interview w/ sir ken e. bones of negative reaction

interview by Gavin Boyle

-thank you for doing this interview, lets start things off. give our listeners a brief history of the band.
*Back in 1990, I was a senior in high school and very much into the New York hardcore scene, so me and a few of the guys from the scene started Negative Reaction, which eventually transformed into a sludge band.

-tell us about the name negative reaction, how did you come up with it & what does it mean to you?
*Everyone in the band at the time wrote down a few names and then we all agreed on Negative Reaction. I actually came up with it because for every positive action there's a stronger Negative Reaction and to me it's meant the same thing to this day.

-you released a number of split releases in the early days, any fond memories of those recordings?
*The very first time I was ever in a recording studio was for our first 7-inch split, Poison Friendship, it was very intimidating, but in the end it was a lot of fun and it came out great for us at the time.

-your vocal style is somewhat unique within the doom/sludge culture why take that approach and not the "norm" of death-grunts and operatic stylings? is that rooted in your hardcore influences?
*Unique is a very polite way of putting it, I don't anyone has ever said that to me before. You are too kind. As for the norm, who is to say what the norm is, this is me and this what I've always done, so I guess it is from my old school hardcore influences. I don't think I ever thought about it.

-who are your main influences, artistically?
*Dave Wyndorf and Monster Magnet, Black Sabbath, The Ramones, Agnostic Front, The Crumbsuckers, DRI, Johnny Cash and Hawkwind, just to name a few.

-any non-musical influences you wish to speak of?
*Insomnia, loneliness, George Lucas and the Star Wars Universe and Jack Kevorkian.

-what type of equipment do you favor to achieve your sound?
*1970s Gibson guitars and Jay Turser guitars, original Orange 120 overdrive amps and anything analog, death to digital.

-what does the future hold for negative reaction?
*Excessive touring, more albums and on a personal level, finishing my book about the band.

-the last words are yours, say what you wish.
*Thanks for the interview. I look forward to tilting back a pint with all of you at the shows. No one will be true to you, if you're not true to yourself... long live Dee Dee Ramone.