An Interview with David Usher

RAW
March 1995

NAME: David Usher

BAND: Moist

FULL NAME AND NICKNAME?
David Usher. I'm sometimes nicknamed hollywood by the band because I like to play a lot

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH?
24 April 1966 in Oxford, England. My family moved to Canada when I was three, but we've lived all over the world. My ideal home? Vancouver, New York, or London.

CURRENT HOME: Vancouver

PREVIOUS BANDS: None to speak of.

IF YOUR HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE, WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE FIRST?
I don't own a house! We play five nights a week, every week. Cos we live on the road I have not had a house for two years. All I own is clothes and a guitar. If we go back to Vancouver for a week, we stay in a hotel!

IF YOU GAVE UP THE MUSIC BUSINESS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Something completely different, but creative. It would involve pacific air and warm weather, maybe a lifeguard or bartender.

FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD?
I've never idolized anyone.

...AND YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PERSON?
The anti-abortionist who shot 3 people in an American clinic then walked down the road an into another clinic and shot somebody else. It was an incredibly offensive violation of women's rights.

WHAT PART OF YOUR BODY WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO CHANGE?
Oh, man, I don't fuckin know!

WHAT DO YOU MOST REGRET ABOUT YOUR PAST?
There is stuff, but none I'm gonna tell you about. Do people really tell you that sort of stuff? (YES) Oh, man. No, no, no. None of that personal stuff.

MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU'VE DONE WHILE DRUNK?
We played a show in New York in front of the entire Chrysalis records label. After a few tequilas I dragged our product manager around by his hair. I was trying to force tequila down his throat while six people tried to drag me off him.

WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE A FIGHT WITH?
I only fight people if they deserve it. My last one was with a bouncer who wasn't watching the show, and saw me throw Mark to the floor. He thought I was a stagediver, but nobody throws me off my own stage!

WHAT DO YOU WEAR IN BED?
Nothing.

WORST JOB YOU EVER HAD?
I was once short of money to take out this girl I was seeing, so I took part in a university experiment. I had a rubber ring put around my dick and sat in a room watching porn movies over and over while a machine measured my arousal! It was my worst and best job!

ANY CRIME YOU'D HAPPILY COMMIT?
I'm anti-drug laws, so that should tell you something.

STUPIDEST THING YOU'VE DONE ONSTAGE?
We were playing at (London's) The Garage and I took a flying leap off the drum riser and onto Mark's back, and we both toppled into the crowd. His guitar landed on someone's face, and as we were pulled back onstage a huge clump of hair came with it!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR?
That I should get more sleep.

BIGGEST MYTH ABOUT ROCK 'N' ROLL?
All the myths about rock 'n' roll are true. And all the myths about rock 'n' roll are totally false. You can live this decadent lifestyle, but at the same time you're working really hard.

MOST PECULIAR PLACE YOU'VE HAD A BONK?
Gimme a break!

BEST THING ABOUT BEING IN MOIST?
Playing our music. We live to be on stage as much as possible.

LAST THING YOU DO BEFORE GOING ONSTAGE?
None I'm gonna tell you about.

DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL DATE.
All different types. We're on the road, man!

WHERE, WHEN, AND AT WHAT AGE DID YOU LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY?
Oh, Fuck off!

WHAT WOULD YOU BUY IF YOU WERE GIVEN A MILLION POUNDS TO SPEND IN A DAY?
An island in the West Indies.

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON GROUPIES?
I'm just glad they're their. (Interrogator remarks that Moist are popular with the ladies and the crowd at the Garage was nearly 50% female) that may be so, but I find the girls come to the front at the beginning of the show, then three songs in get kicked out of the way by the guys, and that's the way it's supposed to be.

WHY SHOULD ANYBODY SPEND THEIR HARD-EARNED CASH ON A MOIST RECORD?
I'm not here to sell that stuff. We just write our songs and hope people will buy them so then we can make more.

WORST THING ABOUT BEING IN MOIST?
You can lose your mind when you give so much of yourself. Sometimes you just don't know what the fuvk's going on. There are times when I've even lost the power of speech!

WHO WOULD YOU LEAST LIKE TO WAKE UP NEXT TO?
Roseanne Barr.

WHICH MOIST SONG WOULD YOU DONATE TO A COMPILATION ENITITLED 'TERRIBLE TUNES OF OUR TIME'?
'Surf Tune' which isn't on our record. We tossed it because..well, it was tossable!

WHICH MEMBER OF THE BAND WOULD YOU BE MOST LIKELY TO TAKE HOME TO MEET YOUR MOTHER?
Jeff (Bassist) the bands professor. He's be most likely to help her do the dishes!

STRANGEST REQUEST FROM A FAN
Somebody thought we'd make good sado-masochistic play-mates and wanted to wax all our bodies because they didn't want to get hair between their teeth! We still have the letter!

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ARRESTED?
I'm too smart!

PROUDEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE?
I'm very proud that our first album 'Silver' was self-financed, and now that very same record which we made ourselves is now available all over the world.