A dozen of brilliant albums, hundreds shows on the biggest stadiums all over the world, participation in the most giant fests together with legendary bands, crowds of fans and followers and thousands people naming their pets after the band’s members… are not about Skate Korpse at all. Those guys from Rochester and Buffalo didn’t invent anything brand new, but they used the experience of such punk rock monsters as Agent Orange, J.F.A., The Faction, Dead Kennedys, Descendents etc in the best way. It doesn’t make any difficulties to guess what came out of it – fast hardcore and melodic instrumental surf compositions according to the best traditions of the genre. This music would hardly amaze anyone in 80’s, but nowadays there are very few bands like that one, the more so because Skate Korpse managed (or did it happen by an accident?) to get a sound that reminds of the time of skate-rock prosperity.
The line-up of Skate Korpse stayed constant through the whole life of the band and looked the next way: Alex (guitar, vocal), Quinn (drums), Kurt (bass, vocal). It’s as clean as day that this trio doesn’t have a lot of records to boast: demo tape, 3 7”s and “Discography” LP, that includes all the listed releases and some unreleased stuff, 22 songs overall. Every single song deserves your attention, but I have to mark out cover versions of an ageless hit “Moon Over Marin” (Dead Kennedys) and surf-classics “Pipeline” (The Chantays), and also some blasting self-composed songs, such as mega-catchy “Down” and “Frontpage Whiteout”.
There’s just a bit more info about Skate Korpse in internet then “totally nothing”, that’s why to find out anything about this band I had to bother musicians themselves. Fortunately Alex turned out to be a very responsive and sociable guy, and a bit later I received reply from Quinn (I made an interview with each of them separately). So meet Skate Korpse:
A: My name is Alex and I played guitar and sang in Skate Korpse
Q: My name’s Quinn, I played drums in Skate Korpse
How and where did you get together? Were you experienced musicians by that time? Why did you decide to play that sort of music?
A: Originally, when Kurt and I were talking about starting a skate rock band, I was on tour with my old band, 17th Class. We were somewhere near the west coast, maybe in the desert in the Midwest or in Texas or something like that, when we decided that we really loved bands like JFA, the Spermbirds, Agent Orange and things like that. Kurt and I thought that it would be funny to do a band like Peace Corpse, but about skateboarding and with a K instead of a C.
“Experienced musicians,” not exactly. I had been playing guitar for a couple of years but I had never played guitar in a band before that. Kurt was probably around the same level of experience. Quinn had already been playing drums in local bands, so he had an idea of what he was doing. I forgot how we got Quinn to play in the band – probably just from knowing each other around the scene.
We played that kind of music because it was the kind of music that, at the time, was a big part of what we were listening to. It didn’t seem to be very popular, it was just what we wanted to do. Play surf instrumentals and skate rock.
Do you remember when and where your first practice happened? Who was composing music and lyrics?
A: The first practice happened in my parents’ garage. I think it was just Quinn and I, and we were going over some riff that I made up (which ended up getting abandoned). I wrote most of the music and lyrics in the band, with the other two guys throwing in their ideas every now and then.
Q: I remember having to wait forever, because Kurt was coming from Buffalo, which is like and hour away. I’m pretty sure we had a song by our second practice.
What was the first gig of Skate Korpse? Do you remember how everything went?
A: I remember our first show very well because I actually set it up. Back to the thing I said earlier about my last band, 17th Class – this actually needs some background explaining.
The tour that Kurt and I were on was a total disaster. 17th Class wasn’t really popular enough to do a full US tour, but we had just put out an LP and thought that it was a good idea. The tour was failing miserably, ending with the drummer staying in California and the rest of us going to New York. That happened around June of 2003.
A couple of months later, the drummer came back to New York and 17th Class decided to do one last show. By that time, Skate Korpse had gotten going. So the last 17th Class show was the first Skate Korpse show. It went incredibly well. Everyone seemed very receptive to the whole thing.
Was it difficult for you to book a show?
A: Much of the time, it was difficult to get shows. Like I said, that style of skate rock and surf punk wasn’t really hot at the time. People still seemed to really be into things like fast hardcore, thrashy stuff. There weren’t all too many people doing shows in Rochester and Buffalo at the time. We played whenever we could, mostly basements and community spaces like Access in Buffalo. Some promoters liked us more than others.
Q: We never really looked for shows to play. We just wanted to play fun shows with our friends.
What were the most memorable shows that you played?
A: We played with Career Suicide and Cut the Shit in L.A. when those bands were basically the biggest bands in the DIY punk/hardcore scene. That was an incredible show. Playing at This Is For You fest a couple of years ago was great too—when the band was together, not too many people knew our songs and stuff. At This is For You, a ton of people knew the lyrics and everything, making the whole thing awesome to play.
We played an all-surf-instrumental set in California when nobody had a P.A. or a microphone. Our last show in a basement in Buffalo was very memorable, and that’s available on DVD. Our last show in Rochester was with Annihilation Time – there were about a hundred kids trying to pack into this tiny room while we were playing our set. It didn’t work out the best, but I remember it very well.
What people usually came to your shows? Were you popular among local skaters?
A: All sorts of people came to the shows. It seems that a lot of skateboarders knew us and liked us. Part of that was all of Quinn’s friends coming to shows and things like that. In Rochester, a lot of skaters seemed to know who we were and came out to our shows. We requested that people bring skateboards to our last show in Buffalo, and they were everywhere.
All sorts of people, though. Punks, normal people, clean-cut hardcore guys, older people, younger people, whoever.
Did you play outside your city? Have you ever toured?
A: Skate Korpse did a little tour, but it was more of a vacation. We knew that we would be spending most of the money ourselves, which was OK. We drove in 2 days from Rochester to Seattle and played a bunch of west coast shows, including a show in Vancouver.
Name few most known bands or your favourite ones that you played with.
A: Annihilation time, Cut the shit, The Rites, Career Suicide, Black SS, and ANS all come to mind. I’m probably forgetting some, but that’s OK.
What in your opinion distinguishes Skate Korpse from other skate punk bands?
Q: Alex
A: Unlike a lot of other skate punk bands of that time, we weren’t stuck on playing hardcore songs all of the time. We would totally mix it up with surf tunes, really slow songs, weird covers of 50s pop songs, things like that. I don’t know, it seems like we weren’t really doing normal hardcore punk music, and it was always something interesting.
How did Skate Korpse get signed on Punks Before Profits and Art Of The Underground?
A: I knew Ryan from Punksbeforeprofits and that’s how he got involved in putting out the 7”.. When it came time to do the second 7”, nobody wanted to put it out. Gloom Records was going to put out a split LP with us and this German band named One Dimension, but he pulled out after learning that we were going to break up, which was understandable.
So I put out the second 7” with this guy Matt who runs DSK records. Alex from Art Of The Underground was starting up his label at the time and we asked if we could be put on one of the singles in his series1. That’s about it.
Did every member of SK skate? For how long had you been skating by the moment you started this band?
A: I have to put a disclaimer on that one: Kurt and Quinn were both excellent skaters. Not pro or sponsored or anything like that, but they were really great and knew what they were doing. I skated 100% for fun. I had an old school deck and just enjoyed doing things like power slides and just riding around. I was terrible at it. I had probably been doing it less than a year before the band got going.
Q: Me and Kurt had been skating for a while before Skate Korpse. Alex would skate if we were skating in the driveway or something but not at like skate parks.
What did you achieve in sk8boarding? Do you prefer street, vert, pool or freestyle?
A: I always preferred street skating – I never had much of a chance to skate pools, so shit like curbs was always fine for me. You don’t want to hear stories about my skating. I remember more about falling off the thing than I do about tricks and shit like that.
Q: Me and Kurt like to skate concrete and pools and stuff
What do you think about sk8boarding nowadays? Do you have a favourive skater/skate video/skate team?
A: To be totally honest, I have no clue what’s happening with skateboarding nowadays. I haven’t watched a skate video or gone skating in years. As far as my favorites go, I always liked watching Arto Saari and Duane Peters. Pretty much anything I knew about skating, I learned from the other dudes in the band.
Q: I don’t like the whole little kids doing handrails and stuff. I would rather watch people having fun on a skateboard, not throwing themselves down stuff.
Do you often have troubles with cops or other people while skating?
A: When I did skate, cops would occasionally harass you. What can you do? Just find another spot and skate there, and go back later when the cops go away. I’ve been arrested a couple of times, but not about things like skating.
Q: Yeah, when I used to skate street we would encounter a lot of security guards and stuff.
What do you think about the state of skate punk at present? Do you like any new bands?
A: There’s this band from Rochester called The Insubordinates, and I thought that their demo tape was fucking sweet. It reminded me of a skate rock band mixed with Sick Pleasure, which worked totally well. I haven’t heard too much else lately that has blown me away.
Bands that seemed to have sort of a skate rock influence like L’Amico di Martucci and La Piovra were pretty good. What are the new skate rock bands going right now?
What do you do for living?
A: Right now, I’m unemployed. Next year I’ll probably be going to law school. I’m hoping to go through life without having to work shitty job after shitty job until I die..
Q: I work in a warehouse
Why did you decide to split up? Is there any chance of reunion?
A: We broke up mainly because Quinn moved to Florida and Kurt said that he was going to move too. There’s basically no chance for reunion since I’m in Colorado, Quinn’s in Florida and Kurt is somewhere else (New York I think).
If you could get back to the past, would you change something in Skate Korpse?
Q: I would have changed the cover to the first 7inch.
A: Yeah – near the end, we spent too much time trying to write complicated songs. I wish that we were able to write more straightforward songs and play them. I wish that we played more shows. I wish that people liked us more while we were together instead of after we broke up.
Did any Skate Korpse member play in other bands after you split up?
Q: I play in a band called Staring Daggers and I’m in the process of doing a punk band with my girlfriend singing.
A: I played in a band called White York for a year or two after Skate Korpse. We put out a 7” but broke up after I moved from New York to Colorado. Kurt filled in in I Object! and other local bands. All of us are still in the scene, more or less. I’m only 23 and I will always love checking out live music, be it punk, hardcore, jazz, garage, blues, whatever. From day one, we were all nuts about different kinds of music. We’ll all probably continue playing and checking out live music.
What’s your attitude to politics? Do you support any social or political organizations?
Q: I’m vegan
A: I’m basically a social liberal. It’s an extension of punk’s influence on me – I want things to be fair for people. I want people in this country to have access to affordable health care, I want people to have jobs that don’t make their life shitty, I want American society to be an OK place to live.
Punk slips into nihilism very easily. It’s an attractive move to make. But the older I get, the less attractive it seems to me. After waking up over and over again, you realize that life goes on and on, no matter what. Eventually you decide that things should be made better for the long run, even if you can only make a little change.
I support Obama’s candidacy for president. I will be voting for him this November (interview was made in October 2008). Sometimes, I think it’s hard to say that you support any one candidate or party with all of the wrong moves and decisions that that party makes. However, it’s weird – this year, it seems like the presidential decision makes more of a difference than it normally does. Like, when I envision the future, I see two very different possibilities that depend on who will be in office next year.
The future seems to be a better place in America (and the world, really) if Obama’s in office. But that’s just my personal opinion.
What place in your life is occupied by skateboarding and punk rock? What do they mean for you?
Q: I will always be into skating boarding and punk!
A: Punk rock occupies a huge place in my life. It’s really just an extension of other kinds of music, which holds a firm grip on my brain and will continue to do so until I die.
Skating, now, holds less of an importance to me. If anything, it’s an extension of other concepts—being outside and active with your friends, living on the fringes of your culture, not being afraid of physical pain, being a part of a tribe, being able to entertain yourself for free (sort of), and so on. Nowadays I get more of a kick out of reading books, but skating will always be something fun to do.
Thanx a lot for the answers. Skate Korpse made some great tunes. Good luck with skateboarding and music!
A: Good luck yourself! Skate Korpse was meant to be about fun with your friends. Hopefully, such a simple message can continue to go on, no matter what you call it.
Discography:
Nov 2003 – demo tape, 100 copies made
Apr 2004 – “Self-Titled / No Fun” 7” – Punks Before Profits Records, 500 copies on green, 500 copies on black
May 2005 – “Down” 7” – DSK records, 200 copies on black, 100 copies on pink
May 2005 – “Rochester Blues / Skate Hospital” 7” – Art Of The Underground, 500 copies (250 by themselves, 250 in box sets)
Dec 2006 – “Discography” LP – Feral Kid Records / Punks Before Profits Records, around 1000 copies made.
1 - there’s a whole 7” singles series released on Art Of The Underground, including such bands as The Ergs!, Off With Their Heads, The Unlovabels, Andrew Jackson Jihad, The Leftovers, Chinese Telephones etc. Single of Skate Korpse was the third release of the series.
The line-up of Skate Korpse stayed constant through the whole life of the band and looked the next way: Alex (guitar, vocal), Quinn (drums), Kurt (bass, vocal). It’s as clean as day that this trio doesn’t have a lot of records to boast: demo tape, 3 7”s and “Discography” LP, that includes all the listed releases and some unreleased stuff, 22 songs overall. Every single song deserves your attention, but I have to mark out cover versions of an ageless hit “Moon Over Marin” (Dead Kennedys) and surf-classics “Pipeline” (The Chantays), and also some blasting self-composed songs, such as mega-catchy “Down” and “Frontpage Whiteout”.
There’s just a bit more info about Skate Korpse in internet then “totally nothing”, that’s why to find out anything about this band I had to bother musicians themselves. Fortunately Alex turned out to be a very responsive and sociable guy, and a bit later I received reply from Quinn (I made an interview with each of them separately). So meet Skate Korpse:
A: My name is Alex and I played guitar and sang in Skate Korpse
Q: My name’s Quinn, I played drums in Skate Korpse
How and where did you get together? Were you experienced musicians by that time? Why did you decide to play that sort of music?
A: Originally, when Kurt and I were talking about starting a skate rock band, I was on tour with my old band, 17th Class. We were somewhere near the west coast, maybe in the desert in the Midwest or in Texas or something like that, when we decided that we really loved bands like JFA, the Spermbirds, Agent Orange and things like that. Kurt and I thought that it would be funny to do a band like Peace Corpse, but about skateboarding and with a K instead of a C.
“Experienced musicians,” not exactly. I had been playing guitar for a couple of years but I had never played guitar in a band before that. Kurt was probably around the same level of experience. Quinn had already been playing drums in local bands, so he had an idea of what he was doing. I forgot how we got Quinn to play in the band – probably just from knowing each other around the scene.
We played that kind of music because it was the kind of music that, at the time, was a big part of what we were listening to. It didn’t seem to be very popular, it was just what we wanted to do. Play surf instrumentals and skate rock.
Do you remember when and where your first practice happened? Who was composing music and lyrics?
A: The first practice happened in my parents’ garage. I think it was just Quinn and I, and we were going over some riff that I made up (which ended up getting abandoned). I wrote most of the music and lyrics in the band, with the other two guys throwing in their ideas every now and then.
Q: I remember having to wait forever, because Kurt was coming from Buffalo, which is like and hour away. I’m pretty sure we had a song by our second practice.
What was the first gig of Skate Korpse? Do you remember how everything went?
A: I remember our first show very well because I actually set it up. Back to the thing I said earlier about my last band, 17th Class – this actually needs some background explaining.
The tour that Kurt and I were on was a total disaster. 17th Class wasn’t really popular enough to do a full US tour, but we had just put out an LP and thought that it was a good idea. The tour was failing miserably, ending with the drummer staying in California and the rest of us going to New York. That happened around June of 2003.
A couple of months later, the drummer came back to New York and 17th Class decided to do one last show. By that time, Skate Korpse had gotten going. So the last 17th Class show was the first Skate Korpse show. It went incredibly well. Everyone seemed very receptive to the whole thing.
Was it difficult for you to book a show?
A: Much of the time, it was difficult to get shows. Like I said, that style of skate rock and surf punk wasn’t really hot at the time. People still seemed to really be into things like fast hardcore, thrashy stuff. There weren’t all too many people doing shows in Rochester and Buffalo at the time. We played whenever we could, mostly basements and community spaces like Access in Buffalo. Some promoters liked us more than others.
Q: We never really looked for shows to play. We just wanted to play fun shows with our friends.
What were the most memorable shows that you played?
A: We played with Career Suicide and Cut the Shit in L.A. when those bands were basically the biggest bands in the DIY punk/hardcore scene. That was an incredible show. Playing at This Is For You fest a couple of years ago was great too—when the band was together, not too many people knew our songs and stuff. At This is For You, a ton of people knew the lyrics and everything, making the whole thing awesome to play.
We played an all-surf-instrumental set in California when nobody had a P.A. or a microphone. Our last show in a basement in Buffalo was very memorable, and that’s available on DVD. Our last show in Rochester was with Annihilation Time – there were about a hundred kids trying to pack into this tiny room while we were playing our set. It didn’t work out the best, but I remember it very well.
What people usually came to your shows? Were you popular among local skaters?
A: All sorts of people came to the shows. It seems that a lot of skateboarders knew us and liked us. Part of that was all of Quinn’s friends coming to shows and things like that. In Rochester, a lot of skaters seemed to know who we were and came out to our shows. We requested that people bring skateboards to our last show in Buffalo, and they were everywhere.
All sorts of people, though. Punks, normal people, clean-cut hardcore guys, older people, younger people, whoever.
Did you play outside your city? Have you ever toured?
A: Skate Korpse did a little tour, but it was more of a vacation. We knew that we would be spending most of the money ourselves, which was OK. We drove in 2 days from Rochester to Seattle and played a bunch of west coast shows, including a show in Vancouver.
Name few most known bands or your favourite ones that you played with.
A: Annihilation time, Cut the shit, The Rites, Career Suicide, Black SS, and ANS all come to mind. I’m probably forgetting some, but that’s OK.
What in your opinion distinguishes Skate Korpse from other skate punk bands?
Q: Alex
A: Unlike a lot of other skate punk bands of that time, we weren’t stuck on playing hardcore songs all of the time. We would totally mix it up with surf tunes, really slow songs, weird covers of 50s pop songs, things like that. I don’t know, it seems like we weren’t really doing normal hardcore punk music, and it was always something interesting.
A: I knew Ryan from Punksbeforeprofits and that’s how he got involved in putting out the 7”.. When it came time to do the second 7”, nobody wanted to put it out. Gloom Records was going to put out a split LP with us and this German band named One Dimension, but he pulled out after learning that we were going to break up, which was understandable.
So I put out the second 7” with this guy Matt who runs DSK records. Alex from Art Of The Underground was starting up his label at the time and we asked if we could be put on one of the singles in his series1. That’s about it.
Did every member of SK skate? For how long had you been skating by the moment you started this band?
A: I have to put a disclaimer on that one: Kurt and Quinn were both excellent skaters. Not pro or sponsored or anything like that, but they were really great and knew what they were doing. I skated 100% for fun. I had an old school deck and just enjoyed doing things like power slides and just riding around. I was terrible at it. I had probably been doing it less than a year before the band got going.
Q: Me and Kurt had been skating for a while before Skate Korpse. Alex would skate if we were skating in the driveway or something but not at like skate parks.
What did you achieve in sk8boarding? Do you prefer street, vert, pool or freestyle?
A: I always preferred street skating – I never had much of a chance to skate pools, so shit like curbs was always fine for me. You don’t want to hear stories about my skating. I remember more about falling off the thing than I do about tricks and shit like that.
Q: Me and Kurt like to skate concrete and pools and stuff
What do you think about sk8boarding nowadays? Do you have a favourive skater/skate video/skate team?
A: To be totally honest, I have no clue what’s happening with skateboarding nowadays. I haven’t watched a skate video or gone skating in years. As far as my favorites go, I always liked watching Arto Saari and Duane Peters. Pretty much anything I knew about skating, I learned from the other dudes in the band.
Q: I don’t like the whole little kids doing handrails and stuff. I would rather watch people having fun on a skateboard, not throwing themselves down stuff.
Do you often have troubles with cops or other people while skating?
A: When I did skate, cops would occasionally harass you. What can you do? Just find another spot and skate there, and go back later when the cops go away. I’ve been arrested a couple of times, but not about things like skating.
Q: Yeah, when I used to skate street we would encounter a lot of security guards and stuff.
What do you think about the state of skate punk at present? Do you like any new bands?
A: There’s this band from Rochester called The Insubordinates, and I thought that their demo tape was fucking sweet. It reminded me of a skate rock band mixed with Sick Pleasure, which worked totally well. I haven’t heard too much else lately that has blown me away.
Bands that seemed to have sort of a skate rock influence like L’Amico di Martucci and La Piovra were pretty good. What are the new skate rock bands going right now?
What do you do for living?
A: Right now, I’m unemployed. Next year I’ll probably be going to law school. I’m hoping to go through life without having to work shitty job after shitty job until I die..
Q: I work in a warehouse
Why did you decide to split up? Is there any chance of reunion?
A: We broke up mainly because Quinn moved to Florida and Kurt said that he was going to move too. There’s basically no chance for reunion since I’m in Colorado, Quinn’s in Florida and Kurt is somewhere else (New York I think).
If you could get back to the past, would you change something in Skate Korpse?
Q: I would have changed the cover to the first 7inch.
A: Yeah – near the end, we spent too much time trying to write complicated songs. I wish that we were able to write more straightforward songs and play them. I wish that we played more shows. I wish that people liked us more while we were together instead of after we broke up.
Did any Skate Korpse member play in other bands after you split up?
Q: I play in a band called Staring Daggers and I’m in the process of doing a punk band with my girlfriend singing.
A: I played in a band called White York for a year or two after Skate Korpse. We put out a 7” but broke up after I moved from New York to Colorado. Kurt filled in in I Object! and other local bands. All of us are still in the scene, more or less. I’m only 23 and I will always love checking out live music, be it punk, hardcore, jazz, garage, blues, whatever. From day one, we were all nuts about different kinds of music. We’ll all probably continue playing and checking out live music.
What’s your attitude to politics? Do you support any social or political organizations?
Q: I’m vegan
A: I’m basically a social liberal. It’s an extension of punk’s influence on me – I want things to be fair for people. I want people in this country to have access to affordable health care, I want people to have jobs that don’t make their life shitty, I want American society to be an OK place to live.
Punk slips into nihilism very easily. It’s an attractive move to make. But the older I get, the less attractive it seems to me. After waking up over and over again, you realize that life goes on and on, no matter what. Eventually you decide that things should be made better for the long run, even if you can only make a little change.
I support Obama’s candidacy for president. I will be voting for him this November (interview was made in October 2008). Sometimes, I think it’s hard to say that you support any one candidate or party with all of the wrong moves and decisions that that party makes. However, it’s weird – this year, it seems like the presidential decision makes more of a difference than it normally does. Like, when I envision the future, I see two very different possibilities that depend on who will be in office next year.
The future seems to be a better place in America (and the world, really) if Obama’s in office. But that’s just my personal opinion.
What place in your life is occupied by skateboarding and punk rock? What do they mean for you?
Q: I will always be into skating boarding and punk!
A: Punk rock occupies a huge place in my life. It’s really just an extension of other kinds of music, which holds a firm grip on my brain and will continue to do so until I die.
Skating, now, holds less of an importance to me. If anything, it’s an extension of other concepts—being outside and active with your friends, living on the fringes of your culture, not being afraid of physical pain, being a part of a tribe, being able to entertain yourself for free (sort of), and so on. Nowadays I get more of a kick out of reading books, but skating will always be something fun to do.
Thanx a lot for the answers. Skate Korpse made some great tunes. Good luck with skateboarding and music!
A: Good luck yourself! Skate Korpse was meant to be about fun with your friends. Hopefully, such a simple message can continue to go on, no matter what you call it.
Discography:
Nov 2003 – demo tape, 100 copies made
Apr 2004 – “Self-Titled / No Fun” 7” – Punks Before Profits Records, 500 copies on green, 500 copies on black
May 2005 – “Down” 7” – DSK records, 200 copies on black, 100 copies on pink
May 2005 – “Rochester Blues / Skate Hospital” 7” – Art Of The Underground, 500 copies (250 by themselves, 250 in box sets)
Dec 2006 – “Discography” LP – Feral Kid Records / Punks Before Profits Records, around 1000 copies made.
1 - there’s a whole 7” singles series released on Art Of The Underground, including such bands as The Ergs!, Off With Their Heads, The Unlovabels, Andrew Jackson Jihad, The Leftovers, Chinese Telephones etc. Single of Skate Korpse was the third release of the series.
Author: ihatepunk
Interview in Russian
0 comments:
Post a Comment