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21st Century Drummer Boy
Interview with Bobby Schayer from BAD RELIGION
"My idol gave me an autograph… the BLONDIE drummer… He’s the one who inspired me to play drums, so… when I was a kid," he then explains the wait. "That’s why it took me so long."
It’s refreshing to see someone who is pursued for autographs themselves exhibit excitement over meeting a hero.
"And it was worth waiting for?"
He grins, displaying the signed copy of Aquatulle, "Yeah."
He’s hit a tender spot. Someone who remembers BLONDIE and knows who Clem Burke is. I’m shocked. I spent my junior and senior high school years with Parallel Lines and Eat To The Beat CONSTANTLY on the stereo, "Yeah, I saw BLONDIE for the first time… I think it was in ’78... '79?"
"Oh… rub it in…"
Bobby Schayer provides the back-bone of BAD RELIGION who are headlining this year’s Warped Tour. Replacing Peter Finestone in 1992, he provides some of the best and complex rhythms in the industry. This band is no collection of fey musicians. Their gigs are marked by an electrifying energy. The rhythms penetrate the skin… you can’t help moving. And here’s the man who’s partially responsible.Bobby took the time to sit down and talk to Indie Press about his future, that of BAD RELIGION, and… of course… Clem Burke…
IP: So are you all enjoying the Warped Tour?
B: Yeah, I love the Warped Tour. It’s great, because of the fact that I can see all the other bands. It gives me time to do what I want… have free time on my own. Sometimes we play early, sometimes we don’t, but it’s still fun. It’s nice interaction of people. You know, people that normally on the road I would probably never meet on the road or see… regardless of what I do. It’s a lot of fun.
IP: How do you feel with being limited to a 30-minute set? Is that difficult considering the catalog you have to draw from?
B: Yeah, and the fact that there’s a lot of kids who want us to play a lot longer. But, for a kid that’s never seen us before, us going out there for 30 minutes and giving probably some of our best material right at them. I’d be satisfied, regardless, and most of them are. Because of the fact that we’re just playing all the hits, song after song after song.
IP: So do you have a tendency to change the setlist?
B: Every day. We try to get in at least 16 or 17 songs a day. We usually play an hour and a half a night, but this time we’re only playing a half hour.
IP: Do you have problems with people bootlegging your shows?
B: If they do, more power to them.
IP: You’ve got a lot of bands these days that, unfortunately, that are into the "No, no… we must get as much money as we can."
B: Oh, I know, but you can’t stop it regardless. If they’re gonna do, they’re gonna do it. I was one of them, too.
IP: Some of the best recordings I’ve got are bootlegs.
B: Exactly! Mine, too. I remember being a kid and going to see the RAMONES and bootlegging a RAMONES show when I was 13 years old. Now I’m 31, so you can image how big the tape recorders were in those days.
IP: The Warped Tour is going to be continuing on in Europe and Australia. Are you all going to be part of that?
B: Yeah, in fact we get done… we’ve got 7 more shows, 6 or 7 shows, and then 10 days off… and then we’re in Europe for 30 days. Then we come back and then I think we’re going to do Warped in South America. Then come back, and then maybe do some more in the States, then go to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Japan, and then… who knows...we’ll record another album. We’ll get through the next year and a half, we’ve been together 20 years… a long time…
IP: You have a bio that’s being written on the band right now, and that’s got the band’s full backing?
B: Yeah, in fact a guy named Jack Rabid’s writing the book. He’s followed the band since day one, so we felt that if anyone should write it, he should be the one.
IP: So he’s a fan?
B: A fan, friend, he’s a great biographer and he’s been around the punk music scene for over 20 years. So if anyone should do it, he should be the one.
IP: Ric Ocasek produced one of your albums but he’s not really a big punk fans, he’s more of a metal fan… how did that mix?
B: Actually, Greg was a big CARS fan, and we all like THE CARS when we were
young. We liked the work he did on the WEEZER album, and we liked the work he did with the
BAD BRAINS, so we just thought if he would be interested in possibly producing us. And he
did… he did want to produce us. But he’ very choosy about who he works with, so
that was very flattering. I like the fact that I think the whole "star status"
of it wore off in the first 20 minutes. He’s really just a normal guy, doing a
regular job, and that was great. And for me, I like the fact that it’s something I
can tell my kids someday… I got to work with these people and meet these people…
and nothing more than that.
IP: Is there anybody else on that wish list you’d like to work with? (holds up his autographed copy of the zine and laughter all around) Okay, BLONDE’S drummer ...
B: Yeah… Clem Burke, yeah… my idol when I was a kid. I don’t know. I just play it by ear. I strictly did this for the fun of doing it, nothing more than that. I think when I was a kid I saw the RAMONES on Kirschner [Rock Concert] late at night when I was 11 years old. Found out I could play it, it made me want to do it, nothing more than that.
IP: Your fans get a little demonstrative out there…
B: Oh yeah!
IP: How do you feel about them throwing debris at the stage?
B: I’m just glad they’re there… I’m glad there’s someone there to throw shit at us. It makes me happy. Any type of appreciation is fine with me.
IP: Your internet presence, there are a lot of web pages out there, how do you guys feel about that?
B: Well, there’s kids out there who’re creating web pages and talking about the band and they’re promoting the band in their own way, and I’m more than happy for them. I say, "Go for it." More power to you.
IP: Do you go out and surf the internet yourself?
B: Yeah, sure. All the time. Some kids I’ll actually respond back to and allow them to say, "Fuck you. You’re not who I think you are." (laughter all around) You just deal with it. But it’s cool. I enjoy it. We do get mail come in and I do answer them all back, as much as I can. I can type like one word a minute, but I’ll still do it.
IP: So eventually they’ll get a personal reply?
B: They’ll get it. They’ll get a reply. I like to do it
IP: You guys have always been about relevant issues and relevant matters, and this day and age punk is more about a fashion accessory than it is about social change… how do you feel about that?
B: Sure… well… like you said, it’s different now than it was 20 years ago. Way different. The fact that it’s, like you say, it’s more like someone with a mohawk and someone with long hair are the same… it doesn’t matter anymore. Whereas 18 years ago, that would have never happened. I’m just glad that people are still here to see us. Something must have been done right, because the fact that people are still into it… it developed from one thing into the next thing. I can’t knock them, because they’re here today and they’re here to see us. I’m happy that people in general are listening and they like the band, so they’re still listening to us… and that’s the most gratifying thing about it. They all get some kind of a message out of it.
IP: Are there any bands here on the tour that
you’ve been especially interested in seeing?
B: I like NO FX and RANCID… the AQUABATS… they’re cool. There’s just so many bands. 22 JACKSON are a really great band… I like them, they’re a really good band. And who else is playing? I know Mikey Ramone’s band is coming in two days. That’ll be fun. A lot of kids don’t understand who a lot of those bands are, but for me it’s like… "Wow."
IP: What are your plans when you eventually get off the road?
B: Open up my own rehearsal studio and hopefully open up my own rock n roll bookshop. My own memorabilia store.
IP: Do you get a lot of kids submitting tapes to you?
B: All the time. We have a tent out there, so we have a pirate radio station. We say, "Bring your demos" and they do. They do, and it’s great. It’s good, it’s a high-profile thing we do. It’s cool to sit out there and none of my favourite bands ever did that. I think the CLASH did once, a long time ago.
IP: Well, you all have a more down-to-earth feeling to you.
B: Well, yeah. I don’t think like a rock n' roll star, look like one… it was never my intention. To play some music, that was more it than anything. I think once people actually come and talk to us they realize the whole thing wears away. It’s no different than you and me talking to each other now. That’s the cool thing about it. I dig it, so…
IP: If you weren’t in music, what would you be doing?
B: Well, if I wasn’t playing music I’d probably be… I don’t know… Probably roadie’ing for one of the bands here today... actually something I used to do… I used to roadie for a punk band called THE DICKIES.
IP: Do you care to prognosticate on where BAD RELIGION will be 10 years from now?
B: Me? Probably… I’m not sure… taking your order at the deli I work at… I don’t know, it’s hard to say. When I first joined the band, we thought maybe we’d be together for a couple of years and that would’ve been it, but that was almost 8 years ago. And we’re still here, and every few years kids discover us for the first time. They want to hear us.
IP: They cycle…
B: It’s the same with me. I didn’t realize the BEATLES were broken up till 4 years after they were broken up. That’s the way it goes. But there are kids still interested, so I’m happy about that, I enjoy it. That’s the fun of it, so we’ll see…
IP: You mentioned something about kids submitting demo tapes, does BAD RELIGION as a whole or individual band members mentor up-and-coming groups?
B: Well, yeah. We both do. Greg has his own label, Jay manages a band in Canada… so we’re all around there. We’re all into different types of things. We’re all into different kinds of bands. I think that the fact that there’s five guys and five different likes and different types of interests in music just blends together very well.
IP: How does that work in the studio and the song writing?
B: Usually Greg and our old guitar player, Brett, wrote most of the songs, whereas this time it’s just… this last album it’s just "I’ve got an idea for a song, let’s work with this idea." Everyone wrote their own part to it, see whether it comes together. It was more collaboration on this album. That’s exciting and I’m more than happy to do it. I’m the man for the job!
Indie Press Online would like to thank Nasty Little Man, BAD RELIGION, and a very special thank you to Bobby Schayer…
| Next month, if the planets are in alignment, IPO will bring you BAUHAUS, the AQUABATS, Bob Mould, Sunny Day Real Estate, and a couple other surprises... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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