2000.08.29 - The Gateway - Josh Freese Likes Guns But is a Vandal at Heart

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Transcript:

Josh Freese likes Guns, but is a Vandal at heart

Dave Alexander
Arts & Entertainment Editor

What do Guns N' Roses, The Vandals, Juliana Hatfield, Mike Ness, Paul Westerberg, DEVO, Joe Walsh, Tracey Bonham, Chris Cornell, Suicidal Tendencies, and A Perfect Circle have in common? Not a hell of a lot other than the fact that Josh Freese is or has been their drummer at one time or another. That's a pretty impressive resume for a guy you've probably heard, but never heard of.

Best known as the regular drummer for punkers The Vandals and new wave legends DEVO, he's also recently finished a two-year stint as the official ant drummer (meaning he did some recording with them), and is the skin-man for Summersault laves, A Perfect Circle.

Apparently this just isn't enough, as he's just released his first solo album, The Notorious One Man Orgy.

"Right now I'm only concentrating on one thing. I have a tendency to say yes to everybody. Surprisingly enough I'm able to handle it most of the time," he admits.

With such a large and varied pool of experience to draw upon, one might not know what style of music to expect. What isn't surprising is that his 12-song collection of `power-pop-punk tunes' features Josh Freese on vocals, Josh Freese on drums, Josh Freese on guitar, bass, and even keyboards.

With titles such as Rock N' Roll Chicken, Why Won't 'Left Eye' Get With Me?, and Fuck Mardi Gras, his Vandalesque, "very tongue-in-cheek' sense of humour is firmly intact.

He's got good reason to take himself lightly, he started out in a boy band called Polo playing pop songs at Disneyland.

"We played top forty music. It was cute, lame and fun at the same time .... You could say it's in my blood. My father conducted the Disneyland orchestra."

So how did his punk and fancy-free attitude land him a gig with once mighty, and more serious (or at least trying to be) metal Gods, GN'R?

"The music business can be a very small community sometimes. I guess my name came up. I thought it was different than a lot of projects I've been involved with. It turned a lot of heads with my friends."

His current major label job in A Perfect Circle came about atter Maynard, the lead singer of Tool, heard him play while the men shared recording space. Several years later, when schedules permitted, and after the two became roommates, PC finally went from conception to birth.

The band is en opportunity for Freese to switch gears from the frenetic pace of a Vandals show. "The Vandals kind of jump on stage and accost everyone and cause a ruckus. We [A Perfect Circle) don't have anyone falling on the floor and taking their clothes off."

He's quick to point out that being a member of a band that big isn't all wine n' roses because of the hassles inherent when dealing with the corporate machine, which is why his solo effort is on the Vandals' label, Kung-Fu Records.

"The beauty of being on an indie label is that you can put out a ton of records. There's not a lot of meetings and red tape that you have to go through to get something green-lighted."

He's already compiling songs for another solo disc, has a contract to do two more PC albums, and is set to record with Perry Farrell after his current tour.

There's no long-term vacation on the horizon for the jack-of-all-bands drummer. He even has secret aspirations to play with another of his favorite bands.

"I want to play with Ween. One day it would be fantastic if the drummer got in a fight with them."

Josh Freese just might not be satisfied until he's played in every damn band.