“We’re Not Special People”

Jae-Ha Kim

By Jae-Ha Kim
Grey City Journal
September 30, 1983

Rank & File don’t look like a country band, but they are. Led by the Kinman Brothers, Chip (25) and Tony (26), Rank & File is the hottest thing to come out of Texas since the yellow rose. Originally, Chip and Tony were founding members of a San Francisco based punk band called the Dils.

Although that was a good basis for gaining experience, they felt stifled by the restraints of punk. So they packed up and left California for Austin, Texas. They met up with Slim Jim Evans (drums) and Alejandro Escovedo (guitar) and formed Rank & File. Gigs were hard to come by back then. The locals didn’t know what to make of them — they were too country for the rock clubs, and too rock for the c & w clubs.

Now, however, Chip says that they play as much as they want to, and that they love playing live. It’s evident in their shows. Loud and raw, they play with all the energy of a hungry punk band. Besides playing excellent cuts like “Amanda Ruth” and “Coyote” from their Slash debut lp Sundown, they play covers of Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, and a speedier version of George Jones’ “White Lightening.” Less concerned with clothing and image than with their music, Rank & File are the antithesis of the current crop of British stars infiltrating the U.S.

I caught up with Chip and Tony at Fitzgerald’s, a club in Berwyn, IL. They were breaking in a new guitarist, Junior Brown, and were eager to talk about their music. Blond and boyish, Chip is the physical opposite of the 6’4″, intense-looking Tony. But both were adamant about one thing — their music!

Jae: What do you think about the new bands that are coming out like Duran Duran and Culture Club?
Chip: I hate them! I think they’re al bunch of nonsense. Their music is so soulless…

J: But then there’s U2. They’re relatively new, but they write about political events…

C: U2 are better than most of the bands in the “new breed”, but I don’t particularly get into them either.

J: Who do you like?
C: Well, I like Merle Haggard’s band, the Strangers. I like the Blasters, and in my Dils days, I really liked the Ramones a lot. I still like them…

J: How ’bout you, Tony?
Tony: I listen to reggae, and country, of course. I also like that last one by Paul McCartney (Tug of War). I know it’s kind of uncool to admit that nowadays.

J: What do you think about these new bands that are cropping up now?
T: Well, I don’t hate them. I just don’t really listen to them.

J: Did you and Chip always play in bands together?
T: No, Chip started this band. I was trying to go to college.

J: What college?
T: Berkeley.

J: Berkeley? You must be pretty smart.
T: I got by. (smiles shyly)

J: How long have you been playing the bass?
T: Oh, I’ve been playing on and off for several years now.

J: How ’bout you, Chip? How long have you been playing the guitar?
C: I’ve been playing since I was 16.

J: Did you always want to be in a band, or did you have more traditional ideas as a child?
C: Oh, I had more conventional ideas, you know. I thought about becoming a doctor, or a lawyer…or an Indian chief!

J: Hence the western video, huh? Your video for your namesake song, “Rank & File,” is quite clever. I like it —it’s like a short Western movie.
C: Yah, we wanted to keep it basic, like our music. It took 4 days to shoot, and we filmed it in L.A. We didn’t want to clutter it up with models and things like that.

J: My favorite part is when Tony kicks over the cactus at the end of the song.
C: We didn’t want to do that, but they made us. It was only a paper cactus, by the way. Do you remember that story from a couple of years ago where that man shot a cactus?

J: Uh, yes…
C: Well, it fell down on him and killed him. Anyhow, so it’s illegal to do things like that now.

J: People have been having a hard time trying to classify your music. Some say you’re a rock band, while others say you’re a country band…and some even go so far as to call you “new wave country.”
C: Oh, well I don’t apply that term to us. That indicates that you have a specialized audience, but we’re not like that. We get all kinds of people at our shows.

J: So what would you call your music?
C: We’re a country, or a rock and roll band…No new wave connotations!

J: But you know, part of the classification problem lies in the fact that you guys don’t look country. Even earlier this year, you guys wore hats and fringe suede jackets, but now…
C: No, we’re going Hawaiian now. (laughs) (By the way, Chip is wearing a sleeveless, light green Hawaiian shirt, blue/green jeans, and black Beatle boots. Tony looks a bit more countryish in his brown trousers, white t-shirt and blue denim vest, but either of the brothers could easily pass as a member of a new wave band). Anyways, it’s the music that counts, not the look. So think how we dress isn’t that important…although this is my best shirt (laughs).

J: What happened to Alejandro (Escovedo)? He was a founding member of the band…
C: Well, we had different ideas as musicians. He decided to leave.

J: So Junior Brown’s only been in the band for a little while?
C: Three weeks, so you’re seeing one of our first shows with him.
T: He’s a fast learner, so he picked up our songs really quickly.

J: I understand that the Oak Ridge Boys turned down your offer to open for them.
T: Yah, they said that they really liked our music, but that we were too country for them. That was pretty weird.

J: Where will you be recording your next lp — in L.A. or Austin?
T: We’ll record it this November in L.A. There’re more facilities over there. There aren’t that many in Texas. There’s one good one where Willie Nelson records, but if we came in and played our music, they’d be surprised. (laughs)

J: You guys are pretty easy going when it comes to intermingling with the audience. I’ve never been to a concert before where the band members go into he audience between sets and chat with the folks.
C: We don’t get into that “backstage mentality.” We’re not special people just ’cause we’re in a band. You probably do things that are just as important as what we do, but in a different form. Besides, there’s no big deal about being backstage…I don’t like staying there. It’s boring!

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