Ask most people about the lineage of punk rock, and they will name bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, citing these late 70’s groups as the forefathers of punk.  In truth, one of the earliest and most distinctive bands that helped to define the punk ethos started in Detroit, put together by two brothers and a skinny kid who worked at the neighborhood record shop.  The band was the Stooges, that skinny kid was Iggy Pop, and those brothers were Scott and Ron Asheton.  Over the course of their career in the early 70’s, they unleashed three albums of raw, violent rock music rife with an intense and unbridled forcefulness that has resounded across decades.  Recently, they reformed to tour the world as Iggy & The Stooges (with bassist Mike Watt of the Minutemen), and have booked time in the studio to record another album with producer Steve Albini. 

Scott Asheton, the drummer for the Stooges, has been living in the Tampa Bay area for several years.  In that time, he has started his own record label, Rock Action Inc., to support younger bands.  Besides playing with the now-legendary Stooges, Scott was a member of Sonic’s Rendezvous with Fred “Sonic” Smith of MC5.  His style of explosive and unflinching drumming is reflected in nearly every punk rock band that has started in the wake of the 1970’s.  If the drummer is the one who drives a band, then Scott’s playing is the equivalent of driving a school bus into a demolition derby.  He is one of the unsung heroes of modern rock drumming.

Between tour dates in Northern Europe, Scott Asheton was kind enough to sit and talk with Reax about the Stooges, his influences, the local music scene in Tampa Bay, and his record label.

REAX: Over time, bands like the Stooges have gotten a lot of credit for influencing other groups.  Young kids are still discovering music you played 30 years ago.  How do you feel about all the (more or less) delayed recognition you’ve gotten?

Scott Asheton: Well, while we’re getting recognition now, we did have recognition in the past.  And I think people are starting to look around for history in music more these days, and the recognition now is more than back then, but….

REAX: It’s more like a history…

SA:  It’s more like, yeah, people are looking at us as history…. lately with things like VH1’s “Behind the Music” and stuff, over the past couple years music’s been about stuff like that, about focusing on the history of music.

REAX: The Stooges are often credited with starting punk music.  Do you feel you were always playing rock music instead, and the whole ‘punk’ claim is a bunch of crap?

SA:  Well, I think punk music is rock music.  It’s just a different way of expressing it.  It’s more like, outside of the norm, outside of society, and that’s kind of the way we were.  We were different, outsiders.  I guess that’s how they put the “punk” thing on us, but I believe punk music is rock and roll music.  It’s just played differently with different expressions. 

REAX: Before you started playing a drum kit, you’d had some drum lessons and had played at school.  How important do you feel that foundation has been to your playing?

SA:  Well, I always liked the idea of drums at an early age and it’s just something I wanted to stick with.  It became my instrument.  And whether or not that has anything to do with now, I really couldn’t say because when I was playing when I was really young and in school, it was in an orchestra, it had nothing to do with rock and roll.  But you know, I chose that as my instrument and I just stayed with it and then later it developed into rock and roll.  I guess you could say it had something to do with it, but not directly to rock and roll. 

REAX: When you started playing back in the 60’s, what drummers influenced you?  Are there any musicians that you feel have influenced you the most?

SA:  Well the drummers that influenced me were mostly what was going on during the scene, you know, like Charlie Watts and Keith Moon and guys like that.  And Johnny Vidacovich and… later on when I started playing my influence became Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, and Bernard Purdie , who was a session drummer, you know, kind of James Brown work.  And still to this day, I still am influenced by Elvin Jones, he’s one of the greatest drummers ever, and he recently passed away. 

REAX: You’re going on tour with Iggy & the Stooges again.  What’s it like playing with them now as opposed to in the early 70’s?  As a drummer, how do Mike Watt and yourself click as a rhythm section?

SA:  Well Mike, you know, he’s great to play with.  Mike puts everything into his playing.  He puts his heart and soul, his body, his mind, his spirit, everything into his playing.  And that really helps me along a lot because he’s so into it.  As far as playing with the Stooges now versus in the early 70’s, besides the fact that we’re older it’s about the same, you know.  We get larger crowds now, and the money’s better…. We’ve been playing so long you know, and when you’re a musician, the longer you play the more ideas will come to you and the better you’ll get.  There’s no doubt we’re better musicians than we were back then.  You know, if you keep playing you just can’t help but get better.  The old times, they were great, we had a lot of good times, you know, we had good shows.  It wasn’t until towards the end that things started breaking down.  But I would say I liked it back then as much as I like it now. 

REAX:  Over the last few years, Iggy & the Stooges have been playing a lot of dates around the world.  Lately, you’re playing a lot in Northern Europe.  Do you like playing to audiences in places like Europe and Australia as opposed to here in the States?

SA:  Well, yeah, it’s all good.  Right now there’s a bigger demand for us in Europe, but we’re not opposed to playing any shows in the U.S. and I hope to be playing more soon.  I think we might be playing in San Francisco this fall, and we’re doing a recording session in Chicago.  Right now, they want us more in Europe, so that’s the main reason we play there.  It’s not that we don’t want to play in the States.

REAX: Rhino records recently reissued the first two Stooges albums.  Do you think the reissues were overdue?  Would you rather people pay more attention to what you’re playing now?

SA:  Well, I don’t know if they were overdue, it’s just that, like I say, young people are looking more these days into the history of music instead of just what’s in their face, which I think is a really cool thing.  And we’re working on a new album, and I think everyone’s gonna like it, it’s good songs, it’s going along well.  It’s fine to listen to the albums we did before, but we do have a lot of new material and we are coming up with an album.  And when that album comes out, and people like it, then they’ll want to hear more.  But right now, that’s all we’ve really got to play for them, is stuff we’ve recorded in the past. 

REAX: What made you decide to start Rock Action Inc.?

SA:  It was more or less to try to help younger bands, and I have a group of young bands that I know of in the Detroit area.  These days it just seems really hard for bands to get out, to get someone to hear them and see them, and I just thought it might be a way to help them.  My idea is mostly to help them, not to help myself. 

REAX:  The recording industry obviously wasn’t like that when The Stooges started.  Do you want to give the opportunities that you’ve been given to younger bands?

SA: Yeah.

REAX: There seems to be a common thread in most all the groups you’ve played in, especially the Stooges and Sonic’s Rendezvous, that it’s always been energetic and always been unapologetically ‘rock’ music.  With Rock Action, are you looking to promote bands who share some of the same philosophies?

SA:  Well, it’s the same philosophy, being hard rock and roll.  And there’s a lot of bands out there to work with these days.  There’s a lot of bands in Detroit, I know there are bands in Florida, and bands in the Tampa area, but right now I’m more familiar with the bands in Detroit.  And they rock hard, and they’re really down with their playing, you know.  And that’s kind of the bands I’m interested in right now.

REAX:  Rock and punk rock have come such a long way since when the stooges first started.  There’s a lot more variety within rock music.  In an interview a few years ago, your brother runs through a wide-ranging list of music that he says impacted the way the Stooges originally developed their sound.  Do you think that younger players nowadays don’t pay attention to different types and styles of music?  Do you think it’s important as a musician to know some of the history of music?

SA:  Again, I think people now are getting smarter.  Before I would’ve said yes, they’re just interested in what they like, but now I think they’re getting smarter and they’re looking back on the history of the music, and they’re listening to bands like the Stooges and they’re seeing how things were put together.  Because basically, you know, rock and roll is still young.  It’s only 50 years old.  But that’s still old enough to look back into.  I’d say a couple of years ago yeah, kids didn’t care about anything except what was happening then, what was modern, what was trendy.  But now I think young people are smarter and they want to know where stuff’s coming from.

REAX: How important do you think live shows are to any young band trying to make a name for themselves?

SA:  Well I think it’s all important, it’s your way to be seen and way to be heard.  I tell young bands a lot these days, you gotta get out and you gotta do some gigs.  You gotta try to get yourself a little tour going.  First time around, you might not make much money.  Second time, there’ll be more people and they’ll be glad to have you back.  I think it’s all important to play live shows.  It’s, I think, the best way to be seen and let people know you’re out there. 

REAX:  In running Rock Action, what challenges or advantages does the whole Internet-thing  pose to developing new groups?

SA:  It’s the modern way that people are using a lot of kinds of information.  And you know, it’s a good way, but it’s just one way.  So many people are into the internet now.  Why not use it to benefit bands and people that are musicians and people that are fans of music, they’re all there looking on the internet so it’s just another tool it’s just another way to be seen and heard.  But it’s all good.

REAX: When you originally began playing back in Michigan, you started out in the local scene.  How do you feel the scene is in Tampa Bay?  What, in your opinion, can be done to make it better?

SA:  Well, there has to be fan support.  If you got, say, five rock bands in one particular area you gotta have the people to come out and see them in order for them to be able to play any gigs.  And Detroit developed its own sound, Seattle developed its own sound, Chicago had its blues sound, you know… Tampa, if they’ve got an original sound that the young bands are playing, and they develop that with their fans then I think that that’s how you would make a Tampa sound.  Right now if someone said the Tampa sound I don’t think anyone would know what that was.  But if the fans are there supporting what could be a Tampa sound, then that’s how things begin.  That’s how things work.  It’s just you gotta have people out there doing it.  It’s like what happened in Seattle, the Seattle sound, all those bands starting playing that different type of garage sound, and the fans were there to support it. 

REAX:  So the whole country was able to identify the sound basically.

SA:  Exactly.  The Seattle sound, yeah, grunge. Seattle.

REAX: Well, Florida in general has always been considered just a melting pot, we don’t have one definite thing that you would identify as Florida.

SA: Marilyn Manson.

REAX: Marilyn Manson, yeah.  What do you hope to bring to the Tampa Bay music scene with Rock Action?

SA:  Well I hope to bring some kind of original sound and to help the young bands in the area.  I hope to help them gather together to maybe create a Tampa Bay sound.   But like I was saying, it’s all important that the young people that like the bands be there, because that’s how the bands survive, that’s how they do anything is with help from people like the fans.  I just think any kind of input into any kind of new scene is a good thing.  And Tampa Bay is in need of that, and I’m willing to help and I hope someday maybe Tampa can be known as a rock scene.  It would be cool.

REAX:  When did you get Rock Action tattooed on your arm?

SA:  ’72.

REAX:  What bands have you been listening to lately?

SA:  I listen to the radio a lot.  I listen to the radio every day.  I try to stay on top of all the bands, I listen to the alternative station, I listen to jazz and blues… but some of my favorite bands are the Foo Fighters, and of the new bands, I like Coldplay, they’re different, and Franz Ferdinand’s alright.  My daughter likes bands like Fallout Boy.  The Misfits are a strong little rockin’ band… there was a band Outkast that I liked a lot.  But I try to stay on top of all the new stuff. 

REAX: Do you wish that the Scottish group Mogwai, who started their own U.K. record label called ‘Rock Action,’ would find a new damn name for their label?

SA:  Well, I think they could be in trouble because it’s a registered trademark, Rock Action, and yeah they could find something, but I don’t think it imposes any threats or… I’m not really worried about it, no.


Look for the Stooges’ new album next year, and be sure to catch their explosive live show if you have the chance. You can visit Scott Asheton’s Rock Action record label online at www.rockactioninc.com.