IT ISN'T OFTEN when you will find a band of four different individuals that pushes each other to create music that matters. For over a decade, the members of CKY are part of a dying breed of musicians that give a damn about what they do. The tension amongst the members may be the vital ingredient behind creating their long awaited CD, 'Carver City'.
The band began writing songs in 2006, at guitarist Chad I. Ginsburg’s Studio CIG in West Chester, Pennsylvania. This was around the same time they signed a new recording deal with Roadrunner Records. During that time, internal problems arose between the members, and leaving the band in limbo. Members stopped communicating with each other, creating more tension. At one point, vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller publicly announced that he was leaving the band by posting it on the band’s Myspace page. Or did he actually quit?
“I think that the dumbest thing that anybody could every do is say things out of anger when they are drunk,” said Miller: “It’s hard for me to even recall the event which caused this whole problem. I don’t know. I don’t care if I said I quit. Of course I would never quit the band, but under that circumstance I got so angry and fuelled by nonstop problems. When you don’t have anybody to talk to, it gets out of control, no matter how responsible you can be. It gets very monotonous. You learn to be well grounded and take all the fun out of the music. You’re lucky to be there. Be responsible for yourself. It’s not an uncommon story. It happens in every band.”
“Did I probably say I quit the band? Sure. I think we’ve all said it at one point. But don’t take it seriously.”
'Carver City' is the band’s first full length release since 2005’s 'An Answer Can Be Found', and they definitely stepped it up in creating a powerful record that captured the spirit of rock music that they wanted within their sound. The time they spent working on this record is definitely felt and heard.
“What happened was that we would work on the record, and stop because we would be offered tours and then do that. Then there’s the stuff with the problems within the band for a while. We were tired and flatten out for a bit. It was probably a good thing for the record,” said Miller, explaining the delayed writing and recording process.
The songs on Carver City reads like a concept record, as the ideas are based around a story about a fictional town. Miller and Ginsburg based the location around Wildwood, New Jersey, a beachside location they both spent as youths in the 1980s.
“I usually write all the lyrics. I came up with idea based on when I used to go roller skating when I was younger. I was always having a good time. That’s how my youth was. So I brought it up as an idea behind the lyrics. We agreed on it and it was working out that way. I think the problem with concept records, per say, is that they focus too much on following the concept. We didn’t come up with the title until almost after the album was done. With the record, we wanted to capture a vibe we were getting while making it.”
This format began to evolve after Miller and Ginsburg were finding ways to connect lyrics they had written together. To avoid creative roadblocks, they tried this format and discovered what they had would begin to gel together.
“It reminded us of certain times of our youths that made us look back. It wasn’t good times or bad times. It’s hard to feel nostalgia in the present. The good times in our lives, a lot of people consider that their youths. The memories are more liver than they were when they were actually happening. We were capturing a vibe. The vibe was the feeling of nostalgia and its worth. The past is clearer and better than things now. Not always because there are bad things to look back on as well.”
“The album is based off of events happening in a city. We’re trying to tell a story, like {Pink Floyd album} 'The Wall'. I wouldn’t call it a concept record. I’d call it a record that creates a story that may or may not be a concept.”
The songs on the album read as pieces of an extensive story in the making. ‘Hellions on Parade’ and ‘…And She Never Returned’ feature powerful driving riffs and familiar rock melodies reminiscent to 80s hard rock such as Journey, while ‘A#1 Roller Rager’ blends harmonies with energetic metallic riffs.
“I get what you mean," agrees Miller: 'Journey would definitely be a band that I would hear back in the day. We’re trying to capture that vibe, where music didn’t appeal to a certain crowd. A lot of music today is so formulated and it’s hard to be a band today because they’re so focused on what the youth wants. I don’t know what’s going on with music because it’s so bad nowadays. I don’t even like to talk shit about it any more.”
“We’re definitely not stuck in the past. We’re trying to create a future. We’re trying to take the elements of what people liked and give it a fresh vibe to it".
For a band that prided itself under the moniker Camp Kill Yourself (aka CKY), their message and fan base has survived for over a decade. But how has the moniker aged with them?
“It’s funny because when you asked that, it reminded me when Chuck Schuldiner of Death was asked about the band name and the meaning 15 years later. I’m proud of it.” said Miller. “I think it’s a great name. It doesn’t work to make up this whole thing to make up an acronym and not be known as Camp Kill Yourself. We’ve spent a lot of time asking our diehard fans what they think and they’re like ‘it’s alright.’ The band name is Camp Kill Yourself. We hardly hear anybody call it that. I haven’t heard that in a long time. We’re all proud of it. It’s perfect.”
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