Naked Raygun | Interview | New Album, ‘Over The Overlords’
Four decades running, Naked Raygun is one of the most important bands in the history of Chicago punk rock. The band has also been credited with creating “the Chicago sound”.
Naked Raygun was formed in 1980 by Santiago Durango (guitar), Marko Pezzati (bass) and, soon thereafter, Jeff Pezatti (vocals). Jeff Pezzati has been the sole constant member through multiple personnel changes. The band was initially active, and prolifically so, from 1980-1992, releasing five studio albums: ‘Throb Throb’ (1985), ‘All Rise’ (1986), ‘Jettison’ (1988), ‘Understand?’ (1989), and ‘Raygun… Naked Raygun’ (1990). Following disbandment in 1991, Naked Raygun played a reunion show in 1997, and then reunited “for good” in 2006, starting with a performance at Chicago’s Riot Fest. And now, 15 years into their resurrection, ‘Over The Overlords’ has been released on Wax Trax! Records. The album is the band’s sixth, and their first in 31 years. Sadly, it is also the final record to feature longtime bassist, Pierre Kezdy, who passed away from cancer late 2020 following the completion of recording the new album.
‘Over The Overlords’ LP consists of 11 new songs with the CD format containing two bonus tracks: A remix of ‘Living In The Good Times’ by Paul Barker and an unreleased live version of ‘Knock Me Down’. The current lineup consists of members Jeff Pezzati, Eric Spicer, and Bill Stephens, with Fritz Doreza stepping in to take Pierre’s place.
You have a brand-new album out, ‘Over The Overlords’. Tell us, what were the circumstances behind working on the material?
Jeff Pezzati: Well this album was written, recorded and produced over a 10-year period. We tend to take our time and with all of us having jobs, kids, and other commitments, we took our sweet time. Originally, we were going to continue releasing a few songs at a time which started with the three 7-inch singles we released from 2009 – 2011 on Riot Fest Records but decided since we had so much material to just put it out as an album.
It must be very exciting to have a new album out?
It is exciting to finally have it out. It actually was done a while ago, but it took time to decide how we were going to put it out. We were thinking about putting it out ourselves and had talked to a handful of record labels. Sadly, this coincided with Pierre’s declining health. Our manager, Lou Lombardo had reached out to Wax Trax! to see if they had any interest in putting it out since Julia Nash and Mark Skillicorn were starting the label back up (after a long hiatus due to the founders of the label and record store – Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher having passed away in 1995 and 2010) and we’re planning a number of releases. Although we never released our music on Wax Trax! in the past, Pierre’s early band, Strike Under, was the first album released by Wax Trax! in 1981. Jeff’s sister (Patti Pezzati) was the first Wax Trax records employee back in the day. Eric worked at the Kinko’s next to Wax Trax! on Lincoln Ave. Fritz, our current bass player, worked at Wax Trax!. With such connections and after Pierre passed, it just seemed right to have Pierre’s first and last album to be released on the iconic Chicago label.
Was there a particular mood you were trying to capture? A story you were trying to tell with the songs?
We feel that all of our albums have an overarching mood but each song represents a certain time and feeling when it was written by the person that wrote it and when it is recorded with the group’s input. ‘Over The Overlords’ from our standpoint tells a story and is why there is an “intro”, the interlude to connect certain songs to another and the “outro”. You can say it is sort of old school in that it is very intentional to listen to the album from start to finish. However, we also paid close attention to the sequencing (fancy word for the order of the songs) to be like that of a vinyl album. With both an “A” side and a “B” side.
How much did the pandemic impact your life as a musician?
Like everyone on the planet, the pandemic has impacted life in one way or another. When Pierre left us in 2020, only a very limited number of people could attend the funeral because of the Covid restrictions. This was difficult for everyone. Every aspect of our lives changed. Thankfully artists and musicians have an outlet, they can put paint to canvas, cut fabric or put words on paper but it is still difficult when life changes overnight. Practicing had to stop since our practice space was closed. Some things are just not as good remotely. We were able to film and release the music video for ‘Living In The Good Times’. The pandemic did make getting ‘Over The Overlords’ out to the public even more important to all of us.
Where was the album recorded and what can you tell us about the recording process?
This is a great question because it is instrumental in the final product you get to hear. Steven Gillis and his crew at Transient Sound recording studio in Chicago basically became an extension of the band. Steven’s guidance and expertise exceeded all of our expectations. He was a constant during the entire process. He even drove to Nashville to be there in person for the mastering of the album. As mentioned, we all have a number of obligations and there were many studio sessions that the entire band could not attend. Steven was able to weave in all of our thoughts and ideas even if one or some of us were not present on that day. Towards completion, he knew the sound we wanted to achieve before we did. We are forever grateful for everything he did for us.
I hope this pandemic is coming to an end soon and the bands will be able to tour again. It’s been a nightmare for so many people in the music business. Are you excited to be back on stage in these difficult times for live music?
Although a full-blown tour is not in the cards for us, we all would love to play some shows to support this album that we worked so hard to produce. Time will tell if that will be possible.
The band was formed in 1980 in Chicago. Tell us about the beginning and how you recall the early days? What were some of the records you were listening to and how did the idea to start the band come about?
Jeff Pezzati has been in the band since the original line up and a constant throughout the years. The early 80’s members consisted of Jeff, Santiago Durango, Jim Colao, Camilo Gonzalez and then John Haggerty. Our ‘Basement Screams’ EP released in 1983 followed up by the 7-inch ‘Flammable Solids’ in 1984, both on Ruthless Records.
Pierre and Eric joined around 1984/85. The early days were like a lot of bands starting out. We did get to play a lot of local shows and then able to tour nationally and internationally to bigger and bigger crowds.
We all listened to various bands but collectively we all listened to bands like the Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers, Wire, Gang of Four and of course The Stranglers as evident in the songs we covered. Overall, there was not a particular band, singular genre or sound we tried to emulate.
I would love it if you can take some time and elaborate on the albums such as ‘Throb Throb’, ‘All Rise’, ‘Jettison’, ‘Understand?’, ‘Raygun… Naked Raygun’, ‘The Last of the Demo Hicans’ …
‘Throb Throb’ being our first full length album on Homestead Records and was a lot of fun to put together. Iain Burgess was able to set the tone for our sound that followed us throughout the years.
‘All Rise’ was the second album put out by Homestead in 1984. Jeff Pezzati and John Haggerty stayed with the band with Eric and Pierre joining after Camilo and Jim Colao left. We were still relatively small and in the DIY mode. The figure on the cover of the album is actually Jeff dressed up and the photo was taken at a typical railyard on the outskirts of the city.
‘Jettison’ was the first album we put out with Caroline Records in 1988. At this time, we were playing a lot of shows. Jeff, Eric, John and Pierre jelled well so writing, recording and playing shows came easy. Larry Sturm of Ministry and House Music fame mixed and recorded this album. Although we all had day jobs (mostly tradesmen) we all made time for our music. We toured Europe and were well received everywhere we played. To this day we get compliments on the artwork that John Bergin and Bryan Willette did for the cover and back panel.
‘Understand?’ was released by Caroline in 1989. Jeff, Eric, John and Pierre still made up the band. The biggest change during this time was the venue size of our shows got bigger and our fan base grew not only in Chicago but globally. Larry Sturm also mixed and recorded this album. We toured Europe again extensively for this album. Since Caroline Records is owned by Virgin Records, et cetera. The album was picked up (country by country) as we toured through the EU by the Virgin entity in each country . So somewhere out there, there is an ‘Understand?’ album with a Virgin label on it.
Our final obligation to Caroline Records was ‘Raygun…Naked Raygun’ released by Caroline in 1990. This album saw the departure of John Haggerty and the addition of Bill Stephens on guitar. We moved to a new recording studio, Chicago Trax, for this album as well and it was produced by Keith Auerbach. Although we are proud of the album, Caroline required a number of changes to a few songs and of course the cover artwork. This is when we wish we were a big band and told them to get bent – this is our album not yours – but we caved. The original cover art had an image that was too close to the likeness of Sean Connery and the label was fearful of retribution.
Fortunately the reprint (released in 2010) included the original cover artwork in all its glory.
‘The Last of the Demo Hicans’ came about and is a collection containing four songs we recorded with Steve Albini at Electric in 1997. There is one track from ‘Jettison’, 5 live songs and 5 rare songs from our practice space from 1981 to 1997.
“‘Over The Overlords’ is a representation of where each of us are today”
Your sound changed quite a bit during the years, but you always paid attention to the melodies.
Yes, we feel that there is a Naked Raygun sound and formula but there is a clear evolution of our music. We all write and contribute to every album. It is only natural that writing music would change over a 30+ year span. A snapshot in time from the late 80’s is very different from 2010. We are in different stages of life and have had millions of new experiences which all add to the music we write and the songs we produce. ‘Over The Overlords’ is a representation of where each of us are today.
I always admired that you were willing to experiment.
Thanks, our laboratory is a mess. Beakers everywhere.
Longtime bassist Pierre Kezdy sadly passed away in 2020.
Losing Pierre was very difficult for all of us. After his stroke in 2011 which limited his ability to play the bass we picked up Fritz Doreza to help with live shows including when we played in Indiana and at Wrigley Field with the Foo Fighters. Pierre and Fritz shared bass duty for those shows. Pierre was very involved in every aspect of ‘Over The Overlords’. In addition to writing songs, he also was a mainstay in the studio for continuity. In fact, we had the album title down to three options and it was Pierre from his hospital bed who agreed that Jeff’s thought of ‘Over The Overlords’ should be the title of the new album. Pierre was very happy with every aspect of the final product including the artwork done by a local artist Ech (Miguel Echemendia) that captured exactly the look and feel we wanted.
The band has also been credited with creating “the Chicago sound”. How would you describe it?
This is such a weird question that we get asked. We just write and produce music that we like and are proud of. Jeff’s vocals are unique and a constant throughout the years. Naked Raygun would not be Naked Raygun without Jeff on the mic. Eric drums are always heard and his use of the cymbals always added a layer to our songs. Pierre, his bass and his stage presence are well documented. Notably throughout the band’s history there has always been a big guitar sound that cuts through you. Put all that together and you have our sound. If you want to call that “the Chicago sound” go ahead but I don’t think any of us would say that. Maybe it’s because there are a number of bands out there that credit us with getting them into music or starting their own bands that this idea came about. Not really sure.
I got to ask, what would be the craziest story that happened in the band?
Well there are a bunch of stories we could tell but here are a few that come to mind. On a West Coast tour in the early 90’s our now manager, Lou Lombardo was helping us sell merch. As we were going through the Rockies it got pretty hairy driving for a while with whiteout snow. We decided that if we crashed and were stranded that we would eat Lou first. We got into very graphic detail with how we were going to prepare, cook, and serve each part of his body. After that point he pretty much slept in the van instead of the hotel with the rest of us. You kind of had to be there to get the (albeit sick) humor of it. But at the time it was funny as hell.
Another legendary story comes from the endless card games played in the van. The game was Rummy 500 and was played in teams. It was always Eric and Pierre versus Jeff and John. Pierre kept track of the wins and losses throughout the years of playing the game. Eventually all parties involved realized that Pierre and Eric were inexplicably dominating the “wins” in the card marathon. A couple of decades later Pierre revealed to John that he and Eric had been cheating – using a complex foot tapping system to communicate how many “tricks” they could take – giving them the clear advantage. Upon learning of the cheat – John was irate … just livid … Jeff just sluffed it off as brilliant.
One other crazy thing that happened early in our tenure is a show that we missed in Bloomington, Indiana. Jeff prided himself with the band never missing a show but in this case the circumstances were too much to overcome. The band was traveling to Indiana from Illinois in John’s 1966 Ford pulling a U-Haul trailer. Camillo (bass player and John) couldn’t get out of work in time to leave with the band in the car … so they flew into the municipal airport in Bloomington. The fellas in the car and trailer went to pick them up at the airport but it was so small and planes landed there so infrequently that the pickup guys didn’t know which side of the airport to pull into (very bad signage). Eventually they parked at a hanger that looked appropriate. Then it started to rain hard. The guys in the car realized that they should try to get to the other side of the airport because there was now some indication of human life on that side of the airport. While driving around in the small country roads the lads got the car stuck on a set of train tracks that caused the hitch on the car to scrape on the tracks. The rain was pounding at this point. Then a most unfortunate thing happened … a train whistle rang out. A fuckin train was coming. Shades of the movie Stand by Me flashed in Jeff’s head. The fellas managed to push the car off of the tracks and pick up the airplane portion of the band but by the time the boys figured out where the show was the last person was just leaving the show. They had missed the show. It was the only show that they ever missed until 2016. Sorry Bloomington “our bad” – but get some signage going at that poor excuse of an airport.
Thank you. Last word is yours.
Thank you for the interview. Cheers!
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