YOUR QUESTION

12/14/2020 Johnny Bates

Hi Trevor,
Since none of the 738 interviewers asked these important questions during the insane press cycle of the glorious RWOTEBD release...I have to:
1. Please explain the Donut Shop mascot. What does it refer to?
2. How the hell did you guys come up with Tom Leydecker for the cover of the original tape? I mean...why him and not a band member? What was his connection to the band and what does he think about appearing in thousands of new pressings?
3. Bungle bootleg aficionados know that by late 1986 you weren't playing much metal at live shows. Do you recall how many actual gigs you played between the first ever gig (setlist in the yearbook CD) with Jed and the switch to Bowel of Chiley era type shows hat he bowed out of?
4. Once life returns to "normal" do you dread having to re-learn these tunes for the hoped for tour or do you feel like you played them enough to get right back into it?
5. In the past you've mentioned penning a Bungle coffee table book. I still want it. The Yearbook CD doesn't count. Is that still in the realm of possibility?
6. What's more painful...playing thrash metal for 90 minutes or signing hundreds of posters?
7. Not a question - years ago I asked Steve Lederman about being a roadie on the first Bungle tour. He told me he had all the videotape footage from it and he was waiting for the band to ask him for it so they could "make a CD-ROM". Yeah...it was a long time ago. The anniversary of that album is next year..hope something special is planned! Regards,
JB

MY ANSWER

Damn, no less than seven questions. Might have to put a cap on you bastards.
1. Don’s Donut Shop and geek rights.
2. He was a fellow “Logger” at EHS who happened to fit the description of what we imagined Mr. Bungle to look like in human form, probably based on the ‘50s hygiene film. We didn’t know him at all. Just asked, hey wanna let us take photos of you doing weird stuff with trains? How could anyone say no? We, of course, tracked him down to get permission to use the photos. Apparently he runs a successful beef jerky company in McKinleyville.
3. Five? Six? I’m only guessing.
4. This stuff comes back pretty quickly, and much of it is deeply ingrained. With other bands I play in, the dread is real.
5. There’s plenty more where that came from; I’m not sure what the boundaries of that realm are anymore.
6. The latter, 100%.
7. Something like 48 hours of footage….