On my list of the most overlooked musicians of all time, Monty Colvin is right up at the top. The Galactic Cowboys were brilliant to say the least, with elements of The Beatles, Cheap Trick, and early Metallica along with one of the most energetic live shows I ever saw. I was always baffled how they never made it big. Colvin is a prolific songsmith perfectly melding the melodic into the heavy with 3 or 4 part vocal harmonies, catchy lyrics, and one of the most wicked bass tones your ears will ever come across. So sit back and catch up with a true Renaissance man as he shares some of his life.
You started playing as teen if I recall, how old were you, and what was your first guitar rig?
My dad bought me a Japanese guitar and a cheap little amp. I was a senior in high school when I started trying to learn.
Do you still have your first guitar?
No… I’ve always sold the guitars and basses I’ve had, and always tried to get a better one in the process. I got a Les Paul copy, and then a real Les Paul… then traded it for a Marshall combo amp. I’ve made some awful deals over the years.
When did you become serious about painting? Do you do other forms of art besides music and painting?
I guess when I was in college. It’s something I’ve always done, but I got a degree in painting and drawing. Those are my main fine art forms these days.
You played in Morgan Cryar’s backup band in the mid eighties, how did that come about, and what years did you play with him?
It was in the late 80’s. I replaced Dug Pinnick on bass. I’d known Dug from when I was in college and we both lived in Springfield, MO.
Was that your first time playing bass?
Kind of. I played bass on my demos and a little in a cover band, but when I got the call to try out with Morgan, I didn’t even own a bass.
How was the experience in the Cryar band?
It was fun for the most part. We traveled around and played a lot of shows for about a year. The music was very cheesy, but it was a paying gig and I really enjoyed myself.
Where did you go to college? Was art your major?
Yeah… I was stupid enough to get an art degree. I went to Southwest Missouri State, which is now called Missouri State.
Where did you meet the King’s X guy’s?
While I was in college. I went out to see them one night and became friends with those guys. They were a cover band called The Edge at the time, but they were really good. A 4 piece at that point.
Did that lead to you meeting Sam Taylor?
They didn’t start working with Sam until they moved to Houston. I met Sam through them. He became the manager of Awful Truth and that’s when I started working with him.
When did the Awful Truth form?
It was after Morgan Cryar let us go as his band. David Von Olerking, Alan Doss and myself were in Morgan’s band and we started AT after that. I just decided to join because there was nothing else going on…but then we started getting label interest.
How long were you guys together? Any touring stories you’d like to share?
We were only together about a year. We never toured, but we played almost every week in Houston.
Reason that Awful truth split up?
I think we had some differences of opinion on how things should be run. I wasn’t getting along with David that well and he controlled just about everything that we did. He was very ambitious… and that’s good…. but we clashed a lot. He was also writing most of the stuff, and I wanted to write more… do more of my art…. and be more in control of my life. So I quit, and Alan followed me out the door.
How did Galactic Cowboys meet and become a band?
Alan and I decided we would start a new band after Awful Truth and I started writing and auditioning people. Ben and Dane were both fans of AT, so I talked to them and showed them what I had in mind. Things started clicking right away.
Did you tour before you were picked up by DGC?
We did a tour with King’s X before we were signed. It was a nice break, and we had some offers before the tour was even over.
How did that deal come about?
Several labels were interested and made offers, but Geffen had the big bucks and promised us the world. Gary Gersh came to one of our practices and didn’t act impressed. But when he heard our demo, he made a huge offer we couldn’t turn down. Sam did all the dealings with Geffen he would just tell us how negotiations were going. We thought we were going to be huge rock stars… because that’s what DGC told us.
Do demos exist of early GC stuff?
Oh yeah.
So we all know what happened in 1991, Metallica released the Black album, Gun’s and Roses put out the Use Your Illusion albums, glam metal aside, good metal should be at its peak right? Good time for the first Galactic Cowboys album right? Wrong, the industry tells us Seattle is happening, and tell all the kids that (in my opinion a very unoriginal band) Nirvana is the voice of their generation, and they should where flannel and not care anymore. Did DGC tell you that they were not going to push the Galactic Cowboys or do you have to figure it out on your own?
We had no idea that was going to happen, and I don’t think DGC did either. Gary Gersh signed Nirvana while we were waiting to put our CD out. We waited a year for G & R to put the Illusion stuff out, and in the meantime Nirvana started blowing up. It was just one of those things. Right song, right video, right time. It was all bad for us, but there was nothing we could do about it. All the focus at the label shifted from GC to Nirvana. We were left on the back burner.
You toured with King’s X, Dream Theater, Anthrax, and Overkill. Anyone else of note? What are the best and worst things to happen during those tours?
We also did a short tour with Savatage. The King’s X tours were always good. Their crowds got us. The Overkill tour was the worst. That was just a bad combo. We got to tour Europe with Anthrax and the fans over there were pretty cool to us. We also got to see Europe and that was an awesome experience.
What was the recording experience like for Space In Your Face?
Good for the most part. Things were tense at times. Sam Taylor was still producing and managing us, and there were times when I think we’d had enough. Sam was a control freak…. like most of us are. Sometimes he would just leave in the middle of a session and just shut the whole thing down. One day he stormed out, and we just kept working. However despite all the friction, the end product was probably the best thing we ever did. We took the tapes (yes tapes) to New Jersey and had Andy Wallace mix it.
Who did you tour with for that album?
We toured with Dream Theater for about 3 months as I recall… and then Savatage for a couple weeks.
What was happening with GC after those tours?
We got dropped by Geffen while we were out with Savatage and our manager at the time just called and told us to get on the bus and come home.
What was the reason Dane Sonier left the band?
Well, at the time he said it was because he wanted to do a different kind of music. So, as far as I know that was it.
When did you part with Sam Taylor? What was it like working with him?
It was after Space In Your Face. He resigned as our manager, but we were still under contract to him and his production company. We had to go through some legal Hell trying to get out of all that. At times, it was great to work with him. He was brilliant at song arrangement and I learned a lot of stuff from him. Other times it was not fun at all.
How did you guys get Wally Farkas in the band?
Wally had been a guitar tech for Dane on the Overkill tour, and I had stayed friends with him over the years. I asked him if he’d like to play on the stuff we were recording for Machine Fish… and we finally talked him into touring with us.
How did you part with DGC?
They just dropped us. Gersh left Geffen to be the vice president of Capital Records. When he left, we had no one there to fight for us.
How did the deal with Metal Blade come about?
GC actually broke up after we got dropped. Everyone was discouraged. Dane quit… Alan quit. I was just going to start a new band. I was talking to Wally about playing with me, when I got this call from Metal Blade. They had heard the demos we had been working on before we broke up and they wanted to sign us.
How was the band feeling going into Machine Fish? It’s such a raw and dirty album compared to the rest.
I think we wanted to make a real raw sounding album. Speaking for myself, I was depressed and pissed off, and I wanted it to be a straight ahead rocking CD.
Did the writing process of the band start to change around this time?
I guess in some ways. I wrote most of the songs on Machine Fish by myself. We had collaborated a little more on the first two albums, but I felt very alienated from everyone after we got dropped. I think we stopped believing in the original vision of the band and in each other.
How were the tours for that album?
Seems like we toured with King’s X again and did a short headline tour. I think we were just happy to be touring PERIOD at that point.
Machine Fish was followed by The Horse That Bud Bought, and shifted the band to explore their power pop roots a little more. The title of the album comes from a line in the song “Oregon,” the song is about your family packing up and moving to Oregon, can you elaborate on the story for us? What was the experience like for you?
Yeah… my parents were super religious. To make a long story short, we moved from Phoenix, AZ when I was around 11 or 12 and ended up in a Christian cult in Oregon. It was not a good experience for any of us. Pretty much screwed with my head for many years. It was just mental abuse more than anything, but just crap that a kid shouldn’t have to deal with. And all in the name of “Jesus” of course.
How was the overall feeling in the band at this point, are you still hopeful, or do you feel the band has carved it’s place in music and should continue for the fans as many bands do?
We were becoming less and less of a band by the Horse CD. A lot of resentment between all of us. By this point, it was just a job to us. I almost quit while we were in pre-production. To me it was our worst CD by far. I hate the way that CD sounds and I really don’t care for most of the songs on it anymore. I don’t think Metal Blade even liked it much. We didn’t tour on it and I don’t think they promoted it at all. As far as the fans, this was before we got involved with the internet, so we really had no idea what people thought. I’ve always just written music that I wanted to hear…. and hoped someone out there would like it someday.
The next release Galactic Cowboys At the End of the Day, a bit of a return to form as well as including hints of the pop side of Horse That Bud Bought. To me as a fan reading and hearing the lyrics, as well as the album title, I thought this would be the swan song for the band. Was it looking like the end at this point?
Yeah… I thought it would probably be the last. I wrote the “Machine Fish Suite” and it was kind of the story of our career…. how we’d gotten screwed over by managers and labels and just manipulated. I also did the cover art, and it was also reflective. I still think that was one of our better CD’s though. Some really good songs on there.
You guys played the Cornerstone Fest that year, was it GC’s first experience at a Christian Fest?
I think it was. We only played a couple Christian shows in the 10 years. That was a good one though. I had a pretty good time.
Galactic Cowboys released one last album Let It Go, by this point drummer and long time collaborator, Allan Doss had left the band, King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill filled in on drums for the recording. Did you guys know this would be the last release?
Oh yeah… big time. We didn’t really think we were going to record it, but we needed the money. I was already working on songs for a solo CD, and decided to give those songs up for one last GC album. But yeah…. the last song “The Record Ends” was me saying good bye. “I can’t sleep and I can’t eat”…. Yeah, I was frustrated with the whole thing and ready to move on. Even the trash can ending of that song sounds like Wally and I personally setting it on fire. Ben didn’t want it to end, but the title said it all. Let it go. it’s time. it’s over.
Did you tour for Let It Go?
No… not at all.
What was it like after the split?
We pretty much stopped communicating. I started working on my solo stuff and put all my attention on that.
When did you decide to start Crunchy?
I had been planning that for a couple years before GC broke up. I moved from Houston back to Missouri while we were recording At the End of the Day and I was working on demos for a solo cd the whole time.
What were people’s responses to that project?
At first it was pretty bad. I don’t think the Galactic fans liked it too much. It wasn’t what they were expecting from me. I could have made a heavier album, but I wanted to make a pop kind of thing.
Were you excited about starting over or a little freaked out?
I was so excited when it all started. I was feeling great about life in general. I got signed by Metal Blade initially and the future looked so good. My kid Zoe had just been born, and things seemed to be going great.
The first release for Crunchy was All Day Sucker, what was the experience you had recording that album?
Well, it was good and bad. I recorded it at Jeff Scheetz studio and Jeff was great to work with. But at the same time, things were breaking down with Metal Blade and my new management. I ended up going with a different label… and that was a bad decision on my part.
What happened with the label on that one? I feel they really dropped the ball, I didn’t hear about the album until two years ago.
After they signed me, they informed me they were going bankrupt. The CD was dead at that point, and they wouldn’t give me the rights to it. So I was just totally screwed. They also owed me around 11 thousand bucks too and never paid me. The whole thing threw me into serious financial Hell.
What brought on the decision to go independent for the next two releases, Clown School Dropout, and Looserville?
I really had no choice. The record industry had changed so much with the internet. There weren’t any deals worth doing, so I just put them out myself.
Have you toured much with Crunchy?
Not much. I’ve done some shows outside of Missouri, but most of my Crunchy gigs have been within a few hours of Kansas City where I live. Without tour support, I really can’t afford to tour.
Looserville is concept record of a down and out kid coming into his own, falling in love, and loosing it all, then becoming a rock star, at least that’s what I’ve gathered, what was the inspiration for the plot of the story?
I got the idea about 25 years ago for a story about a relationship between a boy and a girl. I just decided to write with that in mind and ended up with kind of a rock opera kind of thing. I always loved Tommy by the Who, and things like that. I’m a big Pete Townsend fan. I worked on it for 3 years and I personally think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m very proud of it.
Is Crunchy still going?
Well, Crunchy is my solo thing. So if I decide to record, then yes… it’s going. As far as the live band, yes. I’ve got some new guys and it’s never been better. Lots of energy now. It’s what I’ve always wanted. The whole band going crazy on stage. I’m hoping to do more shows this year and I’m really looking forward to playing out.
Any plans of new music coming out in the future?
I’m sure there will be at some point. I’m just taking some time off from it right now.
You have an awesome Podcast my friend called Monty’s Rockcast, what got you into doing that?
Well, thanks so much. I started listening to podcasts about 3 years ago. I was so sick of the radio and how much it sucks. They never play anything new or expose me to any new bands, so I just started trying to find podcasts that I could entertain myself listening to. One day I went into an Apple computer store and saw that I could make my own show, and so I bought a Mac and went for it. Now it’s become an art form for me. I just love doing the shows and it’s been a great way to expose people to new music that they should know about…while at the same time, being an excellent way for me to vent and rant about stuff that I hate. All in good fun…of course.
Where can people find the Rockcast and Crunchy Merch?
People can order my cd’s, t shirts, and paintings on my website… montycolvin.net. You can find the podcast there too, or on the ITunes Store. If you hit the “subscribe” button, the shows will automatically download into your ITunes every time I put up a new episode.
You also sell paintings and take donations, correct?
Yes. the podcast is free, but If you’d like to support the show or a starving artist, there’s a button to do that.
2009 saw a three show Galactic Cowboys reunion, how did those go? Do you think there will be more?
They were great. We had a good time and it was fun to play that stuff again. However, I’m not sure there will ever be another one. Doesn’t really look like it at this point.
Any thoughts of Remastering and rereleasing any of the Galactic Cowboys albums?
Not on our part. We can’t even get together enough to put out a DVD.
What’s your favorite bass rig you ever had?
Probably the one I used for most of the GC years. I had an ampeg head and 8×10 cab for my low end, and I used a Mesa Boogie Rectifier for the high end. Some jerk stole the Boogie head from me. I loaned it to him and he took off with it and I never saw it again. But I’m sure he will burn in Hell for that, so it all works out!
What distortion pedal do you use for bass?
I don’t really use pedals for my distortion. It’s amp overdrive. If I do a solo I might kick on a whacked out Metal Zone or something like that, but for my regular tone it’s just out of a guitar head.
Any final thoughts?
Everyone should go to my website, listen to my podcasts, and then buy some of my stuff! It’s just the right thing to do! Oh… and one more thing…. Stop listening to that horrible FM radio crap and discover a whole world of music that is out there. There are musicians and artists (like myself) doing great stuff that most people will never hear. It’s out there…you just have to find it.
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