The peycho cincus new days wising

Rip It Up, Issue 248, 1 April 1998, Page 20

The peycho cincus

new days wising

"Tickets are good for ajeat, but you'll only use the edge of it." promises Jim Rose, which is really —quite an understated catchphrase from a man whose job description includes hammering screwdrivers up his nose and having his face ground in broken glass. I <fl The New Jim Rose Circus, who visit New Zealand for a string of shows from the end of April, are unlike any circus you've ever seen before. A 17 strong group of performers possessing rather unusual abilities - a weightlifter who lifts weights using his pierced extremities, a "chainsaw football" team, 200 kilo female Sumo wrestling, the Circus Queen who blows fire from her vagina, an entirely tattooed freak with no gag reflex... : this is probably more rock ’n' roll ! than rock ‘n' roll itself.

Af rm ircp the man whose constant narrative &C Ul LvUi )C| patter keeps the show flowing IsHl|JB Mi something of 3 motormouth, albeit a very friendly and Vfl fl Interesting one. Even a simple “how are you?" elicits an 3 appropriately dramatic response. "We just broke the record for the most people to ever attend v• U in the history of the Adelaide Fringe Festival, we also broke the fl record formerly held by Stomp! at the Melbourne International fl Comedy Festival, we've been the top ticket in the last five years at ■ the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, so it's just been going fl really, really well/ fl You can almost hear the beaming smile down through the fl phone lines. "flflflflflflHflflflflflflflflflHlflßflllllHHflflHflSflßH ® The first time Jim Rose and his Circus came to worldwide fl notice was during the 1992 lollapalooza tour, when they fl garnered almost as much of the media spotlight and audience fl attention as the rock bands headlining the festival, who that year fl included Soundgarden, Pearl Jam. and Ministry. B "Oh yeah, back in *92. Oh, funny how stuff happens. If you look ■ at who was on the tour, there's no one left but Pearl Jam. U Everyone else has pretty much broken up.* fl And Rose thinks he knows why the Circus has outlived his old .' fl contemporaries. ' <flflflflfl|flflflPflflflflß9HNflHfll| fl “You know, we don't have records. The only real way to see us . fl is live and I guess that allowed us career longevity ’cause you can fl only play to so many people. I refuse to play to audiences that are i fl too big. 'cause I don't need the money any more, so I'll only let a fl certain amount of people in every night so that those people get fl a great show, instead of thousands of people getting a mediocre B show. Because of that policy, it's just very difficult to burn out, lfl there's just too many people that haven't seen us." ffl It wasn't always like that. In 1994, The Jim Rose Circus went on IM the six month Downward Spiral tour with Nine Inch Nails, playing |fl to massively sold out houses and capturing the imagination of the ’fl NIN audience, a very difficult tough crowd to break. Rose casually fl shrugs this off - he's not concerned with the past, and it's almost Ifl like he did that tour just to hang out with his friend Trent I Reznor. I <fl ’Yeahhh, well, you know. Trent is an old buddy of mine. I fl mean, I’ve known Trent forever, I've even been his roommate for 9 3 while. And Marilyn Manson opened for us on that tour - I don't fl know if they're known down there in New Zealand.* 1 Marilyn Manson were just starting out back then, and were /■yet to become a target of the Christian right wing, but at that fl time Rose was already no stranger to conservative opposition, fl The year before, fabricated stories appearing in the British Illi tabloids had caused a number problems for the Circus, and even /fl last year he was still encountering trouble to some degree from gfl small minds in small laces I' 7 ’Yeah, well I was thrown in jail in Lubbock, Texas last year. Of Ky course Lubbock, Texas is the buckle on the bible belt, a very ’ fl backwards, small town. My arresting officer's grandfather was, I believe, water. His father was the first to walk upright. T Jk brother grew the first thumb. Best compliment I could give Wm was ’nice tooth*, had less teeth than a || ’ ■. walrus. Spent a night in jail. Conservative opposition? I fcjJ % 1 Critics? I’ve never seen a statue erected for a critic.

‘S',3/ I .a./; Tji-' 7 * * -iO II fl v * V 10 J/

I only for whom they criticise." By the same token, it should be innovators, not copyists, that are celebrated. Because after Jim Rose, the deluge. His groundbreaking show opened a floodgate through which all the second rate bandwagonjumpers came pouring through. "There's imitators from all over the world - the United States, Canada, a couple of them from England. There's one outfit from Japan - I think they're even coming to New Zealand, " he says, perhaps alluding to the Tokyo Shock Boys, also booked to perform I during the laugh festival. "But they all just do the ’92/93 show, and a real cheaper version - and that's not really what we're about any more. The new direction is P.T. Barnum meets John Waters. It's a theatre of thrills ... you know, a big. dangerous comical cartoon. That's the show that has broken all the records, the new one that's really turned the world on its ear. And we're able to do a full production. I'm bringing 17 people and that's a little difficult to compete with." There may not be any more eating of live insects or the mad pharmacist who'd pump litres of beer into his stomach through his nose and extract it seconds later a different colour, but Rose says the "new direction" means that they don't have any problem with appearing at comedy festivals. "Well, we broke the record at the Melbourne Comedy Festival previously held by Stomp’, and I don't consider them comedy, [either. When you see the new show, you'll see why it definitely falls under comedy. We don't take ourselves seriously and I don't think we should be taken very seriously. We changed our show - like the video that's probably floating around New Zealand is so obsolete you won't even recognise us." The passing of time is well illustrated by the changing physical appearance of The Enigma, who was a founding member of the circus back when he was plain old Paul the Sword Swallower. Not only has he recently acquired coral horns grafted under his scalp, but the body jigsaw tattoo that covers every inch of visible 1 skin is steadily being filled in with an electric shade of blue. So, • Jim, is the Enigma totally blue yet? m "No, he's not! But he's real, real, real dose." / i You’ve got to wonder where you can go after that, * f • or whether you just start on another colour. Z i "I don't have a clue. His goal is to be completely blue, but he's still a way away from reaching it - once he * f reaches that goal, I'm sure he'll set another one, but what it is, I 1 don't know. I T know, he acted with me in one of the episodes of The X- , Files. I was ‘Or Blockhead*, he was the Conundrum'. I'm getting 1 ready to do another one, gonna do it with the Mexican i Transvestite Wrestlers, and 111 be Or Blockhead again. I just • storyboarded it with Chris Carter (X Files creator/producerl. and • David (Ouchovnyl and Gillian (Anderson], about a month and a half

ago in Vancouver. Canada. I don't know when it will air in New Zealand though." As if appearing on The X Files playing a character very much like himself is not proof enough of your penetration into the cultural psyche, it becomes glaringly apparent when you inspire a storyline on an episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer runs away to become "The Human Cannonball" on a travelling rock n' roll tour. And as much as Rose likes this story, he also takes the opportunity to grab the (cannon)ball and run with it, beginning a big spieling patter about his own circus in a drawling, zen like ramble of the old time carny showman. "You know. Homer is a cartoon character, and he went back to Springfield so he's not gonna be coming with us to New Zealand. But, in Homer's honour, a tribute! Bebe The Circus Queen will be the Human Cannonball. She's gonna lie on a bed of nails, have a glass plate like you would eat from placed on her stomach, and a cannonball will be shot down on top of her. shattering the glass. "She comes from a circus family in France - her brother runs the largest circus in Europe, the Royal Deluxe Circus. Her sister and brother law run the Rondolini Circus in Eastern Europe. Bebe. I guess, is best known for blowing fire from her vagina - fire in the hole - it's like a mining accident I guess, don't send the canary down there too far! She learned that stunt from her mother, and we'll be doing that full frontal fire throughout New Zealand. "Also, we're bringing Mr Lifto, an unconventional weightlifter, he'll make .(/'■"“‘•M

Arnoiu xnwdrzenegger cry wnen ne inis up increuiDie r' r> amounts of weight with his nose, his ears, his tongue, j I nipples ... and the part of him that's most a mister. He's ;• L gonna lift up a replica of the American Liberty Bell and *. **’ I ring in freedom with his lower appendage - 1 gotta tell you though, he's been using it every night for 12 years and it's quite an enhancer, he's having a hard time finding a significant other that can house it. he's thinking of going to a real estate agent. It's so big. it gets its own lunch money. It's bigger, meaner, harder than the Alaskan pipeline. It's got a heart, lung and mind all of its own. It's like a baby's arm holding an apple. Harder than Chinese arithmetic, a cat couldn't scratch it. You could jack up your car, strike a match on it - it's so big. it's got an elbow. So he'll be lifting a replica of the Liberty Bell with it." “A real female fan favourite is the Armenian Rubber Man. He was not born like you or I. he's got a sock for a socket, hair in places monkey's don't: he's a pretzel, a human bar snack, nature's greatest mistake. He'll contract his frame, slither through the head of a 1970 s model tennis racket, he'll flip his legs over his head and play guitar for your listening enjoyment. "I've also got a young lady who's 36 - 24 - 36. and that's just one leg. It's a leg you can love - just go for the dimple. Women Sumo Wrestling, you'll feel the earth shake when 400 kilos of human flesh collide! "Mexican Transvestite Wrestling, it's a catfight, man. these sissies can really fight. Went to Mexico City, got the best they had. 1 got "Low Blow" Ventura, "Trailer Trash" Guerera cornin' down to New Zealand. "Tickles" Valdez, Billy Martinez "The Barrio Bottom". Actually Tickles and The Barrio Bottom are former fagteam partners, they hate each other with a pansy passion, bras are gonna fly when those two mix it up. Rules are simple: they wear strap on sexual aids, dildos, and the first one that can force it ■ into the other ones mouth for a 123 count, wins. No holds barred, slapping is allowed, but fisting, biting and kicking ,is illegal. ’High flyin', bonejarrin' excitement ... not since Christians were fed to the lions has there been a show this exciting. It's like biblical times, miracles are happening everywhere. Thrills, spills and doctors bills! You'll need a swivel on your neck. We're gonna turn New Zealand into a giant mud pit! "How do you like the poetry of circus so far? OK. next question please." 5 Sure - do you ever pause for breath? He answers with a mysterious chuckle. Bk Although Jim Rose never had any doubt that the re introduction of the old style sideshow would enthrall a blase > Z generation who thought they’d seen everything, he never anticipated the heights or distances his little idea could reach, only six years after the first incarnation. ; "I was always worried that it would be a novelty, and I felt it should be a phenomenon. And then we kinda reached phenomena, and all of a sudden, The X Files and The Simpsons ... so it's kind of like pop culture status going on. 1 never envisioned that, but I m really happy because it frees me up to be able to continue developing as an artist." He will be horrifying and entertaining for a long time yet. ' •

T LUO I iF-P of en 17 year old rock guitarist Todd Whitener ' I • iLz J=“ 1 • L* changed radically when he stepped into a music store in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky a couple of years ago. Working in the store was an even younger singer/songwriter, Travis Meeks, who had recently moved down from Charlestown, Indiana, to chase his musical dreams. -X

Whitener takes up the tale. "1 was playing this guitar there and Travis walked over, checking me out. At that point he was looking for a guitar player to join this band he was forming, Days Of The New. Next thing 1 know 1 was in his basement learning some of his tunes, and a week after that we went down to Nashville and recorded a demo." '

' Things moved quickly from there once the tape reached top producer Scott Litt (REM, Nirvana). "1 liked it enough to fly out to see what the band could do in a live setting," recalls Litt. "What 1 saw really floored me. There was such urgency there and 1 knew the band had something to set them apart." Litt quickly signed them to his new record label, Outpost, and Days Of The New went back to Nashville to record their self titled debut album with him. ~ ~~

The band found it a surprisingly easy process. "It'd seem we were under a lot of-pressure, but Scott was so cool, so laidback. The thing he's best at is creating a very relaxed situation, both in the studio and as owner of our record label. We're very lucky to be able to work with him in particular," says Whitener.

Whitener jokes that, "you'd see Oak Ridge Boys gold records on the wall of Woodland Studios, but it doesn't have a country vibe. We took it over and gave it a Days Of The New vibe. That got the job done, and there's talk of us doing the next record there." So what is the DOTN vibe? Well, when Eddie Vedder recently moaned about new bands having a Pearl Jam sound, you can bet Seattle's Space Needle he was referring to the likes of Creed, Days Of The New and Seven Mary Three. The introspective lyrics, tortured delivery, and song dynamics of those bands all mirror early Pearl Jam, but Whitener rejects any claim they're PJ clones.

"1 guess that [comparison] comes down to Travis' vocals. I'd have to say Pearl Jam never had much of an influence over us. I've also heard Soundgarden and Alice In Chain comparisons. 1 take them all as compliments, as they've all been great bands of the 905." ; Seems Days Of The New roots are more in hard rock and metal than the Seattle scene. "As a guitarist my one inspiration has always been Steve Vai," says Whitener. "1 grew up with a wide range of music, more so than the other guys. 1 listened to reggae, Beastie Boys, Metallica, Pantera, and even hip hop. The other guys are more from the hardcore metal scene, Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica, Pantera." - ■ ■ One sonic element that distinguishes Days Of The New somewhat is their emphasis on acoustic guitar. "Travis had this idea in his head that as we all came from Metallica type bands, he wanted to keep that hard edge but transfer it over onto acoustic, more natural sounds," explains Whitener. "1 was totally into the electric thing, but I'd been in a classical guitar ensemble for a few years earlier. That definitely helped me be familiar with the instrument."

Word is the band will play North American dates with their heroes Metallica later this year. They'll soon play Europe, and are aware they're gaining fans in Australasia. "We've got an Internet site, run by a fan in Canada, and 1 get on there sometimes to see the comments. We've had some from Australia and New Zealand recently." Days Of The New has gone gold in North America, and is still selling strongly nine months after its release, thanks to heavy radio play for the single 'Touch, Peel And Stand', and non stop touring. Knackered yet, Todd? "Not at all. We're young guys, we can take it. We're just so grateful to be able to be on the road and play our music for people night after night. That's such a luxury, man. We still take the approach that we want to win the crowd over even though we know we've got our own fan base going now. It's a lot better than when we first went out on the road, before our album was released. There were some nights when there'd be more people in the crew than actually in the club and that's pretty tough." They're not Hanson, but DOTN are still young cats. Meeks is 18, Whitener and drummer Matt Taul 19, and bassist Jesse Vest is 20. Whitener stresses that, "we don't want to be seen as a teenage thing or present ourselves as a teen type of band. Our young age is interesting to some, but when 1 look at our audiences, it's not full of 15 to 17 year olds. A lot are in their 40s. It seems people of all ages can relate to this. We've gone through bullshit just like everybody else, and we're trying to get our message across. We're talking about emotions and the bullshit that everyone has to go through in life."

To date, Meeks has been the chief songwriter, but Whitener claims, "it's safe to say the rest of us will get more freedom. ] think ]'ll have a couple of songs 1 primarily wrote on the next album. It has just fallen into place that way. We've already got enough new songs for a couple more albums. The situation of being out here just going through everything we go through, that's just another inspiration on top of everything. It's pretty crazy!" / \

The lads seem to have their heads screwed on OK, at least according to Whitener. "The thing that's cool about this group of four guys is that we've been smart in that we know what kind of shit people deal with and how some people's heads swell up and they overlook things about the business. We went into this knowing what could or what could, not happen, and I'm proud of the way everybody has kept it together."

The name Days Of The New has a slightly sinister ring to it, suggesting one of those crackpot rightwing militia groups or some doomsday cult. To the band, it represents a few different things. "On the musical side, it refers to the way we're pursuing the acoustic thing in rock 'n' roll a little more aggressively than has been done in the past. Spiritually, there's the view of the new millennium and the huge evolution going on right now. That's where the symbol of the tree [it adorns the album cover] comes in. The tree represents life. It goes through changes and seasons, dies off and comes back, the way people keep learning and spreading further. That's like a symbol for our band." Pretty deep, huh kids?

Kenny Doole