Passionately grinding guitar riffs into each other with a ferocity that drives its wheel pounding rock and roll, decade-old veteran rock outfit CKY arrives Sunday at The Rave revitalized with a new found energy. Capturing that energy in their first album back -- a musical journey called "Carver City" -- CKY loudly slams the accelerator to speed away from its near collapse.
While the band's diverse musical personalities certainly helps create a heated and inspired music catalogue, it also lent to a rocky history of changes and personal tensions. So much that one day they decided it would be best to break up and go their separate ways. Almost a year later, the urge and drive to play their brand of music came roaring back.
Providing the beat of this return back to throngs of audiences, drummer Jess Margera feels pretty fortunate to be back with the band he's been part of its entire existence. Speaking from a gig in Florida moments before sound check, Margera talked to OnMilwaukee.com about that return, lessons learned, and their music's impact.
OnMilwaukee.com: First of all, how's the first tour back going so far?
Jess Margera: It's going good. We just played in Texas and had a day off in New Orleans so that was cool, at Bourbon Street.
OMC: You probably get this question a lot but how would you describe the sound of CKY? Any elements that you'd say make that sound stick out from the rest?
JM: It's definitely rock music. I never heard a band that sounds like we do. The fact that we are influenced by so many things that's why it doesn't sound like any. And Chad (Ginsburg), our guitar player, produces all our records so we don't have a set producer that works with a bunch of different bands. We do it our way. We don't go by any rulebook or anything; we just make records in house with our own people.
OMC: The band's sound has gone through many changes from the band's unofficially beginnings in the '90s to today.
JM: On this record ("Carver City") we experimented a bit more than we have in the past. Chad built a studio in Pennsylvania so we weren't exactly on the clock or had to worry about money or anything like that. We definitely tried a bunch of new things and experimented a little more than in the past for sure.
OMC: Can you tell me a little bit about how everyone met up?
JM: (Lead singer) Deron (Miller) and I went to high school together and met him in math class and we started a metal band. Then after years and years of playing random shows in our area we finally found a studio that we wanted to work at. Chad was the main engineer there and started recording that "Volume 1" album and Chad was really digging it and really wanted to join the band. And we were really into in because we needed another guitar player. That worked out good. We picked up Matt (Deis) in 2005. He used to be in a band called All that Remains and he was a huge CKY fan and he was thinking of leaving that band and we had said, "You're welcome to join us."
OMC: Over the band's long history, I noticed there are a couple instances with the band wanting to go their own way and not be mainstream. Could you tell me about that?
JM: Yeah. Well, we've always had total creative control on all our records. The record labels don't have much to do with us making albums. So, I guess in that aspect, we're not very mainstream because we get to do whatever we want. They always press on us to write songs that can be played on the radio or whatever and we just do whatever we want. Sometimes you get some airplay which is nice but that's not our main goal. We just want to make timeless records that'll be here 25 years from now. Not really concerned with getting a radio hit or anything like that.
OMC: What was it like getting back together and working on the music that's on "Carver City?"
JM: It was cool because we took that year off -- the band full on broke up after the tour -- and I never thought "Carver City" would ever come out really. And when we started working on it again it felt good because it kind of felt like we were a new band again. It's was a "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" type of thing. After ten years of touring we kind of got into auto-pilot mode and fell into a grind, like a daily grind of being on the road and kind of forgot how lucky we are to be doing this. So after a year off of not doing this we all realized we're pretty f*cking lucky to be doing this.
OMC: So music is pretty powerful that it can draw you back and kind of help link everyone back together?
JM: Yeah. To be doing this is way better than any office job. Our worst day out here is probably their best day working a job like loading a truck or something. So we're definitely lucky to be doing this and sometimes we forget about that. That helped us remembered how psyched we should be.
OMC: How do you think "Carver City" compares with the band's past works, in regards to how the songs were put together?
JM: I think our last album before this one was a lot more stripped down, just basically two guitars, bass and drums. That's cool and I appreciate that record as well but on this one there were no rules. We just added tons of layers and made it a huge record, as big as you can. Almost overdid it but to point where it's a blended mess that sounds like it all works together or somehow. There's definitely a lot going on.
OMC: How would you describe the chemistry in the band?
JM: The chemistry is weird because have Daren, who's a total metal guitar player. There's me, I'm a total rock drummer. And Chad produces and he's got the weirdest style you can even imagine. He's into Frank Zappa and Ween and Mr. Bungle and sh*t like that. You wouldn't think it would be able to work but somehow it does. It's like three different dudes who all listen to completely different sh*t getting together and making a record, pretty wild.
OMC: What moment or moments do you think define who the band is both musically and personally?
JM: The studio's so different from playing live and I think we feel most like a band when we're playing live. It's where we have the most fun. With the studio you do your parts separately and very non-personal. Just to all on stage together, that's when it feels like proper band playing music. I'm not a big fan of the studio; I appreciate it but live music is where it's at. That's what separates a good band from a bad band is that you can pull it off live, that's how you do it.
OMC: Was there a particular show that really was important to you.
JM: We had a show at London at the Electric Ballroom. That was an awesome venue and we played really good and in good spirits and the crowd was just intense. I don't know, it seems like in England rock music is more popular than it is in the U.S. They don't have things like country music and that kind of thing over there. It's all about rock over there.
OMC: What should people expect from a live show?
JM: A lot of energy, it's really raw. I love the records but they are polished. And when you see the live show the energy is so much bigger. There's a lot of audience participation and I've been to a lot of shows and I think we're just more involved with our fans than any other band that I've seen played live. I mean our fans know everything about us and know every song and they know every word, it's really awesome.
OMC: Any plans for the band following the tour?
JM: After the tour we're going to take a little break, I mean we've been out all summer. And Daren's having a kid so you don't get out of that obviously. I might play some shows with a couple friends of mine in the time off.
OMC: What do you feel about getting to play with a variety of bands on this tour?
JM: Yeah, it's great. I love all the bands on this tour. I'm a big fan of all of them. It's great that Graveyard came all the way from Sweden to play. I mean they're one of my favorite bands right now for sure. So it's pretty cool to have them out.
OMC: The band started more than years ago. What would you like the band's legacy to be remembered as at this point?
JM: I think people will remember our shows and our records, and the fact that our first album came out 10 years ago and it's still brand new to a lot of people. That's pretty cool that we could do something timeless like that. Over the last ten years it seems like the brothers and younger brothers and younger brothers come out to see us and it's pretty crazy. That's pretty amazing that many age groups of people can be into it.
