The Talking Heads are one of the most intriguing and influential bands in music. They have combined stark arrangements, feverishly pounding beats and hysterical lyrics to capture an audience that has outgrown the avant-garde fringe--and, surprisingly, have had hit singles from their seventh LP, Little Creatures. Last year's Talking Heads film and soundtrack LP Stop Making Sense were also critical and commercial smashes. The ringleader in all the fine madness is 33-year-old David Byrne, singer, songwriter and guitarist who, solo, has also scored a Twyla Tharpe dance, sections of an opera, has collaborated with Brian Eno on an album rooted in African rhythms and produced bands such as B-52's. Victoria and David Sheff ate sushi and drank sake with Byrne in L.A. Their report, "Although his clothes were weird--a white panama hat, white short-sleeved shirt buttoned nerdly to the collar and, yes, pencils sticking out of his shirt pocket--the biggest surprise about Byrne was how generally unweird he is. For someone who implores us to stop making sense, he made an awful lot of it."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: You're our candidate for most unlikely rock star. Are you surprised to be doing what you're doing?

David Byrne: Yeah, I have to pinch myself. The most amazing part is that you can do whatever you like. That could drive you crazy. You have all these opportunities and not enough time to do them all. And there are responsibilities that come with it in all sorts of ways. If I do a video, I feel it shouldn't be too expensive, or there should be value for the money--that sort of thing. And it should express something worthwhile, even if I fail. But still, I can pretty much express myself any way I like. I'm exaggerating some--you can do whatever you want within what seems reasonable.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: The success of Stop Making Sense and your videos has made you known to a huge audience. Has that affected you?

David Byrne: The effect has been minimal. I pretty much always shave before I go out now; that's about it. Otherwise, as long as I look presentable, which is really childish, I don't mind being seen at the supermarket buying toilet paper.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: Explain the magic of Stop Making Sense--which has been acknowledged as the best rock-performance film yet.

David Byrne: We originally were going to use weird stage fights and stuff--it would have been controlled and perfect. But then I realized that it would lose the energy of the performance that way. In the end, we got a tasteful, or sympathetic, reporting of what was there. We went backward. Instead of using all the latest tricks and gimmicks, we opted for a really conservative approach. Really, nothing happened that didn't happen in front of your eyes. Maybe that's why it communicates to people--because it has that kind of honesty.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Who is your tailor, anyway? That suit you wear in the film is a little large, isn't it?

David Byrne: The belt is somewhere around a size 58 or 60. I don't know what size the suit is, but the idea was that I wanted to be a big Mr. Man. He really is someone else, I transform myself. I almost adopt a different character when I'm singing. That's performance. When I saw myself slip out of character--when this guy was stumbling around, looking for a microphone or something--I recognized myself.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: You're directing True Stories; why did you decide to go into filmmaking?

David Byrne: A big part of my background is in the visual arts. And the idea of this film was to design something that would give me an outlet for that. There's a gap between the way music is being treated on MTV or in Flashdance and the way it's done on stage in Broadway musicals. I'm trying to find that place. So the film will be a musical portrait of a town. It will be a sort of musical documentary--only more stylized. The word documentary is supposed to be box-office death.