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Negative Reaction Interview with Ken-E Bones: Frequencies From Among the Trobbits

Down in the valley where I live, we have a saying. Okay, it’s only me that has the saying, but still. It goes like this: “You’ve got seven billion people in this world, but there’s only one Ken-E Bones.” And it’s true. More than almost anyone I’ve ever met, the man is unique unto himself. His persona, his unremitting will and his oddball sense of humor are neither for this world nor of it — and as a friend and someone who (at least I think) has some grip on what he thinks of “this world,” I mean that in the best way possible.

He’ll argue the point (and he does in the interview that follows), but Bones is Negative Reaction. You simply can’t have one without the other. The guitarist/vocalist founded the band at the tender age of 18, and more than 20 years later, he’s a legend of East Coast sludge. As much as names like Grief and Buzzov*en have become synonymous with the growth of the genre, so too has Negative Reaction been pivotal in its spread, and unlike those and many others, they’ve never seen a lick of cred for it either.

Negative Reaction‘s latest full-length is Frequencies From Montauk, and the album does a lot of work in bringing Bones‘ personality to the recordings. Most notable to anyone familiar perhaps with their 1996 Endofyourerror debut or 2003’s Everything You Need for Galactic Battle Adventures, the new record plays up the more stoner rock side of Bones‘ influence. He sings clean for the most part, and the focus on the riff is plain to hear in “Angels and Demons” and “Shattered Reflection.”

That shift in approach isn’t entirely unexpected. Over the band’s last two outings, Under the Ancient Penalty (2006) and Tales From the Insomniac (2008), a tide of less screaming has slowly crept into the vocal methodology, and though Bones is quick to make it known that nothing is scripted as regards Negative Reaction compositions, a clear, natural progression is evident amidst the base of New York hardcore that shows up in the centerpiece “Thicker than Blood.”

Taken in combination with the reintroduction of sci-fi and particularly Star Wars-based elements in the lyrics, that was more than enough for me to want to ring up Bones for a phoner. In the interview below, he talks about the changes the band has undergone in the last few years, both stylistically and in terms of personnel — longtime drummer John “Ol’ Mac” MacDonald left, only to be replaced by Joe Wood of Long Island mainstays Borgo Pass and Bones‘ own Mynok side-project, and former bassist Damon Limpy returned to the fold for  Frequencies From Montauk — the development of the band as a whole, his variety of influence, and much more.

Among the many things Bones is — and like all of us, he is many things — he is uncompromisingly honest, and I hope that comes through more than anything else in the Q&A, which you’ll find after the jump below. Please enjoy.

It seems like the place to start is with the vocals as one of the big changes on the album. Tell me about shifting your approach over the last couple records.

Well, I started doing it a little bit on the last two records, Under the Ancient Penalty and Tales From the Insomniac, and I really enjoyed singing instead of just screaming the whole time. I am a fan of the mainstream stoner rock. Monster Magnet, of course, is a big influence on me. I like Kyuss, Fu Manchu, stuff like that. I really enjoy singing. I like melody lines, and I think it progressively came about after the last couple of records. I didn’t do it on purpose, I just did it on this record because I thought it was necessary for the music and I felt very comfortable doing it. It just happened (laughs).

What was it about the music that made it feel different?

A lot of the music itself was a little more upbeat, as opposed to holding out chords. It wasn’t traditional doom/sludge music, it was just kind of alternative rock/sludge, and when we wrote the music, I just felt like the lyrics that were fitting to that music deserved more justice than just screaming. It fit better.

Where did the notion of bringing sci-fi themes back into the lyrics come from? It seemed like the last couple records got away from that.

On a personal level, speaking for myself — because I write the lyrics – I wanted to have more fun with the record, and escape away from – yeah, of course, everyone knows I’m a depressed person – and I try to have fun as much as possible. When we did this record, it was the most fun record I’ve ever done. I just wanted to have a little fun, and kind of forget about reality and stop singing about being a miserable bastard for at least some of the album and just have a good time with it and enjoy it. On some songs, I did let out my feelings about life. The sci-fi aspect just came in. I really don’t know how it happened. Being the crazy Star Wars fan that I am, I just wanted to pay more homage to a great part of my life, which is the Star Wars universe. It helped me escape, and a lot of times when I’m down, I just throw on a DVD of one of George Lucas’ masterpieces, and it makes me content with life and just get away. So I just decided to do it again.

Do you have a preference in working lyrically with one side or the other: the emotional, depressed lyric or the sci-fi stuff?

Yeah, I guess it’s kind of selfish to say I did it because it was more fun for myself. It was just something to share, like writing a sci-fi novel. Someone who writes a sci-fi novel does it for entertainment, and the sci-fi songs we did on this record and every record we’ve ever done, it was for entertainment. I personally get more satisfaction out of writing about the depressive element and the reality of life, because it helps me release the energy that I have inside myself. It’s kind of like therapy. I don’t know if I enjoy one more than the other. I wouldn’t call it emotional, I’d say it’s more deep-feeling than emotion. That is actually, I think, for me, it’s better satisfaction, writing about the depression issues, the everyday life, the grind, and just “hating life again” (laughs). For me, personally, it helps me more than the sci-fi stuff.

Tell me about bringing Damon into the band.

Having Damon back – it’s like an old shoe. You have an old pair of Doc Martens you’ve had there since you were a kid and they still fit you, you just put them on and it works. It’s comfortable. It’s great to have him back. It kind of makes me feel young again having him in the band, because it’s been so long (laughs), but it’s a good thing. Damon and I have had a strong friendship, before he joined Negative, while he was in Negative, when he left Negative. The whole time he was out of the band, we were always in constant contact. We always talked. There was no hard feelings. And just one night, we needed a bass player, and I was talking to him on the telephone, and he was like, “I really wish that I could come back into the band. The only regret I have in life is leaving Negative Reaction,” and I said, “If you’re serious about that, I’d like to give you a shot again and see how it works,” and apparently it’s working. It’s great to have him back. It’s a nice feeling. It’s like old school again.

When was he in the band before? What era was that?

He did the Galactic Battle Adventures record, and that was his era. A year before the album was released, and then he did the record with us, and then for personal reasons that I really don’t want to get into, he had to leave the band right after the album was released.

And what about Ol’ Mac leaving?

Well, Ol’ Mac is a single father of five kids…

I thought it was six!

Ah, don’t push it, he ain’t The Brady Bunch (laughs). He’s got five kids. It’s tough for him. I know that when he took his hiatus for a little while, and when he came back, I always knew that it would come back that he’s got a family. I think it’s great he’s taking care of his family, and he’s doing what’s right for himself and his family, and I can’t argue with that. You gotta get your priorities straight. You gotta respect that. I’m very sad to see him go, because it was so many years we’d played together, but, you know, life goes on. We still talk. No hard feelings. You gotta do what you gotta do, and we’re gonna do what we’re gonna do. You move on, we move on. I think he made the right choice for himself. I am not a selfish person at all, and I know that he made the right choice for himself. Only you know what’s right for you. He made the choice, and that’s that, and no hard feelings, and I think he’s doing a good thing.

He’s left before. Do you see him coming back again at some point?

No, I really don’t think so. John is gonna be 50. I think that he’s just comfortable staying home and maybe playing on the drums with his buddies and stuff. I can’t say no, I really can’t. Anything could happen. Personally, I don’t see it happening, but it could. Life is weird, anything could happen, but right now, where we are, the band is doing well, and we’ll see. But I don’t think so (laughs). I think he’s done. Honestly, I think that Johnny Ol’ Mac ran out of gas. That’s the bottom line. He was doing it for so long. He was the oldest of the three of us, and like I said, I respect his choice, and he’s doing it for a great reason. It’s not like he left because his girlfriend told him he can’t be in the band anymore or something like that, it was he decided he has to get his priorities straight, and he wants to take care of his kids, and I think that’s fantastic. I think it’s a mature decision and the right decision. Would I love to have him in the band? Absolutely. But you do what you gotta do, and best of luck, and stay in touch – which we are – and everything’s great. We’ll see what happens. You never know.

And in the meantime, Joe Wood.

Yeah, Joe Wood (laughs). After knowing each other for – wow – a real long time. We grew up together in our old neighborhoods. His neighborhood was next to mine. Wow. I was 16, he was 18, and we always talked about playing together, and he had his thing going, I had my thing going, and we never got to get together. I move out to the east end of Long Island, and he moves to the town next to me, again, in eastern Long Island, so I guess it was fate. Honestly, I think that me and Joe were always meant to play together, and I feel extremely comfortable playing with him. We have played before he came to Negative, with [side-project] Mynok, and we also jammed for shits and giggles in the past and we just know each other’s styles. When he came into Negative, he just came right in. It was like he was always here, even though he’d never played with us before, which was kind of weird. But we’re having a lot of fun, and that’s a good thing. I enjoy playing with Joe, and as you know, on a personal level, I consider Joe a very, very good friend. So it’s nice to have a friend in the band.

How do you think the other players change the character of Negative Reaction? So much of it is you. I’m not saying that to blow smoke up your ass, but so much of Negative Reaction comes direct from you. How do you think everyone else plays into it?

Well, I think that everyone plays a major role in the band, and I have a problem with what you were saying, that it’s me and I’m the main guy and everything. For the many years you’ve known me, you’ve known I’ve had a problem with that.

It’s true though.

I don’t have a big head at all. I’m my own worst critic. I love having good musicians in the band, and everybody gets credit. It’s not Ken-E Bones and Negative Reaction, it’s Negative Reaction. It was my brainchild from when I was 18 years old, and everybody that has participated in this band, that has had an impact on this band, they get their credit, and it’s a unit. It’s not me. Even though a lot of people say it is me. I do understand that I’m the original member of the band, and I write the majority of the music – not all of it. I do write all the lyrics. That’s something that I insist on, because if I’m going to sing something, it has to be from my heart. But I think that everybody that’s come into this band over all the years has had great input. There’s so many members that have played with me, I can’t even explain how, but the input that everyone has put into this band has made me a better musician. I hope that makes sense (laughs). I think that everybody that’s come in here to play in Negative, I’ve learned something from them. I’ve learned about other musicians that they’re into. Their influences. Some people I’ve never heard of, and I got involved with listening to what they’re listening to, and they put some good songs, writing music with us, they brought some good ideas to the table. It’s great. I love it. I love playing with different people with different ideas, because it opens up my mind. If you have one thought pattern as a writer, and you have two other people that have different thought patterns, it makes you become, from one-dimensional, three-dimensional, which I think is an amazing thing. It’s art. Don’t leave your mind closed. Open it up and see what everyone has on their plate and throw it out there and write what you want and see what happens and if it works, it works, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. There’s a lot of songs I’ve written that just didn’t work. We tried some stuff. There’s some riffs that just weren’t very good. It happens to everybody in the band. “That’s a great idea, but we should try it different.” Everybody’s input is a big deal in Negative. It really is. It really is not just about me. I’m very thankful that I was surrounded by such great musicians throughout the years in Negative Reaction. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t think that I would be playing the music as well as we’re playing it.

What about your own growth separate from that? How do you characterize the way you’ve grown as a player over the years? It seemed like the last couple records were so embedded in New York hardcore, and here comes Frequencies From Montauk, and it’s more riff-rocking.

It’s funny, because I don’t know, I still feel that Frequencies has a lot of New York hardcore. “Thicker than Blood” – that’s probably the most New York hardcore song we’ve ever written. It’s all about revenge, and getting back and f—you, I’m gonna get to the top even though I’m at the bottom. That’s like a page right out of Agnostic Front, who were for me one of the architects of New York hardcore and have influenced me, personally and in the band. I still think that this Frequencies From Montauk album has a lot of hardcore elements to it, but the riff rock… I’m into a lot of different music. I guess it was just the timeframe, I was listening to different kinds of stuff. I’m very into alternative rock that you’d hear on the radio. More of the stoner rock stuff, I’m very influenced by, and I really don’t know how it happened. It just happened. We go to write an album, we don’t have an agenda. We just write and write, and if it sounds good, we just keep writing. I think that the New York hardcore is still there on this album, but the riff rock, to be honest with you, I think that was from my own head. It was from me, mostly, because of the Monster Magnet influence. I think that was a big part of it.

Are you conscious of balancing the different sides of the band at all? As you were putting this album together, were you aware of playing to the different sides of your influences?

No, not really. It just happened. Whatever was written was written. A band on Tuesday will write something different on a Friday. It just happened. I was not conscious of it at all. It just came. All these songs on Frequencies From Montauk just came out naturally. It wasn’t planned. There was nothing planned at all. Any album that Negative does is not planned. Whatever happens, happens. Kind of like a hockey game: Good luck, drop the puck and see where it goes.

Do you have any idea where it will lead you next time around?

Ah shit. No, not at all. Who knows? We might do an all New York hardcore album. I don’t know. I have no idea. Or an all riff-rock album. Like I said, we don’t plan on doing any kind of album, ever. It just happens. And I think that every album we do is all over the map. From Endofyourerror, way back in the day, there’s some pretty hardcore stuff on there, some pretty space rock stuff. Slude, a little doom, stoner rock. Whatever we write, we write. We don’t plan on putting out a specific type of record. But I do see, from this album, I can see us expanding on this. More the riff rock. But never count the New York hardcore out of Negative Reaction, because we’ll never forget it. It’s where my heart is. The New York hardcore element is definitely from me, and it’s definitely something I’ll never forget. I just think it’s the greatest thing, being here, living here in New York and going through all the great history of bands that came out of here that were hardcore. It’s always going to be an influence on me. I would say, if we did another record, you’d definitely hear a New York hardcore influence in it, but I can’t say it’s going to be like Frequencies From Montauk with riff rock, because I don’t know. I really don’t know what’s going to happen a year from now. The record just came out, so it’s kind of early to talk about another record. But never count out New York hardcore with Negative Reaction.

How important is it for you to have the lyrics printed in the liner? You said the lyrics were the one thing you had to write.

You know what? It’s really not important. We never printed lyrics. Now they are, but back in the day, we didn’t print lyrics, because a lot of the lyrics I did back then were always subject to change due to my mood. Which we say on most records. I’ll change the lyrics. I don’t know. Now, I think from this record and Under the Ancient Penalty and Tales From the Insomniac, I kind of felt that the lyrics should be printed because they’re more intelligent than they were back when we started. I was just a young fuckin’ punk that wanted to scream and yell about how much everything sucked, and it didn’t matter what I had to say, where now, I guess it is important that I do print the lyrics. Because I want you to read them, I want you to enjoy them. Because a lot of my lyrics are hard to understand (laughs). It’s not a major factor, but I don’t know, I kind of enjoy it when people actually get to read the lyrics and when I meet some fans, they talk to me about lyrics and stuff, because they read them. It’s nice. It makes a nice conversation piece and it gets the fans closer to the band, if they can actually read the lyrics.

It’s another element to connect with.

Pretty much. I have nothing to say and I’m saying it well. But this is what I’m saying and you can interpret it the way that you want. It’s like poetry, you know? Robert Frost wrote poems, and it was up to you to interpret what he was saying. I think that’s great. I think that the lyrics should be printed and you can take it however you want.

What’s next for Negative? What’s are the winter plans?

Right now, with Joe Wood coming into Negative, we’re just working with him as much as we can. We would like to do something before the end of the year, but I think the New Year, when it approaches, we definitely want to get out to the Midwest. We want to go back out to Columbus, Ohio. And Frederick, Maryland. Pittsburgh. Where anyone wants us, we’ll go play. That’s pretty much it. Europe isn’t out of the question either. We’ll see. Time will tell, but all Negative Reaction wants to do is go out and play, so who knows? Someone wants us to play in two weeks somewhere, we’ll go and play. Right now, we’re just trying to concentrate on getting the music down with Joe, and Joe is doing a phenomenal job, and he knows the songs very well, but we want him to own the songs before we go out and play. We don’t want him to work; we want him to have fun. As soon as he’s ready, we’re ready to go. But then again, he knows the material, so if someone asks us to do a show in Frederick, in a couple weeks, we’re available, we’re going.

Negative Reaction’s website

PsycheDOOMelic Records

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