“Thank You…motherfucker.” M.O. Interviews Ray Succre

Steve:  Ok, we’re sitting down here at the Blue Moon restaurant, me n’ Ashly Salmon, w/ Ray Succre.  It’s Thursday, December 23rd, 2010.  And it’s about 3:45 pm in the afternoon.  Um, we’re in Cooze Bay, Oregon.  Ray, take the mic.

Ray:  How you doin’ Cincinnati?

(laughter)

Steve:  Ok, so you’ve been writing awhile, you’ve got some shit published…what’s yr ultimate goal as a writer?

Ray:  I think my ultimate goal, as regards to writing and publishing, is to get as many people as I can to actually read what I spent all that time writing and trying to get published.  Um, I managed to do the first step, which is to write a bunch of things.  And the second step  of the phase is now complete as well, because a lot of it got published.  The third step is to get someone to read it and that’s the one that’s kind of out of my hands, so I’m having a hard time getting that one done.  The fourth step would be to get paid and that’s gonna be even more difficult.

Steve:  Why don’t you tell us about yr recent projects?

Ray:  Well, first of all, I changed my name.  It is now Blackjack…my most recent project is a book I wrote with my son called Beyond the Great Gate…

(waiter interrupts)

Ray:  I could use some more coffee when you have the time.  Thank you…motherfucker (after waiter leaves).

(Laughter)

Ray:  No, I wrote a book called Beyond the Great Gate.  I did it for NaNoWriMo.  It’s not really my thing to do NaNoWriMo, but I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.  Uh, the idea was my son was gonna give me a bunch of details and a story line and then I was going to write it as an actual cohesive novel and then read it to him at night as a bedtime story for like a month and a half or two, which we did.  He loved it very very much.  He was cheering at the end, which made me feel really good.  I’ll remember that forever.  I have no plans on publishing it, but, uh, I did write it, so it’s my first and probably only venture into writing fantasy, which is real weird, uh, not my thing at all.  Uh, before that I wrote a book called Miel.  Before that I wrote a book called Thank You and Good Night, which I’m revising right now.  And those are my most recent projects.  That and sending out things to, ya know, various magazines and trying to, you know, kind of shoot a wad at Modus every now and then and destroying Frankie Metro.  Back to you Steve.

Steve:  Um, this question comes in from a fan of yours from Oregon and she wants to know…Ashly from Oregon wants to know why you use a pen name?

Ray:  That’s a very astute question.  You see, Steve, and Ashly if yr listening…um, a long time ago I decided that I wanted to, y’know, write, and eventually the internet was invented and so I did that vain thing that most of us did when the internet first got invented, which was to look up our names to see if there was anything about us.  I don’t know what we thought would happen, like there’d be secret files or something, but in looking at my name I discovered that somebody, with my exact real name, Robin Morrison, uh, had a shit load of books out and I thought “that’s kind of strange and lame”, and I looked and he was a very famous photographer from New Zealand, um, was a great photographer, I’d love to take pictures like that.  There was also some other guy who was writing short stories and it wasn’t me and since all I wrote at that point were short stories and occasionally trying to write a novel, I just didn’t want to share the card catalog with someone in the future, so I decided to use a pen name.  Um, I’d always liked the name Ray and then, uh, one day while I was at the Blue Moon, I had a sugar packet from Canada, from Montreal, and on the back it said “sucre”, s.u.c.r.e., and, uh, I wrote that down after the word “Ray” and added another “C” just for the fuck of it, I don’t know.  I guess I thought I was being artsy.  And I’ve been using that name ever since.  And I’ve now officially signed that name exponentially more than my real name and when I look in the mirror I actually think my name is Ray Succre.  That’s how much I’ve used it.

Steve:  How do yr ideas come to you?

Ray:  I have an old, retired Good Year blimp in my backyard that I have tethered to one of those old, y’know, giant satellites that people had in the 80′s.  It’s no longer functional, but the blimp is, so I attach it to this little steel cable that I have, it’s a 40 pound test, and I let the winds take it up into the sky.  And when the blimp comes back down, eventually, y’know cuz it runs outta helium…helium’s expensive, I can’t really afford much of it…so it eventually drifts down towards the Post Office and I gotta real it back in.  And when I do I’ll find a piece of paper on it and attached will be some sort of idea.  I haven’t figured out who’d been putting these ideas on the blimp yet, um, y’know a part of me wants to go “it’s some sort of magical thing like God” or whatever, y’know, doing it, but I’m a realist, I know there’s somebody out there that’s been writing massively strange things on these papers.  But I like turning them into novels.  I actually have no ideas of my own.

Steve:  So, on that note, how does yr wife put up with yr dedication to writing?

Ray:  I am an excellent lover: renowned in 3 counties now.  I’m looking to add a 4th.  I also cook and there’s no one to watch our son, so I’m kind of crucial most of the time.  Um, I occasionally forget to do the dishes, but I make up for it by writing characters who do dishes.  So in a certain way, I kind of managed to round all the bases.

Steve:  I see…do you plan to live in a small town forever?

Ray:  Dear God no!  I’ve actually tried to leave Cooze Bay many many many times, but like a sordid kind of sociopathic exgirlfriend, I just can’t get its fingers from around my neck.  Uh, I’ve left a couple of times, and due to financial difficulties have had to come back.  I plan on moving as soon as I have my Community College creditting all done, so that I can transfer out of here, which should be within the year.  Um, I’ve been honor-rolling my way through cuz I’m cool like that.  Uh, I’m hoping to get to Iowa or somewhere else, but I am gonna transfer to University and it is my hope never to, uh, live in Cooze Bay again, unless maybe I retire here.  I like small towns, but it’s gotta be near something large where people read.

Steve:  And then Ashly’s got one written here that I can’t really read, so…

Ray:  No.

Steve:  Oh, ok.

Ray:  No, go ahead.

Steve:  This one right here…

Ray:  When did she get here?!

(laughter)

Ashly:  So, your son said the word “platypus” at a young age.  Were you a good talker then?

(chuckling)

Ray:  Yes, yes, I orate and I speak well.  And when my son asks me questions, I give him detailed and rather large explanations of things, to the point where he’s almost sick of it, but he does learn quite a bit, ah, y’know, we had a word of the day thing going for awhile where I’d be like “today’s word is ‘vivid’…” and I would teach him what “vivid” meant and then “today’s word is gonna be ‘plausible’…” and I taught him what “plausible” meant, which was an open doorway to teaching him what “implausible” meant and so, uh, my son’s got words, yeah.

Steve:  So, uh, Frankie Metro has challenged you to a rap battle…how’s that going?

Ray:  Any chump steps to me gets thrown.  I worked him over.  I blacked his eyes.  I troubled him.  I bothered him.  That’s pretty much about it, ya know, that’s my dime.  I hit him so hard it feels him where his undies climb.

Steve:  Alright, we got a couple minutes left.  Uh, well I got one more question for ya, Ray.  Would you ever sell yr soul to Satan?

Ray:  I did that in the 6th grade.  I didn’t have any video games left.  I was all mad cuz I beat all my games and there was this game that came out that I thought would be really cool, called 3-D World Runner, for the NES.   And I was walking around on the playground one day and I quietly muttered to myself, “I would sell my soul for 3-D World Runner”, and when I got home that day, my dad had bought it and so, uh, I don’t know if that was just weird coincidence and he happened to pick the game that I wanted that I never told him about, or if  in fact I am now hell-bound, but, uh, that game sucked and I regret it…it’s a true story.

Steve:  Wow, that sucks…Satan punked you.

(laughter)

Ray:  Yeah, Satan punked me for a shitty game!

Steve:  So, um, you know, you’ve been a long time contributor to Modus Operandi…

Ray:  Seven times actually…

Steve:   Seven times apparently…again.  So, um, y’know, is there anything you’d like to add to this interview for our fine Modus readers?

Ray:  Steven Purkey is a brilliant man.  The things he does with his magazine…there is no comparing all the bounty that is Modus Operandi and its head captain, Steven Purkey.  There’s no way you can compare that to any other thing currently being processed in this bulk of a nation we call America.  I would venture to say that Steven Purkey is America…all the way in, as far as you can get, into Steven Purkey…that’s America!

Steve:  Ahh, well, Ray, thank you.

Ray:  Your welcome, Steven.

Steve:  Ashly, thank you.

(Ashly chuckles.)

Steve:  (at Ray)  We got 5 seconds, go!

Ray:  Fuck, I don’t know man, uh….

(End of Interview)

Interview W/ A Married Couple

Kelli:  I am a fantastic driver.  Let’s talk about how many accidents I’ve been in versus you.

Shawn:  You’ve been in 14, I’ve been in one.

Kelli:  Ok, but how many was I driving in?

Shawn:  Well that, y’know,is not really applicable.

Kelli:  And how many were you driving in?  The one, but…

Steve:  And tried to get away!

(Laughter, Shawn in background protesting)

Kelli:  The one’s not true though.  You’ve been in more than that.  Hitting the dumpster counts.

Shawn:  I didn’t…I didn’t hit the dumpster.  I backed into the dumpster.

Kelli:  Right.

Shawn:  I didn’t even do that, I just dragged it a bit.

Kelli:  Yeah.  And broke the window.

Shawn:  No, she, um, she doesn’t really like to drive and she gets mad at you when you try to tell her how to drive.

Kelli:  Yeah, I hate it when he tells me how to drive and when he’s driving he gets, like if somebody cuts him off, he gets like insanely aggressive…

Shawn: No, not really.

Kelli:  And acts like he’s gonna kill us.

Shawn:  No, I do not act like I’m gonna kill you.

Kelli:  So, like, you remember that time in the parking lot of Pony Village when we were gonna go…

Shawn:  (interrupting)  Ok, that was a while ago and that was like…

Kelli:  (regaining control)  And you yelled at the guy and you were like, “What the fuck is wrong with you, you motherfucker!!!”  And then the guy got out of the car and was going into the movies with us.  How awkward was that?  Some guy that you just yelled at…

Shawn:  Ah, I do remember that and that was…

Kelli:  …is like standing in front of us in line at the movies.

Shawn:  Yeah, actually, I think he was behind us. Yeah, that was bizarre…(mumbling about another fight in the same parking lot.)

Shawn:  Well, she was like in the wrong lane, she was putting on makeup when she was driving…

Kelli:  It was a parking lot, there’s no lanes.

Shawn:  There are lanes!

Laura:  Shawn, do you think Kelli needs to drive more aggressively?

Shawn:  Umm, well could be.  That could be.

Kelli:  No, I am a fantastic driver.

Shawn:  That was a while ago.  I’ve toned it down quite a bit.

Kelli:  If we, if and when we ever have kids I’m gonna be the one that’s teaching them to drive…(mumbling about fast driving, tickets, off-road driving, etc.)

Steve:  So, are you ready to announce to the Modus Operandi readers that you are, in fact, pregnant?

Kelli:  No, I’m not ready to announce that (much laughter).

Steve:  Yr blowing the story here.  Because there’s been an awful lot talk about having kids between you two.

Kelli:  Well, I wanna have kids.  Shawn goes back and forth between wanting kids and not wanting kids.  I dunno we’ll see.

Laura:  You guys wanna borrow mine for a couple of days?

Kelli:  Yeah, actually I’d be into that.

Shawn:  Oh, I don’t know.

Kelli:  They’re a good age, y’know, so…(mumbling about Laura’s kids.)

Kelli:  I dunno, having kids is like having a puppy only like tenfold…(mumblings comparing taking care of puppies and kids).

Steve:  So maybe you can help me answer this question, Kelli, umm, how is it at all possible that Shawn McMeats is a genius?

Kelli:  It’s not possible.

Shawn:  It’s not possible.

Steve:  That was my answer, but Theresa wants to know.

Kelli:  How is it possible that Shawn’s a genius?

Shawn:  Coming from my gene pool…

Kelli:  Oh, well see Theresa’s blown away, because Shawn’s parents are not known for their brains.

Steve:  Right.

Shawn:  What are they known for?  (mumbling about Shawn’s parents.)

Kelli:  Yeah, pretty much for being free-lance Renaissance people.

Steve:  Well, yr mom’s a free-lance dietitian, right?

Shawn:  She was.  She is…

Kelli:  Yr dad was/is a retired vet.

Steve:  I don’t know much about yr dad.

Kelli:  Disabled vet.

Shawn:  Yep.  Lives in Powers.

Steve:  What war did he fight in?

Shawn:  Vietnam.

Steve:  Damn.

Shawn:  Damn.

Steve:  Damn!

Kelli:  Damn…

Steve:  I remember those days.

Shawn:  Yeah…good ol’ Vietnam.

Steve:  So, why don’t you suit up and fight for yr country?

Kelli:  He did.

Shawn:  I did!

(Laughter)

Shawn:  I don’t do it, like,  the traditional way, but I still fight for my country…

(Laughter, mocking, talk of keeping terrorists off the road…)

Shawn:  (something about women running down the street naked on April 11th…I dunno)

Kelli:  That is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard.

Steve:  I’m into it.

Kelli:  We’ll have to sit outside on April 11th to see what happens.

Kelli:  Just because you’re Muslim doesn’t mean you’re a terrorist, by the way.

Shawn:  Exactly!  I’m not…why you telling me that?

Steve:  Oh, do you know Shawn’s a little racist?

Kelli:  Yeah, mmmhmm.

Steve:  And he tries to deny it.

Shawn:  Eh, Kelli’s a little bit homophobic.

Kelli:  Oh, I am not!

Shawn:  Nah, she’s not a homophobic.

Kelli:  I’m married to you, I might just turn gay!   Hu-huh!!!

Shawn:  Everybody else has.

(Mumbling about polygamy and Shawn not being into it anymore.)

Shawn:  It’s only fun before you get married.

Steve:  Oh, like polyamory?

Shawn:  Right, poly hammering.

Steve:  (to Kelli)  How do you feel about polygamy?

Kelli:  Um, I think everybody things the guys is, y’know, a god because he has like 4 wives, but that would suck to have like 3 women constantly nagging at you.  Right?

Shawn:  Yeah.

Steve:  That’d suck, Shawn?

Shawn:  Well yeah, I guess so.  I mean, 3 wives versus 3 non-wives…

(Kelli interjects w/ a tale of forcing Shawn to do the dishes.)

Steve:  So, how about that divorce we keep hearing about?

Kelli:  It’s not ours.

Shawn:  We’re still working on it.

Kelli:  I’m not ever gonna leave Shawn.

Shawn:  She threatens to all the time.

Kelli:  I do not either.  I’ve never threatened to leave you.

(Steve talks shit, trying to get them to divorce.  They won’t do it.)

Steve:  What’s yr favourite Sonic Youth album, Kelli?

Kelli:  Um, the one that they will never make.

Steve:  I’ve never heard of that one.

Kelli:  Yeah, it’s quiet.

Laura:  Isn’t there one Sonic Youth song that you can stand?

Kelli:  Well, actually, the only Sonic Youth songs that I’m ok with are covers.  I’m ok with their cover of “Diamond Sea”, but not the fucking 30 minute version.

Shawn:  Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait.  That’s not a cover.

Kelli:  No, I’m ok with, uh, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ cover of “Diamond Sea”, so that’s a Sonic Youth song.  And then there’s a cover that they do of something…

Steve:  They covered Nirvana’s “Moist Vagina”.  What’d you think of that?

Kelli:  I haven’t heard that.  I don’t want to.  That’s ok.

(More debating Kelli hating Sonic Youth…)

Steve:  What exactly is it about Sonic Youth that make you wanna rip yr own goddamn ears off?

Kelli:  Well I mean that are many things.  Where is one to start, really?

(This sparks a philosophical debate about music taking stamina to listen to.)

Kelli:  Now we get back to the point at hand: Sonic Youth is not music!

(Arguing about noise being music being noise, etc…)

Shawn:  So, I talked to Buttchaps this morning.

Steve:  And what’s his life-changing experience?

Shawn:  Apparently he got a girlfriend and now they’re no longer together.

Steve:  And that changed his life?

Shawn:  Yeah.

(Kelli does an impression of Buttchaps being twitterpated.)

Steve:  Ok, we got thru the introduction part of the interview.  We can take a smoke break now, if you wish.

(End of Interview)

Bret Bernhoft interviews Steven Purkey

Listen in as Bret Bernhoft interviews Steven Purkey for PDX Gen Y radio show!!!

Click on link and then play archive from August 2, 2010

Interview: Bret Bernhoft vs. Steven Purkey is archived from August 2nd…Here is the link to the podcast episode we recorded. It is up.
http://pdx.fm/pdx-gen-y/ – Awesome stuff man.

PDX Gen-Y | PDX.FM

pdx.fm

PDX Gen-Y: Portland’s 21-35 year olds and their culture.Hosted by Bret Bernhoft Mondays at 2pm.

Silverhawk Interview

This interview took place on May 6th, 2010 at about 11:00 o’clock at Kelly’s Olympian in Portland, Oregon.

Silverhawk is:  Sam Densmore, John Densmore, Anthony Cotham, and Coby Bixby

Interviewed by: Steven Purkey, Rudy Roo, Laura Densmore, and Random Dude

Steve:  So Sam, how’s it hangin’?

Sam:  Pretty good.

Steve:  So how are things going with Silverhawk?

Sam:  We’re just waiting for the ice cream man to come.

(Laughter, groans, and protests.)

Steve:  Sam, how’s it hangin’?

Sam:  It’s going really good.

Rudy Roo:  John, how do you feel about being the only one in a suit right now?

John:  I feel really sharp and cool, man.

Rudy Roo:  You do look very nice, my friend.

Rudy Roo:  Sam, where’d you get that jacket, cuz you said that was an old jacket, so where’d you get that, man?

Sam:  It was a place called The Metro in Olympia.

Steve:  You got that at The Metro?

Sam:  Yeah, in like 1997.

Steve:  No shit?  I used to buy all my pants at The Metro.

Sam:  Well, you missed out on this hot silver jacket.

Steve:  Fuck!

Laura:  He wanted to wear the bright pink jacket tonight, but I kind of changed his mind for a moment.

Steve:  The one with the sequins?

Sam:  Yeah.

Steve:  Fuck!

Laura:  I told him I thought maybe it was a little too Elton John.

Steve:  So Sam, what wrong with Elton John?

Sam:  Nothing.

Laura:  I’m the wife and personally I just don’t have it for Elton John.

Random Dude:  So Sam, I notice you play a Gretch hollow body guitar.  Does that mean you have any Rockabilly influence?

Sam:  I have…I guess you could call it that, call it Rockabilly.  I like Duane Eddy a lot.  Yeah, Duane Eddy rocks.  Duane Eddy, surf guitar with The Ventures, I like that.  I like that business.  I like The Beatles a lot, too.

Steve:  The Beatles.  Anthony, I’ve heard yr a big fan of The Beatles.

Anthony:  Uh, I don’t know who we’re talking to about it but, I like ‘em alright.  I like Magical Mystery Tour.  I think that’s a great record.  It’s got great songs on it.

Steve:  Nice.  And I noticed you added a second keyboard to yr set tonight?

Anthony:  Yeah, it’s the new Korg.  It’s a Micro Korg XL.  It’s a new line.  It’s got the new sound engine in it from the last Micro Korg series, sounds little better.  They took the old sound engine and put it in some cheaper gear.

Steve:  Awesome.  So Sam..

Sam:  What about Coby?  Ask Coby a question or two.

Steve:  How ya doin’, Coby?

Coby:  Good, thank you…

Steve:  Alright, ok Sam…

(Laughter, comments on Coby’s ability as a drummer…)

Steve:  Coby, so yr the new drummer.  How long have you been playing with Silverhawk?

Coby:  Three years now, actually.

Steve:  Well you sounded really good and I hear you play with another band?

Coby:  I do, with my brother…

(Sorry, I couldn’t make out the name of his band.)

Coby:  …kind of a hard rock band.  Sam helped with making a six song demo, last year actually.

Sam:  They cover Judas Priest’s “Breakin’ the Law”.

Steve:  No shit?  Did you have to pay Judas Priest royalties?

Coby:  No, they don’t know about it.

Steve:  Good job.  Good work.

Coby:  And I’m not making money off it, so I don’t have to do that.

Steve:  So, if you lose money, they have to pay you?

Coby:  Yeah, exactly.

Laura:  So, if you like bands of brothers, you’ll like Coby’s band.

Rudy Roo:  How long has the current line-up been jamming together?

Sam:  Fifty years now with Coby.

Steve:  Oh, before we cut it off we have to ask about the new album.

Sam:  The new album is gonna be really good.  Most of it’s already recorded.

Steve:  When’s it gonna come out?

Sam:  We have no idea when it’s gonna come out.  Sooner than later, probably.  Hopefully fall, maybe, by the end of 2010, I hope.  Yeah, that’d be good.

Rudy Roo:  (I can’t make out his question, but it’s about the new album.)

Sam:  Well, it’s much darker than the last record.  Much more darkness and negativity on this record, but it’s a fun record, nonetheless.  There’s cool keyboards on this record that weren’t on the last record and we’re gonna play some adventure rock.

Steve:  Oh, adventure rock.  I’ve heard about that genre.

Sam:  It’s a lot less r.a.w.k. rock and more alternative rock.

Steve:  So you really, really, rock out with yr hawk out?

Sam:  I think we do.  I think we rock out pretty good.

Random Dude:  Well Sam, I notice yr from the Oregon Coast and you’ve lived in a few different places.  Would you say any specific area you’ve lived in has had an effect on yr musical trials?

Sam:  That’s a good question.  And I would say, aside from my, y’know, my home pond environs, probably Olympia was probably the biggest influence on my thinking.

Steve:  And was that because Steven Purkey was living with you at the time?

Sam:  Um, absolutely.  Absolutely, that was it.  Turned my mind around.  Turned all those carbon thoughts into diamonds.

Steve:  And that’s the way it goes, folks, here at Modus Operandi.  What do you have to say Laura?

Laura:  I was just trying to listen in on their…

Steve:  Anthony, what the hell?  What’re you trying to say?

Anthony:  What am I trying to say?

Laura:  I think it’s interesting to ask them how they all met these extras in their band.

Steve:  That’s a good question.  How did you pick up Anthony, who a few years ago we weren’t sure if he was just gonna end up getting dumped again or not and then like 2 years later he’s an integral part of the band?

Sam:  Well, Anthony, uh, came to see us play at Hauser.  He was a guest.  Anthony actually saw us in Coos Bay.  He came there with that Nathan dude that got all tripped out on LSD.  Yeah, Nathan who went crazy on LSD brought Anthony to our gig.  So then Anthony sent me a Myspace message and we met up and we jammed out and since then we’ve been jamming.

Steve:  So, it’s really a classic romance story?

Anthony: Basically, I pushed my way in.  I saw them play and I isolated Rob and John and I said, You guys are alright, but you need a keyboard player or something.

(Anthony does an impression of Sam agreeing to have keyboards on the new record.)

Steve:  That’s a great impression by the way.

Sam:  And Coby, after our other friend, Rob, became unable to play with us anymore.  Coby took over and he was our neighbor.  Yeah, he just lived across the street.  And so, uh, he used to take care of our illegal smile, if you know what I mean.  And so he started playing in the band and y’know he’s being doing it the last couple of years.  It’s been really easy.

Steve:  Well, good  job, Coby!  How old are you anyway?  You look like the youngest guy in the band.

Coby:  Oh, I’m 25.

Steve:  25.  That’s the youngest guy in the band, right?

Sam:  Yeah, he is the youngest guy in the band.

Steve:  Bastards.

Sam:  Yep.

Steve:  So, do we have anymore questions for John?

Rudy Roo:  Um, not really.

Steve:  Yeah, fuck John.  Alright end of interview.

Those Who Can’t Do, Interview: Modus Operandi Attacks Silverhawk and Bipolar Star

Interview conducted by Steve, Shawn & Kelli

 

                We went to a show last Saturday night.  We didn’t get laid, or in a fight, we went to see a couple of bands at our favorite watering hole, Rogers Zoo.  Opening was Seattle’s Bipolar Star featuring one time Suspicion member Rob Allison.  They certainly have the rockstar thing going on, smashing their heads on the punk rock.  Then it was on to Portland’s Silverhawk, who rocked out with their hawk out as they commonly do, bringing the house down with their dose of psychedelia.  Being longtime fans of these two bands’ collective resonance for the last 15 years or so, with their previous projects (Suspicion, Slow Children, Frequency db, etc), we figured it’s time to let the Modus crowd hear their message.  So we got both bands together for a tender goodness, oh and an interview.

 

John:  “I say it’s a been awhile since we’ve done an interview.”

Sam:  “What kind of questions you got for us, Steve?”

Steve:  “I dunno, you think this’ll work Shawn if I set it (the tape recorder) right here?”

Shawn:  “You wanna test it?”

Steve:  “So Shawn?”

Shawn:  “Yes, Steve.”

Steve:  “What’s this interview all about?”

(…silence, then chuckles…)

John:  “I’m familiar with Modus Operandi.”

Kelli:  “Alright you guys ready?”

Sam:  “Yeah, we’re ready.”

Steve:  “These are all, like, geared towards Silverhawk.”

Kelli:  “Not really.”

Shawn:  “They can just answer any, they’re kinda broad.”

Steve:  “Okay.”

Sam:  “We can wing it after that.”

Shawn:  “That’s pretty much how we work things.”

Steve:  “When’s your Goddamn new album coming out?”

John:  “Someday.”

Kelli:  “That’s all?”

Sam:  “Someday in 2007. It’ll come out online first, and then it’ll come out on CD.  So you just have to wait and find out.  Go to myspace.com/silverhawkband.”

John:  “It’s almost done”

Sam:  “It is done.”

John:  “Everything’s done.  I mean all the recording’s done, the art’s done, we just gotta do the text.”

Sam:  “Art and money.”

John:  “It’s just text and money.”

Sam:  “The art was put together by Anthony here.”

John:  “We got all the songs recorded.”

Kelli:  “Nice.”

John:  “We’ve worked on it for about three years.”

Sam:  “No, two years.”

Kelli:  “Alright Shawn, you’re next.”

Shawn:  “Alright, I wanted to ask you, Anthony, what kinda keyboard is that?”

Anthony:  “It’s a Nord Electro 73 2.1 with the matching 2.1 software operating system.”

Shawn:  “You were really jamming it out there.”

Kelli:  “Yeah it was nice.”

Anthony:  “Yeah, I’m really happy with it.  I just got that keyboard in January, and it’s got a lot of dynamics.  It’s got a nice frequency, cuts through all the other sounds, so you can hear some melodic sounds.”

Kelli:  “Nice.”

Shawn:  “Yeah, I used to be a keyboard player, somewhat, so I really appreciate that. 

Sam:  “Nord rules!”

John:  “Nord.”

Anthony:  “Nord.”
Kelli:  “What are your goals as a band?”

Sam:  “What are our goals as a band.”

Shawn:  “Or as bands.”

Sam:  “What is the goal of Silverhawk?  The goal of Silverhawk is to continue to rock.”

John:  “To fly like the wind and be free.”

Sam:  “To rock and fly. To fly and rock.”

John:  “We really believe in freedom.”

Kelli:  “You want a hit at this question too?”

Rob:  “The goals of the band…oh with Silverhawk.?”

Kelli:  “Either one is fine.”

Rob:  “We wanna play music all the time.”

John:  “Pretty much, we want to fly, soar like eagles. Like hawks, I mean.”

Frans:  “Like eagle-hawks.”

Rob:  “Eagles are kinda like hawks.  I heard that part.”

John:  “We believe in freedom.”

Sam:  “…and venomous birds.”

Rob:  “They don’t have venom.”

Theresa (coming in to the room):  “So you’re really getting interviewed, huh?  And everybody’s watching?  That’s sweet.”

Sam:  “You’re gonna put that part in you’re interview, right?”

Shawn:  “Yeah, anything goes.”

Theresa:  “Awesome, guys, I’m so proud of this.”

Rob:  “We just wanna play our music. Seriously, like we just wanna play our music and we’re not trying to cop any style or fad or whatever.  Like Silverhawk hasn’t really changed.  Like we play the way we play.  And people, I hope, like it, and that’s what we do.”

John:  “Freedom.”

Sam:  “Freedom.”

Rob:  “Freedom.”

Kelli:  “Freedom!”

John:  “What about Bipolar Star, do you believe in the same thing?”

Kelli:  “Same thing for Bipolar Star?”

Rob:  “Yeah, I wanna play music all the time.

Tim:  “It’d be nice to not work.”

Rob:  “It’d be nice to work at playing in a band, like work at playing music, you know.  It’s a job, it’s a hard job.”

Tim:  “The goal?  I’d like to have a house of some sort and play music in that house.”

Rob:  “Yeah we could practice in the house.”

John:  “And we could play in the house and sleep in the house.”

Frans:  “Like a little plastic Hello Kitty house or a house you could live in?”

Rob:  “I wouldn’t fit in that.”

Steve:  “So what are some of your favorite albums?”

John:  “As of late, Skip Spence, my favorite song by Skip Spence is ‘The Cripple.’  I’m really into Wolf Parade right now.  There’s just so much music.”

Tim:  “More than you could possibly listen to.”

Kelli:  “What about you guys?”

Rob:  “There’s just so much out there…uh…

Anthony:  “I have an answer if you want to make them wait, Shins, Guided By Voices…uh…uh, somebody else.

Tim:  “I recently discovered The Modern Lovers.”

Sam:  “What have I been listening to?”  There’s all kinds of music.  I’ve been DJing my online radio station.  I’ve been listening to a lot of weird kind of underground music.  I really like a band called the Higher States from the Midwest…psychedelic band.  Anything with psychedelic overtones, basically.”

Tim:  “We’re big Yes fans.”

Sam:  “No, not like that.  Not so much progressive.  More of the garage, retro, 60’s sounds.  I was digging some Mike Crikendal stuff, I like that.

Rob:  “I like the Hungry Pines, they’re pretty new, they’re pretty good.

Tim:  “I like the Beatles.”

Kelli:  “You guys ever play any oldies, like from Suspicion?”

Sam:  “We did tonight.”

Kelli:  “You played a Suspicion song?”

Sam:  “We’re thinking of making a Suspicion MySpace page, actually.  The other night I was listening to Suspicion in kind of a drunken haze, about a week ago, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this band is so great!’”

Kelli:  “That’s like Shawn’s favorite stuff that you guys have done.”

Rob:  “Are you serious?  Oh shit!  We should do a Suspicion night!”

Tim:  “You gotta have pictures of the hair.”

Sam:  “We have redone, reawakened the Suspicion song, ‘My, My Mary.’ And it goes ‘my, my Mary, you’re such a prude,’ and we recorded it with Rob on drums.”

Kelli:  “It’s not on Big Dreams?”

Sam:  “No it’s not, it was post-Big Dreams.  It was the record that we didn’t get to make. It’s gonna be on the new album.

Steve:  “The next questions is: Have you ever seen a goat piss on his own head?”

Rob:  “Yep, yes we did!

Sam:  “I was just singing that song, I was all ‘Elvis the Goat, that’s right.’  He used to pee in his own mouth, suck on his own wiener, it was disgusting.  You’d see it, just elongate, it would come out and it was like pink and pretty nasty.”

Shawn:  “Alright, what got you guys to come back to Coos Bay?”

John:  “Well, we love it here.”

Sam:  “Yeah, absolutely.”

John:  “I Love Roger’s Zoo.”

Rob:  “We went on tour, me and Tim when we were just playing with the drum machine.  We went on tour in the Buick.”

Tim:  “Two men, drum machine, and a bunch of beer.”

Rob:  “Yeah, and we came and played our first show in Coos Bay, didn’t we?  Oh no, it was Bandon at the Teen Center, then we played at the Fun Festival.  That was our second show.”

Tim:  “Worst..weather..ever!”

Kelli:  “So who is ‘Party Larry’ anyways?”

John:  “Oh man, I can’t remember his name.”

Sam:  “Kevin Yonkers, right?”

John:  “Yeah, Kevin.  No, not Kevin Yonkers, that’s another Kevin.  It’s a Kevin and I can’t remember his last name.”

Sam:  “It’s a really big Kevin.”

John:  “And It’s based on a guy named Kevin.”

Kelli:  “Lunt?  Was it Kevin Lunt?”

John:  “Uh, he was an older gentleman.”

Kelli:  “Yeah, I think you’re talking about Kevin Lunt”

John:  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Kelli:  “Yeah, and we called him ‘Stinky?’”

John:  “Yeah, exactly!  And we used to call him ‘Party Larry.’  I was at the beach one night, and for some reason the whole idealism of being who he was like struck me that that was what I was going to become.  And it just hit me, and then I had to write that song.  It was scary; actually, it was a scary thought.  I was like, ‘Oh god, am I going to be that guy? Am I going to be the 50 year old punk rocker, that shows up at beach parties picking up on the 17 year old girls talking about you know ‘What punk rock was’ and all those guys,’ you know the ritual.  And that’s what that song was about.”

Kelli:  “Yeah, his quote is ‘be careful with that blanket, it might get you pregnant.’”

(…everyone is disgusted…)

Steve:  “Ok, was it the whores, the drugs or the voodoo?”

Sam:  “Drugs, definitely the drugs.  Over the whores and the voodoo.  Gmmie the drugs any day.”

Shawn:  “Alright, so where the hell’s Paul Wisher?”

Sam:  “He…He’s in Montana.  I understand he’s coming back though.  He’s gonna reemerge.”

John:  “He’s still playing Black Chrome Vs. Death Mask songs.”

Kelli:  “So since you guys have your own studio, do you have any bands, or a label, are you putting any bands out?”

Sam:  “We are releasing this podcast over the week, where we record a new band every other week, to be on the podcast.  It’s called the Mastan Music Hour.  And just so you know, Mastan literally means ‘God intoxicated crazy woman.’  Yeah, that’s what a Mastan is.”

Kelli:  “Is it in a different language?”

Sam:  “Indian.  I don’t know all the particulars, but that word, I know what it means!  Basically, it’s like a holy person, right. So here, we’d lock him up, put him in a white room, put him in a coat, you know.  There, they’re revered, and so that’s the moniker of the studio.  Every week we record new bands so there’s 23 episodes up right now.”

John:  “I do all the videos”

Sam:  “John’s doing the videos and it’s Jeremy Wilson’s studio, he owns the place, from the Dharma Bums.”

Laura (coming in): “Look at this crowd of all black and dark blue wearing people.”

Shawn:  “Look at this dark green.”

Sam:  “More questions?”

Shawn:  “Any more questions?”

Kelli:  “Yeah?”

Steve:  “Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Sam:  “I’m just trying to get laid, man.”

John:  “I’m trying to be free.  I’m free, you’re free.”

Shawn:  “Alright, some other Silverhawk alumni, whatever happened to Dai Kelly, or Anti-Paul?”

Laura:  “Dai Kelly’s in Hawaii.”

Sam:  “Yeah Dai’s in Hawaii, and Paul’s in Montana.  Oh, you mean Paul Elkins.  Paul Elkins, last I heard was in Coquille.  I dunno, he got married, and then he just disappeared.  He used to work at the video game store over there, but I haven’t heard from him.”

Kelli:  “We’ve only got two more questions, er, I’m sorry, three.  Um, John?  How does one rock out with their hawk out?”

John:  “How does one rock out with their cock out?”

Kelli:  “No ‘hawk’ with their hawk out, we got the cock part down.  It’s on your flyer.”

Sam:  “It’s all my fault.”

John:  “Yeah, that’s him.”

Sam:  “All you gotta do is go to a Silverhawk show and rock out.”

John:  “With your underwear around your knees, in a drunken stupor, with loud music blaring.  Or, you know, there’s other ways to do it.  You could be sober on the MAX with your book, you know, rocking out with your hawk out.  You could be having fine wine with your lover, eating cheesecake, it’s not just a one dimensional idea.”

Steve:  “Sam?”

Sam:  “Yeah?”

Steve:  “Do you still have that picture of the girl peeing in the sink?  And if so, can we have it?”

Sam:  “What picture are you talking about?”

Laura:  “That picture of the girl peeing in the sink, I’ve seen that picture.”

John:  “Very naughty, I don’t remember it.”

Laura:  “It’s pretty hot, actually.”

Kelli:  “Yeah, it is totally hot.”

Sam:  “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Laura (mockingly):  “I don’t know what you’re talking about?  Yes you do, it’s the picture of the girl peeing in the sink.”

Kelli:  “We went to a party once at your mom’s house…”

John:  “We met Maculey Culkin’s sister and she could stand on her head and put a 24 oz. can of like Pabst in her mouth and lean back and she could chug it.”

Sam:  “I dunno, it’s probably somewhere in my files back in Olympia, or I mean in Portland.”

Kelli:  “You said that this guy that took the picture had an obsession with girls peeing in different things.”

Sam:  “Oh! That was Nick!”

Kelli:  “He’s got it now!”

Sam:  “The black and white picture.  Nick the goth guy with the long black hair; yeah he’s a photographer.  If I can find it, I’ll make sure and scan it for ya.  So I got a question for you guys, when is this zine actually gonna be printed?”

Steve:  “By the end of the month.”

Shawn:  “Really?”

Kelli:  “That’s a big promise.”

Tim:  “So in about half a year, then?”

Sam:  “Modus Operandi.  You guys gonna publish it on MySpace?”

Steve:  “We don’t have a MySpace.”

John:  “Modus Operandi’s been around for a good ten years.”

Shawn:  “Yeah, it’s been seven years since the last one.”

Sam:  “So we’re glad we’re making the flagship, the new…the reemergence of Silverhawk and Bipolar Star on your pages that’s awesome.”

Kelli:  “We took pictures too, so you’re gonna be in there.”

Sam:  “You guys need a MySpace page.”

(….assorted chaos…)

Shawn:  “Alright, anyone, how do you feel about the war?”

Laura:  “It sucks, man.”

John:  “I think it’s a stupid war and we shouldn’t be in it.”

Anthony:  “Same old anti-war statements.”

Rob:  “The same people who’ve been running the world for 200 years are now making more money.  You shouldn’t quote me on that, because then they’ll hunt me down and kill me.”

Shawn:  “Okay, I think we should go around and get all the names and see if anyone wants to promote anything.”

Sam:  “Bipolar Star has a new record coming out, probably anytime now, in June.  CD release party, June 24^th in Seattle at the Highdive.”

Kelli:  “Ok, so let’s get names, you wanna go first?”

Anthony:  “My name’s Anthony James Cotham, I play keyboards, I promote Silverhawk, and I also promote my own band Bill Skins Fifth Will Punch You Right In The Face, who will be reuniting to bring devastation to rock and roll in Portland probably in late summer.  You can check us out on myspace.com/billskins and you can also find us on Youtube, just type in Bill..Skins..Fifth..Will..Punch..You.. Right..In..The..Face, and you will find us on there, uh…yeah that’s what I promote.”

Rob:  “I’m Rob Allison, I play bass and sing in Bipolar Star and we just released an album, our first record and that’s gonna be, hopefully, in record stores and we’re gonna do some touring and stuff.  And then I play in Silverhawk, I play drums with these guys.”

Sam:  “I’m Sam Densmore, I sing, play the guitar, and bass, among other things.  I promote Silverhawk.”

Frans:  “Temporary drummer for Bipolar Star.”

Tim:  “Should be solid.”

Rob:  “We want to make sweet love to him.”

Frans:  “Frans Laulainen, I also play in a band called The Holiday, which is basically the remnants of a band called Drywire, that was sorta popular locally in Seattle, and so were hoping to get the new band The Holiday rolling, so we’ll see how that works.”

John:  “I’m John Densmore, and I guess I promote Silverhawk, and I promote me, I promote John, I promote love and freedom.

Tim:  “Tim Cherry, and I play guitar and do a little lead and a buncha backing vocals for the Bipolar Star, we’re not ‘The Bipolar Star’ that’s just my silly colloquialism.  I like stuff.”

Kelli:  “What about you?  Are you in one of the bands?”

Daniel:  “No.”

Shawn:  “Do you have anything to promote?”

Daniel:  “My name is Daniel Davis, I’m totally in love with Silverhawk, they’re awesome.”

Gina:  “My name is Gina, I promote everything, everything that’s fuckin’ awesome!  And Tim Cherry’s lap.

 

Bipolar Star’s self-titled CD and Silverhawk’s CD  Westward  are available in finer independent record stores everywhere. 

Suspicion’s album Big Dreams is sadly way out of print.

 

some pertinent links:

 

myspace.com/silverhawkband

myspace.com/bipolarstar

myspace.com/samdensmore

myspace.com/billskins