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Michael Gerard (Killdozer): Slave to the Grind

 

Killdozer je bio jedan od ključnih američkih noise rock sastava osamdesetih, a ponikao je u gradiću Madisonu u saveznoj državi Wisconsin. Njihovo pomalo enigmatično ime u stvari je naziv kultne novele SF pisca Theodorea Sturgeona, a znakoviti su po svojem specifičnom, teško uporedivom zvuku te jasnom otklonu prema ljevičarskom svjetonazoru. Ovih par rečenica je valjda dovoljno za praćenje ekskluzivnog intervjua kojeg je s Michaelom Gerardom, bas gitaristom, pjevačem i ključnim autorom benda odradio KLFM-ov suradnik Hrvoje Bubić!

(iz objektivnih razloga, ovaj razgovor prenosimo u engleskom izvorniku te u hrvatskom prijevodu)

Michael Gerald (by Joel Mills – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons)

• Can you please tell me how Killdozer formed, your influence, how do you made 1st album Intellectuals Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite, your relationship with producer Butch Vig and is it true that Kurt Cobain wanted to work with B. Vig all be cos Killdozer?

We formed when we were college students in 1983. Dan and I met in high school and we went to the University of Wisconsin along with Dan’s older brother Bill. We always wanted to be in a band, so we started one! Our influences at the time would have included Gang of Four, the Birthday Party, the Fall, and Flipper, as well as older bands like Led Zeppelin and Credence Clearwater Revival, to name a few. Once we had what we thought was enough material for an album, we went to record at Smart Studios in Madison, where we met and recorded with the owners, Butch Vig and Steve Marker. The recording session was a drunken party for us, and those two guys managed to get some great sound from us in their warehouse space on an 8-track recording system. With help from Robin Davies of the Tar Babies and our own money, we pressed 1,000 copies of the finished product and sold them from our apartment in Madison! We always wanted to work with Butch and Steve after that. I understand that story about Kurt to be true, but I never met Nirvana myself.

• You said in one interview that Killdozer was big influence on Seattle grunge scene (while I rather bet on Die Kreuzen) although your style is similliar with term sludge metal like Melvins. Can you please how do you develop that style, is it answer to the speed of 80′ hardcore?

Yes, because most of our early shows in the 1980s were with hardcore bands, which for the most part were silly and stupid and played too fast, we opted for more of an old fashioned heavier sound and fucked up rhythms and time signatures.

• Killdozer is lot ‘s know for interesting covers: from Janet Jackson, Neil Diamond to the Deep Purple and AC/DC. Is this a tribute or more like parody, and is it true that cover Nasty of Janet Jackson was in 1st top 5?

The purpose of our covers depended on each particular song. For example, the Neil Diamond song we liked because it has ridiculous lyrics and hammy, whereas the Deep Purple and James Gang songs we genuinely liked as rock tunes. The mystery to me is why we did American Pie and Take the Money and Run, both of which I think are truly horrible songs. “Nasty” made it into the top disco charts in San Francisco.

• Your lyrics are full interesting topics, from raping, pedophilia, most “famous” son of your state Wisconsin Ed Gein and then there is communism, left wing. Do you ever got any issues with lyrcs especially when is topic of communism is kind of taboo during in that period of Cold War?

The only time we got grief for the communism stuff was when we played in Prague in 1994, and somebody threatened to kill us when we hung up a Soviet flag as a backdrop. As for the other stuff, it was hard to get radio airplay and Dan and Bill’s parents objected to the lyrics on some of the songs on “Burl.”-

• Killdozer was twice in Croatia: Pula and Zagreb ‘96 on the farewell tour Fuck You ,We Quit with Erik Tunison of Die Kreuzen as replacement for Dan Hobson on drums and Paul Zagoras on guitar as replacement for Bill Hobson on guitar. So what is your opinion of Croatia and Croatian crowd and could be Killdozer show in town Split?

We played in Zagreb in 1994 as well with Dan Hobson. Also, the 1996 tour included a second guitar player, Jeff Ditzenberger, as replacement for Bill. We loved playing in Croatia, especially Zagreb. My opinion of Croatian crowds is that everyone is very tall! I would very much enjoy visiting Split, the town of Toni Kukoč, but I don’t believe that we have any shows in the future.

• And for the end you, after Killdozer, you begun as lawyer, guitar Bill Hobson went for job of grip, meanwhile, drummer Dan Hobson has remained active in the Madison music scene. What most will interested people, especially youngster who are on college and work, how do you managed with real job, college and Killdozer?

Dan Hobson is also a nurse! You have to have a desire to do it, because it takes up so much of your time. We were very busy all the time going to college and writing songs at the same time, and when we played some reunion shows recently spent a lot of time every weekend for months relearning and rehearsing our songs. It also takes a lot of effort to tour and still have a job when you return home. Over time we learned that there is one thing that is not compatible with playing in Killdozer: having children. Once Bill, and later Dan, became fathers, they could no longer tour, so being an asshole I first replaced Bill with Paul Zagoras and Dan with Erik Tunison without bothering to tell either of them about it! Paul and I invited Jeff Ditzenberger to join at the same time as Erik because we were getting bored by the limitations of only one guitar. We intended to record another album with that lineup, but then I was hospitalized and decided to quite music altogether in favor of getting a job with health insurance—which is how I became a lawyer!

• That is it, big tnx!

You’re welcome!

• Možeš li mi kazati ukratko o osnivanju Killdozera, imenima koja su utjecala na vas, kako ste snimili nastupni album, o vašem odnosu s producentom Butchem Vigom, te koliko ima istine u priči da je Kurt Cobain zahtjevao suradnju s njim zbog rezultata vaše suradnje?

Sastali smo se još dok smo bili studenti, 1983. Dana znam još iz srednje škole i zajedno s njegovim starijim bratom Billom smo upisali Univerzitet u Wisconsinu. Željeli smo imati sastav pa smo ga i pokrenuli. Tada smo bili pod utjecajem sastava poput Gang Of Four, The Byrthday Party, The Fall i The Flipper, no na nas je djelovao također i zvuk nekih starijih bendova, primjerice Led Zeppelina ili Creedence Clearwater Revivala, da spomenem tek ta dva. Kad smo imali dovoljno materijala za album, otišli smo u Smart Studio u Madisonu te odradili snimanje s vlasnicima, Butchom Vigom i Steveom Markerom. Proces snimanja je u stvari bio jedna razuzdana pijanka, a ova dvojica (Vig i Marker, op. prev). izvukli su izvrstan zvuk s obzirom na skladišni prostor studija i osmerokanalnu miksetu. Uz nešto našeg novca i pomoć Robina Daviesa iz Tar Babiesa, tiskali smo tisuću primjeraka ploče koju smo prodavali iz našeg stana u Madisonu. Kasnije smo, logično, željeli nastaviti rad s Butchom i Steveom. Lako je moguće da je to u vezi Kurta istina, mada nikad nisam susreo članove Nirvane.

• U jednom si intervjuu spomenuo kako je Killdozer izvršio enormni utjecaj na grunge scenu u Seattleu (ja bih se po tom pitanju kladio na Die Kreuzen), mada je vaš stil sličniji onome što se naziva sludge metal, dakle bliskiji zvuku Melvinsa. Kako ste došli do svojeg specifičnog zvuka i nije li to svojevrsni odgovor na hardcore iz osamdesetih?

Upravo tako. Većinu smo naših nastupa u osamdesetima odradili dijeleći pozormicu s hardcore sastavima, uglavnom stupidnim glupanima koji su usput i svirali prebrzo. Naš je izbor bio jedan staromodni, teži zvuk s sjebanim ritmovima i kompliciranim tempom.

• Killdozer je poznat i po brojnim zanimljivom obradama drugih autora, u rasponu od janet Jackson, preko Neila Diamonda pa do Deep Purpela i AC/DC. Jesu li to istinske posvete ili prije nešto nalik parodiji i je li istina da je vaša verzija skladbe Nasty Janet Jackson dospjela među prvih pet brojeva na top listi?

Smisao tih obrada varira od pjesme do pjesme. Primjerice, skladba Neila Diamonda nam se svidjela zbog smiješne melodije i stihova, dok smo pjesme Deep Purplea i Jamesa Ganga uistinu voljeli; to su prave rock stvari. Još mi je uvijek nepoznanica zašto smo snimili American Pie i Take Money and Run, pošto su obje doslovno užasne. Nasty je pak upala na top liste disko scene San Francisca.

• Tvoji su stihovi prepuni zanimljivih ali i provokativnih tema – tu su silovanja, pedofilija, zatim Ed Gein, ‘najpoznatiji’ sin Wisconsina (čuveni ubojica i kradljivac leševa, op. prev.), no također i naginjanje lijevoj opciji i komunizmu. Jeste li imali problema zbog tekstova, posebice komunizma koji je u doba Hladnog rata bio jedna vrsta tabua?

Samo smo jednom zažalili zbog koketiranja s komunizmom i to kada smo 1994. svirali u Pragu. Prijetili su nam smrću jer smo iza pozornice izvjesili sovjetsku zastavu. Također, pjesme su teško nalazile svoja mjesta u programima radio postaja, a Danovi i Billovi roditelji su nam prigovarali zbog nekih stihova na albumu Burl.

• Killdozer je dvaput svirao u Hrvatskoj: jednom u Puli, te u Zagrebu 1996., u sklopu oproštajne turneje Fuck You, We Quit, kada je Erik Tunison iz Die Kreuzen uskočio umjesto Dana Hobsona na bubnjevima, a Paul Zagoras je zamijenio Billa na gitari. Kakvo je tvoje mišljenje o Hrvatskoj i lokalnoj publici, te postoji li šansa da se u neko buduće vrijeme Killdozer uprizori u Splitu?

U Zagrebu smo svirali 1994., s Danom Hobsonom u postavi. Također, turneja iz 1996. je uključivala gitarista Jeffa Ditzenbergera kao zamjenu za Billa Hobsona. Uživali smo svirati u Hrvatskoj, posebno u Zagrebu. Po onome što sam vidio, hrvatska je publika podosta visoka. Stvarno bih volio posjetiti Split, grad iz kojega dolazi Toni Kukoč, no nažalost se bojim da više nećemo nastupati zajedno kao Killdozer.

• Za kraj, nekoliko pitanja o vašim karijerama nakon razlaza Killdozera. Ti si postao odvjetnik, Bill Hobson je filmski tehničar, a Dan je ostao aktivan na glazbenoj sceni u Madisonu. Mislim da bi publiku, posebice onu mlađu zanimalo kako ste nosili sa ‘pravim’ poslovima, obrazovanjem, te na koncu Killdozerom?

Dan Hobson je ujedno i medicinski brat! To je posao koji uistinu moraš voljeti, jer odnosi previše vremena. Nekoć smo bili u strci jer smo usklađivali studranje i glazbu, a kad smo nedavno odsvirali nekoliko nastupa iznova okupljenog Killdozera, uvježbavanje starih pjesama nam je odnijelo vikende tijekom nekoliko mjeseci. Također, nije bilo jednostavno otići na turneju i zadržati aktualne poslove po završetku iste. Vremenom smo spoznali kako je jedna stvar nespojiva sa sviranjem u Killdozeru, a to je biti roditelj. Kada su najprije Bill, a zatim i Dan dobili djecu, više nisu mogli odlaziti na turneje, pa sam se ponio kao popriličan gad i zamijenio ih novim glazbenicima. To sam napravio bez imalo dvojbe i otvoreno im rekao u čemu je stvar, dovevši u sastav Paula Zagorasa i Erika Tunisona. Paul i ja smo zatim pozvali i Jeffa Ditzenbergera, kako bi izbjegli zvučna ograničenja kakva nameće samo jedna gitara. Imali smo namjeru snimiti još jedan album u toj postavi, no u međuvremenu sam završio u bolnici. Upravo me to iskustvo natjeralo da smanjim bavljenje glazbom te pronađem posao koji garantira zdravstveno osiguranje – eto, tako sam postao odvjetnik!

• To bi bilo to. Hvala na svemu!

Nema problema, i drugi put!

 

Razgovarao: Hrvoje Bubić
Prijevod: Vjeran Stojanac