shutter soul: First off, I would like to thank you taking the time to have this interview with me and the shutter soul community. How was your Iowa City gig?

max: I am glad to be asked!  Our Iowa City show was great.  It had been a long time since we had been there last, so I wasn't sure whether or not anybody would remember us from the old days.  Nevertheless, we had a bunch of old friends show up to cheer us on, and the response was really great.  I wish now that we had taken more opportunities to go and play there, but better late than never.

shuttersoul:  With the last show just around the corner, I’m sure your feeling a  wide range of emotions.  Without sounding like Barbara Walters, but how are you feeling?  What are you going to miss most with the band and probably slightly a little more controversial-what are you going to miss least?

max: I certainly do have mixed feelings about the prospect of bringing the Genital Hercules era to a close.  On the one hand, I feel like it's the right thing to do at this point--it is getting more difficult to find the time and energy to devote to the band, not to mention that we have had eleven members over the years, and I feel like the best course of action now would be to start anew with something fresh.  Although I do think the fact that our current lineup does not include a live drummer or keyboardist (we play with backing tracks to handle those parts) is a significant handicap, I have had a fantastic time playing with Dave (Bachowski, bass) and Jason (Jackson, vocals), and I think that we are currently the strongest we've ever been as far as the quality of the songs and overall band cohesion.  Dave and Jason have been wonderful musical partners, and I think their ideas and contributions have been as important as those of Carl Sondrol (our former keyboardist) and Les Ohlhauser (our former singer) in terms of shaping our style and message.  I'll definitely miss playing with Dave.  I'd say I'll miss playing with Jason, except I am keeping my fingers crossed that he and I will continue playing together!  This probably goes without saying, but what I will miss most is the sensation of being on stage, hearing us play my song, and knowing that we are just killing it.

On the flip side, there are indeed things that I won't miss once we are done playing live.  I am ready for a break from the responsibility of handling things like publicity and booking (not that I have done a particularly good job on either of those things).  To me, that is the most tedious aspect of being a musician, and it makes it difficult to find time for the enjoyable parts such as writing songs and making albums.  I would also be very happy if I never had to play along to another backing track again!  Don't get me wrong: I have no regrets about choosing to go that route with Genital Hercules, as it allowed us to stop wasting time on the futile search for a permanent drummer and get down to the business of playing shows, but there is just no substitute for live musicians.

shutter soul:
Okay, maybe this is starting to sound like a Barbara Walters interview, but what do you like and appreciate about each of your band mates and tell us more about what they bring to the Genital Hercules table?

max: Dave Bachowski, our bassist, has been a great asset to the band.  He loves his instrument and he has the exact right attitude for our material, which is a pretty specific mix of humor and musical rigor.  Recently, he has also been the primary shaper of our stage presence, suggesting things like coordinated dances we can do during certain parts of songs.  That's something that we never used to pay a lot of attention to, but it's valuable.  Jason Jackson, our singer, is a phenomenon.  His classical training has allowed us to introduce some complexities into the vocal parts that I had strived for in the past, but rarely achieved.  In sections of our songs where he gets a break from singing, he unleashes a mesmerizing array of dance moves.  As a front man, he has got it where it counts, and I believe he's going to be a big star someday.  

shutter soul:  Your have described your sound as, “Midwstern kinda-prog kinda-thrash juggernaut. A must for those who like their music fast, catchy, and with a huge smirk.”  What were some of your early musical influences that helped to create or influence the Gential Hercules sound? What bands and musicians influenced you and your band mates currently and in the past? I can definitely hear Frank Zappa.  How has your sound changed and evolved over time?

max: Frank Zappa is indeed a major influence.  My parents are both fans of his, so I have been aware of his music for a very long time, but one summer when I was sixteen I suddenly had a rush of understanding of what he was all about, and my whole musical approach changed.  Prior to that point I had been listening to a lot of stuff like Soundgarden, Rage Against The Machine, Tool, and other kinds of music that were easily accessible to a teenager in the Iowa boondocks.  Frank Zappa's music reoriented me in the direction of musical adventurousness and not shying away from making people laugh.

Devo is another giant influence.  I can't even tell you about discovering their music, because it has been with me for longer than I can remember.  I do recall bringing my vinyl copy of Oh, No! It's DEVO! to kindergarten for show and tell.  Now that they are making a comeback and people seem to accept them a little more readily than they used to, I feel a little smug about loving them way before it was cool.

Possibly the biggest single influence I've incorporated into Genital Hercules is a relatively little-known English band called Cardiacs.  Their music is simply awe-inspiring to me.  It's tricky to do it justice with a verbal description, but probably the closest I can get to conveying what it's like is to say that it's highly progressive in terms of being very thoroughly composed and intricate, but played with the speed and intensity of punk rock.  I hate to describe it in those terms, because for one thing, it doesn't convey how anthemic and uplifting their songs are; and for another, they specifically dislike the 'prog meets punk' comparison, but it would require more space than I have here to really explain what Cardiacs are all about.  They have never been signed to a record label (except once, for all of two weeks before the label went out of business) and have never played in North America.  Strangely enough, I probably wouldn't have ever found ut about them if it hadn't been for Genital Hercules--Les came over for a rehearsal one day, raving about this Cardiacs song that he and a friend had found on some website.  He made me sit down and listen to it, and I just could not believe what I was hearing.  The song was called 'Angleworm Angel', which was a bit of an odd tune to be my initial introduction as it was not composed by Tim Smith, their principal songwriter and sonic architect.  It didn't take too long after that for me to become a complete obsessive fan of this band, and in fact I have made trips to England on multiple occasions just to see them live.  Sadly, they are inactive at the moment, as Mr. Smith suffered a simultaneous stroke and cardiac arrest (in a brutal bit of irony) in mid-2008, and still has a long road to recovery.  I don't mind saying that I have been shameless in my appropriation of certain aspects of Cardiacs' music that really appeal to me.  It's not that you
would ever mistake any of our songs for being theirs, but there are certain little musical tricks and characteristics that I use that really belong to Cardiacs and Tim Smith.

shutter soul:  Your band has a lot oftongue in cheer lyrics on your album Trouser Full of Wantonness. Not surprising since your band is called Genital Hercules and the album is called Trouser Full of Wantonness (You should buy it at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/genitall) What are some of your comedic influences and how did the heck did you come up with the band of Gential Hercules?

max: I love comedy, but I would be the first to admit that I'm not particularly knowledgeable about it.  I have a pretty typical list of comedians or comedy troupes that I'd rate among my favorites: Monty Python, Mr. Show, Tim and Eric, Stella, and so forth.  Comedy in music has, of course, a long and rich history.  I remember loving my parents' Spike Jones records as a little kid.  In junior high, I went through a big Weird Al Yankovic phase, which is probably pretty typical.  I still think that he's brilliant at what he does and is a musician of rare talent.  Again, it was really Frank Zappa's music that demonstrated to me that it's not necessary to sacrifice serious musical discipline in order to feature comedic elements.

I am always glad when people ask me how the band got its name, because my dad came up with it.  Both of my parents have been hugely influential in my musical development, and we share a love of a lot of the same music.  When I was in high school, as a kind of fun family activity, any time somebody thought of a good name for a band, we'd write it down in a book.  One day, I remember sitting in the kitchen, and my dad blurted out "Genital Hercules. Hah!"  During college, when I was starting this band, I remembered that name in particular, and it was pretty obvious to everybody that it was right for us.

shutter soul:  On a personal note, what initially inspired you to become a musician?  Was there a specificband, performer, teacher, or song that led you to pick up your guitar and start to thrash?

max: I don't think I could identify one particular inspiration that made we want to become a musician.  I've been an avid listener of music for pretty much my entire life, and I remember imagining what it might be like to play in a band when I was in grade school.  Both of my parents are musicians, so it was probably to be expected that I had the desire to learn the same skill.  As a child, I had (still have, in fact) a red Slingerland drum kit that my parents rescued from the basement of a house they used to rent, and I fiddled around on that from time to time.  Once, in third grade, I put a microphone in front of the drums, plugged it into a cassette recorder, and recorded an album of little-kid type songs that I probably came up with on the spot.  I suppose that demonstrates that my desire to play in a band was deep-seated.  I attempted to learn the guitar when I was in sixth grade, but it didn't take.  I remember my dad showing me the chords to 'Pinball Wizard' and my little eleven-year-old hands just not being able to make them comfortably, so I gave up.  I gave it another shot when I was a freshman in high school, and by then I was much more ready for it in physical and mental terms.  It wasn't until after I got better at the guitar that I started attempting to actually play the drums well (an attempt which continues to this day).

Through him, we found our first two drummers--the second of whom, Carson Hooley, is still the standard-bearer of drumming prowess in the Genital Hercules history, and continues to record with us--and it took off from there.

There was never a lot of active discussion about what we should or shouldn't sound like.  The ideal band I had in mind before we got together was one in which I was the sole or primary contributor of material, and that's basically the way it wound up happening.  We never had a rule about that, and anybody else was welcome to submit songs at any time, but it never happened.  I think the other guys may have perceived that a Genital Hercules song is a kind of idiosyncratic thing that happens to correspond with what feels natural for me to write, and it made the most sense to let me do my thing in that band, while they started other projects to explore other interesting avenues that wouldn't have fit in our aesthetic.  A great example of such a project was the science-themed band Nuclear Biologist Rocket Surgeons (http://www.rocketsurgeonmusic.com), which featured Carl, Les, Carson, and Jason (and me, very briefly, at the end of its existence).  However,
everybody who was ever in the band contributed to the final sound in ways unique to his personality, and took my songs in directions I would never have thought of.

I certainly made plenty of trips to the Mill and the Hamburg Inn during my Iowa City years, but believe it or not I never had a pie shake until our recent trip back there.  One of my primary goals for the visit was to finally experience the famous Hamburg Inn pie shake, and I'm glad to say we accomplished it in spades.  I got red raspberry, and it was incredible.  There are a lot of places in Iowa City that I miss--Masala, Thai Flavors, the Deadwood, Gabe's, the Dublin Underground, etc.

shutter soul:  How does the band take the initial idea of a song from lyrics and music to a finished product? What’s yourprocess for crafting songs?

max: It takes me a rather ridiculous amount of time to write a song from beginning to end.  I'm not particularly proud of this fact, but in my defense, it's in the interest of maintaining a high level of quality.  I throw away a lot of ideas that don't pan out, and make a lot of false starts, especially when it comes to the lyrics.  I have never been good at collaborative songwriting--in a band situation, I prefer to either sit back and be handed a finished song, or to have complete control over my song ideas, at least from a musical perspective.  I have been happy to collaborate on lyrics from time to time, as I feel that is one of my weakest areas.  For our second album, the rock opera Spring Break '86 (available at http://www.cdbaby.com/genital2), I worked with a collaborator who came up with the overall plot, as well as titles and general guidance for what each song in the piece should convey.  I wound up writing most of the lyrics myself, but it was
helpful to have a starting point.  The fact that the plot dealt with a cyborg cop from the future who has to travel back in time to 1986 to save spring break really set my imagination free when it came time to put words to music!

When I (eventually) finish a song, I record a demo of it, playing all the instruments and singing the vocal part myself.  I hand that out to the rest of the band, and we work from there.  During the learning process, the band members will typically come up with some unique spin on the initial ideas presented to them, and by the time we give the song its live debut, it may have mutated somewhat.

shutter soul:  If you could all play with any guest musician or musicians what would that band look like? What would be
your dream venue?

max: I would love to get Christian Vander from Magma on drums, and probably Ron Mael from Sparks on keyboards.  I don't really know what that would wind up sounding like, but I'm about 90 percent sure it would be ground-breaking and probably get a lengthy Wikipedia article devoted to it.  I don't really have a specific dream venue--as long as there is ample room on stage, clean power, quality sound, and a large crowd full of a healthy mix of good friends and total strangers, I'm happy.  Or at least, I assume I would be--I don't think that combination has ever happened for us.

shutter soul:  What makes a quintessential Genital Hercules live show experience?  How has that changed throughout the years from when you first started the bar circuit in Iowa City? What has been you favorite venue to play and your favorite musical experience on stage?

max: Throughout all of the changes the band has experienced over the years, the primary constant that I've tried to maintain is a high level of excitement in the live show.  I feel that the best way to do that is to be very strategic in the arranging of your songs in the set list, and to keep the amount of time spent on stage not playing music to a minimum.  Obviously, you can overdo it and wind up just being too intense for your message to get across, but I feel like we've done a pretty good job of always being compelling on stage.  I must admit that one advantage of having our drums exist as prerecorded backing tracks is that it's easy to fine-tune the overall flow and the amount of time in between songs.

I don't know that I could identify one favorite venue.  I have to say that I have had few live experiences that were as satisfying as playing at Gabe's in Iowa City used to be, back in the old days.  There was a magic to that place, in spite of (because of?) all the grime and squalor.  The biggest house we ever played was the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas, opening for The Von Bondies.  That was a beautiful venue, and the amount of room we got on stage was luxurious, but unfortunately the audience didn't quite know what to make of us, so we weren't really feeling the overall vibe that night.  We had a great experience playing Subterranean here in town last February.  That was one of the few situations in which we've ever enjoyed the comfort of a green room.  I definitely felt like a rock star sipping my complimentary PBR tallboy and looking out over the Milwaukee/North/Damen intersection.

While on stage, I am frequently too busy concentrating on playing the material to be able to stop and take in the overall experience.  The best experience that comes to my mind right now is from our recent Iowa City visit, when I got to hear a room full of old friends yelling for an encore.  I felt on top of the world at that point.

shutter soul:  Just out of curiousity...you’re mid set….if you had to decide between a broken string, a scratchy amp, a busted snare drum or a technical issue with your
keyboards which one would you choose and why?

max: That's a tough one...breaking a string always throws me off my game and pretty much ruins my performance of the rest of the song.  My brain has a hard time dealing with it.  On the other hand, I do always pack a spare guitar.  Is it cheating if I pick breaking a string because I know I have an easy fix?  Let's consider the other options: when your amp acts up, it's nerve-wracking because it's a more complicated piece of equipment than a guitar, and can potentially silence you until it's resolved.  A busted snare drum doesn't really apply to us, but if we have a technical issue with the keyboards, that implies a drums problem too because they're being played from the same computer.  That's a show-stopper.  Yeah, I'm going with the broken string.

shutter soul:Speaking of the unexpected, what has been the most unique and unusual occurrence during one of your shows?

max: I can't really say that we're a band that has seen a lot of crazy stuff go down at our shows.  At the moment, the most unusual thing I can think of is when we were playing at a farm party in Missouri in 2006, and (former bassist) Tim's fingers started bleeding during our set, and (former singer) Les bellowed 'FEED THE BEAST!' at him through the PA.

shutter soul: As we enter musical festival season, what music festivals would you like to play in the future? What festivals do you like to attend as a fan of music?

max: This actually looks like the first year that I won't be attending at least one day of the Pitchfork festival since its inception in 2005.  I was tempted to go just so I could see Lightning Bolt, but the rest of the lineup wasn't enticing enough for me.  I am planning on checking out Wicker Park Fest in July so I can catch Torche and Baroness.  I have my tickets to see the show they're doing at Subterranean while they're here as well.  Genital Hercules has never gotten to play a summer festival type situation, but it looks like a lot of fun.  I'd love to do it someday.

shutter soul: Moving beyond festivals, where are some of your favorite venues to play in Chicago and outside of
Chicago?  Any places you would liketo play moving forward?

max: There are a lot of venues in Chicago where I've had great experiences as an audience member but never gotten to play--The Empty Bottle, Bottom Lounge, and Double Door are all high up on my list.  The most fun I've had at any of our Chicago shows has probably been at Subterranean and Quenchers.  We had the CD release for Spring Break '86 at Quenchers in June of 2009, and we chose it as the venue for our final show due to our great experience there.  I don't think there's a reasonably-sized city in the country that I wouldn't love to play, but on the other hand I'm a little relieved we never got too ambitious with the whole touring thing.  I don't know that I would have been able to stand it for very long.

shutter soul:   The band is breaking up.  Why now?  What are your musical plans/hopes for you and your soon to be former bandmates?  Any chance for a musical reunion visa vie the Eagles When Hell Freezes Over Tour?

max: The reason we're breaking up now is basically due to the fact that Dave and his fiancee are moving to England at the end of June, coupled with the fact that I feel mentally ready to give up having the band at this point.  In the past, when we suffered the loss of a core member (which has happened many, mahy times) I was never ready to let go of my baby, but now I think the time is right.  I wish Dave the best of luck with his new life in England, and I'm looking forward to staying at his apartment for free the next time I want to go on vacation there.  Jason keeps pretty busy with his acting, but I hope that we can start a new project together soon, as I can't say enough about the sheer level of talent that guy has.  It looks like I'm going to be involved in a new band some friends of mine are forming called The Sacred Robe of the Ancient Psychedelic Monks.  I will be handling drum duties this time, which is a new role for me.  I would love to be able to do a Genital Hercules reuinion show or two someday.  Maybe we can go do them in England!

Also, even though this Wednesday is going to be our final show, you haven't heard the last of Genital Hercules.  We have a new album in the works that we're planning to start recording after we're done with the show, and we'll be giving it away for free once it's done.  Dave is going to have to record his parts remotely, so that may get a little interesting, but I have really high hopes that this will turn out to be our best album yet.

shutter soul: As a Chicago culture andlifestyle site I would like to transition into a couple of windy city related questions.  How long have you lived in Chicago?

max: I have been here for very nearly six years now.  Carl Sondrol, who used to play keyboards in Genital Hercules, and I moved here at the same time, and we have been roommates since then.  Living in Chicago has had a big effect on both of us.  We're both from rural or small-town Iowa, and I think it's safe to say that we both identify as urban people now.  He is about to move to Los Angeles to pursue his film composition career (check out his work at http://www.sondrolmusic.com), and we will all miss him around here.

shutter soul: In your opinion, what makes Chicago a great and vibrant city for music, from both from a fan and musician perspective?  If you could change one thing about Chicago’s music scene what would it be?  Do you find that Chicago musicians for the most are open to collaboration?

max: Chicago is great because it is, for the most part, a very down-to-earth city, and more open to art that is not fashionable or doesn't fit into current trends than New York or L.A. are (or so I am given to understand--I have never played in either place).  Creative people from rural areas and small towns for miles around (such as yours truly) move here as soon as they get a chance.  There are so many bands here that no matter what style you are doing, you have a really good chance of finding like-minded people to join you.  Unfortunately, there's a downside to the massive amount of musical activity that goes on here, which is that some very good bands have a hard time getting noticed.  The nature of the live music business means that if you don't already have a proven track record, most booking agents are very reluctant to take a chance on you.  That extends to audiences too--most of the time, bands play to their own friends.  It has been no exception for us, and as an audience member I admit that I'm guilty of perpetuating this--I generally don't go see bands I know nothing about.  I really haven't cracked the secret of building a fan base in Chicago.  It is largely an issue of working with other bands, trading shows, and building fans in that way based on shared membership in a scene.  We have had the beginnings of that kind of shared effort with a handful of local bands, but I was never able to make it amount to very much.  Part of the problem is that the promotional side of being in a band is a real chore for me, and frankly, I can be a little lazy sometimes.

I think the main thing that I would change about Chicago's music scene is to have more diversity in the promotional structure in town.  A lot of the venues are controlled by the same handful of booking agencies, which means if they won't touch you, a lot of the best venues are off limits to you.  It's sort of a similar issue to why radio has been such a wasteland for so many years.

shutter soul: I asked Matt Holzfeind, Chicago actor, this question last month, but I have to get your opinion.  Is ketchup okay on a hot dog or is it
sacrilege? Deep dish or thin crust?

max: I am not dogmatic on either issue.  If you want to put ketchup on your hot dog, I won't be offended, unless we're at Hot Doug's, because Doug Sohn is a culinary genius and his creations should not be tampered with.  Personally, I'll take it Chicago-style every time.  When it comes to pizza, though, I am going to have to say thin crust.  Last summer I was visiting my sister in Mallorca, and she introduced me to a British expatriate who ran a bookshop in Palma.  When I told him I was visiting from Chicago, the first thing out of his mouth was "Oh, Chicago! They have terrible pizza there!"  I wouldn't go that far, but I see where he was coming from.  If I want pizza in this town, I go to Piece.

shutter soul: What are some of your favorite places to visit in Chicago?  In your opinion, what makes Chicago a great place to live? Favorite bar?
Restaurant?  Neighborhood? El Stop?

max: Well, let's see--I already managed to mention Hot Doug's and Piece.  I am embarrassed to say that I haven't been to Kuma's Corner yet, but it's on my to-do list.  It has honestly been quite a long time since I've gone out to a bar, but I used to enjoy Club Foot and Gold Star in Wicker Park.  My answer to both the favorite neighborhood and favorite el stop questions would have to be Logan Square.  I've lived in the same apartment in Logan Square during all of my six years in Chicago, and I really like it here.  If we can hold the line on the gentrification for a while, we'll have ourselves a great little neighborhood.  And the Logan Square el stop is the one you want near you during the winter, because it's one of the few underground el stations located outside of downtown.  It's still cold in there, but not quite so much, and you get a break from the wind.  As soon as I get to the stairs on Spaulding and Milwaukee in the middle of February, I unclench gratefully.

Chicago is a great place to live because the relatively low cost of living makes it artist friendly, and the fact of its location means that it retains a Midwestern honesty that you don't generally find on the coasts.  Don't get me wrong, I could complain about a good many things related to this city, but in spite of that, I can't imagine living anywhere else right now.

shutter soul: Max Crow and the Genital Hercules, make Chicago a more soulful place. Chicago prog rockers play their farewell show at Quenchers
(Fullerton and Western) on June 23rd.  To find out more about the band check out http://www.genitalhercules.com/

Thanks again for touching base today.