Interview: More ‘Dynamite’: Rick Sims of the Didjits! (Part 2)

More ‘Dynamite’: Rick Sims of the Didjits!

By Justin Smulison

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We recently published the first half of my interview with Rick Sims, a punk (and) rock
hero who reactivated his seminal power trio, the Didjits, in September for performances
in the Midwest, most notably at RiotFest in his home-base of Chicago, Illinois.
Though the Didjits disbanded after 1993’s Que Sirhan Sirhan, they were being
discovered by wider audiences, thanks to the Offspring’s cover of “Killboy Powerhead”
on their multi-platinum album, Smash, and the video for “Judge Hot Fudge,” which
appeared on the original run of “Beavis & Butt-Head.”
Rock aficionados have been celebrating their music for years, and as a testament,
Touch & Go will release Strictly Dynamite: The Best of Didjits on Oct. 3, in various
physical formats (as well as digital).

Following his band’s first dissolution, Sims stayed active in other groups through the
years and launched his Rick Sims Sound Design, near Chicago, Illinois. There, he
composes music and sound effects for theater companies and other live events and has
maintained ownership of that entity during multiple other musical ventures.
One such venture was his all-too-brief time with rock ‘n’ roll badasses, the Supersuckers
in roughly 1994-96, on Sacrlicious Sounds. Released by renowned Seattle-based label,
Sub Pop, that album marked my introduction to Mr. Sims and I began following his
career forward and backward (thus, finding the Didjits).
Jumping ahead to the very late 1990s and 2000s was a quartet, the Gaza Strippers,
which captured the fun and chaotic affect of the Didjits, but with a more streamlined rock
approach.

But jumping backward, an album was released shortly after Sacrilicious in 1996 on
Touch & Go, which would change the way I heard rock music – Blastronaut, by the Lee
Harvey Oswald Band. If you imagine a supercharged rock-heavy David Bowie without
any major, overly sophisticated synth, with a second singer with a much higher pitch
and the occasional old-school punkish cover, this is . While there is nothing in the liner
notes to suggest nor confirm that Sims is handling guitar and second-singer duties on
this record as Dredge, his high-pitched voice and immaculate guitar solos are a dead

giveaway (the photo also was not terribly hard to decipher, despite the hat). And since
Blastronaut is approaching its 30 th anniversary, I had to pry and confirm – for once and
all – if Sims was involved and who the elusive Zowie Fenderblast really is (spoiler alert
– it’s not Gibby Haynes).

Last, but not least, we learn about how Rick is educating the next generation of
musicians and sound engineers – not just through Rick Sims Sound Design – but
through his work with local high schools in Illinois.
Please enjoy watching me geek out (again)!
Song clips: “Hitting the Gravel (Supersuckers), “Cat Fight” (Gaza Strippers),
“Morphodite,” and “Green Like the Color of Blood,” “Brontosaurus” (Lee Harvey Oswald
Band),” “Que Sirhan Sirhan. (Didjits)”

Rick Sims and Didjits online:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCptg-tx6aBIuH6ksKnLDwdA
Rick Sims Sound Design: https://www.ricksimssounddesign.com/
Touch & Go band page: https://store.touchandgorecords.com/collections/didjits
Strictly Dynamite: The Best of Didjits:
DIDJITS Strictly Dynamite: The Best of Didjits LP (Purple)
Bandcamp: https://didjits.bandcamp.com/ – Remember, October 3 is
#BandcampFriday! All purchases go directly to the artists.