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Mike Corso God Bullies

First published 2012

Your hair is amazing. You look like you might have Native American in you

I hear that quite often but no Indian. I’m part Italian on my fathers side and part Irish mutt on my mothers side. I loved em both!

What kind of place is Kalamazoo?

Kazoo is not just your typical Midwestern college town. We had the failed auto industry, one of the worlds largest pharmaceutics giants Pfizer and after the 80′s Reagan cuts a sprinkling of folks released from one of the biggest mental hospitals left to wonder the streets. It was big enough that you could keep yourself entertained or get yourself into trouble but small and quaint enough that you could get to know most everyone in your “little click”

I read that the band had picketers at some of your early shows

There were some born again Christian oddballs that thought it best to tell folks they were all going to Go To Hell and with a name like the God Bullies we had a bulls-eye on our cross. We were often in their sights. I remember one article read “Mere words can not describe how incredibly horrid this band is”. Of course we took it as a compliment, we enlarged the article and used their words to make our next poster. Oh yea, we would always let them know they were on the guest list of our next show!

Mike Hard’s demented southern preacher shtick: was that theme in the band from the beginning, or did it evolve as you progressed?

Mike Hard has evolved over the different bands he was in. Early GB’s we would wear all kinds of outrageous outfits with garb covering the stage. GB’s had more smoke and mirrors than a carnival side show but you just couldn’t look away. I’ve known Hard since Jr high school, I even wrestled him in gym class (he cheated). I hadn’t seen him in years and when we reconnected Hard was in the band Debauched. I was totally inspired and was just learning to play. Not long after that the God Bullies were formed in my basement

It was listening to the Stranglers in the late 70s that made me pick up the bass guitar. Why did you choose the bass instead of the guitar?

I love the driving bass lines of the Stranglers. I’ve never been much of a skilled musician. I’m sort of a poster boy for punk rock in that I’m not a great musician yet I wanted to create music. Virtuosity is over-rated. If you want something bad enough you make it happen, no matter what

You played on four of five God Bullies albums – Mama Womb Womb, Dog Show, Plastic Eye Miracle and Kill the King – but only contributed keyboards to one track on ’92s War On Everybody. Why did you skip that album?

In the beginning the Bullies band members had a love-hate relationship to me being in the band. We were all misfits of a different kind. I was kicked out after the first three LP’s and then asked to come back but I had already joined Kombo Krap. Although I only recorded the keyboards on the one song on War On Everybody although I should have had a lot more credit as I helped write many of the songs. Oh well…

They went to tour War On Everybody in Europe. I was going to be the merch guy but Eric Polcyn quit to purchase Spacetime Tanks a successful flotation tank business in Chicago and I stepped back in. We pretty much disbanded shortly after that and reconnected with the original lineup with Mr Livingstone as the record producer for Kill the King. There is still an album in the can waiting to be finished. I recorded my tracks with drums back in ’04

Did somebody say one more God Bullies album…. Please?

How was your experience of working with AmRep over the years?

I don’t think there could have been a better label for GB’s than AmRep. No, I know there wasn’t a better label. I’m proud to have been a part of a record label that already history has reflected upon as being very influential during an interesting time in music. NOISE! AmRep always gave us total control and supported the band. Everyone surrounding AmRep was fantastic and Tom Hazelmyer is far more than just a right-wing gun-toting ex-marine… he’s ridiculously funny too! Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a tea-bagger often accused of being a right-wing nut-job myself

You were in the movie Stop-Loss, as ‘Cowboy Patriot’. Is acting something you’d always been interested in?

I don’t have the acting bug. I’m mostly work as an extra on movies, TV or commercials. I enjoy working as an extra as it is extremely easy work and you meet the most diverse array of interesting individuals. I’ve have done a couple roles on some indie films that will most likely never see the light of day

What are the chances of this ‘GB-in-the-can’ album getting released?

At present with the other band members having new projects or jet setting around the world for work and with the God Bullies pretty much on permanent hiatus I think there’s little chance of the ‘GB-in-the-can’ album ever coming to fruition. During our last couple reunion tours, rumors of a Box-O-Bullies with videos and the like were whispered about but not much was really happened. Adam and myself layed all our tracks down before I moved to Sunny Austin Texas. Maybe its time someone lites a fire under a couple of asses!

You have a studio in your house. Are you in there most days? And Psycho 66, is that your main music project now?

Psycho 66 has come to pass. I’ve been toying with some new stuff here in sunny Austin Texas. My favorite local band is the Bipolar Gentleman, you should check them out. Psycho 66 was a once a week jam session that turned into a band. This time I was the most well rehearsed musicians. It was a group of people who just wanted to blow some noise in the basement. It was a far cry from the GB’s, mostly Lo Fi minimalist simpleton type stuff. It did have all of the joy of doing music without the pretension that often seems to infect a successful band. We never went into the studio to do a proper job of recoding but there are some basement recordings on Reverbnation just for for prosperity’s sake

You describe yourself as an Old Punk and a Political Propagandist. What do you feel about where America is today, with the Tea Party/Christian Right refusing to give an inch to Obama, and his center-right stance within the Democrat Party? And the Occupy Movement? It’s a turbulent time in America right now

Don’t get me started…. I’m an ex Punk Rocker/Self Proclaimed Slacker/Political Propagandist.Translated: Long Haired/Lazy/Big Mouth! (Okay I’m not really lazy) I’m a live and let live Libertarian. That government is best which governs least. I’m more about personal responsibility rather than the “nanny state”. America is out of control and is pretty much fucked if it continues its empire building. I can certainly relate to the Tea Party wanting a more fiscally responsible Government. I can understand the Occupy Movements frustration over the economy. Unfortunately the Tea Party were co-oped by the far right and the Occupy Movement was all over the board about its demands. The thing that also gets me about the Occupy Movement is that most of these folks are probably still banking with the major banks that got bailed out and they also have a great deal of their investments in wall street! Its the same ol song and dance. Through divide and conquer they keep control and unfortunately most Americans are to involved with American Idol to see it. It takes peoples eyes off the real issues that are staring them in the face. Unconstitutional wars, attacking Libya under the guise of the UN, NDAA, rendition, FEMA camps, drones and the list goes on and on and on… He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither. Our news media is bought and paid for. Every time the news reports about some movie star not wearing panties or any other salacious story you damn well need to see whats really going on. Okay… Let me catch my breath. I told you not to get me started

Thanks Mike

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