Spinal Tap is feeling a bit nervous.
On the eve of the release of their new film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which chronicles their rocky road to reconciliation and onstage comeback, Michael McKean (in character as David St. Hubbins) and Christopher Guest (in character as Nigel Tufnel) tell Entertainment Weekly they’re not quite sure what to expect.
“I think I’m a bit nervous. Yeah. Given what happened before,” Tufnel says, referring to the band’s less-than-flattering portrayal in the 1984 original, This Is Spinal Tap.
That sequel, which neither has yet seen, is once again directed by documentarian and Tap superfan Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner), whom the band decided to give a second chance after they were displeased with his cut of the first film.
“Marty is the type of person it’s easy to forget he’s in the room,” adds St. Hubbins. “So that’s maybe his key talent in obtaining this cinema verite material, by being completely invisible because he’s so uninteresting, and so I don’t even know what he was there for.”
“We dunno what bits he’s used or not so, or how he’s manipulated this,” Tufnel admits.
While they haven’t seen the film, the duo agreed to discuss their experience making it. In a wide-ranging interview below, they give an update on their relationship with Paul McCartney (who clashed with St. Hubbins over a musical suggestion) and Elton John (who, along with the band, was crushed by a giant Stonehenge prop). They also open up about their reunion after a lengthy hiatus, their appreciation for Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, and Tufnel’s dream of rocking in space.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I wanted to start by asking about your health. Is everybody recovering okay from the Stonehenge incident?
NIGEL TUFNEL: Yeah. Bit stiff in the mornings. It takes a while to recover from that. Not only physically but mentally as well, ’cause it’s a trauma they call it.
Well, I’m glad to hear that. Not to pass blame around, but has there been any sort of investigation into how this happened?
DAVID ST. HUBBINS: We don’t like to talk about it because we can’t, well, legally we can’t actually discuss it. We’re not supposed to talk about it. Sir Elton has forbidden us from contacting him in any way.
Elton hasn’t forgiven you?
TUFNEL: Sir. Sir Elton.
ST. HUBBINS: He doesn’t have to say it. He’s American. He don’t have to.
TUFNEL: Oh yeah. Well, that’s true.
ST. HUBBINS: He could call him Elty if he wanted to.
TUFNEL: He could.
ST. HUBBINS: Or Johnny Cakes.
TUFNEL: He can call him Ice T if he wants.
Bleecker Street
Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer in ‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’
I understand that you haven’t seen the documentary yet. Are you nervous at all to see it, given your feelings about the first film?
TUFNEL: Hmm. Uh, I am apprehensive.
ST. HUBBINS: I’m comprehensive always. I like to take things one day at a time.
TUFNEL: Yeah. I think I’m a bit nervous, given what happened before.
Based on your experience during the production, how do you anticipate it will turn out?
TUFNEL: I couldn’t say because you, again, haven’t seen it—
ST. HUBBINS: We dunno what he’s shooting.
TUFNEL: We know what happened when we were doing it, but we dunno what bits he’s used or not, or how he’s manipulated this event, basically.
ST. HUBBINS: I will say that Marty Dibergi is the type of person it’s easy to forget he’s in the room. So that’s maybe his key talent in obtaining this cinema verité material, by being completely invisible because he’s so uninteresting, and so I don’t even know what he was there for.
TUFNEL: Yeah, you forget. You see someone peripherally, as the kids say, over here, and you forget. “Oh, that guy. Yeah. He’s still there.” And there’s a reason for that, which is what David just said. He sort of just disappears, really.
What have been some of the biggest misconceptions about the band over the years, and do you have any interest in clearing anything up through these documentaries?
TUFNEL: Well, I can’t say what that would be. You would know more about that than we would. How we’re viewed by who, right? Do people think A, B, C?
Back at the time of the first documentary, did you ever think you’d still be making music and appearing in films in 2025?
TUFNEL: I never thought about it.
ST. HUBBINS: No. I never thought about it. We all turned 50 around the beginning of this, well, a bit before actually, so we knew that anything we had beyond that was gravy, as they say. The kids don’t say it.
TUFNEL: The kids don’t say it, and you don’t say it, generally.
ST. HUBBINS: I haven’t before, and I’m never going to say it again.
TUFNEL: No, you never know. People will say, “Well, that’s hard to imagine that when you are in your 70s, you’re still playing music.” If you’re 20, you’d say no, probably not. But then, when you get old, you think maybe. Because it’s still fun.
ST. HUBBINS: Yeah. What else do you do?
You mentioned that Sir Elton has asked not to be contacted. David, what about Sir Paul McCartney?
DAVID: Well, no, we’ve had no truck with him, although he did make a nice recording of “Cups and Cakes,” a tune from the flip side of our first record.
TUFNEL: Well, David had a different experience.
ST. HUBBINS: It was a difficult experience.
TUFNEL: It went south, as you like to say in America, with him.
ST. HUBBINS: They like to say it in the South.
TUFNEL: Do they?
ST. HUBBINS: Well, they say you went north. When you’re in the South, you say it went north.
TUFNEL: If you are below the equator, it’s a different day. It’s a time zone thing as well. They would say north. In this case, it went south. Not for me. Paul’s great, sang great. [David] had this particular issue.
ST. HUBBINS: It’s a trivial thing. It’s nothing.
TUFNEL: It wasn’t that trivial at the moment.
ST. HUBBINS: Well, whatever.
Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Rob Reiner in ‘This Is Spinal Tap’
Speaking of the new music, can you tell me a little bit about what you worked on for this? There are nine new tracks, and you’ve reimagined some of the favorites, right?
TUFNEL: It’s always fun to play in the studio, and there can be tense times if there are disagreements on an arrangement or something. Basically, it was fun, I would say.
ST. HUBBINS: I thought so.
TUFNEL: Yeah. No, it was fun to play. And they’ve got a lot of new tech toys. I’ve got a new pedal board, which is fun to play with. So it was good, basically.
Were all of these new ideas, or did you build off of anything that you had kind of been toying with in the past?
TUFNEL: In terms of what?
In terms of the music.
TUFNEL Oh, well…
ST. HUBBINS: Well, your stuff is very personal.
TUFNEL: My thing comes from the… The difference is, we’re not living near each other. So David had brought some songs in, I brought a couple of songs in, Derek brought some songs in. It used to be that we would co-mingle in a sense. We would write songs together in different combinations. This was pretty much all solo things.
What was it like getting back together as a group? I know you haven’t seen the film, but from your memories of being together, what was it like?
TUFNEL: Well, at first it was uncomfortable.
ST. HUBBINS: And then it was uncomfortable.
TUFNEL: And then it became more uncomfortable, basically.
What’s next for the band? I know from seeing the film that there was some talk of possibly a cruise tour.
TUFNEL: Well, that’s a Derek thing. He’s been obsessed with having a porthole, being able to open a porthole. I said, “Well, you can bloody put that in your flat in London.”
ST. HUBBINS: That’s right.
TUFNEL: You could do that if you really wanted to.
ST. HUBBINS: Well, he lives in a basement, though.
TUFNEL: Well, that’s true. So it wouldn’t work, ’cause then he’d be seeing dirt.
ST. HUBBINS: Right. It still doesn’t prevent—
TUFNEL: I think I’d like to play in the International Space Station. Go around the Earth, broadcast to the whole world, you know, and everyone could hear it, floating about playing.
ST. HUBBINS: Without air?
TUFNEL: Well, no, the people that go up there, you have air in these special suits. They pump air in there.
ST. HUBBINS: How are you able to finger if you’re wearing a suit? It’s got all your fingers…
TUFNEL: No, no, you’re not, you’re not in a robot suit. You are in a jumpsuit sort of thing. And your hands are like this, and it’s fine. You can play. I mean,
Bleecker Street & Authorized Spinal Tap LLC
Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean in ‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’
Well, that’s exciting. What about the state of music these days? You guys have been around for a minute now. Are there any newer acts you enjoy listening to?
ST. HUBBINS: I listen to a lot of acts that have been together for a long time. I admire longevity. That’s why I’m a big Pearl Jam fan. They Might Be Giants. There are bands that stayed together forever.
TUFNEL: I like Uriah Heep.
ST. HUBBINS: Not Uriah Heep. They’re done.
TUFNEL: Savoy Brown.
ST. HUBBINS: Didn’t one of them die?
TUFNEL: Atomic Rooster. Are they still around? I like Billie Eilish. She’s a modern, young person.
ST. HUBBINS: Beyoncé, I like her.
TUFNEL: Beyoncé does great shows. And I’m not a Swifty, but Taylor…
ST. HUBBINS: She’s good.
TUFNEL: I like Margaret Glaspy, I like this group called I’m With Her. It’s three women.
ST. HUBBINS: They’re great.
TUFNEL: There are great young people out there. Gifted people. Julian Lage, great guitar player.. There are lots of good things happening.
ST. HUBBINS: And we like Josh Grobin.
TUFNEL: Josh Grobin has this angel voice. How does he do that?
ST. HUBBINS: He’s got a huge range, and he’s equally strong in every one.
TUFNEL: That makes me angry. He can sing and go all the way up, and there’s no funny break in his voice like, with all due respect, like you have.
ST. HUBBINS: It’s true. He was born warming up.
Is there a moment that you think of as your proudest as a band?
ST. HUBBINS: I remember closing night, night two of our gig at Royal Albert Hall in 1992 as being a really, really high point.
TUFNEL: Yeah. That’s such an iconic venue for people from England. I would agree with you. You see it as a child from a bus or something, and to be in that great hall and play was a real honor.
Well, this has been an honor. Thank you both, and I’m excited for you to see the movie. I hope you enjoy it.
ST. HUBBINS: Okay. We hope so.
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Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is now in theaters.
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