Exclusive
Interview with Geoff Kresge for
Tigerarmy.com
For
the second installment in our series of exclusive interviews,
we sat down in mid-April with the bassmaster general of
Tiger Army, Geoff Kresge. As any fan of psychobilly knows,
the stand-up bass is one of the most important elements
of the sound and likewise Kresge is an equally integral
part of Tiger Army. Read on to find out more about the man
behind the slap, and keep an eye out for an upcoming interview
with Fred Hell…
--
Vintage C, webmaster
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Tigerarmy.com:
Give us a little background on how you came to join Tiger Army…
Geoff
Kresge: Well, the
way I actually joined Tiger Army is kind of a strange story. I originally came into the band on a "temporary"
basis for a California tour to support the first Tiger Army album. My first gig was November 12, 1999 in
Aptos, California. I
was going through a lot personally at that time and I was unsure
of what the future held for me.
A few months after the tour ended, Nick called me and asked
me to join the band as a permanent member.
Although I wasn't "officially" in the band until
early 2000, I think of myself as having been in Tiger Army as
of summer 1999, which was when Nick and I first came up with the
idea of doing that first tour.
Tigerarmy.com:
Tell us about your history as a bass player in general and your
evolution as a stand-up player…
GK:
I had been playing electric bass for a few years and had joined
a band called Influence 13, with Nick 13 and Jade Puget [Ed. Note:
now of AFI] both on guitar. At one of the early practices, I had told
Nick that I was interested in getting a stand-up bass. We talked about it a few times, but I
couldn't afford one at the time.
After Influence 13, I was in AFI and did a lot of writing,
recording and touring with them.
In November 1996, I bought my first stand-up bass, an early
'50s Kay. It was in really bad shape, but I didn't
know anything about stand-up basses at that time, so I really
didn’t know what to look for.
It basically stood in my room, unplayed, for a long time. I left AFI in April 1997 and played in
a couple of other bands that were in very different styles than
anything else I had done, but they were good experiences, as far
as expanding the limits of my playing.
One of those bands, The Forbidden Dimension, played an
opening for a photography exhibit, and that was the first time
I played the stand-up in a live situation. The results were mixed, but I had a blast and realized that
I needed to be playing the stand-up bass in a band. I put together a makeshift band with two of the guys from my
other band, The Daggers, with the intention of playing psychobilly,
but it didn't really go anywhere and I dropped the idea after
a few practices. It actually wasn't long after that before
Nick and I talked about doing the first Tiger Army tour.
Tigerarmy.com:
In 2002 you received an endorsement from King Doublebass, how
did that come about?
GK:
We played the Hootenanny festivals in early-July 2002 and King
Doublebass had a tent set up there.
I’d met Jason, one of the owners, a few months before
and he talked about designing a new bass with me.
After our set at one of the Hootenanny shows, I went to
the King tent to check out the basses and I was amazed with the
quality of their instruments. We talked about some design ideas, traded some technique secrets,
and before I knew what was happening, I had an endorsement! So Jason built me a new bass, which I
first played on Warped Tour 2002.
I beat it up pretty bad, so when we got back from Warped
I had it repainted. The
work Jason puts into those basses is sick.
Tigerarmy.com:
That’s rad. What’s
your stage set-up?
GK:
Well, I’ve tried a lot of different setups over the last
few years, but I had never found the right combination of pickups,
amps and speakers until recently.
I use a customized King Doublebass with a K&K slap
pickup and a modified pre-amp/mixer. I use an Ampeg SVT-3 and an Ampeg SVT-4.
I run those into an Ampeg SVT Classic 8x10 cabinet for the tone,
which is the actual notes, and a set of cheap tweeters for the
slap sound, which is the clicking sound.
Sometimes I use a Boss RV-3 Reverb pedal on "Outlaw
Heart" or Boss DD-3 Delay to fill in the sound a little more
when we play bigger places, but normally I just go right into
the amps. It sounds
a lot more complicated than it really is.
Tigerarmy.com:
Cool. I know
a lot of people are interested in that.
Anything you’d care to share about technique? What’s your philosophy as a player?
GK:
My technique is mostly self-taught.
I actually just apply my electric bass technique to the
stand-up. I'm not doing all the crazy fills like
I used to do on the electric, but I already had enough of a foundation
built up, so the only real transition was going from playing with
a pick to learning the right-hand slap method.
There are some well-kept secrets and tricks that I've managed
to learn from some other players, but for the most part I'm self-taught. As far as my playing philosophy goes, I guess I would have
to say that I'm not really interested in being the "fastest
slapper" out there.
A lot of people have commented on how fast I play live,
but it isn't something I care to be known for.
A lot of players seem to look at stand-up bass or psychobilly
as a speed contest. Playing fast has it's place, but I couldn't care less about
how fast someone can slap if they can't play the notes and give
the song a groove.
Tigerarmy.com:
Good Point. What are some of your influences as a player?
GK:
A lot of people ask me about my influences as a stand-up bass
player, or slapper. Although my answer is usually something
about Bill Black (Elvis Presley's original bass player) or Connie
"Guybo" Smith (Eddie Cochran's bass player), I would
have to say that my technique comes from everything I hear. I know it sounds funny, but I find influences creeping into
my playing from some really unlikely sources at times.
Tigerarmy.com:
Can you give us an example?
GK: I've actually gotten some of the slap
patterns, or accents I do from listening to snare fills that different
drummers do. Not
really anything you would think of as a "bass playing influence." Other stuff would be, like I said earlier, electric bass influences
that crossed over into my stand-up playing, like Kiss or New York
Dolls. Some of the
bass lines those bands had were really a lot more "rock ‘n’
roll" and actually work on a stand-up bass, you know, with
lots of walking bass parts.
Those bands aren't what many people would think of when
they hear some of the stuff I play, but I know it's there.
It's more in the fills that I play live than on the records
though.
Tigerarmy.com: That’s interesting. Now you recently produced an album for
the Seattle psychobilly band “Graveyard Shift” which
will be released later this year on Dead Body records. Was this your first production work? How was the experience?
GK:
It actually was not my first time in the producer's chair. Although I haven't done any production work in a few years,
it’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing. I’ve produced or co-produced nearly a dozen sessions
for various bands, although many of them are not credited. Overall, the Graveyard Shift CD was hard
work, like all records, but it was a lot of fun too.
Tigerarmy.com:
What was your approach to the material and recording Graveyard
Shift in the studio?
GK:
I ended up doing a lot of stuff on the record myself, including
playing bass on a few tracks and laying down most of the backing
vocals. I re-wrote some of the music and lyrics and actually, there’s
a bass line I put into one of the songs that really shows that
Kiss/Dolls influence I was talking about.
The guys in the band had to go back to their jobs in Seattle,
so a lot of the record was done by me and the engineer. I had a friend come in to do backing vocals. Fred Hell actually plays the snare drum
part on one of the songs because the original part that got recorded
didn't sound right for the song.
I had a lot of production things that I had been wanting
to use for years that are actually on Welcome To the Neighborhood
[Ed. note: the GYS album title] which comes out this summer, so
I'm excited about the CD.
Tigerarmy.com:
Do you think you’ll do more of this kind of thing in the
future?
GK:
After hearing the Graveyard Shift album, the guys at Dead Body
asked me to be the "house producer,” so almost everything
the label releases will have me producing.
It will depend on what Tiger Army is doing though.
Obviously Tiger Army is the main focus, but producing is
something I really enjoy and want to do more of.
Tigerarmy.com:
Do you have any projects you’re working on other than the
upcoming stuff with Tiger Army?
GK:
I’m actually working on an instructional video for King
Doublebass as we speak which will go into all of the physical
and technical aspects of my playing.
It's going to be one of those step-by-step video lesson
things. Hopefully that will be happening soon.
I'm trying to start a merchandising company with a few
friends, but it's a really big project and it'll take some time
to make it happen. I
have some side-project stuff that I would like to do too, but
there just doesn't seem to be enough time to do it all.
Tigerarmy.com:
So Fred’s recovery is going very well so far. [Ed. note:
TA drummer Fred Hell was shot on March 10th, see News
section for more details]
What was it like, having that happen to one of your bandmates?
GK:
Well first of all, Freddy is more than just a bandmate…
he’s like family to me.
What happened to him is really appalling.
It made me sick to my stomach when I heard about the shooting
and I was really scared for him. Having actually faced death myself, I
could relate to what he was feeling and what he was thinking while
he was in the hospital.
Since Freddy joined Tiger Army, I have tried to take him
under my wing, so to speak. I've tried to be like a big brother
to him, so it was really painful to see him that way.
One of the first things he said to me when I saw him in
the hospital was, "I can't wait to get out of here and play
my drums." I
couldn't believe his determination!
Tigerarmy.com:
He is a determined SOB!
Here’s hoping his recovery continues like it has.
On a different subject, how’s the new material for the next
album coming along so far? What can you tell us about it and how
do you like it?
GK:
The new material is coming along really well, I can’t wait
to get into the jam room to start playing the new songs again! They’re really a lot of fun to play and have a great
vibe! I'm really
excited about getting into the recording studio to make the new
album… Musically, it's kind of a return
to the first album, but there are some Power of Moonlite
moments in the new songs as well. I don't want to give too much away, but
I think it’s going to be a very strong album and definitely
the best thing we've done so far -- I couldn't be happier with
the way the songs are coming together.
Everyone in the band is working really hard to make sure
it’s the best album we can possibly make.
Tigerarmy.com:
Can’t wait to hear it when it’s done!
How has the band evolved playing-wise since you’ve
become a member?
GK:
When I first joined, my stand-up technique was still really sloppy. I’ve refined my technique and learned
to do a lot of things I couldn't do when we recorded Power
of Moonlite. Nick's guitar playing has improved a lot
since I joined the band too.
He’s started experimenting with effects a bit more
and has really come a long way.
Not that he wasn't already a good player, but over the
last year or so he’s gotten even more solid.
As far as Freddy's drumming goes, I am happy to finally
be playing with a drummer who plays with the bass, and
not against the bass. I’ve
played with a lot of drummers that don't get that concept.
He understands the principles of the way the rhythm section
is supposed to work and we’ve developed an almost telepathic
feel for where to compliment each other’s accents and fills.
His drumming has improved 150% since our first practices
with him and his playing gets better all the time.
He’s dedicated his life to becoming a great drummer
and seems to be well on his way.
Tigerarmy.com:
Good deal. Let’s
get a little more personal now.
Tell us about your hobbies, do you collect anything?
GK:
I collect a lot of different things.
Mostly monster toys from the 70s and 80s.
I collect newer stuff like Living Dead Dolls, Devilman
toys and some of the McFarlane Toys stuff like Tortured Souls
and Movie Maniacs. I collect records, mostly 80s psychobilly
and heavy metal, including M3T3ORS and Iron Maiden singles! I have a small collection of 60s Halloween
costumes and 50s Halloween decorations. Monster Cereal toys are something I try to pick up when I can;
Count Chocula, FrankenBerry, Boo Berry, Fruit Brute and Yummy
Mummy... that kind of stuff.
Tigerarmy.com: Cool! What do you do in your spare time?
GK:
When and if I have spare time, it is usually spent on the Internet!
(laughs) I do a lot of traveling when there is
enough of a break from touring.
Other than that I don't do much other than sleep, play
guitar and watch DVD’s.
Tigerarmy.com:
I know you’re an artist as well. Tell us about that…
GK:
I haven't done much artwork as far as actual illustration goes
for quite awhile, with the exception of the Tiger Army October
Tour shirt I did. I'm always working on ideas for t-shirt designs though, which
is practically the only art I do now. I've done t-shirts for AFI, Sick Of It All, Rancid, Lars Frederiksen
and the Bastards, The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Business,
GBH... I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
Tigerarmy.com:
That’s cool.
What’s your favorite Tiger Army song, both as a song
and to play live?
GK:
My favorite Tiger Army song is "Last Night.” It's really strange, because I was actually writing a song
very similar to "Last Night" before I got the pre-mix
of the first album. When I heard it, I was just waiting for the
Twilight Zone theme music to start playing! (laughs) It's
my favorite song to play live as well, because when we do it live
I sing the middle section and get to incorporate a few different
playing styles within that one song.
“F.T.W.” is a good one to play live too, because
I get to play with the dynamics of the song and scream my head
off. I really get into that one.
Tigerarmy.com:
Cool. Well, that’s
about it, any last words?
GK:
The same thing I always say... Stay sick, stay psycho, Tiger Army
Never Die!
-fin-