All Slim wanted to do was have fun with music and that largely remains the goal to this day. At least that’s how things began to take shape for him as a youth. Slim’s father was big into gospel music but also introduced a lot of Johnny Cash to the fold. Quality country/ americana sounds were always hanging in the air through the halls of Slim’s childhood home. Early on, Slim’s goal was to enter music as a gospel singer. Slim got to a point where he wanted to express himself alongside fellow musicians. The desire was there but a framework to succeed and perform wasn’t necessarily in place yet. This was back when Denver was a much different, much sleepier place.
The Denver Sound is a phrase that gets tossed around a fair bit in certain music circles. It’s an odd thing for Slim to address as he experienced this sound in a much different way. Perhaps a situation of being so far in the forest that you can’t see the trees. There were some warehouse punk shows that went on but nothing in terms of a regular venue to play at. This put the onus on Slim and his friends to create something special from scratch. Back in the day, it was just a bunch of eager musicians who galvanized a potent moment. This resulted in a much hyped up local scene with Slim Cessna’s Auto Club beginning live dates in 1992. Venues like Lion’s Lair and Bluebird Theatre had a family oriented vibe back then as far as the communal warmth and reverence for music. The Denver Sound was a group of teenage friends creating their own world and somehow making it work.
Through playing all of these gigs, the importance of the live show remained throughout. To Slim and his bandmates, the show’s the most important. The band has driven to shows in vehicles where they had to pour transmission fluid in while the vehicle was in motion and en route. An ’88 Dodge camper Slim had burst into flames in the back area as well. The shows are raucous displays of reverence as they vibe out to the sermons of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club. The energy of their show is so vital that they’ve captured their sound onto live records in past to preserve the moment. Slim thrives in the live setting but also puts a tremendous amount of talent and care into studio recordings.
Recently, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club reissued their album Cipher and this came after a label departure. Slim and company had close ties to Jello Biafra and were signed to his Alternative Tentacles imprint. Eventually there was a falling out of sorts and the band ran out of stock on that particular LP. Slim then decided to reissue the project on their own label. Cipher marked a period for the group where things didn’t need to be said. The sounds of the collective organically moved together in the same direction. Through the language of music, individuals undulated with one another and everyone truly realized that they were all vibrating in sync. The members began understanding their individual gifts and gained a profound understanding of what they can contribute to the songs. This was a key moment for Slim Cessna’s Auto Club.
One thing that seems to have followed the band is the obsessiveness with compartmentalizing them to a specific genre. Slim has always loved music but isn’t keen on genre tags. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is a group that can fall victim to steady sonic taxonomy. Descriptions like americana gothabilly and southern backstep darkened bluegrass don’t mean much to Slim. I also enjoy that Slim doesn’t have any musical guilty pleasures. We discussed a prior interview he had where the interviewer was determined to get an answer and believed Slim was being difficult. The case was that Slim loves a wide range of music including Spice Girls and doesn’t see any guilty pleasures in music. Getting into punk growing up, Slim realized it’s as binary as liking a given song or not liking it. Slim brought up the Spice Girls in a bit of a tongue in cheek way but had a genuinely poignant appreciation too. Slim used to have Spice Girls dance parties with his daughter and the music of the girl group takes him back to a special time. When he was with his kids in their formative years. The people he sees as his best friends.
Slim’s son George is also a musician and has released an album of his own. Slim spoke warmly of the quality of the record but also hoped George could navigate the business waters of music better than him. Slim talked about focusing on going out to have fun with friends and how he may have neglected a few monetary measures that could have helped long term. It’s any parent’s wish to have their kids live a great life and for their kids to learn from their personal follies. Slim speaks warmly of his children who no doubt serve as constant inspiration to Slim’s ever expanding creative endeavors.
Slim is always wanting to try out interesting things. Whether it’s shooting a performance with Exclaim live in a skate shop or using certain VHS style aesthetics for videos, it’s all about evoking different moods and having fun doing it. Slim even did a concept record based around the ten commandments as Slim would write them. The Commandments according to SBAC was that album and the attention to detail is fantastic. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club also has gone further and further into new media in recent years as well. Taking care of video creation, distributing their own music, and really trying to wear as many hats as possible. All of these are necessary efforts to optimize one’s artistic existence and maintain autonomy in the modern age of the music business. There’s touches of the macabre and the euphoric both in the music and the experiences but Slim Cessna remains an endearing, bright character all throughout.