My voice is being silenced by the liberal media

Some people may be aware that a group I perform in, the Ill Itches, will be having a record release this Friday at the Marble bar here in Detroit.

The band has done several interviews where the interviewer emails the band questions and we each answer them. In one such interview, all of my answers were omitted, and I heard from the other band members the music journalist got mad because I didn't take the interview seriously enough. I feel like I am in high school again.

Here is a link to the interview as published:

Ill Itches DeepCutz Interview.

It was partly this incident with this interview that inspired me to start writing my own blog again. I really meant no ill-will with my answers to these questions. I just felt like the questions were "leading questions". You know what I'm talking about, questions where the interviewer is really looking for a specific response from the subject. I know the interviewer wanted me to get all sentimental and retrospective about my business with the band, but I just didn't feel like it. Instead, I took it as an opportunity to make fun of the other band members and make a few jokes.

I expected the journalist to pick one or two safe answers from me, not to omit me completely. So here are my answers to the interview that were never published, unfiltered.

1.       Guys... I can feel the passion poured into this thing; I can feel the work. I can feel the joy, the frustration; it all comes through (particularly on a song like Lucille). When you guys look back on the year+ road leading up to this album, the work that went into it, what were your biggest takeaways? What did you find most fulfilling about the experience, but what, more so, did you wind up learning about yourselves or each other, from the experience?

I have learned that buying cheap equipment may sound like a chance to save money, but in the long run it is more likely to break or fail. And then what you get is a bass head that costs more to fix than it is worth. I still prefer using other people's bass rigs. Mine may look cool, but it doesn't have tubes in it. What you get from a high quality tube head isn't the same as the 200 dollar head you bought used at music-go-round. Learn from my mistakes, invest in a decent head that will be worth getting fixed if you trip over the input jack. Also, keep a close eye on your head if you think it may be in danger of vibrating off of the cab when you are rehearsing. Or if it breaks, blame it on another band that is borrowing it after your set and demand that they pay to replace it for you.

2.       Josh was in Japan for...what? More than a year? 2014? Can you fill us and listeners in on more of the timeline & backstory leading into this album and whether you guys were sort of operating at a low-simmer for a sec while Josh was away? What were the band meetings like, when you talked about the future, 2 years ago, and how do you feel now, having gone through this recording?

When Josh wasn't here, all I heard from Stephen was him whining about his exgirlfriend. I know she would have made a great first wife, but whats gone is gone! Thank God Josh came back and started to run the business affairs of the band! I sure as hell didn't feel like kissing peoples asses for gigs and socializing with people.

3.       If it wasn't covered before, going back to Josh leaving continents for a period...Was there ever any doubt this band wouldn't continue? Whether there was, or if there wasn't, what were some of the deciding factors that assured it would continue

I knew we had to continue because I left one of by bass rigs in Josh's basement, so I knew better than to go around burning any bridges. I have lost equipment because I left other bands on bad terms. I have no regrets on that either.

4.       When you listen back, what stands out? We could talk about the way it sounds, the mics in the room, the mixing, we could talk about the texture of the tones, we could talk about the lyrics, we could talk about what the whole thing says, as a grand collage... We could start anywhere, but  if you think back on it, where does your mind go to first, in terms of what your most stoked about...?  Can someone also cover where, when and with whom, this was produced?

First off, I didn't go to a grand collage. I went to a cummunity collage. And all I heard there was liberal propaganda about white privilege. This album was produced by Zach Shipps. The patience of that man to deal with the other 3 pre-madonnas was nothing short of incredible!

5.       How did it come about that you guys would utilize some of the vibes and flavors of  a) indie-rock  b) blues  c) psychedelia... but push each respective tract to characteristically intense velocities, to the point of punk-fast tempos or metal-like extremes... Was that something that formed organically? Something about your collective influences? Or has it become something you've realized helps set you apart--?---what DOES set you dudes apart, after all?

I think that we are very lucky to have any success at all. I am still amazed that people come to our shows. It is nice, I am not going to lie. But I've realized that for some people making music is nothing but an attention seeking ploy. I try to remember that I do this for the love of wanting to be a better musician, a more efficient player, a more overall disciplined person. I like exercising my hands. I like pushing myself to play things that are painful to play. I know I'm learning if something isn't easy for me. I tell people all the time I am much happier playing in my basement than I am trying to muscle my way into good slots with other bands, which is everything around here. I am so glad I don't have to do any of the business in this band. I focus on trying to make the band sound the best it can as a whole, and getting a little limelight for myself every now and then.

I ended up electing to not answering any of the questions on the Hentchmen. It was hard to give a response to those questions because I can honestly say I never followed much of the local music scene from 10 years ago. I know I was supposed to say I was influenced by them and what not, but when they were in their hey-day, I was still taping scrambled porn from my dad's satellite dish. I wasn't driving to Detroit and hitting up bars. So, with all do respect to the Hentchmen, I can't lie and give them credit for influencing me. I really think its great they are playing with us, and they are a really great band indeed, but I never heard of them before getting involved with Detroit. People forget, I am basically a country boy, and stuff that seems really relevant to people around here in Detroit, there is still a good chance I've never heard of it.

Well, thank you for reading the blog. I hope I didn't offend anyone or get into anymore trouble.