INTERVIEW
Interview with a very pissed off John Kezdy from Forced Exposure 5 (early 1983, interview probably conducted in late 1982)
This interview with the Effigies took place after their second show at the Rat, with Dave Smallee and John Anastas.
Dave) What did you guys think of this afternoons show?
John) It was real energetic, we're used to playing over 21 clubs.
Dave) What's the scene like In Chicago?
John) What it is, there's a 21 year old drinking age in Chicago but there's a way to circumvent the law whereby the bars get restaurant licenses. They keep a hotdog machine with plastic hot dogs rotating on it in the corner. Alot of it is politics. Bars lots of times have to pay police off, in a real bizarre way, corruption can work for you. I mean everyone loses out in the long run.
[OBIK: something missing here?]
John) We first were supposed to do the whole eastern coast of Canada, but the promoter didn't know what he was doing and half the gigs were canceled out so we ended up doing one big gig in Toronto. It was a shitty gig the first night we played but then we managed to get on the Discharge, Vice Squad bill a few days later. It's not what you think. It was 10 dollars and maybe 150 showed up. See, it was a Friday night show. Discharge had trouble getting into the country. Well, the thing is, these guys have got to look at them and they've got to say, if I was running the country, I wouldn't let them in my country. See, you've got to play people for what they are. Border guards, you don't go looking as scummy as you possibly can. We get shit all the time just going back and forth and we don't look like hardcore degenerates or any of that shit. Anyway, the Discharge, Vice Squad gig was a Sat night show. They had to blow them off cause they couldn't get over the border. We postponed it till Monday night and there was alot of people from all over that had come to see them Friday night that couldn't go Monday cause alot of them are school kids, but out there, they've got some skinheads up there, soooo hardcore, they are totally bent on beating up each other. The night we played, it was called the Club With No Name and the place was shut down and one of the skinheads busted one of the guys from The Young Lions legs.
Dave) So did they like you up there?
John) Yeah, I think they did, we got along with them really good. The people kept on coming to the gigs over and over again. You go into that scene and it's like going into any other scene. It's like you got to put up with all their stuff, that jealous faction bit, little cliques. Everything you can possibly believe happens. All this within an incredibly small group of people. You'd think they'd stick together for a common cause but they don't. They're more concerned with bitching and fighting with each other. That's like when nothing gets done, everyone just hates each other. The skinheads don't like the punks, the punks don't like...we'll go into a town lots of times and someone will say "why this club" or "why are you talking to so and so?" People won't come to your gigs cause they don't like the club and shit. We don't know what the fuck is going on. We're from out of town. We'll talk to one person from the town on the phone and ask them what it's like up there, what's the rundown. Then you get there and the ideas are totally warped. Chicago is real secluded scene, there's no real exchange of ideas. We get along real well with the Detroit bands, but that's cause we played there. Otherwise, they would never have come to Chicago.
Dave) How many punks and skins are in Chicago?
John) There's all these jocks who shaved their beads yesterday and then there's guys, you can walk down the street and the big problem with the Chicago scene is if there ever was one it's controlled by this big art institute clique. They had all these people forming New Wave bands and as a result it's basically self conscious poseurs forming the bands that are basically just total crap. Then everybody is fucking writing about this shit. We played our last show before we left and I knew about five people in the crowd. It's all suburbanites. The Dead Kennedy's go out there and play for suburbanites and they sit and preach down to them. They fucking ask for a $1000 for gigs and they got it. We wanted to play, open for them because it's for a bunch of different reasons and they got real pissed off. First of all, the guys got some really obstinate political ideas and he's just so bent on disseminating and just preaching his ass off and that's exactly what he did. He's a real charismatic guy I just think he's misguided. That's what happens when you get into the rut of being a preacher. He's really righteous and shit. I know we've been in a band for two years now and we know how hard it is to get a tour like this going. You live off $5 a day and shit and these other bands make so much fucking money and you say what the fuck have they got that we don't have. You just can't justify making 1 grand a night and telling everybody else, no, we don't make money cause that's bullshit. I fucking want to make money too, just because I'd rather do this than work at my shitty job, but I can't make money at this. We are losing money on all the records. We don't have enough money to press up our next record. We don't have enough money to reprint our EP, which most people don't know about.
Dave) The one with "Body Bag"?
John) No, the 12 inch.
Jon) We never got any here.
John) The first record label we dealt with gave 300 away to all these stupid rock magazines and it's like taking them and throwing them in the garbage. We got a few good reviews but usually like what they do is they won't even review the son of a bitch. They just read it, I mean I couldn't believe some of the people saying some of this shit about records that we've worked on like you put your heart into this fuckin record and they print this shit and man, did you listen to the motherfucker?
Dave) Is this about "Body Bag"?
John) No, the first EP. They say it's hardcore punk like Ronald Reagan sucks world war three and that's getting tired. That's not what we're into. That's not our band and I don't like getting bracketed in with that stuff cause there's alot of bands out there now.
Dave) Do you consider yourself punk/hardcore?
John) Ya, we are that way but there are strict definitions of what hardcore music is and we don't fit into those definitions.
Dave) So what are you guys trying to say or do with your music and your words?
John) Alot of these punk bands...what really pissed me off about them is that they are getting people really accustomed to subjects that ought to worry people. You get these fucking bands that say WW Three, Ronnie Reagan and everyone knows Reagan's a jack off. But on the other hand if everyone keeps singing it all the time, you're trivializing it, right? You're getting people used to shit like singing songs with these fucking war escapes, with bombs dropping, people dying and nuclear holocaust. Don't fucking sing about it unless you are going to do it with a little bit of intelligence and insight as well because it's like don't start fuckin preaching that shit offer some kind of solution. Even if its a stupid one. Don't start ragging on shit everyone knows is bad, it's like floggin a dead horse. People are surprised that the punk theme hasn't gotten anywhere. It's because of too many dumb people doing it. Kicking eachother asses at gigs and trashing clubs. How many people are going to miss this place when it's closed down because some jerk wants to trash the mixer.
Dave) Did this afternoon's gig surprise you at all?
John) You're really lucky, no one did anything wrong so you might have another show.
Dave) Well, they won't have another one.
John) As far as I'm concerned, the bouncers are dicks. Club owners are dicks but you gotta understand you need those people because there's not enough people that are into punk that are willing to put their sleeves up or even have the money to go out on the line and do decent gigs. That's like what I was saying before about making money. Money moves people, face it. The only way you'll go out and do things is with money. You have to have gigs and have people pay admission to get in and like in Chicago, I wouldn't put money down on a hall to have bands play there and sorta put my life savings on it. People are assholes they'll trash the club. They don't give a shit. Alot of them aren't even punks. They're just dicks.
Jon) Jocks-jocks-jocks.
John) Exactly right and if people want something then they have to work for themselves and get it. You have to have responsibility every fucking person that goes to the door has to be responsible for what they do. It's like don't be stupid. It's fun to trash clubs and shit if you don't want to have anymore places to go anyway. But there's not enough places to go now. Chicago's got that, club C.O.D.'s a real good club. They got a good sound system and shit and there's nothing in the club to trash and the bouncers don't even care. They understand that these guys are out to kill each other. Let 'em.
Dave) It sounds like you're down on thrashing.
John) No, fuck no. But the thing is, like it gets out of hand when we find out we can't play gigs anymore. Like people tell us there's no place to play and it's morons that keep trashing the halls. They sit there and fucking punch holes in the walls. You know what kind of fucking attitude that is. I mean I don't mind when guys go up there and thrash on stage I don't give a shit, you want to do it fine. You went to this gig this afternoon. That was wild. The thing is, I got my tooth chipped cause some mother fucker came up and smacked the mike into my mouth. Some guys get up there and stay there the whole gig. I mean, do a stage dive and get off, I mean Jesus, start your own band if you want to be up there. Those guys are singing songs I don't even know lyrics to.
Dave) So you've been together two years?
John) As a band, but we've been into the music since '78. The thing is, you gotta do whatever you gotta do and do your best.