Yellowcard

Posted on 15th April 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

Interview with Yellowcard on May 19th, 2001.


Ben : Hi my name is Ben from Yellowcard, how are you today?
Ryan : I am Ryan from Yellowcard too, I’m good today. Thanks for asking Ben.
Ben : No problem Ryan.

J : How long have you guys been together?
B : Ok, technically Yellowcard has been together since the end of ’97, maybe middle of ’97. But Ryan has only been in the band since last…
R : March 10th, 2000. A year and a couple months.
B : So basically it is kinda new to us, the songs and all that stuff.
J : How is Ryan’s addition different from the old Yellowcard?
R : Well, I dunno. I was hired as a songwriter for the band. I don’t know if I want to say that’s like what it was lacking before but it was… the songs are just like more structured now and more focused on melody as opposed to technicality.
B : It’s still got the same rockingness… well… no it’s not the same, at all.
R : It’s not the same and it was a drastic change and so a lot of people were getting mad and we’re like “you guys are emo” and blah blah blah but I listen to a lot of emo-rock music and I don’t think that we are anywhere, even in the same ballpark… I think the lines are all blurred these days anyways but so yea it was a drastic change. The old stuff had a lot harder edge and was more of a kinda in your face punk rock and now it is kinda straight forward rock ‘n roll.
J : Where are you guys from?
R : Well, we are originally from Jacksonville, FL but now we have to claim Thousand Oaks, California.
B : Thousand Oaks!
R : Because we are permanent residents.
J : Why did you guys move?
R : Umm… better market. There’s more people…
B : More people. There is 9 million people there and there is 1 million people in Jacksonville.
R : The scene is really really receptive there, the kids just love new music. The clubs there are just where it’s happening. It wasn’t to like bail on our bands from home or our hometown it was just to kinda like expand our horizons and go for it.
B : To go for it. We left everything we had, at home.
R : A lot of people have a problem with it, I’d like to say to those people, ya know people who say that we think we’re rockstars and we sold out and we moved to CA… I work a day job for 12 hours a day when I’m not on tour, you know what I mean? I have not sold out in any way, I am just trying to be successful at making music. And there is a better chance of getting more people to hear our music by playing out there.
B : And instead of waiting for bands to come through…
R : Totally. Instead of waiting in Jacksonville and competing with every other band in town to play with a band that is coming through, you just get to pick which one you want to play with out there. You know, which club you want to play and with what band. There is always shows, every night, somewhere.
B : We would recommend every band to move out there, because it has done nothing but good for us.
R : It’s not easy at all, it’s the hardest thing I have ever done, but it’s definitely a good career move is this is really what you want to do.
J : How do you guys feel about the new record?
R : I am totally stoked with it.
B : I can’t stop listening to it.
R : Yea, I can’t stop listening to it.
B : Our produced was soo rad. He was Pennywise’s producer, Darrien Rindell.
R : Yea he was such a cool guy, it was a great learning experience. Basically we all found out that we were all horrible musicians and that we need to practice.
B : He made us feel like we were 2 inches off the ground when we came in there 6 feet tall.
R : Yea we came in just thinking we were hot shit and we found out we weren’t hot shit at all.
B : He let us know whats up. We learned more in that 4 weeks…
R : Yea I learned more in that 4 weeks then I have learned in like my whole career and I’m stoked on it. I’m stoked on like the emotion it is pulling out of kids, ya know the response we’re getting it’s not just like a ‘yea its cool’ like we are getting some intense response by it, like kids who are just really really changed by our music which is exactly what I do it for.
J : How did you guys get on Lobster?
B : Gosh… we have been dealing with Lobster for years. We have been sending them all our records. We originally heard about them because Shawn Dewey of course from Lagwagon started it…
R : And Warren’s (bassist) older brother used to roadie for Lagwagon and he was actually one of the guys who helped start Lobster with Steve Lombarski, the guy that runs it now.
B : They were one of the only labels that we actually knew. And we wanted to work with them because it was on a personal level.
R : We tried to go with everyone, you know, we talked to everyone we could. And Lobster was just like family. We knew we could trust them and everything they were gonna do for us was in the best interest of both the people, and not just one-sided. There was going to be an equal amount of give from each side of the relationship, you know. They’re great guys. They don’t have millions of dollars to throw around but they work really heard with what they have, they are really resourceful.
B : Good people.
R : Yea totally, just good people. If they told us tomorrow that we could never put out another record, like I would still stay with them on this one just because of how good they are, to us.
B : And like, they let us break the bank. They had faith in us enough to let us just spend their money and it came out great. We are happy and we are going to keep on doing it.
J : What are your plans for the summer?
B : Tour, tour, tour, tour, tour…
R : We are going home, next month, for the month. And next month it is pending that we are going to Canada with Slick Shoes. We aren’t sure yet but it is possible. And then in August we are starting the tour in Birmingham, AL at Furnace Fest, which is a big thing that Takehold Records does every year with bands like Dynamite Boy and Dashboard and Further Seems Forever and all them are playing, and we’re gonna play that. And then we’re gonna do the northeast with Inspection 12, and that is our plans for the summer.
J : What inspired you to write music?
R : I dunno man, I picked up a guitar when I was 13 and I just kinda fiddled around, started a band. It was never my main thing in high school but I always wanted it to be, but my parents always had a real hard time with it. And then, finally with this one it just worked.
B : Music inspired me to play music. It’s just like you hear something that inspires you so much that you want to be able to do that.
R : I dunno, I’m a real cheese ball emo freak so this is the best way to just get it out in rage.
B : Yea we all have frantic personalities, so this is a good thing for all of us.
R : Yea, you have to be extreme to be a good musician, you have to be an extreme person because it’s gotta be more extreme then what everyone else is so that they can be attracted to it.
B : So they watch you, and they want to be a part of it. And we are all 110%, I really think for every band out there that if you go 110%, you give all you have and more, and nothing can go wrong. You are only gonna get good and you’re only gonna write good songs.
J : So Ryan, I understand you have a pretty musical past.
R : Well, I dunno I am kind of a band slut. I was in a band in high school, but I got out of that band…
B : Modern Amusement.
R : Yea, Modern Amusement was my high school band, and then I tried to do some college stuff and I wasn’t into it so I ended up moving west in ’99 to Santa Cruz, CA to play with Craig’s Brother, who were previously on Tooth & Nail Records. I played with them, toured with them for like 4 months, lived with them for almost year. And then, artistic differences I guess, and I was just broke and hungry and tired and I had to come back home. And I was actually originally coming back home and was going to play with Inspection 12 but then they got their record contract and it was kind of a legality thing with the original members of the band were gonna come back home from school and get in the band so I was kinda left without a band. I tried to start some other stuff and then went back to college and then magically I somehow ended up in Yellowcard. Spring Break of that year, they lost their singer. But yea, I’ve been around and done the thing. Like that tour, that summer of ’99, was the biggest experience I’ve had. We went everywhere. We went almost to the Atlantic Ocean in Canada, that’s how far north we went. And all over the US, I’ve been everywhere now. Which is crazy just to think that I’ve done that already, and like we’re just gonna keep doing it over and over again now. But yea it’s been a bumpy road but it is nice to finally be like settled in, ya know?
B : And with Craig’s Brother, he was kind of like learning songs already written. Even though he was still creating new Craig’s Brother songs, now it is his songs, Ryan’s songs. You see it in him and he plays it and I think deep down Ryan has always wanted that. He had it with Modern Amusement but now it is another level because he came with a bunch of experienced people and he is experienced and it just clicked. And we all happened to go to the same high school together, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, it’s a great school. Plug that… Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. And yea… I heard you went there.
R : Yea, I went the other day. I gave everyone cd’s and posters and stuff.
B : Did you see Casper dude?
R : No, he only works part time now. He got married, he’s got a kid on the way and stuff.
B : That was our guitar teacher.
J : How old is everyone?
R : I’m 21, Sean is 22, Warren is 21, LP is 21 and Ben…
B : Is 10.
R : Is 20, but he is a 10yr old, in a 20yr olds body.
B : Not really, don’t tell that ’cause the girls wont date me.
R : Oh yea, he wont get chicks if you print that. But he might if you print it like that though… see, if you do it like that.
B : Tell Shay that I said hi in this interview. And tell JJ that Ryan said hi.
R : Yea, I’d be down with that.
J : So what was life like at DA?
R : It was amazing dude, I would do high school over again without a doubt dude. My senior, I had 2 academic classes and 5 art classes. I was in the theatre department, not the music department. Everyone respected each other for being there because you had to audition to get and everyone loved everyone.
B : No clicks, no jocks. My brother went to public school, your sister goes to public school and we hear the horror stories or public school and we respect our high school and nobody that goes to public school respects their high school.
R : Yea and it was amazing. Everyone came to everything like everyone went to all the art galleries, everyone went to all the theatre shows, everyone went to all the symphonies… like everyone went to see everyone, even if you didn’t know anyone in that department. It was a really cool community of people. I’m really bummed that it’s over actually, even though it’s been over for 3 years.
B : The teachers are like your mentors ya know? Like my guitar teacher taught me a lot about practicing. You have to bust your ass in your bedroom to bust your ass on stage.
J : What was your childhood dream?
R : I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be Tom Cruise in Top Gun, that’s what I wanted to be when I was a kid.
B : I drew a lot, I wanted to be an artist. I was a drawer and that kind of thing and now my mom is like “you always wanted to be an artist, la la la” I dunno.
R : I saw Top Gun when I was 6, it changed my life. I wanted to be an actor ever since I saw it. I’d still be down to do it someday, I did it my whole life. Even when I went to college, that’s what I went to college for.
J : Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
B : Putting out more records. 5 years is nothing.
R : Yea totally. I don’t want it to come out wrong but I hope that we’re just playing stadiums, just rocking everyone’s life. Just rocking.
B : But still the same people.
R : Yea just still just knocking each other over on stage ’cause we’re going off so hard.
B : In 5 years we’re only gonna be better. We have only been writing these songs for a year. Think about bands like Tool, think about bands like Weezer, like Green Day… we have only just begun.
J : What do you guys think of Napster?
R : Oh, I’m soo torn bro. At the level that we are at, I will tell you honestly that it has hurt our record sales.
B : But it is also promoting us.
R : But it’s also promoting us, so it is a win – lost situation.
B : Bands like Metallica… it doesn’t matter. Think about it…
R : Yea that was dumb… that was stupid. That whole thing was stupid because you know if you go download all the Metallica songs off their new record, if they come out with one, you’re still gonna go buy it, it’s Metallica. Or Green Day or Weezer, anybody like that. If I would have gone and downloaded all the Weezer songs it would have just been so I could have it before I got the cd. But when you have a band like Yellowcard, at the level that we are at. You download it, you burn the disc, and that’s your disc. And you don’t go buy it. I know it hurt record sales, I know it did. But at the same time I don’t want to sound like I give to much of a shit about record sales, like that is what we’re all about because it’s not. I just want the kids to hear our music. But I’m really torn on it, it hurts you and it helps you so, I dunno.
B : Same thing. Personally, I don’t even have the time mess with it. I’ve heard a lot of good Napster discs, like a bunch of mixed songs, that’s pretty cool. But the whole stealing records shit has got to go. Fix it buddies, that’s all I gotta say.
R : There is a way to do it, there is a way to fix it. We just need to figure it out.
J : If you could change one thing in the world what would you change?
LP (drums) : I don’t know.
R : Boy bands.
LP : Yea, that’s what I was gonna say.
B : Fake music. Manufactured music.
R : I know that’s a cheesy answer but I am really serious about it, I would get rid of the boy bands dude. If I could do anything.
B : Dude it’s a serious thing. Think about the articles in the newspaper when the boy bands come to town.
R : Shouldn’t we say we would stop world hunger?
B : I am going to be environment for my mother. If I ever could I would do that. Just the way they bust down trees for strip malls, she wants me to get rid of that. But don’t print that, that’s pretty hippy.
R : Yea that is pretty hippy, you are a hippy.
J : What is your favorite boy band?
R : New Kids on the Block dude, ’cause they are OG. They did their own thing. New Kids on the Block started it and they rocked and all the little kids rocked to them. Like little kids rocked New Kids on the Block. Now it’s like 25 yr. old men go to watch these bands that aren’t even… it’s not a band! It’s a broadway show you are going to watch. But NKOTB ’till I die, that’s my favorite boy band.
J : What is in your cd player now?
B : Tool, the new Tool. And the new Weezer.
R : No, the new Tool record is in the van right now actually.
LP : No, Fetch is in the van.
R : Yea that’s right, Fetch from Tallahassee is in there right now. They rock.
LP : Their drummer rocks.
B : They are from Tally and they rock, one of the best bands we’ve played with.
R : That’s funny how it took us 3 different discs to figure out which.
B : Yea we’ve been listening to the new Tool and Weezer and Further Seems Forever, because we’re into Dashboard.
LP : Yea double thumbs up to Dashboard.
B : Chris Carrabba… we’re gonna get you buddy.
R : I just wanna play with him you know.
J : What are some of your favorite movies?
R : Top Gun.
LP : Preadator… and Aliens.
R : No, Top Gun dude, end of story. You don’t need to hear anymore.
J : When you guys aren’t workin’ hard or touring what do you do?
B : We don’t know yet because we are gonna start touring forever.
R : No, what do we do like at home when we’re not…
B : I dunno, Ryan plays guitar a lot. You’d think he gets sick of it but dude doesn’t ever stop.
R : Yea, I sit in my room and play guitar, I’m a dork. I dunno dude I spend most of my time pining over this chick that I’m like in love with right now.
B : Warren books tours.
R : Yea, Warren is always on the phone.
B : Or with his Fiancee Mandy.
LP : And I’m doing whatever the band’s doing.
B : LP’s just hangin’ out, ready to play shows.
R : We are really social people, we like to hang out with a lot of people.
B : We hang dude. Good conversationalists ists ists ists.
LP : We definitely put in a lot of hard work for what we are doing right now. We work full time also and to do both and get everything the way we want is a lot of hard work, and takes a lot of time and we’ve put it through. Like moving to California and just like doing the whole California thing and getting into the scene was tough in itself but we got it all down ya know, so it’s straight.
J : What do you guys thing of Britney Spears?
R : Oh she’s hot.
B : God, she’s hot.
LP : I love the woman. I wanna marry her.
B : Dude, but!
R : Super Bowl…. she was soo hot on that.
B : Dude and she is only gonna get hotter.
R : But, I still have a problem with that whole scene of music.
B : I wanna play a show with Britney.
LP : I have a problem with the music because the vocals are all lip sung and the music is all like in the back ya know.
R : It’s not all lip sung but I just have a problem with just how big, and how it’s taking over the world and it’s not dead yet. But rock is coming back dude. I’m telling you the new Weezer record is like revolutionary, they’re gonna go huge again and rock’s coming back dude. It’s the whole grunge rock thing coming back in a different way like it did in the early 90′s, it’s gonna be rock and roll. So it’s on it’s way back. But Britney Spears is definitely hot, definitely.
J : Anything else?
B : Twankle n’ Glistenin’.
R : Twankle n’ Glistenin’.
B : Scott.
R : Scott McRae Shad. We love him. He passed away on the 6th of March, this year, 2001. Buy the new Inspection 12 record, on Honest Dons.

Interview by : Josh Stern – www.punkinterviews.com

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Blanks 77

Posted on 3rd April 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

There’s been a big buzz over this band as of late. Is the hype justified? Is there reason for concern? Well, if you go by their recent mind blowing CD with a hologram cover, the answer is an overwhelming yes. If you’re looking for political rhetoric, skip the Blanks. If you want straight up punk rock, these are you’re guys and gal. Check out what Mike, part time frozen yoghurt vendor and full time Blanks 77 singer, had to say.

Rational Inquirer:(with reference to the fact that the interview was conducted by phone from Mike Blanks’ work) Where do you work, by the way?
Mike: I Can’t Believe It’s Yoghurt. It’s a frozen yoghurt type of place.

RI: It seems like a good job.
Mike: I can do whatever the fuck I want.

RI: Why not start with a history, but let’s go a little further back. How did you guys first get involved in punk rock? What got you interested, and did you play in previous bands?
Mike: None of the real Blanks were in any other bands. But we started about six years ago. Me and Chad, the drummer, used to hang out at the Pipeline. We’d see bands like The Wretched Ones and stuff like that. All the members except the bass player are original members. TJ’s been in the band for about 2 years. Almost all our recorded stuff has been with him, though. Brendan was the original bass player, but he left. I think he got tired of it because we were trying to do a lot. Then we had this kid who was in AFI as well. But now he hates us. It’s not hard to hate us.

RI: You all seem pretty young. How old are you, and do you still live at home?
Mike: We’re all like 22, and of course we live at home.

RI: How did you swing doing everything? Is touring and playing okay with your folks?
Mike: Well…they’ve grown to accept it. We bombard them with it. “We’re leaving. Bye” They’re cool with it now. It took a while for them to realize that their son was not going to be a doctor.

RI: You guys have several songs about punks and skins. Where do you fit into this picture politically? In Europe especially, these two groups stand worlds apart politically with skins being right wink, generally and punx taking a more liberal stance. Where do you fit politically with these two groups. They rarely seem to mix.
Mike: For us it’s just an area thing. In the New Jersey area, punks and skins sort of get along. In Germany I know it’s different. When we were there two Summers ago, people were wondering if we were nazis or something. They take things way too seriously.

RI: What type of crowds do you get?
Mike: We got a couple of skins. They were cool, though. People were afraid of them. You don’t have to be afraid of them. They’re just people.

RI: The name of your band pretty much shows where you’re coming from. Some people might say this is re-hashing something old and irrelevant. Why concentrate on a sound and image that’s 20 years old and being mass marketed? What’s the threat in that?
Mike: We just like to play like that. We don’t even sound like a band from 77. It’s more of a mix of everything. When we first liked the punk rock, we liked the older 77 style crap. Then…when we started the band, we sounded like one of those old bands…I’m so glad we don’t sound like that anymore. A few years ago we started listening to The Dwarves, and they’re like total kick ass, amazing! I think that’s when we started getting better and growing into our sound.

RI: I’ve heard through several third person sources about the incident with Lars from Rancid and the NY show. Could you, in your own words, tell us what happened and what you think of the incident?
Mike: Well, The Rancids were playing at The Saturday Night Live the night before and our friend Kandra had sex with Tim. She was supposed to get them to come and play at The Coney Island High that day with The Casualties, The Blanks 77 and a couple of others I forget. So they were supposed to play, but they decided they weren’t going to because they might get beat up. For some reason they wanted to sing on one of the band’s set. So we’re like, “Do it during ours. It’ll be funny.” So they did, and a big old scuffle broke out. I had a good time that day.

RI: Are they sellouts in your eyes?
Mike: I don’t care what they’ve done. As long as they don’t…They’re pretty nice people. We’ve talked to them. It’s just some of their people that they choose to work for, like their crew, their management, I don’t care for those types of people. I would rather not have to deal with them. I don’t know if that qualifies them as having sold out. They should just choose better people to…they should be more involved in what they’re doing. But I think they have a pretty good thing going.

RI: Why’d you open for them?
Mike: This actually happened when I didn’t care much for them. It was after the fight. They asked us to open up for them. I think they were sorry that the fight broke out at The Coney Island. I didn’t care. We got mentioned on the radio. It was funny. Playing with Rancid was really funny because it was a lot of people. The most people we had ever played to. So I kind of liked it for that. But I didn’t like dealing with big club people. They don’t treat you very well. When you play the smaller clubs, they usually treat you pretty good.

RI: Is Blanks 77 a political band?
Mike: No! We’re not stupid, though. Some people think we are. We don’t preach politics, but in some we touch upon it, but not like crazy. We just fit in with the basic punk ideals.

RI: Where do you stand politically? Do you vote, or would you vote? How do you see the upcoming presidential campaign?
Mike: I don’t. Rene does. We ask why. And she says she doesn’t know. She’s too busy rockin’ the goddamn vote. But I don’t think she’s going to be doing it this year because we’re going to probably be playing in November. We’re going out to Minneapolis and down as low as Georgia. We get back on the 19th.

RI: How’d your last tour go, by the way?
Mike: Oh it was fucking great! We were out from June to August. It was a great time. This has definately been the best tour so far. This was just our tour. We didn’t have to rely on anyone else. We did it ourselves. We had a cool little bus to take us. It’s like one of those little retard kid buses. You would have loved it. There’s a loft up there where we can have sex if we want to – if we chose to. You definately have to check out the bus. It’s very creative looking. It’s big and silver and has leapard print on the sides and flames.

RI: You haven’t had any problems with police with it?
Mike: No, not really. It doesn’t go very fast.

RI: Anything interesting happen while on tour?
Mike: Well…we got the scabies. That was wonderful. (laughter) We got to play with The Dwarves. That was fucking amazing. We stayed at their house. Their set even lasted for more than five minutes.

RI: Do you feel there’s common ground politically in the punk scene?
Mike: I don’t know about politically. But what does “unite” the punk scene is…I think everyone hanging out together talking about punk rock and the bands…”how did you get your pants like that?” It’s just fun. That’s what I do at all the shows. Politics is okay, but I don’t want that to be my life. Our band would never talk politics while we’re playing. We don’t go for that.

RI: Who came up with the concept for the cover on your CD?
Mike: Actually, that was Radical Records. Our friend Josh did their artwork, and they made it move. They said to find an artist and get them to do three frames…there you go. I don’t think a punk band had ever done that before. I’ve only seen some trance and techno stuff like that. Now for the next record we really have to outdo ourselves.

RI: You’re now working on that, are you?
Mike: The day we get back from our November tour, we’re going into the studio to record. We have around 14 songs saved up. It’ll be a full length. It’ll be called Tanked and Pogoed.

RI: It’s wierd that you’d be doing another record so quickly.
Mike: That Killer Blanks record came out in Germany first. So it’s been over a year already. We really want to put out this next record because that’s so old already. That’s all we care about. It’ll hopefully be out by March. Radical also helped us shoot a video. It’s been sent to all the local cable access shows. If any shows want to get a copy, they should write to Radical. It’s B&W and color. It was done by the guy who did the video for the Gin Blossoms. The guy knew nothing about the punk rock, but I guess Radical are like friends with the guy. We’re all very pleased. That was one thing we had wanted to do. We kind of like videos.

RI: You mention drugs and alcohol in most interviews I read about you guys. Is this a big aspect of your lives?
Mike: In our lives…I could say “no”, but I’d be lying. We like the drinking. It’s fun for us.

RI: The Beatles once said that all their best material was written while they were high. Does the same hold true for the Blanks?
Mike: No, I don’t think we write songs when we’re drunk. We just play that way. It’s a big social thing.

RI: Tell me about your scene? I read somewhere that it was comprised of mainly suburban well-to-do whites? Is that the case?
Mike: I guess…I just had this conversation with Sue, and we were talking about the punk rock. We’re wondering where everyone comes from. I said, “Well Sue, all the best punk rockers come from rich neighborhoods. They have money for their jackets, pants, etc. None of us in our band really have a lot of money. It’s funny how punk is supposed to be this dirty little living-on-the-street thing, and here we are driving cars and working at yoghurt stores. There are a lot of rich kids that come to see us. I have nothing against them. In New York, however, there are a lot of kids who live in squats. They make a life for themselves. One of the members of The Bouncing Souls lives in a squat still even though they’ve managed to do pretty good.

RI: What do you see as your main influences and who would you compare Blanks to?
Mike: Geeze…I really like The Dwarves. I like thier whole attitude. When I first started playing I loved The Ramones. We always like the Sex Pistols a lot – then probably The Blitz and The Partisans. Right now we compare ourselves to three bands. The way we play – song after song – is like The Ramones. The way we act, like we’re really hot shit, is like The Dwarves. For our drummer, he has his special catagory…he has this cool stage show….kind of like Kiss. We’re trying to give people what they pay for. we try to make people get into it. We’re forcing ourselves upon people.

RI: Are you in a contract with Radical or can you release stuff outside of Radical if you so choose?
Mike: We probably could, but they would have to agree. Everyone has to agree. They can’t do anything without our approval either.

RI: With punk being so popular these days, I’m sure you get kids asking for autographs. How do you feel in that position?
Mike: I love that! I don’t care. It’s funny. I think they’re retarted asking for it, but at the same time I could see why they’d want it.

RI: So you’re not against it?
Mike: You have to look at it both ways. How do you look like a bigger dick? If you do it or if you don’t. If they want it, what the fuck. Some little girls come to the shows and we give them kisses. We’re going to set up a kissing booth on our next tour. (laughter)

RI: Thanks for the interview. I need to kinda keep it short. Is there anything else you’d like to add? What is the name of your store so people can go bug you?
Mike: No, don’t print that. Everyone knows, though. It’s I Can’t Believe It’s Yoghurt. Everyone calls me here. The yoghurt for today is the nonfat with nutra sweet vanilla. You put some caramel on that…

 



Interview by : Nelsen Magana of the Rational Inquirer

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Cooter

Posted on 1st April 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

How pleased are you with the success of Looking Up? From my point of view, on the net I’m seeing it gets loads of publicity. How well are you doing with the “unwired” audiences?
We are very happy with how the record is doing, it exciting. It’s great that there is a lot of publicity on the net. I think the folks at Fastmusic are doing a good job at getting publicity out there in other media as well. They’ve had our record pushed to college and independent radio, as well as sent it out for review by quite a few zines, and they’ve also taken out ads in some big publications like Thrasher. We are happy with the publicity, especially since it’s also our first record, we’re trying to earn credibility.

Is there a story behind the name “Cooter”?
The name comes directly from the T.V. series “Dukes of Hazard”. Most of our audience is just old enough to remember the show, but not so well that they remember all the characters’ names. Chris Hughes, on the other hand, is old enough that he could have been a writer on the show. Anyway, Chris Hughes was fond of the series and thought that “Cooter” would be a great name for the band. I thought it was a terrible idea but couldn’t think of a better name on the spot, so “Cooter” it’s been ever since. It’s probably better off, because even though people often confuse the meaning for something X-rated, people don’t forget it easily either.

Would you be interested in joining the Warped Tour for a year if the opportunity arose?
That would be excellent. The Warped Tour is a chance to play with all the best punk bands in the business, play to crowds much larger than you usually get to play for, get a bunch of free stuff, hang out, meet tons of kids, see this and other countries etc. etc. etc. What’s not to like?

I’ve been fascinated by the lyrics on “Looking Up”, especially the poetic nature of songs like Full House and Friday Mourning. What are the lyrical inspirations? What about the band’s musical influences?
That is really cool. I thank you for being interested in the lyrics and asking about them. Friday relates to a situation in which someone close to me lost a sibling in an accident. It’s mainly about coming to terms and acceptance with the loss. The answer could be 100 pages long but that’s it in a nutshell. Fullhouse describes the attitudes of some that I’ve known who are capable of so much, but for whatever reason (fear, guilt, laziness, complacency) seldom put their energy in to much other than complaining.

Our strongest influences as a band are: Face to Face, Lagwagon , Green Day, Foo Fighters, Bad Religion, Social D., and Strung Out. We’re in to music that rocks.

What’s your favorite cover song to play?
Mine is “Disconnected” by Face to Face, but I know for a fact that the rest of the guys hate to do that one. We used to play it all the time and I guess it just got played out for them. I love singing that song though. We don’t really do many covers. We try to play American Jesus (Bad Religion), Authority Song (John Cougar Mellencamp), and The Dodo (Bad Religion). Rob and Chris Hughes are always trying to play Social Distortion songs at practice but that doesn’t count. I also dabble in Marilyn Manson songs at practice, but mainly to annoy everyone else. I guess that doesn’t count either.

What are the long term touring plans for the band? One friend of mine wanted to know if you plan on coming to Europe in the foreseeable future. I wonder the same about Canada.
We want to tour as much as possible. We will be coming to Canada in the Spring, I believe March or April with the band Pollen (Fueled By Ramen rec. Check them out). We’ll also be doing some dates with Less than Jake immediately following that, and also some northeastern dates with H20 this spring. In August we’ll be doing a full U.S. tour with Slick Shoes. That tour may also make its way to parts of Canada . As far as Europe goes we’ll have to wait and see. That’s expensive! Hopefully we will make it there soon, we would love to go. To get concrete tour dates check our website at www.fastmusic.com/Cooter.

What would it take for you personally to want to change labels? It could be one of the big punk labels like Fat or Epitaph, or even a major mainstream label?
I don’t know. Fastmusic is a perfect fit for us right now because both entities are growing. Our relationship works because we work our hardest to get good shows and write good songs, and they do their best to support us with advertising, tour support, Internet capabilities and tons of other ‘behind the scenes’ sort of things. They’re pretty good to us. I guess if the relationship went terribly wrong we’d probably want to leave or they would get rid of us, but there is no foreseeable reason why that would happen. I don’t think that a band’s label is important anyway, the music is what’s important. For instance; a crappy major label band on an independent label is still crappy, while a great independent band on a major label is still great (Green Day).

Do you and the other guys have other jobs on the side? Where do you see the band a few years down the road? Is it something you want to keep up permanently, or do you have other career goals?
We all still have day jobs but hopefully not for much longer. We would all like to do the band for a living. I think we have a legitimate shot at that very soon, if everything keep progressing as it has been.

Thanks for the interview. I think that about covers it. Anything else you’d like to inform your fans of before we sign off? Everyone always wants to know what the deal is going to be with the next CD.
We haven’t made plans to record another full length yet because we are still writing new songs and we work kind of slow. However, look for a split EP featuring Slick Shoes and us in the late spring. That will be on Fueled by Ramen records. Also, look for a new compilation from Fastmusic featuring a ton of great bands all doing unreleased material, we’ll have a track on that. Finally, we are going to contribute to a Bad Religion tribute record, so that is exciting for us. We would like to thank you for the interview. Hopefully we’ll talk again soon.



Interview by : CTRL-ALT-DEL

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Reel Big Fish

Posted on 19th March 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

Im sure everybody has heard of Reel Big Fish. They originated almost 10 years ago in Orange County and have since then been a huge success. I had a phone interview with their new drummer Carlos on December 17th of 1999. Here’s how it went.

So… you’re Carlos and you play drums for Reel Big Fish?
Yah

What are the influences in Reel Big Fish’s music?
Earlier on we were influenced by the Southern California ska thing. We have always been into different kinds of music, right now especially. I think everybody in the band likes something different.

How long have you been with the band?
I just joined in January of this year.

You were in Suburban Rhythm before right?
Yah

What ever happened to Suburban Rhythm?
[laughs]. Well… I guess it was a lot of tension within the band.

What’s the writing process for Reel Big Fish?
Right now we are writing songs for the new album. The earlier stuff was pretty much all put together by Aaron. We write when we are on the road a lot in the bus. Right now we arent really sure where to go. We want to go with like 30 or 40 songs and pick the best for the cd. At this point we are kinda searching for something, but not sure what that special something is. We are looking for a producer to help us get this together.

It seems like each of your albums have an underlying theme. For instance, in TTRO the theme was chicks abandoning their boyfriends and in WDTRSH it was how record companies screw everyone over. Is there a certain theme for your new album?
Right now I couldn’t really say. I guess its like a whole high school thing. With chicks and guys not getting them. Its more about angst and not necessarily a relationship. Its still funny though.

How do you think it compares to the previous records?
Right now we are really stoked on what we have come up with. There are a couple songs that we are not sure about but for the most part we’re happy with it.

Is it gonna be any different musically?
Yah. Its kind of a difficult thing because we want to, like any band, let the music grow and try different things but are kinda scared to break away from our sound. We don’t want the fans that have been there since the beginning to back down on us. We want to do what we can to progress with the band. I think its gonna sound a bit more poppier and a bit simpler too but at the same time we want to keep our style as well. We have been into a 70’s rock type thing a lot lately. We have a traditional ska song, and a traditional Reel Big Fish song [laughs] and a couple other things. As long as it sounds good we’ll keep it.

You guys have a lot of songs on “Turn The Radio Off” about going mainstream and selling out and what not. For example, “Sellout”, “Join The Club”, and Trendy”… is there any reason?
I think at the time Aaron wrote the songs he felt that type of thing was happening. I think it has a lot to do with the scene out here where are you at?

Im in florida.
Well we’re in Southern California. I guess it’s the same thing everywhere though.

Which album would you choose over which, “Turn The Radio Off” or “Why Do They Rock So Hard”?
I dunno, it’s hard to say. I like “Turn The Radio Off” better overall. My favorite song by Reel Big Fish is “The Setup”, I think that’s a great song, and that’s on “Why Do They Rock So Hard.”

Is “Somebody Hates Me” directed towards anyone?
Umm… ya know I don’t know. I don’t think it is. [laughs].

What makes Scott a dork?
What makes Scott a dork? I think that uh… Scott’s not a dork… Scott’s cool [laughs]. I think when they wrote that song Aaron started singing “Scotts A Dork” and that never changed. I think Scott wishes hadnt did that now but… what are ya gonna do? [laughs].

Who thought of the band name?
Actually it was Matt Wong. Its one of those things where… its not our favorite name. We never had any idea we were going to be this big. He just I guess though of something clever. He didn’t even think it was going to stick at the time but… what are ya gonna do?

So whats life like on the road?
It kicks ass! Its fun seeing all these different places. It kinda sucks that your not in one place very long though. Its fun playing in places like Australia because it is totally different there. But if you are in the US, unless you are in one of the bigger cities, it can get a little boring. But its great to see fans all over.

Was touring with Blondie cool?
That was very cool. They were very nice to us. Debbie Harry is a legend ya know? It was pretty weird because I always listened to her growing up.

You never would have imagined?
Yah really… I never would have.

If the opportunity arose to tour with any band who would it be?
Hmm… for me personally I would like to tour with Rocket From The Crypt. They are a great band. I like to Foo Fighters a lot too.

Yah they have No Use For A Names old guitarist now…
Yah that’s right. We just finished a tour with 22 Jacks and he used to play with them also.

He’s also in Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
Yah

He’s been around.
He is an outstanding guitarist.

Is there one show from your whole career that just totally stands out in your mind?
Yah we did a show in Japan. It was insane. They don’t know hardly any english and they are singing along with all of the songs. And that’s crazy.

Haha, they don’t really know what they are singing but they are singing it.
Yah… yah exactly, Its unreal, that was a great experience. The fans out there are wonderful.

What are your views on sXe and veganism?
I personally don’t drink or smoke. Im not a vegetarian really, I just eat healthy. I don’t really care, its everyones on decision.

How long have you known the band?
I’ve known them for a long time. They used to open up for my old band.

What was it like to do Baseketball? I don’t think you were in the band then but Im sure you heard some stories.
It don’t think it was as exciting as it would have seemed like. They were in a trailer for like 8 hours and then they filmed their set which didn’t take too long. I think the best part was watching the hot chicks dance around.

Yah that was my favorite part.

Whats your favorite movie?
I liked that movie Buffalo 66. I like a lot of movies. I don’t think I have a favorite favorite. Its like asking what my favorite band is, it always changes.

Do you have any favorite cartoons?
I think it has to be the Simpsons. That has been the best cartoon on TV.

Do you have any Y2K predictions?
I don’t think anything’s gonna happen. I don’t know why everyone is worried.

Do you have any New Years Resolutions?
I have really come up with any yet. I guess I could say lose weight. Even though Im not that fat, that’s what everyones resolution is.

I guess that about wraps it up, I got one more question for ya. Do you like Britney Spears?
Do I like her? I don’t personally. Im not a big fan. Isnt she from Florida?

Yah… I think she is. It’s a disgrace… we have her and Marilyn Manson.
Hahahaha yea.


Interview by : Josh Stern   punkrock@acornweb.com 

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Mustard Plug

Posted on 12th March 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

After the release of the newest Mustard Plug CD, Pray for Mojo, I got the opportunity to talk to Jim, Dave, Brandon, Colin, and Craig of Mustard Plug to ask them a few questions about the release and just about the band in general.

ADKG: First off, I’d just like to ask about something I’ve been curious about. How did you guys start off? Did you like just jam as a garage band, and eventually build up a following or something like that?

Colin: Dave and I used to go to the ska shows in Michigan like Bim Skala Bim and the Toasters and stuff. We were both at seperate colleges at the time and we got back to Grand Rapids and thought it would be cool to get whoever we could find and play in a band just for fun. We started out with like 12 guys at the first couple of practices. We never had any other plans but to just play and goof around or whatever, and just hope to get free beer somewhere along the way.

ADKG: Did you guys start off by saying you were gonna be a ska band, or did your sound just evolve into whatever you guys ended up playing?

Jim: We started off being a ska band. We always had intentions of being a punk influenced ska band, basically.

Colin: Yeah, pretty much our first CD, Skapocalypse Now, a lot of that’s like our first few months of goofing around.

ADKG: Did your new album title come from the Simpson’s Episode?

Everyone: Yes!

ADKG: Do you guys have any plans of hitting the studio again in the near future?

Everyone: No!

Craig: Maybe in about 2 years…

Dave: No, this just came out about a week ago, so we’re just planning on touring like crazy to get the word out about this album.

Colin: We’re going to do a video in like a month or so. That’s kind of a release, I guess. It’s a product.

ADKG: Do you guys think it’s better to have songs with serious meanings, or just songs that are just entertaining, like Skankin’ Pickle?

Colin: We can do both!

Craig: I think there’s a lot to be said for both. I think we tend to have that balance pretty well. There’s a lot more silly bands than us and there’s by far a lot more serious bands than us.

Colin: We just try to find a good balance. That way we don’t get too bogged down and too burned out with a lot of stuff. It’s nice to have a little side area to go into and just be goofy sometimes.

ADKG: What do you guys think about the ska scene right now, as far as bands that are selling out and going mainstream? What are your viewpoints on that?

Craig: That it’s done.

Jim: They still wanna sell out, but no one wants to buy it anymore!

Brandon: I think it’s a lot stronger than it was just because it was forced to go back underground again.

Craig: We just kind of predicted that the bands that had been around for a long time and touring would like totally just pull through all that and keep being able to do what they’re doing and keep being successful. And I think that’s kind of happening now; the trend’s like pretty much over, and the major labels aren’t racing to sign ska bands, but we can still go on tour on Hopeless and hope to do bigger shows than we did our last tour.

Brandon: The whole punk rock scene has just been going forever without the help of the major label money, so it’s not going to end.

ADKG: That’s basically all I had to ask, unless you guys wanted to add something.

Colin: Come see us!



Interview by : Kevin of A Different Kind of Greatness

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Anti-Flag

Posted on 5th March 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

It’s always interesting to see a young talented punk band develop over time into a more mature entity that still knows where its place is in the punk scene. ANTI-FLAG have easily one of the most rabid fan bases among all in punk rock, and one doesn’t usually have to look too far to find someone with an ANTI-FLAG shirt or patch at a show. This summer will yield this band’s fourth full length, and their first on the hugely sucessful Fat Wreck Chords. This interview was conducted by Dave Castillo by telephone with drummer, Pat, sometime in January 2001.

pastepunk: First off, how is the new album coming along? Stylistically how does it compare to the others?

Pat: The new album is about seventy five percent done. Stylistically it is along the same lines as the old record “A New Kind of Army.” This record is more mature ideologically though. We address more specific issues in this record compared to the last one.

pastepunk: How has this recording experience been compared to others?

Pat: All our recording experiences have been different. This is the first time recording completely in a studio. The last two records we rented out gear and recorded in my kitchen and at various other places. There are advantages and disadvantages to working either way. So far our recording experience for the new record has been great on all levels.

pastepunk: As many of our readers know Anti-flag has signed with Fat Wreck Chords what spurred the decision to leave Go-Kart?

Pat: Go-Kart was a great label for us and Greg is a great guy. Basically the reason we left was that with Fat Wreck Chords we could get our message out to more people. We figured that with bands like Good Riddance and Propaghandi there are already politically conscience record buyers going to this label that could get into us as well as other people. Another determining factor was Fat Mike being great with us and agreeing with our goals and what we had to say.

pastepunk: Throughout Anti-Flag’s Career you guys have toured with everyone from Flogging Molly to Rage Against The Machine. Do you guys like diverse tours?

Pat: Yes and no, we got screwed over on the Dropkick Murphy’s tour. We tried to go on tour with them to get our music and message out to a different crowd but it just went sour. Basically all that ended up happening was that the people we liked got beat up and there were a lot of fights. We as a band didn’t want to take part in any of that and dropped off the tour. This was not the case however with Flogging Molly. That tour was awesome. It was great because everyone had an open mind and was there to have fun. It is good to go on diverse tours because if you keep preaching to the converted are you gaining any ground?

pastepunk: From the “Their system doesn’t work for you” record to the “A New Kind of Army” record there has been a noticeable change in Anti-Flag’s sound. How have the fans reacted to this?

Pat: To me honestly it all sounds the same. I really don’t think we have changed that much. I have been playing the same drum lick since we started (laughs) and still am. As for the kids some of them come up to me and say, “Man, I really hate the new record” and some of the say “Man, I really love the new record.” We just make music that we like and hopefully other people like it as well.

pastepunk: I often wonder this about most political bands, does the music or the message take precedent?

Pat: Neither really takes precedent. On some songs the music is great and we just add words and other times the words are great and we just write the music. For us it’s a natural thing to write about politics – it’s not planned or anything, it’s just what comes out. Just like the way it is natural for some bands to write about girls.

pastepunk: What is your take on this past election?

Pat: I though it was…….amazing (laughs) I was sickened by the amount of political arm twisting done in Florida but not surprised at all. I was also not surprised that the people found it hard to choose between Al Gore and George W. Bush. When you have two people saying almost the same thing, it is hard to choose one or the other.

pastepunk: Anti-Flag has always had rumors and gossip swirling around them. What is the most outlandish rumor?

Pat: Well for some reason I die all the time. Everyone wants to kill me off – I don’t know why. Justin is always sick, which is true, but you hear of all different types of things that aren’t true. Justin has been sick ever since we were young with severe allergies. It doesn’t mean that he is not healthy at home, it’s just the lifestyle that we lead with touring and it is rough on him.

pastepunk: What have the fans meant to you?

Pat: I love the fans. Yet I hate calling them fans it’s more like they are friends. When we used to be young and go to shows in Pittsburgh we would go up and meet the bands on tour and by the end of the night we would all be friends and that’s the type of atmosphere we like. This doesn’t mean that we never get mad or we are never in a bad mood. Although we try treat each and every fan in a nice way.

pastepunk: What is going on with A-F Records? Are there any new projects in the works?

Pat: Yeah we have about two or three new projects on the way. We are putting out the Mody lemons from PA and two other bands. The releases should be coming out around March or April.

pastepunk: What kind of stuff do you guys like to do on your downtime away from the band?

Pat: We are always on the go and usually there is no downtime. We are either touring, working on music or on the label. When I was younger and I wanted to get into this, I never realized the huge commitment it was. If you love it and it makes you happy though it is worth it.

pastepunk: Anything else you would like to say?

Pat: Just for update on what is going on with us go to Anti-Flag go to www.anti-flag.com or write us at A-F records P.O box, 71266 Pittsburgh, Pa, 15213

 



Interview by : Pastepunk : http://www.pastepunk.com

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No Use For A Name

Posted on 16th February 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

This interview was done with No Use For A Name’s bassist Matt Riddle on the FAT Wreck Tour on April 14th, 2000.

I understand that you haven’t been in the band since the start?
No… I’ve been in the band for about 5 years now.

How many changes has the band gone through?
Probably a good 7 or 8 guitar players just because every time they hire a guitar player it’s usually somebody who has a steady job and didn’t want to lose it or like Ed who was sick he had diabetes and that made it hard for him to tour.

You were in Pulley before No Use right?
Yea… Pulley wasn’t really a serious thing ya know? The guys called me up and wanted me to play bass and I wasn’t playing bass at the time. After the Face to Face thing I was done with them and done with music altogether. But Jim Cherry is really cool and Steph (his fiancee) was like “you should try it those guys are really cool” and I was like “alright” so I went up and I played and it ended up being great.

It seems like I heard that they broke up because Scott wanted to take baseball on full-time.
I don’t think they broke up… they got a new drummer.

I remember back in November that Tyler’s house burned down.
Our drummer’s house burned down last year. It’s happened a lot. Dave from Lagwagon was living with the sound man from NOFX and the sound man from Lagwagon and their house burned down. They lost everything with no insurance. Its crazy… I don’t know what the deal is.

How did No Use form?
Basically Rory had started a little band that was going to play a party and they didn’t have a name and he was like “ya know we don’t need a name” so it was like No Need For A Name and that kind of transferred to No Use For A Name and has been that ever since. It was all different members, it was just Rory. Tony and Rory met at a party one night, something about a car wreck and something happened but they kinda met and started playing together and put out a couple records. They didn’t take it seriously until about ’91 or ’92 when they started goin “wow… we could be a pretty good band” so they went through a lot of guitar players and one bass player.

Who played bass before you?
Steve Papoutsis.

So how is this tour, the FAT tour going?
Oh its great. This is our third one… third and last. We need to get out and start doing our own stuff.

You guys did Europe too right?
Yea and the upper states and Canada. Now we are doing the southern states.

Was the St. Pete show on the Limp and DHC tour the show that you broke your leg at?
It wasn’t broken… what happened was that my miniscus got crushed, that’s what hooks up to the ACL.

It was because you jumped off something in the beginning of “The Answer Is Still No” right?
Yea, were you there? Oh wait that’s right you have the tape.

[long conversation…]

Is there any particular show that sticks out in your mind? I’m sure that show is one of them.
I remember that one a lot. There was one show in Montreal on the warped tour I think it was 2 years ago and that show was really bizarre because there was about 20,000 people there and about 10,000 of those people were just jumping up and down going crazy.

Are you guys doing Warped this summer?
No.

What are your plans for the summer?
After this we have Australia in July and then a few little states things and then August I think we are going to try Europe with some festival shows and then maybe a little headlining thing. And towards the end of the year there was a possibility of doing a tour with Pennywise or Social D… we don’t know yet.

Did you hear about Dennis’s death?
Yea its such a shame it was just boom like that. He had been with them since the beginning, it’s a bummer. He had 2 kids, a 6 month old son and a 5 year old daughter, its such a sad thing.

Every record you guys do seems to be a little different then the previous one, what influences the change?
Basically trying not to sound like the last record is a pretty big thing ya know? And this time we really cut loose and had the best time recording it. I don’t know how it comes to cost but we had soo much fun in the studio on this last record it was great. I had the best bass tone I have ever had and Rory shredded on the drums and got it done in no time. We tried a bunch of stuff and it ended up being soo much fun. This record was my favorite one for sure so hopefully we can do it again.

You guys have songs like the cover “I’ve Heard” from the show soundtrack and then slow songs like “Let It Slide” on the new record making it almost impossible to say No Use has a sound but if you had to classify the band how would you?
God I don’t know how to say it… well… we’re a punk band. Our ethics and attitudes are pretty punk I guess but at the same time we are all just human beings ya know? We just do our thing and we are classified as music we like to play. Its kinda cool to break it up ya know, play something slow and then something fast… its nice, you don’t have to be hardcore all the time.

What did you listen to as a kid?
I grew up listening to Iron Maiden… I was a little metalhead. They were the reason I even started playing bass, I saw Steve Parris and went “hey I could do that” so I started playing along with the guy and I play just like him. He is way better then me obviously, he’s been around forever, but I mean my pure style is that. As far as punk bands go and playing bass… The Descendents and ALL. That was a big influence. I was kinda metal growing up… I still am, I still like metal.

How long have you been playing bass?
I guess seriously about 10-12 years. But I’ve been playing one style for soo long that it is totally natural now.

Who thought of the album name “More Betterness”?
That was actually Tony’s idea from a long time ago before I was in the band. They were going to call Leche that, I think, and then every time a record came out he would be like “how about this” but then when this one came out we had a bunch of different titles but none of them were really that rad so he was like “how about More Betterness?” and I was like “that’s awesome!” so we used it.

I like the whole color scheme and the surfer girl.
Yea its weird… its soo weird. The last record was all dark looking its all black.

If you could go back and change one thing about a No Use record what would it be?
Probably some of the tempos on “Making Friends” like “On The Outside” and “The Answer Is Still No” it is a little too fast… they weren’t meant to be played that fast. It is kind of annoying because we put that record out and the reviews on it were “its too fucking fast what are they doing, they’re not a hardcore band.”

What’s your favorite song off of that record?
Maybe “Invincible”, I like that one a lot.

Is there any reason why “A Postcard Would Be Nice” is on soo many comps?
Is it? Well when we do a comp people will call us up and say “hey can we have this song” and we will be like “alright” ya know we don’t really care. If its on a couple comps it is because they asked for it a couple times.

Its nice though, because it’s a nice ballad.
Yea its soo simple.

What’s your favorite song off of “More Betterness”?
I like a lot of songs on that record. I like “Room 19″ I don’t know why there’s something really bizarre about it. I like that one I like “Not Your Savior”, I like all the songs on this record. “Saddest Song” I like.

What about “Fairytale of New York”?
Yea Im kinda over that one just because we recorded it once before with another singer, another girl from a band called Soda in California. But on this one we were like “lets do it again” because Cinder from Tilt wanted to sing it and we were like “thatd be rad” ya know so it turned out really good and then we toured with Tilt and did it like every night and now im kinda burned on it.

So “More Betterness” is the release that you are the happiest with?
Up to this day it is probably my favorite record I have ever played on.

Do you play a lot of songs from it on this tour?
Umm 4 or 5.

Is “Why Doesn’t Anybody Like Me” the only music video you have done so far for the new cd?
Yea. Have you seen it?

Yup. With the little dog running around and stuff.
Yup that’s my dog, the min pin. That dog has some attitude.

So whats the song writing process you guys go through?
Usually Tony will get a rough draft of something together and bring it to a practice and we will mess with it a lot until we like it. We keep goin it over and over and over, play it live a couple of times to see how kids like it, we change a few things.

Is the “Let It Slide” acoustic type thing going to be a tradition from now on?
Ya know what it just depends… if we put something together and it sounds good then we’ll do it. We have tried that song fast but it just sounded good the way we did it. We might actually learn it fast so we can do it live because bringing out an acoustic at a punk show would be retarded.

What about the male to female songs, those have been in the last two albums.
That’s always fun ya know, it kinda gives it a different perspective. Girls can relate more and its really neat. It’s a lot of fun.

How do you feel about your success so far?
It doesn’t really seem like we’re a huge success… its rad that kids come out to the shows and its cool that people buy records but I mean, I can say I really respect what I do for a living I really love it, I think its neat that I have been able to go this far with it and in that respect it is really good.

What about FAT… why FAT and not another label?
We know everybody at FAT on a first name basis, they are all really cool people. Whenever we want anything they give it to us they are awesome… they rule. I love Fat Wreck Chords.

Is that the reason you wrote a song about Sara?
Yea she rules. She is always the one that answers the phone, she’s always the one that is there and she is just an awesome chick.

Which song do you play at shows that gets the biggest crowd reaction?
Every night it is different. “Redemption Song” does really good.

Im sure “Justified Black Eye” and the other comp songs do real well.
Yea “Justified” does good, “Soulmate” does good, “The Answer Is Still No” does good… we start off with “Not Your Savior”… the record has only been out 6 months and it gets a great reaction.

Im sure you have been asked this a million times so I will just let you make your comments. Chris Shiflett – Foo Fighters.
Ya know what… it was something he wanted to do. I think that if he would have had the offer and turned it down he always would have wondered what it would have been like and that would have been really bad. So he just took a chance and went with it and it was a good chance to take. He is havin a great time we are still friends with him.

Sara told me that he is still with Me First.
Yea he still does Me First… he is totally the same guy he just did what he wanted to do and that is respectable.

How is Dave workin out?
Great… he rips. We needed a guitar player 4 days before our tour and he did it and kids love him. He is really good on stage.

Whats your favorite movie?
Hmm… right now would probably be The Matrix. Episode 1 I like a lot… I love the Star Wars movies they are my all time favorite movies. I don’t really classify that with what my favorite movie is because that is a whole separate entity… the star wars universe is my life. But right now I like the Matrix and Pumpkinhead… umm I dunno it changes a lot. Me and Stef together have about 130 movies… we buy a lot of movies it is one of the things we collect.

Do you have a favorite cereal?
I can’t eat cereal anymore… IM ON A DIET! HA!

Well what’s your favorite food?
Well pizza but I cant eat pizza anymore so hmm… favorite food. Well my mom used to make stuffed bell peppers with like spaghetti sause and cheese and all this stuff and it was soo good… that stuff that I always remember.

Is anyone in the band vegan?
Umm no… I was a vegetarian for about 3 or 4 years and then I started eating chicken again. So we have no vegans… no straight edge. I’ve always been in the mind that if you take a label you limit yourself. People have a lot of firm beliefs in what they want and that’s rad, good for them, I just don’t have that many beliefs in that kind of stuff. Its like whatever to me.

I know that this question doesn’t relate directly to you but what inspires the songs? Obviously, from the lyrics, people are a big part.
Everyday life. People you meet… fan letters and stuff. We got a letter from a kid in Wisconsin that said his life was falling apart and he wrote us all this crazy stuff in his letter and Tony showed it to me and it was like “wow” ya know… and we wrote a song about it pretty much using the letter… that song on the new record called “Lies Cant Pretend” is about that kid. And he knew it… when we got to that show he came up to us and was like “I gotta ask you guys… did you write a song about my letter?” we were like “YEA!” and he was goin crazy.

Who is the kid in “Making Friends” with the TFP hat?
His name is Cully Simington. He is a kid in Texas… he is just a rad kid. The first time we met him he came up and sang a song with us he was like 12 or 13 and now he is like 16. We just saw him the other night… real cool kid.

Whats up with that one dollar check?
Ahh Elijah… Elijah’s a dumbass.

Alright I guess its time to wrap it up… here’s the last question… what do you think of Britney Spears?
I love Christina Aguilera. That’s my answer… Christina Aguilera is one of the hottest girls I have ever seen in my life.


Interview by : Josh Stern (josh@punkinterviews.com)

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Ann Beretta Interview

Posted on 6th February 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

So who is this and what makes you so darn special?

I’m Rob and there’s really nothing special here I’m just a guy in a band. That’s all.

How do you think outside appearances are different from what’s actually inside people?

I think sometimes it’s like night and day but it’s hard to say. Outward appearance tends to make for a bad judge of character. Actions are where it’s at, my friend. They truly do speak louder than words.

What do you think about the perpetual punk rock myth that bands change their sound once they join a label like Fat Wreck Chords or Epitaph? Do you find truth in this? Can we expect you guys to sound a bit more like the Mr. T Experience now that you are on Lookout!?

There’s no way will we sound like MTX. There definitely is some validity to that statement though. I know what you mean. Take Fat Wreck Chords for example. Five years ago, all the bands sounded like NOFX. Part of that, I think had to do with using the same studios, same engineers, and same producers. Of course, everything’s going to sound the same. I think that especially now they’re doing a better job with diversity. I mean there’s no way Avail is going to sound like NOFX, you know?

As a kid, I never went to many parties. Can I live vicariously through you? Please, tell me a party story or two.

I never really started partying until I got to college and then, of course, the whole motivation is getting drunk and laid. I really haven’t been to a party in years though. I kind of fell out of that whole loop. I mean I’m like almost 28 now. I hate to say it but I guess I outgrew the whole party scene. Bummer.

Why do we believe that spies are so much more intelligent and sophisticated than ourselves? Should I continue to believe that they are inherently better than myself?

I wouldn’t say they’re better than anyone else. They are just better trained and maybe educated but those are things that can be solved through personal choice. You want to know more, learn more, you know?

What have been the most indelible moments in your life thus far? How did they change you as a person?

Here’s a perfect example of what I was just talking about. I have no idea what indelible means. I should go look it up, I guess, when I feel a little more like educating myself but don’t think you’re better than me, ok?
Note From Trevor: I won’t.

What were the lessons learned from your tour with Less Than Jake? How did that go and what did have you taken away from that experience?

We definitely learned a lot about the rock and roll machine and how it works and how it doesn’t. Those guys are really professional and still maintain their integrity and their focus. They’re a major label band with DIY ethics. So I learned that and I learned a lot about performing. Working with an audience and so on. I also learned this, if you are someone who is in a position to help out someone else. You have to do it. No matter how small or how great you think that help is because chances are you’re in that position because someone helped you. Chris from LTJ taught me that. It’s a never-ending cycle. Someone helped them, they helped us, now I help out my friends as much as possible. Whether it’s as simple as passing on a phone number or taking a band on tour. It’s all relative.

Did you ever try on your mother’s clothes as a kid just to know what it felt like?

Not that I remember but that doesn’t mean anything.

What games did you enjoy as a child? How do they make you feel today?

I grew up in the country so I was always playing in the woods. Making forts and doing guy shit like that. Fun stuff.

What would you do if a very effeminate man came on strongly to you and told you that your “fruit basket” looks very appetizing?

It doesn’t bother me. I’ve been hit on by guys before. Enough times to not let it bug me as long as it’s not rude. I mean what’s the difference in being hit on by a girl. You’re either into it or not. It’s just how you deal with it that turns the situation bad. But like I said if it’s a rude situation from the start then it’s a whole new ball game.

What are some ideals that you hold that may be different from other people’s?

I don’t know. I don’t feel the need to justify any of my actions. I stay true to myself and to the people who are important to me. I do the things I do because they are important to me and I don’t feel like I have to explain why. I respect other people’s space and appreciate when they do the same. Is this even answering your question?
Note From Trevor: YES!….er….yeah

Are dentists scary? What kind of oral work have you had done?

Well, now this question could go in several directions. As far as dentists, I haven’t been to one in years. I probably should. I had braces when I was a kid. I’ve had cavities and on and on just like everyone else.

I’m reading this book on my mom’s desk called “Nuggets Of Life”. It states that “When you complain, you open the door to the devil and close the door to the answer”. Do you find truth in this statement or is my mom just a religious freak?

Well, see I love to complain but again the answer is what you do about it. Complain and do nothing or change what needs to be changed to end the complaint. Sometimes, that’s not possible. Other times, it takes longer to complain so whatever. As far as your mom, who am I to say? We’re all a little quirky.
Note From Trevor: That’s an understatement.

What have we learned from this interview?

What have we learned? I don’t know. That I talk too much about nothing? I don’t know. What have you learned?
Note From Trevor: How to love again?

Any final words for our viewing audience?

Yeah. There’s a new record out in October on Lookout! Records. We’ll be touring in September with the Swingin’ Utters. That’s it. Thanks a lot.


Interview by : Trevor eatpets@aol.com I dunno Webzine – http://fly.to/idunno

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Down By Law

Posted on 31st January 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

I won’t pretend that it was without trepidation that I approached the doors of RKCNDY, an all ages music club in downtown Seattle. The last member of my family to attend a show there was fourteen, and I was more likely to run into her peers than mine at this show. But I was glad for the chance to see the band whose new disc, “All Scratched Up,” had spent more time in my player than any new punk release in a good many years.

I also had the encouraging company of Cozmik Editor-In-Chief D.J. Johnson, who is *almost* as old as I am, and at least twice as old as the typical RKCNDY customer.

Any reservations I had dissolved quickly once we got to the 12×12 room crowded with ice chests and old couches that was serving as dressing room for all three bands on the evening’s bill (Down By Law played between Canadian newcomers Pluto and local heroes Gas Huffer). Seated at the far end of the room were lead guitar player Sam Williams III and bassman Angry John DiMambro. We settled right into a wide ranging and generally fascinating conversation that touched on the history of the band, punk music and the punk audience in the 1990s.

John: Hi, I’m John and he’s Sam… otherwise known as “Angry John…”

Shaun: So how angry are you?
John: Well man, you should have been there last night.

Shaun: Well, hopefully tonight will turn out better. Both of you have songwriting credits on the new album, right?
John: I wrote “Far and Away” with Dave.
Sam: I wrote about a third of the album.
John: Is that thing running?

Shaun: Yeah.
John: Cause I want to know whenever I’m on tape.

Shaun: Well, it’s on – don’t admit to anything…
John: Don’t worry, I’m not gonna vote for Mumbly Joe.

Shaun: How bout that – are you gonna vote at all?
John: I’m gonna try. I get home that day, so I’ll go in there and flip a coin between Wingnut and Slick Willy.

Shaun: Wingnut?
John: Yeah. I call Perot “Wingnut” because his ears are so big he looks like a wingnut on the end of a pencil.

Shaun: So Dole’s not a factor?
John: No, he’s absolutely not a factor at all except for the comedy value. The only thing that would be good if he got elected is that all that hate would be good for about another ten years of punk rock. Cause Reagan was one of the best things that ever happened to punk music in America.

DJ: He made the Dead Kennedys’ career…
John: Yeah, Jello really couldn’t get behind hating Jerry Brown, but when it came to hating Reagan…

Shaun: So how long have you guys been doing this together?
John: I’ve been in the band for three years. Sam’s been in for four. The band’s existed for five years.

Shaun: Sam, you live in Florida and the rest of the band is in LA. Has the bi-coastal thing been going on the whole time?
Sam: Yeah. Actually, even more so. We had another drummer who played on the last album who lived on the east coast, but the drummer we have now, Danny, he’s on the west coast so everyone but me lives in LA.

Shaun: Were you in LA when you got together with these guys?
Sam: No, never. I knew about them and I wrote to them and said I’d try out.
John: He wrote a letter saying he could play “Rock You Like a Hurricane” like a son of a bitch so they said we have to give this guy a chance. I had nothing to do with that. I hate him.

Shaun: Well, you’re angry. You hate everybody, right?
John: Fuckin A right.

Shaun: Those are basic punk rock credentials – every punk band has to have an angry somebody…
John: I’m pretty mild most of the time – unless I’m driving.

Shaun: Your sound is kind of a roots punk thing – a lot of classic punk anthem styles. Who would you want people to think of when they hear you?
John: It’s kind of like all the bands that influenced us are like that – especially Dave. He listens to, like, Stiff Little Fingers and the Clash and a lot of English bands. That’s where those anthem kind of tracks come from.

Shaun: Yeah, I thought of the Clash and the Ramones, at least the Ramones during a certain period when I actually liked them.
John: We did an in-store at Sam Goody in New York this spring and Joey Ramone was there. It was cool – he liked us and stuff. I didn’t think he was real ’cause I’d never heard him talk before. Even when I saw the Ramones he never talks, he just sings one song into the other. I talked to him and he was a standard New York kind of guy.

Shaun: So what’s the story behind “True Music” on the new album? Did you guys really make a show biz video that compromised your principles?
Sam: You’d have to talk to Dave about compromising principles, but we have made a few videos and the last two have been played on 120 Minutes. One of them quite regularly – “Radio Ragga.”
John: “Independence Day” is like a minute fifteen seconds long. US News did an article that said the longest and shortest videos ever on MTV were Michael Jackson’s “Bad” for like 16:23 and Down by Law’s “Independence Day” for 1:15.

DJ: What kind of reaction has there been to being on MTV – considering a lot of people get pissed off if a band gets on MTV…
John: There was one girl who – I don’t know if she wrote a letter or wrote to the Unofficial Down By Law Homepage or what – but she wrote “I hate you guys, you’ve changed, burn in Hell, sellouts.” Like this total stupid trash. I think it was off “Independence Day,” not even “Radio Ragga.”

Shaun: Yeah, you’re sellouts – you might be able to buy strings next week off the proceeds.
John: Something like that. Yeah, I’m just rolling in dough right now. I don’t know what to do with it all. I think I’ll buy a Kit Kat bar.

Shaun: Well, it shows from the spacious and exotic digs here…
John: Yeah, the belly dancers show up any minute. Where did it say in the punk handbook that you had to take a vow of poverty like the Jesuits or be a Communist and sleep under a park bench and eat beans and live off your parents, you know what I mean? That’s my point – where the hell did that come from? I’m not with that at all. And the original punk bands, you know, the Clash were on Epic and the Sex Pistols set out absolutely to rob major labels of as much money as they could possibly get and did it again this year. I don’t know where that came from. I guess the Berkeley Maximum Rock & Roll crowd are the ones who wrote that into the manifesto. So that had nothing to do with punk when I got into it in 1980. Nobody ever thought about that stuff – they never thought about “Oh, that band wants a drum riser, they’re rock stars.” It was never that complicated. Nobody ever thought about it.

DJ: Do you think they get pissed off when too many people start to like “their” band – like it’s not an exclusive club anymore?
Sam: That’s part of it. The guy from Offspring – Dexter or whatever – made a good point when he said the punk attitude has become really elitist – even more so. It used to be if you had long hair you weren’t allowed to come to the shows and stuff, but it’s even more so now. It’s like the people who listen to this music now seem to hate everybody, but they don’t hate them for the right reasons. They just look down on everybody like they’re less intelligent or something. It’s messed up.

Shaun: Well, then, it should be fun for me tonight. I’ve been listening to punk for over 20 years, which is at least four or five years longer than most of these people have been alive. My daughter said it was cool that I was going to RKCNDY and all, but I should be ready for everybody to stare at me ’cause I’d be the oldest person in the room. What kind of audiences do you get at shows?
John: Depends on where we are. We get a lot of the 16-22 year old crowd. On the east coast we get a lot of straight edge people mixed in with some punks. We played with Bad Religion at the Palace and that was our crowd mixed with their crowd and the reaction was about equal. Their crowd was older – mostly over 21 – so it’s mixed across the board.

Shaun: I ask because you have a traditional kind of sound I think would appeal to people like me who were there for the early days of punk, which is not true of all the bands out there today.
Sam: You’re right, it seems like we would appeal to an older audience more, but just the fact that we’re on Epitaph Records is a factor that contributes to our audience being so young. We’re looked at as an Epitaph band and lumped in with bands whose crowd is younger, so they come to our shows too.

Shaun: One of the elements of that “traditional” sound is some social conscience in the music, which used to be prevelant in punk but isn’t so much any more. And there’s a sense of humor in the music that I really appreciate.
John: You’ve just named all the elements that I know as punk rock. When I went to shows in the early eighties hard core and punk was one and the same thing, and now some of the punk bands are a lot faster than we are – we tend to be, I hate to use the word pop but what is punk but fast pop in some ways.

Shaun: Three chords with your foot on the gas…
John: We’re a lot more melodic than some of the bands. We do songs that are slower and like that. I never thought the word traditional would apply to punk, but we listen to a lot of bands that are more traditional, from the early eighties and stuff. Now stuff has got this really fast galloping beat and the image of the people is significantly different than it was when I was going to shows 16 years ago. The danger element has been to some extent removed. It used to be, when I went to a gig I never knew if I’d be coming back home or not. It was, “Well, let’s see what happens tonight. Maybe I’ll get home, maybe I won’t.” It could be the police or somebody waiting for us outside or whatever.

Shaun: My memory of LA in the early days was that one of the most adventurous things you could do was go to a Black Flag show – they were invariably busted – every show was busted.
John: Yeah, until around the period Rollins joined…

DJ: Are there still scenes reminiscient of that anywhere that you’ve played? Places where the scene is still more alive than elsewhere?
Sam: Where I live in Tampa the violence is still pretty prevelant. It’s not like today where at a live show you may see people shooting each other, but it’s a lot more like an old punk show ’cause there’s always a fight. No matter who plays, there’s a always a big fight. The music scene isn’t as happening, but when a band comes through it seems to me like it’s like it was back then.
John: That’s totally true in Florida, and in some other places, but the one thing we mentioned earlier was humor, and even in the early eighties when all this crazy stuff was going down, there was still a sense of humor about it. You know what I mean? Like, I remember one time this bouncer at the Dead Kennedys beat some kid up and like 20 punks just surrounded the guy and he started pleading for his life. They pulled his pants down and stuck his head in the toilet – they didn’t even beat him up, they just totally humiliated him. It seems kind of sick to say it’s funny, but it was funny to me back then.

Shaun: Humor was integral. The way people were looking and acting. If you couldn’t laugh at yourself doing that, you had serious emotional problems.
John: Exactly. If you’re walking down the street with a green mohawk, you’ve gotta have a sense of humor.

Shaun: No mohawks in this band…
John: No.

DJ: One of your labelmates, Rancid, has gone far with that…
Sam: Yeah, that’s how they went…
John: They’re a really good band. I listen to their music and I totally hear the stuff I listened to before, what I know as punk rock. They look like that, but they back it up, and they were around before.

Shaun: So the band has an unofficial website – is there an official one?
John: No, not yet.

Shaun: And a fan just put one together?
Sam: Yeah, I have a computer and I e-mail the guy back and forth. His name is Shawn and he lives in Canada. He did it on his own and I just stumbled onto it, but I help him out with it some now.

Shaun: So you’re into the whole internet thing?
John: If I get into it I’ll never get out of it.

Shaun: I understand – I’m a junkie myself and as the editor of a webzine DJ probably spends 15 hours a day on line.
Sam: I think it’s a cool thing. I really dig it, and I’m kind of hooked on it.

DJ: You guys ever listen to ska? You were talking about Rancid…
John: Yeah, I listen to ska. I like Rancid’s stuff, but that’s like rock to me. I like really pure ska, the sixties stuff like Prince Walker, and Madness, the Specials – that next wave from the early eighties. I keep going back to the early eighties.
Sam: It seems to me that they’ve already done pretty much everything that can be done with that form of music and the bands that come out today just really bore me. It seems like they just do the same song over and over, but that’s just my opinion. I don’t listen to anything that came out after, like, ’84 as far as ska…

Shaun: Of course people say the same thing about punk bands.
Sam: Yeah, that’s right. I should cut some slack because people who don’t listen to the music say it all sounds the same to them, so that could be my problem too. But what really bothers me is the Ska Corps that people have come up with now. Like, the Bosstones, they’re okay, but there are about 30 bands trying to do the same thing – mix melodic punk and ska and it’s so unoriginal sounding to me.

Shaun: So there have been a lot of personnel changes in the band since the beginning. How has the sound developed?
Sam: There are different songwriters in the band now. Dave’s really the only guy who’s been in the band for the first and last albums and there’s new writers now and Dave’s writing has changed. I think it’s definitely more advanced than the first album.

Shaun: Did you write “Gruesome Gary” or is that one of Dave’s?
Sam: That’s Dave’s.

Shaun: Is he a real guy? Would he know himself if he heard that song?
Sam: No, I think Dave made him up as a universal bully.

Shaun: Well, I think I knew that guy…
John: Yeah, I remember when I cut my hair and I went to school the next day, ’cause the day before I had really long hair and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and the next day I had an anarchy shirt and my head was shaved. All my stoner friends pretended they didn’t know me. I had a baseball cap on when I got there, and a flannel shirt, and flair bottoms over my boots. I went to the bathroom and threw the cap in the garbage, tucked in my pants and opened my shirt to show the big circle-A on my t-shirt. I went into the hallway and it was like “He’s a punk!”. And the football team chased me into the middle of the quad and put me in a garbage can. They poured orange juice over my head and kept punching me and I knew I’d done the right thing.

Shaun: Heh. The difference between when you and I went to hight school was that for us the haircut was required to get along with the football team. It was the stoners they beat up. So you just made the change over night?
John: Yeah, I didn’t have much of a New Wave period. It lasted about an hour.

Shaun: Actually, punk and New Wave were once the same thing – or it was punk, then New Wave, then punk again.
John: Everything was all punk. Like, Elvis Costello was punk. Television was punk. Blondie was punk. Devo was punk. And with that, you had the Buzzcocks, the Pistols, the Clash, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, the Adolescents, and it was all together. Because if you listened to any of those people and had a skinny tie or a mohawk or whatever you’d get into a party and they’d beat you up if you tried to drink from the keg.

DJ: Did you like the Buzzcocks?
John: Oh, I loved the Buzzcocks.

DJ: Because there’s a little bit of song structure influence…
John: Yeah, I love them. They’re great. I’ve seen them three or four times and they sound like the record when they play and they’re perfect and they’re so professional and they sing great and they’re fucking punk. That’s punk.

DJ: So, wrapping up, is there anyplace you’d like to say fuck you to? Places they’ve treated you shitty or anything?
John: Fuck you Munich, Germany. Boston, get back up to speed and Portland, you’re getting better but you’ve got a lot of work to do.

Shaun: But Seattle’s terrific, right?
John: Oh yeah, Seattle’s great.

(A voice from behind says “Wait’ll you hear what they say tomorrow night.”)

DJ: Sam, got anything?
Sam: There are too many to name, actually. Not all of San Francisco, but the whole Maximum Rock & Roll scene in ‘Frisco, and Gilman. Fuck all that shit.
John: Yeah, fuck you Gilman and fuck you Bikini Kill. But the PeeChees are awesome. No fuck you to the PeeChees.

The “voice from behind” turned out to be founding member, chief songwriter and rhythm guitar/lead vocalist, Dave Smalley, who took time to speak with us while John and Sam caught the tail end of the Pluto set.

Shaun: So I was asking John and Sam if Gruesome Gary was a real guy…
Dave: Gruesome Gary’s not his name, but it’s based on a real guy. A lot of people identify with that song.

Shaun: One of the things I like about many of your songs is that anthem quality…
Dave: Yeah, I like writing songs that people sing to. That’s something I enjoy. There’s a lot of good singers and songwriters out there but it’s always nice when the audience can sing along.

Shaun: If there’s such a thing as a “traditional” punk band…
Dave: We’re it. With a little bit of mod thrown in.

Shaun: Another song I asked about was “True Music.” Was making a video really a devastating compromise of principle?
Dave: I don’t know if I’d use the word devastating, but it was hard because for so long, without even thinking about it, I’d viewed it as a bad thing because I think that MTV has done a lot of bad things. Kids grow up and if they don’t see it on MTV they don’t think of it as viable or that they’d like it, and of course there are a lot of great bands that don’t get on MTV.

Shaun: But now you’ve been on MTV, so is it a good thing?
Dave: No, I think it’s a mixed thing. I think the main trick is if you’re going to make videos, make sure it’s the song you love as the artist and make sure you do it your way. I know bands that have spent $100 thousand on their videos and had the record company pick the song. We spend, like, $10 thousand and we pick our song and we pick the director and we pick everything about it.

Shaun: How about a video of “True Music?” Think MTV would play it?
Dave: Oh man. I don’t know. Probably not. You know, the one who played it was Matt Enfield from 120 Minutes and he’s been very cool to us. He called me at my house and left a message saying he loved the “Radio Raga” video and he was really nice. Not to say that’s where we want to be with our music, but it’s nice we did it our way and he accepted it. I don’t think we’re the kind of band that would ever be in regular rotation on MTV.

Shaun: Regular rotation on public access punk rock shows…
Dave: That’s fine with me. Actually, one of the things I like about making videos is our videos have been in the top 5 in the country on independent stations and that’s great with me.

DJ: Yeah, I think the first time I heard of Down By Law was on a public access show here called Soundwaves.
Dave: That’s great. A video show?

DJ: Yeah. He plays stuff you’d never see anywhere else.
Dave: That’s good. That’s what public access is all about. It’s like college radio. You’ll hear Down By Law, then the Bee Gees, then Nick Cave, or the Sex Pistols.

Shaun: You’re the glue of the band – the guy who was on the first album and the new album…
Dave: Yeah, it’s coalesced a lot since the early days. I’m definitely the founding member but Sam and John have been in the band for almost four years now, and Danny has been in the band over a year.

Shaun: So there were a couple albums real quick and then a little hiatus?
Dave: Yeah. I really view starting with “punkrockacademy” as almost a new band in a way. I love all the albums we’ve made, but I definitely felt it was more like a band once these guys got in there.

Shaun: Sam says he’s on line a bit. Do you get on the internet at all?
Dave: No, I don’t. My wife’s a designer and she does a lot of computer work but I’m one of those freaks that still writes with a pen.

Shaun: I mention it because Cozmik Debris’ a webzine and I hope you’ll take a look at it.
Dave: Well, I get online once in a while. I’ll look for it.

DJ: You can show the review to people and say “See, even jazz people get it.” Shaun’s our jazz reviewer.
Shaun: Yeah, DJ was trying to expand my horizons, or to reduce his workload, and he put two or three things in [the CD player] and I jumped on this one. It sounded like the stuff I’ve liked forever. It had that ironically traditional punk sound.
Dave: Thanks, that’s what we are, for better or worse. The best songwriters are the older ones, generally. Not always, but I think my songwriting, compared with when this band started four or five years ago, has come a long way.

Shaun: The guys said that being on Epitaph gives you a young audience but there are a lot of people ten or fifteen years older than that young audience that should listen to this music. It’s terrific.
Dave: I’d like to be able to reach more people our age and close to our age…[Dave Smalley is 32]

Shaun: I’ve got more than ten years on you.
Dave: Well, that’s great. I think an older crowd could appreciate a lot of the subtleties in our music. I love the younger kids to love us, I think that’s great, but they may not have as much to relate to in terms of life experiences and things that are going on in the music and the lyrics.

Shaun: Well, a lot of people who were listening to punk music 20 years ago find that the music has moved away and it’s hard to find bands that have the same spirit. It’s not really the sound, it’s the spirit.
Dave: Well, John and I certainly grew up on the Clash and the Jam and the Who. Those bands are part of our blood. For better or worse, we’re carrying the torch now that those groups are gone. We picked up the torch where they set it down and hopefully someone will pick it up when we’re done.

Shaun: But you’ve got a while to go, right?
Dave: I hope so, yeah. I would like to think so. You never can tell, but apparently things are going well. The label is happy and we’re happy.

DJ: Are most of the people who come to see you pretty educated about the music, like knowing the songs?
Dave: Yeah, our crowds are intelligent and pretty knowledgable about the music. We don’t get a lot of 15 year olds who just heard about it through the grapevine. Sometimes, but mostly kids come who love the band. With Down By Law, you either love the band or maybe you don’t give a shit about it, but most the people who come to see us love it.

Shaun: So you could become the Grateful Dead of punk, with a troop of punks following you around the country…
Dave: Hey, give those guys credit. They achieved a lot. And they stuck with a thing and had a whole phenomenon build up around it. Of course, I never would have said that when I was seventeen…

We closed with the customary courtesies and Deej and I got into position for what turned out to be a killer set from the band. Many thanks to John, Sam and Dave for their time, to the staff at Epitaph Records for arranging the interview and to the kids in the RKCNDY crowd for letting an old guy rock the night away with them.

Down By Law is Sam Williams III, lead guitar; Angry John DiMambro, bass; Dave Smalley, vocals/guitar; and Danny Westman, drums.



Interview by : Shaun Dale

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Amen / Casey Chaos

Posted on 2nd January 2011 in Punk Rock Interviews

Jay’s Interview with Casey Chaos, lead singer of Amen.

Jay : How did you get together with Sonny and John of Snot?

Casey : AMEN was looking for a guitar player and Sonny called Larkin to get an audition and he got the gig. Several months later, after Snot broke up, Tumor joined.

Jay : I heard that you used to be a pro skater, do you still skate?

Casey : I fuck around but nothing serious. Too many broken bones.

Jay : What are some of your influences for when you write your music?

Casey : It varies from song to song. Different emotions, life in American society, sex, the disease of being and the beautiful scars from all the face lifts of the Hollywood facade. Everything influences you in one way or another whether you know it or not. I think Britanny Spears is influencing me right now.

Jay : Your live show has been described as “a hurricane” and “the most energetic show ever.” How do you feel about these statements?

Casey : It’s very flattering. I just hope people leave feeling impacted in one way or another, good or bad, angry or happy – just to envoke emotion.

Jay : What are your views on the radio and mtv as promotion?

Casey : It’s great if you have enough money and want to be sold that way. If you don’t, then you don’t have to. It’s all about consumerism and the sellability of Tommy Hillfiger and Tampons.

Jay : Some bands have a message that there trying to get across in their music, does Amen have a message?

Casey : AMEN definitely has a message and it’s up to the listener to decipher what either his/her message is.

Jay : What is in the future for Amen?

Casey : This is just the beginning of AMEN. We plan on recording the next CD in a few months with Ross Robinson producing, and also have offers to tour. Whatever the future may be it’ll be unpredictable.

Interview by : Jay of The Underground : http://www.acornweb.com/TheUnderground

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