Ripping Headaches #11 - December 1989

CORONER

Interview with Marky

by Dominique Mesmin

As everyone knows, Coroner consists of Ron Royce, Marquis Marky and Tommy T. Baron and has two LPs out, "R.I.P." and "Punishment for Decadence", the last product from them being "Purple Haze/Masked Jackal" EP. Not a long time ago they went to Paris, France for two gigs (which were excellent!) so I took the opportunity to ask Marquis Marky some questions for you. (Intro by Chris Aubert)

RH (Ripping Headaches): Hi! How do you feel about this first show here, waiting for the one of tonight? Marquis: "It was probably the best crowd we ever had." (Pretty original answer, isn't it?-Chris)

RH: Do you think there is a big difference between German and French audiences?
Marquis: "There's a big difference; French are not as drunk as the German people! Nothing against drunk people, but I don't know why they pay for a concert if they just stand drunk." (Exactly!-Ed)

RH: The fact is there's not many gigs in France, when there's one everybody tries to be as sensitive as possible, no drugs, no booze...

RH: Are you still death inspired or are you going to change as you did with the second LP with songs about AIDS, drugs? (They're living in Zurich, Switzerland which is a place very famous in Europe because of all the problems with drugs.-Chris)
Marquis: "That's anymore that direct with death like on the first LP, now it's more symbolic. The main theme is still death. The next lyrics will be more symbolic, because I think it's really important that the kids read the lyrics, think about them. They can have their own sight on them, but it's important to read them."

RH: What about the idea of covering Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze"? (I fuckin' hate covers of oldies! Stop wasting vinyls! So many original bands have no deal. Covers on LPs are shit.-Chris)
Marquis: "Jimi Hendrix is probably the only one guy that every member of the band likes. Most of the time we have totally different tastes, but we all like him and this song. When we played this song for the first time live, everybody seems to like it so we decided to record it." (OK, but I do think that there must be pressure from Noise Recs. Dark Angel were forced to cover Led Zeppelin but they're not afraid to say that they hate this song, and that Combat Recs forced them.-Chris)

RH: Did you release any videos for the "Punishment for Decadence" LP?
Marquis: "Yes, we made a video from the song "Masked Jackal" in Berlin, West Germany. It has live shots and also shots made in a bunker. It's very dark, really morbid."

RH: Are you interested in arts in general, because you wanted to put a Rodin sculpture on the cover of the second LP?
Marquis: "Yes, I'm very interested in arts! My profession learned is graphic designer. I was in the art school in Zurich."

RH: Did you spend time here in Paris to go to a few museums or whatever?
Marquis: "No, but I used to be here a long time ago, 'coz I have some family here. I was at the Louvre, Centre Pompidou..."

RH: You received very good reviews for the second LP (including RH). Do you think it's a break now, and that you're going to make it bigger than you did?
Marquis: "Yes, this LP is a real turning point. But for us the next one, the third one is the most important one. With this second LP, we show up in which direction we want to go."

RH: Any changes in the future about the music, and lyrics?
Marquis: "Probably the songs will be slower." (No! Be faster!-Chris) "We're now very, very influenced by jazz music." (Will Coroner be the next big jazz band?-Chris) "Tommy is now going to the jazz school in Switzerland, so it brings us a lot of jazz influences. Lyric wise it will be more symbolic as I've said before."

RH: What about Coroner in U.S.A. on tour?
Marquis: "We'll tour there with Kreator." (They should be there by the time you read this.-Chris)

RH: Whats' your best/worst live rememberance talking about live gigs?
Marquis: "The worst one was with Motorhead during the "Christmas Tour" in 1987. The crowd was shit, sound problems...total shit! For me the best two we've done was 18/04/89 in Paris, not music wise but for the audience response, the second being an open air festival in Switzerland."

RH: What are the next plans for Coroner?
Marquis: "First of all pay back all the money we borrowed for our instruments and stuff like that, then we'll see."

RH: What do you think of the fanzines?
Marquis: "That's fantastic! Certainly much more important than the biggest magazines. I think that's great that many people do their own zine without getting any kind of big money." (With losing money, that's for sure!-Chris) "Just doing 'coz they love the music, that's really cool."

RH: Any final comments?
Marquis: "You French people were great the first time, I hope you'll be great tonight too."

RH: Thanks a lot, and stay cool (like you are now).

Review from same zine

CORONER "No More Color" Noise-8.5/10

Coroner shows a refining of their musical style on their new release, it's definitely a cool record. Some of the songs are slower, but this does nothing to hurt the album. They have continued with the symbolic meaning of their lyrics, in some songs such as "D.O.A." or "Die By My Hand". Overall the music is still diverse and they still have the knack for writing memorable riffs. Check this album out soon if you want to hear a band that is rapidly proving itself.

Bruce Davis.

Reprinted without permission from Ripping Headaches #11, December 1989.
Transcription by Rehabitat.

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