Utter Trash--Chrome Kickers

Kickin’ Your Ass

An interview with Bob Sablack and Scott Stemple of The Chrome Kickers

By Bob Ignizio

“I truly don’t like Blink 182 and their ilk. I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go in punk and how it got to this happy grab ass shit is beyond me. Even bands like The Pink Holes, who were quite silly, had an edge to them. Quit fucking with my punk rock. I’m all for these kids having a good time but PLEASE don’t call it punk,” says Bob Sablack. Bob hasn’t just seen punk rock trends come and go. He’s been an active participant in them since the early eighties, when he played with Cleveland’s The Defnics and later on The Plague. Along with Scott Stemple (bass), Curt “C.W.” Degiddio (guitar), Mike Duncan (vocals), and Mike Sherwood (drums) Bob is doing his best to preserve the attitude, energy, and edge of classic punk with his current band The Chrome Kickers.

Most of the Chrome Kickers came together originally for a reunion of Bob’s old band The Defnics. Bassist Scott Stemple says, “When the first Cheese Ball at the Beachland Ballroom came about I asked Bob if he’d come up and play a few Defnics songs with Reason Seven, whom Mike Sherwood and I were playing with at the time (Mike still is). Bob said he couldn’t do it without [original Defnics’ vocalist] Robert Conn (aka Bill Degiddio, Curt’s dad) and decided to put the original band back together for the show.” When The Defnics’ original rhythm section decided to sit the reunion out, Scott and Mike were happy to fill in. The show went so well that The Defnics originally planned to carry on, but with vocalist Robert Conn living in Texas now it made things a bit difficult. That’s where ex-Plague vocalist Mike Duncan came in. Bob says, “We all like Mike and thought about adding him to the band when Bill wasn’t going to be up here for Defnics shows. But then we really started to reconsider what we were doing with this group we have. I could see that this is really a whole other band. Even though we still do Defnics songs, this new band was taking on a character of its own.” C.W. Degiddio came up with the group’s new moniker shortly before joining.

As for how The Chrome Kickers differs from its member’s past endeavors, Scott says, “We’re a lot better musicians now than we were in the early 1980’s. And probably better song writers. I think we’re unique. It’s a culmination of everything we grew up listening to. For me personally, it’s the best band I’ve ever been in.” Bob adds, “We’re a little more interested in melody in a Ramones, Pagans and Misfits sort of way. I’m just trying to write the best songs I can now. There’s no room for any filler or schlock. We’re staying away from just screaming out the words. Believe me Mike D. doesn’t like to “sing” words, he still yells them, but he’s down with the whole melodic thing when it pops up in some songs.”

And just what is Mike Duncan yelling about? Chances are it’s not politics, as I found out when I asked Bob. He says, “I think politics has every right to be in punk. Punk is the perfect vehicle for political ideas. With that said, we are about the most apolitical punk band on the planet. We talk about real life situations and with that maybe some politics will slip in but we don’t focus on political issues as the basis for songs. In my experience they don’t hold up after time. Look how many “I Hate Reagan” songs there were in the 80s. We take our cue from bands like Iggy and the Stooges (my favorite), Pagans and Ramones. Those guys’ songs are timeless.” Of course, when the Kicker’s write about real life it isn’t always pretty. Regarding their song “Arthur Noski” Bob says, “It’s a story of abuse that happens everyday to kids that really have no chance at all for a good life. The facts that we recalled were the step dad was beating Arthur and happened to kill him so he burned him up in an incinerator. The mother tried to cover it up by saying she lost him at Parmatown Mall. Believe me, we are not trying to laugh at others’ misery with this song. I may not have worded it in the most sensitive way but that’s life.”

Currently the Chrome Kickers are working on their debut studio CD. Bob says, “We’ll be making a single soon to have something out in the meantime. We recorded 3 songs last summer. One is “Ain’t It Fun” which will be on the ‘Pie & Ears 3’compilation. The other songs are “There Goes the Grave Yard” and “Arthur Noski”. The last two will be the new single.” Scott adds, “We hope to have all our originals recorded and released by the end of the summer.” There’s also a live CD available at the band’s shows. As for trying to get signed Bob says, “I don’t want to get signed to a fucking record label and be a slave to those jerks. I don’t want to tour, been there done that. So, I personally have no goals at all compared to what other bands or musicians want to do with their careers. All I want to do is keep writing the best songs I can and maybe open for national acts. That’s it. As long as people have fun at our shows, that’s good enough for me. We don’t aspire for much; we’re all about booze, broads and bar chords.”

As for how today’s Cleveland punk scene compares to the eighties Scott says, “I think the scene was much better back then. There really weren’t that many real punk bands in town and very few venues so all the bands stuck together. It was us (Cleveland) against LA, New York, DC...etc. I’ve known Bob for over 20 years. When he was in The Defnics I was in a band called The Dissidents. We practiced right next door to them and they were the only other punks in the neighborhood. So The Defnics and especially The Easter Monkeys always encouraged us to continue and play out. We were just teenagers and looked up to all those guys, so having people like Sablack, Conn, Jim Jones, and Chris Yarmock telling us we were cool meant a lot. These days it seems that bands are competing with each other instead of helping each other. It’s that Heavy Metal cut throat mentality. We’re still Old School and have met quite a few really cool bands. Then there’s the rest that fuck it up for everybody.”

Finally for those who think the Chrome Kickers are too old to rock, Bob has this to say; “I haven’t lived the hardcore life in a long time. But I did live one for quite a while. Do I have any right playing music like this, something that is known for its youth orientation? Yes I do. This is my art and I’ve paid my dues. This is the only music I truly enjoy playing and play well. I played out in Cleveland for eleven years, fighting the good fight and helping to keep punk alive in this town along with the other bands. When I felt I was done, finished with bands and music, my life just wasn’t right. There was definitely something missing. So I’m going to keep on playing because it makes me happy. There are some people out there that hold our age against us. I kind of expected that but when you run into it, it is a little disheartening. My first reaction is to lash back at them because they’re assholes. Being older and somewhat wiser, however, I just leave it to “they’ll find out”.”