"When we were told that we’re playing Bulgaria we went crazy"

Trey Spruance, amazing guitarist of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More fame brings his current band SECRET CHIEFS 3 to Sofia, joining in the series of gigs celebrating Tangra Mega Rock radio's 4th anniversary.

Trey and co. will play Sofia Live Club on 7 May.В The man himself describes his band's music as Surf-Grindcore-Psychedelic. Wow! A good reason to call him on the phone for a couple of questions.

an interview conducted by Nasso Ruskov

HELLO TREY, I BELIEVE THIS IS YOUR FIRST INTERVIEW FOR BULGARIA, OR AM I WRONG?
No, you're right.

OK, SO WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
Right now we're in a little village in the North of France

REALLY? IS IT PICTURESQUE?
It is very beautiful. It's the home of our booking agent and it's where we get our instruments together and kind of rehearse a little bit before touring.

YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY A VERY CREATIVE AND BUSY PERSON. WOULD IT BE FAIR TO SAY THAT YOU'D PROBABLY GET A BIT RESTLESS, IF NOT MAD, IF YOU WERE SOMEHOW FORCED TO TAKE A LONG HOLIDAY?
That's actually a good point. I don't want to think that's true, but I think it has come to that, yes.

I MEAN WHAT'S THE LONGEST TIME YOU'VE TAKEN OFF WITHOUT DOING ANY ALBUMS OR RECORDING OR TOURING?
Oh my God...Haven't stopped since I was 15 years old...I'm 40 now.

HAHA, OK HAVE YOU HAD MORE THAN TWO WEEKS OFF THEN?
No. No way.В 
В 

WELL, I GUESS IT RINGS TRUE WITH YOU THAT PEOPLE SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP MOVING AND NOT ONLY IN A PHYSICAL SENSE...
Yeah. You have to know where you're going though, if you're gonna move. So once you know where you're going in a way you can't wait to get to where you're headed, so why waste time?

THE BAND THAT YOU'RE BRINGING OVER TO OUR LOVELY LITTLE COUNTRY IS CALLED THE SECRET CHIEFS 3 - COULD YOU ELABORATE ON WHAT THE "3" IN THE BAND NAME STANDS FOR?
Well, three has always been a pretty important number. You know, it's the number of Unity, it's the way to unite things - if there's more than one essentially the first number that could possibly unite one and two would be three.

So it's a triangular number, it's the first triangular number, there's all kinds of stuff with Pythagorian mathematics that work out pretty nicely with it. Then there's the Thrice Great Hermes, the Holy Trinity, there are a million reasons why it's a very easy number to pay honour to.

WHAT IN YOUR OPINION WOULD BE THE BEST REASON FOR PEOPLE TO COME AND SEE YOU GUYS LIVE?
That's a good question. Probably...Well, it depends on where you are. You're in Bulgaria, so the answer to that question would be maybe, to hear a band that's from the United States that isn't just playing rock'n'roll, isn't just trying to have a big party, playing a few chords and getting super wasted and drunk and doing tons of drugs and singing about nothing...that there are actually bands that maybe try to do something beyond that - that might be the best reason.

YOUR MUSIC EVOKES A LOT OF IMAGES, IT'S MORE OF A SOUND/VISUAL SCAPE AS WELL. WHAT FILM WOULD YOU SAY THE SECRET CHIEFS 3 LOOK AND SOUND LIKE LIVE?
Hmm...Yeah, it probably switches between a few different types of film. Sometimes it's like a big religious epic, with lots of big giant battles and stuff.

Maybe at other times it's like a really claustrophobic horror movie. We did like a fake soundtrack for a giallo horror movie not too long ago that we made up in our minds.

So you're right to talk about it in visual terms, we often conceive things in a very visual way.

SOME GOOD FRIEND OF OURS THAT KNOW YOU PRETTY WELLВ SAID ONLY GOOD THINGS ABOUT YOU AND ADDED THAT YOU'RE COMPLETELY INSANE. I'VE OFTEN SEEN YOU DESCRIBED AS A MAD GENIUS - DOES IT ANNOY YOU, OR ARE YOU FLATTERED BY IT OR JUST USED TO IT NOW?
It's probably too hard to live up to. It doesn't annoy me, but maybe I've gotten used to hearing it.

ACTUALLY I CAN HEAR THE BIRDS SINGING OUT THERE THROUGH THE PHONE...
Ah, that's just my crazy mind spinning.

В Faith No More 1995 - King for a Day...

OBVIOUSLY MOST PEOPLE HERE KNOW YOU THROUGH MR. BUNGLE AND FAITH NO MORE, ESPECIALLY THE LATTER AND THE ALBUM YOU RECORDED WITH THEM. WHAT WERE YOUR BEST MOMENTS RECORDING 'KING FOR A DAY...'?
I think my favourite part from that was when all of our recording was finished and we went to the studio to add string parts and a choir at the end of the last song. And the gospel choir, it was really wonderful watching them work.

It was also funny, as we showed up at the studio and nobody had realized that charts had to be written for the string players. So that job fell to me and I very quickly, off the top of my head just charted out what we thought the string parts should be, a really half-ass job and that ended up on the record, it was pretty funny.

HAVE YOU ACTUALLY SEEN THEM LIVE SINCE THEY REUNITED?
Yeah, I actually just saw them a couple of weeks ago and they were really really good.

WHAT ABOUT MR. BUNGLE THEN - A BAND THAT HAS ITS VERY OWN UNIQUE SPECIFIC SET OF FANS...
Hahah!

THEY GET VERY PRECIOUS AND FOR INSTANCE MY FAVOURITE BUNGLE ALBUM IS THE LAST ONE YOU GUYS DID, BUT I HEAR SOME OF THE HARDCORE FANS SAYING IT'S A BIT TOO MELODIC FOR THEM...
Haha, yeah, some people think that 'Disco Volante' is the one. People who love the first album get shunned by those who love the second album and then there are people who like the third album - they get shunned by fans of the first two albums.

THIS MEANS I LIKE YOU "POP" ALBUM, SO TO SAY, 'CALIFORNIA'.
Yeah well, you know, we're pretty happy with all of the records we did, so you wouldn't get any of us to pick favourites.

В 
Mr Bungle 1999

ANY CHANCE OF ANOTHER MR. BUNGLE ALBUM SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE?
We haven't really discussed that and probably if we talk about it, it would jinx it if it was gonna happen, so right now I can't say for sure one way or the other. But we've all been seeing each other once in a while and hanging out. There's no huge obstacle.

What I like about Mr. Bungle and the state we're in right now is that I think it would only happen if there was a creative reason for it to happen, if there was a big inspiration for us to get together coming from a musical thing, then yeah, it would happen I think.

Any other sort of pressure to make it happen would make it less likely to happen, I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.

YOU ALSO HAVE YOUR OWN LABEL – IS THAT STILL A JOY TO RUN, IS IT EASY OR CAN IT GET TO BE A BIT OF A PAIN IN THE NECK?
It’s easy and rewarding and good when there are bands that are self-sufficient, that find a way to tour and to support themselves, to support their music by playing live.

WITHOUT PESTERING YOU FOR MONEY ALL THE TIME….
Yeah, the thing is, we don’t have a lot of money. With Secret Chiefs we’ve done everything ourselves, so we don’t ask for money because we don’t have any.

Some bands, like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, can work in that format really well, so it’s easy to get behind a band like that. Other bands, if I’m a huge fan of their music but there’s no way for them to tour or anything, we’ll put the record out, but there’s not a whole lot more we can do.

Right now there’s a new album coming out by a band called Cleric – a new band on the label that is renewing my excitement about having a record label cause they’re completely amazing.

YOU HAVEN’T BEEN TO BULGARIA BEFORE – WHAT DOES THE VERY NAME EVOKE IN YOU?
Well actually I’ve been to Romania and Turkey, so I’ve been around Bulgaria a few times, but I’ve never been in the country. The first that comes to mind I guess is all the incredible music I’ve heard from there.

Also I know a good bit of the history, I’m a bit of a history buff about the Byzantine empire and stuff like that. So there are a few things that come to mind, but none of them probably have anything to do with the reality.

SINCE YOU PLAY A LOT OF EXOTIC INSTRUMENTS, I SUPPOSE YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN PICKING UP SOME LOCAL TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENT WHEN YOU COME OVER.
I certainly wouldn’t be qualified to play any of them though. The musicians are so incredibly good that I would feel like an idiot picking up any instrument in Bulgaria or Romania or anywhere around there. Everybody plays circles around us, we’re taking advantage of people’s politeness, who are listening to us play our music so incompetently.

WELL, THANKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW. BY THE WAY THOSE BIRDS HAVE REALLY PUT ME IN A TRANQUIL MOOD NOW, SO I’M GOING TO WISH YOU A WONDERFUL EVENING…
Hahah, likewise to you too.

OK, WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU GUYS OVER HERE.
Man, we’re really looking forward to playing there, I tell you. When we were told that we’re playing Bulgaria we went crazy, it was such a great piece of news for us.

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