There is that buzz about the Detroit Garage Rock scene, but what’s going on out here in the’ burbs? I’d say quite a bit behind the closed doors of 40 oz. Studios. Name dropping seems a lot easier than an explanation for all, the creative channels blondilocks and frontman Drew Peters and his not-so-bad guitar-playing brother Chris have in their cable box: Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and the Trash Brats, to name a few local affiliations. Somehow in the mean and in between time of producing, mastering, managing and recording, they find room for their own project, Six Clips.
- Paul Wong
- Courtesy of Six Clips
Drew and Chris listening to the good stuff and shunning The Strokes?
The Michigan Daily: You’ve decided to show up to the Blind Pig on Thursday, what is in store this time around?
Chris Peters: It should be a great night. Lollipop Lust Kill is an amazing live band. Great show. I went down to Toledo to see them a few weeks ago and the place was packed with over a thousand kids. It was nuts. It was their first hometown show in a long time. Quite a getdown. We are going on at 11 p.m. and LLK at about midnight. It’s our first show at the Blind Pig so far this year, and we’ve got a few new songs since last time.
TMD: At www.sixclips.com you reveal a dislike of The Strokes and Ryan Adams but an appreciation of Ludicrous and Pink. What do the latter musicians offer that the former do not?
CP: The latter have recorded songs that I enjoy. Actually, I recently heard the Pink record and was quite disappointed. I did really like that first single though. Not too fond of the new single.
TMD: Are you ashamed of your flagrant support of corporate, mass-produced, “TRL” product?
CP: Not in the slightest.
TMD: What else are you listening to these days that has a little more merit?
CP: More merit? According to whom? You? Spare me. Too often people want to over-intellectualize music. If it sounds good to me, then I like it. If it feels good, then I like it.
The last thing I do when I hear a song is ponder the questions ‘Does this have merit?’ I would imagine that people who ask themselves that question upon hearing a song are going to turn to the person next to them to ask them the same question. How lame is having your tastes dictated to you by some kind of consensus? But I digress. I can tell you what I’ve been listening to lately, you can ponder the “merit” issue. Uh …. that old Malcolm McLaren record, Duck Rock. It’s an ’80s classic. I’ve recently gotten into Art Tatum as well. Great stuff. Born down in Toledo, Ohio, and a huge figure in American music. What else? I really like this Detroit band, Radio Holiday. They remind me a little of Quicksand-meets-Weezer or something …. Been listening to a ton of Ted Nugent demos too. Oh, and it’s been nothing but Kiss, Liquid Liquid, and Sepultura in my car. I encourage everyone to go back and check out Liquid Liquid.
TMD: If you had a dream house featured on “Cribs” would it be in the style of extravagance, like Master P, his gold ceilings and his “bling-bling” or the more functional approach of Method Man, his broken doorbell and his refrigerator-top box of cash.
CP: Definately the more functional approach.
TMD: How do you feel this frame of mind is reflected in your music?
CP: I would say that this frame of mind has nothing to do with our music.
TMD: What is the last movie you watched?
CP: I saw Vanilla Sky up at the Fox Village and didn’t like it. I’ve never liked any of Cameron Crowe’s movies, but this one looked like it had potential. Usually his movies are chick flicks dressed up as rock’n’roll movies. This one wasn’t that, but it was as lame as the others.
TMD: Why are you prejudiced against the word “experiment” and its derivitives?
CP: Well, that’s just it. Most people who think they are engaging in an artistic experiment are doing nothing more than lapsing into derivatives. Seriously though, I’d like to avoid a tedious coffee house debate about this stuff. Let’s stay away from all of the babble about “risk taking” and the various cliches that come with this discussion. You know, “open-mindedness” and all of that crap. There is a great deal of experimental music that I like, and even more that I do not like. Just like there is a lot of what you would call “corporate” music that I like, and much that I don’t. I will just say that if I am looking to expand my musical horizons or challenge myself as a listener, I tend to gravitate towards ethnic music and stuff like Alan Lomax’s field recordings. There is so much music from Uganda alone that is worth checking out.
TMD: Name five good things that came out of the ’80s.
CP: EpMd, The Killing Fields, Faster Pussycat (the band, not the movie), The Long Riders (the movie, not the band) and the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu.
TMD: How much is a Grammy worth?
CP: Oh boy. They were horrible weren’t they? That ancient generation needs to pass the torch. They need to except that fact that rock’n’roll doesn’t belong to them anymore, no matter how many Grammys they give to Bob Dylan or whoever. Dylan is great, but let’s give awards to today’s artists today. I could be wrong, but I do not believe that the younger demographic is buying the new U2 record. The younger demographic should be determining who gets those trophies if they are to have any credibility. The Grammys are worth very little these days, and they are worth less with every passing year.