interview and photos by quin, january 2005
This is an interview that was about two years in the making. I first wanted to interview Freddy Ruppert when i saw his former band THE MASQUE OPERA play their very first show. Back then, he was doing things with music that i hadn't really seen before, and today he's still coming up with new ideas as well as making a name for himself. His latest music project is called THIS SONG IS A MESS BUT SO AM I I interviewed him one afternoon at El Camino College (which is actually where I met him a couple years ago and where we both went to school) Here are the things we talked about...
F: Freddy Ruppert writer/singer of THIS SONG IS A MESS BUT SO AM I
Q: Quin from No-Fi "Radio" who is just a mess.
Q: First of all, what exactly is "Church Point, LA" and why did you pick that for the title of your album?
F: Church Point, LA is Church Point, Louisiana...it's like a city in Louisiana. It's where my mom was born and grew up so...and most of my family on her side still lives in that town. That's why I picked the title for the album, cause the album deals with my mom pretty much.
Q: How did you get hooked up with Jamie from XIU XIU?
F: We'd just been friends for a while. He had helped me out a lot with what was going on with my mom. He helped me a lot through that. He just reached out and helped me through that whole thing. Then the chance came up do do the split 7" on Oedipus Records...and it's totally awesome. Yeah, he's just a great guy. I'm just so happy to be friends with him.
Q: I wanted to talk a little bit about the new album. You mentioned that it's mostly about your mom, she went through cancer and eventually passed away. Did you feel like this album was something that you had to do...whether it be for you or as a tribute to her or for the whole situation...
F: I felt like it was something that I had to do for me. I kind of started the whole project with that being the purpose of it...was to deal with it. Cause I was in this band before called THE MASQUE OPERA and that had ended...but things were going on with my mom, she was getting sick and I felt I still had to make music. So,Ê the whole point of THIS SONG IS A MESS was for me to deal with that. That was like the whole basis behind it. I needed something where I could create and put what I was feeling and what I was going through and how my family was feeling...it was just something that I had to do. Sometimes I worry about what my mom would think of the album and it's kinda hard to deal with that. And now that the album is done and finished, it's kinda weird because I feel like what's the purpose of THIS SONG IS A MESS now, because I feel like i've dealt with that and done that...and now I feel sort of lost as far as what I'm supposed to be doing now.
Q: Hmm...You've mentioned before that the new album is a documentation of your life up to this point and not just about your mom, so couldn't the whole project encompass everything else that's going on? Maybe even the future?
F: Yeah, I think it definitely could...
Q: I mean you must have thought of that...
F: Yeah, it's just that when I started, the whole point was just to deal with what was going on with my mom. So, now I feel like i've made an album that has documented that and I don't really know what I'm doing now. It feels weird. And every time I play those songs live I feel like I have to relive that over again and it's really rough so...I'm definitely going to continue, I just feel lost as to what it is I'm doing. I have to keep creating. It's part of me and it's something I have to keep doing.
Q: You mentioned THE MASQUE OPERA, which was a band you were in before, was that your first band?
F: No. I was in a couple bands before that...that were...um...kind of embarrassing...
Q: Ohhh! Talk about those!!
F: I was in this hardcore band called THE SEX SHOPPE and I was the singer for that. To look back on that's kinda funny now. Before that I was in this crust punk band AGON, which is kinda silly too, but I was definitely in bands before.
Q: Do you still listen to hardcore music and crust punk?
F: Yeah. I grew up with a lot of that kind of music so it's something that I always find myself going back to.
Q: So are you just kind of embarrassed about those bands in particular?
F: Yeah. (laughs)
Q: They just weren't good representations of the genre?
F: Well, I was really young when I was in those bands...like the first couple years of high school and just was...you know...
Q: Adolescent?
F: Yeah. Very adolescent. (laughs)
Q: I actually didn't even know about those other bands before THE MASQUE OPERA, but why exactly did THE MASQUE OPERA end?
F: I was in it with this other guy Josh, who's my best friend, and he decided he was going to move to San Francisco to go to art school. That kinda would put the band down. After that I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to keep making music. But, it's just hard to be in bands with other people...for me. I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to how I want the songs to turn out and how I want the music to be. So I decided, I guess I'm just going to do it on my own and see what happens.
Q: Well, it's worked out for you.
F: It's been going okay I suppose. (laughs)
Q: I read that you aren't really into bands that have a joke or gimmick. Can you expand on that?
F: I'm just a person that takes my own music so seriously. That it's just hard for me to deal with bands that are all about making jokes or a sense of humor that doesn't deal with things in real life. I guess music for fun has it's sense of purpose, and it's great to be able to listen to music and have fun while doing it. I just think music is something that should be taken seriously. I need to feel a connection with the music I listen to and bands that aren't serious I just don't feel a connection with. It just doesn't speak to me the way music should. I feel that people don't really listen to music anymore, they just want to go to shows and dance stupid and not pay attention to what's going on or what songs are actually about. It's weird and it feels like people aren't really paying attention to music anymore. They just want something that's mindless. That just kinda bothers me.
Q: What do you think Pac Man's power pellets taste like?
F: I have no idea...are those like those little dots he goes around and eats?
Q: Yeah, and also in the Pac Man cartoon...you may be too young to remember the Pac Man cartoon...
F: No, I don't. Um, I would imagine they would taste like Pez maybe.
Q: Oh, good answer, I probably would have said cheese, but I think you may be right.
F: I think he needs the candy to get him going, to get him energized.
Q: He gets a sugar rush. This is an odd question, but if you were a fish, what would you wish for?
F: (laughter) would it need to be a fish wish? You know those fish that have spines coming off them, I don't know if you know which ones I'm talking about, I think they're like white with black stripes...I like those kinds of fish, but I don't know what I would wish for. (laughter)
Q: What music are you listening to these days?
F: The CD by this band called SEVEN YEAR RABBIT CYCLE is really awesome. It's called "Wind Machines" it came out this year and it's really really good. This guy called BARR. He's from Los Angeles and he's totally awesome. I think he's like one of the most important people in music right now. This band called WOLFGANG PRESS, they're from the 80's and they're a 4AD band. Their kinda underappreciated. Not that many peolpe know about them, but they're great.
Q: What about local bands?
F: ROCK GOGGLE FANTASY is great. LE JOSHUA I think is absolutely amazing. In the L.A. scene there's bands like RAINBOW BLANKET. Anything that Brian Miller touches is pretty awesome. As far as the Los Angeles scene, I think it's pretty awesome at the moment. Just going to shows at The Smell, there's always great bands playing.
Q: I agree. Here's the word association part of the interview. I will say a band name or artist and you just say the first thing that pops into your head.
Q: XIU XIU
F: Mind blowing.
Q: THE SMITHS
F: Heart-felt
Q: JOY DIVISION
F: Depressing
Q: N.W.A.
F: "PPP CH"
Q: JUDY GARLAND
F: The Wizard of Oz
Q: Kenny Rogers
F: Jackass
Q: Gabe Abaud
F: Hilarious
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
F: I guess it was probably from my mom, she told me when she was passing away to always do in my life what I think is right and to not let other things get in the way. That I'm capable of doing whatever I want and to just go forward and do it. And don't worry about what other people are going to think, and have courage in life. That was the best advice I was ever given because she just had so much courage towards the end of her life and for her to deal with that every day. It makes me see life in a different light as far as...whenever I feel upset about things or feel bad...I realize that what I'm going through is nothing compared to what she had to go through on a daily basis and she struggled through that so, It gives me courage to kep moving forward.
Q: Well, you've obviously taken that advice to heart. It shows in your work and all that you've done. You obviously taken it pretty far and i'm sure she'd be proud.
F: Thank you, Quin.
You can purchase the latest album from THIS SONG IS A MESS BUT SO AM I from the official 'this song is a mess' website or from Oedipus Records. Check your local listings to see if he's playing in your town while on tour.
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