THE JIM ROWDY BAND
By: Ginger Coyote

I first met The Jim Rowdy Band when White Trash Debutantes  played a show with then at Toots Tavern in Crockett, CA. The club owner was a real "DICK" but The Jim Rowdy Band were team players and helped us out big- time. I hope you enjoy the interview and please check them out and buy their new CD..

 

Punk Globe: Can you tell the readers about The Jim Rowdy Show and also tell us who is in the band?

JRS-Mike: The Jim Rowdy Show started in 1996. Jim started playing simple covers of Elvis and The Stray Cats on street corners of Downtown Vacaville and at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf on the weekends. Then he graduated to house party's but it was always kinda looked at as a goof. Then someone coined the name "The Jim Rowdy Show" randomly by yelling "Hey look!! Its The Jim Rowdy Show!!" and Jim was like...Fuck yeah it is!! and it stuck. I joined about a year and a half later and then after going through several bass players and a few guitarist we landed with this line up which is the most comfortable its been EVER! That is...
 

 

 

Jim Rowdy: Guitars and Lead Vocals
Nikki Fixx: Bass, Vocals
Gehard Thiesler: Guitar, Vocals
Mike Skullz aka The Colonel aka Orville Reddenpecker HA HA!!

Punk Globe: Where exactly is the band centered out of? I know that when my band The White Trash Debutantes played with you it was at Toots Tavern in Crockett California.

JRS-Nikki: Well we originally hail from Vacaville which is a one horse town full beers, steers and queers that occasionally cow tip for fun but now Mike lives in Crockett full of sugar, beer and dirty trucker speed.

JRS-Mike: Yeah I live in Crockett and I've experienced all of it but the sugar. (laughs) Seriously though, our TRUE home has been The Elmira Cabin. This dark, dirty shit kicker Bar in the middle of nowhere just outside of the Vacaville City Limits. We pull 300 people in that place when we play there and they give us lots of bloody love! Its a big ass zombie love orgy!! We loved Toot's but after that awesome show our bands played together there our deal with the owner went sour. It would get me off like nothing else to smear that guys name in public but what good would it do? The reality is, Toots is gonna close soon due to poor management and will hopefully be bought by someone much cooler and then the party can begin again! karma's a bitch, ain't it?

Punk Globe: I enjoy the fact that your band also adds a stage show with great music.. I get so bored seeing four guys on stage with plaid shirts and their backs turned to the audience..

JRS-Mike: The only band that pulled that off successfully was Nirvana! Everyone else looked retarded!! To us, Rock -N- Roll has always been 3 things: THE PASSION OF THE MUSIC! THE STAGE SHOW AND IF YOUR INFAMOUS THE NEXT MORNING! We cut our teeth on zines with the stories from bands we respected telling us how nobody dug the band that night so the lead singer pulled his cock out to the crowd and did the whirly bird on stage! or stories of stage dives from balcony's or whatever. Its always about making sure they remember who the fuck you are. You may not like my band, but you WILL remember us!

Punk Globe: Mike, YOU kick some major ass on drums.. What more could you ask for a a great drummer, good showman and doubles for Orville Reddenpecker..

JRS-Mike: Thanks Grrl! Soon I'll have the choppers to match! You kick some major ass yourself! We Love W.T.D!! I saw W.T.D. for the 1st time in Long Beach in 2001! I still have the shirt as proof! If you guys ever need a sit-in drummer....shh! Don't Tell Jim! HA!

Punk Globe: Tell us about the venues in your area and which club do you enjoy playing at.

JRS-Nikki: We have a few favorite venues. No all in our area but some. There is Time Out in Concord and The Blue Lagoon in Santa Cruz. Also Annie's Social Club in San Francisco. In our area exclusively there is The Gst Pub, The Stag, and Mike told you about The Cabin. All these places support our brand of chaos.


Punk Globe: At Toots you had a good following and attracted all sorts of luminaries like the Mayor of Crockett who was pretty toasted. But we do love her.

JRS-Mike: Yeah she was. We love Heidi though and always raise hell when she is around!! She is one of us. Our 1st gig at Toot's Jim was going to receive a beat down by the Toot's security staff for splattering fake blood on the crowd and back screen. 3 big ass goons had him cornered off in the back room ready to pounce and she came out of nowhere like" Don't do nothing! They rocked and they are fine by me!!" I looked over like who the fuck is this lady?! And one of the Security was like "You're lucky the mayor likes you punk!" That was our ticket to pretty much do whatever we wanted there. Its fun to have power!

Punk Globe: I understand you have a new release out. Give us the 411 on the CD and tell the readers how the readers can buy the CD....

JRS-Nikki: The C.D. is titled "Stage Fright" Its 13 tracks of pure psychobilly mayhem. Songs about sex with dead women, affairs with the Devil, coming with terms that you are just a SINNER in world and a Lionel Ritchie cover song. We produced it with Gavin Ross. We recorded Stage Fright at Steady Studios in Burbank, CA. It took nearly a year to complete because I went to jail on drug charges and had to do six months in jail. The boys called in former bass player Zach Maxon from the band Give Em Hell to fill in and record some tracks. They whole story of recording this C.D. along with all the hi-jinx that happened along the way could fill a novel. It was crazy! Its finished though and now you can buy it! here's how.. Option 1: Go to www.myspace.com/thejimrowdyshow and order it either though paypal or snocap. Option 2: Go to our show and buy that bad bitch from our hands directly: We don't bite....much!!

Punk Globe: Do you have any other releases out?

JRS-Mike: Nope but a DVD is in the works and we are writing the new C.D. as we speak. We hope to have it out by 2009. The song "Chills", from our C.D. Stage Fright was featured for Spike & Mikes Sick and Twisted Festival Of Animation. They used it for the Advertisement for the tour. We have some dates with them where we will be performing during the intermission. So you buy a ticket for the show and get the festival and a rock show-WHAT A BARGAIN!!

Punk Globe: Tell us about The Jim Rowdy Shows musical influences...

JRS-Nikki: Our music is fueled my the pure love for all things Rock & Roll, "H", Mexican beer, Hair Grease, Party Liquor, Pornos, Blistered Palms, Hot Rod Cars, and being stuck in Rehab! As for our musical influence they range. Everything from The Meteors, Demented Are Go, Nekrolust, Elvis Presley, Social Distortion, The Cramps, Barnyard Ballers, 70s Glam Rock, 70's Punk, 80s Glam Rock, Heavy Metal, and everything in between.

Punk Globe: Mike your Drummer and WTD Singer Amy were both members of The Rocky Horror Picture Show tribute company called Midnight insanity.. I know that Amy played Janet. What character did your drummer play.. My guess would be Columbia..

JRS-MIKE-One time I did, no kidding! I played everyone in the time I did Rocky. I was known mainly for performing Eddie as well as Brad when I was skinny. I was part of The Berkeley/Oakland cast, Barely Legal from 1996-2001. I used to perform in Long Beach with Mark, Amy & the cast from time to time. Once we all partied together in Colorado for a convention and I took a bunch of reds, drank a bottle of cheap champagne and made out with the girl that played Colombia in Midnight Insanity, tried to steal Mark's $10,000 Eddie Costume but did not succeed so I passed out in the stairwell and woke up with some girl from their cast named "Bob". She was trying to set a record of blowing 50 guys that weekend. I think she got to 20. Fond memories. I love those guys.

Punk Globe:  We all know Bob and Mojo El Diablo... Does any of the members of the band have any side projects besides The Jim Rowdy Show?

JRS-Nikki: Fuck no we are focused on JRS.

Punk Globe: Do you have any plans to tour to support the CD?

JRS-MIKE: We will be touring for most of the spring and summer. Check our my-space for dates.

Punk Globe: Can you give the readers your My Space address to check you out?

JRS-MIKE: WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEJIMROWDYSHOW


Punk Globe: Thanks so much for the interview and would you like to leave any words of wisdom for the readers of Punk Globe?

JRS-Nikki: Fuck The System, Crime is good and you'll find us soon in a crappy roach motel near you drinking at the local dive bar and probably getting kicked out.

JRS-MIKE: Join us no one loves you like we do. Not even your parents! GOD BLESS PUNK GLOBE!!


Punk Globe would like to thank Mike and Nikki for the fun interview...I cannot urge you enough to check out The Jim Rowdy Show... They are ENTERTAINMENT at it's best!