Royal Trux, comprised of Jennifer Herrema and her then boyfriend Neil Hagerty, produced a vast discography of unpredictable, unrestricted rock music. Their 1999 album Veterans of Disorder is the latest in a succession of reissues from Domino records; a totally unique amalgamation of influences and styles, from reggae to blues, punk to glam, it’s all in there. Hagerty mastered his trademark guitar sound, taking the rhythm of blues and adding a heavy dose of scuzz – like the sound of Keith Richards repeatedly slapping Mick Jagger. Herrema’s raw, gravelly vocals were the Ying to his Yang. Together they took rock ‘n’ roll, chewed it up and expelled it – not unlike the infamous toilet picture of their Sweet Sixteen cover art, which caused Virgin Records to cut all ties with the band.

Today, Herrema’s post-Royal Trux and RTX band Black Bananas have just finished recording their second album. We called her up to talk reissues and re-connecting.

Alex James Taylor: Veterans of Disorder just got reissued. How do you feel about reissues in general?
Jennifer Herrema: Well we’ve been reissuing the whole Royal Trux back catalogue and we’ve been doing it basically to just get the records back out there. It’s not reissuing because it’s got extra tracks or special fanfares or anything like that. A lot of people do special issues, with extra features and special bonus tracks but yeah, I think that’s bullshit. Basically all the records were out of print and all sold out, so it was kind of like let’s just make more, we haven’t added anything, it’s exactly the same as the original, it’s just making the records available for people. And I think it’s cool that even though it’s an old record, it’s still a new release which is coming out. Especially with Veterans of Disorder, I think it sounds like that record could have been made, like right now.

AJT: I completely agree, the production on Veterans of Disorder is incredible. You produced everything yourselves, how did you learn that side of things?
JH: Yeah, we produced all our own records, each one except for Thank You. At the start of Royal Trux I didn’t really know what a producer was to be honest. Along the way I realised how important the producer was to the process, how it’s an intrinsic part of recording, part of the band as it were. With a good producer you let them in and they become a part of the whole creative process.  Neil and I kind of wanted everything intra, we did everything ourselves. But on Thank You we worked with David Briggs (Neil Young, Alice Cooper, Nick Cave) which was a dream come true. He really wanted to work with us, and we were huge fans, so it really worked.

When I was about sixteen, I was at college in New York and did audio engineering classes. Then when I was in San Francisco I did like three classes at the school of audio engineering. I learnt that stuff early on, but I’m not really interested in the engineering aspect, I just sort of know how to get certain sounds and I know what I’m looking for.

AJT: The Royal Trux back catalogue is vast. Was it a challenge to work so prolifically?
JH: Well it came together really. The first three records were harder, in so much as at first we didn’t know if we had any money, so we had to use whatever equipment we could. It’s funny to me actually, how now, people who have everything actually strive to sound like they have nothing, this whole lo-fi trend.

It all came relatively easy, from Thank You onwards was really easy, we had our studio and we didn’t have to worry about money. We lived in the middle of nowhere, way out in the country at the top of a hill, and there was nothing going on there at all. We felt really free and it was easy.

AJT: Do you find it strange how you were living in the middle of nowhere with very little outside influence, and yet the music you created still resonated so much with people and was even ahead of its time?
JH: I was born and raised in major cities and had been through a lot of shit. By the time 1995 came around I’d been through the ringer and back – a few times. There was a lot to draw from. That was the reason Neil and I decided to move out to the middle of nowhere, you stay in one place for too long and all the influence the city gives you, it’ll start to take it back, it’ll drain you. I just find living in a major city now totally draining. We were kind of old souls anyway. We didn’t need to live in cities anymore; we’d taken what we needed from them.

AJT: Matthew and Liza from STARRED are in the current print issue of HERO. You’re good friends with them, right? You were recently in their video for LA Drugs…
JH: Yeahh, Liza! She’s been a really big fan for a really long time, she used to live in San Francisco and had a band called Bridez who would open for us a few times when we were on tour.  She moved to LA and reached out to me, we’ve become really tight now. She’d never modelled before, but I had her model my third denim collection for Volcom. Liza is so much fun – she’d give me the shirt off her back. She’s a good girl.

AJT: Rad Times Express IV, from your band Black Bananas came out last year. The album really blew me away, it’s so sleazy and raw, and it makes perfect road trip music. Can we expect a new album from you anytime soon?
JH: Yeah we’ve got a new album, I just got off the phone about it actually. I was meant to turn it in last Saturday so I need to get moving with that. But it’s done I’m just working out the order, I’m having a hard time choosing between two different sequences, so I’m going to go into the studio in about an hour to revisit it and make a decision.

AJT: Have you got a title for it?
JH: Yeah it’s called Electric Brick Wall.

AJT: A couple of the songs on the first Black Bananas album have an almost hip hop beat. Have you been approached by anyone?
JH: I was actually approached by Vincent Gallo who called me a couple of months ago. He was talking about an album he was making with John Frusciante  and how it had a real hip hop vibe, and they were thinking of me to do some vocals on it. I said, ‘Yeah, let me know and I’ll call you back when my record is done’. It was really out the blue. I mean, they aren’t like hip hop dudes but it’s a cool concept.

The new record is sort of the same elements, but with this one, it’s more ‘out the box’. Some of the songs were actually recorded live, I think only three of them, but they sound awesome to me!

AJT: I saw on Facebook you co-wrote a few songs with Neil Hagerty. Is that true?
JH: It’s true! They’re on the album, I’d asked him what he’s working on and told him that I was making a new record. He said he had a couple of ideas for me, so he sent me some stuff – it’s him singing with guitar. I took it to the studio where Brian (McKinley, guitarist for Black Bananas) and I worked on some stuff, then sent it back to Neil and he was cool with it. It’s two songs on the new album and those are both recorded live. One is called… actually, I might end up changing the title, so I’m not going to tell you yet. I’m still messing around with the tracks.

AJT: And was that the first time you’d worked with Neil since Hand of Glory?
JH: Yeah! We just sort of started reconnecting again, it’s been great.

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Royal Trux’s Veterans of Disorder is reissued on Domino