Interviews

The Rum Diary

Interview by Melissa Wong

   Named after a Hunter S. Thompson novel about alcoholism and a twisted love story taking place during the 1950s in Puerto Rico, the members of The Rum Diary and the novel have only two things in common: their name and their purpose. Although it was started in 1959, the novel was only recently published. Many critics have said that it was not one of Thompson's best works (such as FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS), but that it was important because it was simple and honest. This can also be said of The Rum Diary's music. Instead of planning to amaze the music world with a new music trend, The Rum Diary opted to do what it does best: perfect simplicity, one note at a time.

    I spoke with bassist Jon Fee about many topics, including his love for Neil Young, his weird French neighbors...oh, yeah—and The Rum Diary's December 2003 release, POISONS THAT SAVE LIVES.

SKRATCH: First of all is it The Rum Diary or just Rum Diary?
FEE: Yeah, it's The Rum Diary. Thanks for asking. I think you're actually the first person to ask or clarify that. We chose the name during the time that Joe was reading [the novel].

SKRATCH: Who is in the band, and what do they do?
FEE: I'm Jon Fee, and I play the bass guitar and sing; Daniel Mckenzie plays guitar, bass, and sings; Schuyler Feekes plays the farfisa organ, the drums, and percussion; and Joe Ryckebosch plays the drums.

SKRATCH: How long has TRD been around?
FEE: It'll be four years in February.

SKRATCH: Same line-up and everything?
FEE: Yeah, same line-up. I mean, I don't think we could have a line-up change. We've all talked about it, and I think as a group decision. What we have right now works well together. And if there [were to be] any line-up change, it just wouldn't be the same.

SKRATCH: That's awesome. Congratulations. Not a lot of bands these days are able to do that. Where are you guys from?
FEE: Cotati, which is an hour north of San Francisco. We got together during college. Cotati is a smaller town. I mean, it has this big accordion festival, and, like, eight bars. There isn't much going on…oh, and like two stoplights.

SKRATCH: [Laughs] Awww, I'm sure that's lovely. Two stoplights? Wow, that must be tiny. [Laughs] Tell me about your new release, POISONS THAT SAVE LIVES.
FEE: Well, the street date is December 8th, but somehow it made its way to college radio, and it's getting a lot of circulation already.

SKRATCH: What did you enjoy about creating this album?
FEE: Well, there wasn't anything too exciting. [Laughs] I mean, the only thing different is that we were like "We're going to record an album" versus "Hey, we're writing a bunch of songs that people just wanted to hear"—by collaborating it for a certain type of listener. I mean, it's not meant to be perfected for the public radio, 'cause we don't give a shit about that. But this time we got to goof around. I think the new release does a much better job of defining the direction we were moving in [i.e., as opposed to the first album].

SKRATCH: What is in your CD player right now?
FEE: Hmmm. It's definitely an odd collection. I'll look in my car right now. [A garage door opens and then a car door opens] Okay, [I'm] back. I have Elliott Smith's EITHER/OR, The Smiths' GREATEST HITS, Led Zepplin's PHYSICAL GRAFFITI, American Analog Set's older album GOLD BAND, and our friends from the Desert City Soundtrack's new FUNERAL CAR.

SKRATCH: What shoes do you wear? [Laughs] Sorry, but I must know.
FEE: [Laughs] Hmmm…. Well, I have a pair of black high-tops—the Converse standard, I suppose. I mean, whatever's on sale. None of us are picky with our shoes. [Laughs] Yeah, we're not exciting dressers. [Weird noise in background]

SKRATCH: Um…
FEE: You're probably wondering what that noise is. Can you hear it?

SKRATCH: Yeah. It sounds like crying and laughing at the same time. [Laughs]
FEE: Yeah, well…um, we have these new neighbors, and they're French. [Pause] You're not French, are you?

SKRATCH: Nope: pretty Chinese, as far as I know. [Laughs]
FEE: Okay, well, it's weird. There's this little kid next door, and when he's crying or whatever he's doing, I can never tell if he's sad-crying or laughing hysterically. He sounds like a siren, sort of.

SKRATCH: [Laughs]
FEE: I don't know. He just makes these weird noises. I know he's not singing. [Laughs] Or maybe I'm wrong.

SKRATCH: [Laughs] That's so weird. Okay, back to questions. What will TRD be doing in 2004?
FEE: Well, actually, have you heard of The Kilowatthours? They're from Brooklyn, and one of our drummers, Joe, is a huge fan of theirs. Well, to make a long story short, KWH toured the West Coast, and since we love them, we added them to our shows. Luckily, they loved us, too. [Laughs] Tomorrow we're recording four brand new-new-new songs to do a split with them, and they're doing the same. Hopefully it will be out by March of 2004. It's really exciting to meet up with bands you admire and [have them] say, "Hey, let's record a split together."

SKRATCH: Alright, so tell me about your NOISE PRINTS release in 2002 (your first full-length on Substandard Records) and some other releases.
FEE: The first record was a collection of two years' worth of our random recordings. They were all good tracks that we liked, but they didn't fit together.

SKRATCH: Kind of like a portfolio, like a compilation of your best stuff (even though they don't share a relative idea).
FEE: Yeah, exactly that! If it was a song we wanted to play live or one we liked just because of the way it sounded, we'd keep it on the record. Oddly enough, the record did really well, and it is still doing really well. As far as other releases go, we're on a few Substandard Records compilations, we have a limited-edition 7" split with Desert City Soundtrack called MILEAGE and a five-song EP from October 2002 called A KEY TO SLOW TIME.

SKRATCH: Where have you guys toured?
FEE: You know, we've pretty much been on the West Coast. I mean, we've also been to Montana and Utah and around that area. Those were lengthy tours. Our tour schedule will probably change next year, because we would like to head out to Chicago. Definitely.

SKRATCH: I bet it's a pain to tour with two drum sets. Don't most bands have a "band wagon" or mini-van or trailers and other various instrument-transporting devices?
FEE: [Laughs] We have a van, but yeah, it is definitely a pain sometimes. I mean, we have two drum sets, one organ, tons of smaller instruments, and it just takes a long time to set up. We also have a LCD projector that [we use] while we are playing. I mean, it takes us at least a half-hour to set up. And, you know, most venues today are adapted to the typical retro-garage band set-ups, where everyone just plugs stuff in and plays. I mean, with us, sometimes they just don't tolerate it. They're like, "Jesus, you guys were supposed to be playing 20 minutes ago." I mean, I hate sounding like a snob, but for us to have one show, it amounts to two-three shows for another band. If anything, having more equipment and set-up is one disadvantage about this band.

SKRATCH: Have you read any books lately?
FEE: Books, lots of books. I'm reading HIGH FIDELITY.

SKRATCH: The book that turned into the movie with John Cusack in it?
FEE: Yeah. The first 50 pages is just like the movie, but after that it's pretty entertaining. [It's] very funny, and I definitely recommend it. Oh, and I also just read SHAKEY, the biography of Neil Young. It was really good. It talks in detail about his recording process and how he was inspirationally split between his like for music of the '60s and the '70s folk movement; and the influence of Bob Dylan, how [Young] really wanted to rock, but it came out more of like a dirty rock. I mean, come on, he is the "Godfather of Grunge." You know his song, "Cinnamon Girl"?

SKRATCH: [Laughs] Of course! Type O Negative did a cover of that in the '90s. What about Young's live shows?
FEE: He has a great live show! We need to see more of that.

Thank you, Jon, for taking the time to speak with me. Get the new record and check out track 2, "Say Goodbye to Yourself". It's good.

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