For most people, rocking out in the middle of the week seems like overkill but with a band like Nashville Pussy, such naughty actions and against-the-rules behavior is embraced with welcomed arms. At a recent Wednesday show at the House of Blues in downtown Chicago, the fearless foursome—Blaine Cartwright, Ruyter Suys, Jeremy Thompson and the incredibly sexy Karen Cuda—brought out those guilty pleasures from an eager to party crowd. Even after the three opening bands played their lengthy sets, the Chicago crowd wasn’t fazed one bit; they were hungry for some of that wild energy which Nashville Pussy is worshipped for drawing out. Writer Nelson Carvajal gets down and dirty with the Georgia band that has the balls to call themselves “pussy.”
Boosh Magazine: Were you excited about coming to play in Chicago?
Nashville Pussy: Oh hell yeah! We love Chicago. Chicago is one of the few places we go to on our time off. And for a rock band to go anywhere on their time off, instead of staying home—that’s saying a lot. Plus you guys got some really good food here.
BM: Well the name “Nashville Pussy” originated from some Ted Nugent lyrics right?
NP: Yeah it’s from the live album “Double Live Gonzo!” with the song “Wang Dang Poontang” that was recorded in Nashville. Ted Nugent had the balls to dedicate it to all that Nashville pussy. [Laughs].
BM: So it was pretty much a unanimous decision when the time came to name the band?
NP: Yeah, man. You know we had some of the dumbest fucking names in the world. Like one of them was “Bacon Battleship.”
BM: Your band name really puts its foot down. “Nashville Pussy.” You really can’t confuse it with a lot of other acts out there.
NP: You got to back it up too; you can’t call yourself a name like that and then suck. You have to fucking rock. Otherwise it’s like, “What’s the point?”
BM: You do. Your single “Fried Chicken and Coffee” was nominated for a Grammy.
NP: We lost to Metallica. [Laughs].
BM: But that nomination came pretty early in the band’s career. What kind of impact did that have?
NP: It got to some peoples’ heads pretty quick and then with others it didn’t at all. You know, to us it was always one little step [achieving accolades] that we had to do. But at the time it seemed a little too quick; we were nominated and to most of us it didn’t seem appropriate. We had barely been a band! It was cool though. Really, really, really cool. But it seemed premature. And now it’s been almost ten years and they [the Grammys] haven’t looked our way since! [Laughs].
BM: In a way it’s really good, though you always hear—even in television and movies—of the curse that comes with early awards.
NP: With us, luckily, it’s been the opposite. We could spend the rest of our career going after that Grammy award. [Laughs]. At least we lost to Metallica and not Rage Against The Machine. If we would have lost to Rammstein or fucking Rage, I would have been really pissed off. With Metallica it’s like “What the hell…” I’m sure they could use another Grammy.
BM: Your single “Shoot First and Run Like Hell” was featured in the college cult classic “Super Troopers.”
NP: We actually had two songs in there and—hell, I don’t remember what the other one was! But it’s on there! [Laughs]. Both songs are in completely outrageous scenes in the movie. One of them was in the scene when the highway patrol goes after the local cops and they trash the front porch and the other one was when they find a trailer that’s full of weed. There’s a pig inside running around like crazy, trashing the place. So our songs are playing in both of those scenes. We also had a song in “Dead Man On Campus,” and in the last couple of years we’ve had songs on “The Sopranos” and “Entourage.”
BM: That’s wonderful.
NP: We’ve covered a lot of cool shit. Now all we have to do is get on “The Simpsons.”
BM: Speaking of “cool shit” I stumbled across this tidbit of information: You guys played a show at the Cannes Film Festival (in France) last year?
NP: The concert that we played there was part of an afternoon variety show which proves how cool they are in Europe and how lame we (as an audience) can be in the States. I mean they have a band named Nashville Pussy on their afternoon show along with porn stars who sometimes are even hosts! And everyone is watching, from kids to rock n’ rollers to old ladies. Everybody. They’re all watching this shit. There’s no prejudice. There’s no “Oh, this material is too sexual for so and so…” I mean the host was a porn star! Right on!
BM: That’s the show I want to watch.
NP: Yeah, no doubt. And it’s not like it’s “randy” or anything like that. They’re more open-minded because when we played the Cannes Film Festival there literally were little old ladies in the audience clapping and going “Go, Motherfucker Go!”
BM: I watched your music video for “Go, Motherfucker Go!” on Youtube and noticed that during the scene in the bathroom where these two people are having sex, their moment of climax is paralleled with shots of beer bottles being broken over the heads of other people in the bar. It’s the kind of balls-to-the-walls craziness that you don’t see too often. It’s why your band is like a fresh break from everything out; you’re not conventional.
NP: The fact that our name has not allowed us to be mainstream has actually encouraged us to keep our lowbrow status. Maybe not “lowbrow,” but we’re able to maintain our underground superstar status. We never have to try too hard to be too cool cause we know it’s not going to work; we can just continue to be jackasses! [Laughs]. It’s funny. In the rest of the world we do get a lot of (radio) play; it’s only in America, our home country that we don’t.
BM: Well with your name and some of your lyrics you obviously don’t get a lot of television play.
NP: In the states none. In Europe, it’s fine. We’re actually in pretty high demand. Even though we’re signed to a label that gives us censorship problems (here in the States)—with our name. Places like the Bonnaroo fest or Lollapalooza, they’re not calling us. Still to this day. Just the word “pussy” kept us from getting in certain magazines. You can’t print the word “pussy” on a banner ad in the Chicago Tribune. Someone’s going to complain. Someone’s going to get in trouble. Someone’s going to get fired. We have a history of getting people in trouble and getting people fired.
BM: Any recent highlights that stick out from being on the road?
NP: We got stoned with Willie Nelson. That was cool. We were shooting pictures in his ranch; it’s like in an old western town. He invited us into this bar and we smoked weed with him and drank some tequila. That was excellent. As far as any other notable memories—there’s just too much stuff. I can’t really think. One time we were opening for Slayer and someone vomited into a cup and threw it at our drummer. Weird little crap like that you know.
BM: In the arc of your band’s career, what does “From Hell To Texas” (your upcoming album) represent for you? Is it the pinnacle?
NP: It seems like it. Everyone says it is the best one so far—those who have heard it. We’re going to define our own career and not have it defined by music business people. I know that last part’s a factor but I don’t want it to define it. We go out there and do the best we can.
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