INTERVIEW BY O.R.BOND with assistance from COLD SLITHA)
Pictures via Internet.
Conducted on a cold and rainy January night in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio
===.
LEGENDARY.
People tend to toss the word around a lot these days. When it comes to Mr. Peter Greenberg, the Jim Hat fits!!! I mean think about it; if you were the main cog, lead guit ripper, and had a hand in writing songs for just ONE of these bands: LYRES, DMZ, THE CUSTOMS,BARRENCE WHITFIELD AND THE SAVAGES, you could consider yourself a legend. But Peter Greenburg was in ALL of those bands and more!!!
I don’t consider myself an expert on punk or rock-n-roll by any means but I had listened to those bands here and there throughout the years, especially The Customs who are local (Cincinnati) rockin royalty. I had even seen The Customs at their anniversary show years ago but it wasn’t until my good friend Andrew Jody joined The Savages that I really paid close attention to Mr. Greenberg.
A wise man once told me the key to being a great musician. He said; “ Son, it ain,t what you play, it’s what you DON’T play.” I’ve always taken that advice to heart and it’s always what I look for when watching bands. I mean anyone can shred away like the guitar is some type of Olympic sport, but it takes a special talent to know when and where to get those licks in. A few years back when Barrence Whitfield and the Savages made their comeback I went to check it out. Needless to say (so why do we say it?) I left with a serious crush on Mr. Greenberg.
Thanks to the computer (or perhaps, no thanks) I went back and traced the man’s career. It’s nice to be able to get all these hard to find records, shows and such but there’s something lacking these days. I mean Back-In-The-Day™ you really had to spend a lot of time, money, and effort to dig this shit up. And I’m only 38 years old!!! I was a toddler when mos of his arsenal was released. Nowadays, it’s click click and BAM! You got it. Not sure how I feel on this subject but that’s a whole other story.
Anyways, I went back and read tons of interviews , reviews , and most importantly listened to the mass of the mans output and I came out even more in love!!! So when I found out The Savages and Barrence would be in Cincinnati for an entire month recording their new album, I knew I had to get with the man for some one on one time...
I made the necessary contacts, asked for a sit-down, then crossed my fingers and made wishes. Sure enough, Cold Slitha calls me and tells me it’s on!!! I was so hyped!!! I sat down and decided on what I was going to ask the man. If you want to be a dork, and get the goods about line-ups, recording techniques, record labels, gigs and gear, there is plenty of that out there (just google his ass!!!). I decided to ask the man OTHER important questions. You know, the dirt. So without further ado… THE PETER GREENBERG INTERVIEW!!!
Author’s note: I had planned on using my telephone to record our entire conversation and go back and edit, rewrite, etc. but upon his arrival I discovered that my new phone couldn’t do this!!! On top of that my dumbass thought it would be a great idea to start drinking heavily at eleven in the morning.
I figured this would loosen me up and make for a better interview: BAD IDEA. To be quite honest I was slightly intimidated of Peter Greenburg, so a few drinks wouldn’t hurt, right? Well O.R. BOND never has just a few drinks… I ended up drunkenly scribbling his answers on scraps of paper that now I can barely read. So Peter, if I blew it, SORRY!!!
ALL QUESTIONS IN CAPITALS All answers in lowercase letters!!!
BOSTON OR CINCY?
Cincinnati.
RED SOX OR THE REDS?
I don’t care!!!
WOMEN: CHUBBY OR SLIM?
slim.
BEATLE BOOTS OR SNEAKERS?
cowboy boots.
THE CUSTOMS OR DMZ?
the customs.
THE JOCKEY CLUB OR THE RAT?
the rat / dollar bill’s
JOHN FELICE OR BARRY [OF THE REMAINS?]
barry and the remains
PETE ROSE OR TED WILLIAMS?
pete rose.
13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS OR THE SEEDS?
elevators! (ouch , that one really hurt a s.o.s.s.saxon member!!!)
CHUCK OR BO DIDDLY?
bo diddly. (ouch, another dagger to the heart!!!)
GUITAR PICKERS: THIN MEDIUM OR THICK?
medium
FENDER AMPS OR MARSHALL AMPS?
fender
OHIO RIVER OR BOSTON HARBOR?
ohio river. (that one made up for his 'chuck answer'
I-75 OR NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE?
I-75
SAM ADAMS OR WEIDAMANN?
weidamann!!!
JEAN JACKET OR HOODIE?
jean jacket.
BAND BUTTONS. DO YOU ROCK EM?
I used to.
BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
both!!! ( sorry wifey!!!)
GROUPIES OR TRUE LOVE?
true love!!! (author’s note: at this point I tried unsuccessfully to pry some old dirty, creepy tour stories out of him!!! I mean I tried HARD for at least ten minutes!!! But I got to give it to the man, he’s a very happily married man and he wasn’t having it!!! I even tried the old “off the record” move but he still wouldn’t budge. You have to respect a man like that!!! Chivalry ain’t dead!!! I was also very impressed with how humble he was. You could tell he didn’t like talking about himself and at certain points it was like pulling teeth... getting him to answer certain questions…which made me appriciate the fact that he took the time to kick it with my drunk ass even more!!!
BARRENCE ON TOUR OR BARRENCE AT HOME?
barrence on tour. (tried again to get some dirt!!! What happens on tour stays on tour)
A.J. [Andrew Jody. savage Drummer] ON STAGE OR A.J. IN THE STUDIO?
a.j. on stage. ( I asked this cause they’ve been known to tiff while recording. Yet still he remained a gentleman!!!)
GETO BOYS OR N.W.A?
??? ( now this just blew my fucking mind!!! Let me set it up for you, in the mid 80’s peter just quit playing music. Not only that, he pretty much quit following music and pop culture period. Like a cicada he stayed away for 25!!! Years!!! Wow!!! Until the customs got together to re-issue their debut record and this led to scratching his itch and forming the savages. I mean think about it; 25 fuckin years!!! So when I asked him about the geto boys and n.w.a and he just stared at me, it blew my mind!!! Who doesn’t know who the geto boys are? Peter Greenberg that’s who!!!)
PETERBUILT OR KENWORTH?
Peterbuilt.
HANK? HANK JR.? OR HANK 3? P.: hank!!! (dumb question!!!)
MERLE OR WAYLON?
merle.
RIC FLAIR OR Wahoo McDaniel?
???
( once again no clue!!! I mean ric fuckin flair!!! Woooooooooo!!! Wow!!!)
NUGGETS OR BACK FROM THE GRAVE?
nuggets.
COCKTAILS OR WEED?
cocktails.
REAL KIDS OR RAMONES?
the real kids.
(fuck yes!!! Best thing I heard all night!!!)
RED HOT OR TABASCO?
Tabasco.
And so it was at this point that my entire neighborhood had an electrical blackout. I mean the whole hood went dark! I must say that I also was having a blackout!!! We ended up kicking it in the dark for a few minutes but I could tell he was very over it. I still can’t believe the man sat at my kitchen table and ate dinner with my son and I!!! And to top it off he had brought at bottle of wine as a gift!!! At least I hope it was a gift as I probably drank it all!!! And so it goes, another one in the book for old O.R. BOND.
I would like to thank PETER GREENBERG for putting up with my drunk ass!!! I’d also like to thank COLD SLITHA for helping fill in the blanks!!! You da best!!! Thanks to my beautiful wife for helping my illiterate ass with this computer stuff. Thanks to SHAWN ABNOXIOUS for creating THWART and letting me write these interviews in there!!! And last but definitely not least I want to thank AVERY my son, for behaving himself and letting us get this done!!!
Oh, and P.S.: Andy and Peter let me have a little taste of Barrence Whitfield and the Savages new record and let me tell you : IT’S BANGING!!!! So run out and get that shit when it drops!!! Also, go get yourself a copy of DIG THY SAVAGE SOUL, available at local record stores or get it from BLOODSHOT Records somewhere on the internet…and if you don’t have a CUSTOMS record or one of teir 45’s…you’re blowing it!!! JIM COLE is thee man….. And most of all, THANK YOU for reading!!! LOVE…
O.R.BOND…S.O.S.S.SAXON F13!!!