I like Veggie Pizza with....

 

Interview With Colleen Caffeine from Choking Susan

By Michael Rys

 

The Rebellion Festival in England is not only going to have some of the worlds best bands around this summer, fans will be treated to a special brand of Punk. Choking Susan's brand,Detroit's own.Unique its personal content,and the vocal delivery of one Colleen Caffeine.Her stage presence not unlike a cheetah lazily lounging in her tree,then pouncing on her blissfully unaware lunch. The band takes a backseat to no-one and are as tight as they come with a pounding bass and drums that'll have your grandma po-go-ing half the night.Some of the tastiest punk rock leads you'll ever wanna here too.An all out visual and sonic circus.
They have a cd out now called 'The FBI Did It' and for only $8.00 ppd its a bargin,considering the amount of time it will spend in your CD player! When Choking Susan comes your way, make sure your there.You'll be in for a treat, and damn ,they are friendly folk too.
So pull up a chair,grab a tea and enjoy the conversation with Colleen Caffiene

MR- Ok Colleen , I gotta start off with an off the wall one.
Is there a story , or person behind the band name?

CC-The band name came from a cheesy old cheaply made porno..all good things start or finish with sex but hopefully not prematurely


MR- I hear hints of influences in your vocal style but your definatly unique.Was it a consious thing or just developed of time?
CC- I'm still pretending to sing..I didn't say that outloud did i?

MR-Who are you biggest musical influences growing up?
CC- Musicals? I never watched Annie! ok just once...just once everyday of my life! who told you???when the fuck is the sun going to come out , tomorrow????

MR- Choking Susan has performed with some living legends over the years, any band or person that was your biggest thrill?Any stories you can or want to share with us?

CC-Ok, serious time..Nidge from Blitz ..I went all pathetically fannish when he showed us kindness, than showed us respect and asked us to cover "Warriors" for his upcoming Blitz tribute cd..he had the Distillers cover it earlier but said they didn't get the guitar right..right before his untimely death, we recorded it and he loved it! we were on top of the world to have a hero of ours that we grew up on like our music and want us to do his....it didnt get any better than that.and than to be friends with him too was incredible...Keith, the guitarist, had the Warriors logo tattooed on him right before his last performance in Detroit and was able to show him and hangout with him..I missed the show but had spoken to him on the phone that day..we will always miss Nidge..

MR-Your playing the Rebelllion fest this summer.Is that the biggest show to date you've played?
CC-It's the biggest punk festival in the world

MR- is it hard playing a gig with people you've admired for years and all of a sudden your sharing the same stage? in other words do you find your self still being a fan, or is all buisness?
CC-I'm only a fan...will always be just a fan..we played CBGB's before it closed and I licked the stage right before we were finished playing our set..the very stage my heroes walked on

MR-You written some really good stuff in your blog, very poetic, and stuff I can see easily becoming songs.How do Choking Susan songs come into being?
CC- I get pissed off or hurt and bam, a song is born! they pretty much write themselves! luckily for me the world is a toilet and I'm in a constant flush...the band as a whole writes the music end of it

MR-You had few side projects over the years can you tell us about some of them? Are there anymore planned for the immediate future?
CC- With the cleverness of the internet I was able to record with a Spanish band the Safety Pins and a solo artist from the UK , Wayne Zenith..Wayne and I made an EP and the Safety Pins and I are in the process of completing songs for an EP..the only other project I had in the works is an all female band called "The Jon Benets"

MR- Who would give your right uhmm... well who would you just love to work with if you had your pick of the litter out there today?
CC- I want to be a Spice Girl...Caffeine Spice has a nice ring to it..at least I'm a flavor..

MR- Detroit has produced some dynamic bands over the years ,some "made it" some didnt.Who out there impresses you most now....
CC-Everyone on my bands top myspace friends..seriously,great stuff!

MR-I love the honesty , and freshness of not just the music on Choking Susan's last Cd but the lryics are fantastic too. Are we going to have the pleasure of hearing any new material soon?
CC- why thank you!we have a few new songs ready to record..one is about Detroit ,another is called "Tie me up, Tie me down"...

MR-Whats Coleen doing for fun in Detroit these days. Sports, art, watching other bands? Does Detroit or Michigan still have a "scene"?
CC-Detroit is very "clicky" but there alot of great music supporters out there..its amazing the amount of great music that comes out of dingy bars here everyweekend played to a crowd of 20 people.. colleen has no fun ! :)

MR- Are you and the band looking at any extensive tours in the US anytime this fall?

CC-Theres always tour talks..Italy,Japan, California are some of the more serious ones..we'll wait to see what happens :)

MR- From my perspective you seem to have a great if not somewhat personal relationship with fans of the band.Thats really something I respect alot.What do you as an artist get from that?

CC- It always pisses me off when people dont want to know their "fans"..as I said, I'm a fan...why would anyone not want to chat with those that love them? its crazy! I'm so grateful for anyone thats listened to us, liked us, come out to see us, said a good word about us or to us..we really don't have fans because they immediately become are our friends..

MR- I've asked this of everyone I've talked to here in one form or another so I cant spare you. Myspace help, or hell?
CC-Help!! its opened up the world to us...anyone in a band that says its hell has an egotistical stick up their asses or they just plain suck

MR-Are you a lifer? Do you see yourself still kicking it on stage in 10, 15 or 20 years or do you think you'll move on to different things?
CC-My dad said when I was 12 yrs old ,listening to the ramones and looking for blue hair dye that he can't wait til I grow out of my "punk phase"

MR- It Saturday night I got $50.00 bucks and the wife's car for night. Why do I go see Choking Susan over any other act in town that night?
CC-Cause I'm your bud and you owe me an Elvis Hitler ticket! LOL..because you will be entertained and get slammed with some great music..absolutely guarenteed great time with us!

MR- For those visiting the big D from out of town where are they gonna get the best Veggie pizza?
CC-my house ,of course
:)

 

Photos By Bernie and Robert Barry Francos