The Crack Pipes are an Austin institution, ripping up Red River for the past 15 years. The quintet pummels out a garage blues that is unleashed with a punk catharsis and soulful swagger. It’s an impressive melding of styles that actually justifies their wide range of influences listed below (from Stax to SST). Though it’s been a while since the Pipes smoked out a new recording, their return to the stage in 2008 following guitarist Billy Steve Korpi’s diagnosis with Leukemia has helped brace the upstart Austin garage scene with a sense of the mid-Nineties tradition that preceded it. Few things match the Crack Pipes fervent energy onstage, led by the manic sermonizing of frontman Ray Pride, which you can get a taste of with the classic “Q&A” for download below. The Crack Pipes will taking over Emo’s Inside this Saturday, July 24, along with John Schooley and His One Man Band, and with the legendary Delta bluesman T-Model Ford headlining.
Profile: The Crack Pipes
Year Formed:
1995
Members/Instruments played:
Ray Pride (vocals, harmonica) / Mike Corwin (Drums) / Billysteve Korpi (Guitars) / Nick Moulos (Bass) / Coby Cardosa (Keyboards and Percussion)
Former Bands/Side Projects:
Ray Pride: The Crack Pipes are the only real band he’s ever been in.
Mike Corwin: Enduro (bass player, keyboards)
Billysteve Korpi: former bands: Guttersnipes / Daddy’s Drunk / The Novenas / The Showoffs / The Magdalenes / Barleypop / The Pallbearers.
current bands: Victims of Leisure / Churchwood / Heaven’s Radio / The Blitzens
Nick Moulos: former bands: Young Losers/ Titz/ Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee/ Ignorance Park/ the Black.
current bands: Serious Tracers/ Attack Formation/ Strong Silent Type
Coby Cardosa: Mortal Terror / Gaia / W.O.R.M. / Cornpone / Light Flow Days / Swangkee Lowtel / Enduro / The Carnys / Attic Ted / The Damn Times / Superfecta / Exit The Sun / Bastards of ‘76 / Big Mess
Albums:
The Yeah Sound (1997 Golden Hour)
The Church of the Rolling Stones 7″ (1999 Paintcan Chandelierier Records)
13 Poison Sermons (2000 Thrifty Luxury, digital release by Chickenranch Records)
Every Night Saturday Night (2001 Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Delta Masters comp. song: Sick Bed Blues (2002 Dogfingers Recordings)
Snakes In My Veins (2003 Emperor Jones)
Shakin’ In My Boots comp. song: Rescue Party (2004 Licorice Tree Records)
Beauty School (2005 Emperor Jones)
13 Crack Tracks various Austin artist performing songs by The Crack Pipes (2007 Chickenranch Records)
Influences:
jimi hendrix experience, the clash, sly and the family stone, howlin’ wolf, junior kimbrough, STAX RECORDS, SST RECORDS, MOTOWN, the temptations, eric burdon w/the animals and war, oblivions, reigning sound, ike and tina turner, mudhoney, royal trux, hank williams, george jones, waylon and willie, tammy wynette, loretta lynn, johnny paycheck, bo diddley, chuck berry, NRBQ, carl perkins, muddy waters, john lee hooker, lightnin’ hopkins, lowell fulson, rufus thomas, otis redding, wilson pickett, o.v. wright, janis joplin, aretha franklin, the velvet underground, sonic youth, ornette coleman, eric dolphy, john coltrane, charles mingus, sun ra, brian eno, david bowie, the rolling stones, the beatles, the byrds, the yardbirds, neil young, kak, knife in the water, bob dylan, the jesus and mary chain, prince, run-dmc, public enemy, evan johns, fugazi, the who, deadly snakes, charming snakes, hot snakes, black eyed snakes, the big boys, poison 13, jack o’fire, lord high fixers, total sound group direct action committee, attack formation, tia carrera, and you will know us by the trail of dead, the inhalants, thee oh sees, the paranoids, glorium, gut, ed hall, butthole surfers, roky erikson, johnny rivers, and many more in the past, present and future
Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
one person thought we were like rap metal…i don’t hear it.
Favorite local bands:
The Golden Boys / The Strange Boys / The Transgressors / Attack Formation / Yellowfever / Shapes Have Fangs / Harlem / Hex Dispensers / A Giant Dog / Cowabunga Babez / Butcher Bear & Charlie / Wild America / The Carrots / T-Tex Edwards / Ripe / John Schooley’s One Man Band / Black Panda / Hatchet Wound / Aaron Blunt & The Mockingales / Soft Healer / The Fleshlights / OBN III / John Wesley Coleman / The Royal Butchers / White Denim / Becca & The Blancos / The Ugly Beats / Chili Cold Blood / and many many more (we like music)
Favorite local venue:
we play Beerland a lot…
Upcoming shows scheduled:
Saturday 7/24 at Emo’s with T-Model Ford / John Schooley’s One Man Band
Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see (other bands):
there’s two great shows this week! Tuesday 7/20 at Beerland with Rev. Beat-Man / Delany Davidson / John Schooley / John Wesley Coleman / T-Tex Edwards and on Sunday 7/25 at Mohawk with The Coathangers / Rayon Beach / Slang Chicken / Soft Healer
Some of your favorite albums from the past year:
just speaking for me (Ray), the other guys aren’t here. I’d say Warm Slime by Thee Oh Sees, Be Brave by The Strange Boys, Hippies by Harlem, Descending Shadows by Pierced Arrows, and Massa Hypnos by Awesome Color this year, and last year I’d say Invisible Girl (King Khan & BBQ Show) / Love and Curses (Reigning Sound) / And Girls Club (The Strange Boys) / Electric Wolfman (The Golden Boys) / Free Drugs (Harlem) / Help (Thee Oh Sees) / I’m Going Away (The Fiery Furnaces) / Down with Liberty…Up with Chains! (Chain & The Gang) / Spit in the Face of People Who Don’t Want to be Cool (The Beets) / The Disco Outlaw (Jack-O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers)
Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
The Deadly Snakes
Austin Sound questions:
What are the most important things to learn at “Beauty School”?
that beauty can be found every where and in every thing, no matter how ugly the world gets
Which of the songs off of the tribute album to the Crack Pipes were your favorites, and why?
again just speaking for myself (Ray), I loved the arrangement of “United Snakes” by Horse + Donkey, “The Crack Pipes Medley” by The Transgressors was great, and I got a big kick out of the way The Hunnies transformed “I Was So Worried About You”
Crack pipes seem so Nineties - if y’all were to modernize the name to fit today’s drug culture, what would be some of your choices?
The K-Holes? Thee Scripts? most likely we would be called The Car Keys.
Song Introduction:
The song “Q&A” came from constantly being asked why our band was called The Crack Pipes…it sort of answers the question.
Sound Off:
When asked, “Why rock-n-roll? Why now?” the answer was simple. Rock-n-roll is soul, it’s the super yeah yeah. Most importantly, there is no machine that can create the music of the soul, there is no computer program that can replicate rock-n-roll. For some the new age will be hollow and sterile, but for the true believers there will be a great sound, the now sound, the primal beat that tears down the industry of slavery, this is the moment of existential being where one will truly start to live. The instant between death and life when rock-n-roll takes you to the peak of sensory overload and sets free all who come to hear. And when you’re free every night is saturday night
Mp3s:
Q&A
Rewind My Mind
Websites:
Myspace
