Truly
HAVING EX-MEMBERS of Soundgarden and
The Screaming Trees in your band can be both a
blessing and a curse. "I was expecting it to be a
lot worse," says Robert Roth of his band's loose
ties to those Seattle grunge mainstays. Roth is
the lead singer and guitarist for Truly, a Pacific
Northwest-based power trio which also consists
of bassist Hiro Yamamoto (one of the founding
members of Soundgarden) and drummer Mark
Pickerel (formerly of The Screaming Trees).
"I think we've been kind of lucky," adds Hiro.
"It seems that people have given us a lot of lee
way; they've kind of given us the benefit of the
doubt. They're really receptive to the fact that
we really are different. We're not Soundgarden
and we're not The Screaming Trees, we're doing
our own thing. But it's kind of tough to live up
to something like that when people's expecta
tions are there. But I think they're giving us the
benefit of the doubt."
Truly came together in the summer of 1990.
Mark and Robert had been recording together
for some time and decided to recruit a bassist.
Due to the tight-knit nature of the Seattle scene,
Hiro's name eventually came up. "There were all
these rumors that Hiro had given up on music
and was no longer gonna be in the industry, but
Mark called him anyway," remembers Roth
"When I quit Soundgarden, I had a bad taste
in my mouth about the whole music industry."
recalls Hiro. "I always loved playing music, but
the whole business side of music freaked me
out, so when I quit Soundgarden, I didn't really
play for a couple of years. But when Mark and
Robert called me, I started getting a little more
amped to play again. So, I just started jammin'
around and stuff, and I really sucked," he laughs.
"Yeah, he was pretty rusty, so we just started
off kind of slowly," chides Robert
The band's debut album, Fast Stories... From
Kid Coma, takes the listener on a weird sonic
journey that's awash with sweeping, symphonic
quasi-pop, corrosive, grinding dirges, and wild
punkish undertones. "I kind of wanted some-
thing that was fairly ambient and kind of spacey.
something weird, says Yamamoto.
Surprisingly, the contrasting musical styles
flow magically together, creating an edgy, hyp
notic, sonic atmosphere. "Yeah, I mean, it's all
styles of music," says Robert. "We're just touch-
ing upon different moods, different emotions;
sometimes everyone feels aggressive and some
times everyone feels more inward and serene."
Truly's music may roam all over the sonic map,
touching upon raucous thrash inspired feedback
fury, extended progressive extrapolations and
gut-wrenching power pop crunch, but the key
ingredient is always raw energy. "We're all real
ly just flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants type musi
cians, working off of whatever energy is going
on right then," explains Robert. A lot of the
recording process and playing and writing is just
the alchemy of getting the right elements going
all at the same time to create a certain energy
and then try to capture it at a show or on tape."
And while Truly's overall sound may be far
removed from the traditional confines of punk.
it still manages to embody all of the early punk
ethics. To me, punk has always been about
breaking the rules, going beyond and doing
something different and not conforming," states
Roth. "And so in that sense, I'd say that we are
a punk band."
Spence Dookey
IN 1994 WARREN G hit the world by storm
with the G-funk sound. Along the way he
brought out the talents of longtime homies
Wayniac and Trip Loc. The Twinz are identical
twin brothers from Long Beach, California.
The style they bring is pure unadulterated G-
funk-not to be confused with Warren's, but
definitely within the family flow. So sit back
and get ready to bump, while we kick some
conversation.
-T Eric Monroe
What's up wit' touring?
When we tour, we use a live band
'cause people like to see that versa-
tility in a show. To do a show, you
have to interact with the crowd.
Everybody don't want to hear you
going over a DAT, so throw
some flavor in it, give
'em they money's
worth and then
they'll sup-
port you.
Would you say that it's safe to say rappers are
also messengers?
A messenger is bringing something good to
somebody. If you're bringing a message, it's
something good, not negative, to enhance your
people. Not talking about killing somebody over
here, nobody wants to hear that kind of stuff.
Kick something positive, at least on that frame
of mind, or that you're trying to make change
for a positive impact on the community.
Where do you think that the different
styles lie between the East and the
West Coast?
It's about where you hangin"
out at. When you in Cali, you
make music to ride to. Out in
New York, they have Walkman
music. More of the East Coast peo-
ple, they're on like showing their
skills and who's the roughest. On
the West Coast, we about our
papers, our money.
The money and longevity.
You always got to stay on top of your busi-
ness, you have to be more business-oriented
instead of just being an artist. You gotta be busi-
ness-wise at the same time because this is a
business. Hire and fire!
What do you think of people who use gim-
micks to try and survive?
It's all freelance, everybody will always have
their own thing as to how they want to portray
themselves or have their image. We never knock
nobody for doing what they
doin' 'cause it's all
just a hustle-
a brotha just
trying to get
paid.
the twinz
Ol' Dirty
Bastard
OFF IN THE FAR EAST, tucked away in the valley of Shaolin (Staten Island),
a young brainchild, The RZA (Prince Rakeem) noticed the efforts of eight Shaolin
soldiers. He brought them together to combine their energies to form an
unstoppable clan that would later come to be known as the Wu-Tang.
Now, buried deep within this clan was a soldier not like any other soldier. His
origins stemmed from a land north of Shaolin, known to only the wise few, the
land of "Zoo-Brooklyn Zoo.
Legend has it, this lone soldier displayed an unorthodox style, the most
unique style; he could stand on two feet and reverberate a sound that could rat-
tle for onwards of minutes and then give a graceful glance. His style was similar
to that of a drunken monk, sharp staccato blows, able to withstand any treach-
ery that came his way.
His influences are said to be those like The Who, The Beatles, Otis Redding
and Marvin Gaye, with a dramatic style that would make Jimi Hendrix proud.
This soldier, one Ol' Dirty Bastard, has come of age, mastering his art in
Return to the 36th Chamber, bringing to view a fury of offbeat eccentricity.
from the one who knows no better. Consider yourself warned. -T Eric Monroe