Skate Punk: Tim Kerr - musician - Interview

Thrasher Magazine, August, 2001 by Wez Lundry

THE TERM "SKATE ROCK" was coined by Thrasher's own Mofo Kin the early '80s. It encompassed mostly fast and aggressive punk, often played by skateboarders themselves. One of the penultimate skate rock bands of the time was Texas' Big Boys. They were also one of the bands who didn't quite fit into the typical skate rock mode. Their music incorporated jazz, soul, and funk, and they didn't take themselves too seriously (their singer Biscuit would play shows dressed in a tutu or whatever getup he could put together). They were a bunch of skaters looking to have some fun and be creative, and it showed in their music. They put out a few records here and there--a bunch of stuff was reissued by Touch & Go, entitled The Skinny Elvis (earlier stuff) and The Fat Elvis (later stuff)--and a new release of some comp. tracks and outtakes is on the way.

Tim Kerr was their guitar player and one of the founders. Always playing his guts out with a big grin, he skillfully pounded out tunes and was one of the guys who helped direct the Big Boys. After the Big Boys he played in Poison 13, a legendary blues/punk band from Austin; Bad Mutha Goose and the Brothers Grimm, a funk/rock act that got some playing time in a few skate videos of the mid-'80s; then it was on to the Monkeywrench, who put out a record and played some shows seven or eight years ago (having just reformed); The Lord High Fixers; The Now Time Delegation, a soul driven act with Lisa from the Bell Rays; and The Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee. Tim also produces and has made quite a name for himself on the other side of the board. All of this, and he finds the time to work a day job doing computer graphics at the U of Texas library.

Tim has truly left an imprint in the skateboarding and punk rock communities; one of the most genuine guys I know--totally sincere and still just giddy about playing and checking out music. His bands tend not to tour much, but if you ever get a chance to check 'em out, you'd be silly to pass it up.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST BECOME INTERESTED IN MUSIC?

I had two older brothers, so I heard and was into music from day one.

What kind of stuff did you like?

Soul music, and then when the British invasion happened I was into that too. When Black Sabbath was going I was really into acoustic music like John Martyn, early Bruce Cockburn, Nick Drake, and folk blues--I still am--and really wasn't that much into rock. I saw a lot of bands when I was in high school, like Humble Pie and Led Zeppelin, but wasn't really interested in that style. I had started playing guitar in elementary school and by the time I was a freshman I was consumed with acoustic guitars and tunings. I did like Johnny Winter.

How did you get into soul music? Weren't most of the kids your age just into rock?

My oldest brother was into soul and would always listen to the AM soul stations which were always at the end of the dial: "Let's take it further down the dial" as the Big Boys would say. I was getting into acoustic guitar music and old acoustic blues, so I was definitely a weirdo to my peers. I listened to soul music through all this. You heard it at parties; mostly Motown hits.

How did you get interested in punk rock?

I was working at a record store when punk rock hit. I was more into the Clash and XTC, the Undertones, than say the Sex Pistols who to me just sounded like a rock and roll band. It was all going pretty fast and one of my friends who I skated with (Biscuit) would tell us about this crazy club where bands would play called Raul's. So Chris Gates and Beth and I went to see a big battle of the bands there and I was completely taken by the community spirit of it all. The crowd was just as much a part of the "show" as the band. It was wonderful.

Which came first for you, skating or punk?

Skateboarding. I am from the original school.

Surfing or skating?

I grew up near the beach and surfing and skating went hand in hand for me. When surfing got big in the '60s, I would go to the beach and rent a board. I had a 15 Toes skateboard with clay wheels that I would pretend I was surfing on. Surfing and skating were not two separate things, and to me in spirit still are not.

Do you still surf or skate?

Not as much as I would like to. My plate is full right now with recording bands, playing in bands, and trying to keep my regular job, so I don't have much time; I've been thinking a lot about it lately and making time for it again.

Was the Big Boys your first band?

Yes. I had played at the Kerrville Folk Festival because I had won a song writing contest and had won the next year too, but a week before the show I had broken my arm in a 14-foot pool. Everyone there said it looked like I was surfing and dove from the top. I now have plates in my left arm. They told me it would set off the metal detector at the airport but it doesn't.

Explain the whole JFA/Brian Brannon challenging the Big Boys, or anyone, in their letter to Thrasher in the early '80s.

Being a skater in a punk rock band became fairly fashionable so there were a lot of bands claiming they were a skate band. JFA did not know that the Big Boys had all been skaters before punk rock even existed. It was actually at Pflugerville ditch where Chris and I flipped a coin to see who would play bass and who would play guitar after we had just started going to Raul's. We decided that it would be fun to get a band together and try to play there once. We were a punk rock band that happened to be all skaters. It was a small, close-knit family back then and we wrote to Thrasher, not for promotion but to find out if we could meet up so they could show us some ditches When we first came to San Francisco in the late "70s/early '80s. We met Mofo and KT and after that Mofo decided he wanted to do a cartoon story on us--Wild