I’m just getting to talk to the nicest bands lately. Even the infamous Raab Himself was a pleasure. This time out CKY were not on their best game however. The whole band and crew were extremely ill. Didn’t mean they were any less fun. I can see why their fans are so diehard now. I especially loved asking Jess about his lil’ brother Bam! This band is seriously far removed from their “Jackass” stigma, and is ready to rock the world. They may turn around and ask you the questions…and don’t ask them about the All-American Rejects…
First and most importantly, Jess, where’s Bam? What’s he doing right now? I want to hear all about “Jackass”?
Jess: Are you serious? Pauses…
I’m just kidding, most of what’s in your press kit is how you hate to talk about Jackass, so I had to. But what about your little brother? What does he wear to bed at night?
Jess: Pauses…You’re kidding. Haha, what does he wear to bed at night! You scared me…
I’m not one of “those” little girls…it’s all good. So what got you into music?
Deron: Ace Frehley with a guitar on this poster…when I was 3. That poster saved my life; I should probably try to get it. I was like, “What is that thing he has? I want one of those!”
How does it feel to be on a major label?
Jess: Laughs…
Deron: How does it feel? The greatest thing about a major label is when you’re not on one and you want to be.
Jess: Then you realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be…
Deron: It’s not even that…it’s just such a gradual thing. If it’s overnight success it’s not going to last. If you go from singing in your basement to having a $12M deal then I could see how it could be really exciting. When it’s building and building and building what you have till you end up on a major label 6 years later the feeling is really gradual. We’re not going, “Wow, we’re on Island Records!”
You’ve definitely earned it. What’s going to be the next single off of “Infiltrate.Destroy.Rebuild”?
Deron: “Attached at the Hip”.
I did take some fan questions, went to the message boards and chat rooms, you have some rabid fans!
Deron: Of course we do! When Everclear comes to town how many obsessed fans do they have?
Um, 2 or 3?
Deron: No, I’d say 1 or 2. You say 2 or 3, I say 1 or 2.
Another fan question! When is the DVD coming out?
Deron: We don’t know, we’re working on it. Now that they know about it, they want it! We’re still going to take our time. We’re going to work on it until it’s perfect. If we rush it and put it out in a month, that’s it, it sucks. We’re going to take our time on it and get it out whenever we can, be it this year, next year, five years…But it will happen!
Guns N’ Roses tour? I really don’t know what happened…
Deron: We don’t know what happened either!
You have Axl as a friend, even ally though right? He did ask you to go on the tour.
Deron: Yeah, so he’s obviously a fan. We showed up for the Philly gig and he didn’t. We didn’t get to say goodbye. We’re not like friends; we didn’t exchange phone numbers to stay in touch.
Glad I didn’t go to the Hartford one!
Jess: We played the Hartford one.
Deron: No we didn’t!
Jess: Yeah, we did! We showed up for that one!
Deron: We played the last night, full house. 2 hours wait after that, Axl’s not coming!
How close are you guys, from being on the road together? I hear there’s a big entourage.
Jess: Well, there’s Mr. Raab Himself.
Raab: Hi!
How’s it going! (I didn’t see him until then).
Deron: It’s all about having fun, and making some money at it if we can. We do it for the enjoyment of it; we do it to please our fans. They’re dedicated enough to us! I don’t know…what was the question? How close are we?
Yeah, that’s it.
Deron: Well look at this bus, there’s 10 of us on it! We’re pretty close!
How much of your personal life goes into your lyrics? Like in a song like, “To All of You”?
Deron: Obviously if you write the lyrics it’s personal. It’s coming from you and you’re writing it.
This was another fan question.
Deron: I can write about an experience I’ve witnessed someone else have. Some of them are…some of them are half true and half exaggerated. I take a bad situation that might have happened to me, and make it 10 times worse. Obviously I’ve never been chased down through the woods by a homicidal maniac! Add some weapons and some blood, and there you go!
Do you guys still like meeting your fans or does it get old?
Deron: It doesn’t get old for me. It can be a pain in the ass…for the ones that try to take advantage of it. There’s freaky people out there even if they’re CKY fans.
I know, I meet some weird people too with all the shows I go to. People that want to get intimate with the bands. I’m thinking, intimate how?
Jess: Like Michael Jackson intimate? Ha ha.
Deron: Most of them know we’re regular people. Every band that’s smart should take the time out to see who their fans are. I want to know why somebody’s into it. When you meet people that take it too far, not ordinary people, it gets weird.
I like to meet new people and get to write about it! I don’t take advantage of “partying” with the bands. I don’t want to get intimate.
Jess: We’re not into it like that at all.
Deron: We’re not a drug band. We’re alcoholics! But we’re not drug addicts!
Drinking is legal at some part of your life, which makes it okay.
Deron: Yeah, exactly.
This one’s for Jess. Are you sick of hearing about your brother? People asking you questions?
Jess: I think most people know better than to ask.
Deron: I wonder if people ask Owen Wilson about Luke. It can only get annoying when you’re not as publicized as your brother is. Sly Stallone and Frank Stallone, they probably have problems with that.
Jess: Frank Stallone?
Deron: Well, Jess is in a successful band and Bam is successful doing his thing…
Jess: It’s cool he’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine.
So you’re a skater too then Jess, right?
Jess: Yeah, but I can’t really afford to do it anymore. If I get hurt then I can’t tour anymore, you know? Chad used to skate a lot too. His arm occasionally pops out of its socket…I think he was on a half pipe and fell and it’s been out of whack ever since.
What’s the weirdest rumor you’ve heard about CKY or yourselves?
Jess: I heard I had leukemia and was on my death bed. Everybody was like, “Oh my God, where do we send donations to?”
Deron: Jess Margera, PO Box…
What do you guys listen to?
Jess: All different stuff. Each one of us listens to completely different stuff. You’d think we could never, ever be in a band together…Somehow it works.
Some bands love all the same music, they love listening to the same things on their busses…
Deron: You know what I want to do to those bands? I want to set the bus on fire and ghost ride them without a driver flaming into the woods. See how happy they are then! Put a cinderblock on the gas pedal…Have the whole band and their crew fly into the woods on fire.
I see too many bands that are so sticky sweet nice and happy.
Deron: There’s nothing wrong with happiness, but when it’s gay…I don’t mean gay in a sexual way, I mean in the over doing it sense…
Jess: “Swing, swing from the tangles of…”
Deron: I want to punch them in the fucking face…
Jess: They [AAR] were on tour with us last time we were here. The stole our beer after the show.
Deron: We didn’t play here!
Yes you did, in October, I reviewed the show. How sick of “Jackass” are you?
Deron: I’m baffled by it.
Jess: What does it have to do with us?
Deron: But why did you bring it up?
Honestly, the press kit I got…all the interviews and articles had Chad screaming about how you’re always asked about “Jackass”.
Deron: We were on the Real World too. I wonder what will happen with that.
Jess: I haven’t even seen the “Jackass” movie…
Deron: It’s a TV show, and it’s over. I remember we were on…
Jess: Tons of other shows have used our music…
Deron: People can’t just say CKY are a band. They have to be like, “Well, they were on Ozz Fest”. Fuck, I was on the show with a wig. Once! It’s time to move on, they’ve all moved on. We’ve all moved on. It’s nostalgia and that’s it!
CKY are still out on the “Out on the Noose” tour, though they cancelled the few dates after Hartford due to illness. Go see this band if you get the chance, and pick up the latest record, “Infiltrate.Destroy.Rebuild” out now on Island Records. This is the honest future of rock music, no holds barred, ever. Thanks again guys!
