photo © Kris Mestdag, fugazi @ Nancy Spains, Cork (Ireland), May 8 of 1999

You probably know Jerry Busher as a drummer for bands like Fidelity Jones(rip) and All Scars, you also saw him with Fugazi, he is their roadie but became "the mysterious fifth member" in 98 when he started to play with them on stage (no it was not Ian's brother ;-) ). Seems like he is getting a more involved member of the Fugazi family lately, I saw him play on most of the new songs last time I caught Fugazi in Scandinavia... Here's an interview I did with him by electro-mail on January 3 of 2001.

Hi Jerry..... I saw you a few weeks ago in Diksmuide, at the 4AD, with All Scars. (click here for photos from that gig). That was your 1st European tour with them, right?
How was that experience for you?

Allscars had a great tour in Europe.
For a first tour I was very happy . We had some of our best shows ever with some of the coolest audiences we have ever played to .

It must be a huge difference if you compare it with being on the road with Fugazi...

Allscars tours are pretty different than with Fugazi . First of all they are obviously much smaller . Small tours have a bit more of a sense of adventure to them . You don't know what to expect from the venue to the crowd .( or lack of crowd )
Fugazi has touring down to a science , and we get to go to cool places I doubt I would have made it to otherwise .

I noticed that HiM supported All Scars on a few occasions on that Euro-tour, how was it to play with them? And, what do you think of them, musically.

It was great . We hooked up with Him for four shows on the tour .
I think it's cool that they are trying something different musically . I am always encouraged when people challenge themselves . They seem happy with their direction . It shows in the performance .

Yeah I noticed that too when I saw them....

Anyway, how come you have all these guests in the studio when you do a recording session with All Scars?

We like playing with different people . It challenges you , and it changes your sound and approach to music .

Is their lots of practicing going on before a session, or is it more improvisation?

We have been doing totally improvised shows for about a year and a half . We get together and practice Improvising . Like anything else , the more you do it the better you get .

How would you describe the All Scars' music to someone who never heard it?

It is hard to describe the music since I don't know what we will play untill we hit the stage . It is easier to describe the approach we take rather than the sound .

How long have you been in DC, and how were you introduced to the DC - Dischord music scene?

I moved to DC fourteen years ago on new years day I was involved in the group Positive Force which sets up benefit shows for needy causes . I met a lot of DC band people through working on shows .
I met the Fugazi guys around 86/87 and I actually auditioned to be the drummer before Brendan had commited to the band . I had only been playing drums for a few months , and basically I sucked ! Ian and Joe gave me some pointers on how to play and set up the drums better . A few months later Dug and Tomas gave me a chance to play with them . I had been practicing nonstop and ended up forming Fidelity Jones with them . My first band .

When's your birthday?

October 24 1968

Are you vegetarian/vegan?

A struggling vegetarian .

What instruments do you play?

Besides drums I mess with guitar and bass . I can also make a lot of noise with a trumpet .

photo © Kris Mestdag, fugazi @ Paradiso, Amsterdam (the Netherlands), September 16 of 1999

When did you start as a roadie for Fugazi?

I started to roadie for them in April of 1995 . It was trial by fire . I didn't even know how to tune a guitar at the time .

How come you started playing with them all of a sudden?

The end hits record has the song "closed captioned" on it which Brendan played along with a drum machine . We started talking about trying to recreate it live with me playing the drum machine part . We liked the way it sounded and the number of songs I play on grew from a couple at first to twelve or so now .

So far I think you only played with Fugazi on stage. But since I noticed in Scandinavia that you played with them on most of the new songs, I was wondering if you will help Fugazi to record the new album?

We are going into the studio sometime this month . I am playing on six new songs so far . I am really exited to get started !

Do you consider yourself as a "real" member of the band?

Fugazi is like my family , they have been great to me . Now that I am playing with them I am a more involved member of the family .

Are you co-writing any Fugazi songs?

Working on the new songs has been cool .
I wouldn't say " co-wrote " , but I have been involved in the new songs from the ground floor .

What are the plans for Fugazi in the new year?

The recording is the top priority now . I hope we will do some travelling this year .

What city is on the cover of "End Hits"?

Hong Kong.

I noticed that you and Brendan (Canty) contributed a song to a "drum record" for release on Monitor Records in February of 01, what can we expect from that track?

Brendan and I were asked to contribute something by our friend at Monitor .
We decided to do something together . Brendan and I have done a lot of playing together so it came together pretty easily . Brendan makes his singing debut and I play guitar and trumpet as well as drums .
I'm proud of it . Check it out .

FYI, the release of the drum record titled "Membranaphonics" has been pushed back, it was released mid June 2001.

Sounds good Jerry, I will check it out for sure...

Have you played in other bands besides Fugazi, All Scars and Fidelity Jones?

Las Mordidas : with Dug from Fidelity Jones and Chris Thompson from Circus Lupus on voc.
Dahjay : for two years I played with a 13 piece west African band around 1994
The Spinanes : I did a record with Rebecca called "Arches an Aisles" and a bunch of touring
Mascott : I did an ep two years ago and a full length recently . Mascott is Kendall that played with me in the spinanes . Her records are on Le Grand Magistery . She is great !

What bands are in your record player right now? and what are your favorite albums?

I got the new Outcast ( hip-hop from Atlanta ) cd for x-mas I like that .
I also have been listening to " Lanaya " . Some African musicians that Terrie from the ex's label "Terp" put out . I love it .
I always listen to a lot of John Fahey , Can , Captain Beefheart , Meat Puppets etc.
There is so much great music in the world !

How do you see your future, music-wise.

I want to put out another allscars record this year . We are about halfway through with it .
I love being in the studio , so I hope to be doing more recording .

And the last question , what is your wish for the new year?

Music.

Jerry, I want to thank you for making time do this interview, I greatly appreciate it.  Hope to see you again soon.  Best, Kris.