ALICE NOT JOHN Episode 1: A Fictional Radio Transmission Guest: Dennis Tyfus (Ultra Eczema)

Uncategorized June 4, 2025
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ALICE NOT JOHN Episode 1: A Fictional Radio Transmission Guest: Dennis Tyfus (Ultra Eczema)

ALICE NOT JOHN
Episode 1: A Fictional Radio Transmission
Guest: Dennis Tyfus (Ultra Eczema)
Host: Joeri Bruyninckx

A conversation I overheard in a record store:

Customer: “Do you have Coltrane?”
Record shop owner: “In the jazz section.”
Customer: “I mean Alice, not John.”
Record shop owner: “In the jazz section.”


ALICE NOT JOHN is the name of a fictional radio show. The idea is this: for every episode, I ask a musician the same 12 questions. The answers I receive are the “playlist” of my fictional radio show. The questions are these:

1) Which song always brings you back to your childhood?

Dennis Tyfus: Beastie Boys – ‘Fight For Your Right.’
I was obsessed with skateboarding and saw one of the Beastie Boys wearing a Vision shirt on TV, and all of a sudden something clicked—like there was a soundtrack to skateboarding. I hadn’t seen any skateboard films at that point. Later on, I heard Dead Kennedys in a skate film and was mind-blown by them as well.

Though the answer to this question could just as well be Clouseau – ‘Daar Gaat Ze,’ which was equally present, and way less cool.

2) Which is your favorite shower sing-along song?

It all depends on the echo in the shower. Since we’ve got a speaker in that room now, I like to sing along to Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ Pure prog.

3) What was your favorite song as a teenager?

Crass – ‘Do They Owe Us A Living.’

4) What is your favorite air-guitar song?

Almost every song on Kraus’ ‘I Could Destroy You With A Single Thought.’

It’s one of the few records we reissued with Ultra Eczema. I usually don’t see the point, as most music is easy to find these days, but this one has world domination qualities—or stadium rock allures.

5) Which song do you associate with your 20s?

Lightning Bolt’s first two LPs, and Wolf Eyes in general. I played both bands a lot while drawing at the time. The fast, overly present sound of Lightning Bolt made me draw faster.

6) From which song do you know the lyrics by heart?

‘Benjamin’ by Louis Neefs. A very clean song, stuck somewhere between schlager and protest song, style-wise, but with lyrics that hint at unintentional Situationism.

7) Which song gives you consolation when you feel sad?

‘De Fluiten Van Ver Weg’ by Wim De Bie.

8) Tell me about a song you think people wouldn’t expect you to like.

While sick on the couch this week, I made a Snotify Top 100 of songs that give me Booze Gums. The first one I posted was ‘Sea Song’ by Robert Wyatt.

Somehow, a lot of people reacted to that, saying they were surprised I like Robert Wyatt. I honestly think ‘Rock Bottom’ is one of the best records ever made. Not very uplifting, though.

9) Which song do you recommend to people if you think they don’t know it?

One single I can’t recommend enough is Speleocombo – ‘Niet Open Doen.’

It was the single I looked for the longest in my life. Fifteen years after searching for it, I was talking about it to someone in a bar. I kept stressing, “It’s unfindable, but it was made here in Antwerp, I think.” Suddenly, a stranger who had overheard us turned and said, “I play on that single.”

Turns out the entire edition of 300 copies was part of a jukebox—an art piece by one of the band members, Hewald Jongenelis. In this jukebox, the only song you could play was this single.
The man I met in the bar that night said a few copies had evaded the jukebox, and he gave me one. I absolutely love the song. They sound like a carnival version of The Velvet Underground.
The single is now available on Speleocombo’s Bandcamp, so I think they dismantled the jukebox—which is sad, in a way.

10) ‘Wonderful Tonight’ by Eric Clapton is a break-up song (about a couple who decide not to tell their friends they just broke up because they don’t want to spoil a party they’re planning to go to). Strangely enough, this song often gets played as the opening song at weddings. Tell me about a song you misunderstood when you first heard it.

As a 5-year-old, I thought Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ was about a dude called Jos Pirre, so I kept singing “Jos Pirre” instead of “Just beat it.”

11) Which song always makes you do silly dance moves?

‘Surfin’ Bird’ by The Trashmen.

12) Which song do you quote most often? Which line?

I constantly quote lines from songs whenever I recognize a word from one in a conversation. It gets quite annoying.
It happens mostly when I’m speaking with native English speakers—one friend calls me The Human Jukebox because of it.


Ultra Eczema Website

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