Well, what else do I need to say? Let's get right to this interview with main man Peter Zaremba, which took place at last year's TrebleFest in Denver, where they were definitely one of the high points of the evening.

NJ: YOW!!!!!!
PZ: Peter Zaremba, Fleshtones leader extraordinaire! I have to say something before we get to the bottom of this. This event (TrebleFest) is so enjoyable and yet it's like, people are so lame. Where are they?

NJ: That's what I'd like to know.
PZ: Where is everybody?

NJ: I know that in Indianapolis, the two major clubs only have live shows about once a week and then they spend the rest of the time with techno and dance crap!
PZ: Hey, I know techno is fine, but I don't see why, y'know….maybe it's too challenging and you have to actually think about it and decide to go and watch them. It's like going to a play. You have to pay attention to it to understand it. You have to get involved with it. You have to get involved with watching these bands. I guess it's too challenging.

NJ: On to better things, how do you think the ("More Than Skin Deep") album came out?
PZ: That's my favorite album in a long, long time. It really is. I'm particularly proud of that record. People say 'Which Fleshtones record should I buy?' I say, 'Just buy the new one.' We went through a long process to get to there, to just say, 'Let's make a record the way we want' and not have any producers telling us what to do. We just did it.

NJ: And it's a testament to how much fun rock 'n' roll has been and still can be.
PZ: Rock 'n' roll to me is fun and it's meant a lot to my life, obviously. I feel bad that a lot of people don't discover that. Not just for my sake, but just for the sake of, I know what it's like to be alienated and have nothing to really enjoy. At this point there's like 100 great bands in this country that you can go see, buy their records and enjoy and get outside yourself just a little bit. I feel sorry for the half-million kids who are sitting in front of their TV sets smoking pot and saying 'There's nothing to do.'

NJ: I know I felt the same way when I was younger and you guys were among the first bands I picked up on, you and The Clash, The Cramps and things like that.
PZ: Our old label mates, The Cramps. We just played with them a couple of times up in Holland, in Amsterdam and a small city called Grenigen. They're still amazing.

NJ: What was the reason for the different sequencing between the album and CD versions?
PZ: We just do that. As record collectors, we're kind of obsessed with making things unique. There'll be a track on one that's not on the other. There's never a definitive version of doing anything. It has to do with being record collectors. We're originally fans of music and we hate for one thing to be exactly like the other thing. Not only is the vinyl version different, but the European vinyl versions are different. And the European CDs are different as well. They're always different. There's always a song that's not on another one….I think the song "Bazooka Joe" is on the vinyl here is not on the vinyl in Europe, but there's a different song in Europe that's not on the vinyl here. We're record collectors. We like to make something collectable.

NJ: Do you for see the IRS stuff being available again?
PZ: Oddly enough, I got a call last week from a guy who works for Capitol records who's doing a boxed set that's going to be The IRS Story that he wants a few of us to get involved with. I was talking to him and he was really interested in reissuing the IRS stuff. It's owned by EMI-Capitol now. Although he says it's an uphill battle with those guys because they don't understand at least our band's place in the history and development of music. I would like very much to see "Roman Gods" and "Hexbreaker" out on CD. They came out for a little bit in Europe that way, but not here.

NJ: Do you think the Europeans have a better grasp of what you do than here?
PZ: Some Europeans do. We're a little bit more firmly (planted) with people realizing what we were doing when we were doing, whereas a lot of people in this country didn't realize what we were doing when were doing it. So a lot of bands that were fifth or sixth generation never heard of but are like fourth or fifth generation away from what we were doing. They were listening to, who knows what, Depeche Mode or something, when we were listening to this type of music.

NJ: How do you guys get songs together? Do you do a lot of collaborating?
PZ: Sometimes it's Keith and I collaborating. Keith will come up with music and I'll come up with words. Although lately, he's been getting more into lyric writing. He's been writing more songs on his own, whereas I've been writing more songs on my own. And now, Kenny, our bass player, has been contributing songs. So, we're pretty happy with that. We still don't write songs as fast as we'd like to. It's always the words. What're you gonna say? It's like a big deal.

NJ: So, you're not gonna be heard from in another 22 years, right?
PZ: As far as Colorado goes, probably not. (laughs) No, really, that was my big joke for tonight. This is the first time we played in Colorado ever. We've been a band for 22 years, so, who knows when we'll be back? But then again, I'm shocked at sort of the lame turnout tonight. People don't know what they're missing. They're losing out and they're probably proud of it too. It's silly.

NJ: All I know is, I came all the way out from Indianapolis to see this.
PZ: You're going to enjoy it. You're gonna enjoy every night. I'm beginning to feel like it's being in a polka band or something when you have this hardcore group of eccentrics who follow what you're doing. But the rest of the world just sort of laughs, if anything. I don't know. In all honesty, there's a huge market for rock 'n' roll. People still sell millions and millions of rock 'n' roll records. It's just that people aren't smart enough to try to dig on what's really influencing and driving the other bands. They're just not hip enough.

NJ: Do you think that's kind of been that way or do you think it's more recent?
PZ: In a way it's worse, because I've been noticing fewer people at shows, not just at our shows, but at other people's shows. But on the other hand, there's more and more bands playing good music. It's a real paradox. There's more fanzines. There's more people writing intelligent things. I don't know what gives. There's more good bands. There's more good records.

NJ: Well, I intend to do "NFTG" for as long as it takes.
PZ: You have a good zine. You have a very good zine. And I'm glad you finally caught up with us as far as chatting with us. And I'm glad you didn't ask us about the history about the band because it's so long.

NJ: Well, there a couple of historical things I wanted to touch on.
PZ: Let's touch.

NJ: I wanted to know why there are two versions of "Speed Connection."
PZ: Again, this has to do with the fact that we are record collectors. The first version was one of these things where, as some sort of a promo stunt (it was a cool one, too), it was recorded and in the stores in Europe in less than a week. Serge Clerc, a very famous Belgian cartoonist, did the cover. It was cool in a lot of ways, but we weren't happy with the night that they used. We preferred a different night of recording. So, when it was time for the American version to come out, we used that version, which is different. Plus, we wanted to manipulate the recording, quite honestly.

NJ: I was also kind of curious as to how you got involved with "The Cutting Edge" show. I used to watch that quite a bit.
PZ: "Cutting Edge" was produced by IRS Records. So, we were on the show one or two times. Their host, a guy named Jeffrey, was moving to Fiji. And they were at a loss, they said, 'Gee, we need a host.' And they said, they wanted someone like Peter Zaremba. So, finally, the producers said, 'Well, why don't we just call Peter and ask if he wants to do it,' and I was flabbergasted. I said, 'Of course I'll do it, are you kidding?' It was the coolest thing I've ever been asked to do. I have to say, when I used to pitch those shows, I used to really pitch myself and say, 'This is so fucking great.' I have to remember I was doing this. In a way, I do regret the show's almost singlehanded role in giving birth to what they called alternative music. But, in a way, someone had to do it, so why not?

NJ: I was also curious how you managed to land in the "URGH! A Music War" film.
PZ: Oh, that was earlier on. That's actually what led us to be signed to IRS Records. They were producing that film. That was before music video. They wanted to do a movie of song clips charting what was called "New Wave" and every country it was happening in. It was a very good idea. Miles Copeland was behind that idea. He wanted us in it. So, we wound up in that movie, and just as that movie came out, the MTV thing started happening. It sort of took away the thunder of that movie. But it was a cool thing to do, although we really resented being asked to record and film our segment at CBGBs, even though that was the first place we ever played a professional show in 1976. We had a real falling out with them and that was a place we hated to play. We would have preferred if we'd have been asked to play at Max's which was more of our residence then.