INTERVIEWthe bay area ska page

Vic Ruggiero Talks... Finally.
Contributor: Tom
Photos: Gene

After nearly four months of playing phone tag, I was finally able to catch up with Vic Ruggiero before The Slackers left for their 2002 European Tour. Here is the best of our nearly two hour phone conversation:

How did those solo shows with Chris Murray come together earlier this year?

We always bump into each other all over the place. It is something that we have talked about doing since 1997. I told him that if he booked the gigs I would come out. Then he called me up and said that the gigs were all booked and since I promised and all. It was the best idea that he could have ever had. Doing that gave me a whole new angle on playing shows. It is so nerve-wracking to play one-man gigs. It is one thing to have eight guys to fall back on, but to fly all the way across the country and then be up on stage by yourself was insane. I didn't even have Chris to fall back on because we were playing different sets and all. It is just nerve-wracking, but great at the same time.

And everyone kept asking you to play Cocaine at the SF show, but you couldn’t remember the first line…

Yeah, I wrote that one day on the train and only recorded it the one time. The same day that I wrote down the verse I was in the studio with the Insteps, and they were playing this rhythm, and I was just like, "Hey man, I got the lyrics right here." I showed it to them... Then, it was just like let's do it. I didn't have a chorus though so I was like, "What would be a good chorus for this?" We were all just like, "Cocaine man…" and then I added the snorting sound. I just kept asking everyone to tell me the first line. If someone could have told me, I would have played it.

So now that you have played these solo shows; how do they compare to playing with the Slackers?

I love playing in a band. A band will always bring out something in you that you weren't expecting. With a band you are more then the sum of your parts. But when you play solo, you are the beginning and end to everything that comes out. And if I am flighty on a night I can do whatever I want on stage. If I want to play the chorus of a song in a rockabilly style and the verse in a waltz, I can. I like to be flighty and live in the moment. I can change the lyrics in the middle of a song if I want; I can do whatever fits my mood. With a band, everything is a compromise. You can't make things up on the fly because you are part of this bigger picture.

Is there any difference in the way you write a solo song versus one intended for the Slackers?

Not really -- I just write. I have a whole closet full of music, and 90% of it won't see the light of day. It's funny though because I will write a song and be like, "Oh, this is definitely one for the band," and when I show it to them, they don't get it. And sometimes I will write a song just intended for me, but when I play it for Marcus he is like, "Oh man, we have to do that!" Like that song, Henderson's Swamp, was originally going to be just for me, but when Marcus heard it he wanted it. Then I wrote that song "Whiskey Still" for the Slackers, and they thought it was boring.

So do you take everything you write to the band, or do you just pick and choose things?

Initially I did bring everything to them. But as time goes on it just gets harder and harder to do new songs and to get your stuff into the band. There is all this time that we are touring and then doing different projects. When we do sit down and start doing new stuff, we really have to pick and choose. Then we have to go back and fix what is broken and whatnot. Plus, I just write. All the time. Usually I will write about one song a day -- sometimes more. I really like to find people to record things that I have written too. I have so much music that would otherwise never get out, that I just like to find people and give them songs. I was really happy when The Pietasters did one of my songs. They gave it a different spin too, so it was cool. I mean I am 30, going to be 31, so I can't play my old punk songs convincingly anymore. I can't be this 30 year old guy in the tight suit playing my old ska songs anymore.

So what do you have going on right now? What’s in the works?

We are rehearsing right now. Learning some new songs. Then we are going to Europe for a while.

You guys really seem to dig Europe.… Is there just a really cool vibe over there or what?
I really like it. I mean, I really like it over there. They seem to really get it. Everything is just really appreciated there. They are very open-minded people who are willing to accept new things and appreciate them. Any French-speaking country is my favorite. They seem to really like my voice....

So awhile back you worked on this project with the Rancid guys called The Silencers. Aside from the track on that Hellcat comp, are there plans to release anything else from those sessions?

Well, I was just out there working with those guys on another project. And I was begging Tim to release more of that stuff, but he is a perfectionist like me, and he explained the whole thing to me. The explanation was very practical, so I accepted it. The rest of the stuff we did, some of it was different sounding. It wasn't all like that. I mean that song on the comp I wrote when I was 18. I had just moved out of my house… no, I had just moved downtown.… I moved out of my house way before 18.… Anyways, I was just looking through one of my books trying to find something to push to the Rancid guys, and that song just popped into my head. They took some other songs of mine too, and they actually recorded a version of Amelia, but it never made it onto their record. I really just try and find people to give my songs too. And I think that Tim is very similar. I mean, I think he writes songs a lot.

What were you working on with him?

This thing called the Transplants. It is more mod-sounding stuff. He says that he is mixing it right now, which is a good sign that it will be released.

Speaking of Tim, how do you like being on Hellcat? I mean, you were very outspoken about the whole Moon thing, and I don't want to beat a dead horse or anything.… I guess I just wonder what you think of being in a ska band on a label known for its punk?

(Laughs) Well, yeah Moon… uh… Hellcat was initially supposed to be a ska label. But I guess we are the only remaining ska band on there, with Hepcat being done for now at least… The punk on Hellcat is really good stuff. Really older-sounding punk inspired by a different time. It is cool to be around different people with different views on things. You never really want to have too much of the same thing around you. It then tends to all be similar that way. I mean it's like this… we practice here in New York underneath this reggae store. And I just bought some records the other day, and I was playing them for this guy who works there. The stuff I bought was like Mott The Hoople, Graham Nash and the Allman Brothers. He was just like, "man I am real glad you are into this stuff." If you like reggae, and I mean if you really like reggae, you can't help but like country and rock and blues. I was never really into rockabilly, but I have always played it. When we were kids and Hotel California came on the radio, it was like, "Alright!" You can't help but like good music. When Musical Youth came out nobody was like, "Hey, that's reggae." They were just like, "There's a good pop song." Good music is good music. I started playing reggae before I even knew what it was. All this boogie woogie stuff like Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino is the same stuff we are playing in the Slackers today. I really can't classify music anymore these days. It's just too hard.

Are there any plans for another solo album?

Well, it should be done by now. I mean I should really be finished already, but I have been procrastinating -- really just taking a break.

So what's the deal with Special Potato? Is it merely there to put out these side things?

Vic: That's all mine, man. That's all me. It started off as this big joke, but now it is basically just for that. First I put out that Nods record, and then my record, and we pressed 1000 of each. When we sold them all, it was like, "Cool man, let's make some more." Then we just did 100 here and there. Then some distribution places wanted some. So we just came up with Special Potato.

What do you think of the state of ska music today? Everyone always says that it is either dead, or they are waiting for a fourth wave or whatever.…

To me, the musical taste of the average ska fan has gotten a lot better. They have seen what is out there now, and they are the better for it. I would love to say that No Doubt did a great disservice, but I can't. They came out and said they weren't ska, but it still got out to the people. And if 10% of the people that No Doubt captured the attention of get to hear the Skatalites because of that, then it's great. And now there will be another band who wants to be like the Skatalites. And it really doesn't matter how hot she is -- I mean she isn't my type -- but you can't put a bad record out, regardless of who you are. The music has to be good. So now they have faded, or they came and went or whatever. Ska music --well good music in general -- is timeless, man. You put "Guns Of Navaronne" on, and you will have a whole street dancing. You can put a good pop song on and have people dancing, but a year from now nobody will want to be associated with it. I mean, how old is Guns Of Navaronne? That record will always have people dancing.

All ages venues in the Bay Area have really vanished in the last five years or so. Is this a trend that you are seeing everywhere? Or are we the only unlucky ones?

It is getting harder and harder to find all ages clubs. And the ones that are still doing the all ages shows are doing them so early. Half of this tour we just did with Flogging Molly was done when it was still light outside. This country is really on a conservative swing, and we are seeing it everywhere. This country is just crazy. Music is something that keeps kids off the streets at night, but the venues are getting harder and harder to find. We have played for older crowds, especially out on Long Island, and we can get the old folks dancing, but to me live music is a kid's scene. We know this guy out in Illinois, like Freeport or something, and he is running this all ages venue. I mean he does theatre, rents rehearsal space, teaches kids how to play and arrange music.… He is really doing a service. But the whole community is all over him for it. All the old ladies think because there is loud music in there that they need to shut it down. They act like he is pushing this underground lifestyle on the kids or something. I mean he has theater there. He is really the only one around trying to help kids and give them a place to go, and he is getting crap for it. I think that if there was ever a place where kids would get into drugs and shoot people or whatever, it is going to be in a place where you are not allowed to go out and do anything. I am really trying to get the Slackers fans -- that sounds really funny. I am really trying to get these kids to band together man. It has been my experience that the same people who really enjoy our music are these open-minded and peaceful people. They enjoy the music that we enjoy. This is a scene that really needs to increase itself. Like back in the 1950s, we have to band together… take back the country (laughs).It is just as important though to stay on the fringe. When a subculture gets absorbed into the mainstream, it is hard to remember what you stand for. When the hippies became fashionable, it was hard for the true hippies to remember what they were doing. And before being a punk was all about fashion, it was all about scaring people. To walk down the street with a plastic bag on and a nail through your head… it is just hard to remember what you stand for after a while.

Well, thanks for taking some time out to talk with me. I hope that you guys enjoy Europe.…

Thanks, man. Sorry it took so long to hook up. Take it easy.

If you'd like to learn even more about Vic Ruggiero or The SLackers then you've gotta check out there website:
www.theslackers.com