Primevil | Interview | “Hard rock monster from Midwest”

A short-lived hard rock from Indiana. A group whose music is documented on their sole long-player, ‘Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s’.

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The album was produced by Moe Whittemore’s 700 West studio and consisted of vocalist Dave Campton, guitarists Larry Lucas and Jay Wilfong, bassist Mark Sipe, and drummer Mel Cupp. Moe Whittemore contributed synthesizers in the studio. Anazitisi Records are preparing a repress of their 2013 reissue.

Would you like to talk a bit about your background? Where and when did you grow up? Was music a big part of your family life?

Jay Wilfong: I was born in Willow Branch, Indiana (population 75 at the time). Willow Branch aka “Twig City” is a little farm town in central Indiana. I started writing poetry and “songs” in the 50’s when I was 6 years old while I was making pot-holders to sell to little old neighbor ladies. My family, particularly my dad, was for sure not musically inclined except for torturing me with Lawrence Welk on the black and white TV once a week. Dad hated the Beatles and got on me all the time about me “playing the banjo”. I guess he could not tell the difference.

When did you begin playing music?

Not sure that this should even count but my Mom signed me up for piano lessons when I was 5 or 6 which did not last long. I started playing guitar when I was 13. It started one day after school when some of my friends and I found a guitar at one of their houses. Someone asked if anyone could play the guitar. I noticed this little cute girl who seemed interested in that answer, so I started “playing” right then and there! My first attempts on guitar might be considered progressive jazz?? (Laughs)

When did you decide that you wanted to start writing and performing your own music? What brought that about for you?

Performing music for sure came as a natural next step after picking up the guitar. I knew right away that I wanted to put a “combo” together so off I went to this old guitar teacher named Jack Davis. Mr. Davis did his best to teach me how to properly hold the “plectrum” and play ‘Camptown Races’ but I almost immediately started to go insane and quit after three lessons. Jack got replaced by an old turntable and a stack of Ventures and Paul Revere & the Raiders LP’s. I wore deep grooves in them playing guitar licks over and over trying to figure them out. I’m pretty sure that caused major conflict in the house. Oops, my bad.

Were you part of any other bands before forming Primevil? Any recordings or releases by them?

My first band was “The Westminster 5”. There were only four of us but I thought 5 sounded better than 4, so that was the name. I had no idea where or what Westminster was but thought it had something to do with the Beatles. We played at a junior high school talent show and then the band split up because the drummer moved. The next band was “The Condemned” and our big show was on top of the concession stand at the Camp Crockett campground. (I met a very cool girl there from Greenfield hehe!). The guitar thing was working! After that, I joined a band called The Knights of Day. Pretty clever huh? After that at the age of 15, I met some guys from the other side of the county and we formed “The Poverty Programme”. My Mom supported/put up with my budding musical career by driving me back and forth to band practice. (I think she was ok with that because it provided her a bit of escape from the noise I made.) The Poverty Programme was kind of a tribute band to The Who and a great Fort Wayne, Indiana band called The Olivers who were kind of a tribute band to Paul Revere. Did you catch all of that? There will be a test. We played just about every frat and sorority house at Indiana University and Purdue University and it was actually a great band. We did not do any real recording but this was the band that preceded Primevil. In one of the first gigs of the Poverty Programme we were doing the “Psych out” last song in a battle on the bands, kicking over amps, et cetera and I accidentally broke the other band’s drummers’ foot when I kicked over a speaker column. Did I mean to do that? No, but we won.

“Our styles were extremely complementary to each other”

Can you elaborate the formation of Primevil?

How Primevil came together is almost hard to believe but in reality there was this kid Mark Sipe (the bass player) who was younger than me and rode on the same school bus when we were a few years younger. I had just gotten out of the Poverty Programme and ran into Mark somewhere. I went over to his place and Larry Lucas was there. Larry was the other guitarist in Primevil. Larry had just started playing guitar. Mel Cupp (drummer) and Dave Campton (singer and harp player) were also there. We chatted a bit and talked about trying to put a band together. The only problem was that Mel did not play drums. No problem!? Somehow being the elder statesman of the bunch, Mel’s mother gave me $800 to go to Anderson Music to get Mel set up with a set of drums. A transparent set of Fibes drums caught everyone’s eye and Mel came home a drummer. Honestly, he sat down and was a prodigy. Mel and Mark formed the incredible rhythm machine of Primevil doing some incredible bass and drum things. Lucas progressed on guitar in amazing ways being influenced greatly by Duane Allman, among others and if I can so myself I had a great hand in Larry’s playing style and development. Our styles were extremely complementary to each other.

How did you decide to use the name ‘Primevil’?

Well…..contrary to lots of other theories and stories it all stemmed from one day in the hay loft of Dave Campton’s family’s barn. The origin of the name Primevil also ties into the origin of the LP named ‘Smokin’ Bats at Camptons’. The first time I met Dave and Mel was the day I drove over to Dave’s family farm house. Dave and Mel had just gotten back from a safari in the hay loft where they were trying to “smoke bats” with 2″ X 4″ boards. Comparing that to baseball, if a bat is flying at you and then changes course could that be called a “curve bat” hehe!? Hence, that eventually turned into ‘Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s’. One of my friends from the old Poverty Programme band named Dave Scott was married to a very talented artist and she drew the famous bat drawing on the cover of ‘Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s’. The band name somehow evolved out of late night band get togethers laughing about those first days. Somehow Ozzy was in the talks but never a musical influence. Primevil was just a bunch of Indiana farm boys having fun, never anything sinister.

When and where did you play their first gig? What sort of venues did Primevil play early on?

I think that the first place the band played was at the 4H building at the Hancock County fairgrounds…..and then we progressed to a few local Indy clubs and concerts. The band hosted a club in Indianapolis called J. Q. Hogg’s. That club was sponsored in part by WNAP radio’s musical director Michael T. John Griffin. Great guy and was a huge influence offering tons of great ideas and guidance. Primevil also had gigs around Indiana in the same National Guard armories that Johnny Cougar, the Faith Band, Limousine, et cetera played. The high point gig was opening for ZZ Top, Muddy Watters and Climax Blues Band at Busch Stadium in Indianapolis.

Why did you leave the band?

Like I said earlier, I was the “elder old coot” of the band being 4 or 5 years older than the other members. My philosophy, especially after the ZZ Top concert was to only play select concerts to project an image different and above being just another local band. The other guys disagreed and wanted to play clubs and start doing more cover music. The split was painful but it was for the best. To this day, I believe Primevil could have been one of the greatest rock bands in history, if we just followed the right road.

How was the band accepted by the audience?

The audience always went absolutely crazy. Always! One of our favorite places to play was the Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis. No wonder those girls were locked up!

What influenced the band’s sound?

My personal influences were the Ventures, Clapton, Paul Revere, Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds and definitely Billy Gibbons. The band overall was highly influenced by the Allman Brothers, even though the original Primevil band never delved deeply into southern rock/blues.

What was the local scene? Any other bands worth mentioning?

The local and regional scene was prime rock and roll territory! The Chosen Few, The Olivers, Faith Band, Johnny Cougar (Mellencamp), Pure Funk, REO Speedwagon, Styx are the ones that come to mind.

What’s the story behind ‘Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s’ album?

The band started talking about recording and the first studio we went to was “Ohmit Recording” in Indianapolis. Probably not the best move since Les Ohmit HATED distortion and rock music! We arrived with my Marshall stack and Larry’s 400 watt Kasino guitar amp and I thought Les was going to have a stroke. He made us plug directly into the mixing console and the results were horrendous. We went ahead and did a 45 which sounded so bad that I used them for target practice in the back forty of the Campton farm!

What kind of equipment did you use?

Larry and I both played Les Paul’s, Mark played a Fender Jazz bass through a Marshall bass stack. I played through Marshall stacks, Larry had a LOUD 400 watt Kasino amp, Mel played Fibes drums, Dave played vodka soaked Hohner blues harps through a Kalamzoo bass amp (of course), Mark used Mazola corn oil as a neck lube and even had a leather holster for it. I used Easy Finger guitar neck lube and of course Ernie Ball extra slinkies!

What was the weirdest gig Primevil ever played?

Aside from the women’s prison gigs, no doubt the weirdest gig happened at the request of the manager of a retirement center. I mean, we would play anywhere, at any time, for any amount of money. We showed up with our trailer full of Marshall and Kasino amps and set up in the courtyard. I knew we had issues when they started wheeling all of these old codgers and codgettes out and parked them about 10 feet from the amps. I don’t want to go further than that. Charges were never filed. Also, playing the 4′ X 8′ sheet of plywood stage at the Red Fox Lounge in Indy gets an honorable mention, for sure!

Would you share your insight on the albums’ tracks? What can you tell us about 700 West Records and how did you get in touch with them?

I had heard about this little recording studio out in the middle of nowhere on road 700 West. When I pulled in the driveway I was greeted by one Maurice J. Whittemore, better known as Moe. Moe’s 700 West Studio would go on to achieve almost legendary, cult-like status. Simply put, Moe was and continues to be a genius and true renaissance man. Moe was our George Martin and got way more out of the band than we could have gotten without him. Thanks Moe! I can still hear Moe shouting “get out of the chord” while laying down solo tracks. Moe is a progressive jazz player and composer and had a great influence on the work we did. In one of the album tracks called ‘High Steppin’ Stomper’ we were all on this little platform in his living room stomping in time and broke the thing mid take which kind of shortened the song a little bit. One of the recording techniques to lay down guitar tracks was to lug my Marshall stack up to the top of the stairs and then mic it at the bottom but we stopped doing that after I accidentally went too far and the guitar cord pulled it all down into the living room. Ouch!! At least two of the tunes were written and recorded on the spot. I encourage everyone to check out ALL records that have anything to do with Moe and 700 West! Truly great works! Lastly, as a somewhat little known fact, Moe insisted that a fart be included in all 700 West offerings. If you listen closely….

How many copies were pressed and where were they distributed?

Only a thousand. There were 500 of the funky Ohmit 45’s and almost none survived 22 caliber lead injections.

Were you inspired by psychoactive substances like LSD at the time of writing the album?

Nope, not at all. You have to remember that growing up in an Indiana cornfield was psychedelic enough, in itself!

How pleased was the band with the sound of the album? What, if anything, would you like to have been different from the finished product?

We were really excited about the finished product and would not change a thing (speaking for myself). The only thing I would change would be to have added a couple more songs and have kept the original band together doing concerts.

What happened after the band stopped? Were you still in touch with other members? Is any member still involved with the music?

There was quite a bit of tension between me and the other members for a few years but eventually we were able to talk and hang out a little. The guys added a keyboard player after I left, started doing more cover music and playing clubs. I talk every once in a while with Mark but have lost touch with the other guys after moving to Nashville in 1998.

I have recorded 8 CD’s and albums since leaving Primevil. Buccaneer was a regional success in 1980 and I have drifted off more in recent years into blues and more rock of course.

My most recent offerings can be found under Dr. Fong & Friends. The names of the CD’s are ‘Buccaneer’; ‘Beethoven of da Blues’; ‘Nasty White Boy’; ‘Goin’ Out to Party Tonight!’; ‘E Pluribus Bluezum’; ‘Rock & Roll Fever’; ‘Rhinestone Fongboy’ (which is mainly a bunch of country spoof tunes); ‘Cataclism on 8th Avenue’.

I’m not sure if the other guys are doing anything musically or not.

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?

The highlight definitely was the Busch Stadium concert. Thousands of screaming people, a huge stage and sound system. It was truly a monumental, life experience! That concert was just after ‘Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s’ had been released locally in Indiana and was getting regular airplay. At the time ‘Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s’ was recorded, the band was so incredibly young and raw that it’s hard to say which songs I am most proud of. ‘Hey Lover’, ‘Progress’ and ‘Your Blues’ come to mind.

Would you like to comment on your guitar technique?

I am self taught and don’t read music, influenced greatly by Clapton and Jeff Beck.

Is there still any unreleased material?

There is no unreleased Primevil music that I know of. Most of my CD’s talked about above were “released” but are for the most part unknown.

Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.

It’s been fun! Thanks for the opportunity and I hope peeps will continue to download Primevil tunes and also my later offerings under Dr. Fong & Friends!

Klemen Breznikar

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Dr. Fong & Friends Spotify
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