You’ve mentioned before that the current musical climate contains so many watered down rock songs that parents no longer feel the same need to censor their children’s listening habits as they did in the 1950s and 1960s with artists like the Beatles and Elvis. As a parent, what do you feel poses the biggest musical threat to your children’s generation?
For me, I would have to say the biggest threat is that the music has dumbed down people’s emotions so much that they don’t know how to feel. Children do not have an outlet; songs do not relate to them emotionally anymore. Music and the musicians themselves are so accessible that there is no magic, there’s no mystery. It’s something that I believe children are missing out on today.
If Skumlove had been around in the 1950s, do you think you would have given Elvis a run for his money in regard to threatening the moral values of American youth? Or do you think that mid-century influences would have steered you in a different musical direction – such as rebellion through folk?
I don’t think a band like mine could have even existed without groundbreakers like Elvis, who some of my relatives say that I am related to, which makes me laugh. But without those groundbreaking musicians like Elvis or little Richard and others like them, I could not even imagine. And probably if I did make songs like I do now back then, I would’ve been lynched.
You’ve commented that, along with the relatively ‘safe’ music that feigns passing as rock, the acceptance of tattooed kids serving our lattes is “upside down idiocracy come to life.” As someone who seems to feel no shame in being identified as a filthy, perverted debaucher, do you hope to eventually have your music and lifestyle choices accepted as ‘normal’ instead of being labeled as ‘perverse,’ or is the controversy necessary for your rebellious nature?
You have to have rebels everywhere. It seems like the most sedated vanilla things are the rebellious side of life these days. I don’t want my music to become mainstream, and so popular and cookie-cutter and accepted; I like being underground. I like people to shake their heads and wonder what I’m going to do next. You should be afraid of someone that looks like me, not take an order at a coffee shop by someone who looks like me. I’m old-school. It’s the way I like it. I don’t get offended when people stereotype me. I hope I live up to their standards!
You were asked by the organizers of the Long Beach Zombie Fest, as per request from the City of Long Beach, to “refrain from cussing” during the show. How did that work out for you?
I honestly tried. There were kids out there watching but I said “fuck” about five times. They still paid me, but ironically they shut down my merch booth the next day and wanted me to pay $300 to sell my merch at the festival! So I gave them the big middle finger and closed up shop. I don’t know if that had anything to do with me cussing on stage, or just that Long Beach is full of assholes that own the city.
What’s the creepiest thing any of your children have ever said to you? How did you respond?
Well that depends on what you call creepy. I think it’s funny that my three-year-old asked to hear my music and knows when it’s me singing on the track, and enjoys it. I think it creeps people out that during Halloween, my three-year-old was smiling, waving to, and calling out Freddy, Jason, and Michael [to trick-or-treaters in costume walking by] as if they were her best friends. It is kind of creepy that my 12-year-old likes dubstep and pop music. To me, that’s creepy!
Skumlove is sponsored by Monster Energy. How did that sponsorship develop? How did getting sponsored by a leading energy drink affect the group’s trajectory?
I’ve had a long standing relationship with Monster energy. The head of the music department came to see my band play at the Viper Room many years ago. He sought me out and we spoke. They asked me to be their first endorsed band so I said, “Of course!” because I already drank Monster Energy drinks and still do to this day. They have always backed me; they have always stood by me and I call them family.
Barbie had the unsightly parts of her reproductive organs conveniently erased from her body while Ken had his knickers permanently molded to his. Why do you think Mattel chose not to give Barbie her own molded bra and panty set while they allowed the contents of Ken’s tightie-whities to be left to the imagination? How do you think the psychology behind this censorship of nipples plays into the reactions you’ve received for your album artwork?
It is what it is. I never put too much thought into that; I played with G.I. Joes. My kids have always played with the toys that were available to buy through stores, as well as crazy one off monster dolls that I used to collect as well. Censorship is always going to be there. They’re always going to want to protect the children, which is fine with me!
If you had to choose between having your nipples and bits completely erased or having your undergarments permanently molded to your body, which would you choose and why?
Sometimes after a tour, it feels like my underwear has been permanently molded to my body and that I’m missing parts of my body.
Why did you choose the inverted pentagram within a machine cog as your logo and what does this imagery symbolize for you?
To be honest, I stole it from a band called Hurt that is from Sacramento. We’re good friends with them. Really, I chose it more for the fact that the upside down star would make an underline that went across the whole band name, which is how it first started. It was just a star and an ‘S,’ and with it being upside down, it underlined it the name. I started to make armbands for our fans and the pentagram was always being misconceived by people. I scare people, so why not play upon their fears? And it looked pretty cool with an ‘S’ in the middle of it. Having a cogwheel represented the industrial influence on the band.
Please walk us through a typical baptism when Skum Love is the officiate:
I haven’t done any baptisms yet. I’ve done a few weddings and some unholy communions from the stage. Me becoming a minister was just my way of proving how asinine and stupid it is to believe in a religion. Plus, it’s a cool way to make some extra money from people I know that want to get married and an unorthodox way.
Did your mother approve of your musical choices while you were growing up? Does she approve of the music that you create now? Does she show up to your shows wearing a “Breeder of Skum” t-shirt, or is she blissfully unaware of your musical career?
To be honest, I really don’t speak to my mother a lot. We don’t get along at all. As far as the music goes, she always liked it. She was into Bon Jovi and Motley Crue and stuff like that when I was a kid. She would always play rock music: Rod Stewart, the Eagles, Queen, stuff like that. One Christmas she bought me W.A.S.P.’s Last Command but felt weird for doing it, so she also bought me Stryper’s Soldiers Under Command.
What do Skumlove fans have to look forward to in 2017?
Hopefully a little bit a touring. I’m hoping to get a final version of the album out with remixes and maybe some extra B-sides and cover songs. World domination…Nahh fuck that, that’s overrated.
