Zen Guerrilla
 
Greg E Boy Interviews
Marcus Durant
of ZEN Guerrilla
SFS: Those are some crafty illustrations on your albums covers, do you use a computer?
Marcus: I do use a computer.
SFS: Did you get a degree in graphic arts?
Marcus: Yeah, I went to the University of Delaware and got a degree in visual communications.
SFS: Ah! In lovely Newark, Delaware. (pronounce New-Ark)
Marcus: You'd been there?
SFS: Yeah, I had a few friends who went to school there. I went Towson State in Balitmore; I'm from Maryland. I was weened on DC punk at an early age. How did you end up in SF?
Marcus: Well, we moved for a brief time to Philly and just decided to move to SF.
SFS: The whole band?
Marcus: yeah
SFS: So the whole band moved from Delaware to Philly to SF and you didn't lose anybody along the way?
Marcus: Only a couple of us moved to Philly and then we all decided to make a move to SF for a change.v SFS: Do you like SF?
Marcus: Oh, I love San Francisco. It's a beautiful city to come home to. SFS: It's a bit pricey to live there eh?
Marcus: Um, it all depends on how you live.
SFS: I guess that's true.
Marcus: If yer quite frugal, it's like living anywhere. If you want your own place that overlooks the bay, or some kind of view, then it can be extremely expensive. But I live sort of communally, with a bunch of people so it makes it really cheap.
SFS: So you're a hippie in a round about way?
Marcus: (very long pause) No.
SFS: (laughter)
Marcus: I use the word 'communally' very loosely.
SFS:Veerryy loosely.
Marcus: I mean it's sort of like when you were a kid, or like, I'm sure you lived quite communally when you were in college.
SFS: Yeah, we shared the pot.
Marcus: Shared the pot, split the bills, shared the cold cuts, that kind of thing.
SFS: Do you use this art talent you have in a day job sense?
Marcus: Um, like freelance? Lately I haven't been able to hustle much freelance work because we've been on the road quite a bit. But when I can, I do.
SFS: I really dig your style.
Marcus: thanks
SFS: I would think with folks like Art Chantry and Derek Hess; with their stuff popping up all over the place, I'd figured I'd see your stuff more often on albums and flyers.
Marcus: Well, that's a 24-7/full-time job for those guys. They have sort of a jump on me. My stuff's gotten around as much as it can. There's a book coming out in the spring with some stuff of mine in it. I wish I had more time to do more stuff. It gives me something to fall back on later on [down the road].
SFS: When you voice gives out.
Marcus: Right.
SFS: So how tall are you?
Marcus: I'm 6'7"
SFS: That's mighty tall. Still sporting that afro?
Marcus: (long pause) Um, yeah, I still have an afro.
SFS: So what's that crazy thing you sing through?
Marcus: It's an old Bell & Howell movie projector speaker. In the early '60s, they didn't have built-in speakers in the projectors but external speakers. I saw this on the side of the road in north Philly and bought it for like five bucks. Took the tube amp out of the projector and placed it in the speaker cabinet itself and thatís what I sing through now.
SFS: So you just got a wild hair up your ass to sing through that?
Marcus: It's like anything. It had this sort of natural progression. I had a lot of time to kill up in north Philly. I was paying $25 a month in rent, so you could imagine how much time I had on my hands.
SFS: Right. Staring at that thing. Is it a bitch to repair?
Marcus: Well no, since I built it I can repair it.
SFS: how old are you?
Marcus: 32.
SFS: When I saw you guys with the Cows you did the most amazing cover of 'The Trooper' by Iron Maiden. Do you have an arsenal of covers? Marcus: We've been playing for a long time now so we have quite a few that we have played over the years. [the last track on the bandís newest released is a David Bowie cover].
SFS: So how is it different being on Sub Pop as oppose to Alternative Tentacles?
Marcus: Um, they are further away then AT. It's a little bit of a hike to stop by and say 'hello' to the people working on your record.
SFS: Which you did all the time with AT?
Marcus: Oh yeah, they were right in my neighborhood.
SFS: Went and ate tofu w/ Jello Biafra.
Marcus: No, Jello didn't really hang out in the office much. But, you know, steal a cup of coffee from them. Hang out, help pack singles and whatever. The only real difference between the two is that Sub Pop has a little bit more resources to get our record out to more people.
SFS: It seems like Sub Pop should send your record to blues rags because, essentially, Zen Guerilla is a blues band.
Marcus: Oh yeah?
SFS: I think so. It's a little louder then what some of those blues folks are used to hearing, but at the core of it all, it's blues.
Marcus: Yeah, but I mean it's all pretty much based on blues dontcha think? I mean, Minor Threat stripped it down and it's blues chords.
SFS: That's true. But then when you listen to 'modern blues' it ain't really blues. It doesn't sound like what it should be.
Marcus: It sounds like bullshit.
SFS: My unborn child's first concert was Black Sabbath.
Marcus: Wow.
SFS: I figure that's gotta be good for the kid. Then we went and saw Rollins too. And maybe that was a mistake. Everybody in his band looked like some Faster Pussycat drop-out.
Marcus: I've never been a huge Hank fan.
SFS: I like Black Flag, and his first solo album. But as for the rest of it, My wife think's he's hot though.
Marcus: Hanks' hot?
SFS: yeah.
Marcus: Ah, yikes. He's kinda cheesy.
SFS: He's kind of gay in a Rob Halford kind of way.
Marcus: No comment. [ponders on the forgotten singers of Black Flag] everyone equates Black Flag with Rollins but the best songs came from the singers before him.
SFS: This is true.
Marcus: And he never recognizes those two.
SFS: He's a media whore; He's all about self-promotion.
Marcus: All those cats from DC have maintained high levels of integrity and then there's the crazy cousin Hank.
SFS: It's like, 'Damn, him?'
Marcus: (laughter) It's like every time I hear him talk or read it's like, 'Jesus, he should quit coffee.'
SFS: Speaking of coffee, do you have any special clauses in yer rider contract? Like the Melvins had a like a case of canned coffee on their contract. That explains them, huh?
Marcus: A reinforced stage. That's the one stipulation. We just have to make sure they check the stability of the stage. But that coffee thing is a good idea. After awhile beer just kinda sort loses it's splendor. But yeah, I could see how a nice cold can of coffee could just make your day right before hitting the stage. You know Buzz is always ahead of things.
SFS: So what have you been listening to that warrants mentioning?
Marcus: I've sort of been turning back the hands of time to be honest with you.
SFS: So you've been listening to John Lee Hooker or something?
Marcus: Uh, all kinds of things. The Kinks. The Replacements. I was listening to Tim this morning.
SFS: You a Quadrajets fan?
Marcus: Oh, I love the Quadrajets. We did tour with them; they're good friends of mine.
SFS: They do a song 'John Lee Hooker Is My Heavy Metal'.
Marcus: Oh yeah, oh yeah. They are a great band. I love Chet and the boys. SFS: Well, apparently they are calling it quits.
Marcus: Yeah, apparently their last show is the 23rd of June, May maybe? Everyone's sad about that. It makes no sense, but he's moving on.
SFS: What about Cash Money?
Marcus: Yeah, John and Scotty.
SFS: They had to change their name to Cash Audio because of some rappers and that hip hop label Cash Money.
Marcus: Really? They are good guys.
SFS: Any great words of wisdom? Those famous last words?
Marcus: Go out and buy some vinyl today. How's that?
SFS: Ever think of changing the band name?
Marcus: We picked the name years ago and it was inspired by a Husker Du Zen Arcade poster. So it seemed like, 'if it was cool for Bob Mould it was cool for us.' Ultimately, it doesn't really matter.
SFS: What it all boils down to is that when you guys get on stage, you rock.
Marcus: Ultimately that's all that really matters.
SFS: Well it can [matter] if your name is Dick Delicious and the Tastey Testicles.
Marcus: Yeah, I really don't know if I'm going to be traveling the country with Dick Delicious but...
(laughter)
SFS: You might have to change that one, huh?
Marcus: Yeah you might have to change it, which goes back to Rollins.
SFS: Exactly.
Marcus: We've gone full circle. I think that might be the end of the interview.
SFS: I think it is.