The Chainsaw Kittens' self-titled 1996 album was one of my favorite discs of that year ( it came in at No. 1 on my end of the year "best of" list ) .
Songs such as the raucous "Dorothy's Last Fling," "Heartcatchthump," "Tongue Trip," the brutal "Mouthful Of Glass" ( which addressed gay bashing ) and the gorgeous "Speedway Oklahoma," were proof that queers ( front-man Tyson Meade is openly gay ) could rock and roll you over better than any straight dude. On The All American ( Four Alarm ) , their sensational new album, Meade still tackles difficult subjects ( the opening track "Light" begins with a reference to an "abortion clinic bomb" and says, "Sometimes we go on/when it's all gone wrong" ) , but he does it in such a way as to make the listener comfortable, but aware. On "John Wayne," Meade sings "John Wayne hates gays," in one of the most friendly piano and drum settings you've ever heard. "All American Wiggle Wiggle" sounds like these cats have been listening to their Sleater-Kinney and "Hedonist" has a downright disco beat. Speaking of beats, the album closes with the cover-tune medley of "We Got The Beat"/"Nightclubbing," claiming the songs like their favorite scratching post.
Gregg Shapiro: Can you say something about your involvement in the founding of Chainsaw Kittens?
Tyson Meade: I was, I guess, the founding member. I wanted a band that would perform my songs. There have been quite a few personnel changes since the band formed. Everyone, except for me, was in high school. I liked the idea of having these young, teenagers playing my songs. That was how the band formed. That was 1989.
GS: How did you come up with Chainsaw Kittens as a name for the band?
TM: I wanted something that had a yin/yang quality. Something that, separately, the two words were different. And a name that could easily be a b-movie or a comic book. I liked the name "kittens" because all of the guys were really young. "Chainsaw" happened because the guitarist and ( the man responsible for ) the sound of the guitar in the Kittens had kind of a chainsaw quality. ... In Oklahoma, there's nothing to do. That's why there are such odd bands like us and The Flaming Lips, and now The Starlight Mints. It's so boring there. I mean, it's really great because everybody has really great friends. I live in New York City now, but the band is still in Oklahoma. You can form something there ( in Oklahoma ) , and not be under the looking glass that you would be if you were in L.A. or New York or any major city.
GS: What was being gay like in Oklahoma?
TM: I never really thought about it so much. When we first started out, we would dress outrageously going to the grocery store or to get beer. I had bleach blonde hair and looked like Faye Wray or something. I wore tons of make-up and platforms ( shoes ) and thought it was New York in 1972 or '73. I was such a kid about it—"I can do anything." A few times, rednecks or goat-ropers thought differently and I got my butt kicked, which wasn't so good. But, I want to amend that by saying that Norman ( Oklahoma ) is a university town and the odd thing about it is that even though we were flamboyant, the fraternity and sorority kids instantly embraced the Kittens, which I thought was very brave. A lot of times, fraternities get a bad rap, and they kind of helped ( the band ) . We didn't play fraternity parties or anything, but they would come to our shows and really have a good time.
I left Oklahoma about three years ago. I stayed in Atlanta for a couple of years. I've been here ( in New York ) for a year. About four years ago, or so, we were on Scratchie, the label that the ( James Iha and D'Arcy of ) the ( Smashing ) Pumpkins started, and that all went out the window, and turned into kind of a sour deal. I went back to school in Oklahoma to finish my degree, and the Kittens became more of a pastime than a full-time thing. When I finished my degree, I was like, "I don't want to stay and just be a local from now on." I'd always wanted live in other parts of the country. First, I moved to Atlanta, and hung out with one of my best friends that lives there. Then I had the chance to move to New York. A friend had a sublet in the East Village and said it was really cheap. I was like, "I'd be crazy not to move to New York," because I'm getting this place for a third of what it would rent for. It's a dump, but it's right in the East Village, and it's right where all the action is. Right now, it's really exciting to be in New York City. I wanted to leave because I wanted to get to the point where I would really miss Oklahoma. It sounds really cliché, but there are all these really magical things to me about Oklahoma, and I'll probably wind up back there. There's a large gay population and it's cheap to live there.
GS: Are you finding a lot of music opportunities?
TM: There are. It's so weird, because I got here and I don't even network like I could. I just kind of do my thing. When I got here, I immediately started playing coffeehouses, and then at the same time I became involved with the Losers' Lounge, which is a collection of musicians that do these tribute nights.
GS: You mentioned that your experience with Scratchie Records was not good.
TM: It started as this thing where D'Arcy and James really loved our band and wanted to help us. They were doing so well. They wanted the best for us, but then people outside of their control and the powers that be at Mercury ... at the same time, when they put our album out, Mercury and the Polygram Corp. put out like 250 other albums that year, so you had to have a bullet by your record on the chart for it to get any kind of attention.
GS: In 1996, the same year the self-titled Chainsaw Kittens disc came out, you released a solo album.
TM: There was this label in Seattle that an old friend of mine started. She's the one who moved to Atlanta that I moved in with there. She had always loved the Kittens and anything I'd done. Now her label, Echo Static, has put out the soundtracks to the last couple of Hal Hartley movies. She said she would love for me to do a solo record, and I was like, "That would be a fun thing." It's a little low-key, I guess. With the Kittens, it's me and Trent and we make decisions kind of equally. Matt and Eric are very supportive of whatever I want. The Kittens have this really great relationship. I wanted to do a record where it was just me, where I could more or less, afterwards have the confidence that I could do it without using anyone as a crutch. Basically, I wrote a bunch of songs. There's one of them that the Kittens do that they like that they wanted to do live. But it's more acoustic and found sounds.
GS: The newest Kittens album, The All American ( Four Alarm Records ) , like its precursor, is also on a record label based in Chicago. Can you please tell me something about the dedication for the "All American Wiggle Wiggle," which reads: "for and about the gymnasts ( they know who they are! ) "?
TM: ( Laughs ) It's kind of a homoerotic joke, of sorts. When I was back in school, I became friends with the gymnasts at the University of Oklahoma. They're the sweetest guys. A couple were here visiting the other night. We went out drinking and I don't remember anything past the third martini, but I think we had a good time ( laughs ) . They got into the Kittens and I met them and I would go to their meets. Last year, they were second in the nation. I actually got the name from them, because some of them are actually All-Americans. My friend Todd Bishop, who does the high bar—it's magic to watch him. When he does his routine it's one of the most amazing things because it looked like he was flying. He broke a school record and then he broke his own record and got perfect tens at this one meet. For a little bit, he was in the limelight. The song "All American Wiggle Wiggle" is kind of about him getting all this attention and I'm like his friend. I was kind of like a demented water boy in the situation in the song. The tack-on part at the end is this homoerotic gymnast fantasy. I think they get a big kick out of it because they think I'm out of my mind.
GS: Another amazing song on the disc is "John Wayne Hates Gays." Is that in response to the murder of Matthew Shepard?
TM: That one specifically is. We did the basic tracks and the writing of the songs within a week. A week before we started writing, my mother had an unexpected heart attack and passed away. "John Wayne...," and "Light" and "The Treasure Is Love," and a lot of the album is just me going through that.
My mom and I were really close. She'd come to Kittens shows and when I had my first band she came to most of our shows. We did everything together. It was really rough. I think ( the album ) came out really positive, instead of, "everything sucks." With "John Wayne Hates Gays," it was Matthew Shepard. It was so hard losing my mother, but then for his mother to lose him, and you see that picture of him. It's just mortifying to think about. I wrote it, really, for his mom. I'd eventually like to maybe get a copy to her. What spurred the whole song is that I was watching television with a friend, and he said, "It's a John Wayne movie," and I said, "I fucking hate John Wayne. He's a misogynist and a homophobe." In all of his movies, he slaps women around. He was like the poster-boy of abuse to women. It just opened a floodgate. The next morning I had the song "John Wayne Hates Gays."
GS: What can people expect to hear during your performance at the Queer Is Folk Festival?
TM: It'll be a good mix, probably. There'll be a couple of new songs and quite a few Kittens songs. I have the songs from my solo record that I'll probably play too. It'll be kind of across the board.
GS: One very cool aspect of the show is that you will be sharing the headliner position with Grant Hart. Have you ever met him?
TM: I never have. It will be exciting because they ( Grant's former band Husker Du ) were so influential on everything that came after them. It will be very exciting to meet him.
