Join the Audio Ammunition crew along with guest Josh Rutledge (AKA Lord Rutledge from the world famous Faster and Louder blog!) as we discuss our personal top 10 releases from the heyday of 90's underground music. From Pop Punk to Ska Lookout! Records helped shape our love of Punk Rock.
Here's a few links to some other pretty cool Top Lookout Records bands, songs and releases to check out! https://www.brooklynvegan.com/10-must-have-lookout-records-albums/ https://colinspunkrockworld.blogspot.com/2017/01/top-tens-colins-top-ten-lookout-records.html?m=0 https://www.spin.com/2012/05/20-essential-songs-late-lookout-records/
Stick around for our amazing featured song this episode by Brad Marino titled "False Alarm"
Thank you so much for listening to our humble show! Keep your ear holes on high alert for more upcoming interviews with musicians, bloggers, label and store owners that we love and we're sure you will too!
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I first became
familiar with Kepi’s existence back in the mid 1990’s when I bought the Groovie
Ghoulies masterpiece World Contact Day
LP on Lookout! Records. I was taken by not only the music, but the whole mood
the music created: it was dark, fun, and just had an all around charming
atmosphere. It was like watching my favorite Hanna Barbera cartoons if they
starred the Ramones. After 2007, when the Groovie Ghoulies broke up, Kepi’s
solo material picked up musically pretty much right where his former band left
off. Since then he’s kept himself busy not only releasing solo records, but
touring relentlessly, creating original artwork, and more I’m sure. Kepi
Ghoulie not only inspires with the music that he writes that’s catchier than a
hangnail on a knit sweater, but with the sheer longevity of his career. Like
his anthem states, the man does in fact “Bleed Rock n’ Roll”!
Interview
by J Castro
Can you remember as a child,
what or whom inspired to want learn to pick up an instrument and play/write music?
KEPI:
I think I always liked music... It kind of went Johnny Cash, Elvis, Beatles,
Stones, etc. I took a few lessons in high school and finally started a band. The
Ramones were really the ones to inspire that "DIY/anyone can do it"
thing, but they still had their own magic!
Tell me a bit about the Kepi for Kids LP you put out a couple of
years ago?What led to the
decision to do a kids record?
KEPI:
Well, Mike
Park just asked me to make a kids record saying: "your songs are already
pretty kid friendly" so I did and he was right! I just tried to write
songs that wouldn't drive parents crazy with insipidness and I think I did all
right.
You always seem to have such
a positive attitude.Did you
always have an optimistic outlook on life? If not did something happen in your
life that changed your disposition?
KEPI:
So.... my positive attitude... I don't really know what to say... I think I've
always been a fairly happy person, and somehow I seemed to have gotten happier!
Think I am just grateful for my friends, that my parts all work, and that the
rent is paid this month! I also feel that anybody who gets to be an artist for
a living should be pretty thankful!
Another project you have
coming up with a band called The Accelerators. Can you tell me a bit about
that?
KEPI: Yes, The Accelerators are big fans of "Fun in the
Dark" by the Groovie Ghoulies, so they re-recorded their own version of
it, and I threw vocals on top! We are going to do that with the Copyrights and
"Re-Animation Festival" and then who knows what else? More, I bet! I
will re-issue the old records too, so you don't HAVE to listen to these
re-imaginations, but you CAN, if you like music and friends and fun!
When writing lyrics, what
kinds of things typically inspire you? Are there any subjects you try to steer
away from?
I hear so many musicians say
that writing and playing music is therapeutic to them?Do you feel this way?
KEPI:
I love to play music and I guess there is a therapeutic aspect to it, but it
can also be stressful and challenging on occasion! Therefore I run and meditate
too and then it doesn't have to be all about the music!!!
We’ve come to the lightening
round segment of the interview: You may elaborate on the following 4 questions
as much or as little as you see fit.Lets begin:
1.What’s the first concert you attended without your parents?
KEPI: the
Cars/Marshall Tucker Band/Thin Lizzy/Journey! It SO rocked! I love the Cars and
Thin Lizzy still.
2.What’s the first band T-shirt you ever wore?
KEPI:
probably
Kiss... my freshman year photo has a Ted Nugent shirt on it, and sophomore year
Aerosmith!
3.What was the first
band picture or band poster you had pinned up on your childhood bedroom wall?
KEPI:
most likely
Kiss but maybe Bob Dylan too!
4.What was the first record you purchased with your own money?
KEPI: The first record I ever picked out
myself was the Monster Mash, which I find wildly amusing considering my path, but
my Mom bought that for me. My parents also got me Johnny Cash at San Quentin for my third grade birthday upon my
request: HIGHLY influential in my life, but the first record I bought with my
OWN money was Paul McCartney: Wings over
America, 3 LPs, gatefold magic!
You have played with so many
people in your career.If you
could hand pick an ultimate Kepi Ghoulie band from musicians throughout rock n’
roll history, who would it be and why?
KEPI:
What's
funny is, I am CURRENTLY playing with some of my favorite musicians of all
time! At a recent Aquabats show my backing band was Lucy and Gwen from Dog
Party on drums and guitar, Kevin Preston from Prima Donna on guitar, and
Eaglebones from Aquabats on bass! I just toured backed by Mean Jeans and have
also done this with Sons of Buddha, Accelerators, Copyrights and Miss Chain from
Italy! I just played acoustic backed by PETS and David Houston on Percussion,
Lucy Dog Party on drums and vocals, Dan Potthast (MU330) on lap steel, and
Brendan Thompson on stand up bass! You really can't beat these folks! RIGHT NOW
is the place to be! I am the luckiest person in the world! (and they all love
my music... BONUS)
What lies ahead for you in
2015?
KEPI:
I already have shows booked in Idaho; have a Euro tour offer, working on Hawaii
and more surprises! Two records on the way, more Groovie Ghoulie re-issues, new
shirt designs and merch; go, go, go, go, go!! Happy 2015!
To
try and place one label on Legendary Wings sound would not do it justice.For one, it’s an album that could have
only been conceived by youthful vitality.Oh sure all the good elements are there; a touch of the ol’ lo-fi rock n
roll and power pop.However it
also has an element of charismatic Lookout Records punk pop that the label put
out in the early to mid 90’s in its heyday.Whatever it may sound like is irrelevant, its rock n roll
with magnetism and hooks so contagious it’ll wrap itself around your head like
an Alien Face Hugger.But unlike
an Alien Face Hugger, you don’t really want to tear it off.Hicks, Vazquez……..stand down!
Interview by Jay
Castro
Who’s answering the questions here?
Jeff
Who is in Legendary Wings and what’s your
contribution?
I play drums,
Scott plays guitar and sings, and Matt Wing plays bass.
Are you all originally from the Kalamazoo
MI area?
Yeah.
What is the bands origin story?
Me and Scott
were all, “god damn there’s a lot of shitty bands in Kalamazoo!”
And then we were
all like, “we should make a shitty band!!”
What influences did you have in mind when
starting Legendary Wings?
RATT
You’ve listed Booze, Nintendo Wii, and
Records as some of your interests.Have you ever combined all three activities?If so, how many records were ruined?
We combine the
three before every band practice...and the only thing that got ruined was my
right shoulder during a heated Wii bowling match. It popped out of its socket
and I almost died.
If you guys could tour with any band/musician
from past or present; who would that be?
Ratt.
I recently read that out of all different
art forms, music has the power to alter a person’s disposition the
fastest.Do you agree with
this?Do you have any favorite
songs that you can put on that will always lift you from a slouch?
“Invasion of
your Privacy “by Ratt makes me want to live. ….so does any song by the free credit report.com
band. They slay.
Is there any story behind the name for
the LP “Making Paper Roses”?It
sounds rather poetic and profound.
It is totally
poetic and profound and deep and would take hours to explain.
Do you think Rock N Roll can still be an
influential force for kids in this disposable age we live in today?
Nah.
The LP “Making Paper Roses” is on Dirtnap
Records, how did that relationship begin?
We sent Ken
(Dirtnap guy) a demo a couple years ago…and he said he liked it….then we didn’t
hear from him for a while…then he hit us up and asked if we wanted to do a record
and we said “yeah, that’d be great man.” We couldn’t be happier with how the
record came out!! Ken hooked it up. HELL of a label.
You guys are on tour supporting the new
album now.What has been the most
memorable Legendary Wings show the band has played?Where was it and what made it so unforgettable?
We played in New
Orleans with Buck Biloxi and the Fucks. We put a bunch of stickers on the back
of Buck Biloxi when he wasn’t looking. He didn’t notice because he was high on
poppers. Then we peed on his leg and had a good laugh about it. That last part
might be a lie.
What music have you unleashed on the
world and where can people hear it or buy it?
New single on
PELICAN POW WOW records outta New Orleans!! Split with Buck Biloxi and the
Fucks!! Might be sold out but I think Goner Records still has some. We also
have our full length floating around record stores and websites. You can buy it
from dirtnaprecs.com
What does the band have in store for us
in the near future?
Workin’ on a new
album this summer!!! Prolly play a few shows too…hit us up!
