Before we start this, I'd like to state that I'm really honored to be asked to take part in this.
But I really do not feel like I'm a "legend of punk." That would be someone like Iggy Pop, or
Mick Jones from the Clash or John Lydon. I even have friends who really are punk rock
legends: Tim Kerr, Mike Watt, Wayne Kramer, Bob Mould. I think "legendary" would be an
inflated claim for my contributions. I'm one of these guys who's in local scenes and maybe
whips some people into action by playing in bands, writing in fanzines, booking shows and
doing flyers. And in that sense, guys like me keep the flag flying. But there's lots of guys
just like me. Thank you for thinking of me for this, however.
Name; Tim Stegall, AKA Tim Napalm
Age; 41
Bands; The Hormones (1986, Corpus Christi, TX; then 1993-1998, Austin, TX); Napalm
Stars (2000-2004, NYC); The Luv Taps (2005-2006, Las Vegas, NV)
Role in Band; In all except The Luv Taps, I was the bandleader, lead singer, lead
guitarist, and chief songwriter. I was the only male in the otherwise all-girl Luv-Taps, and
strictly played lead guitar with them. That's why I only played with them six months: I
realized I need to be the main guy. I just don't function well solely as the guitar hero.
How did it all begin? I first started hearing about punk rock when the Sex Pistols came
to America in 1978. It's hard for young kids now to understand, but the mainstream world
was terrified of the Pistols! They were on the evening news EVERY NIGHT! All with these
pronouncements that they were the wreckers of civilization as we knew it! It was real "lock
up your sons and daughters" stuff, which is very attractive when you're heading into
adolescence and your "fuck you, mom and dad" phase. They came to San Antonio, which
isn't too far from where I grew up, but I was 12 and there was no way I could go. A few
months later, Patti Smith played in Corpus Christi at an all ages venue, and a neighbor
took me. I was too young to truly appreciate the poetry aspects of what she did, but I felt
she rocked.
Over the next two years, I got a few things like the third Ramones album, and even Cheap
Trick didn't seem too far removed from these sorts of bands. And you would see things like
Stiv Bators in Creem magazine, licking blood from freshly wounded wrists trickling down his
upraised arms, and think "THAT'S cool!" What finally did it was seeing the Clash on the
Austin stop of the London Calling tour in '80. Suddenly, it all came into place. These four
scrawny English guys became giants on that stage, and it seemed like this was more than
a rock 'n' roll show. This was a lesson in life and how to live it, you were getting lessons in
how to look and act cool and in the world situation and in rock 'n' roll history. Most of all, I
looked at Mick Jones and Joe Strummer. And I not only wanted to look cool jumping
around with a Les Paul, but front a band as passionately as Strummer. I wanted both.And
that set my path.
Soon after, I cut my hair, began scrawling things like 'DESTROY' across my t-shirts in
magic marker (or else flipping up the collar on my button-downs in '50s hoodlum fashion
as I'd seen the Clash do), and got a job to save up to buy my first electric guitar, a
Telecaster with a Gibson pickup. I played that through an old tube tape recorder, and
played along with the Sex Pistols and Heartbreakers albums, and the two New York Dolls
albums. That was it. I was a punk rocker, man.
Who were your original influences? It's always been the classics that resonate with
me: The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Iggy, the New York Dolls (and pretty much anything
Johnny Thunders was involved in musically - drugs aside, he was my major role model,
alongside Keith Richards and Iggy), Buzzcocks, Generation X. It's all so foundational,
based in classic songwriting and solid playing, qualities that are eternal. Plus, there was a
basis in rock 'n' roll with all these bands, and I honestly give everything the Chuck Berry
test: Can you play it after "Johnny B. Goode?" Which means lots of classic rock 'n' roll is a
major influence, too: Bowie, T-Rex ("Bang A Gong" was the first song I learned on guitar),
the Who, the Yardbirds, Rolling Stones of course.
Who are your current influences? Same stuff, but you can add to this from more
recent times Hanoi Rocks, Manic Street Preachers, and I completely fell in love with The
Libertines the last few years. I think they were just amazing. They were as ramshackle and
fun to watch as the Replacements were in their time, and they wrote amazing songs and
had such charisma. They kinda re-energized me, gave me an entry into the modern world.
What is your proudest moment as a musician? The night two years ago that I got to
play lead guitar on one song with the New York Dolls. That was so emotional. It completely
brought me full circle to that kid in 1980, trying his damnedest to BE Johnny Thunders,
learning those songs and licks. For 30 seconds, I got to stand in Johnny Thunders' shoes.
No one will ever take that away from me.
What is your most embarrassing moment as a musician? Playing lead guitar with the
New York Dolls, because I couldn't hear myself and it turned out I WAS PLAYING IN THE
WRONG KEY!!! HAHAHAHA! Still, I put a proud smile on David Johansen and Syl Sylvain's
face, and that made all the difference.
What do you think would have been your path through life if you had never
gotten involved with music? I really don't know. I might have been a cartoonist - that
was my ambition as a child.
Tell us something about you that few people are aware of.
For a time when I was in Napalm Stars, I played a Les Paul Special that had once
belonged to Dion! Yes, as in Dion and the Belmonts. That guitar got sold to my buddy
Sami Yaffa, the ex-Hanoi Rocks bassist now in the New York Dolls. Sami and I were
roommates for a time. I guess it's always been my destiny to connect hard with my roots
like this. I dunno. I just feel very lucky.
When you look back on your musical path to this point. What are your deepest
regrets? Never getting a full-length out. There were many attempts made in The
Hormones, but none of them panned out. Perhaps it just wasn't the time? Everything
happens for a reason. I firmly believe that.
If you had the opportunity to start over, what would you change? Nothing. I've had
a great run, and I haven't stopped yet. The best hasn't happened yet.
Who has been the most influential person in your life and why? There isn't just
one. There are a few. Please allow me to pay tribute to them:
My Mother - Who gave me my love of words, and gave me her teenage 45 collection,
sparking my lifelong love of rock 'n' roll.
Lydia Lunch - She took quite an interest in me when I was young, after I'd interviewed her
in my rock critic days. She taught me about poetry, literature, romance, feminism. I wish we
were still in touch.
Alejandro Escovedo - Yeah, the singer/songwriter who used to be in The Nuns. Al kinda
took me under his wing when I first moved to Austin, made sure I was eating and such. But
he taught me a lot about song craft, the importance of good songs, and how to work an
audience. He would hand me records when he was working at Waterloo Records here in
Austin, and tell me, "You need to hear this." And he was always right. He was the first big
brother figure in my life. You should be interviewing him.
Tim Kerr - He produced the Hormones and taught me a lot about letting go and being free
and getting into the spirit of the moment and the music. He also told me on a break from
producing the first Hormones single: "A lot of these bands around here write good songs.
But there's something different about yours'. I can see these songs playing outside the city
limits." You should also be interviewing him.
Sami Yaffa - He served the exact same function when I got to NYC as Alejandro did when I
got to Austin. He would hand me books and jazz records, broadening my mind and
deepening what I did. He once told me, 'Playing music is how we honor god.' I will never
forget that."
Tony Barber - The bassist for the Buzzcocks since about 1991, and producer for the
Napalm Stars. Tony taught me much about arranging and musicality and using the studio
to its fullest. And he too is a lifelong believer in the punk rock dream. Like all on this list,
one of my dearest, most inspirational friends. All these people are a treat to spend time
with.
Please summarize the highlights & lowlights of your musical career.
Highs: Putting out that first single with the Hormones, the "Sell Out Young" 7-inch, and
watching it sell well and get played by John Peel on the BBC and get reviewed the same
week by MRR and Rolling Stone! Touring with DOA,Wayne Kramer, The Humpers, US
Bombs, and so many others. Napalm Stars playing the Punk Magazine 25th Anniversary
Party at CBGBs with the Dictators and Niagra and ATV and having all these old guys like
Legs McNeil tell us we reminded them of the Dead Boys. Getting to play in one-off bands
with guys like Yaffa and Lenny Kaye. Being told by Joey Ramone what a great frontman I
was and being encouraged to keep at it. Getting to play at CBGBs on 15 different
occasions. Getting to play guitar with the New York Dolls, and to sing "What Love Is" with
Cheetah Chrome at his invitation.
Lows: Every time one of my bands broke up. Getting into a fistfight with a stage invader at
the start of that Punk Magazine set. Not being able to play music for the past two years, for
whatever reasons.
What are your thoughts on the current "Punk" scene? How much has it changed
or stayed the same since you got into it? Guys my age love to whine about how the
scene has gotten degraded by TRL-friendly bubblepunk bands. I could give a shit, as I
don't have time for lame music. I say if you want to see the true spirit of punk rock in a
modern context, look at The Libertines and the bands they spawned, and the way they
conduct themselves: Writing songs, demoing them, then posting them online within hours.
Doing guerilla gigs announced hours before online in locales like someone's front room, or
in subway stations, back rooms of pubs, fish and chip shops, and hundreds of people
show up. This is the true DIY, irreverent spirit of punk given a fresh, modern,
technology-friendly makeover (yet done by guys who STILL favor crappy '60s pawnshop
guitars and amps). These people are true heroes, true punk rockers. This is a path to the
future.
What are your plans musically in the future?
I'm in the process of assembling my first new band in years, The Cherry Darlings, and it's
reuniting me with my old partner in The Hormones, Ron Williams! It's exciting me. We have
no drummer yet at this stage, but it's taking that style I've done through The Hormones
and the Napalms and definitely doing something fresh with it. I look forward to finally
putting out a full-length for the first time and doing some proper touring and bringing this
music to people who haven't heard or seen it yet.
All I ever wanted is to write classic songs, make great records that are still playable in
years to come, give people an exciting, memorable rock 'n' roll show. And maybe make
them think a bit when they finally grasp the lyrics as they dance their tails off. I just wanna
give people the same jolt I got from the Pistols and the Clash. It would be nice to know I
gave someone such inspiration. That's when I know I've succeeded.
Thanks for the Support!!!
And thanks for asking me to be a part of this. I'm honored, even if I don't feel I deserve it.
