with
Duane Denison
of
conducted by Ernie Mejia, May 6, 2003 - artwork by Ernie Mejia ©2003
With members of bands such as Faith No More, Jesus Lizard, The Melvins, and Helmet , Tomahawk has one of the broadest assortment of sounds in musis today without sounding retro, rehashed, or ripped off. They have just set out on tour to back up their newly released album, "Mit Gas", on Ipicac Records. I met up with the Tomahawk guitarist and songwriter Duane Denison backstage at the Roseland Theatre in Portland, Oregon on May 6, 2003, just before Tomahawk was to headline a fantastic show with San Diego’s Skeleton Key, and consummate power rockers, The Melvins. The eclectic guitarist led me into his thoughts on things that shape both the music he writes and who Duane is.
D: Duane Denison E: Ernie Mejia (among other things I've been called )
E: Where was your last show?
D: Last night in Seattle.
E: How did that go?
D: It went really good. Sold out.
E; How did you guys get together in the first place?
D: By accident almost really. I met Patton at a Mr. Bungle show. I live in Nashville now and he came through town with that. I went down there and got introduced and one thing led to another.
E: Nice. Do you get the skitters when playing live?
D: I do! Funny after all this time I still do. You know when you’re recording or rehearsing whatever, that obviously doesn't happen, but the minute I get in front of people it changes. I like to have a little drinky-poo.
E: Do you write these new songs by yourself or is it pretty much a jam session with the whole band?
D: Typically these songs start off in my basement just with a guitar and a drum machine and a work station. I’ll make really rough out lines like demos, and then burn CD’s, and then get feedback. Then when we get together we kind of color in the blanks. People add details to their part. Editing, arranging, that kind of thing.
E: Do you change your equipment around from your recording set-up to your live one?
D: Not typically. This one because we’re touring with The Melvins, to make things easy I’m sharing, basically using Buzz Osbourne’s amp and speaker set-up with my effect and stuff. It makes it easier for a quick change over and since our bass player is in both bands, he’s there too.
E: Do you tour with pets?
D: No! It’s funny. I miss my cats though. I just had a dream about one of my cats last night.
E: Have you guys toured Europe for this album yet?
D: Not for this one yet. We’ve been out for about a week and a half so we’re kinda just getting rolling.
E: Do you think Europeans are friendlier to the live act?
D: They can be just as crazy in some places. Even worst in some places. Christ! Northern Ireland? Insane! Absolutely insane. Some of those grim industrial nations like, oh…England, and the Scandanavian ones…
E: You have to watch yourself?
D: That and there’s soo much drugs. You know the U.S. is bad but they are really bad there. It’s like people have such hopeless lives that getting completely obliterated is you know…not that there’s anything wrong with that.
E: Tomahawk’s first album came out in 2001. Do you consider the period between albums too long or too short?
D:No , just right. We played a lot of shows. Some of the stuff from this album we’ve actually been playing live before this tour. A year, a year and a half between albums is good.
E: Do you think you got a different sound from this album?
D:Yah I think it’s a bit more spacious. The working relationship is more comfortable. I’m just really happy with this album, without sounding like a jerk.
E: What is your take on the state of music right now? Pop music?
D: So me people say that this is the worst era ever, but pop music has always been bad, you know? I just think that as the technology gets more advanced, that the craftsmanship, the writing, and the playing seems to go backwards. People go to see what is supposed to be a “live” performance and half of it is on tape or on DAT, or on samplers, and they’re simply playing along with it, or in some cases, not even bothering playing along or singing! They just act it like at a Kareoke show. That’s wrong.
E: What kind of movie would you like to see your music be a soundtrack to?
D: The obvious thing to would be to say something like, “Well, Lynch!” , or “Terrantino!”, or “Kronenberg!”…Um , something contemporary in America, maybe something a little more subtle like Jim Jarmusch. (Night on Earth, Ghost Dog)
E: How about Christopher Guest?
D: That’s a little too dry for me.
E: Do you own anything magic?
D: I got an old song book that’s been in my family.
E: Do you feed off it, read it over?
D:Um, I’ve lifted a few things here and there.
E: Nice. What are you listening to right now?
D: In the van on this trip it’s been Faust, this Dutch composer Louise Van Driessen, kind of a modern, postmentalist guy. The Young Gods.
E: Do you try to buy stuff that’s in your own style?
D: Everything different. All kinds of stuff. I try to keep up on the rock stuff, but it seems like I’ll go buy a batch of stuff and be disappointed.. So then I buy something experimental or something orchestral,. Chamber music. Jazz.
E: Any strange childhood memories?
D: Um , no. But my sister and I saw a ghost car twice in the same night. We lived out in a suburb of Detroit called Plymouth on a dirt road with a dirt driveway, and this glowing silver car came down the driveway, passed the house, and turned around again, and it was silent. The whole car was silver. The glass, everything. So we ran outside where my mom and dad were sitting next to the driveway. This was really evil. So we’re all “ Who was that in the car? What kind of car was that? WHAT WAS THAT!?!” And they said “What car?” They didn’t even see it. So my sister and I went back into the house and we were freakin’ out. And it came back fifteen minutes later. We were so scared we just stayed inside. And once again it just passed them by and left…
E: Do you drive?
D: Uh huh.
E: What do you drive?
D: A Subaru stationwagon. Very sensible, very practical.
E: You don’t go for the old jaloppees?
D: No, I don’t go for the vintage and I don’t go for the sporty new ones, just strictly practical. If I could have a second car it would be nice to have maybe a vintage pick-up, maybe an old Chevy.
E: What would you be doing if you hadn’t gotten into music or had gotten out of it?
D: Well, before The Jesus Lizard I had quit playing for a while. I was living in Austin, Texas working at a gasoline pump factory, and I had been playing in bands down there too. That’s where I met the Scratch Acid guys, but I just couldn’t seem to get anywhere so I just quit playing for a while saying ,“You know, music is just wearing me out and I’m just going to quit and concentrate on getting ahead.” So I was working in this factory and they had moved me up. I went from the assembly line, to the final assembly, to the test department and they said, “You know Duane, if you want to take some night classes in electronics, we’ll reimburse you for it, and we’ll move you up into field service, which meant that I wouldn’t be out on the line all the time. And that’s probably where I would have worked.
E: So you didn’t go for it.
D: I actually did for a while. I was still working there and going to night classes. Every dad was like a ten hour shift, and then go to school. It was just a long day. Exhausting.
E: So what brought you back to music?
D: David Sims called me from Chicago and him and David Yow had moved there. Sims was playing in Rapeman and we had already sort of flirted with the idea of Jesus Lizard down in Texas before he moved up there. This was like 1988-1989. He called me up and said, You should come up here and I think we should get this band together , and we’ll get a drummer, and I hate to see you quit.” So I thought about it thinking, “ You know if I don’t do this I’ll probably regret this for the rest of my life.” So I did, and things worked out and things are still working out.
E: So you don’t mind moving around?
D: No, I’ve moved around a lot. I started out, grew up in Michigan, moved to Texas, Chicago, now I’ve been living in Nashville for the passed four years.
E: Playing with Hank Williams III?
D: Yah. Not anymore. I’m not doing that gig anymore.
E: Any reason?
D: Let’s just say I wanted to do this.
E: Does weather influence your writing?
D: Sure. I like a change of weather. I could never live in L.A. or Southern California. I like the seasons. I feel the most creative around like the Christmas through February period where it’s short days when it’s dark a lot and you’re more prone to staying inside.
E: Socks or slippers?
D: Slippers. I didn’t used to be.
E: Annika or Pippi?
( silence )
E: …from Pippi Longstocking?
D: I have no idea.
E: Milk or cheese?
D: Cheese.
E: LP’s or CD’s?
D: CD’s.
E: Favorite drink?
D: The one I can’t obviously face the day without is coffee. That’s the reason to get up in the morning. But then there’s the afternoon, maybe more of a soda, more of a Coke time. Evening is wine, beer, whiskey time…
E: Do you see an end to Tomahawk anytime in the near future?
D: I take it by ear. Of course bands break up. That’s what they do. I don’t know. I don’t have any set time limit, no due date. We seem to be going well.. It’s still kind of an upward trajectory. It’s still a new band, just our second album, so things are going well…
E: Have you ever not had the creative freedom to do what you want with music?
D: Yah, but not the way you’re thinking. There was a period in time where I was out of school for about five years where I was supporting myself with jobs that took up so much time, but somehow when I come to think about it, I managed to write and put out albums. So no, not really. You just have to make time.
E: What does Duane do for fun when he’s away from music?
D: Basically normal things. Eat, go to movies, swim, go outside.
E: Movie fun, huh? Action? Foreign?
D: Everything. Foreign, drama. Even dumb comedies. Sometimes there’s nothing like a mindless comedy to get the cobwebs out…Even bad comedies like “Undercover Brother”.
E: Oh that was a good movie.
Any parting words for our No-Fi readers?
D: Where is No-Fi based?
E: Silverlake.
D: Oh, Silverlake. That’s very cool… Um, no wisdom. Just kinda, I hope you like the new one.
E: Very good. Thank you Duane.
D: Thank you.
I left, had a few PBR’s at the Matador on Burnside, and came back to see the show. It was very good. Tomahawk's new album "Mit Gas" is available in stores everywhere (You really have to buy the album to open it up and see the extra fancy artwork inside!). Special thanks to Sheila Breen and Tag Team Media for helping us get this interview!
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