The oh-so Righteous Fools
From touring the planet in his Grammy nominated rock band to playing in a local hockey league to contributing to the recording of Probot with the Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl, the past few years have been interesting for NC rock icon Mike Dean of Corrosion of Conformity. Oh, he also produces records for a few lucky bands. Mike Dean is musically gifted, smart as a whip with punk credibility and a realness that eludes most musicians that have accomplished what he has. As well as playing bass as an original member of COC, Dean served as the engineer for C.O.C.'s 2005 Sanctuary Records release, "In the Arms of God." COC are one of the few bands that dared to speak their mind. From the early eighties punk classic, “Technocracy” to the thick as molasses southern sludge from 2005’s “In the Arms of God”, these cats were and are the real thing indeed. Through the ever bustling grapevine, via Pepper Keenan on MTV, I heard the band may be calling it quits after a twenty plus year history. That would really suck. But, never ones to rest on their laurels, Mike Dean, original guitarist Woodroe “Woody” Weatherman and drummer Jason Patterson are soldiering on with a whole new groove. I recently chilled with Mike and talked to him about his new band and all things Mike Dean.Not to be blunt but is COC done?
That's a good question. Maybe. But then again I thought that before. Down (Keenan’s band with Ex-Pantera member’s singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, Crowbar’s axe man Kirk Windstein and Eye Hate God’s Jimmy Bower on drums) is getting tooled up with an album in the works so; Pepper is dedicating his energy towards that. From the point of view of Woodroe, Jason and myself, the door is open to reappear from the abyss to make a strong record and go on tour. That's what we did with "In the Arms of God". As long as the focus wasn't on nostalgia, I'd be there in a second.
Tell me about you new band Righteous Fool? How did you come up with the name?
When we did "In the Arms of God", Woody and I had random working titles of different instrumental ideas. When Keenan asked what one was called, I blurted out "Righteous Fool" to refer to the song that would become "Dirty Hands and Empty Pockets". He included that very phrase in the first line of lyrics. I had been thinking in terms of people who believe they are righteous, tending to be fools and those who realize their potential for foolishness to be righteous. Then when you consider the tarot card "The Fool" and all it's implications like: entering a new phase, striking out on a new path, heading into the unknown and all that, it had a good feel about it. Lots of other cultures and mythologies have a similar archetype as well so the imagery is rich.
Should we expect an album from you guys soon?
We are stockpiling the songs as we speak and doing some high quality recordings. So it won't be long. Recording is becoming part of the writing process for us like so many artists now. If there is anyone interested financing a major album project please get in touch!
Will Righteous Fool explore any new sonic horizons?
New within the frame work of Hobbit Metal and Dinosaur Rock, sure.
Are you excited to be singing full time once again?
It's a lot of work so you'd have to be excited to even try. We are open to working with other vocalists and musicians. Look for some musical collaborators on the record, not necessarily on vocals.
What is one bit of advice you could give an up and coming musician?
If you are influenced by any particular artist, it might be cool to figure out who they were influenced by and absorb that. Look backward a bit further for inspiration and for what makes music enduring. Then throw away all the rules. Also, there are some books you should read about the music business prior to signing anything related to your music.
Have you produced any projects lately?
I've done some engineering lately. Mobile recording mostly. There was the ballet dancer I met who recorded some songs in the vein of Jack Johnson or old John Mayer. Then there was a Russian metal band that ran out of cash. One session was for a very cool band called The Ghost of Saturday Nite. They remind me of Social Distortion, Agent Orange, New York Dolls and maybe the Wipers. That's very catchy and rockin'. A couple of years ago I recorded the band Earthride for Southern Lord Records and there's talk of doing another one in the fall. They are so stripped down and heavy. Earthride.... Just get a couple of mic's in front of the Orange amps, don't mess up the phase of the drums, and ask any engineer, they will make you look smart.
What is your current rig set-up?
Fingers on a four string electric bass guitar roughly derived from a Fender Jazz Bass into an aging Mesa Bass 400 Plus into four Eden 10' speakers in a Mesa cabinet. Sometimes there's a wah wah inline. But those are just tools, kids. It's the content that matters and not so much the means of delivery. That being said, it is nice to be heard.
Who are you listening to nowadays?
Nothing much, I'm giving my ears a rest. I just did mixes for a band who cited "Appetite for Destruction" by G'N'R, as a suitable reference. That is some seriously fatiguing content. Actually there's been some Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson and Lonnie Johnson but no Brothers Johnson cued up in the car.
Are you still punk rock?
I think I've been more punk rock. Early on in C.O.C., we realized that punk rock or hard core always had some restrictive orthodoxy about it. Just like any other socio-artistic-lifestyle brand you can name. As those constructs go there's some positive expression associated with it. If you’re talking The Bad Brains and Articles of Faith, sure, I'm punk rock. If you mean Sid Vicious and G.G. Allen, well, no thanks.
Cletus Raynard Johnston
