Much to several cities' delight and
surprise, Rocket From The Crypt played a number of small venue gigs
over the summer as 'special guests' of Delta 72. The word spread
quickly and the result was a bunch of sold-out, sweaty, true to life,
rock-n-roll shows in an intimate setting. We were lucky enough to
witness three of these shows--two in Philadelphia and one in New
York. We also had the chance to catch up with the boys in the band
who informed us of their plans for the next record. But, before we
spread the gospel of Rocket, let's go back over a year to a chilly
November Chicago-style, where the band played two nights at The
Aragon Theatre, opening up for Soundgarden...
Chicago, November 1996. The Windy
City struck mayhem on two wayward girls who travelled a few hundred
miles to catch up with Diego's finest. The one, the only, Rocket From
The Crypt. It was a brutally cold day, the wind almost strong enough
to rip us to shreds. And we nearly froze to death while waiting for
the band to show up at The Aragon Theater (for the interview) when JC
2000 - trumpeter, primo tambourine player, suave mover-n-shaker, and
the only member around - decided to be a gracious host and invite us
on the bus to get "toasty".
So that begins our Rocket From The
Crypt adventure. And what brings the hottest punked out slice of
rock'n'rockabilly pie to Chicago to support the mecca of RAWK bands,
Soundgarden? RFTC balladeer Speedo (and the closest thing to Elvis
San Diego's got) shed some light on that rather perplexing situation
in a post-soundcheck chat session.
"It's basically our farewell tour for
this record ["Scream Dracula Scream"]. We were going to go out by
ourselves...[but] there aren't many bands of this size that we'd want
to go and play with. And this is just something like 'yeah, maybe
people who like them might like us'.
"We look at it as a challenge," he
continues, "but at the same time, we're not going anywhere. We're
going to be a band for a very long time. We don't throw temper
tantrums, walk off in the middle of the tour, we're all the best of
friends...We're kind of about bringing people together and we like
the challenge of going out to people who may not understand what
we're about."
But Speedo, any chance we may find
you walking through the arena to greet your newfound
'fans'?
"I'm not going to stroll through the
crowd...I probably stand more of a chance of getting my ass kicked
than someone coming up and talking to me...You're one of those
faggots in those shirts up there."
And how about those shirts? It seems
as if you've been sportin' those silver sequined ones quite a bit
lately...
"The Warped Tour was the first time
we wore these, so this is only the second time," quips Apollo 9
-saxman, Chelsea supporter, and resident Anglophile. But Speedo, as
usual, elaborates. "These are also the most expensive shirts we've
ever made...they're our favorite ones." Besides, as ND, the quietly
handsome guitarist, says "We were only home for 5
days."
And that five days covers the time
between now and this past summer, when the band travelled over to ol'
Blighty, where they rocked out so hard at Reading that the power
blew, and holding an illustrious slot on Top of the
Pops.
JC: "It was fun, we got to hang out
with The Smurfs too, with their chart-busting song
[Wonderwall]."
Speedo: "They're more popular than we
are...I remember the last time we toured the States, we were playing
the same city as The Smurfs, in every fucking town. They completely
took away from our audience."
Well boys, you better watch out,
because those lovable blue creatures are making a grand
comeback.
"I always hated it..."Speedo claims,
"There was only one chick out of them. That was a bit
weird."
And how about Baby Smurf, what's up
with that?
JC: "The smurf stork brought
him&emdash;Storky Smurf."
Speedo: "I think Brainy pretty much
foreshadowed Urkel [from that fantastic sitcom Family Matters] ...I
think Urkel's sad, the guy's like 35."
JC: "America's watched Urkel grow
up."
Speedo: "And stay the
same."
Okay then, on to more important
matters, namely, alcohol. When in a bar, we always look for the
bottle of Absolut Kurant. What about the members of
Rocket?
Speedo jumps at the chance to
enlighten us. "I look for the green one with the dead lizard at the
bottom...[it's] a low level of gasoline with tequila and a dead
lizard at the bottom. It's really expensive, it's like $20 a shot.
And it's always really dusty, too, cause there's a lizard in
it.
"The first thing I look for actually
is a Budweiser neon clock. Or posters with girls in bathing suits,
little flags like racing flags [or] football helmets with brands of
beer on it."
JC, on the other hand, has a
different view altogether. "I don't remember what I look for. I
usually drink to forget, so when I go in there, I don't remember
anything."
Speedo: "You look for the person
who's going to buy you a drink."
JC: "Yeah, and that's the only detail
that I care about."
Well hopefully the band isn't
spending all their time in a bar, getting belligerently drunk,
because they've got new songs to record. But Speedo reassures that
all is well in the camp.
"We wrote some [songs] and recorded
them while we were over [in the UK]...We're just going to finish this
tour, do the Australian and Japanese tours as well, and then go into
the studio and record the rest...We've already recorded nine songs
that we like a lot...We were really inspired that tour...When we
finally got in [the studio] with a bunch of new songs, it was really
fresh, it had a lot of energy. It just felt really good and different
from anything we've done, but at the same time, not necessarily a
departure. We're just being different."
And all willing, with the new record
the band will have a slew of new tales and anecdotes about the
formation of the band and whatnot, because we all know how these boys
like to bullshit...
"I don't know what you're talking
about," argues Speedo.
"Where'd ya hear that," grins Petey
X, with a devilish look in his eyes and a snicker in his voice, "we
don't lie...what have you heard."
Well nothing immediately comes to
mind...besides the obvious stories.
"Well there you go."
Speedo: "The other day we were
playing and I said, "We're really happy to be here.' That was a
lie."
What city had that unfortunate
greeting?
"I don't know, I say it every
night."
It's now November 1997 and New York
has just waved goodbye to Rocket From The Crypt. For six weeks the
seven hotshots from San Diego invaded our bars, inhabited our clubs
and É well, they found the time to record a new album too. And on top
of drinking a few of the guys under the table on a few occasions
(they will most likely deny the charges, but we didn't have
debilitating hangovers the next day), Erika and I got the scoop on
the new record.
For their new release, Rocket From
The Crypt hooked up with Kevin Shirley, the producer responsible for
Aerosmith's latest effort. The schedule was relaxed, the session was
live, the band was at ease (if they weren't still feeling the effects
of the previous night's debauchery), and they managed to record 18
tracks. Although the title is still being debated, at least they've
decided on including 13 cuts on the forthcoming album, scheduled for
a spring release.
And even though the band didn't play
any shows while in New York, they did manage to catch a few when they
weren't holed up in the studio. Some of them caught Clawhammer at the
Knitting Factory, and (gasp!) Oasis at Hammerstein Ballroom. One of
the guys even managed a photo op with Ray Davies on a West Side
street corner.
It could be said that their New York
jaunt was a successful one. We will just have to wait an see what is
to come of Rocket From the Crypt's next full-length. It's bound to be
brilliant thought innit?
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