Naked Raygun
Interview with Jeff Pezzati
Words: Scott Harrell

Last fall, after reuniting for their annual hometown Riot Fest, legendary Chicago punk act Naked Raygun followed their first shows in nearly a decade with a set at Fest. This year, on the eve of the release of a CD/DVD history titled What Poor Gods We Do Make, the quartet returns to Gainesville for an encore performance.

REAX:  When the band broke up in '92, were you disappointed that there wasn't a big pre-planned final show?
Jeff Pezzati: No, not really. I just don't know about those farewell tour things. We didn't have any big plans for a final tour or show or anything. I think we probably wouldn't have done that. I know a lot of bands from Chicago, like Ministry, have done numerous farewell last show things, they've done at least three that I can remember. If you're going to do something like that, it just kind of cheapens the whole going away thing.

REAX:  Was there a particular moment when you realized that that was it, that you didn't want to do Naked Raygun anymore?
JP:  I actually never stopped – I never had the thought to leave. Neither did Pierre Kezdy, bass. But Eric Spicer, drums had just had his first kid, or maybe it was his second kid already, and he wanted to leave. So I couldn't see doing it without Eric, he's kind of the humor behind Naked Raygun, he's great to have around. We'd replaced members in the past, but I couldn't see doing it without him.

REAX:  How did you feel at the time? Some bands I've been in, I was almost relieved when it finally came out that people were tired and frustrated and over it...
JP:  I had mixed emotions. I was starting a family at the same time too, and Nirvana really hadn't hit big yet, and to be on a major label was just ... we had gone as far as we thought we could go, done what we'd thought we could do. We always put out quality albums, so I think we left on pretty much a high note, but at the same time, being in a band, putting all that work into it and having it be over – it's like a company you have to keep making bigger and bigger, or it disappears.

REAX:  Were the Riot Fest shows originally planned as a one-time thing, or did you already have the idea that there would be more?
JP:  Quite honestly, when Mike Petryshyn, Riot Fest promoter approached us, I was really against it. I thought if we were gonna return, we could do much better just on our own. We didn't really need a Riot Fest type atmosphere to draw people, especially in Chicago. But it was a good way to introduce us to a bunch of kids and a new audience, so it turned out to be a great idea. It wasn't our plan to play, so it worked out great.

REAX:  Given that so many punk acts have reformed to tour in the last few years, were you worried about how your actions would be perceived, your motives questioned?
JP:  No, I told 'em right up front, we're doing this for the money. We'll do it 'til the money runs out, you know? More power to us. Laughs No, I think punk rock in the '80s was the forgotten ugly stepsister, the redheaded stepchild, whatever that phrase is, that the media paid attention to except for radio, and radio's paying dearly for it now. I think some of these bands that have gotten back together without their singer, like the Germs or Dead Kennedys without Jello Biafra, I think you've gotta question those guys' ideas more that you do ours. At least we had the same band together for two albums.

But I'd always thought if we were gonna get together for Riot Fest, we should at least do some more shows.

REAX:  Having contributed to that separate, truly alternative community that indie-rock was during the late '80s and early '90s, how do you feel about the erosion of the barriers between the underground and mainstream scenes that's happened since?
JP:  In some ways it's what we all wanted. I mean, in other words, instead of listening to Foreigner and Journey, we won the war, you know? I don't know. I always pictured it as if kids were growing up listening to our type of music, that's what we were trying to do here. People listening to Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy, I consider that a whole lot better than what used to go on. But at the same time, there's the corporate element, and it's very disturbing and grotesque. But I used to say that for all our hard work throughout the '80s and even earlier, if all we got was U2 ... as uncomfortable as that may sound, we'll take it. I'll accept that. But, that's what we were ultimately trying to do, right? Wasn't it? To listen to good music? Yeah, they're using Buzzcocks in a Volkswagen commercial, but is that a bad thing? To take your niche bands that you love and hold in high esteem, and put them out there across mainstream America for them to peruse ... I don't know if that's so bad. Maybe it's just because I got older.

REAX:  Is it weird to play to kids who were wearing diapers when the band broke up, much less during its heyday?
JP:  Um, I never really think about that. Getting older, you always think you're 18, don't you?

REAX:  I do.
JP:  You think you're 23 or 28 or some cool age. Everything is looking through the same eyeballs, at that same world the same way. I don't know. I never really think about that. I notice there are people that I'm twice as old as, but ... maybe I can date their mom Laughs.

REAX:  Do you listen to your old stuff from time to time?
JP:  No, I don't listen to Naked Raygun very much at all, except when it comes up on someone's iPod when I'm hanging around with them. But I listen to a lot of music from that time, other bands.

REAX:  What has changed most dramatically over the years about your attitude toward that role of Guy in Band?
JP:  About being a guy in a band?

REAX:  Yeah, has the way you think about being a guy in a band changed?
JP:  No. I think you have a responsibility to put on the best show you can, and we always felt that way. And we never drew any groupie-type people, our groupies were 17 to 19 year old boys, and it's still kind of that way.

You know, we're out there, trying to convert people to not only listen to us, but to listen to bands like Stiff Little Fingers and Government Issue and all the music they should be listening to, rather than the stuff they just hear on the radio. Hopefully we turn people on to a lot of good music, and they go out and research and find other things on their own. That's all we can ask for, I guess.

Naked Raygun will be playing The Fest 6 this year.  For more information, please visit: www.thefestfl.com

www.nakedraygun.org