CEARHEAD
BIG CHIEF
DRIVING AROUND BERKELEY with Big
Chief frontman Barry Henssler can be a fun
and educational experience. Looking at the
endless parade of mohawks and Doc Marten's
got us talking about the "old" days, when you
could get beaten to a pulp for wearing a Devo
T-shirt. But rather than feeling bitter, the for-
mer Necros singer feels great about the young
kids into punk today. "We won" he said. "Think
about it, a lot of these kids weren't even born
in 1981, so if bands like Green Day and the
Offspring, who were influenced by the older
bands, are getting kids into it now that's great.
That gives me hope that everything we did
wasn't in vain, so that's how we won."
Music was always a way of life for the Ohio
born Barry, whose parents took him to see Pink
Floyd at the University of Toledo in 1970 on
Halloween night, little knowing that 11 years
later to the day, he would be slamming on
national TV during Fear's legendary perfor
mance on Saturday Night Live. Discontent in
his high school and hometown lead to the for-
mation of The Necros who, along with bands
like the Big Boys and JFA, were the sound of
the underground hardcore skater scene in the
early 80s. The Necros evolved away from hard-
core into a more traditional punk meets hard
rock sound, then finally called it quits after
going for nearly a decade. Barry was living in
Ann Arbor at the time and quickly hooked up
with guitarist/artist Mark Dancey, bassist Matt
O'brien, drummer Mike Danner and Germant
born guitarist Phil Dürr, to form Big Chief.
Their early shows were often described
as "way raw and psycho," and the bar-
rage of singles that they put out during
that time were compiled and released as
the Drive It Off album. Shortly afterward
they were signed to the infamous
SubPop label and the Face album hit
the streets and so did the band. A
major US tour with the Beastie Boys
and several trips to Europe followed. Big Chief
left SubPop with a masterpiece called Mack
Avenue Skull Game before heading to greener
pastures at Capitol records. The LP is the
soundtrack for a film of the same name that
showcases the hard reality of Detroit streetlife,
and Big Chief was the perfect band for the job.
Funky and solid, it attracted plenty of atten-
tion. When I asked Barry if it's bad to be
stereotyped as "funky." he simply states,
"Funky means that it has soul, that's all. Primus
aren't funky, they're quirky."
On their latest LP, Platinum Jive, irresistible
and hectic rock jams like "Map of Your Failure"
and "Lion's Mouth" are paired against
funky/soulful tunes like "MD 20/20" and the
psychedelic "Your Days are Numbered." Plenty
of humor is injected throughout (remember
these guys are behind Motorbooty Magazine)
and production was handled by the Butcher
Brothers, who have turned the knobs for every
one from Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones to
Cypress Hill and Schooly D to Urge Overkill.
"Working with them was great, they kept the
ball rolling and the party going." Barry says.
"The only weird thing is that they insisted that
we record in the nude!"
Big Chief recently toured with The Cult,
attempting to bring back stadium rock. I asked
if it was hard to play in front of such huge
crowds every night and Barry gave me a big,
"Hell not" as an answer. "All you have to do is
mention weed or a big local sports figure and
the kids will love you!"
-Mike LaVella