This first question is for Rod. Being you are from Australia, is your wee wee circumcised or uncircumcised?

ROD: I’m not Catholic. Absolutely circumcised.

Cool. How did you get such an unusual name for your band?

ROD: Being I’m from Australia, I remember always seeing shots of Richard Nixon walking off of planes holding up his two fingers. He always had this massive Hollywood grin. Every time I saw him do that I would say, “OK, that’s America”.

CHRIS: The rest of us didn’t really “get it” until we started printing things off. Then, all of a sudden our logo came about and it made sense.

CRAIG: When Rod brought the name up to me I thought it was cool. I actually had a trading card of Nixon in my wallet that I pulled out. I had it from when I was about 17 years old.

What are you a Nixon groupie?

CRAIG: No I did my term paper in High School on Watergate. I thought Nixon was a brilliant man. I just had one of his trading cards.

How did THE NIXON GRIN come into being?

CHRIS: Rod and I used to work together. We found out that we both liked music so we got together. It actually was quite simple. He had some ideas for songs and I played guitar. We got together and started playing. Eventually, we ended up writing a song, I think it was “Sittin’ On The Beach”. We originally had a singer, but he left. I talked Rod into singing.

Even though Rod has a great voice, so do you. Why did you want him to sing?

CHRIS: I think the vocalist of a group needs to be unique. I think that’s the person they (the audience) identify with. I think my voice is good for what it is and how we use it, but I think it’s fairly average. Rod’s voice, on the other hand, is different. It’s recognizable.

Is THE NIXON GRIN your first band?

CHRIS: Oh God no. I’ve been in a number of bands. Most of them not worth mentioning.

What about you Rod?

ROD: History of bands? Actually, pretty limited. I grew up in Australia playing music in the family. My brother in law was in a pretty successful band back in Australia. But I’ve been over here for quite some time now. I really hadn’t pushed the issue of playing rhythm guitar for quite awhile. I had written a number of songs. I just figured before I die, why not record something, put something down. You know, look back at this time and think that it was a great thing to do.

Can you do something special for me? Would you say, “Foster’s, that’s Australian for beer!”?

ROD: This is for Maris. “That’s Foster’s mate. That’s Australian for beer!” (Laughter)

That was hot! Thanks. At what point did you and Chris decide to get serious?

CHRIS: We decided to take our stuff on the road and try it out before we got other people involved. So we started by going to places like “Cricket on the Hill” on open mic nights. Just acoustic guitar and vocals.

Did you go by THE NIXON GRIN?

CHRIS: No, I think it was “Chris and his Bitch” (Laughter) No…actually I think we did use THE NIXON GRIN.

ROD: Originally it was Chris and myself. We started playing together. We had a number of songs we were working out. I had a friend who was gonna be a singer. He had an awesome, incredible voice. That didn’t work out, he wouldn’t show up to practice. That’s what actually turned me into the singer. I spent hours in the basement singing these songs.

If you weren’t the singer initially, what was your role in the band?

ROD: Drummer. I was going to be the drummer. Fortunately we found Craig. That’s where Craig comes into the story.

CRAIG: My wife worked with Rod’s wife. She passed it along that I played the drums. Rod gave me a call one day. I hadn’t played in like, seven years though. I’d given up the music scene. I didn’t even have a drum set. Rod said he did and I should come by. So I went over, and I think the first song we worked on was “The Puppet”. I was really rusty, but it was fun. I really got the fever again.

ROD: It was then that we recorded our demo, “Bustin’ Chops”.

You recorded it without Jeff on bass?

ROD: Yeah, we used the talents of Keith Killian.

For a demo, Bustin’ Chops sounds pretty damn good.

ROD: I think we got into the habit of calling it a demo because it was our intent to make a demo when we went into the studio. We were only going to record 3 songs. We ended up with 7, which is pretty much a full CD. I don’t even call it a demo. I call it a CD. It’s a good CD to be proud of.

CHRIS: We recorded it for $1600.00. We spent two days in the studio. Basically they (the songs) are all one take. It’s all pretty much live. The sound is amazing for what we paid for it.

How would you describe your music?

CRAIG: I have no idea. A lot of people say INXS, but I’ve never been a fan or heard anything other than what’s on the radio. When I first heard Rod, the only thing I could think of was Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.

CHRIS: Better than a third of it is pretty hard. It appeals to a wide variety of people.

So how did your fearless bassist come into the picture?

ROD: We were actually looking to have Jeff play with us before. We picked up Craig and then we were looking for a bass player. Chris already knew Jeff from before. He was the first option. Jeff was playing in another band at the time though, so we worked with another bassist that worked extremely well. But what ended up happening was that he wasn’t as serious as us. He had other commitments. So we called up Jeff.

JEFF: Two days before they called me, I had put in my notice with my band. I had played with them for 3 or 4 months. It was just a cover band. It wasn’t challenging music. So I put my name on the Internet

CHRIS: On Music Mates.

JEFF: Yeah, and two days later, Chris called me.

Are you from Colorado?

JEFF: No. I’m originally from New York. It’s a totally different scene out there. People don’t hand out CD’s like paper there. Here they do (laughs) These guys handed me their CD and said, “check this out”, and so I did. It took me a couple of weeks to start pickin’ it up. I can pretty much play anything. I have a degree in music.

Two of you are married in the band right?

CRAIG: Yeah, Rod and myself are married.

OK, then this question is for Jeff and Chris. If you were both gay, who would be the top and who would be the bottom?

CHRIS: (Pauses)

CRAIG: (To Chris) Would you be the pitcher or the receiver?

CHRIS: Ohhh! I see. (Laughs) I think I’d definitely be a pitcher. Jeff would look real good with a facial (Laughs) It probably would be a tag team effort.

I want you to describe each other to me. Let’s start with Craig. Describe Chris to me.

CRAIG: I call Chris “riff boy”. He plays pretty darn good guitar. Chris is the chick magnet of the band. He’s gonna be the guy the chicks wanna go watch play.

Jeff, describe Craig.

JEFF: “Muscles” is what I call him. The big boy. He’s quite the reasonable character. He’s got a big heart. His talent is easily apparent through his percussion.

Chris, you do Rod.

CHRIS: If I describe Rod, I usually just say, “He’s not from here” (laughs). That usually takes care of a lot of the questions. Rod kicks ass. It’s been fun because Rod and I have grown in this band together. We kind of have the same goal in mind. We’re very much on the same page musically. Socially, he’s quite a good guy, which is great because he used to be a red neck (laughter)

Rod on Jeff.

ROD: An unusual character. Doesn’t mince a whole lot of words, which makes me think he’s a big, manipulating prick! (Laughter). I like him more, the more I know him. He can be pretty quiet, which is fine. He immediately fit in to the band. He came to every single practice. He turned up early, he turned up to every gig early, he carries his stuff, and he carries everybody else’s stuff. To us, it was amazing.

What made each of you get into rock and roll in the first place?

CHRIS: I started when I was like, 12 or 13. I was always in band but there were never any cool instruments. Originally I was going to learn to play a keyboard, but that would mean I would have to take piano lessons. I said, “screw that”. Van Halen was really big at that time, so I started playing guitar.

JEFF: I am not an animal! (Puzzled laughter around the room) I’m sorry. But that was fun! I actually learned to read music before I learned to read English. It’s almost second…well, first nature to me. (Music) has been a part of my life the whole way through. (In high voice) Bingo!

ROD: My Mother was very musical. I was influenced growing up around it. Neighbors of mine were very musical. They played in bands. Musically, what I love is putting words to music. That’s what I am good at. I enjoy hearing something Chris writes or something Jeff does, or a drum beat that Craig has.

CRAIG: I started playing drums when I was like, 10. And then, through the school years, there’s always jazz bands. I was always in jazz bands. I was in All City Jazz Band. I started really getting into rock and roll when I first heard Rush. Neil Peart, the most awesome drummer in the world. When “Diary of a Madman” came out, I was in a high school band. We did every song off that album. That album just kicks ass!

What kind of drunk is each of you?

CRAIG: I mellow out. I’m just a mellow drunk

ROD: Depends on the drink (Laughter)

CHRIS: Drunk is drunk

ROD: No, drunk is not drunk. Not if it’s Tequila. I don’t drink Tequila for a reason.

Why?

ROD: I fight.

CHRIS: He’s a cowboy drunk! (Laughter)

ROD: On beer, I’m mellow. Other drinks, I’m mellow. But with Tequila, if someone says something to one of my friends, I’m in their face.

Ooh, that’s hot.

JEFF: Yeah, I’m a lush but…I’d like to sit there ‘til 5 in the morning if they’d let me. But they won’t let me anymore, those bastards! (Laughs) Forget ‘em!…No, I’m pretty quiet, well no, I’m not quiet, but I’m pretty sloppy. But I’m not aggressive. Thank you, come again.

CHRIS: I’m a happy drunk. I always feel like I want to keep the party going. I’m very social.

Let’s talk about your next CD? What will it sound like?

CHRIS: I have ideas for a couple of songs. I think our demo is very representative of what we sound like, but our song writing has increased dramatically. Rod is to a point now where he is really, really good. Everything we come up with is very different that what we did before. Our new songs are definitely a work in progress.

If THE NIXON GRIN were to break up, which local band would you most want to be in?

CHRIS: Honestly? I like Rubber Planet’s stuff. They’re fun guys.

ROD: It’s a good question because I would find it difficult to join up with any other band. However, I like Looks Like Me. I really like their stuff. I also like Rubber Planet.

JEFF: Uh…the brothers

CHRIS: Brethren Fast

JEFF: No. One plays guitar, one plays bass….

CHRIS: Brethren Fast

JEFF: No. I want to say…(pauses)

CHRIS: Brethren Fast (laughter around the room)

While we are waiting for Jeff, let me ask you if you have any final words.

JEFF: I’m the most well hung in the band. (Laughter)

CRAIG: Everyone in this band seems to be on the right track. Aspirations are the same.

ROD: I couldn’t have met a better bunch of guys. I love playin’ with ‘em. Everything we’re doing is positive. If it were to end tomorrow, there would absolutely be no regrets.

JEFF: I just want a girlfriend! (Laughter around the room)

Oh wait! I’m supposed to ask you about your famous porn collection, Chris.

CHRIS: Ohhhh! Yeah, I used to be just inundated with mass mailings. So I finally gave in and started ordering. Everyone else in the band has benefited from my porn collection

What’s your kink?

CHRIS: That’s a good question. I like seeing stuff I haven’t seen before. Anything that’s new and inventive. Inventive is good.

CRAIG: Being married to Josi (bands former manager) for five years now, I think it’s common to other men, it would be adding the other woman.

ROD: I think my kink is anything that has gyro associated with it.

JEFF: Horn Buckle brothers…

CHRIS: (Laughter) What?

JEFF: That was the brothers I was thinking of (laughter around the room)…Well, it’s not the bus driver…well it could be (laughs) I need my own zip code, thank you.