Jul 26, 2008, 4:00 GMT
REM are proud to be geeks.
Michael Stipe, singer of US band R.E.M., performs on the Piazza Grande in Locarno, Switzerland, 18 July 2008. EPA/KARL MATHIS
The band's frontman Michael Stipe is happy he and his bandmates are not considered cool.
He said: "We are always going to be an imperfect, weird and geeky outfit. We were that way to begin with and, to a large degree, always will be.
"In fact that may be one of our strengths. Hard as we may try to make something super-cool, it's just not going to happen."
Stipe has also revealed he is jealous of his bandmates, Peter Buck and Mike Mills, because they are so clever.
He added: "Both Mike and Peter are much smarter than I am and better read. I'm jealous of that. Mike always knows about this place and the history of the city. Same thing with Peter."
Guitarist Buck recently revealed the group always take dinosaurs on tour so they don't get lonely.
He said: "We travel all the time and it's nice to have some friends with us. You have very few friends in this business and having little dinosaurs on stage makes me feel better, and I'm not going to be on ashamed of it."
REM are currently touring their fourteenth studio album 'Accelerate'.
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