Artist description INTERVIEW BY Mike Breen If Cincinnati were to become the capital music city for an explosion of Metal-meets-Country-meets-Punk-meets-Industrial-meets-Hip Hop-meets-Electronica music, local group Bagg would be The Beatles of the movement.The five-member band's upcoming CD, Songs from Smokey's Kitchen: The Desecration of the Nineteenth Seal (to be released Saturday at the Mad Frog), is a glorious hodge-podge of styles and sounds, buoyed by an outrageous sense of humor and an even more outrageous storytelling style. You genuinely never know what is going to creep through the speaker next as you listen to Smokey's Kitchen. A touch of Reggae strut? A slab of Honky Tonk swagger? A beer-can full of Hard Rock boogie? Heck, sometimes that's all just within' one song.Singer/guitarist Gregg Church - who is joined in the band by keyboardist/singer/saxman Greg Coster, drummer Tony Feist, bassist Rob Mersch and guitarist Chris Schmidt - says the band's eclectic sound is due to some wide-ranging influences. While Ween and Mr. Bungle's eccentric (and also very humor-based) songs are some of Church's favorites, he also cites band faves like Tom Waits, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, a variety of "good" Metal ("I don't like 90 percent of the Metal I hear, but every so often you hear a band that just clicks," says Church) and even '70s soft-rockers Bread. ("You probably can't tell from our music, but I'm sure it influences me in my songwriting," he says.)While the stories on Smokey's Kitchen may seem pretty outlandish, Church's lyrical inspiration actually comes from his day-to-day life. "Lyrically, I like to tell stories," he says. "I have a job where I deal with the public a lot, and that is a real wellspring for inspiration. The public as a whole is pretty funny and quite colorful. Nasty old ladies, drug dealers, drunks - they all lend themselves to being a Bagg song. The part of town I work in tends to reflect the songwriting - people from the inner city are a lot different from the folks who live way out in the sticks. They are both equally inspiring for me as a songwriter. I had a guy tell me he was abducted by aliens and they had planted something in his armpit. That guy resulted in (the new album's lead-off track) 'The Night The Lights Came Down.' "The group's history is just as dynamic as their musical output. Church met Mersch while working at a record store six years ago. Church and Coster played in a Rap band that sampled Death Metal music (they also played together in the "kick-ass band" called the Colerain High School Marching Cardinals). Schmidt was known to the group for his work in local bands like Standing 8 Count and Barefoot Pimp. Feist came into the fold when a writer for local Everybody's News hooked the group up with him. The group's earliest releases, like I Think You're Gay Sometimes and Into A Kleenex, were done on four- and eight-track recording devices and self-released, grabbing some attention from college radio and even overseas. The band also released Life's a Song Worth Singing which contains covers of songs by artists ranging from Dio and Stormtroopers of Death to Dan Fogelberg and Kenny Rogers."We did 'Lucille' by Kenny Rogers, and an older guy at one of the earlier shows said that it was the first time 'Lucille' made his ears bleed," recalls Church.Check the Bagg thread on the message boards at local music Web site cincymusic.com, and you'll get a good idea of the kind of people who follow Bagg. "The Ween of Metal, the Spinal Tap of Country," describes one post, showing that Bagg fans understand that, while a seriously good band, Bagg are quite simply having a blast."Wow, I'd say the majority of Bagg fans are ignorant, alcoholic hillbillies," jokes Church, when asked what a typical Bagg groupie is like. "I got an e-mail from a guy who had heard some of our stuff on the Web, and he really liked it. I wrote him back telling him I'd get him a CD when it was finished. Anyhow, he told me he couldn't give me his address because he was the webmaster of this particular Web site, and he doesn't want anyone knowing where he lives. I checked out his Web site, and it was full of photos of dead people and gory, nasty stuff. I don't know if he's really typical though. I kinda hope not."Of course, there are plenty of folks who don't "get it," as well. The group has had its fair share of odd gigs. There's their amped-up, live debut at a local coffeehouse. ("Some got up and left as soon as they saw us setting up ... they had no alcohol there, and alcohol is a definite contributing factor to having a good time at a Bagg show.") And there's the Christmas party for a screw machine company, where the band played for about 200 50-year-olds and were joined onstage by a wannabe singer for their "Lucille" cover. ("I don't think he appreciated the liberties we took with the structure of the song.")Another memorable in-concert moment of Bagg lore took place at the lamented local music haven, Sudsy Malone's, which almost resulted in a full-on violent confrontation."We used to close our set with 'Cop Killer' by Ice-T and Body Count," says Church. "(One time) there was this drunk guy dancing in front of the stage really diggin' us. He would give us a thumbs-up and keep on dancing. Once he heard the words to 'Cop Killer,' he became a bit undecided. He would cheer us one moment and boo us the next. He implied he was gonna try and fight me after the show. He continued to cheer and jeer all the way through the song. I remember thinking when the song was over he was gonna attack me, (but) he never did. He must have left as soon as the show was over. Probably best anyhow. He would have kicked my ass."When asked what is the one thing that people should know about the band, Church expresses a genuine desire to not be seen as merely a "joke" band. "I guess I want people to listen to the music and really pay attention," he says. "It's easy to laugh at the lyrics and artwork, and pass us off as a novelty thing. The music has some really neat ideas, and I don't want them overlooked. We try to blend traditional songwriting with doses of the bizarre. Lots of times the weird stuff doesn't even get noticed in the structure of a traditionally styled song. I want people to know the odd stuff is in there and to actively seek it out ... other times the bizarre (stuff) is hard to miss."For the future, the group plans to keep recording, writing and playing live. Church says they are hoping to make their live shows even more of a spectacle ("Fire codes will be shattered," he promises), including a planned Halloween spectacular at the Mad Frog. And like most bands, Bagg would love to have a record label help out with their distribution."But I don't know who the label could market us to," he says. "Country? Metal? We're so damn wishy-washy. I think the music has a definite appeal. It's just finding the audience. (But) I would like to be able to support our music habits with the money from shows and CD sales."Who knows? Alcoholic hillbillies everywhere may some day be lining up at the local Camelot, digging into their beer money for the latest slab of silver by Bagg.BAGG will host a CD release party at The Mad Frog on Saturday with The Drow (featuring members of Sole Taxi), Losing Artimus, The Stapletons and Barefoot Pimp.

Music Style Heavy-handed eclectic heavy metal country rap. Poopiecore

Musical Influences We, as a band, were collectively inspired by the sound of us kickin the shit out of every other band who dared challenge us. We Rule. Nobody influences us, we influence everyone. Period.

Similar Artists Mr. Bungle, Ween, Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, Your Mom's Church Choir, A nonexistent rap metal band that does NOT suck.

Artist History Bagg formed today at 3 A.M. They played their first show at 3:02. It went well and the crowd responded enthusiastically. The next show is scheduled for 3:07. The first album is out right.........about.........NOW. Rumors say a world tour is scheduled for 5:03 and will wrap up at 5:11.

Group Members MC Midgetossa-Vocals and Acoustic GuitarBuddy "Hot Brown" Arkansas-keys and saxBubba Satriani-Electric GuitarEmma Tonbun-Bass GuitarBoufee the French Booty Busta-Drums

Instruments Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Drums and a shitload of goofy percussion, Moog and assorted Keyshit, Sax, Bass gaytar

Albums Songs From Smokey's Kitchen--The Desecration of the 19th Seal

Location Cincinnati, Ohio - USA

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