Silversun Pickups: Lifestyles Near The Rich And The Famous

There are fringe benefits to living in the sprawling metropolis known as Los Angeles. A big one is that the odds of meeting the rich and the famous are considerably higher than in, say, Yankton, North Dakota. No one knows this better than SILVERSUN PICKUPS. Using post-Late Show-appearance Google hits as a benchmark, the band’s biggest brush with greatness would be when actor-turned-MC Joaquin Phoenix’s people called the Pickups to talk about shooting a video for “Little Lover’s So Polite” from 2006’s Carnavas. Before long, everyone’s favorite aspiring bagman was dragging and driving the Pickups around L.A. “It was really cold because we shot our video in the middle of the night,” says bassist NIKKI MONNINGER. “He gave me his jacket when we were in between takes-I thought that was sweet. He was new to directing, so he seemed nervous to get everything right. But he was really nice; he wasn’t into his rapping phase yet.”



Comedian Jack Black also gets high praise from Monninger. “Our old cello player, Tanya [Haden], married Jack Black, so he’s come to our shows. He’s a really, really nice guy. I always thought it was cute when he would carry her cello into the club. He’s a very down-to-earth guy.” But lest you think life for the Silversun Pickups is nothing but cocktail parties with Brangelina followed by dusk-to-dawn clubbing with Mickey Rourke, rest assured that, most of the time, Monninger’s personal life is no more exciting than yours. “In general, I’m not hanging out with celebrities every night,” she says. “I just like to stay home and make dinner.” — Mike Usinger