When & where did you start playing?
I started playing guitar around 11 years old or so.
What kind of bands have you been in?
When I was 16 years old I decided that I was ready to be a rock star so I spent a summer in Hollywood as a roadie for a rock band. Back then the way to get a good guitar gig was to roadie for a band, learn all the songs and just wait for the night that the guitarist was missing or whatever and… boom you’re hired. Well after seeing what it was really like I changed my career goals and opted for family life instead. I did most of my playing in my home studio by myself or just jamming with friends; I played drums in a local hard rock band for a little while then started my punk rock band “Stupidhead” in the 90’s.
How long on Up Right Bass?
I started playing upright I think 6 or 7 years ago? Not sure. I have always loved upright and always wanted one. My wife knew that I wanted one so for an anniversary present one year she surprised me with it, from there I just started slappin’ away. I never was much of a bass player but upright, especially slap style is a very different animal. It’s not really like playing bass or even guitar. It’s so percussive that it’s almost like playing drums and bass at the same time. It’s is a very aggressive way of playing, I mean basically you’re beating the tar out of your instrument. This feels more punk rock than anything I have ever played on guitar or electric bass.
Early influences?
Even as a little kid, I mean like 7 and 8 years old I was all into KISS and stuff like that then I bought my first Black Flag album when I was 11 and it was all downhill from there. I grew up in Orange County Ca. so my biggest influence was the local stuff like Social Distortion, X and the like. Eventually punk got boring (as the punk rock scene started dying out) and I got more into the metal and thrash metal scene as the music was more aggressive and peaked my interest. Although, being a musician I have always been into anything that is really good musically so I have always liked Jazz, progressive rock and pretty much anything with cool guitar in it.
When and where did you meet Mike Stand?
I met Mike about 11 years ago; our boys went to school together. Legend has it that he saw me walking through the parking lot in my Ramones shirt and could just tell that we were of the same cloth. I had just stopped playing everything altogether. I had gotten a bit carried away with my whole punk rock thing and I came to a point where God had let me run out of the sheep’s pen enough and it was time for the Good Shepherd to bring me back in for good. Can you say “smackdown!” Anyway Mike was leading worship for a midweek bible study thing and was always after me to come and play some guitar with him. I pretty much needed to lay my guitar down at the cross and wait and see if the Lord would give it back or not, when His time was right I started playing again and joined Mike playing some worship with him.
Did you grow up in the Church or become a believer later in life?
I became a Christian when I was 7-ish. I was sent to Catholic school from 1st grade ’til 6th but I came to a real and personal relationship with Christ apart and separately from that. I didn’t really have any church life or influence other than an occasional visit to Calvary Costa Mesa but that wasn’t ‘til I was driving age. I was not into the whole religion or church thing at all until after I had been married a few years and my wife and I knew that we needed to be in church, we found a real Bible teaching non-denominational church. It wasn’t until then that I even knew what true “Church” was meant to be. It is about learning and worshipping not being judged or fulfilling a requirement.
When and how did you become aware of artists like the Altar Boys, Lifters, and Mike Knott? Did you see any of these bands back in the day?
Actually not ‘til after I had met Mike, I was more into bands like Tourniquet, Deliverance, Vengeance and stuff like that back during that time. My first introduction to Christian music was Stryper. I saw them for the first time when I was 16 I think it was before “Soldiers” was even out (seriously dating myself here) They were a huge influence on me, for the first time I could listen to music I liked and have it truly affect my life as well. Prior to discovering church and stuff like that I think for a few years in there my single biggest times of spiritual recharge may have been at Stryper shows.
When did you come up with the idea for the Altar Billies?
Well, you know Rockabilly and Punk have always been very closely related. Especially here in Orange County with bands like Social D, X and The Blasters, there has always been a correlation between the two. I mean if Johnny Cash wasn’t the first real punk rocker than I don’t know who was. Anyway, having always enjoyed rockabilly and punk, naturally as the psychobilly scene and alt country stuff started coming out I took a real liking to it, it just really felt right to me. I got an early glimpse of it before it was really widespread, a friend of mine who was in my band Stupidhead for a while got me into a lot of that stuff that I had never heard before, he later went on to play with some of the guys from Tiger Army and eventually joined the Nekromantix, both pioneers of the Psychobilly scene. I was always a huge Knitters fan which was basically members from X, The Blasters and Jonny Ray Bartel on upright bass (you may know Jonny Ray from The Screamin’ Rays, the rockabilly/swing project with Crystal Lewis and I think some Lifters) The Knitters play mostly old X songs but hillbillied out a bit. The more I had listened to not only some Altar Boys but especially Mike’s solo and Clash Of Symbols stuff I could always hear a definite twang behind it somewhere. So one day I recorded a rough demo of Against the Grain with slapped upright bass twangy guitar and all. At the time Mike really liked it, but, as we began to explore it a bit more I think those twangy tendencies (that at the time I don’t think he realized were there) started to really come out. Everything that we have done with any of the Altar Billies music was never forced or trying to sound like this or that, it just kind of naturally comes out, almost like it was meant to be this way in the first place.
As a fan it’s awesome to rediscover these songs in a different way. It’s also nice to see Mike active again. Plus the addition of Chuck Cummings was a real treat. How is it playing with Chuck?
Chuck is absolutely amazing! When Chuck came on board it really shifted us into overdrive. He is so good and adds so much not to mention being just a great guy and devoted husband and father which we respect very much. Of course Chuck is a pretty significant figure himself in the scene, I’m not sure if there anyone that he hasn’t played with, he even toured with the Altar Boys as a fill in. Chuck also played on Mike’s last studio solo album Full Circle a lot of which material we are doing now as the Billies. Did I mention he is really really good?
Did you guys record the EP yourself?
No
What does the future hold for the Altar Billies?
Not sure, we all have wives and children which are our number one priority so whatever we do will have to not take away from that. I believe that being a father and husband is the most serious call that God can put on a man’s life.
Having said that, we all pretty much are leaving our future in God’s hand to do with what He wills.
We definitely plan on recording a full length studio album hopefully soon. We have a couple of albums worth of material ready to go not to mention we are doing new stuff all the time and even writing new material. We are in the process of deciding where and with whom we are going to work with. The Altar Billies are not just a project and will not be going away any time soon.
How do you feel about the state of Christian music at this time?
Not really diggin it. The marketing and business end of it seems no different than the world’s system. I am not really hearing much new or exciting or challenging stuff out there, hopefully it’s just because I’m not hearing it. I think that the Christian music world is in need of a major revival or at least a bit of a shake up.
What are you listening to lately?
New Social Distortion, Grave Robber, Ted Kirkpatrick’s and Jeff Bowders solo albums (both drummers)
Imelda May, Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, As I lay Dying (just saw them a few weeks ago)
Any final thoughts?
I definitely want everyone to know that this is no novelty act or side project, what we are doing feels so right musically.
This particular genre or scene is relatively unknown in the Christian music world and the secular side of it is in need of a little light so we have a lot of ground to break and we are just starting to scratch the surface.
We are all just so blessed and happy to be playing, having a great time and seeking to bless.
To quote Mike’s lyric “By the grace of God I’m singin’ this song”.
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