|
Interview with Bob
Urh from the Ultra 5
v When did all started with the Ultra
5? The band started early 1985,after being in “the
RAGGED BAGS” in Kent/Cleveland Ohio from 82-84 and seeing the bands at the
dive in Chelsea NYC, I decided to start the ULTRA 5, the word ULTRA then was
not used in every sentence like it is today and I took it from the 60,s
Japanese ULTRAMAN show that I watched as teenager. v Who were the members of the Ultra 5
back then? At first it was
me on vox phantom guitar and lead vocal, Ariane root on farfisa vip 345 organ
and backup vocals, Bob Osuna on drums and John Chua on bass. This lineup
lasted about one year-to change many times over the ten or 11 years we were
together with the addition of Tara McMunn of MANEATERS. Fame on bass and 14
permanent drummers plus fill ins over the next years. v Was there any garage scene in NYC at
that time? Yes-at that time it was the golden era of garage in nyc, there were
tons of bands playing at a lot of clubs where all the people who went to
shows were dressed totally cool and outta there brains on all sorts of
goodies, also I was doing some booking at a couple clubs that let me put
together GARAGE nights with bands that I liked-the OPTIC NERVE, etc. v Were you involved in any other bands
by then? No, just the
RAGGED BAGS before moving to NYC-but during the ULTRA 5 and in 1992 I started
the LONE WOLVES with Orin Portnoy who was then producing some ULTRA 5 tracks. v Do you remember where did the Ultra
5 have had their debut live appearance? It was at a
club in Brooklyn called LAUDERBACHS and they had holes in the floor,
sandwitches and some dogs that ran all over the place, I remember going out
to move the gear that night and being amazed that the van was still there! v What were your main influences back
then in the first Ultra 5 days? We listened
to many comps to find the rarest way cool track to cover by the most obscure
band to cover-plus there was the MUSIC MACHINE, The COUNT FIVE, STEPPENWOLF
and a ton of insane English psych stuff that a friend from BAM CARUSO records
sent me from England. |
v What exactly happened to the “House
Of Fun” LP and didn’t make it to the record stores? Well in the last Q I
sort of answer that, but SKYCLAD in the USA did an amazing job promoting it
and we even had our own section cards printed in some music stores in the US!
At this point people started calling us UNDERRATED as a band and garage music
in NYC at this time was nothing- Heavy metal was on its was with the big hair
bands etc-a lot of garage people actually moved to LA to be part of this
shit! v What about Mexico? We were playing at an
S&M club on a shitty freezing Monday night and this guy came up at like 4
am and asked if we wanted to tour there? We were all like yah right! But in
the end he was honest and we were actually the first garage band to play and
start a scene with DANNY WAKANTANKA my best friend and importer at that time
of all garage in Mexico as co-owner of TUTTI FRUTTI club in Mexico City, he
also coined the term PSYCHO GARAGE in reference to the ULTRA 5 during this
period- We did three tours there as the ULTRA 5 and one as ZERO CHILD in
2002- Moonking records in Mexico released “DEAD OR LIVE” in Mexico on their
great label in 1992! In 2001 I realized there was a band called THE
ULTRASONICAS” in Mexico City that are self proclaimed children of the ULTRA 5
and they have 2 lps as well as organizing and opening for the ZERO CHILD show
in 2002. v Have you ever played in Europe live? No we have not, but
there’s always the future-if anybody knows me its that I will play anywhere
anytime! v What are the members of the Ultra 5
doing today? As far as I’m concerned
I’m playin in ZERO CHILD with TARA McMUNN and doing the solo thing called BOB
URH & the BARE BONES. As far as the other members of the band I’m not in
touch with them and you’ll have ask em if you can find em? |
||||
|
|
|||||
|
v What do you remember most from the
Ultra 5 today? I guess blasting and
writing songs in the music building three times a week for years in time
square at full volume and people coming in and telling us we could be heard
for blocks away at port authority! v Do you believe that there will be an
interest for all these garage bands of the 80’s era in the future? Yes, there is already
and we’ve gotten a lot of offers to put unreleased tracks and there are
luckily a lot of em-as well as unseen video mayhem! v Name some of your fave bands of the
80’s & 90’s The OPTIC NERVE, The
PODZ, the MANEATERS, TRYFLES, The CHEETAH BEATS, PUPPET SHOW, the DREAM
SYNDICATE, CLUB. v Are you listening to any new garage
bands today? Do you go to any live gigs? I like the ULTRASONICAS,
LOS ACAPULCO, COFFIN DAGGERS, and I’m listening to a lot of ancient blues
like LONNIE JOHNSON, RUFUS THOMAS-mashed potatoes yes YES! Yes there are some great
gigs to se at CONEY ISLAND, USA! In the summer they have
shows with burlesque acts as well as freaks in between the bands and are great
fun! v Some details about your new bands,
Bob Urh & The Bare Bones and Zero Child? Yes, ZERO CHILD started
in 1996 when THE ULTRA 5 split- It’s named after a song I wrote for the HOUSE
O FUN lp with the same name with the hopes that someone might get the connection,
we have 25-studio track competed and 13 live in Mexico (an evening of ultra violence) 2002, as
well as a great video from Coney island USA 2002. The BARE BONES have 9 songs
completed and is a solo thing (cryptic blues with a healthy dose of garage
psych) with some help from my friends on recording. Just like ZERO CHILD we
are looking for a label to put out some or all of the above mentioned tracks! v Do you want to tell anything more? PLAY LOUD N FUZZY, FROM
THE “HOME OF PSYCHO GARAGE GALORE” WWW.ULTRAPRODUCTIONS.ORG v Thanks, Bob! |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
v Did you get any attention outside
NYC when you started the band? At first we
got a lot of attention from Canada and the What Wave people and this resulted
in a ton of comp track contributed as well as two wild Canadian tours!
There’s a video from the ELECTRIC BANANA club that’s way cooooool. v How come you released your studio LP
on a Greek label? Actually I’m
not sure-we were contacted by them for our first lp called “REINCARNATION”
they were a new label and we were even asked to design their logo! All went
as planned on the first lp so we thought well why not with the third lp? To
be released together in the USA on SKYCLAD doing the cds – The cd came out in
the US on schedule but “WHO STOLE THE SUMMER” went outta business and
canceling our first European tour and demoralizing the band in spirit-we
spend $5000 on HOUSE O FUN just to be blown off by the people who where our
European label-all they said was TOUR CANCELLED on the fuckin answering
machine-then vanished! |
[The Ultra 5
Discography & Photos]
[Ultra 5 Posters,
Flyers & Photos] [Back to the Stoneage Cavemen]
