Commlock Special : The Sonics - 2 of 2 : Interview

by Parsley on Sun, 2010/05/09 - 2:00pm Post to Twitter

PARSLEY’S COMMLOCK SPECIAL - THE SONICS #2 OF 2
Interview : The Sonics 04/04/10
After their barnstorming London gig in Great Portland Street as part of Le Beat Bespoke festival, I was very happy to be allowed an audience with the Sonics backstage. I travelled a labyrinthine route of hidden venue corridors full of heating pipes in some kind of tribute to Spinal Tap, and ended up in a dignified meeting room, brightly lit with office-style lighting, and filled with a long board room table which we sat around. The Sonics came in after having made themselves available after the gig at the venue to sign copies of records and talk to fans.

They were eloquent measured professionals and very polite to me. I, rather inevitably, had a CD and a picture waiting for their autographs. They obliged instantly, drummer Ricky Lynn Johnson carefully making sure I got the whole set of signatures. He’d just drummed an amazing set, and I was rather humbled by his hospitality. As a Londoner I suggested that if I was Lord Mayor I would have felt obliged to present them with the freedom of the city (for their services to London’s late night dancing clubs, let alone to music generally!).

The mystery of their excellent sound was solved by the appearance of Jim Anderson, their soundman. He accompanies them on all their gigs now, and stops the occasional guy who thinks he knows more about their sound than they do. And this was their message when I invited them to pass on their advice to the musicians that were inspired by them: "don’t give up control of your sound."

I asked them how gigging now compares to their 60’s experience. "It’s a deja vu. It’s like … it’s just unbelievable. We look out in the crowd and it looks like it’s the same crowd as when we were nineteen years old…amazing!" One of the others makes a spooky theremin noise and we all laugh. "Technology’s really different though, even something as simple as monitors. They didn’t have monitors then. I think we played louder on stage than probably most bands. We’re so used to playing by just listening to each other. No monitors, and we just trusted what goes off the stage. And we still try to do it that way." "Timeless - that’s pretty much what it is."

I asked guitarist Larry Parypa about his mother, who wikipedia had told me had encouraged his efforts. "She was from Tennessee and had actually been friends with Les Paul". So what about gear then and now? "I’m really happy with my Fender Super Reverb". What about Vox and Selmar amps (used by many of the bands that aspire to a Sonics sound)? "Well I tried them at the time and I didn’t like them." I declared myself a keyboard player and asked keyboard player/vocalist Gerry Roslie what he would have been using on stage in those days: "Vox Continental." I asked Ricky Lynn Johnson whether he groans when a sound man tries to mike up every drum, and whether he prefers just an overhead mike as some of my drummer friends do. "Nah, that doesn’t bother me".

They are all easy going and relaxed. I asked them about being on the road then and now. "Well then it was girls. If we didn’t have a gig we wouldn’t even rehearse!" And now? "We just look now." So what about the often repeated line that they were the first punk band? "We weren’t trying to make any particular kind of music. We were playing Sonics music." Gerry recounted that recently one promoter had told them off, complaining that they shouldn’t be playing solos, but they won him over. I was reminded of the obsessive people that criticise sixties bands who are still performing for not having the right settings or the right amps. I think they are probably missing the point of live music, particularly in the case of The Sonics, who have a superb act.

They had some technical issues tonight - the Nord being a particular disappointment, but everything had apparently passed off quite smoothly compared to last time, when they’d had quite a panic because their snare drum broke with no replacement.

And what about ‘rock n roll behaviour’ on tour in the old days? Well they didn’t throw TVs out of windows, but they did make a lot of noise, run up and down hallways and have fun with women. They never claimed to be good musicians but they knew how to have fun. Their advice now was to play what you want and what you feel.

They really enjoy playing around Europe, and have been impressed that the kids know the roots of what Sonics listen to, and really want to see them. Larry said "one guy drove 200 miles!" He was obviously impressed by that. The gigs in America have been good too.

They are somewhat stunned by the phenomenon of American Idol. "People that live on the farm can get on the show. Some are terrible. Some are great." They got back in the studio in November last year, and they said that as usual they threw out the rule book. I asked them about seminal British independent record producer Joe Meek, who had been such an influence on recording techniques in the UK in the sixties: had he been an influence on them? In a surreal moment I found they hadn’t heard of him and I was explaining to them who he was… What about the Dave Clark Five with a similar musical line up to them? They immediately burst into song with ‘Bits&Pieces’, which they liked.

The guys were keen to get back to the hotel for an early start to Belgium the next day, being about half way through their tour at this stage. Saxophonist Rob Lind had been very quiet, and I was slightly worried my questions might have annoyed him, as I sat there in my rather loud zebra suit. As a last thought I asked him if he wanted to say anything. It turned out that sitting in the far corner his ears were still ringing from the concert and he couldn’t hear me clearly. Playing non-electric instruments (sax/harmonica) he obviously has to be careful about what he can hear on stage. "I’ve gotta start my solo on time. When I start playing it’s harder for me to hear everyone, but occasionally I’ll hear Larry and that keeps me in time".

With that I thanked the guys for their generosity in seeing me after a ‘full on’ gig and a generous session of signatures out in the concert hall. The Sonics are rock & roll statesmen, and I asked them to please keep going now they have such a fantastic and inspirational live set.

parsley.L at virgin.net [http://freespace.virgin.net/alpha.moonbase/garden.records]