| Nebula are one of the many bands from the so-called stoner rock scene, but don't panic, they sound a lot different than many other bands from that 'scene'. We got hold of Nebula's singer/guitarist Eddie Glass (E) and drummer Ruben Romano (R), who were in a very good mood after their great gig. And they had good reason to, because not only we preferred their bluesy guitar rock to Unida, the headliner on the tour. Here's what Nebula had to say. |
Let's start with the inevitable question!
E: Let me guess. What happened with Fu Manchu?
R: We decided to make music for the new millenium.
E: We played in that band for a long time, we did a bunch of tours and made three records.
R: It got boring because it was just straight-ahead-rock'n'roll.
E: Being on tour with those guys was like being on tour with your grand-parents.
R: When we broke free, we felt a pretty rock'n'roll revolution.
Was it a fair split?
E: It was a fair split. It was like 'Fuck you' - 'Fuck you, too'.
R: It was a total war - two against two.
Do Fu Manchu still exist?
E: They kept their name because they couldn't make it without it.
Your music is rather psychedelic and bluesy. Do you have blues influences in your music?
E: Totally. Jimi Hendrix is a huge influence.
Are your music roots only bases in the 60's and 70's or do you also feel inspired by more recent bands like Monster Magnet?
E: We're not stuck in the past. We are like bands like Queens Of The Stone Age part of a musical revolution that they call the Stone Rock thing. We take old sounds of the 70's and put new things out.
Do you like the expression Stoner Rock?
E: It's better like being called somehow else. We don't mind being a bit stoned.
R: Some people call it Stoner Rock, other prefer Heavy Psyche. But it's always just another name for music.
Aren't you afraid of being classified into a certain direction?
R: Every band fits into some kind of genre because people need to have a classification.
Some rare bands really have their own style.
E: Who?
Maybe Primus or Jane's Addiction.
E: You can call them alternative.
R: Go to Los Angeles and you can see millions of bands like Jane's Addiction.
Alternative isn't a precise description. This can fit to lots of bands.
E: I'm sure that there is a label for every style.
R: People may call our music Stoner Rock, we call it Drug Rock. We don't discriminate on drugs. Do you like Falco?
He's dead. And he was on cocaine.
E: What about Heino?
He's unfortunately still alive.
E: Once we had a show where we did nothing but Heino songs. He made a Stoner Rock album back in 1968.
You shouldn't compare your music to Heino because he's a right wing asshole.
E: I don't know anything about Heino. He looks cool, that's all. But we're not fans of him. We were just joking.
Why did you call your band Nebula?
E: Heino told us. In a dream, he came to us. No, people here in Germany told us that Nebula means fog. That's kind of cool. In America or England the name means interstellar sosmic space dust. Just imagine colourful clouds in space. In Spanish Nebula also means clouds.
Are you science fiction fans?
R: I'm not a very big fan, but I like it. But I don't have a favourite writer.
E: There's no huge meaning behind the name Nebula. We've been playing for a while without even having a band name. Nebula is a simple one-word-name and we don't want to change it any more.
Nebula have been existing for two and a half years. You made already lots of records. But why were they always published on different labels?
R: We're a kind of free agents in a way. Being Fu Manchu, we learnt a lot about how record labels work.
E: In our state right now, we don't feel like being tied down to one label. It's not good to have already a long-term-deal at the beginning of your career.
R: We chose to keep things simple, precise and short.
Do you think that this may change in future?
R: Of course, this is possible. But look, all our previous records came out in short intervals and we've now already a discography. And these records will become ours again in a couple of years. We're our own industry.
Doesn't this make it complicated for the people to get all your records?
R: I don't think so because all the labels we have been working with have a good distribution.
But you also released a split-7" and the very small Italian label 'Last Scream Records'.
R: That was nothing else but a friendship thing with the band 'That's All Folks'.
Last year you also toured in Italy. Are you quite popular in that country?
R: The shows have been quite spectacular. It was our second tour ever after our first West Coast tour. I'd like to play again there.
As you have all threads in your own hands, do you consider that as punk rock attitude?
R: We have punk rock roots and I think that we're doing things just fine.
You've just recorded your new album called '... To The Centre'. When will it be released?
E: It will be out in Summer.
R: We've been in the studio for a month with Jack Endino.
How did you make contact with Jack Endino?
E: I've been in another band in the early 90's and I've known him from then. We've been friends and have always been keeping in touch. We asked him to produce the album and he said yeah. We worked good together.
Do you think that his name can make you more popular because he's a Sub Pop icon?
R: He's a nice guy and a friend. We've been working together without thinking of that.
And how about Frank Kozik and his Man's Ruin label?
R: We released the 'Sun Creature' as a CD and a 10" vinyl. He's cool, but he spelt my name wrong on the credits.
Many Californian Stoner Rock bands are making EPs or split-EPs on Man's Ruin.
R: I think that this is Frank's idea. He doesn't want to make his label big or huge. We just wants to have lots of artistic outlets.
E: It's like a snowball, this thing they call Stoner Rock. We all basically know each other, Queens Of The Stone Age, Unida or us. All those bands have been working with Frank Kozik. It's a kind of a line as all those bands use the same studios and producers. If one band brings a good record out there, other bands want to do the same.
Did Frank Kozik also make some artwork for you?
E: Yes, he did it.
R: He has a very special style.
Some people just buy records because the artwork is by Frank Kozik.
R: That's why he sees all his publications as artistic outlets. His label will never become a major label.
Your homepage looks great. How important is this to you?
E: A guy from San Francisco does a good job there. We supply him with the artwork and the basic information and he has to master it. We were impressed when first seeing our pretty nice web site.
How has your tour with Unida been going so far?
E: Good. We've been friends for a long time. We wouldn't tour with bands we're not friends with.
How is touring in Europe?
E: It's awesome.
R: In the USA touring is more difficult because there a larger distances and there are some States we are scaried to drive through. They have sometimes very strict laws. But it was of course cool to tour with Nashville Pussy.
Stoner Rock is always combined with marihuana products. Do you also take other drugs?
E: Are you a cop? We take nothing hard.
Do you think that there's something like incest in the Stoner Rock scene?
E: We all know each other and did the same things for a while. We've been doing it since 1993. At that time, Fu Manchu and Kyuss started and Monster Magnet were still a fresh band. We all came from the same place and had the same things in our mind. But nobody fucked each other.
Doesn't it disturb you that Unida get annouced as the band with the ex-Kyuss singer and the Nebula as a band with ex-Fu Manchu members?
R: The promoters do that. They do it as it's our first tour here. But this will pass away. The movement is a bit similar to the Seattle Grunge scene. there has also been a Sub Pop family tree. OK, it's incest, but it's the first time we've heard that comparison.
Thank you for the interview.
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Contact address:
NEBULA |
Interview published on August 31st 1999
