Pig Whipped Punk Blues

Think Bron-Y-Aur Stomp from Led Zeppelin III and you're inside the blues-inspired dimension of Hillstomp; throw in anything percussive that gets thrown out, plus an old kitchen sink... but then notice it's not only loose, it's all hanging together like a master puppetry, it's a cacophony of quality.

I used to live in the same London flats as The Pogues, a band Hillstomp have two things in common with. Both got hold of a music genre and whipped it up into a more energetic, sometimes frenzied, form. And just as most Pogues songs weren't old classics vamped up, but originals out of Shane MacGowan's
head; so too, Hillstomp do a few covers (especially of R.L. Burnside), but most are originals. Their songs just sound like time-worn classics. Time worn, yet timeless.

Q & Eh?  - Hillstomp

Would it be fair to compare you to the band Boston?

John: God I hope not! Henry: I really hope so, I have a deep love for Boston, why, it was my dream when I started this band that we'd become the new Boston... etc..

Have you ever thought of having a pet pig?

Henry: No. John: Yes, we've discussed it, but only if it stayed small.

Potatoes or rice?

John: Potatoes, definitely. Henry: Rice, I'm watching my waistline for the ladies, brown of course.

Brown what, brown ladies, brown rice, brown hippies?

Henry: Hah, ladies, both I mean & brown hippies.

How many swans do you recommend, per bathtub?

Henry: No fewer than six... (grins)... it's a very large bathtub

In your mansion?

Henry: Yes, it's MC Hammer's old place... we had a chance to acquire it, and... you know...

Do you use an alarm clock?

Henry: No, I don't need to get up, I'm a nightworker John: Always, every day, but I never get up.

Beer/Wine/Whiskey or?

John: Any and all, but not anymore... that was then Henry: IPA. Favorite is Bridgeport, some are too hoppy

Given free unrestricted travel, where would you go?

Henry: Australia! I don't know why, it just feels like a last frontier

You mean the outback then?

Henry: All of it: I'd go all around the outside and then into the outback. John: Ireland, I'm drawn to it, the music, the people.

What's the first logo that springs into your mind?

Henry: Pet pig! Pig in a cage...

Whose logo is that?

Henry: Ours, it could be...

What's the best use for WD 40?

Henry: Gears on a bycycle, that's what I use it for

You still ride a bike?

Henry: Yep, all the time. John: (Hesitates) Henry: Remember this is a family show. John: (self censored ).... flamethrowing

Really?

John: don't try it.

When did you last run, and why?

John: Four years ago - in an attempt to make last call at a bar down the road.

Kammerer sings "NE Portland 3am; running from the ghosts again, I cannot tell the ghosts from men." But uncannily, this still sounds like an ancient lament, with other lines like "nothing sweeter in this world, than a blue eyed Carolina girl; the men in Carolina know, you love them well before they go." only the Portland reference gives it away. Although blues phrasing doesn't readily accommodate rambling storytelling, Hillstomp's conjured up street scenes and imagined journeys are worthy of comparison with Tom Waits's, a pared-down Waits perhaps.
  Photo left and above: Desiree Fredenburg

Most of the lyrics and song ideas are Kammerer's, heavily filtered and adorned by the deceptively musical Johnson - you can't make bashing on found objects sound that good unless you are steeped in a music background as he is. By contrast, Kammerer is a self-taught, bedroom, 'I needed an art credit' guitarist; quirkily using his index finger for slide rather than his pinky. They create a surprisingly big textured sound using no pre-records. But It's that songwriting that set Hillstomp apart from other lo-fi blues derivative forerunners like Doo Rag who got snared in a limited sound.

The CDs: 

I recommend buying each of their first 3 CD's; 'One Word', 'The Woman that Ended the World' and 'After Two but Before Five'(live), they're fairly lo-fi recordings, but are sure to become collectibles. When the current tour ends in summer they band are going back into the studio with more money to spend on quality sound, it should be good. As far as future plans, they'll stay a duo for now, convinced they have 2-3 more full length albums in them yet .

The band use harmonica mics for their vocals, Kammerer insists that modern vocal mics have too many rich tones and that old broadcast, or harmonica mics, are actually better for picking up lyrics. It seems he's right, it sounded great live - however, I wish they'd use a normal mic for the between song chatter, so they don't sound like Steven Hawkins all show.

Nothing lasts for ever though, so catch Hillstomp soon, enjoy their contraptions, the energy, the trance-blues mixed up with hillbilly punk, so you can say you were there; because this band is something. As Kammerer replied when I remarked that the ramshackle image was a little misleading, "No, this, I'm taking really seriously" and Johnson... well he just stinks of rhythm and magic buckets.

Support Footnote: 

Opening for Hillstomp was the solo incarnation of Rollie Tussing, a brilliant guitarist and dazzlingly knowledgeable regular on the local Portland scene. For this performance he was a one-man band playing up-tempo blues, and he warmed things up perfectly. Tussing struggles a little with vocal range, and occasionally uses a kazoo - which isn't my favourite instrument - yet occasionally finds a perfect voice. On his myspace he cites the aforementioned Tom Waits as an influence, and he almost settles on a Waits type vocal at points. But it's the mastery of the guitar that grips the audience - you get the impression that he could play anything well, and that he's as one with his instrument (careful how you quote that one...). Tussing told me he has several other musical threads, too many, but whatever he's doing next time around it should be worth a night out.