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Hank III

Chris: I was listening to your album here. You got some pretty crazy stuff here man, this song, "Pills I Took."

Hank: Oh yeah. That's a...go ahead.

Chris: I like that. It's got some pretty crazy psychedelic vocal tracking.

Hank: All right man--you should look for the band that wrote the song. It's really interesting, a different band that's going into unexplored territory. So, they're called Those Poor Bastards, out of Madison, Wisconsin. And it's kind of like goth country, and it's weird, you know, but it's very unique. And the guy just threw me a CD after a Super Joint show one night. He was like, "Here's something we do on the side, man, you know, you might like it, you might hate it." I was listening to the record for like, a year, freakin' on it.

Chris: So it's a cover.

Hank: Yes, it's a cover of a very unique, weird band, of just these two guys, man.

Chris: These Poor Bastards.

Hank: Those Poor Bastards.

Chris: Those Poor Bastards. Country goth!

Hank: Yeah, and their first record's called Country Bullshit, their first demo.

Chris: Wow.

Hank: It's something interesting. Not...there's a few people that know about it, but it's still pretty, I guess, underground you'd say, or whatever man.

Chris: Well that's a combination of music I wouldn't put in a room together right off the bat.

Hank: No, it's cool man. I was like, wow. You know. This is unexplored territory.

Chris: So what do you...I got to ask, since you're sort of on the fringe and definitely running in the trenches of underground country music--I don't even feel comfortable calling it country music. We'll just say good old-fashioned American music.

Hank: I hear ya.

Chris: What do you think of contemporary country radio? Do you listen to it at all?

Hank: No, I've been lucky enough for two years to not have to. Here and there I will, you know, take the hats off to the Sirius and the XM and all the Internet radio stations. If I do listen to something, that's where I'm checking it out on. It just goes back to riding around the vehicle I'm in. It depends on, if I got my CDs I can play or if I've got to listen to the radio, but it's been a while man. I mean, I'm pretty out of touch, you know, I'm not too in touch with it.

Chris: Do you really think there's a reason to be?

Hank: Ah, well, now, you know, it's...for college radio stations, yes. I mean, the people there have their own shows and their own time, and cause that's what turns me on to all the underground--like hardcore punk rock and metal when I was 12, was a college radio station, man, that changed my life. So it does seem like some of those guys are trying to keep true as they can, you know, got a little bit more freedom, I guess.

Chris: You mention punk and metal, and I hear a lot of that in your sound. I'm curious, what kind of groups really inspired you?

Hank: Ah, growing up man, I had like...my first set of records was Kiss, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, and ZZ Top. When I moved to Atlanta, then is was like Corrosion to Conformity, Animosity, the Melvins, and let's see, Seven Seconds and Agnostic Front. All that whole scene I got introduced to. And then the speed metal came out, and being a drummer I was like completely freaked out by all the death metal and all kinds of styles. The farther it was from country the more I was getting into it, or the more aggressive it was, I was just freakin' on it.

Chris: You said the farthest away from country. Is that because of the home where you grew up?

Hank: That...that...I think it was a rebellion thing at first. I was just trying to, I don't know, it felt right, but you know, being 10 or 11, or I was probably like, 12, not really knowing what the hell was going on, and my mom's pretty much this hardcore Christian who doesn't like all these heavy metal bands, you know. All the bad messages and all that s***, man. So, it was a rebellious thing that just grew into the way I was living, playing in those kind of bands. I still to this day, I mean, I listen to the same s*** as back then. I haven't grown up in that mind-set. And I'm basically like stuck at 18 or 19, to a point, as far as just the way I live and what I listen to musically.

Chris: Did you ever play in a straight-up metal band?

Hank: Just a project called Super Joint Ritual. I mean...at first before I was out doing what I do now, I was in a band called Buzz Kill. I was the drummer for them. Then I was in a group called Whipping Post, playing bass and singing. And a band called [Salita], you know, I was doing my local scene work, or I was keeping busy and hitting the tristate areas and doing as much as I could.

Chris: So what brought you back, you know, what brought you back to country music?

Hank: Well, I always planned on rocking out as hard as I could and then growing kind of old with my country fans. You know, that's kind of what I had planned, but I had a one-night stand that waited almost three years to let me know I had a kid. And they served me papers on stage at a gig, and a judge told me that playing music wasn't a real job and it was time for me to step up. And I was like, well, playing music is a real job, and I'll show you that I can take care of this situation, or whatever man. So that's what got me into the game a little earlier than expected. And that's just...that's the true story for it.

Chris: So you got served the papers and you just, you decided country was the way.

Hank: Well no, I mean, dude, I was making fifty bucks to a hundred and twenty-five dollars a week, and then all of a sudden I owe fifty thousand dollars and I gotta pay four hundred a month and then insurance on a kid, you know. And it was like--I had to do what I had to f****** do. And I got into the f******...got a manager, went down to music row, f****** struck up a deal with Curb, and we been, you know, definitely green at first and getting used to it and trying to find my way, and that goes back to now doing the Jekyll and Hyde shows that we do live, and one day we'll have our heavy metal record or rock record or whatever it's f****** called out there. And that's kind of what thrusted me into it quicker than I anticipated.

Chris: Did you ever think, maybe I should just sell some shoes or something like that?

Hank: No, man. I mean, on the side, besides being in a band, I was putting in garage doors, working at the record shop, f****** being a gopher at the main studio, and you know, I was doing all the other s***, and then trying to smoke pot on top of that. And it was just one of them things man, you know.

Chris: Does it often surprise people that you didn't have it so easy in the industry, despite your family being basically American music royalty?

Hank: Well it ain't...people may think it's easy, just having the name don't mean s***. I been out there...if it was easy I'd already have out f****** 10 to 15 records by now and f****** 20 million in the bank, but I been going against the grain and trying to make it more unique, and us doing what we do and not giving in. You know, if I wanted to take the easy routes I would've just stayed a full-on good ol' country, Bible Belt-thumping kind of guy. But I chose to do the harder path a long time ago as far as just doing the rock s*** that they...you know, that rock s*** destroys the country side of what we do a lot, man, as far as vocally, for me, you know, it's f****** shredding the country voice. That's a ongoing battle I deal with every day.

Chris: So, you seem to go against the grain with just about everything, and I've got to say, I have a lot of respect for your recording on the cheap. Maybe you could tell our readers a little bit about how you did that for Straight to Hell.

Hank: Well the unit is a Korg D1600 and you can get them off eBay anywhere from four to six hundred bucks and just get a few good microphones like a SM58 or a KSM32 or an SM7. That's all you need man, and get used to placing your mikes. It's a easy machine to use. I take mine on the road with me everywhere I go. A lot of bands show up and they got nothing to do all day long but just sit there, drink and smoke, or whatever they're going to do man, and you can just constantly jam if you got that unit around. You know, I think every band should have one in their recording room or every songwriter should have one to work with. It's just a easy unit. You can be within four moves recording anywhere pretty much, man. Chris: So you think Pro Tools and all that is just kind of bulls***?

Hank: Well no, I'm not saying that. I mean Pro Tools is what it is. My main statement is, hey, all you bands out there, you don't have to spend two hundred thousand dollars on your first record and then forever be indebted to your f****** record company. You can f****** make it happen on your own. It ain't that hard to figure out. It's the perfect...it's the best musician-friendly, slash, you know, I'm not the brightest guy in the world, kind of the slacker dude can run this f****** machine...it's very easy to catch on to man. And like Pro Tools and all those others, they make it almost impossible just to, to be ready and have some fun recording.

Chris: So this is, I'm a little confused. I was reading today about Curb Records. But something on here says that maybe there was some sort of conflict with Curb?

Hank: Well, yeah, there's...I mean, I been in and out of court with them for the last four years, man, and all kinds of stuff. But it might have been because of the Wal-Mart or the album getting pushed back another five months and all this stuff, because of censorship.

Chris: So Wal-Mart didn't want to carry your record?

Hank: Not at first. And that slowed the whole f******...and I nailed it. I just...I had the big meeting today. Forty percent of country music sales goes through Wal-Mart. And since they rejected the record, everything was all great, everything's fine, and then, whoa, hold on a minute, our number one friend isn't gonna take it. So I'm like, "Dude, look at the reality of the situation. The majority of our fan base is not gonna buy at Wal-Mart. You will maybe have 8 percent of those people buying our records." And sure enough it was only like 10 percent sold at Wal-Mart. So it's, you know, but that slowed everything down six months. And I'm trying to get some releases because I been sat on for a long time. I mean, I'm...I've got a lot of rock releases and just a lot of things I'm trying to get done. Because if I was working with somebody, like if Mike Patton was in charge of us at his label, I would have out a good catalog of music. And right now I don't have out hardly anything except what I've got recorded and three albums on Curb Records.

Chris: Have you...could you release stuff on Ipecac Records?

Hank: One day, I'm you know, I've been fighting on, trying to get the respect and get everything...getting back everything that they took from me when I was, you know, first signed the deal man. But one...it...we'll be working with somebody here soon. And the deal is a country record, a rock record, then I gotta do another country record, and then you know, be trying to push the rock out there as much as I can.

Chris: So are you--I've got to ask--are you tight with Mike Patton?

Hank: Say that again please?

Chris: Are you close with Mike Patton?

Hank: I've got to meet him a couple of times. I've got to feel like a midget. When he came in the studio one time, we were rocking and doing some mixing or something, and he comes in and he's like listening to my four little guitar riffs, and I'm like, "Oh, Jesus Christ, what's up dude?" So, that's when...Duane Denison from Jesus Lizard was on the road with us, and he's in Tomahawk with Mike. So that's why he was coming by and saying hey. So, been a fan of his for years. I know many people that's worked for him, and he gets s*** done, and f****** sings his ass off. And he composes, like, you know, like the Zappa of my generation.

Chris: Yeah, he is really amazing. It seems like you're really sort of tapped in with a lot of metal musicians and groups. How does that...how do your live shows come off? I mean, who really shows up, you know? I've heard that it's a pretty diverse group of people.

Hank: Most of the time, I mean, in the big city, most of the time it's pretty diverse, man. Anywhere from 18 to 80, it's just a...punk rockers to metals, stoner kids to train looking...riding kids that are all, you know, black as coal and eating out of the dumpsters and grandmas, rednecks, cowboys, you know. A lot more of the black T-shirts are coming into play the last couple of years, man. I've finally gotten the black shirts in the crowd, and that's, that's a good feeling for me, you know.

Chris: So are you out on the road right now?

Hank: We leave Saturday for...to start it up for this year.

Chris: And you're going to be at South by Southwest?

Hank: Yeah, yeah, we'll be playing...playing there.

Chris: All right, well, that's about all we got for today.

Hank: OK, man. I appreciate it.

Chris: Yeah, well we're going to be down there, South by Southwest, so I can't wait to come and check out your show.

Hank: Well it'll be...we'll see what it is. I don't know if they're gonna let us do the whole thing or not. Usually it's a two-and-a-half-hour show, but we'll see what happens, man. We'll see what happens. All right, we'll talk at you soon.

Chris: Yeah, thanks a lot man. You take care.

Hank: OK, bye-bye.

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	Stream the entire album for free! Hank Williams III - Straight to Hell (Disc 1) Stream: Windows Media Player Required.
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