Fear & Loathing LB, September 2013

A word from the editor…

Welcome to the September issue, with the recent addition of Mike Spent, this has been a blast to put together as we have tried to offer a view of underground culture in the beginnings of fall 2013. Every artist and personality in this issue offers insight that really tells us, we all need to do “our own thing” as a collective whole while acknowledging each other, the past, present, and always mysterious future noise.

Rises and crashes from east to west and an occasional north to south, are the turbulent winds we prey upon in search of the next best thing to do. As I’ve witnessed firsthand, there is a movement happening out there, that pulsates in the downtown, the suburbs, and surrounding coastlines. The natives are restless, self-educated, and ready to make this motherfucker called life explode, finally. A new stalking ground presents itself for modern music, cinema, and art. My advice? Don’t be timid and let the hunting begin. Until the next issue, we’ll be here and we won’t be square. Running with the boss sound… -Kevin Contact: kevinmcgovern16@gmail.com (I’ve got some cool free stuff available if you read this, say the word)

How did your own experience as a “musician” influence your approach to running the Burger label?

I know how I would want to be treated, and how important it is to have your own music released and heard. We all the importance and time spent making these things is. The blood, sweat, tears, and respect needed to give the attention and love music deserves. It’s what we’re all about, and I think it’s what musicians want. I think musicians want someone like me or Lee to be like Hey this album is amazing!

That’s what we do.

Which came first: Thee Makeout Party, Burger Records Label, or the Burger Records store?

Sean- -- I met Lee at show in high school in 1998, I was a j unior, and he was a freshman. We became friends; started band called the Noise and created a zine together called the Newsletter. We hung out, smoked weed, played around with music, and I went away to College. Lee started a band called Thee Makeout Party and I j oined when I came back four years later. Things started happening and we were constantly touring. We released the first Makeout Party 7” and started Burger Records, we did an LP and it went from there. In 2009 we were going to go on tour again but I was working as the art director for a boating & fishing magazine. They didn’t let me go so I cashed out my 401k, qui t, and started a record store with my friend Ryan, who ran Third Eye Records. He had tons of records sitting around his parents’ house so I said, “Hey, let’s start a store” and that was it.

Vinyl has been making a comeback for some time and now it seems like the cassette is too. Why do you think the cassette is catching on in such a big way?

Who knows? We were first putting j ust CD and Vinyl and then we released Apache, The GO, and Traditional Fools on cassette and were like, WOW, we’re selling cassettes now! And now, we have put out over 500 bands on cassette and

s old close to 200, 000 in the last 6 years. It’s bigger than any of us could’ve possibly imagined it would be.

cassettes and bringing attention to them.

People think it’s a dead format, but most who are listening were born in the 90s and not around when cassettes were popular. They’re driving their parent’s cars with cassette player and don’t have any cassettes to play in their cars. No one else was making tape cassettes.

The label covers all genres of garage for lack of a better term, anywhere from hardcore punk to indie power pop and psychedelic freak- outs. Do you base your releases on quality of songs or j ust gut instinct?

With this resurgence now taking place, do you think it’s the death of the MP3 or is the digital- online format more of a portal to check out bands & labels?

Oh yeah, but I think record labels nowadays have to use every social media outlet at their disposal( Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) to get their music heard. It’s also awesome for bands to have 300 copies of their music on cassette to take on tour and sell for extra money people to collect. Most are listening to our music online, we’re getting around 5, 000 listens a day on Soundcloud. I doubt there’s that many listening to cassettes every day but who knows? I think it’s a matter of ease of use with online music. You’re on your j ob all day on the computer or your phone and you can listen right then and there. But it goes hand in hand with being successful with putting out

Sometimes they’re friends and there’s always a number of reasons why we put things out, but most of the time it’s because we like it. We listen to tons of demos every day and I’ve always loved discovering new bands and their music.

I did it before we started Burger and still do because it’s what I love to do.

How integral are the constant live shows Burger supports and is there a Burger records culture that is important to its existence?

What advice do you have to anyone who wants to pursue their passion as a way of life, instead of j oining corporate culture?

Yeah, we have the Burger Revolution tour where we did shows all across the world from Tel Aviv to Glasgow to London. We currently have the Burger-rama tour in Santa Ana and shows all across the U. S, Canada, and Australia. It all started with us sitting around bullshitting and saying, “Wouldn’t it be cool to j ust start doing shows everywhere”. We j ust sent out a massive emailing telling people what we were doing and to let them know they can put on show themselves too, it doesn’t have to be a Burger related show to make it happen.

You have to work really hard and take that leap of faith. There’s been times when I would think about the years I had to work to get good health insurance and now I was throwing it away. It’s definitely scary. We work harder now than before Burger, from the time I wake up at 11 a. m. to 3 or 4 in the morning I’m working. I’m working constantly and I’ve been on that schedule for almost two years now. That’s our way of life. We work Burger all the time, non- stop.

There’s never time to relax but I’m never bored and it’s worth it to be your own boss. There’s times I j ust want to chill and I have 500 bands to think about. At the same time, I realize what we’re doing is actually changing something that keeps me going. It takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication to become and stay independent. I was never really into partying, I don’t always have the time to check out shows or a party.

Weed is about it. I j ust enj oy being at home and working on stuff all the time.

Just watching bands grow and get bigger, it’s cool.

-Kevin McGovern, 2013

Good morning Kari! Can you tell us the order of your first bands and the names?

The Runaways and you know the names already, but originally was a three piece w/ Joan, Sandy, and Michael Steele who went onto the Bangles. I formed a shortlived stint with a four-piece Latino band in the 80's that didn’t come to much. In NY i hooked up with Dean Rispler and through his contacts, my current recording band Teenage Frankenstein was formed. I pitched the idea and he got what I was trying to do immediately.

done posters and flyers, and an obvious outsider appearance. Sounds like early punk to me! It's all rock n roll, but some journalist, Svengali, or corporate geek comes along and has to slap a label on it to make it more newsworthy. I understand direct reactions from one generation separating itself from the previous in order break out of its own shell and create the next scene. But what would happen if everyone came together who loved rock and roll despite their cultural and generational differences? That could be an ass kicking movement. I wrote a song about that called Rock and Roll Master Race. I'll play it for ya Mikey!

Kari I would be honored I'd love to hear it! I agree with you in your assumption of SoCal music and the roots of punk in it! So please tell us about your latest project Teenage Frankenstein please tell us all!

Can you describe the 1970s music scene in L A and the birth of its punk scene?

At the time, it seemed like a place full of dinosaurs ruling the roost and taking the spoils. There wasn’t much room for young independents doing anything new. But if you look back, the 70's had a lot going on.

Good AM bubblegum, soul, reggae was rearing its head, and glam rock appeared. Thank god for glam! It was a direct response against that horrid tie dye and people toking up to hour long drum solos, yuk! Women were treated like dirt.

There were good things: Rodneys English disco. It was the only place in town to hear really good three chord rock n roll, but you had to dodge a lot of old pedophiles.

Punk is just glam speeded up, with a harder attitude.

Darby Crash was a character that could have been lifted from Diamond Dogs. Everyone who was an early punk used to be glam, or listened to it. One thing I never understood, early hippies and punk both had a total DIY ethic- i never totally understood the distain for the hippies on that level. They both had a lot in common.

The scene is SF in the early 60's was so rich with creativity. Gigs were tribal get downs, psychedelic hand

Hehe, I was in New York and my friend Teddy Soul Punk DJ took me to a party at Dean Risplers place. He said, "you gotta meet Dean sis, talk to him about your music." Dean shared a place with one of the NY Dolls old roadies, so I knew automatically I was in the right place. We walked in to a full on New Orleans fish fry!

The jams were blasting, a huge table was covered with newspaper covered w/ crawfish, corn on the cob, crab, you name it. Booze, desserts, and records falling out of every nook.

We had a great time, even though Dean n I never spoke! Later, I pitched my idea to him and he got where I was coming from immediately. We got together once, to write, twice with the band to rehearse, and once to record. I personally don’t believe it’s good to over rehearse or fiddle around too much in the studio, it kills any spontaneity and freshness. If everyone is on the same page and has it together, its an easy process if you’re working with the right people. I was grateful to have Dean and all the guys on board with me.

Growing up as a teenager in a cultural wasteland/suburbia, i felt like a complete outsider. I fit in nowhere. Later i got into a gnarly motocross bike accident while drunk, and had my face rearranged and broke my jaw in 3 places. Hence the name Teenage Frankenstein. I had kept a journal since I was about 11, and it has been an ongoing process evolving into a book. I registered the rough draft for copyright and let

it sit there. Then I thought, fuck it why stop there? Let’s take it to the next level and turn Teenage Frankenstein into a vocalist. I decided if half these other jokers around town can do why not me? I was 14 when I wrote for the Runaways, but I saved the best stuff for me. I’m shocked at the crap that people buy for music. Might as well let em have some of my crap too.

I was lucky growing up. My parents listened to King Pleasure, a lot of swing and jump blues, James Moody, the Drifters, James Brown and doo wop. AM radio during the sixties and 70s was better than the AM radio you hear now! I loved Motown and ska n early rocksteady. Power pop like The Raspberries, songs like Venus, Spirit in the Sky, the Beatles Revolution, this punk loved pop with crunch. For me, that’s why glam was so important. British glam held many 60's and 50 songwriting values that, I loved. If you don’t have a decent song you don’t have much. Early Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Mott the Hoople, T-Rex, and of course our own New York Dolls, and the Stooges. Three-minute rock and roll masterpieces. I also have a deep appreciation for the Beach Boys, soul, psyche and 70's cock rock like Bad Co and Robin Trower. Have you ever listened to Inna Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly, or Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells in its entirety? Amazing!

Lay on the floor with your head phones on and you will go on a trip. The Teenage Frankenstein concept is influenced by old comics, psychedelia, glam, and old black and white gangster and horror flicks.

Wow, Kari thanks for the candidness this is as real as it gets. I know you were Ill seriously ill would you let us know how that affected you or motivated you? Any advice or encouragement?

Being a minor in the record industry without adult supervision leaves you open to a lot of things that you normally might not come into contact with. As a result of my drug use i contracted hepatitis C, and began getting pretty sick a few years ago. I had been living with the virus for at least 20 years. Then one day i just couldn’t function normally anymore. I worked as a reporter at a magazine and i began having brain fog, and making mistakes on the job. I got laid off and one thing led to another and I wound up back in Cali undergoing a clinical trial for a new drug to cure hep C. I was lucky- i was cured with outstanding results! As a result, I now live with chronic pain and joint issues. But, what the hell- it gave me more time on the planet. Only time is going to tell what’s on store for me. I just live for the moment, one day at a time. I know it’s a cliché, but if i go outside that box i start to go crazy with all the worries. Never get out of the boat, as they say in Apocalypse Now. Great attitude I can relate to the growing up fast and chronic pain same here, but no Hep C. Ok sounds like you have been there and back any last thoughts or comments as we end this trip down memory lane.

Teenage Frankenstein is Kari Krome vocals, Dean Rispler on bass and guitar, please google his name for his credits, too many to name- George Michael Jackson from The Naked Heroes on guitar, Mike Garrido on guitar, and Chris Orlando from The Bamboo Kids and The Star Spangles on drums. The next leg of the recording project may feature a mystery guitarist as well. Id like to thank Dean Rispler for stepping up to the plate to begin with, and also all the people who have generously contributed thier hard earned cash towards The Kari Krome is Teenage Frankenstein campaign on indiegogo.com and a few anonymous contributors, the Teenage Frankenstein Army may help keep rock and roll alive! Thank you! In addition, Mike, thanks to you guys for keeping it real!

-Mike Spent

With your newest release June Gloom, music fans and purists can bask in the glow of the underground/pop/garage sophistication of these amazing compositions that appear to draw upon such groundbreaking releases such as Blondie’s “Parallel Lines” and the Pixies “Bossanova” while adding a completely new component. What was the process in the writing and recording of the newest collection?

KC- We started writing for it when we were in California after SXSW. We really wanted to move on from the first record and keep evolving into what we glimpsed the band could be. Our favourite bands and our favourite times in music were when, for lack of a better word, independent bands changed the mainstream. I don't really think that's possible anymore as mainstream is now tied into reality TV shows where they engineer emotions and everything else is squabbling for scraps.

The coolest thing about the newest release is the inclusion of a double vinyl release and it comes with an iron on transfer to make your own T-shirt. As a product of the 1990s myself, it’s refreshing to see a DIY approach that embraces slacker ideology and the concept of beautiful dropouts and losers. How does this type of approach affect the band’s personal belief system and lifestyles?

KC- In part we just wanted to thank people who actually wanted something physical , who are either aware enough to pitch in and help a band survive , or have a real appreciation of the format. Personally , I love things that you can make your own, or modify to suit you. It was also a lot more feasible then putting a shirt in every vinyl!

AC: When it' so easy to steal music I think it's cool to reward those who don't do it and are actively supporting bands.

They can wear their iron on transfers as a badge of honour!

The band is officially a two-piece based out of London. How did the band begin? Are there unofficial members in the collaboration or live process?

KC- We have two members who play with us live, since the end of last year when we were rehearsing for the record. Mel Rigby who is our drummer and Huw Webb plays bass. We knew them from their previous band and were admires and secretly hatched the plot quite some time ago with them in mind. Alice and I met through her mom who asked me to give her some guitar lessons. The lessons didn't last but we were both in bands and bonded over that and a similar love for music.

“In your car” is a monster hit on the digital airwaves, especially among the L.A. music scene. The video has an entrancing quality to it with brilliant simplicity, not to mention one of the best singles that this writer has ever heard. What was the basis for the song and accompanying video?

KC- This is news to us! Great news! though we are skeptical without seeing it for ourselves. Alice started the song in California, I finished it in London when we returned. I really wanted the video to be in the desert where I grew up. It has this incredible beauty that's threatening and brutal and a bit scary. The creatures in the video, i wanted to look like the guitar lead sounded in my head.

A favorite of mine is “Close your eyes” on the latest album, on this track it’s like a daydream experience with the Velvet Underground and the Vaselines providing the second hand buzz. How does the band balance more straight ahead synth garage rockers with moody ballads in the writing process?

KC- They are both parts of us, and something we miss from a lot of modern rock music. Balance is a really important idea to us, but it's also really liberating as you can go as far in each direction. Led Zeppelin records were almost always half acoustic ballads, which isn't the way a lot of people remember them, but makes it better going back to it.

How has reception of “June Gloom” been so far? What past releases or demo-material is available for the public to sink their teeth into for a more expanded slacker listening party.

KC- The reception so far has been good. It's hard. I don't think we have reached the amount of people we need to in order to keep the band going, but we like a good challenge. There are b sides out there, maybe on itunes? Otherwise, we have done some limited vinyl splits, and are getting ready to record an e.p. for early next year.

Have you had experience with Southern California’s notorious June Gloom? It always gets the best of me every year but remains oddly cathartic at the same.

KC- We have! My mom now lives in San Clemente and she finds those months really hard, and I find it funny. I lived in Costa Mesa for a couple years and I liked it the most when it was gloomy and dark and cloudy, and moody. Such a relief from the endless sunshine! And now, it's the inverse. London is gloomy for all but a few weeks of the year. That is balance for you.

What are some of your favorite bands that played a role in your decision to make music for a living and outside of the band, do you have non-musical occupations?

KC- I love Nirvana and the Beatles and Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins, Afghan Whigs, Sunny Day Real Estate.

Those bands got me through growing up. I feel a sort of debt in that respect. I have/had all kinds of jobs, teaching guitar and working in a pizza place , waiting tables. I was a roadie for Dick Dale.

What is your opinion on how the digital revolution has changed the release of recordings and accessibility to artists? Do you feel you have more control in the creative process or does the help of a recording company offer a more lucrative lifestyle in terms of distribution and live gigs?

KC- Accessibility is the easy part to understand. Anyone who hears of something can immediately look it up, which is amazing, but also kind of sad. It's the hearing about it part that is now the commodity. And that’s where it gets confusing. We have never been written about on a high profile blog in the states. Major labels have the power to market their bands relentlessly. Still not an even playing field but…

From your combined experience, what is your advice for new indie bands looking to make an imprint in the indie/underground music world? What DIY methods work? Which ones don’t?

Alice: To be honest I don't think we're in a position to be giving advice on what works, as we're definitely still figuring that ourselves. But this seems to be the plan that new indie bands are following for success.

1) Make your band name a misspelt word to make it easier for people to Google. Usually it's coolest if you take a fairly mundane word but just change it slightly. For example ' I've just started a new band called 'Cetchup'.

2) Make sure you have a logo ( this is more important than the songs). It must look good on t-shirts, that one day might be sold in Urban Outfitters if you're lucky.

3) Make sure you have a collectively clear image and brand that people want to get behind.

4) Play some songs…(maybe) OR 1) Work really hard on writing some great songs that you really believe in and want to spend the next part of your life playing all over the world.

2)Be in a band with your best friends. If you're going to be stuck in the back of a van for most of your life you're going to want to be stuck there with people you love.

3)Don't compare yourself to everybody else, especially if you're on an indie label. Trying to compete with bands on major labels is like trying to compete in a marathon against Olympic athletes who have money and support behind them and you're just a normal guy and all you've got is a really cheap pair of running shoes. There is a chance you could win, or even just make it to the finish line but you're going to have to work twice as hard.

As 2013 is ending in a few months, what are the band’s plans for the rest of the year and 2014?

AC: We have a few dates supporting Local Natives in October and then we will do our own tour of the U.K in November. We'll hopefully make it out to America at the beginning of next year and release an E.P that we've just started writing.

Any last words or statements you would like to give before we finish.

AC: Thanks for writing such interesting questions and for the support!

Who are the current members of Chelsea and what previous bands did they come from to join this legendary entity?

Gene October - vocals Nic Austin - guitar James Stevenson - also played guitar for; Generation X, The Cult, Gene Loves Jazabel, The Alarm, Kim Wild,Glen Matlock Mat Sargent - also played bass for: Splodge, Sham 69, Radical Dance Faction, The Last Rock n Roll Band, Rock n Roll Gypsies Lee Morrell - also played drums for; Lucifer Star Machine Chelsea is legendary and the catalyst for the 1st wave of punk and aggressive rock n roll from England, beginning in 1976.

Gene October was quintessential in the founding of the Roxy as THEE PUNK VENUE. What was the original plan for Chelsea as a band? Did Gene have a number of songs already written or did it just happen?

Songs were already written, we just wanted to be a good working band, make records, have fun and make each show an event so the audience had fun too.

As one of my all-time favorite vocalists, Gene has sincerity and grittiness combined with melody to make for timeless classics in the Chelsea catalog. Mat Sargent later would join the band and add an amazing new dimension of guitar structure, making the songs sound like stadium anthems with orchestral precision. Who were the band’s influences?

Gene - Mot The Hoople, The Kinks, Ramones (first album), The Pretty Things, Lou Reed Mat - The Clash, The Ruts, The Police, The Who Nic - Marc Bolan, The Who, Little Richard Lee - The Jam, Buzzcocks, Generation X Faster, Cheaper, and Better Looking was a monster of a reunion album. The album came out a few years back, what was the motivation for the album and release on TKO records in Southern California?

We were touring in the US in 1999 doing the Social Chaos tour when we were approached by TKO to put out an album, Faster Cheaper was released on TKO in 2005.

Speaking of Southern California is there bad blood between Chelsea and Henry Rollins?

Let’s set the record straight, Chelsea is the ultimate punk rock band!

"Not at all, Henry is a lovely guy, I have a big respect for his band and I think his music is great. He also does lots of charity work which I admire him for and any animosity is all water under the bridge". Rollins was sat on the side of the stage at a Chelsea gig, it was dark, and Gene stood on him as he climbed on stage for the show.

Every record collection I have encountered has at least a few Chelsea albums, which Chelsea album is each member’s favorite and why?

Gene - "For me it would be Chelsea, the 1st album" Mat - "Traitors Gate, it was recorded at Dave Goodman's home studio where the Sex Drugs & HIV project was recorded (my 2nd home)."

Nic - The Alternative "I had to write the album quickly & was impressed with the outcome" It’s awesome the band is still gigging non-stop in 2013! What are the future plans and is there a new album in the works?

We've been playing in the UK and plan to do some shows in Europe next year. We're currently writing & recording demo's for a new album which we looking forward to doing soon.

Chelsea has influenced so many modern artists with its mixture of solid rock n roll structure and screaming anthems. How does the band feel about its influence on current aggressive rock n roll and does the mainstream press properly recognize its legacy?

It's healthy & it’s good there's a new generation of young punks discovering the band, coming to the shows and recognize Chelsea as an original punk band formed in 1976 that have great songs. The main stream press aren’t interested in dirty old punk bands as we

know, it's our job to help keep the scene alive ! We're honored to have bands covering & recording our songs including; Right To Work, Urban Kids, Your Toy, All The Downs, Evacuate, Last Drink, This Is Now Not Tomorrow, Trouble Is The Day... maybe there should be an album with all the different versions on ;-) if only in life the people that make things happen were recognized … but we're not bitter, ha ha! We know who we are, we're not gonna cry over the missing millions just go to our graves with a smug look on our faces.

Gene has had acting roles and solo outings that some fans are not aware of, what movies did he take part in and how did the solo records come to be? Why not release the songs under the Chelsea name?

Releasing a solo album was something I wanted to do for myself, where I had 'carte blanche' to do what I wanted to do outside Chelsea.

Gene has featured in an episode of T.V series Minder. Featured in films Caravagio & Jubilee (directed by Derek Jarman). Amongst other things, Gene is also in Black Sabbath's 'Headless Cross' video where he is a monk reading scrolls.

Mat, you have had an amazing career, SHAM 69 is another legendary band, what are your views on punk’s evolution from the 1970’s up until now?

I guess the attitude & mentality of Punk is the same, punk has always been pushed underground, the mainstream press never liked punk and thought we'd fade away... how wrong they were ! Rebellion Festival shows you how popular the scene still is, punks from all over the world make the pilgrimage to that show which has been happening every year since 1996. As an "old-ER" punk I have seen the new generation of young punks joining the scene and being part of the punk rock family.

Traitor’s Gate is just as classic as the Chelsea singles collection CD, how was the approach in this album different and how did the re-release happen?

The Alternative was finding our feet and Traitors Gate was an extension of that. We worked hard on those albums and gave it everything on the live shows. We wanted to make the band as great as possible on stage and in the studio. Nic had written most of The Alternative album, on

the Traitors Gate Mat wrote half of the songs. The approach on both albums was the same, writing and rehearsing the songs so we were tight and did not waste time in the studio. The Alternative was recorded in Stafford, we stayed in a hotel for 2 weeks whilst we recorded it, it was intense, and we put a lot into that album. The following year we recorded Traitors Gate, which was local for us at the time in Gipsy Hill (South London) although the recording process was the same. Dave Goodman was great to work with, he'd produced 2 previous Chelsea albums and for us having the Sex Pistols producer on board was a bonus. Re-release? the things you find out eh ! We didn't know TG had been re-released but it's about time, fans have been writing to us for years asking where they can get a copy. It was released on the Wesser Label in Germany.

In the band’s live set, do you prefer to include the classics and a healthy dose of new songs or do want to focus on newer material? What can audiences expect?

It's sometimes difficult choosing what songs we're gonna play live especially at festivals where you only get a 40 minute set. We play all the classic Chelsea anthems mixed in with a few of the newer tracks. In the 90's we played a 90 minute set which is just enough for a healthy mixture, expect a heart on the sleeve attack of real punk rock.

Over the years, the band has received more recognition than ever before, how would each band member like to be remembered in the world of punk, and how long will Chelsea last?

Nic - inventors of power pop punk Mat- punk rock commando Gene - lead singer of Chelsea, spearheading the punk generation James - great guitarist and performer in "72% of all known bands" Any final words for our readers from the band?

Thanx to you guys for supporting Chelsea's punk rock quest over the years, keep the faith and we hope to see y'all very soon! Our website; www.chelseapunkband.com we're also on Facebook

dominatrix stuff with the rich guy in NY, and she wanted me out of the way.

I met Cheetah Chrome, whom i dated in NY the second week i was there, just like what happened in SF with Fast Floyd-- Gino and Mike Wrocklawski introduced us. He saw me across the room in bright red Spandex one-arm dress and high black boots and a chain link collar, and wanted to meet me, we did a lot of coke together, though i was into heroin.

That's where Jerry Nolan from the Heartbreakers came in, and then Dee Dee Ramone, oh the stories i could tell, i was the "it" girl in NYC for quite a while. I was "exotic" from CALIFORNIA (though i wasn't really, but that's where i'd come from)

Where did your musical quest begin east or west coast and how young were you?

I was 15 when i joined my first band in SF, a year later i went to new york I'm from new york Fast Floyd, who started Mink DeVille, I met the second week i was in Ca he beat the shit out of me for a year. He stalked me when i was living in the loft of the SF Mutants. Brendan Earley, guitarist and Mutants band leader, became our bass player. He's on most of the songs on the first album & will be playing on 2 songs we wrote together: THE TRANCE, & YOU DON'T OWN ME (I recorded the latter song with the Blondie Band, not with Debbie, just me and the guys). Our managers, Gino Riccardi and Mike Wrocklawski, were Blondie's managers, Gino got me a 3-year deal with Don DeVito at Columbia, and then i had a nervous breakdown.

I lived with the Mink DeVille band for quite a while in NYC, and sang back-ups with them in the very early days, but Susan Berman (Toots) Willie's wife, was convinced he was having an affair with me.

She then she found out i was doing a little

Luigi Scorcia (who'll be playing with us at the SF Punk Festival, Sept 21-22) was our bassist for a while, he played in Nos Cosa Nostra, Johnny Thunders' last band. Luigi played on Thunders' last 3 albums, Luigi & I have been like brother & sister for 20 years, with the attendant battling of all siblings.

Luigi also played in Cheetah's band THE CASUALTIES, and with STIV BATORS in Lords of the New Church, he started the SWING SCENE in NYC with DEM BOWERY BUMS, and has been written up in NY Times and ESQUIRE. He was the person solely responsible for starting the Swing Scene in NYC, and throughout the world. Both Luigi and I will be the subjects of the new documentary "Decline of Western Civilization 2" by filmmaker Tim Crandell. He’ll be shooting LIVE at the Sept 21-22 SF PUNK FESTIVAL: Homecoming, and if that isn't the stupidest name in the world for a Punk Happening, then i don't know what is. It sounds like we're going to a preppy high school sock-hop where some girl's waiting to be crowned QUEEN FOR A DAY-- it's so stupid, i can't even stand it.

I read your bio, seems drugs were a big part.

You must know some stuff, if it’s not too painful, can you share with us about drugs use and creativity?

Well, I’m not sure they went together in my case, because i started shooting drugs when i was 14. My family life left something "to be desired" as they say haha-- i got hepatitis from shooting methamphetamine a year later-- i couldn't go to school, was pretty fed up with the "home life" situation, and no one really gave a shit about what was up with me, so i left. I’d been the smartest kid in my class since 1st Grade (I got all kinds of intelligence awards). My family didn't even know i was alive, and i was getting all these awards to get someone's attention, unsuccessfully. I wanted to be in a band, and that was the one thing they "weighed in on". So i said, "fuck it" and hitchhiked with my boyfriend to CA (on the way he claimed he had cancer, cause he knew i was sick of him, what a whiner, his name was Hank Neufeld, typical) to try to find a band to be in. So a lot of these rock guys like Richard Hell, they didn't start using until they saw it was the "in" thing to do, not me I started using heroin after i got hep because my liver couldn't tolerate speed anymore. So at 15 i started running with the black cats (not as boyfriends, just as heroin "connections" -- funny thing was i never got physically addicted. The strangest thing in the world, after my hypercontrolling family (mom, mostly, though now i understand she had insurmountable problems of her own, with her alcoholic husband who would've chased a seagull if he would've gotten laid, and had pornography all over his office (which i stumbled upon when i was 10).

I read this stuff about all these lightweights-- i was a little 15-year old girl, going up to Harlem by MYSELF to cop dope. For all these newcomer punk rock guys, it was more about heroin being "the cool thing to do" Not for me, i was in pain: excruciating emotional and psychological pain from my family and all the pressure i was under to be

"first in my class" from the Second Grade on.

When the Catholic School got the results of our first standardized intelligence tests I was angry about this for a long, long time, until i realized how much stress my mother was under with a terminally alcoholic husband. He used to try to pick up my sister's friends, and then MY friends, it was horrible -- heroin wasn't something i used to be "in" with the "in crowd"-- had i not used it, I’d probably have killed myself.

WOW, so much pain Silke, can you describe your music and its origins? You have a powerful voice loaded with soul. How have your songs and writing style changed throughout the years?

So by the time i was singing in a band, I’d been shooting hard drugs for quite a while, it was just a continuum. Our parents were NEVER around, they were "golfer" types, went on lots of overseas vacations. While never thinking about including us and instead leaving us to run wild & unsupervised (both parents holding advanced college degrees).

So my little sister Hildy and I , while ostensibly in

the care of a loving black nanny who had the AM radio on day & night (it was ubiquitous), to the utter dismay of our mom who, essentially, hated music, though dad was an amateur opera singer & classical music buff).

are the heartbroken, emotionally traumatized, and their only hope at surviving is anesthetization with the drug, i know it was the case for me. If anyone can be helped my reading of my experience, my life has been useful.

I met Fast Floyd (who started Mink DeVille) with Peter Crowley (the booker at Max's) Floyd's manager, and who importuned Willie Borsey to leave CT with wife Susan Berman came to SF to join Mink DeVille) in SF, at a party thrown by Larry Ogron . I was already coppin heroin from this kind of upscale white dealer called Wayne, and it was there that i also met Jill who managed Tower Records at the time, and was also a junkie,

Being cool isn't easy. It comes at a price. Those whom I've met whom I've considered "cool," have at some point been deemed "pariah," or ostracized, or experienced profound rejection. It is as a defense that one becomes "cool.� And it is in retrospect that one plumbs his past to discover that the hard shell, developed in response to rejection, has contrived to make them that thing known as "cool�.

Floyd left with me that night, we moved in with Willie and Susan ("Toots de Ville") in a huge yellow Victorian on Bush Street, i later found out that Susan's father owned a men's clothing manufacturing company called "Palm Beach Clothes", and Susan's parents lived in Jupiter, FL, and were rich as shit, Even though Susan ("Toots") claimed to be of Basque Indian descent, she was actually a rich Jewish princess who was raised in Greenwich, CT. She was pregnant with some other guy's kid (Sean) who Willie & Susan ("Toots") tried to pass off as Wilie's son, when nothing could've been further from the truth we were all shooting smack on Bush Street at the yellow Victorian in front of this 2-year old kid, Sean.

Is the mixture of creativity and drugs useful?

I'm not sure heroin makes you more creative, I think heroin helps you deal with the enormous stress of being in a band. Speed makes u creative, when Dylan stopped using meth, his songwriting went downhill. Heroin is for the soulful people, those who've been profoundly abused, and aren't culpable for the abuse. I've never met a junkie, or former junkie, i didn't feel connected to. Speed is another story, often it's the first step to finding the true drug, which i feel is junk, other than those trying to tackle "cool" through using junk. The rest of the junkies

In 1972, "All in the Family," "Mary Tyler Moore," "The Odd Couple," and a Partridge Family were the top-rated shows on America TV, as the divorce rate doubled to thirty-four percent, and for the first time, divorce outpaced death as the event that ended marriage. The disconnection among the shows that we watched made the country's confusion more than apparent. We were not only in transition, but also in witnessing profound social upheaval. The Vietnam War raged, splintering common social mores, as Mary Tyler Moore, without an ounce of malice, became America's Unmarried Sweetheart as a Minneapolis newscaster with a heart of gold heart.

The Partridge Family, a variant on innocent America, was the story of a tight-knit family of musicians whose siblings endured various flaps, none, more decadent than that of a stubbed toe. The Partridge Family, entirely unblemished by the rigors of show biz, predictable made amends before the end of the weekly show. Conversely, we watched The Odd Couple, an unlikely saga of about-to-be divorced men who become roommates when their wives throw them out of the house.

Do you consider yourself a lyricist or songwriter? How do you see yourself?

You don't see a forest for the trees. The shine for the stars? I won't let a society of prudes and malcontents determine what is appropriate dress, or

an "appropriate" lifestyle, approved by the as-yet,

unwashed masses. I won't allow any consideration of "age" to color, in any way, any or all decisions, about my choices in life. The crux of the matter is satisfaction. I'm having fun. Are you? Why do care about things that I do, the clothes I wear, or the things that I say? How am I hurting you? More than anything, I'm making a political statement: you can't tell me when I start being sexy and when I'm done being sexy.

I have more men in their twenties flirting with me than I did at their age. And I've taken some of them up on it. Is there something wrong with that? And if so, WHY? Men aren't objects of criticism when they do the exact same things. Seen Jagger lately in his skin-tight clothes? Iggy Pop? Naked? Why is he cool? And Tina Turner? Who, in middle-age, is one of the greatest sex symbols of all time? Or do you have to be black to do that? I won't let a bunch of conservative, elitist, old white men tell me when I start being sexy and when I stop being sexy. I'm ALWAYS sexy. That's how I feel. I refuse to be bullied by the elitist dictates of a bunch of old white men (and worse, WOMEN) whose final object is to keep us down. NO ONE tells me what is appropriate for me to do, or not do. If you can't see that this is a plus for women and not a minus-- well, you're doomed, just like your mothers were.

Stereotyypes of women and age are effluence of the White Male Power Elite. What shocks is the ease with which some of you fall prey. Demands made by these men designed to keep us down, "keep us in our place."

Men's sexuality has no shelf-life. Think this over, carefully, because what I'm doing, (and it is part of my purpose, and has been subject to a hard,

intellectual vetting)been thoughtful considered, is to chip away at the White Male stereotypes of what women are allowed to, and when they're allowed to do it.

Calling a woman a cougar is an insult of the highest order. Particularly when we have tolerated this behavior in men since the beginning of time Sophie Vogel is amongst the sexiest "girls" I know, as is Chelsea Rose, Penelope Houston. Stop putting your sisters down. The denigration of any woman is a denigration to us all, a negative for us all. I urge you TO THINK. Because what you engage, is sexism.

The sheeple of America need more examples of individualism like you: YOU CHOOSE, YOU CARE, not them! They do not matter; it is on them not you! The clothes DO NOT make the individual! -M.S Silke Berlinn’s amazing career, music, and contact info are at: SILKE BERLINN OFFICIAL

Before we get started, in 2013 what is your opinion on the state of modern music and the creative world?

Well, I think modern music is in a great state in some ways. Everyone has their own band, or has friends in a band, or can make music at home on computers, and can actually distribute it themselves in a limited way. The stranglehold of a central corporate taste arbiter has been broken, so there is an opportunity for complete freedom of expression. What people do with it is up to them. Unfortunately this seems to coincide with a pretty brutal culture of laziness and dumbness, but it isn't universal. It sort of dawned on me that it is conceivable that a culture's art could be finite and that once you've crossed the Rubicon of everything being considered art, it's only a matter of time before the culture becomes exhausted and is left with only recapitulation and ornamentation. It's not that you can't make beautiful things, but how important can they be really? There are a few possible solutions. One is not to aim at the canon but to create local canons and history. That may seem like a big retreat, but a local audience now can be greater than the total number of people who appreciated art a few centuries ago. Another is to decide that a single work cannot be of great cultural significance, but that an artist's lifetime of work can be.

You have just released a modern mind-fuck of a masterpiece entitled “The Arc�, this composition is out there for the public to listen to on Sound Cloud and Mozart would be jealous. When did the songwriting begin and how did you pull it off in the studio?

I can't tell you how great it feels to hear something like that, so thank you. There was so much disappointment associated with the piece, for so many years. I wrote it over the summer between tenth and eleventh grade and finished it before my seventeenth birthday. For the next two years of high school I tried to recruit musicians to learn and play it. We did do a few performances but it was so difficult for anyone to actually hold the whole thing in their head, it really sort of ruined some peoples lives. The last time the band fell apart, I just decided to quit rock music and be a classical pianist, as rock music in 1976 was just completely useless and heinous. But very shortly thereafter I went to punk shows and got into that scene. Of course, that change in taste seemed to bury the possibility of ever hearing the Arc again as it was conceived as a progressive rock album, with all the showiness and musical rigor that Punk reviled. As time passed I wasn't even sure if the thing was good. I mean, maybe it was good, then not good, then good again. Weird. So then in 2012 I had this new studio and some time and I started recording the first section. It was a very strange thing to even attempt. I didn't really expect to finish it, and I also figured there would be a lot of very lame parts. However, I actually like it all. It took five or six

months. It would take days just to program the click track. I think you're right though, if Mozart would have seen modern music making technology he would have been jealous. Ha. When you moved to West Los Angeles in 1974, what was the music scene like in your high school and how did you meet Darby Crash and Pat Smear being the new guy in town?

Oh we had a great music teacher at Uni named John Magruder, a bebop and jazz guy. I studied harmony and jazz with him the whole time I was there and had a bunch of "study halls" where he would just let me practice.

There were good musicians there at Uni. Randy Rhodes had a band called "Teaser.� Me and Lucky Lehrer used to play dances and barmitzvahs; lots of Stones and Elton John songs. Louise Goffin was around. Some really good people graduated before I got there, I think someone from Sonic Youth and Geza X. And of course there was Kira, Darby, Pat and Gerber but none of them were really playing yet, more just researching by causing trouble. Darby, Paul Beahm then, was pretty hard to miss. I asked someone "who is THAT guy?" and they warned me not to talk to him or he would brainwash/enthrall me. So then, I just had to meet him. I kinda forced myself on him at first, and he made fun of me accordingly.

What inspired you to study classical music in college after high school? Do you recommend it to kids today?

I had been taking lessons since I was eight and it had just become part of who I was, a big part. At that time, the "anyone can be a musician" thing was pretty unheard of, my crowd was into playing better and faster than the next guy. But I wasn't totally like that, I loved Bowie, Beatles, Dylan, the Stones, Neil Young as well as Yes, Jethro Tull, ELP and Frank Zappa. And Chopin and Beethoven and Debussey. But yes, I would recommend to anyone to try to take whatever they're doing as far as it can go. If you're not a slave to it, all that knowledge is going to come in handy at some point.

After a few semesters you dropped the whole school thing and went on to join the seminal synth punk, The Screamers, how did the changeover take place and what was your motivation?

I saw the Germs and the Deadbeats at the Whisky in 1977 and I could do an entire interview on just that show.

The deadbeats were Zappa descendants and the Germs were pure modern theater, they reminded me of when I

saw the Living Theater as a kid at Yale. So I was drawn to the LA scene immediately; it was heaven. The Weirdos seemed better than the Rolling Stones. Or Iggy as far as I was concerned. Shoot me, I don't care. I hadn't even seen the Screamers when I heard they were looking for a keyboardist and that they were great.

There weren't many keyboardists around. I think I was in San Francisco to see the Sex Pistols when I had a meeting with Tommy Gear. I said:"Hi, I'm your new keyboardist.” You're so cocky when you're nineteen...

The Screamers were a sensation at the time headlining the Whiskey and Roxy, without a record contract and only demos to back up the extraordinary theatrical live show. How did you orchestrate the live show to such creepy precision that it holds major influence on other synth-punk/indie artists to this day?

It didn't just happen. Tommy and Tomata would plan things very carefully and KK always had tons of brilliant ideas. Tommy was really into Artaud and Tomata had done theater quite a bit before. It was really magical. And it would work every time. Never really a bad show until they got other people involved and diluted their aesthetic. They were funny, clever, terrifying, original, emotional, the entire package. I just had to play the piano parts and gape.

“122 hours of fear” has been one of my favorite songs of all time, it is forever haunting in a way I can’t describe. What is the true meaning behind it?

I think that song, like a lot of their songs, was taken straight from a newspaper account of a plane hijacking. So many of their lyrics were lifted right out of magazines, religious pamphlets, books.

After the Screamers dissolution, Nervous Gender were the new pulsating synth punk act that you joined in 1980, was the scenario different in artistic and professional terms than the Screamers?

Yeah, totally different. The Screamers were very contrived. They were a bit older. Nervous Gender was like the Germs, operating right on the edge of non-functionality. A lot of their power came from the instruments getting way from them. And Gerardo was brilliant too, but like the Germs, they would cross the line from art to life.

That's really what excited me, a mess of a punk band with only synths; nothing like that had ever existed, I don't think. The Screamers were of another order of control and theatrics. I had an opportunity to play with some really great bands around that time; Geza X, 45 Grave, Crimony, DC3. Eventually I focused in on my own band, Twisted Roots.

It appears your evolution as a career musician and producer started to take place with Nina Hagen with the joining of her European tour. At what point did you decide to make the dive into producing and recording music?

From about 1978 on there was always a part of me trying to get my hands on four tracks or studio time. I was always recording. There was a great period from 93-01 when I had 8 track recorders at my house the whole time and just went on a rampage of recording and writing. To this day, when I get stuck, I think: "What would I have done in the garage?" But it's really all thanks to Geza X that I finally got my hands on protools around 1997 or 8. It joined the piano as my favorite instrument.

From your time spent as a producer at Seattle Park Studios with Geza X, what were some of your more memorable experiences and experiments going from the late 90s into the 2000s?

Oh, it was such a beautiful place. I really didn't know what I was doing; there was a lot of on the job training. It was really thrilling to get some of my first producing jobs, Josie Cotton, Mystery Hangup, Terezodu. It really took some time to transition from primitive home recording to having so many options. I made some breakthroughs. That's always what I get excited about, figuring out the secrets and tools to make better music.

Worked with poor Eliott Smith; he was a lovable mess. Truly my fondest memories of that place though, was moving up there, newly in love. Isolated. Looking out over the ocean from a thousand feet up.

You have a published book of poetry, do you consider yourself a writer as well, and what has been published for our reading consumption?

No, just that one book of poetry. I was in Mississippi in 2005 working on Katrina which is a weird story in and of itself, but I had no instruments and the poem came out. It's one poem, 24 parts I think. I read it recently. I like it a lot. It's about being on drugs and trying to raise a family and have a marriage. But a lot of it was trying to put the reader in my mind as I wrote and recorded songs. Demystifying the creative process, or maybe just allowing a non-musician in on the mystery of the creative process.

In 2011, you opened your new studio, Kitten Robot Studios in the Silver Lake area. What kind of wild happenings have taken place there?

Haha, wild happenings. Man, I'm so boring. I just record all fucking day every day, it's ridiculous. If it's not clients it's my projects. I'm actually hitting a wall of insanity and intend to go on a vacation. Like a weekend or something. I'm proud of work ethic, I think it's cool.

In the present, what projects are you working on?

Elephant. Savannah Pope and Space Cream. Harry Cloud. Cherish Alexander. Recently did Bellylove and the Bloody Mess Rocknroll circus. Hyena Motorcade. A Kira Roessler album. Awkward. Igaf Sequoia. The Moon Bandits. Cops. Cottontail. Jack Grisham and the Manic Low. The Deadbeats. Fancy Space People,The Knitts.

Wckr Spgt. More I can't think of. I recorded a really beautiful song last week called "What Is." It is on sound cloud.

What is your proudest moment to date with your illustrious and very daring musical career?

That's a difficult and lovely question. There have been some amazing moments onstage, particularly with Nina Hagen, the Screamers, Mike Watt and Mark Curry...so many others. I have been involved with so many really

great albums. But the greatest moments for me have definitely been by myself recording when all the pieces came together and I felt I had made something that seemed far far beyond my own capabilities. That's a magical feeling. To go: "Where did that come from?"

Any last words or comments for our readers before we finish up?

Well, I'm so thrilled with what you said about the Arc, which came out yesterday. But as it happens I am releasing another album next week called 6/12, because that's the month and the year it was recorded. After the grueling detail of the Arc I decided to write and record an album in a month. I was sort of in the midst of a nervous breakdown and I thought:"How many opportunities do you get to record an album in the midst of a nervous breakdown?" So it's a really interesting contrast.

Also, later this year, Kira, Glenn Brown and I will be beginning the release of all things SAUPG. SAUPG is a 40 year recording collective that began with comp cassettes in the late '70s. Over the last five years we recorded a bunch of new stuff that I am mixing now. That will be the first release. Then we will begin putting out the thirteen cassettes that document, in a pretty much hilarious way, our musical journeys through the LA punk scene up to about 1980.

I'm going to re-release "BurntChurchTheOpera" a 45 minute song cycle I did with Jeff Parker for it's tenth anniversary.

There is one other major project to look out for. I mentioned before that from 93-01 I recorded nonstop in my garage. I compile that work under the banner "The Drug Years" and it's a four CD set. Some of it I have been rerecording, as it was also created under great duress and insanity. There are samples from it up on Youtube and Soundcloud.

I have been obsessively recording for a while and I'm going to release it all. It's pretty exciting. This is a new thing for me; I pretty much stopped releasing things after 1987 because I decided that the actual creative process was what was important to me, and I just didn't have the time and resources to release things. That may sound weird, but you wind up spending much more time selling what you make than actually making it, and it didn't make me happy. Now I seem to be able to do both.

You are currently an increasingly popular model and singer in Los Angeles. You were the Japanese pageant queen of Southern California.

What brought you to Long Beach, California?

I actually attended the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music ( BCCM) at CSULB, and graduated cum laude, receiving a B. M. in Music Performance. I also enj oy the LB atmosphere, so I still try to come down whenever I can.

Where has your career as a pageant queen, model, and singer taken you?

I have had the opportunity to represent Southern California’s Japanese community throughout Northern California, Hawai’i, Washington, and Japan. I have appeared in various newspapers, parades, TV news programs,

festivals, and conventions. I have also had the opportunity to sing at Dodger Stadium, Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, as well as in Japan, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

Could you tell us about your classical training in singing and the types of music or musicians that inspire you?

I grew up with a natural inclination to sing, so my parents signed me up for music lessons around sixth grade.

I played piano, clarinet, and sang in choir. At BCCM, I studied privately under Elisabeth Pehlivanian and Tim MacDougall. Despite all of my classical training, I find myself being most inspired by j azz musicians such as Jimmy Scott and Ella Fitzgerald.

With a rock n roll magazine such as Fear & Loathing LB, are you introducing yourself to a new audience of people who really enj oy edgy underground art or have you done work in similar genres?

I enj oy all genres of art and expression. One summer I even sang as a guest vocalist for an Irish rock band. It’s important not to limit yourself to one scene and to expand your horizons. I enj oy everything from attending operas to j umping in the mosh pit.

In the world of your multi- talents, how do fashion, music, and politics blend together in your passions?

When you are recognized to any degree, everything that you do and say, even what you wear, becomes an influence.

Fashion and music are absolutely political; children are heavily influenced by the art and entertainment world, and base their actions on the people they see and

look up to. I have actually been working with kids for about 8 years now, and it is my goal to always be a positive influence. You can be edgy, yet serve your community!

What proj ects are coming up for you in the fall of 2013?

As a freelancer, it’s always a surprise! But watch out for me at anime conventions and Japanese festivals! I also work from time to time in video game localization. I enj oy collaborating with other artists in my down time. Find me at facebook. com/ErikaMarikoOlsen.

Where do you like to hang out in Long Beach, any spots to recommend?

Fingerprints, Portfolio, Makai Coffee, Congregation Ale House, and the many local art shows and festivals throughout the year!

You promote an event called Tokyo Status in LB. Could you tell us about the performance space and the events that take place?

Currently, Tokyo Status has been held on the 3rd Saturday of each month at the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach.

It is a music and fashion showcase with the theme of a Japanese airship.

Our virtual flight includes costumed staff, vendors, drinks, snacks, karaoke, and in- flight entertainment.

We draw in a crowd who is interested in J- rock, J- pop, K- pop, anime, steampunk, lolita, and any other eclectic genre. We are anti- Pay- toPlay and try to help talented bands expand their audience. “Like” us on Facebook to stay updated at www. facebook. com/TokyoStatus.

Do you have any advice for those who want to pursue a career in modeling and singing?

1) Do not have a diva attitude! You want be pleasant to work with and come highly recommended. 2) Know what you want! Don’t let anyone pressure you into doing something you’re uncomfortable with, especially if you know that’s not part of the path you want to pursue. For example, I am not particularly interested in working with glamour photographers because they often push for sexy and provocative. I prefer beauty or edgy, so I lean more towards editorial style shoots. 3) Practice your craft.

Everything is muscle memory. 4) Expect to work for free if you are j ust starting. You need to build a portfolio before someone will hire you.

What has been the best experience in your life so far and where do you see yourself in the future?

So far, my best experience has been going to Nagoya, Japan and being featured in their Sister City Festival parade. My most fulfilling experience, however, is going to the Keiro retirement homes to sing nostalgic songs for the Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in American prison camps during WW2. In the future, I will keep expressing myself though singing, whether it be belting on Broadway, crooning at a j azz club, or as simple as teaching a child how to sing Do- Re- Mi. In the end, I hope I’ve made a positive difference.

- -K Kevin McGovern

Photography by:

Shana Skelton

-

AyameFoto

Mike Spent: We both are part of the truth movement or the liberty movement My question is when did you" wake up" to reality?

Jack Blood: We both are part of the truth movement or the liberty movement My question is when did you" wake up" To reality?

A #1 - I do not join, or belong to movements. Maybe it's a Seattle thing. I have promoted the some of the ideas in these "movements" because as I always say, "Freedom is the Answer! What's the question?" I line up as an activist with the things which best represent my definition of Freedom (Life, Liberty, and Property).

Truth, while sometimes being a matter of one's personal perspective; is generally a universal thing.

What's up with these people that vilify "911 Truthers"?

Have they been so overly conditioned that they believe what their Governments, or media sell them? We want the truth about 911. So I have debunked the lies of the PTB (Powers that be), because the solutions that go with these "problems" destroy our freedoms, steal our capital, and enslave our children. What’s the opposite of a 911 truther? A 911 liar. Just after Sept 11th 2001, I spoke at a few "punk rock" shows. The Neo punx wanted to fight me, ha ha. "USA,USA,USA.... Love it or leave it". Well I love it, so I choose to stand my ground and fight for it. That to me IS Punk Rock!

I would like to say I have ALWAYS been aware. Big difference between aware, and "awake”. I have always questioned authority. I have always sought to take a chunk out of the man's hide. I have always rebelled, and fought back. (many times realizing that I was

tricked into just fighting myself. I call this "Losing Control". It’s a process)) I watched my family go to Vietnam, and die; or come back junkies. I lived through Nixon as a boy, and watched the world go to shit under Reagan / Bush. Its creepy that people revere, and mimic them now. (Hello Cousin Obama!) It's Revisionist history. I became AWAKE not long after 911.

Therefore, you can say that 911 backfired as far as people like myself are concerned. Awake is deep. It means that you have ID'd the matrix. You know the gig with secret societies (as JFK warned about). You understand where the REAL power comes from, and you deal with life on that level. It means that you know the new boss is the same as the old boss, and you won't get fooled again!

Your radio show when did it start where might our readers find it who of note have you spoken too BTW I loved the pal last interview, Pallast Saturday!

My first radio show was working with KCMU in Seattle in 1984. (The station that first played "grunge rock"). I would interview touring bands like X, Nina Hagan, DOA... After years of trying to make it as an artist and musician in LA and Seattle (coming very close) I found myself as a producer at WALE 990 50K watts in Providence, RI in 1995. I started my first DJ show "Fuzzbox" under the name "Spider E. Veins" in 1996. (interviewed everyone from Greg Ginn, Jack Grisham, Dave Vanian - Excene, Varukers, Jayne County, Richie Stotts from the Plasmatics Etc....) I also did a stint as "Harry Gothic Jr." for my KFNX 1100 - PHX AZ, SW and beyond show "Deadair" (More artist interviews, and stream of consciousness rants). ---- In May of 2001 I started my first news / politics show "Deadline Live".

My motivation then was the stolen "selection" of 2000, and my pure disgust with the Bush Crime Family. Of course, 911 was just around the corner, and that kept me going for the next 10 years!

Some of the people we interviewed are: The short list includes: Four Star General Tony McPeak (Joint Chiefs USAF – Gulf War 1), General Janis Karpinski (Abu Graib) Former Governors Jerry Brown and Grey Davis, Col.s Oliver North, Col. Doug Rokke (DU), NBC’s – Meet the Press Host: (the late) Tim Russert, Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Tom Tancredo, Congresswoman Jan

regional Politicians, NWO official spokespersons, Thought Criminals, and Enemies of the State.

Ok now on to your band please share your own band affiliation and the infamous Stomach Pump what motivates you musically?

Schakowsky… Former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury: Paul Craig Roberts, Former CIA Analyst: Ray McGovern, Larry Johnson (CIA), MI5 Whistle Blowers: David Shayler and Annie Machon, Former Deputy Secretary of Education: Charlotte Iserbyt, Former UN Weapons Inspector: Scott Ritter, – Celebrities: Michael Moriarty (Law and Order…) Chuck Barris (The Gong Show), Tom Coughlin (Billy Jack) – MUSICIANS / ARTISTS: Frank Marino (Mahogany Rush), Warren Cuccurullo (Missing Persons / Duran Duran / Mother’s of Invention), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), John Joseph (The Cro-Mags), Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth / Sons of Liberty) – Athletes: Future NFL Hall of Famer and Dallas Cowboy Lineman Mark Stepnoski, MLB Pitcher John Rocker, – Comedians Doug Stanhope, Mancow, and Jeanne Garafolo… Authors: David Ray Griffin, G Edward Griffin, Mark Crispin Miller, Ray Comfort, Howard Zinn, David Icke, Jim Marrs, David Brock, Ann Rule, Dave McGowen, Will Thomas, Webster Tarply, Stephan Kinzer, Greg Palast, Nafeez Ahmed, Jerome Corsi, Anthony Hilder, Former Presidential Speech Writer (“Axis of Evil” Speech) David Frum, Col. “Buzz” Patterson (Carried the nuclear “Football” for Bill Clinton), Pentagon Whistle Blower Daniel Ellsburg (“The Pentagon Papers”), Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dr. Dore Gold, Former Gitmo Chaplin James Yee, Un-embedded Iraq reporter: Dahr Jamail, Ruby Ridge Survivor Randy Weaver, Anti War Mom / Icon Cindy Sheehan, DEA Whistle Blower: Cele Castillo, 911 hero and Whistle Blower: William Rodriguez… and a load of Neo Con, CFR, Bilderberg, Think-Tank types, Local and

Growing up in the city that birthed Jimi Hendrix, means that music is in the "Blood". Seattle WAS a small incestuous scene back in the day and there is just a degree of separation between most of us. I was in a 15yr old Chris Cornell's (Soundgarden) garage band as the singer. (He only liked playing Rush covers, but he could duplicate Neal Peart flawlessly even then. I was no Geddy Lee!) Later one of my best friends and recording pals was Gordon Rafael, who went on to Produce the first "Strokes" record etc... ------ "Stomach Pump" was founded in 1986 by myself, "Thrown Ups" founder, inventor of "Barf Rock", and music historian John Leighton Beezer (Seighton - See him in films like "Hype"). Also in SP: "My Eye" rhythm section Max Godsil (bass) and Duff Drew (Drums). Both of those bands can be heard on the infamous early Sub Pop compilation, "Sub Pop 200". The Thrown Ups are most known for having Mark Arm, and Steve Turner of "Mudhoney" in the band. ----- Stomach Pump has over 500 songs and many of them recorded by a who's who of Grunge producers, Jack Endino the first; and since we just finished recording with him again... maybe the last.

Our goal was to scare people admittedly, and see what we could get away with. We have been called the "Punk Rock Spinal Tap" because of our ability to lose drummers, and use satire to make a point. Most people were not in on the joke (or were the Butt of it), which lead to some pretty intense situations! After 27 yrs I am extremely proud of this project, and love the guys in it like brothers. Our new CD will be coming out before the end of 2013, and yeah we are on FBIbook (face book).

What is inspires me about music (to this day) is the ability to express myself in cross over mediums, and to communicate straight to the listener's subconscious. I never did music for money or fame, I did it for the process of creation, and for the rush, the challenge of the live show. As with my radio show, I never sold out....

Though I have had those "opportunities". The problem I

have with music today is that is so literal. With video and stage effects the listener / viewer hardly has to think for themselves or paint their own visuals and meanings. This is why everyone wants to find the next Justin Bieber. (Pukes) It is destroying our culture in many ways! That said, the ability to get music to the masses via the web is a great tool for people like us.

Same for the ability to skip the big recording studio to create music / art. I can visualize a day when there is no need for exploitative record companies, and corporate radio. Music by the Peeps, and for the peeps! Viva We tha Peeps!

Yes jack I'm in total harmony with your musical statements I hear ya bro "me too" So tell us about Stomach Pump when can we see you where etc tell us all about the band.

You never know where (or if) we will turn up in your town! Last gigs were 11.11.11 in New Orleans, and 7.2.13 in Seattle. We all have lives so getting it together is tricky. I can tell you that we have planned LA, NY, ATL, for 2014.... Stay Tuned! (and BOLD) Right now we are working on some live show videos. Since we predate the web and you tube (Seighton hadn't invented them yet) we are working to add our immortal presence there. Our latest CD "Seek and Repair" (1/2 LIVE 1/2 recorded) dropping soon. Announcements on our FB here: www.facebook.com/stomach.pump.1 ---- Our classic hits are on Murdock Space: myspace.com/theestomachpump Stomach Pump Fluffer at No one owns us Inc.

Right on Jack! Love the cd concept half live half studio! Who is in Stomach Pump and how do you rehearse etc… can you expose the other members?

If I told you I would have to Kill ya! The formula for Stomach Pump is more of a secret than KFC batter. (the peeps in the know are always shocked at the answer, that I can say!) Its largely based on synergy though. The other guys in the band are very successful in the "straight WORLD".Seighton is a software revolutionary (who BTW was way ahead of me in decoding the NWO!) Max is an Ad man in the creative end, and has had his commercials on the Superbowl.

Jack lets go back to your passion, the truth, the exposing of the elite, the actual world we live in, not the media world mythos of privacy. Can you comment on our privacy in this digital world please Hope that question makes sense.

Zbigniew Brzezinski - Co-founder of the Trilateral Commission, King maker, and adviser to 6 US Presidents (including "Cousin" Barry Obama); wrote in his book "Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era" (published in 1970) - “The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. ” So, how is that going? ZBig (as his cohorts call him) not only knew exactly where we were heading 43 years ago, BUT helped us to get here ----- (means new paragraph) With the new revelations by NSA whistle blowers: Snowden, and more so Tice, and Binney we see that the truth is "out there".

Most of it anyway. What scares me (if anything) is that a huge majority of American's and citizens the world over don’t care about this. In fact, they embrace it, and even aid personal surveillance by carrying sophisticated monitoring devices like cell phones. They report on themselves and others by posting their "crimes" on Facebook (which has busted many a "law abiding user" and a few dumb ass crooks) - So William S. Burroughs

was WAY ahead of this game when he said in the 1950's "A functioning police state needs no police." ----Neighbor snitching on neighbor, parents ratting out their kids (and vice versa) etc.... DHS has a slogan "If you see something say something" and when I see false flag terrorism, or whistle blowers come forward ala Sibel Edmonds et al.... and say something, they either don't wanna hear it, or gag and arrest those people. In the recent case of Investigative reporter Michael Hastings... they just kill you. That is not only massive hypocrisy (par for the course) but exposes the "security (control) industrial complex" as a scam! ----- We have a universal right to live our lives in the way we see fit as long as it doesn't hurt others imFo.... (in my Fucking opinion) and we have a legal right as per the US Constitution to that Liberty as well. I do not believe that these rights can be unilaterally turned into privileges by anybody, corporate, governmental, or even by osmosis! ---- We can stop this anytime we want! and that is what I talk about on my show, site, speeches etc... ----- AND for those out there who think that they are not breaking laws, or have nothing to hide... I have news for ya! We are ALL criminals in the eyes of the controllers! But even if you are as pure as the driven snow (cough) keep in mind that circumstantial evidence has wrongly committed many an innocent man. If a jury see's that you like punk rock art (skulls etc) it could be enough to convict you of murder, which is exactly what happened to the kids now known as the Memphis 3. Believe it or not... This is the short answer In this fascist world of spies, everywhere, how do you maintain your sense of freedom? Is it through your music or your radio show or both? Please explain the balance of sanity and expression you exude in this insane world The balance for me IS my art! (and yours) It is both escape and rejuvenation! Besides music, I paint, sculpt, write, etc.... I am not naive enough to believe that I am truly free. I play with illusions but I try not to buy into them. "Free your mind, and the body will follow" they say... and for me that means art and meditation. So while I do a lot of heavy researching, and reading of documents etc... I also am a voracious consumer of classic, and new fiction! My favorite new writer at this

time is an old friend actually, Tom Hansen. (you should interview him!!!) He wrote a fantastic auto biography about his part in the music and drug scene in Seattle circa 1970's - 90's. it is titled 'American Junkie' which gets uncomfortably close to a few rock stars deep behind the scenes, and is a serious cautionary tale on his own behalf. (He was once known as "Tommy Fartz" guitarist for one of the first punk bands in Seattle (Duff McKagan was the drummer) - his newest book, "This Is What We Do" is a fictional account of a leaderless global revolution in modern times. It is riveting! A whole new style of writing! (thanks for letting me plug a fellow starving artist!) ----- SO, it is really important to find outlets that are not news, and politics, conspiracies etc... Sometimes they do merge, and I guess it all comes back to square one. --- Of course having a 10 year old boy also keeps me grounded, while giving me a reason to give a shit about both the beauty and the ugliness in our world.

Well at least you are not a forgotten hero like me. This bubble of consumerism and flash envy totally bores me ,I managed to not sell out and keep it real but the limelight has faded on me. I applaud your voracity and sense of truth I stand alongside you, arm in arm marching into the future. To me you are a torchlight. I admire your drive Jack any last words or advice for our readers?

Thanks Mike! You are not faded in my mind! I applaud this venture! Yes. Do not let Fear control you! Love is the only infinite truth! (Start by loving yourselves)....

Decentralize and Repeal! (All laws and regulations are selectively enforced depending on who ya know, and who ya blow. Laws are for old ladies crossing the street (Bukowski) so help old ladies cross the street) Vote with your life force (your money) and above all else.... BE BOLD AND MIGHTY FORCES WILL COME TO YOUR AID! Check out my website at www.DeadlineLive.info Muchas gracias for the ride mi amigo!

Thanks Jack yes I refuse to live in fear absolutely! As you know I bailed the USA thanks for the insight into your world and for enlightening us on liberty and your rock and roll!- Mike

I’ll start by saying that the production of this movie managed to avoid typical corporate routes in its release, allowing for a lower budget and unrestricted creative chaos. Those who knock this movie down as less than modern cinematic art, really have no idea what they are talking about, especially from the bad reviews I’ve read, conspicuously coming from misogynistic and sexually depraved or deprived reviewers. So that being said, this is an erotic journey into the darker side of film-making/success or as I prefer, a realistic portrayal of everyday occurrences in this area of the world, Southern California.

Lindsay Lohan (in new bombshell form), keeps the flow moving at a feverish pace with a delicate balance of seductive apathy, provocative demeanor, and understated cynicism allowing for the character of Tara to be portrayed with incredible accuracy. Tara is Christian’s girlfriend, who is enjoying the spoils of a life provided by a trust funder with access to all things, which are inevitably the privileges that are used to control her.

Control is a recurring theme. What does it actually mean, and who is at the helm? Is the illusion of letting another control you, control in itself? The portrayal of Christian, the surreal narcissist, is an eerie conjuring of an all too familiar personality we have all encountered. James Deen easily overshadows Christian Bale’s “Patrick Bateman”(from “American Psycho” another film adaptation of an Easton Ellis work) with his use of aloofness and staggered ominous gesturing that crawls under your skin.

Gina is Christian’s assistant and manages to land her struggling boyfriend, willing to do anything it takes, a part in a low budget film Christian is producing because he’s bored and his father wants him to have a “real job”, whatever that means in 2013. It turns out the boyfriend had a “thing” with Tara in the past that neither current partner knows about. Needless to say, this sets the groundwork for an otherworldly journey into modern voyeurism and lack of personal privacy that we so willingly give up to secure some type of acknowledgment or escape from past decisions that led into a mundane life of desperate, painful predictability. “I want someone to take care of me”, “We can have a house and live happily ever after”, yeah that’s nice but I have yet to see anything in the “real” world evolve into such a simple solution to the tragedy of life.

The Big Break, is it a low brow commercial for some household product? An internship for a studio or recording company that ultimately turns into running a concession stand for events. Not to mention, without a reciprocal payment for ability or creative services, what comes next? This is where the delusion and fairytale end and we are left with a pipe dream, not an attainable goal, but a vast emptiness that is filled with obsessive behavior and an unforgiving self-destructive existence. With this in mind, the nightmarish twists of events come to a very reasonable and gruesome ending.

Paul Schrader, of legendary directorial fame (“Hardcore” is a personal favorite of this reviewer), commands the lens using an open ended focus that envelops the suspect behavior with retro 1980s finesse, a deliberate superficiality. Those who have access and money in the world of Los Angeles either hustle for it, fuck for it, or they're born with it.

Plain, simple, and very transparent under the flickering signs of promised fame. If you'd like to visit, this is the warning. An exceptional film that occupies its own territory.

Indulge your dark fantasies and check this one out.

Kevin McGovern-Fear & Loathing in Long Beach

What was your very first band and who were its members?

A bunch of surfers lived near my grandparents. they had a band called the eddys. they were all hippies who surfed and played Yes and Pink Flyod covers. i took them to a black flag gig, and they were into it. I j oined their band in 1979 and played some gigs and parties until late 81 when i j oined dr. know.

So Brandon you guys were called the Eddies?

As in Eddies father TV sitcom?

No, they were older surfer dudes who named the band before i j oined. It’s spelled the Eddy's, as in a weather pattern that sits off the coast of southern California sometimes, it's called a coastal eddy.

What drew you towards punk rock? And what was the first punk band or gig you saw/went to?

I first heard Capt. Beefheart and Frank Zappa while staying across the street from franks house one summer. that got me into trippy music. my mom knew them all. she was good friends with j immy carl black, the drummer. i was raised on Steppenwolf, led zeppelin, cream, Hendrix, blue cheer, and early black sabbath. anyways, capt beefheart handed me a cassette in 1973 of a band, and he said, " if you like our stuff, you'll love these guys. " it was the first Devo

demo. they had opened for them in Akron, Ohio. As for my first gig, it was unintentional, but i was in London when i was 14 for the premier over there of bad news bears. my grandma went with me. we stayed at the same hotel as the Ramones. I was recognized by Johnny, and he invited us to see them play. it was a daytime gig, on j uly the 4th, 1976. later that night, the sex pistols, and the clash played a gig, too. That was how i first got introduced to punk rock, in the flesh.

Very cool so after the Eddy’s band what was the next band etc. Insane story how fortunate you were to see the UK beginning of punk!

I was asked to try out for dr. know. The Eddy’s were breaking up, and i was hearing about aggression from the guys at the skate park in Oxnard. We all lived on the beach and dr. know practiced down the street. they had tried three other guys. Joey, Pena, an old friend of Kyle and Ismael’s from before when no one had a band yet, Ron Baird, who ended up in Stalag 13, and Rik Heller, who had to quit because yelling gave him headaches. i brought a few eddy's songs i had written, we played for a while, i learned their stuff, and we went for it.

You have had a interesting life you started out as a child actor j oined created a punk band and also was a pro skater do I have the order correct? Can you tell us a bit about your mentor Bill Bixby? I know he deeply influenced your life.

I was a child actor from age 6 to 13, 7 years. I have been into punk for 37 years.

I have surfed and skated since i was able to walk, so almost 50 years. I’ve also been sober for 17 years. I did a lot more than act as a kid, but that's all most people remember, or want to talk about. yeah it was fun at times, and bill was a great role model, but there was a down side to it, too. there still is to this day. I’m not Eddie, and that confuses some people. i wasn't much of a pro skater, more like the pro's put me on their team and gave me stuff. i competed a little, and i wasn't bad, but i sure wasn't one of the greats. Those are my friends: Jay, Alva, Duane, Olsen, the guys i grew up with skating and surfing, still my good friends to this day.

is your next gig? Are you recording or touring, what's currently going on bro?

I surf as much as possible. I had knee surgery in April, so i haven't skated yet, but I’m looking forward to it. The beach is where i find the most peace and enj oyment these days. Surfing isn't a group hug, and i like it that way. Just me and the waves.

I’ll travel all over to find empty waves. skating, a few people are fun to ride with, but j ust a few. i don't have a band right now. i was going to try and put one together, but the people i wanted were really busy with other proj ects. It’s cool, though. I am semi- retired, i guess.

Sounds familiar, I can relate, getting olds a bitch. At least for me it is. Sober 17 years? Congrats on that!

If the right music again.

I’m over it. people. I’ll

people come along, I’ll play it's not my age, but the scene.

I like touring, playing to new always love going on the road.

Me too. Brandon anything else you'd like to cover here anything you wished you'd get asked?

Yeah, someone ask me if i want a free trip to Bali! ! !

Too funny, ok let’s go!

Yes, I bet you did but you know American pop culture and like it or not you are a Big part of it.

Elvis is big. I’m not So Brandon looks like you are an avid surfer. Do you still skate as well and when

I may be heading there soon, actually. I have friends there, and i know a guy moving there who wants to start a sober retreat for people in recovery. Staying sober has to be the #1 thing in my life, or I’m fucked.

Right on, I'm glad you mentioned that lots of us have suffered that fate more have died we both know a few.

I have buried way too many friends. it's like more than one a month since i got sober. I keep track. 183 people i knew have

died from drugs and or alcohol in the past 17 years.

That's a lot of people.

mind. Flag is full of friends of mine who absolutely go out there and kill it. That’s all i have to say about that. I have nothing but respect for Ron Reyes, he was the guy i saw at the filming of the decline, and a few other gigs. Keith was always the best, to me, personally. I know too many bands and people that SST didn't treat well, according to them. Same thing happened to all of the Mystic bands, but on a much smaller scale.

Did you see the Brandon Cruz band vid with me skanking to the songs and my side kick Darren FF on stage with you from the natural fudge show we did?

Too many. If i can help one, I’ve done well. In addition, I have helped literally thousands of people since i started working in treatment treatment Are you a licensed counselor or lay person?

I have 27 years’ worth of experience getting drunk and high. i have 17 years sober. I don't need letters after my name to be qualified. I know this shit. It kills, I can help people stop dying.

I totally get that…Current bands you follow or recommend?

There are quite a few sober punks out there these days. We all seem to have realized that dying isn't the way to go out. Darby od'd, and that wasn't cool.

I was definitely a nihilist, but I survive despite myself.

I like pig destroyer, high on fire, die antwoord, retox, OFF! , declining youth, FLAG, flipper, nofx, the stains, fang, the gears old bands still kicking ass !

Any words on FLAG vs. BLAG FLAG? Flag vs. Black Flag is ridiculous. Ginn and Ron are pissed off at me, because i spoke my

I don't know that i have ever seen that.

Where is the link? http: //vimeo. com/70362540 natural fudge not dragonfly its dated might be a good visual took a while but check it out ha ha, I remember that. We got filmed for some TV show that night. i was pretty wasted. Gotta run bro!

It’s about time! An all-female thrash/hardcore/ punk band from Italy! How did the band begin and why did you start a thrash/hardcore project?

Slutmachine came alive with the drum player’s (Xina) original idea to form a girls-only band, with musicians like herself, ready to kick everybody’s ass, enjoy the shit out of rock & roll and prove that hard music is not only for hairy men! We began the project in the summer of 2011 when I (drum player) met the guitarist J and decided to get together to play the best cover songs by Ramones, Misfits, G.B.H Metallica in my garage, (where we still practice!). However, playing cover songs was definitely not enough for us: we needed to find a way to express ourselves through our very own songs. So, after a couple of days we asked Spring to join us with her bass, as well as a singer, which was soon replaced with Camishka (singer in the demo Hang On). The choice of the genre simply came from a mix of our musical tastes.

Punk/hardcore/thrash is the ideal genre to express the messages we intend to convey through our lyrics. The new singer Whitey replaced Camishka in May, after her decision to leave the band for personal matters.

What CDs or records can our hyper-active viewers check out to hear the aggressive sounds of Slutmachine! I love it!

Last Summer Slutmachine recorded a demo called Hang On (in a very underground way), which contains only 5 of our songs, including Blackout (the most appreciated out of them)!

Listeners can find this demo on the Web, on Facebook, YouTube, Reverb nation, where they can also watch some videos of our live performances, even though the quality isn’t too good! We have many wild projects for the future: we are writing songs for our next album and we plan on uploading some new recordings with our new singer. A music video should also come out in August!

The music is angry and so are the vocals, what pisses you off in daily life?

Yeah, the music is pissed off and so are we! Most of our songs talk about social issues: especially our more recent lyrics express our disgust towards certain situations in our society, hypocrisy, insanity, violence, insincerity and falsity.

We prefer not to directly talk about Italian politics, but we try to do so in a more subtle way. We also really like explaining our opinions and feelings through the use of metaphors: most of our titles are metaphors. In the first demo Hang On, the thread that ties all the songs together is the will to get up and fight, to hang on and keep on going.

Who are your favorite artists in 2013?

Our favorite artists in 2013?? Oh, we looove Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. Hahaha, just kidding! It’s hard to find such modern references, but we do enjoy Hatebreed and Municipal Waste. Our musical roots lie in the ‘80’s punk/hardcore, like

Discharge, G.B.H or rock and roll bands such as Motorhead, Girlschool, L7. We are still searching for our sound, but it is definitely metal since both the guitar player and I, which compose the songs, started by listening to groups such as Anthrax, Slayer, Exodus, Pantera, which definitely had a great influence. However, our new singer is bringing more melody to our music!

Any dating advice for guys and girls in the audience that would want to hang out with Slut Machine?

If they wanna date us, they have to be interested in our genre and acknowledge the importance of music. Not just cos we’re hot!

Is Italian music better than American? It seems like all of the best hardcore/punk bands are coming from Italy!

We have some great minds over here, in Italy, and a lot of kids with a great desire to play which, however, don’t find fertile land for this genre and, most of the time, aren’t able to follow their dream to play hardcore music. So I believe that Italians really enjoy hardcore but have barely any opportunity to listen to it or express themselves through this kind of music, whereas in the US, there is a lot more freedom of expression and a different cultural background.

What types of movies do you like?

I personally love action films, like ''The Expendables'', ''Rambo'', ''Death Race'', but my favorite film ever is ''Machete''! The bass player loves splatter and horror films, such as ''Braindead'', ''Blackship'', the other two girls probably have more normal tastes!

What do you do when you are not playing in the band? Do you have hobbies that might surprise our readers?

We are four very busy girls, Spring works like a slave all day, J, Whitey and I study. I also play basketball in a team and I love painting.. I’m not sure whether it’s fortunate or not, we’re all pretty good daughters, helping around the house all the time!

Where do you want the band to be a year from now?

Within the next year or so, we would like to record our new album, and get the world to know us, perhaps through a tour, hoping to survive by living off music. We hope to come all the way to America soon, to release a live interview to you!

The readers can listen to our songs and check out our pictures and videos on Facebook, by looking up our public page Slut Machine or by friending Primavera Rossi. You could also come and hear us play in Italy, and take advantage of your trip to visit our beautiful country!

LB’s #1 Lowbrow artist

Danny Von Horror https://facebook.com/HandsomePantherDesigns

AS an awesome and creative new talent in the Long beach scene, how did handsome panther designs come to be?

Well HPD was established March F1rst, 2013. It actually began as a fluke. I’ve been passionate about art since I could remember. I just recently found some old pieces from 1996, so I've always loved art.

When I was young that's what would be my only outlet, so I knew in my heart, I wanted to be an Artist, but then in 2001 I was severely injured at work. I was an installer for a high-end appliance company.

We were installing a massive Sub Zero stainless fridge into a Mansion

in Seal Beach. The guy I was working with was careless for whatever reason and pushed the fridge on me down a flight of stairs. I injured my back my groins my hip and my knee. It took several years of waiting as the company I worked for filed bankruptcy so the state took my claim and denied any medical attention. So now I walk with a cane, walking like an old man! Lol This put a damper on any plans of art, for years it was about survival, I always had to work twice as hard because of my physical short comings and I did fine til I was laid off in 2012 from a corporate job that I hated. I'm not one to be trapped in a box you know?

So after that I couldn't really find employment and though its not really said, it's that much harder when you have to use a wooden third leg for assistance! Lol I ended up becoming a stay at home Dad for my step daughter and son when hes with me. Shes with me full time and she's a handful like most six year olds, but still I never felt complete. One day I had to drive my stepdaughter to Las Vegas to visit her biological father and I had several hours to kill. I drove by an art store, picked up a pad and pencil and began practicing, it felt amazing to put my soul on paper again. After several fails, I finally painted my first piece in several years. It was "The Gambler" I think I did this is 3 hours straight. I was pleased after that; I posted it on facebook and Instagram. It got so many responses that I went to #2, then 3 until pretty soon I had a portfolio again. The name came from my ole lady. When she introduced me to her friend as her boyfriend, she said I looked like a Handsome Panther and it stuck.

I Started HPD on March with a the simple notion of sharing my soul with the world, it's completely influence by every entity that makes me who I am. From my strong family values, to the Eclectic music I listen too, and from the sub culture, kustome kulture scene.

-Kevin McGovern

Conley Lowrance began writing poetry after an aborted career in punk rock. His endeavors in writing led him to the University of Virginia, where he received his BA in poetry writing. His poems have appeared in publications put out by Tupelo Press, Gadfly, Counterexample Poetics, Word Riot, The Virginia Literary Review, and A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, among others. Currently, he is writing a detective novel while living and working in Manhattan with his wife and four cats.

HYMN FOR THE DROWNED ONE You lie awake with nothing but florescent lights & lust threaded throughout your matted locks of hair.

I strip the telephone wires from your left arm & leave you panting in granular hotel air.

Detached, you float throughout expanses of water, where seaweed wraps itself around your soaking thighs, tearing the stockings that cling like ferns to your skin.

Palms pressed to your waist, you gaze towards a dripping sky, where your lips shimmer in their state of devolution.

DRUNK ON A PATIO to Rimbaud Little chimp, I picture you in a wardroom—filled with kaleidoscopes of pragmatism—where you dwell with unexpected longevity. You move through the hollow confines of my cranium like DNA caught in a gypsyvision dance. Your slang has polished my facets; the charisma of your language has cast a sham over my façade.

Phlebitis swells within me, ready to rupture—with it comes an everlasting influx of mongooses & matter. It allows influenza to haunt me across the wild wrack where I experience no civility from mammals.

But at least, respected by you, strange chimp, I am overcome by my own afflatus— Little chimp, in my eyes it can all be reduced to your musical physique.

THERE’S SOMETHING THAT MAKES BEER COLDER - J.G. REDFERN There’s something that makes beer colder with $27.50 in the bank the house empty and in foreclosure with nothing but a pile of blankets on the floor, and all the utilities at least sixty days overdue.

There’s something that makes beer colder when licenses and insurance policies have long expired and there’s ringing in the ears and off the fingers.

There’s something that makes beer colder eating beans from a can with a fork at eight o’clock on a hot summer night the sun gone already from behind the horizon the last scraps of pink just above the mountain ridge as the cool air begins to meander up the pass coming in from the Pacific.

There’s something that makes beer colder writing on a sinking ship as the bow dips below the surface of the water, cutting into the waves of raging ocean, taking the time to stop as the water rises trying to find one last line.

There’s something that makes beer colder when fire’s running up the hill, charging the house, pausing calmly to light a cigarette and burn scars onto the page.

There’s something that makes beer colder

as love evaporates and walks away carrying cardboard boxes filled with Time smeared with memories, and all the wreckage and sorrow rains down over the moment at hand in heart before the eyes, nihilistic intentions seeping in from a side door as the night rises and chemicals take hold of the body, freeing the soul to meander on its own untethered alone and infinite and free.

There is something that makes beer colder sleeping in a blanket on the floor reading a book beneath soft three-in-the-morning lamplight, as the days, inevitable in their primal Helion glory, fill up their fire with scarring attacks of loneliness stumbling over everything that went before, while the Oneness continues spilling out of flaming essence that Prometheus tore off the side of God’s face to feed the hunger of man.

There’s something that makes beer colder pounding on a feeble card table that wobbles in rhythm as the fingers work the keys and the words running down that one last elusive line.

There’s something that makes beer colder playing upright bass

on the deck of an ocean liner going down, working through a variation one last time, smiling at a passenger and nodding the corner of your head at the lifeboat about to go over the side, all as you refocus and really work the chord changes really work the progression always stretching downward and up and it sounds so good that you can feel the world opening up above you the ocean opening up below you and, as you keep playing, the soul you once thought was yours is laughing with joy out of all the mouths of the cold souls lost and slowly sinking, and you see that none of this was ever really yours.

There’s something that makes beer colder as everything dissolves around the individual mind, but, even so, the perfumes of cognition linger in the air behind the locks of the Muse as she floats down the hallway disappearing into another room.

There’s something that makes beer colder working the keyboard all night, minding the comma, and not misusing any of the other Hephaestean anvil stroke marks, trying to keep moving toward the end of the line beating the life out of rhythm and the time out of rhyme.

There’s something that makes beer colder

writing a new immortal song in the den on the porch in the garage or in the mind, chord progressions and melody, cognition and sin, it all slides together, and art, if ‘tis well minded, will blossom and burgeon and bifurcate all the synapses and ganglia again and for another few hours here at the keyboard on the card table wobbling rhythm ‘neath melody, once again the skies open up and rain comes down singular bits of enlightenment built up around the chorus or perhaps the other way ‘round, and it all comes together— you have a gallery of angels all around you, and no matter what happens with this moment of ad hoc eternity realized and so thoroughly unfolded, you see that you will live forever, knowing that you pleased a darkened sky full of broken and not-so-broken angels, and you no longer have to do anything else, your body now following you around like a lonely dog as you try to pack your bags and journey toward the rotting border of tomorrow.

There is something that makes beer colder creating something out of nothing and hearing the roar of angels’ wings sufficiently agitated and rioting, looting human consciousness just like they always like

to do.

There is something that makes beer colder playing the radio and typing out verse and collecting bottle caps next to an uncapped pen knowing that none of this is even really here.

There is something that makes beer colder when the mist floods in over the wire and the railing and lifeboats filled with women and myrrh and you feel the saltwater all around you as you attend to the rhythm and the melody and the rhyme and the rotting albatross hanging from a chain of knucklebones around your neck.

There is something that makes beer colder feeling raw, bleeding art ooze in from the sides of the night, and a broad, genuine smile takes over the front of your meat puppet skull, and you start to see circling fins.

All that stuff and more but the beer has never been colder than it is here tonight.

It’s colder than all of that, all of you, sitting out there in your recline sipping at your room-temperature beverages of pretense and mediocrity.

If you want life to be cold and refreshing you have to gulp it down and keep on going, paying no heed and tearing muscles trying to stay on key and hit the high notes, and then another verse unfurls out from nowhere.

It’s always been here and always will be, but you’re happy just because you actually saw it and laid it down like a truckload of logs spilling out on an interstate cutting through Heaven ripping haiku scars into the pavement of the lanes with the knives of jagged mind still striving to hold on and understand as the world spins so brutally out of control.

There’s something that makes beer colder and maybe it’s simply the absence of you.

Short Story by Chuck Foster I got her when a couple, friends of mine, split up in a most gruesome manner. Basically, he beat her into a coma and then sat on the floor playing solitaire until the police, having been called by a neighbor who heard the screaming, found him. The violent outburst was ascribed to their massive cocaine intake, and she went to a hospital and he went to jail, where it’s rumored he sits in his cell and plays solitaire.

As a frequent visitor to their house - not for the cocaine use but because they’d entertain me at all hours of the night - I had become acquainted with their kitten, a curious little creature that would climb onto my lap and fall asleep on my thigh whenever I sat in their living room. I volunteered to take on the responsibility, and no one objected, so she came to live with me.

The first night I brought her home, I realized just what an extraordinary beast she was. Her coloring was grey, with a soft white underbelly that spread from her chin to the tip of her tail. Her almond-shaped eyes tilted at an almost 45-degree angle from her nose, and they were always wide open with wonder and of the deepest, blackest hue. Her paws each had five toes, which made the ones in front look like mittens. She seemed comfortable in my garage apartment though, and she immediately took to a window that she would sit by and gaze through all night.

A month went by and she had doubled in size. She also exhibited some peculiar habits, like reaching for doorknobs and wrapping her paws around them as if she were trying to use them, and she seemed particularly interested in my computer, where she would sit and watch me until the sun went down, at which point she would take her place at the window to watch the night sky. There were even a few times that I’d come home to find her sitting in my chair with her paws on the keyboard like she was trying to figure out how to use it. I’d tell her to get down and she would, but with a grudging, “Meow.”

I also noticed that, as she grew, her ears and tail seemed to get smaller while her paws became larger. Her appetite was also insatiable. She’d eat nine cans of premium cat food a day, refusing to eat anything less or even dry food.

If I ever brought her something else, she’d attack my leg and claw me until I ran out the door to buy the proper food. I lost several good pairs of pants that way, forcing me to switch to thick jeans. Also, I knew that trying to discipline her was useless, as it would only make her angrier and more violent.

When I realized that, in addition to the aforementioned peculiarities, her fur was getting thin, I became concerned and wanted to take her to a veterinarian. However, trying to get her into the cat cage proved to be a completely fruitless endeavor that left my arms, chest and face scratched and bloody. After that, I made the mistake of trying to clip her claws, but that

attempt only left me more injured than I had been before. defeat and decided to leave her be.

I finally admitted

One rainy day, I stayed home, spending most of my time at the computer. The cat paced around me nervously, constantly trying to divert my attention. I mostly ignored her and went about my business until the screen went black and I realized the power to the computer had been cut. I looked under the table and saw her, paws wrapped around the power cable, which she had actually pulled from the back of the computer. I yelled, but she only hissed and swiped her claws at me when I tried to grab the power cable from her. Disturbed and annoyed, I left my apartment for a local bar and returned several hours later to find the computer running and the cat staring at the sky through the window.

Another month passed and she was almost hairless and walking on two legs with only hints of what were once ears and a tail. Her whiskers were all but gone and she could grip things in her paws like a human. She finally learned how to use doorknobs, and between ten p.m. and midnight, she would leave the apartment, only to return just before dawn covered in blood. Local reports told of a coyote or bobcat epidemic that preyed on small children and household pets, but I had my suspicions. One thing was certain - I didn’t have to buy her food anymore.

I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t focus, and when my employer finally let me go, I returned home midday to find her at the computer. She was completely hairless now, with skin a sickly grey pallor and, when she stood, her head reached well above my own height, while any semblance of ears or a tail were long gone. Her paws were now hands with long spindly fingers that revealed sharp black claws when she was angry or threatened. From where I stood in the room, I could see that she was running programs and entering equations that were far beyond anything I had ever seen, for the characters weren’t from any earthly numerical set that I recognized.

I must have muttered something, because she jumped in her seat and turned around, her huge black eyes blazing with anger, and she uttered a most horrid, ungodly wail of annoyance, something part cat and part demon, that made my flesh crawl so much that I had to leave and head to the local bar.

Until then, I had never uttered a single word about her to anyone, mostly because I knew no one would believe me. But that night, I made a fatal error that will haunt me forever.

An old friend from the job, Henry, was at the bar hoping to find me. He had been concerned about me since I had been let go and he wondered why I had not returned any of his calls. I made some excuses and changed the subject, but several beers and shots later, the floodgates opened and I told him everything.

As to be expected, he didn’t believe me at first, but the more I insisted, the more his interest piqued, so that he insisted on coming home with me to see this fantastic being that had taken over my life. I protested, but not strongly enough, for I wanted someone else to see her just to prove that I wasn’t completely insane, and finally, we paid the tab and walked the dark, empty streets to my apartment.

We entered my apartment silently and found the cat at my computer, working stealthily, just as I had left her. Henry blurted out, “Holy Christ! That’s no cat!” When she heard him, she turned around, exposed her claws and, before either of us could move, she was on top of him, tearing his body to shreds. I yelled, screamed, pleaded with her to stop, but she only hissed threateningly at

me and continued dismembering the body of my friend, which she then ate while I watched in disgusted horror. When she was finished, she returned to the computer, while I was left to clean up the mess.

I didn’t sleep at all that night. After cleaning up the loose gobs of flesh, organs and bones, I grabbed a hidden bottle of cheap Scotch and sat in my comfortable chair, watching the cat work on her bizarre project. She completely ignored me and I didn’t dare disturb her, for fear of ending up like my poor friend, Henry.

Sometime in the evening, there was a knock on the door. It was the police looking for Henry. He hadn’t returned home and he hadn’t been to work so, since I was the last person seen with him, they wondered if I had any idea where he was. I told them I knew nothing, that Henry had come to visit and left in the wee hours of the morning, but they must have sensed my deceit because they pushed me aside and entered my apartment despite my protestations.

The computer was blank and empty when they got to it and I breathed a sigh of relief, but too soon, as the cat sprang from nowhere and attacked one of the officers, wrapping herself around his head. He went down in a spray of blood and flesh, and before the other officer could draw his gun, she was on him, clawing through his throat, leaving his partner twitching on the ground as she dismembered and consumed the body. When she resumed her attack on the twitching body, I could only watch with horror as I had the night before.

As she finished her feast, I suddenly realized that I, too, was covered in blood and I lost my composure. I yelled at her, told her that now the entire police squad would be after us and her secret would be known to all. She looked up at me, tilted her blood-caked head and gave a defiant “Mroaw,” before scampering to the computer and hitting a few keys on the keyboard. She then ran toward the door, grabbed my wrist in her overgrown paws and dragged me outside, where she stopped and looked up at the night sky as if expecting something.

I focused on the sky in the direction that she was looking and saw something that looked like a satellite glowing among the stars. It grew larger, though, and I could tell that it was coming toward us, and that it was not a satellite, but something much larger travelling at an incredible rate of speed.

It stopped just over us, a mass of twisted metal and lights, and somehow we rose into the ship where we were greeted by other beings that looked just like the cat and I was placed in a special cell until I got my bearings.

I have free range of the ship now. It’s quite a fascinating place full of dark, mysterious corridors and machinery that I never would have imagined on Earth. I spend my waking hours walking the dank tunnels, running my hands along the coarse tubing that lines the tunnel walls to feel the bio-mechanical pulse that fuels the ship. I’ve come to recognize their language as the symbols and equations I saw on my computer screen on Earth, so long ago.

The beings have accepted me, even allowing my presence during their most private moments, but it’s really the cat that shows the most affection. She rubs her large paw over my head and I purr with contentment. And when she’s tired, I curl up beside her and dream of the world that will be my new home.

The End