Naked Raygun interview from Flipside #46
NAKED RAYGUN were interviewed on 2/4/85 somewhere between L.A., and N.Y. -- probably in Chicago. This was a mail interview since when their West Coast tour reached L.A. the band found they had some serious and mysterious date changes in front of them. Which brings us to the first question:
FS: On your recent West Coast Tour, you were supposed to play the Cathay a couple of times, your dates were all changed, what happened?
NR: Well the Cathay (Mike B. specifically) originally booked us on two different occasions which we cancelled both with phone calls and confirmation letters... then the day we showed up (confirmed earlier of course) he said he knew nothing of it. But being the nice guy he is, he let us play anyway. That night we played for nothing, get it... zero dollars... thanks a lot Sin 34. Actually what you probably can say happened is that Mike got real blasted and fell off his chair, when he woke up he was quite dizzy and marked us down on his calendar three times, oh well. So we went to the beach, got really drunk and picked up girls. It was sort of a contest to see who could pick up the most butch looking girl. John won.
The tour was fun overall, a financial disaster, critically ignored, a drunken brawl, a drug induced wet dream, nearly tattoed... nice people.
What did you think of L.A.?
NR: It was too spread out, gnarly though.
You have a very diverse musical style, what are some of your main influences?
NR: Bands, Rights of the Accused, Out of Order, Rights of the Accused, Rights of the Accused, Blood Sport, Blatent Dissent...
Well then, what are you trying to do musically?
NR: Musically we are trying to write the ultimate song, the grande sonata, the pupa de la pupa,... the penultimate riff... the blast crunch dropper pseudo heart gorger.
What about the style of music you play? Do you call it punk?
NR: Blast furnace monomania (the end). "Punk" is preferred to hardcore, but we hate being pigeonholed. It's as bad as being corn holed. We play aggressive, melodic, intense, chanty music... We call ourselves, hmmm, bat cave funk, zydeco bop, twist and ground flailer, closet motown...
To get with our music as opposed to our lyrics, we'd like to get across that you can be aggressive and good without being repetitious of other bands and other widely known styles of music.
How long have you guys been playing your instruments?
Eric: I've been playing a long time.
Camilo: I once had a clear bass...
Jeff: I can play anything.
John: Ever since I was born.
You guys share song writing a lot...
NR: Yes we do.
What does each one of you like to write about?
Eric: Sad sleazy affairs, and growing old.
Camilo: Pop culture.
Jeff: Loss of innocence, graft, gear, you and me and us and them.
John: Rat Patrol.
What is the song "No Sex" about? Why did you write it?
NR: "No Sex" is about avoiding having sex (barely) with this one girl in particular -- or about commercial sex-ploitation.
What about "Metastasis"?
NR: "Metastasis" is about the biological order of things...
"I am a fetus/ I am a tumor/ I am the local slime mold/ I am a pupa/ I am a larva/ I am Emperor Tojo/ Metastasis/ Metastasis/ I am a lizard/ I am a nymph/ I am a three toed gecko/ Metastasis/ Metastasis/ Hey."
I noticed you lightly touch on "political" subjects, is there any reason why or why you wouldn't go deeper?
NR: Politics suck. Even writing this much about it is a waste of time. Congress will meet every year to pass laws, regurgitate age old puny puny issues, and hash out cigar stoking world reflecting garbage until the end of time. Ppppammmmm -- we leave it to them (the same with the 6 -- 8 and 10 o'clock news).
Are lyrics a big part of NR?
NR: Lyrics are not a big part of Naked Raygun, case in point "I Lie". But they are of course a necessary ingredient.
History time if you don't mind. What is the story behind your old name "Negro Command"?
NR: It's "Negro Commando", no Negro Command, we just liked the sound of it. It was not meant to be racist. We only had the name for one show, we didn't have a drummer then.
What about the name Naked Raygun, why not Naked "Reagan"?
NR: The name was chosen before Ron's time, the loser had to win, oh well... Naked Reagan... there you go again with that political stuff.
What would you like to accomplish as a band?
NR: We want to get more vinyl out, mostly become as well known as we are in in Chicago all over the U.S. and eventually everywhere. Get out of debt. We'd like to cause some kid or person to look at us and say "yeah that's it" and run out and buy a guitar and start beating on it and creating his own music.
Would you sacrifice some integrity for fame and fortune?
NR: Camilo and Eric would.
Jeff: Is this a trick question?
John: My definition of integrity and your definition could be different.
Where does Naked Raygun fit in to the U.S. music scene?
NR: We're the band your brother sings to in the shower. Clever enough to be the next Beatles, original enough to never be signed to any major or large independent.
Any particular direction you are trying to take the band?
NR: No, we just write what we feel.
Are you guys still a part of the Chicago scene?
NR: Yes we're still based here. We play Chicago as much as we want to. About every month or month and a half. The Chicago scene got better in late 83 and early 84 and now it's worse. But this music is more (unfortunately) socially acceptable.
How have you guys changed since you started?
NR: We can stay in tune for sometimes two songs in a row.
Naked Raygun has had a few personnel changes, why don't people like to play with Jeff?
Jeff: Everyone has their own reasons for quitting Naked Raygun, some to find fame and fortune -- we don't know.
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