The Dirtbombs Interview

Over the course of 2 months, I’ve had the pleasure of shooting emails back and forth with Ben Blackwell of the Dirtbombs.  On stage, Ben gets to be one half of the dueling drum juggernaut, off stage and behind his computer he’s one of the most intriguing figures around the resurgent Detroit scene.  This interview flourished while procrastinating at the office and Ben always being online.  Lucky for me… Ben fielded every off the wall question – from what his top 5 recordings were, to his take on Butch Vig’s work on Nevermind and Steve Albini’s work on In Utero.   I wish I could include every bit of information that was exchanged throughout the past few months of correspondence, but space would never permit.  Interview conducted in person by Motor City Rollie during early 2002.  

Names: Ben Blackwell (Drums)
Band: The Dirtbombs

Rollie: I have to ask about the current line up.…who's on it, for how long now and is it the best lineup thus far?

Ben: Mick Collins, goat herding/booking agent; Jim Diamond, "oh no's,” money manager; Pat Pantano, y'all's, heart-breaker; and Tom Potter, woo's, waking up early. This line-up first got together in January of 2000, and didn't play our first show together until November of the same year. I think it's the best line-up by default. We've been together longer than all the other line-ups combined, so the sheer law of averages says we're the best. But, if you wanted a ratio of how many good releases we have over total releases, we'd probably be far behind any line-up with Dana Spicer.

R: Haha… I highly doubt that.  The Dirtbombs, as dynamic as the band iswith it's staging (two drummers, a bassist and two guitarists from the New Years Eve show) how does the entire band get on the same page? 

R: I can't think of a band that is more rooted with Detroit than the Dirtbombs.  The collective songs off of Ultraglide in Black all have a distinctive sound...  I don't want to paint the band into the corner of “the garage sound,” but they specifically sound like they came from Detroit.  With that said, do all songs really come from Detroit?

R: The 7 inches.…how many so far and which ones are the band members favorites thus far?

R: San Francisco *Noise Pop Festival*, how did it go and did the band intend to blow everyone else off billing?  Was the experience positive?  What have the Dirtbombs taken after playing the festival.

R: Detroit is experiencing a renaissance in respect to its music scene.  What is your take on the few Venues we have….and national/international acts continuing to skip Detroit as a city to play in?

R: Funny that you mentioned the Magic Stick and the Lagerhouse…  The Dirtbombs, along with the slew of other local acts that are on (or once were) Sympathy for the Record Industry have staked that venue as a 2^nd home.  Do you agree?

R: I was reading an article late last year about some emerging NYC acts. ( the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs whom you’re playing with I understand you’re playing with soon, and the Walkmen )  The Strokes were asked if they could possibly the next city to have a “scene.”  To my surprise… they said that they didn’t feel that NYC didn’t have a scene or could ever really develop one because they don’t have a specific venue to play at, or have bands that they could really buddy up with.  They went on to say that NYC is a very hard city to play in because you compete with national/international acts every night. While we don’t have these problems in Detroit, do you think that we’re in the midst of having a “scene.”  Do you think that there’s a good group of bands that really lean on each other?  If so which?    

R: Any new plans for a new Sympathetic Sounds comp?

R: The “new” album, how are things going as far as recording the long awaited follow up album?  Will we be seeing more 7” or a new full length on Red Line Records?  What does it sound like?  Will it have any appearances from other Detroit acts?  If so, whom?