I guess we're just gonna start out with a little history of the band and history of the group as it is now...
Fuzz: Inception and all that? It was just it's own thing when it got started. It wasn't like it was, Tongue and Groove at one point. But you'd say that some members that were in Tongue and Groove as well as some other members that were in some other bands came together, and the band basically started in '95, based out of Conn., NY, long Island. It went through a few changes at the beginning as well; we had a couple of different keyboard players, different sax players, but the core of the group, after it went through a few changes, was,for a while, myself, [and I am] Fuzz, on the guitar, Eric Kalb on drums, Jen Durkin on vocals, Benj LeFevre on bass, Rob Somerville on sax and Rob Volo on trombone. And Cy joined up a bit later... on keys, and Johnny Durkin joined us on percussion...We had our first album come out in 1997, that was a studio record. And then we had a live record in 1999, Rowdy Duty, and, by that point, Cy and Johnny were in the band full time... Recently the other release that came out was B'Gock, which had a bunch of the band members on it.... That also came out in 1999. In this past summer, we put out Feel the Peel, which has the newest... lineup with Hope Clayburn on sax and vocals and Brian Smith on trombone.
What concerns did you have when you heard that Jen Durkin was leaving?
Fuzz: It was one of like anytime you make a change in your life; it's kinda an exciting thing, and it's kinda scary. You look at it like "We can change things." It's an opportunity to change some stuff, so that's kinda a cool thing at the same time. Of course I was concerned with how our audience was going to react to that... just concerned in general about the morale of the band and how did they feel about that...
A band is cool when it starts and it's got its original concept together and then you have to make some changes, so it's sort of forced everyone to think in different directions and be positive and motivated still. It's good because we managed to do that. That was--I can say this after the fact--over a year ago when that was going on, so we're now... looking at the outcome of it all, and it actually is a pretty good outcome. We managed to make a good record after the fact and touring since then for well over a year now...
We're getting lots of good feedback. I mean, I know there's people coming up to me all the time and saying they miss Jen in the band, but I... thought that would be the case. I didn't think anyone was not going to miss her. So I just hope they miss Jen but appreciate what we're doing now. And I usually get that comment too, "but I like this." [Hope] fits in real well in some ways, and in some ways she's a better fit. Obviously not everything was perfect with Jen or else she would still been here, but this is more or less.... the position which we created that Hope was able to fill is maybe a more stable position for the band, because sometimes.
The way we are, it's a lot of musicians, a big band, and Hope sorts into that being the sax player and an instrumentalist, so it... kinda seems like maybe even a little more of a part of the band, and because its a different dynamic,... it's created a good, more positive effect on the audience 'cause we're not giving them just like "Here's your next Jen Durkin." It's like it's a whole different thing, y'know cause somebody can play sax, and all the other guys in the band are singing more and more, so it's almost like a new band starting over.
With the addition of Hope, how has this changed the DBB sound, or how has this changed your influence musically?
Fuzz: When you have someone singing in the band that's just a vocalist... they're there just to sing or they're not doing anything really. So when Hope is not singing, she can play sax, or play flute too, or she's really into percussion, so she can just go back there and play a lot of percussion.. So what that creates is... room for other things to happen, so I can sing more or Rob can sing more. Brian sings too. And we can do a lot of stuff where we pair off into a lot of vocal pairs...
We do a lot more with vocals and horn arrangement than we have in the past... Being that there's an extra horn and plus Brian only plays trombone-- Rob Volo used to play trombone and guitar so there were sometimes when we just didn't have any horns... so now its we do a lot more with flipping around the three horn players and four singers. It's a cool textural thing. We're using the band a little more dynamically... We're trying to make it not just one sound anymore... These musicians are playing and this one is singing; we try and change it up a lot.
Sometimes you can just break it down to a three piece and a lot of us will just get off stage, and it becomes a whole new band almost, right in the middle of the set.
With so many in the band, how do you create and work through new material?
Fuzz: Well, it's good because everybody's got tons of ideas and lots of input, and definately a lot of opinions which is a good thing because in some ways you don't want to over-analyse it. The good thing is that there aren't eight song-writers. If there were, it would be very like "Who's gonna get the next song?" and that thing. I've seen that type of situation.
I do a majority of the song writing, but Jen did a lot of the writing as far as the lyrics,and occasionally some of the tunes...
But now Hope is... writing songs pretty frequently, but in the current mix of things and the way it's been going down, a lot of times I just bring an idea down and everyone gets their hands on it.Everyone's got input. I sometimes want more input, I'm always just like "So you just like this, you don't just wanna play? What do you want to do to this? don't you want to try this as a polka or something like that?"
OK, no, we don't do that. When I bring an idea, it could be a whole song, or it could just be a riff or something, or a chorus... Maybe somebody's got an idea for a horn lick.. We do combine things like that sometimes. If you look on the album, you'll see how the different songs are credited, it's either we wrote a song down and played it or I'll sit down with another member of the band... The only problem we have with creativity and song writing is needing more time and when to do it.
Most of your concerts are basically parties and good times. How do you transfer that energy onto an album when the crowd's not there?
Fuzz: That's tough. It's always been a challenge. I listen to the records sometimes--not the live one, of course, that was what that one was all about-- but there are times when I think this could have been... played more like we do live, or there are times when I hear it and I'm like "We really captured that great on tape."
It's hard; in my opinion we don't always get it captured on recording, but then sometimes we do do it better than expected. But the one thing that we do do, or at least try to set up in a studio, is that we all are together in a room playing and that we're all looking at each other. And of course there's always the pep talk, and the idea "Let's just kick this like we would if this were a live concert."
Of course it's a different environment; you've got headphones on and you're in a room that's just like this--it's just a regular room with a light on. We try to create atmosphere sometimes, dim the lights, light some candles. Other things might go on too that I won't mention. [We] try to get a little bitpf a party party atmosphere. We have alot of friends too so sometimes there will be a bunch of people in the conrtol box...
Usually we try to make the best out of the situation. Studio recording is sometimes an opportunity to do some things you can't do live so that's kind of an art in itself. It makes it it's seperate thing that's cool...
Throughout time, funk and it's heritage have changed. How do you guys fit into the whole history of the funk?
Fuzz: When we first started playing together, we were primarily a cover band.. [of] all the classic funk and soul. When we started doing original music, one of my first concerns was not just sounding like one of all these [classic funk] bands, because that's been done already.
Funk is one of those things [where] you can get into one of those cliche things. That's part of the sound of course, droppin' it on the one, the syncopated rythms that go into kinda skanky guitar stuff that goes down, the gospel/blues vocal thing and all that. That's all part of the essence of what is funk, I mean you can't take too much of it out of the sound, so we do that kind of thing that I think...
I feel like we may fit into the funk world in a way that we definately bring in a carrying-over of the traditions of the classic R&B; and funk music from the '60s and the '70s, 'cause that just what we really dig. But we have other influences, like latin and jazz and rock and hard rock... The Hendrix will come out, or the Rage Against the Machine will come out, however you want to look at it; it could get as hardcore or punk/hip-hop, or whatever you want to say. Things kind of meld in.
We still grew up in the last several decades, so we've been influenced by a lot of different things. But we want to be cutting edge, of course. We don't just wanna be another retro thing. It's very easy... to put on your polyester shirt and your afro wig and your platform shoes and "I'm funky." And we want to be something a little beyond just the cliche funk band of course. I feel that there's still searching that needs to be done...
Where did the name Deep Banana Blackout come from?
Fuzz: DBB is definately one of those things that we've come up with 10 different reasons [from whence] it came... just because it's.. the most frequently asked question. And at this point we're just having fun with it... I'll pick the one that it is a thing, not a title, but a thing that was referred to in a porn movie. A maneuver...
"Raspberry", your song, is being featured on the High Times Rip this Joint compilation. I was just wondering how HT's beliefs fit into the DBB scene?
Let's just say that there is an occasional, or several occasional, times throughout the day when there's a little prayer in the name of 'Ja. And somehow we've managed to be connected with... High Times and what it stands for, and I think maybe for us as a band, we're a party band, and people party and come to see the band.
We've been mentioned in High Times a number of times, in their top 100 for Rowdy Duty. And Rowdy Duty'sdefinately an album you could understand how people might want to rip a joint. If you listen to any of the records, we were all about conveying that message... Not that we were like singing "We like to do this, and we'll smoke that." We don't sing about it really. There's one or two references here and there, but we're not a big pot-promoting, or drug-promoting, band musically, 'cause there's more stuff to talk about than that. That's kinda an obvious thing.
But at the same time, it's just obvious in the attitude there, and the music, and some of the sillier side of the things. You can tell "They must have come up with that when they were sitting there passing a bowl. I think they're goofy."
You're working on Spank! right now. Would you tell me a little bit about Spank!?
Fuzz: Spank! is me on guitar and Eric Kalb on drums and Ron Levy on organ, and it's kinda an organ trio. It's mainly instrumental and kinda jazzy. It's funk-jazz.
If you don't know who Ron Levy is, he's an older guy who's been around for many years. He's played in bands -- in B.B. King's band, in Albert.. Collin's band... He's produced lots of records with lots of famous blues and R&B; artists..... We just decided to get together with him....
We liked the idea of having a trio since we play in such a big band, that the trio, it's easier to get around sometimes when you're talking about improvisations and just what you want to do musically... It's fun. We did a couple of gigs in September... We're gonna do a couple in December...
In a recent interview with Relix magazine, Hope made a reference to you running around in your underwear. Do you have any response to that?
I should choose my words carefully. I have to say it happened again the other night... I have this history of doing outrageous things on stage. I don't do it all the time mainly because it doesn't really seem appropriate or because I don't want that to be my claim to fame, but sometimes things get kinda wild. If you look in the Rowdy Duty album and you look at my picture... you can see that I'm jumping straight up in the air and my pants are down around my ankles, and I've done it a couple times.
The first time we ever played at this bar, Jimmy's Seaside, as Deep Banana Blackout, I remembered it was one of the first time it happened. It was one of those nights... It was one of those packed in sweaty-vibe-type places, and it just got so wild by the end of the night that I think I just pulled my pants down. Not all the way--just to the underwear--and just kinda mooned the audience. Y'know playing a solo with my back to the audience and my pants down.
It happened a couple times after that... I did it the other night when we were playing at the Palace in New Haven. 'Cause it was just, y'know, at that point of the night; a bunch of guys just started jumping up on the stage and it was getting so crazy, I was like "Come on, hold on man. Let's not be getting everyone up on stage, so let's just cool out."...
This one guy's dancing next to me, and I was like "Oh well," and I just pulled my pants down.
What else could you do? You basically had to.
Fuzz: Yeah, I know, where do you go from there? Why is that the logical step? I don't know. Or maybe that's the thing, maybe it's the illogical step that has to happen.
There wasn't much else you could have done.
Fuzz: Yeah. I had to think of something quick. Y'know, I had a guitar in my hand and the only thing I could do is pull my pants down. If it has to be done, it has to be done.
If you could start any rumors about your band, what would you like to see in print?
Fuzz: I just want to find that line and not cross it... I don't want it to be too bad... As a ritual, before every show, we usually call upon the forces of darkness and pray to Satan and ultimately ask him for special guidance throughout the show.
Does He [our Dark Lord] ever show up?
Fuzz: Several times throughout the show. At that point, it's just figuring out what to do with him once he gets there... Usually he'll embody one of the musicians and then it's like "Uh-oh, Satan's in Kalb's body now. Let him go with it. We'rr just gonna have to let him ride this one out."... You can hear it sometimes, you can hear it in the sound: that's the demon starting...
Lastly, we would like to give you a 34th Street Magazine lighter. It has three functions. Final question: What is the third function?
Fuzz: Third function? I know there's a bottle opener. C'mon now. You could open a beer with it. I don't know... But the lighter's cool.
