'The Soul of Dirt, Reborn'

There will always be a place within Rock’n’Roll’s hallowed halls for beer-drinkin’ hell-raisin’ f**k-yer-girlfriend kinda sloppy wasted guitar-driven feel-good metal punk.

Hello, Dirty Rig!

Lead singer Kory Clarke, from the ashes of Warrior Soul, has decided to f**k politics and art in an effort to get down and funky with a sucker-punch to the solar plexus named Dirty Rig. Escapi Records — home to Dissection, Dragonlord, Speed Hate Kill, Ice T’s Body Count, Tokyo Dragons, The Dictators, Trouble and Cactus — makes no apologies for the mayhem that might be created when Dirty Rig starts its set with “Suck It,” “Drunk Again,” “Dogs,” “Hot Porno Star” and that old blues-hot proviso “If You See Kay.”

Kory has his hands full with this crew. There are no awards given out for impropriety. Guitarist Chas, drummer Dave Ardolina and bassist Buckshot subscribe to the ethic layed down a long time ago by the Stones, Aerosmith and Faces. Rock ‘til you drop…party ‘til you puke…and f**k you. That attitude comes out loud and clear in their music. To that end, Dirty Rig stands tall in a long line of rock’n’roll nihilists.

Chatting recently with Kory, I first noted that with lyrics veritably drenched in angry politics, it seemed like he constantly used his musical podium as a soapbox to expose what he saw as major social inequities? True or false? "Yes, I try to enlighten, inspire, entertain, and inform people about the dangers that exist from the powers that mislead them."

Amazingly, a lot of what you 'warned' about on these records has come to pass, but is there one prophecy of yours more than any other that impresses you the most?! "'Blown Away,' 'The Party,' 'Trip Rider,' 'Shine Like It,' 'Ghetto Nation' all have validity right now to name a few."

For the Average Joe who may not have heard of you or Warrior Soul and was thinking of buying any of these newly-remastered WS titles, how would you yourself describe the bands sound? "Trippin' ass hard rock, Sabbath meets The Doors meets The Sex Pistols."

And talking about that sound, between '90 and '95 it seemed to change from a trippy Doors-influenced debut to some of the more punk-oriented, and heavy metal material by the time it got to 'Space Age Playboys.' What was happening to the band through these musical changes and who was making the musical direction decisions? "I produced and arranged the records. The band had a lot of depth. Pete McClanahan (Bass) came up with great riffs and changes that I would mix and match lengthen and shorten till the songs were ready to record."

Your album titles were always colorful, but which album in general are you most happiest with all round and why ... ? "'Space Age Playboys' because it's such a great sounding in your face record."

... and which one was - in reflection - a mistake for many reasons? "I'm sorry, but I'm quite happy with all my recordings. I wish I had more experience when I did the first one only because we could have saved lot's of money."

Is it true that you are thinking of doing some shows featuring your old WS material with former Warrior Soul members, outside of your new band Dirty Rig? "Yes, I would like to play London and New York."

Do you think fellow musical protesters such as Rage Against The Machines Zach de la Rocha and Korns Jonathan Davis have gotten their stage angst from your own good self ... and if so, does that make you their musical father?! "I don't know, my agressive persona and vocal style did preceed there arrival, but I doubt I had an influence. As far as I know they have never mentioned it in an interview."

Whilst drumming for The Trial in 1982 pictures were shown to the audience of stolen autopsy footage from the Detroit Morgue juxtaposed with McDonalds commercials and hardcore porn! Wow, does it get any more rock 'n roll than that ... and who stole the Morgue footage?! "A friend of Kevin Quins (Guitar). We ran the film on screen and used a video camera to record it to beta format."

What '70s, '80s or '90s (and possibly cheesy!) pop/rock song would you love to cover today if asked ... and why?! "999's 'Boy's In The Gang' because I love it."

Lastly, I like Penguins ... do you?! "As long as there not locking me down in an iceberg!"

Thanx again for doing this for us today, and we wish you all the best for the future "Thank you, it was a pleasure."

Interviewed by Russell A. Trunk

If you would like to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of one of Kory Clark's CDs and think you know all there is to know about the man, just answer this easy question: When Buckshot mentioned the fact that Dirty Rig was without a lead singer to a mutual friend of his and Clarke’s, the connection was made. Buckshot then went to which venue to see Clarke sing with a revamped Warrior Soul lineup?!