CKY’s influential debut album, Volume 1 turned 23 this year and we have commentary from ex-vocalist Deron Miller. Check it out below and let us know your thoughts on the record!

First of all, how does it feel knowing Volume 1 turned 23 this year?

A 23rd anniversary is a strange one to acknowledge, but I understand the point. It still feels like we were working on it yesterday and it’s a reminder of how quickly time goes which, sometimes scares me depending on my mood! [laughs]

How did you feel when the album came out?

Very proud of it. I loved how diverse it was. It didn’t stick to one genre and I thought it was a result of being influenced by what we thought were the best of all different kinds of what we call "Rock". I thought it was groundbreaking that every song was recorded at different times because we kept running out of money, and then we would set up and work on the next song. And because of all of the breaks in production, none of the tracks sound like the same band.

Where do you think the album fits in the band's legacy?

I think it sits well as being the beginning. It was a "learn as you go" process. It sits as the first album we produced ourselves, which became a policy. Never use an outside producer. We financed it and did the whole thing ourselves.

How did the band approach writing? What inspired the lyrics?

Jess Margera and myself had at this point been writing and rehearsing for years, since I believe 1995. We spent the majority of our time in his basement doing demos and experimenting with what we were doing. Combining incomplete parts with other incomplete parts and putting them together; which worked sometimes and sometimes didn’t. It was spending a lot of time with trial and error. A lot of the ideas we worked on were scrapped. Some songs were written and used, only to learn that we should have scrapped them. It was four years of a lot of writing and a lot of keeping and tossing. When we felt we hit the nail squarely on the head, we rehearsed and worked out the material and ultimately used the best of it for Volume One.

So, that’s ten songs in four years for one album. Only a very few ideas made it to that record that carried over from before 1997. The lyrics were inspired by horror, dark thoughts, weird behavior, sadness. These were topics I was very familiar with and I was very scared of writing about things that I either knew nothing about, or things that everyone else was writing about that I considered to be corny. Things like relationships, girlfriends, break-ups, rock anthems, or being a tough guy. You can name any song off of that album and I can tell you exactly what inspired it.

Do any of the themes touched on the album still hold relevant for you?

Pretty much all of them and I still employ them even today. My favorite are the "Campfire types", where a story is loosely told. Obviously, a song usually isn’t long enough to tell a complete story but I think I was successful in being able to get across the gist of it. I like to use word play and a sort of twisted imagination and I usually feel satisfied when I’ve finished the lyrics and I feel they are clever.

What were your hopes and expectations for the record during the writing and recording process?

You can always imagine in your head huge success, some success, or simple failure. The album became successful through a process that never occurred to me and I found highly unlikely. Three of the songs were shopped to record companies as a demo tape. Actually, only one record company, Roadrunner because I had a very close contact there. It was turned down because it was seen as stoner rock. Stoner rock was perceived as box office poison in the music industry. But, the way it happened was a route I don’t think any of us expected or had ever heard of before.

When you were in the studio, how was the morale of everyone?

I’d say usually really good. We were always more caught up in paying attention strictly on creating and didn’t have much time for levity or finding faults in each other's personality. We didn’t really ever have issues with each other in the studio. We would record something and we'd all smile and laugh when we knew we had come up with something brilliant.

There weren’t really arguments about anything that I can remember. I think there were times when I thought some of had odd behaviors or quirks, but there wasn’t time for that in the studio that I can recall. But sure, outside of the studio or during breaks there were things I witnessed that I thought were odd and strange, but in a good way.

When was the last time you listened to the record? Are there memories and emotions that come back?

I haven’t listened to those first three albums in I don’t know how many years. I’m in the process of re-recording all of the CKY material right now with my current band. Sometimes, I go on YouTube and listen for reference to refresh my memory, but if you mean like put it on and rock out to it, never.

What do you remember most about making the album?

Being excited about having saved up some money, driving 90 minutes o the studio and getting performances out of myself that I didn’t think I was capable of. We learned a lot from each other. After that, the template was pretty much set and we figured we wouldn’t stray too far from our formula

Were there any bands in particular you enjoyed playing with while touring for the record?

Oh sure. Hot Water Music, Hoobastank. Many others I cant remember. There were a lot of really cool bands we had fun with. I thought the guys in Hoobastank were fun to be with. I remember making them listen to "The best of Divine" every day in the venue before doors would open. You didn’t necessarily have to like a band's music to get along with them and vice versa.

How did things change for the band after the album came out?

Money started to come in after a while. More money than I had ever seen or had. I came from upper middle class but I was a pretty cheap kid. I wasn’t a college expense. My father paid for much of Volume One. We used to walk into record stores and stock the stores ourselves, and it was satisfying to give a store thirty copies and go in the next day and see that only maybe four were left. Things like that.

Later on down the line when it came to licensing the album, there were some issues that were frustrating but it was a small price to pay for becoming independent. I was never financially motivated but it was nice to have more than enough to move out of the house and live with my girlfriend, pay the rent, buy things I wanted or needed. I had around 3 jobs at the time and it was nice to just say goodbye to ever working for someone else ever again. Plus, one of my fondest memories was being the first band ever to have a music video on MTV without being signed to a label. There will always be that.

Do you remember what you were listening to at the time?

My Bloody Valentine, 90's death metal, Anathema, Blue Oyster Cult, Three Mile Pilot. Plus, all the stuff that I still listen to because even today it’s hard for me to find music that I like. Not because I hate it all but more because it’s not as easy to find it as it used to be. I always say that I think my favorite band of all time is still out there but I haven’t found them yet. Thats a frustrating thought!

Do you think of the album any differently now than you did when you recorded it?

Not really. I think all of it is timeless. The music and my writing has evolved over the years and I became more interested on working on my strengths and weaknesses. I think that album shows a lot of vocal weakness that I had at that time because I wasnt really a singer. I had to become one.

Did you ever expect the album to have the influence it did?

I’m still not really aware of the influence it had. We were never a band to have our name in print that much. We burned a lot of media bridges and were left out of quite a lot of promotion and opportunities. But even today, you don’t really see much about that band. Even this interview here came as somewhat of a surprise because we were always ignored and were rarely asked for interviews most of the time. The only times I see how influential the album has been is when fans write or send messages to tell me. It happens many times daily and is pretty much all that matters to me.

Be sure to check out Deron’s new band, 96 Bitter Beings. They just signed to Nuclear Blast Records!

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