MADZ is proud to present you an interview with a pretty cool American band Buck Gooter! It’s a two piece (Terry Turtle - in the photo-R & Billy Brat -in the photo -L) noise rock band that uses theremin, drum machine, acoustic guitar thru effects pedals, stylophone and other gadgets.
Now you can read the first part of our interview and as the they say to be continued! Let’s rock!
Mila: I know that Buck Gooter was formed in 2005. How it was happened? Why you decided to play together?
BB: Terry and I met at work at a pretty cool little restaurant in Harrisonburg and we started to realize that we had a lot in common with each other and not as much with everyone else we worked with. It’s the kind of place where you don’t have to really have anything in common w/ your co workers because everyone is so nice that they don’t hold it against you.
But anyway, we dug the same art and music and I was a fan of Terry’s art and music and eventually Terry suggested we start up a band. He’d had bands in the past that weren’t exactly the most virtuosic so he figured my lack of talent wouldn’t be a hindrance.
TT: I was at the end of my rope and had some really detrimental thoughts in my head about existence and we formed a band and I was happy again.
Mila: Buck Gooter is the band composed of only two people. It was your wish to be the rock duet or maybe you just couldn’t find the other musicians with the same view on music that you have?
BB: Basically that was the case. It was also just out of necessity and practicality. From practice #1 we set pretty ridiculous standards for ourselves like practicing at least once a week, maybe twice for 4+ hours each time. It’d be really hard to get any other human with a pulse to commit to that, especially in this town.
TT: Less people to fight with.
Mila: Like a listener I can’t say that Buck Gooter is a only punk &noise-rock band. Your sound is unlike any other –it's cool, weird, experimental. As I know you call it pretty intense, freaked out sound. And what is the ideal freaked out sound for Buck Gooter?
BB: The band has always been about playing a song and, if it works, adding elements to the song where it stands out from the rest a little bit and going forward. There is no ideal sound, really, it all just kind of happens. I think if we had to please record labels we’d need to define our sound more in the interest of making dough!
Mila: So if the record label insists on changing your sound you ’d say no? And what about a compromise – a little changes in the music in exchange for more audience? Is it acceptable for Buck Gooter such way?
BB: No.
We've never gotten to that point in a conversation with any labels. All the labels we've talked to say the same thing: «we're small and we're committed to other projects, sorry, it's cool but no dice.»
It's just a polite blow off. If we knew people in the music industry or who ran a label things would be different but we don't so here we are. People wanna work with their friends and we're not friends w/ any people that put out disks.
Mila: If I'm not wrong you have 8 albums, and the band exists only three years... For me it's great because it means that you are very talented and creative persons which want move forward and of course I think your fans are very happy to have a lot of music by Buck Gooter. But as the musicians who releasing their albums so often don't you have a fear that one day the inspiration to make music will disappear?
BB: Sometimes I wish we hadn’t put out so many disks. It seems like they are mainly for us and every once in a while someone picks one up and gets something from them. I think we’ve reached a point where we’re interested, mainly, in documenting what’s going on. We write songs at a steady clip and then record them in some sequence that seems coherent at the time. In 20 or 30 years they’ll be interesting, maybe, to listen to for us. I’m not worried about inspiration disappearing, if it does then we’ll just be saving money until it comes back!!!
TT: It’s impossible for it to disappear because it’s just life. There’s always something to satirize.
Mila: Could you please tell me about the main idea, conception of your albums? I listened to three of them (TV Evangelist Song, Welcome to the Last Day of Your Life, Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day: Music for a Haunted Cave) and they are all awesome and different from each other. But when I was listening the albums I think that it 's something' like the chapters of the book: tracks, wonderful art-work – all the little important parts of something else. Is it true or is just my fantasy?
BB: I think all the records have concepts that aren’t clearly defined by the band so I can’t really divulge any information on behalf of the group because there really isn’t any. I can tell generic factoids, though:
The cave disk was recorded in a cave, all instrumental improv crap as a soundtrack for a spooky tour. It’s a free download on our site that’s worth checking out for the story included in the digi-booklet, I think.
TV Evangelist song is a hell-to-the-ears disk but possibly our most widely distributed/covered piece. It was recorded at Inner Ear Studio in Arlington, va by Hugh Mcelroy (a former member of Black Eyes) and was essentially paid for by Dischord as part of the DC free Recording Project and then distributed by them. We got a fair amount of press for it but I can’t stand the sound quality.
Welcome… is our latest album and I’m pretty happy with that. It was Recorded in our friend’s basement and available for free. Probably the best sound we’ve ever got on tape.
Mila: Which is your favorite Buck Gooter 'album/song? And why?
BB: I have a soft spot in my heart for Slugs and Animals because both of them seemed to be released at times when we didn’t play any shows so not many were sold/distributed. They’re weird little sibling-disks in my mind for other reasons.
I don’t really listen to our records at all after they’re released, though.
I can’t really pin a favorite song. I get a kick out of playin in this band a lot, there’s only a few songs I don’t like or that aren’t on the top shelf.
TT: My favorite song is Night of The Living Bum off my favorite album, Bad Vibrations. I like I saw you Kill That Mouse off Animals, it’s good live.
Mila: As I know your albums are self – release. Why? You don’t want to collaborate with labels? What does it mean for you to be an independent band and artists?
TT: Nobody wants us.
BB: All of our stuff has been self-released out of necessity. There has never been a label that wanted to collaborate with us and we’ve never pushed the idea with any label enough to warrant putting off a release until a label picks it up. We don’t really care, I guess.
We’re not a heavy touring act so that cuts out a lot of label attention right there. We have no friends in the industry and our music seems unreleasable to like 98% of the people who hear it.
When you’re a truly independent band it means you spend your own personal coin on your band in any endeavor. OUCH!
It also means you don’t have to take cues from anyone as to what you sound like, do ,or when you release something.
Mila: Well guys, yah you are truly independent band! Billy you just said that your music seems unreleasable to a lot of people who hear it. But why? The record labels couldn’t see the opportunity to earn a lot or it's just a natural human fear of something new, unknown and unexpected like your sound?
BB: I should say that 98% of label people think it’s unreleasable. And really that should be 100% because no one’s ever released us!!
Mila: In your music you use a lot of instruments like theremin, stylophone, drum machine, acoustic guitar thru effects pedals, your own voices and so on. And is there any gadget which you dream about?
TT: A guitar that plays itself like me so I could do other stuff.
BB: Oh if I had the money things would get real crazy, real fast.
Part of the charm of this band, in my mind, is that we never have any money to buy any gear so we have to be a lot more creative with the things we have. It’s not about buying a certain thing to achieve a certain sound it’s about using the tools in your environment to thusly create something more imaginative and direct.
PS Thank you very much for the interview, support and your music!
website Buck Gooter:
http://www.littlegrillcollective.com/bg/
To be continued!
Next Tuesday!
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