Probably the first time I ever interviewed a punk band. Woody and Simon Bob were interviewed live on the air before their show at Carpenter’s Hall in San Diego later that night. Also repeated for my metal show.
I was very young and this was one of my first dozen or so interviews I had ever done. Of course knowing what I know now, my interviews would have been much better. Listening back to this, I can’t stand how I was interrupting them all the time and asking dumb questions (there was probably some generic beer involved too), but it is what it is and it is history, so here you go.
I think I took them out for tacos after this, and then drove them to Carpenter’s Hall for their show. Van Halen came on the radio and we all started singing along. I thought it was really cool they were open-minded about music. If I remember correctly, a bunch of skinheads crashed through the door during C.O.C.’s set and the show was shutdown. This happened a lot back in those days. Also, I may have interviewed Dr Know at a party afterwards. I may post that interview if I can find it. It’s a long one though.
Listen to the C.O.C. interview here. Transcript below.
Ted: This is a Ted and I’m sitting here with two members from COC. We got Simon Bob. You like to be called Simon or Bob or both?
Simon Bob: Simon Bob
Woody: I call him “Bob”. His friends call him “Bob”.
Ted: Okay, and Woody, right?
Woody: I’m Woody.
Ted: And They’re from Corrosion Of Conformity also known as COC appearing tonight at Carpenter’s Hall in San Diego. Call us if you need directions down there. 534-4225.
Woody: Something like that.
Ted: You guys got an EP out on Death records. It’s called Technocracy, right?
Both: Yes. Yeah, that’s right.
Ted: Why did you record just an EP after waiting so long for a full-length? Animosity came out like over 2 years ago.
Woody: the main reason was this was sort of like a way of getting out of a contract for those guys becaus… Yeah, we the only reason we did it at all was because we were under an obligation, a legal obligation contractually, and so this was just sort of like…
Ted: On Death (Records)
Woody: Right, on Death.
Ted: So what’s the next album going to be on? Do you know?
Woody: Yeah, we’re free now. Yay! We’re not signed any longer.
Simon Bob: We’re shopping.
Ted: Okay, and it’s called Technocracy
Simon Bob: Yes
Ted: Or Techno-cracy. Whatever you want to call it (laughs). Could you explain the concept of it? There’s a meaning behind that.
Simon Bob: Yeah, well, yeah technocracy simply is instead of man’s surroundings and man’s working… Technology instead of working for man, getting so powerful that it works against Man, and also that Man has to serve It.
Woody: Also, it’s like… yeah that’s it. The Theocracy, the technocracy.
Simon Bob: The same kind of thinking of where you build bombs to protect your country, but then you get to the point where you’re having to pay so much to make sure that the bombs don’t do you in.
Ted: You guys have a lot of meaning behind most your lyrics. I understand you like to put meaning into your lyrics. They’re not just about killing and death. They have meaning behind them. Where to get the stuff you sing about?
Simon Bob: Well all different places, you know, they’re just…
Woody: The lyrics to us are just as important the music, pretty much. You know, it’s like there’s two separate parts. Each has its importance.
Ted: Why did you redo “Hungry Child” on this EP? It’s on the Animosity album.
Woody: Yeah, the way Animosity was…
Ted: was it just to take up space?
Woody: No, it wasn’t that. We were going to redo a bunch of stuff off Animosity because we thought it was just done a little a poorly and stuff and we thought we could…
Ted: Are you serious?
Woody: Yeah, and it I don’t know, “Hungry Child” didn’t turn out as good as I thought it would. But that was a main point. We thought we could do it a little better.
Simon Bob: I could have could have picked a better song to redo, I think. But it turned out okay.
Woody: You learn from your mistakes. Live and learn.
Ted: What was this song “Ahh Blugh”?
Woody: That that was like just sort of like a parody of like bad heavy metal bands.
Ted: Examples?
Woody: Sodom! They’re like… listen to a Sodom album. How does it go? It goes “AHHH!” then it goes “blugh blugh blugh”. You can’t even undertand what they’re saying! That was the whole concept behind that. Just for fun. It was something we decided to do while we were in the studio. So it wasn’t really a planned thing. It was kind of like we were in the studio doing the songs and stuff. We said well, you know, this is really funny. Why don’t we do this?
Ted: Well, okay great! We’re gonna be talking a little bit later on after the next couple songs. (to the engineer) What song’s next? Buzzcocks? I can’t read lips something.
Woody: Something off Technocracy.
Ted: This is “Happily Ever After” off their new EP ”Technocracy” and away we go!
(plays song and some other songs)
Ted: (music fades out and we come in talking) Okay, we’re talking about the Descendents here on a KSDT. Actually we’re here with COC and that was…
Simon Bob & Woody: “Happily Ever After”
Woody: Which is actually a very old song. Actually that whole EP was written whenever Animosity came out, which was like early ‘85 or so. And even though it is our new record, the material is actually pretty old.
Ted: Do you have a lot of stuff written during the past three years or so?
Woody: Oh, yeah. And even since Bob joined the band which has been like, you know a year and a half ago or so. I’ve written major new tunes.
Ted: Do you have enough stuff for a whole new album?
Woody: Yeah, pretty much.
Ted: Do you know what label that will be on?
Woody: No. No. We’re just hanging out waiting to see.
Ted: I can’t remember if I asked you that during the interview or while the songs were playing.
Simon Bob: We’re still looking around and making sure that we avoid the pitfalls of hasty decisions.
Ted: I read an interview in maximumrocknroll where you guys said…
Simon Bob: Spit it out!
Ted: “Combat” written on the EP (Combat was the record label that was connected with Metal Blade/Death Records for this EP) and you guys were pissed off or something why would get mad about it?
Woody: It wasn’t that it was Combat, but it was like “Combat Core” it had this skinhead like spitting like a lugie with combat boots and the full thing. That kind of pissed us off because it was on our album. And we didn’t know it was gonna be on there.
Ted: Would you sign up with Combat Core?
Woody: No, that was it’s we never signed anything with combat.
Ted: I mean would you?
Woody: No. Nuh uh.
Simon Bob: That’s like a peace band signing with “War Records”. And the whole image that they project with their labels, I find it… I think it’s offensive.
Ted: So you wouldn’t sign with them because of what they believe in.
Woody: Well, it’s not necessarily the label. It’s just like their whole way of promoting their bands and the whole image they give all their bands… It’s just not really what we’re into. And it’s like we… I don’t know. It’s just …
Ted: It’s also like these bands with the high concert prices. How do you feel about that? The Cult is charging, what, $24? What a rip!
Woody: (sarcastically) They’re the Cult man, you know. Yeah, but still you know, what’s the guy’s name? Ian something…
Ted: You guys have backed out of some shows.
Woody: Yeah, recently we backed out of a show because of the door price. It’s just like if we go somewhere and the promoters told us that the door prices say eight bucks or something and we show up and it’s like 12 bucks…
Ted: Is that what happened?
Woody: That’s what happened in Chicago a couple days ago and we just said “well look, we’re not gonna do the show because it’s you’re charging too much” And he also had some other bands on the bill that made it like it was a metal show anyway. And so it was no big deal, you know, we just bailed.
Ted: How do you feel about heavy metal? I’m going to be playing this interview on a heavy metal show.
Woody: Yeah, I realize that. Um, I mean that there’s a lot of stuff that I like but it’s just like the mentality a lot of times is really something that just really turns me off.
Simon Bob: Musically. I think there’s a lot of stuff that we can identify with, but there’s a lot that we can’t.
Woody: It’s like the older stuff, I think me and Bob are really into like a lot of the older metal stuff like the Sabbath and like Deep Purple and…
Ted: Would you say they’re your influences?
Woody: Yeah, I mean, it’s like the thrash stuff, whenever it first started happening like with Slayer and stuff I mean, I was way into it. But it got to a point where everything got really stale and it was just a big sort of a trend.
Ted: Yeah, their new album is all just total speed. And they even said they’re gonna slow it down for the next album.
Woody: It’s just like there’s like a million bands doing it, you know? It’s boring.
Simon Bob: The whole thing caught on… like from the punk side it caught on because like wow, there’s this whole new different kind of music and it’s real loud and real fast and it’s real energetic and it’s cool, right? But there’s not many ideas there.
Woody: And I think it had a negative effect on the punk scene. Just because a lot of punk bands take that attitude, you know. It’s like… I don’t know. I don’t know how to how to say it.
Simon Bob: It has a lot to do with the image. The image is the main thing. The mentality and like what they’re saying and how they’re looking and what they want to be. Apart from the music, you know, whether it’s their lyrics or…
Ted: With the lyrics they’re all singing about death and stuff.
Simon Bob: Yeah, well they’re just not really saying anything. They’re just rehashing old ideas, which aren’t even like…
Woody: For awhile it’s kind of entertaining, you know? It’s like a comic book or something. Like with Venom and stuff like that, that’s like, when you listen to a Venom record. It’s like reading comic book or something.
Ted: Yeah I was talking to Wendy Williams last May and she had utter utter utter hatred for Bon Jovi because of the reason that he doesn’t put a message in his music. And she was saying how everything every single thing she ever has done, she has put a message in it because she says if you have an audience, you should do some good to it and put a message in it.
Woody: Yes, it’s like I don’t hate any bands because they don’t have a message, you know? It’s just like when it gets to be so stale. It just gets real boring.
Ted: How would you feel like a million bands started doing the COC thing?
Woody: How could they… I don’t understand…
Ted: What if there were a thousand bands sounding like COC? Like there are a thousand bands sounding like Slayer now.
Woody: I’d be bummed out.
Ted: Would you change your sound?
Woody: We wouldn’t change our sound. We’d probably …
Ted: …make it more powerful
Simon Bob: But see that’s the big difference between bands that are… When you’re in a band, you don’t want to get stuck into a sound. You want to try and grow. I mean likeBlack Flag are a good example. Black Flag, every single record they put out sounds different. Woody: Yeah, it’s all pretty good.
Simon Bob: At first they go “What is this?” But then six months later when the new one comes out, everyone’s like “Oh, I like this old one.” Right? So it’s like you got to keep growing and if your sound doesn’t change, you know, it’s like… You can’t stagnate. Otherwise you’ll… I can’t say you’ll lose an audience because there’s a lot of people out there listening to it.
Woody: I think I think I think we’re gonna play some tunes here, alright?
Ted: Yeah, let’s go play something from the Dead Kennedys.
Woody: The Dead Kennedys! This is off Bedtime For Democracy. I don’t know what song it is though.
Ted: “Where do you draw the line?”….
(songs play and we come back)
Ted: That was “Mad World” from COC’s…
Woody: Animosity that was old Mike Dean on the vocals there.
Ted: Speaking of old members and stuff, COC’s been through an awful lot of membership changes.
Woody: Not really an awful lot.
Ted: Okay. Well explain it.
Woody: Well Eric was on our first album, Eye For An Eye. He left the band and we were a three piece. Me, and Reed, and Mike for like about two and a half years. And then we got Bob like about a year and a half ago. And then Mike Dean quit about six months ago. And we got Phil now.
Ted: Why’d he quit?
Woody: He wanted to do like a different kind of thing. Like a free-form jam type stuff. More instrumental music.
Ted: Is that what he’s going to be doing?
Woody: Yeah, that’s what he’s into now.
Simon Bob: He’s Jammer’s a lot of different people trying to get something happening
Woody: In fact he was in fact he was out here in LA for a while, jamming with Greg Ginn for a few weeks. And I don’t think that worked out. Because he’s back east now. But he’s still working on something.
Simon Bob: He’s into that kind of… like Greg Ginn did Gone for a while.
Woody: Yeah, he’s into more of a jamming thing. He’s not into the structural thing like COC is.
Ted: So we should look out for something from him soon.
Woody: Yeah, maybe. Yeah.
Ted: Is there any interesting way how you guys formed?
Woody: Not really. Me and Reed were like old buddies from like a long time ago.
Simon Bob: We were in a band together called No Labels.
Woody: Yeah, No Labels.
Ted: And you used to be in a band called the Ugly Americans.
Simon Bob: Yeah.
Woody: Bobby used to sing for (No Labels).
Ted: (to Bob) We have your single. I think we should play some of it.
Woody: Yeah, it’s a good record.
Ted: You guys are gonna be appearing tonight at the Carpenter’s Hall.
Woody: Oh, yeah. With Dr Know.
Ted: A great band. I don’t know who else…
Simon Bob: Neighborhood Watch.
Ted: I haven’t heard them yet.
Woody: And tomorrow in LA at the Fender’s Ballroom.
Ted: Oh That should be good. It’s a rough part of town…
Woody: No, that’s not too bad. It’s Long Beach.
Ted: Have you guys played there before? Because that’s what I’ve heard.
Woody: It’s a pretty cool place. It’s not too bad.
Ted: Well, that’s good! What’s your favorite AC/DC album?
Woody: Oh, my favorite one is… what’s that one? If You Want Blood. That’s my favorite. If You Want Blood. That’s my favorite album.
Ted: Okay, good choice.
Woody: I like that one. You?
Simon Bob: Back In Black.
Ted: That’s good. I mean a lot of people say that one.
Woody: That’s a classic. I like that one now, come on.
Ted: That’s what Spike said from DRI.
Woody: He likes Back In Black (as his favorite)?
Ted: Yeah, but know what Redd Kross’ favorite AC/DC album is? Powerage.
Woody: Oh! That’s a good record!
Ted: That’s the fucking best one.
Woody: Actually my favorite AC/DC record is any AC/DC record.
Simon Bob: I like Who Made Who.
Ted: Yeah, that’s good. That’s a greatest hits…
Simon Bob: Yeah, I like the new songs on that too. Sorry, Woody.
Woody: That’s ok, man.
Ted: Any final words you guys would like to say?
Woody: I don’t know. Maybe just on a different note here, if anybody has bought our EP and it doesn’t have a lyric sheet in it, our address is on the record. So you can write us and we’ll send you one. It has a big fold-out lyric page and it didn’t get put in about like seven or eight thousand of them.
Simon Bob: If you didn’t get one you can write us, and we’ll send you one for free.
Woody: Yeah, it has a lot of political rhetoric, and lyrics, and other things on it.
Ted: Because the lyrics are important so if you didn’t get them, write!
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