Interview by: Drew Blood & Kevin M.

The vision of Fishbone was born in 1978. Since then, they have released 6 
major albums and have done countless tours. The range in styles that Fishbone 
has covered over the years is quite diverse. Thought of as a Ska or new-wave 
group in the early '80s, they have proved that there is no definition or label 
to put on their style. Their songs range from ska to soul, funk, punk, even to 
(may I say) metal with 1993's "Swim".

The past couple of years hae been very hard on them due to the loss of two of 
their main song writers and them leaving their long-lived Columbia (Sony) Records 
contract. The remaining Fishbone members cam back with a vengeance with their 
1996 Rowdy Records release, "Chim Chim's Bad Ass Revenge".

It's now 19 years since the birth of Fishbone and after all of those records, 
tours and even a few movie appearances, we want to know what is in the future 
for Fishbone. We met with Dirty Walter and Spacey T. from the band befor their 
Aug. 13th show at Liberty Lunch in Austin, TX.

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H-A: Could you tell us the current status of Fishbone?

DW: Right now we are just getting the new guys ready, you know, getting them pumped up.

H-A: Tell us about that.

DW: This is one of them right here Spacey T. on guitar.

ST: What's up y'all? Just following in the footsteps of Kendall and JB. Laying the 
foundation they laid and take it to a new level. 

H-A: So how many members are in the band now?

DW: Now we are back to a 6 piece. We have a new keyboard/trombone player from the Untouchables.

H-A: (To S.T.) Who have you played with?

ST: H.R., a reggae group called Ras Michaels (sic) and some solo stuff.

H.A.: What is going on with Rowdy Records?

DW: Well, we left Rowdy. We did another record that is just kind of sitting there at Rowdy, 
but we had to go 'cause it just wasn't working.

H-A: How did you end up at Rowdy in the first place?

DW: We were just hangin' getting away from the whole Sony thing, winding down from that 
and we had a record we wanted to put out.

H-A: Was the split from Sony Fishbone's choice?

DW: Yeah. It was just a regular record company - artist battle.

H-A: I know that it took a long time between records to come out on Sony. Was it that 
they were hindering the process of getting the music out?

DW: It was like a marriage, just battling back and forth, but still staying.

H-A: Did you have anything to do with "Fishbone 101", which came out on Sony after you left?

DW: That was something that they wanted to do and was partly why we wanted to leave. 
They wanted a "Greatest Hits" record and we said, "We don't have any hits.". There were 
battles and battles and they said they would let us off the label if we gave them two 
cover songs for the greatest hits record. So we did a version of P-Funk's "The Goose", 
which is on there and we did a 15-minute version of "My Ding-A-Ling" which is not.

H-A: How did the "Nutt-Stalk" tour go?

DW: It was good. Just puttin' out a little musical treak, you know?

H-A: How was the "One World" tour with P-Funk, James Brown, De La Soul, and others? 
I hear they are planning another.

DW: I haven't heard anything, you know, I just play gigs.

H-A: Any side projects?

DW: We all have side projects, but putting them out is secondary to Fishbone.

H-A: Any new stuff tonight?

DW: No.

ST: We are working on stuff. We've been working on a ska version of The Rolling Stones' 
"Shattered".

H-A: You guys were really involved in movies for awhile, like appearances in "Back to the 
Beach", "Tapeheads", and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka", and soundtrack appearances like 
"The Last Action Hero" and "The Mask". How did you get involved? Was it through Sony?

DW: No. Most of it was through friends of ours who are directors and actors, who wanted 
us to do certain stuff in the movies.

H-A: You guys are from South Central LA. Do you ever play there? And if so how is the response?

DW: Oh yeah, we play in South Central and Watts. They dig it.

H-A: How does it feel being independant after 13 years of major label affiliation? Are 
there certain freedoms that you are enjoying now that you are your own operation?

DW: That's the way it's always been, but you know, you pay a price for freedom.

H-A: I've noticed, up to a point, that you all were not too vocal on your pro-hemp views. 
Then you were in "High Times", played a show for them and you brought the "Cannabis 
Action Network" on tour with you. When was the point you decided to be vocal?

DW: When we were kids it was hard to say, "LEGALIZE POT!", you know. When we got older 
we kept all our old connections, you know, positive potheads and started campaigning 
and doing everything we can to get that pot legalized. Imprisoning the plant, that's 
ridiculous.

H-A: Can you tell us about the incident with the kid with the Fishbone "Fuck Racism" T-shirt?

DW: Yeah, some kid bought our "Fuck Racism" shirt at a store in a mall and the security 
in that mall would not let him wear the shirt in the mall. Angelo heard about it through 
someone at Sony and went out there with the kid and the story was on the news.

H-A: What do you think caused the slight decline in you fanbase in recent years? You 
were doing big tours for years and now you are playing smaller venues. I personally 
would rather see you here than at like "Lollapalooza" or something like that. Do you 
think it was because you moved to a smaller label?

DW: I think it was a lack of exposure from the higher parties that be, you kno. When you 
get on a record label you expect them to follow through with their commitment and promote 
the band in the right way and at the right venues. When you battle the label about how 
you see yourself promoted, you end up not being promoted at all.

H-A: How did you get your new keyboard player?

DW: We were having fun as a five piece, but we decided to add keyboards back in and 
Anthony was available for work.

H-A: What bands do you all listen to when you are in your bus?

DW: Well, everything, you know, alot of old stuff. P-Funk. You know, the same stuff 
I've listened to since I was a kid.

ST: We listen to funk, reggae, free jazz...

H-A: Is there a band that you have always wanted to tour with?

DW: P-Funk. We have played a couple gigs with them. When you think about P-Funk, you want 
to play with them, you know, the crust, the real shit.

H-A: What do you think of Austin?

DW: Austin is probably the coolest city in Texas. It's "Music City", a real rock and roll town.

H-A: Whos is your favorite band that you've ever toured with?

DW: I don't know. I've done alot of touring. Most of the bands we play with are pretty 
good. Every now and again a weak one will slip in, but for the most part they're all 
cool. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, P-Funk, I could run through all of them.

H-A: When you were doing the "Reality" tour, you did a live Pay-Per-View where Angelo's 
pants were ripped open and his dick came flying out. Was the odd?

DW: Oh, that happens all the time. He jumps out in the crowd, you know, it just happens. 
He wears suit pants without a belt. Sometimes the crowd rips them off, or he will fall 
down, get a hole in them, then rip them apart on stage.

H-A: When Kendall Jones left the band, it was all over the media, but when Chris Dowd 
left, no one knew. Why was that?

DW: Chris didn't try to commit suicide or anything. He wanted to leave the band and we 
wanted him to. An asshole leaving a band - How big of a new story is that?

H-A: Well, I'm glad that you've progressed. There were alot of people who said "they're 
over now" when Kendall and Chris left.

DW: Don't worry about us. We're still here.

H-A: Well, the records are still great. "Chim Chim" is definitely a to-be classic.

DW: Oh yeah man, that's our thing. More classics for people to enjoy, who really enjoy music.