HIP THERAPY MUSIC

While researching new music posts for HipTherapyMuisic.com, I have repeatedly encountered the name Victor Krummenacher: working with Dave Alvin’s Third Mind project, working on a video with X’s John Doe, playing with X drummer DJ Bonebrake’s new Two Heads project, and so forth. Like Butch and Sundance, I, too, asked, “Who IS this guy?”

Several emails and one 90-minute FaceTime conversation later, I now know: Victor Krummenacher is talented, generous, smart, and something of a “Zelig” in alternative music. He started Camper Van Beethoven and played with Cracker. He knows TONS of people and has toured with even more. Most importantly to this website, he’s been crucial to a variety of well-received major new projects. Who knew?

My profile of Victor will run in multiple parts. First, we talk about his time with Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, as well as his recent contributions to projects with John Doe and Dave Alvin. In additional posts, we’ll discuss DJ Bonebrake and “Two Heads,” his music faves, how he listens, and new projects coming up. Thanks, Victor!

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WH: Tell us who you are, what makes you happy, how you have fun.

VK:  I am a bass player primarily, songwriter, guitar player, design director and video editor. I grew up in Riverside, CA, on classic LA punk rock, like X, the Germs, the Blasters, the Slash Records stable. I co-founded Camper Van Beethorven in June of 1983 with David Lowery in Redlands, CA. Moved to Santa Cruz, CA, and played in that band for 7 years, did six albums, something like that. That band broke up in 1990. We have a side project called Monks of Doom which we described as our Captain-Beefheart-meets-Led Zeppelin-at-a-party-and-everyone-goes-home-happy kind of band. That was a harder, more experimental band, with David Immergluck, who’s now the lead guitarist in Counting Crows.

We did that for 3 or 4 years then Immy left to join Counting Crows and then I started making solo records. I did that sporadically through the 90s. In 1999 I rejoined David Lowery and started playing bass with Cracker. Did solo work, played with Cracker, Camper reformed in 2002. Camper Van Beethoven is still playing, or at least was still playing through the pandemic, we hope to play again though it’s financially challenging at this point. People keep asking, is Camper broken up? The answer is NOOO, but it’s not active right now. I was in Camper and Cracker at the same time but that was too much, I couldn’t handle being in both bands. Being in two bands with David is just… hard. Being in one band is hard enough. We have a Davies-brothers life… I guess that’s a good way of putting it. 

“I know of no other group of musicians as weird or intense as Camper, which I think makes sense when you hear the music.”

— Victor Krummenacher

WH: Could be worse… Could be the Gallagers.

VK: No, it’s not that toxic, though it can be a little contentious. It’s a really squirrely group of musicians. I know of no other group of musicians as weird or intense as Camper, which I think makes sense when you hear the music. About 2006 or so I made a decision with the solo stuff to be a little less experimental, to be a little more Americana, basically because I was really into playing live and I needed to simplify what I was playing. I built a really good band and I had a network when I was living in the Bay Area. I had a solid run.

In 2018 I got divorced and I really wanted out of San Francisco because I’d been there off and on for 30 years. So I sold my house and I moved back to LA and I started The Third Mind with Dave (Alvin). I also did this Two Heads project that you’ve heard about with John Foreman, who played guitar for Matthew Sweet, and my old friend Willie Aron. Willie was in a band called The Balancing Act but Willie also did stuff like being musical director for Leonard Cohen, he also used to play keyboards for Roger Daltry. Also DJ Bonebrake, who I know from X. I’ve known DJ for quite a while as well.

I think something that people don’t know about DJ is that he was a vibes player first and a drummer second. Big Zappa fan. I think he actually owns a set of Ruth Underwood vibes — she was the vibes player for Frank. DJ auditioned for Beefheart, too. That’s something people really don’t know. 

“Cue up Beefheart, then we know someone knows their 60s garage music! “

— Victor Krummenacher

WH: I’ve never talked to anyone that has a Beefheart connection!

VK: Beefheart was a big influence for Camper, he’s like a secret currency, he was like the secret handshake. Cue up Beefheart, then we know someone knows their 60s garage music! And if you could handle Trout Mask Replica, then you were a genuine freak. 

WH: How did you wind up in the Pacific Northwest? 

VK:  Well, two  years ago as the pandemic hit, I’d been contemplating moving to Portland, I figured what the hell, why not? It’s cheaper than LA. Peter Buck, who’s up here, is an old friend, and through Peter, who had been producing this band called Eyelids, I discovered an opportunity and I agreed to play bass with them. They’re a bunch of guys a bit younger than me… guys from Decembrists, Guided by Voices, who played with Eliot Smith… so that’s a good venue for me. 

So currently, I’m a member of Eyelids, Two Heads, The Third Mind, Monks of Doom, Camper Van Beethoven, and I do solo work. I just did this solo record called Silver Smoke of Dreams which came out last year. I was able to do a little west coast touring for it but because of the pandemic I can’t really do what I normally do, which is call friends and take an acoustic guitar and go and do sets in Chicago or New York or whatever. So I’ve just been doing video work. I was working on this John Doe record that’s coming out…

WH:  Is that the Folk Trio album (Fables In A Foreign Land)?

VK: Yeah, it’s so essential, it’s just beautiful. It’s played live, the bass player is from Willie Nelson’s band. It’s just so essential. And that guy, John, he’s pushing 70 and what a singer! Such a great voice. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and I think most of his solo records have been really great. I’m really good at putting all the bullshit in there and John’s really good at stripping it all out (laughs).

It was pretty inspirational to work on this record for him — to work on his video. I take a video job and I say, Jesus… the way I make videos usually I work with archival footage. John’s an actor so he’s good at this. He did a few takes of syncing to the song that were really good and that helped. But again, you agree to do it, and I get paid to do it, but also I like doing it but there’s this creative thing you have to get into.

Sometimes you sit and you procrastinate and you just have to stew with it. And then there’s this big push before you have any momentum, before I can show a rough cut. It’s just hours of researching stuff. I don’t know what it is but I do find it compelling and fun. Well, I enjoy doing it but it’s not necessarily a fun process. All I can say is if you’re creative minded you just have to embrace it. You asked what I do for fun, well I make music for fun. I direct videos for fun. And it’s work. 

WH: Why are you out there fighting the good fight of continuing to work on new projects?
VK: There’s no reason for me to do it. There are fellow musicians I know that have taken more conservative paths who have a certain level of success or a certain image or a certain kind of idea. A lot of times your image is just your own perception of yourself, it’s not just really accurate… and they’ll pursue the path of least resistance.

I deliberately put myself in a position where, financially… Sometimes it’s a hurdle and a hassle to make the kind of music I want to make. I’d struck a balance for a long time, because I had a day job. I’d use the money that I made from Camper to allow me to do solo material. There’s always a challenge in the economics of it but for me personally music is… well, sacrosanct is maybe too strong of a word… It is important to me. The artform is important to me. I actually believe in the artform and so I pursue it.

“…sometimes having a live solo band is just a real pain, making sure everything gets taken care of…”

— Victor Krummenacher

WH You’re what my cohorts call a lifer.

VK: You just get to a point where you figure out what works, I’ve figured out what kind of balance works. Post covid I’m not playing nearly as much as I used to live and I miss the live experience but you know, sometimes having a live solo band is just a real pain, making sure everything gets taken care of, everyone gets paid, just keeping it organized. But post-Bay Area and post-Covid, there’s not much of a point (in playing live).

A lot of the people I work with are older and at higher risk for Covid so they don’t want to go out. I did find a band in Portland that I like playing with live. I have a venue now to plug in and turn it up and play loud. The solo stuff… I’m just gonna do it anyway. I’m very fortunate. I’ve made a lot of deep connections over the years so I know how to make a record well, I’m a pretty accomplished engineer in my own right, so as long as I can go somewhere and do basics well I can usually get most of the pre-mix production done at home. Saves a ton of money.

I do work all the time but for me it’s not work, it’s just what I do. Some people don’t understand, “You’re always doing something!” That’s just… what I do. I do lay on the couch sometimes but a day where I’m doing nothing all day is pretty rare. 

WH: When you find something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life…

VK: Yeah. I’m a design director by day. I have a creative brain and it’s just happier when it’s being creative. It’s interesting because I was not a huge Wilco fan even though Nels Cline is an old friend. I know some of those guys and they’re alright. Gradually more and more I’ve come to love them. One of the things that really secured that for me was reading (Jeff) Tweedy’s book, his autobiography (Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back)), weirdly because I thought his line on creativity was great. It’s just about getting in there and doing it.

“One day, I’m just gonna call you, and I’m gonna come here, and we’re gonna play Slim’s and we’re gonna play Truckin’ for half an hour!”

— Dave Alvin to Victor Krummenacher

I find that my best experiences, like, often in the studio, when I work with somebody like Dave Alvin, when I did that Third Mind record, there’s no script, right? Dave and I had talked about the record for a while, we had a general idea. Dave’s kind of an old hippy. We’ve been friends for a very long time and we had a joke, and this was when I was living in San Francisco, he said, “One day, I’m just gonna call you, and I’m gonna come here, and we’re gonna play Slim’s and we’re gonna play “Truckin'” for half an hour!” And I was like, sure, whatever you want.

When I was in LA, I was talking to Dave and he said he had some time off and I said you want to just get in a studio? I can assemble a cast of characters and we’ll see what happens? He said yeah. David Immergluck was free, Immy and Greg from Camper Van Beethoven, who I’ve both worked with. Michael Jerome, who plays drums for Richard Thompson, was free, and Dave called Jesse Sykes and she was free. So we started. “What’ the common ground?” “Paul Butterfield is the common ground!” Something we all like. It’s modal, it’s kind of freakish…. Immy and I have this whole freaky side. It just clicked. As musicians, we’re all really good and it’s very organic.

“It was Covid that killed the tour but Dave was very, very ill.”

— Victor Krummenacher

Immy and I had a subtle kind of goal for the project and it was to push Dave. Push Dave a little out of the comfort zone. And he just went for it! He was very pleased with it. With Dave, he’s come out about the cancer and he’s gone through a really hard, hard period. It was Covid that killed the tour but Dave was very, very ill. We all stayed very hush-hush about it but it allowed time for him to get treated and I think we may play next year. The Third Mind is not done. Dave and I were texting last week. I think I’m starting to find some other songs to play. Yep Roc wants Dave and I to write. That’ll be an interesting challenge because we haven’t written together. 

WH: The concept of cover songs seemed to work pretty well on the original album.

VK: It did work pretty well and I’ve got a new list. There’s a Dylan song in there that Dave wants to do. There’s, ironically, a Roberta Flack song… there’s some pretty cool deep cuts that I think we can get some reads on. Jesse Sykes wants to do another Fred Neil song. I’ve got a list of 4 or 5 songs sitting around. Dave’s gonna start playing in June and we’ll know a lot about how he feels and how that works for him. We have a contract with Yep Roc, we’re still signed. My plan is to go to LA at the end of the year and just be around and just start throwing people in the studio because we’ve got the money to do it. The biggest problem for us is that so much has changed… our comfortable studio is now gone. That’s just LA right now. 

WH: Dave sat in as a guest at McCabes Guitar Shop not long ago…

VK: That was Rick Shea (guitar) and Greg (Boaz, bassist) and a few of the people who were the Guilty Men (laughs), and yeah, I think it went fairly well. His strength is probably still down a little bit because I noticed he was sitting. There’s some video, I haven’t really watched it, but he says he’s had some neuropathy in his hands and I think that was a real issue… because it just felt like his hands weren’t his hands. He’s got his bag of tricks as a guitar player, once you get to know him. The guy knows how to arc a solo — it’s a real genuine art. He can tell a melodic story with his guitar playing. 

WH: How did you meet Dave?

VK: The first time we met, the first time I really met him, he was playing in X. Camper was opening for X in California. Billy (Zoom) had left, and Dave took it over before Tony (Gilkyson) came in. He was pretty formidable then, but if you watched him over the years, by the mid-90s, the guy had gone to a different place as far as his musical ability. The funny thing was, as I got to know him better, certain things would make his eyes light up… like Moby Grape… Jimi Hendrix. It made sense considering where and when he grew up.

“…if I can get somebody like Dave in the studio, I’m going to try to push hard to get him to do a left-hand turn.”

— Victor Krummenacher

Dave made decisions about the kind of songwriter he was going to be perceived as, the kind of image that he wanted to pursue. I think his association with some of the Texas guys like Joe Ely  kind of focused him. Especially when he went solo. He saw his image in a certain way and it worked for him. But I’m a freak, unapologetically so, with a long history of making really weird recordings, some more successful and better than others. So if I can get somebody like Dave in the studio, I’m going to try to push hard to get him to do a left-hand turn.

I think Dave was a little worried that we might push some of his fans out of their comfort zone with The Third Mind stuff, and maybe we did, but I don’t care. That’s the point: to show that he has a broader perspective as an artist than people expect. And the record was successful, people liked it, it was well received and well reviewed and if we challenge his audience then we challenge his audience. That’s kind of what we do. And I told him, I know you want to be perceived in a certain way and I’ll do my best to make sure that you are in the context of this project but the whole point is to challenge some people. You’re always capable of doing the “Dave” stuff. 

WH: It seems like a trade-out, or maybe a trade-up?

VK: Yeah, he’s loved and well-regarded, he’s fought a good fight and I think he should be celebrated for what he’s done. Of the people I know, that guy is one of the more deeply authentic people. His specific context of growing up is so deeply musical. It was just the synchronicity of his time and place. His dad was down in the South Central (Los Angeles) area as a union organizer and Dave grew up in a context where he liked blues and R&B but he was also in an area where it WAS the music that was going on. And I think that’s one thing that people forget about Southern California, what a weird, freaky melting pot it was.

People don’t remember that Tim Buckley was from Orange County, there was a country scene in Orange County and Riverside, honky-tonks up and down the 55 Freeway, people don’t get that. I grew up in a punk rock context. LA punk rock was going on and I was going to see shows. It was very young, it was very alive, it was very active. I directed a video for John Doe. I’m still working with the people that I was seeing when I was 15. 

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Next Week: Victor Krummenacher talks about more upcoming projects, including new music that lights him up and how he listens to it. Hit him up at VictorKrummenacher.com.

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