DADDY LONG LEGS — (Clockwise from front) Rudy, Carl Horne, Andy Duvall, Sloth, and Marcus Durant (photo by Gregg Kirk)

By GREGG KIRK
(September 1991, Big Shout Magazine)

THIS IS NOT AN ARTICLE ABOUT ZEN GUERRILLA. It’s a collection of thoughts about the band. Read on…

In the summer of 1989 a group of semi-serious musicians from Newark, DE got together for the sole purpose of jamming. The informal gathering consisted of former members of a unit called Stone Groove — bassist Carl Horne, drummer Pete Martin, and guitarist Rudy. Lacking a singer/frontman, they joined forces with Gollywogs lead man Marcus Durant and became known as Zen Guerrilla. Things suddenly got more serious…

After a year and a half of writing, jamming, rehearsing, performing, and shaping a sound, drummer Pete Martin was replaced with former High Karate skin bruiser Andy Duvall. And another element was introduced into the band — enter former Batz Without Flesh noisemaker Daniel “Sloth” McMullan, who plays special effects, samples, and feedback guitars — and the circle was complete. This is the band as it exists.

SOUND ALL AROUND

So how does the group sound? A wash of guitar, splintered by a driving beat and funky bass, covered by sheets of noise — spoken things, sung things, melodic things, atonal things. It’s like listening to a dream. Imagine really being able to read someone’s mind and listening to the random things flying around inside — sane-seeming ramblings, hysterical voices, beautiful singing, haunting rhythms, lurking voices. How does the band describe it?

Carl: “Our sound now is… I’ve never been able to put words on it. It’s obviously something…

Marcus: (interrupting) “I don’t think you can really describe the sound. I don’t think you should really label music. I think music is just music, and when you being to label things, it becomes a bit generic. You categorize things, and it’s convenient for people. We would like to leave the music up to the viewers and to the listeners. It’s not up to us to decide what we sound like; it’s up to the audience. And each person in the audience is going to leave with a different perspective. I think the reason why labels exist is it’s easier for people to say, ‘Well, it sounds funky. Well, it sounds psychedelic.’ But what IS ‘psychedelic?’ Psychedelic is about as definable as ‘space.’

“I think when it’s all over, maybe we can answer that question, but I don’t think at this point we could. In retrospect, maybe we can dissect it and come up with a good label after it’s all over, but at this point… who knows? Next week we could add a man that plays a trashcan lid or something. We’re not fixed to a sound.”

And what are they trying to do?

Marcus: “Have fun (laughs). This is why I live, man. I mean, music is my drug. It’s what I live for. It’s why I wake up. I love playing with these guys — this is my family. It’s the only thing I have in my life. It really makes me happy to be a part of this. I mean, I feel lucky that I have five people that love me as much as they do. It makes me feel happy.

“We always leave each gig with sort of a beautiful feeling. There’s so much tension and frustration — I mean, every artist has frustration, and we just explode, and we do it all together. We express ourselves simultaneously, and we all sleep really good that night…”

Rudy: “Unless you gotta work (laughs).

Marcus: “We play for ourselves. We play where we can, when we can. We’ve played basements to bars … wherever we can get in, whoever will tolerate us.”

Andy: “We’ve played Delaware, Philly…”

Carl: “Delaware sucks, the bar scene just sucks.”

Marcus: “I don’t think Delaware sucks. I don’t think the bar scene sucks. I think it’s a matter of exposure. I mean, I don’t think the bars in this area have been exposed to experimental music, so they don’t understand the energy that is created from that approach to music, and it translates into violence. In the ’50s when people started doing … even in the ’20s when the kids started doing the jitterbug, most of the hardcore conservatives looked upon that as a very violent thing. It’s no different than the jitterbug.

“As young people, we’re very rebellious. We come from very conservative times, and now I think people wanna really let go.”

GET IT

What about their audience and who they are?

Carl: “All different types. I love talking to the people who come to see us, especially when we play an all-ages show. It’s great talking to them. Some of these kids are like 10-years younger than I am, which is strange, but for some reason in that setting I really identify with them. I can talk to them, and we’re on the same level.

“I think our shows are expressing some sort of emotion. When we play, it’s so obvious that we’re just up there playing for ourselves, having fun and it carries over to the crowd because they’re just having fun, too.”

Marcus: “The whole idea of moshing and stage diving is to eliminate the barrier between the band and the audience. It’s sort of a welcome mat. The stage should not be used as a platform to place people up on a pedestal. It’s there as a forum…”

Carl: “Sometimes it’s almost like we’re the backdrop, and the people are making it all happen.”

Marcus: “Exactly. And I think there’s a spiritual thing. Last night, I was talking to Dan, and I really feel like when we play, it’s sort of like… I can draw the parallel to a black wake or some kind of church or spiritual thing, a gospel thing.

“These kids nowadays, man, they don’t have anything. We bring the kids in, and we give them the ultimate drug in the world, and it’s music. And there is nothing bad that comes out of music. Sometimes kids can get hurt, but that’s going to happen on a volleyball field. They don’t turn to drugs, they don’t come to drink, they come to dance. They come to let loose. They come to just watch and feel. It’s not a bad thing at all.”

DOWN TO BUSINESS

They’ve recorded a demo at the Warehouse Studios in Philly, which has enabled them to land gigs in the Delaware Valley. But the band has ventured outside the area as well. In two separate instances, they toured to such places as Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh in the months of June and July of ’91.

The most important alliance the group has made is with Todd Coté and Rich Hoake of Rave Records in Philly. These two were introduced to the band through former Radio X member Brian Dilworth, who helped Zen Guerrilla plan and organize their short tours. The small label is currently helping the band with direction and is providing them a place to practice. Marcus is also working an internship there through his Visual Arts major at the University of Delaware.

The latest buzz about the group is the release of their seven-inch single “Get It” b/w “Daddy Long Legs,” which is available at Bert’s Tape Factory and other local record stores in Delaware this month. The red vinyl single comes in a one-quarter-inch tape reel box that is decorated with impressive graphics, courtesy of Marcus, and inside is a silk-screened poster that should soon be hanging on many an all-ages-show mosher’s wall.

THE FUTURE

Carl: “Working on and finishing up the seven-inch has been a stepping stone. It’s been hard, but it’s giving us the opportunity to play more, which we love to do…

Marcus: “And understand the business, too. Working at Rave has really given me a perspective of what goes on behind the scenes. But nothing’s going to be a smooth ride. We’re not going to please everybody. We’re not out to please everybody, just ourselves. And if people don’t dig it, fuck ’em.”