No Cause for Concern? Issue #5 | September 1982 | Page 7 | Civil Terror interview

INTERVIEW

Civil Terror

The following interview was done on August 7th by N.C.F.C. with Bruce Voss and Russell Taylor [Crawford] of Civil Terror. Bruce is their guitarist and Russ is the drummer

N.C.F.C.: How old are you guys?
BRUCE: I'm seventeen.
RUSS: Sixteen, and Tim [Mech]'s thirteen.
BRUCE: And Dave [Champion], I think he's nineteen.

N.C.F.C.: About Tim being thirteen, does that cause any problems for you?
RUSS; Actually, it's a help because he doesn't talk back to us... yeah he does--
BRUCE: He does.
RUSS: He does, but he usually does what we say.

N.C.F.C.: How about his parents?
BRUCE: His parents are really great.
RUSS: They put up money for doing stuff for our practicing like soundproofing.
BRUCE: We'd like to plug Tim's parents.
RUSS: Well, we're going to mention them on our new album coming out soon.

N.C.F.C.: How long have you been practicing as Civil Terror?
BRUCE: Civil Terror? Since around April. We were auditioning bass players for a couple of weeks and we had Russell Joyce in for one or two practices. Then Tim came out and originally we just wanted Tim to fill in until we got a bass player then he just sort of stuck on with it.

N.C.F.C.: So it's working out?
RUSS: Except at first when he came he'd just switched form guitar to bass but now he's getting really good.

N.C.F.C.: Were you guys ever in any bands before Civil Terror?
BRUCE: We were in lots of bands. When we were in high school we [to Russ] I guess you weren't in the first band, we had a band called umm...In-- what was the name? Insurgents? Something like that. We played at our school then we had another band not too long. Then... What was it called?
RUSS: Rotting Corpses.
BRUCE: No.
RUSS: Oh, the one at the school?
BRUCE: Yeah.
RUSS: Arthur Runt and the Runtzillos. That was sort of a big joke.
Bruce: After that we got more serious and started the Rotting Corpses. We practiced a lot then played one gig with No Pigs.

N.C.F.C.: How long did that band last?
BRUCE: It lasted until that gig, then um...
RUSS: It fell apart.

N.C.F.C.: Why did it fall apart?
BRUCE: We had no practice space and Russell Joyce sold his bass.

N.C.F.C.: Now that you've got Dave Champion, who is really into American hardcore, has it changed your style of music any?
BRUCE: Yeah, I guess so. It was sort of Dave's idea to put this band together.
RUSS: It was. He came back from D.C. and tried other bands but they didn't work. He wanted to give this one one more try. He didn't know if it would work, he was hoping. So far it has.
BRUCE: Dave was looking for a band and we were looking to play too 'cause we wanted to start another band.
RUSS: I wasn't going to play at first.
BRUCE: You weren't?
RUSS: No, it was either another hobby I have or this band and I wanted to do the other hobby but then I switched.
BRUCE: What was that? Your motorcycle?
RUSS: Yeah, racing.

N.C.F.C.: Are you doing that at all now?
RUSS: No, that's why I bought that motorcycle out there.

N.C.F.C.: Who writes most of you stuff right now?
RUSS: So far the lyrics have been Dave's and I wrote a few. Bruce and Tim come up with the music then we all sort of get together.
BRUCE: We all arrange it so it's a group effort.

N.C.F.C.: So besides the three covers, you guys wrote all the material you played on Friday night?
BRUCE: Yeah, some of it was just guitar riffs from songs we did as Rotting Corpses, just arranged differently.
RUSS: And speeded up.

N.C.F.C.: Do you guys have any shows coming up?
BRUCE: We're playing Frigidair on September 17th and 18th at the Roxy.

N.C.F.C.: Do you know which night you're playing?
RUSS: No, not yet.

N.C.F.C.: Rumour has it that you might also be playing Montreal and Quebec with Black Market Baby. Is that true?
BRUCE: Well, I'd like to do it. I don't know how much of a chance we have though. There's also some conflict between the band members. They was to see M.D.C. in Montreal which is really stupid 'cause we could be playing.

N.C.F.C.: How about your long-term plans?
BRUCE: I want to get about fifty songs together, get about and hour and a half of music we could play and see how Quebec City is. I'd like to go down there sometime and then Montreal, I'd also like to go the the States and play.
RUSS: I think the long term looks pretty good. We've heard from a lot of places that want our sort of stuff.

N.C.F.C.: What are your musical influences?
BRUCE: I'd like to think I don't have any but that's impossible because you listen to music and it has an affect on you.

N.C.F.C.: What are your favorite bands then?
BRUCE: I like all kinds of music ranging from the Stray Cats to Judas Priest. I like a lot of stuff. American, Canadian, not too much British 'cause a lot of it's trendy and commercial and I don't like the British scene at all because it's so...
RUSS: Fashionable. You have to look this certain way. I don't like that. I think it's stupid. If you don't look this certain way you're not good enough to be with us.
BRUCE: You shouldn't do that. I don't.

N.C.F.C.: Russ, what are your musical influences?
RUSS: I like mostly American stuff a lot and I also like older bands like the Doors and Steppenwolf. Also don't mind some of the earlier Pink Floyd stuff because they had a lot of weird effects.
BRUCE: Yeah, I like acid music. It's good. And the fifties, it's fun. [to Russ] Tell them about your dad.
RUSS: My dad?
BRUCE: The bands he was in.
RUSS: He was in a lot of bands [as a drummer] and he made a few records. One of them was the Runaways, this was in the '60s and he made on record that Bruce likes.
BRUCE: It was neat. Sort of like late '50s, early '60s type.

N.C.F.C.: Did his being a drummer have any effect on your being a drummer now?
RUSS: Yeah, it might have, I think.
N.C.F.C.: Did he have a kit that you--
RUSS: No, he didn't have anything. I had to wait a long time before I got a kit. He always said (instead of buying me a kit) to get some drumsticks and hit my pillow. In grade eight I stayed in every day after school and practiced. Drove the teacher nuts.

N.C.F.C.: How often do you get to practice?
BRUCE: About four times a week.

N.C.F.C.: Tim's going to be going back to school in September. Do you think that's going to have any effect of your practice time?
BRUCE: Well no but what I want to do is get out of Ottawa I don't necessarily want to move out of Ottawa but...well, more people will see you in other places as far as I'm concerned.
RUSS: Also if you play too much in one place people get tired of you.

[link to Civil Terror bio page]