Jungle Jim signing autographs with Poison Ivy and Lux Interior
I’ve known the funny, thoughtful, fashion-forward Jungle Jim since the mid-90s when he was based in Denver with garage rockers The Down-n-Outs. He went on to play drums for two legendary bands, the Cramps and the Makers. Jim now lives in New York City and just made his third record with the hypnotic gothic surf band Twin Guns. Recently I asked him a few questions about his storied musical career.
CRITICAL ANGST: You recently completed a tour with Twin Guns, how did it go?
JUNGLE JIM: It went very well! We played a lot of great shows and participated in two big festivals, The Metro Times Blowout festival in Detroit and the Canadian Music Week festival in Toronto.
As a kid in rural Colorado, did you envision being in famous bands, eventually living in New York City?
Well … not really. I mean, as a kid I dreamt of it. Literally, since I was five years old, I would fantasize about playing in a band while listening to my older brothers’ records, and I guess as I got older and actually started applying myself to the drums and getting such positive response from my peers, well … then it seemed more tangible and I began to envision it. As far as living in NYC, it’s funny I never envisioned that!! I was always intimidated by this place! But when I turned 32, in a very spontaneous move fueled by both frustration and desperation, I moved out here and I’ve been happy ever since!
What is it like when you return to Colorado?
Well, when I go back there I lay pretty low. I only visit my family and a few close friends. I don’t really go out to bars much. Although Twin Guns played a show in my hometown of Pueblo a few years ago and had an amazing turnout!!
How were you discovered by the Cramps?
My old garage rock band in Denver, The Down-n-Outs, got the chance to open up for them on New Years Eve back in ’97 or ’98. They were really nice to us backstage, and Lux was taking pictures of my girlfriend and I. He asked for my address so he could send me them. I never expected him to actually do it, but a few months later I got this black envelope in my mailbox with silver writing … and it was from him!!! I couldn’t believe it! And inside were these 3-D slides with a fold-out cardboard thing to view them with…kinda like those old Viewmaster stereoscope toys from the 1960’s! It was so cool and we were just thrilled to receive such a cool gift from him!
Anyway, I now had his address so I sent him a copy of the Down-n-Outs record and some video footage of us playing live. He must’ve liked it, because they thought of me a few years later when they needed a new drummer!
What did it feel like when you first got hired?
Oh man … I couldn’t believe it! I hadn’t heard from them for a few years and I had moved to Seattle. I got this email from out of the blue saying that they needed a drummer for their European tour and that they would like me to try out. I nearly flipped my wig! They flew my down to L.A. to try out and it went well. A few weeks later we were on a plane to England!
How does your session work with my band rate in the scope of your career? Proudest achievement? (I’m kidding.)
It was fun to be on that Rock ‘n’ Roll Monkey & the Robots record! And that was one of the first times that you and I really got to hang out, so it was great to form that friendship that has lasted all these years!
The Cramps in Amsterdam
Can you tell us the story of how you left the Cramps?
Yeah … prior to joining the Cramps, while I was living in Seattle, I had joined the Makers who I was very happy to be playing with. They had really taken me in, and we had formed a strong bond and had lots of fun together. Well, when the Cramps asked me to join the band as a permanent member, I moved to L.A. and that left the Makers without a drummer. They understood when I left and we still remained great friends.
A few months later, the Makers needed to play some gigs to be able to make their van payment, etc and still hadn’t found a replacement for me. They asked if I would be into helping them out by doing a quick 4-5 date tour with them up to Vancouver. I ran it by Ivy, and she said that it wouldn’t bother her. So when I did that tour, one night we took some band photos. It wasn’t anything fancy, just the singer’s girlfriend taking photos in their living room, but they updated their website with these photos and mentioned something about how I was also playing with the Cramps. Well, when the Cramps’ publicist saw this and told Ivy she was livid! The Makers had worded it in a way that made it seem as though I was still actively in the Makers while also being in the Cramps! I feel that they were trying to cash in on the notoriety of being associated with the Cramps. Ivy called me up and without giving me a chance to explain, basically handed me my walking papers. I think they saw it as a conflict of interest.
What do you feel you learned from that experience?
Well … I learned what a pain in the ass it can be to try to keep up such a strong image like the Cramps had. I mean, they guarded their image to the utmost degree – almost to the point where they seemed imprisoned by it. I mean, in a way that’s very commendable and that’s what made them The Cramps, but with the advent of the Internet they became very worried about information leaking out that didn’t fall directly in line with their image. Lux once told me a story where he was in a record store looking at a record by a band that one of their old tour managers always raved about, and a fan saw him and posted about it on the internet. I can’t remember who the band was, but it wasn’t something that he wanted to be associated with and now here it was on some Cramps chat group that he was interested in this band. And that really bothered him.
Once I became a member of the Cramps, I felt like everything thing I did was being scrutinized so as not to tarnish their image. And it was too much for me, I mean – that was their thing – and it’s great that they kept it up and never let it get watered – down, but I was 20 years younger and from a different generation and not everything that I did fell directly in line with who they were. Obviously we had a lot in common – that’s why they asked me to join in the first place – but in the end, I’m my own person and was unwilling to behave otherwise to guard their vision. I’ve got my own influences and identity. My dignity is more important to me than being a member of any band.
But, all in all it was a great experience and got to do a lot of things with them that I never dreamed of! I mean, I spent Christmas with them at their house, I lost my mind with them in Germany – how many people can say these things?? I have the utmost respect for their vision and their tenacity. They truly were a treasure in this world and one of the biggest influences in my life!
The Makers seem to have faded from the rock ‘n’ roll consciousness a bit, but they continue to be one of my favorite bands. What was it like playing with those hoodlums?
Playing with the Makers was great! I was a big fan of theirs for many years…especially of those early snotty, garage-punk albums that they released on Estrus records. We were a tight-knit bunch … like a gang … and I had a lot of fun touring and recording with them! I lived with the singer, Mike. We moved down to Portland, Oregon together. We’d go drivin’ around in his ’73 Mustang and raise hell! (Laughs) Those were some good times!
How did Twin Guns come together?
Andrea (vocals/guitar) and I met through a Craigslist ad. We initially played together in a band called My Happy Gun as a three piece. We decided that we didn’t really wanna continue with the bass player at the time and were looking for a new one when we were offered a gig playing a Cramps tribute party. We decided to just do the gig as a two-piece, just drums and guitar, and it went really well! So well in fact, that we decided to just carry on as a two-piece band. We were a two-piece for about four years and recorded two albums like that, Scene of the Crime (2011) and Sweet Dreams (2012).
One night at one of our gigs, a friend of ours on the New York scene, Kristin, came up to us after our show and said that should we ever decide to add a bass player to the lineup that she would love to play with us. We had been tossin’ around the idea of adding a third member – whether it be second guitar, organ or bass – for a little while, and this just seemed serendipitous because we were both fond of her – as a person and as a bass player.
So now we’ve been a trio for about a year and a half and have just recorded our third full length album titled The Last Picture Show, which will be coming out soon on Hound Gawd Records! There’s also a two song 7” currently being pressed on Rockin’ Records and a four song split 10” with our buddies from Toronto, the Pow Wows, coming out on Boppa Do Down Records!
You seem committed to music—a lifer—how do you find the drive?
Ha! It’s not even a choice! When I played my first gig after moving to Denver when I was 22 years old…it was a packed show…and feeling all of that energy in the room along with the deafening guitars blaring from the amps and me just … at the center of it all … full of adrenaline and pounding away … I became addicted to that experience and my enthusiasm has never wavered. I’ve basically modeled my life around being able to chase that “high.”
Do you have any good puns today?
None that I care to punctuate at the moment.
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