Illiterature Magazine

CORONER

Interview with Tommy

November 1995

by Marco Barbieri

I've always enjoyed Coroner's music and I believe they were a truly underrated group. I say "were" because the Swiss trio gave up and the self-titled sixth release is the last we'll hear from Coroner, at least for awhile. I did this interview with guitarist Tommy T. Baron (Vetterli) to find out more about the split and what he and the rest of the guys are doing.

First off, what's up with Coroner breaking up?

That's true. We already split up one year ago and the new record we had to do because of the contract with the record company.

It sounds like something you didn't really want to do?

We had to do it and it's hard to do an album with a band that doesn't exist. We met and we worked on the songs and we came back to the old days. I mean, we had a good relationship together and I don't know what's going to happen in the future.

What was the original reason for breaking up?

It's a lot of things. One of the main things was the record company (Noise). We always did great albums, especially on the last album, Grin, they did nothing promotion-wise. We were supposed to go on a U.S. tour, which was cancelled. We had some problems in the band too, like musical-wise. On Grin I had a big fight with Marky (Marquis), the drummer, in the studio so this time we chose on the new songs on the new album there is another guy playing most of the parts. We're still good friends but we've done that for ten years now together and some of the people in the band stayed behind and I know I did a lot of things between tours and records, like working with other musicians and it's just not the same thing as it was years ago. Everybody in the band wants to do their own stuff and I think it's healthy.

But you see at some point in the future that you may come together and do something further?

Yeah, we need at least a year. I have a lot of other projects and after that we'll see what happens.

You said the label made you do the last album?

Yeah, and now we're out of the contract. That's what we wanted and what we had to do because everybody was under contract.

You are actually free to pursue other things?

Now that we are not together anymore we have major label offers, more than one actually. We don't want to sell out. We have to be sure the chemistry in the band is right otherwise it's just fake. We'll wait and see.

This current release is a mix of old and new, why did you decide to do it that way?

I had to talk a lot to the company. They wanted us to do a new full record with all new stuff but we just weren't able to do it. The other guys have jobs now and I have some projects and we just didn't have time to do it. The record company won't pay us anyway. We decided to do it as something in between.

Is the new material left over or is it new material that was written after the break up?

No, the new stuff like Favorite Game, Shifter and Golden Cashmere Sleeper were written just before we went into the studio. It's really new stuff but Purple Haze was something recorded years ago. Those four new songs are really new.

It was strange, and you touched on it before, you had a different drummer on three of the songs and a different bass player on one?

It was really difficult after the first day in the studio. Like I was saying before, we split up almost a year ago and Marky wasn't playing all the time so it was really difficult for him to play it in the studio. We disn't have much money to record so we had to do it fast and there was no chance to do it with Marky. We called a good friend of ours, who's the drummer in my new band, and he did the songs in one and a half day.

How did that make Marky feel?

I think he's alright with it, it's normal. I know a lot of bands who had the same problems and they programmed it into a computer but we didn't want to do that so we called a friend.

Your new band is Clockwork and I know you have a demo--what's up with that?

It started as a side project when we were still together and after awhile I had more fun with those guys. During the time I was in Coroner I thought when I do something else it will sound totally different but it's not. It's just me writing the songs so it sounds similar to Coroner but the vocals are different and the musicianship is very good.

Who else is in the band?

It's that drummer, Peter Haas, who used to play with Mekong Delta and Calhoun Conquerer and a bass player from around here. The singer is my guitar roadie.

It seems a little more straight forward and has a little bit of that power groove happening.

Yeah, totally. I think the new songs on the Coroner album are in the same direction. More straight forward and not a hundred different parts. I tried to compose more songs oriented than in the past.

What do you hope to achieve with Clockwork?

We are looking for a deal and we have some offers. Maybe we have to do another demo because the first is not that good. We did it really fast and we were together for a half year at that time and I think we can do it much better.

What are the other guys doing?

I don't know about Ron (Royce, bass/vocals). He's working and I think he lost interest in music for now. Marky is doing a lot of jam sessions with a lot of musicians around here. He's got one band called Dwell that is a totally different kind of music like hip-hop and acid house. It's good and it's really interesting. I think he's better at that stuff anyway. We have two songs that are more Pink Floyd-like on the album and he plays on those and I think he does a really good job.

Why after all this time did you come out with your real names on the album?

It was one thing I wanted to do a long time ago. When we chose our names we were really young and I can't stand behind it any more. My real name may sound stupid to some from different countries but it's my real name and I stand behind it.

How did Grin wind up doing?

They (Noise) did nothing and nothing happened. We did two tours in Europe and it was ok but there was no support from the record company. We felt lost and they just didn't care. I had to feel like they wanted to punish us because we spent too long in the studio. Some of the money for the production we had to pay out of our pockets. I think Grin was a great album and I think with a little promotion there was a chance to sell but we didn't do much more than the previous.

Every album you did as Coroner was great and they never went beyond to expose you to a wider audience. It was the original fans and Coroner was a cult band and they never made the move to take you to the next step. You were left helpless and it started to stagnate. Is that Noise in general or just you?

That's a tough one. We had our faults in the beginning and the first few records were just too complex. Journalists always liked us but for the kids we were too much. I gave Noise a tape of Clockwork and they offered me a deal but I told them they could keep it. They're really nice to me now but it's too late. With Clockwork we are starting over again. When we play we get little money so we have to do other things. I went on tour with Stephen Eicher, he's a pop singer in France. I went on tour with him and played in front of 50,000 people. Next month I'm going on tour with Voodoo Cult. I fill Jim Martin from Faith No More's place because he was unable to come over. I prefer to have my own band but it's not the same feeling. It was great to play for 50,000 people but they didn't come because of me. I was just a hired gun.

What's the reaction been to Clockwork?

It's difficult because people don't know who we are so you have to promote it as ex-Coroner and ex-Mekong Delta and only those people show up. I think it's more modern but I think we have to do a real CD first and then we'll see.

Reprinted without permission from the magazine ILLITERATURE, November 1995.
Pages 17-18.

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