Publication: Global Nomads, www.globalnomads.net
Publication Date: 9-15-2003
What is your primary motivation to create music?
To be honest I have no idea. I don’t think I have “motivation” more so than “gut reaction”. If I were sitting about on a secluded area without any knowledge of the things going on in the world about me I doubt I would create anything at all be it music or otherwise. It’s the constant exposure to things that upset me that drives me towards a creative response. Music has a great sense of immediacy and energy that other mediums don’t illicit from me. I still endeavor with other mediums like video but very rarely on their own.. music always seems to play a vital role.
What were your early influences, and what do you listen to today?
DEVO, The Residents, Ministry, Michael Patton and related projects (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk etc etc), Men Without Hats, Consolidated. along with many others. A lot of bands, these and others made me enthusiastic about music and I had always attempted to create music by whatever miserable means I could ever since I was a little kid. I started out with lot of rap type stuff in the beginning as I was listening to a lot of Fat Boys, Run DMC, LL Cool J, 2 Live Crew and Public Enemy. To give credit where credit is due though, it wasn’t until I was DJing at my college radio station that I made a decision to pursue music. When Ministy’s “Jesus Built My Hotrod” single came in the mail one afternoon, there was no looking back.
Is there a fellow musician/musicians you would like to work with? If so, in what capacity?
Mark Mothersbaugh and Michael Patton. I feel dwarfed by their talent. Perhaps if I stood next to them I could steal some of their super powers.
What were you like as a teenager? Did you play any musical instruments?
I wanted to play the drums as a teenager but the option wasn’t really there for me. I occasionally noodled around with tape decks, and old casio keyboards to make a few songs here and there but nothing really serious. I wrote a lot more then as I had fancied the idea of being an author but this gradually evolved into just writing lyrics.
At what point did you realize or were told that you had the talent to be a performer/musician?
I was never told this and I never realized it either. Being a musician/performer was never a conscious decision and to call me a musician is probably a dis-service to the title. It was a means to an end. To what end I have no idea and I have no real reason for doing it. Maybe it’s just a good excuse to scream. A carrier wave for my words. Everytime I try to find an idea or a goal or an opinion I wind up being a total hypocrite about it so now I make no false pretences. I have no clue with what’s going on. Creating music feels like the right thing to do so I do it.
What really gets your blood boiling?
Closed minded people and lemmings. The fact that a puppet like Bush could be in office and be taken seriously. Everything about Bush irritates the fuck out of me. The negligent slaughtering of animals into extinction pisses me off. The decimation of natural habitats makes me ill. The human races “everything belongs to me” attitude fucking sucks. Public school boards are completely fucked. The plastic industries continued and unchecked pollution of our land and bodies is a disaster that will only get worse. Seeing the 100 million SUV’s driving around in overcrowded cities like NYC and Chicago make me sick. Everything makes my blood boil. I have to remove myself from most of civilization on a regular basis to keep my health in check or my brain, heart and veins would surely overload and kill me.
What was the first song you ever wrote? Was it ever recorded?
When I was thirteen I wrote and recorded a rap song about the movie “Evil Dead“. It was called (oddly enough) “Evil Dead”. Creative huh? (Insert sarcasm). I made it on a Casio MT-80 keyboard that set me back $80.00 (hard earned field mowing dollars!) and a cheapo Radio Shack cassette recorder.
When was the first time you performed live? What was it like?
The first time I performed live was with my first band called “Recherché” in 1994. It was at an outdoors festival and we were cut short only 5 or 6 songs into the set and for the most part everything went smoothly. After the show we talked about how “energetic” and “crazy” we were and immediately popped in the video we made of the show. To our horror we practically looked like statues. Our recalled moments of “craziness” were nothing but the smallest movements imaginable. Our nerves had magnified everything into something grand but in the end we sucked and looked boring. If you have the guts to watch yourself suck, video can be a great tool to analyze your performance.
What is the greatest sacrifice you’ve had to make for your music?
Time.
What advise do you have for beginning musicians/artists?
Don’t let anything stop you. You might be a genius or you might be talentless asshole that brings nothing but misery to everyone who hears you whine. But it’s your misery and it’s your genius and anyone that attempts to keep your ideas and mouth shut needs to be told to fuck the hell off. Your friends, your family, the government, whatever… let nothing stand in your way of expression. As each day passes it gets more and more difficult to speak your mind. If people are in fact lemmings then have them follow you rather than the bloated corrupt-government ruling corporations. Be heard.