It’s always risky to try something new when you’re a band with a dedicated fan base. Cky (also known as Camp Kill Yourself) had this realization after opting to make a "total guitar record" back in 2005 with the release An Answer Can Be Found. Fans’ reactions to that new approach were decidedly mixed, primarily because it took away from the essential elements that defined Cky in the first place – namely experimenting with a variety of instrumentation and sounds. Those who enjoyed the band’s first two releases should be relieved to know that Cky has gone back to their roots, and even averted a near break-up in the process.
While making their latest record
Carver City (released May 19 in the U.S.), the members of
Cky became caught up in personal issues that caused them to go without speaking for the better part of a year. As odd as it might sound, going months without communication was apparently just what the band needed to move forward. As soon as guitarist/vocalist
Deron Miller, guitarist
Chad I. Ginsburg, drummer
Jess Margera, and bassist
Matt Deis reconvened, they launched what could possibly be the most creative period of the band’s career thus far.
As confident as a band feels in their finished product, however, it’s the fans who have the final say. The verdict? Deron Miller told Ultimate-Guitar writer Amy Kelly that Carver City has been earning raves thus far. It’s a satisfying result knowing that the album was a complete team effort, with everyone in the band free to handle bass, keyboard, and guitar duties. Simply put: Cky had a no-ego zone in the studio. Miller explained that it was that kind of attitude that has kept his band going strong after a decade together.
UG: You’ve had quite a busy past few years, with much of it being pretty dramatic. Despite all of the ups and downs, the new music does sound like it’s really getting back to the classic CKY sound.
Deron Miller: We are really pleased with the reaction that it’s been getting. Pretty much 99 out of 100 people are really praising it, and it’s been cool.
In a past interview Jess had mentioned that your last record An Answer Can Be Found was “a total guitar record” and that the new release would “sound like a CKY record.” What steps did you take to ensure that it wouldn’t be a “total guitar record.”
I think when we were doing the last record before this one, which was all the way back in 2005, it was, “Let’s try to do what people seem to be impressed by. Let’s make a guitar record without the Moog and keyboard.” It was definitely going to be a departure from what we had been doing, which was not really premeditated or anything. We weren’t really thinking about what we were going to exclude. I think that’s the problem with what we did on that album. We knew we were going to exclude certain things, and that’s not what CKY is about. I think to say that this record is a “CKY record,” we went into the studio knowing that we weren’t going to exclude any ideas. That involves keyboards or percussion or anything. I think that’s what makes it a CKY record. It’s exactly what we want without worrying about, “Oh, let’s not put that on there.”
"We knew the band was going to end or we were going to come back better than ever."
It was just a problem that happened on tour. We had been working so hard and had been putting up with each other for awhile. On tour we were cramped together in a small living space. It was like rats in a cage after awhile. We usually do pretty well in that situation, but it just got out of hand because we were on a tour that really wasn’t going well or in our favor. We were doing well on the tour, but it was the people running the tour. We started to take it out on each other. It just got to the point where we got into fisticuffs over something.
After that we didn’t talk to each other. It was an awkward experience to go that far and be fighting with each other and spend a year away from each other. We knew that if we came back, we had to come back stronger than we had ever been – or it wasn’t going to be anything special. We knew the band was going to end or we were going to come back better than ever. We needed to come back stronger than we ever had so that it wasn’t just a total waste.
Had most of the material been written prior to the breaking point?
Some of the album was written and recorded before the fight happened. While we were away from each other I think we all kept working on it. I certainly had free time, so I was locked in my house, writing, and recording. Having all that free time I had a lot of ideas to choose from. So when we reconvened, it was great because there were so many ideas on tape to turn into songs. We had a lot of material to choose from, and we really didn’t have that much written before where we could say, “Okay, we can take a year off.” So it was a good thing that we were apart for that year. The record company doesn’t think so, but we think so for sure.
Were you with Island or Roadrunner at the time?
At that point we were already off Island. They were in the middle of crumbling. They don’t even have their L.A. office anymore. That’s the office that we primarily dealt with. Our A&R guy at Island called us a month before he was laid off, trying to get us to do another Island album. We wanted to say, “Well, you’re not even going to be there probably.” Everybody that we had worked with at Island was getting laid off. They were dropping like flies. So finally they just got rid of their L.A. office. Our view on it was, “Why would we do another record with Island when they didn’t even really care to put out the other one?” They put out the album and kind of sold them to our fans, and then that was it. There was really no effort to try and break us into a different audience or expand our audience or anything.
Did Roadrunner approach you when it came time to change your direction?
Island and Roadrunner had some kind of distribution deal together. We were always talking about being moved over to Roadrunner and letting Island somehow control what happened with the band still. Right after we decided we were going to sign to Roadrunner, Island and Roadrunner parted ways and Warner Bros picked up Roadrunner. We’re probably one of the only bands that can say we dropped our record label. We said, “We’re not going to put another album out for you guys. It’s not working out, and we want to go to Roadrunner.”
That’s a pretty amazing position to be in.
Yeah. It wasn’t like somebody called us and said, “Guys, we’re not going to pick up the next record or whatever.” Basically they wanted us to go into the studio right away, and we weren’t ready.
Talk a little bit about the studio process in making Carver City. I understand that you enjoyed adding extra layers and textures to the base recording.
What was so great about this record was that we have our own studio to work in. So we’re not on somebody else’s watch. We don’t have to worry about the owner coming in. We didn’t have to worry about money or time or anything. We worked until four in the morning sometimes and would show up whenever we’d want. We did make use of that, and we made great use of our time. I live in California, but I was back East back and forth for months and working in the studio for 13-hour days every day – and never getting bored.
We had a really good time experimenting with all these songs and layering and doing different ideas. Some songs had foot stomps on them, and we hadn’t done anything like that in 10 years. We had our own setup. The first record was done at a studio where our guitarist, Chad, worked at. In a way, we got hooked up with time there, too. We were able to fiddle around, as opposed to going into a studio that the record label wanted us to go into. Where it was like, “Hurry up! Hurry up!”
On the new record are we hearing anything new in terms of the equipment you selected?
We didn’t go totally crazy. Every once in awhile, we’ll read a review where somebody thinks we went a little overboard with our equipment. They’ll say, “Oh, CKY must have gotten a keyboard for Christmas!” I don’t agree with that. I don’t think there is any such thing as overproduction. I think there is definitely such a thing as underproducing, and I think most bands are underproduced. They have producers that come in and have a lot of work ahead of them and a lot of work behind them. They just want to get in there and get the bands out, kind of like a doctor’s office or something. You go in with a broken arm, they fix it half-ass, and you’re on your way.
That is a problem, and that’s a problem that I never want to have. We might have done it a little bit with An Answer Can Be Found, the other record, where we said, “We’re just going to do meat-and-potatoes, guitar, bass, and drums.” That’s really not what we’re about, and our fans know that we like to do more than just that. As far as overproducing, we know when something doesn’t sound right. There are plenty of times in the studio where we have a cool keyboard sound, and we’re trying to force it into a song and it’s not working out. We’re well aware when the sounds don’t work out.
Do you take on most of the keyboard duties? Or does Chad handle that most of time?
You just kind of stand over it. It’s sitting there on the console, waiting for someone to play it. You just kind of stand over it. It’s on. One of us will try something and then somebody will say, “Wait a minute. No, I’ve got something.” It’s both of us. We both know how to find melody on a keyboard. Even Matt, our bass player, fiddles with it as well. He plays the keyboard part on one of the bonus songs coming out called “Stripped Your Speech.” So we all kind of fiddle with that, and whoever comes with a good idea first pretty much gets to play it.
Is it true that each member handled bass duties as well?
We all play bass, yeah.
"We’re probably one of the only bands that can say we dropped our record label."
One of the reasons why the band has stayed around for so long and together for so long is because no one has really come in and said, “Well, if I don’t get to play that, then I’m out of the band.” A lot of bands have those ego problems, where each member wants to be the guy that does their job. That’s fine, and there’s nothing wrong with that. When you’re in CKY and you have a cool bass line and you have a better idea than somebody else – or somebody has a better idea than you – you’ve got to be able to accept it. There is no one saying, “You have a good bass line idea, but I’m the bass player so I’m going to play the bass line.” It really sucks because that has nothing to do with music. No one is going to know that you were satisfied with putting down your bass track because it was yours. No one cares. It has more to do with what’s on the album.
Some of yours songs like “Woe Is Me” are reworked versions of your days in the band oiL. What made you decide to dig back into that arsenal of old material?
We always knew that “Woe Is Me” was a good song, but we had just never recorded it. Why we never recorded it, I don’t know. I guess it was just because we had so much new material that we figured we wanted to stick with the new material. We knew “Woe Is Me” was a good song. We had to do 15 songs for this record contractually. It was in our contract to do 15 songs, and CKY never does more than 10 or 11. When we did finally record “Woe Is Me,” the idea was to actually have it as a leftover track. It turned out so good and so unique that it ended up on the album. It goes all the way back to the Volume 1 days, so 1999. It’s just never been recorded.
Are you still playing Parker guitars?
Yeah.
And are you still leaving the B and high E strings off?
Yes!
What is your reasoning behind that?
I don’t use them in CKY. I really don’t think it’s necessary to put them on. It takes up more time. Also, it’s easier to play our riffs and sing on a guitar with four strings. So if I leave those two off, then I have more room for my hands to maneuver quickly. It’s just more comfortable for this band and just makes more sense. If I have to change my strings on my guitar, changing four is easier than changing six!
Was it your idea to only use four strings or did someone suggest it?
It was just an accident. It was one day in ’98 when we were just starting out and were lazier than ever. I had never been a big gearhead or guitar nut. I’m not a guitar nut at all. I’m not interested in guitars. I love playing them and I love writing on them. I’m obsessed with guitars, don’t get me wrong. I’m totally obsessed with playing guitar. But as far as like, “Oh, this pickup better than that pickup,” I don’t know that kind of stuff. I don’t pay any attention. Sometimes I notice that people are so involved in that they really don’t know much about how to play it. I’m not a collector or anything like that, I just love playing my guitar and I love writing. I get lazy about changing strings! I never wrote riffs on the B and E strings. I never did that, so I just kept it to four strings. The riffs aren’t simple by any stretch of the imagination, so I make good use of those four strings.
Some players find it difficult to switch to different guitars because they’ve become so accustomed to the feel of their usual instruments. Could you see yourself playing anything besides Parker?
I’m totally accustomed to Parker. It’s a comfortable guitar for me. It stays in tune like you wouldn’t believe. Seriously. I definitely tune after every song, but I’ve noticed when I tune stuff on my tuning pedal, I don’t have to tune it all the way through a show. I can drop it, I can throw it. One time I threw my guitar up in the air on the last day of one of our tours, and when I had the guitar back it was still in tune. It’s incredible. They really are incredible. The way they are set up with the strings, they don’t go out of tune so you can still play. If my G string breaks, I still have the first three that will be in tune and I don’t have to worry about a floating bridge or anything like that.
I just love the look of them. In ’98 I bought my first Parker. I lived right down the street from a music store, and they had one. It was very expensive. I was like, “Damn, I’ve got to get that guitar.” I just saved up a bunch of money from working, and I went and bought it. To this day, I still use that guitar. It’s one of my favorite guitars.
Which model is it?
It’s a Nitefly. It’s really put up with a lot of abuse. A lot of guitars I used to buy before like the Ibanez – and nothing against Ibanez because they’re good guitars, too – but the jacks are always getting screwed up. I always had problems with those.
What amps have you been using? Are you someone who sticks with Marshall?
I love Marshall heads. We tend to blow them out a lot on tour for some reason. They seem like they’re sometimes easy to blow out. But when they’re working, they’re amazing. I think that any amp that we get is probably going to sound good. I think it’s a waste of time being particular. Most people you’re playing to aren’t going to notice or care anyway. If something’s bugging you about it, then obviously that’s a problem and you should do something about it. I think if you know what you’re doing, you should be able to make any amp you’re using sound good.
I understand that the theme behind Carver City is semi-autobiographical and looks back to some childhood memories.
When I was 12, I went down to the beach in New Jersey. The day I got there, there was a body under the boardwalk about a quarter of a mile from where I was staying. I thought that was really cool and scary because I was young. There was a killer on the loose in that area and I thought that was cool! The only autobiographical part about it is that it’s just pretty much an attempt to capture the feelings and emotions that we had when we were kids when it was summertime. You have those two or three months to pretty much be free, and we didn’t have to worry about school or fitting in.
It was just about being free and being who you want to be and not have to worry about impressing anyone. That’s what young kids do. They try so hard to fit in. They don’t know how unimportant that is until they’re adults. You can tell them how unimportant it is, but they still have to go to school every day and they still have to put up with other kids not getting along with them. So being a kid is tough, and we just want to capture that essence. The album is based off of the good vibes of Carver City and what’s good about Carver City.
I would rather have it be open to interpretation. I want people to feel their own way about it. We’ve been getting a lot of responses about it, and how the music makes people feel a certain way. I think a lot of artists don’t focus on that. They write their songs and then they put them on the record. Some of the songs might be good, but they don’t give you nostalgia. “Oh, I remember this!” That’s kind of what we want. In 10 years, we want people to listen to the record again and say, “I remember when this came out.” Since it’s coming out in the summer, it works ever better.
"We’re well aware when the sounds don’t work out."
Yeah. That was a track that I put on our last record called “Behind The Screams.”
So many of your songs have a groove that suits the style of an electric, but do you still find yourself writing quite often on an acoustic?
Oh, yeah. I love the acoustic guitar. I really was into Randy Rhoads when I was a kid. Not as much now, unfortunately, but when I was a kid I was really into Randy Rhoads. I really liked that song “Dee” from Blizzard of Ozz. I really wanted to play something like “Dee,” I guess. I picked up my acoustic guitar, and I wanted to write something that sounded like something I would like. I wanted to write something classical, I guess – something I don’t know anything about. I came up with like half of it and played it for Chad, and he really liked it. I finished it in the studio, and it turned out good. It turned out really interesting.
Would you ever release an unplugged album?
Yeah, absolutely. We never say never. Whatever influences us or whatever we rediscover from our past that has influenced us, we would definitely use that influence. So many types of movies and music and feelings and emotions have influenced this band. They all rear their heads. That’s why we get a lot of people saying, “Oh, it’s impossible to pigeonhole CKY. It’s impossible to label them.” I think that’s because people are hearing so many different influences in the music.
Back in 2006, you did quite a gutsy thing by walking offstage when you realized that you didn’t have full control of yourself due to issues with substance abuse.
It took a lot of guts to throw up onstage as well!
I know that you entered a detox program soon after that time. How are you feeling these days?
Yeah, I’m totally clean and sober. I think everyone goes through their time of alcohol, where they overdo it. I think eventually there is going to be one time where somebody does something where they have to rethink their relationship with drugs and alcohol. I definitely had my share of my relations. I realized it was a bad idea for me and drugs to be acquainted. It’s not even a good time for me. It just doesn’t work out for me.
What does the coming year hold for CKY?
We have tour dates from June to September, I believe. So we’re touring this summer. We’re going to Canada, the UK, and then the States. Depending on how well the album does, we’ll go overseas. This is our first worldwide release, so it would be nice to go to Japan or go back to Australia and do our thing.
Interview by Amy Kelly
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