I'm going to be honest with you people...
I really don't care for most metal of the 21st century. Call me old, I don't care, but I am stuck in the 80s and 90s. A lot of the old-school bands that I grew up on, and still listen to more than anything, are long gone. It happens.
So I had an idea to do an interview series called Raiding the Crypt, where I will interview some of these bands that nobody has heard from in years. The interview you are about to read is the first of what will hopefully be many, and it is with an old friend that I haven't seen in over 20 years.
Most of you have never heard of the Disco Chickens and that is a damn shame.
They were around for most of the 90s, jamming in basements and garages and may have even made an appearance or two in your mother's bedroom. Derek Johnson (bass/vocals), Chad Olson (drums/vocals) and Chad Olsen (guitar/vocals) created some very cool metal that you really can't fit into a specific genre. Being from a very small town in Iowa did not allow for any sort of success for musicians. There was absolutely NOTHING in this town. In fact, I am pretty sure that the Disco Chickens were the only band in the entire county in the 90s.
Anyways, on to the interview....
When people think of Iowa metal in the 90s, Slipknot is the first band that is usually discussed. I always thought there were a number of bands in the state that were far better. What are some of your favorite Iowa bands from that era?
To be honest, I knew very few Iowa bands back then. We started in 1992 as a cover band called The 29th Step. We took the name from a 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie. It’s pretty ridiculous because the film is actually called The 39 Steps. This was pre-Internet, and we obviously didn’t know what we were talking about! So we botched our own band name. Our vocalist at the time was Joe Askvig. Our first show was with a couple of bands from nearby towns. Sweet Revenge was from Belmond, and they played a lot of 80s glam metal cover songs. The other cover band at that concert was Tainted Angel from Manson, and I don’t remember what kind of songs they did. Those were literally the only other Iowa bands I knew about. Our band was kind of a Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, etc. cover band. We played the heavy stuff.
The Disco Chickens originally formed in the early 90s as a side band by yourself, Derek Johnson and Chad Olsen. Why did you choose that name, and what bands were the Chickens' biggest influences?
I don’t remember why we chose the name. It could have been a take on Disco Duck. I do know we chose it because it was silly. And for the record, we chose that name five years before Dixie Chicks were widely known!
Our influences were mostly heavier stuff: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Danzig, Pantera… We were big fans of The Ramones, and that popped into our music on occasion. I grew up in a strict Christian household, so I was personally influenced by a lot of Christian metal bands. Tourniquet, Deliverance, Stryper, and many, many more were important to my musical journey.
How did the idea come about for the band to wear costumes, and how did you choose the costumes? How did you choose the band members' nicknames - Chicken Gizzard, Choke A. Chicken and Chicken Strip?
The entire premise for Disco Chickens was originally a joke. The 29th Step had morphed into another cover band called Threshold. We had a different vocalist, Troy Middleton. We added Bryan Knoll as a second guitarist. We scheduled a show at a decent-sized gym in a small town in our area. Instead of finding other bands to play with, we came up with the idea for Disco Chickens. Only Chad, Derek, and I would be in this new band. We wrote our own heavy songs with comedic, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. We wore ski masks to hide our identities. The mystery act would open for our main band. We told friends that Disco Chickens were a strange band from Des Moines or somewhere. I think people kind of knew it was us before the show took place, but we tried really hard to keep it a secret. After that show, the three of us decided to make Disco Chickens our only band. Threshold ended at that point.
As for the costumes, that was part of the mystique and goofiness. Chad and Derek got outdated clothes and scarves at Goodwill on a whim. Derek wore snow boots. Chad wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses a year before Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo made them cool again. I went shirtless under a pair of bib overall snow pants. The ski masks were the finishing touch.
I believe our pseudonyms started with Chad’s name choice, Choke A. Chicken. Derek’s name was actually Sherbert Gizzard, which should probably have been Sherbet Gizzard. That seems to be another misnomer ala The 29th Step. Chad’s name was hard to beat – no pun intended – so I settled for the classic and simple Chicken Strip. I guess it kind of went with my shirtless deal, too.
Which Disco Chickens song is your favorite and why?
“Goatman” by a long shot! That song just grooves. It opens with Derek’s backstory dialogue over eerie music that sounds like something from a 40s or 50s horror movie. Once the band comes in, a trained ear can hear that I basically stole the opening drum fills from Metallica’s “Sad But True.” I pretty much took the drums for the chorus from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. Regardless, that song is just so heavy in a simplistic way. The breakdown and vocal tradeoff between Derek and I is kind of the highlight for me. “Goat! Madman! Goat! Shoulda ran! Goat! Homewrecker! Goat! Backbreaker!” It has such a big groove. The lyrical subject matter and Derek’s squeaky “Hey!” near the very end keep the song completely rooted in comedy territory, though. We wrote a sequel two years later called “Lycanthropy (Goatman II)” or “Goatman II: Lycanthropy” or something like that. I remember it being an awesome song, but I don’t think any of us have a copy. That’s always disappointed me.
Over the next couple of years, our songs became more serious. We talked about pollution and suicide and things that actually mattered. But those first 11 songs we recorded were such fun songs. We had a 4-track recorder, which was kind of like a poor man’s GarageBand back in the day. Like a REALLY poor man’s GarageBand! Anyway, “Mousetrap” is a song that I look back on and am kind of amazed at how it came together. Chad and Derek had a bunch of nonsensical lyrics that they planned to spew back and forth with each other. We timed how long it took for them to say and scream the words. 35 seconds. I then recorded a drum track that was basically a 35 second, non-stop drum fill. I just played a bunch of whatever! No rhyme or reason. There are even some out of place cowbell clangs. Chad and Derek laid down guitar and bass tracks, speed picking a bunch of unplanned notes. Then their vocal tracks were added last. When I listen to that song now, it’s pretty cool that it’s essentially a song built around a 35 second time frame. Everything is tied to those 35 seconds. There’s no structure other than that. At the time, we were just having fun and trying to be as dorky as possible. In retrospect, we went about it in such an unconventional manner that it’s kind of a novel idea.
For those that are not familiar with the Clarion, Iowa area, it is a very small town and the Disco Chickens were literally the only metal band in the entire county. This, of course, meant there was no scene and only a handful of concerts that you got to play. How do you think you would have fit in to the metal scene in an area such as Des Moines?
From 1992-1995, there were literally no other bands within a 30 mile radius, other than Sweet Revenge. This was before everyone and their dog had “a band.” By 1996, two dudes trying to learn drums and guitar in Clarion, Goldfield, Belmond or wherever considered themselves a band! In our day, we were the only guys around that could play rock and metal songs. We weren’t a big deal at all, but we were to the people around us.
So, yeah, Des Moines and Fort Dodge and probably Ames… That’s where the legit bands were. Much more legit than ours. In a major metropolitan area such as Des Moines, we might have been able to find a niche. Our getups and costumes and funny-yet-heavy songs might have given us a following in that scene. I have no idea. If we’d somehow managed that, we might have eventually sued Slipknot for concealing their identities with masks the way we did. Ha! Then again, KISS did it before many, so it’s hardly a unique idea.
If you could have done a Disco Chickens tour and had five bands of your choice to go on the road with, who would those bands be?
Oh, I don’t know! I mean, everyone back then might have said Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Alice In Chains, and Nirvana. But I’ve never even thought about it. If we played with those five bands in a dream scenario, we’d definitely be the band that was allowed to play two, maybe three songs at most! In actuality, we’d be the roadies, at best. At worst, we’d have to buy tickets to our own concert that we definitely weren’t playing at with those bands!
At what age did you begin playing drums? Who were your main influences?
I tried trombone for half a year in 5th grade, and that sucked! I was 10. I convinced my band director to let me play drums instead. His stipulation was that I take piano lessons for timing purposes, and I did for the next four years or so. I probably started playing a drum set at 11.
My drumming influences… Ted Kirkpatrick of Tourniquet is my favorite drummer. He’s amazing. Say what you will about Lars Ulrich… But in the 80s, he took metal drumming to new places. …And Justice For All is my third favorite album of all-time, and his playing on that record is crazy. I’ve always loved Robert Sweet of Stryper. Not so much because he’s an incredible drummer, but more because of his drum sound. His drums on pretty much every Stryper record have the ideal sound in my book. I’ve always wondered what other bands would sound like with his huge sounding drums. The guy is a solid drummer for what that band wants to do, but his sound is just so big.
In the mid 90's, The Disco Chickens were mentioned on MTV after entering a contest they were having where bands could send in a video and the winner got to open for White Zombie. How cool was that to hear them say "The Disco Chickens" when naming off a few of their favorite bands out of thousands that had submitted videos?
Derek and I didn’t actually get to see or hear it, but Chad did. To my recollection, we didn’t have a recording of it. I assume Chad told us the truth. Just kidding. He really did see it. We didn’t win the contest, but it’s pretty crazy to think that the words “Disco Chickens” were uttered on MTV!
What was the experience like writing for 1340mag.com? What were some of your favorite bands that you interviewed during that time?
I wrote for 1340mag.com, The Great Nothing, and HM Magazine. HM was a print mag with decent circulation back in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. I worked for that magazine at their location in Austin, Texas, in 1998/99. I also did freelance stuff for them after I left. All of those writing experiences were awesome! Meeting band dudes and hanging out or talking on the phone with them on occasion was very cool.
Some of my favorite interviews… Let’s see… I interviewed Frank Bello of Anthrax backstage at House Of Blues in Orlando back in 2003. That was the first time I realized there’s a lot of “hurry up and wait” for most bands today. Now that the debauchery of the 80s is pretty much gone, many bands basically arrive at the venue, sound check, and then sit around with not much else to do until showtime. Who else? I’m not a huge fan of the band, but I interviewed Skillet just before they blew up. Super nice people. I talked to Alan Robert and Sal Abruscato of Life Of Agony for an interview. I had great phone interviews with Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche, Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter, Scott Mellinger of ZAO…
One of the strangest, out of left field interviews I’ve ever done was with Dustin Diamond of “Saved By The Bell” fame. You know, Screech! In 2003 and 2004, he played bass in a quirky band called Salty The Pocketknife. I talked with Dustin and the band’s drummer on the phone for nearly an hour or so. The one stipulation from his public relations company was that I only ask one or two questions about “Saved By The Bell” and his TV character. If I asked more, the interview would end. It was supposed to be about his band, and it was almost like he was embarrassed about Screech by then. The irony of that situation was that I didn’t ask a single question about any of that, yet he brought up the show and his character more than several times! He wasn’t as goofy as the guy he played on TV, but he wasn’t that far off in real life.
The sound quality on the old Disco Chickens demo tapes was pretty poor, but the songs were amazing. Do you think there is a chance that the band will ever get back together to record some of the old songs?
I HIGHLY doubt it. You know, people love to say “never say never.” But I really don’t see that happening. Don’t get me wrong; it would be very cool! But in order to do that, we’d need to get ourselves up to snuff on our own instruments, then practice together and get the songs tight enough to record. Chad is a pharmacist in Houston, and Derek is a lawyer. So I can’t imagine that ever happening.
Thank you for the interview, Chad. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
I don’t think so. I appreciate you wanting to talk to me about Disco Chickens and all of this. We had some really great times. Late high school and early college… Formative years. That was a very special time in our lives. Living in the past is supposedly unhealthy, but I’d go back in a heartbeat. Even though we only talk like maybe once a year, I still consider Chad and Derek my best friends. We had so much fun.
