"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...". The coincidence continues to astound my acute mind. Flipper was the original Nemo! (hint number one) Now if memory serves me correctly, there was a scene in that movie that I only watched 1000+ times with my young children that had Nemo's dad (Marlin is his name!) swimming with a school of fish looking rather sullen, defeated and devoid of emotion. Suddenly he hears his son calling out to him from the back of the pack. All dads will know this cry of "Dad, dad"... hell, I still turn around at that beck and call. I digress, Marlin swims against the tide to be reacquainted with his long-lost son.... let's not get into the fact that they are soon moving their little fish asses at lightning speed to get away from the large impending trawl net of doom. Now, my story of Flipper and Nemo stops there. If you wish to create a cult of similarity between the two and carry this further just remember where it all started. This could be the newest hottest conspiracy theory going.
Flipper has existed for 40+ years and has gone through many ebbs and tides (hint number two). They should not be confused with the mid 60's television show of the same name - Flipper! (off-shoot hint number three). I should also point out that Burt Reynolds guest starred in an episode but it is doubtful that he actually ever listened to a Flipper album in its entirety but there is a hardcore punk outfit from the U.K called The Burt Reynolds! (hint 3.5... stretching it?).
Flipper has always swum against the tide, although maybe they don't see it that way. They just did their own thing and didn't give a fuck and that often translates into a well-regarded band in the long run. They might not be the richest band in the end but sometimes admiration and a loyal fan base transcend monetary wealth and bricks of gold thrown at your feet. Hell, I am sure we wouldn't possibly have your Nirvanas, Melvins etc if it wasn't for the ingenuity and integrity of a bunch of young lads full of piss and vinegar making beautiful noise for all those who would listen.
I had the opportunity to speak to Steve DePace (original drummer of Flipper) and this is what transpired. Rest assured that I didn't throw any Nemo references his way (although you will read of his career in animation – hint number 4). The cult of Flipper lives on and will continue to when all of us fine people have left this mortal plane.
And I say
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho
He he he he he he he he
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
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Scene Point Blank: What has kept Flipper together in different forms for 40+ years?
Steve DePace: The desire to keep going! We love to play and we love the songs!
Scene Point Blank: They called you The Grateful Dead of Punk in the earlier days and when Hardcore hit journalists started calling you the band that everyone Loves to Hate. Why the sudden shift in opinion at the time on Flipper? Was this largely due to the fact that hardcore was seen as testosterone-fuelled music played at breakneck speed and Flipper in essence the antithesis of that?
Steve DePace: They called us the “Grateful Dead of the 80s” because we used to jam a lot on stage. We would play some of our songs for 20 minutes. Quite the contrast to the hardcore bands that followed the initial punk rock era. We never changed our style to fit in. We continued to play our style of music and as we toured the US we almost always were sharing the stage with hardcore bands. There was no real hate for us but yeah, “The Band You Love To Hate” was a headline in an article written about us. I think it was a San Francisco paper that wrote that… We never had any problem with any of the hardcore bands we played with or any audiences for that matter. We had an intensity and a certain element of chaos and not knowing what would happen at our shows. We were selling out every club on the tours. So anyone who was complaining was also buying tickets to our shows in every city!
Scene Point Blank: Flipper was notoriously well known for pissing audiences in general off. Was this intentional(under the umbrella of any reaction is a good reaction?)
Steve DePace: Maybe this also played into “The Band You Love To Hate” thing… Bruce Loose was the culprit for any pissing off of audiences. He likes to play the “Jonny Rotten” bit sometimes. He would talk shit about the beer, the food, the girls, the “whatever” any city might be known for… Just to get a rise from the audience. It was part of his act onstage. We got sued one time for $5,000,000 because he threw a full beer can at someone in the audience!
Scene Point Blank: Can you recall the worst show Flipper ever played or was this actually the best show ever played?
Steve DePace: Probably the worst show in my opinion was at the University of Sydney Australia. Bruce drank a full-pint glass of whiskey onstage in front of the audience at the beginning of the show. By the second song, he was a mess! Had no idea what songs we were playing and was stopping us when we started a song and telling us we were playing it wrong! I got so pissed off, that I kicked him off the stage and we brought out the singer from the opening band which was a band called X from Australia. He knew our songs and lyrics so he took over. That for me was the worst show I can remember.
Scene Point Blank: How is Ted Falconi doing? Do you largely see him as a brother?
Steve DePace: Ted is doing great. His condition has stabilized and we know what he has going on now. It was scary at first when he was feeling symptoms in his lungs. He was having trouble breathing. He has a few things going on but he is on some meds that have helped a lot and he is doing much better. He is eager to get out touring again. So that is a good sign!
Scene Point Blank: Flipper was known to allow audience members to join them on stage and become part of the collective experience, even writing songs on stage as it happened in the Now. It was like Flipper took The Clash’s ethics of breaking down the audience and performer barriers and kicked it out of the stratosphere. Does Flipper still prescribe to this notion of audience participation?
Steve DePace: It’s not the same anymore really. There were a few times when actual Genius took place on stage. Actually, two or three times when individuals saw an opportunity to grab the mic and sing original lyrics they came up with on the fly at the moment that actually described what was happening at that moment at the show. Free Styling as it were… Also, there was the thing where lots of people would come on stage and sing “Sex Bomb” or dance around onstage during that song. For some reason, back in the day, people were more aware of our equipment when they participated in that. These days, for some reason, nobody cares about our equipment onstage. They come onstage and bash into our gear, especially my drums always get knocked over and cymbal stands come crashing down on top of me, so I am not a big fan of people coming onstage anymore…. But that’s me!
Scene Point Blank: Do you consider Generic Flipper the Holy Grail of all the Flipper LPs? Do you recall much about the recording process to make that LP?
Steve DePace: Yes, I would say that Generic Flipper could be considered the Holy Grail of Flipper albums. I do, however, really like Gone Fishin’ and all of our albums! Each one is different and distinct from the studio albums to the live albums. And each one has something amazing to offer…. I can’t bring myself to listen to them very often but when I do, I am amazed at how great they all sound. Flipper will be re-issuing our catalogue beginning later this year or early next.
Scene Point Blank: "Sex Bomb" left a perhaps surprising cultural impression, in that it still pops up in semi-mainstream stuff to this day. Is there a use or reference to the song that's struck you as the most surprising?
Steve DePace: I am always pleasantly surprised to see or hear some reference to Sex Bomb in a movie or whatever. The latest was we were approached by NBC Television to use the song in the Limited Series, Angelyne, about the queen of billboards in Los Angeles. I believe she was the first ever to be famous for being famous. She did nothing but appear on billboards all around Hollywood and Los Angeles. It’s her life story. They wanted to use Sex Bomb in the movie, but unfortunately, they changed up all the music at the last minute and we didn’t make the soundtrack. It would have been perfect. Other than that, I would say that Sex Bomb could be the most covered song in the history of Punk Rock. I know that bands from all over the world covered that song for years. It’s so simple it’s perfect for every garage band starting out to play at parties or whatever….
Scene Point Blank: Does Flipper still hire local saxophone players for the piece de resistance known as Sex Bomb?
Steve DePace: Yes, we do try to have or find a sax player or players wherever we play. We have some go-to people, including Ward Abronski who played on the original recording. One time we were playing in Scotland and we decided to have a bagpipe join us on Sex Bomb. It was amazing!
Scene Point Blank: It is well known that Flipper has survived a lot of tragedy. How have you and Ted managed to persevere? Reflecting back on Flipper's past members and how some were lost to drug addiction you have commented that an extreme abundance of talent was lost and that you largely were able to stay away and keep it to the music. Flipper has to be the one band that soldiers on and has a strong level of commitment and ability to fight its way through tragedy and circumstance. They say a cockroach would survive a nuclear war…. I am voting for Flipper to be added to that list. (long question with a lot of statements haha)
Steve DePace: There were the losses of people like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, etc… Those were the people whose untimely deaths affected me as a young teenager. I did not understand drugs or overdoses at that point in my life. But I understood the loss of a great artist! Losing members of my own band many years later, of course, took a toll on me. When Will Shatter died, it was the end of the original Flipper era. I never thought we would carry on but we did, against all odds. Not once or even twice but numerous times we picked up and carried on… It’s a desire to make music and play live for an audience.
Scene Point Blank: How did you transition into a career of working at Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers? What did you largely do there and what TV shows did you work on?
Steve DePace: The drugs and the drama that comes with that lifestyle had reached critical mass for me. I was living in a large house with lots of roommates in San Francisco. Both my band and the living situation had become hellish! There were 3 overdoses in my house in the course of 2 weeks. Another roommate died from heart failure, ironically just after quitting drugs. I had to get out of there. Bruce had a broken back from an accident. He rolled his pickup truck over an embankment up in the country where he lived. My other bandmates were strung out on speed and it was becoming ridiculous! I had to break away and make a new start somewhere. I called Flipper’s music attorney who lived in Los Angles and asked him to help me to move to LA to get away from all the death and chaos. It so happened that he had a friend who was looking for a roommate in LA so I ended up moving there. It was literally like going from hell to heaven. Big house with a swimming pool and a bunch of new cool friends, none of whom were drug addicts. It was great! I needed a job and someone recommended that I go to a temp agency and try to get work in the entertainment industry. I wanted a break from music so I was looking to get into something different. A couple of nice old ladies ran the temp agency I went to. They sent me to Hanna Barbara on the first day to help out in the maintenance dept. I was refilling water coolers and taking out the trash. That was the first day. On the second day, they sent me to work for a producer as an assistant. I ended up working as a temp for six weeks then the studio hired me as a direct employee. My first job was production assistant on a remake of Johnny Quest. I went on to work on Scooby-Doo feature-length movies. After that, I went to go work at Warner Bros. TV Animation where I was a production coordinator on Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, and Histeria. I also became a music consultant helping out with music soundtracks for the Scooby Doo movies they were making. Warner Bros. had acquired Hanna Barbara in a merger between Turner Entertainment and Time Warner.
Scene Point Blank: Negative Trend was a band that had the chops but never seemed to get the recognition it deserved. Was this primarily due to revolving band members or just timing and circumstance (sorry had to throw in one Negative Trend question!)
Steve DePace: I don’t think the band was around long enough to get any traction. There were three versions of Negative Trend. Each version had a different drummer and singer. I was in the middle version with Will Shatter, Craig Grey and Mikal Waters. We recorded a classic 4-song EP which was my first experience in a recording studio. We pressed 1000 copies and those made it all over the country. Henry Rollins got his hands on one and told me it was a big influence on him. He reissued that EP on his 2/13/61 label on CD. Another label reissued the EP on vinyl. Subterranean Records reissued it first on 12” vinyl. Originally, it was a 7”.
Scene Point Blank: How have Flipper been able to call on Punk Rock Alumni like Yow, or Novoselic to join Flipper?
Steve DePace: Thankfully and lucky for us, we made music that impacted lots of people the world over. I can’t really explain it because we just did what we did. We never had any financial success, we always struggled and still to this day it's a financial struggle to make ends meet. But our music and live shows did something that I can’t really explain. So, we were successful in that regard. And that is really what matters… Making memories for people who came to a show and remember that show for the rest of their lives—or making a record that touches people and in some cases even saves their lives, which has literally been the case for us. More than once I have heard tales of people on the brink of giving up for good and hearing a Flipper song that turned them around.
Scene Point Blank: Who is currently in the band? Is the plan to use different guest singers when the Till the Wheels Off tour commences? Any idea on the time frame? Are the two California shows testing the waters so to speak or are you primarily ready to tour once everyone is healthy and ready to tour? Are there plans to hit Canada (wink wink)?
Steve DePace: We are currently experimenting with a trio concept. The infamous Mike Watt has joined the ranks of Flipper on bass and vocals. Ted Falconi and I are original founding members. We are about to do a couple of shows in SoCal on August 5th at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach and August 6th at Monty Bar in Los Angeles. Three more SoCal shows are planned for Sept. 8th at Gigi’s in Ventura, Sept. 9th at The Observatory (Constellation Room) in Orange County and Sept. 11 at Soda Bar in San Diego. We may add a vocalist in the future or we may have some fun with guest vocalists in various cities but it is good to have an anchor like Mike in the band to hold it down on the microphone for the time being…
Scene Point Blank: Musically who do you admire? Is there a drummer that largely turned you onto the instrument?
Steve DePace: There are a lot of amazing drummers and I pay attention to all of them but if I had to name only one as my favourite it would have to be John Bonham! I listened to a lot of bands and drummers as a kid and I was impressed by many of them but for some reason, Bonham hits me a certain way… As for punk rock drummers, it has to be Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols. The Pistols were the first punk band I ever heard of. They did it for me, they changed everything! Paul Cook was the perfect drummer for them and I really loved his drumming! He was the punk rock drummer that had the most influence on me!
Scene Point Blank: In your opinion who largely influenced Flipper musically? Did the initial explosion of punk rock instill the notion that “hey I can do that”?
Steve DePace: Each of us brought our own individual influences to the band. We melded those and what came out, came out… Punk Rock definitely gave us the notion that “we can do that.” It made being in a band seem accessible. Prior to that, making it in a band seemed unattainable because music had become “corporate” as we referred to all the big bands at the time. Punk Rock made it ok to just make noise and get better without being afraid to even start. It was really a fast track to getting in front of an audience. Fortunately, living in San Francisco the scene was amazing and welcoming. There was a place for us to hang out, meet other artists and form a band. The Mabuhay Gardens, which became known as The Mab was the clubhouse for punk rock. It was the hub for the SF scene.
Scene Point Blank: When Kurt Cobain sang the praises of Flipper in the ’90s the band was largely dormant. Do you feel at the time with his accolades made that it gave Flipper more recognition in the larger sense or expand its fanbase?
Steve DePace: The first time I became aware that Kurt was a Flipper fan was when I saw him on Saturday Night Live wearing his homemade Flipper T-shirt. Next, I saw him wearing that same shirt on the cover of Cream Magazine. At that time we were signed to Def American Recordings. I got a call one day from the record label telling me that Nirvana was going to invite us to do 2 weeks with them in Europe. The next thing I heard he had overdosed. So, that was the end of that… It wasn’t long after Kurt's death that Bruce Loose, our singer was in an accident, wrecking his pickup truck, causing serious injury to his back. That was the reason for what ended up being a 10-year hiatus for Flipper. Kurt’s love of Flipper definitely expanded our fanbase. We were also written up in countless music history books. Apparently, we have influenced a lot of bands the world over… Pretty cool…
Scene Point Blank: How do you want to be remembered personally and how would you like to see Flipper remembered in the punk rock history books?
Steve DePace: I feel like it’s an honour to be mentioned and written about in all the various music history books. I think deep down every artist wants to have an impact and leave a mark on the world. You push yourself to be as good as you can be and if you are lucky you make an impression on people. The ultimate is to be an influence on the next generation and the one after that and so on and so on… I am still influenced today, by music recorded many decades ago… Music lives forever!
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Flipper are about to embark on a US tour, with more dates to come:
- 09/09 – Observatory(Constellation Room) – Orange County
- 09/11 – Soda Bar – San Diego
- 10/02 – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/04 – Big Night Live – Boston – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/06 – The Howard – Washington DC – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/07 – Sound Stage – Baltimore – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/08 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/10 – Masquerade – Atlanta – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/11 – Masquerade – Atlanta – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/12 – The Ritz Ybor – Tampa – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/14 – House Of Blues – New Orleans – w/The Garden and Kumo 99
- 10/16 – The End – Huston
- 10/17 – Three Links – Dallas
- 10/18 – Kick Butt Coffee – Austin
- 10/19 – 89th Street - Oklahoma City
- 10/20 – The Shrine – Tulsa
