57 Crown INTERVIEW

57 CROWN INTERVIEW
BY MARK THOMPSON

Driving down Magnolia in Toluca Lake I see a full voodoo moon on the rise between the rain clouds. My thoughts drift to a tropical storm that sits in the pacific. I then realize something; I am on my way to interview 57 CROWN. Four guys who have gone some drastic changes in the past month. Their core of Jeff on guitars, Jerry on bass, Joey on drums is still present as the nucleus. They recently parted ways with guitarist Jonesy and vocalist Mike. Through the lips of Mr. Dino passed the words of ÒGONG.Ó Former singer of IGR is now the frontman to LAÕs straight-ahead, heavy, rockin aggression machine known as 57 CROWN. Let the interview begin!


ROCK CITY: So you guys went back and changed all your lyrics?

Gong: Yeah!

ROCK CITY: WhoÕs the king now?
ALL: Laughs
Jerry: ÒWhoÕs the king now? Oh shit!

ROCK CITY: Tell me about that one!
Jerry: King Gong!
Joey: Gong rewrote all the lyrics. The only ones that survived are the lyrics that Jerry and Jeff wrote.
Gong: I just made it up while playing it!

ROCK CITY: So youÕre 2 feet shorter that the previous singer?
Gong: He was 6Õ8, IÕm 5Õ8. ThatÕs fucked up.

ROCK CITY: You four have made two big changes in the past month! First with Jonesy and now Mike!
Joey: We have a brand new singer thatÕs the main thing. We want to focus on that.

ROCK CITY: What will you do with that old tape you have?
Joey: ItÕs become obsolete. We can over the vocals, but thereÕs so much new stuff that Jeff and Jerry have come up with that just smokes it.

ROCK CITY: You changed some of the tempos. ThereÕs more energy with Gong running around up there.

Joey: We all dug Mike and now itÕs a whole different ball of wax.

ROCK CITY: What didnÕt work with Mike?
Jerry: He just wasnÕt into the music enough.
Joey: We werenÕt on the same plain.

ROCK CITY: How is Gong working out?

Joey: He sucks! (Laughs) HeÕs awesome! He adds a new dimension to the band.

ROCK CITY: ItÕs more convincing seeing Gong on stage!
Jerry: ThereÕs no more convincing involved anymore. It speaks for itself.

ROCK CITY: ThereÕs a different vibe now as well. Before it was angry, but it seems like you guys are having more fun now.

Jerry: This first show (Dino Bday Bash) was a lot cooler. We definitely can compete with anybody now.

ROCK CITY: More energy now!

Jerry: WeÕve evolved a lot. A year ago Joey and I joined the band. It had to change.
Jeff: ThatÕs when my writing really began to mature. Jerry pretty much knows every band out there and turned me on to lots of shit and I was like Ò This is what itÕs supposed to sound like?Ó (Laughs) The whole underground world like Fear Factory just blows me away.
Jerry: Like when we played with that band and Zeke.
Jeff: Reo Speeddealer and Zeke. I call it knowing your opponent.
Jerry: These guys are not so hardcore, but they are with how much attitude they have. Just grabbing your balls and screaming.
Jeff: Now that Gong is with us, everything is unlimited.
Joey: Yeah! ItÕs not like we were staggering before, but we have been re-energized.
Jerry: ThereÕs gonna be even crazier shit coming out, more in depth. Still heavy! We have the Ôheavy thingÕ down, but we can venture into other areas now.
Jeff: Because Gong can sing real well.
Joey: And he has rad hand shadows too! (Laughs)
Jeff: And he always has good advice like, Òmaybe double up this verse or cut this riff off.Ó
Jerry: And he always has cigarettes, thatÕs a plus for me.


ROCK CITY: On stage, you (Jerry) kick a lot of attitude and spit on peopleÕs faces. You say you have the Ôheavy thingÕ down, WhatÕs next?

Jerry: WeÕre not gonna turn into some pussy shit. WeÕre gonna start putting some in depth, trippy shit just to mix it up.
Joey: Our newest song is more textured with dynamics, a different tempo, some counterpoint between Jerry and Jeff, a cool melody. ItÕs still heavy! ItÕs still 5 CROWN, just trippier.
Jeff: WeÕre on 11 all the time. We just wanna take it down to 10 for 5 seconds.

ROCK CITY: How does every-body fit into todayÕs scene?

Jerry: The most important thing is being friends with every-body and not being part of the Ôgossip circleÕ because there are a lot of bands talking shit and theyÕre cool to your face, but then they stab your back. Over the last year every-body has been cool to us, Dino, Dez, all of the guys.

ROCK CITY: When I saw you at the Troubadour, everybody was there.

Joey: Those guys have been big supporters and weÕve done a lot of shows with SPINE-SHANK and theyÕre an awesome band and the coolest guys. ThereÕs a community blossoming again.

ROCK CITY: Joey, you were here ten years ago!
Joey: And I was very young then. Then the scene was bigger. It goes in cycles. Bands breakup then all the guys form new bands and suddenly thereÕs a talent pool again. Before, it was centered at The Roxy, The Whisky, and GazzarriÕs. Now it is more spread out.
Jerry: At DinoÕs birthday was a good showing of people. A lot of different people.
Gong: It was like going to high school again.
Jerry: It should always be like that.

57 CROWN is a new band full of energy and confidence and are ready to attack LA and show us all who the king is!