I’ve been wanting to get with Reflex and do an interview with the band for quite awhile now. The only thing holding that up was our schedules; they conflicted way too much. Eventually, it worked out so that we could get together after I got off from work (I switched shifts at work. Instead of getting off at eleven in the evening, I now get off around seven p.m.). So I called up Clint Elliot, Reflex’s singer, and made plans to interview the band at The Bandroom (their practice facility/party house) after practice on a Tuesday night. I clocked out from work, drove by my house and picked up my backpack full of goodies. I stopped by the gas station before I went out there and put five bucks in the tank before I made the long drive out to the Bandroom. When I arrived and went inside, I found Clint chillin’ on the couch. Adam Elliot and Brett Marves (the guitar players) were busy tuning their instruments, and Brad McWhorter (the bassist) was messing around with his rig. Everybody seemed down, so I asked Clint what was wrong. Apparently, Chris Jerles (the drummer) had misplaced his drum box, and so he didn’t have any drumsticks. That basically cancelled practice. I looked over the questions that I was going to ask the quintet from Clarksville, and we decided to go ahead with the interview. We went upstairs to the lounge room, and prepared to ‘unwind’ from a rough day at our respective offices. After the proper supplies were prepared, we began the interview.
First question is, how old is everybody?
BM: 18.
CE: 21.
AE: 17.
BMc: 21.
How long have you guys been playing together?
CE: We’ve been writing for a year.
BMc: We’ve been playing together total for about a year and a half. We dicked around for a half a year doing covers.
How did you guys get together?
CE: We met Brett in a gay bar.
Everybody laughs.
BM: Not really.
AE: Me and my brother have been acquainted since we were born. He brought this geek over one day (pointing towards Chris), and they started playing. Jerles...
BM: I met Adam through his band, back in the day when I first moved here. Me and Adam talked about this...We switched positions; actually, I secretly came into the band without the other guitar player knowing.
CJ: Brett started out as the bass player in the band, and Brad started on guitar. But...
BM: That’s Reflex, geek. Me and Adam are talking about old school.
CJ: I played with Clint in a jazz band in school.
BMc: I’ve known Clint and Adam since they were born, and I’ve known Jerles for a pretty damn long time. I met this faggot (nodding towards Brett) when he moved here.
Where did you get your name from?
BM: Wasn’t it a skateboard book?
CJ: The title track off of a Shun CD.
Everybody: No man! You’re flippin’! Shut up man!
BMc: No man, don’t even put that in there.
AE: Our drummer’s a moron.
BM: There’s a skateboarding magazine in the bathroom that say Reflex.
AE: They’re all thrown away.
BMc: At first we had the spelling changed to Rephlex.
BM: Then we changed it to Reflex. It didn’t look right with the r or the p...
AE: Ph.
BM: Ph, whatever...a, b, q, z...
Starting with Clint, who are your influences?
BM: Hed P.E.
AE: He said Clint.
CE: I don’t know. I don’t really have too many influences. I listen to just about any type of music. Nobody really in particular.
Brett?
BM: Hed P.E., Deftones, Slipknot...those are my three personal favorites. I can’t really think of anyone else.
Brad?
BMc: Everybody influences me besides country people. And Rage Against The Machine is number one.
Adam?
AE: Well first of, I’m gonna have to say, that band...Hed P.E.. And, I like Snot a lot too.
BM: I forgot those guys. Yeah, they’re cool.
And Chris?
CJ: Tool, Alice In Chains, Rage...
BM: Whitesnake (Clint laughs).
CJ: Shun too, man. They amaze me. My favorite local group.
How would you describe you sound to someone who has never heard you guys play?
CE: Kinda like an orgasm.
AE: Shit-ridden fuck-face.
Everyone laughs.
CJ: Like an orgasm...I like that.
BM: I don’t know.
CJ: I really don’t know. I’ve never been able to sit back and watch us.
AE: Slow and like a raggedy Jamaican n*gga on the side of a Jamaican street.
BM: Yeah, with a little be-bop gangsta flow-flop n*gga g-hump hit, ya know?
Clint laughs.
BMc: I don’t know if he’ll be able to write that shit.
Clint’s still laughing. Somehow a pipe ends up in my possession.
AE: Hit that shit. Take five.
*We take a small break, and then get right back into the interview*
When you create your songs, what is the basic process that comes in with it?
AE: Chorus, bridge, verse, chorus...
BM: It’s an equation, times the power of six.
BMc: I don’t know man. Everybody just fucks around, and parts of it come out with something good. The drum beats go with it.
CJ: Most of them have a bridge in the middle.
CE: Most songs the words come last. It’s usually the guitars and bass lines that come first.
CJ: Put Me Down though was written without any music. I think it’s our best one if you ask me.
BMc: Actually man, it was written separate from everything. Everything was brought together and it fit.
CE: That’s how it was with our first songs.
So for the most part it comes out from jamming?
BMc: Yeah. It’s the way we like to play.
What are some of the topics that your lyrics are about?
BM: Ex-girlfriends...
CE: Extremes of the everyday. As in extreme highs and lows. Anything that affects your life. Anything that affects your mood.
You guys really don’t play out as much as some of the other bands...why is that?
BMc: Don’t ask me. I’d love to.
CE: Brett’s ass is always grounded.
AE: We’ve been talking about ths, but since Brett got kicked out it’s all good. ‘Cause we’re going to start scheduling as many shows as we can. See, what it was is that Brett’s parents always told him that he couldn’t go nowhere as long as he was under their roof. Cause he wasn’t old enough to get in bars and stuff, but I can go in.
BM: But when other bands have been playing that are my age and havne’t gotten in any trouble, such as Lower Unit. That’s pretty much the only reason.
CJ: Brett’s parents care a little more.
AE: But now that he’s out of the house...
CJ: And out of school., things are going to get better.
You mentioned not being old enough to play in a lot of clubs...is that a huge obstacle?
BMc: Hell no.
CE: Just sneak in the back door (he laughs).
BMc: I don’t find it a huge obstacle at all.
CJ: The Warehouse has worked with us on it, so you know. And The Outer Limit...Sub-Method called from The Outer Limit a couple weeks ago, and we we’re gonna play, but....
BMc: We’ll go back to the last question on that one.
AE: I kinda like not being able to play some of these clubs. Like some of the real good clubs that we can’t play in, because someone may not be old enough...I’m glad we have to wait on playing those, cause I want to be perfect when we play there.
What do you think of the level of musical ability in the area?
CJ: It’s getting a lot better.
CE: I think around here the local scene is better than just about anywhere I’ve seen. It’s got its’ own style, too.
BM: I like what Clint said about our scene has its’ own style, other than country. Some hibberish-gibberish.
AE: An orgasm?
You pretty much elevated the music scene in Clarksville when you put on Rotary Park, because it turned out so sweet. Do you feel any kind of pressure to follow that up?
CJ: Well, kinda. Cause I threw that one...we threw that one. Then here comes FSN, Flood and all them starting to do this on a more regular basis. So uh, I think we need to throw another one. Very soon. Put some more money in the fund for a demo. We need to do something.
That’s my next question. Any plans to go in the studio and record?
CE: Yeah, we’re going to try to in the next couple of months. We have about ten, eleven originals right now. I don’t know if we’re going to o a full-length or a demo, but we haven’t talked in depth about it. We’re going to try and get something going, like maybe release it in the fall.
AE: It’s coming quick.
CJ: At least just a demo, maybe record six of our best songs.
Which would be?
CJ: Put Me Down, Mask...
BM: Solstice...
CE: Torn Apart.
CJ: Always Wanted, of course I kinda like to perfect Paddywagon and put it on there.
Last question. What do you think people take away with them after they see you guys play?
AE: Hopefully a sticker.
Everyone laughs.
BMc: True that.
CJ: Songs in their head that they can’t get rid of.
BM: An orgasm.
CJ: They’re singing it the next day and people are saying, ‘what the fuck are you singing?’ Some shit I heard at some jammin’-ass show last night.
AE: Some jammin’-ass show.
BM: Hopefully they’ll say, oh that’s Reflex.
