Part outlaw country, part rockabilly fistfight, all great American rock ‘n’ roll, Eddie Spaghetti and his bearded band of dusty hombres The Supersuckers have been bringing the “Evil Powers of Rock ‘n’ Roll” to the masses since 1988, and their live show is a nonstop party. But that good time came to a screeching halt when band leader Mr. Spaghetti was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer in 2015. However, he handled his battle the same way he handles life — with humor and a healthy dose or defiance.
The band is bringing its attitude and distinctive rock and country sound to Hill Country Live on Friday, but before The Supersuckers get their boots on for another round, I caught up with Mr. Spaghetti in the alley behind a bar (where else?) to discuss kicking cancer’s ass, the rigors or touring and why he posts so many bathroom photos online.
Question: Have you beat cancer?
Answer: I made cancer my bitch! I kicked its ass to the curb. Health is good.
Q: Did the throat cancer affect your singing voice at all?
A: It changed a lot when I was going through [the treatments]. Now it’s a little different. I wrestle with things I never had to wrestle with before. But it sounds good.
Q: Was there any point you thought you would never get to rock again?
A: I never really thought anything else but that I’m gonna get back. There was a little moment in there where I thought, “This could be the end,” but I never really thought about it too much. I just said, “This is a bump in the road, and I’m gonna get past it. Everything is gonna be OK.”
Q: What was your first show back like?
A: It was a solo show in Seattle, and it was crazy. There was a lot of love in the room. The support people showed online was great. That was the silver lining to the … cloud that blew over.
Q: Why have there been so many different band members over the years? And what’s the trick to getting the lineup right?
A: Because most people — and this is true of every work, every job, every kind of employment you can have — are complete dipsh**s. And you find you run into a lot of them.
Some people find the magic combination early on and then lose it. Some people don’t find it for a long time. I feel like I’ve finally found it.
Q: What is it about this lineup that makes it the right combination?
A: Everybody likes basically the same kind of rock ‘n’ roll music, give or take a few bands here and there we can’t see eye to eye on. For the most part we all agree upon what is good. And we’re all good at what we do.
Nobody is on a trip. Nobody makes it about them more than they have to. It’s a nice group of guys to be around.
Q: Why do you take so many pictures of and review club bathroom toilets on your Facebook page?
A: Which reminds me, I have to get a bathroom [picture at] The Viper Room.
It’s actually a pretty new endeavor of mine. My wife has been trying to get me to do it for years. I took a couple of really gnarly ones and sent them to her, and she said, “That’s what you should be putting online.” Usually I would just post pictures of the audience giving me the finger. I was just not up for doing that, so I started posting pictures of the toilet as my new thing.
Q: Is a clean bathroom the one thing you need on the road to feel human?
A: It’s a pretty good on. But you don’t expect it. I’m always surprised by it, and suspicious when it is clean. I wonder, “How clean is it really?” and “Who cleaned it last? Who’s job is it to keep this place so … clean? Why are there no dirty savages coming to this place?”
Q: Do you know where the best and worst bathrooms you’ve ever used are?
A: The worst was a hole in the ground. It’s a designed thing where there are handles to hold on to. You put your feet in these areas and squat over this hole. There’s no water or anything.
The finest bathroom I’ve ever been in is the one at Hotel Bellevue. They had one of those robotic toilets that squirts you [and] dries you. I loved it. It automatically opened when you entered the room.
Q: Was “Born with a Tail” the greatest song you’ve ever written? If not, what song was?
A: I don’t know if I could go there, but it’s a good one. The words to that are so particularly good. It’s a simple song though.
Q: Ever meet someone with a tail?
A: I did meet this chick who said she had a tail. She had this little nub that she claimed she could wiggle, but she couldn’t wiggle it.
Q: Are there plans for a new Supersuckers album on the heels of the recently released digital single?
A: There is a Supersuckers album in the works. It won’t be for a while, but we are laying the foundation for it right now.
Q: How would you describe your live show to someone who has never seen the Supersuckers live?
A: It’s like a tornado of rock ‘n’ roll. It should pick them up and toss them around, throw them down violently, then pick them up again at the end. A kind and loving tornado. (Laughs)
The Supersuckers rock Hill Country Live Friday. Tickets are available at Ticketfly.com.
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