ramones

Ramones

This interview was done via phone in June 1995.

Krusty: I want to start off by saying that I love the new album.

CJ Ramone: You've heard it then? Cool.

K: I got a copy of it yesterday. I like it. I think it's probably one of the best. First time through, I was able to pick my two favorite songs, 'Making Monsters For My Friends' and 'Scattergun'.

CJ: Cool. I sang one and I wrote the other. I'm very flattered.

K: For some reason I really like 'Scattergun'.

CJ: Good. That's actually like the first song that I'd ever, really decent song, I'd ever written for the Ramones. The first one I felt comfortable playing in front of them. I had tried to write songs for 'Mondo Bizzaro', but they just sounded like I was trying to write a Ramones song. So, Johnny was just like, 'Look, just relax and write a song. And if it's good, we'll put it on the record.' So, I was like, 'OK, that's a good way to go about it.'

K: Well, I think you succeeded in writing a Ramones song, because it is.

CJ: Cool. Thanks.

K: What's it like to play for an audience where probably about half the audience has been alive less than the band has been around?

CJ: It's kind of strange. I mean, when I first got into the band and even when I was younger, it was mostly like punks and skinheads and stuff at the show, when I was a fan and stuff. And more like underground people and stuff. But now it seems to be just like a bunch of really young kids. Our audience has totally changed. It is kind of bizarre. It's definitely kind of weird. But it's fun. Cuz it seems like the kids don't take things as seriously and they just are there to have fun. It's nice.

K: Are the old fans still there?

CJ: Oh yeah. You can definitely see some of the real hard-core fans are still there. I mean, sometimes I look out into the crowd and there's people that I've never met but I recognize from all the years before. That's kind of a weird sensation.

K: How do you guys fee about this new album? Are you pleased with it?

CJ: Yeah. I think everybody in the band really… The reason I dig it a lot is… It's not even the songs really; it's the way we did it. Cuz we just went in and recorded everything live, except for the vocals, of course. And, it's much more honest, it's more real than like going in and, 'Oh, I didn't like that part', you know, 'Let's take it from the top' or 'OK we'll punch you in right there'. It's like, just play it, you know, and just leave it all in.

K: So that means when people see you this year, it's going to sound just like the album?

CJ: Oh yeah. Definitely. The songs… well, actually right now on this last tour we only did… the only song we did off the new album was 'Cretin Family'. We started to do… we did another song that we had recorded but didn't make the album. And that was, the theme from 'Spiderman'.

K: The theme from 'Spiderman'?

CJ: Yeah. The cartoon. We actually recorded it for an album of all different bands doing songs from cartoons. And we were going to put it out on our record instead. But, we found out that that record isn't coming out until '96 and we didn't want to step on anybody's toes. So, we pulled it off the record.

K: This is a band that I've had twelve years of questions swimming around in my head, and of course; they've all taken leave of absence now.

CJ: Yeah. That's just like when you walk into a record store. You can never think of what you want to get. Right now I'm listening to Corrosion of Conformity, their new album. It's really good. But, I listen to everything. Everything from Tom Waits to, like Quicksand and Fugazi. Everything. Anything that's good.

K: What was it like working with Dee Dee on this album? I know he had quite a bit to do with this one.

CJ: Well, Dee Dee was like, always like, an influence. You know, as if you couldn't tell. Yeah, he was always a big influence on me, so it was like a real treat to get to work with him so… it was… he really helped me out a lot, too. He talked to me for a while and gave me a lot of really good advice. I really enjoyed it.

K: Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with the idea for 'Scattergun'?

CJ: It's, um, I have a shotgun. Well, I got a couple of shotguns actually. I go skeet shooting a lot. And… I don't know… I just… you know… I have… it's kind of what the song's about. It's about my shotgun. It sounds kind of funny, but it's true. Like, I tend to, like, I write things… most of the time I write lyrics, they're about either somebody I know, or just something I know… something I'm familiar with. Like I've wrote songs about my car and songs about my shotgun, and… See, most of the stuff I write though… I have a band on the side, and that's where most of my lyrics and my music goes to, cuz it just doesn't fit the Ramones style of music. So, that's where most of it goes. But 'Scattergun', yeah, it's about my shotgun. I'm sure some people will end up finding some kind of political message in it, or accuse me of being, politically incorrect or something. But, fuck it; I'm a punk rocker. I'm not supposed to be politically correct.

K: Right. Now, you mentioned that you have a side band. Do any of the other members have side projects they work on?

CJ: Yeah. Everybody, you know, pretty much… I think… Everybody except for Johnny. You know, everybody goofs around on the side, nothing serious, but you know you gotta do something to break up the monotony.

K: I suppose. It doesn't seem monotonous to me, but I suppose if you're doing it every day it might…

CJ: Yeah. You know, especially like, for me it's not so bad cuz it's six years. But twenty-one years is… I couldn't imagine having the same job for twenty-one years.

K: They must like it though.

CJ: Definitely.

K: It seems like a long time to me.

CJ: Yeah. Like you said, the band's been around almost as long as you've been on the planet.

K: Now, what do you think of some of the newer punk bands that are coming out?

CJ: Well, I have a real problem with the punk rock label given to some bands and to me they're not really punk. You know what I mean? I never really… I don't know… I guess I'm getting old… I don't get it. But, I really dig some of the bands. I think they're really good songwriters. Rancid and Green Day. I mean, those guys can definitely write some good catchy pop punk tunes. You know what I mean? And nobody can take that away from them. But it just seems like it's too much of a fashion more than a… like in the 70's it was more of a reaction to what was happening back then. But now it just seems to be another fashion trend and that's… that really sucks.

K: Yeah. I don't know. I kind of see the same thing happening. I mean I'm really afraid that a lot of the kids that are listening to those bands now, when this whole resurgence thing is over, they're going to forget about them.

CJ: Oh. Of course.

K: And they're not going to continue on.

CJ: One time, we shot a video in Canada. Not a video, we were doing a movie called 'Car 54, Where Are You?' and they had hired all these kids, these like hard-core punk kids to come down. And, we were playing in a club scene and these kids were all slam dancing and stuff, and these kids had never heard of the Ramones before. And I was like… I'm not talking, you know, from the point of being in the band, you know, because I dug punk way before I was in the Ramones, you know what I mean, but, I was so blown away by that statement that I couldn't believe it. I was like in shock, I'm not trying to sound like, 'you've never heard of the Ramones? Oh my god.' But, let's be serious. The punk rock scene used to be a very small, you know, underground type scene, you know, and these kids had not even heard of the Ramones, the band that probably started punk rock. That's like talking to somebody in a rockabilly band, and they say 'I never heard of Elvis Presley.' You know, I was like, 'Oh my god. I can't believe it.' And that's when I realized, you know, how long the band had been around. I was like, 'Whoa,' you know they… that's what it is.

K: Yeah. So, you've seen things change a lot from when you were just watching it? I don't know… I mean I've seen the same thing. I've had people tell me that they've never heard of the Ramones, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, and Minor Threat…

CJ: It's kinda sad though, that, you know, people have totally forgotten where punk rock came from. If you don't… if you've… never seen… if you never gotten to the root of something, how can you possibly understand what it's about, you know? It's… if you don't know where it started, how can you possibly know what it's about? I don't get it.

K: Yeah. Um, which do you prefer then, recording or touring?

CJ: Well… I really don't like recording at all. I really despise it. It's too much like work, unless you do it like we did the last record, just go in and play. That was cool. But, I've had, like 'Mondo Bizzaro' was not a… I don't know it just left a bad taste in my mouth about recording. I don't know, it's too much like work, you know. You gotta go there, be there at a certain time - play it, stop the tape, play it again, stop the tape, play it again, stop the tape, play it again. I don't know I just like to go nuts. I just like to be on stage with my bass goin' totally crazy watchin' all those people in the audience go crazy, you know, it's like that's what I get a thrill out of.

K: You guys have toured all over the world. Are the fans any different elsewhere compared to the United States?

CJ: It's pretty much the same. It's pretty much the same everywhere you go. Pretty much everywhere you go the kids are the same. But, I have to say that South America is the absolute craziest place that we go to. Like… Brazil, Argentina, those two countries are totally out of hand. They're great, you know. The kids sit outside in front of the hotel and sing all night. We have to have bodyguards that stay outside our hotel rooms all night long. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

K: That just sounds odd. I don't know, I've never thought of them being like that.

CJ: Yeah. It's a totally different thing. I mean, here we're like an underground punk rock band, and all over most of the world. There, the only bands that are bigger than us are like, the Rolling Stones, Metallica, and Guns 'N' Roses. We did a stadium; we played for like 40,000 people.

K: And I suppose, here you're talking, what, much smaller, or about half that?

CJ: The clubs here? That we do? We play from anywhere to 500 to 3000 people here usually.

K: It's kinda weird being able to talk to bands that I've been listening to for years and years and years.

CJ: Yeah. That's kinda how I felt when I went to audition. It was weird to be playing with a band that I, you know, that I listened to for such a long time.

K: What did it feel like when you first started? I mean, were you intimidated by them or were you able to feel comfortable right away?

CJ: No. I was never intimidated. I wasn't comfortable, but I was never intimidated. They way I looked at it was I got hired to do a job. And I was there to do a job. And that was it. I was just gonna do the best I could. That's exactly what I did.

K: What about the Tom Waits remake on the album? What did you choose that?

CJ: Um… with my band, we used to jam on a couple Tom Waits songs. And, Daniel Rey, the producer, heard about it and he said, 'You know, I heard this one Tom Waits song that I thought would be good for the Ramones to do. What would you think if we did it?' And I was like, 'That would be great.' You know, cuz I'm a big Tom Waits fan. And everybody heard the song and dug it, so we did it.

K: I think it turned out really good.

CJ: Yeah. I thought it was real good too. I had fun doing it.

K: What are you guys hoping for with the future of the band?

CJ: Um… I guess, really, what would be… what would be really nice, is if… is if this album went gold. And, you know, and we could start… making a lot of money. No. You know, I just, I would like to see the Ramones get a gold record. I mean, 'Ramones Mania' went gold, but that don't really mean too much cuz it's a greatest hits album. I would like to see this album go gold. I think that would really be a nice thing to happen to them after twenty-one years, to finally get a gold record.

K: I'm still surprised it hasn't happened. It really does seem odd. I mean, they've been there forever; at least it seems like it to me. They're great. I mean it doesn't make sense to me why they've never reached the levels of some of these other bands.

CJ: Yeah. Well, you know that, and I know that, but the masses don't know that. You know, it's got a lot to do with the industry never got behind the Ramones, um… MTv never got behind the Ramones, you know. Nobody really ever got behind them and tried to help them out and um… they've just carried on for twenty-one years doing what they do.

K: That doesn't make sense that nobody got behind them. Because there are so many bands that were influenced by them and sound like them, not exactly, but in ways.

CJ: Yep.

K: And those bands are doing great.

CJ: It's very strange.

K: I mean the Ramones pretty much started this whole thing. And they've probably gotten the least recognition for it.

CJ: Well, maybe someday after they retire somebody will way, 'Wow. You know, these guys for all those years and you know they never got what they deserved… blah, blah, blah…' But it won't matter cuz we'll be retired by then, you know, really to me, I mean, I would like to see them get the gold record because I think they really want one, but to me, I don't, I don't really give a sh… give a crap about none of that stuff, you know. If you can make a living doing something that you love to do and get out there and meet all kinds of cool people, and inspire other people to play and stuff, that's really what counts the most.

K: Right.

CJ: You know what I mean? Cuz gold records and stuff, I mean, that shows that at least a lot of people like you, you know. But that's all bullshit that the industry sets up. You know what I mean? That's all bullshit to me, you know.

K: Right.

CJ: Like, if I was in, if I had been in the Ramones from the beginning, I wouldn't have cared about nothin' because they just started so much cool stuff. I mean, what more could you want, that's really how you measure success, is by how many people you inspire, how many people, you know… really, how many… how many bands can hold onto their… an audience for twenty-one years? That's a real accomplishment. Not selling, you know 300 million albums worldwide and stuff like that, you know.

K: Yeah. I don't know. I personally don't think they should retire, but I suppose they deserve it.

CJ: Well, it's not definite that we're retiring. I mean, there's been all kinds of rumors and stuff like that, but… you know, we haven't set a date or nothin' like that. But everybody's like, 'Adios Amigos', this must be the last album. And realistically, it probably will be. But we haven't… we haven't said, you know, that's it, we're gonna retire.

K: Right.

CJ: You know, we haven't thrown in the towel yet.

K: Right. I mean, I guess to me… it seems to me that, maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression that as long as you guys are enjoying it, you're not going to quit.

CJ: As long as we think we're playing good. As long as we're good on stage, we're gonna keep going. That's probably closer to the fact. As long as the fans are still enjoying it. Cuz, you know, that's the most important thing. You're up there and put on a good show for a bunch of people. You're not up there to um… to stroke your own ego or anything like that, to me anyway. That's not why you're up there. I love it. But, of course, there's days I get up there and I'm like, 'Jesus Christ not the show again,' you know. But, it's just like any other job. It's got its good points and it's bad points.

K: What's it like being on the road so much?

CJ: It's torture. It's torture. It's total torture. Imagine… imagine you have a boyfriend, this is you, you have a boyfriend and a family, you know, your mother, your father, your sister, or your friends. You're never home for holidays, you're never home for anyone's birthday, you miss all the really important family stuff. You don't… you only get to see your boyfriend once in a while, and then when you do, it's like you still got your road head on, and you come home and you just totally can't relate to the whole situation. You gotta just kinda like wall yourself in for a couple of days until you relax enough to, like start talking like a human being again. Except that in music, the highs are like, ultra high, but the lows are ultra low, you know. It's like… it's definitely not for the faint of heart. Yeah. Being on the road is tough.

K: I don't know, it just amazes me how these bands can do it.

CJ: Some, and I mean, we just go out on the road for a month or two at a time. Some bands go out for like six months at a time, you know, they just go out and play for six months straight. But, then they take six months off, you know, and that's nice.

K: I don't know. All I can say is that I'm definitely looking forwards to seeing you again.

CJ: Cool.