Gore Gore Girls interview

Gore Gore Girls
By Mike Hammer
Sep 1, 2007

To appreciate this music, you have to have a streak of wildness, a fierce independence of spirit, and an absolute belief in the unusual, the strange, the unpredictable, the offbeat, and even the generally unacceptable.” -- Herschell Gordon Lewis


The Gore Gore Girls are a noisy, tight, danceable garage rock quartet. They rock the stage with sweat and sexiness. The Detroit-based band has a bluesy feel that comes right at you and smacks you in the face and it’s obvious that they’re having fun. When Amy Gore climbs up on a stack of amps in her tight white vinyl dress, flashing her gold sequined panties at everybody and smiling intensely with glee, you know you’re watching some rock-n-roll. The Gore Gore Girls just released a new album called “Get the Gore” on Bloodshot Records and they are touring their way around the world right now. Amy Gore took some time to chat with me before a gig in Cleveland…

Mike Hammer: What bands do Amy Gore and the Gore Gore Girls listen to?
Amy Gore: Today in the van we listened to Ike Turner, some French pop and, at home I listened to the Flamin Groovies.
MH:
Tour music is always a variety like that, French pop and instrumentals.
AG:
Yep.
MH:
What else do you do in the van to stay busy?
AG:
Read, make fun of each other, poke fun at everything possible, on tour you just kinda make use of everything you have. I like to read.
MH:
What are you reading right now?
AG:
I'm reading a copy of National Geographic, a book on Karl Marx and Ike Turner's autobiography.
MH:
Ike Turner again huh? What's interesting about Ike Turner that we should know?
AG:
We love his guitar playing and his songs and I like that period of rock n roll, the early '50s, seminal rock n roll, I'm pretty into that.
MH:
And what appeals to you about Karl Marx?
AG:
I don't know if anything does, I just was reading about him, vs. Adam Smith.
MH:
A showdown.
AG:
(Laughs) Yes. Showdown. They had somewhat opposite, not totally opposite, views on economic policies. Karl Marx's theory was basically that capitalism will eventually collapse upon itself and Adam Smith said it won't, it will just keep going. We are seeing right now in American culture, society, whatever you wanna call it, that big business seems to be taking over. A prosperous model of successful economic structure would be based on a lot of small business working together. But, capitalism itself gives way for larger businesses and companies to take over.
MH:
So, did Karl Marx convince you? Do you think capitalism is gonna collapse on itself?
AG:
I don't know.
MH:
We are kinda reaching -- we are past it actually -- the historic 200 year empire mark - Rome and most of the big empires only lasted about 200 years before they collapsed.
AG:
It's remarkable that, the '30s were not that long ago and this country went through a terrific depression, and that's really not that long ago. Then we had credit and Social Security to get us out of it -- those are fairly new ideas and concepts, in comparison to the rest of history. The state that our country and our culture is in now, privatization is kind of running rampant and I do think that big companies are kinda ruining things. And they’re getting too big. There was a period in this country where the majority of people worked for themselves. You had the butcher in town, the farmer, the blacksmith, the schoolteacher, whatever, and now you’ve got people who are struggling to get and maintain jobs for big corporations and I wonder if that’s a good thing. I don’t really think it is. I think that society is moving away from human contact. Even knowing where their food comes from and where their shoes are mad… I mean, you know where they’re made, they’re made in China… With the way things are going and the way things have changed so much you can’t afford to buy American made anything. Because the cost of the wages, or the cost of the labor is crazy, but….we’re getting away from our main point, which is I’m playing at the Beachland Ballroom tonight in Cleveland.
MH:
What point? What? It's an interview, that's the point. To get you to talk about all kinds of stuff.
AG:
I don't have any answers.
MH:
What about the trade barter system? You give me a song and I'll give you a story.
AG:
I don't know. We're off the gold standard supposedly. So how do we even value our money? If the dollar represents something and we're taking away that something, what the fuck, what are we doing?
MH:
And now that we have the Euro which is becoming more valuable than the dollar, what's gonna happen?
AG:
The Gore Gore Girls toured Scandinavia right after 9/11 and when we showed them the dollars, to exchange the dollars, the people behind the glass were laughing at us.
MH:
Because it was worth so little or what?
AG:
It was Denmark, one of the Scandinavian countries, and they were enjoying the fact that this prosperous country, that, supposedly America is the best and No. 1 and all that but the dollar had fallen.
MH:
So you saw some of the ugly side of the European people over there?
AG:
Oh yeah, each time I've been over there, It's funny how musically we're really well received, I would say even more attentively than in America, but politically we're berated. We would play a show, I would find this a lot, that after the show people would come up to us and talk and be really positive about the music and the style, and really into artistically what was going on with us, but then they would shift to calling us out on our foreign policy and the Gulf War and this, that and the other.
MH:
Because you were from the U.S. you were a representative of our the U.S. flaws?
AG:
Yeah. We were there and I guess we were considered traveling statesmen.
MH:
Do you feel like a traveling statesmen? Do you think about, and do you try to represent the U.S. when you tour to other countries?
AG:
I guess, I don't know. I don't know what to say about that. I don't know what's going to happen. I think it's important for Americans to travel and be aware that there are other customs and cultures and languages. I think a lot of people in this country, we have it so good here, things are wrong, things need to be adjusted, but we have it so good here compared to other parts of the world. You can't expect everyone to speak English and everyone to know what a hamburger is and everyone to wait on you hand and foot. We in this country enjoy a special kind of service standard here, and it's pretty gross.
MH:
Do you have a favorite other part of the world?
AG:
I love Austria, Vienna, Austria, I love Mexico City, I love Stockholm it's gorgeous, Denmark was amazing, Spain Is a whole different world I love it there.
MH:
Have you learned any other languages?
AG:
I know a little, like travelers Spanish. Mas Cervas…
MH:
I do think it's unfortunate that we don't put an emphasis on learning languages In the U.S. But, you said the music translated well?
AG:
Yeah. I would say most places outside of this country, of America, have a ….I would say their palette is more well tuned for art. I think art in general, from a laymen's point of view, from my point of view, I would say that people are more receptive to art as a staple in their life, versus American culture is more about making money, in general. Making money, status, this that and the other, but it's pretty weak, pretty shallow. However when you tour different countries you see, people have a different respect for art and they have a longer attention span, and they're really interested in what you have to say. I think it's a sad commentary on this country, how, John Lennon was shot, the fact that somebody would shoot a rock musician, people would probably do it now, as a gangland thing, but not to hurt culture and hurt people. We don't have any John Lennon's right now. I would say Jack White is probably the closest thing, but he's not political. I think artists are really the keepers of everything, because art is everything, it's politics, it's economics, it's spirituality, it's aesthetics and you're life is nothing without that really. You just have your job and your fancy car and your TV set and it's a pretty weak, it's a pretty sad existence.
MH:
I lived in New Orleans for a couple years
AG:
How was that?
MH:
Great, great city, but I had to move around when Hurricane Katrina hit. Down there I had a friend, who grew up in Ohio and owned a PR firm in New Orleans and used to say in most of the United States people live to work, but in New Orleans people work so that they can live. Is that you're whole goal, and the goal of the Gore Gore Girls?
AG:
Yeah. I pretty much get by to do my art and do this band. Otherwise I'd have a 9-to-5 job, which would suck. What I see is people working eight and 12 hours a day and they're just getting by, they're just chasing their tails, there's a huge disparity, I'm not saying anything groundbreaking here, I'm just telling you what I observe, there's a gigantic disparity between the rich and the poor and it's getting to a point where I think the middle class is definitely disappearing and you have people working all these hours at these jobs, and what are they doing. I don't want to exist I want to live.
MH:
You want to leave a mark after you're gone.
AG:
I already have.
MH:
You don't think everyone does?
AG:
I think people do too different degrees.
MH:
Are you happy so far with the mark you've left?
AG:
You know, you kinda have to look at that in different ways, cause what I'm doing involves communication and people's perception of me. And what someone writes, or their interpretation of my music or of me is what's gonna be left. So, it's kind of like I can do what I want, but someone's perception of me is really what's gonna be left. Which, I have no control over.
MH:
Alright, well let's switch gear to the latest album from the Gore Gore Girls, Get the Gore, something you did have control over. Gore Gore Girls took it's name from an old slasher flick right?
AG:
Yes, from a Herschell Gordon Lewis film. He's considered the Godfather of gore, he created a genre of film, that's really gory, lots of blood and special effects, he created that genre. The movie Gore Gore Girls was his last movie, made in 1972 and I'm a big fan of Herschell Gordon Lewis in general, I think he's a brilliant man. I took the name of the movie because, at the time I started the band it seemed like a good mix of what I was into, '60s and '70s culture, yet I liked darker music, Black Sabbath or, innocent music but something with a little edge to it, you know. I really like how Herschell, when he approached movies he just went for it. He pretty much had no budget. He had a lot to do with the films. Not only did he direct them, he wrote some of the music for them, he was an all around D.I.Y. exploitation filmmaker.
MH:
He did liner notes for Get the Gore, how did that come about?
AG:
He did contribute liner notes, much to my absolute delight. I had written to him, I correspond with him. He's incredibly gracious. I took the name for the band without consulting him. I wrote him through e-mail, he has a Web site, and he was incredibly gracious and really well versed and great to talk to and he was kind enough to contribute liner notes.
MH:
What did you talk about with him?
AG:
We really didn't talk about much. It was a very short conversation and I sent him the rough tracks for this album, un-mastered versions, cause I kinda wanted his input. I asked him what he thought about them and would he write something about them and he respond, with I think three pages…
MH:
How did the record come about?
AG:
Well, the band in name, with me as the main songwriter has four releases, three records and one EP, and our latest record is our first full-length album, there are 13 songs on it and it was recorded up at Jim Diamond's studios up in Detroit, at Ghetto Recorder studios, the songs were recorded in two different sessions, one from April 2004 and one from September 2006.
MH:
So it took a while for this recording to come together.
AG:
The EP was self released, I put it out, then we went searching for a label and we talked to a number people and Bloodshot Records was the most natural fit for us.
MH:
You're the songwriter. What is your writing process?
AG:
They just come to me. I'm of the belief that songs come from a place and we are simply conductors of them and the melodies and the lines just kinda come to me and I write them. Usually motion is involved, if I'm traveling a lot or doing a lot of work then I'll get hit with a bunch of ideas.
They just come fast. The best songs for me, are written, they're just in my head and they come out. Although we did do a co-write with Kim Fowley (creator of the all girl band The Runaways and a songwriter for Kiss and others) on this record and he wrote some lyrics for me for two songs and Hammer and I had some songs ready to go, we just didn't have any lyrics. And one of the songs, just the phrasing and everything fit perfectly. That song was called the "Pleasure Unit." So I'm pretty excited to have a co-write credit with Kim Fowley.
MH:
Well, Fowley, Herschell Gordon Lewis, what else is special about this record?
AG:
I think it's varied, there are a lot of different stuff on it. When you have an album it's kinda like a painting, it's gotta have all the right elements to it, be framed the right way and displayed the right way, and I think the content of the songs, them being different from each other is interesting. And I like the way it was recorded, I like the way it sounds.
MH:
It does kinda have a nice big, swanky, rock-n-roll sound to it.
AG:
I like that. Big, swanky, rock n roll sound, that's great. Can I quote you on that?
MH:
You sure can. Were you going for that sound?
AG:
Yeah. I operate within my means and I always have recorded with Jim, and I wouldn’t mind doing all the Gore albums with him. It will keep the sound a certain way. Because a lot of times, you'll hear a bands first record, you'll love it, you'll follow them, you watch them get bigger and you get to like their 3rd record and it's different. I don't know that I want to do that. I like my sound, I like where it's at and I'm happy with my product now.
MH:
Are you happy with the all female, kickass band. It's kind of a novelty act setup right. You designed it this way apparently, but there are a lot less, percentage wise, successful all girl bands. So is it a challenge?
AG:
It was my concept to do an all girl band, and based on the name it came together that way.
MH:
Do you see it as a problem being in an all girl band
AG:
It has been a challenge for sure. But I've always maintained an all female cast with a couple exceptions, but 95% of this band has been always been all girl. If I thought it was that much of a problem I wouldn't do it.
MH:
But you don't think the Gores are viewed as a novelty act, you haven't perceived that? I know, whether it's right or wrong, sometimes I view an all girl act as a novelty, gimmicky, approach.
AG:
Are there any bands, that you think are all guy bands, that you think are novelty?
MH:
Sure. Like Backstreet Boys or even The Hives with their look and image, or, they're not all guys, but The White Stripes that kinda have a novelty kinda look.
AG:
What makes them novelty, to you?
MH:
They definitely have an image that they're looking to portray, and they work to sell the image as much as the music.
AG:
So in your perception if a band has an obvious stylized look that could contribute to them being a novelty?
MH:
Sure. Sometimes. Yes. You don't feel that way?
AG:
I don't think the White Stripes are novelty. I think they're too big to be novelty. The guy's played with Bob Dylan on stage, he's won five Grammy's. Fuckin' A.
MH:
Have you ever looked at any band as a novelty act?
AG:
Like, '80s cover bands to me or novelty or a Halloween band to me is a novelty, something high camp. I don't consider the Gores to be a novelty act, we work too hard and we're too much of a legitimate rock band. We're traveling in a van, we play our own instruments, we play old amplifiers, nobody tells us what to do and we pound the pavement and I think novelty sounds small and unimportant. And we're not small and we're not unimportant.
MH:
When I say novelty I think more unique.
AG:
Yeah, unique for sure, we are. I would say.
MH:
Was image important when you put the band together?
AG:
Sure.
MH:
Is image more important or the music?
AG:
You listen to the record and you tell me. You can answer that question.
MH:
Again. This is an interview about your thoughts. When you made the record were you thinking about balancing image and music?
AG:
I didn't think about it, I just made music.
MH:
Well, on the image kick, tell me about the cover art image on Get the Gore.
AG:
The cover photo, those were some Italian Go-go boots that I got In a thrift store In L.A., and that's the bottom of a picture of me that our Web designer used for the Web site, and I thought it was so cool I though, lets make It the cover of the record. It's simple and it's direct and I wanted a lasting classic image that was the cover of the album. I still think of things In LP format and I just thought it would be really cool to pull a record out and see that.
MH:
Have you pressed the LPs yet?
AG:
Yes. We did limited edition pink vinyl.
MH:
Sweet. That might look cool.
AG:
What are your favorite gore movies?
MH:
What are your favorite gore movies?
AG:
At this point I'm really into film noir and gangster movies from the '40s and '50s. White Heat and old Orson Wells films, I'm not especially a fan of slasher movies.
MH:
So you just liked the Herschall Gordon Lewis films?
AG:
Yeah.
MH:
Have you guys done any soundtracks for any type of movies, slasher or not?
AG:
No, but I'd love to. I think that'd be really fun.
MH:
Have you contacted anyone. Maybe told Bloodshot?
AG:
That would be interesting.
MH:
Maybe ask Herschell if he needs some stuff.
AG:
He does, I know he's doing a remake of one of his films now, I think it's Blood Feast, but nowadays he's an author and kind of a direct mail guru. So he's kind of out of the exploitation films, he's the Godfather of it but he's kinda moved on.
MH:
OK, you're about to go out and play. What do you want people to take away from your live show.
AG:
I just want them to have fun. I want them to be entertained and feel kind of a release. When I go see a band I like to see energy. It's like an art project, some kind of 3D thing, there's the visual aspect and I want people to be happy and to have a good time.

For more information go to www.goregoregirls.com