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| Interview by Burt Wolf with Living Dead Elijah Damned, vocalist for the AMISH ARMADA. Interview done October 17th, 2004. |
| PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US WHO CAL HOPKINS IS & A LITTLE BIT BIT OF THE HISTORY OF HIS AMISH ARMADA? Cal Hopkins led the first AMISH ARMADA into battle against Technolojesus over one hundred years ago. His spirit stays in contact with us through Ezekeil & leads us every day into holy battles. WHY WAS THE NAME AMISH ARMADA CHOSEN FOR THE BANDS NAME? Because in Cal Hopkins' first battle he created an armada of ships to cross the river into Corporatetown, Nj. The throne of Technolojesus. WHO OR WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES MUSICALLY & IN LIFE IN GENERAL? Musoically some of my influences are that rusty windmill in Boondocks, Ia, somebody digging a grave and the sound I make when I pretend to sleep. |
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| HAVE ANY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ARMADA BEEN IN PREVIOUS BANDS BEFORE? IF SO, WHICH BANDS? Yup, Jakob was in the MERRY BAND OF CONTRARIANS, an 80's New Wave band. And Abraham was in THE DIRT TASTERS, a garage band in the 60's. YOU GUYS TOSS TOGETHER ELEMENTS OF PUNK, HARDCORE, METAL & ROCKABILLY TO CREATE YOUR SOUND? HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE & SOUND? I like to compare our sound to that of a 700 pound guy's death rattle. SINCE THE AMISH ARMADA ISN'T YOUR TYPICAL BAND COULD YOU TELL US WHO IS IN THE BAND & WHAT THEY DO? I'm Living Dead Elijah Damned, I'm living & I'm dead. Jakob the Malevolent is crispy from fires, Jebediah is paranoid of assassination attempts, Malachi is drunk from booze, Jeremiah is close minded & wears a ski mask, Abraham is olde as dirt, Ezekiel is hated because he helped make all this bullshit happen. |
| YOUR SELF TITLED DEBUT CD HAS BEEN OUT FOR AWHILE NOW. WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE TO THIS RELEASE? I think most people sold it for two bucks at their local used CD store. PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US OF SOME OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT IN YOUR SONGS? Most songs are about puppy dogs and rainbows and kittens and balls of twine and people fucking corpses. HAS THERE BEEN ANY LABELS INTERESTED IN THE AMISH ARMADA? Nobody has labeled us. Except that drunk guy that called us the DEAD KENNEDYS on crack. |
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| DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY OTHER RELEASES BESIDES YOUR DEBUT CD 9THE ONLY ONE I HAVE.) IF SO TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT IT? Yessiree. It should be coming out soon. It rocks solidly and has been in production hell for many a moon. HOW DO YOU FEEL THE BAND HAS PROGRESSED SINCE THE RELEASE OF YOUR DEBUT CD? |
| I think we suck a little bit less. HAVE YOU GUYS PLAYED OUT A LOT? PLEASE TELL US WHAT THE ARMADA IS LIKE IN A LIVE SETTING? DO YOU GUYS PLAY A LOT OF BARN RAISING PARTIES? Yes we've conquered many cities all across the country & Thunder Bay, Canada. our live "shows" are a whirlwind of destruction, drunkenness, idiocy & Heavy fuckin' Metal. No barn raising parties per se, but we have raised our very own barn on stage a few times. |
| HAVE YOU RUN INTO ANY PROBLEMS PLAYING OUT LIVE? ANY INTERESTING STORIES YOU COULD TELL US ABOUT? Some churcies in Smalltown, USA thought we were a threat to their oh-so-perfect children & got our first CD release show cancelled. That was many years ago and it had zero effect on our plan to destroy the minds of those kids. WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU'VE PLAYED WITH? WHERE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES YOU'VE PLAYED? |
| Like I said before, we've traveled our wagon train all over the U.S. Some of the bands that I can vaguely remember liking through a drunken haze are BIBLE OF THE DEVIL, ICARUS LINE, REVEREND HORTON HEAT, KNUCKLE DRAGER, THE MIDGET WHORES, FILTHY JIM, DBX. I'm sure there are many others, but the booze makes indeed a strange bedfellow. SINCE YOU GUYS ARE AMISH, HOW DID YOU EVEN RECORD YOUR MUSIC & HOW THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS INTERVIEW, WHEN YOUR NOT SUPPOSED TO BE USING ELECTRIC OR ANY TECHNOLOGY? I'm not using electricity or technology. I'm talking to you through a pine cone telephone. |
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| WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE AMISH THING TO DO? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NON AMISH THING TO DO? Stickball, bitch! AND MORE FUCKING STICKBALL! ARE YOU INTO ANY OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC BESIDES WHAT YOU PLAY? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOUR CURRENTLY INTO? I only listen to the AMISH ARMADA. I figure I've listen to the first album about 250,000 times now. |
| WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF THE AMISH ARMADA DO WHEN NOT DOING ANY WORK FOR THE BAND? Well we work in the fields like any good Amish. And take care of our families. And eat human guts. WHAT'S THE BEST & WORST THING ABOUT BEING IN A BAND? WHAT'S THE BEST & WORST THING ABOUT BEING AMISH? I would like to say the ladies, but we all know that would be the grandest lie of the millennium. Again, the ladies. IS THE WEIRD ALL YANKOVIC SONG "AMISH PARADISE" EXACTLY HOW AMISH LIFE IS FOR YOU? I don't think that guy's very weird at all. |
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| HOW COME YOU GUYS ARE BASED OUT OF MINNEAPOLIS, MN. INSTED OF AMISH COUNTRY IN PENNSYLVANIA? DID YOU GET BANISHED OUT OR SOMETHING? Some jerk kids take care of certain things that we can't & they happen to live in the sappy and crappy Twin Towns. If you'd done any research, you'd know we're from Villeburgston, Pa. WHO ARE SOME OF THE BETTER BANDS, LABELS & ZINES IN MN.? I'm from goddamned Pennsylvania, how would I know? |
| WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE THIS INTERVIEW? WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING ONCE IT'S DONE? Pretending to work, and take a massive shit while I read the newspaper. WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? I collect Strawberry Shortcake dolls. |
| YOU GUYS ARE LIKE A MIX OF DEAD KENNEDYS, CIRCLE JERKS, MISFITS MEETS GWAR, ROLLINS BAND WITH A LITTLE REVEREND HORTON HEAT TOSSED IN. DO YOU FEEL THIS IS A GOOD COMPARISON? Sure, fine whatever. Didn't we already go over this? WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE NEXT FROM THE AMISH ARAMADA? |
| One new album. Perhaps a tour this spring after Jakob gets back from Antartica where he went to try to cool down all those burns of his. Keep your eyes peeled, so I don't have to when I come to eat them. WE'VE FINALLY REACHED THE END. THANX A LOT FOR DOING THIS INTERVIEW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD ANYTHING ELSE TO CLOSE OUT? Thank You. Yes. |
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| AMISH ARMADA P.O. BOX 852 HUDSON, WI. 54016 booking@amisharmada.com calhopkins@amisharmada.com www.AMISHARMADA.com |
| ALL GRAPHICS & PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMISH ARMADA INTERVIEWS MAIN PAGE |