ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT: John Deaux
by Kurt Orzeck '00, and Matt Ryan '00

Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis has his hands full these days with projects: his new collaborative quartet Hot Snakes, a solo effort entitled Back Off Cupids, and his most veteran act, the aforementioned RFTC. Matt Ryan '00 delves into the musical aspects of Reis's character, while Kurt Orzeck '00 examines the guitarist's not-mutually-exclusive off-stage qualities.

John Reis: The Musician
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say "John Reis"? Speedo, Rocket From the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu? Perfect Sound, Hot Snakes, Back Off Cupids? You will get a wide array of responses if you ask someone that question, which should tell you something about how prolific Reis is. As singer and guitar player in Rocket From the Crypt, he has written, recorded, and produced hundreds of songs over the last ten years. In the early nineties, he also dedicated a few years to blowing minds with his guitar work in Drive Like Jehu. Lately though, his output has drastically declined. Why? Much of it has to do with Rocket From the Crypt signing on Interscope Records. In his words, he and the band were "suffocated for the last two years." "When you make a record for a big label, they expect you to go on tour and sell their product. Which is fine; Rocket From the Crypt is a kick[posterior] touring machine. It’s the one thing we do better than anyone else. But, it doesn’t allow you to practice, write songs, and be that other part of the band. It’s a whole different scenario. There were consequences if we recorded with other people that would have thrown a monkey wrench into other areas of the band. As a result, we didn’t explore what might happen in hopes of keeping everything on the up and up."

Now off Interscope, these days Reis has his hands full again. In February, both the Back Off Cupids and Hot Snakes released records. The Back Off Cupids is essentially Reis gone solo. The record, released on Drunken Fish, culls together songs Reis recorded to eight-track nearly five years ago. The songs move erratically from intricate arpeggiated instrumentals to trashy garage rock, yet manage to sit together nicely in album format. Reis’ signature guitar work and song craftsmanship tie together what initially sounds like a bunch loose ends into a moody and enjoyable record.

Hot Snakes’ Automatic Midnight is a very different sort of record. In many way, the Hot Snakes embodies the freedom and stimulation Reis experienced after Rocket From the Crypt dropped off Interscope. The group may have formed on a whim of Reis and his friend Jason Kourkounis (Delta 72, Mule), but their approach to songwriting is quite seriously. "I think we all wanted to play punk music. I think there is a sense of urgency that must be addressed in punk music today. There is very little good punk music out there right now. To me, punk is more about anything goes and the spirit in which the music is created." Their first release is just the sort of record punk needs right now. Rick Fork’s caustic vocals and Reis’ guitar work will be familiar to Drive Like Jehu fans, but overall Hot Snakes sound is all its own. Keyboards add a spooky rock and roll feel (think Question Mark and the Mysterians) and the lack of bass makes the record slightly uncomfortable (uncomfortable in a good way). Armed with batch of over twenty songs, Hot Snakes will hit the road for the next two months.

After a tour this spring with Hot Snakes, Reis will be back to Rocket from the Crypt. RFTC has already written twenty-plus songs and plans to record forty or so this summer. Now that he is unshackled and moved back into high gear, expect even more great things in the future from Reis.

John Reis: The Man
Musical inspiration can come from a variety of sources — an act, a sound, or an instrument. Inspiration, for Reis, was located in an idea.

"The first thing that was so inspiring was correspondence that I had with kids throughout the world that were in bands and touring and doing their own thing. That was the one element that made me go, ‘[Coitis], I can do it; it’s not as hard as people make it seem. For a long time, recording, being in a band and doing certain things were kept as taboo subjects because no one wanted to expose how easy it is to do this stuff. And how little actual knowledge it takes — it is simple. That really struck me as a powerful thing — self-empowerment — I can do this, I can start up a band and travel around the world and make records and record them myself. And if I don’t like it, I’m accountable only to myself and not to anyone else."

What sparks Reis into action varies, but one of the more inquisitive themes that has surfaced in recent Rocket material is that of animals. From songs about Tarzan and the jungle to the ape graphics on the RFTC CD to lines like "My cheetah don’t know," the latest Rocket material is clearly laced with this "inspiration," as Reis terms it. "I worship animals," he says, "they’re just the coolest things in the world. I feel sorry for them...I think they offer so much inspiration in how cool they look and the way they act and the imagery they instantly can put into someone’s mind. They can represent so many different things."

But of course, inspirational sources surpass those of the animal genre; in fact, the word "inspiration" itself seems to take on a character of its own for Reis. "Who knows when inspiration strikes," he says jokingly. "I’m sure it’s a bit of a cliché, but inspiration comes wherever you look and wherever you want to find it; sometimes it comes from places where you don’t look and it hits you upside the head. It’s just like with any other kind of art —everything you do somehow finds its way into your work...I’m always on the surge of something that makes me feel great, like something new that blows my mind. It’s almost like a drug addiction to a certain degree, where I’m always trying to find the next thing that makes me really happy. Something that I can consume and digest."

All in all, Reis condensces his stance on music in the following statement: "I’m a musically motivated person, so if the ideals and the motivations behind the music are great but the music sucks, I probably wouldn’t still fully give it the attention."

Playing Live
"We’re pretty experienced with a lot of different things. We’ve played pretty much every scenario you can think of. We’ve played outside in a hail storm, we’ve played inside in a living room with ten people and somebody with a knife trying to stab people. We played a barn in Arizona with a wild dog that was biting people. We played on a beach once, with the wind and sand blowing in everybody’s face. We’ve played every kind of [bunion]hole [and] we’ve played a lot of the nicer places. We played parties, festivals in front of 40,000 people, we played live on TV with supposedly a million people watching. After a while, it’s all the same thing. You just gotta feel what you’re doing; feel genuine and enjoy yourself, because the minute you’re done, it’s all the same kind of thing. You just gotta go out there will the same attitude...try to decapitate every mother[coitis] out there."

The Reis Pick of the Month: Ethiopics
Right now, Reis is up to Volume 8 of Buddha Musique’s Ethiopics anthology of Ethiopian music. Each disc highlights a certain period, region, or style of Ethiopian music. He particularly fancies Volume 8, which is comprised of recordings made between 1972 and 1975. During that period, government was in transition and a small window opened up that allowed musicians to play in public without fear of military repression. The recordings made over those three years are exuberant, primal, and raw. While most songs are heavily influenced by 1950s and 60s American soul, R&B, and jazz, they defy any simple categorization. Reis notes the use of middle eastern scales played on traditional African instruments. The combination of styles and instruments is powerful. "It’s like distant voices you hear from taxi cabs in New York. Foreign voices over the loud speakers that sound so distant, transitory, and static-y. Like they are being broadcast from some small pirate radio station. It’s completely foreign to anything else I’ve heard before."