UV Rays play two shows Saturday, July 22, at the Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Avenue, 454-2966. 3 p.m.: Runnamucks (per Wilcox: “totally awesome party thrash”), Hounds of Hell (“sleazy
Guns-n-Stooges”), Bad Taste (“teenagers playing ’80s hardcore classics”) and Radagast (“filthy, crusty
doom”). $7.All ages. | 10
p.m.: Runnamucks,
Teenage Harlets,
and The Secretions. $6.21+.www.myspace.com/uvrays
The best thing ever?
The UV Rays’ new debut CD, Night of the Living Dudes (Garage Pop Records), is a truly tight
and blissfully bloody 12-song punk-rock slamifesto.
With rumbles of Johnny Thunders and exposure to Germs, the UV Rays have evolved
from cocky, shouty brats to cocky, shouty brats who have recorded a CD of anthemic
and trashy thrash. To celebrate the release of Dudes, the UV Rays will attempt not one, but two shows at the Bug
Jar on Saturday, July 22: all-ages ruckus at 3 p.m. followed by 21-and-over
bedlam at 10 p.m.
The trouble is that the notoriously, uh, festive UV Rays —
that’s singer Kevin Wilcox, guitarists Mark Rapone
and Pat Welch, bassist Luke Crozier, and drummer Paul
Pieramico — are often merely shells of their former
husks after just one performance, so I recently grilled Wilcox over, among
other things, the feasibility of this dubious scheme. When the spotlight meets
the stage you’ll find him ricocheting about, flaunting a delicious disrespect
for his own wellbeing. On terra firma, however, Wilcox is startlingly peaceful,
but his baked surfer delivery is at slight odds with the wily smile equatoring his face…
City Newspaper: Do you really think you can pull this
double-show thing off? Seriously.
Kevin Wilcox: We’ve been talking about getting drinking coaches, or should I say mouth
guards, to make sure we don’t go too far. The plan is to not drink until we
start playing the first one. Hopefully between then
and the second time we play we can have a little self-control. But that’s the
beautiful thing. We don’t know; can we make it? Anything could happen. I can’t
wait to see.
How important is it
to the UV Rays that the under-21s be included in the shows?
I think anyone who doesn’t do it is missing out. When we
play for the kids it’s normally way fun. The kids know the words and they sing
along and they run around. That’s the scene I came from. I still feel very much
connected to it, more than the Garage Pop or Bug Jar scene, even though I love
all that. The kids have a lot of passion for the music, and that’s all they’re
into.
So does that mean
that as you stare down 26 you have less passion?
I’m not a typical adult. I think a lot of people grow up and
lose the piss and vinegar. I still feel very full of all of it. The kids are
just realizing there’s all this bullshit out there and they’re pissed off.
People just start to accept it, but I’m going to keep yelling about it as long
as I can.
You’ve got one of those kids [bassist Crozier] in the band now.
He came down and auditioned. He’s the perfect last piece.
He’s 18 and it’s good to have that youth and excitement in the band. It’s also
good to have that 30something knowledge and wisdom. It’s a pretty good mixture
right now.
Was it the vintage
equipment collection that made you want to record with
Dave Anderson at Saxon?
Very much so, yeah. He had all the
old ’70s shit and that’s the kind of sound we wanted; you know, Dead Boys, Ramones. Didn’t really come out like that, though.
Aren’t you happy with
it?
Yeah, it’s radical. Wild guitars, crazy vocals.
It’s probably the best thing ever.
How’d you hook up
with album cover artist Jeff Gaither?
He’s done some of my favorite album covers. I first found
out about him from Accused album covers, and I always thought he was the raddest artist. I looked him up on the internet, told him
what our idea was, and he had a pretty good price, a great hand, so he drew
these wild party zombies. He made us a little logo and everything. Real classy.
The headline of the UV Rays cover story in City two years
ago screamed, “Because they’ve got nothing else.” Is that still true?
Hell, yeah, it’s true. I have less now than I did in that
interview. I got fired since then for making flyers for the band, I’ve worked
harder for the band, and it’s taken more from other facets of life. It’s all we
got. We don’t do it for money. I have to play rock; I like to yell, I like
music.
Ultimately what do
you see for the UV Rays?
I see the UV Rays as one of those bands that 15 or 20 years
after we break up someone will find our album and be like, “This rules!” and we’ll
be totally huge after we’re all dead. I’d like to think otherwise. I guess I’m
just pessimistic. But I’m not letting that hold me back; I’m still going to
press my fuckin’ hardest, ’cause what else do I have?
Um… nothing else? According
to what I read.
Yeah, I read that somewhere, too…
This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2006.
