By Kent Davies
Fronted by the baptist born son of a preacher man, Slim Cessna belts out gospel infused punk-country tunes along with his wing-man Munley the yodeling, zombie-looking, banjo picking badass, and other strange purveyors of the Denver sound: Danny Pants, Lord Dwight Pentacost, Robert Ferbrache and Todd Moore. All of them combine into Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, a rapturous, circus-like live show that will have you whiskey soaked and speaking in tongues.
I first saw Slim Cessnas at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis back in 2006. At the time I was coaxed into going by a friend and I wasn’t 100% percent convinced of all the hype surrounding what has been dubbed the best live band in America. Now I’m 110% convinced. Sometimes you see a good show, sometimes you see a great show and sometimes you’re born again. Despite a feeble attempt at getting drunk on watered down American beer, that night I managed to get high only on the Slim show, which had me in a sweaty, clapping, singing, dancing mess along with everyone else who saw it. Now, all of Winnipeg will be able to experience Slim Cessna’s in all their glory ironically scheduled on the Lord’s day, Sunday, July 29 at the West End Cultural Centre.
Right after their last European tour I got to catch up with Slim over the phone we talked about the most recent album, the music, religion and 20 years as a band.
Stylus: 2012 will mark the 20th Anniversary of Slim Cessnas Auto Club. Did you have an event to mark the occasion?
Slim: Yeah we did. We had three nights worth of shows at this small club called the Lions Club in Denver. It was one of the first rock clubs that ever let us play and we had been playing there for years so it seemed to fit. At one point on one of the nights we had a twelve piece band. There were many special guests: Ordy Garrison, Gregory Garcia Jr., Erica Brown and Shane Trost. It was a blast.
Stylus: Did you ever think the band would last this long? That you’d be doing this twenty years later?
Slim: I’m the only one in the band from twenty years ago, so for me personally it’s a testament to my stubbornness and refusal to go away despite everyone saying otherwise. This is kind of the only thing I ever wanted to do. I don’t really don’t have any other goals or ambitions. This is it. I don’t have a retirement plan or 401K. I have nothing else to fall back on. So for whatever it’s worth we’re all just stuck with each other.
Stylus: Did the anniversary give you time to reflect on the past?
Slim: I guess the reunion wasn’t just for us but the fans too. To invite people that used to see us in the past but don’t go to shows anymore. That’s why we played the tiny little club that we out grew several years ago because it was a reunion of past members and fans and family and it was fun, but honestly the goal of the band isn’t to reflect on the past but to make good songs and entertain people for hopefully many more years to come.
Stylus: Are those the goals you’ve set for the future of the band then?
Slim: I think the most important goals are simply to stay alive and stay active. To maintain ourselves and to continue to challenge ourselves. We want every record to be a statement that is better and different than hopefully what we’ve done previously. We like to challenge our audience as well. We want to stay a step ahead for anyone who is trying to follow us. Our live performance is a big part of that. We’re all getting older but we have so much joy in performing. The goal is to be able to continue doing that on a level that we’re comfortable with. I don’t think we’ll ever be rich, we’ve never been and we never will be. We’re fine with that. It doesn’t taste right for mass appeal. It’s just us and people who get it and people who don’t. It doesn’t mean we’re better than other bands but we’re different than any other band in the world. Trends come and disappear but we’ve never been part of that. We’re not the type of people to be able to do that. Hopefully we can continue to do what we do and people will continue to support it.
Stylus: Slim Cessnas is a unique band to say the least. It’s very hard to describe. Can you talk about what you were trying to create early on and where it is now?
Slim: I think everyone in the band would say they’re influenced by different things and I hope gets to exercise that. I think that’s part of why we’re hard to be put in a category. When the band started honestly it was me and my friend and I just wanted to be a country western singer. So we just started messing around with songs in my basement and we didn’t really have any goals. Our first album recorded in 1994 was really just us trying to be a country band but also failing miserably at it. The album is great by the way, but I think that was the moment we realized we weren’t going to be able to do this the way other people do it. We were never going to be a country band in the way people relate to that word. What we should do is exercise the freedom to be able to do what we want to do and allow the songs the freedom to have them become what they want to become. I still think we’re very much a country band in a lot of ways. Everything we do is based on traditional American music. The foundation of it and the spirit of it. We’re also not locked in a hall in Tennessee with banjos and mandolins. We’re exposed to so much more that I’d like to hope that those influences come out in our art.
Stylus: There is a huge evolution between the first album and Unentitled, which is in many ways a pop album. What led you to Unentitled and its sound?
Slim: Every album we’ve made, with the exception of the first one, has had a concept going into the studio. They’re rock operas or can be read like a play. We like to challenge ourselves with creative concepts and this last one, Unentitled, is our idea of a pop album or at least our version of one. That was the first thing we decided before we even wrote the songs. Everyone in the band had a different idea of what that means. Whether a pop album is good production or shorter songs or whatever. So that’s how it happened. Also Bob Ferbrache who has produced all our albums was actually part of the band for this album. So there were a lot more keyboard parts than we’ve ever had before. He treated it like we were ABBA or the Carpenters or something as far as production goes. We even shorted what would have been sweeping epic songs. All because we wanted to do something different and we wanted to have fun with it. And we wanted to challenge ourselves and our audience.
Stylus: Where do you go from Unentitled?
Slim: I would like to think that our future album takes us in a different direction because that’s what we do.
Stylus: Needless to say there’s a lot of religion infused in your music and going to live a show is sort of like going to church, at least a good boisterous gospel church that lets you drink. Do you think that there is a spiritual element to Slim Cessnas Auto Club?
Slim: Yeah I think so. I think it’s okay for that. One thing that gives religion its power is often its music and having a community in one place and celebrating the human spirit. It gives you an opportunity to lose yourself in that environment. I think a good rock show can do that. We use that method and we enjoy it. We want it to be a joyful experience because it is for us.
Stylus: Have you angered or confused anyone from the religious community with your lyrics?
Slim: I think we confuse everyone. It goes in both directions. We were in the Czech Republic a week ago and I was on the radio there and I was answering their question, which was this is a country of Atheists how are you going to play what they deemed religious music? I told them I don’t know. I don’t think people think about it too much if they’re having a good time.
Stylus: It seems a lot of people think your lyrics are parody or satire?
Slim: It’s not parody or satire. A lot of things come into play. One is our background. I was raised in a church and my father is a baptist preacher. This is something I don’t regret and it’s very much a part of my life and very much a part of who I am. Whether I believe it or not is irrelevant. It’s what makes me. So those things come into the music. But also we have a real feel for American music and the history and our people. Without gospel music first there is no rock and roll. There is so much power in that. Sometimes we tell stories that may come from a darker side or an historical side or comical side but it’s also very real and very truthful. I think it gets mistaken for satire because we’re having such fun doing it. It’s simply telling a story. Often we write folk songs in the tradition of American folk songs where a character is seeking redemption. Regardless if he’s good or evil. It’s more about superstition and what would go on in the mind of the person from that era or that place. In the end it’s always about seeking redemption.
Stylus: You’re known for putting on a crazy live show. In Europe some reviewer called you the best live band in America and you were advertised as that. Is it hard for you to live up to your reputation?
Slim: It’s certainly hard work. I’m a 46 year old man and I have to compete with these kids at festivals and every night we still manage to clean up. We destroy people. I’m actually really proud of that.
Stylus: Have you ever played Winnipeg before?
Slim: No, this will be our first time here.
Stylus: I’m looking forward to it.
Slim: Me too.
Don’t miss one of the best live bands you’ll ever see Slim Cessnas Auto Club at the WECC, Sunday, July 29. The very affordable $15 tickets are on sale now at the West End Cultural Centre, Ticketmaster, Music Trader, and Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store.