Two percent or skim?

“I’ll take skim any day over 2 percent,” said Goodtime, drummer for the humorous rock ‘n’ roll trio known as The New Duncan Imperials.

“You see, I want more than just 2 percent of the take because if I skim off of the top of the profits, I still get my 2 percent plus a little more. That’s the way I work, anyway,” he continued.

With a nine-year history and seven CDs, The New Duncan Imperials have been skimming the profits, and then some.

The trio consists of three members: Pigtail Dick on guitar and vocals, Skipper on bass, and Goodtime on drums and percussion. The three met 10 years ago in Memphis, Tenn., as street corner musicians.

“We were all just playing around and got to be friends, so we decided to start a band, and we’ve been rockin’ and rollin’ ever since,” Goodtime said.

As the names of the individual members suggest, The New Duncan Imperials enjoy a good party.

The band quickly built a reputation for itself as crowd-pleasers with its wild and sometimes crazy show. With everything from confetti cannons to streamers across the stage, the band captures the New Years Eve party mentality in every show.

“We’re a very visual band, and every gig is definitely a party,” Goodtime said. “We’ve had a lot of crazy stuff happen at our shows. We’ve had some guy propose to his girlfriend on stage. We always give out all kinds of free stuff, too.”

“A lot of times we’ll give out banana splits, candy, or other things to eat. If the show gets kinda wild, it just turns into one huge food fight. It’s all a lot of fun.”

The band draws inspiration from life experiences. With subjects ranging from trailer parks to food and motels, the band writes about whatever comes naturally.

“Our music is kinda like if Johnny Cash was doing Black Sabbath covers in the Partridge Family basement,” Goodtime explained. “It’s definitely rock and roll, but there’s humor involved. We sing about all kinds of normal things that a lot of other bands don’t sing about

“We’ll sing about stuff like food, sex and drink. Or sex with food, or food with drink, or food with sex, or sex with food and drink. I think you get the picture.”

Giving out free stuff and crowd participation on stage is a big part of NDI’s live show. The band has a song called “Velour” during which several members of the audience are invited to come on stage.

Each participant then does what the band calls the “Velour Sex Dance.” The crowd then judges the dancers and the winner goes home with a Velour shirt as well as a renewed social standing.

“Sometimes the Velour Sex Dance can get kinda wild,” Goodtime said. “In the past, the dance has involved some nudity, both male and female. But we try not to encourage that because we try to keep the cops away from our shows.”

With it’s energetic and crazy live show, The New Duncan Imperials have gained a loyal following across the United States.

“Fans seem to love us,” Goodtime said. “We’ve been doing really well all over the country, and that’s why we keep doing what we’re doing … People come to our shows to let their hair down, I think.”

With a loyal following, a slew of CDs and singles, and a great show, The New Duncan Imperials have just one more goal as a band and as human beings.

“I think our next step as a band is world domination,” Goodtime said.

Meanwhile, Goodtime and his bandmates can continue to ponder the question of “which is better, skim or 2 percent?”

The New Duncan Imperials brings its wild, world dominating, rockin’ and rollin’ show to The M-Shop Friday at 9 p.m. for The M-Shop’s annual Not-Quite-New Years Eve Party. Tickets are $5 for students and $6 general admission.