Name; Jeff Ott
Age; 37
Bands;
SAG-1982,
Crimpshrine-1984-1988,
Fifteen-1989-2000,
Phallucide-1998-1999
Role in Band;
Phallucide and SAG – drums.
Crimpshrine and Fifteen – guitar and vocal.
Dog Day – roadie.
How did it all begin? I went to summer camp with Aaron and Jr. High with Jesse,
they had a band together and asked me to play drum (only one drum available at the
time) for it.
Who were your original influences?
Teenage Warning (became Christ on Parade), Public Enema (became Violent
Coercion which became Neurosis), Soup, and a million other local bands. There
were a billion people and causes in Berkeley in the 80s, mainly it all rotated around
the People’s Park Struggle and the Anti-Apartheid Movement.
Who are your current influences?
The old guys who run the water company where I live (rural town of 200). College.
What is your proudest moment as a musician? In 1995 in Minnesota, Fifteen put
a mom and baby in a Uhaul to flee the dad, who ended up killing someone with a
hammer. Mom and baby are fine.
What is your most embarrassing moment as a musician?
Numerous times, I came out of blackouts, finding myself naked, playing a show.
What do you think would have been your path through life if you had never
gotten involved with music? Suicide or Overdose.
Tell us something about yourself that few people are aware of.
Uh, I tended to practice over disclosure with the band so I dunno. Ok, I bought
Fifteen songs online just to confirm my suspicions that lookout records was
lying/stealing from me and I found out that indeed they were.
When you look back on your musical path to this point, what are your
deepest regrets? None.
If you had the opportunity to start over, what would you change?
I don’t have the opportunity to start over.
Who has been the most influential person in your life and why?
Bill Wilson. Without Bill Wilson, people like me die miserable lonely deaths.
Please summarize the highlights & lowlights of your musical career.
I suppose the highlight was pushing the Pinto over the California state line.
Everyone we met on that tour tried to jinx us by saying the Pinto wouldn’t make it
home. That’s when I truly learned that I can do anything, so long as I do have the
rights tools and resources.
Lowlights, having to steal a tire from a 1964 Chevy truck in rural Colorado to keep
the tour going. Somebody must have been pissed.
What are your thoughts on the current "Punk" scene?
Punks about the same, kids in halls and basements. When I was 15 some kids in
bands thought there shouldn’t be any poppy sounding punk so that it would never be
taken over by the industry. We didn’t believe any of it would ever really be sellable.
Well they were right. For as much as I like everything that grew out of Husker Du or
The Descendants, it was all a mistake. It went incrementally, a little bit at a time up to
Green Day. Then it was done. Punk rock has criticized the previous hippie
movement to death, but at the end of the day, they shut down the Vietnam War, and
we have totally failed to deal with the current situation. I apologize for my part in pop-
punk.
How much has it changed or stayed the same since you got into it?
The kids doing their own thing is the same as it ever was. The rest is egomaniacal
bullshit.
What are your plans musically in the future?
I plan on buying a guitar someday, I hope.
