A slice on nicknames from our Bongzilla interview at the Marquis Theater in Denver this past March. Read the full story in Issue II 'In Favor of Time Travel'
ROS: You’ve all got pretty great nicknames – Cooter, Muleboy, Magma, Spanky... Do any of these have a funny story behind it?
Cooter Brown: Pick one.
ROS: Cooter.
Magma: I gave him that. He used to have this Goodyear hat that he would wear all the time, like the guy from Dukes of Hazzard. And ya know, he is kind of a gear head. He's a mechanic. We had a group of the same friends and he was in a band with our friend Jeff called Cuda and every time I saw him I would say, “That guy is like Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard,” and it stuck.
ROS: How about Magma?
Magma: We were in a band with a guy TB, or Dana. He bartended at a place called Pinckney Street Hide-Away where Jeff worked the door. One night, out of sheer coincidence, I went out for a drink with girl I worked with. This girl turns to the bar and goes "Oh, this is my new boss" (I managed a Subway or something) And she's like, "This is my new boss, I want to buy him a shot." A second after that, this group of people including a woman I went to high school with walked in. I hadn't seen her since, it had been like 15 years. She goes, “Oh my god! Holy shit! So good to see you,” and whatever. “Hey let’s all do a shot.” And Dana is like, "Another shot from a lady" or something like that. Then, no bullshit, five minutes later, the girl I was dating walked in. I knew she was going to be up there, but anyway, she buys me a shot and Dana is like, "Wow, you haven't spent a penny here yet! You are getting oiled. Three shots bought for you, all from girls. You're on fire! You're hot! You’re hot lava, man, you're THE lava man! MAGMA! You're the Magma Man!” And it went on and on. We had just recorded four songs, like an EP, and had put it out on cassette and that fucking smart ass put my name down on the cassette as Magma and that’s been the nickname ever since... 20 something years ago.
Bongzilla at The Marquis Theater on the Cvlt Nation tour this past March
Magma and Cooter at The Swan Dive in Austin during SXSW 2016
Cooter at The Swan Dive