"My daily life gives plenty influence to write a song"Kevin Junior nació en Akron, Ohio, hace unos 41 años. Su estilo a veces remite al difunto Nikki Sudden, otro maldito. Ahora divulga el cedé Ruins (a collection of rarities, b-sides & outtakes), coeditado por dos sellos regionales: Hanky Panky y Sunthunder. OSCAR CUBILLO ha charlado con él.
Que dónde estás.
In the dephs of Hell! The West side of Chicago. It's trecherous here, very dangerous. It's an all-black area, so when they see me walking around here they think I'm absolutly sick in the mind or an undercover police officer. That one always makes me laugh since I've had so many problems with the police in the past. "Outlaw" is much more appropriate than "Man Of The Law" if your talking about me! Not that I want to be that in any way. I don't wish to be either one. I don't have a home anymore, for about the past 6 months, so I stay where I can & today it's with an old friend who lives in these trenches.
Que comentes tus influencias.
Besides my life? Because that's the biggest one. I kind of stopped looking to others for musical influence at least 10-15 years ago & now find the most influence just coming from within myself. My daily life gives plenty influence to write a song. But before that? Yea, of course there have been loads of things that shaped my musical direction & sound. I grew up on soul & pop music from the 60's & 70's. My parents listened only to soul & R&B, so that stayed with me and I still find myself listening to loads of that-Al Green (my favorite vocalist), Delfonics, Bobby Womak, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Stewart. I love the soul records that came out of Chicago, Memphis, & Philidelphia. My first album that I owned was an Elvis record, but the first one I bought with my own money was Kiss 'Alive 2'. The next ones I remember buying were several Rolling Stones albums. Those records just changed my life. As a kid I liked so many different kinds of music. I would always buy the new Todd Rundgren, Cheap Trick, Kinks, The Who. I still love those people. I got into punk & new wave pretty heavy. I came home from the record shop one day with the new Ramones Lp 'End Of The Century' which Phil Spector produced (I'm a huge fan of his) and my Mother & Sister were laughing at the cover & saying how ugly they were. I was furious about this. I felt like they were insulting me! So, I dunno...some of my biggest influences are The Beatles (& all of they're solo records), Brian Wilson, Alex Chilton, Burt Bacharach, Dan Penn, The Raspberries, Dylan, The Faces, Laura Nyro, New York Dolls, Carole King and more of the usual suspects.
Que cuando oímos Ruins nos acordamos de Jacobites y de Nikki Sudden.Well, obviously I like them because I've played on several Nikki Sudden & Epic Soundtracks records & tours. I was Epic's guitar player from 1995 until his death. I've played on 3 of his albums-the most recent "Good Things" is an album of just him & I that was recorded on my 4-track machine at his flat in London in 1996. We did a very nice tour of Europe just a month before his death. We had a full band together (which included Chamber Strings drummer Anthony Illarde & Plush bass player Russell Bassman), but this one was just an acoustic duo tour. He died a couple days after I came back to the States. Nikki as well. I was his guitar player on & off since 1995. I'm on a bunch of his records also. 'Red Brocade' is one that we did here in Chicago & I think that is a very good record. Played lots & lots of tours with Nikki. Played onstage with Kusworth as well & maybe a couple records.
Do I think I sound like The Jacobites? Nah, not really at all. I mean, we have played together on numerous tours & LPs, but I am my own man. We're kindred spirits, I will say. I think that fate brought us all together to make music. I do love they're music very much and we were always a good fit playing together. It always felt natural and I was very comfortable playing in they're bands & being able to contribute something. It was an experience that I value. The very sad part though is that I've now lost 2 of the closest friends in my life with both Nikki & Epic passing away. Not a day goes by that I don't think about them & miss them both terribly. Nikki was always there for me for those years after Epic died-I never did handle that one too well-Epic & I were best friends. Epic & I were like brothers that never fought or disagreed about anything. Nikki & I were like brothers that did fight & disagree quite often, yet we were so close and he & I became so much closer after Epic died. Now there is no one in my life to help me cope with Nikki's death because Nikki was the "pappa" of the bunch. The ringleader. He brought so many people together & there are a lot of great people I wouldn't know if if wasn't for him. It's a hard one to swallow-him being gone. He always thought he'd outlive everyone. I thought so as well. It's a much more lonely world now.
What was the question again? Do i think I sound like The Jacobites? Nah, not really..
Que, como también tocas en The Chamber Strings, describas ésa banda.
It's just basically my band no matter who else is in the band at the time. I'll always make my music under that name. Whatever songs I write. It's just the outlet I use to make my music. The only reason that this album "Ruins" is listed as a Kevin Junior album is because it features songs from my previous bands. Whenever I release an album of new material, it will be titled the Chamber Strings even if there is no band. That's the way 'Gospel Morning' was. When I was making that 1st album I didn't have any band members yet.
Que Chrissie Hynde también nació en Akron; a ver si ella es popular allí.
Oh yea! We went to the same schools. She was actually one of my first favorite musicians & influences. James Honey-man Scott is still one of my favorite guitarists. She turned me on to The Kinks, who became an important influence on my songwriting. Akron is an industrial town. Former Rubber capital of the world. It's a strange, dark, beautiful, & ghostly town. I love it.
Que cuentes algo del nuevo álbum, Ruins.
Eh, I don't like to say much about my lyrics, but it's just a bunch of songs that either never came out on anything or were very rare releases. It's nice to be able to put a lot of these tracks on one collection. Besides the ones that have never been released, you would have to search out so many different singles, imports, compilations, etc..to get all these tracks.
I would keep putting out more of them in volumes if there is enough public interest. I've got boxes of tapes of unreleased music. The problem is that they are spread out all over the place (I don't have a home, so my belongings end up in storage spaces all over the world!), so I will need to start doing that soon before the tapes get destroyed or worse, tossed out in the garbage!
Que por qué editas Ruins en dos pequeños sellos independientes españoles.
They both wanted it, so they both got it! Both labels contacted me around the same time. Hanky Panky first & I said yes. Then came Sunthunder & I told them I already made a deal with Hanky Panky. So, they called them up & decided to put they're money together. They both seem like good labels & good people to me, so I'm happy to be working with them.
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