The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 27, 1987, Page Page 11, Image 11
Monday, April 27, 1937 If j, r(er4 Page 11 Daily Nebraskan n "bsunidl denies ire' TT 1 i i J, UJ 0 n TVTi (DlltSltll(Q)M ILLii Analysis By Tish Mockler Staff Reporter I was cold, clammy and a little depressed before talking to a band with a reputation in the journalism world for punk-rock crimes and gang violence. I expected long, caustic rampages about how everyone (including their peers) had . done them wrong, but instead, Suic idal Tendencies' lead vocalist Mike Muir, patiently answered questions in a soft-spoken, sometimes ram bling style. He repeatedly stressed individual responsibility and the sentiment, "I don't think that any body owes me anything." Concert Preview Suicidal Tendencies, who will play at Chestefield, Bottorasley and Potts Tuesday, has a definite image problem. In a country more obsessed with package than product, they don't want an image and would be happy if people just paid attention to their product. Their band is a radical mixture and their music is a combination of punk rebellion against conformity, hard-core energy to fight the con formity and an impending hard metal edge. According to their press inform ation and the interview, punks don't like this band because the members don't dress in leather; hard-core people consider them metal; and heavy metal fans consider them punk. Also, one their self-titled album began to outsell other hard core albums and their music got commercial TV and radio play, they were accused of selling out. Non etheless, Flipside magazine readers who voted them "Worst BandBig gest Assholes in 1982, voted them "Best Band" in 1983. uicidal Tendencies' response to labels and categories is best summed up in the song "Join the Army": "Well I don't care 'bout the clothes you wearit's the size of your heart, not the length of your hairDon 't make no difference to me, the color that you beBlack, white or brown, it 's all the same to me. " Muir said that most of the racist criticism and accusations has been of "selling out" cannot be taken seriously because the opposition comes from punks who have nothing suitable for airplay. "It's maybe sad to say, but it's a business . . . last week we bought our equipment," he said. They recently signed with Caro line Records and were given total artistic control of their records, after turning down several seven year contracts from major labels for fear they would get lost in the record-company shuffle. "Institutionalized," a classic song about adolescence, tells the tale of a kid sitting in his room trying to ( f C r Jj r 5. J "? I f ' W J t . r J A I Suicidal Tendencies will play Tuesday night at Chesterfield's. figure things out when his mom comes in and insists that he is on drugs. He tries to convince her that he's only thinking and just wants a Pepsi, but his parents decide he needs professional help. In the song Muir replies: "What are you try ing to say?That I'm crazy? When I went to your schools ? When I went to your church es?When I went to your insti tutional earning facilities ?So how can you say that Vm crazy?" The song was taken from his and a younger friend's experience, and Muir was surprised to find that anyone else could relate to it. "I ad-libbed it in the studio, and it's pretty real because it's the way I talk," he said. "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right (but they make me feel better)" is about Muir's father telling him "two wrongs don't make right." He would have to agree but added, "it makes me feel better." His dad would kind of laugh and then send him to his room. "I think it's a cute song," he said. "Suicide's An Alternative You'll Be Sorry" is just what the title implies, Muir said. "What more can I say? . . . If we believed it (in suicide) we wouldn't be a band we'd be dead," he said. "We're making fun of someone who can't kill themselves, because it's a stupid thing to do . . . Suicide is a taboo word, you can't say it ... . Anyone really into the band would know we're against it." "P nsoner is about Deing your own worst enemy. It s about some high-school punks who dress or act so that they will be condescendingly stereotyped, and then use it as an excuse for failure. "People put so much time and energy into complaining about their situation, and if they spent half that energy on going to school and get ting a job (they wouldn't have a problem)," he said. The horror stories about the band have reached "mythical proportions," according to Spin magazine. Spin and Rolling Stone indirectly impli cated them in club shut-downs, gang fights and various violent acts. Their manager, Ron Peterson, embel lished some stories which Muir denies that Muir said were a regret table publicity ploy. "Bad press isn't going to hurt the band if anything, it will sell more records but I don't want it," he said ... I don't want to be like the Dead Kennedys. I want people to go (to shows) because they like the music. If the bad press has helped us, I don't want any help. I don't want people getting beat up at shows. If people go to see violence, there's something wrong in their heads." When asked if the shows get out of hand, he said it is a matter of terms. "Some people would see football as pure chaos . . . any given show people will slam and some people will think it's barbaric," he said. "It's not like if you go to a show you are going to get slammed. It's like the Golden Rule. If you don't want to get socked up the head you don't do it ... . You have to be responsible for your actions." Bill Jones, who has put on num erous hard-core shows at the Brick yard, said they're have never been problems with violence at shows. "As far as the kids are concerned, nobody hurts anybody," Jones said. "The music is supposedly about uniting and accepting people for what they are." The only problems the Brickyard Courtesy of Caroline Records had were when people not inter ested in the music came to start a fight or when older kids saw people thrashing for the first time, he said. Many saw it as an opportunity to get really rough, which is not its intent, he said. Chesterfield's Manager Brady Wiebeck said, "I don't expect any trouble at all, but I think you have to be responsible in preparation for the show. A typical football Satur day can get out of hand with drunk fans who, get enraged when their team loses. I've been punched on more football Saturdays" than at any other time, Wiebeck said. uir is growing tired of accu sations about the band. "It's frustrating to go to pla ces and people say, 'God, you're pretty nice.' People think we're gonna bite their heads off," he said. The biggest stumbling block for them may be their lack of facts to use in contending with fiction since they haven't toured in a year and a half. Suidical Tendencies will play at Chesterfield's Tues day. No one under 16 will be admitted. Tickets are on sale at Dirt Cheap, Pickles, Par agon and Trade-A-Tape. M oarol clears D J of obscenity charge By Charles Lieurance Senior Reporter KZUM co-founder and programmer, Ron Kurtenbach, was exonerated Saturday at a public hearing ot having broken Federal Communications Commission and station policies con cerning the use of "indecent language" on the air. A specially appointed hearing board made up of members of KZUM and peo ple from the community with expe rience in communications law, said there was insufficient evidence of a violation in Kurtenbach's case. On April 4, during Kurtenbach's radio show, "No Commercial Poten tial," he allegedly violated decency standards by commenting that "some people had f-ed over KZUM, KZUM has been f--ed over." Kurtenbach has been openly critical of Lincoln's public access station for more than two years, having been brought before hearing boards three times in that period. He was put on probation at KZUM last summer for "libel against fellow programmers," said station manager P.T. Martin. The FCC, which last week announced it would crack down on "indecency vio-, lations" in accordance with 1975's Pacifica ruling on the broadcast of George Carlin's comedy routine "Seven Dirty Words," defines "indecency" as the broadcast of language that "des cribes in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities and organs." The FCC also ruled that dur ing a news or public affairs program language can be broadcast that might otherwise be considered indecent, pro- scientific value. According to KZUM policy, "profane andor sexually explicit language over the air is prohibited under most cir cumstances. The exceptions are be tween 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. if the lan guage is of a 'socially redeeming nature.' Even then, use of potentially offensive material is strongly discouraged" At 10:20 p.m. April 4 Kurtenbach, after a discussion with callers of recent developments at the station, gave a vided the station gives sufficient warn- warning that he was about to say some- ings and the programming's context warrants use of language based on. the program's literary, artisitic, political or thing intended for mature listeners ,and then, jsaid the allegedly indecent, words. The hearing lasted two hours; Kur tenbach and the station had an equal number of speakers. Kurtenbach was represented by attorney John Snowden from the UNL College of Law, who said the hearing was "set up" to look like due process but KZUM rules were poorly structured as to jurisdiction. Snowden questioned the board's juris diction in the case, intimating that the KZUM Programming Board should hear the case. see"uzu;.7tjri 12