By Andrew Bansal
New Orleans hardcore punk/sludge/groove heavy hitters Superjoint formed in the early ’90s and put out two albums in the early 2000s before splitting up, but are now back and rejuvenated with three original members Phil Anselmo (vocals), Jimmy Bower (guitar) and Kevin Bond (guitar), along with Stephen Taylor and Joey ‘Blue’ Gonzalez from The Illegals on bass and drums respectively. In 2015, Superjoint toured for the first time in more than a decade, first completing the ‘It Takes Guts’ summer headline tour with support act King Parrot and then the recently concluded ‘Blackest Of The Black’ run as main support to Danzig. Now, they are gearing up for their participation in the Housecore Horror Fest, slated to take place at the Aztec Theater in San Antonio, Texas, November 13-15. The Danzig tour came to an end in downtown Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theater) on Halloween night, and before the show I sat down with Jimmy Bower to discuss all things Superjoint, his other projects, life in New Orleans and more. Enjoy the conversation below.
Jimmy, you guys have been on this tour for more than a month, and it’s coming to an end tonight. How has everything been?
It’s been a great tour, specially for a band like Superjoint that hasn’t done anything in eleven years. It’s really cool of Danzig to bring us out, and playing in front of a lot of heads again, we’re kind of reminding people who we were.
How did the band come back?
Basically, Corey Mitchell from Housecore Horror Fest, rest in peace, man, it was his idea to get us reunited for the 2014 edition of the festival. He was like, ‘Dude! I’ve gotta get Superjoint!’ So, Phil called me and asked me if I’d want to do it and I said Yes, and then we called Kevin Bond, and got Steve and Blue from The Illegals. We had a couple of practices, played that show, and at first it was like, let’s just do this show. But we had too much fun, man. So, that’s about it! We’re definitely glad to be on this Danzig tour. It’s been a long tour, but very successful for us.
So, you play guitaar in this band and playing this style of music is obviously a little different from everything else you do. How are you feeling playing these songs again?
It’s cool! We’re talking about the new record and we’re kind of more focused on the first Superjoint record. That was the sound of Superjoint when we first started, old, simple hardcore, just really aggressive. So we’ve been writing, and it’s cool, man. I only use four strings on my guitar and I’m not that great of a guitar player (laughs), but this band definitely challenges my playing, because it’s faster and a little more riffed up than say Eyehategod or something like that. It’s fun jamming with Kevin again. Me and him hadn’t seen each other in like ten years, and as for Phil, of course I haven’t stopped jamming with him, and Steve and Blue are really good dudes that fit perfect. We’re tighter than we’ve ever been, man.
So, in these shows what have you been doing setlist-wise?
The only thing we do off of the second record is ‘Waiting For The Turning Point’ and ‘The Destruction Of A Person’, and everything else is off of the first record. We only get 40 minutes, but then again, Superjoint songs are pretty short, so we actually squeeze in ten songs. As soon as we start playing it seems like it’s over.
What’s the status of the new album and how far along are you in that process?
I would say early next year we’ll probably start recording it. We’ve just got to finish writing. After this we’ve got Horror Fest, but after that we’ll hopefully have the whole rest of November and all of December to really buckle down and write. But Down has to do a new EP and Eyehategod has a new record written, so I’m going to be pretty busy when I get home, which is a good thing.
Eyehategod is also playing Horror Fest, so you’ll be a busy guy during the festival too.
Yeah! It’s fun though. Keeps you from drinking too fast (laughs).
So, you did some touring this year and a new album is already in the works, so the reunion was not a one-off and you guys plan to keep this band going for the time being.
Oh yeah, after we played last year’s Horror Fest, it just felt great, man. We play music and that’s what we do, so this is definitely something different and it’s really exciting. We’re gelling as a band and we look forward to this next chapter of new Superjoint stuff. But may be I look at it differently than a fan does. To me, it’s work, keeping my head above water and keeping my ass on tour so I can raise my family. A fan might think of it differently. Just being honest (laughs).
That’s what we want! Coming back to the musical style, this is old-school hardcore. How do you think it holds up in the genre these days? Hardcore has really gone in a lot of different directions in the last two decades.
First off, I agree with you, and it’s kind of cool because we’re into old Agnostic Front, D.R.I., Black Flag and Sheer Terror, and I think the style that Superjoint does is reflective of those kinds of bands. I’d like to think that we do it right. So, it’s been fun, I think we’re pretty good at that style and we’re trying to keep it alive. I’m not saying that hardcore is not alive and there aren’t other bands, but we’re touring with Danzig and we’re playing Black Flagged off shit, so that’s kind of cool, you know.
You’ve been involved in a lot of projects over the years and most of them are still active, but looking ahead, is there anything you haven’t done that you’d really like to, if given the time?
I’m going to do a solo record and Phil is going to make me sing, so that’s going to be weird, but it will probably be the biggest challenge that I’ve ever faced. It’s basically written. It’s just real mellow ‘Doob Interlude’ kind of stuff. Me and Phil are such good friends, in a way I kind of hope he doesn’t deck me off with the vocals, telling me that it sounds great when it doesn’t (laughs). I’m insecure about my vocals. But yeah, I look forward to doing that and just keep playing music. I’m teaching my daughter how to play music, and that’s one thing that excites me. She’s only two-and-a-half, but she’s already got a little rhythm. So, passing it on, you know.
That’s awesome, man. Tonight we’re in downtown Los Angeles on Halloween night. Does this holiday mean anything to you at all, or is it just another day of the year?
Normally it’s just another day and I’m not a big Halloween freak, but my two-and-a-half daughter, it’s her second Halloween since she was born that I’ve not been home for. They have a little block party by our house and stuff, so I miss doing that. But it’s actually raining really bad in New Orleans tonight, so they did all that last night. So technically for me it’s already November 1st (laughs), but I’m ready to jam, man. LA is always a fun show, and this is a big fucking place. I hope some people come out!
Talking of New Orleans, when you’re home are you just busy with family or do you get to go out? Are shows just too much like office for you and do you just stay away from those?
I basically don’t go to shows anymore, unless it’s good friends or something and I go check them out. It’s not because I don’t want to, but I’ve got family and my wife and I bought a house last year. I have a garage and it’s just mine for jamming. So it’s like a studio, and I just sit in there and have fun, and write as much as I can. I’m 47 years old, and going to shows? I don’t know. When you’ve got a kid you’ve got to get up early, bro. And in New Orleans, bands don’t go on until 1 in the morning, you know (laughs).
Yeah, I tour with bands too and I’ve been to Siberia. It was weird. Even on Sunday nights and Tuesday nights, the last band would go on at 1, like you said.
Yeah! It’s like, dude, what the fuck! People have to go to sleep. But New Orleans has always been that way. Siberia is a great club. Matt Russell the owner is a good friend of ours. Cool dude.
You said you still write music at home in your jam space?
Oh yeah, like during the day my daughter goes to day care, and Kevin would come over, and we would work on a Southern rock project, mellow shit, heavy shit. Don’t pigeonhole yourself, and just sit down and jam! I have way more work to do than him because I’ve got to play the drums, and most of the time the bass (laughs). But yeah, it’s fun. I never thought in my life that I’d have a garage just to myself. It’s really cool. It’s my jam room.
Related: Review: ‘Blackest Of The Black’ Tour Ends In Los Angeles On Halloween Night
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