Chris Savage

Share

Interview

Chris is the lead guitarist/vocalist for The Buck Pets (one of my all-time favorite bands). – Interview by Clint (with help from Jack & Mark)

Chris Savage 1 CM: OK, who cut all their hair off first and why the hell did they do it?
CS: That would have been Ian. I think he had gotten a hold of some bad merkins.

CM: I saw your last CD “To the Quick” in the bargain bin at Amoeba for $0.99. Do you guys do this on purpose to help you reach a new audience of lower paying consumers? (By the way, I picked up Keel IV: Back in Action, in that same bargain bin!!! You guys are in good company!)
CS: It’s all part of the plan, Clint….The very shitty plan.

CM: Most people comment that your guitar solos are fairly simple with a lot of “soul”, is that just because you can’t play very fast?
CS: Shit……you’re trying to gig me, eh? Almost worked. I can haul as much ass as any fool.

CM: I’ve heard tons of rumors as to why you were kicked off the Jane’s Addiction tour (drugs, partying, etc). What was the real reason?
CS: Well, we had done one tour previously w/ them and it went really well, and as far as drugs go, those guys were way way higher than we were; they were banking like bastards while we made $250 a night. They did heroin a lot. We didn’t have the connections then, nor the cake to do that shit. The boring, honest truth is: My amp was fucking up during our little set, and I got angry and kicked it really hard, and it fell on some of their ‘props’- you know, little ceramic donkeys and jesus’ and stuff. Apparently that was enough to get miss Perry’s panties in quite the wad. He was/is such a d-bag – total hollywood prick. After we split that tour, we got on with Neil Young, and he was the coolest, most down to earth, sweet guy you could ever meet. Miss Perry isn’t fit to lick his shoes clean. Fuckin’ poof. Oh — and I hit him. once. (Perry, not Neil).

Chris Savage 2 CM: On Avenue F Blues, what did you mean by the lyrics “sitting in the park, getting high, watching girls go by”?
CS: I get that a lot. The simple answer, if there is one, is we were in Austin smoking a bit of reefer watching the girlies.

CM: Is it true that you guys wanted to give Island Records your demo and blow the advance on cocaine parties?
CS: No, but that would have been the ‘wise’ thing to do on the second wreckord. The producer on that record, Mike Beinhorn (I swear to god, if i ever see him again……..i will destroy him) and the fools at Island wanting to spend $35,000 dollars on a goddamn video. Like children, we went along and did it. On the third record, the budget for the video was about $1400 dollars and we spent about $1300 of that on drugs and cases of whisky. Spent $100 on renting an editing suite….had a great director, best video we made.

CM: I saw a show of yours where Tony messed up the intro to a song three times and you finally jumped into his drum set trying to kick him. Did you take karate lessons because your kick was very reminiscent of Chuck Norris?
CS: Did I really try to kick him? I’m not much of a kicker, unless somebody’s already down. I feel bad about being like that then-with Tony- but I remember I was trying to hit him with my guitar, and tripped over something on the way. It wound up being an ok ending, but i think we were only a few songs into the set. All of this being said, I do feel awful about what a dick I could be about the band then.

CM: You guys just got back together for one show at Trees in Dallas last April. I personally know of people who flew to that show from LA, Seattle, Nashville, etc. Did you expect that and did you know you were that cool? Also, are there any plans for other shows?
CS: I thought that was great of those people to come in from so far and no, I didn’t know we were that cool.
I wish I could say we were doing more shows; we had an offer to do however many we wanted, wherever we wanted……but there are 4 of us and everyone has to be OK with doing it. I was/am.

buck pets 1 CM: Speaking of that show, it was LOUD!! Is that because you guys are old now and can’t hear?
CS: We aren’t old, and I didn’t think it was too loud. We were always loud.

CM: What is a Buck Pet?
I guess i am…I can tell you, it ain’t all that great but really, i do love playing with those guys. I miss them all the time. I miss the money Trees was supposed to pay us for that show, too… but not as much.

CM: I read an article on the Buck Pets that said “They were loud, rude, bratty and obnoxious. They smoked pot, drank lots of beer, did drugs and slept in their clothes. Chances are pretty good that one (or more) of them fucked your girlfriend. ” You didn’t sleep with MY GIRLFRIEND, right?
It’s hard to fuck anyone when you sleep in your clothes and no, I didn’t sleep with your girlfriend-not one goddamn wink.

CM: Anything you want to promote?
No. Well, we do have a CD of unreleased stuff – good songs, I think. So, if some mister fancypants record thousandaire wants to help it get out, that would be sweet.

CM: What obscure or under appreciated bands would you recommend people check out?
Atlas Throat
Engine Orchestra
Dead Beat Poetry
Bloodsoda
Mitra