When I found out the Murder Junkies were playing in Salt Lake City last summer, I begged SLUG for the opportunity to interview them; one of my favorite bands. In case you don’t know, the Murder Junkies includes Merle Allin, brother to former Murder Junkie singer and punk rock icon G.G. Allin. I asked my buddy Mike Abu, from the local band Fuck the Informer, who had first showed me footage of G.G., to come along on what was to become the greatest day of my life.

We approached the tour bus area and nervously knocked on the door of the first one that we saw. Eventually, the door opened and out walked the most corpse-like human being that we’d ever seen. G.G.? No, it couldn’t be, this guy had clearly been dead longer than 10 years. We asked where Merle was and without saying a word, he gestured for us to follow him. He led us inside, up to the stage where the Junkies were supposedly about to do sound check, before our guide disappeared into the dark. We hung out there until some other guy told us we couldn’t be there, and by the way, this way to the door. After three hours of walking around The Depot, we had nothing, and disappointment was beginning to set in.

We found the dressing room and met J.B Beverly, current lead singer of the Murder Junkies, who turned out to be a very generous host. He immediately asks if we’d like to smoke a joint and have some of their beer. Fuck yeah! He was very excited about the fact that he found “white cross” trucker speed, and was able to buy a shit-load of it at a local gas station. They only still sell them in three or four states, we were told, and Utah is one of them. He didn’t offer us any of those. He just showed them off.

After a pleasant chat, Dino comes in the room. Dino is the original drummer for the Murder Junkies, a convicted sex offender and a really nice guy. When he’s not in the Murder Junkies, he is a bike messenger in New York City. Dino seemed passionate about porno mags and surrounded himself with a variety of different sexual subjects. Something about his neon green mustache and bright red hair and eyebrows made him stand out from the rest. J.B. told us a story about the night before. J.B. had to shit and by the time he came out of the bathroom, Dino was masturbating with his finger up his ass. Dino looked at J.B. and said, “I’m embarrassed” but he didn’t stop pleasing himself. He just turned around. At this point we were laughing our asses off, having a great time and starting to get a little fucked up.

By show time, we were ripped thanks to our new friends. The Murder Junkies kicked ass! J.B. didn’t try to imitate G.G., which was 100 percent cooler than having some guy half-heartedly throw shit on us, although there were a bunch of cowboy hicks in the crowd who could have used it. He simply did his thing while Scotty played outrageous rock n roll riffs that would have made Bill Webber, the original Murder Junkies guitarist, proud. Merle kept scowling and baring his teeth at us, as if he was playing this show for Abu and I. His long dreadlocks almost eclipsed his Hasidic Jew side curls, but his Hitler moustache was still clearly evident. Dino looked like he didn’t give a fuck, and kept looking at porno.

Scotty told us to go check out Hank III, as he needed the dressing room for himself and his new friend, a tall, cosmetically sound, blonde girl named Susan. By this point, we are wasted. Merle was standing by the merch booth, and when he saw us, he motioned for us to follow him, leading us out on to the fire escape. Finally, we were gonna talk to Merle Allin!

Merle has been playing punk rock since before it had a name. One of his bands even opened up for the Ramones a few times back in 1977! He told us how things had changed, how punk rock was dead, the circumstances behind G.G.’s death, and how glad he was that there were people like me and Abu who gave a fuck. He said that G.G. never played in SLC (one show got cancelled), so next time you hear someone say that they saw G.G. at the Speedway or something, tell them they don’t have to lie to impress you. Merle was proud of his brother, and although he didn’t say it, you could tell that he missed him. He asked when we were gonna finish the article, and I said soon, very soon (that was a year ago). We left The Depot drunk and disoriented and somehow made it home without being hassled by cops.

I don’t know what you’re planning to do on Wednesday August 29th, but I know where Abu and I will be … at the 10th Anniversary Hated Tour, staring the Murder Junkies, at Bar Deluxe. A free screening of the GG documentary, Hated, will be screened free from 6 to 8pm free of charge with a Merle Allin meet and greet from 8 to 9pm. A special edition version of Hated will be sold at the screening for 10 dollars. The show starts at 10pm and is seven dollars. These guys are true rock n roll underground and have done some crazy shit, and they are some of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. Thanks SLUG and the Murder Junkies for giving me the best day of my life.