Interview with Sir Whiskey Richards

Here's an excerpt from my interview with Sir Whiskey Richards, a current senior and member of Arrr. Names in brackets have been changed.

WR: Well, it was my freshman year and I sang in high school and wanted to sing in college. I tried out for some other groups and didn't get in. I still wanted to sing, and didn't really know what to do with myself. One of my friends who went to my high school told me "you know, there's this weird group on campus that sings dressed up like pirates. It's weird, they know all this stuff about pirates, and to get in you need to know all about pirate lore and you have to be a pirate, and do kinda crazy stuff and drink a lot." I'm like, "that sounds a little strange...unusual. So i found out their email and I emailed the captain…the person before Violet…it must've been, maybe, Cutlass at that point? Anyway, so I went to audition. I still remember my audition - it was really fun. I didn't have any pirate outfit at all, so last minute I went "oh god what am i going to do" and i messed up the buttons on my shirt, and I went over to CVS and I went and was like, "I'm going to get an eyepatch." Unfortunately at CVS they don't just sell pirate eyepatches, they sell eyepatches for people who have, like, eye problems. They're like little cloth things. I was like "well, this isn't piratical at all." They actually like this story a lot, the pirates. I ended up - I wasn't going to buy a box of 20, so I just…I took one out of the box. You know, I was like "if I'm going to be a pirate about this…" So I put that on my face and used permanent marker to make it black and I drew, you know, eyepatch lines with permanent marker. Halfway through the audition I realized it's really hard to see with just one eye, so I took that off. I had a rousing good time. I had taped a cardboard sword with duct tape. It was completely, like, no rigidity. It would just flop. That's why they called me Whisky Dick…I have a floppy sword.

AVM: So, do you get most nicknames when you get initiated?

WR: There are different reasons for names. Leviathan Jack because he's huge. Um…some names are more fitting than others. Some names are closer than people's real names. Meister Jager, his real name is [William] Jager. And Frenchy the Wenchy, her real name is Francesca. But then there are names like mine, that are derived from something that happen. And like Grob, who's kind of a mystical pirate. Grob came into auditions - we always ask "what does grog mean to you?" It became clear over the course of his audition that he didn't know what grog was, nor did he know what word we were asking about. So, he proceeded to call it "grrrb" and "grooob," and it became his name. He's kind of a mystical pirate, since he doesn't come often to many things. He just shows up when we need him. 

AVM: Current student?

WR: Yes [laughs]. 

AVM: I thought he might be an alum, since I know many of your alums come back at some point.

WR: Yeah, there are certainly alums that come frequently.

AVM: So…that's how you got started. Is that a typical story? Do most people sing before? I know [Name] sings in chorus as well.

WR: Yeah, yeah.

AVM: But it did seem to me that at least one of your babies doesn't sing at all.

WR: Yeah, well we have a few who literally have no musical training. They're essentially tone deaf. We don't accept on the basis of musical talent - what really matters is the pirate spirit. They need to be a pirate. For example, one of our members, [James], has a peg leg. We knew we wanted him when he hung out with us. And not just because of his clearly applicable physical attributes. But also because, when we asked him on the main green, "Hey, do you want to audition for pirates?" We were frantically trying to recruit before auditions. We handed him a flyer, and he went "What? Because I have a peg leg?" We went "No, no!" He said, "That's really offensive. What is wrong with you? Are you out of your mind? What kind of group are you??" We're like "God no, we're really sorry. We're handing these out to everyone!" He's like "I'm outraged!"

AVM: And then he showed up?

WR: And then he proceeded to tell us he was just kidding. During our shows, during "Grog," he's taken to doing the following verse, where we sing "where is my leg, my groggy groggy leg…" He'll come out when he thinks it's an appropriate time. He'll say "I'm going to do the leg verse," and we'll go "ok, sure." It's funny, because he'll come out and go, [sings] "Oh, where is my leg…" he just looks down, and everyone goes "oh, shit…" And he just stops. And then we start the chorus. Completely his choosing - he's the one that first thought of this. [...] It's an awkward good hit.

AVM: Do other people have signature verses that they do? I know there's the one in "Grog" that's in harmony, that goes into "Loch Lomond."

WR: That's certainly people who are more into the musical side of things. But, uh…everyone has their different personalities. It's a very crazy group, in the sense that I don't think that I'd be friends naturally with many of these people, and I don't think they'd naturally be friends with me, but together, we're the best of friends, which is really wonderful.