Interview with Jeff Magnum of The Dead Boys
1. Describe the start to your Rock & Roll adventure. How did it all begin?
JM: I blame everything on The Ventures and that damn fuzz bass! As a kid, I really liked The Ventures, especially the LP songs featuring the almighty “fuzz bass”. Eventually I bought a bass (a red Hagstrom with the padded back and the clear plastic front) and attempted to learn how to play. I totally sucked. In ’66 I found an album called “Play Electric Bass with The Ventures” and it taught you how to play songs (using the “Guitar Phonics” system!) like “Red River Valley”, “A Lover’s Concerto”, and “Shot Gun”. The only one I could figure out was “La Bamba”, and here I am today, the result of that lesson!
2. What is it about the bass that you love?
JM: Melody, volume, distortion, chords, octaves, sustain, feedback, vibrato, all the stuff I was told “traditional” bass players weren’t supposed to use.
3. What are some of the highlights/lowlights you've had since leaving the Dead Boys?
JM: None of this stuff really matters, but you asked so gulp down some No-Doze and let’s go! After the Dead Boys, in 1979, I joined a band of transplanted Floridians called The Decks. They had really amazing, killer pop songs with a ton of hooks. The guitar player was fucking brilliant, the best guitarist I ever played with. We did some gigs at CBGB, pretty rockin’ stuff. I have the tapes from some of those shows and they still kick ass. Then one day at a rehearsal, out of the blue, the guitar player announced that his girlfriend would be joining the band as a singer. I think I quit a week later. Down the road apiece, I auditioned for John Cale’s band. He seemed to like my bass playing but he yelled these bizarre commands like “Play with your eyes open!”, and “Will you dress punk if I tell you to? Will you wear all black if I tell you to?”. He was a pain in the ass that fortunately didn’t last long for me. Apart from that, the currant highlights yer lookin’ for are available at www.thecyclones.net Buy the new Cyclones CD! (I’m on 3 tracks). In my opinion, Vin and Dave have made a fucking great album, with or without my contributions.
4. Tell us about the Stiv Bators Tribute Concert - 09/18/04
JM: Before the 9/18 Beachland gig, we did a “Q & A” thing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that was absolutely priceless. Lotsa yuks had by all, us and the audience. The Beachland Ballroom probably has the best room sound for electric bass that I’ve ever played (most rooms sound muddy to me). The bass works off the room you’re in. Maybe it’s all the old wood in the room, I dunno, but I can get a sound that roars like mad in there, so it’s a fun place to play. We played our songs, the crowd was really into it, and I got to see some old friends.
5. I thought it was really hardcore that you didn't call yourselves the Dead Boys for the Stiv Bator Tribute show. Please enlighten the readers on why you made that decision.
JM: I think it was the promoters idea, I really don’t remember. I could care less about that stuff. It’s still us playing the tunes, call it what you want.
6. For four musicians who hadn't played a note together on the same stage in roughly 17 years I heard you played together very well. Did you practice together a lot before the show?
JM: I think we had 2 days rehearsals in Cleveland before the gig. The Sign-Offs let us use their rehearsal space and we hammered out a set list. I like to play and those rehearsals were fun. The fact that we sounded good didn’t surprise me.
7. I've read that thought you have been known for hanging way back and keeping your mouth shut, that you have obnoxiousness down to an art form. What are your thoughts on that kind of comment?
JM: Onstage, in our band, we had two very active guitar players and a lead singer that would do anything that came into his head. Early on I chose to stay out of their way and hang in the back with Blitz. I come from a generation of bass players that didn’t jump around onstage (well the ones I liked didn’t). Obnoxious?? Me?!? That’s just because of the sound of my stupid voice and the way I talk. I’m more fun than anyone. Really. Honest.
8. I read you were very critical of the album "We Have Come For Your Children". What was it that you disliked about it?
JM: Everything! None of us liked it. The record company stuck us with a producer we didn’t want and, at that point in his career, Felix Pappalardi was on the other side of the mountain, if ya get my drift. I could bitch about this for days but since Felix has paid the ultimate price for all his other creepy wrongdoings, I’ll let it go.
9. Do you think that Sire Records was the demise of the Dead Boys or something else?
JM: "Something else", oh that’s very good, yeah I like that. I think it's a pretty safe bet that "something else" played a major part in the fall of the Dead Boys empire. Our band was not designed to last, and by the late '70's/early ‘80’s, the whole "punk" thing was dying out anyway. Some of the band had serious "something else" problems and became kinda burnt. Sire merely pissed out the embers.
10. How did the band Frankenstein break up in Ohio and reform as the Dead Boys in New York?
JM: We broke up because we couldn’t get any gigs in Cleveland. Maybe a year later Cheetah, Bators, Zero, & Blitz hooked up again and then the New York thing at CBGB’s opened up, via Joey Ramone, and they took advantage of that opportunity and made it happen. In May ’77 I moved to New York and rejoined my pals, and we proceeded to drag rock music down to the devil demon forces of hell.
11. I found the following quote doing research. Tell us what you think of the quote,"The Dead Boys were one of the first punk bands to escalate the level of violence, nihilism, and pure ugliness of punk rock to extreme new levels." - "Greg Prato, Answer.com" Would you consider it to be accurate?
JM: I always thought we played our loud, aggressive rock songs in the traditional rock and roll manner. And Bators sure did deliver the goods, wouldn’t you agree? He was something else.
12. What is/was your favorite Dead Boys song?
JM: I love ‘em all and so should you! Those guys wrote some really great songs that get better with age, to me anyway. The worst thing we ever recorded was a cover song called “Big City” on the second album. It was the producer’s idea…
13. What was it about CBGB's that made it the Punk Rock Mecca in the early days?
JM: The bar owner dared to book young bands playing original material, no matter how good or bad they were, and he did it night, after night, after night, until the end.
14. After the Dead Boys broke up where has life taken you?
JM: All over the fucking place and finally dropped off right here, semi-intact, walking upright, and always with a kind word on my lips.
15. You've seen "Punk" evolve from the beginning through today. What are some of your likes and dislikes about the evolution of Punk music?
JM: I wish the quality of bass playing in today’s “punk” rock was better, maybe a little more ambitious. Other than that, the young bands are gettin’ it done, writing songs, puttin’ out product, touring, just like we did.
16. What bands have you been listening to lately?
JM: Old stuff mostly, Undertones, Rationals, Small Faces, Monkees, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Kinks. I listen to alotta blues too. One of my favorite albums is Champion Jack Dupree’s “Blues From The Gutter”.
17. How did you get hooked up with the Cyclones?
JM: I was in a New York bar called the Continental one night and they were playing. They had great songs and, for just two guys, they made a really big noise. I liked ‘em right away and we became friends.
18. What are the Cyclones like?
JM: Total social deviants that oughta be locked the hell up for the good of us all!!
19. Any good stuff planned for the future?
JM: Who the hell knows? Like the mutha humpin’ Magic 8 Ball usedta say: “Reply Hazy, Try Again”…
