Interview with Jimmy


What is the deal with "Las Vegas, New Mexico"? "It's 'The other Las Vegas' as it says on their sign as you come into town. We had been passing through there a couple times and we just thought, 'well, no one even acts weird when you say it, so it's just as effective as the one in Nevada', it just kind of sneaks by you without the proper credentials and you don't really notice." What is all the noise about you losing your distribution deal? "Truman, bless his pointed little heart, publicly referred to the American public as an 'Egg-farting ignorocracy' on several occasions. Needless to say, this did not fare well in our fear-motivated society. That is about all I should say about it, at this point." What is the "Oklahoma credit card" referred to in the song: Eisenhower Jacket? "Hee hee (cackles like hillbilly) That would consist of a length of fuel line and a 5 gallon gas can. It's the way Okies get gas when they don't got no money. In movies it always shows people usin' garden hose for siphonin' gas, but fuel line work a lot better, it takes less suction and you don't get as much gas in your mouth!" (cackle cackle). What is "Tech-Neck"? Is that what you call this style of music? "We really don't like to be called rednecks by any stretch of the imagination, ya know, just the association with racism and all. This music is more of a reaction against that dick swingin' cowboy bullshit that goes along with any sort of rural image in our culture. We don't call it anything, and neither does anybody else. These names like "Blues, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock-n-Roll..." were all made up by record companies and radio promo dickheads. It's just music when yer' playin' it. But to answer you question, 'Tech-Neck' is the name of Parson's (Roberts) company. People just seem to have co-opted that into the name for our style. Anyone who knows us or has actually seen us knows there is nothin' redneck about it." Truman (Pinacoose, who has declined interview) has referred to his work as performance poetry as opposed to songwriting. As a musician, how do you feel about that? "Well he always does what he wants anyway, but yeah, that is a good way to look at it, because the songs are so simple structurally, you really need to get inside them and "be" them while they are happening or they just don't work. You have to forget about yourself and focus on the sound field and the vibe that we are all sharing at a given moment. People always think I look pissed off when I'm playin' but I'm really trying to let go and be in the music more than anything. I'm havin' the time of my life up there actually. Maybe I just got locked into that game face from all those years of playin' in places where we were really not welcome or necessary." I hear beat poetry, rural blues, country, psychedelic, rockabilly, middle eastern and techno elements throughout this album. Was it hard to build a fan base with this eclectic mix of influences? "Well, yeah, in a way a lot of places we played early on people were too busy standin' around actin' tough to actually decide whether or not we sucked." Well, we did suck at first, but so did everybody else. We decided early on that we were going to play our own material. So, it was about eighty percent original tunes right from the git-go. And even the covers were done interpretively. So, yeah, that really chapped some rural asses. Keep in mind it has only been recent years that we begin playin' in places that don't have a pool table." (Hee hee, cackle.) Did people give you much trouble at first? "Well not too much, cuz we've always had physically large people in this band, (Ha ha) and...well you kinda learn to get along with just about anybody most of the time...don't order imported beer or anything foolish like that...But yeah there were incidents and allegations and stuff." Parson Roberts is a recent addition on Bass and other instruments, how many people have been in and out of this band over the years? We got P.R. first as our engineer and then when things finally ended with our previous bassist, it just turned out that Parson not only played bass in a very unique way, but also had the right kind of production sense for this kind of music. Incidentally, the previous guy was let go because he kept insisting that James Cotton was the first guy to record 'Rocket 88'...(Hee hee)...well not just that, but that was the kind of thing he would always say...'Dave Grohl was the bassist for Nirvana'...those kinds of distortions are hard for us to put up with and the guy would just insist that he was right all the time! But to answer your question, the nuke-u-lus (sic) has always been me an' Truman, with many drummers and bassists over the years. Probably nine guys total." What was the main reason for personnel changes over the years? "Well...when yet really not makin' a livable wage most of the time, good players can be lured away to other opportunities...playin' covers and standards and such. Some of these guys signed on because they initially like the material, but it soon became obvious that there really wasn't an economic infrastructure for this type of music at the time. The venues were either strictly rock, straight country or what have you. But we played those joints anyway...well once anyway, before they canned us. We really thought we would be 'discovered' at some point and 'it'...whatever 'it' is, would actually happen for us. We did not think at the time about how long you could toil in relative obscurity as a 'C-list' band in the states." Was there even a temptation to 'sell out' and change your artistic vision at anytime? "We never sold out, cuz nobody really ever offered to buy...(Hee hee)! You just wasted your tenth question on that."

What is the deal with "Las Vegas, New Mexico"?

"It's 'The other Las Vegas' as it says on their sign as you come into town. We had been passing through there a couple times and we just thought, 'well, no one even acts weird when you say it, so it's just as effective as the one in Nevada', it just kind of sneaks by you without the proper credentials and you don't really notice."

What is all the noise about you losing your distribution deal?

"Truman, bless his pointed little heart, publicly referred to the American public as an 'Egg-farting ignorocracy' on several occasions. Needless to say, this did not fare well in our fear-motivated society. That is about all I should say about it, at this point."

What is the "Oklahoma credit card" referred to in the song: Eisenhower Jacket?

"Hee hee (cackles like hillbilly) That would consist of a length of fuel line and a 5 gallon gas can. It's the way Okies get gas when they don't got no money. In movies it always shows people usin' garden hose for siphonin' gas, but fuel line work a lot better, it takes less suction and you don't get as much gas in your mouth!" (cackle cackle).

What is "Tech-Neck"? Is that what you call this style of music?

"We really don't like to be called rednecks by any stretch of the imagination, ya know, just the association with racism and all. This music is more of a reaction against that dick swingin' cowboy bullshit that goes along with any sort of rural image in our culture. We don't call it anything, and neither does anybody else. These names like "Blues, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock-n-Roll..." were all made up by record companies and radio promo dickheads. It's just music when yer' playin' it. But to answer you question, 'Tech-Neck' is the name of Parson's (Roberts) company. People just seem to have co-opted that into the name for our style. Anyone who knows us or has actually seen us knows there is nothin' redneck about it."

Truman (Pinacoose, who has declined interview) has referred to his work as performance poetry as opposed to songwriting. As a musician, how do you feel about that?

"Well he always does what he wants anyway, but yeah, that is a good way to look at it, because the songs are so simple structurally, you really need to get inside them and "be" them while they are happening or they just don't work. You have to forget about yourself and focus on the sound field and the vibe that we are all sharing at a given moment. People always think I look pissed off when I'm playin' but I'm really trying to let go and be in the music more than anything. I'm havin' the time of my life up there actually. Maybe I just got locked into that game face from all those years of playin' in places where we were really not welcome or necessary."

I hear beat poetry, rural blues, country, psychedelic, rockabilly, middle eastern and techno elements throughout this album. Was it hard to build a fan base with this eclectic mix of influences?

"Well, yeah, in a way a lot of places we played early on people were too busy standin' around actin' tough to actually decide whether or not we sucked." Well, we did suck at first, but so did everybody else. We decided early on that we were going to play our own material. So, it was about eighty percent original tunes right from the git-go. And even the covers were done interpretively. So, yeah, that really chapped some rural asses. Keep in mind it has only been recent years that we begin playin' in places that don't have a pool table." (Hee hee, cackle.)

Did people give you much trouble at first?

"Well not too much, cuz we've always had physically large people in this band, (Ha ha) and...well you kinda learn to get along with just about anybody most of the time...don't order imported beer or anything foolish like that...But yeah there were incidents and allegations and stuff."

Parson Roberts is a recent addition on Bass and other instruments, how many people have been in and out of this band over the years?

We got P.R. first as our engineer and then when things finally ended with our previous bassist, it just turned out that Parson not only played bass in a very unique way, but also had the right kind of production sense for this kind of music. Incidentally, the previous guy was let go because he kept insisting that James Cotton was the first guy to record 'Rocket 88'...(Hee hee)...well not just that, but that was the kind of thing he would always say...'Dave Grohl was the bassist for Nirvana'...those kinds of distortions are hard for us to put up with and the guy would just insist that he was right all the time! But to answer your question, the nuke-u-lus (sic) has always been me an' Truman, with many drummers and bassists over the years. Probably nine guys total."

What was the main reason for personnel changes over the years?

"Well...when yet really not makin' a livable wage most of the time, good players can be lured away to other opportunities...playin' covers and standards and such. Some of these guys signed on because they initially like the material, but it soon became obvious that there really wasn't an economic infrastructure for this type of music at the time. The venues were either strictly rock, straight country or what have you. But we played those joints anyway...well once anyway, before they canned us. We really thought we would be 'discovered' at some point and 'it'...whatever 'it' is, would actually happen for us. We did not think at the time about how long you could toil in relative obscurity as a 'C-list' band in the states."

Was there even a temptation to 'sell out' and change your artistic vision at anytime?

"We never sold out, cuz nobody really ever offered to buy...(Hee hee)! You just wasted your tenth question on that."