Butt Trumpet interview for FLIPSIDE MAGAZINE, DEC. 1994

Note: The types are exactly the way the interview was transcribed. It is left
untouched and is as printed in Flipside...

Posted and released by Thom Bone, 12/94


-BEGIN TRANSCRIPT-

Here you finally have it.  Butt Trumpet was interviewed on the sidewalk of
their rehearsal place somewhere around Hellywood.  Afterwards, due to the fact
that this first part of the interview was more or less a "fun" interview and
things were not said that the band felt needed to be said, it was agreed by
both sides to do another interview.  So, Thom was interviewed a couple weeks
later at Ted's apartment so he could get some things off his chest.

Interview by Drunk Ted.

Ted:  Say what you play, your name, and your penis size.
Bianca:  Bianca Butthole.  Big ten inch.  Bass player.
Blare:  Blare N. Bitch.  Guitar player and my penis size is 3 and a half
inches wide and 10 and 3/8 inches long.  And that's not erected.
Sharon:  Sharon Needles.  Obnoxious bass.  My dick is no longer a dick because
it is 12 inches which makes it a foot.  
Jerry:  My name is Jerry Geronimo and I play the drums and that's why they
call me Geronimo because it's the size of the last three members' members.  
Thom:  I'm Thom Bone, vocal guy, and I can't answer that question.  It doesn't
apply to me.  I have no dick.  
Ted:  Before that last show at the Whiskey, my last experience with Butt
Trumpet was you played with the Lunachicks at a couple shows, Stinkerbell, this
and that.  You reportedly split up and the next thing I know you have an
album out and you're signed to a major label.  What the fuck happened in
between there?
Sharon:  We got a new drummer and a new guitar player.  
Ted:  Did you guys really split up?
Thom:  We went into a deep state of hiatus.
Bianca:  We needed a break from each other for awhile.  
Jerry:  We just finished the album.  We got back from playing various places
in CA and we came back and just wanted to take a little break before things
started to kick in.  
Blare:  We were just so good that we just had to chill.  We didn't know what
to do with ourselves.
Sharon:  We were getting too good.  We were getting too tight.  
Thom:  What really happened was that the record was supposed to come out in
October and we learned that it really wasn't going to come out until March and
we were all like "Fuck...".   Take a break.
Bianca:  We were just tired.  
Blare:  We drove ourselves into the ground.  We did.  We played too much.  
Ted:  That's another thing I wanted to mention.  You put out the CD.  The next
thing I know the CD is out and then you signed to the label and then you
aren't playing anywhere.  Was the label telling you not to play anywhere until
they release the album?
Bianca:  No.
Thom:  The label doesn't tell us much of anything, actually.  I want to state
that up front.  
Blare:  After we got signed, we were just too busy.  Especially Thom.  We were
just busy doing a bunch of shit.
Bianca:  Thom's doing the artwork and stuff like that.
Blare:  We just had to chill and take care of business.  And practice again. 
We didn't practice for a long time.  
(everyone offers more excuses)
Thom:  It was a combination of everything they said.  Plus there were some
growing pains.  
Jerry:  I think the growing pains were a stem of our excitement for the actual
album when it came together as good as it sounds and as excited as we were to
record it and get it on CD and have it put out.  At the same time we were
playing here in the LA circuit alot and we were minimal on funds so that added
to some frustration.  We all wanted the same thing.  We all wanted to have a
good time but we couldn't because we didn't really have any money.  
Bianca:  We still don't have any money.  
Ted:  How did the deal with Chrysalis come about?  And why Chrysalis?  I could
see if you signed to Interscope you would have tons of your peers on your
label, but you don't really have any peers or bands like you on Chrysallis.
Bianca:  That's why we thought it would be good.
Jerry:  That's one of the main reasons why we decided to do it.  
Bianca:  They also want to attract other bands, too.  They're trying to get
hipper.  They got a whole new staff and they got a younger staff that have
worked with a lot of different really popular bands that are in our circuit
and they're trying to make EMI/Chrysallis cool again.
Jerry:  A lot of bands go on those types of labels for fear of not being able
to do what they want to do and we in communicating with Chrysallis knew
through negotiation that we were going to be able to do what we wanted to do. 
So we negotiated.  A lot of bands fear of doing that with labels of this size
because they have a bad rap or whatever the case may be, but somebody has to
make a move and open doors and hopefully that's what we can do.  
Ted:  Did you approach Chrysallis or did they approach you?
Everyone:  No.  They approached us.
Ted:  Thom, you told me that Butt Trumpet has a better deal than Nirvana had
for "In Utero".  What did you mean by that?
Thom:  There's clauses in our contract that give us more creative control than
just about anybody.  They said on paper that "Primitive Enema" is commercially
and technically satisfactory and all of our future recordings will be based on
that for a benchmark.  
Ted:  You have nothing to worry about then.  That album is really raw.  
Thom:  I mean, what do you want?  The record was recorded basically live for
$700 in two days and if we want to do that again, we can.  So the label can't
come in and say "You are going to work with this producer" or "You are going
to record in this studio".  They can't do shit.  As long as we give them songs
that are legally termed "1st class recordings", meaning they have vocals, they
are complete songs, and they are comparable in style to "Primitive Enema" and
quality, then we're in the door.  
Ted:  So defend yourselves for signing to Chrysallis.
Thom:  What difference does it make if we're on a major label?  I don't need
to defend myself.  When some label calls you up and says "We want to
distribute your record.  You can use our resources and do what you want", we 
said "OK".  Any idiot that says "no" needs to be shot.  They're not fucking
with us artistically or creatively.  So why not?
Ted:  Did you read what MRR had to say about the major label thing?
Thom:  I think it's pretty "punk" of them to be so judgmental.  Punk rock is
about an open mind.
Sharon:  I think it was pretty punk rock of us to just say "Fuck you guys" and
do it.
Thom:  Who the fuck are they to define punk rock?
Bianca:  You know, indies are making money off of bands.  
Ted:  But you know, you never are considered a sell out until you sell tons of
records.  Like Tad.  Tad changed their sound 3 or 4 times...
Jerry:  That's selling out.
Sharon:  We didn't change our record at all.
Bianca:  But we don't want to change.  
Sharon:  I don't think we could change if we wanted to.  Because we can't
fucking play good.  This is it, man.
Ted:  You can just go on another hiatus if you start playing too well.  
Jerry:  We're just entertainers.  We're hoping we can do what we do, what we
love to do, and people are going to enjoy that.  
Blare:  It seems like we're so far from "selling out".  Right now, I'm signed,
but I still have a job.  Everybody's making more money than me.  And then
going on tour, it's like I'm either going to have to sleep in the van... I'm
signed and people say to me "Aren't you excited?".  And I don't understand it. 
I still get up and go to work.  I still get stuck in traffic and...  If we get
to the point at where the Offspring are at (where we're going to have to
defend "ourselves selling out"), right now it's just so far away.  
Jerry:  (What people forget) is that the major label is just a bank.  A bank
that sells records.  That's it.  Like any other bank, when someone takes out a
loan, we owe that money.  It's not all glitz and glamour.  
Sharon:  We're fucking earning every penny.  
Jerry:  Being on a major label is making a big commitment and understanding
what you're getting involved in. This is a big company that has alot of money
and their willing to help us make us more accessible to other people who
wouldn't normally get to hear us on an indie.
Ted:  Who was that puking after the last song on the album?
Blare:  ? (I really couldn't hear this on the tape) and her brother.  
Thom:  It's not going to be on the EMI version.  It's only on the Hell Yeah
version.  
Ted:  Are you going to do anything else differently for the EMI version?
Thom:  The EMI version, I was able to actually equalize it the way it should
be done and it sounds incredible.  And that's good enough.  
Ted:  Now these people when they were being taped, did they know that their
puking would be on the CD?
Bianca:  They were doing it purposely.  
Thom:  It's real, but they were doing it purposely. 
Jerry:  They abused themselves for us.  People like to abuse themselves for
us.  Just come to one of our shows.  
Ted:  Speaking of your shows, is your audience these days like the show at the
Whiskey?  (lots of gang people who started shit)  Is that typical of what
you're attracting these days?
Bianca:  No, that was the first time.  
Sharon:  They were just meatheads.
Blare:  They got busted, too.  
Bianca:  Hey, I got a fan in prison.  His name's Bruce and he's in CRC.  (to
the mike)  Love ya babe!  You made my day!
Ted:  Whoa!  What do you mean by that?
Blare:  Knowing that she's got someone who fucking worships the ground that
she walks on.  That's fucking cool.
Ted:  Who's in jail!  Wonderful.
Bianca:  I've never met him, but I hear that I got fans in prison at CRC and
that's so cool.  Thanks!
Blare:  Hey you know that Seattle paper that wrote bad stuff because we curse
too much?  
Ted:  The Rocket?
Jerry:  Yeah.  
Blare:  Well here's to you:  Fuck you!  Fuck you!  Fuck you!
Jerry:  They're just pissed off because we wrote "Flannel in Seattle" and that
song basically has to do with...
Sharon:  Thrift shopping.
Jerry:  ...the Seattle scene and we were just having fun with it.
Sharon:  No it doesn't.  Thrift shopping!
Ted:  How long does it take you guys to write a song?
Sharon:  Minutes.
Blare:  A minute to a month.
Jerry:  It varies.  Depending on the inspiration of the song and who is
writing it.  
Ted:  Who writes most of the songs?
Jerry:  Whoever is inspired at the time.  
Bianca:  Everyone right now is writing songs.  Everything usually comes pretty
quick.  If it doesn't, we don't even deal with it.  We just put it aside.  
Ted:  Why?  Because it's not spontaneous enough?
Bianca:  Yeah.  If it doesn't come naturally, we just scratch it.  
(Sharon cuts a fart.  Everyone laughs.)
Ted:  How do people in other cities take to Butt Trumpet?
Thom:  We get a tremendously better response better than here.  
Sharon:  We had two dogs dying for us in San Antonio.  
Ted:  Is that where "Dead Dogs" came from?
Thom:  No.  I wrote "Dead Dogs" when I was a kid.  There's a story behind
that, but...
Bianca:  We are actually very well accepted...
Sharon:  (as Thom and Jerry get up)  The boys are gone!  The boys are gone! 
Let's talk about us!
(Ted gets up to pee.  Lots of silly small talk and passing the mike around. 
Things deteriorate.  Thom leaves.)
Ted:  Thom left?  OK, let's talk about Thom.
Jerry:  Thom's a workaholic and he has a band to run.  
Blare:  We're not going to dis Thom or anything.  Thom has worked really hard.
Jerry:  I mean that in the best possible way.  I really, seriously, am...
Sharon:  ...grateful...
Jerry:  ...grateful and thankful that he really has a good understanding of
the music business.  Sometimes it scares me how much he knows.  
Bianca:  We all know who really dominates the band.  It's the women!
Ted:  The guys are outnumbered.
Jerry:  It's really the drummer.
Sharon:  It's really clit power.  
Blare:  Clit power.  And satan.  
(lots of small talk about things, including the last Whiskey show and how
Bianca's poor mom got punched by some fuckheads, and spitting)
Bianca:  Kelly Kanarie from Dickless went on tour with us for a month and in
Texas we played "Saddle Tramp" and she got up and sang and the first thing she
did was hock a lugie in this guy's eye.  And I'm like "Kelly, why did you do
that?".  And she's like (in a rough voice) "Because men like abuse."
Sharon:  Kelly fucking rules!
Bianca:  "Did you see him move?  No, he took it and stayed in front, that
sucker!"
(lots more stupid small talk, including the inevitable Nirvana and Hole thing)
Ted:  So I take it you are not going to be doing your version of "Teenage
Whore" anymore.
Bianca:  Oh.  They called me.  
Sharon:  I think about that alot.  Who called you?
Bianca:  Eric called me about that.  
Ted:  And what did you say?  "Oops, I'm sorry?"
Bianca:  There is a reason why I did it (sing a derogatory version of "Teenage
Whore").
Ted:  Tell the whole story.
Bianca:  I auditioned for Hole.  And they called up and said "You're our
finalist.  Blah blah blah."  So then everything ended up falling through and
then I moved up to San Francisco and I got this fanzine Courtney wrote and she
wrote "I want a real bass player.  No fake bitches and no pussies.  I want a
chick who can take her shirt off and have 'Fuck You' written on her chest". 
And so, I took it very personally.  
Ted:  You thought she was talking about you?
Bianca:  Yeah.  So I took my shirt off.  I had "Fuck You" written across my
chest.  I sang "Teenage Whore".  I changed the lyrics a little bit. (laughter) 
And that was the only time I was going to do it.  Then everyone kept wanting
to hear it and egging me on to do it.  I didn't want to do it.  I only wanted
to do it once for my own personal vendetta.  And then I found out I was a
complete asshole because it was written before I ever even auditioned for the
band.  And then I felt like a real chump.  So, sorry!

(Part II)

(Thom starts off by pulling out a CD of "Primitive Enema" that will be out on
Chrysallis soon)
Ted:  So what do you have to say about signing to Chyssallis?
Thom:  A lot of bands do sign to a major label and sell out.  I think that the
bottom line, what is a sell out, is if you have a band and sign to a major
label, and you allow them to do things for you, such as your artwork, maybe
pick your studio, find you a producer, or what have you, that would be what I
call a sell out.  A band that can get on a major label and use a major label
as a distributor and use major label resources as tools for you to do what you
want to do, I don't see how that's a sell out.  Butt Trumpet might be on
Chrysalis, and that might be considered evil by some, but the artwork you are
looking at they had nothing to do with, I did it myself on my own computer. 
As you can see, we are crossing some lines here (pointing to the inside of the
CD where you can see someone's butt taken from their first 7" cover), but what
we're doing is, we're doing it ourselves more so now than ever.  We just have
more resources to do it.  More tools.  And we can do a slightly better job at
it.  That's the difference.  That's what I have to say about being on a major. 
The reason we're on it is because they told us "Hey, we don't want to screw
with you creatively.  We don't want to mess with you artistically."  I said
"Bullshit.  Are you willing to go on paper?  Or are you just blowing it out
your ass?".  And they said "No, we're willing to go on paper".  And they did. 
We're just getting better tools and a better distributor, man.  We're going to
get our music out to alot of people.  The bottom line is we are doing it
ourselves.  They are not doing this for us, this CD, the production and the
recordings.  None of it.  The video that we're doing now, we're doing it
ourselves.  We pick our own director.  We write our own storyboard.  We give
it to the director who does nothing more than help us make our video.  The
label has very little input.  All they're doing is fronting the dough because
they look at it this way:  Butt Trumpet might actually recoup their
investment.  And that's all they're being.  They're being bankers.  Which they
are.  Let's not kid ourselves.  
Ted:  But for a major label, to make it worth it for them, you are going to
have to sell at least 100,000 copies of your record.  They won't consider
breaking even a success.  They won't even consider selling 50,000 copies a
success.  That's nothing to them. 
Thom:  Exactly.  So when they approached Butt Trumpet, I told them "We're not
going to play games.  I know what you want.  Is it already installed in this
band or not?  Because if you want us and you want to install whatever you need
for us to be the band you need on your label, then fuck you.  But, if we
already have what you are looking for, then let's talk".  And it just so
happens that they liked Butt Trumpet.  They didn't want to change us at all. 
And they have committed to it on paper.  So we got a good deal.
Ted:  Alot of people don't realize that a label signs a band for what they are
and what they have put out. 
Thom:  We've paid our dues, man.  We have three, well four releases including
the "Really Brown Sessions" cassette, and then this record comes out.  I mean
I've paid my dues in the scene.  I booked Raji's for a year.  I worked for
Flipside for a few years.  I've done all kinds of stuff.  I could go on about
all the crap I've done, but the point is that I've paid my dues and I have
given alot to the scene.  I'm still interested in giving to the scene.  I
mean, what would you rather hear on the radio, me or Queen Lativa?  Right now
we're at a level where we need the support of the punk scene.  We need the
support of the underground.  We haven't forgotten about it.  We're putting our
record out on vinyl.  
Ted:  A double 10".
Thom:  Which we're fighting so hard (to put out), because they're not going to
make any money putting out a double 10".  And we're fighting them to get it. 
And guess what?  We're gonna get it, because it's a principle issue.  
Ted:  Alot of people blame the record labels for ruining the bands, but most
of the time it is the bands' fault.
Thom:  That is bullshit.  It is almost always the band's fault.  If you are in
a band and you are stupid enough to allow yourself to be manipulated so that
you lose some of your artistic or creative control by a major label, then you
deserve everything you get.  Again, Butt Trumpet has not sold out, we are not
selling out and we never will.  We can say "No".  I can get laryngitis at
will.  (Signing) is just a simple business transaction that we really needed
because we were at a point where we weren't getting any help from LA.  The LA
scene was fucking with us real bad.  We couldn't get mentioned in local
fanzines because of alot of the politics that I'm involved with.  
Ted:  Referring to...
Thom:  I'm referring to me.  Yeah, everybody hates me which is fine.  I don't
give a shit because I'm rising above.  I was an asshole, too.  I was getting
off of drugs at the time and I was just a dick.  I was angry.  I was tearing
into people.  I wasn't very social and I got quite a reputation for myself
(laughs).  (talk starts to move towards about writing for Flipside)
Thom:  As a Flipside writer, it worked against me in Butt Trumpet because...
Ted:  Yeah, I can see that.  You can't interview yourself.
Thom:  I can't interview myself.  No one else on the staff because of personal
reasons would interview me.  Meanwhile I got four other members of my band who
are eating shit because of a political situation I am trapped in.  And that's
why I bailed on Flipside.  Now that things have calmed down a little bit, I
may come back and be a road correspondent when I'm out on tour.  When I'm
playing with other bands, what a great opportunity to interview some bands
that haven't made it to LA.  So I can do some justice and do some good to
Flipside.  If the politics calm down, I'll come back.  But I only left because
things were getting crazy and it wasn't fair to the other four members of the
band because they were getting shit on because of the political mess I was in
with the Flipside staff.  
Ted:  How were they getting shit on?
Thom:  Lack of publicity.  Nobody would interview Butt Trumpet because they
were associating me with Butt Trumpet.  It's just like in LA... whenever we go
outside of LA, people would love us.  
Ted:  Why are you in LA?  
Thom:  It's just where I happen to be.  I was in a relationship.  We moved
here.  When the relationship broke up I decided it was time to start another
band.  It was four years between bands.  I don't want to talk about the bands
I used to be in because I don't think it's important, but I came out here and
just thought well this is where I happen to be and I feel like starting a
band, so I did.  I put together Butt Trumpet and I met Bianca and she was
playing bass for a month so she was perfect for the band.  Then Zebra, who is
Lee Joseph's ex, her and I are actually the ones that formed the band.  Then
Bianca came in.  Bianca and I clicked and were writing songs like there was no
tomorrow.  Zebra and I had a falling out that was mainly my fault. 
Ted:  Was that because of drugs?
Thom:  I was getting clean at the time.  Zebra was... It's a long, long story. 
Let's just say it was mainly my fault.  We had a falling out, she left the
band, I found Sharon.  Actually Janet (Superkools/Redd Kross/Lovedolls), I was
talking to her and I was telling her that I needed a bass player and she
talked to Sharon a couple hours earlier and Sharon was disgruntled, I guess,
with Outside Inside, the band she was in at the time.  And she just wanted to
find something else and called me and that's how we got that happening. 
Drummers and guitar players, we've always had a problem with until we found
Blare and Jerry.  So the line up is obviously quite solid now.  Basically it
was a vision that no one else saw.  Bianca shared it with me and so did
Sharon, and guitar players and drummer, we just couldn't get it to stick.  And
we just played out anyway.  We knew we sucked.  We kept writing songs.  We
knew that we weren't doing that great.  We put out records that we knew were
bad.  They were so bad that MRR put our first single in 8 of their top ten
lists!
(laughter)  
Thom:  It must've sucked, right?  'Cause we'll never get in MRR now!  That's
one thing that I want to say.  Punk rock is all about not fucking judging
people.  How can you fucking sit there and tell me or anybody else reading
MRR, what is "punk" and what is not "punk"!?  
Ted:  Yeah, were the Sex Pistols not punk?  Or the Dickies?
Thom:  Were the Stooges not punk?  When Iggy signed to Elecktra, does that
mean that the Stooges were not punk anymore?  Fuck you!  The New York Dolls? 
MC5?  Fuck you!  What do you know about punk rock, you fucking idiot!  Punk
rock is any music played from the heart.  No matter what it sounds like.  If
it comes out classical, if it comes from the heart, it's still punk rock. 
Reverend Horton Heat is a good example of someone who does not play "punk
rock", ala Black Flag, but it is still quite punk rock.  Like get real, man! 
Punk rock does not fit your narrow definition of a three chord fucking band,
with shitty production, that only puts their shit out on vinyl!  Punk rock is
honest, honest rock and roll.  It's rock and roll with honesty and integrity
and no compromise, meaning that the song I'll play for you is exactly the song
I WANT to play for you.  No matter what it sounds like or what it says.  And
for someone else to tell ME whether or not I'm punk rock, you can go to hell! 
Ted:  I think MRR's thing about not reviewing the major label punk rock stuff
is that those bands don't need the publicity from them.  Those bands have the
labels to generate publicity for them via the mainstream media.  I think MRR
just wants to publicize the bands that don't have the push or the "advantage"
behind them that the bands on the majors have.  
Thom:  It's not that.  It's just that their so self righteous about it.  I
also try to promote bands that don't have the push.  
(we start talking about my Nirvana bootlegs and Butt Trumpet's infamous
version of Hole's "Teenage Whore")
Ted:  I didn't know you were into Nirvana.
Thom:  I love Nirvana.  Good is good!  What does Hole have to do with Nirvana? 
It has a lot to do with Nirvana if you're Geffen.  Because that's the only
reason they got signed.  Everyone's been associating Courtney and Kurt as
being the same person and Nirvana and Hole and the same band.  Nirvana was an
amazing band.  I was a little sick of the way they were being bastardized. 
Especially by the underground press.  They didn't do anything wrong.  And I'm
waiting for people to start crucifying me for the same fucking reason.  They
guy blew his head off because of you, man!  You and your letters to Flipside
and your letters to MRR.  You drove him to fuckin' suicide.  The blood is on
your hands.  I'm serious.  You cannot bash somebody.  He was a fuckin' person,
man.  You raise him to the level of deity and then see if you can knock him
down from his podium in every cruel way possible.  And that's like "punk
rock", right?  You guys make me fucking sick.
Ted:  Any closing words?
Thom:  I just want to say that if Butt Trumpet can do anything on this level,
we need your help to do it.  And we fully intend to give back.  We always
have.  I don't even know why I'm putting this in print.  I think it's obvious
from our actions that we've always been interested in helping out the scene. 
And if we have the leverage, fuck, all we're going to do is build some bridges
for some new bands.  And never try to forget the underground.  We want to go
out on a club tour.  We're going out with DI in October.  Rather than looking
to go with "another major band", we're going with DI who we respect and we're
supporting them.  We're on the bigger label, but we're opening for them out of
respect because we haven't lost our respect for punk rock.  And anyone that
loses respect for us:  don't buy our record!  Don't listen to us.  Don't come
see us live.  And basically just go do whatever it is you need to do for you
to feel comfortable within your scene.  But don't bag us, because we've paid
our dues.  And we continue to pay our dues and we're just as DIY as we've ever
been and if it comes down to where you're judging us by our label, then I feel
sorry for you.  
Ted:  Too many people place alot of emphasis on the label rather than the
bands on the label.
Thom:  Listen to the music and tell me that it's not punk rock.  And tell me
we're not doing something unique.  Fuck you, if that's what it comes down to. 
If that's not what it comes down to, then thanks for supporting us.  And if
anyone out there decides that they want to bootleg us, call me.  Our number is
(213) GOD-LOVE or you can reach us via Internet at btrumpet@ix.netcom.com and
let us know you plan on bootlegging us and if it's something that we have on
DAT, we'll go ahead and mail it to you so you can get the best quality
bootleg.
               
-END TRANSCRIPT-

Note: the phone number and e-mail addresses are NOT current anymore, so please 
do NOT try to write or call with them. Instead, call Thom Bone at 323-GOD-DAMN 
or write him at thombone@mindless.com if you wish to communicate.