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Manic Street Preacher
The highs and lows of the notorious Jerry Joseph
By Dean Bonzani
Published on 01/15/2009
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The following is a small chunk of a recent interview with Jerry Joseph by Flag writer, musician and madman Dean Bonzani. Click HERE for their complete conversation.
It’s hard to keep up with Jerry Joseph. He’s best known for his role in the immensely popular club band, Little Women, who blazed a hot trail through the Rockies and the Northwest from the mid ’80s through the early ’90s, and later, the Jackmormons and Stockholm Syndrome (with Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools).
Recently, he’s been touring as a duo with drummer Steve Drizos (Dexter Grove) as the Denmark Veseys, named for a freed slave who planned what would have been the U.S.’s largest slave revolt (complete with genocide) before being caught and executed. Their debut, on Cosmo Sex School Records, was produced by Dave Barbe (REM, Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt) and showcases the seamless rapport of Joseph and Drizos. It’s a beautifully caustic poetic autopsy of modern life told from the perspective of one of rock music’s most unsung heroes.
Meanwhile, the Veseys joined Dobro player/singer/songwriter Bret Mosley to collaborate on an extended-length EP, Charge, also available from Cosmo Sex School Records. Joseph, Drizos and Mosley are touring the West featuring cuts from both discs, and dipping generously into the deep back catalogue of Joseph’s songs.
I had the pleasure of interviewing the wily, rakish Joseph via cell phone, while he strode briskly down the icy streets of Harlem.
DB: What are you bringing to Flagstaff? What’s the arrangement?
JJ: We just did this record called Charge, which is a six-song … I’d tell you it was an EP, but it’s f**king 40 minutes long or something. It’s me, my drummer Steve Drizos and Bret Mosley. It’s just coming out now, so the Arizona shows are him and me and Steve.
DB: Are you on acoustic?
JJ: Yeah, acoustic and sometimes I play electric with Steve. We’re never really sure. All the s**t’s set up, but this material lends itself better to acoustic. That’s kind of what I’m into right now … as I’m standing in the f**king projects in Harlem right now.
DB: What brought you to Harlem?
JJ: My wife’s a teacher in the Bronx, and it’s affordable from Manhattan. I’ve been here about three years. Now my world’s kind of south of 14th Street. I’m lovin’ the B train—I’m there in 10 minutes.
DB: Has it affected your songwriting, the new digs?
JJ: Yeah, maybe. I tend to reference stuff that’s around me quite a bit. The title song of this record, Bret and I wrote after election night. I was up here in Harlem, on about 125th—it was pretty f**king radical. And he was in Brooklyn, and we got together the next day and wrote this song addressing what we were thinking was happening here. It was a pretty amazing night standing next to old women who couldn’t drink out of the same f**king drinking fountain as white people when they were little, watching a black man win the election. It was pretty intense.
DB: At this stage of your career, going forward, what direction are you headed in? How far do you plan to go with this trio format?
JJ: Well, we recorded this record in the fall. It was really last minute. Up at this place called Old Souls Studios, which is where my hero, this guy Chris Whitley—he was my friend—recorded his last record. It’s kind of a weird f**king town, Catskill, N.Y., with this awesome analog studio. We kind of threw it together really fast and I like it, but the Jackmormons just did our New Year’s run here in the city and I like that … and I also play in Stockholm Syndrome. We go in the studio in the beginning of February. Sometimes I like that … so I don’t know what’s going to happen for me. I just feel fortunate when I can work.
DB: You have a lot of irons in the fire.
JJ: I guess that’s the point—when you get older, you do have more irons in the fire. I don’t know what the opposite of that would be. Maybe you’d be totally focused and only do one thing. Last year, I put a lot of effort into this duo, the Denmark Veseys. Steve and myself with Dave Barbe, who did some Jackmormons stuff, and Drive-By Truckers. It was an acoustic duo, but it’s a lot different than the Black Keys or the White Stripes. Some people really like it and some people really hated it. I think that’s kind of a lot of my career. It’s funny, I always think the thing that people like a lot is the acoustic thing, but the promoters always get really sketched about it. I think as far as songwriting, it serves the songs best sometimes. You gotta check out Bret Mosley’s Web site. His s**t is great. Hank Williams meets the Ohio Players. You know, you jam two songwriters in a room and see what comes out. We did a Modest Mouse cover and a couple of his songs and couple of my songs and this song, “Charge.” It started me on this process of wanting to do a lot of covers. Lately with the Jackmormons, we’ve been playing Sun Kil Moon and Will Oldham songs.
DB: You said the promoters weren’t happy about the acoustic thing, but you can rock just as hard on an acoustic, if you really know what you’re doing.
JJ: I think so. Also, it’s important that I didn’t mean those promoters in Flagstaff. You just get a lot of things like, “Where’s the f**kin’ bass?” It’s two thousand f**kin’ nine. It’s funny how people hold on to what they’re idea of what a f**king band is.
DB: You could go up onstage and say, “I’M the band.”
JJ: Yeah, but that wouldn’t do anything for my “Jerry’s an egotistical little f**kin’ demon” reputation.
DB: You mentioned that you’re getting older. Are you mellowing with age, or are you just winding up?
JJ: I’m hoping that I’m just winding up. My health is a lot better than it’s been in the last few years. At least as far as the s**t I put in my body, so I’ve got a lot of energy. But I’ve also got a lot of unfiltered rage (laughter). So hopefully I can channel it through the music. I’m still able to write songs. I still like playing. And I don’t make enough f**king money that I can say I’m going to go sit in an ashram for nine months. There’s really not much choice.
DB: Do you play in your neighborhood at all?
JJ: It’s hard. The hipper the club, the smaller the tip jar. I’ve never been a big “play for tips” guy, so I’m learning.
DB: Where do you do the best?
JJ: In America? The Rockies, the Northwest, the Southeast, Chicago. Most of the Northeast is really a struggle. I do alright in the cities, and a couple of small towns, but try to get a f**king gig in Rochester to pay you anything and it’s ridiculous. I’m old enough to know that just because I sold out Atlanta three nights, doesn’t mean I’m going to do it next time.
DB: The resort towns in the West are a good circuit.
JJ: Yeah, we still go there. It depends. Telluride and Crested Butte. Again, my fortunes rise and fall with the … who f**kin’ knows? The popularity of little bald Arab men.
DB: This could be the year of little bald Arab men.
JJ: F**k yeah, man. They love me in my Hamas scarf. Every time I take the stage here in the Upper West Side. (Pause) … no … they don’t … (laughter). Yeah, this could be the year for little bald Arab men.
DB: It’s all about the marketing.
JJ: Soon as I start shooting rockets down into Midtown, we’ll see how it goes.
Don’t miss the Denmark Veseys featuring Jerry Joseph with Bret Mosley Sat, Jan. 17 at the Green Room, 15 N. Agassiz. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10. Watching a barefoot, angry little bald Arab man in a keffiyeh expertly thrash an acoustic guitar … priceless. For more info, see www.thedenmarkveseys.com or call 226-8669.
Additional photos for this story:
Photo by Misha Vladimirskiy.
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Steve Drizos (left) and Joseph as the Denmark Veseys. ©www.bradhodgephoto.com
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