thomas rusnak.
the name may or may not be familiar to some of you.
ok...well...what about things like rorschach? kiss it goodbye?
does any of that ring a bell?
this is the guy that laid down the rumble for that noise.
i somehow managed to get him to stop by the SGM orifice for a sit down to answer a few questions
SGM: thanks for stopping by...i can only assume that you had nothing better going on today and that there really wasn't all that much on the tv
TR: I have much better things to be doing with my time. You told me there would be free pizza. You lied.
SGM: i'd recently discovered something you'd done way back when you were 15...the band was called jack straw...what can you tell us about that?
TR: That was the first band I ever played in. We did a demo and played punk shows around the area where I grew up in Pennsylvania. We recorded a demo at DAF studio that, in the context of our age and the times, was kinda cool. Mike Scalzi of Slough Feg sang in Jack Straw. And after Rorschach broke up I did a 7” and a 3 month long Europe tour with a band called Hunger, with the drummer from Jack Straw. Big tangent but that drummer (Neal Witmer) also played in a hardcore band called Pagan Rite that was obscenely good.
SGM: what got you into playing the bass?
TR: Punk rock got me into playing the bass. Bands like The Minutemen, Minor Threat, Big Black, Scratch Acid… COC… that Animosity LP really influenced me for a while.
SGM: any favorite bassists' names you'd like to throw out there?...also...cliff burton had better be one of them
TR: Burton was great, I think almost everyone agrees with that. I guess when he was alive was also when I actually listened to Metallica. I am more of a Mike Watt man I guess. Tracy Pew, Greta Brinkman, David William Sims, Kira and Les Claypool are few more players that come to mind. Oh, Sissi Schumeister is fucking awesome. Her bass lines are mighty.
SGM: the band rorschach can be best described as someone trying to ram their body through a wall and not giving up until either they become a bloody mess or they break through the wall as a bloody mess...and of course...that wall is made of brick and concrete...because you wouldn't expect rorschach to be linked to some kind of inferior wall (ie: bamboo...cardboard)...and i just wanted you to know that's how the band was more than likely percieved
TR: Someone once told me Rorschach sounded like ball bearings in a blender, but that was before many bands were experimenting with grind. I can live with your description. In fact, I like that it takes longer to say than any Rorschach song takes to play.
SGM: also...i'd like you to know that i...as well as a few other folks... greatly appreciate the band's cover of black flag's "my war"
TR: Thanks, that’s very cool to hear. We worried about doing that live when we did this last round of shows. We didn’t want to take Rorschach into Las Vegas act territory. With that said, hands down my favorite band has been Black Flag since my early teens. Damaged is actually my favorite record of all time. My War side two.
SGM: so...do you have any crazy rorschach tour stories that you're allowed to share?
TR: Rorschach did some shows opening for NOFX in England, back in the days when every band on a bill didn’t have to sound exactly the same. At First the NOFX camp didn’t say much to us, but during the first show they noticed we were doing pretty well with merch. So they approached us and told us we would have to give them a percentage of our merchandise sales. This kinda set the tone for the shows we played with them. They were traveling in a spacious Winnebago thingy, and we were in a cramped little van. While we didn’t have the space we could travel a lot faster so the next day after the shows we would leave later than NOFX and pass them on the highway. I guess in response to the weirdness that they were sending our way, each time our van would pass NOFX we would all moon them. Childish I know, but it was a small victory in the war against our pop-punk oppressors.
SGM: i'm going to ask this question mainly because they popped up on random in my stereo as i'm typing this out...seeing as how you both shared a state...were you aware of the band human remains?
TR: You mean Witte’s first band? Nope, never heard of them. Fucking Witte right? A drummer to be reckoned with.
SGM: and how awesome would a rorschach/human remains show/tour have been?...and would attendees be made to sign a bodily harm waiver before witnessing that business?
TR: Not as awesome as a Voivod, Neurosis, Rorschach show would have been. We were approached about doing a show with that line up but sadly it wasn’t something we could do.
SGM: what lead to the band breaking up?
TR: I’m sure there are five different, valid answers to that question. From my perspective, early on there weren’t shows of any real size being offered to us, no large labels were interested in us and there wasn’t any real opportunity for conflict regarding how the band would be handled. After the Europe tour and in the lead up to Protestant a few people were starting to take notice. We were starting to draw a little crowd of our own all over the east coast. When no one will pay more than $5 at the door to see your band it is easy to only play shows that charge $5 or less to get in. But when you get offered a spot on a bill at a large venue and they are charging $8 you suddenly have to decide how serious you are about that. And if everyone doesn’t agree you’ve got a real problem. Multiple issues came up real fast for us at that point and it destroyed the band.
SGM: and this is the part of the story which brings us to the band kiss it goodbye...which in my opinion was a huge step up intensity wise...and when it came to the music...it's like someone was listening to both rorschach and deadguy at the same time with their fingers on the records...making them play slower than they should be
TR: Rorschach 2.0
SGM: i need to clarify a few things here...as there may be some people out there saying to themselves "what does deadguy have to do with kiss it goodbye?"...well...you see...kiss it goodbye had former members of deadguy amongst their ranks (namely vocalist tim singer and guitarist keith huckins...who had also played in rorschach)
so....how did kiss it goodbye come to be?
TR: Well there is the whole back story to Tim and Keith leaving Deadguy which I can’t really speak on with any real knowledge having not been there. But once those two decided to do a new band and move it to Seattle they began looking for a rhythm section. Andrew told me once that Keith approached about him about joining the band, with the plan being to steal the bassist from Deadguy. I think they called him “Pops” but I’m not sure what his name is. As Andrew related the story to me, he insisted on trying to get me first as a condition of him joining KIG. At that point I had been in Europe for almost three years playing in the German hardcore band Ambush. It was good timing as I was ready for a change, and the prospect of playing with Andrew and Keith was obviously very attractive.
SGM: were you aware of deadguy previously?
TR: When Andrew called me, as I said, I had been living in Berlin for a while, and I had really lost touch with what was going on in the states. I would see friends like Assuck or Avail when they came through but I had no clue about new bands from the states. I was listening to a lot of Can, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath at that point. So no actually, I had never heard of Deadguy or Tim Singer when Andrew called me. I actually had a fellow on a chat board get pretty irate with me once, as he was absolutely convinced that we had decided to try to make a new Deadguy with KIG, and that I must have heard of Deadguy before I was asked to form KIG. That take has always surprised me because, very frankly, the rhthym section of Deadguy comes off as totally pedestrian to my ear. I really feel that what Andrew and I were doing didn’t sound at all like Deadguy.
Everyone into hardcore has their favorite bands from the era that they were introduced to punk or hardcore or metal or whatever. For me those bands are Minor Threat, McRad, Ruin, Black Flag, SSD, Beefeater, Minutemen, Butthole Surfers, Septic Death… you get the idea. I still listen to Black Flag’s Damaged and a ton of old SST, Dischord and Touch And Go records all the time. On the other hand I don’t own a single record on Revelation (unless you count my KIG records). You get the idea.
SGM: in your opinion...who was the more intimidating vocalist: charles maggio or tim singer?
TR: Apples and oranges.
SGM: with kiss it goodbye...you dropped 2 eps and a full length...and then you were no more...what happened?
TR: Tim wanted to pursue a proffesional carreer and KIG was not really the kind of band one could do as a hobby. I think the drain on his time and resources just wasn’t worth it for him anymore. He sat us down and told us he wasn’t breaking up the band but there would be no more touring or recording, which is kind of like saying “you can still work here, but you aren’t allowed in the building and we won’t be paying you. So I quit at that point and then I guess they decided to just end the band.
SGM: when it comes to the album SHE LOVES ME,SHE LOVES ME NOT...it's one of the most pissed off things i've ever heard (right up there with today is the day's TEMPLE OF THE MORNING STAR)...i just wanted you to know that
TR: Maybe unfortunately, I think what you are hearing there is genuine.
SGM: and since it's been brought up...how do you feel about TEMPLE OF THE MORNING STAR?
TR: Ha! On the last question I thought, “I’ll just not even address the TITD thing”. I think I have met Steve once in my life, and he seemed like a pleasant enough fellow. Today Is The Day is just not my thing at all. All of those records sound to me like they were recorded digitally, which is fine if that’s what you’re into. The songs just don’t grab me, maybe because of the production. Before I heard TITD and they were described to me, I was expecting something like Bastro.
Let’s see, that’s Burton, Deadguy and TITD I’ve offended now. I really should have at least got free pizza out of this.
SGM: most intimidating singer: charles maggio...tim singer...steve austin?
TR: Apples, oranges and some kind of digitally created virtual fruit.
SGM: after kiss it goodbye split...most of the band went onto form a band called family man...and only ever released 2 songs...what happened?...there are a lot of folks out there that were all like "awwwwman! come on!"
TR: Tim and I were trying to make something happen. I wanted to do something that was a mix between the territory we had been exploring with KIG and Birthday Party. The first line up that was sounding really good was Tim, Me, Dann Gallucci (Murder City Devils/Modest Mouse) and Coady Willis (MCD, The Business, Melvins). Dann took a gig with Modest Mouse and Tim and I were searching again. Then we got Andrew and Billy Anderson (Blessing The Hogs, Men Of Porn, Engine-ear extraordinaire). By the time we got around to recording the demo we had Aaron Blanchard (and damn I can’t remember what bands he was in). There are four more songs from that recording session that don’t have vocals on them. I’m working on doing something with those songs though.
SGM: are there any crazy kiss it goodbye tour stories that you're allowed to share?
TR: I think it is still too soon to tell the good ones.
SGM: and with both rorschach and kiss it goodbye both having done reunions...do you have a favorite?...is there one you'd want to start recording with again?
TR: Both of those bands were incredibly fun and I am really glad we got to do some shows again. I’ve got some recording plans in the works that is somewhat tied to that last KIG run, but it’s in the baby stages right now so I’m going to wait until later to elaborate on that.
SGM: word on the street is...you'd recently joined the band poison idea...how did that happen?
TR: A friend of mine, who happens to be a friend of Jerry A, knew I was looking for people to play with. So when Jerry told him they were looking for a bassist he played match maker and got us hooked up. So far it seems like a great fit on every level. I fucking LOVE the music, and the guys in the band are all really good people.
SGM: any possible touring?...because you know i'll eventually be asking you if there are any crazy poison idea tour stories that you're allowed to share
TR: We’re coming out to the east coast in late August, early September, and there are some other things in the pipeline too. We’re working on writing a new LP right now as well so that has me pretty focused.
SGM: some folks may not be aware of the fact that you wrote a book called BLACK FLAG,THE GRATEFUL DEAD,THE INDIAN AND THE BLUE FISH...what lead to that happening?
TR: I wanted to document what I was doing before I joined Rorschach. I’m working on documenting the Rorschach, Ambush, KIG years as well but I it’s a slow road there.
SGM: and is there a way for someone to get a copy?
TR: Lulu.com sells them still. I intend to start bringing copies with me when I play in the future so maybe if you hit me up at a PI show I’ll have a box of them.
SGM: as seeing as how you're an obvious black flag fan...are you a black flag or flag guy?
TR: I used to think that Black Flag was Ginn. Period. But after everything I’ve seen go down recently with all of those folks, I am now convinced that Black Flag was a group of people in a specific time. As far as what those folks are adding to the Black Flag legacy now goes… I’m not sure Flag and Black Flag are making a positive addition to the bands’ name. If I was keeping score online though, I would say Flag is winning.
SGM: well...i do believe that i've probably taken up more than enough of your time...and i'd like to thank you for doing what it is you do, sir...and if you've got any science to drop on the kids...now be the time to do so
TR: Thank you. It was fun, even without the pizza.
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