An Interview With The Filthy Thieving Bastards
The Greatest Band I’ve NEVER Seen,,,
Maybe, that statement’s a little bold, that distinction is probably better deserved by the Clash-maybe the Beatles...Still, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that the Filthy Thieving Bastards are the greatest band that NO ONE has ever seen.
The band formed a little more than 2 years ago and released an incredible 9-song EP that knocked just about everyone on their ass, while leaving critics and reviewers dumbfounded. More recently, they released a full length CD at the beginning of this year which proved they were more than a fluke. Still they’ve yet to play a single note in front of an audience...
The quintet known as The Filthy Thieving Bastards includes three members of the San Francisco street punk band The Swingin’ Utters-Darius Koski, Johny Bonnel and Spike Slawson. They are joined by Camper Van Beethoven guitarist Greg Lisher and Randy Burk, who handles the drums and produces the CD.
The band’s sound is unique, their lyrics are profound and the music is moving on multiple levels. The musicianship is superb, and their mix of accordion, piano, violin, pedal steel, banjo and mandolin along with acoustic and electric guitars and bass make’s for a sound most punk rockers are surprised by. You can hear the Swingin Utters in them at times, but the ‘Bastards are the Utters unlimited. This band has no history and therefore no expectations. Johny, Darius and crew have unlimited creative possibilities in this project and they have created 2 CDs that can be compared at times to everything from American Folk, country and barroom jig to punk and garage rock, all the while remaining in a class by themselves.
Soon after the release of “A Melody Of Retreads And Broken Quills”, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, piano player, etc., Darius Koski took time out of his busy schedule to touch on a number of different things regarding both of his bands. Singer and co-songwriter Johny Bonnel also chipped in his own 2 cents here and there...
Sink Hole Zine-What made you eventually shy away from classical music, after so many years of training? And then what brought you to the Dark Side and made you want to play punk rock music?
Darius Koski-I'd been playing classical violin and piano and nothing else, ever, since I was five. I didn't like the culture--classical music aficionados are usually horribly uptight snobs who don't consider anything else music. That's my uncle's point of view, and he got me into that world. It just sickened me after a while, and I became less interested in being a virtuoso of any kind. That's all you can do with classical music. All you can aspire to do is to play beautifully, which is fine, but I'm more into improvisation and songwriting, so it just wasn't for me. I always listened to rock, punk and whatever, never really listened to classical music much, just played it forever, so the jump to guitar wasn't that crazy or drastic or difficult or anything. Compared with the violin, guitar is like tinkering on some fucking toy or something, way easier.
SHZ-The song “Counterfeit Cassius Clay” is a great one on alot of levels...The title made me laugh at first because that “Ali” movie had just come out with the Fresh Prince of Bel Air playing Ali. Anyway, obviously the song actually has nothing to do with Ali, Clay or Will Smith-does it...What is the story behind that song and why the Clay chorus?
Johny Bonnel-There is no way I'm going to name any names, but it's mostly about the majority of bands out there that don't have any guts in their music. plain and simple. in some ways it's about me and my hypocrisies, as well.
SHZ-Whose idea originally was it to start the ‘Bastards? and how long was the idea floating around before you came out with “Our Fathers”? Also, will it always be a “side project”?
Darius-It was mine and Johnny's idea. I write a lot, and have a huge amount of material on tape, collecting dust, stuff that's not punk. We've incorporated some of it into some of the more mellow Swingin' Utters stuff like “Fruitless Fortunes”, “My Glass House” and so on, but there was still lots of it available, and there's only so much of that style of music that you can put on a Swingin' Utters record, because we're a punk band. . . and Johnny is really into Irish music, and we're both into that whole country/folk/traditional music, so it was an obvious thing to do on down-time from the Swingin' Utters, which is actually quite a lot of the time nowadays. I have no idea if it'll always be a side project. If schedules ever conflicted, the Utters would come first. But we've never played live before, so if for some reason we become more successful than the Utters, than I think the Utters would become our side project.
SHZ-The last time I saw you guys (w/the Dropkick Murphys in March 2001 in Florida) you hadn’t done a FTB show and really had no plans to. I asked and I believe your quote was “everybody keeps on having babys, we can’t tour”, is that still the reason, will there ever be live FTB, or a tour and is anything in the planning stages yet?
Johny-We would love to play live , but the musicians are the hard ones to find. touring would be minimal, but I think we're striving for that right now. Work, wives and kids are our priorities.
SHZ-My first exposure to you guys as FTB was hearing “Hopeless Vows” on the TKO Punch Drunk comp CD and I was blown away. It was instantly a favorite song of mine and a lot of people felt the same way. I wondered originally when you were trying to get the EP out, what was the reaction you got from record labels, or from anyone for that matter, about it, or was TKO the only label you shared it with?
Darius-I think we had a choice of a few different labels that were basically run by friends of ours, but chose TKO because Mark loves the Utters and was always cool, and they're local (they were local), and we knew we'd have complete control of everything, and it was just easy.
SHZ-How did you come upon BYO to release your LP?
Darius-The Sterns are good friends of ours, and it's a step up from TKO, and they were really excited about it, so it was kind of an obvious choice again.
SHZ-When you write a song, what determines now whether it becomes an Utters song or an FTB song?
Darius-I usually know whether I'm writing for the Utters, FTB, or my own solo shit. But really any FTB song could be an Utters song.
SHZ-Now with Spike in both bands as well, how much crossover is there from band to band?
Darius-It's all just very natural and simple and nice and beneficial for everyone. We're extremely laid back about playing music together. Spike's just one of the best musicians I've ever worked with.
SHZ-Is there one band that takes more of your energy right now, or are they equal in that regard?
Darius-The Utters take way more energy. FTB doesn't really take any energy at all, not yet anyway, because we've never practiced or played live.
SHZ-Knowing you and knowing that you are not Irish...Does it bother you when reviewers and critics label FTB as Irish music, and personally how do you describe the sound?
Darius-Actually, it does bother the hell out of me. We've been doing this style of music since the Utters' first recordings, and I didn't consider it Irish then, either. I just think it's more country. What really pisses me off, though, is when reviewers just consider this another band jumping on that fucking Irish bandwagon. Mandolin, accordion, piano, pedal steel. . . those aren't "Irish" instruments, you know?
SHZ-Most people reading this know the woes behind punching a clock and working a 50 hour week, very few know what its like to perform in front of 1000 fans who all know every word to every song you’ve written...How is the transition from being a punk rock star to an every day working stiff?
Darius-I'm really lucky to be able to do what I do when it comes to performing, making records, etc. . since that's all I ever want to do with my life. I feel blessed just to be in that position, but it just makes me that much more bitter to have to work at my fucking job doing things I could care less about. People who are involved in the arts in any way are fucked. Destined to bitterness, frustration, probably poverty in a lot of cases. When you're an artist of any kind, nothing else matters, so if you're not successful at your art, you feel insignificant and pissed on and just horrible. I just hate to fucking work,, basically, but I do it and I try not to be a fucking pussy crybaby martyr about it, and I'm actually really good at my job. It fucking sucks. It's awful to not be able to just do this band, and the Utters, and music in general, and survive. I have to work and that sucks.
SHZ-On that level do you consider yourselves “Blue Collar Heroes”?
Darius-No. I'm not a fucking hero.
SHZ-Working a full time job, raising kids, being in one of the best bands in the world-do your days have 36 hours in them? where do you find the time to do it all?
Darius-If you really want to do it, than you can do it. If shit needs to get done, just fucking do it and deal with it and shut the fuck up. It all gets hectic and stressful and annoying as hell sometimes, but such is life.
SHZ-Both of your releases with FTB have had powerful images on the cover. The first with the off focus images of people like Joey Ramone, John Lennon, Chuck Berry and Elvis and the LP with the engaging image of 3 men that you drew that evokes so much feeling to the viewer-With that in mind, how important is packaging and presentation in music, and do you think the visual completes the audio or do they stand on their own? Also, aside from my buddies the Beltones-have you done any other covers recently?
Johny-I like that bands use their own art on the records. It's a much more personal document. The Minutemen were great at that. The visual definitely completes the audio. This way, you're killing two birds with one stone by getting your art out there on display. Every band should do this. No, I haven't done any other bands , but I am definitely willing to. There’s just one stipulation, I gotta like the music
SHZ-I don’t know exactly how long you guys have been together, 10 years, 15 years, but how did the Utters come to be? Who founded the band, with what premise, and how did it materialize. Also, how did the two of you meet?
Darius-Johnny and Greg and Kevin and the first guitarist started playing in the summer of '88. They played parties, and covers and that was it. I joined in '90 and we started writing originals pretty immediately. We played real shows and it all sort of progressed. Our first tour was in '94, so we didn't really get serious as a working band until '94. Johnny and I had tons of mutual friends, but I met him because he started going out with one of my best friends, and he has since married her.
SHZ-When can a new release be expected from the Utters? As far as their sound, do you see it heading to the harder edged style of “Streets of San Francisco” or is the sounds evolution picking up from S/T?
Darius-We're recording in April and May, and it should come out in August or September. I think it's pretty safe to say we're never gonna sound like "Streets of San Francisco" again, really. I'd say it'll be a combination of the two, though. We're always gonna have diversity on our records from here on out, whether people like that or not. That's just kind of what we do now.
SHZ-Although they are both pretty incredible, there does seem to be differences in your releases...”Our Fathers” has a raw, untamed sound that captivates and makes you feel the urgency through the unabashed strumming of the acoustic. “Quills” has a more polished sound, an easier ride through similar emotions...Am I dead wrong? If not, why did you choose to lean more on production with the second release?
Darius-It was more my idea, I guess. I think Johnny likes the first one better, but I think the new one is way better. I can understand the rawness issue, especially when it comes to vocals, and I do think that the vocals are better on the first one, as far as emotion, etc. but I think the songs are better on the second one, and sonically it's way better. . . and I like that it's a full length. I just think it's way more fully realized than the first one. The whole idea of better production, spending more time on it, etc. was definitely my idea, though. Johnny likes the rough, badly played approach more than I do.
SHZ-Have you had any Idols in your life? If so, is it best to meet your idols, kill your idols, or worship from afar?
Darius-I've had idols, but mostly when I was younger. I sort of think of them now as "heroes", because anybody can be a hero. People I really admire, people who've influenced me are "heroes" now, because I don't want to place anybody on a fucking pedestal, and that's what you do with idols. So, I think I've sort of done all of the above, and that's fine.
SHZ-What goals do you have musically for either band this coming year?
Darius-To play live with FTB, and just keep writing music.
SHZ-If you could put together a “Dream Show” with 5 different bands of any genre from any era, who would be in it, and who would headline?
Darius-I think the Beatles are the best you can get playing rock music, or pop or whatever the fuck it is. I don't think that you can do better than that. I just think that they were the greatest band ever, by a fucking mile, and all other bands pale in comparison. So I guess the Beatles would be the headliner, then maybe Elvis Costello, X, Creedence, The Pixies, the Clash, I don't know this could be endless.
SHZ-Lastly, sum it all up in 5 words...
Johny-Forgetful, achey, filthy, thieving, happy
Darius-Get off yer ass, dipshit...
SHZ-Thats all I got, thanks...(hey thats 5 too, go Sink Hole!)
As of press time, the Bastards still have no plans to tour. That doesn’t mean that you can’t suggest it any time you see the guys, though! The Utters are busy, however, with plans to record a new LP in late April, early May 2002. It should be released this Fall . For all the Utters and Bastards info you need-check out www.SwinginUtters.com Check out their debut EP “Our Fathers Sent Us” on TKO Records (www.tkorecords.com) and their full length “A Melody Of Retreads And Broken Quills” which is available on BYO Records. (www.byorecords.com)
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