CRAILTAP 4: Interview

Larson:Please state your name, age and occupation.

Andy Jenkins, 12. I used to wield
the thunderstick, now I tinker.

Larson: This is an interview centered around a band that you were part
of and which subsequently became semi-legendary in certain circles.
What details can you give about the whole formation and history of
MILK?

Andy: Semi?

Larson: Forgive
me....Ultra-legendary.....Was it a situation where you
sat and decided, " Ok, let's rock, dear friends"? Or was it more of a
revelation? Like, " Whoa, I'm in a band and stuff...?

Andy: We were all friends just goofing off in a spare bedroom of a
house in Redondo Beach.

Sounds glamourous, eh? We sucked pretty bad, but we practiced and
jammed a lot and so, I guess we got a little better. I don't know
though, you should hear some of the practice tapes.

Larson: I need to hear that. I've told you this before, but at the
time that Blind's Video Days came out my friend's and
I were listening to your tape heavily. I lived with Tod Swank and he
had a copy of it and we would always ask " Where did you get that? Who is this? ", and he would act real cool and say " Oh, it's this band
called MILK, they're rad ". He would never give us a copy though, so we
would go search for it at record shops. Never to any avail however.
Mysterious. Did you guys play any shows? Best show? And, who were youguys listening to at the time?

Andy: We did plays shows, that's about all we did besides practice
and record a 4 (or 5?) song demo at a place in LA called the DEMO
PLANT. The engineer/owner was all coked up and just jagged. I'm not
sure that comes out in the sound, though. We listened to everything
from the Crue to Einsturzende Naubauten. But none of it came through in the music... about the only thing we remotely sounded like was
Thelonious Monster, because Jeff (Tremaine, the singer) was heavily
into Bob Forrest and Mike Mart. He sounded so much like Forrest to me,
it was eerie. Jeff used to show me a video he'd made as a teenager of
Thelonious Monster in his basement playing pool. How he got them over
to his house, I still don't know.

Shows... ah, we played in a house in San Diego with Swank's band,
Crankshaft, once. The place got destroyed. I have no idea who lived
there. Another time we played in the bottom of a half-pipe at a break
in a freestyle BMX contest. We played on a floating raft at the River,
under a bridge in LA. Then we played in Afagahnastan for that one
benefit... I forget.

Larson: If I remember right, the benefit was for the
preservation of the Gas Pigeon...I remember seeing the flyer for it.
That's totally noble. Life is wierd isn't it? You guys were just this
band having fun and it hit a chord in people back then and it's still
pervasive. Which leads me to MILK's current phantom status. What's the
deal with the MTV Jackass soundtrack?....Milk rears it's head, no?

Andy: Yes indeed, it's ugly 12-year-old head. You know that stuff
was recorded about 12 years ago, right? Rest assured that we 30
somethings from MILK will NOT reunit to "rock".

But this business of the JACKASS SOUNDTRACK...you could call our
participation in it nepetism, if you like. Tremaine, the former singer,
is the producer, THE ASS, if you will, behind Jackass. But I do always
hear stories about skaters hunting for "that song that from Jason Lee's
part" and buying some shit band from England (also named Milk) instead. Call it what you might-nepetism, cult song-but yeah, "The Knife Song" is on the JACKASS SOUNDTRACK. [due out on Interscope in April 01] and my rocker dream has come true-the Minutemen are also on the CD. But then, so is Eminem and Marilyn Manson. Which means KIDS WILL BUY IT, eh? So we're going to be rich, and I'm going to smash my bass into a million pieces and live happily ever after.

Long live the Gas Pigeon

Larson: If you get rich from MILK, I will forever be religious
because it means that there is a God...the ultimate redemption for the
crap we've had to suffer and prevail over. How important is music to
you now? On a daily basis and on the large scale?

Andy: Well, I don't really play anymore except in the bathroom when
my kid is taking a bath. We sing goofy songs together like The Chicken
Song or our version of the Digimon theme. He's a good singer. In the
house we always have the CD player on and Emmet gets to listen to all
kinds of stuff. But never Milk. Although he's pretty stoked that dad's
going to be on a CD.

On a larger scale, I think music is probably the most inspirational
in-source for me. No matter what medium I end up using to create
stuff---words or drawings or interprative dance, whatever... music goes
directly to the creative blood stream. It's always been that way for
me.

Larson: Is there a different process for coming up with
music ideas than there is for coming up with your " tinkering " ideas,
as you call it? What I'm getting at is, at some point you stopped
looking to music "making" as a creative outlet and I'm wondering if you
became alienated from the process or the result or both? I take being
in even just a garage band very seriously, which is why I'm curious
about this.

Andy: Well, I didn't really stop looking at the making-of-music as
a creative outlet, I was just forced to stop at some point and say,
"shit, I'm just trying to do too much... I have to stop doing some
things." It got to the point where I just felt like I was doing a lot
of things at about 90% and that was depressing. So I really started to
concentrate on just a few modes of "tinkering" and music making sort of
just fell out. But I do really miss playing with other people and
messing around with demo recordings. That's why I love what you and
Michael [Leon] have been doing in the Commonwealth studios. DIY. It's
the best, most pure form of music... that or live shows.

When we did Milk, we did take it serious and I was actually probably
too serious. I remember just getting super nervous recording-like it
had to be perfect. I think I'd do the whole process a little
differently if I were doing it now, at my age. I was about 25 then.
Easy agitated and constantly moving, like a rain dog or something.

Larson: That's a great analogy....You mentioned your
son Emmet, and I think that mentioning kids is a good place to wrap
this up....I feel strongly about approaching the purity of thought
that kids inherently possess, and trying to tap into their energy and
creativity. What do you feel about that? What has Emmet taught you in
your "tinkering"?...Even in skating, it's hard to deny that the kids
are putting it down, daily...

Andy: Emmet's taught me a whole new (relearned?) way to look at
things.With young kids the best thing is seeing through their eyes.
Fresh outlooks. Original viewpoints. They will do and say unexpected
things and not worry about what people think. So there is absolutely no
pretention. Nothing contrived. That's excellent. Pure. Hopefully, as
humans we learn to regain that during our lifetimes. I think it's
possible.

With my son, I rarely try to guide his creativity, I figure it's best
just to give him the tools and let him go off-as long as they're not
sharp-and invariably, he asks me to join in and that's the moment I
look for. Freedom.

MILK was Jeff Tremaine (vocals), Mark Lewman (guitar), Andy Jenkins
(bass), R.L. Osborn (drums), Kelley Jenkins (saxophone).


Kelley Jenkins on sax and Jeff Tremaine at the mic. Behind Kelley is Lew, behind Jeff is sit-in guitarist and old-school ripper, Roger Bridges.
Larson:Please state your name, age and occupation. Andy Jenkins, 12. I used to wield the thunderstick, now I tinker. Larson: This is an interview centered around a band that you were part of and which subsequently became semi-legendary in certain circles. What details can you give about the whole formation and history of MILK? Andy: Semi? Larson: Forgive me....Ultra-legendary.....Was it a situation where you sat and decided, " Ok, let's rock, dear friends"? Or was it more of a revelation? Like, " Whoa, I'm in a band and stuff...? Andy: We were all friends just goofing off in a spare bedroom of a house in Redondo Beach. Sounds glamourous, eh? We sucked pretty bad, but we practiced and jammed a lot and so, I guess we got a little better. I don't know though, you should hear some of the practice tapes. Larson: I need to hear that. I've told you this before, but at the time that Blind's Video Days came out my friend's and I were listening to your tape heavily. I lived with Tod Swank and he had a copy of it and we would always ask " Where did you get that? Who is this? ", and he would act real cool and say " Oh, it's this band called MILK, they're rad ". He would never give us a copy though, so we would go search for it at record shops. Never to any avail however. Mysterious. Did you guys play any shows? Best show? And, who were youguys listening to at the time? Andy: We did plays shows, that's about all we did besides practice and record a 4 (or 5?) song demo at a place in LA called the DEMO PLANT. The engineer/owner was all coked up and just jagged. I'm not sure that comes out in the sound, though. We listened to everything from the Crue to Einsturzende Naubauten. But none of it came through in the music... about the only thing we remotely sounded like was Thelonious Monster, because Jeff (Tremaine, the singer) was heavily into Bob Forrest and Mike Mart. He sounded so much like Forrest to me, it was eerie. Jeff used to show me a video he'd made as a teenager of Thelonious Monster in his basement playing pool. How he got them over to his house, I still don't know. Shows... ah, we played in a house in San Diego with Swank's band, Crankshaft, once. The place got destroyed. I have no idea who lived there. Another time we played in the bottom of a half-pipe at a break in a freestyle BMX contest. We played on a floating raft at the River, under a bridge in LA. Then we played in Afagahnastan for that one benefit... I forget. Larson: If I remember right, the benefit was for the preservation of the Gas Pigeon...I remember seeing the flyer for it. That's totally noble. Life is wierd isn't it? You guys were just this band having fun and it hit a chord in people back then and it's still pervasive. Which leads me to MILK's current phantom status. What's the deal with the MTV Jackass soundtrack?....Milk rears it's head, no? Andy: Yes indeed, it's ugly 12-year-old head. You know that stuff was recorded about 12 years ago, right? Rest assured that we 30 somethings from MILK will NOT reunit to "rock". But this business of the JACKASS SOUNDTRACK...you could call our participation in it nepetism, if you like. Tremaine, the former singer, is the producer, THE ASS, if you will, behind Jackass. But I do always hear stories about skaters hunting for "that song that from Jason Lee's part" and buying some shit band from England (also named Milk) instead. Call it what you might-nepetism, cult song-but yeah, "The Knife Song" is on the JACKASS SOUNDTRACK. [due out on Interscope in April 01] and my rocker dream has come true-the Minutemen are also on the CD. But then, so is Eminem and Marilyn Manson. Which means KIDS WILL BUY IT, eh? So we're going to be rich, and I'm going to smash my bass into a million pieces and live happily ever after. Long live the Gas Pigeon Larson: If you get rich from MILK, I will forever be religious because it means that there is a God...the ultimate redemption for the crap we've had to suffer and prevail over. How important is music to you now? On a daily basis and on the large scale? Andy: Well, I don't really play anymore except in the bathroom when my kid is taking a bath. We sing goofy songs together like The Chicken Song or our version of the Digimon theme. He's a good singer. In the house we always have the CD player on and Emmet gets to listen to all kinds of stuff. But never Milk. Although he's pretty stoked that dad's going to be on a CD. On a larger scale, I think music is probably the most inspirational in-source for me. No matter what medium I end up using to create stuff---words or drawings or interprative dance, whatever... music goes directly to the creative blood stream. It's always been that way for me. Larson: Is there a different process for coming up with music ideas than there is for coming up with your " tinkering " ideas, as you call it? What I'm getting at is, at some point you stopped looking to music "making" as a creative outlet and I'm wondering if you became alienated from the process or the result or both? I take being in even just a garage band very seriously, which is why I'm curious about this. Andy: Well, I didn't really stop looking at the making-of-music as a creative outlet, I was just forced to stop at some point and say, "shit, I'm just trying to do too much... I have to stop doing some things." It got to the point where I just felt like I was doing a lot of things at about 90% and that was depressing. So I really started to concentrate on just a few modes of "tinkering" and music making sort of just fell out. But I do really miss playing with other people and messing around with demo recordings. That's why I love what you and Michael [Leon] have been doing in the Commonwealth studios. DIY. It's the best, most pure form of music... that or live shows. When we did Milk, we did take it serious and I was actually probably too serious. I remember just getting super nervous recording-like it had to be perfect. I think I'd do the whole process a little differently if I were doing it now, at my age. I was about 25 then. Easy agitated and constantly moving, like a rain dog or something. Larson: That's a great analogy....You mentioned your son Emmet, and I think that mentioning kids is a good place to wrap this up....I feel strongly about approaching the purity of thought that kids inherently possess, and trying to tap into their energy and creativity. What do you feel about that? What has Emmet taught you in your "tinkering"?...Even in skating, it's hard to deny that the kids are putting it down, daily... Andy: Emmet's taught me a whole new (relearned?) way to look at things.With young kids the best thing is seeing through their eyes. Fresh outlooks. Original viewpoints. They will do and say unexpected things and not worry about what people think. So there is absolutely no pretention. Nothing contrived. That's excellent. Pure. Hopefully, as humans we learn to regain that during our lifetimes. I think it's possible. With my son, I rarely try to guide his creativity, I figure it's best just to give him the tools and let him go off-as long as they're not sharp-and invariably, he asks me to join in and that's the moment I look for. Freedom. MILK was Jeff Tremaine (vocals), Mark Lewman (guitar), Andy Jenkins (bass), R.L. Osborn (drums), Kelley Jenkins (saxophone).