It was a Saturday night of rapcore as Huntington Beach group Hed PE hit Vinyl Music Hall.
The group, who have been with Suburban Noize Records since 2006′s “Back 2 Base X, are expected to release their latest album before the end of 2013.
- Michael L. Smith
Jerry Dawson isn’t human.
Standing in the spotlight inches from the edge of the stage, Dawson kicked the solo into overdrive.
“That’s not how it is sounds on the record.” I thought to myself. “This is…explosive.”
Falling into a fury of notes, Dawson pushed his guitar and the audience over the edge. This wasn’t Pink Floyd anymore, this was the White Tie Rock Ensemble.
It was supposed to be a re-creation of a rock classic, but this encore performance became much more. From their final preparations before showtime, to the last (and surprise) encore of Mark Ellis leading the group through Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”, the cast of local musicians and students rocked the Pensacola Little Theatre.
One week before the White Tie Ensemble’s encore performance of Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”, I interviewed Jonathan Clark for the weekly Music Matters column of the Pensacola News Journal.
“Why attempt the performance again?” I wondered. It would be difficult nearly impossible to match the group’s first performance. There were so many questions to be asked and Clark was willing to answer them all.
There was only one caveat for my column in the PNJ; keep the surprise ending a secret.
Here is a link to my Pensacola News Journal Music Matters column “White Tie Rock Ensemble revisits “The Dark Side”.
The full interview with Jonathan Clark follows below.
JONATHAN CLARK INTERVIEW
MS: The first White Tie Rock Ensemble was amazing, how do you plan on topping the previous Pink Floyd performance with the encore performance?
JC: We all felt that it actually went much better than any of us had hoped and we just sat down and made a list of things that we could have done better. One was the video; the actual projector was locked in a position and we did not have the tool to get it fixed and that now has been fixed. So the video will play a much larger part this time. Some people missed what was going on, because some people said, “I looked up halfway through and was like ‘Oh! Wizard of Oz was on.’ We want it to be more of a focal point to be part of the show. The lights are going to be set up so that the video can be more of a focal point. We’re going to bring the orchestra closer in and use some risers to get the band sort of on the backline and have the orchestra more of another focal point when we’re there to have the orchestra a little more present in what we’re doing. It is a lot of work, I’ll tell you that much. It’s a little easier the second time around here.
We’ve been going through rehearsals, we’ve got a new singer, Jocelyn moved to Philadelphia. We have Charlyne Kilpatrick singing with us this time. She’s an old-school Pensacola rockstar in her genre. My father and she played together way back in the 70’s and 80’s. That should bring some more experience to what we’re doing here and some more soul.
We had some sound issues that we plan to take care of. We’ve got a new sound system that we’re going to use also, so we’ve got new towers on both sides. There’s a VIP section, where we’re going to rope that off and have it where you have to have the VIP tickets to get in there and I think I’m going to put a couple of “Hammer” bouncers at the front of that, rag on the people as they walk by and yell at them to sit down. We want to get some more of the theatre aspect involved.
MS: The first time, what was going through your mind on that stage in May?
JC: I told one of my students today-I teach 10 years olds how to play violin-one of my students asked if I got nervous when I play anymore and I said, “Truthfully, I’m very nervous until the downbeat.” And I said, “Once the show starts, my mind just goes into performance mode; it’s just always the way that I’ve done it. The jitters keep me focused, but once we start, a lot of it, you could say, moves very slowly, almost slow motion. But at the same time, it’s over before you know it and you can’t remember what happened. (laughs)
In my life, I’ve been with my wife for 21 years (and) more often than not, I come off and I say, “How was it?” That’ the best I can get. I know she’s going to be honest with me. Or my dad, my dad was in the audience, so you know, I can go up to somebody and ask. Really, a lot of it is the equivalent of me jumping out of an airplane and hoping everything works on the way down. I was lucky enough that we had a fantastic crew. It’s all the same guys coming back to work the crew stuff. And when you put people in place, in positions that you know they can succeed in, then you don’t really have to worry about a lot of stuff. I told one of the guys that was back, Dana Daniels, “You know, those guys have been doing it for so long that, I need somebody to where, if a fire breaks out, normally everybody runs the opposite direction. I need guys that run toward it. And Dana’s that type of guy. I don’t have to really worry about things going wrong and that type of stuff.
What was going through my mind? “Be as defected as Roger Waters sounds on the CD.” (laughs) Try to sound as something really bad has happened in your life. Which if anybody knows me, I probably have the easiest life in the world, so it’s kind of hard for me to dig up that stuff you know, you’ve got to play the part.
MS: I know that the last time we talked, you mentioned doing other albums. What made you decide to do an encore as opposed to doing another album?
JC: We had so many people afterwards, like apparently I was inside all day setting up gear, apparently there was a big storm that came through while we were playing. We had some people, even some kids in the back, playing in the orchestra that said they were getting dripped on. So it was bad enough to be coming through the ceiling of the Little Theatre. They were getting mists and all that kind of stuff in the back. But we had so many people that didn’t come and immediately afterward, “We missed this.”, “We want to come to this.”, “When are you going to do it again?” That was the biggest question I had. “When are you going to do it again?” So we thought about trying to get a different venue and do it pretty quickly, like say June or July, but it was very difficult to find a place that would be open that short of a notice, so I got this thing, my ECHO orchestra, Emerald Coast Honors Orchestra starts rehearsals back in September, so it just worked out well that we can use this as one of our concerts at the end of September. The band knows it.
The first one felt so much just like, not an experiment. That’s the best word I could come up with. Can we do this? Will it work? Will it be successful? We went into this and it came off so well, to where I think now, we kind of feel like that was preseason and now the season’s starting. We all wanted one more shot at it and the next one is going to be a different album.
We’re going to do Led Zeppelin IV, which, I don’t know if you want to put it out there yet because we’re going to do “Kashmir” as the encore-encore. We’re going to take our armbands off and say, “February, Led Zeppelin IV, here’s a taste of it.” I don’t want people to know that beforehand. We’re going to try to do that in February.
MS: Which one is more pressure to you; the first time or the second.
JC: I was just talking to somebody right before I called you…the first time, it was like waterskiing. You’re being pulled behind this boat and it’s going very fast. You have to really think and concentrate. This time, it’s more like we’re driving the boat. So you have a little less of that adrenaline, that total rush of excitement and that kind of stuff. We’re more in control. With this show, it will be more steady.
We’ve added two songs. We’ve added “Is There Anybody Out There” which has a beautiful acoustic guitar solo and a violin that plays. And we incorporate that with the orchestra and we’re also adding “Nobody Home” which is a huge staple from “The Wall”.
Down the road, we’re planning on doing “The Wall”, so we’re sort of preparing ourselves now by getting-I think I did the math the other day- We’re about 40% of this side of “The Wall”. We’ve learned enough about that now where we can put that together, and it repeats itself a little bit. That’s on the horizon, but I’m trying to get my friend Billy to figure out how we can build a wall on that stage. Roger Waters is out there doing it right now with a ten million dollar production. We’re certainly up against somebody that’s had a little more funding than we do, but it’s still fun and it’s just exciting trying to do this on a local scale.
MS: As far as supporting the White Tie Rock Ensemble, what can readers and fans do, aside from buying tickets to support your organization?
JC: We would love to get to the point where-what would be fantastic would be to do a Friday and a Saturday night at these things. We’ve got a pretty good Facebook page up and people come on there and send messages and stuff. A lot like that, we still have to figure out how we can market the whole Album Preservation Society thing. If we can turn this into a four or five concerts a year event, then we can do these different albums because you can do Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin IV, like I said, I want to do The Police. You could do “The Wall”, “The Darkside of the Moon.”
The other day, I said, “What Pink Floyd songs would you like to hear?” on the Facebook page and people came back with all kinds of great suggestions. We could put up a poll and say, “What album do you really want to hear?” We were probably 80 seats away from a sell-out last time, and that was just fantastic, so I really hope everything works well this time. The Seafood Fest is going on that weekend, but I think a lot of people will go to the Seafood Fest and then come over to see a show, so it works out pretty well that way.
MS: This is my last question for you, Jonathan; is there anything else you would like the readers to know?
JC: Probably the number one thing-I’ve been in coverbands nearly all my life, I’ve also played in original bands with WAVE and all that kind of stuff-before we started doing this, I always thought how difficult it was to come up with quality, original music and that a lot of times it was easier to pick out these other tunes, but when you start really looking at recreating an album and doing all the little things that are in that, the nuances and the tones even-I got to have a bass this time, Michael, the black bass with the maple neck just like Roger Waters plays. In trying to find all the tones and all these sound effects that we had to locate for Pink Floyd, that was one thing, I looked up other bands that do tributes to Pink Floyd and a lot of them leave out these sound effects and that was the number one thing I wanted to do.
I went back and found some of the original interviews that Roger Waters did on “The Dark Side of the Moon” where he took the vocals from and used it, where the guys would say, “I’ve been mad for years.” or those types of things. I found entire interviews and I’d have to find where he said that, cut it out and put it in, because there was no music behind it.
The scope of what Jerry’s done to learn all the guitar parts and Joel’s learned all the keyboards and even the inflection that Mark Ellis has to use to sound like David Gilmour and we discussed “Well, are we going to sound like a 1971 David Gilmour or are we doing the 1994 David Gilmour?” and the differences between that kind of stuff. I would hope that that is what is appreciated. And when we did the first one, I’d have to say that it was, because when the kids did their part when we did “They Don’t Need No Education” or the sound effects that happened here or there, you heard the crowd response and that’s when you go, “Ok, these people know this album as well as I do. And you asked me earlier, “What can people do to support what we do?”… listen to these albums and come and put us up to that threshold of what you know in your head and see how well we do. And that’s when somebody really knows their stuff and says, “Man, I’ve been listening to Pink Floyd for 30 years and you guys nailed it.” That’s what really makes it worth the time that we put into it.
-Michael L. Smith
As of April 4th, 2013, the future of DeLuna Fest is unknown. There are plenty of questions and the biggest one has yet to be answered.
Will there be another DeLuna Fest?
If 2012 was the last year of DeLuna, then the festival ended with the biggest bang possible. It was the diverse, rock-solid lineup that made it special.
PEAL JAM, FOO FIGHTERS, ZAC BROWN BAND, FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE, BAND OF HORSES, JIMMY CLIFF, DWIGHT YOAKAM, FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS, BEN FOLDS FIVE, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, DJ JAZZY JEFF, THE JOY FORMIDABLE, THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM, THE WALLFLOWERS, SUPERCHUNK, DIPLO, GUIDED BY VOICES, BAD BRAINS, TRAMPLED BY TURTLES, BOB MOULD PLAYS COPPER BLUE, CITY AND COLOUR, BAND OF SKULLS, 12 PLANET, OFF!, PAPER DIAMOND, THE WOOD BROTHERS, WALKER HAYES, KERMIT RUFFINS AND THE BARBEQUE SWINGERS, MIKE DOUGHTY, THE CORIN TUCKER BAND, REBIRTH BRASS BAND, FISHBONE, REDD KROSS, BLACKBERRY SMOKE, THE SILOS, MOTOPONY, IVAN NEVILLES’ DUMPSTAPHUNK, AC SLATER, ANDERS OSBORNE, TWOTHIRTYEIGHT, BONERAMA, THE PARLOTONES, BEN SOLLEE, HONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND, WASHBOARD CHAZ W/ TIN MEN, ERIC LINDELL, MISHKA, CHARMAINE NEVILLE, LIGHTS RESOLVE, CHRIS THOMAS KING, THE LEGENDARY JC’S, ANTOINE KNIGHT, ASTRONAUTALIS, THE VILLIANS, THE CANVAS WAITING, KITT LOUGH, HIP KITTY, DEADLY FISTS OF KUNG-FU, BRASS-A-HOLICS, PALOMA, DLP, PIONEERS! O PIONEERS!
Comparisons were always made between The Hangout Music Festival, DeLuna (both started in 2010) and Mobile’s long-running Bayfest. The Hangout (which began the same year as DeLuna) had the top lineup its first two years, but DeLuna edged everyone in 2012. No festival could touch what happened for those three days on Pensacola Beach.
It was pure Pensacola in every way (positive and negative). A city that dreams a little bigger and fights a little harder than the rest of the world thinks we should.
Will there be another DeLuna Festival? Has the festival on Pensacola Beach gone the way of Springfest? Will there ever be another music event to match what happened here in 2012?
As long as there are people in this town that are willing to play, pay, book, and listen to live music…there is always hope.
While interviewing bands for the Pensacola News Journal and GoPensacola.com’s coverage of DeLuna Fest, I included a game of word association for the local artists and one extra question; What’s your all-time favorite concert…in Pensacola?
Zac Hobbs and Jason Hurt of Deadly Fists of Kung Fu
ZH: Aw man, well there was that GodSmack show. (chuckles) Best show in Pensacola, Florida is…the Archers of Loaves shows where, what’s his name from Man or Astroman, played with the Archers. That was a really good show.
JH: I’m going to go with the Flaming Lips at Sluggo’s when they filled the entire building with fog machine smoke and they were so loud you couldn’t hear them.
WORD ASSOCIATION
MS: Deadly Fists of Kung Fu.
ZH: Taller.
JH: Taller?
ZH: We’re all taller except for you.
JH: No, I wish I was taller.
ZH: That makes a lot of sense.
MS: Pensacola, Florida.
ZH: You can’t say taller again.
JH: Actually, my first thought was “Broken-in shoes.”
ZH: Comfy couch.
JH: It’s got that big ol’ butt dip right…
ZH: It sure does. It’s got the remote for the TV that doesn’t work anymore.
MS: And the last one…DeLuna Fest.
JH: Kick Ass! Guided by Voices!
ZH: Bob Mould!
JH: Bob Mould!
ZH: Superchunk!
JH: At this point, I don’t even care that we’re playing. I just want to see Bob Mould.
ZH: Yeah, I’m pretty sure we get in for free now (laughs). That’s pretty exciting.
GIO LUGO OF PALOMA
MS: I’m glad you mentioned shows, let me ask you, What is your favorite concert of all time in Pensacola, Florida?
GL: Man, in Pensacola, I’m still a really big fan of the Torche’ show at Sluggo’s on Cervantes Street. That was probably one of the most epic, most powerful guitar onslaughts I have seen. And one the shows that struck me as far as bands playing to their peak was the Sharon Jones and Dap Kings show. It was just like putting on a vinyl and traveling back in time. You don’t hear bands play their instruments like that. That’s like a whole other level. They whispered, they screamed, they jumped, it was like every aspect of dynamic sound that could be covered by instruments, they were in it. It was totally a pocket situation. I was really impressed with that show.
WORD ASSOCIATION
MS: Pensacola, Florida
GL: Really, immediately, it’s just…it literally is…it’s just…Home. Man, I’m probably thinking about this too much. Just “Home”. I wasn’t born here, but I’ve most of my life.
MS: DeLuna Fest
GL: Epic.
MS: Paloma
GL: (Laughs) Momentum.
MS: Raw Panda
GL: (Laughs) Family
MS: Anything else you would like the readers to know?
GL: Yeah, like I said, we’ve been trying in so many ways to-as far as our friends, as far as what the Raw Panda Showcase is- these are all our friends all bands that we enjoy, are proud of and it’s a the best way to come out to listen to Pensacola original music. It’s all about originality and you also listen to a lot of friends making music all on one stage. It’s all good. It’s a family. It’s a good collection of musicians.
MS: It’s seems like it’s an awesome time for Pensacola music. You’ve seen the crazy times, you’ve seen the dead periods and stuff.
GL: Even the dead days brought out some pretty good folk music and it’s temperamental, but I don’t know. You always got to write and you always got to listen and be prepared for anything.
MS: What’s your favorite concert of all-time in Pensacola, Florida?
CS: I have to think. I’ve seen so many good shows. I used to go to the old Sluggo’s on Palafox when I was in high school. Probably, there was a band called Weston, they were a fun pop punk band, they were really tight, but really funny dudes. That was one of the funnest…I’ve seen them twice. Weston and probably Hot Water Music. I saw Hot Water Music, probably one of my favorite shows, I saw them at the Nite Owl, that was in probably 97, 98. It was really exciting. Awesome show. I think the Nite Owl closed pretty soon after that too.
WORD ASSOCIATION
Pensacola, Florida
CS: I just thought of the beach, which is like really obvious.
MS: No. that’s awesome. That’s how you feel. You’re coming from your heart.
CS: Actually Cordova Mall. I’ll just put Cordova Mall. (laughs)
MS: DeLuna Fest
CS: Beach Ball.
MS: Twothirtyeight
CS: I don’t know, man. Can we pass that one?
MS: Discover America
CS: Columbus
MS: Christian Metalcore
CS: Stryper
- Michael L. Smith
How do you top three hours of Pearl Jam on Pensacola Beach?
Nothing else that weekend could possibly outdo that performance. It would be impossible. Right?
DeLuna Fest: Day Two
The afternoon began with local groups Paloma, The Real Hooks and Kitt Lough building the momentum for a promising sequel to Day One.
Leading up to an evening that would feature Foo Fighters, Bad Brains, Jimmy Cliff and The Joy Formidable,two of my favorite surprises of the afternoon lineup were sets by Maggie Rose and Chris Staples.
While writing artist intros for the PNJ’s coverage of the festival, I was stumped by two words.
The name sounded familiar. Too familiar. When I searched for more information, I discovered a true Hollywood story.
Young lady starts out in a Bruce Springsteen coverband, drops out of a prestigious music program, catches the eye of music mogul Tommy Mattola, but parts ways to make her name in country music with legendary producer James Stroud.
Then, I clicked on the link to her song “I Ain’t Your Momma”.
MAGGIE ROSE INTERVIEW
MS: You rocked at DeLuna Fest. How did you enjoy the festival and Pensacola Beach?
MR: I would love to come back and play. The beach and the weather was perfect and the crowd was (phone cuts out). I would love to do that again. That was one of my favorite shows this year.
MS: That leads to my next question. You mentioned shows this year; you recently played the (Grand Ole) Opry, you just came off the Country Throwdown Tour and you’re about to join the Blake Shelton Cruise. With all these amazing things going on in your life, what is the most amazing part of being Maggie Rose?
MR: I would say, especially at this stage of my career, it would be getting out there and playing for fans and meeting people and making new fans because I’m just beginning my journey and getting my music out there. So to see the reaction from people that have never heard the music before and see that they’re relating to it and it’s reaching them, it’s just one of the most exciting parts about what I’m doing.
MS: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your shows?
MR: Well, (laughs) I’ve definitely paid my dues in some respects. My guitar player and I played at a county fair a couple of years ago and while we were playing, right in front of our stage, there was a rodeo arena and then the fans were behind that and during our show, there was- I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of mutton busting, because I’ve never heard of it until that day-and there is a little kid trying to ride on sheep while we were playing. That was probably the most odd activity and show environment I’ve ever played in, but if you’ve done that, I guess you’ve seen it all. I don’t know. I hope that doesn’t happen again, but it was an interesting experience. Because you have sheep crying in front of you while you’re playing and the audience is a hundred yards away. Little kids are falling off on the ground, so it was interesting. And I bet you weren’t expecting me to say that, where you?
MS: No, not at all. That’s the first time I’ve heard that.
MR: I’m sorry, Michael. I don’t know how you’re going to relay that. I’m telling the truth.
MS: Your sound and when I listen to you live, you’ve got soul, rhythm. I even noticed a little hard rock there. What kind of music did you listen growing up?
MR: Well, I grew up in the D.C. area, so it’s not really a specific area. I got to hear a little bit of everything and I would credit my influences to what my mom played and Mary Chapin Carpenter was one of her favorites. I love Bonnie Raitt. I love Fleetwood Mac. I do love classic rock; I mean AC/DC’s great turn-it-up music. Just a little bit of everything and I wanted to preserve that Southern rock feel, but I love the storytelling aspect of country music so that’s why I gravitated as a writer towards country.
MS: When did you know that this was what you wanted to do for your career?
MR: I knew I wanted to be a performer from a very early age. My parents were very supportive of me as a singer, they would drive me to choir practice and drive me to parties and weddings that I’d sing at and they loved hearing me so it just really nurtured my talents and I think it was the first gig that I got paid for. I was just totally stunned that I would get paid to do something that I loved so much. I was like, “I should make a living doing this. Ok.” I think I figured out what I want to be and I studied (phone cut out) I’m sitting here in my hotel room in California and my service is inconsistent.
MS: No problem. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to face so far in your career?
MR: If you want to be an entertainer and if you want to break into the music industry, you have to be really hard working, you have to know that the door is going to get shut in your face a bunch of times and I had one meeting that broke through with Tommy Mottola. He’s the director of Sony and he saw a lot of potential in me, but obviously my heart was country music and I wanted to be a country artist and he’s more involved with pop. So he introduced me to my producer James Stroud. He knew James through his wife while they were working with the Dixie Chicks. So it was really that chance meeting like luck meeting preparation. It was just hard to have those two things line up. It was a world wind because I was right in the middle of my sophomore year and I knew it was what I wanted to do, but having the rubber meet the road and actually going and taking myself out of college life and moving to Nashville just seemed like too extreme. But once I did it, it was absolutely natural. It felt like that was the place I should have been all along.
MS: Well, I’m glad you didn’t go back to school. So thank you, because you rock.
MR: What? What did you say?
MS: I’m glad you didn’t go back to school because you rock.
MR: You know what? Me too, Michael. I feel like my education actually started once I got to Nashville.
MS: With all these amazing people you’ve met, Maggie, what is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
MR: I think you have to-I’m surrounded by really great people-and I’m really grateful for that, but at the end of the day, I just have to make sure that my own voice is strong and that I follow my gut because everyone has an opinion, especially with something as subjective as music and the only thing that sets me apart from any other artist out there is that they’re not me and I’m not them.
MS: What’s the ultimate dream for you?
MR: I want to be a live touring act. My goal is-obviously I want-I think country radio is such an important part of breaking an artist in country music, but I really want to just be traveling the world and touring for big audiences and reaching people with my music through live performances.
MS: Hell yeah. I see it. Is there anybody that you haven’t worked with that you’d love to work with?
MR: There’s so many writers out there that I’d love to collaborate with and a lot of them I’ve met in Nashville, but I feel I just barely scratched the surface of people I’d love to co-write with.
MS: Do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
MR: Chunky absolutely, all the way. I would just put straight peanuts on a piece of bread; the crunchier the better.
MS: Is there anything you want to add for your fans or anyone coming to see you in the near future?
MR: I would say I’m very acceptable in person and on my social media. I want my fans to reach out to me because I check my Facebook page everyday and I do see a comment and I hear what you’re saying and my fans influence me as much, if not more than I influence them with my music, so I love having open communication with my listeners.
MS: That’s awesome because some artists don’t do that.
MR: Music is, you’re starting a conversation with your listeners and it just becomes even more relatable if the listener has a little bit of a sense of the person that’s singing a song to them.
MS: That’s beautiful. Before I ask you this last question, I have to share a quick story with you; for the paper, I was writing artist bios for our festival guide and I saw that you were playing. I wrote a little short bio and I sent it to my editor and he emailed me back and said, “Michael, make sure this is the Maggie Rose that’s playing at DeLuna Fest” and I said, “I’ll check.” And that’s when I called Karen (Maggie’s manager) and she confirmed, I said, “Yeah, Julio (PNJ Entertainment Editor)” so actually, you met him also, you took a photo with him. Everyone was like, “Why is Maggie Rose playing this stage?” She needs to be on a bigger stage. (She laughs)
MR: It was a cool environment though. It was so hot outside, I thought, “OK, maybe (phone cuts out), but I think it was actually hotter in The Dock because so many people had come. It was really cool to just see I was pulling people off the streets and the audience was really focused, which I wasn’t anticipating for a bar setting, especially a bar on the beach. I thought it would be more of a rowdy crowd, but they were great. They were very focused on every song and it was easy to play for that kind of audience. Maybe if I come back next year for the DeLuna Fest, we’ll be on a different stage. And I’m glad your girlfriend liked the show, tell her I said “Hi” and thank her.
MS: I will. As a matter of fact, we fell in love with the song, “I Ain’t Your Mama”. When can we expect a follow up to that single?
MR: The album, we’re shooting for a Valentine’s Day release. Like the week of Valentine’s Day. So I have actually a lot of work to do. It seems far away, but when I’m on the road as often as I am, the only time, when I’m in Nashville, is all dedicated to finishing the album in the studio. I’m excited. It’s getting very close. You’re going to hear some music you haven’t heard yet and a lot of the songs that we played at the show in Pensacola are going to be on the album as well. I’m excited.
MS: It would be a great Valentine’s Day present because I’m in the dog house right now, Maggie.
MR: It would be. Tell her not to take any of the songs where people die personally. Some people die on the album and if you’re giving it to her as a Valentine’s Day present, tell her to not take those songs personally. There’s no meaning behind them. They may not be the most romantic of songs, but they’re good stories.
CHRIS STAPLES INTERVIEW
In 2012, I asked local rock group Paloma to name their favorite local band of all time. “Twothirtyeight” was the band identified by most of the members.
A decade after their breakup, Staples announced that the band were reuniting to play DeLuna Fest. Staples also played a set with drummer Tim Very during DeLuna Fest. I interviewed Staples as part of PNJ/GoPensacola.com’s festival coverage.
The Full interview follows below:
“On April 17th, Founding member Chris Staples posted this announcement on his Facebook page. ‘Twothirtyeight (my old band) broke up 10 years ago. We are reuniting in September to play DeLuna Fest in Pensacola Fl. Come hang on the beach for a few days!’”
As his band prepares for to play again, Staples talked about the reunion, DeLuna Fest and why this could be your last chance to see the power that is Twothirtyeight.
MS: Last year about this time, I asked the members of Paloma to name their all-time favorite Pensacola band and pretty much all of them said Twothirtyeight. How did the reunion come about?
CS: Tim, who is playing drums for the Twothirtyeight reunion, he’s a good friend of mine, I do solo music and stuff and Tim plays with me, he tried talking to Clint All, he’s one of the bookers for DeLuna Fest and Tim sort of had the idea we should do a reunion. It was so hard to get a reunion because a couple of the guys-one of the guys lives in Seattle and one lives in St. Louis- so it takes money and none of us could really have afforded to take off work and do it, but basically DeLuna Fest is making it possible for this to actually happen. And that’s kind of how…it was only a couple months ago that we started talking about it and we called Clint and came together really fast.
MS: With your solo work and Discover America, you’re very busy. Is there any pressure to live up to those high expectations from your past with Twothirtyeight?
CS: I don’t feel like I’m getting a lot of pressure from people, but I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself. It’s a whole lot of material to learn. (Music) that I haven’t played in over ten years and a lot of it is kind of complex guitar stuff and we don’t have a lot of time to pull it together. I’m working really hard to try to get really tight with it. So, yeah, there is a little bit of like, “We want to pull it off and it be good.” There is some degree of pressure involved.
MS: Are you getting enough sleep, Chris? You’re a busy man.
CS: Yeah, I’m getting plenty of sleep. Actually, yeah, it’s fine. I’m kind of doing freelance work so I have a lot time to devote to other stuff. It’s not too bad.
MS: What can the DeLuna Fest crowd look forward to when Twothirtyeight hits that stage?
CS: One thing we wanted to do was play songs from all throughout the band’s history because we we’re a band for seven years and we put out a lot of stuff. We wanted to play music from the early days all the way up to the very last record we put out. A variety of stuff.
MS: Is there a chance that you could record another album with Twothirtyeight or tour after DeLuna Fest?
CS: We’ve definitely talked about how fun it would be to get back together and make a record. It would be really fun. That’s actually sounds really exciting to me, but the reality of it is, we’re all grown up and then Kevin (Woener) our guitar player has a family and he lives in Seattle and he has a career and (bassist) Ben (May) lives in St. Louis and has a family. It really is hard to make that kind of time you need to do that. So I would say, probably, most likely, “No, we’re never going to record or write again.” We’re playing Atlanta and DeLuna Fest and those are our last, those two reunion shows are our only shows and that will be it.
MS: What bands are you’re excited about seeing at DeLuna Fest?
CS: I really wanted to see Pearl Jam. I was a big fan when I was a kid and stuff, but I’m actually going to miss them. I’ll be busy. I won’t be able to see them. I was kind of bummed about that. And Foo Fighters, I’m kind of excited about seeing them obviously. But mostly Dwight Yoakam. I’m really excited to see him. It’s going to be a good show. It’s going to be cool. I’ve never been to a music festival on the beach before. I think it’s a cool setting for a live festival setting. I love the beach.
MS: What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
CS: Wow. Like music related?
MS: Anything you’d like to discuss. Music or personal, whatever you feel comfortable with.
CS: I got Type I three years ago. My pancreas basically died. It was kind of like a really big out-of-nowhere kind of shock. And then I had to learn a whole lot about something that I didn’t know anything about. That was a pretty big process. That was probably the biggest hurdle I’ve had to jump over. Does that qualify?
MS: Oh yeah. I’ve seen it through my mom. Are you taking shots.
CS: I was doing that for awhile. I’m on an insulin pump now. It’s really made things a lot easier and I have a lot better control over my blood sugar now with that thing. It’s kind of one that technology has improved the lives of people. It’s pretty high tech. I don’t have to poke myself, but once every three days. She has to take shots and stuff?
MS: Yeah, before she eats. That is a big obstacle. My hats off to you.
CS: How long has she had it?
MS: About eight years. Does it affect your performing at all?
CS: Not really. I just have to test myself regularly and be sure not to eat too many carbs. It hasn’t kept me from playing yet. I have a really, really good doctor who’s helped me a lot actually. She has gone to bat for me with my insurance company to make sure I get the stuff that I need. Like they weren’t going to pay for this pump and she called them and fought with them for me. It’s pretty sweet to have someone in the medical field going to bat for you. It hasn’t affected me being able to perform.
MS: What’s your favorite concert of all-time in Pensacola, Florida?
CS: I have to think. I’ve seen so many good shows. I used to go to the old Sluggo’s on Palafox when I was in high school. Probably, there was a band called Weston, they were a fun pop punk band, they were really tight, but really funny dudes. That was one of the funnest…I’ve seen them twice. Weston and probably Hot Water Music. I saw Hot Water Music, probably one of my favorite shows, I saw them at the Nite Owl, that was in probably 97, 98. It was really exciting. Awesome show. I think the Nite Owl closed pretty soon after that too.
MS: That’s a sad thing too. All of those awesome shows that were there too.
CS: I think Nirvana actually played there. I didn’t go to that show, probably about a year earlier. It was before “Nevermind” came out, but Nirvana played at the Nite Owl. I thought that was pretty crazy.
MS: So much history in Pensacola, it’s crazy. With all of your years, what’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
CS: Geez. (laughs) Man you ask me some tough questions. Can I like email you this question. Let me think about it.
MS: Sure. What would Chris Staples of today tell a young Chris who was just starting out?
CS: I would say, I was really super eager and driven to the point of burning of just burning myself out. I would probably say to just like “Take it easy, take it as it comes. Chill out. Slow and steady wins the race.” I was really, really eager. I just basically burned myself out and I’m not really like that anymore. I’m way more like persistent but in a calm way.
MS: In return, what would the young Chris say to Chris now?
CS: Probably get off your ass more (laughs).
MS: I want to do a word association with you. I’m going to ask you a word and if you could just tell me what each word means to you?.
CS: Sounds fun. I’m excited about this.
MS: Pensacola, Florida
CS: I just thought of the beach, which is like really obvious.
MS: No. that’s awesome. That’s how you feel. You’re coming from your heart.
CS: Actually Cordova Mall. I’ll just put Cordova Mall. (laughs)
MS: DeLuna Fest
CS: Beach Ball.
MS: TwoThirtyEight
CS: I don’t know, man. Can we pass that one.
MS: Discover America
CS: Columbus
MS: Christian Metalcore
CS: Stryper
MS: Do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
CS: Crunchy all the way.
MS: When it’s all said and done, how do you want Chris Staples and his music to be remembered?
CS: Geez. I don’t know. Just honest I guess.
MS: Anything else you’d like to add?
CS: No, just excited about DeLuna Fest. Excited to see old friends I haven’t seen in awhile. Should be a fun time. Looking forward to it.
MS: Are you playing any shows in town before DeLuna Fest?
CS: Not in Pensacola. Nothing right now. That’s the only thing I have in Pensacola right now. We’re also playing the Masquerade on the 21st of September in Atlanta. Those are the two Twothirtyeight reunion shows, Atlanta and DeLuna. I’m playing some solo Florida shows with Manchester Orchestra in August, like Gainesville, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and St. Petersburg.
- Michael L. Smith
Hell, I’m easy to please. Just the sound of a guitar makes me happy. Put that sound on my hometown beach, I’m in Heaven.
Waves, sand and the sun confronting humanity’s greatest gift…rock n’ roll.
Not since Springfest have I felt Pensacola air saturated with this much music. I remember big concerts at the Civic Center and Bayfront, but the annual Springfest topped those by booking multiple big name acts for one weekend in Downtown Pensacola. 2005 was the last year of Springfest.
Outdoor festivals of that scale were officially dead in Pensacola until 2010.
Enter DeLuna Fest.
I’ve covered all three DeLuna events (links below) and while Springfest opened the door to what Pensacola could do with a music festival, DeLuna blew that door wide open.
Improving every year since the first one, DeLuna officials face a tough task if they want to top 2012′s music festival on Pensacola Beach because…
DeLuna Fest 2012 was the biggest music event in Pensacola history.
As I wrote in my music column for the Pensacola News Journal, “For three days in September, Pensacola was the center of the rock ‘n’ roll universe” and Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Cliff, Joan Jett, Bob Mould and Bad Brains lead a lineup of top shelf acts and local talent for an event that surpassed any concert/festival ever held in Pensacola.
DeLuna Fest, Day One:
PEARL JAM: On a day that included Fishbone, Dwight Yoakam, The Gaslight Anthem, Guided by Voices, Chris Thomas King and local groups Deadly Fists of Kung Fu and Pioneers! O Pioneers!, the highlight concert came from the band that helped Seattle take over the world in the 90’s. The first and only time I’d ever witnessed Pearl Jam live was in 1994.
-My interview with Chris Thomas King for GoPensacola.com
-My interview with Deadly Fists of Kung Fu for GoPensacola.com
The group headlined the “Rock For Choice” concert at the Pensacola Civic Center following the 1993 fatal shooting of Dr. David Gunn by anti-abortionist Michael Griffin.
Eddie Vedder opened Pearl Jam’s Civic Center set with a solo acoustic cover of Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” to start a set of songs from “Ten” and “Vs.” (the only albums Pearl Jam had released).
I was just as excited to see Pearl Jam at DeLuna as I was seeing them in 94.
Nearly 20 years after my only Pearl Jam concert, time and experience sounded damn good on the group. I never imagined the Peal Jam of my Civic Center memories becoming more intense, but they did.
With numbers like “Do The Evolution” leading into “Porch”, the band drove us crazy for three hours. Pearl Jam was worth the 18 year wait as they performed what I thought would be THE concert of the festival.
Leaving Day One exhausted, I was confident that nothing else could top Pearl Jam’s concert at DeLuna Fest…
- Michael L. Smith
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
TCAS coverage of DeLuna Fest 2011 (Part III) Interview with The Constellations
TCAS coverage of DeLuna Fest 2011 (Part II) Interview with Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction
TCAS coverage of DeLuna Fest 2011 (Part I) TCAS coverage of DeLuna Fest 2010 (Part II)
TCAS coverage of DeLuna Fest 2010 (Part I)
The biggest controversy of DeLuna Fest occurred on Day One of 2012′s festival and involved the festival’s VIP program.
Here are two links addressing the VIP program and the events of the first night.
-Article from Pearl Jam fansite “The Porch” detailing their VIP DeLuna Fest experience
-Statement from Festival Organizers Regarding VIP
Calling yourself “The Greatest Rock N’ Roll Band in the World” will get your band noticed. If you back it up for over two decades-on the road and in the studio-your band will also get respect.
One week before the Supersuckers hit Vinyl Music Hall with Ft. Walton heroes Nik Flagstar and his Dirty Mangy Dogs and Memphis duo Scott Chism & the Better Half opening, Eddie Spaghetti discussed their upcoming album, the artists who’ve blown his mind and how he juggles being a family man and leader of “The Greatest Rock N’ Roll Band in the World.”
Here is a link to my Pensacola News Journal article “Supersuckers showcase ‘The Evil Powers of Rock n Roll’ and the full interview follows below.
***Eddie Spaghetti Interview***
MS: With everything you do; the touring, recording, collaborations, and meeting the fans, what gets you off the most about being Eddie Spaghetti?
ES: I guess it’s just, you know, people respond to the songs. That’s the work that we do, making up these songs, seeing people react to them, that’s always a buzz. That’s a high you can’t really get anywhere else.
MS: With all the craziness, what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen at one of your shows?
ES: (laughs) That’s kind of impossible to answer, I’ve seen so many crazy things happen; everything from people getting onstage and getting naked to people getting kicked in the teeth and getting knocked out at the show, I don’t know, I mean, too numerous to mention.
MS: You’re a husband and a father, how do you make family work in this crazy business?
ES: I’ve got an awesome wife; she totally supports me doing what I do for a living, she loves the lifestyle too. I couldn’t do it without a support system like that at home. She makes it possible.
MS: I know you’ve got your solo work, but can we expect another Supersuckers album soon?
ES: Yeah, we’re trying to get one out right away. We thought we’d have it out by the end of this year, but it’s looking more like it’s going to be early next year, but we have the material, we’re just trying to work out the details and get it recorded. We’re playing a lot of the new songs live, they’ve been well received and we’re anxious to get them laid down.
MS: With all of the amazing artists you’ve worked with, which one blew your mind the most?
ES: It’s pretty mind blowing to have worked with Willie Nelson, but to be honest, the guy that’s blown my mind the most is Steve Earle. The guy’s work ethic is just phenomenal and we learned more about recording in the three days that we recorded with him than we did in our entire career up to that point.So, yeah, I’d say my mind was blown by Steve.
MS: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
ES: That there’s no “demo” button on the recording console; it says “record” (pronounces it like the noun as opposed to the verb). It doesn’t say “demo”. It’s been good advice ever since then.
MS: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?
ES: (laughs) Have a backup plan! Have a Plan B.
MS: What would Eddie Spaghetti of today tell a younger Eddie Spaghetti just starting out?
ES: (laughs) Save some money kid, cause you’re going to need it when you get older.
MS: This is my crazy question for you; do you prefer Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
ES: Oh, I’m a crunchy man, all the way. Super crunch, super chunk. The crunchier the better.
MS: Anything you’d like to add for the die hard fans coming out to Vinyl next week?
ES: I’d just tell people to wear their clean underwear because we’re going to rock their pants right off of them. They don’t want to be caught with their dirty joneys on.
- Michael L. Smith
One late night at Sir Richards Lounge, my friends and I encountered a gentleman. A man who-for the sake of anonymity- will be identified as “Carlos”.
Affable beyond belief, his confidence/friendliness exceeded the most polished Southern charm. Carlos bounced from bar to booth effortlessly buying drinks, shots and enthralling us with stories of life around the world. His past was written in entertainment; security guard, concierge and often protector of secrets.
When the talk made its way to music-as I always love conversations to do-Carlos drew us in with stories of concerts and rockstars. We listened as the drama of entering a secret world was impossible to resist.
Sitting around the table, the clanking of glasses had stopped, drinks went silent and cigarettes burned indifferent. We could only listen and imagine what Carlos saw.
That’s when I said it. I couldn’t avoid it. I had to ask, I had to know; what was the greatest concert he’d ever seen…in Pensacola? Not necessarily the best concert he’d ever witnessed (That would be too difficult or maybe too easy). I wanted to know who blew his mind in the city where we (or at least I) grew up.
I asked if I could interview him for an upcoming article. Carlos smiled, said “Yes” nodded and then started his story.
“The best concert I ever heard was Conway Twitty. And here’s why.” Carlos paused while the silence prompted his cue. (WARNING: slippery, rough language ahead)
“When the lights went out and the curtain dropped, his band came out and they were playing some kickin’ fuckin’ jazz! I mean jazz, real jazz. It wasn’t this bullshit that people play. It was real jazz and the drummer was looking at his baby that he picked out right before the stage and had her sitting down in the third row and he would take a stick and point it right at her while he was playing and he never missed a beat.” Carlos beat the table in rhythm.
“So then Conway Twitty came out, everybody was screaming-they’re still playing this jazz-so Conway Twitty grabs the microphone.” Carlos paused, “He goes up to a woman in the front row who was giving him roses and the band stops. BOOM! He looks down at this woman giving flowers and he goes,‘Hello, Darling…been a long time since I seen you!’ and the crowd went wild. The band starts playing after him. Panties were flying everywhere, man! And after that, it was just over. And that’s why that was the best concert I’ve ever seen in Pensacola. Because he fucking blew it out. He had the crowd like this in his hand.” Carlos opened his hand and then squeezed a fist.
“He could do whatever the fuck he wanted to do with the crowd at that point. This was 1999. He died shortly after that but, I mean, I’ve seen a bunch of concerts here, because I was working at the Civic Center as the security guy, here’s and interesting story…” Ever the storyteller, Carlos dropped the slightest pause and continued,
“Bon Jovi comes out and they’re playing at the Civic Center right. The first band comes out which is…I forget the name of the band, but it’s a guy that was…he was always talking about how great he was and he was a big singer and shit..i forget his name, but they were opening for them, right, so Bon Jovi-all these women are offering sex just to get backstage, their offering all this to get back and see Bon Jovi right, so Bon Jovi comes out to see the first band and he’s right next to me, I mean he’s standing right next to me, looking at the band and nobody notices him. All these women that are offering sex and their first babies and all this, he’s standing right there and nobody notices. He’s checking out the first act, man. And he sat there for maybe 20 minutes, nobody fucking notices him, they thought he was a stage hand or something , then he goes backstage to get ready for his show and these women are like I’ll give you a (I’ll leave this entertaining, but very graphic part of what Carlos said to your imagination) . It was crazy and there were women plastered up to the front and they were passing out and we had to grab them and pull them out of the crowd because they were falling and the crowd was just everywhere and then we’d have to take them backstage and the EMT were back there doing whatever they do and they’d let them out the back and they’d come back around and they’d let them go into the Civic Center.” Carlos stopped to smile and continued.
“It was crazy man. After the concert there were no seats, so people crowded in. After the concert, it looked like a fucking warzone in there. There were shoes, panty hose there was shit everywhere it was like somebody came in and had a war and then they left. It was crazy!”
The stories continued, but eventually closing time came to end it all. As I tucked the recorder in my pocket and drove home, I imagined a morning of typing, listening and laughing.
“Expect to spend four hours transcribing for every hour of the interview” The golden rule that will measure my morning, but every second will be worth it when I finally see Carlos’ story in print.
By noon, the conversation was typed and ready for research. Although I have never seen Bon Jovi in concert, I grew up watching the man and his band take over the world. As a child, I remembered the excitement of Bon Jovi coming to town, but I had to check the date to be sure…
February 4, 1989, Bon Jovi played the Pensacola Civic Center as part of their New Jersey Syndicate Tour. Sandwiched between Baton Rouge and Tallahassee, Bon Jovi played Pensacola, Florida.
I laughed when I discovered the name of the opening act. None other than Skid Row, led by the most vocal of vocalists, Sebastian Bach.
As for Conway Twitty, I searched for hours. Conway Twitty died on June 5th, 1993 and I could not find any evidence of the Mississippi born musician’s concert in Pensacola.
It would make since that Twitty performed in the area during his career because of his friendship with legendary country musician/producer Larry Butler who was born in Pensacola.
I want to believe that the country superstar performed that amazing Civic Center show that Carlos described, but without evidence, I am not going to take that gamble.
So Carlos’ story will stay here. And until Bon Jovi returns to Pensacola, I’ll have the memory of seeing the Ultimate Bon Jovi Tribute band Slippery When Wet playing Vinyl Music Hall.
There were no panties flying or people passing out, but the band put on a hell of a show. And in 2007-according to their website-they were even endorsed by Jon Bon Jovi as the official Bon Jovi Tribute band.
-Michael L. Smith
“If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.” – Jason Cruz of Strung Out
Jason Cruz was either confident or crazy. Turning his back on school and a scholarship, Cruz rolled the dice on a dream. Strung Out was the gamble that became the education of a lifetime.
Nearly a year after their “lights out” show at Vinyl Music Hall as supporting act for Face to Face, Strung Out returned to town as headliners of their tour with The Swellers. One week before their show, Cruz talked about his art, his music and his life with Strung Out for the Pensacola News Journal’s weekly music column Music Matters.
Here is a link to the article “Strung Out’s Cruz is still living the dream” and the full interview follows below.
***Jason Cruz interview***
MS: How is the new album coming along?
JC: The new Strung Out record?
MS: Yes.
JC: We haven’t even…I think we’re all just going to go home. I think that’s the reason the intensity of this tour is so we can hit it hard and then be done with it and get home and then concentrate on what the next records going to be like.
MS: You’ve got your solo work too. Do you have any material coming out from that?
JC: Yeah, I’m going to do that when I get home too. I have my little thing for sure.
MS: Man, Jason you’re a busy man.
JC: That’s what we do, you know. What else is there? There’s music and there’s family; not necessarily in that order, but that’s life.
MS: You give so much in your shows, is it overwhelming sometimes? Your shows are pretty intense. How do you juggle it all?
JC: I’m not a doctor, I’m not a paramedic or a cop or a somebody…it’s rock n’ roll, man. It’s an incredible opportunity to just be able to do it for this long and I just appreciate the fact that I get to do it. I know they’re a lot of people out there that have it a lot harder than me, so I try to think about that.
MS: When did you know that this is what you wanted to do?
JC: I can probably remember the exact moment that I wanted to make music and art my life. I dropped out of high school to do this; to get on a plane and travel the world. I had a scholarship that I bailed on because I knew that what I really wanted to do wasn’t anything that could be taught in school. I’m still learning every day, man. Every day of my life, I try really hard.
MS: With everything you do; your art, your life, family, touring, recording, what’s the coolest part of this entire ride for you?
JC: Like I said, it’s funny. I want to pass on all of the beautiful things that I’ve learned. The experiences that will lead her. For as long, hopefully…I don’t know how much longer it can go on, but I’m surrounded with art and music and that’s my life and that’s her life right now and I really am proud of that.
MS: The last time I saw you in Pensacola, things got wild, lights went black, something happened with security; what’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your shows?
JC: Oh man, Jesus! I don’t know. I think every night there’s something fucking crazy. It’s hard to think of right now. I have to think about that; there’s so many things that are competing in my mind right now. Mostly its…one of my favorite things is watching kids sing the words, especially when they don’t really know the words (laughs). I’ve seen some broken necks, I’ve seen some great fights, I’ve seen people get stabbed, I’ve seen fights on stage, a kid got electrocuted on stage really bad, that was really fucking crazy. I’ve had a drummer fall off stage because he was having a nervous breakdown. Shrooming onstage and having a bad trip in the middle of a show and running away in the middle of a show.
MS: You survived all this, what would you tell someone that wants to do this? What would you tell someone who wants to be where you are?
JC: I say start young and have nothing to absolutely lose. With this kind of life you have to start out young and dive into it 100% and hopefully you’ll get lucky. I got lucky in the fact that I still get to do this and I don’t take it for granted for a second. You just got to do it and give it an honest go with everything you got and at least you can say that you did it. You can’t have one foot in a safe placeand try to…it’s not going to work.
MS: On that same note, what advice would Jason Cruz of today tell a younger Jason Cruz just starting out?
JC: Oh my God! Become an architect. (laughs)
MS: Crazy question. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter? What do you prefer?
JC: Crunchy.
MS: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
JC: If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.
MS: Is there anything you want to add for the die hard fans that are coming out Sept. 11 to Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola, Florida?
JC: Expect a really long show and don’t get too buzzed too quick; pace yourself throughout the course of the night. It’s going to be a really long show. And we look forward to you guys coming out and it’s going to be good.
MS: I’ll be there. I’m looking forward to it. The last time I saw you, I got in the pit while you guys were playing and a dude hit me in the back of the head and knocked my glasses off, but it was worth it.
JC: Well, we’ll see what we can do for you this time.
- Michael L. Smith
“ It’s easy to feel like the victim instead of a survivor. If you’ve survived it, then that’s exactly what you are, a survivor.” – Otep Shamaya
It is another step in the mission of Otep Shamaya, artist, activist and leader of OTEP. A mission characterized by impact more than goals.
You would be lost trying to describe OTEP; empowering, crushing, rap, protective, metal, healing. The person, the artist the band are drawn together symbiotically. The best way (I have found) to understand the music and message is to listen and feel.
One week before the OTEP, Butcher Babes, One Eyed Doll and Arcanium tour hit Vinyl Music Hall in September Otep Shamaya discussed her art, life, and more for my weekly music column in the Pensacola News Journal.
Here is a link to the article “OTEP brings passionate metal to Vinyl Music Hall” and the full interview follows below.
Shamaya wants to inspire those who share her struggle.
MS: With the recording, touring, live shows, and activism, what is the most rewarding part about being Otep?
OS: Having the opportunity to be able to do all those things. My devotion to a work ethic that enables me to be able to do all of the different things that you mentioned. I don’t know…rewarding in the fact that I think that I’ve been able to, through music, find people that were like me before I released an album, before I ever became a performer.
OS: I didn’t know a lot of people that felt the way that I did or thought the way that I did or had the same interests that I do. Through music, art, and activism, I’ve been able to connect to a very large nation of people that globally have the same intention.
MS: Did you always want to do music or art? Was that something from your childhood or did you develop that later on?
OS: Art, yes. I didn’t know that I was going to get into music until much later. The first thing that I discovered, well I don’t remember discovering it, because it happened well before I could speak, but my mother tells me that I was just obsessed with drawing and anything that made a mark or a color, I wanted my hands around it; I was drawing on the walls, on my shoes, on bills, on tables, on countertops, whatever I could.
MS: Some people are always told, “Being a jack of all trades” you’ve got to be one thing or the other, when did you realize that you could do it all?
OS: I’m not sure that I can. I’m just following my…I think it’s important to know at what point it’s important to aim those energies in which direction is the best way to say it because there are times I need to devote more of my energy to music and there’s time when I need to devote more of my energy to activism, but I don’t mind that it takes too much of my day. What else is there? It takes maybe one percent more energy to care about something than it is to ignore it.
MS: Does this all get overwhelming for you?
OS: Well, I mean sometimes, with everybody, you know, the world seems so unjust and it seems so unfair and sometimes unbelievable, for us right now with what’s going on with the conservative politician, Todd Aiken, who said that a woman’s body can shut down and illegitimate rape, unbelievable that a grown man of that age and position who has children and grandchildren I believe, doesn’t understand how human biology works that a woman’s body can basically abort a baby that is derived from rape. It’s just an unbelievable statement, but some people might believe that he’s just stupid or he’s just dumb, he misspoke, which is…that’s an obvious lie because you don’t misspeak about something like that, it’s because the eventuality of that, if you follow that logic that a woman can shut down, an illegitimate rape, means that if she was pregnant, then her body knew that the rape was legitimate and that she deserved it or that she wanted it and so there’s no need to have an abortion because basically the Republican Party is lying when abortion should be illegal accept in cases of rape or incest. Well now they’ve added on this requirement that, “Well the women’s body has to decide whether the rape was legitimate or not. And if it was legitimate, no abortion can be had because she got pregnant by it. It’s an unbelievable nonsense, but this is how propaganda spreads. The bigger the lie, I suppose or how preposterous it is, makes it more believable to some people.
MS: I was going to ask you about that, Senator Akin too, but you tackled it perfectly. When I heard his statement, I was just, “Wow. Unbelievable.”
OS: It has to be like, everybody, even if you are not…even if you’re conservative, or libertarian or even if you just don’t care about those kinds of things, you have to look at that guy and go…he’s a prime example of why we need to fund health and sciences and biology in schools and make it fun so that kids understand how our bodies, the things that we’re trapped in our entire lives work. It’s unbelievable, but this is a time like this if you need a…there’s no extra energy that needs to be gathered, it’s like someone walking up to you and “The sky is red.”
MS: I saw your last show at Vinyl and I was blown away by the empowerment, who or what inspired your activism and empowerment?
OS: I don’t know. I guess, I grew up really poor and I was surrounded by people that were born to money and they were born into privilege and they were not better than my family, they weren’t smarter than my family, they weren’t smarter than I was, they didn’t have the talents that my family had, that I had. But just because of the luck of their birth, they had more access to the world than we did. They had more access to health care, they didn’t have to sit 18 hours in a community hospital because it’s so underfunded that it’s understaffed and with volunteer doctors who just care about people. I knew that I was stronger physically than a lot of these people. And a lot of them were boys, so that was a lie that was tossed out of my mind that women are socialized to believe that we’re inferior and that we should, that we’re destined to be subservient to men, so I was stronger than they were, I could outrun them, I could outfight them, I could out lift them. Artistically, I was, it would come to me to have them draw pictures for their friends or their mother; they couldn’t do what I could do. Then growing up in this world of poverty and violence in the house, I didn’t want anybody else to grow up to feel the way that I felt, so I really put my mind to it that if I was ever in a position that I could help someone like me, I would and so I’ve dedicated myself to do that.
MS: I have a friend who grew up in an abusive family with his father and he said that hearing your music helps him.
OS: Music is universal, I don’t think that it’s genderized and I appreciate that I’m able to reach all people. I think that it’s important that people realize that this it’s a very common thing. It’s easy to feel like the victim instead of a survivor. If you’ve survived it, then that’s exactly what you are, a survivor.
MS: This tour, what can your diehard fans expect from this tour?
OS: They can expect what we always give them. A complete and total mutiny of the senses.
MS: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
OS: That’s a good question because I’ve been given a lot of good advice over the years. One of them is “Love myself first.” And that doesn’t mean to be self-centered or egotistic, it means that I deserve to love myself. Another piece of advice was, “Never give up.” And if I were passionate about something, “Go after it.” Life is so very short and there all the things people say, “It’s finite”, “Life is short, be happy” but true, we’re dead-I think Lewis C.K. said that “We’re dead a lot longer than we are alive.” One of my favorite periods of ancient history is the ancient dynasty of ancient Egypt and I can read all about the magnificence of that empire and the people, those wonderfully interesting people that lived during that time; complex and strange and barbaric and beautiful they were and an entire civilization devoted to art. Their language was art, there writing, their language was pictures. But all those people are dust, every single one of them and they’ve been dust a lot longer than they were alive, so I think it’s important that we don’t get to caught up in things that don’t truly matter and focus on being as happy as we can, while we can.
MS: Almost on that same page, what would Otep of today tell a younger Otep just starting out?
OS: Starting out in life or music?
MS: Wow. That’s a good question. I guess music.
OS: In music, I would tell myself to remember that art is art and music is music and the business of art and music is the business of art and music. And to remember that.
MS: What about life?
OS: Life, I would tell myself, I’d give myself a hug and I wouldn’t say anything, I would just listen to me. I really don’t get a lot of that. You don’t get a lot of people who listen to you. They give you advice, they’ll tell you what you should do or shouldn’t do. And so very few people actually listen to what you have to say. I would listen first. I would listen to what was going on with me and what I was feeling and I what I wanted to communicate and I think I’d probably discover my own answer.
MS: This is a crazy question. Do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
OS: Neither. I prefer Nutella. Not many people know about Nutella. Its hazelnut, basically it’s like peanut butter, but it’s made out of hazelnuts and it tastes like chocolate and it’s incredible.
MS: I have some friends that eat it alone. Do you put it on bread or just eat it by itself?
OS: Yep. That’s right.
MS: Making me hungry.
OS: I know it, I know it.
MS: Last question. Is there anything you want the fans or the people coming out or the readers of this article to know before you come to Pensacola, Florida next week?
OS: I would just like to thank them for supporting the arts and supporting live music and they’ve made my life’s journey so very gratifying.
- Michael L. Smith
Its prom night and the headlining bands aren’t going to play?
The statement on Vinyl Music Hall’s website said it all;
“Unfortunately, due to illness, the Ultimate 80’s Tour featuring Bow Wow, Gene Loves Jezebel and Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio has been cancelled…”
As Ray Parker Jr. inquired…“Who you gonna’ call?”
Your best bet is to call the Deadly Fists of Kung Fu and Jukebox Superhero to save the day, and that’s exactly what the Downtown Pensacola venue did. Vinyl made it a free show and the prom went on as scheduled with all of the entertainment previously promised (minus the touring acts that cancelled)
Months before they played DeLuna Fest 2012, the Deadly Fists of Kung Fu revived their popular role as “The Exploding Boys: A Tribute to the Cure” to add even more nostalgia to the event and Jukebox Superhero played a set full of 80′s hits.
DFKF frontman Zac Hobbs and guitarist Jason Hurt stayed still just long enough to discuss DeLuna Fest and their part in the 80’s Prom for the Pensacola News Journal. (Here is a link to the PNJ article and the 80’s prom portion of the interview with a little word association follows below).
Deadly Fists of Kung Fu Interview
MS: Let me change the subject a little (We were discussing DeLuna Fest and superhero movies up to this point). Next week, you’re playing the 80’s Prom at Vinyl. Why did you decide to bring back The Exploding Boys? You’ve done a lot of tributes before, but why The Exploding Boys again?
ZH: We’ve always been real big Cure fans and it’s really easy. It’s very easy. It’s just kind of our briar patch. Somehow, three months turned into really short notice for us and so we got short notice that we were doing this show and so we’re like “Hey! We’ll do a Cure thing.” We can do that.
MS: Will you dress up for this set? You didn’t dress up last time for The Exploding Boys.
ZH: In my old age, I’ve become too fat and I’m afraid that I’ll bear too much resemblance to Robert Smith.
JH: Robert Smith is chubby!
ZH: It’s too convincing these days.
MS: No dressing up. What about…are you going to have (Brandon)Clarkson on keyboards or is it going to be the same lineup?
ZH: No, it will also be DFKF Prime, not Deluxe. When we have the “Human Baby” on keys it is in DFKF Deluxe of DFKF DLX. It’s a lot like KMFDM.
MS: To close it out, I want to play a little word association with you. I’ll say a word or a phrase, so just tell me what you feel, what you think….Deadly Fists of Kung Fu.
ZH: Taller.
JH: Taller?
ZH: We’re all taller except for you.
JH: No, I wish I was taller.
ZH: That makes a lot of sense.
MS: Pensacola, Florida.
ZH: You can’t say taller again.
JH: Actually, my first thought was “Broken-in shoes.”
ZH: Comfy couch.
JH: It’s got that big ol’ butt dip right…
ZH: It sure does. It’s got the remote for the TV that doesn’t work anymore.
MS: And the last one…DeLuna Fest.
JH: Kick Ass! Guided by Voices!
ZH: Bob Mould!
JH: Bob Mould!
ZH: Superchunk!
JH: At this point, I don’t even care that we’re playing. I just want to see Bob Mould.
ZH: Yeah, I’m pretty sure we get in for free now (laughs). That’s pretty exciting.
MS: Is there anything you want the readers to know about DeLuna or 80’s Prom?
JH: Come see us at both of those shows!
ZH: Yes.
JH: We’ll rock at one and we will rock even more at the other.
ZH: But we’re not going to tell you which.
- Michael L. Smith
