HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL took their name from the Chris Elliot sitcom "Get a Life" and is a collaboration between producers Prince Paul (Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz) and Dan "The Automator" Nakamura (Dr. Octagon, Gorillaz, Cornershop, Jon Spencer). As Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriweather, respectively, they formed Handsome Boy Modeling School in 1999, releasing the acclaimed SO... HOW'S YOUR GIRL?

WHITE PEOPLE, their sophomore album, features everyone from Mike Patton (Faith No More), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Del tha Funky Homosapien, and Barrington Levy, to De La Soul, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), QBert, EL P, The Mars Volta, Jamie Cullum and Joan Oates, Pharrell Williams, Paula Frazer (Tarnation), and many more.

A CONVERSATION WITH HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL

The Handsome Boy Modeling School's Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Meriwether took time out from a handsome week of tastings, trunk shows, after-parties and ignoring text messages from Britney Spears and Michael Jackson to answer some unhandsome questions about their handsome new album, WHITE PEOPLE:

Chest Rockwell: Hola.

Nathaniel Meriwether: That was very international.

CR: I'm a man of many dialects.

NM: It's important, when you travel the world like we do.

So how did you two gentlemen first meet?

CR: When you travel the world extensively like we do, you're bound to come across like minds, and like ways. You see somebody wearing that really nice $5000 blazer that I thought I was the only one who owned -- you have to go over and talk to that person. We share the same taste, the same vibe. It's kind of a handsome thing.

NM: The handsome people attract the other handsome people.

But the people on the record needed help?

NM: The people on the record, they probably went through the course years ago, or just experienced life in the same we have. But the people who are reading this, they might be thinking, “I need the Handsome Boy Modeling School's help.”

CR: And all they have to do is give us $60. I might add, we take Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diner's Club, PayPal. But preferably cash. And no personal checks.

NM: People go, $60, are you kidding?! They can't believe they get so much value for their money.

What have you been up to in the five years since your first record?

CR: There's a lot that goes on in five years. The book tour. Developing the five part DVD series, Handsomeness of Steel. The Handsomian Institute. The music is just a little sprinkle of what we do as part of the whole Handsome Boy Modeling School thing.

Have you thought about getting your own show, like Donald Trump?

NM: I just gotta say it -- money doesn't buy handsomeness. But money kind of works with the women. Or so I've been told. Being handsome means never having to carry your wallet.

P. Diddy, is he a graduate?

NM: What's the best way I can put this? There's new money, and there's old money. We're old money.

So why White People?

CR: Once the artwork and the music and the video combine, you won't need to ask that question. It's like Kill Bill 2 -- it all comes together. 'Oh. She really did kill Bill.'
How did you do some of the matchmaking on the record?

NM: People just knew that the record was coming. They came out of the woodwork to be involved. You could mix it around in a lot of different directions and it would still come out handsome.

Are you plugging them into musical ideas you already had?

NM: Every part is made for a person. We just create something that's really handsome and work with them to make it fit. When you're really rolling in the handsome world, you don't buy off the rack.

So no samples, then?

NM: That's like going to Macy's, picking out your beat and rhyming over it. That's not what we do. Everything is customized. If you want a good shoe, you go to a cobbler. If you want a good suit, you go to Savile Row. If you want a good beat you go to the Handsome Boy Modeling School.

CR: Has to be tailor-made.

Let's talk about some people on the record. Is it true you taught the Ladies Man everything he knows?

NM: Here's the thing. We did not invent handsomeness. We just carry the torch for handsomeness.

Father Guido Sarducci?

NM: Another handsome man. He's a proponent of wearing black, which is usually a sign of someone who understands handsomeness. Though not always.

Mars Volta?

NM: The hair. And they're very fashionable.

CR: (with his mouth full) It's all about style. Sorry, I'm eating some Wheaties.

Wheaties are handsome?

CR: If they weren't, why would I eat them?

NM: Getting your vitamins is always handsome.

CR: And fiber. You want to have a nice stride in your walk. You don't want to walk around tight-legged.

Grand Wizard Theodore?

CR: What's more handsome than inventing the scratch?

NM: Although – only certain kind of scratches are handsome. Definitely avoid the crotch area.

CR: Especially if you're female.

De La Soul?

NM: They're a handsome work in progress.

CR: We had to go back and cut out the Day-Glo, then reapply it in the places where it worked. You can't have a whole outfit of it.

I guess we know the answer to this one, but why John Oates with Jamie Cullum and Paula Frazer?

NM: Yeah, you know the answer. Next to "The Selleck," that's probably one of the most incredible moustaches of all time.

How about the single "The World’s Gone Mad"? You've got Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Del The Funky Homosapien and Barrington Levy.

NM: You combine that much handsomeness in one room and things tend to go awry. That can be evidenced in a lot of ways -- like when you see the video, perhaps.

So really, it isn't hip-hop or rock or blues or soul or dub -- it's all just handsome?

NM: I'm glad you noticed that. See, you've come a long way.

CR: Just took a little conversation. But it would still be good for you to pay the 60 dollars.