Casualties of Conversation - Session 1

Session 1:  Stza Crack Vocalist of Leftöver Crack and Choking Victim

We sat down with some of this year’s PRB artists and asked them a whole slew of random shit for our new blog, “Casualties of Conversation”. To launch the first edition of Casualties of Conversation, we spoke to the front man that’s gracing both, PRB Las Vegas and Asbury Park with his enchantingly diabolic presence!

Most embarrassing moment on stage? 

This is an almost, but relevant...  Last year, at PRB in Vegas, I sang "I will deny" with the Dwarves... (Mainly so that I could get a backstage pass, which is actually the most embarrassing part of this whole story for a few reasons that may or may not be in my head), and about 2 hours before their set,  I ate a fist full of mushrooms cuz LöC had already played the night before,  & so,  I was officially on vacation. I ended up getting so nervous about singing a song that I had never practiced that I pounded a half pint of whiskey while I was wide-pupiled, anxiously awaiting my spot in the set & now, unfortunately, tripping my ass off. I barely got through the 2 minute song & when I ran back behind the band, but still onstage. I came traumatically close to vomiting all over the main stage in front of about 6000 people that would of judged me harshly at a show I had basically weaseled myself into & on a stage that I was not invited to perform on... 

What band/bands are you looking forward to playing with or seeing at PRB?

I am especially excited to perform right after the Bouncing Souls who are gonna have to get a chapter in the Choking Victim/LöC biography someday & a couple of bands before Bad Religion who are one of my most crucial indoctrinating punk bands & then, even more exciting because of Terry Hall's absence & return after almost 30 years, The Specials. I mean, individually, if Bad Religion, The Specials or The Bouncing Souls didn't exist, none of my bands might either. That's just how important they are to what we do & even more fundamentally, who I am deep down inside..

What is your spirit animal or if you were an animated character, who would you be?

A Sock Monkey.

Is there anything you can't live without while touring? 

I hate to admit it to all of the sober "I told you so-ers", but, I have recently come to terms with the necessity of hard liquor if I'm going to perform with Leftöver Crack. I could not drink, like I did last summer  on tour in Europe & I can be miserable & feel suicidal instead of enjoying my life... But, I'm okay with drinking some scotch instead.

Least favorite city to perform in and why? 

Las Vegas. The dry desert air sucks all of the life sustaining moisture form my body no matter how much water I drink & 90% of the time it even destroys my voice before I have a chance to yell my actual complaints to the people that bothered to show up.

Which band member gets picked on the most?

Brad Logan.

Favorite punk rock movie, biography or book? 

Gimme Something Better. Bay-Area punk has always had the most profound effect on me & I still can't put my goddamned finger on the reason. Gimme Something Better at least give me a bit more insight into the part of myself that I don't understand fully, but I can safely embrace because I can feel that the roots connect to an educated, thoughtful & considerate foundation.

If you believe in guilty pleasures, what's yours? 

I love drugs & we're getting excitingly close to ending the epic failure of propaganda & legal policies known commonly as the "war on drugs". I only place drugs under the "guilty'" pleasure category because that's what we've all been raised to believe. That we should be ashamed of such behavior & it's quite difficult to "unlearn" things that have been hammered into your psyche since we were all children. But, I am trying to come out of the closet as not only an unrepentent drug user, but an example of how drugs can save lives & enhance art, whether you are creating it or just enjoying it. I definitely would have committed suicide a long time ago if I didn't have the option to self-medicate during the hardest times in my life. I feel practically religious discussing this in a way, like I'm talking about Jesus carrying me through a desert, but, I'm a "hard-core" atheist & I'm actually talking about heroin mostly amongst other things. Once again: Save your friends lives & destigmatize drug use!

Advice for young musicians or people in general? 

My advice to everybody, especially musicians is save your friends lives & destigmatize drug use!

Two words that you would use to describe you/your band's sound? 

Crack Rock!