THE KETTLE BLACK - Hornswoggled #5 (unpublished circa Summer 2009)

BLOG NOTE: My friend Jordan once did this zine entitled "Hornswoggled" and he has a small collection of interviews from the last, unpublished, issue that he was kind enough to send my way. Here's the second of three.

How long have you been performing as the Kettle Black? Were you previously in any other bands or projects?

My first show as The Kettle Black was May 29th 2004 at Pub 340 in Vancouver. I played guitar in Jack Feels Fine in the early 90's, bass in The Askmasters in the late 90's, drums in Jang Mo Jib, drums in Ship Shapes at the moment. I used to be called Bystander but changed the name in 2003.

You've got a really unique stage setup. What instruments / gear do you use when you perform?

I play acoustic and electric guitars, bass and synth/piano, I use samples, a couple of loop peddles, a drum machine, analogue and digital delays. I burn candles, trigger lights and use paper mache.

You've done plenty of touring all across Canada. What are some of your favorite cities to play? What are some of the worst?

I like a lot of places, Kamloops, Grand Forks, Ymir are great. Winnipeg, Peterborough, Waterloo, St John's as well, the list is pretty big and I'd still miss someone. It's usually not the city that's bad it's the venue/promoter (or lack of).

Any plans to tour the US or Europe?

I'm working on booking Europe now for shows in November. I tried to do the USA last summer (do it all legit) but it was just a headache and would have ended up costing me $1350 just for the paper work and they could still turn you away at the border if they wanted to. The USA will have to wait for now.

You play all kinds of shows with all sorts of different bands- folk artists, indie rock, punk bands, metal bands, etc. Do you find certain audiences react differently to your music?

Yes and no. There is always someone who gets into it and listens to the lyrics. I have done a few shows where they decide cause I'm a solo act I should be with acoustic singer/songwriter shows and then people don't like that I'm loud, the folk people holding their hands over their ears running out of the venue (no joke). Been told I should just play the quiet songs for these shows but that's not really what I'm doing so I opt out of these shows now. Interesting enough, it's the metal / death metal / punks that are the most open to music. I don't really listen to metal (I listen mostly to folk and indie rock) but have run across some awesome metal bands. They are also usually the nicest people and there for the music.

You record all your own music, in addition to releasing it (as well as other bands') on your own label, Capital Punishment. Was this a necessity for you, or do you simply prefer being self sufficient (or is it both?)

It was the path of least resistance. I would work with someone if they could help me with touring and/or promotion but seems people only want to help you when you don't need their help any more. The recording I always have done. I think I'm getting better at it, I have better mic's these days and I've learned a lot on the way, but to me it's more about the performance than the sound. Capturing that sometimes takes time and the costs / pressure of being in a studio would be unrealistic for me. Organizing the label and releasing the music is another part of it, I like doing all the art work, I do all the distro to stores when I'm touring, I'm pretty open to anyone one who wants to take some discs for physical / mail order distribution. I use only CD-Rs and I hand paint them all to look like vinyl, I do all the manufacturing myself (from burning/painting/cutting all the labels and inserts). For digital distribution I'm on Zunior and The Kettle Black is on iTunes and sites like that, but you still have to get people to go to the site and download, that's where touring comes in. I also have "PayPal What You Can" on my site. You can download the mp3s and PayPal me what you can. It's better than iTunes cause I get all the $$, so if someone leaves $5, I can buy a beer, and so can they with money they save from buying at iTunes. I like being self sufficient, but I do get help from my roommates with printing T-shirts.

Any planned releases for Capital Punishment?

Les Taberfucks recorded last summer in Ottawa but I've been so busy I have not got the mixing done yet, should be soon though. Destination Gutter will be the first thing on the label that I will not have recorded, they are friends from Peterborough (The Spill) and wanted the Capital Punishment logo on their CD.

You're joining Wax Mannequin on bass for an upcoming tour (and opening a number of dates). How did that come about? I always thought Wax Mannequin was a solo enterprise, like yourself.

I played my 4th solo show with Wax in Toronto when I was called Bystander in 2002 at NXNE. Over the years we've become friends and done a lot of shows together in the east. He plays mostly solo but also with a band (Mark Raymond on bass and Aidan Campbell on percussion) in Ontario. We had talked about touring together in the west for a while. I've always been a fan and Mark couldn't do the western shows, so he's asked me to fill in. Mark and Aidan are an awesome rhythm section. I think Wax is awesome but with the backing band it’s huge, It brings the songs to a new level. Hope I can do it justice cause I'm still trying to figure out the songs.

You also recently put out a split 7" with the Ship Shapes from Ottawa. Is vinyl a worthwhile format for you? Can we expect any more The Kettle Black releases on vinyl?

Yea, we did a split single, my first vinyl. It costs more to make and you have to come up with money up front instead of the way I do CD's (make them as I need them). I like the format, I would like to eventually put my stuff out on vinyl. It's more a matter of money.

Thanks again for everything. Any fixations you'd like to share with us? Any final wisdom you'd like to impart?

Eternal life is found in the now, uniforms are a bad idea and yellow snow is not for eating (unless you're into that kind of thing).