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Eugene Robinson is a singer for one of the best bands on the planet. Eugene Robinson is an author, who takes “write from experience” very seriously. Eugene Robinson is an enigma. A mid-forties, highly educated, charming, seemingly “nice” guy who will whip his dick out in front of an audience, and beat the fuck out of you, if you heckle him for it. Everything he produces has an underlying of rage and resentment that make a good segment of the population wilt into unease, all while he signs emails with chipper little phrases like “okey dokey” and “cheers”. We shot some questions his way, and he answered them, kind of exactly how we expected him too… keep reading…
Interview by Tom Apostolopoulos
Oxbow – “Down A Stair Backward“
You’re a Stanford educated black man who might strip down to his underwear while playing live and either choke the life out of someone or make out with someone. Really how awesome is life?
I am glad in your world this constitutes awesome. I guess in my world it constitutes awesome as well. But the difference is that these moments of unbridled awesomeness, enjoyed by you and me briefly, are drowning in my personal sea of pointless visits to shopping malls, endless hours in gas stations, aimless grocery store wandering, fights with the post office, fights with women over “what you said” and fights with men over “what she said you said.” and through it all thems with half as much talent get their cocks sucked by… well, by just about everybody.
Now I know EVERYBODY must endure the same ordure and that moments of awesomeness experienced even briefly should be ENOUGH but, my friend, it really isn’t.
So yes. Life IS awesome. it is also brief and brutal. And brutally brief.
What’s the sketchiest thing you’ve done for money?
You can’t really expect me to answer this honestly can you?
I was hoping I caught you at a weak moment. Does your membership in Ox Bow ever preclude your continued progress as a writer?
My membership in Oxbow at this point has made it exceedingly difficult to maintain daily full time employ. Well that and Google. Well that, Google and my past propensity to answer questions like the last one honestly.
Your vocal delivery can be at times “all over the place”, a la Nick Cave Birthday Party era, can you describe your preparation for recording with Ox Bow, specifically in regards to lyrics and their phrasing.
Well I write the lyrics and only on very rare occasions will I ever sing anyone else’s. Part of this is artistic. The other part is financial. The more lyrics I write, the more I get paid for writing lyrics that are subsequently performed and BMI and other performing rights organizations overseas seem to take this seriously. BUT you incorrectly identify my vocals as “all over the place.” it might seem that way to YOU but typically however long it has been between records is how long I’ve been listening to the music that’s been written to my lyrics and trying to figure out what the song wants and what I need. so I go to every practice but refuse to sing until we’re recording. so the song at that point has only existed for me at the nexus of thought and feeling. What I think it means to me and how I feel about what I think. and given the fact that lyrically it closely documents my own life the issue is always: are these the right touch stones for me/to me to tell the story OF me. And if you listen to all of our records in order you will see an orderly progression from one type of singing and vocalizing to another.
You’ve become a pretty respected MMA writer, first you write the book “Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking”, and now you write for Real Fighter magazine, which gifts you with the unenviable pleasure of getting your head bashed in by some of the best fighters in the world, or maybe even get one over on them. The main question is “what’s the attraction?”
At this point? Well while I learn A LOT from these beatings about how to be a better fighter… a better fighter and therefore possibly a better human. As they have gotten hairier and hairier and I get closer and closer to getting SERIOUSLY injured I have to ask myself if this is recompense enough, and this is an answer I don’t have yet. I mean I like the money, the access and underneath it all I really believe I CAN win, but you know the real dirty secret I’ve found: lots of professional, possibly like lots of professional ANYTHING, are sick of their jobs and would really rather do almost anything else. This certainly de-romanticizes MY involvement and causes me to say: well while THIS is a BETTER thing to do today than to…hang around 7-11…it’s probably not better than just doing nothing at all in Monaco.
Describe in detail the worst ass kicking you’ve ever gotten?
Well the one that hospitalized me that I write about in the FIGHT book SEEMED bad but i certainly was not in the grips of terror when it happened. The beating by Brian “The Fury” Johnston that I write about in the FIGHT book? This had me in the grips of terror.
Fedor Emilianenko vs. Brock Lesnar, who wins? Why does Brock have a dick tattooed on his chest?
I do a radio show on www.combatmusicradio.com and I could go on for hours on just this alone but I give it to Fedor anytime in the next 365 days. After that? Who knows? And Brock’s ill-advised tattoo? Hey….you know…one man’s meat is another man’s? um…meat?
Ox Bow has been a band for a decade…
Oxbow has been a band for 20 years.
Gotcha…You’ve had some big gaps in between releases…
We have consistent averages of about 4 years between records.
And your touring has been kind of off and on..
We will tour in 2009. We toured in 2008 and 2007 and 2006 and 2005…www.theoxbow.com….the tour diaries tell it all.
Well in spite of all that, you have a pretty strong cult like following in the U.S. and U.K., The Narcotic Story came out in 2007, and you’re ready to release 2 more records this year, and you have some shows planned for the next few months, are we going to see a more “full time” Ox Bow? What’s the live schedule going to be like?
Well our schedule has to work around our lives, our side projects, our jobs…so when you do it like this you end up with an Oxbow schedule. People always write me and say “I will have to miss you guys this time…but NEXT time…” you know what? There’s going to come a time when there is no next time. Car crashes, food poisoning, shootings and suicides….something will claim us all. So see us NOW regardless of what I say our live schedule is going to be like.
Well our record label won’t release stuff unless we play and so…..away we go.
I also will do another book tour…this time on my upcoming novel A LONG SLOW SCREW [which is going to be released October 23rd]…this will be in 2010…so yes….While Rome burns around us, we tour more because we have run out of any OTHER way to make any money.
Describe heaven…
The continued and perpetual existence of my ego.
Is Ox Bow a better band live or recorded?
On record we are consistently brilliant. Live we are consistently truthful. Which is “better” depends totally on your perspective.
Someone said to me that Lady GaGa is the new Donna Summer. Explain your current rage?
Good of you to save this question for last. The former part of your gambit…the whole “Lady GaGa = Donna Summer” thing is baffling when placed against the construct of my “current rage.” because while Lady GaGa is a slightly vapid but catchy songstress and Donna Summer is a vapidly slight but catchy songstress, neither of them have anything to do with my rage, which is deep and unquenchable.
Oxbow is set to release:
Sept 15th: FUCKFEST reissue. CD and Vinyl.
Nov 4th: SONGS FOR THE FRENCH. CD and Vinyl. all new songs + live stuff from all over the world.
www.facebook.com/eugenerobinson
www.theoxbow.com
www.eugeneSrobinson.com
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