REDD KROSS (1997)

Originally published in MOO Magazine, Issue 29

What are the McDonald brothers, now? 40? 50? Hey…settle down, it’s just a joke. It’s just that Steven and Jeffrey, much like Dick Clark, never seem to age. They still look they’re 18…ok, ok 25 tops! Hell, they’re Californians, so who can tell? Back in 1980, when Scott Weiland was getting beat up for milk money, the McDonalds started making catchy and kitchy rock’n’roll and have never looked back (well, except when it came to fashion). Maybe, they appear young because they have been masters of making their retro-fueled kitsch (lodged someone between Annette Funicello’s Mouseketeer ears, the Mod Squad’s bellbottoms, Danny Bonaduce’s freckles, and Mark Farner’s bong!!!!) seem fresh and enjoyable. Hey, ya’ got a 76 Pinto for sale? They’ll buy it just to watch the damn thing go up in flames. That’s just the kind of fun-lovin’ boys…er, men they are. MOO’s own ageless juvenile Chip Midnight pow-wows with the always wrinkle free Steve McDonald.

MOO: Where are you calling from today?

STEVEN: Belgium. I went under the channel tunnel today. It was pretty cool. When I got to the train station in London, I realized that I didn’t have my passport. The rest of the band had to come into London to give me my passport.

MOO: How was it?

STEVEN: The British portion of the train ride was pretty slow. It’s not so high tech. After it goes through the tunnel, then it starts kicking.

MOO: Is this the first time you’ve worked with the same members on two consecutive records?

STEVEN: The first time ever. Brian (Reitzell, drums) has been with us for six years and Eddie (Kurdziel, guitar) has been with us five, since ’92.

MOO: How do each of the band members fit into the songwriting process?

STEVEN: I think on this record we did it more like a band than say the record before. Jeff (McDonald) did a lot of writing of his own for this record. Everyone has had their own input, especially with arrangements and stuff. There’s no set formula. We always switch things around.

MOO: What are some of the differences between Show World and 1993’s Phaseshifter?

STEVEN: On the last album every single song, Jeff and I worked together on. On this record he completed a few songs on his own. “Girl God” was completed on his own. A couple songs that are more personal are a result of that.

MOO: I have heard rumors of a Jeff McDonald solo record.

STEVEN: We had a little down time when we finished this record. Sometime in the middle of last year he started working down in his basement, and he came up with ten songs that he played all the instruments on and recorded on an 8-track. It is essentially a solo record, but he hasn’t released it yet.

MOO: How does Jeff’s solo material differ from Redd Kross material?

STEVEN: It’s definitely the same sound since he did all the instruments himself. He’s a horrible drummer, but it sounds really cool. It’s very Mo Tucker. We did one song from that record, on the Redd Kross album. I insisted that “Follow the Leader” be recorded by the band. That is somewhat in sync with the record. His record is a lot more experimental. I think it blows away anything Pavement has ever done.

MOO: Any chance it will ever be released?

STEVEN: I think we want to concentrate on the Redd Kross record and promoting it right now.

MOO: Redd Kross is a very visual band, yet you’ve never really been played on MTV.

STEVEN: The biggest nod MTV has ever given us was the Jon Stewart Show, a couple of years ago. Throughout the years we’ve gotten a few plays here and there on 120 Minutes. Nowadays MTV is so timid, they don’t even really play videos any more. They mostly program game shows and stuff. There was point in the 80s where MTV supposedly broke records. Radio followed them a lot of times. Around the time we did Third Eye I had hopes that we would get some MTV exposure and it would snowball into something.

MOO: Do you like making videos?

STEVEN: The medium of videos is something we’ve always had fun with. We’ve made six or seven rock videos. There are other places to play them. It hasn’t been a totally pointless venture to make videos. We’ve never had that sort of push that Poison got in 1987.

MOO: Do you think the Stone Temple Pilots ripped off Redd Kross on their new record?

STEVEN: Ripping off implies that I feel cheated. I don’t. I feel flattered. Scott (Weiland, STP’s lead singer) told me himself that he was influenced by us when he wrote the melody and sang that song “Big Bang Baby.” That’s basically the only track where I really heard an obvious influence. We had done that, tour together and they watched us every night, so it’s flattering.

MOO: Is radio starting to come around to the Redd Kross sound?

STEVEN: The way my brother sings, his influences and where he is coming from, it hasn’t always been the most radio friendly approach in the last ten years. If STP wants to make it fashionable, let them, it’s fine by me; I don’t care. I feel confident in the level of credit we’ve already received. I think people know that we’re original.

MOO: What did you do in the three year hiatus between records?

STEVEN: We didn’t get a break until the beginning of ’95. I produced the Imperial Teen record and then we spent about a year recording and writing off and on for the album. The album was ready to go in August of ’96, but then my brother came down with glandular fever, oh sorry, I’m used to talking to Europeans, he came down with mono. They call it glandular fever in England. We couldn’t really promote the record if he had mono. As he recovered, our drummer Brian broke his ankle. We just waited until the new year — started anew and put the record out then. Before, it took us like three years between records because we were like lazy teenagers. We put a record out and then we would, like, breakup or hang out at the house and watch TV. Nowadays we tour internationally, forever.

MOO: Any film roles since Spirit of ’76?

STEVEN: We’ve laid low in the film department, but during our down time, Jeff, myself, and Reitzell did a cameo spot in Grace of My Heart. We played the Riptides which is Matt Dillon’s band.

MOO: Since you started at such a young age, what do you think of all the young bands out there now?

STEVEN: In England there is a whole teen scene, I think it’s actually called Teen Scene. The band that toured with us there, Midget, they are all like 18 years old. They look like they’re 14. I don’t think any of them shave. They were so much fun to tour with because they were so excited. The singer actually threw up a few times before he went on stage; he was so nervous. They are really precocious – really good musicians. They have really nice guitars and a road crew, that is older than us, polishing their instruments for them. I never felt worthy of having a roadie until I was at least 27, and I still felt guilty.

MOO: I find it exciting to listen to young bands that aren’t jaded by the music industry.

STEVEN: There is definitely an energy, a naivete. If you like to do it, that’s excellent, you’re lucky you have that focus.

MOO: Kind of like Ben Lee.

STEVEN: Ben Lee is a really good songwriter. I met my girlfriend at a Ben Lee show so I have a soft spot for him. He’s a good egg.

MOO: Being such big fans of the 70s, do you and your brother receive strange gifts from fans?

STEVEN: I get groovy clothes and things from fans, but we don’t limit ourselves to just one decade. I do have closets full of polyester, but most of it is still in the closet.

MOO: The most noticeable change in the band is that you and Jeff have cut your trademark long hair.

STEVEN: It’s weird because I cut it two years ago. I guess I haven’t really done anything very high profile in two years, so I’m getting more of a reaction now. I cut it before I went on tour with STP in Europe.

MOO: Really? I didn’t know it was that long ago.

STEVEN: I held out for a long time with the hair trip. But you know what? It was really uncomfortable. I figured I could look fashionable with a shorter hairstyle and still rock.

MOO: If you could trade in all the accolades you’ve received over the years, what would you exchange them for?

STEVEN: What’s the Sinead O’Connor album? I Do Not Want What I Don’t Have. My brother probably daydreams more of champagne wishes and caviar dreams. One of the motivations behind playing music has always been about the “live” thing. One of the things that I always wanted more than a fast car was an opportunity to have an elaborate stage show, put on some ludicrous extravaganza. I don’t know if I’d like to translate all those compliments into record sales, but I wouldn’t mind translating them into a huge gigantic set.

MOO: Lights? Fireworks? That kind of thing?

STEVEN: I remember when we were on the STP tour a couple years ago, Scott was kind of embarrassed because they had a couple of big lava lamps in what was still the grunge era. I was like, “You don’t need to apologize. I mean, shit, if I could do that I would.” I remember Jeff saying, “If I was in that position, I would float into this arena every night on a gigantic vegetarian burger.” We would just fuck it up.