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ask the lepersDo you have questions about your
relationship? Send it to The Cute Lepers! Send your questions to [email protected] (it
may take a while to get the answers up here...we'll email you when
they are posted)
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Steve E. Nix: That's a tough one. Myself, I attended the Clover Park Vocational Technical('voc-tech' they called it) school in Tacoma after getting the fuck out of high school. I studied offset reprographics and it was fucked. I tried getting stoned with a couple of the other guys in my class who were into punk music but that only made class way way worse, in case you were wondering about that... At Clover Park Voc-Tech there were all kinds of different trades and professions you could learn. Some folks were learning carpentry and electronics and stuff and it seemed like that was where the money was gonna be, career-wise. And then there were people of all ages who were in training to be cafeteria workers. During breaks, while my classmates got stoned in the parking lot I would go and sit in the cafeteria and smoke cigarettes and drink coffee and kinda study these 'cafeteria students'. At first it seemed like a better day at school than the class I was taking, but after a while I decided their class was rotten too, and a lot of them seemed to have learning disabilities. They were kind of fun to watch though. The students learning to be nurses had their breaks at the same time as us reprographics students and they would all be in the cafeteria with me. They were pretty much all women in their 30s and they pretty much all smoked, they smoked those super skinny cigarettes that have flowery names. Common sense told me that those must not be so bad for you: they're skinny and nurses(well, nurses to be) are smoking them. Right? I tried them out to see if I could switch over from regular filters, but they were pretty bad. Bad smokes. I think they were called Capris and I know for sure that I see real life female nurses in Seattle smoking them 50 feet outside of hospital exit doors during their breaks.
I guess the point I'm trying to make
here is that while you are only going to school part time and
hating it, in 1989 I was going to school full time and hating
it, except during breaks. But! I found the shortcut to
success which you may also find... although my grade average
was a c-minus, there was a special rule at Clover Park
Voc-Tech where if you were at least halfway done with the
course and you landed a real job in the real world then you
automatically graduated with a certificate and everything!
Pretty cool! I landed a sweet job at the Lakewood
Press doing ad layouts and got the fuck out of voc-tech.
The Lakewood Press sadly folded after just two months
and I then got a job at an auto-trader in some shitty little
town in the woods past Olympia. That job was really
awful and I was really bad at it and I got fired. I
started smoking pot and taking speed occasionally and I moved
out of my folks house and into the band practice room in
downtown Tacoma. So you see, there is now a new point.
Even though I had temporarily found success in life with
a fancy career... it soon turned into a crappy job, getting
fired, turning to drugs and living in a rehearsal room.
Although I blame only myself and take responsibility for
my choices in life, there could be a case made here that the
school system failed me. In fact, that the school system
failed all of us. Maybe??
Duffy:
School is cool but so many people don't know what they want to
do with their lives until they've lived them a bit more. Some
people never know. Maybe it is time for something different and
mind expanding? You can always go back to school. How about
working overseas? |
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Steve E. Nix: It wouldn't really be fair for us to book shows on the grounds of "one of us has cancer". What about about kids in Milwaukee with with tuberculosis? or the kids in Philly with jaundice and bulimia? Are we supposed to hire a jet and make the rounds for every group of kids who don't have the phone number to the Make A Wish Foundation? Hey, I'd like to! But it just isn't realistic for us this year. If we we get enough financial donations then maybe.... Anyways, we are hoping to be back in Texas at some point this summer and we'll shoot for all ages. Cool? Thanks! |
I was wondering why you were called "The Cute Lepers". if it was referring to something.
Steve ... have you had leprosy?? looooooool
I hope you come play in France. And congratulations on your second album, I love it!
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Steve E. Nix: Prisilla and Kicks both had leprosy in their teens. I never did myself, although I'm not sure how I avoided it. and yes we shall be enjoying select French cities in may 2010. Glad you like the new album!! |
Hey Lepers,
So I've gotta question. Suppose you were given one million dollars would you rather spend it all on gift cards to get your furniture re-upholstered or on Nerf guns?
Much obliged,
Ellis
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Prisilla Ray: That's an easy one. Nerf
guns! The only furniture I own is a 60's kitchen table and a
disco tek. Anyway... how much fun can you have with
re-upholstered
furniture? |
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Steve: Hello Tim, Thank you, and we'll let them know!
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Hey there, Lepers! I see that you've got a
couple of some Bay Area shows coming up - all of which are 21+
shows. It's like poison to my young, under-21 heart! Would you know
if you'll be playing any Bay Area shows that are All-Ages any time
soon? I gotta come and see you
guys...
oooooor.......would you know where I could get a
fake ID in CA? Wait, what? Don't answer that.
Thanks! The new
album is great by the way!!!!
TL
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Brian: TL, Unfortunately we do not have any ALL Ages shows booked in the Bay Area at this time, but we will promptly investigate that possibility, and make it a reality. As far as attaining a fake ID is concerned perhaps you should consult your local computer nerd and offer him/her a bounty of sorts in trade for an ID card verifying you are at least 38 years old. If for some reason this plan backfires and you find yourself in the clutches of the law, we will deny ever giving you such spectacular advice. Good luck TL, and thanks for listening to the Lepers. |
Hey Lepers, it's me again. Actually, I'd be
lying if I said that I didn't want to go to the Parkside show with
Clorox Girls. Is there any way a underage dude like me could get in
there? Could I be sneaky and be ninja-like to make my way into the
show? Is this or anything possible?
TL
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Brian: I don't think it is possible to smuggle an underage dude like you into that show without drastically disrupting the universe. Work hard on a fake ID, and if you succeed we will honor your victory by giving you a t-shirt of your choice (Duffy -after you get discovered and kicked out). Good luck punk rocker! |
Sometimes... when I'm alone at home I play my Carpenters records and enjoy singing We've only just begun or Yesterday once more...
but, shhhh... it's a secret! Dou you have any guilty pleasure?
Love from Spain.
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Duffy: 60s folk, psych bands, Left Eye Lopez, ferrets, gnocchi, stouts and porters! Steve: Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, even the bad Will Ferrell movies, twix bars, Bee Gees |
Hey guys! Jamie from The Stiff Wires here!
I was wondering who did your last two records!? They both sound fantastic! I was wondering if I could get some backkround info on their production?
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hi Jamie, Johnny Sangster produced both along
with me to a lesser degree. The first album after we got
the bass and drums tracked at an ok studio, I recorded all of
the guitars myself in my basement. For both albums we
recorded bass and drums to 16 track analog and then
transferred those tracks to protools. All the guitars,
vocals, tambourines etc. were done straight onto protools
using a few really good preamps. Both albums were mixed
by Johnny at Electro Kitty which is like one of the expensive
high end studios in seattle. You gotta pay for a good
mix!
My experience is, you need to make
sure the drums are recorded in a good room by someone who
really knows what they're doing. Recording them hard to
tape gives saturation or 'color' to the sound, and drums are
really the only instrument where you hear the difference:
digital sounds brittle and lacking depth, analog sounds warm
and has more body. Then everything else can be recorded
anywhere cheap onto a digital recorder. It's gotta sound
good before it hits the microphone though! I'm into old
amps and old guitars... That help? All right!
--steve e. |
Would you guys be willing to let me interview you for
Punkradiocast.com?
I'm a huge fan of the new album I can't stop
listening to the god damned thing!
that's my
question
Steven
Blaqart
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Hi Steven, Answer is: absolutely yes. Thanks! ---steve
e.
(He'll be in
touch) |
Dear Cute Lepers
After listening to punk music since early '77 imagine my wifes' (and mine) astonishment when she caught me singing along to Andy Williams 'It's the most wonderful time of the year! What do you think could have caused this? I'm sure its never happened before and how did I know the words?
Mike -Torquay UK
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Hi Mike, Well sir, I have to thank you for
turning me on to a seemingly pretty hip 60's crooner. I
really had no idea who Andy Williams was. 'Can't Take
My Eye's Off You' is a killer on youtube, and I'm
learning how to play it on guitar right now. I don't
know 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year'.
And, I don't know the answer to your question... All
I can say is, hey it could've happened to anyone. I
don't think it's your fault at all since it was an apparently
subconscious phenomenon. There's no reason to feel proud
or ashamed. You can tell your wife I said that.
You're doing just fine. Just accept it and move on
when shit like that happens, it's cool and part of becoming a
man. Somehow I bet Andy Williams does a great version of
'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head' I
bet!
---sincerely,
Steve e. |
Hi Lepers
Recently I conducted an experiment at home.
I
put 'terminal boredom' on the turntable and changed the speed to 33
and played it backwards....I'm sure in the middle of the track there
was another voice singing..maybe with a message to
everyone?
Obviously I searched the internet but came up with
nothing...could it have been Andy Williams.....?
Mike
'spooked and worried' Torquay UK
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Hi Mike, This is more like it. Something
to actually be concerned about. I'm concerned too
because I only just (thanks to you) discovered Andy Williams,
and if he's been lurking around the grooves of one of our
releases without us knowing about it, well something's not
right. Trust me. I've played the that 7" probably
a hundred times at 33 speed, and although I've never had the
wild itch to play it at 33 backwards (that's nuts!), I really
should have heard the voice you're describing. I'm
worried that something may be out of phase with my hearing.
I'll have to visit the 7" again and investigate.
Once again, I don't have an answer to
your question. But you've every right to be spooked and
worried.
---sincerely,
steve E.
nix |
Dear Cute Lepers,
I love to run. I also like to wear
my Cute Lepers shirt. So, I decided to combine the two
activities by going on a long 20 mile run while sporting my nifty
cotton Cute Lepers shirt. Unfortunately, tragedy struck at
around mile 17 when I developed bloody nipples due to
chaffing. I need to know if I should:
A) Continue
wearing the Cute Lepers shirt and quit running
B) Continue
running and quit wearing the Cute Lepers shirt
C) Quit running
and quit wearing that damn shirt
D) Other??????
Yours
truly,
Chaffed in Madison
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Dear Chaffed, It's like a change in the weather,
you get used to it. Don't stop running or wearing your
killer lepers t-shirt.
You wouldn't stop wearing a new cape
just because it made your shoulders sore the first day would
you? -Steve e. nix |
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