.” It was written mostly with mandolin and bass and keyboards, no guitars at all. The next record might have none whatsoever. I’m not really interested in playing guitar anymore, at all. I’d like not to play guitar for a couple years. . . . I played the mandolin on the train yesterday for four hours. I’m taking lessons and I like the way the fifths are spread over the instrument. It sounds great with Michael’s vocals. It’s more interesting to play than guitar for me right now . . . and it’s also easier to carry.