(John) Alright, first off, How many people in the band? Who plays what?
(Ted) There are 5 of us. Dave plays guitar and organ, Scott and Bobby also play guitar, John plays bass, and I (Ted) play the drums.
(John) How did you guys all meet? Did you all have interest in surf music? Or perhaps Halloween????
(Ted) We all knew each other from different bands and were actually roommates in a big band house in Portland before the band formed. We just started playing surf together on Sunday afternoons for fun. We all loved surf music-Dave had the biggest collection of Ventures and surf records, but we all caught up pretty quick. The Beach Boys had been my favorite band since I was about 10. We all became obsessed with it since it was so much fun to play. It really is a selfish endeavor.
(John) How come the only spooky surf music I ever hear about is coming out of California? What's the shows turn out like?
(Ted) Hey now, we are from Oregon. Portland, Oregon. I know some people think Oregon is just northern California, but don’t ever say that again!;) We are very lucky to have a very devoted hometown following, even after taking a break from 2000-2005 we still have sold out shows in Portland. One of our fans from California came up to see us and there were 800 people there. He couldn’t believe it. The biggest surf show he had ever seen and he goes to them every weekend down in Orange County. When we toured in the 90s it was hit and miss, but we always had great turn outs in San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, Boston…
(John) Have you guys ever gone on tours? Maybe other than California? Ever thought of playing in Minneapolis or Midwest for that matter?
(Ted) Oops, I got ahead of myself. We toured a lot from 1993-1999. We’ve played Minneapolis at least 4 or 5 times. Once with the Bomboras at the 1st Ave 7th Street Entry. That was a great show, I remember it well. We also played Chicago, great shows in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, Detroit, Cleveland… We also toured Europe.
(John) Where do you guys get your influence from? Like old horror movies? Dick Dale? Chet Atkins?
(Ted) The Ventures, The Surfaris, The Bel Airs, the Lively Ones, the Deadly Ones, PJ and the Galaxies, Davie Allan & the Arrows, the Wailers, the Sonics, and other 60s garage/psych bands, a little bit of Booker T & the MGs and other Soul instrumentals, all the more obscure surf bands like the Surf Teens, and the Original Surfaris, biker movies, monster movies, and beach movies.
(John) How long have the Satans Pilgrims been around and where do you guys want to be in say..... 5 years?
(Ted) Since 1992. In 5 years, we would be happy with the way things are right now. We play and make records when we can and make the most of it. We have a lot of fans in Argentina and Brazil, so we’d LOVE to play there, Japan, and Europe again before we get TOO old!
(John) Do any of you guys snowboard or skateboard? Have you ever?
(Ted) I think most of us skated to some extent when we were younger. Bobby surfs and snowboards. We have all snowboarded. I’m planning my first surf excursion this coming spring.
(John) Are any of your guys houses spooked out, like furniture wise?
(Ted) Um. Dave’s place is kinda spooky, but not intentionally. Where does one get spooky furniture?
(John) What's the newest album you put out?
(Ted) It’s called “Psychsploitation” and it just came out. It is our first album of all psychedelic garage instrumentals, not a surf beat on the whole record. We really enjoyed writing and recording it. It is also the first album we have out out on our own label, SP Records and you can get one on cd or 180 gm lp from satanspilgrims.com!!! plugplugplug
(John) Anything you are all working on now?
(Ted) We are about to start rehearsing a new project that will also be quite unique. That is all I can say right now.
(John) Alright Ted, that about wraps it up... Any last words?
(Ted) Just that along with “Psychsploitation”, you can find other releases, including our “Best of” 2xCD compilation for sale on our website satanspilgrims.com. And thanks to everyone who has stuck with us through the years along with those of you who are discovering us for the first time.