Dean Ween reminisced about the good ol' days in the Pod -- a New Hope-area apartment in the middle of a horse farm where he and Ween-mate Gene Ween lived and recorded their latest double album of off-kilter pop.

"A lot of people hung there. The whole place was destroyed," said Dean (a.k.a. Mickey Melchiondo) during a tour stop in Austin, Texas. (Ween plays Wednesday night at J.C. Dobbs in Philadelphia.)

"There was tons of rubble and you had to wander around the rubble to find a place to sit or sleep." Heat came with the rent, even in the summer, he said. And there was a Ping-Pong table. "It was like a constant drug-infested Ping-Pong match," Dean said. "A hot, drug-infested Ping-Pong match."

Ween's landlord gave them the heave-ho in October after they fell five months behind in their rent, Dean said. "We couldn't really have jobs when we were living there," he said.

While they lived at the Pod, the band took priority even though they weren't making any money, Dean said. Dean pumped gas and Gene (Aaron Freeman) worked at a Mexican food joint for six months. "I would eat there for free six times a day," Dean said.

Between January and October 1990 Dean and Gene filled up 3,600 hours of tape on their four-track cassette machine. A little more than an hour and 15 minutes of that got on their second disc, "The Pod." Dean and Gene, both 21, make up songs on the spot. "The closest we come to writing a song is writing a title," Dean said.

Since they formed the band eight years ago, Dean and Gene have churned out something like 12,000 to 13,000 songs, Dean said. "We know them all, too."

Dean and Gene formed Ween when they were at New Hope-Solebury High School. "Actually we hated each other," Dean said. He was an athlete and Gene "was a sci-fi weirdo. We didn't like each other at all. We would get sent to the office a lot for f------ around."

One time they talked, and found common ground in the Beatles and punk rock. They decided to make music, Dean said, and not to pick on each other anymore. "Some people get together and do whatever. We just record," Dean said.

Not that they feel any pressure to record: "A normal day for us is get up late and smoke pot and do nothing."

Dean and Gene last month toured England with The Ween, a live band that includes producer Kramer on bass and a drummer. But picking Kramer gave the band more than a few headaches. "He was in our band because he's a good bass player, not because he's Kramer," Dean said. "We get written off because people think we're Kramer's next project."

The British music press started a rumor that Mean Ween, who plays bass on one song and appears on the album cover, is Kramer. Not so, Dean said. Mean is New Hope resident Chris Williams, a longtime friend.

On this tour, though, it's just Dean and Gene backed by tapes of drums and bass. Dean and Gene play guitars and sing. "It's been pretty cool. I think people dig it," Dean said. "We always say this, but there's one person more physically and mentally mutated than the rest of the people and that's the person we usually touch."

Ween and The New Byles play an all-ages concert Wednesday at J.C. Dobbs, 304 South St., Philadelphia. For information, call 925-4053.