Meteoor: Scums Of The Earth!

There are a few things in life that you always have to be wary about and men wearing masks is one of them. Unfortunately, it was a lesson too late as the writer and a document containing the article for Absinthe Heart were being traded for a case of Red Horse beer at a seedy bar in Orchard. But not before spending some time with Kimotherapy and Patient Zzero from scum rock band Johnny Shameless And His Minions as they extol the life of shock, depravity and tales even Hank Von Helvete wouldn't think of

Kimotherapy

Dalsix Visser: So where is Johnny Shameless right now as of writing?

Kimotherapy (Guitarist): In the past 3 years or so. We only came up with 3 tunes! And the last 2 tunes were written during our jamming session just few weeks back, hahahahah. We are all lazy bastards when comes to writing music. None of us takes the responsibility of doing so. Usually myself or occasionally our other guitarist, Saytanic will write a tune or 2 just to make the rest of the guys happy. Having said that, we as a band are constantly looking for new music and new ways to take a piss at ourselves and not take music too seriously here in our Singapore society. Unless, one day we decided to be in mandopop, then maybe we will take our music seriously, hahahah
 
DV: Johnny Shameless And His Minions strongly evokes the spirit of The Dwarves onstage, Are you guys fans of Blag Dahlia and his crew of nutjobs?

Kimo: We are not worthy to be up there with them! The Dwarves are just on another planet, BRUTAL!! But I guess in a certain way we took inspiration from them and of course, Blag and his crew. Their energy and short songs kind of connected with us and the metal-punk thing going on in their later albums. Plus The Dwarves were pretty much influenced by G.G. Allin who is one of the major influences of Johnny Shameless and His Minions so in a way, we have certain similarities like The Dwarves. For example, The Dwarves has 2 core members in the group but their lineup has been changing consistently. Just like us, having 3 core members in the group throughout and finally settling in with our new bassist (Patient Zzero), and Drummer (Ngojerk) that forms the Johnny Shameless of today. If you want to label our music, scum punk will be it yet again same genre as The Dwarves and the biggest scum of all, G.G. Allin.
 
DV: How did you guys find each other?

Kimo: I met the main man Johnny Shameless way back in 1993 when we attended the Fugazi gig at Bukit Batok Community Centre. That was probably our 1st major American hardcore band that we watched besides Henry Rollins back in the 90s. We met right after the show and while I was busy taking out my bootleg CD for Ian Mackaye (lead singer of Fugazi) to sign I noticed this skinny chap shamelessly giving a kiss on Ian Mackaye's hairy thigh! Who the fuck would kiss someone's hairy thigh right after a gig with all the perspiration and that guy must be insane to do that yet he did just that!I l was later introduced to him by another friend of ours and we happened to be in the same secondary school. But it was not until the year 2004 that we started hanging out and he threw me the idea to form a band. So Johnny Shameless and His Minions was born. Then we went to scout for a bassist, drummer and guitarist, the latter in the form of Saytanic who is a long time friend of mine. We attended the same art school from 1998-2003 and one day we just happened to crossed paths. I was sitting at the lobby with my usual school mates and this cool dude with long hair walked past and he happened to know some of my mates. After an introduction, we realised we are into the same genre of music such as indie, punk, metal, rock and I still remember him for loaning his The Holy Bible CD from The Manic Street Preachers to me for a school project. We stayed in contact and his name naturally came to my mind to be our guitarist. We had quite a few hiccups with our bassist, having changed 3 bassists in the span of 3 years and finally picked up Patient Zero at Golden Mile toilet. I was having a dump in the toilet when I heard someone cursing and swearing non stop. Right after I finished my business, I came out of the cucible and he was at one of the cubicles pointing and cursing the glory hole! I thought that this fellow must be mad or something, then he saw me and started telling me the history of the glory hole. Our original drummer had a short stint with us as he was a wimp and couldn't take criticism well after our 1st show at Home Club so he decided to leave the band and no one stopped him, hahaha Our current drummer Ngojerk naturally got a call up from us since we knew him back in art school as the running man! He is the only drummer that we know that could do double pedals, hahaha
 
DV:  Have your masks seen action elsewhere other than the stage while performing?

Kimo: Yeah, at children's birthday parties. We just love to entertain kids. They think that we are some superheroes from Mars.

DV:In your opinion, is music today being hit with a severe creativity drought and how does your band seek to redress this issue?

Kimo: Look at us, a useless generation. A bunch of old farts trying to be in a punk rock band. All hope is lost and no one in the band gives a damn about redressing this issue. We have better things to do than to think of saving the music today. Look at that kid Justin Bieber, what the fuck is he singing? That's the music that most kids are listening to anyway. What's there to save? If we happen to see Justin Bieber, we will tie him up and stick a dildo up his ass and feed him to the lions.
 

DV: Any words of wisdom to impart before heading back to your secret lair?

 Kimo: Eat well, stay healthy, listen to metal and skate! Do whatever u please, but be a responsible kid. As quoted from Saytanic, "You only live once!"

Clearly, Kimotherapy hates the annoying teenage female that's destroying music. Meanwhile, Patient Zzero imparts his choice words to gag upon. With a ball

Patient Zzero

Dalsix Visser: Prior to Johnny Shameless, were you playing for other bands before taking up bass duties here?

Patient Zzero (Bassist): I have never played in any band before and I can't even play any instruments. The guys found me in a toilet and thought I looked like a bassist so I mime onstage, much like Sid Vicious.

DV: What is your definition of shock?
PZ: Nothing is shocking to me at all. I've been watching coprophagia videos since I was a teenager and I got sick of (a certain website that we aren't saying) after a few months so I find nothing too extreme.

DV: Is there a softer side to Patient Zzero despite the menacing mask?

PZ: Of course there is, how else do I bait my 14 year olds? Got a steady stream of them and after using and abusing them, I use their skin for masks

Lock up your daughters and sisters, Patient Zzero makes Fu Manchu look like a friendly gardener. While not going out and creating chaos at glory holes and underage parties, Johnny Shameless And His Minions make music to suit your twisted needs at:

http://www.myspace.com/johnnyshamelessandhisminions

You can also catch them live at their upcoming gig with local band The Stoned Revivals on 27th June at The Substation, 4pm. Tickets are at $10 and be prepared to be blown (away) by them!