1. Tell us what you have been up too?


“Well, I kinda decided to made some life changes recently and focus on my life, career and creativity a little more. I’ve actually been enjoying my first Christmas season in 16 years… as opposed to the usual chaos I had to deal with in the retail industry.”

“I founded the ‘(515) Management Group’ a few years ago to help develop Midwestern, particularly Iowan, acts. I had a great run with FACECAGE and lately I’ve done a few shows for artists I really like… JUNK POET in particular.”


2.  Who are the Dum Fux?

Currently, the DUMFUX consists of:

Corey Taylor (a.k.a Midnight GUNN) Guitars/Vocals
Denny Harvey (a.k.a The Pope) Guitars/Vocals
Steve McGuire (a.k.a Stevie Fux) Bass/Loansharking
Joey Corigliano (a.k.a El Vato Loco) Drums/Drinking Jager
Rich Cantrell (He’s new… he needs a nickname!) Keys/Harmonica

And as always, we are accompanied vocally by our lovely DUMMETES, including Stephanie Wilkinson and Joni Lawler.

And, huge props to Dirk Newton. You may remember him from his guitar
shop down in the East Village a few years ago.

Dirk is like a musical Yoda around the Des Moines area. He is our all around tech, sensei
and guru for all things musical.

3. What can we expect at this years show? .

“Over the years we’ve had a tradition of playing New Year’s Eve… it’s grown to the point we gotta do it at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines.”



“This year we have CALOUS CD release opening the show, our old friends
JUNK POET and the awesome DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS rounding out
the bill.”

“Another tradition of ours is to include a lot of special guests from the local scene. This year, expect guest appearances from bands like FACECAGE, CALOUS, DI-FI, DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS, ONLY & JUNK POET on some very eclectic songs.”

 4. How did this tradition start?

“Corey and I started the DUMFUX in 96’ to play a friend’s 18th birthday party. The result of a couple of phone calls and nothing to do. We literally did it on four hours notice”

“Originally the REJECTS (Dizzy Draztik & Joey Jordison’s Pre-MURDERDOLLS outfit) were slated to play but at the
last minute Joey couldn’t do it so Dizzy  called Corey, Corey called me and we pieced together a PA, instruments and a loose set-list. We ended up playingin a body shop/meth lab off of Maury down by the junkyards.”

“One of the gutter punk kids that came to the show and got a little TOO excited and yanked the microphone… cord attached… which made the powered sound board fly across the room andhit the beer and vomit soaked floor.
That was the end of that. We had fun and had a great story to tell afterwards… which is usually how we deem things a success.”

5. What bands have you played in the past – can you name them all – ( members) ?

Well, I was always running around the early Des Moines scene, usually going to shows or setting them up.

I started playing bass at 13 to get into a band some friends were putting together for the junior high school talent show. I bought a bass because… well what the hell… Gene Simmons played bass!

That, and they didn’t have a bass player for the show. They ended up doing it without me and I ended up trading the bass in for a guitar.

I didn’t join my first band until I was 19. That band was REDLINE.

REDLINE had started as a band called KICKIN AND SCREAMIN with singer John Dingeman on vocals, Jimmy V on Guitar, Debbie Daniels on bass and Joel Ekman on drums.

Jimmi and Debbie left in 1992 and it morphed into REDLINE. I joined along with Kurt Zimmerman on lead guitar and another bassist named Tony.

Joel and I were into a little heavier and more alternative stuff so we decided it was time to move on. We went in search of players for our new band… whatever it was going to be… and kept in touch.

That fall, I met Corey Taylor through a mutual friend and we hit it off famously. We literally smoked five packs of cigarettes the first night that we hung out and compared songs. It turned out that he had been in a bunch of smaller bands and wanted to do something more serious and creative… which is exactly what Joel and I were trying to do.

FLYIN HIGH @ CLEARWATER BEACH

Debbie was in the ACCIDENTAL SISTERS and
now the SOAPBOX PROPHETS5.

The three of us formed FREAKSHOW… which was the genesis of STONE SOUR.

We holed up in Corey’s grandmother’s basement and while Corey and Joel wrote about a third of the stuff from the 94’ cassette tape that was circulating back in the mid 90’s.

I was having some personal issues with a friend who was close to the band and decided it was time for me to leave. I left and took the name FREAKSHOW with me, hence STONE SOUR was born. Same songs, same outlook, different guitar player.

I came back for a brief period about a year later but Corey decided to join another band so the three of us went our separate ways again. I was living in Denver when STONE SOUR reconvened so I missed out on being a part of the mid/late 90’s lineups. Every now and then or an odd show I would get up with the band as a special guest.

I pretty much retired from music and all but quit playing guitar. Corey saw that I had quit and gave me a guitar for Christmas a few years ago. I picked it up sporadically and well, the rest is history.

Of course, Corey and Joel continued on with STONE SOUR.

Joel is in a new band called DOWNLOAD & just played their 1st show. John and Jimmi were in GIMMIK together… Jimmi still is.

5. Great Big Mouth Records – What can you tell us?

Great Big Mouth Records was the brainchild of Corey and I when I was managing FACECAGE.

We had just spent the spring shopping the third FACECAGE album to labels and we kept getting doors slammed in our faces or ridiculous restrictions put on the band as a condition to signing them. We just decided to do it ourselves and do it independently.

Now, GBM has a worldwide following and fan street teams around the US and the world.

6. Who have been your biggest influences (guitar wise – musically – personally)?

Guitar wise, definitely people like Jimmy Page, Steve Jones and Ace Frehley. Lots of attitude and blues.

In general, I’m a big fan of people like Henry Rollins and Beat Poets/writers like Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsburg and Bukowski.

Like I said, lots of attitude and blues.

6.5 What are you listening to now?

Nothing new! LOL

No, I like a lot of local/regional acts… not much on the national or international level. Too much crap. It’s kind of hard to believe all the good bands were discovered in the 60’s & 70’s. The mainstream music business is just horrid these days.

7. Have you taken music/ guitar/ vocal lessons, what is your music education background?

I never really had money when I was younger so lessons were out. I sang in my church choir… that’s about it. I’m self taught.

8. Favorite Guitar , amp , effects processors – what’s in the rig ?

My rig is pretty simple. An old Peavey 5150 head and 4x12 cabinet with a Les Paul. Maybe a wireless unit this year.

9. Do you still write songs have ambitions to record?

I’m a terrible songwriter… I can’t finish anything!

I’ve got lots of bits and pieces of songs, some that I’ve had for years. At some point Fred from FACECAGE and I are going to record some of it… if he ever gets the new studio built!

10. I know you have been around the local music scene for years –Tell us in your words the state of in Iowa it as we approach 2009.

The music scene has cooled off a little but the business side has heated up in the forms of new venues and promoters. Look for a lot of changes in 2009… new bands, new companies. Lot’s of shows.

Mark my words: There will be at least two “big” local acts signed this year and touring. That’s not speculation, that’s real.

11. Favorite gig you’ve produced or played?

Last year’s DUMFUX show at Val Air. We kicked ass practicing for it and you could really tell. It was the first year for the couches on stage.

12. The Nightmare gig from hell?

Oh god, it had to be that first DUMFUX jam at the meth lab.

13. Best rockstar party - or holey shit I just met moment?

Walking onstage in Denver at Mile High Stadium right behind SLIPKNOT as the show was about to start. I lost my laminate and had to literally had to walk with the band, right behind the last member, up the steps and onto the stage during the intro. It took my breath away.

14. So what does Denny want for Christmas? We hope Santa reads this …

A new wireless unit for my guitar… oh, and a job that doesn’t make me crazy.

15. Any New Years predictions or resolutions?

I started my resolutions early… I’ve spent most of November in the gym and changed a lot of things in my life.

Predictions?... Hmm. Let’s just say that GBM was an experiment… and a very successful one. We’re working on a new project that will really shake things up. Stay tuned.

16. What band should give it up?

Oh man… KISS definitely.

HEY NOW! Remember, I was the guy that walked around in high school with a KISS logo on the back of my army jacket. I got knowledge and memorabilia of that band that would make Franco or Josh Brainard blush… it’s just painful for me to see those guys go on like they have.

Corey and I went to the reunion tour show in Ames and were straight up CRYING because we were so overwhelmed. But they should have ended it with Ace and Peter… and with some class.

DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS
join this years
Dysfunctional New Years Eve Party

17. Who gets no respect & kicks ass

I support EVERYBODY locally, I really do. Obviously, FACECAGE… I loved ON A PALE HORSE when they were around. It’s neat to see JUNK POET get a second chance. DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS, ODIUM, GRINWIRE, UDA… TOO MANY BANDS TO LIST

18. Guilty listening pleasure – I know most people think they suck but I like some of ………music.

I kinda stumbled onto the band ANGEL when I was a kid… they were kinda like the anti-KISS. Very cheese but its fun collecting stuff by a forgotten band. Every now and again I’m at a flea market and stumble onto something I didn’t know existed.

The first time I went to LA, I stopped into the old Tower Records on Sunset across from the Viper Room. One of the funniest things from that trip was the look on the clerk's face when I rolled up to buy a GG Allin CD AND an Angel CD. The guy couldn't figure out if I was being ironic or nuts.

19. For several years you worked with Facecage as management.

What where some of the toughest challenges in dealing with this? :

A. Touring / booking

Probably money. That and trust. There is a reason contracts exist.

Even if you have a good performance contract, it usually gets ignored or screwed up somehow. There is nothing more fun than being 16 hours from home and the promoter decides he didn’t make enough money to pay you… or that you just blew a $500 bus tire and there’s no money to buy a new one.

We’ve had two vans blow alternators on the same day, bus tires exploding on the Dallas freeway and promoters bouncing checks left and right.

B. Promotions

Promoting is the easy part! I can do that in my sleep. You just have remember WHO you are trying to reach and WHAT you want to reach them for. As long as you can do that you can promote anything.

20. Any practical advice for those bands that look to put together a first tour, promote themselves?

Do your homework… use common sense and don’t alienate people that you are going to need down the road. You are in a business that requires teamwork and friends, don’t forget that.

Protect your business, get it in writing when practical, and do everything pro. Stuff like merch needs to look like the stuff at Spencer’s and Hot Topic.

21. What did we forget
to ask ?

I’ve always got SOMETHING up my sleeve. I need to keep a FEW secrets now and then.

Ok we will add one for you
Visit The Dumfux online here