Ohio State University seems an unlikely birthplace for one of the best punk rock bands of the modern era, but the Columbus learning institution was, in fact, where singer Eric Davidson combined forces with guitarist Jim Weber, bassist Matt Reber and drummer Bill Randt to form the New Bomb Turks. From the start, the band was oblivious to the genre’s conventions, forging a unique sound that was as much Jerry Lee Lewis as it was Stiff Little Fingers. Meanwhile, Davidson’s clever wordplay and smartass lyrical commentary distinguished the band from punk’s rote, one-two-fuck-you approach.

Now, after 13 years, six full-length albums and more singles, EPs and compilations than you could count, are the New Bomb Turks actually calling it quits? In an interview with MAGNET, the affable, motormouthed Davidson talks about the status of the band, his garage-punk mixtape for Gearhead Records, his new life as a nine-to-fiver and Shaun Cassidy. MAGNET tries to get a word in edgewise.

So how are you keeping busy these days? Still doing freelance writing?
I was writing pretty hard after the [2002] tour. I quit my job at a bookstore, so I was out of work. I was trying to pick up a lot of freelance writing. Then I got a job in June at this company that makes catalogs. My boss is really cool. I met her at a bar and she’s one of these people that I can’t believe I never met before, because we know all the same people. So she hires me at this place and it turns out we’re making catalogs for Amway.

No way.
[Laughs] Now the name is so bad in America that they’ve renamed themselves Quickstar. So three weeks into the job, this girl says to me, “So you know this is Amway?” I’m like, “Oh, fuck.” I was wondering, ‘cause they were selling these little snowmen figurines with like little scripture inscriptions at the bottom.

So you’ve joined the cult.
Yeah, exactly. Whatever. [Amway is] the biggest client they have, but they do some other things, too. They’re a locally owned company, so it’s not like this huge corporate thing ... So yeah, that’s what I’m doing now and I’m trying to do some freelance writing, although when you start doing the 40-hour-a-week thing, that kind of falls by the wayside. I’m hoping to go back to school next fall to get my master’s degree. If I get ideas or bands that I think are good, I can kind of throw it [Gearhead’s] way and see if they like it. This compilation (Greaseball Melodrama), I think we might do another one next year and try to get it out a little quicker than this one, ‘cause it kind of took a while.

So how did you select the songs for the compilation? I noticed a few bands are from Columbus.
I wanted to do something where I could have mostly regional bands, but there wasn’t exactly a plethora of them. The Diverters, they’re old friends of mine. Another band, Gypsy Witch, the singer was in a few really great punk bands. The Chargers, from Cleveland, are really great, although I guess they’ve broken up now. It was just from touring and seeing bands around town and keeping up with the writing thing that I came across bands. The idea was to get really new bands who didn’t have very much out, because it would be fun to get one of their first things out on a comp. And it’s easier to deal with bands when they’re starting out. They’re more excited about it. It takes long enough to get a compilation together. If you try to get really big bands, it just takes forever. So I liked all these bands and I’d seen them all live except for one, I think. Actually, when it came out I was really excited and I talked to [Gearhead] about trying to do another one.

It holds together really well. They don’t all sound alike, but they still seem to have a kinship with the New Bomb Turks.
I think there’s enough diversity on it, but it’s obviously supposed to be a certain kind of thing. If it’s only 14 or 16 songs, you can’t be too all over the place, ‘cause it would be a mess. There are enough compilations out there like that. Around here, people put out these regional comps and it’s really cool and the intent is good, but the songs are just all over the place. I’m pretty happy with it and it’s cool that Gearhead is selling it cheap. It’s $6.98 or something. The first band, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Soldiers, I don’t like the name at all and I keep telling them they should change it, but they like the name and Gearhead might end up doing a record with them. They’re really good, really young kids from Portland. They are not what you would expect live. They are kind of Stones-y, but they’re kind of weird.

So tell me about the Turks. I’ve read a lot of conflicting things. I know you’re not touring anymore, but are you still a band?
I think we’re pretty much done. We’re all still friends and everything. There were just a lot of changes—personal and other kind of shit in our lives—back around when we made the last record. But we just decided to tour a bunch on that record, because we liked it. Our drummer Sam, he has a baby now. He has a wife, too. Actually, she had the baby. And he’s in this band called the Sun. It’s a long story, but basically, they ... got signed to Warner Bros. I’d rather not say too much about it. It would sound like some weird sour grapes and it’s not at all. He’s a great guy and he really helps that band, because the singer, it’s almost like a developmental deal for him. He’s a singer/songwriter kind of guy. With the whole Strokes thing and bands getting signed, they were one of the many. The guy that signed them is a pretty big-deal guy. So anyway, Sam knew he was going to be kind of busy with that and, of course, the baby. And Jim, our guitarist, he wanted to get back to school for his master’s (degree). Everyone just figured we’ve been doing this for 13 years and to get to any next level, we’d have to get a manager. Try to change the sound a little bit. Almost like starting over again. We like our band and we like where it’s at. We kind of like whatever meager reputation we have. Rather than trying to do some kind of lame, last-minute attempt to have a commercial record and get a big payday or something ... At this point, we’ve proven we’re a good live band. We’ve proven that we can put out some good albums. We had a lot of fun and got to tour a lot. So it’s like, we did it for 13 years and it’s not like we didn’t try, so it was just time to move on ... We thought about doing a couple shows, but everyone’s just so busy. We said that on New Year’s Eve we’d play up in Cleveland with the Dirtbombs and the Bassholes and it would be our last show. It’s kind of lame that not even a year later we’re doing a reunion show. [Laughs]

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