Bad Otis Link Part 5: Linking Up With Biscuits
Interview with Greg Link aka Bad Otis Link continued from part 4.
Tell us, Otis, how did you link up with Chuck Biscuits?
I met Chuck in the late 1970s when he was just a kid, 13 or 14 years old, playing with “DOA” – one of the first bands I really became close with. They would stay at my place (still do), shop, or house whenever they came through town. Me and Tommy would hop in the van and travel with them from time to time. I really got to know Chuck and his entire Family. His Brother Dim Witt was the drummer for the “Subhumans”, also “DOA” from time to time and his last band “The Four Horsemen”. Dim’s band was the last band I made shirts for. Dim Witt died of a heroin overdose in the early ’90s, on the night he was signed to Warner Brothers. Bob, the 3rd brother, was always on the road with “DOA”, “Danzig”, and “The Four Horseman”. Chuck’s dad, Ken, always helped us at the shop. He moved back to BC in the early ’90s and I saw him often when I lived in Washington. He died a few years ago.
I got to know Chuck much better in ’83 when I spent 3 months in a van with him on the Circle Jerks’ “Golden Shower of Hits” Tour. Chuck is somewhat of a hermit by nature but an amazingly talented guy. He plays all instruments like a pro, is a natural song writer, and he is also an amazing visual artist. So we shared a lot of interests. He is also equally as cynical as me, if not more. So we drank a lot, chased girls, and schemed on junk to do when we got back from tour. As soon as we got back Chuck moved from his place with the “Jerks” into my shop. That was the beginning, really, of the “Otis and Biscuits” adventures. We worked the shop and store and lived together for a few years until he joined “Samhain”, turned into “Danzig” and he moved to New Jersey for a while.
When “Danzig” moved to LA Chuck moved in with me again in Long Beach. We continued art and music projects but Chuck was pretty much out of the shirt biz with me due to tour schedules with “Danzig”. When I moved to Seattle in ’93 Chuck stayed in Long Beach until he left “Danzig” a bit later. He moved up to Seattle then and stayed but I came back in ’98. He is still in Seattle but not working in music much anymore. He was disgusted with the music business and I would be surprised if he ever got back into the business again.
- Check out part 6 of the Bad Otis epic.