from Ripper #7, 1982
Crucifix
by Tim Tanooka
Crucifix is a San Francisco hardcore band that sounds better every time I see them. They've become one of the most popular bands in the Bay Area, definitely the most up and coming thing here. With the recent release of their first record, a sensational five song 12" EP which has just gone into a second pressing, Crucifix should start to get the national recognition they deserve.
What a great band! Hard crashing sounds of gloom hammer away at your ears while their singer convulses and screams maniacally. Most of their lyrics seem to deal with violent pent-up emotions. When you see them live you can be sure they'll inspire some kind of chaos out on the floor.
Band members: Sothira (18) vocals - Lives in Daly City and works as a dishwasher. His hobby is building model cars and tanks and then blowing them up. Matt (16) bass - Lives in Berkeley. He goes to school at the Art Institute. Jim (22) guitar - The newest member of the band. He lives in Fremont and owns his own guitar tech business. Chris (17) drums - Lives in Emeryville. He was sick and couldn't make it to the interview.
Matt and Sothira were trying to get a band together two and a half years ago. Things started happening when they got Chris. He knew someone else, and together they formed Subsidized Mess, a Berkeley band that was really into PiL. Sothira sang, Chris played bass and Matt played synthesizer. They played six gigs, opening up for the Dead Kennedys at their first gig in Barrington Hall with VS and the Woundz in the summer of 1980. After they quit that band they became Crucifix.
Crucifix has been together since September 1980. They played their first gig January 2, 1981 with Flipper. Matt used to play guitar, then they dropped their bass player and Matt switched to bass. Then Jim joined the band as the new guitar player around the beginning of this year. They played their first gig with this new lineup with the Circle Jerks at the Farm (one shot venue) in S.F. January 9, 1982. Crucifix played L.A. for the first time this February and had a great time.
Their EP (on Universal Records) was recorded last summer. Nowadays Crucifix sounds even better - faster and musically improved. They're currently planning a new single with "Hemorrhage," "Rise and Fall," and "Steel Cage Enclosure." The following interview was done February 9, 1982.
WHERE DO YOU GET THE IDEAS FOR YOUR SONGS FROM?
SOTHIRA: Most of the lyrics are on a personal level.
MATT: Sothira writes all the lyrics. We don't have anything to do with them.
SOTHIRA: It's all about people in general. How they relate to me and how I feel about them.
WHAT IS THAT SONG "YOU'RE TOO OLD" ABOUT?
SOTHIRA: We've dropped that tune.
MATT: It's not really about people that are old. It's about people who just don't think. They just look at you and say, "You're a fuckin' idiot."
JIM: It's about assholes with a block in their mind.
SOTHIRA: And it's about hippies. Hippies were cool at one time, but then they just got old, and they became middle class.
YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF YOUR OTHER SONGS?
SOTHIRA: We've got one called "Religion Kills."
MATT: But that one's pretty self explanatory. What's "Annihilation" about?
SOTHIRA: The lyrics go, "Annihilation is a means to an end, Armageddon is to one an extremist's end." It's about all these extremists, all these people out there who want to blow everything up. One day it's gonna happen, that's how it's gonna be when the world ends. That's how I picture it, the streets on fire, cars overturned, people raped and killed.
ARE YOU ORIGINALLY FROM CAMBODIA?
SOTHIRA: Yeah, I was born there.
IS THAT WHERE YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THAT SONG?
SOTHIRA: Yeah, sort of, but I can't really picture it over there, I mean I can but I wasn't there.
YOU LEFT A LONG TIME AGO?
SOTHIRA: I left when I was four. Then I went to England. Then I went back there for about a year, I was about eight. Then I went to Taiwan, I went to American school, then I came over here. So I was really about six years in Cambodia.
MATT: When he gets really drunk he tels us all about Cambodia, but only once in awhile.
SOTHIRA: Cuz I hear about the atrocities and all that stuff happening.
MATT: He gets depressed.
YOU STILL GOT RELATIVES THERE?
SOTHIRA: Yeah. They're probably all dead now. We have no connections whatsoever down there anymore, no communication, cuz there's no regular mail system that goes into the country or anything like that. So it's mostly through hearsay and through Red Cross. Once in a while we try to get to Red Cross, they have people in camps, maybe one of our relatives got through.
HOW ABOUT YOUR OTHER SONGS?
SOTHIRA: "Rise And Fall" is about all the times I want to say things but now that I know that I got the chance, I pass up the chance, and I just say forget it. "Capitulation" is about the downfall of all assholes. When people are on top, they make fun of other people. I don't like people making fun of me, I'm working hard, I'm trying to get somewhere. It says, "It's your glory, your glory was the height of pretension." It's like, you're no better than I am, when I get there I'll be the same level as your are. And when I'm down here I'm the same level as you are, it's just that you think you're better. But when I get to the top, I'll be there for your downfall. [I think someone got the two song titles mixed up... -CHRIS]
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO?
JIM: I really don't like any kind of music, I don't buy records.
SOTHIRA: What we play is totally different from what I listen to and what Matt listens to. He listens to Black Sabbath. I listen to mostly Joy Division, they're my favorite band, and I listen to Bauhaus.
MATT: It probably comes out in his lyrics, not in the music. Cuz the music is more like GBH and Discharge.
SOTHIRA: We like playing like the new punk bands coming out of England. We buy their records. Sick Pleasure was one of our influences too. But besides that, the lyrics' influence is mostly Joy Division.
WHAT LOCAL BANDS DO YOU LIKE?
MATT: I like the Fuckups, the Undead, and Social Unrest.
SOTHIRA: Sometimes the Kennedys too, when we're in the mood. We like the Lewd. We'd like more people to form bands too.
MATT: Like Juvenile Justice, Karnage, and Sanctified.
SOTHIRA: To name a few of the upcoming bands.
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
MATT: We want to go across the country.
SOTHIRA: We want to go somewhere new. Wherever there's a scene we'll go.
ANY CLOSING THOUGHTS?
SOTHIRA: We want this interview dedicated to Ron Rich, who is in the Marines.
MATT: Ron was our roadie, and he's one of our best friends.
SOTHIRA: We also like Crass. We still believe in anarchy. We totally believe in what punk has said, and we haven't waned off to anything else.
MATT: Punks Kick Ass.
SOTHIRA: "P.K.A.," that's one of our songs.
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