interview with Nihilistics
Have any of you played in other bands? No. Anyone who play in a band outside of the Nihilistics brings a death warrant upon themselves.
How is it that you started playing music? We started playing because, all the music we heard on the radio was absolutely awful. There was no hard core punk rock and someone had to get the ball rolling.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Ron Rancid - vocals / Ajax Lepinkski - guitar / Troy - Drums / Doug Graves - Bass We are all old enough to be your father. Did you mother go to a Nihilistics show? One of us may be your father.
Have you had other previous members?
Mike, our old bass player, passed away in October 2014. He left the band under suspicious circumstances in 2004. He was followed by Kirk Von Dirt, a strapping young man but, a womanizer.
Tommy K played for 3 or 4 years but, his heroin habit got the best of him and we gave him the boot. George C played did a fine job on bass, for two or three years, until he was replaced by our current bassist, Doug Graves. Doug is the only virtuoso in the band and has the unnatural ability to play multiple instruments while being felatiated.
Troy, the original and current drummer took a break for several years and was temporarily replaced by Dirty Dave Phinster and Karl. Ajax has been in the band since replacing Chris in 1984.
Did you make music even when you were young? We all make music every time we fart. Isn’t it funny how fart humor never gets old?
Where are you from? Everyone in the current lineup is from the cesspool known as Long Island, New York. Long island is next to Brooklyn and Queens but has more liquor stores, churches and shopping malls. You do not want to visit Long Island.
What year did the band form? Some say 1978. Others say 1977. We can’t say for sure. What we can say is, that it’s been a long time and we are still at it. We are the oldest, NY punk band to have continuously played without breaks. We played CBGBs over 200 times. We played the closing night at Max’s Kansas City and the final Saturday night at CBGBs. We are the death of punk clubs.
What's your style of genre? You may call it New York Hard Core…. that’s OLD SCHOOL HARD CORE. Not that weak, girly shit that they’re calling hard core these days. I puke every time I hear a new hardcore band.
What inspires you? Nothing. Inspiration is for children. You get out of bed in the morning, you put your pants on and you go to work. You get no thanks and no inspiration… only death and taxes.
How often and where do you rehearse? We rehearse three or four times before a show. If we are working on an album, maybe a month. Too much rehearsing kills spontaneity.
How have you developed since you started with the music? We haven’t. We remain stagnant in our own personal hell. What’s the point of progressing when all we have to look forward to is more misery, shame and degradation
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? What is there to be interested in? The Kardashians? Politics? World events? The world is a shithole, full of people who watch terrible television. The world used to be an interesting place but, it is de-evolving faster than you can imagine. Humanity is on an intellectual downward spiral and there is no turning back. The future is bleak and it offers nothing of interest. We are all better off dead.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Booking Agencies steal what little money a band makes. We get offers for shows via email and we don’t have to share our pay with a booking agency.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We have had our own label, Visionary Records, for over 30 years. Record labels are thieves and every artist on a label eventually is forced to sue to the money that they deserve. My advice to every bands is: get a computer, record your own music and sell your own CDs and downloads.
What made you decide to make this music? I think I answered this question above but, I will repeat for your benefit. We started playing because, all the music we heard on the radio was absolutely awful. There was no hard core punk rock and someone had to get the ball rolling.
What are your songs about? We sing about the futility and meaninglessness of life in general. Just look at the titles of our songs: Death & Taxes,, You’re Born, You’re Bored, Badge of Shame, Futile Waste, Downfall of Man, Shit & Blood and Kill Yourself.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Song writing has always been a group effort. We all contribute in our own ways. Everyone has written a few songs and Ron writes the lyrics. Ajax recorded four out of five albums and a few singles.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Very few of our songs start with lyrics.
Do you compose in a certain environment? We decompose in all environments.
Have you done any covers live? No. All of our songs are original.
What language do you sing in? All of our songs are in English and Ron sang in Latin during one song, Cauldron of Confusion, which was on the Fuck The Human Race album.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Most of our shows are for small crowds of about 500 people. We played a few shows that were attended by over 10,000 people.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? We get a wide range of ages at our shows from 10 year old kids to 70 year olds. You may have noticed that punks are starting to get old.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We play a mix from our 5 albums and 6 singles. Generally, we keep to the most popular 20.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? We haven’t had a regular place to play since they closed CBGBs. The closing of CBGBs was the worst event in the history of Rock and Roll. What a shithole – it was the shithole of shitholes but, it had the best PA system and sound. The sound people who worked there really loved their jobs and it showed in the way each and every band sounded. It sounded great on stage and in the audience. What a terrible loss.
What was your first gig like? That was so long ago, none of us can remember! That is a really tough question. We’ve played so many shows that they are all a blur. I seem to remember being a little nervous before going on but, once we started playing and the slam dancing started, it became a lot of fun.
What was your latest gig? We played the release party for Tony Rettman’s book and movie, “NYCH – New York Hardcore 1980-1990”.
Have you had to cancel a gig? We came close once. We were scheduled to do a benefit for the legal fund for Jimmy Gestapo of Murphy’s Law. Troy, our drummer got sick and wasn’t able to perform. The rest of us decided to do the show with the drummers from the other bands who were also performing. The show went well and I believe we were able to raise enough money to pay for Jimmy’s legal defense and he avoided any jail time. Jimmy is a great guy and everyone loves him. We were happy to have been able to help him during his time of need.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? We don’t have any plans. If you send us US $4,000 plus airfare and hotel accommodations, we will be happy to play in Sweden.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We have been selling t-shirts, CDs, vinyl and other assorted crap for years.
Where can people buy your merchandise? You can buy our CD, “Fuck Guns & Roses, What About the Nihilistics” at Amazon.com. You can download it at Bandcamp. We sold over 150,000 CDs on Amazon.com and we plan on reissuing our old CDs and putting out a new CD soon. Look for more music at Bandcamp and Amazon before the end of the year.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?
Downloads are fine. Unfortunately, iTunes is screwing over both the downloader and the bands. Before Steve Jobs died, any band could sell music on iTunes. Now, you have to pay an agency to post your songs for sale. When Steve died, Apple went down the shitter. Apple forces you to listen to corporate music. Corporate music is the death of Rock and Roll. Great music was written by crazy, people: Mozart, Beethovan, Jimmy Hendrix, The Sex Pistols, The Clash and dare I say, Kirk Cobain.
Today’s record labels sign soft, limp wristed girly boys who they view as being safe investments. Soon, bands will be able to sell their own music, as downloads, on their own websites. Fuck Apple and fuck record labels – Do It Yourself is the best way to sell music!
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? We do not think that this interview will help us at all but, we like keeping punk alive. Punk is an attitude that makes you strut. There is no music that is more fun and empowering than punk.
Do you have any role models or idols? Ha! The only person that any of us should look up to and respect is Mother Theresa. Not for her religious beliefs but, because she had more balls than any other human being that ever existed on this planet.
Why do you think that they exist? Role Models or idols? LOL! They exist to give weak minded people and children something to aspire to be. Stay in school, go to university or, become a plumber or carpenter. It doesn’t matter what you do… just do it, do it well and don’t look up to anyone. Idols are meant to be knocked off their pedestals.... never look up to anyone.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Older bands had to be real musicians. Today’s bands are using computers to create music. You no longer have to spend half your life becoming an expert on a musical instrument. Now, you only have to spend a few years learning how to use a computer. Computers are the beginning of the end for music and, for reasons already mentioned, iTunes is the final nail in the coffin.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Getting out of bed in the morning and staying away from drugs and alcohol.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Learn to play a real instrument and stay away from drugs and alcohol.
How do you get psyched for a gig? We do drugs and drink a lot of alcohol.
Do you have any new material? Yes. Expect a new album by the end of the year. We will have new downloads at Bandcamp and CDs at Amazon.com.
What are your web sites? We don’t bother with our own website any more – it’s a waste of money. Look for us on Facebook, Bandcamp and Amazon.com
How can people reach you? You can email us at [email protected]
What are your plans for the future? We don’t have any plans. The only thing to look forward to is Death & Taxes.
Do you have something to add? I think we are done. Thank you for your interest in the Nihilistics.
