Mystery ingredient of Active Ingrediants, Jeremy Cravens - By N.L. Belardes
Through all the years of not seeing Active Ingrediants—13 total—I never realized just who their frontman was: Jeremy Cravens. Better yet, this band is on the brink of having been together for 14 years. “It’s us and Mento Buru. We’re the longest lasting bands from around here,” Jeremy Cravens said.
I sat at a table in Rileys. Flower in the Dale in a glittery red dress gossiped with Matildakay who wore black, while Jeremy stopped by to say hello. “I should have know you were in Active Ingrediants,” I said. Last I saw Jeremy it had been a few years… I remember years ago he was in a band called Four More Feet that toured Europe. We knew each other from a little church over in East Bakersfield. His parents, two of the coolest Christian folk you could meet, and true rebels for the cause of the man upstairs had simply raised a rebel themselves. “I’ve been a punk since I was twelve,” he said. He’s 33 now. You do the math. “Some of these kids they want you to dress in Mohawks and leather, and they don’t realize how the scene changes. You don’t have to dress a certain way to be a punk. I tell them how long I have been one and they quiet down.” Jeremy explained scene trends in LA, how bands tear each other down, how the LA punk scene is transforming from the current heavy wave of Mohawks and leather to a more standard dress with punks who just seem to accept the music, its various styles, and each other...
Why be a punk and wear a Mohawk? In the early days of Bakersfield punk such clothes were handmade; there were no Hot Topics with mass produced punk attire like studded leather and chains. Jeremy sports no big leather collar and spiked hairdo. “My hair is receding. I can’t have Mohawks anymore,” he joked.
We talked about various punk movements: Pop punk and what is now called Hardcore punk and how his band kind of slips in between hardcore and the roughness of punk music original to the early 80s. Active Ingrediants music is loud, hard-edged and has punk riffs that border on metal—but it’s not metal at all. They’re a unique hard-sounding blend of rural rock punk with 9 albums to their credit…
Active Ingrediants were introduced by none other than who I think was Slim the Drifter. He recited a poem that may have been titled “Wrecking Ball”. He stood in his western shirt and scuffed cowboy boots and talked it up while the bass player played a wooden flute…
“Why have you stayed in this band for so long?” I asked.
“Why not?” Jeremy smiled. “We love music. If it were all about a label we would have broken up years ago.”
Before Active Ingrediants I watched solo artist, Keaton sing some hilarious country songs… a friend accompanied on one song with a drum kit strapped to his shoulders he jokingly called the War Machine. I heard Keaton was in Pharoah Jones. He was cool as he sat and sung lyrics written on a yellow legal pad. A raccoon tail hung from his mic and his hair hung down over his eyes while he crooned.
Tyler and Sal from local Bakersfield band Liars and Thieves drank beers, ate pretzels and watched the show…
Me? I enjoyed the tour through yesteryear, reminded of early church days and of a young punk boy having grown up a bit of misfit, who now is a veteran in a longstanding Bakersfield band credited with a good bit of Bakersfield punk history…
I sat at a table in Rileys. Flower in the Dale in a glittery red dress gossiped with Matildakay who wore black, while Jeremy stopped by to say hello. “I should have know you were in Active Ingrediants,” I said. Last I saw Jeremy it had been a few years… I remember years ago he was in a band called Four More Feet that toured Europe. We knew each other from a little church over in East Bakersfield. His parents, two of the coolest Christian folk you could meet, and true rebels for the cause of the man upstairs had simply raised a rebel themselves. “I’ve been a punk since I was twelve,” he said. He’s 33 now. You do the math. “Some of these kids they want you to dress in Mohawks and leather, and they don’t realize how the scene changes. You don’t have to dress a certain way to be a punk. I tell them how long I have been one and they quiet down.” Jeremy explained scene trends in LA, how bands tear each other down, how the LA punk scene is transforming from the current heavy wave of Mohawks and leather to a more standard dress with punks who just seem to accept the music, its various styles, and each other...
Why be a punk and wear a Mohawk? In the early days of Bakersfield punk such clothes were handmade; there were no Hot Topics with mass produced punk attire like studded leather and chains. Jeremy sports no big leather collar and spiked hairdo. “My hair is receding. I can’t have Mohawks anymore,” he joked.
We talked about various punk movements: Pop punk and what is now called Hardcore punk and how his band kind of slips in between hardcore and the roughness of punk music original to the early 80s. Active Ingrediants music is loud, hard-edged and has punk riffs that border on metal—but it’s not metal at all. They’re a unique hard-sounding blend of rural rock punk with 9 albums to their credit…
Active Ingrediants were introduced by none other than who I think was Slim the Drifter. He recited a poem that may have been titled “Wrecking Ball”. He stood in his western shirt and scuffed cowboy boots and talked it up while the bass player played a wooden flute…
“Why have you stayed in this band for so long?” I asked.
“Why not?” Jeremy smiled. “We love music. If it were all about a label we would have broken up years ago.”
Before Active Ingrediants I watched solo artist, Keaton sing some hilarious country songs… a friend accompanied on one song with a drum kit strapped to his shoulders he jokingly called the War Machine. I heard Keaton was in Pharoah Jones. He was cool as he sat and sung lyrics written on a yellow legal pad. A raccoon tail hung from his mic and his hair hung down over his eyes while he crooned.
Tyler and Sal from local Bakersfield band Liars and Thieves drank beers, ate pretzels and watched the show…
Me? I enjoyed the tour through yesteryear, reminded of early church days and of a young punk boy having grown up a bit of misfit, who now is a veteran in a longstanding Bakersfield band credited with a good bit of Bakersfield punk history…
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Monday, October 10, 2005.
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I do not know what to give for Christmas of the to friends, advise something ....
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