“Cologne can consider itself lucky to have been chosen as a “pretty important city to play” by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. So there was no way around it: on April 26, 1997, I had to head there to see the Blues Explosion at their only German performance as part of their big-city gigs tour across Northern and Southern Europe, and to get them in front of the recording microphone. Russel Simins, drummer of the Blues Explosion, kindly took the time to answer a few questions for me.
The lineup of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion hasn’t changed since the first album. How did you get started, how did you find each other?
Russell: I played in the Honeymoon Killers years ago, and Jon was friends with them. He came over because he heard they had a new drummer. Their new drummer was me. Jon checked it out. He and I just played together, and it worked instantly. At the time, I was living with Judah and making some music with him too. He started hanging out with us, and that’s how it developed. Why don’t you have a bassist?
Russell: It just sort of happened that we don’t have one. It’s not like we planned it. It’s just the three of us making music together, and a fourth person would have changed the chemistry between us and gotten in the way.
How do the songs come about?
together. Russell: We write them together, we get together, we play and jam. That’s what we do. We just play, and things come out of it. I was wondering if this is a collaboration…
Russel: Yes.
or whether Jon Spencer is the authoritarian boss…
Russell: No, no, no.
because he’s the center of attention.
Russell: Is he the center of attention? I don’t know…
Well, actually, I did have an opinion on the matter at that point, but my interviewee reacted rather piqued, so I was afraid of jeopardizing the rest of the interview if I pressed him further. And so I just sat there like a paralyzed rabbit caught in the headlights, refraining from any further comments regarding Jon Spencer as the center of attention. Yet it’s already obvious from the name that JSBE is by no means just a mundane Blues Explosion, but was created around the person of Jon Spencer. Not to mention his prominent position as a singer, and Viva/Wah Wah only wanted him in Cologne, and so on and so forth… But let’s be proven wrong…
Russell: We write all the material together and are very happy with it
Happy? Like a happy family??!
Russel: We enjoy writing things together.
What I find most enjoyable about JSBE’s music is truffle hunting. That is, recognizing the diverse musical styles they incorporate into their unique blend of Southern dust and Big Apple asphalt. Unfortunately, I lacked the English vocabulary (and background knowledge, ahem…) for a discussion about genius and originality, but we did spend a little more time on the topic of influences, also pejoratively called “eclecticism” (yo, that used to be a Spex favorite word, and I dig it up every now and then to cherish it…).
How do you decide on the direction of the musical style? I mean, which style predominates, e.g., blues or punk…
Russell: We really don’t think about it too much. We just get together and play. It’s not a situation where we plan things. We all listen to a lot of different music, and what we listen to comes out in the music we play. And our styles too… we don’t sit around and figure out what style this or that song should be. It just sort of happens.
What musical influences do you have…
Russell: Lots.
Are those the people you thank on your thanks lists, like Beck or Jesus Lizard?
Russell: Well, those people are influences, but we listen to a lot of music throughout history, everything from blues to rock, rhythm and blues, soul, punk, hip hop, country, classical, jazz. We just listen to a lot of music, and that influences what we do. As well as who we are and the kind of attitude we have about being original, making original music
Have your musical influences changed over the course of your career? I mean, I hear more Captain Beefheart influence on “Crypt Style!” than, for example, on “Orange,” which is more hip-hop influenced.
Russell: Sometimes we listen to each other for a…
At certain times, we were more into certain things than others. When we recorded “Crypt Style!”, we were just getting to know each other, musically as well. So things were a bit crazier and the songs weren’t structured. By the time “Orange” came out, we all knew better what we liked and listened to, and we shared a lot of things musically, which we still do. They’re different albums because you listen to different kinds of music at different times. Sometimes you’re just more into certain kinds of music than at other times. But I think there are elements on all the albums that are very similar. We’re not one of those bands that makes a record where you can’t tell the previous one was by the same band. There are similar rock, punk, soul… just threads that run through our records. Although some can be emphasized more than others.
As I understand it, you’re channeling your musical influences into the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. So what’s so original about the JSBE?
Russell: I think you make the influences your own. What’s original about Beck, the Beastie Boys, anyone? We’re not just a band that takes their influences and turns them into something else…
Okay, that was a provocation…
Russell: Yeah, I know, but I think, like I said… and I’ll keep saying it because I only recently heard Keith Richards say that everything you hear comes out in what you play, and I believe that too. It’s just true, but if you’re good, like I think the Rolling Stones were, they made it the Rolling Stones. Maybe in that way we’re comparable to them. A lot of people think that
anyway… What do you think about comparisons to Doo Rag?
Russell: I’m flattered. I love Doo Rag. They’re a great band, good friends of ours. I definitely feel an affinity with their simplicity and especially their straightforward approach to music their honesty and intensity. Now I’ve just jotted down two keywords: creativity and relationship to New York.
Russell: New York City is definitely a part of who we are. I grew up in New York and have lived there my whole life. So, it definitely influences us, we like it, we like that influence.
Can you specify the influence?
Russell: NYC has a dynamic and power and a spirit of its own. It’s like nowhere else in the world. It’s kind of the center of everything.
If I were to talk to a West Coast musician, it would be LA.
Russell: Living in LA influences people too, but LA isn’t—I mean, I like LA—but it’s not as exciting and interesting as New York
My questions about success, record label, Burnside, and videos were far more prosaic. There’s also a recently released maxi-CD with older, previously unreleased JSBE tracks. I also wanted to know if the photographer from “Extra Width,” R. Kern, was indeed Richard, Master of Transgression, which Russel confirmed. There were also nude photos of them taken during that shoot, but they weren’t used. What a shame.
I read that “Orange” was the JSBE’s breakthrough in the States, making them stars of “alternative music.” Are there any imitators yet?
Russel: No, we’re still the kings and we’ll always be the kings… I do hear about a lot of bands trying to be like us, but there’s only one Jon Spencer Blues explosion…
How’s your commercial success? Are you making more money now?
Russel: Yeah, sure, and we’re playing on the main stage at Lollapalooza this year.
Why did you change record labels? Why did you leave Crypt?
Russel: We like Crypt, we love Crypt. It’s just that Mute is bigger and it was time to move to a bigger label. Mute is a cool label, it’s one of the original punk rock labels. They’re independent and they’ve done a good job. It’s not better than Crypt, just different. We needed better distribution, so we did it.
You didn’t leave on bad terms…
Russel: No, not at all. We miss the people at Crypt because we quite liked Crypt.
You worked with Rufus Thomas and especially with R. L. Burnside, which resulted in the album “A Ass Pocket Of Whisky.” Is that an R. L. Burnside LP or…?
Russel: Yeah, that’s R. L. Burnside with us, just playing with him.
On last year’s American tour, R. L. Burnside was your opening act. How did the audience react to him?
Russel: They loved it. It went down really well. It was an “alternative” audience, and they liked it.
That’s good. Wasn’t it… pretty exotic?
Russel: No, they loved it. He’s good, man. He rocks pretty hard.
(Meanwhile, there’s a newer Burnside album: “Mr. Wizard,” again with the kind assistance of Blues Explosion, if I read the small print correctly at a glance.)
Who’s responsible for the videos?
Russell: All of us. We find people who would like to make them, and they come up with ideas that we like. The last video we made, the “Wail” video… Weird Al Jankovic directed that one. I knew him and I’m a big fan of his, and he’s a fan of ours, so I asked him to make the video, and the other two supported the decision.
The concert in the canteen was sweaty, and the JSBE really rocked. Two young lads in my immediate vicinity had apparently squeezed themselves into their confirmation suits and quickly added some polyester
They’d procured shirts with far too large collars to be dressed appropriately for the occasion. In a frenzy, one of them kept throwing his long, Wella-refined hair in my face. This somewhat diminished my enjoyment, but as if I’d foreseen it, I’d asked Russel a few hours earlier if they played trendy music for trendy people as part of the Revive series, and in his immodest way, he’d replied laconically: “I think our music is the future.””
