The Professor: vocals, harmonica
Montague: guitar
Dan Electro: drums
Buzz Hagstrom: bass

SS: YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE GOING TO START RECORDING A NEW RECORD IN SEPTEMBER...CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT IT (WHEN WILL IT BE OUT, WHAT LABEL IS IT ON, WHO'S PRODUCING, ETC)?

THE PROFESSOR: Yes, we were supposed to go into the studio in September, but because of our touring schedule we wound up going into the studio in November. In September, we went to Japan for two weeks and were lucky enough to do 8 shows there. Normally a tour of Japan for most overseas bands are only 2-3 shows tops. To do 8 shows we consider ourselves very privileged. We were able to do that many just because of the many great friends we've made over there over the past few years.

The November recording session went really great! We recorded 16 songs at Mark Maxwell's Studio in Athens, GA. Jeff Walls, who has acted as our producer in the past and has sat in with the band from time to time, once again sat at the producer's helm. This time around we did one cover, a version of Bobby Freeman's "C'om and Swim." The other tunes are contributions from all of the Woggles. I think that's one of the strengths of the band is that everybody contributes and writes material, so things don't get too samey sounding, when a batch of new songs are worked up. The songs run the gamut of the kinds of stuff we do and like, from Kinks-esque ravers to R&B stompers to Beat flavored tunes to Instrumental numbers etc.

The record is due out next spring here in the US on Telstar Records. Telstar is home to some really great current rock and roll bands like the Swingin' Neckbreakers, the Fleshtones, the Mummies, the Mach Kung Fu etc. The album is licensed to a Japanese label called Trippin' Elephant, and should come out in Japan roughly the same time it does here. The guy who runs Trippin' Elephant is the guy who manages the Japanese band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant. So far there have been no takers in Europe, but it's early still, so it still may come out over there. The working title for the album is "Fractured."

SS: WHAT'S YOUR CONNECTION WITH THE PIETASTERS...YOU PLAY WITH THEM OCCASIONALLY? DO YOU GO OVER WELL WITH THEIR CROWD?

THE PROFESSOR: We first met the Pietasters in Savannah a couple of years ago when we were playing a gig down there. They just happened to be in the audience and really enjoyed our brand of nonsense. Then they had us play their record release party in Washington DC. That was pretty wild, because they didn't play their own party. They just had us play. Hey, they wanted to have a party, and we are more than willing to provide the entertainment! It was so much fun that they asked us to play again this year, and we were very happy to oblige them, cause it is a real blast!

We've only toured with them proper twice. Both of those tours were here in the Southeast. The first was Florida and the second included Atlanta and then dates northward through the Carolinas and Virginia. Whenever we've not been in the presence of musical Nazis then the shows were great. A musical Nazi is the person who has many things figured out, especially the way things should sound and be presented. They exist in Rock and Roll as well as other music sub genres. For the Pietasters, there are going to be some Ska Music Nazis who don't quite get the big picture, and if their egos outsize their hearts then they won't get the Woggles. Unfortunate, but true. When that happens, I hope they are extra annoyed by us. If you can't win'em over, then make sure you irritate the hell out of them.

But overall, playing with the Pietasters has been a lot of fun. Last June we played with them at Maxwell's in Hoboken NJ. It was the last day of our Spring tour. The show sold out and it was a cacophony of jubilation. People were there to dance and have a good time and we made sure they had it.

SS: WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE BAND TO PLAY WITH? WHY?

THE PROFESSOR: Boy that's a hard question, cause we have a lot of fun playing with a lot of different bands/friends. I couldn't name one favorite out of the rest, the same way I couldn't name a favorite song or band in general. I like a lot of things for different reasons, and given how I'm feeling at the time, one will have more appeal than another. But to list a few who we all consider great and worth checking out and listening to I'd have to say the Hatebombs, the Subsonics, the Vendettas, the Flat Duo Jets, the Fleshtones, the Insomniacs, Satan's Pilgrims, Guitar Wolf, Accel 4, the Neckbones, the Royal Pendletons, the Swingin' Neckbreakers, Bleed, and the Bomboras. I know there are others, but these come to mind first.

Any band that shares some of the same roots, or sups from the trough as we is going to be a favorite in some sense to us. It's unfortunate, but many a night we're cast alongside bands that haven't a clue to chromosomal mutating jubilating rawk'n'roll. Sad but true. In these instances, we try to set a plate for them at the table. I tell'em it's all they can eat, and if they recognize the hunger in their souls, when they leave that night they are truly satiated.

SS: YOU GUYS HAVE GONE THROUGH SOME LINEUP CHANGES, WHAT'S THE NEWS BEHIND THAT?

THE PROFESSOR: The band started when we were all in college many years ago. I've never faulted anyone if at some point they decided they needed to move on to do other things. You have to have a passion for this. There isn't much, if any pay, and it's a lot of work. Occasionally we get to do something fun and off the wall, like going overseas, but there's an awful lot of work that's gone on and has to continue going on, before any of those things could happen or continue to happen. You'd never guess how many barflies must be administered to before you can go overseas.

So throughout our history, there's only been one guy that the band had to ask to leave. That guy has got a good heart, but he just couldn't get along with all the different personalities in the Woggles. He didn't leave on bad terms and we still consider him a friend of the band. Out of the current lineup Montague has been in the band since 93. Buzz since 94. Dan Electro has been on drums since fall of 95.

SS: HOW LONG HAS THE BAND BEEN TOGETHER?"

THE PROFESSOR: The band started in the fall of 1987.

SS: WHO TAILORS THE SHIRTS YOU WEAR ON STAGE?

THE PROFESSOR: Well, they could all use some tailoring right now. We've been on tour through most of the fall, and they're all beginning to look a little worse for wear. Mostly we've had the good fortune to dig up matching shirts just by keeping our eyes open. We did have a bunch of Bowling Shirts and they were tailored by a gal up in Athens, GA named Juniper. We're always on the look out for new threads and could use some now..

SS: HAVE YOU EVER HURT YOURSELF DURING A SHOW FROM DANCING ON TOP OF BARS AND JUMPING OFF OF STAGES?

THE PROFESSOR: Too many times to count. People have asked me, if when you fall it's in slow motion, I tell them no. The ground moves very fast. It can't wait to show you how frail your body really is. I've screwed up my back, knocked out teeth, tore up my foot, and most recently messed up my knee. The pain from the knee wound being most fresh in my mind, I'll share/wine to you about that one.

As part of our US tour with Japan's mighty Guitar Wolf, we played Atlanta back before Halloween. The show was at the Star Bar. At some point I had scampered up on the bar that is freestanding in the middle of the room. I was set to jump off and over a bunch of folks down front of me. Unfortunately Mr. Punk Rock, right in front of me, didn't get it. The puzzle had too many pieces. Poor kid, no doubt he's always been the square peg, and I mean the kid is square. Anyhow, as I go up and over, he throws his arm up. That was stupid, cause he caught me, and I wasn't going go down without his sorry ass.

So as I cartwheeled over, I made sure to clobber him upside the head with my boots. Hey, they got no steel toes, but I had an awful lot of momentum. As I continued my descent and saw how my legs were heading, I did manage a brief smile as I thought that next time the kid would have the etiquette straight. I pulled myself up and kept on dancin' and turned round to see how my apprentice was. He had a very stupid look on his face, especially since I'd just taught him a lesson. While he stood there dazed, I put my arm around him and got him to chime in on the Chorus part of "Get Tough."

SS: YOU GUYS ALSO WENT TO EUROPE NOT TOO LONG AGO...HOW WAS THAT?

THE PROFESSOR: We just got back from Europe this past Sunday, Dec. 5. We played shows in Holland, France, Germany, and Spain. This was the first time we've ever played Germany. People had always told us in the past that folks didn't come out to rock and roll shows in Germany much, and that we should try and avoid playing there. Well, I'm here to say now that is a load of crap.

Germany was fantastic! We played 9 shows and had great turnouts, despite the fact that it snowed every day. At several shows we had 200+ folks and at others around 100. The early in the week shows were early of the week crowds at around 40 people, but regardless of size all these crowds had folks that were ready to shake and vibrate! The most fun shows also had DJs that would spin fun R&B/Rock and Roll/Instrumental tunes etc. both before and after we played.

In Holland we played live on the air at VPRO radio in Amsterdam. They set up their studio like a bar and have bands play. They broadcast most of your set. That was a ton of fun, because the kids there had no idea what was in store for them. They had tables pushed right up against the stage and folks sitting round them. So, we just stepped right off the stage and into their Pilsners.

Last year was the first time that we got to play Europe. Most of that tour was in France, 8 shows in fact. This year due to time constraints we wound up only being able to play one day and did so in Chambery, near Lyon. We played at a practice warehouse. The show was set up by Denis, who runs Larsen Records and has a killer fanzine by the same name. The zine always comes with a 7" and is really terrific, but it's only in French, so you'd best brush up on your High School Lessons.

For the past number of years, Spain has been the holy grail of rock and roll countries. When you're there they treat you like gods. All meals, drinks, accommodations, travel is taken care for you. The crowds go nuts at the first song. Normally, even if you're playing somewhere that people really like you it takes a couple of songs to get the crowd worked up. Not so in Spain. The first song and they're off like bottle rockets.

SS: WERE YOUR SHOWS IN EUROPE BIGGER THAN THEY NORMALLY ARE HERE?

THE PROFESSOR: I think that depends on how you mean bigger. There are places and spots we play all over the US where we pull probably as many people as we have in some of the bars in Europe. In Chicago, Seattle, New York, and other major cities we do really well and play to crowds of around 300. Not every time, but usually. And we've played to that many at various festivals.

I think it's more that in Europe you get more respect just as a musician and performer. I'm not talking about from the audience, but from all the shit we have to deal with on the other end. Here in the states it's almost always a hassle dealing with asshole promoters, sound guys, door guys, bar managers, and on down. In Europe we have just been treated so much better. I don't want to sound like I'm crying cause we wanted only green M&Ms and in the dressing room there were red.

I'm talking about all the basic things that are supposed to be there and are already agreed to. We have contracts all the time that say that we're supposed to get food and beer. Remember, we get very little money for what we do, so that evening meal coming from the club means a lot. But time after time, even though they have signed a contract, promoters in the US will do a song and dance and try to squeeze us out of food, beer, or both.

Whereas in Europe, you show up and there's the load in food and drink, then comes the evening meal food and drink. Later, when it's star time, there's the show time food and drink. There's just a general acknowledgement that the band and the club are working towards the same goal, which is a great show-regardless whether a million people show up or not.

SS: HOW DOES JAPAN COMPARE TO EUROPE?

THE PROFESSOR: Similar, in that you're given a lot of respect when you're there. The clubs that we play there are pretty small by US comparisons. The bigger ones that we've seen are about the size of the Star Bar in Atlanta. But they do cram 300 folks in there at a time.

This year we toured Japan with several different bands including the Havenots, Goygen Rends, Accel 4, the Bunnies, Estrella 20/20, and Kings Brothers. With Accel 4 we went to the island of Shikoku for the first time. The shows down there were smaller, but it was really cool to see so much more of the countryside. We got to spend the night in an old style Japanese farmhouse and see a lot of things we hadn't on our previous trips.

Right now in Japan, Garage Rock is undergoing a Japanese renaissance. That means a lot of bands use that banner to describe a very primitive and raw sound, coupled with a wild stage show. Remember, according to Guitar Wolf's Seiji (the guitar player) the music is secondary to "Making many good jumps." So there is a definite emphasis on being out of control on stage.

But these bands that are using this moniker are all Japanese bands. It seems like just us, and with a couple of other exceptions (the Makers, the Lord High Fixers), the Japanese Garage Rock fan is most interested in Japanese bands playing this music.

But to give you an idea of its popularity, Guitar Wolf pulls 1000 people when his shows are promoted by the record company (Sony Japan). Also he is in Japanese soft drink commercials and recently starred in a Japanese Rock and Roll Zombie movie. So Guitar Wolf is probably the most popular, but many of the groups I've already mentioned have audiences as big as 300 kids when they play. I don't think that in this country fans of Guitar Wolf would necessarily think of what they do as Garage Rock. Maybe they think of it as noise rock or maybe they think of it as a spectacle. But I know that he (Seiji) thinks of it in terms of Rock and Roll and for that matter so do we.

SS: WHAT WAS THE LAST RECORD YOU BOUGHT AND WHY DID YOU BUY THAT RECORD IN PARTICULAR?

THE PROFESSOR: The last record I bought, I got right before our Euro tour. It's a copy of Gino Washington's "Out Of This World." It's a reissue comp on Norton. Gino was the James Brown of Detroit, in the late 50s-60s. Like James had Future Shock here in Atlanta on WTCG (later TBS), Gino had his own show up in Detroit. Gino recorded for a ton a different labels and always kept control of the rights. It's really killer R&B stuff. I highly recommend it. My fave cut is the title track. It's a song that was expertly covered by current garage/rock and roll meisters the Detroit Cobras.

During our jaunt through Europe we got a chance to loot the vaults of Larsen Records in France. I pulled a couple of jewels out of there. Both are 10"s. One is from the Waistcoats (get it? like Headcoats, see?) called "Beat Party." The other is from the Slow Slushy Boys.The Waistcoats have sort of Headcoat leanings, but the best cuts on the 10" are the instrumentals with the boss organ. I've heard earlier Slushy Boy records (they're from France) and those had a more Headcoats/Billy Childish flavor, but this is way better as the group seems to be coming into their own sound. The title is "10 fabulous Hits" and they are. In fact many are R&B covers, but they all have a Slushy Boy stamp on them, which makes it fun and worthwhile to hear. I guess I could describe the sound as more "Beat" than Kinks, for garage aficionados.

SS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SPINAL TAP?

THE PROFESSOR: Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I live it.

THE END