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Time marches on
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The Night Marchers’ singer/guitarist John Reis should need no introduction. His pedigree speaks for itself—Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From the Crypt, the Sultans and the Hot Snakes, to name just a few. His new joint, the Night Marchers, is perhaps the perfect amalgamation of his illustrious career’s elements, bringing in the stop-on-a-dime dynamics of Jehu, the hooky melodies of Rocket, the angular post-punk of the Hot Snakes and the garage barrage of the Sultans. The Mirror reached to this humble legend by phone at his home in San Diego. Mirror: You’ve consistently toured throughout your career, but you seem to be hitting the road a lot less now. John Reis: I wanted to take a bit of time off, and I had a kid, so I just wanted to spend more time in San Diego. It wasn’t like I was ever going to not make music anymore. I have a real urge to play music and that’s not really something I would want to fight. It’s who I am and what I do. M: A lot of independent labels have really been getting hit hard lately with the fall of a lot of indie distributors. Was there ever a time you thought about folding your label Swami? JR: No, it’s really a labour of love and is really close to my heart. There is no real commercial interest in a label like Swami because it caters to a very specific music fan. Like, as important and magnificent as a band like Crime are, it’s not necessarily going to resound with the majority of the world’s population—which is a good thing. M: Do you find being heralded as an underground rock ’n’ roll legend a bit awkward? JR: No, I just wish it were true (laughs). I guess I get some demos at Swami that have a nod to Rocket or Jehu, and I think that’s kind of cool. I’m grateful that people like the music but I guess that I’m such a superfan of music, that I’m too busy geeking out on other bands to notice other people listening to what I’m doing. M: Do you ever worry about living up to your past with the Night Marchers? JR: Well, I’ve liked everything I’ve done and don’t try and distance myself from it, but I also think what’s done is done. The Night Marchers don’t really feel that different from anything else I’ve done, as far as intent and its approach. We’ve just naturally let the band be its own thing and gain its own momentum. M: You also have a Montreal connection, with CPC Gangbangs bassist Tom Kitsos joining the Night Marchers. JR: Yeah, when I saw CPC Gangbangs, I thought they were the best rock ’n’ roll band happening at the time, so I jumped at the chance of putting their record out on Swami. I would always watch Tom and really like how he anchored the chaos. He fell in love and moved to San Diego, and it was just a great opportunity to play with him. He does these really Canadian things, though, like he gets maple syrup shipped to him and he puts it on everything, and he was really into watching the Canadian Football League version of the Superbowl. I didn’t think anybody watched that. WITH THE SUNDAY SINNERS AND |
