I had hope that in the end, no matter what lay ahead of me, everything was going to be all right.
“What else do you have to listen to?” Ellie asked, leaning into me and swiping through my iPod.
I grinned at her, and together we sat on that ladder and kept the hope coming.
That 70’s Interview—A Dawn & Sage Story
The following is a radio transcription between guitarist Sage Knightly of the band Hybrid and Barry B from KRO 98FM San Diego’s The Rock Show. Air date: May 19th, 1974
Barry B: Hi everyone, I’m your host the baaaaad Barry B, thanks for joining The Rock Show tonight. I have a very, very special guest here, a man we never thought would agree to do a radio show given his phobia of the media. Not to mention he’s a man of few words when he does actually speak. You all know him as Sage Knightly, the guitarist of the metal band Hybrid. I now know him as this extremely tall dude with bad-ass snake and skull tattoos on his arms that all the women in the station are now drooling over. Welcome Sage, thanks for popping your radio cherry with KRO.
Sage: You’re welcome.
Barry B: Now, off the bat, I must comment on your tattoos. Many people would consider these works of art and tattoos are getting more and more popular as they spread into mainstream. Even women are getting them now. Can you talk about your tattoos to us?
Sage: Well, the skulls are done after the Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. My mother was Mexican so the sugar skulls are of great significance to me. The snakes represent the python I’m packing in my pants.
Barry B: Oh golly, well we can’t say we weren’t prepared for a rock star response! You mentioned your mother being Mexican though. I can see you’ve got quite a dark complexion. Some would say exotic. I think this is the first time I’ve heard you admit that you’ve got mixed blood. Why haven’t you said anything before?
Sage: My mother was a wonderful woman. She died when I was a teenager. It was a real blow and took me right off my feet. The only thing that saved me, at the time, was music. Until lately though, I realized music had replaced her and that wasn’t fair. It was time to embrace where I came from, even though it meant embracing the loss.
Barry B: Is that why your latest album, Molten Universe, has such a Latino tone to it? I mean, many songs have a faint Mariachi sound, which is a brave thing to do when you’re a metal band. For the record, I loved that slant of things. Totally groovy.
Sage: Yeah, that’s pretty much it. And thank you for liking it. I was trying to experiment with different sounds and genres. I don’t think Hybrid needs to fit in one category, in one neat little box. We’re a metal band, but we’re not Led Zeppelin and we’re not Black Sabbath.
Barry B: But you’d like to be.
Sage: Who said that?
Barry B: I’ll just take a look at my notes here, but I believe it was your singer, Robbie Oliver.
Sage: Yeah, well Robbie’s often oxygen deprived, I wouldn’t believe a word he says.
Barry B: Oxygen deprived?
Sage: His face is usually buried in *BLEEEEEEEP*
Barry B: Oh my god, I hope that got bleeped. You can’t say *BLEEEEEEEP* on air, Sage.
Sage: You just did. Maybe if we talked about getting more *BLEEEEEEEEEEP* it would happen.
Barry B: Maybe for rock stars. My wife would kick me out. Anyway, back on track. You’ve been the leader of Hybrid since you were in your teens. Who do you owe your success to?
Sage: Excuse me?
Barry B: Well, most musicians who have made it on the scene say they owe their success to something or someone. Maybe a lot of hard work, maybe it was a lucky break, or a radio DJ *ahem* that took a chance by playing one of their songs on the air. Who or what does Hybrid owe their success to?
Sage: They owe it to me.
Barry B: And who do you owe it to?
Sage: I don’t feel comfortable answering these questions anymore.
Barry B: Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sage. I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I believe you when you say the band owes their success to you. Without you at the helm, writing most of the songs and pushing for a new sound, the band wouldn’t be what it is today, about to take part in a cross-country tour this August, playing at festivals and large arenas alike. I was just curious to see if you owed all of this to anyone…if anything.
Sage: I owe no person anything.
Barry B: Can I read into that answer?
Sage: No.
Barry B: OK, from the way Sage just glared at me and stormed out of the station, I’m going to assume that the interview is over. Thanks for listening everyone. Maybe this guy just needs some *BLEEEEEP*
***
The following is an interview that Dawn Emerson did with famous tour manager, Jacob Edwards. This interview was nixed from the original 1974 article that Dawn wrote on Hybrid for Creem Magazine.
Dawn: Hi Jacob, thanks for taking a few minutes to sit down and talk with me.
Jacob: Aww, cut the crap Dawn, you’ve been hounding me all day. Can’t even sit on the bloody crapper without seeing your smiling face there.
Dawn: Yes, well, anyway, I know you’re a busy man…
Jacob: Then why are you interviewing me right now? You know the bus leaves in 30 minutes and I have no idea where the hell Robbie went.
Dawn: I thought I saw him take that short, blonde chick around the corner.
Jacob: Well that’s no surprise. I guess if I need him I can go check the rubbish bins in about 10 minutes.
Dawn: I promise this won’t take as long as that. But that brings up a question: You’ve
