Wino: Hello...
Rob: Hi wino?
Wino: yeah...
Rob: Hey, this is Rob...
Wino: Hello Rob...what`s up buddy? How are you doing?
Rob: Good, how are you?
Wino: I`m doing good.
Rob: It`s a little early for me...
Wino: Yeah- it`s getting on noon here...
Rob: Yeah- so how are things going? How is the band doing?
Wino: Things are going real good...I guess we`re going to be seeing you guys soon right?
Rob: You guys are coming through with Cathedral?
Wino: Well, we`re supposed to be coming through with Cathedral in July, yeah...you heard about that already?
Rob: yeah- I talked to Ilka Yesterday...
Wino: Good...
Rob: She said something about Goatsnake and...
Wino: Well aren`t you guys playing the Emissions in Ohio?
Rob: Oh! yeahyeahyeah...That`s right, I forgot about that you guys are playing on the same day!
Wino: The same day...
Rob: We are playing in the afternoon and you guys are playing last...
Wino: Yeah...I`m hoping we`ll be there for your set, it`s a 6 hour drive for us, and we got a gig the night before...we`ll see what happens though- well try to get down early... so how are you doing? How is the band?
Rob: It`s going good, we`ve just been playing a lot and practicing and writing new stuff...looking forward to the trip out to Ohio...
Wino: yeah...
Rob: So you guys are maybe doing that thing with Goatsnake and Cathedral, is that for sure or...
Wino: Well, we will be on it for sure if it happens, I mean...umm...As far as I know it`s gonna happen, I mean- I think it`s gonna hinge on Goatsnake you know as usual...they`re always having line-up issues...so if it happens we will be there, and I am hoping it will- it is a little bit up in the air...
Rob: Well. hopefully you`ll do some West coast shows...(my daughter of almost 2 years starts throwing a fit while El Danno is assisting me at babysitting while doing the interview... It starts to backfire and I am forced to ask the question...)Wino, can you hold on a minute?
Wino: Sure...
Rob: (to my daughter- "are you gonna live")...hehehe...Sorry about that...
Wino: Is she gonna live? hehe...
Rob: I think so...hehehe... She got a little freaked because she fell down and I wasn`t right there to help...hehehe... Can I ask you a little history about the band? Like how did it... I was like watching an Obsessed video and I saw Sherman on the video as an Obsessed fan?
Wino: Right...
Rob: I was wondering how you hooked up because I know he has been a long time fan of your`s...
Wino: Well when I came back into the area, from like a ... long a... I mean this is like the East coast, Maryland- D.C. area is like pretty much my home town... I spent a long time out in California...like ten or eleven years I lived out there that was like Sant Vitus days... The Obsessed got signed to Columbia Records and we did all that... when all that kind of... when the Obsessed was over, and the whole deal with Columbia was over...I spent a year or two out there, just kinda you know just kinda Disillusioned to everything and uh... you know and not in a good way mentally or physichally period... so finally I am like- I am gonna move back home...
Rob: When did you move out there?
Wino: I moved out there in like `85 and then, you know I joined Saint Vitus we started to rehearse solid for 6 months...then we recorded Born Too Late, and then we recorded Thirsty and Miserable and then we recorded Mournful Cries...then right around that time, everybody body in Saint Vitus, we started to get pretty disillusioned with SST because they had spread themselves out way too thin, and they weren`t really paying attention to the bands that needed to pay attention to...so then we ended up doing it with this German label- Hell Hound and ended up doing 2 records for them too. My Vitus days are pretty prolific and you know... when I came back into town from California I was pretty much burned out- you know I was burned out on everything- you know starting another band and everything like that...starting from scratch seemed like just really like too long of a road you know? Sherman and Gary they were really really enthusiastic...Gary was calling alot saying you know- calling where I was living alot saying: "You wanna jam, You wanna jam? I wasn`t sure what I wanted to get into, and we didn`t know if it would be the right combination of people, but anyways we just decided to jam and the jam started off by being me and Gary, but Sherman was...he sniffed it out, he sniffed out where we were and he came over and picked up the Bass...and you know I think that the first song that we played was Concrete Cancer, which is an old Obsessed song that they totally knew and so you know, it was kind of obvious to everybody at the time that...you know we can do this, and we just blew off a couple of Obsessed song and you know...I think that I played a riff...my newest riff that I had brought from California which was gonna be Lost Sundance... So I was like yeah- maybe we can do this...and uh... Both those guys had SG`s they had SG Junior`s both of them, which was kind of interesting...and I didn`t have a guitar so we started off the band- I was playing using the SG`s, and Sherman right away bought a EB-2- a hollow body bass and we just thought, our first thought at first was, let`s see if Dale from Unorthodox wanted to and see if he wanted to play second guitar, but then we decided that we had such a good chemistry just the three of us...the end result was let`s just do a three piece so we did...That`s basically the story, and it was easier than what I thought it was going to be, because those guys were very enthusiastic...and they already knew a bunch of Obsessed songs...so right away we knew a bunch of Obsessed songs and we learned Lost Sundance, that was the first song...and then Sherman brought in a riff, he brought in Fang... and then the next thing you know we had a set, so it was good...I mean the whole thing with the name of the band was Shine at first, and then we had come across a few copyright issues...so another band in Arizona...they registered the name with the Library of Congress and all... and that was cool- they already owned the name and you can`t dispute it...
Rob: For me it`s like the name of a band can be the biggest hassle in a way...
Wino: That`s totally true...
Rob: Because the music is there you know what I mean?
Wino: yeah...
Rob: I mean the name could be a serial number, and as long as you are playing no bullshit...people are going to listen to it and know what your name is...
Wino: Sure, you know...but you know- people need a name you know and then...and that`s what`s really hard... Spirit Caravan was a song from yesteryear...you know... and initially were like...oh...it sounds a little weird and hippyish and we were finally like fuck it you know? So we did...and the assimilation time of that name was easier than I thought because hey- I was worried that you know...we had a record out as Shine...we got all this press, article in Metal Maniacs with Shine and I was like, you know this is gonna be a total about-face I was pretty stressed about it but man I`m telling ya...given the power of comunication, the way the shit goes these days man...I was getting fan mail...adressed to the new name Spirit Caravan...within like 2 weeks...
Rob: Ahh... the internet is handy...
Wino: And that was it- it was like OK- we never looked back...and you know I know nobody else has Spirit Caravan...if they want to contest me, I`ll win this time...
Rob: hahahaha!
Wino: because...
Rob: What was the first thing you recorded?
Wino: The first thing we recorded was a single as Shine...
Rob: Oh, the Lost Sundance and...
Wino: yeah, the Courage red vinyl, then we recorded Jug Fulla Sun...
Rob: OK um... I just got the Dreamwheel EP, the vinyl
Wino: oh, really?
Rob: yeah, I got it as a gift from my boss...
Wino: cool!
Rob: and uh...been spinning it, I never heard it because my friend only has it on vinyl, and it`s not like borrowing a CD you know...It seemed like it was more heavy and hard hitting all the way through compared to Jug Fulla Sun... How do feel like does your band have a certain agenda towards music, or is there a specific theory behind it, the music...
Wino: we got 3 writers now... Gary started coming through as a songwriter on Dreamwheel, and Sherman uh, wrote Retro Man on the new one, he wrote most of Black Flower music and I wrote the lyrics and part of the music too... what we have is three individuals that all write and we all colaborate too, like Sherman will bring a riff to the table, and I`ll have a riff that I`m working on, that might fit in there, and Gary will come to the table with a whole song...you can start to see his style...almost Allman brother-ish, for a lack of a better word, I mean it`s still heavy, but it`s a little more country for a lack of a better word...
Rob: mmm, hmmm...
Wino: you know what I am saying?
Rob: yeah...
Wino: you know and then Sherman is more is writing ...his favorite band is Sabbath... We allways like to keep it fresh it`s like Viper City, I wrote that song in the seventies...
Rob: Oh, you did?
Wino: That`s like we try to keep the tradition of including a song of the Obsessed days, or pre-Obsessed days...on the full length... so we are trying to get a little bit of both worlds...Our philosophy is to keep it heavy and positive and um... you know I mean- it`s got to be entertaining and I like the idea of having mid-tempo stuff, and I like the idea of having slower stuff and the fast stuff... there isn`t that much of the fast stuff...
Rob: hahaha...I hear what you are saying...
Wino: So you know...
Rob: It`s kind of like stuff you listen to...
Wino: what?
Rob: It`s kind of like you write the stuff you want to listen to...
Wino: yeah, basically of course...well, I mean that is really the philosophy, were all about , we are working on the new record...and I`m telling you were gonna play two of them at the Emissions...
Rob: Really!
Wino: Yeah, Sherman`s new one is like totally doom...real riff heavy and kind of slow...doom... and mine turned out to be pretty dark lyrically and stuff... it`s pretty heavy with an eirie melody line and...
Rob: you are gonna play them both?
Wino: yeah, were gonna play them both...
Rob: I got wind that you might want to take a break from October till January...
Wino: That`s when me and my wife are having our baby...we are gonna be playing but not going very far...no long tours then...
Rob: Are you excited?
Wino: Yeah, especially after seeing the sonograms...
Rob: we didn`t find out what we were having...
Wino: you didn`t?
Rob: no- it was a total surprise... |
