Tommy referees his own grind.
Whats a good sized show for the
Stupids in England?
Five or six hundred.
How much did you have to pay the
tabloids to print stuff on you?
Is that a serious question?
Yeah.
Nothing.
All
They did it with open arms?
They're into ego trips, I guess.
the press wants is to be the ones who
are the first to discover something.
They want to be in on the new rad
thing. Then, when it goes a bit too
far, they want to be the first to put it
down, the first to find out that
Morissey isn't really what he says he
is. They want you to be hurt by what
they say. If they really knew what they
were talking about, they'd be in the
clubs playing. But since they can't
get into it they want to create and
destroy it. I hate the press. They've
gotten us into trouble. They want to
print smut. Basically they're the most
unimportant people in music. We just
got back from Australia. When we
were there, the record company said,
"Call up this journalist; he says he
wants to do a little bit on you." At first
I said, "No, no, no," but I was really
bored in the day, so I called him up.
He says (impersonation of speech
impediment), "Oh yeah, is there
anything you want to tell me about
Australia?" I mean, I called this guy
because he was interested and he
wasn't even prepared. Then he says
he'll pass me on to another journalist
who had written a muck story on us.
so I just hung up on him. I really hate
the guy. The press wants you to be
affected by what they're saying.
You seem to be vulnerable to the
English press, though?
Well, bad reviews from people who
don't know anything
about it really make
me mad.
But in the begin-
ning did you want
press?
Sure, we've never
been into punk rock
ethics. People say
we changed, we're
not a hardcore band.
anymore. We haven't
changed. We're not
out there to rip peo-
ple off. We still want
to talk to people. We
want to put records
out cheaply.
What about being
on the cover of
Sounds and NME?
It doesn't seem to
People said, "We're sick of hype."
But it's not hype. Our product is not
a dishonest one, it's what we'd do
even if nobody liked it. I think a lot
of people are jealous because we're
the first punk band that's come along
with an acceptable image.
Wouldn't you say that The Stupids
play more of an American brand of
hardcore?
Yes, that's also a point in our favor.
It's very trendy in England to be
American.
Why?
It's just the current style. Like flan-
nel shirts, rolled up 501's and
baseball caps.
Is there animosity then that you
have an American sound and
you're not sticking with your home
roots?
That's always been there from the
be the Stupids' beginning. Sounding American,
image.
dressing American, but we don't do
anything to pose at all. I get clothes
that I like. The only label that I go for
is Converse. I just know it's a good
quality shoo.
We got on the cover
of NME because the
skateboard thing was
a trend. Sounds did
it because they like
us. The only jour-
nalist I have respect
for did it. He was in
the Barracudas..
Do you want to
mention his name
so he can pay you
money?
I don't remember
what his name is.
The record company
paid for the Sounds
people to go to Paris
and review the show.
The cover was shot
there.
Is that how the
press works? The
record company
pays for them to go
so you can get in a magazine?
Yeah, it really surprises me, but that's
how you can get front cover. It's not
exactly paying the press. The label
had another band, a French band
called Le Thugs. They played the
night after us to get publicity for
them, too. It's just to make it more
interesting than to the Stupids in
the Sounds office doing an interview.
How do you feel about that?
I'm for it because I want to be on the
cover. That is the extent of my
feelings.
Do you want to get on other
covers?
Yeah.
Your record label will go broke.
It would mean more to me to be on
the cover of THRASHER than Sounds
or NME
Was there a backlash of animosity
from fans.
You were put on the cover not
because of your music but
because you're geared towards
skateboards. Did that bother you?
Yeah, we got into trouble with that.
We did a whole photo session and
refused to put boards in the
cover...we just did a session of us
standing around. Then we were on
tour and we got a phone call from the
editors. They were really angry
because there wasn't a skateboard
in the picture. It was our first front
cover, and we didn't want to turn it
down, so we re-shot. Luckily, we did
it in a Stupid way.
So they wanted to jump on the
skateboard bandwagon. What led
them to know the Stupids were a
skateboard band?
Because our press release is like
that.
Is it true, or is this jumping on the
bandwagon, too?
We skateboard, we like to sing about
it, but we don't want to be in a situ-
ation that if skateboarding dies out
we die with it. Obviously bands like
Suicidal Tendencies realized that.
If you're a skater, can you do nine-
foot McTwists?
Yeah.
That's what the kids expect from
the Stupids, right? That you can
ollie to the top of a pick-up truck?
Yeah, uh-huh. That kind of pisses me
off. All the cool skaters don't like me
because I'm not a very good skater,
so I'm obviously not a real person.
Why are you expected to be a good
skater?
I dunno. They feel that they're into
it so much, they're pretty good, then
why aren't I?
Do you feel that the band comes
before skateboarding so you can't
concentrate all your energy on
skating?
Yeah. We wouldn't be good skaters
anyhow. I got to a point where I was
improving but then I stopped..
Why did you stop at the time you
were improving?
Because I switched boards and I
couldn't handle it. I had one board
that was like a magic pair of danc-
ing shoes. It felt so comfortable. I was
doing things I couldn't do before.
Then I wore that board out and got
a new deck that was bigger and
heavier. Suddenly it was really
cumbersome to ride and it pissed me
off. There's a place in London call-
ed Meanwhile, a purposely made
skate ditch. If you're into banks, it's
one of the best places in the world
to skate. I just burnt out skating there.
I'd skate all day, it would be bitter
cold, and I wouldn't be getting new
tricks. Everyone else was progress-
ing really fast. I turned sour. I wanted
to be good within myself.
When I skate, instead of doing a
sketchy, rad, new, in trick, I'd rather
pull off a stylish and well ridden
through grind. That means a lot more
to me than being able to pull off a
sketchy varial beanplant to lip to
headcrush.
I wasn't improving and no one was
particularly behind me. I like to skate
with a partner and I didn't have one
and everyone was saying, "Yeah,
that's good, rad." I got bored with it.
Was it because you were com-
peting within yourself with what
the other kids were doing?
No. I didn't really care.
Then why did you let it get to you
that much?
Because I didn't feel good.
So what brought you back to
skating?
Being away from it for so long.
How long were you away from it?
About five months. I picked it up
again in Australia, because it was
new terrain.
Where else has your band taken
you besides America and
Australia?
We've done a few gigs around
Europe. We've done Paris, we've
done Vienna. Vienna was a total
fluke. We were booked in this brand
new nightclub on the idea that we
were a Beastie Boys type band, a rap
band. It would be kind of like Christ
On Parade playing at the ritziest club
in San Francisco. We turned up and
they were really nice to us until we
sound-checked. Then they were like,
"Please, could you play slower. I lik-
ed that song, could you play that
once more? We happened to bump
into the guys from Extrem (an
Austrian punk band) and they
brought all of their friends down so
it turned out to be a great show. The
owner of the club still hated us, he
didn't even say goodbye to us. The
crowd reaction was terrific though.
When we finished a song the whole
crowd would whistle and yell.
Your American tour with Ludichrist
was very small, how did that go?
It was fun. We toured for ten days.
The response was not bad, consider-
ing we were both unknown bands at
that time. The best response we got
was in Omaha, Nebraska.
How do you feel about the rumor
that Michael Jackson wanted to
buy the remains of John Merrick?
I couldn't give a shit.
Well, because in the Stupids
you've expressed such an infatua-
tion with John Merrick, the
Elephant man...
The subject bores me because
Michael calls me up at all times, in
the middle of the night, when I'm out
in the car and stuff like that. I don't
care. I just don't know why. I guess
it's kind of boredom. He's got money
and he wants to buy everything in
sight. He wants to buy the Beatles
songs, he wants to buy...
How do you feel about someone
buying someone like that?
Well, if he wants to do it. I guess he
bought it because he's sort of looney
and thought John Merrick was cute,
he talked really funny. I don't know,
Michael Jackson's a weird guy. He
wants to be white. I wonder if he'll
regret it.
What made you and the Stupids
have a fascination with John Mer-
rick? You have him on the cover,
you have songs about him...
We saw the movie and I really liked
it. I cried. Have you seen the movie?
Yeah.
Did you cry?
No. Did you cry when Old Yeller
died?
Who?
You don't know who Old Yeller is?
No. I'm young. Did you see ET?
Did you cry at ET?
Yeah, when he was dying.
What do you hope to see happen
with the Stupids?
More expriences. Keep it going and
progress with the music.
What about video?
We've done a video. It's a satirical
skateboard video. It's been on MTV.
The opening sequence is a whole
line of people going at a jump ramp
and everyone is falling off.
What do you think of jump ramps?
I hate them. If there's ever one I just
grind it or rock 'n' roll. It's just an easy
form of acrobatics.
What kind of skating do you like
the best?
Bank riding.
Anything else that you need to
say?
Yes. We do care. We care about how
people who like us are treated. We're
a serious bunch of guys. We mean
only good and we appreciate every-
one who's paid attention to us.
Skatemaster Tate at Baldy Pipeline, Upland, CA.
UNITE
UTATION
CHUCK KATZ
Skate Rock
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