CREAM ABDUL BABAR
CREAM ABDUL BABAR Interview with DAN. Interview by MIKE TYSON
promo photos by: Seth Grad. live photo: Virgil Porter
we've gotten two splits from you guys recently,when can we expect a new
c.a.b. full length ?
we are in the process of writing new shit for a full-length...we hope to
have it ready to record by late spring! it's a difficult process for us to
write songs, since we are all pikcy motherfuckers, so it's like having a 7
person filter.
i'm sure there are a good number of bands that you have developed friendships with over the years,is it difficult to decide what bands to do
split recordings with or is it something that just kinda comes about ?
Well, with Kylesa, we were good friends with them first and you just go "hey
let's do a split!"...everyone was into it and At A Loss was into putting it
out, so it was a breeze. The Teen Cthulhu split was a little different..we
haven't ever met each other in person, but we found out about eachother when
we both had articles in Metal Maniacs.. We started emailing back and forth
and Pat at Hyperrealist had seen TC in Savannah. So when he approached us
about doing a split, i mentioned TC as a band and he was definitely
interested. So, with Kylesa it was a friendship situation whereas with TC
it was like trying to make new friends.
it is very difficult to come up with a good band name these days that
isn't already taken, and you've probrally been asked this hundreds of times
, but can you please explain where the name cream abdul babar came from ?
haha, well, we were in college when we started the band...and all of us are
"pun-heads",,,bad puns are even better. David (bass) and our very first
singer (he played 3 shows with us) came up with it, as a joke i guess. So
when we started the band, they brought up the name and even though we were
kinda hokey at first we never changed it even after the sound developed. It
is indeed an unusual name...and basically it's a catch 22 with it...yes it
is extremely unique, but on the other side of the coin, everyone thinks we
are pop punk or ska or some shit. Which i suppose is cool too, since it's
deceiveing. I go back and forth on it...we have talked about changing it (
a few years ago), but then we were like Fuck it, cuz we play what we play
and we are called Cream Abdul Babar, like it or not.
what do you think the world would be like today if humans had never discovered music?
We wouldn't be around...it would be some sort of mechanical world full of
merzbow-type noise, and smoke and machines everywhere.
What is your favorite city to play in and why?
fuck, San Francisco / Berkeley for sure...the people there are just INTO
music. Everytime we go out there we play 3 shows....it's such a vast scene
and it just rules. People are into our stuff and all the shows are crazy.
If I had to pick an east coast place, i would say savannah. It has a
similar vibe to SF.
What is your current line-up of cream abdul babar ?
we have expanded to an 8-piece:
me (dan) / guitar
david / Bass
Ian / vocals
Jason / drums
the kid / trombone
derek / keyboards
Tradd / noisescapes / sampler
Will / guitar
Over the years we moved tradd OFF the guitar and onto the sampler /
noisescape realm and we just added the second guitar back into the band.
Will has been a great friend of ours for years and years so it was only
natural to have him join.
How old were you when you first discovered extreme/heavy music, and
whatdid you like the most about it when you first discovered the genre?
shit, 1988, i borrowed Metallica's "and justice for all" and "master Of
Puppets" from a friend and was blown away. The energy was unlike anything
i had heard before. I dont know that i can pinpoint the exact feeling, but
i was definitely captivated. Soon after that i bought "South Of Heaven" by
Slayer, one of the greatest albums ever. I was coming from a childhood
background of U2, Duran Duran and Pink Floyd, so it was a huge change of
pace for me. I still love all that stuff, i love everything. I am a sucker
for Duran Duran. Their dark shit destroys.
Here's a 3 for one political question !Do you vote?
Do you think music has any effect on people's political opinions?
Do you think voting really makes a difference?
Yes I vote. I don't know that it helps, though, because I live in FL. And
as we saw in the Bush / Gore election, votes are bought / skewed / whatever.
The whole deal with Katherine Harris, the black votes, the fact that
Bush's brother is governor, etc etc just reeks of corruption. It's
conspiracy-theory cebtral over here. I absolutely think that music has an effect on people's political opinions. I mean how can you not listen to the Dead Kenedys and not get a new view on politics?
who is your favorite band at the moment?
damn, i hate picking favorites, so i'll name a few things I am listening to
right now: MY HOTEL YEAR is the best unsigned indie rock band out there. Period.
the new ANTI-FLAG cd is in my player right now.
Other stuff I am listening to: Ion Dissonance, Blink 182, Between The
Buried and Me and the new Killing Joke!
has caream abdul jabar ever tried to sue you because your name sounds
close to his?
I wish! That's free publicity!
tell us a little about thunderdome booking
(www.thunderdomebooking.com ) and how that came about.?.?.?
I've booked every show Cream Abdul Babar has done, so I guess technically, I
started booking tours in like 1995. I really enjoy putting them together
and making the contacts and meeting new poeple.
When Thunderdome, the venue, closed down, I decided to keep the name and
change it over into a booking agency. I was already booking tours for a few
bands, like MIRA (projekt records shoegazer stuff) but I wanted to expand
and start working with other bands that i like!
thanks for the interview G.
Thank YOU!!
contact cream abdul babar at www.creamabdulbabar.com
LINKS:
Cream Abdul Babar website
At A Loss Recordings
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