River Phoenix- Aleka's Attic Interview on March 1991

“First off, I have to point out that this is isn’t the best interview in the world. It was last minute with no time for preparation and I was a 21 year old part timer doing my first interview.

Here’s the back story: On Friday, March 15, 1991, Jeff Jensen, the WPDH/Poughkeepsie morning show producer booked an interview with River Phoenix for the morning show to promote the bands show at The Chance in Poughkeepsie that night, but since the band had a show in NYC the night before they couldn’t make it that early. But it so happens that Jensen was filling in for Greg O'Brien during drive time for an hour or two while Greg traveled to a live remote. Jensen told me that he was going to interview River Phoenix that afternoon while filling in for Greg, so I figured I’d go to the station and watch the interview. Then I get a call from Jensen, he said that he can’t make it in time to do the interview. That I’d have to do it. So I end up on the air, which wasn’t approved. And did an interview with River Phoenix, who had JUST woken up in their winnebago in the parking lot. Which turned out, was an interview that I don’t think Jensen even told Greg O'Brien about.

So I did the best I could last minute, but unfortunately kept calling the band Attica’s Attic instead of Aleka’s Attic and didn’t know what to ask them since I didn’t do any prep work. And I was nervous. A part timer thrown on the air doing my first interview. The only thing I knew was that I wasn’t supposed to talk about his acting or movies. So you can hear us dance around that topic in the end of the interview. I remember off the air I asked him about the band name, to which he gave me a great answer. Then I asked him again on the air and he had Tim Hankins, the bands viola player, answer the question with him jumping in.

The interview ends with me playing the Aleka’s Attic track "Across The Way” from the 1989 ‘Tame Yourself’ release that benefitted PETA. If you’d like to hear the song, you can do a google search and there’s a YouTube audio of the song out there. Even though the time was brief you could tell he was a nice guy, very thoughtful and intelligent. As was Tim Hankins. As I listen back to this I’m hearing two 21 year old guys having a short talk but I wish I had time to prepare some good questions and discuss his influences, talk about R.E.M. and other bands that we were both fans of at the time. But reality is that the interview was to promote that nights show at The Chance so it served its purpose and somehow I wasn’t fired for jumping on the air on a Friday at drive time and doing this interview.

Later that night I did the show introductions at The Chance in Poughkeepsie and welcomed Aleka’s Attic to the stage. Where I finally got the band’s name right. The photo is of River Phoenix performing with Aleka’s Attic at the Wetlands in NYC on March 14, 1991, the night before the interview. He was wearing the same cloths and US Marine Corp combat jacket, minus the hat, during the interview"

Ray Di Pietro