Discolored Perception

Interview w/ KSPN DJ Rick Jones click on audio files to listen - KSPN

Interview w/ KSPN DJ Rick Jones click on audio files to listen - KSPN

It is wildly difficult to try to tell a neophyte what he or she might expect to encounter at a punk rock show nowadays. It is equally difficult to define what punk rock is in 2009. If you are under the age of, let’s say, 30 or so, your punk looks very different from that of the generation immediately before you. To many music lovers in their teens and 20s, any band that has distorted guitar riffs and a band member with a periwinkle blue Mohawk is “punk.” Neck tattoos and facial jewelry don’t hurt either.

There is, however, another point of view. Before the current batch of “punks,” there was a much less marketable and way more pissed off group of bands that did not adhere to any of the rules laid out by music industry executives. They dressed different so as not to be accepted and they played a style of music that no mother could love. These “punks” still exist today — only they realize that punk rock was over before the Reagan administration.

Today it is just real rock ‘n’ roll. It is hard to find. Your local radio stations don’t play it and they wouldn’t know it if it put them in a sleeper hold. The voice-over artists might declare it rock ‘n’ roll, but anyone within earshot knows it is nothing more than a pop music pacifier for the reluctantly rebellious. As the great Mike Ness once said, “Remember when punk rock was dangerous?”

It seems that today very few do.

But there are a handful of true subscribers to the rock ‘n’ roll ethic. One of those bands is the Roaring Fork Valley’s own Discolored Perception. Discolored Perception will be playing a very special show at The Black Nugget in Carbondale on Saturday, April 25, alongside fellow rockers Lyin’ Bitch and The Restraining Orders, and Fuct For Life.

I wish people knew how long I’ve been trying to corner Discolored Perception’s founder/singer/guitarist Memphis Linzy for an interview. He is like the wind, and an attempt at cornering him is almost as fruitless as an Antarctic apple orchard. Once, a couple of years ago, I thought I had it figured out. I caught him by surprise at a gig underneath what is now Bad Billy’s. I believe it was called The Underground. Discolored Perception played a raucous, rollicking gig. Afterwards I tried to ply ol’ Memphis Linzy with booze, but to no avail. That week I ended up writing a review of the new Marilyn Manson disc.

Ah, but persistence has paid off. Only a few days ago I was able to track down my illusive front man prey and ask him a few questions over the phone while he was up to no good in sunny Manhattan Beach, Calif.

This is the gist of our chat: When I asked Linzy how long Discolored Perception had been around, he answered “15 years. We played our first gig in November ‘92 at the Hard Rock Café in Aspen.” I was overjoyed when he said this because, well, I did the math and that means he is older than me. Hooray for middle age!

The band has seen its share of line-up changes over the years. I asked him how many? “Oh, Jesus. There have been quite a few… Aspen is not the ideal place to play punk rock. Let’s just say there have been several.” As an aside I would like to say that he is right about Aspen and punk rock — I played in a punk band in Aspen for years — but he has made it work despite more than a few shake-ups.

What’s that defining moment that got him into music? “My dad took me to see The Buddy Holly Story when I was a kid. I was like 11 or 12. That did it.”

What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened to him during a show? “Breaking up onstage during a gig in Snowmass. Without a doubt.” This was followed by genuine laughter.

I inquired about famous bands D.P. has played with and the list was too numerous to quote. But a few standouts were Throw Rag, Dead Kennedy’s, Agnostic Front and Agent Orange. Quiet Riot was also added with a quiet chuckle.

Memphis Linzy and the rest of Discolored Perception are a great bunch of guys and well worth the cover charge any night of the week. Go see them, and long live rock ‘n’ roll.

hood@aspendailynews.com - Aspen Daily News

It is wildly difficult to try to tell a neophyte what he or she might expect to encounter at a punk rock show nowadays. It is equally difficult to define what punk rock is in 2009. If you are under the age of, let’s say, 30 or so, your punk looks very different from that of the generation immediately before you. To many music lovers in their teens and 20s, any band that has distorted guitar riffs and a band member with a periwinkle blue Mohawk is “punk.” Neck tattoos and facial jewelry don’t hurt either.

There is, however, another point of view. Before the current batch of “punks,” there was a much less marketable and way more pissed off group of bands that did not adhere to any of the rules laid out by music industry executives. They dressed different so as not to be accepted and they played a style of music that no mother could love. These “punks” still exist today — only they realize that punk rock was over before the Reagan administration.

Today it is just real rock ‘n’ roll. It is hard to find. Your local radio stations don’t play it and they wouldn’t know it if it put them in a sleeper hold. The voice-over artists might declare it rock ‘n’ roll, but anyone within earshot knows it is nothing more than a pop music pacifier for the reluctantly rebellious. As the great Mike Ness once said, “Remember when punk rock was dangerous?”

It seems that today very few do.

But there are a handful of true subscribers to the rock ‘n’ roll ethic. One of those bands is the Roaring Fork Valley’s own Discolored Perception. Discolored Perception will be playing a very special show at The Black Nugget in Carbondale on Saturday, April 25, alongside fellow rockers Lyin’ Bitch and The Restraining Orders, and Fuct For Life.

I wish people knew how long I’ve been trying to corner Discolored Perception’s founder/singer/guitarist Memphis Linzy for an interview. He is like the wind, and an attempt at cornering him is almost as fruitless as an Antarctic apple orchard. Once, a couple of years ago, I thought I had it figured out. I caught him by surprise at a gig underneath what is now Bad Billy’s. I believe it was called The Underground. Discolored Perception played a raucous, rollicking gig. Afterwards I tried to ply ol’ Memphis Linzy with booze, but to no avail. That week I ended up writing a review of the new Marilyn Manson disc.

Ah, but persistence has paid off. Only a few days ago I was able to track down my illusive front man prey and ask him a few questions over the phone while he was up to no good in sunny Manhattan Beach, Calif.

This is the gist of our chat: When I asked Linzy how long Discolored Perception had been around, he answered “15 years. We played our first gig in November ‘92 at the Hard Rock Café in Aspen.” I was overjoyed when he said this because, well, I did the math and that means he is older than me. Hooray for middle age!

The band has seen its share of line-up changes over the years. I asked him how many? “Oh, Jesus. There have been quite a few… Aspen is not the ideal place to play punk rock. Let’s just say there have been several.” As an aside I would like to say that he is right about Aspen and punk rock — I played in a punk band in Aspen for years — but he has made it work despite more than a few shake-ups.

What’s that defining moment that got him into music? “My dad took me to see The Buddy Holly Story when I was a kid. I was like 11 or 12. That did it.”

What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened to him during a show? “Breaking up onstage during a gig in Snowmass. Without a doubt.” This was followed by genuine laughter.

I inquired about famous bands D.P. has played with and the list was too numerous to quote. But a few standouts were Throw Rag, Dead Kennedy’s, Agnostic Front and Agent Orange. Quiet Riot was also added with a quiet chuckle.

Memphis Linzy and the rest of Discolored Perception are a great bunch of guys and well worth the cover charge any night of the week. Go see them, and long live rock ‘n’ roll.

hood@aspendailynews.com - Aspen Daily News