Active on-and-off since 1979, New York City’s Bush Tetras are returning to their roots in 2011. Best known for their 1981 track “Too Many Creeps,” the band is releasing the song on limited edition vinyl via ROIR, coupled with another classic tune, “You Can’t Be Funky.” The seven-inch should serve as the perfect introduction to a new generation of fans too young to recall the band’s salad days. Combining elements of post-punk, funk, and dance, Bush Tetras have been described as “a female-fronted Gang of Four…[or] Fugazi led by three women, 10 years earlier,” by CMJ — if, perhaps, the band was ahead of their time in the ‘80s, then maybe now is the perfect time for the world rediscover them…or hear them for the first time.

Vocalist Cynthia Sley and drummer Dee Pop took some time to answer a handful of our questions not long before their June 10th show at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge.

You recently released a seven-inch featuring your classic 1981 song “Too Many Creeps.” In an interview with The Face in April 1981 (issue #12), Cynthia stated that the song was written about the hostility the band members faced on the streets and subways of New York: “You get bombarded all the time by so many different kinds of creeps…I suppose we get a lot of it ‘cause we’re girls and look the way we do.” Thirty years later, how has the city that you still call home changed – for better or for worse? Do you still have to deal with creeps?
Cynthia Sley: Well, I think we look a bit more mature now, [and] therefore are not looked at as much! But it was more a struggle between the left-of-center and the right-of-center, which I feel has not changed at all. Maybe the right-of-center are having their heyday now, and we had ours then. At least in New York City. The “creep” concept is an ageless one.
Dee Pop: I think these days maybe I’ve turned into the “creep.” Like, “Who’s that sleazy old dude looking at me and smiling?” I forget I’m old now and what I think might be an innocent smile must come across like some dirty old man leering. (laughter)

Bush Tetras first worked with ROIR in 1983, releasing the Wild Things cassette. Despite doing sporadic releases with other indies – and a brief foray into the world of major labels with 1997’s Beauty Lies on Polygram – you keep coming back to ROIR. How did your relationship with the label begin, and how have you managed to maintain that relationship over the last few decades?
Cynthia: We always had a great rapport with Neil Cooper back in the day. He was one of those very supportive, consistent, and enthusiastic record company guys, and it was hard to find all three of those characteristics in one guy. His sons, Lucas and Nick, have been equally supportive, consistent, and enthusiastic! And, I think now, they understand our limitations and strengths.
Dee: Neil and his family were always about taking chances and putting out music that was important. Yes, it was a business, but it was based on love and devotion. They still love us. Why would you want to walk away from that?

You’ve seen a lot of changes over the years in the way music is consumed. Despite traditional methods of record distribution rapidly vanishing, we’re curious to know how you personally feel about digital music, and the file-sharing that has become so rampant. Is it something that you think is overall destructive for bands and the music industry, or perhaps beneficial by helping bands avoid becoming doomed to obscurity?
Cynthia: Of course, file-sharing is a drag and cutting deeply into any profits that musicians can make. I personally like to buy a song at a time and do it often. I think music will adjust to the changes and persevere. It has to. Who can exist without music?
Dee: I buy all formats. Less digitally lately, as I tend to forget I ever bought something. Without a cover to hold and look at, I forget about scrolling through computer files. I like the pictures and the info just as much as the noise. I still buy vinyl, but am usually too lazy to actually play stuff.

Obviously, many people still value vinyl, and even cassettes – and re-releases like “Two Many Creeps” on seven-inch provide younger collectors with a chance to get their hands on something they missed the first time it came around. Who in the Bush Tetras is a record collector? What are your prized albums?
Cynthia: I just got a turntable and have been collecting all the vinyl I lost through the years, [as well as] some new vinyl out on ROIR! I still have Eno, Stooges, Pere Ubu, Raincoats, and Bowie vinyl from the old days.
Dee: I have very little time for my collection. I’m always making new music. I have a couple of healthy stacks of CDs, vinyl, and cassettes of music that I have played to pass on to my kids.

Any plans for a new full-length — or even an EP with new material — in the near future?
Cynthia: We want to release a two- or three-song EP with one old song that was never recorded, one new song that was never recorded, and maybe another two-minute old song — on ROIR, of course!
Dee: That’s the goal for me.