Interview with Norwood Fisher from Fishbone
By Philip Lucas-Smith (1996)

Norwood Fisher, Fishbones bassist extraordinaire, is silent on the other 
end of the line as he has just been asked a musicians most feared 
question, how do you describe your bands music?
He clears his throat and responds slowly, "Fishbone music is like a light 
spectrum, and everybody else is one colour, but Fishbone is all the 
colours."

These colours he talks of have been shining brightly for over fifteen 
years, as Fishbone has delivered a crossover style of ska, punk, funk, 
rock and not to mention a few music concoctions that they have invented 
themselves.

This LA troupe of Norwood, his brother and drummer Fish, guitarist John 
Bigham, vocalist/saxophonist/poet Angelo Moore and 
trumpet-player/vocalist Walter Kibby III have been pushing music, social 
and political boundaries ever since Fishbones creation many years ago. 
They started the 3rd wave ska movement through early songs like Party at 
Ground Zero and Ugly; funked around on tunes like When Problems Arise and 
Bonin in the Boneyard; and have progessed to heavier styles on new 
releases like Sunless Saturday, Fight the Youth and the crowd-surfing 
anthem Swim. 

Another expression the band frequently use to describe their music to 
newcomers is Nuttmeg music. Nutmeg was used as a drug by black slaves and 
is still in use today by many prison in-mates. Though, Fisher says their 
references to the spice is not in the same vein.

"For those that take it as a drug, well you know, anyway you slice it it 
still comes up nuts, so it doesn't matter which spin you put on it. For 
us, it is kind of like the scene with James Brown in The Blues Brothers, 
in church, where they get the holy ghost, yeah thats nuts to 
mega-proportions." Fisher ponders it more, "It can be sexual, but we go a 
little bit deeper than that, with us it is to the soul."

Fishbone is one of those bands that most people have heard of but have 
never heard, as they have never been picked up by mainstream radio.
"You know maybe it was something we said," Fisher jokes. "We don't fit the 
mould, there is not too many black musicians out there like us, but is 
just too bad the way of the world is with race or should I say the 
illusion of race."

Since Living Colours demise Fishbone are the only popular all 
african-american rock band around and Fisher is keen to see more blacks 
play music against the stereotype of just rap or RnB .

"We never had the intention of being the only black rock band and I cant 
wait to get more company on the block, you know. The door is open but we 
are the only ones who stepped through."

Fishbones latest effort is titled Chim Chims Baddass Revenge. The cover 
pictures a cartoon monkey, with the same name from the Speed Racer 
cartoon, blowing up the earth. Whenever Fishbone is involved you can bet 
there is some deeper meaning to the title and the cover then the comic 
image it may convey.

"It is a F-O-O-L expression. I was reading a book that was written in the 
30s about savages and they said that savages did things without regard 
for nature. Now we live in a time where we have a so-called advanced 
culture and advanced culture spends the majority of the time ripping the 
planet to shreds. So Chim Chim represents nature, and natures response to 
man."

Dallas Austin was a strange choice of producer for Chim Chim... as he is 
famous for his work in hip hop and dance circles and has produced even 
the likes of Madonna.

Fisher explains the choice, "Like the members of Fishbone he is musically 
well-rounded and even though we don't perform hip hop music everybody in 
the band listens to hip hop and when we got the opportunity to work with 
a hip hop artist we jumped and he jumped at the chance to work with an 
alternative act. It was a pretty good marriage."

Chim Chim... contains the usual Fishbone vast array of styles, though 
this time songs like Rockstar and Riot show a much angrier side to the 
band.

"It was a definite an attempt to put our feelings on the line. It was much 
more personal both inward and outward. Chim Chim was going for a way more 
pissed off state of being, we were not trying to make a commercial record 
at all."

Fishbone has always spread messages in their music in an attempt to stir 
their listeners minds and for them to become aware of the reality of 
their surroundings. Fisher starts to talk politics and the events of the 
recent US election.

"We are headed for the future, I voted for Bill Clinton which usually I 
wouldn't. We got 12 years of Republican with Ronald Reagan and George Bush 
and to me it looked like the world changed while they were in office, it 
was pretty insane. Now though, things are looking promising, with like 
getting to the root of how crack became a problem in my neighbourhood. 
Reagan said war on drugs and crack showed up. Now Clinton is in office 
and people are getting to the root of the problem. Im all for whatever is 
going on right now."

Fisher sets a scene that is hard for people in Australia to fully 
understand, a scene that Fishbone and black rappers have been warning 
society about for years through their music. So which is more important 
to Fishbone the message or the music?

"You'd get five different answers if you asked any of the members of the 
band. Right now you can have a good time with a message and a good time 
without it, but our music always brings the good times."

Fishbones stubbornness to not cooperate and work within the music 
industry norms has alienated it from ever reaching a mass audience. 
However, Fishbone has established a strong cult following and has always 
done just enough to survive, but what would Fisher have done the past 
years if he weren't in the band?

"I used to think Id be a trashman or a lawyer. The trashman job appealed 
to me because I figured as long as I wasn't driving the truck, if I was 
just slinging trash onto the back that I could drink and smoke weed on 
the job and no one would care. I think the creative juice would have 
flowed and I probably would have been unhappy doing anything than music. 
"We have reached a point to where we can really appreciate where we have 
been and the doors we have opened. For me personally it has just gotten 
funner. So I aint looking to stop s--t. For us it is kind of like 
breathing now since we have been doing it for so long."

Fishbone have certainly been busy this year with two albums released 
(Chim Chim and 101, a best of), they have recorded with Weapon Of Choice, 
and are the backing band for the funky diva Joi on her new album The 
Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome. Fishbone has also toured the US on the Warped 
Tour and with De La Soul, and looking into the future it doesnt look like 
they will be slowing down either.

"Hopefully, we will have a new album out early next year tentatively 
titled The Nutcase Scenario. The nutcase being your head and your brain 
is the ultimate nut so we will be cracking shells now. It will be a 
little more accessible but we will still let loose and get wild and all 
of that."

After recording the album the band will begin the endless touring again 
including maybe another trip back to Australia.

"We want to be back in Australia a little bit more than we have been, but 
I think our momentum is getting up to where you will be seeing a lot more 
of us. We will at least hit you once or if not two more times before the 
millennias shift."

Fishbone are at least famous world-wide for their crazy stage-antics and 
suicidal stage dives, plus other soap-opera dramas including: Fishers 
attempt at kidnapping an ex-Fishbone guitarist from joining a cult; 
Fisher getting attacked by a bouncer with mace, which led him to being 
mugged in the carpark as he stumbled around blindly; Angelo Moores 
on-stage encounter with Drew Barrymore, where he abused her to get off 
and when she wouldnt he began licking her; and Moores fight with a police 
horse that had him cornered in a New Orleans street parade. These insane 
events add to the wonder-ment of such a unique band, and it is no 
surprise to hear Norwoods response in what can Australia expect this time 
and in Fishbones future appearances.

"A Fishbone show is unbelievable every time, thats why we say nuts. We 
will be coming down their with all our guns blazing."

Fishbone play the ANU Bar Tuesday, 3rd December. Chim Chims Baddass 
Revenge is out now through Rowdy Records and Fishbone 101 Nuttasaurusmeg 
Fossil Fuelin the Fonkay is out now through Columbia Records.