Interview & photo by Brian McLean
Fuck It, It’s
only Rotting Corpse
An Interview with Rotting Corpse bassist Steve Murphy
What started as an informal gathering and jam session on a wedding day weekend in July 2004 with four former thrash heads in a band called Rotting Corpse has turned a trip down memory lane into much more.
Leading the foursome was groom and bassist Steve Murphy. The remaining three Rotting Corpse members, vocalist / rhythm guitarist Walt Trachsler, lead guitarist Luke Brewer, and drummer Randy Cook followed in pathway carved out by the newlywed.
The whole Rotting Corpse gathering that has now turned into a full-blown reunion really wasn’t planned at all according to the bassist. It just happened and was nudged along the way with a few printed and publicized words from Trachsler.
Brewer and Murphy have always been in contact with each other over the years and the two would see Cook on a regular basis but with Trachsler, it’s a different story.
Once or twice a year Murphy would speak with Trachsler and it was actually Trachsler who initiated the whole get together with a news blurb posted on http://www.blabbermouth.net in February 2004.
The brief mention prompted Murphy to createhttp://www.rottingcorpse.net. Oddly at the time he didn’t even own a bass nor had any intention of playing bass.
The web site was Murphy’s way of putting something up to represent the band.
As he puts it, “Walt came to my wedding and stayed around long enough for us to practice the next day. With Walt’s crazy schedule, it probably wouldn’t have happened without the wedding.”
“It proved to all of us we could play again and it didn’t sound too bad. I think we were all a little scared about that.”
For the former band members the lingering question was if they could pull it off.
Murphy emphasized that the members didn’t have the energy they once possessed in the 1980’s but things are still intense just in a different way. All the members continued playing in other bands after Rotting Corpse disbanded.
As Murphy puts it, “That helped us grow as musicians.”
Later in the year, it didn’t look like the successful one off gathering of Rotting Corpse on that July weekend would continue, especially after the shooting that took Darrell Abbott’s life.
Murphy says, “Somehow God pulled us together after all that anguish and we started jamming in February of this year which lead to release of the ‘Demos’ CD and then the Memorial Day Massacre reunion shows.”
The interest that materialized over the last year from fans old and new lead to the decision to officially release the four original demos on CD which Murphy kept a watchful eye over.
The limited run of 100 discs signed by original and previous band members sold out and now standard versions are currently available.
With the newly released ‘Demos’ CD in hand, Corpse lined up shows in Houston, Austin and Arlington, the original Texas stomping grounds of Rotting Corpse.
Murphy said he didn’t know what to expect crowd reaction wise.
“The Houston show was amazing but was surpassed by Arlington the following night.”
Bruce Corbitt from Rigor Mortis was in attendance at the Arlington show as well as Rick Perry and Scott Shelby from Gammacide.
“Rigor Mortis had been planning on doing something in 2003 but Mike Scaccia did another tour with Ministry. I am sure from the response we received it encouraged Casey [Orr] and company to pull it off. We definitely inspired Gammacide to move forward.”
Trachsler booked the first date in Houston then Murphy booked the rest and continues to do so. But it was not designed that way according to the bassist.
“Walt was just busy with the Warped Tour as a Travel Coordinator and getting new buses ready.”
As an owner of a computer software company, Murphy says aspects from his daily routine like negotiations and coordinating business related items helped him in doing things for Corpse.
“It’s not like it’s hard, everyone has been asking us to play with them or wanting to get them on the gig with us. It’s been incredible and I feel bad that there’s probably not enough shows to play allowing us to jam with everyone unless we started doing festivals.”
He added, “I’ve played in other bands and mostly it’s like begging to get on gigs. It’s a nice change and we appreciate it.”
Being a business owner has also allowed Murphy to watch out for the best interest of Rotting Corpse.
Murphy believes most people don’t view being in a band as a business and they tend to get taken advantage of. Whereas for Murphy, being in Rotting Corpse is different since the band doesn’t need to play every show offered due to restrictions. Put simply, some band members have lives and wives.
“Sometimes we have to say no and that’s not fun but at the same time I have to look out for Rotting Corpse. Otherwise this reunion will be short lived if we over do it or play shitty shows.”
The response as a whole has been much more intense than Murphy expected. There’s been no serious label interest but there are individuals that want to distribute the disc. And then there are individuals that want to release the disc on their smaller labels.
The distribution offers receive a yes whereas the smaller labels receive a polite thank you for your time and decline of the offer.
“As long as I can sell the CD and merchandise on the web site or at a show I won’t give it up for nothing or pennies. We all have careers and we really aren’t trying to make it like a younger band might but if the right deal came along, I would love to record some new music and really blow people away Rotting Corpse style.”
Rotting Corpse has played with some young metal bands from the Dallas area that is carrying on the tradition of thrash. It gives Murphy hope when he hears so much of the watered down music that’s out there.
He doesn’t know why the whole Rotting Corpse reunion has occurred. To him, it’s more of a challenge and a rush to play live again. The members feed off each practice and show which in turn motivates the four to do it even more.
“We’ve done so much more than I ever expected and I really doubted at the first of 2005 if we would even play one show.”
With Trachsler back from the Warped Tour and several of his buses going back out on tour, the Corpse has more shows lined up.
This time around, they will be supporting the recently reunited Rigor Mortis on a handful of Texas dates and on one of those dates, the billing will consist of Rigor Mortis, Rotting Corpse and the reunited Gammacide.
The show more than likely will prove to be a memorable night that will occur in Dallas and Fort Worth, the hometown area of all three bands. It will be a journey to the old school for the aging thrash fan but a schooling of the old for the young fan.
“There’s a lot of young adults that are really taking a liking to the old school thrash and I have to admit there are some shows that it seems they don’t want to even give it a listen. I am not sure if it sounds dated to them or they see how gay we look. We all have short hair expect for Walt and none of us have any tattoos but the overall reaction has been amazing.”
Murphy added, “Some shows when we feel like we played like shit, we are amazed that people are tripping over us so much. I guess we’re just up there fucking off as usual and it must be contagious in some way.”
When Rotting Corpse is on stage, throw all seriousness out the bus window. They’re not out to prove anything and that’s the key to their show. Each member of Rotting Corpse is a veteran of the stage. The lack of seriousness is what sets them apart. They don’t dress to impress, that’s what their music does.
When Corpse plugs in, class in the old school has begun. Those who run tardy are only short changing themselves. Skipping is not allowed but slamming is.
Murphy likes to consider Rotting Corpse the Cheap Trick of thrash.
The name of their own label says it all, Fuck It, It’s only Thrash but Cheap Thrash is one thing it’s not.