Albums of Purgatory interview One Foot in the Grave

Firstly whats the band up to right now?

we're idling......the motor is running but we haven't selected a gear as of yet. we're also working on another album (YEAH! it's about time.)

How would you describe the bands sound?

we like to think that we are "old style" punks, like the Ramones. but i've also heard us called "surf punks".

How did you get involved with the band?

JoDina, our queen and fearless leader, had been out punk dancing one night. as she watched the band, she said to herself, hey, i can do that. he can't sing and neither can i. she originally wanted to form an all-women punk band. so the women could whine about the misery of their lives. it didn't work because she couldn't find enough women. but here, in Arizona, we have lots of old people and old musicians.
she found Gino, our first drummer. Gino was 72 at the time. he had a friend named Danny (who had worked with the Lawrence Welk Band from 1939-1959). He was a great musician (he died a few years ago). check out his riffs on our first album,
LOOKING GOOD. WHO'S YOUR EMBALMER?
we actually started the band in 1987. and did a lot of practicing before trying our first gig in 1991.
JoDina's son is a stand-up comedian. he gave the band its name.
i got involved with the band in 1987. i was attending a songwriters' gathering. when i walked into the room, JoDina was talking to somebody else. when that other person saw me, he told JoDina to talk to me because i was a bass player.

Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

our very first unofficial gathering was for somebody's birthday. we played in a large room used by apartment dwellers to have parties. our original guitar player, who was actually pretty good and had a handle on how rock music went, had a serious "senior moment" and couldn't remember any of our songs. the gig was a fiasco. my brother-in-law told JoDina's son that she should shove the microphone up her ass, it would sound better.
after that disaster, we found Danny. he didn't have the "senior moment" problem.
our first before-a-large-crowd gig was in June, 1991. we were part of the Arizona All-State Jam. we did pretty well. lots of the kids there came up to us and wanted to touch Danny and Gino. both were 75 at the time. the kids couldn't believe that these guys were as old as their grandparents and were actually playing punk.

What are your favourite One Foot In the Grave tracks?

my favorite OFITG tracks are, in no particular order:
Menopause
Golf Cart Drivers from Hell
Sun City Rocks
One Foot in the Grave
Clean Up Your Room

What are your favourite all time songs?

all -time favorite songs, as of this minute:
Get a Job - Offspring
Bitchin' Camaro - Dead Milkmen
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
London Calling - The Clash
I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett
Ring of Fire - Social Distortion

to name just a few.

What was the first record you bought?

after i stole a few, i think the first one i ever bought was THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING --- NANCY SINATRA AND LEE HAZLEWOOD

Which album got you into punk and metal and can you explain why?

when i heard Mojo Nixon's DEBBIE GIBSON IS PREGNANT WITH MY TWO-HEADED LOVE CHILD, A BIG FOOT BABY ALL COVERED WITH FUR, i was hooked. in fact, Mojo produced our first album and got us our first record deal. after that i listened to all the Ramones and Alice Cooper i could get my hands on. i liked Black Sabbath before that but i was touring the US with Southern Rock bands and i couldn't do much with my new love at that time. when i finished playing with these bands, i met JoDina.

What would be your dream band line-up?

As for a dreamband lineup, i've found that the best band anybody could work with is a band that gets along. I've played with some of the great players but i didn't necessarily get along with them. i know what i've got with our present lineup. i like these people so that's my present dream lineup.

If you could do a cover for a tribute album to any band, which song of which band would you pick and why?

other than BITCHIN' CAMARO by the Dead Milkmen, i'd probably pick a Ramones song like Sheena, Sedated, KKK, Beat on the Brat or some others that we know and do pretty well.

What do you think of the position of punk and music in general today?

real punk music is always fringe music. we can get pretty crazy in our performances and we play LOUD. mainstream people aren't into that. punk music needs to stay out on the edges, because, from here, it can push, shove and outrage all those in the middle and perhaps bring some of them back to life.

Do you have any funny stories you can share with us about the band?

there are a lot of them. one, that stands out, comes from Hamburg, Germany.
VH-1 had done a video of us for one of their shows. after that we did an interview----about our first sexual experiences. the rest of us went through the usual stuff that most people undergo. but "Spike", the surf-style guitarist from the second album, OLD FARTS, had a stuttering speech problem. when it was his turn, there was a long pause and then he said, "i was alone one night............."

What do you see in the future for One Foot in the Grave?

as for the future, speaking for myself, i will play this music as long as i can. i'm only 60 but if UK Subs Charlie Harper can do it, so can i.