TORPEDO MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS CREEPJOINT

by Gregg Yeti

Creepjoint is a lightning ball of nihilism, louder than a wet fork in a light socket. Hailing from Syracuse, drifts of snow are left melting in the light of their speakers.

They make noise, with beats, that waft as pleasantly as a cheese grater shaving your genitals in the shadows of the Capitol Building. Sure it's guitars, but they scathe. Sure it's rock, but it bleeds freely where other rock fizzles away like wisps of smoke. There's a problem with America. The populace is lazy & content being spoon-fed Rice Krispie pap from TV music channels when they could be eating real oatmeal & Creepjoint-flavored beer for breakfast. They will be punished.

Creepjoint's 1st cd "Kill The Head" is available now. This interview was done via email with all four members: Tim Harrington, Andy Walton, Bobby Budd & Scott Schimpff. (-Gregg Yeti)

What did "the head" do to you to make you want to kill it?

Tim: Last person who asked me that exists no more.

Bobby: Voices and mirrors my friend.

Andy: To me, the head represents everything about daily existence that one would want to get rid of, i.e., those things that cause anger, depression, frustration, emptiness, et al. In short, about 95% of the world's human population, especially those in positions of power of any kind. I just finished this incredible book of short stories by T.C. Boyle called "After the Plague". Each story crystallized the futility of life in one form or another, and each one grew in intensity until the anger and despair were almost palpable. The last story, however, changed all that: it was about some kind of Ebola virus that wipes out all but approximately 10,000 human beings on the planet. Those that survive had been purposefully isolated from society by choice. Even after the plague, those that caught glimpses of other survivors were content to keep to themselves, regardless. What a beautiful vision: no rat race, no cell phones, no baseball hats, no supermodelsŠ. kill the head, indeed.

Discuss the Dept Of The State Of Hate. What is it & why?

Tim: The Dept. Of the State Of the Hate (DOSOH) was instituted recently in order to provide a method by which the Hate Saturation Level (HSL) can be monitored and accessed. Please refer to www.creepjoint.com.

Andy: To me, it is an institution that was built--brick by brick and yard by yard--by the horrific consequences of human folly. Does it exist only as a metaphor, or is it a palpable entity? You decide! (That is, after all, the beauty part.) Regardless of its molecular constitution, however (or lack thereof), be assured that its radar is as infinite as its presence is inevitable. It knows the hate we taste every day, of the deep mistrust and contempt we all hold for each other, and it will serve as our mirror. It will not hang on the cross for your sins, incidentally, but it may sell you the lumber at a reasonable price.

Bobby: Well we the disenfranchised need organization now don't we. After all the insane are running the big show and it seems that many will be left bleeding their rights, money and blood away. The left has kind of blown it anyways by using rightwing tactics and becoming the very thing it opposes. I guess opposites distract don't they. So you could say fuck it all, but you can't bury your head unless you copulate, but it's glass walls, ceilings and floors everywhere and well you could just evaporate. But you're still here. It's not to late as you obfuscate others and yourself. Walk down the street. You'll see The Dept. Of The State Of Hate has large hallways.

The Creepjoint experience seems to involve hate, distrust of governmental positions, coldness, & mental disorder. Are you trying to further the hate or stop the hate? What does Prozac mean to you?

Andy: We hold no allusions to stopping the hate‹one might just as well try to stop the sun from setting every day. Hate will only stop when human beings are extinct, fucker. We do not wish to further the hate, either --our "leaders" do a fine job of this on their own. We wish merely to bathe naked in the Hate, and to report back on what we've learned. Prozac did not help me with my depression, but Zoloft and Seraquil have.

Bobby: The Creepjoint experience? Art is life after all 1.Taint it. 2. We're in the Cancer Research Dept. 3. A trochaic.

Tim: Again, I defer to www.creepjoint.com.

What is Nigrescence?

Tim: Nigrescence as an extension of nigrescent is to be possessed of blackness or to make black.

Andy: Salvation and transcendence through darkness.

Bobby: I'm a Rock and Roll NiggaŠ

You recorded this in your house. What is your recording set up?

Bobby: Harmonicas and trash cans.

Andy: Tim won't tell me. I've asked.

Tim: String, some tin cans, nipple clamps and a tube of lube.

What kind of mics did you use?

Bobby: We didn't.

Tim: Oh! I thought you said mice!

How long did this record take to put together?

Tim: Way too long in dog years.

Andy: A couple of years, I believe. Remote week-ends, here and there.

Bobby: Record? I thought we were doing carbon based tracheotomies.

Why did it take so long?

Tim: DuhŠ look what I have to work with.

Bobby: Immoral obligations.

Andy: Day jobs, distances, breakdowns, drugs.

Did you borrow equipment for this project or do you own all of it?

Bobby: Just the needles

Tim: I have enjoyed the good graces of many a benefactor too numerous to mention.

Reel-To-Reel vs. Computers & Pro-Tools- where is the future of recording? I personally expect people to use a hybrid of bothŠ Discuss:

Tim: I think Blobby 3D Blooddd will handle thatŠ

Bobby: When that which is divine in us doth try to shape a face both hand and face unite to give, from a mere model frail and slight life to the stone by arts free energy.

What guitars, pedals & amps do you use?

Bobby: Zindoeez, Pavlovs, and Dalis.

Tim: The few we have.

What is the best distortion pedal on earth?

Bobby: The one Beethoven usedŠ

Tim: There are no absolutes.

Do you feel that the standard "guitar, bass, drums" set-up of a rock band is getting tired? I am personally being confronted with this idea every time I hear new music  I don't know if I am getting old & bitter or if it is for realŠ what is your opinion?

Bobby: You're getting old and bitter.

Andy: If you mean just that set-up, with no occasional ornamentation, then maybe. But it all depends on the songsŠthe presentation...the utter conviction with which the music is being played.  If a band has a vision, it will translate, regardless of instrumentation.

Tim: To me that's like getting sick of sausage pizzaŠNever!

Who did your cover art? Do you think Photoshop & the widespread use of computer fonts is helping or hindering the art of album covers?

Tim: We did and I hope so.

Bobby: I don't know, but a sharp guillotine sure comes in handy.

Who did the reproduction or replication of your cd? Are they good & cheap? What is the difference between reproduction and replication  isn't that the same thing or what?

Tim: I think it's great and cheap. Replication, reproduction whatever.

Bobby: Daddy, the man next door kisses his wife every morning when he leaves for work. Why don't you do that? Gracious little one, I don't even know the woman.

When was the first Creepjoint gig?

Bobby: I don't recall but I know it was filthy.

Tim: I don't remember.

Where else other than Syracuse have you played?

Bobby: A canoe, a ski lift and once in someone's bathtub.

Tim: New Yawk and Chicago

How many shows have you played?

Tim: Not enough.

Bobby: Well, all you fibroids, at least 3200 peepshows.

Why do you want people to hear this album? Why have you put it out? What are your goals with this project?

Andy: I see it as a project of darkness which feels completely authentic, at least to me. It's been put out to reach those that need to hear it. Goals? A livingŠ then, the world.

Bobby: Cause I'm fucking proud of it. 2 Whether or not if it knows, the world needs Kill The Head. 3 To create music that will still be good in 2000 years.

Tim: It will change their lives.

What is it about Syracuse that sucks so much for bands? Does Syracuse suck?

Bobby: Cause it's stupid.

Tim: I think the question speaks for itself.

Andy: I don't go out to see bands, because I'm borderline agoraphobic, at least in the bar/club environment (I usually have anxiety spells on the way to a gig, and only feel like myself again when I get behind the drums). So, I really can't make an honest or fair assessment regarding the state of live music in Syracuse. I can say that the local acts who've become most popular here have never interested me (blues, disco/novelty bands, rockabilly/country rock). * I think most people in Syracuse who go out on a week-end want to see/hear a band that either 1) plays music they are already familiar with, or 2) will play a favorable soundtrack for getting drunk or trying to pick someone up. They will be far less likely to spend their money on a band whose music may not sound very good on first hearing due to it having layers that bear repeated listenings. This situation will never change in Syracuse, nor in places like it. I really don't care‹I can only concentrate on listening to and/or playing music that does something good for me. The rest doesn't matter. *Earth Crisis are a notable exception: I thought their album "Gomorrah's Season Ends" was pretty crushing. What a great drummer, too!

How "emo" are you guys?

Andy: Not very. "Emo", as I understand it, is more along the lines of American Music Club (who I love, incidentally)‹music that rips your heart out with its gorgeous despair and longing. A better description of Creepjoint is actually in the question after next.

Bobby: Not at all. Emo? Whatever.

Tim: I don't know what you mean.

What bands do you think are peers for Creepjoint?

Bobby: That's subjective as hell. Some nights some bands are the greatest, others the shittiest.

Tim: More than a band Creepjoint is a way of living.

Andy: There's nowhere to hide, man. I'm as camp as a row of tents.

What do you look for in a beer?

Bobby: The bottom.

Tim: Nothing less than the meaning of existence itself.

Andy: A lack of alcohol. I'm a recovering drunk.

What makes you choose between BMI and ASCAP? Or, because you are so indie rock & have to choose the alternative, do you choose SESAC?

Tim: What is this alphabet soup?

Should bands hire lawyers immediately or should they just learn it all themselves?

Tim: Bands should come out of their wombs with lawyers in tow. 'kay?

Bobby: They should kill the head.

Do you have plans for a dance remix album of songs from the Kill The Head album?

Bobby: Come on Greg ' I saw ya dancing to it the other night.

Andy: I would not be averse to hearing what that would sound like!

Bobby, what has taken you this long to get into a great band goddamn it??? You have done some solo stuff on a cassette release & a duo project called LovelornŠ

Bobby: Put me on the spot why don't you. I have a larger biblio than that but I'm guess I'm fucking lucky they had the balls to take the freak aboard. Š

Do you not want to talk about Masters Of Reality? Why not dammit?

Tim: It's not important.

Give me the insider scoop on the Masters Of Reality, why did you leave the band?

Tim: I didn't. He did.

Andy, you used to be in the WALLMEN  what ever happened to the Wallmen? What about that Sean Curley, of the Wallmen, where is he? We all know that Norm of the Wallmen has been busy with The Druggies & The Human & Beauty Scene Outlaws since the break-up of the Wallmen, but where is Sean of the Wallmen?

Andy: I wouldn't have missed playing in Wallmen for the world. I learned just as much about music playing with them as I did playing in jazz ensembles or symphony orchestras at college. I think Wallmen (and I am removing myself from the equation, as they recorded many a masterpiece prior to my brief apprenticeship with them) will stand the test of time as one of the most important, most innovative, most courageous bands Central New York will ever see. Easily. Tim knows more about Sean's whereabouts than I do, so I will him field that one.

Tim: Sean is in Seattle.

Tim, you have done more major label or nationally distributed releases than most anyone from the Syracuse rock scene, stuff on Triple X and Def Jam and Delicious VinylŠ list off the ones you feel are important background history for you and the ones you are most proud ofŠ

Tim: I think you did an excellent job already.

Scott used to be the bass player for the Dracula Jones, that Syracuse grungey band from the early 90's that was the next "next-big-thing" after The Masters of Reality took offŠ back in the day, who would've won a tag-team wrestling match, Dracula Jones or Master Of Reality?

Scott: Dracula Jones who?? I never played in a band called Dracula Jones. I never lived in Syracuse. Who are Masters of Reality??? I am so confusedŠ

Through "the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" game, your band is within one degree of Billy Corgan  Scott the bassist did some work for him for years. What exactly did he do for Mr. Pumpkin? Does he still work with him? How many of your cds are you gonna shove up the Ass of Corgan?

Scott: I signed a confidentiality agreement. I cannot say.

Tim, Do you hear any Masters of Reality in the Queens Of the Stone Age stuff that Chris Goss has been doing? I hear it vocallyŠ

Tim: You have a point.

You are all veterans of the music industry & musician society, probably all near or past 30 years old. What is your stance on the age of musicians and how growing older effects what you want to do in a band?

Bobby: I don't know. I ain't old yet

Tim: I am now 2000 years old.

Andy: Sometimes the muse dies regardless of age, and sometimes it just keeps on going. The well hasn't dried up for Peter Gabriel, whose last album totally floored me (minus the dreadful single). It will probably never dry up for those like Elvis Costello or Tom Waits. I believe Tim Harrington gets better with every song, and I'm not just saying that; his best years are still ahead of him. (We just need to focus on that goddamned prostate of his. It's like a fucking potato in there, and I grow weary of sticking my thumb up his pouting anus for status. That gets old, if you want to talk about bands and age.) As far as growing older affects what I want to do in a band, I am happy to report that I am as hungry as I have ever been, and my passion for creating a piece of music as a performer (rather than a masturbatory exercise in technique, etc) grows ever more insistent. I will be 32 this year.

Scott: I am really sick of the record industry. They have no clue. They are the ones that are marketing a look or a style. Put on the headphones and go for a ride! The older we get, the spicier we become.

Is DogBoy Mike Roy still working on your website? Why is he not in a band, he is just as good as David Bowie or Greg Dulli. Make him be in your band. Discuss:

Tim: No and I don't know

What albums are making you blow out your speakers lately?

Bobby: Herbies Toad, The Armpits, Recordings of Icelandic Women in Orgasm and Bob Dylan

Andy: Dead Man Ray: "Cago Digipak"; Dillinger Escape Plan w/ Mike Patton: "Irony is a Dead Scene"; RJD2: "Deadringer"; EL-P: "Fantastic Damage"; Opeth: "Deliverance" and "Damnation"; The Mars Volta: "De-loused in the Comatorium"; David Ackles: "American Gothic"; Figurine: "The Heartfelt"; Bret Zvacek Quintet: "Day in May"; Bob Brookmeyer: "Waltzing with Zoe"; Radiohead: "Hail to the Thief"; Tomahawk: "Mit Gas"; Placebo: "Black Market Music"; Matthew Shipp, "Nu Bop"Š..to name a few.

What is your dream concert to open up for?

Bobby: The Flashing Astonishers reunion.

Tim: The Fugs open for us.

Andy: MIKE PATTON!!!

Anything else you wish to discuss?

Bobby: Yes, but you need an end to this interview. So go out and enjoy this summer of hate. Andy: Gregg, thank you for the opportunity to put in my two cents. I think it's fantastic that you are giving local performers a platform and a voice. Your magazine is awesome! Later!