| Bear
Zine - 1996 by Someone | |
The
following interview took place in 1996 on Bob Harrison street. The tortilla soup
was delicious. Ernest the Straggler also participated in this interview. Key: B: Bear Zine C: Conrad Keely J: Jason Reece E: Ernest Salas Bear-Zine: Yeah. you should turn it all the way up. Conrad: Uh-hu, does that matter? It's not the recording level though right? No I think that's just the volume. Like watch, I'll turn it all the way down. (laughs) B: I'll sit down here, hopefully it won't fall off. Jason: Okay, I hear a red dot. B: It moves everytime you talk. Ernest: You have to put your lips right around that red dot. J: Um, oh. B: I've been listening to y'all's tape a lot. There's two different ones. the one song that I listen to all the time is the first one on the second side J: Richter Scale Madness"? C: Dream Machine........ B: Yeah that's how it starts, yeah. C: Okay. B: What was the inspiration for that song? C: When I moved away, I wanted to kill everyone that I used to know (laughs) J: We had this pact to kill all of our friends. C: We're really into X J: The band, yes. C: That's why. John and Exene. Actually I wrote that because I had just seen Exene and Lydia Lunch play. B: They did spoken word or whatever? C: It was Exene that I was watching. I don't think it would have mattered that much had X not been once this great band and she was part of it. B: So about X. what you liked was that they rocked and there was something to think about? J: Yeah, sort of like you listen to 7 Seconds or U2 or something. C: I liked them cause they were gnarly, man. Exene looked like she just crawled out of a gutter. J: They looked like they had been drinking all night and then decided to write some songs. B: I was never that into them. I saw them on that "Decline of Western Civilization" movie. C: I think on the movie that their music was the most impactful. B: What about the Germs? C: Well, the Germs were just like punk rock to the ...core. B: okay, another band I want to ask you about is the Replacements. You played a whole show of just covers of their songs. I was listening to Let it Be the other day. That song "Favorite Thing" totally reminded me of your band. J: Yeah, that's a good song. C: Jason really turned me on to the Replacements, and I had been listening to a lot of punk rock before that. You know, I guess the sex pistols and dead milkmen. You know, punk rock bands. But the replacements really made me think punk rock is music I want to be playing. They were really good at painting a picture, and really put me into a situation that I could relate to. J: And yet, we're full of shit at the same time. We're not really good a interviews. C: As far as the Replacements go, we wanted to do that because for one that was a common area that means a lot to us. And two, Bob Stimpson died recently and that was a big blow. The Replacements were never really appreciated in or out of their time. They're still not appreciated. Yet they had such a big impact. B: What about current music, either local or national or Top 40 or whatever that y'all are into. C: I'm really into Alanis Morrisette. (laughs) J: I think Kriss Cross. B: They're trying to go all slow jam. J: They're trying to get down into the... B: Puberty J: Like they're all down with the chicks. C: I'm really into the Prima Donnas. J: Glorium. Prima Donnas, Pro x Marauders [since deceased] C: He's plugging his own girlfriend's band (laughs) B: I was going to ask you about them. J: OK B: I've only seen them one time. I thought they were real good. I thought there was a Cure influence. J: Yeah, there's definitely a Cure influence. I hear the Cure. B: I could hear the Cure in almost every song. Even the ones where they were just messing with the knobs. There's totally some Cure songs that are a lot like that. ... Are Pro X Marauders sort of the female version of Trail of Dead? J: No way, that's fucked! B: It's just that both of them are [were] your girlfriends and that they are a two piece band. C: Actually, Deanne, the way that we met was both our bands played our first show on the same night. That was like three years ago. B: That was in Washington? C: Yeah. She was in a band called Plain Jane and that was five girls and she was the guitarist. I was in a band called Benedict Gehlen. J: So, why would you want to do an interview with a band? B: because I really like your band a lot. J: We like you, but why would you want to interview us? B: I don't think too many people would appreciate anything I put out anyway, but if anybody does, I think they should appreciate also. ... But if someone found this at a truck stop in New Mexico or something... J: No one's going to find this at a truck stop in New Mexico. B: Is it true that you guys jog a lot? C: I'm a little out of practice but I think Jason jogs. B: Do you? J: Yeah, I think Conrad's pretty guilty of it too. B: I'm just trying to imagine the two of you jogging around Town Lake or something. C: We go around the whole campus. Some times I stop at Hole In The Wall while I'm jogging. B: At night or something? Do you stop and like jog in place by the big window and watch the bands? C: I go inside and jog in the bathroom. E: He drinks a pitcher. B: Do you just throw it on your face and keep going? E: I have a question. How many places have y'all F'ed up?... how many places in Austin [College Station doesn't count? -ed] have you caused destruction and/or been kicked out and will never play again? J: Emo's said we can't play there until we fix the window. B: What did you do to the window? C: We didn't do anything to the window. E: That's not what I heard. C: We just happened to be passing by while some windows broke. E: Some guy in a jogging suit came by and did it and ran off. C: Well Gut was playing and they bring out the worst in us really. B: That was the night you threw the garbage cans full of bottles on top of each other? C: I threw a bottle across the stage at Jason and Jason threw a bottle back at me. So I gave Jason a friendly hug and kneed him in the balls. Then Jason kneed me back and I fell on the floor vomiting. So I thought yeah, I'd drop a trash can on his head. But no we didn't get kicked out of that place. B: What about any other place? C: I'm not sure about Hole In The Wall. B: Would you ever play in Mexico? C: Yeah. Bosnia, I'd love to play in Bosnia. | |
