Interview: Supersuckers w/Eddie Spaghetti By Sabine Schenk Martini Ranch, Encinitas, CA I always liked the Supersuckers but I have never been too big of a fan until they put their country record Must Have Been High out. And when I heard that they are going to play the big show, a combination of the rock and the country set, I knew I had to go there! And now that I have listened to the country songs live, I like them even better. Before the show lead singer and American idol Eddie Spaghetti was kind enough to spend some time with us and answered a lot of questions. I think, I have to destroy some illusions here when I say that Eddie isn’t an asshole but a really nice guy. Just read the interview about beer, Italy and what Captain Sensible of the Damned has to do with their country record. Enjoy and cheers! What made you decide to play the big show, the combination of the country show and the rock show in one set? Was the request for the country set so strong? It was a combination. People were asking us to play both sets in one show but the main motivation was that we don’t like having another band on the bill. We hate opening acts. Most of the time, I hate to sound cynical, but they stink. We just thought, you know what, we are perfectly capable of playing the whole night all by ourselves. So we gave it a shot. So we are doing it and this is going to be our last tour with the big show for a little while. We gonna give it a rest and see if people miss it and if they want it again then we’ll bring it back out. How do your fans react on the country set? Do they actually know that you have a country album out or do they think that you are just a rock’n’roll band? It seems like they know about both now. At first it was pretty weird but now it’s pretty well established that we are doing both types of music. And you are having fun playing both types of music, right? Yeah, when we are doing country tours we always miss the rock and vice versa. So it is a lot of fun. What does your son like better the rock or the country set? I don’t know, I think he likes the rock better. So he’s a tough kid? He’s a little bit of a tough kid. You just went to Denver for a beer festival or something?! What did you do there? That’s actually coming up! There’s a big thing called the Great American Beer Festival and there is a company that we have been talking about making a Supersuckers beer. So we are going with this company to that festival and serve their beer. They do like a fancy beer. A really good micro brewed handmade beer. But they put it in a can. And most people think of cheap beer being in a can. But I like beer in a can. So I really like identifying with this company’s idea that we can put something really good in something like a can. So we just see eye to eye. Hopefully we’ll be working together. So in the future your merchandise booth is going to have CDs, t-shirts and beer? I hope so!! Because if people buy beer they’ll buy it again and again and again. If they buy a CD they buy it once and they have it. I read on your website some stuff about American politics. And I think this is pretty unusual for a rock band to talk about things like that. So how important is the upcoming election to you and everything? I think this is a particularly important one. And I just try to encourage people to get out there and vote. I just think that, you know, when we travel around the world and we can see how embarrassing it is first hand to have that person as our president. It’s embarrassing and we would like a change. Do you want to say anything to our readers about that? Just get out there and vote. And hopefully you’ll vote for the guy that I want you to vote for but just don’t blow this opportunity that you have as an American to exercise an opinion and you have a chance to say who it’s gonna be. And don’t sell that short. Would you really move to Italy if this doesn’t happen? Yes! Really?! Yes! Alright! I think Europe is waiting for you! How do your European fans differ from your US fans? Oh, they don’t speak English. Most of them. And that’s a pain in the ass. No, they do! Europeans are a lot better about speaking English than we are about speaking any other language. But it’s sort of the same for a lot of bands, I think. The difference is not that big. We have good shows and bad shows here and we have good shows and bad shows there. We do really good in Europe. So it’s kind of the same for us everywhere we go. Which is really great actually. What current rock bands do you like? None of them! Hehe. No, I really like the new Hives record and I like that song by Jet. I like the new Dwarves record and the new Zeke record. And the Briefs new record is really good, too. I do like a lot of current rock, I guess. When can we expect a new record? Hopefully early next year the new record will be out. Is it going to be a rock record again? It’s going to be something like that. We are not quite sure. It’s probably going to be some kind of a mixture. Have you ever thought about releasing another country record? Because personally I think, your country songs are great! Thanks! We will. I’m sure we will. It took a while to catch hold and for us to realise that people like it. But now Must Have Been High is our biggest selling record. We know that it’s something for us that is good for us to do. What are your plans for the next couple of months? We are going to tour this tour until the middle of October when we are going to play Willy Nelson’s daughter wedding reception. Then we are going to to some kind of break and I will do some solo shows. And then we will go to Europe for a month in November/December. And then make a record. In Captain on Must Have Been High, is that a real person you’re singing about or did you make that guy up? No, that’s a real person. We were in England and they tried to hook us up with Captain Sensible from the Damned. That’s the Captain. Oh, that’s why the chorus is like that song Say Captain, Say What! Yeah, that’s why I made the chorus, Say Captain, Say Later. True story! I think, it’s really good for you that you decided to do a country record. But why did you put one out? Can you remember that? We were doing our last record for SubPop and we wanted it to be something special. We wanted to make a country record for years and I had a bunch of little country songs that I wanted to record. And I was thinking about doing a solo record but then all the guys in the band were on it. So then we were like, well, it’s the Supersuckers. And we were a little afraid when we put it out because our fans might have expected something different. And they did. It took about a year for the record to catch on. But it has! But you are serious about that country stuff, right? Because sometimes I thought you are just being cynical about it. You take these really catchy melodies and combine it with lyrics like: I like a shot of whiskey in the morning. And a good old shot of cocaine in the afternoon.... Right. No, we like country but we are still assholes! Hehe. Anything you want to add? No, just don’t listen to that crap, listen to Supersuckers! -Sabine Schenk Visit the Supersuckers on the web at: www.supersuckers.com photos by frank