Interview with Corey Cunningham from Terry Malts

Terry Malts Hanging Out in Hats and Clothes

When I lived in Durham, my favorite live venue was probably The Pinhook. One reason behind this was that it had character, in addition to great bar specials. The second was that it was run by Kym Register of Midtown Dickens, who rocks. And then Bull City Records' Chaz Martenstein was always presenting shows there, such as the Gross Ghost, Terry Malts, and Spider Bags show. I was acquainted with both Gross Ghost and Spider Bags before this show, on account of them being from the area and a nearly ubiquitous presence for anyone who listened to rock n' roll in the community. Terry Malts, however, were foreign to me.

It's no secret that I like to enjoy a fine malt beverage from time to time. Earlier that night, I had bought Dan McGee a Gin & Tonic, because he can't drink beer, in return for a cup of fine Andre champagne he had given me at the Golden Boys, J Wes Coleman, Spider Bags show.

Terry Malts rock in the best sense. The three members, Corey, Phil, and Nacie play their hearts out and have some serious swagger as they perform. I didn't know any of the songs, except for their cover of Black Flag's "Six Pack" at the end, which, of course made my night. I bought the band a round of PBRs after and talked for a while about their music. These guys were super nice. It really made it easy to like their music, since they're really swell folks.

A Live Show

To get to know them, you can check out their FACEBOOK PAGE or check out their artist page at SLUMBERLAND RECORDS. They're about to start a tour on the West Coast with the Fresh & Onlys. Check 'em OUT!

Jordan: What is a Terry Malt?

Corey: It's drunk-speak. We are inebriated so often that sometimes it becomes necessary to understand each other in an alternate vernacular. I think it originally meant "paper bag outside of a tall can".

J: Who all is in the band? How did the band start? What makes you tick? How did you arrive at the set up that you have when you play?

C: It's me and Phil and Nacie. We've played together in a bunch of different bands over the past 10 years- some rather serious and some jokey ones. I think Malts is a little bit of both. My favorite jokey one was one I played drums in with Phil called "Youth Decay". It was a hardcore punk sort of thing. Like Jerry's Kids but two guys.

J: Do you feel like there are any clear influences in your music or people that you associate your music with or even just friends/bands you like to play with?

C: When we started we had two philosophical keystones: "Black Tambourine Flag" and "Tall Cans, Poppers, and Feedback". We've pretty much stuck to those ethos. I really like my friends and their bands but identity is more important to me than being part of a cohesive scene and adapting to someone else's sound. That being said it's always fun to play with Permanent Collection, Dead Angle, Sea Lions, and Plateaus.

J: What was the process behind "Killing Time" like? It's a real rock n' roll record so where did you guys record it and how long did it take?

C: We actually tracked it all ourselves in our practice space. I wanted to limit how good the recording would sound without getting too lo-fi. That seems like such an obvious sound for bands to bury themselves in. So the first thing I did was tracking the drums in a really limited and stripped down way. I only used 3 microphones mixed down to 2 tracks. All-in-all with the guitars and vocals added it didn't take more than a few days. Most of the takes on the album are first or second takes. We wanted it to be a very simple record so it's really funny to me when we get reviews criticizing us for making something simple (as if we didn't realize what we were doing)!

J: Do you feel like there is any difference between the recorded Terry Malts and a Terry malts live show?

C: On the first album I think we're a bit restrained because there may have been an unconscious desire to play more towards the pop side of our sound since it was our first album for Slumberland. But knowing Mike better and knowing how eclectic his record collection is certainly inspired us to embrace the same sides of our collection and allow our new material to go in different, more natural places. So, in a sense, the first record is not quite as unpredictable as our live shows. This next record will probably be a lot more loose and closer to what we do live in that regard.

The Killing Time Cover

J: What do you all like to eat/drink when you're on tour? Specific foods or beers? Certain places you always go in different towns?

C: For me it's important to try all the crummy local beers. I don't mean the fancy microbrews! I mean things like Olympia, Old Style, National Bohemian, Lucky Lager, Black Label, Rainier, Old German. I love that stuff. A few of our favorite places to stop on tour are Shorty's Clown Alley in Seattle, Ruby's in Austin, Gold Room in LA, Ground Kontrol in Portland. Glad you didn't ask about record stores. That list would be really long.

J: How do you guys know the Fresh & Onlys?

C: We played shows with them in our last band, Magic Bullets. But I feel like I just knew them from Amoeba Records (where some of them have worked at various points). I can't tell you how many times I had to sell vinyl there just to pay rent. I definitely spent my fair share of time there since moving to this city.

J: What is the upcoming tour with the Fresh & Onlys going to be like? It's all on the West Coast, but do you plan on touring together at all after?

C: It's going to be a blast. We've been touring for so long that it's just second-nature to us. After a while you learn when to turn on and turn off. You learn what you need and what you don't need. Also it's good to familiarize yourself with your band-mates moods. Sometimes it's good to know when someone just needs their time to turn off, too.

J: What do you guys plan on doing for the rest of the year in terms of recordings and in terms of live performances?

C: We're about to track the second record and it should be mixed by the end of October. Other than that we don't expect to play a lot after this tour unless something special comes along.

J: What do you like to do when you aren't playing or doing music? Or does it never really end?

The Upcoming Tour with the Fresh & Onlys

C: I do a label with one of my best friends, Matt Kallman. It's called Body Double and we only do reissues. It's also an imprint of Captured Tracks. Our first two releases come out in November. I hate not being busy so I'm always coming up with something to do. I want to write a script next. Nacie loves to play golf. Phil is an avid illustrator and quite a good one at that.

J: Anything else that you'd like to say?

C: I have a few books to recommend. Try Nick Tosches' "Hellfire", Mark Yarm's "Everybody Loves Our Town", and Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon". All very good.

Gross Ghost talks Gross Ghost

Serendipity is a great word and it applies a lot to the triangle area. The other day I was browsing the regulator and ran into Heather from Mount Moriah. Later that day, I ran into Duncan from Hammer No More The Fingers at All Day Records. And yesterday, as I was picking up the Gross Ghost LP from Bull City Records, I met Mike from Gross Ghost, which really weirded me out, but was pretty cool. When I got home and spun the record, I relly liked what I was hearing. It's rock n roll base, all right, but it's also got some folk and psychedelia in it. I spun it twice in a row. Then I emailed Mike to say how much I liked it and wondered if we could possibly do an interview. Turns out we could and did.

Gross Ghost's Brer Rabbit LP

These guys just released their first album "Brer Rabbit" on Grip Tapes and it's really awesome. They're playing the pin hook on Tuesday, April 17 with Terry Malts and Spider Bags, two really awesome bands. It's only $7 and is sure to be a great rock n roll night. You can check out the band's release Here


But Mike talks about the band a lot better than I ever could. So without further ado, Mike from Gross Ghost! 


Jordan: Who all is in Gross Ghost and what are their roles in the band? 


Mike: Gross Ghost is mainly Tre and myself on recordings.  Live, Tre is on bass and I play guitar and sing, and we've added Rob DiPatri on lead guitar and we alternate between two drummers, Chris Riddle and TJ Maiani, depending on who can play when needed.  From now on I imagine Tre or I will come to the guys with ideas and see where it goes from there in regards to future recordings.... 


Jordan: How did you all get to know each other? 


Mike: Tre used to come to house parties I threw when I lived in Raleigh...he was really young, like 19.  He would drink all my booze and stay over but he'd rummage around for food and stuff when everyone went to sleep.  I caught him doing this when the sun came up one time and that's how the name "gross ghost" came about. 


 Jordan: What do you all do when you aren't making or playing music? 


Mike: We all work a lot, bartending and waiting tables and stuff.  When we aren't playing shows, we like to check out other bands around the triangle, go thrift store shopping and eat lots of mexican food and hang out with our ladies and pets.  I really want to get back into skateboarding but I need to put the burritos down first. 


Jordan: What's the name Gross Ghost from? 


Mike: Check the story mentioned above!  That explains it all. 


Jordan: When did you all start the band and how did it get started? 


Mike: Tre and I lived together out near Garner for a year after we'd met, three to four years ago and we were bored as fuck.  I had been through a rough year and was drinking a lot and was really down on myself. Tre was there for me through it all and encouraged me to work on his demos with him and from there I started writing songs of my own again after what had been a long break.  At first we were just fucking around and making up little sketches for songs, not taking ourselves seriously.  Then we wrote some things we were really proud of and decided to take things more seriously.  That means we just dropped a lot of the screaming and noise in favor of melodies.  The screaming part was pretty cathartic though! 


Jordan: Would you say that the Triangle Area in terms of culture has impacted your music?  If so, how?


Mike: Yes and No.  Yes in the way that I get a lot of excitement out of what my friends are doing musically and the rich musical history the Triangle has with Merge and Cat's Cradle and other great venues and even now with stuff like Hopscotch Festival and all the musical benefits held to support the community.  It's easy to record here because there are affordable studios and so many talented friends to help you complete your vision.  Need a horn player, oh I know someone who lives right down the street!  Need to get a piano tuned?  Call my cousin, he'll charge you 20$!  No, in the way that when it comes to Gross Ghost's music, it's usually just something that comes from isolation or working stuff out on our own as opposed to outside influences.  It is nice to be able to share our songs with the people in this area when we have them ready though.  The response has impacted us in the way that we want to write the best songs possible because we know that people will hear them where we live. 


Jordan: How would you describe the music that you are making or trying to make? 


Mike: I want to explore how many stories and melodies I can get with a somewhat limited palette.  So far I've had garage, pop, dub and psychedlia as a template.  I'd like to stretch beyond that for future recordings.  I feel like that will have a lot to do with the guys in the band, what they want to add and also to whatever mood the song presents itself in.  At the same time, I'm not gonna change the style up just to do it.  Just trying to make music that we would want to listen to. 


Jordan: What kind of events, people, cultural phenomena, books, art, animals, bands, and music influences what your music becomes? 


Mike: Some of the songs on the record are me writing to my parents.  My father passed away and they'd lived pretty hard for a lot of years.  I felt like whether it was subconscious or not I needed to write about them.  Some of the songs are a complete reactionary response to that of wanting to write something fun and poppy just to give the record some levity.  Some are about being in your twenties, screwing up in relationships and jobs and all that. Tre and I devour books, movies and records but we never talk about what we are into.  We have really different tastes but agree on what counts. 


Jordan: How did you choose the name "Brer Rabbit" for your album? 


Mike: I just remember that Brer Rabbit was a character who could talk his way out of a jam.  I always liked that story and I liked the way it sounded....I feel like the album artwork is a nice compliment to the title as well...so it was kind of natural. 


Jordan:What links the music together on your first album "Brer Rabbit?" 


Mike: There are four new songs and eight culled from two of our previous free eps, which I'm guessing only thirty people heard! 


Jordan: What was the recording process of "Brer Rabbit" like? 


Mike: The bulk of the songs are recorded at Track & Field Recording studio, which is also a place where our friends live, so it was really easy and fun to make. 


Jordan: Who did you work with to record the album? 


Mike: Our good friend, Nick Petersen did the engineering and helped with some aesthetic choices during the sessions.  Track & Field is his place and he's recorded tons of amazing regional bands there, big and small.  Matt Park, Rob Deep, Chris Riddle and Stuart Edwards provided drums and other sounds. 


Jordan: What has it been like working with Grip Tapes in the process of making an album? 


Mike: Hank and Jon (of GripTapes) are friends first, so it's been a lot of hanging out and discussing before we ever did anything.  I think it's good that it took so long to come to fruition because there's been no question about what we wanted to do and how we've done it, in regards to what we wanted the record to look like and what we wanted to do to promote it.  We are only their third release so I feel like the ones before us gave them a handle on what they are doing.  They have a great roster of regional bands, so I'm really proud of them and it's great to be working on the record with my friends. 


Jordan: Have you all played live very often? 


Mike: Yeah...we've played about 30-40 shows.  We just cemented the live lineup in the past year so it's been more frequent as of late.  We've probably gone through 4-5 incarnations of the band!  I'm over it. Keeping it simple now.... 


Jordan: What are your favorite shows to play? 


Mike: Warehouses or any DIY thing that is run like a real club.  I have a lot of respect for that.  Playing bills with our friends is the best feeling and anywhere with a sound guy who isn't a dick is awesome. 




Jordan:  What can you say about the show with Terry Malts and Spider Bags at the Pinhook on April 17?


Mike: Spider Bags are one of my favorite bands, not just NC but anywhere. They killed it at the last show we played with them, I somehow got my hands on a recording of their set and it just confirms they are a great live band.  Terry Malts rules too.  Looking forward to seeing them in 3D. 


Jordan:  What is in the future for the band? 


Mike:  Some more records, more shows, more fun 


Jordan: What else are you psyched about for the year? 


 Mike: I don't know yet.  I go day by day. 


 Jordan : Any last words about music or life or animals or anything? 


 Mike: Buying our record helps you find your spirit animal.  I have a reliable source who says this is a fact.  Nah, I don't know....Life is Short.  Play Hard.

Typical Night at the Pinhook

Gross Ghost are playing with Terry Malts & Spider Bags at the Pinhook April 17: you can get your ticket at the door and learn about the show Here