Backstage with… Peter Stampfel

Photograph: Molly Martin

The documentary Bound to Lose is about your band, the Holy Modal Rounders, but the heart of the movie deals with your tortuous relationship with coleader Steve Weber. When did you meet him?
In 1963. The first time we played together, it was perfect. We played for three days straight.

Wait—do you mean three 24-hour days, nonstop?
Right—amphetamines! [Laughs] We were both speed freaks. Anyway, we played at one of the basket houses I had been working, which had a mirror in the corner. I glanced over, saw us playing together and thought, That is one of the weirdest fucking things I’ve ever seen.

Why?
Our unlikeliness. Also, comparing us with what was going on in folk music at the time. You were either commercial or a traditionalist. We were quite traditional, but way bent. I hated the degree that folk musicians took themselves so seriously.

The Rounders were strongly associated with the Lower East Side. Back then, was there a big divide between that neighborhood and the Greenwich Village scene?
The line about the Village was, “I only go there to meet my friends or score.” The Village was not the cool place to be. The Lower East Side was cheaper—rents were $45 instead of $100. [Laughs] Apparently, the Rounders and the Velvet Underground were the first real Lower East Side bands.

You created a monster. You and Weber were also briefly members of another legendary downtown band, the Fugs.
One day, Weber came over and said, “Ed [Sanders] and Tuli [Kupferberg, of the Fugs] made up these songs like ‘Bull Tongue Clit’ and ‘Coca-Cola Douche.’ ” We went over, and they had just written 60 songs knowing nothing about music. It was like the punk thing, only ten years earlier! Playing with the Fugs was like playing in the sandbox. When I left the band, we were about to work out an obscene version of “Get a Job” called “Rim Job.” [Sings] “Lick lick lick lick lick, yum yum yum yum yum, rim job!” [Sighs] Lenny Bruce died for our sins.

The documentary ends on a bizarre note, when Weber inexplicably doesn’t show up for the Rounders’ 40th-anniversary show and drops out of sight. Wha’ happened?
His girlfriend-manager told him that attending the 40th-anniversary performance would be a “bad career move.” [Laughs] I heard she offered him $500 to not go. She’s convinced that I’ve “stolen the Rounders’ millions.” Because when your albums sell 3,500 apiece, the money just rolls in.

This week, you’re playing a series of shows with a mix of artists. You also have a full-time career as a book editor. A lot of musicians play around, but—
They don’t have to go to work every fucking day! Well, I’m obsessed. I play because it gets me off, and I love being in a group with strong personalities. When the documentary was screening in Rotterdam, I went there to play. The guy said, “Do you want to have a backup band or play solo?” Backup band! Backup band! I mean, do you want to jerk off, or do you want to fuck?

—Jay Ruttenberg

Bound to Lose screens at Anthology Film Archives Fri 7–Dec 13. Peter Stampfel performs, in a variety of guises, at Anthology Film Archives Fri 7 and Sat 8, Pianos Sun 9 and Bowery Poetry Club Dec 13.