The Chop Tops

"The Chop Tops began when Sinner found two rocknroll renegades that loved Rockabilly music just as much as he. Sinner's penchant for playing standing drums was only equaled by his love for the roots rockabilly, early punk, & psycho vocalists he grew up listening to. This lead him to developing his own wild style of singing lead vocals while playing standing drums. He teamed up with Gretsch guitar extraordinaire Shelby, after witnessing one of his blistering guitar performances in San Francisco. It was obvious that Shelby shared Sinner's passion for a frantic Rock n' Roll beat and songwriting. Last, but not least, came an upright bassist that would glue together the Chop Tops stompin' singer/drummer and livewire guitar slinger into one red-hot, rockin' band. Sinner's childhood friend and Santa Cruz slap bass pioneer Hotrod completed the band and set The Chop Tops wheels a rollin'."

-Taken from The Chop Tops Myspace

Can you give us a brief history of The Chop Tops and how you guys started?

Sinner: I started the band in '95 as kind of a Anti Rock star group aimed at playing for fun. The band was made up of all friends some of which had run into big egos in their previous bands. I really wanted to get back to the music we loved and away from the lime light...The Chop Tops was born!

Shelby: I came aboard in late 1998 and shed my Rock Starness Lol!

What are some of your musical and non musical influences?

Sinner: I grew up listening to American Roots Rock'n'Roll (Rockabilly), Punk, Psychobilly, Blues, (Old) Country, to name a few. Nonmusical influence would have to be comedians; i.e. The Jerky Boys, Richard Prior, Groucho Marx, and a lot of others.

Shelby: I was influenced and played a lot of different music such as Punk, 70’s Glam, Blues, and Metal. As far as non musical influences, I’d have to say James Henry Atkinson the person who invented the mouse trap. What genius! I aspire to be that clever one day!

What drew you guys into rockabilly and the culture?

Sinner: I heard a bunch of the classics around my house growing up (Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Etc.) So that was my introduction to Rockabilly. Later I heard The Stray Cats & and some early Chris Isaac and that did it.

Shelby: Probably when I first heard the Stray Cats. What really sealed the deal was when I heard Jeff Beck doing his tribute to Gene Vincent/Cliff Gallup on his Crazy Legs CD with the Big Town Playboys. I was in Hollywood at the Virgin Records store in ‘93 and they were playing it. The sound and musicianship really struck a chord! I was hooked.

What's your creative process like and how do you write your songs?

Sinner: Well we try and work together as much as possible. That way there's three heads instead of one working out the material. Some of our material may be a little wild but it's mainly non-fiction stories. Obviously there's a few that are tributes to things we find cool/inspiring, but I find it easiest to sing about what I can relate to.

Shelby: We really don’t write about things we don’t experience, so if something happens in our life, whether good or bad, and it’s worth documenting, then it becomes a song.

Who are some of your favorite bands you've toured with?

Sinner: Nekromantix, The Blasters, Lee Rocker, Mad Sin, Dick Dale were some of the coolest we did dates with for me.

Shelby: The winter US tour we just completed with the Nekromantix and the Koffin Kats was really fun. We had toured with both before, so it was like a big family reunion. Mad Sin is also great to go out with.

Who would you like to tour with in the future?

Sinner: I'd like to tour with The Cramps, Revverend Horton Heat, or The Circle Jerks. Oh yeah and if Oingo Boingo every gets back together I'd love to support them!

Shelby: Anyone who will have us! Lol! No, it would be cool to go out with some really big names such Danzig or maybe get on the upcoming AC/DC tour. I really think we’d it would be great! We’ll see.

What's essential for you guys to have while touring?

Sinner: Sleep, Good Food, & sound checks.

Shelby: Rest! This is something you never get! Lol! You’re in a constant state of motion day after day. I think the small things really make the difference when you’re on the road. Clean clothes and a daily Mocha Fapp from Starbucks really works for me – “no whipped cream please!”

You guys have some great artwork, who does it?

Sinner: We've used two really GREAT Santa Cruz, CA skated board artist the legendary Jimbo Phillips Jr. does most our final drafts for CD's, T-Shirts, Ect. We've also had the good luck of getting Matt Fitz to do some of our logo designs KLILLER work guys!

Shelby: We both have a background in art so we also designed some of the shirts, posters, LP covers etc.

Tell us a little bit about the DVD “Flying Saucer Rock'N'Roll”.

Sinner: We were approached by a friend/director/actor/musician Eric Callero for his first major indie effort...greasers vs. zombies flick. So we were all in and are stoked to have been a part of it. We actually contacted a lot of our other friends and even some fans to be extras in the film, turned out pretty cool!

Shelby: It was filmed in 2004 and it’s the first time the band has ever been in a movie. Hopefully, they’ll be more to come.

What's a day off like for you guys, what do you like to do to relax?

Sinner: Go see movies and play video games.

Shelby: I live a few blocks from the beach in Santa Cruz, so I like to ride my bike above the cliffs. I hang out with my wife doing gardening around the house and act like I’m interested Lol! No, I really appreciate the time off to spend with her, since we’re gone most of the time.

Seeing as we deal with horror and comics as well as music, what are some of your guys' favorite horror movies and comic book characters?

Sinner: I LOVE bad old Horror flicks that have been heckeled by MST3K. I also dig old EC comics (and similar style horror comics.) My favorite horror movie franchise is George A. Romero's Zombie ficks.

Shelby: Herk Harvey’s Carnival Of Lost Souls or The Tingler with Vincent Price. I use to watch old B-horror films on TV with my dad when I was a kid and these two movies would scare the shit out of me. Comic book characters…Spiderman has always been one of favs along with Captain America. I also like old horror comics such as Tales from the Crypt, Haunting, Witching Hour and Eerie.

If you could sum the band up into one of your songs, what song would it be?

Sinner: "Bitch" Ha ha, just kidding. I'd say "Teddy Boy Stomp" captures the let's rock attitude of this band very well.

Shelby: Interesting question. I would have to say maybe any song off of the Evil Six CD, because I think it best describes a day in the life of The Chop Tops. Craziness.
Things are a lot mellower now, but not by much.

Any upcoming projects or events that you'd like to tell us about?

Sinner: We're working on CD #5 and we're doing a US tour this June-July. So check our sites for a show near you!

Shelby: Slowing but surely we’re piecing together songs for our 5th CD. Hopefully it’ll be released at the end of this year. We have been so busy lately with touring.

Where can fans get a hold of your music and merch?

Sinner: www.thechoptops.com/shop.html or itunes, snocap and many other on-line sources.


Anything else you want to say to the fans out there reading this?

Sinner: Thank you everyone for supporting The Chop Tops. And lastly we'd like to thanks...God, The Devil, & Johnny Cash.

Shelby: Thank you for support! We have some of the greatest most loyal fans in the world! Thank you Wreckhouse magazine!!