Being that it is Sept 11th, I can't even begin without mentioning
Johnny " Heff" Heffernan, who was the founder, songwriter and rhythm
guitarist for The Bullys. He was also a firefighter and died at the WTC
doing his job, just like thousands of others who died that day, just
doing their job. I only knew Johnny for a year or two, but he had a
great effect on me. I'm good buddies with Beertruck, and when he joined
the Bullys on bass, I became a huge fan and eventually I became friends
with all of them. To this day, I think they are the greatest punk band
to come out of NYC since the 70's and Johnny was the driving force
behind them. Johnny also worked very hard at trying to create a scene
for all the NYC bands and to be honest, he was really the first one to
take notice of me and GOC, he sorta vouched for us and helped us break
into the whole Continental/CBGB's circuit. I still miss him very much.
Strangely enough, I believe that the attacks on 9/11 also had a lot to
do with the rock n roll scene we had here a few years ago. After the
attacks, all New Yorkers wanted to do was drink, do drugs, get laid and
have a good time. I mean we were all gonna die anyway, right? Might as
well have a good time doin it. When you look at the bands that came out
of that scene: SLUNT, Joker Five Speed, Banana Fish Zero, Sex Slaves,
Devil's County Death Cult, Pisser, Queen V, Supervillain, etc… A lot of
us were just playing straight up, no bullshit, good-time, guitar-driven,
new-york-city-rock-n-fuckin-roll… it was a great time to be around,
there was a band to see every night of the week, we all went to each
other's shows, partied at Three of Cups, it was like being at a rock n
roll frat party…awesome shit.
The Gaggle of Cocks are back with a vengence... what are you guys up to, and tell us who is in GOC.
First of all, our debut album, American Trash, which we made back in
2002 has just been released internationally through Screaming Ferret
Wreckords and Locomotive Records! I would have never believed after all
these years that some kid will actually be able to walk into a store and
pick up a gaggle of cocks CD… only in America! The CD is the same one we
had back in the day, but we gave it a facelift. Tor (of Joker Five Speed
fame) redesigned the artwork for us and he did an incredible job! Now,
finally, I think the record looks as good (or as dirty) as it sounds! So
everyone should go to their local record store or online retailer and
buy it.
There's trash on the streets, people! American Trash! Help save the
environment! Go green! Pick up the TRASH!__AMERICAN TRASH. When the
record deal with Screaming Ferret started to develop, it kinda lit a
fire under my ass to do some new GOC tunes. It had been a few years
since we wrote any new material and I wanted to change things up a bit,
so we brought in Chris Goercke (GSX, The Drew Blood) on guitar and John
Macaluso on drums and started writing. For the first time, GOC has a two
guitar attack, something I really want to exploit. Chris, of course, is
a master on guitar and it has been a blast getting to write and play
together. Freddy has known Chris and Johnny Mac for a million years, so
bringing them in actually was very easy to do and the new line up
definitely brought more power to the GOC sound.
We recorded five tunes in March at Threshold Studios, I did all the
editing, mixing, etc at my home studio. In addition, Tor did a bunch of
vocals for us and Freddy and I even got our ladies involved on some
singing. It's basically a demo, but we are so happy with it, we decided
to post the tracks on our MySpace page and start floating the CD's
around. Known as the Threshold Sessions, it is just the beginning of
what we hope will become GOC's second full-length release.
We are currently working on a new batch of tunes, however, this time we
have Roger Benton (Joker Five Speed, Night Kills The Day) behind the
drums. I have known Roger for years and always wanted to play with him,
when the opportunity arose, I had to take it. Already, he has been an
incredible addition; his power, swing, and groove are exactly what I
think this band needed.
We'll be doing our first show with the new line-up on November 14th at
The Delancey as part of the Annual '10 Days of Wood'. This will also be
the first time we play the new material live, so it should be
interesting. It'll either be a total disaster or a totally sweet, either
way, it's gonna be a blast, I promise you that.
Tell us about Killcode
I was playing guitar for The Drew Blood and Tom, the singer from
KILLCODE, was at the very first show I did with them. KILLCODE was a
brand new project and they were looking for another guitarist. The next
day, Tom sent my MySpace link to Chas, the guitar player. The funny part
is, Chas and I already knew each other, we had done a few shows together
when I was in SLUNT and he was in Dirty Rig, so he contacted me and
eventually sent me some demos. It was a great situation for me to join,
I actually liked the music they sent me, which is weird, cause I hate
EVERYTHING! All the guys in the band are total pros and we all have
similar experiences and the same goals. They already knew what kind of
guitar player I was, so it was real easy to slip in and start doing my
thing.
We recorded our debut EP, 'To Die For' at Riverfront Studios in
Greenpoint, done a bunch of shows in and around the NYC area and the
response has been fuckin incredible! The MySpace page has taken off like
nothing I've ever seen and people are flipping about the tunes. Ya'll
will be seeing the CD's floating around town within the next few weeks.
I am excited to see what we can do, I've been having a blast with these
guys and writing some really cool shit, unless we shoot ourselves in the
foot or drive off a cliff, I think you'll be hearing a lot about
KILLCODE in the near future.
