ROX-TV gets an exclusive interview with Downtown Brown. We talk about their show tommorrow, sharing the stage with Tim Cappello of “Lost Boys” fame, and the group’s background.

Welcome to ROX-TV, we appreciate you taking time to talk with us. I know you are busy preparing for the show at PJ’s Lager House and we will get to that in a moment. Before we jump in, I understand you have been in the music scene in Detroit and around the country since the band’s formation back in 2001. Downtown Brown has shared the stage with some serious heavies including Insane Clown Posse, the Dead Kennedy’s, Andrew W.K., and Fishbone over the years. Can you tell the readers who may just be learning about your music, where Downtown Brown is from and where they call home today?

I’m back in Metro Detroit… I live Madison Heights MI right by the Telway. So DTB is back to being a Detroit-based band

Before we talk about the upcoming show, I’d like to rewind the tape a bit, back to the early days of the group. I believe in documenting the bands and artists in the scene, and that includes the “way back when”. Can you tell the readers how the group formed up? And maybe what those early days looked like for you guys. I read that in the beginning, the local media/press were dismissive, not giving you your proper respect. What was life like for independent acts like yourselves in Michigan during that time? (Obstacles, challenges, being required to prove yourselves before taken seriously)

The band was essentially a continuation of my high school band, The Freeloaders. I just never stopped doing it. Yeah, in the beginning we had to sell tix to get on bigger gigs, etc. Right out of the gate, we were totally ridiculous …so it makes sense that everyone thought we were clowns. Some people still do ha ha. Whatever tho, I grew up listening to groups like ICP and all types of punk rock and their attitude was always “we are who we are so fuck you”. We used to dump cans of creamed corn on ourselves, drink our own urine, bleed all over the stage, have elaborate costumes …fuck, we even had lasers on our guitars at one point. So yeah, people thought we were ridiculous, and we were. Nowadays we just get up and play our music. The show is still fun as fuck. We’re just not relying on gimmicks to garner the attention of the audience. Who knows? Maybe we should bring the dick costume back.

I know this article is about the show coming up this weekend, but I enjoy asking artists about their own history with the music. Fans are cool to speak with, but I feel that there is another level as far as artists are concerned. That moment where music takes hold, and simply being a fan just isn’t enough. What was the turning point for you and who were the bands that were responsible for the “turn” so to speak? (How old were you, the feeling the music invoked, etc)

I remember being in Middle School seeing my best friend’s older brother’s band play and being like “THESE DUDES ARE THE COOLEST DUDES I’VE EVER SEEN”. I knew right then I wanted to be on stage like those dudes. Guns n Roses Use Your Illusion albums ….those turned me. Hearing Anthrax and Public Enemy in 1991 …that shit turned me.

For the readers just learning about Downtown Brown, can you talk about some of your music that has already been released and available for consumption? Where can the readers go to hear more of your music?

Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Bandcamp …There’s over 7 albums up there just type in Downtown Brown

I read somewhere about an article that you were interviewed for and you talked about group’s as art. I love that and I totally dig that you went there. I believe you were talking about GWAR and Insane Clown Posse, referring to what they as “art”. I agree whole heartedly. Not all art has to literally come on a canvas. I seen GWAR open up for Insane Clown Posse on Devil’s Night in 1998 at Harpo’s in Detroit, and still think about the imagery and the music that I observed that night. Do you feel like time has been kind to the unique groups of yesterday, who were willing to perform their art at all cost, regardless of the bobble head writers in the local entertainment sections of the time?

Well look at ICP … they went from being shunned to being considered LEGENDS OF THE GAME …all by being themselves. They are a huge inspiration to me personally for being as weird as they wanted to be …and making it work

I understand that you released a song called “Laid Off” in September. I recommend the readers check it out immediately. It’s got a driving sound that is nice on ears. Beyond that, there is lots of recently added material to your YouTube account. Would you say that Downtown Brown has lots to say and will continue releasing new material? Are there currently any new projects the group is working on?

I make content on top of being in two bands … videos, tiktoks, etc …. so yeah the plan is to keep making downtown brown music and videos as we plug along. The days of us working on full albums may be behind us … but the goal is to do singles and videos until I’m dead.

So now that we got a little bit of the back story out of the way, what can you tell me about the show this weekend? I understand there will be a very special guest performing, who starred in one of my favorite movies “Lost Boys”(released July 31st, 1987 and starred a top heavy list of actors including Keifer Sutherland, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Jason Patric, and of course the greatest topless shirt sax man ever to grace a Vampire movie) That’s right, the one and only Tim Cappello, who told the Vampire ridden town that he still believed, in all the flare and swagger of those later 80’s years. Can you talk about how Downtown Brown and Tim Cappello got in touch and how the show idea came to be a reality?

Lager House already had the booking and we messaged them and got added to the show. We’re super stoked. We don’t know Tim Cappello personally but hopefully this is the beginning of a lifelong courtship.

What can the readers who attend the show be expected to hear and experience? A wide-ranging set list from your years of operation? Newer stuff? Or will they have to wait, and see?

Yeah, DTB plays songs off of all 7 of our records plus new shit generally. All in an hour. So yeah, we cover 20 years’ worth of songs.

Beyond the show at PJ Lager House, what more does the band have planned for the rest of 2021 and beyond?

Just working on some new videos and singles and maybe a tour now that people are doing that shit again. But it feels good to dial back time on the road with DTB for once. I joined the New York punk band Reagan Youth and I’ve been pretty busy traversing across the country singing for that band. It’s been a wild year since I started doing shows again in July.

Who were some of the groups in the Murder Mitten that you would consider true influences or that you were bumping back in the day? Beyond the borders of Michigan? 

 In Michigan? ICP, dude. In 1995 I got a copy of Carnival of Carnage on cassette tape and it was over. As far as TRUE INFLUENCES are concerned ….they were the most profound as far as my approach to being a complete weirdo and being completely unapologetic about it.

I was young but “Holiday in Cambodia” and “Killing the poor” were some big tracks for me as far as DK is concerned. Outside of some rap artist like Public Enemy and of course Rage Against the Machine…..punk was my first introduction to “smart music” that had a message, directly or indirectly political in nature. I felt like these groups were on somewhat of a different level because of that awareness. Can you tell me what the Dead Kennedy’s were like for you personally, sharing a stage with them? I’m going out on a limb here, but I can guess you were Dead Kennedy fans coming up? What was it like to share a stage with you’re heroes? (Forgive me if this is too much assumption)

I feel like we are close to the same age. Yeah, same. In Elementary School I was listening to PE’s Apocalypse 91 and hearing Chuck D rap about slave ships and racist institutions whilst living in a predominantly white suburb of Detroit …painted a picture in my head at a very early age that the world wasn’t all it seemed. Seeing movies like Boyz N The Hood and Menace II Society also were profound in me realizing at a very early age that I was living in a suburban fantasy land.

Bands like DKs and Rage, Curtis Mayfield, Parliament Funkadelic, Isaac Hayes, etc ….further painted a picture of an experience I would’ve had no idea even existed if I would have stayed in my small town bubble. Music expanded my mind at a very early age …and yeah sharing the stage with DKs in 2014 and 2015 was crazy but in all honestly it was a little less impactful without the presence of Jello Biafra. He was the guy with that message, writing those words. If I was in a room with Jello, it would have been a way different experience.

Well, we are out of time but are looking forward to the show this weekend. I always like to let people give shout outs when they come on with us. I’m from the 1990’s and it was something I always dug and still do. Who is Downtown Brown shouting out tonight? 

Shouts out to GAS X, MIRALAX, COLACE, and MILK OF MAGNESIA for keeping me REGULAR!!!

Well, there you have it. Another dope interview in the books and our first time having the incredible Downtown Brown in the digital lab with ROX-TV. I’d like to wish them well for tomorrow’s gig and hope that the ROX-TV Riders in Michigan will get out to support them. How could you not? Besides, they will be rolling with Tim Cappello…the amazing Saxman from Lost Boy’s fame and beyond. Get off the fucking couch and head into the city. It’s going down at PJ’s Lager House, located at 1254 Michigan Ave, Detroit. Tickets are fifteen bucks pre-sale and the doors open at 8pm. Until next time….

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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