the no-fi "magazine" interview with
DERON MILLER
of the band CKY aka Camp Kill Yourself
interview conducted by Garrett Faber, 2007
Deron Miller is the guy from CKY, the band, and the movies from back in the day. They've been associated with the "Jackass" scene, although they really aren't involved with any of the crazy shenanigans that take palce on the show. I think their music is pretty amazing, "Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild" is a classic. They are amazing live. I saw them at the CHA and all types of crazy shit happened, and I got to meet the band. It was intense.
Anyway, here's my interview with Deron Miller!
Garrett Faber: You've been playing shows and making music for a long time. Do you still feel the excitement of playing in front of a live audience? Has there ever been a time when you really had to take a piss but you were in the middle of a song? How do you deal with that?
Deron Miller: Its very odd for me, but my bodily functions shut down when I get up there. Adrenalin is king of the body, it takes over more than you can imagine. I still feel that every time I'm on stage. I imagine it to be a lot like the feeling you get before you stab your ex to death if only those killers out there knew how to write and play.
GF: How do you deal with writers block?
DM: I walk away, I come up with "keeper" riffs probably every 6 times I sit down to write something.
GF: Are you familiar with "hardcore dancing?" That shit sucks!
DM: I bet.
GF: How do you feel about the "scene" and the way our culture has such a fucked up attention span? You're hear today, and gone today. Britney Spears has had the media pretty much go from celebrating her to making fun of her. How do you stay sane being in the public eye?
DM: Well I'm not in the public eye. That helps. I used to make accusations about everyone and how stupid I thought they were. Now I just accept it. Nobody lives this kind of life. People are unintelligent. They are not informed. They just work to keep us all going. If everyone was as smart as they could be they would all want to stop what they're doing because they don't like doing it. We need those people to do the shit the rest of us won't do. In exchange, everything is dumbed down and made simple. Movies, TV, holidays, they all get sucked into all of those things because it keeps them busy and stifles their learning of reality.
GF: Whats your favorite food that you can prepare totally by yourself? We're not talking about delivery, we're talking about something you've made completely by yourself.
DM: I could eat a bag of cheetos for dinner, I don't care.
GF: When you find time to read, what do you usually look into? Do you like the works of Bret Easton Ellis, or Chuck Palahniuk?
DM: I don't read fiction books because I know I can get the story quicker in a 2 hour movie. I like biographies about people I'm interested in. I like well made books with a lot of pictures. I'm a very fast reader, but I don't pay attention. I'm always looking for that quick fix. Give me some pictures, page after page.
GF: Do you ever paint or create any other types of art? I noticed in the "Shock & Terror" video, when you were directing Misty, that was pretty fucking awesome, I'd never seen anything like it.
DM: Really? I like to act. Don't have much time to do it.
GF: What do you usually find yourself writing about? What inspires you to write songs like "Tripled Manic State"?
DM: The bottom line is that I usually write about the frustration I feel when people don't understand what you're talking about. I write about foiling ignorance. I make fun of the majority in most of my songs. Plus I'm a movie buff. I like to write about bad people with even worse ideas.
GF: Have you ever used a Ouija board? I've never had the patience to ever actually play it. Maybe I should try it sometime.
DM: Maybe you should. Tell me how it is.
GF: What happened to "The Butcher's Hand"? I remember hearing that title and visualizing that hand drawn by the dude who illustrated the book "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark." Is that idea completely dead and gone or are you coming back with it?
DM: It's dead...it died in 2005 before "Answer" came out. I thought it was a cool title, but the band talked me out of it. I don't think "An Answer Can Be Found" was any better of a title. Neither one was right I think.
GF: What is it like being famous? Have you gotten to the point where you never go out in public yet? Are you pretty easily recognized?
DM: I'm not famous and I'm glad. I never wanted to be. I'm a homebodied family man with a lot of anger that enough people enjoy paying attention to.
GF: Are you happy?
DM: Extremely
GF: Which Phantasm movie did you think was the best? That was insane when Jody was dead at the end of part one, I really didn't see that coming.
DM: The first is the best. The 2nd was cool because they had a bigger budget for FX, but the dialog was terrible. The other two were boring.
GF: What about Evil Dead? Eraserhead? The classic horror films with Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi, Ed Wood's films? Who do you think is the best horror director and why? Have you ever met Tom Savini?
DM: There is no best horror director only good movies. For instance John Carpenter did an amazing job on Halloween, but the rest of his movies were garbage. It's all about the story, script and acting. Fuck directors they don't do enough.
GF: Do you believe in ghosts and evil spirits, and luck?
DM: To an extent, I believe in karma. I would never ever believe in something unproven that has been ineffectively convinced to me. All religions are like McDonald's. It's corporate cash-in. Keep the public scared and offer a solution, and there will definitely be prizes in the church tray.
GF: Did you always believe this, or did this just come to you one day?
DM: I always believed it.
GF: What was the last thing you bought that is worth mentioning? I was going to by this 8mm film camera for 75 bucks but I found out it was almost impossible to find film and develop it, so I didn't. What about you?
DM: I bought a giant stuffed giraffe for my daughter. She loves animals, mainly stuffed. Especially cows, giraffes monkeys and elephants. She won't go to be without "Blue Monkey" and "Curious George".
GF: What is fatherhood like?
DM: It's extraordinary. It bores people that aren't parents, it bored me until I was one. I'm certainly not the kind of Dad that constantly pulls out pics of my kids (although I'd like to) but I'm extremely proud to be the father I am. My daughter is absolutely gorgeous. There is no child like her.
GF: Out of all the songs you've written, which song was your absolute favorite?
DM: All of them. Each one is a child of mine. All the disappointing ones were aborted.
GF: Out of all the songs you've written, which song do you hate the most?
DM: Hmmm, asking me to pick my least favorite child. I don't know. Each song reminds me of where I was and what my problems were. I never whip anything up to fill a track. Maybe "Knee Deep" but live it's a lot of fun. So I don't have an answer.
GF: Whats the best way to propose to a chick?
DM: Say "Do you want to be with me forever?" If she says "Yes", great.
GF: If you could revive one person from the dead, who would it be and why?
DM: Chuck Schuldiner, the injustice of his death keeps me up at night.
GF: If there was one question you could ask every person you would ever meet in your life, what would that question be?
DM: Is everything ok?
GF: Finally, do you have any parting words of wisdom for the readers of No-Fi "Magazine"?
DM: Get what you want.
THE END!
CKY can be found at their official website: http://www.ckyalliance.com...
(Garrett Faber is a contributing writer to No-Fi "Magazine"
and makes a living lovin' Misty Mundae from afar...)
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