WEB EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: TORCHE’S JUAN MONTOYA QUESTIONS HARVEY MILK’S STEVEN TANNER

In a matter of hours, Juan Montoya will be soaring over the Atlantic with the other members of his band, Miami sludge-pop destroyers Torche, to pillage Europe (slowly and prettily). Still, time restrictions be damned, the guitarist (below, second from right) is so eager to speak with one of his musical inspirations, Harvey Milk bassist Steven Tanner, he has reserved an hour, pre-tarmac, to chat. As it happens, long-running stoner rockers Harvey Milk, who rarely toured during their first stint as a band in the mid ’90s, have just returned from their first-ever European tour. “We’re going to pick up the pieces of what you guys left behind,” Montoya says with a laugh. “You guys must be tired, Jesus!” rejoins Tanner. “I can rest when I’m dead,” says Montoya.

Torche, photo by Janette Valentine

Aside from both playing goopy, epic, melodic sludge, Harvey Milk and Torche also share the perseverance and drive explicit in Montoya’s statement. The former, named after a revolutionary, openly gay San Francisco politician who was ultimately assassinated, formed in 1992 in Athens, Georgia; despite the limited tour schedules, the band—led by Tanner and vocalist-guitarist Creston Spiers—released a bevy of the ’90s’ heaviest slabs of distorted, slow-mo metal, including their touchstone, Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men. The band split up in ’98, and Tanner moved to New York, where he now co-owns a Brooklyn southern-food eatery called Pies-n-Thighs (currently on hiatus). Harvey Milk re-formed in 2006 and now includes drummer Kyle Spence and bass legend Joe Preston (formerly of the Melvins, Earth, High on Fire, and every other band you worship). This year, they released the stellar Life… the Best Game in Town (Hydra Head), which Montoya says had a profound effect on him and the other members of Torche.

Montoya’s band also released their own critically acclaimed hummable sludge-fest this year, Meanderthal, also on Hydra Head. Continuing the forward-thinking foot-slogging dirges Montoya made with vocalist-guitarist Steve Brooks in early ’90s cult faves Floor, the album confirms that the vets in Torche owe as much as debt to Radiohead as they do Harvey Milk. Although Montoya and Tanner (below, far right) have met briefly on occasion since Harvey Milk re-formed, the Torche-bearer was excited to have an in-depth conversation with one of his heroes for Revolver. “I want to know about you, man,” Montoya says, “this perversion of nature called Steven Tanner.”

Harvey Milk

JUAN MONTOYA The new album is just brilliant, man. It’s amazing. I love it. We listen to it like crazy. Not to hype up the interview, but it’s true. It’s very soulful, man. You guys are a heavy band, but you guys are so dynamic. I think it’s more than the heaviness that Metallica have, it’s that heaviness that bands like Pink Floyd have.
STEVEN TANNER Uh, you just mentioned two bands that we despise.

MONTOYA Oh, fuck. Who cares?
TANNER Have you heard the new Metallica? God, it’s so shitty.

MONTOYA [sounding optimistic] Yeah, I heard a couple songs. And, you know…
TANNER That guy can’t play drums, man. He just cannot play drums.

MONTOYA I don’t know. It’s weird, because I grew up listening to Metallica…
TANNER Oh, I did, too.

MONTOYA And it’s just, I think they still have a lot more in them. It’s just their lifestyle is so distracting, man.
TANNER I think they should just practice.

MONTOYA [Laughs] I don’t know. It’s insane. I think I prefer you guys, right now.
TANNER Pshaw, thanks!

MONTOYA You guys just did your first European tour. When you guys formed, you were very prolific with writing music. Was it difficult for you guys to head out? Or did you guys not have your shit together back then to be able to produce fuckin’ tours?
TANNER I’m not trying to be funny, but we still don’t have our shit together. We never did. Writing music and stuff like that was always pretty easy. This last record, I pretty much forced to happen. Creston had no interest in making a record.

MONTOYA I think the new record smokes. What we do with Torche is definitely influenced by you guys: this heavy, dynamic music, but with this amazing melody. It’s inspired by you.
TANNER You guys are blowing up!

MONTOYA How was the response in Europe?
TANNER It was great. There were parts of it that exceeded my wildest expectations. We played in front of so many people in England, in Birmingham. There were thousands of people there and in the quiet parts of the songs and nobody was talking. It was pretty incredible. Much different than playing here.

MONTOYA They take it to heart over there. Germans love the heavy, intense stuff. [Tanner laughs] The British, they love their music, man. And so much good music has come out of them, so I kind of feel honored when we go there.
TANNER Well, that’s where all of it comes out of. I can’t think of any American metal bands that I like.

MONTOYA Yeah.
TANNER Except for Slayer. But where’s Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo from? South America or something?

Torche, photo by Janette Valentine

MONTOYA Yeah, and there’s such a heavy music movement in South America. I guess it comes from politics. When shit’s fucked up over there, people just release that through their music. It’s happened over the last few years with Bush. People are just fed up, so heavy music is making a strong comeback.
TANNER That definitely has no influence on us. We’re just miserable dudes. [Montoya laughs] But you’ve been around us. We’re fun dudes. Life can be pretty mundane in Athens, Georgia. Kyle and Creston have lives down there. There’s nothing down there for me.

MONTOYA How long ago did you move to New York?
TANNER About 10 years ago. And I never really played any music up here. After playing with Creston for so long, I’m not gonna fucking bother. He’s definitely who I want to do this kind of shit with.

MONTOYA Yeah, well, he’s a beast, man. I love his playing.
TANNER [Laughs] He never plays the guitar, either. He hates it. You should see him play drums. He’s a fuckin’ nuts drummer, man. He can pretty much play anything nuts. You give that guy a vibraphone and he’s like fuckin’ Jimi Hendrix on it.

MONTOYA He’s similar to Steve, our guitarist. People will try to talk shop to him and a minute later, he’ll just get bored of it. He’ll be like, “Yeah, so, uh, where’s the coolest bar in this town?”
TANNER As far as gear goes, all that’s Kyle. When we used to play with Paul, me, and Creston had, like, Peavey amps, I think. And when we started playing with Kyle, he was like, “Oh, these won’t do.” So even now, me and Creston are fucking 40 years old and still Kyle’s, like, buying the amps and setting them up and plugging them in. Because I can’t figure out how to do that sort of thing. You can, because you work at Guitar Center. That’s your business.

MONTOYA Yeah, I’ve been there four or five years, and I learned so much…
TANNER When are you going to be able to quit that job?

MONTOYA Dude, I don’t know. Human resources called my boss and were like, “Who’s this guy that hasn’t been to work for six months?” Because we’ve been traveling so much. And I have my health insurance there, and they’re like, they might have to let me go. But they’d be able to hire me back if I come back. But we’ve just been at it. We’re going to Europe today. We’re going to be out there for a month. We’re going to Japan in November. How much touring did you guys do in the beginning?
TANNER Uh, there was a handful of bands that were pretty successful that would take us around for a week or two. And then we would do stuff by ourselves on the payphone. The $500 phone-bill tour and no guarantees. At least gas was a dollar then. We did our fair share of it. We never went to the West Coast or anything. We played in New York with Godhead Silo in front of two people, and then we’d get offstage and all of a sudden, there’d be 500 people. It’s always kind of been bad luck. I don’t get it either. I think it’s the Internet and the success of bands like Boris and SunnO)). I met Takeshi from Boris. He was fucking awesome. And I got Takeshi completely ripped.

MONTOYA After touring with them, our drummer, Rick [Smith] got a tattoo of one of the drawings that’s on the new Boris Smile record. He’s the only dude in the band that has tattoos now.
TANNER Me and Kyle have no tattoos; Joe Preston, numerous tattoos; Creston, tattoos.

MONTOYA What does Creston have on him?
TANNER Creston has the dumbest. He has the Silver Surfer, who is actually blue. Then he has a hog that’s fading on his arm. And then he’s got this purple-and-green snake that’s eating itself. And he has a Jesus fish and a crab.

MONTOYA [Laughs] What ladies does he want to impress, man?
TANNER He’s married.

MONTOYA Oh. What does Preston have?
TANNER Oh, shit. Where do you begin? He’s covered in ’em. He’s got a big old cat eating a bird on his back. I don’t know, man. I don’t get this tattoo shit.

MONTOYA Well, he’s covered in hair, man. He’s a bear, dude.
TANNER He’s a total bear.

MONTOYA Does he have any tattoos that incorporate with the hair on his body or anything like that?
TANNER [Laughs hard] I don’t know. He’s got something in German or something on his stomach. And I was like, “What the fuck does that say?” And he said, “Cat lover.” We refer to him as “the Wolfman.” The Wolfman likes cats.

MONTOYA That guy’s an intense dude. Super sweet, too, and mega-talented. It must allow you to go crazy on the bass.
TANNER Nah, we just make fun of Joe mostly.

MONTOYA [Laughs] Yeah, it’s funny how you guys heckle each other.
TANNER Joe’s good for us. Joe’s not a partier. He kind of keeps it together a little bit. Creston can party. That guy seems to play better the more shit-faced he gets. I can’t. It will destroy me.

MONTOYA If I smoke before I play sometimes, I just have a problem plugging cables in. Especially in Europe. How intense was it out there?
TANNER We had never been there. The best part was that the shows start early, so there’s not a lot of downtime or boredom before playing. You actually get done at a normal hour and you’re not exhausted and then you can have a nice time. What time are you leaving today?

MONTOYA At 7:00.
TANNER OK, go to the store and buy 30 cans of refried beans and numerous packs of tortillas, because there’s no goddamn Mexican food over there. [Montoya laughs] We were having serious withdrawals. No Mexican food. Just like, God damn it, what the fuck?!

Harvey Milk

MONTOYA It’s crazy. We usually stay at friends’ houses, but once in a while we’ll do a long drive and stop off at a Days Inn, and most of these hostels in Europe are a lot nicer. The beds are a little bit smaller, but still, it’s comfy.
TANNER Oh hey, you guys should pack bottles of ketchup, man. They fucking charge you for condiments, like in McDonalds and Burger Kings and stuff. It’s like 50 cents for a pack of ketchup. [Montoya laughs] Laugh now or thank me later!

MONTOYA I’ll take an I.V. with ketchup. [Laughs]
TANNER Dude, I like ketchup on my fries. I need, like, 20 fuckin’ packs. It’s like 10 bucks.

MONTOYA What about the bathrooms out there?
TANNER The cans in Germany were amazing. Nobody hipped me to it, but I was like, Fuck, man, you have to pay to use these god-damn bathrooms? And the first one I was like, God, it’s so clean. And the music was really good. And then after I got up, the machine comes out of the wall and starts sanitizing the toilet rim. And the toilet seat starts spinning around. I was like, holy shit, what the fuck is this?

MONTOYA I totally freaked out when I saw that. I wanted to videotape it.
TANNER As soon as it cleaned it, I immediately stood up and peed on it and then it cleaned it again. So every time we would stop to use the bathroom, I would just be in the bathroom for 20 minutes. And then we went to a France, at a truck stop, and it was literally just a hole in the ground. And there were turds all over the floor.

MONTOYA Oh, man. That’s brutal, man. You have to hold onto the wall in case you get a big one through, man.
TANNER No, you just fucking hold it. Oh, and the coffee is so shitty over there. Trying to drink that instant stuff, I actually threw up quite a few times. It was like ingesting those crystal coffee grounds or whatever the fuck it was.

MONTOYA That’s funny man. What about the open sexuality out there in Europe?
TANNER I didn’t take advantage of anything. It’s like, I have a dog so I miss my dog a lot. So whenever I saw a puppy or somebody walking their dog, I’d end up hanging out with them. That’s more my game.

MONTOYA So what have you been doing since you’ve been back?
TANNER We’re gonna make a new record. I want to make an EP called Rippers that’s just all balls-to-the-wall riff rockers. We can’t ever agree on covers. Kyle’s the hardest. When we played with Paul [Trudeau, former drummer], Paul’s up for anything. But when it’s like, “Hey, let’s do this song,” Kyle’s like, “No fucking way.” So I came up with the idea that each member of the group would pick two songs to cover and no one can say no, and we would release four singles of the covers. So Kyle hates Rush more than anything, so I’m just gonna pick “A Passage to Bangkok” and “By-Tor & the Snow Dog” or something by Rush just so he has to learn it.

MONTOYA Those are massive, man.
TANNER I recently heard a Tesla song. I love Tesla. I saw Tesla like 10 times when I was in high school. I really thought Kyle would like this Tesla song and I told him to download it. And he called me back, like, “It’s so bad, what’s wrong with you?” And I’m like, “It’s so good!”

Interview by KORY GROW