Nebula: An Interview by Tanya Richardson & Lisa LeeKing

My good friend Lisa LeeKing agreed to let me write this intro in the first person, as there were a few things I wanted to get off my chest about...Nebula. Last year, I traveled on tour with three Sub Pop bands for nine days. This involved riding, eating and sleeping (in the same room) with 15 different guys, all of whom I had never met before. Nebula's Eddie Glass, Ruben Romano and Mark Abshire (founders of Fu Manchu) were among them. On one of our last days, I traded vans and rode home to NYC with Detroit's the Go. To break the ice, we began telling dirty jokes, but as I'd just come from the Nebula vehicle, most of mine were met with an eerie silence. Then the Go asked how my time with the L.A. trio had gone. I announced that on the second day Eddie asked me to hand him a joint, which was hidden in the vanity mirror. I flipped it down to find a picture of a girl giving a rather full grown man a blowjob. "That's pretty much how it went," I said, lighting a cigarette for the first time in more than two years.

Besides pretending to be asleep?a lot?I got to know Nebula fairly well. There was the time I took Mark, their bass player, to the emergency room when he busted open his middle finger in Birmingham, even though a girl with fresh bridge work who was trying to linger after the show assured us all that as a "licensed massage therapist" she was more than capable of handling the situation. (Deep in the medical files of some 'Bama hospital, I'm still listed as Mark's next of kin, despite the fact that I couldn't tell the nurse his last name.)

There was Ruben, the drummer, who when asked what his biggest rock 'n' roll fantasy was, answered, "I guess it's playing in a band, and now I'm doing it!" I told him if he could think of something else, we'd live it out together. Ruben looked down at the bar thoughtfully for a moment, and replied, "I've always wanted to go Malibu racing." Later, he decided his dream was to be the first person to get high with me again (I hadn't gotten high in four years, due to severe marijuana-induced panic attacks). However, on the last evening of the tour, Ruben, my roommate and I, and a few other people at CBGB I'd never met before, did get very, very high, thanks to a well-timed Xanax.

There was also the band's sound man, Mike. He's the one I asked for the Xanax before the CBGB show, adding that "I would even pay them [the band] for it." Mike slid his Ray-Bans down to the bridge of his nose and informed me that they were drug addicts, not drug dealers. There was Luke, too, Nebula's roadie, the Poncho I will always remember as a man who "won't pay more than $6 dollars for a meal," because he's "just going to shit it out anyway."

And of course there was Eddie Glass. I saw Nebula perform during an afternoon show at SXSW, and Mr. Glass wasn't onstage for five minutes before he yelled at the sound person, alternatively took off and then put back on his guitar, threatened not to play, and called the whole thing "bullshit." A friend standing next to me whispered, "Is that the guy you're gonna go on tour with?"

"Uh-huh."

A few minutes later, dabbing a tear from her eye, she smiled and said, "Remember when you were wondering if there would be any problems on this trip? Well, you're looking at him."

My tour diary never made it into print. The magazine that commissioned the piece wanted me to laugh at the bands, not with them, and there I was, thinking I'd been sent out to document a revolution. My sincere apologies to everyone in the bands about the story, but if it's any solace, those nine days are some very vivid, and very cherished, memories. The editors of that popular glossy may live in nicer houses, have better cars and cushier retirement plans than we do, but, as Oasis would say, "We see things they'll never see/You and I are gonna live forever."

Last week Lisa and I spoke with Nebula via Instant Messenger, where we chatted about their latest tour and the new album, Charged, which came out in April and has sold more than 10,000 copies in Europe. They're coming to town soon for a two-night stand at the Mercury, where I have no doubt they will play that shit, man. Play that shit.

?

REMINDER: Never give out your password or credit card number in an instant-message conversation. Eddie Glass: Hi.

Lisa LeeKing: Eddie Glass was able to download Instant Messenger! Tanya Richardson: And because you were high, it only took you 20 minutes! Now all we need is your credit card number.

EG: 3457987733.

TR: Ha! Just a little "I.M." humor. We know you don't have a credit card. So, tell us about the new album. It's very different from the first one you put out on Sub Pop, and I think this record makes it harder to classify Nebula as "stoner rock." EG: Yes, Charged is different. This one was recorded with John Agnello in New Jersey and mixed in New York. Hold on Tonya...

TR: It's Tanya. EG: Oh, okay Tonia. Next question.

TR: Answer the first one, bigshot. EG: I would have but you cut me off! Charged is different in many ways...

TR: It's a lot faster... EG: Yeah it's faster, and slower.

TR: That's deep. LL: What's the response been to the new album?

[long pause]

TR: Don't think too hard... EG: Some people like the new record and others told us it has to grow on them. Or at least that's what I've heard. Nobody dislikes it. If they do, they've got their head up their ass.

LL: Are you guys still into bringing an arena rock show of lights, gongs, smoke, etc., into smaller venues? EG: I guess you could say that, although I hate arena rock. Things like the smoke lights and gongfire are us having a good time and making the tour a bit more dangerous and exciting.

LL: Eddie, you've always been dangerous and exciting! TR: And high.

EG: Yes.

TR: Back to the album, I think it's a sign of a good one when it has to grow on you. Charged definitely grew on me, but I always liked "Shaker." What an awesome song! EG: Thanks Tonyo!

LL: What albums were you guys diggin' when you recorded Charged? EG: We listened to the Soundtrack of Our Lives, Kim Fowley, the 13th Floor Elevators, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the list goes on.

TR: Lisa thinks "diggin'" is a really hip term. EG: Or "digging" if you're white.

TR: Tell us about Dickie [from Blue Cheer] again. EG: You want to know about Mr. Peterson? He came to one of our shows, and afterwards was like, "Hey Ruben, whoa, that was great!" He remembered our names, which was like...whoa. He lives in Cologne now. He looks like he's in the Hells Angels.

TR: And been hit by a 2-by-4 in the face. EG: He's just high.

TR: Still, he's a hottie. EG: He's a cool person. Although he seems healthier as an old man than he did as a young guy.

TR: So he's one of your heroes? EG: I don't have any heroes. Mark and Ruben are here.

TR: Hey Mark. Sorry we started without you. Edy Glase has been doing a pretty good job, though. Tell us about your friendship with Zen Guerrilla and any other current bands you "dig." Mark Abshire: Hey Tanya. Yeah Zen Guerrilla kicks ass! We did a tour with them last year, and they're an awesome live band. Just got a copy of the new Zen Guerrilla record. Haven't heard it yet, but it came in time for this tour.

LL: Tell Eddie I got those pictures of him back from SXSW and made 'em into t-shirts. MA: Eddie on a shirt?

TR: Believe it. We also made some Nebula "doo rags." We're gonna wear those to the show too. MA: The Neb-Brigade.

TR: Hells yeah! Hey, Mark, you seem like a talker. Tell us why this album is different from the last. It seems a little more hard driving. [Very long pause]. You still there Mark? We didn't get anything. LL: So Mark, are you really related to Tom Petty or do you look just like him.

MA: [long pause] Here's...Ruben.

TR: Ruben? How are you? Ruben Romano: Hi Tanya! I'm fine, but really pissed off. Why? Because of the high price of gasoline, that's why!

TR: I hear the album is doing really well in Europe. But are you big in Japan? RR: I don't know. We haven't been able to kamikaze that island yet. Hopefully before the end of this year we'll be able to answer that question.

LL: Tanya and I told Mark we made Nebula doo rags, but they're really a tribute to your headbands. Only ours are bedazzled! RR: What's a doo rag? Besides a band Bob Log III used to be in.

TR: You'll find out. Actually we're going to go put them on now and go drink some beer. RR: Cool. We're gonna get some beer to pound before tonight's show. So we'll see you in a couple of weeks, and then we can all drink some beer. Have a great weekend and try to stay alive.

TR: P.S. Bring Xanax. RR: Only if you bring the Valium.

LL: I'll be out of town that week. RR: Really? I guess we'll miss you then Lisa, but right on Tanya, you'll be there!

TR: Yep, and looks like I'll be wearing doo rags for two.

Nebula plays June 1-2 at Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St. (betw. Ludlow & Essex Sts.), 260-4700.