SKIN BASHING WITH KINGS X DRUMMER JERRY GASKILL

Interviewing people who have been working in the music business for several years are generally way more fun to interview, because they've experienced high points as well as low points, and they all usually have good senses of humor about themselves. Of course there are exceptions, but in the case of KINGS X drummer JERRY GASKILL, who just released his first solo disc, 'Come Somewhere', we lucked out. He was a really fun interview. Once again, we were helped out by Rob and Lisa at Paragon Music Magazine (actually, THEY were the ones who landed the interview; I just peppered in some asshole questions to go along with theirs). So without any further long-winded (and ultimately unnecessary) commentary by me, let's get on with this interview with Jerry Gaskill! - -SC

Paragon Rob: Some of your solo stuff sounds different than the work you’ve done with KINGS X. What made you experiment and try a different style?

Jerry Gaskill: Well I think it’s just something that’s inside of me. I have to make music and in the band situation you have two other people who need to put their ideas into things and make it a full band thing. And all three of us have music inside that we want to put out there and express just for ourselves, and so therefore, it was just inevitable to do a solo record.

PR: So this is just sort of the stuff that’s been brewing inside that you probably wouldn’t do with King’s X…

JG: Exactly. Yeah. I mean, I can be free to just say what I want to say and that’s just the way it is. I think all 3 of us needed to do that.

PR: What was the influence behind Come Somewhere?

JG: Well, I mean, I can only think of the music I grew up with and things like that, like The BEATLES and BOB DYLAN and LED ZEPPELIN, GRAND FUNK, all that kind of stuff. That’s what I loved growing up and I think that’s what I naturally have a tendency to hear when music comes to me. But when I’m writing songs, I’m not even thinking about that kind of stuff. I’m not thinking about, ‘Oh, where does this come from and that come from?’ I’m just doing what I hear inside myself and it just comes out that way, probably because of the influences. It’s just what’s been with me and finally has come out the way it has at this point in time.

PR: Is there going to be a tour to support the album, maybe after the Kings X tour is over?

JG: Yes I am. I definitely would like to tour on this record, yeah. I’d like that very much.

PR: Do you think it’ll be a small club tour with a couple national dates, or are you going to try to get funding to do a large national tour?

JG: Well, I would love to do all of that, yes. I would love to have the support or whatever it takes to do a big tour or whatever. But it might have to start out small, I don’t know, or maybe it’ll just somehow hit and I can do those things. It’s all a matter of promoters and the market and people.

PR: The album cover shows an oriental style room with a nude woman curled up on the floor off to the side. Is there a link between those two things? Do you have an Asian porn fetish that you never publicly admitted to?

JG: ::Laughs:: No, as a matter of fact, I don’t, although Asian porn is great! I mean, pretty much any porn is great, you know, if you let yourself get into that ::laughs:: But no, it’s not anything connected like that, but if that moves you, and you feel that, by looking at the cover, then yea, absolutely ::laughs:: (Nice... he didn't get all huffy when a porno question was thrown at him...this is going to be just fine - -SC)

PR: So there’s nothing intentionally subliminal in there…

JG: Not in that way I would say, unless you want it to be that, then it could be there.

PR: Well what’s your take on the artwork then?

JG: Well basically I was talking to the guy at Inside Out who did the graphics and all and told him what I wanted to see. I told him I wanted to see a petite, attractive, naked girl sitting in the corner crouched up exactly like she is, kind of sexy, not necessarily sexual, just sitting in the corner of her room. And that’s what he came back with, and I just thought it was great.

PR: Yeah because a lot of people have a hard time distinguishing between tasteful art and flat-out smut, but you’ve definitely got it on the tasteful art side. It’s definitely not anything gratuitous that parents and the FCC will get all up in arms about. (Actually, isn't it the PMRC that gets all pissy about album covers? I can't remember... way too many self-important organizations to keep track of - -SC)

JG: Good, that’s exactly what I wanted.

PR: It’s definitely not anything gratuitous that parents and the FCC will get all up in arms about.

JG: I told my mom, ‘Well mom, there’s going to be a naked girl on the cover, and I say the "F" word a couple times.’ ::laughs:: And she finally got it and she’s like, ‘Oh that cover’s not bad at all, that’s nice.’ ::laughs::

PR: Other than drumming, is there anything else you’d rather do? Like a dream job somewhere else?

JG: Taking the music and becoming extremely wealthy, ::laughs:: that might be a part of a dream job. This is what I do and this is what I most desire to do, whether I’m making money or not, I’m going to continue to do this. And I also write things, I’m going to eventually put out a book. I’m going to write a book, a story, some kind of fantasy thing that will eventually be available for everybody. So just that expression of whatever is inside myself that makes me the crazy Asian porn fetish man that I am ::laughs:: will come out in all those different ways. ::laughs::

Steve C: KINGS X has always had praise heaped upon its music, but never really attained the monetary success of (some of) your peers.  Was there ever a point at which you felt compelled to change careers?  Perhaps take up carpentry, plumbing... you know, sanitation workers make really good money.

JG: Well, I don’t know if I’ve ever really thought seriously about that. I have done things like that just because I’ve had to, but I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna make music whether I’m making money or not. That’s just who I am and that’s gonna happen. I’ve known that as long as I can remember so I don’t think that I’ve really thought I need to find a different career.

PR: Do you have a day job when you’re not touring or in the studio, or are you a full time musician?

JG: I’ll tell you for the last 20 years or so I have just done this and not had a regular job, but the last 3 months we were off tour and either prepare well or something happened, and there was just no money, so I did actually get myself a job. But right now, that’s what I’m doing. I’m just making music. (Wow...see that kids? He actually had to go get himself a day job...still want to rock and roll all night and party every day? - -SC)

Steve C: Hypothetical situation:  You're performing at a drum clinic in front of a room filled with eager, wide-eyed teenage musicians. 

JG: Great. How much do I get paid?

PR: Umm, whatever you want. That could be part of your dream job.

JG: Okay! ::laughs::

SC: One starry-eyed young man approaches you and says "Mr. Gaskill,  I really want to be a rock and roll drummer... what advice can you give me?"  Which of the following would you say/do?  

a) Tell him to 'move to Europe' because at least then he'd stand a chance at making money in the music business 
b) Tell him to follow his dreams, because even if you starve to death, it's worth it if you're doing what you want to do 
c) As he approaches you, hurl a drum stick, ninja-style, at his head, in an attempt to end his suffering before he sets out on a hopeless pursuit

JG: I have to choose one of those three?

PR: I’ll give you a choice D.) fill in the blank.

JG: I think I would have to do a combination of probably B and C, telling him you gotta follow your dreams, and if it’s something that is truly, truly deeply inside yourself, you need to follow that until another direction comes along. And that’s what we always have to do. We have to follow that thing that is most prevalent in us to do. And we all have that, I think, whatever it is. And I think everyone wants to be a rock ‘n roll star, but not everybody can be. So after I tell him that, I’d hurl a damn drumstick at his head! ::laughs:: Asian-porn-fetish-ninja-style! ::laughs::

PR: Boy, you’re loving that Asian porn thing, huh?

JG: Yea, I like that one. It’s a good one.

SC: Releasing anything original/unproven given the current climate in the music business is brave, to say the very least.  As someone who makes his living selling music, how do you feel about the current situation with the record labels consolidating, internet piracy, and rock music being virtually ignored on radio?

JG: Well, I mean I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, and things were a lot different then, it seemed a bit more exciting and all of that because it wasn’t as available as it is these days. But at the same time, this is the life that we live. It’s a drag, in a way, that some of these things are happening, but that’s just the progression that life is taking and we just have to deal with it. And in some ways, it’s even easier to make money the way things are, if that makes any sense. So I don’t really worry about those kinds of things very much because I can only take things as they come, and I will do the best with it and that’s just life. I can fret over it, but I’m not gonna!

PR: I already spoke with you about the album artwork, and you mentioned that you told your mom that you say the F word on the album too. Lately, you know how the state of things have been. I think the general opinion of the public and the professionals is that the Super Bowl is what started this, with Janet Jackson’s boob and that whole stunt. What’s your take on it? As an artist, you’re trying to express whatever it is that you want, through your music. And now everything you do needs to be analyzed. What do you think about the overall state of censorship right now?

JG: Personally, I don’t think it’s as intense and as bad as the media presents it to us. Because the media only gives us a portion of things, if that, most of the time. And I think that we’re as free as we’ve ever been to do whatever we want to do. We just do things, and I mean the whole Janet Jackson thing, I think, turned into a great and wonderful thing because it did make people react. That’s what entertainment is, that’s what it’s all about, just people’s reactions. And I don’t worry about that stuff. Censorship, what does that mean? There’s probably a few people who are out there screaming about this and then the media latches onto this small portion of things and that becomes the whole news, which I believe is not the whole news. The whole news is that people are still doing what they do and will continue to do what they do, and we’ll have these little incidences here and there that will either help or not help. Either way, it’s just up to us as individuals to take what things are and make them the best for ourselves.

PR: It’s funny that you mention that the media only gives you a portion of the story. I agree. I think most of the people out there are uninformed about a lot of things, censorship being one. What do you think the world would be like if everyone got the full story? I think that there are too many people that wouldn’t bother paying attention to the full story. They’d just do like they do now, and pay attention to the juicy parts.

JG: The thing is, I believe, the whole story is out there for those who want to know. And you can find that out. And like you said, I think the general public, for so many years now, in the United States especially, has just been fed a certain thing through the media and that’s what we become comfortable with and we don’t want to step outside that boundary. And it’s a comfortable place and we trust in that, believe in that, or whatever, don’t believe in it, but it’s a comfortable place. And I think you can take it all the way down to your individual relationships. How often are we completely honest with everything we do? So how can we expect the government or the whole world be any different than us as human beings? ::laughs::

PR: Last words, plugs…

JG: The only thing I can think to say to the readers is, buy my record man! ::laughs:: Buy it and enjoy it! How’s that? ::laughs:: Because I think that will say it all. Then I can answer questions after they listen to the record.
::laughs::

PR: Alright, I’ll make sure to let everyone know they need to go out and buy your Asian porn…

JG: Fetish record. ::laughs:: Alright great!

Thanks so much to JERRY GASKILL for being such a good-humored fella. If we could, we'd hire a dozen Asian hookers to service him affectionately for giving such quality answers.

Also, thanks once again to Rob and Lisa from Paragon Music Magazine for snagging this interview and doing all the tedious phone stuff.

Oh yeah... don't forget to pick up Jerry's new disc:


And just in case you didn't get enough Asian Porn linkage in the interview, here's another Asian Porn goodie for you to tug around your ding dong while listening to Jerry's CD.