Spawned from the mid 90s hardcore
explosion in Chicago, Kungfu Rick was one of the few from
the area to stick together long enough to tour the US a
couple times and release a handful of noteworthy records.
Who would have thought that ski goggles, a terrible band
name, and break neck thrash would be a formula to make the
kids go nuts. Unfortunately, the band broke up in early
2003 to pursue other musical endeavors including the likes
of Seven Days of Samsara, Hewhocorrupts, Littleman Complex,
High on Crime, Authority Abuse, and Destroy the Foundation.
Interview by David Hoffa.
Hoffa: I
know that "rick" isn't an actual person, but can
you elaborate on where the name "Kungfu Rick"
came from?
John M:
I was in gym class, Sophmore year (which would have been
1996) and this total hippie kid in my class was like, "Kungfu
Grip man"!! "thats a cool band name".
And I guess I just kinda played around with it and was like..
hmmm.. KungFu Rick?? And it just kinda stuck, it was strange
and odd yet it stuck in your head too. So we decided to
go with it.
Ryan: A
lot of people thought we were a ska band because of that
name.
Hoffa: You've
had some lineup changes over the years, who did what in
the band?
John M:
The original members that stayed throughout the life of
KFR were myself (John on guitar), Ryan (vox), and Bryan
(vox - AKA the Dark Enforcer). The original bassist was
Eric Kline and the original drummer was John Biehl. We all
went to the same high school and were within a year of each
other. The band ended with John Finaldi on drums, Jason
Zdora on second guitar (even though he quit the band 2 times!),
and Dave Rudnik (Seven Days of Samsara) on bass.
Hoffa: KFR
released a number of split 7"s. How did you choose
who to do the splits with? Was it just whoever was available
and had songs?
John M:
We were asked to do many records, surprisingly. Usually
it just had to do with the other band and/or the label and
our relationship with them. But many times we started new
relationships, which is always a good thing as well.
Ryan: During
periods when the band was not getting along, Hewhocorrupts
would usually do the splits we were offered instead.
Hoffa: How
did the connection with 625 records come about; or with
any label for that matter?
John M:
We had sent Max our first demo and he replied back that
he liked it a lot, but he wasnt down with putting
anything out at the time. It wasnt until our second
demo and the show that we played with Capitalist Casualties
here in Chicago that really got Max interested in putting
out our stuff.
Ryan: The
earlier splits were mostly done with labels that we knew
personally from our area.
Hoffa: When
Kungfu Rick started, there weren't many hardcore bands around
in the Chicago suburbs. What led you to start a band of
this nature?
John M:
Well, Charles Bronson was around at the time as was MK Ultra.
We initially sounded nothing like Kungfu Rick sounded on
most of the records, nor how we sounded when we ended. We
just wanted to play fast and crazy music, period. Most of
us in the band really didnt listen to hardcore neither
did most of the original members. Ryan was the person who
knew the most about hardcore at the time. The band just
grew on its own.
Hoffa: You've
all been involved in other projects within the Chicago /
Milwaukee scenes. For the KFR completists, can you tell
me what all everyone has had their hands in?
Dave: Wretch,
The Fratelli's, Luke Skawalker, Seven Days of Samsara, Secret
Scars, High on Crime.
John F:
I played in Suburban Refugee, Pronounced Dead, Audience
Of The End, Systemic Infection, Chronic Bleeding Syndrome,
and Im currently in Destroy The Foundation and High
On Crime.
Jay: I
was in Suburban Refugee, Pronounced Dead and Chronic Bleeding
Syndrome. Im currently in Destroy the Foundation,
Hewhocorrupts and various no-name projects with friends.
Ryan: Hewhocorrupts
with John and Jay, Authority Abuse with John, Tale of Genji,
Littleman Complex, and the infamous Tobucdet.
Hoffa: Kungfu
Rick's music is as serious as it gets, but the members of
the band have an excellent sense of humor. Do you think
it's important for hardcore bands to have a sense of humor
and not take themselves too seriously?
Dave: I
totally think its important for everyone to have a
sense of humor. Its really easy to get bogged down
with all the shit that goes on in the world and our personal
lives, so without humor the human race would be fucked.
John M:
Yes, we are a wild bunch of guys. We like to have fun and
we most definitely like to joke around. Thats just
the way we've always been. Sometimes thats good and
other times it's not.
Ryan: Yeah,
at times Im not sure if our sense of humor was a good
thing for the band.
Hoffa:
Do you think that the Internet has positively or negatively
affected hardcore? I would tend to think that file sharing
and CD burning is the future of what tape trading was pre-internet,
but some people think differently. Care to elaborate?
Dave: I
think the Internet has had a very positive effect on hardcore.
It enables people from all over the world to hear shitty
obscure bands and to read about what theyre up to,
where theyre playing and whatever else people want
to put on their web pages. It has also made it a million
times easier to tour. I booked one tour before I started
using email and theres really nothing more expensive
and annoying than making phone call after phone call to
people you dont know and who dont really want
to talk to you. Email is a polite, unintrusive way to make
initial contact with these people who may help you out with
a show. Im not saying that there arent flaws
to the Internet and I get a little sick of the shit talking
on message boards and the spreading of rumors, but I guess
that comes with the territory. Theres no way Kungfu
Rick could have been what it was without the Internet.
John F:
Ill agree with Dave, booking tours is much easier,
and its nice to be able to drop a line to a friend
or band across the map. It has definitely helped out with
networking, but at the same time I think it has taken away
some of the ethics of punk rock. It seems like people get
sucked into what band has the best web site, or whats
being said on some message board, I try not to get too involved
but I still get sucked in.
Hoffa: The
band is obviously a metal-influenced band. Do you think
that the current state of hardcore is too splintered into
too many different genres? For example: "metal influenced
emo-core with brit-pop tendencies," or something of
that nature. It seems that it's getting harder to find out
what a band sounds like without getting a 20 word run on
sentence these days.
Dave: I
dont think its bad that you need a 20 word run
on sentence to describe a band. To me that means theyre
trying something new. On the 625 web page Max describes
us as "Ultra fast, punishing hardcore...somewhere between
German HC style and grind. Technical yet raw, original yet
brutal." Where someone else might just say "Charles
Bronson rip off" or just simply "hardcore."
Who cares what you call it, its just entertainment. I think
its rad that bands in the DIY punk scene are trying
new things, its just a shame that these new individual
scenes are so segregated.
Ryan: Hmmm,
Im not sure though I have felt for a long time that
my screams have brit-pop tendencies.
Hoffa: Do
you think that you accomplished everything that you set
out to do as a band?
Dave: No,
I think we could have accomplished a hell of a lot more,
but if we had, it wouldnt have been Kungfu Rick. I
would have liked to tour more, possibly gone to Europe and
Japan, but Kungfu Rick was a lazy band that released a lot
of records and more or less had a good time whenever we
decided to practice or play shows, which wasnt too
often.
John M:
I agree with Dave, we could have done a lot more. We could
have toured more, spent more time writing songs and just
overall been a better band. Its kind of sad, but I
am still very grateful for everything we have done and how
it all ended. I couldn't have asked for more.
John F:
Definitely not. Ill never live down the fact that
we never toured Japan, but at the same time the last few
years have been a struggle for this band. There were certain
people in the band I never saw unless we were playing a
show. I got sick of people asking me if we had broke up.
It seemed like everyone had more important things to do.
I would be at a show or drinking at a bar and someone would
ask me what was up with KFR and I would just say the fuck
if I know ask one of the other guys, I just play drums.
Ryan: Nope.
We fell short of my "excellent record review"
quota of at or above 50. Im still picking up the pieces
to my shattered heart.
Hoffa: One
lyric that has always stuck out for me is: "it was
not me they were beating" from the title track off
of "Motivation to Abuse." So, the lyrics seem
pretty personal. What sorts of experiences do you draw your
lyrics from? Did all of the members contribute, or was it
just one person?
Jay: Ryan
wrote most of the lyrics to our songs but Dave and John
M. have contributed as well as myself. This song was about
my experiences at a Chicago public high school. A couple
years after this happened I ended up being good friends
with one of the guys who used to beat the shit out of me.
Ryan: John
F. and Bryan also wrote some of the songs so were
6 for 6 in that department.
Hoffa:
Can you explain the mystery of the dark enforcer?
Ryan: I
could but then it wouldnt be a mystery anymore. Anyhow,
whats so mysterious about a guy wearing a black cloak
and ski goggles while squawking like a chicken?
Hoffa:
I know that you did 2 actual tours (one west coast with
My Lai, and one east coast with the Ultimate Warriors).
Who set them up, and how were they? Were there certain places
that you wanted to play that you never played?
Dave: The
My Lai tour was booked by Brian Peterson and I booked the
Ultimate Warriors tour. The My Lai tour was awesome and
the Ultimate Warriors tour could have been a hell of a lot
better. Part was my fault but mostly I think that tour was
flawed because we just werent getting along at the
time. Even though we werent getting along, our show
in Baltimore at the Sushi Cafe on that tour was amazing.
But yea, as I said before I would have like to tour more
and hit all the places where people asked us to play, but
shit, that just wouldnt have been us.
John F: The
My Lai tour was one of the greatest things Ive ever
done in my life. We were so lucky to go on the road with
such an amazing band. The Ultimate Warriors tour was doomed
from the start. We werent getting along that well
before we left, and all that shit got dragged along with
us. Jay quit the band a few times on that tour, and I remember
pulling up in front of my house after it was all over and
while I was talking to Dave I turned around and my stuff
was just getting chucked out of the van onto the front lawn.
We didnt practice or play out for a long time after
that. And I learned heavy drinking is not a good thing when
youre on a tense tour.
Jay: I
dont think touring gets much better than the time
we went out with My Lai. Some of the best times of my life.
Playing a battle set with My Lai in a gazebo, The Velvet
Lounge in El Paso with Arab on Radar, sleeping at this rich
crustys house in CA which was practically a fucking castle
in the mountains (with 3 full ass refrigerators!), the insanity
at Gilman, jerkin it at the Whole Foods and getting jiz
all over my Crudos shirt, so many good times! The Ultimate
Warriors were some of the coolest guys Ive ever met
and I really enjoyed playing with those dudes and swimming/swinging
on that rope by the river. The big problem with that tour
was me. I really fucked everyone over by quitting and being
stupid on the road. I just had enough. I wasnt doing
the band for the reasons I did before and my whole outlook
began to change. I think I ruined a good thing by being
that way but I think I also followed my heart so its
weird. I still love and respect all the guys from the band
and Im excited about our new shit.
Hoffa:
Final thoughts?
John F:
Thanks to everyone that helped this band out or supported
us over the years. Big apologies to anyone we may have let
down. Dont ever sell yourself short, and stay true.
Jay: I
really owe the guys a lot for letting me play those last
5 shows. It felt really good to be a part of the bands end.
I really want to thank Max Ward and Brian Peterson for all
their help and support. Id also like to thank Ryan
for putting many of our records out for free on independent
tape labels in several countries. Mendolas parents
really need to get thanked here too, since they had to listen
to us practice.
Ryan: Stay
gold Ponyboy, stay gold
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