Radar Eyes: Peeking Under Shakes Gown

SAN FRANCISCO -> BERLIN -> SAN FRANCISCO -> BEYOND!!!

Chris Rolls is the mastermind behind the high-energy San Francisco music machine known as Shakes Gown.

Radar Eyes: Name, social security no., purpose for living, etc.

Shakes Gown: Chris Rolls, and my purpose is to procreate… or so I have been told…

RE: And you also record music, am I right?

SG: Yes, I record, produce, compose, perform and release music which I have been doing since junior high… but not in earnest since I moved to San Francisco in 1998.

RE: What do you call your current project, and what’s it all about?

SG: I call it Shakes Gown. The project started after I left le Flange du Mal, and Fuckwolf. I rented a flat in Berlin for a month… I took an SK1, effects, 4-track and microphone and just started recording. My goal was to record three albums in 2008, which I did along with my writing partner Simon Phillips, who was also in Fuckwolf.

RE: Nice! You wanna guide us through each record?

SG: Sure. I will hold your hand.

RE: This ain’t for me, Jack!

SG: Ha ha! Ok… so the first record is called Words Without Works. It was very inspired by Berlin. I recorded almost all the material in Berlin. Then I did a lot of overdubs upon my return to San Francisco. Erin Olivia Weber was there (of Garbaj Kaetz fame). She inspired one of my songs.

RE: I only have your first release, I can’t wait to hear the others!

SG: The second is another 4-track project, an EP. It’s just me fucking around with noise gear and synths… trying to write pop songs.

RE: That’s the kind of sound I like!

SG: Then the third one is a giant studio album, Psychic Driver. It is done.

RE: Nice!

SG: Yes. I am very excited. It’s very pop… very Gary Numan meets Dennis Wilson.

RE: Are you planning on releasing these albums?

SG: Well, the two 4-track albums I will release through KimoSciotic. Psychic Driver I want on a label… a big label that will get me sex and cocaine… or sex with cocaine… whichever.

RE: Will you be touring with Motley Crue?

SG: Fuck the Crue. I am not into the titty-cam thing. I mean, I like breasts… but you know… I have no idea how I will tour with this band.

RE: Hahahah… I was gonna say… too virtual for ya?

SG: I am just starting to rehearse a live band. Which has been interesting because of the way the songs are written. This has been a studio project so far. So now I have to transpose for a live situation… and reimagine the songs.

RE: It’s not as easy as 1,2,3, let’s rock… is it?

SG: Fuck no… not at all.

RE: Tell me about it…

SG: It has been difficult… plus I wanted to work with people outside the SF music scene…

RE: Do you have your band members in line or are you still forming?

SG: Still forming, but Simon is drumming, and we have Kevin from LSD and the Search for God on keys… and we may have another synth player. We need one. I am stupid… cannot sing and play at the same time… ha ha!

RE: Well, you are going to concentrate on vocals, right?

SG: Exactly. I mean that is what I did in le Flange du Mal.

RE: FULL TIME JOB.

SG: I like singing. It is fun…

RE: Whatever happened to the last La Flange Du Mal record?

SG: Fantastic question.

RE: I was really looking forward to that one!

SG: I just got a hard drive with all the original mixes, and so I am going to master it and release it… recording that album was hell… but that is a long, long story

RE: Your live shows were amazing.

SG: Yes, I was really upset when I had to disband le Flange. It started as just me and Chris Cones… and became something wonderful. Working with Liz Allbee and Jason changed my life…

RE: Yeah, they’re ULTRA for sure…

SG: It taught me so much and provides much needed confidence.

RE: Yeah – important skills for swimmng upstream!

SG: So yeah, I have not performed live since 11/07 when Fuckwolf opened for Black Dice here in SF… so, I am really looking forward to it.

RE: When do ya think this will happen?

SG: The first show is with Bronze on Feb. 26… here in SF.

RE: Oh wow… that’s right around the corner!

SG: Yeah man… and we are still missing members. Ha.

RE: I’ll be right over…

SG: Maybe you could play tambourine? Or mouth harp…

RE: I’ve got my mouth full right now… Fried bananas. Do you guys plan on coming to Texas anytime soon?

SG: Well, let’s see how the first show goes… then we’ll talk about touring

RE: Uh huh…

SG: I really wanted Rob Spector from Bronze to play in Shakes Gown… he is my brother and the best… but he is busy with Bronze…

RE: San Francisco is for sure a hotbed of talent… I was glad to fuck it up over there for a little bit… Do you plan on making any videos for the Shakes Gown material?

SG: Oh yes, brother, it’s on our MySpace page. It was directed by Kurt Keppler… who is amazing. The song is called “Pigeon’s Flight.”

RE: Ha! Crosshairs on human heads!

SG: But yes, I am very into video and would like to do as much as possible.

RE: Same here. Indian Jewelry is in the process of putting together a compilation of videos as we speak…

SG: Awesome! Man, I love Erika and Tex… great people.

RE: Yeah, for sure!

SG: But yes, the video is very “pro,” but I love it. I am really into pushing my low-budget ideas into professional recording and video just to see where it goes… I mean, for the Psychic Driver album there were no songs written just a couple basslines and drums… so everything was written in studio almost by accident.

We took perhaps seven months to record it, and often I would just scrap what had been considered finished and redo everything. I knew in my head what I wanted even though there were no songs…

RE: Yeah… I hear ya on that one…

SG: Does that make sense?

RE: New tracks get old fast…

SG: Right, and I wanted tracks that would not get old. Tracks that sounded out of time… also, I do not want to sound like anything else happening in SF.

RE: Come to Houston and lick bayou dirt for awhile!

SG: Ha ha… well, I was actually just talking my friend Dave Wright about recording the next one in my home town, Tucson.

RE: So is there a release date for any of your albums yet?

SG: All three albums will be slowly released over the next three months.

RE: Excellent! Any final words?

SG: Make sure to sit in your orgone accumlator for two hours everyday… and never masturbate.

$HAKE $HAKE $HAKE $HAKE $KAKE $HAKE AND $SHAKE. MORE SOON… SEND CITRUS AND YOUR OLD LASERDISCS. – Domokos Benczedi