This article is used without permission, but probably falls under "fair use". Then again, I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV...
"Actually we got the name from the movie, not the book," explains Craig Flanagin, guitarist for the twisted noise band God is My Co-Pilot. "I think that's important to mention."
Actually what is important to mention is why you picked up a guitar.
"I never wanted to be a rock star," he says in earnest. "I heard these noises, and I wanted to be able to make these noises."
Fair enough. God is My Co-Pilot's debut record I Am Not This Body on their own Making of Americans label features prickly bursts of guitar skree, the choppy, driving rhythms of two drummers and the performance of lead singer Sharon Topper, which may include (but is not limited to) singing, speaking, chanting, howling and shearing her throat lining. The album features 34 tracks ranging in duration from 25 seconds to two-and-a-half minutes. Adventurous listeners will embrace it all.
"The songs are long enough to say what they have to say," says Craig. "If you can't learn a chorus after hearing it once, it's not that catchy. I just think of what I like when I listen to something. And if people are going to take the time to listen, you want to give them something back."
Flanagin started jamming with bassist James Garrison, and invited his girlfriend Sharon. Wondrously excited by the results, Craig went searching for a drummer and found Siobhan Duffy. Duffy would sporadically leave the band to travel so they enlisted Michael Evans to fill in. When Duffy would return to play, the band, adopting a "why not" approach, used two drummers (Fish and Roses' Rick Brown and Carbon's David Linton have also filled in from time to time). "We wanted to push and pull the beat," says Flanagin. "Actually, it's twice as quiet when they stop playing!"
Undeniably, God is My Co-Pilot harkens back to the NYC no-wave scene of the late '70s when bands like Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, the Contortions and DNA were slicing and dicing guitars and people's nerves. Has Arto Lindsay (former DNA "guitarist," now with Ambitious Lovers) ever shown up at a gig?
"What, you think he got his guitar sound from us?" Craig laughs "I saw a member of the Y-Pants once. If you play anything at all-even a band that's sonically unprecedented, they'll get compared to something. We've been called a no-wave band and a funk band among any number of things."
The band have played the spectrum of New York clubs, from frequent appearances at the arty Knitting Factory to the occasional gig at rock 'n' roll standard CBGB's
"There are styles associated with those clubs," admits Topper. "We've played hardcore matinees at clubs and they call us a jazz band. We play at CB's and they call us a Knitting Factory band. Then we play at Knitting Factory and they call us a hardcore band! I don't think we fit specifically in one place, but personally I feel more comfortable at the Knitting Factory. Any place where there's a big stage and a long mike cord."
When performing live, Topper takes control of the situation. While the band bears down on the sound, she'll twirl her microphone, stick it in a random audience member's face ("just to see what they say or do") and talk to people in the crowd during instrumentals.
"If you go to see the P-Funk All-stars and somebody tells you, 'It's funk, it's right there in the name,' you'll miss the fact that they are a dynamic rock band," says Craig. "You want to say more about something but it really doesn't matter that much. We've been called a jazz band and we've been called a rock band. It's reductive."
Would you rather be a jazz band that rocks or...
"Oh, hell no! I don't even use the r-word. We only use the j-word because nobody else does. It is guitar, bass and drums. I mean, I can tell you what we're not all day."
Garrison has left the band since the release of the album and has been replaced by Alex Klein. Upcoming releases include a new single on the Ajax label and a track on a compilation put together by NYC guitarist Elliot Sharp. The group also have another complete album in the can which they are looking to release through another label. A prolific bunch, they put out two singles prior to the album's release, the first of which contained covers of jazz master Charles Mingus and the legendary "Iko Iko." That's an interesting choice, Craig.
"Wellllll," he drawls and laughs, "I guess we were concerned about being accessible!" -- Jason Pettigrew
Date created: 4 November 1996 Last modified: 12 June 1997