No Thanx Zine

Fashoda Crisis - Mischief Of One Kind And Another

2009-09-14T20:00:00.025+03:00

“Mischief Of One Kind And Another” of Southend, Essex band Fashoda Crisis is one of the very few albums that touched me so deeply and arose so many different or even opposite feelings in me. These seven candid, chaotic, angry and anxious songs could have become some psychedelic movie soundtrack, that leaves you with indefinite senses. “Mischief” is a hysteria of insomniac, a cry of desperation of the incurable, ravings of a madman, all the fears and phobias in the world, - in short, a product of morbid imagination of the person with guitar and sideburns. From the first to the last second it charms and keeps you in suspence forcing your fantasy to paint unpredictable images. Songs of Fashoda Crisis are saturated with enigmatic, as if it was keeping a secret, personal lyricism with hard-to-catch sense, but brilliantly sharp and daring slogans, exposing and pouring ridicule on the absurd “war on terrorism” of British authorities and the rising ignorance and paranoia in society, uncover the political and social implication. Another notable things are very rich bass and diverse, from whisper to scream, vocal, perfectly matching the lyrics and the atmosphere of the album, that make the sound of Fashoda Crisis unique and recognizable. So put out the light, turn on your imagination and enjoy every minute of this mystery.

Hey, Sim! Thank you for the interview. Fashoda Crisis is already 4 years old. What have you been doing all that time? Is “Mischief Of One Kind And Another” your first release?

4 years old indeed. “Mischief” is our first official release (as in widely available for download and in CD form in exchange for money). In the past we did record and make available 3 EPs. All the previous EPs were written and recorded during our time as a four piece (we are very much not looking for any new members and more productive and an awful lot better now that there are only three of us) so I don't really publicise them very much (they were all given away free at gigs and sent off for reviews etc and can probably be tracked down somewhere but I wouldn't recommend them).

About half of the set we play live at the moment consist of new songs written after the recording of “Mischief'”, because we have self released the album and all have other boring financial commitments. We took quite a long time in between becoming a three piece and recording our first album, as such there is at least another album's worth of tracks that we wrote, played live extensively and had gone before we came to record “Mischief”. We write prolifically and as such our live set changes very rapidly. On our recent tour we played a lot of our newer songs (which if all goes to plan will be recorded and released as soon as we can afford it) such as '8 Inch Pie', '100 Years of Cake', 'The Berry Brown Face of Robert Kilroy-Silk' and 'Machiiine' and there are always a couple of others floating around waiting to be completed in the practice room.

When we became a three piece we made a concerted effort to write a completely new set and not rely on any of the older songs that had been partially written (and sung in the most part) by our departed member, basically we started again from scratch and wrote by far the best material that we ever had, and continue to do so.

Tell about how an album was released, please. Did you have any support of labels or distros? How many copies were made?

Sim Ralph (guitar, vocals)

We self released the album, all entirely done by ourselves with no label or distribution. Obviously this means getting it heard is a massive struggle and very hard work, and we've got nowhere near the amount of exposure that we could have got had we a label etc behind us. But it does mean that everything we do is on our own terms (which means lyrically I can be as honest and abrasive as I like), no-one is looking over our shoulder wanting things changed and telling us what songs to record and release, and we can't be dropped because we haven't sold a million units. It also means that any success we get (such as the nationwide radio airplay on Radio 1, XFM, and BBC6 Music) is more of an achievement for us because we are swimming against the tide. It also means there is no time limit on the album, we can let it sit out there and gradually people will discover it, be that immediately or in five years time, it'll still be on iTunes and if someone wants a copy in 2026 then I'll get my paints out and design a cover. As far as the print run goes, we got an initial small run printed up to keep costs down with the idea that when they all sell out we can then print more. Obviously it is also available on iTunes and Amazon Mp3 for download as well.

Who painted all those arts for “Mischief”? Is each copy unique?

All the artwork is designed by one of the band members (with the odd one done by my partner because she has the skills), they are all unique (another reason for a small print run, because making the covers takes a lot of time, but artistically it is very fulfilling).

I am also currently making Fashoda Crisis artwork on canvas (various sizes) which should be available for purchase quite soon (some of which are reproductions of my favourite cover designs).

You stated Fashoda Crisis as “a violent reaction to the haircut bands and scenesters cluttering up what would otherwise be a thriving music scene”. Is everything that bad in Essex?

Essex is where we were all born and raised, and personally I can't stand the place most of the time. Obviously it has its good points, but if it wasn't for the band I would move away tomorrow. There is a very high percentage of morons. The music scene has produced some very good bands over the years, but predominantly there seems to be a habit of latching on to whatever is popular and copying it, and too many bands exist for reasons that are far removed from artistic principles. Which I can't abide.

Matt (bass)

What sort of bands do you usually play with?

The bands we often end up playing with are generally quite an ill fit. Because we use distortion pedals we often get lumped in with metal and screamo bands, which is a long way away from what we are. On the whole promoters in England are very lazy, and expect the bands to do all the work, put together unsuitable bills and wonder why their night has not been a roaring success. Obviously there are exceptions and we've had the fortune to work with some lovely people (such as Essex Rocks who started up a management company in order to help us out). We've also played with some fantastic bands such as Future Of The Left, Engerica (Now long split up), Thomas Tantrum and some other reasonably big names in Britain. We recently toured Europe with the fantastic Brighton band CautionHorses, and plan to work with them a lot more as it was a great success.

Does the name of Fashoda Crisis have any implication? What that incident has to do with your message?

The Fashoda Crisis (or Incident as it is sometimes known) was a fairly obscure historical entanglement between Britain and France, that almost led the two most powerful countries in the world to war for the first time since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Over something fairly ridiclous. We took the name because the situation was absurd, and absurdity both personal and political is one of the common themes that we rebel against.

How did your recent tour go? Tell about it, please. What countries did you go to? What interesting bands did you play with?

The tour was an amazing experience (although very tiring indeed). We had a couple of gigs in the Czech Republic, Prague and Hradec Kralove, a gig in an avant garde conceptual art gallery in Berlin, Germany, a couple of gigs booked for Croatia (although we had to cancel one as the van broke down in the middle of the Hungarian countryside leaving us stranded for about 6 hours) but we made it to the gig in Osijek, Subotica in Serbia and Antwerp in Belgium.

It was quite a punishing itinerary. The final day involved us getting up at 4am in a campsite in the Austrian Alps and driving across the whole of Germany getting to Antwerp for 20:30 and having to leave straight after the gig to catch our ferry home from Calais, 36 hours of driving in total with no sleep.

The reception we got, in Eastern Europe especially, was amazing, the Czech crowds went absolutely crazy for us, which was wonderful after all the hard work we'd put in putting the tour together, and the Serbian gig was a real highlight. We made some good friends in Croatia (although sadly the soundman was 6 days in to a drinking binge and could barely stand let alone man a mixing desk) and on the whole the experience was second to none. Plans are afoot to get back out to Serbia and Croatia and the Czech Republic as soon as we can (and hopefully out to Kiev too), probably around about Easter time. We are going to try and fly out next time on some budget airline though because the van was just too much.

Most of the gigs were just Fashoda Crisis and CautionHorses, with our driver and good friend Doozer (from Deferred Success) doing a set in the changeovers. CautionHorses were superb every night and there were a few collaborations taking place which was good (my voice went completely by the time we got to Hradec Kralove so I grabbed a couple of the Horses guys to accompany me on vocals to help me out). In Prague a young band called Awberah opened the show, and they were fantastic, reminiscent of Mogwai and very interesting. Meander Valley in Croatia also get a shout, because they worked so hard to make the nights a success and were truly lovely people.

Do you have any funny story to tell in conclusion?

Simon "Heinz" Smith (drums, vocals)

Our drummer is an idiot. To give you an idea of exactly how much of a moron he can be, as we were travelling through customs into Croatia and outside the EU for the first time, we were stopped at border control (bearing in mind we had already been stopped by the police about five times by this point, so we all knew the drill, keep quiet and do as you are told), there were a load of signs up stating prohibited food stuffs that could not be brought into Croatia, such as cheese and meat (I don't know why). Border guys did a cursory check of our passports and asked all the usual questions before waving us through. As we drove through the barriers at 5km (with all the windows open full due to the intense heat), Heinz let's out a cry in his loudest stupidest voice "I've got 60 kilos of Cheese in the boot". The mong. Quite how we avoided being pulled over again and strip searched I don't know.

Thank you for the interview very much. Good luck and I hope to see you on tour as soon as possible.

www.fashoda-crisis.com
www.myspace.com/fashodacrisis

Author: russian handshake
Interview in Russian

Pour Habit - A Breath Of Fresh Air

2009-07-25T12:05:00.015+03:00

Call me a loser, call me a fool, but the first time I’ve heard Pour Habit was only in spring 2009. Nevertheless, it was one of the best discoveries in the world of punk music for me for the last 4-5 years. And I’m really happy with the fact, that there are some rather new bands that can play punk rock in a new fresh way!
Personally for me, these guys are one of not much hopes, that there are still some bands, who do remember, that punk rock do not and should not have any measures a cliches.
So, here we go:

Hi, guys! I'm pretty glad to make this interview, 'cuz you're one of my favorite modern punk bands. How does your life go at the moment? Any interesting news about Pour Habit or your personal lives?

Well we definitely been holed up writing our new album. We had a lot of birthdays this month so theres been some good times. But we are just fancy to get back on the road!

You are one of those bands who brought some fresh air and new thoughts in nowadays punk rock. So, my first question is: do you have any recipe or secret of doing music so catchy?

I think our secret is we are open to playing lots of different types of music. I know that if one person wrote all the songs we would be sort of one dimensional so it is good to have different perspectives when writing.

As I know, you’ve started as a trio. What was the music of the band like that days?

It was just fun three chord punk rock. It is still the heart of what we are today because you can really feel the fun vibe of pour habit

Tell about the line-up changes you came through since you started a band.

The only line up change was the original drummer. His name was Chris and he was a really cool guy but things just did not work out. We are all really close in this band so it was almost a natural progression to end up with this finalized lineup.

You have really recognizable and unique style, combining classic punk-rock rhytms, 90's punk vocal melodies, amazing shredding metal guitars and even raggae themes! How did you managed to develop that style? And who is the head music writer in the band?

Like we were talking about before everyone gets a chance to bring their music to the table. Me and my brother Eric and Shaun usually like to write really technical punk/metal type songs and charles and steve will usually write awesome catchy songs or songs with great hooks and melodies.

Can you tell about your equipment like guitars, amps, cabs, drumkit, cymbals and other stuff?

We have been using the same equipment for a while. Eric still owes Chuck 1000 dollars because he has been "borrowing" Chucks amp and guitar for two years. It is a complete hodgepodge of equipment!

I'm really glad you got signed to Fat Wreck Chords. I heard Strung Out's drummer Jordan Burns helped you with that. Was Fat Mike's invitation a surprise to you, or it was expected?

When you are in a band you meet a lot of people with very greedy self interests, but Jordan has been the one person who has just taken time to really help us. He has never asked anything of us except to just work hard. He has done so much for us and we are forever indebted to him. One of the things he did was set us up a show with NoFX in San Diego. We were blown away with this opportunity. We know Fat Mike does not usually watch the bands so we were not really expecting anything but he watched the whole show. He probably liked us (I mean chuck stage raped him during one of our songs!) and a few weeks later offered us a deal and took us to Europe. I guess this question hits a nerve because it makes me think about the great people we are lucky to be involved with. Fat has the most amazing staff and we are honored to be able to work with them

You have a lot of experience of live shows, you have played shows with such big punk acts like Pulley, Strung Out, Guttermouth, Death By Stereo, Black President, The Adicts, Hit The Switch and now you have booked shows with NOFX and Bad Religion! Did you like sharing stage with all those people? Who's your favorite stage-mate? Are there any interesting stories about those shows?

All those bands have been amazing people. Surprisingly it is easier to talk about the bands that are little bitches than the bands we are close with because the latter far outweighs the former. But no, we love all those bands. We probably drive them crazy with our drunken antics but hey...its all love. There are a lot of crazy stories including Strung Out shooting fireworks at our van while we are on the freeway in Canada going 70 with a trailer. Oh yeah and our window was stuck so they were hitting us inside the van..

You had shows all around the world. Is there any place you would like to visit and hadn’t been yet? And is there much difference between the atmosphere on your gigs in the USA and for example in Europe?

Japan!!! and Australia and South America and Iceland and Germany!!!! We want to go everywhere. It is hard to say what the difference is because the shows we did in Europe were with Nofx so that is a whole different monster. I personally do not think you can differentiate by country but you can definitely differentiate by location. For example a show in Hollywood CA has a way different vibe than a show in Riverside CA. And the shows in London were different than the shows in Cardiff.

Tell some words about your upcoming album.

Well we finally have time to work on songs and have been a stable band for two years so we are very excited.

"Suiticide"

“Suiticide” made you a rather well-known band in the world of punk music and not only and gave you much fans as well. Do you have any fears before releasing your second album, that you can let your fans down in some way?

I guarantee this album will not let anyone down. We recorded Suiticide in 6 days and were really just learning about ourselves as a band so this album will be better. It has to be, I hate when bands put out crap

I know, that may be this is somewhat incorrect question, but do you have your favorite song from Suiticide?

I think the song I am LEAST sick of is probably institution because it is fun to play

Think it is right to say, that your lyrics is socially orientated. Why these themes are important for you and what is the main massage those songs should give to your listeners?

We do not have a main message. We do not preach anything. We try and write lyrics that people can identify with whether it is having to make a hard decision or waking up at some hosebeasts house and having to get the fuck out of there!! haha

Where do you see Pour Habit in, for example, 5 years? And as a band do you have any goals you would like to reach?

We would all like to be alive...seriously. We have lived rough so we want to be alive

Is there anything on the Earth that can stop you from playing music? And if not music, what would you do in your life?

Everything on Earth seems like it is here to stop you from playing music. We have sacrificed so much to be able to play together as a band. I do not know what we would do without it. It has been the number one thing in our lives for so long. If it ended tomorrow I would be proud to have shared the experience with my family (my band) but I would be lost. Thats where I am right now.

I’ve met an interesting information somewhere in the internet, that brothers Walsh are far relatives of Gary Miller (Dr.Know) of Bad Brains. Is it true? If not, what other interesting/stupid rumours you’ve met about yourself and about the band?

No relation... I don’t think. Me and Eric have a million family members so who knows. We get a lot of Bad Brains comments but I guess that comes with the territory. Mostly people who have never heard us say that.

What do you think about world punk scene nowadays? And where do you see it in about 5 years?

We are hoping that all scenes die. Scenes are just popularity contests. I watch people spend their lives trying to be someone in a scene and what is the point. I like all types of music and I think there are some really amazing bands out there.

Thanx for your answers, keep on rocking! And hope to see you in Ukraine some day)

Authors: Rommi & Napalm In My Veins
Interview in Russian

Skate Korpse - Drain Your Pools

2009-07-03T14:16:00.010+03:00

A dozen of brilliant albums, hundreds shows on the biggest stadiums all over the world, participation in the most giant fests together with legendary bands, crowds of fans and followers and thousands people naming their pets after the band’s members… are not about Skate Korpse at all. Those guys from Rochester and Buffalo didn’t invent anything brand new, but they used the experience of such punk rock monsters as Agent Orange, J.F.A., The Faction, Dead Kennedys, Descendents etc in the best way. It doesn’t make any difficulties to guess what came out of it – fast hardcore and melodic instrumental surf compositions according to the best traditions of the genre. This music would hardly amaze anyone in 80’s, but nowadays there are very few bands like that one, the more so because Skate Korpse managed (or did it happen by an accident?) to get a sound that reminds of the time of skate-rock prosperity.
The line-up of Skate Korpse stayed constant through the whole life of the band and looked the next way: Alex (guitar, vocal), Quinn (drums), Kurt (bass, vocal). It’s as clean as day that this trio doesn’t have a lot of records to boast: demo tape, 3 7”s and “Discography” LP, that includes all the listed releases and some unreleased stuff, 22 songs overall. Every single song deserves your attention, but I have to mark out cover versions of an ageless hit “Moon Over Marin” (Dead Kennedys) and surf-classics “Pipeline” (The Chantays), and also some blasting self-composed songs, such as mega-catchy “Down” and “Frontpage Whiteout”.
There’s just a bit more info about Skate Korpse in internet then “totally nothing”, that’s why to find out anything about this band I had to bother musicians themselves. Fortunately Alex turned out to be a very responsive and sociable guy, and a bit later I received reply from Quinn (I made an interview with each of them separately). So meet Skate Korpse:

A: My name is Alex and I played guitar and sang in Skate Korpse

Q: My name’s Quinn, I played drums in Skate Korpse

How and where did you get together? Were you experienced musicians by that time? Why did you decide to play that sort of music?

A: Originally, when Kurt and I were talking about starting a skate rock band, I was on tour with my old band, 17th Class. We were somewhere near the west coast, maybe in the desert in the Midwest or in Texas or something like that, when we decided that we really loved bands like JFA, the Spermbirds, Agent Orange and things like that. Kurt and I thought that it would be funny to do a band like Peace Corpse, but about skateboarding and with a K instead of a C.
“Experienced musicians,” not exactly. I had been playing guitar for a couple of years but I had never played guitar in a band before that. Kurt was probably around the same level of experience. Quinn had already been playing drums in local bands, so he had an idea of what he was doing. I forgot how we got Quinn to play in the band – probably just from knowing each other around the scene.
We played that kind of music because it was the kind of music that, at the time, was a big part of what we were listening to. It didn’t seem to be very popular, it was just what we wanted to do. Play surf instrumentals and skate rock.

Do you remember when and where your first practice happened? Who was composing music and lyrics?

A: The first practice happened in my parents’ garage. I think it was just Quinn and I, and we were going over some riff that I made up (which ended up getting abandoned). I wrote most of the music and lyrics in the band, with the other two guys throwing in their ideas every now and then.

Q: I remember having to wait forever, because Kurt was coming from Buffalo, which is like and hour away. I’m pretty sure we had a song by our second practice.

What was the first gig of Skate Korpse? Do you remember how everything went?

A: I remember our first show very well because I actually set it up. Back to the thing I said earlier about my last band, 17th Class – this actually needs some background explaining.
The tour that Kurt and I were on was a total disaster. 17th Class wasn’t really popular enough to do a full US tour, but we had just put out an LP and thought that it was a good idea. The tour was failing miserably, ending with the drummer staying in California and the rest of us going to New York. That happened around June of 2003.
A couple of months later, the drummer came back to New York and 17th Class decided to do one last show. By that time, Skate Korpse had gotten going. So the last 17th Class show was the first Skate Korpse show. It went incredibly well. Everyone seemed very receptive to the whole thing.

Was it difficult for you to book a show?

A: Much of the time, it was difficult to get shows. Like I said, that style of skate rock and surf punk wasn’t really hot at the time. People still seemed to really be into things like fast hardcore, thrashy stuff. There weren’t all too many people doing shows in Rochester and Buffalo at the time. We played whenever we could, mostly basements and community spaces like Access in Buffalo. Some promoters liked us more than others.

Q: We never really looked for shows to play. We just wanted to play fun shows with our friends.

What were the most memorable shows that you played?

A: We played with Career Suicide and Cut the Shit in L.A. when those bands were basically the biggest bands in the DIY punk/hardcore scene. That was an incredible show. Playing at This Is For You fest a couple of years ago was great too—when the band was together, not too many people knew our songs and stuff. At This is For You, a ton of people knew the lyrics and everything, making the whole thing awesome to play.
We played an all-surf-instrumental set in California when nobody had a P.A. or a microphone. Our last show in a basement in Buffalo was very memorable, and that’s available on DVD. Our last show in Rochester was with Annihilation Time – there were about a hundred kids trying to pack into this tiny room while we were playing our set. It didn’t work out the best, but I remember it very well.

What people usually came to your shows? Were you popular among local skaters?

A: All sorts of people came to the shows. It seems that a lot of skateboarders knew us and liked us. Part of that was all of Quinn’s friends coming to shows and things like that. In Rochester, a lot of skaters seemed to know who we were and came out to our shows. We requested that people bring skateboards to our last show in Buffalo, and they were everywhere.
All sorts of people, though. Punks, normal people, clean-cut hardcore guys, older people, younger people, whoever.

Did you play outside your city? Have you ever toured?

A: Skate Korpse did a little tour, but it was more of a vacation. We knew that we would be spending most of the money ourselves, which was OK. We drove in 2 days from Rochester to Seattle and played a bunch of west coast shows, including a show in Vancouver.

Name few most known bands or your favourite ones that you played with.

A: Annihilation time, Cut the shit, The Rites, Career Suicide, Black SS, and ANS all come to mind. I’m probably forgetting some, but that’s OK.

What in your opinion distinguishes Skate Korpse from other skate punk bands?

Q: Alex

A: Unlike a lot of other skate punk bands of that time, we weren’t stuck on playing hardcore songs all of the time. We would totally mix it up with surf tunes, really slow songs, weird covers of 50s pop songs, things like that. I don’t know, it seems like we weren’t really doing normal hardcore punk music, and it was always something interesting.

How did Skate Korpse get signed on Punks Before Profits and Art Of The Underground?

A: I knew Ryan from Punksbeforeprofits and that’s how he got involved in putting out the 7”.. When it came time to do the second 7”, nobody wanted to put it out. Gloom Records was going to put out a split LP with us and this German band named One Dimension, but he pulled out after learning that we were going to break up, which was understandable.
So I put out the second 7” with this guy Matt who runs DSK records. Alex from Art Of The Underground was starting up his label at the time and we asked if we could be put on one of the singles in his series¹. That’s about it.

Did every member of SK skate? For how long had you been skating by the moment you started this band?

A: I have to put a disclaimer on that one: Kurt and Quinn were both excellent skaters. Not pro or sponsored or anything like that, but they were really great and knew what they were doing. I skated 100% for fun. I had an old school deck and just enjoyed doing things like power slides and just riding around. I was terrible at it. I had probably been doing it less than a year before the band got going.

Q: Me and Kurt had been skating for a while before Skate Korpse. Alex would skate if we were skating in the driveway or something but not at like skate parks.

What did you achieve in sk8boarding? Do you prefer street, vert, pool or freestyle?

A: I always preferred street skating – I never had much of a chance to skate pools, so shit like curbs was always fine for me. You don’t want to hear stories about my skating. I remember more about falling off the thing than I do about tricks and shit like that.

Q: Me and Kurt like to skate concrete and pools and stuff

What do you think about sk8boarding nowadays? Do you have a favourive skater/skate video/skate team?

A: To be totally honest, I have no clue what’s happening with skateboarding nowadays. I haven’t watched a skate video or gone skating in years. As far as my favorites go, I always liked watching Arto Saari and Duane Peters. Pretty much anything I knew about skating, I learned from the other dudes in the band.

Q: I don’t like the whole little kids doing handrails and stuff. I would rather watch people having fun on a skateboard, not throwing themselves down stuff.

Do you often have troubles with cops or other people while skating?

A: When I did skate, cops would occasionally harass you. What can you do? Just find another spot and skate there, and go back later when the cops go away. I’ve been arrested a couple of times, but not about things like skating.

Q: Yeah, when I used to skate street we would encounter a lot of security guards and stuff.

What do you think about the state of skate punk at present? Do you like any new bands?

A: There’s this band from Rochester called The Insubordinates, and I thought that their demo tape was fucking sweet. It reminded me of a skate rock band mixed with Sick Pleasure, which worked totally well. I haven’t heard too much else lately that has blown me away.
Bands that seemed to have sort of a skate rock influence like L’Amico di Martucci and La Piovra were pretty good. What are the new skate rock bands going right now?

What do you do for living?

A: Right now, I’m unemployed. Next year I’ll probably be going to law school. I’m hoping to go through life without having to work shitty job after shitty job until I die..

Q: I work in a warehouse

Why did you decide to split up? Is there any chance of reunion?

A: We broke up mainly because Quinn moved to Florida and Kurt said that he was going to move too. There’s basically no chance for reunion since I’m in Colorado, Quinn’s in Florida and Kurt is somewhere else (New York I think).

If you could get back to the past, would you change something in Skate Korpse?

Q: I would have changed the cover to the first 7inch.

A: Yeah – near the end, we spent too much time trying to write complicated songs. I wish that we were able to write more straightforward songs and play them. I wish that we played more shows. I wish that people liked us more while we were together instead of after we broke up.

Did any Skate Korpse member play in other bands after you split up?

Q: I play in a band called Staring Daggers and I’m in the process of doing a punk band with my girlfriend singing.

A: I played in a band called White York for a year or two after Skate Korpse. We put out a 7” but broke up after I moved from New York to Colorado. Kurt filled in in I Object! and other local bands. All of us are still in the scene, more or less. I’m only 23 and I will always love checking out live music, be it punk, hardcore, jazz, garage, blues, whatever. From day one, we were all nuts about different kinds of music. We’ll all probably continue playing and checking out live music.

What’s your attitude to politics? Do you support any social or political organizations?

Q: I’m vegan

A: I’m basically a social liberal. It’s an extension of punk’s influence on me – I want things to be fair for people. I want people in this country to have access to affordable health care, I want people to have jobs that don’t make their life shitty, I want American society to be an OK place to live.
Punk slips into nihilism very easily. It’s an attractive move to make. But the older I get, the less attractive it seems to me. After waking up over and over again, you realize that life goes on and on, no matter what. Eventually you decide that things should be made better for the long run, even if you can only make a little change.
I support Obama’s candidacy for president. I will be voting for him this November (interview was made in October 2008). Sometimes, I think it’s hard to say that you support any one candidate or party with all of the wrong moves and decisions that that party makes. However, it’s weird – this year, it seems like the presidential decision makes more of a difference than it normally does. Like, when I envision the future, I see two very different possibilities that depend on who will be in office next year.
The future seems to be a better place in America (and the world, really) if Obama’s in office. But that’s just my personal opinion.

What place in your life is occupied by skateboarding and punk rock? What do they mean for you?

Q: I will always be into skating boarding and punk!

A: Punk rock occupies a huge place in my life. It’s really just an extension of other kinds of music, which holds a firm grip on my brain and will continue to do so until I die.
Skating, now, holds less of an importance to me. If anything, it’s an extension of other concepts—being outside and active with your friends, living on the fringes of your culture, not being afraid of physical pain, being a part of a tribe, being able to entertain yourself for free (sort of), and so on. Nowadays I get more of a kick out of reading books, but skating will always be something fun to do.

Thanx a lot for the answers. Skate Korpse made some great tunes. Good luck with skateboarding and music!

A: Good luck yourself! Skate Korpse was meant to be about fun with your friends. Hopefully, such a simple message can continue to go on, no matter what you call it.

Discography:

Nov 2003 – demo tape, 100 copies made

Apr 2004 – “Self-Titled / No Fun” 7” – Punks Before Profits Records, 500 copies on green, 500 copies on black

May 2005 – “Down” 7” – DSK records, 200 copies on black, 100 copies on pink

May 2005 – “Rochester Blues / Skate Hospital” 7” – Art Of The Underground, 500 copies (250 by themselves, 250 in box sets)

Dec 2006 – “Discography” LP – Feral Kid Records / Punks Before Profits Records, around 1000 copies made.

¹ - there’s a whole 7” singles series released on Art Of The Underground, including such bands as The Ergs!, Off With Their Heads, The Unlovabels, Andrew Jackson Jihad, The Leftovers, Chinese Telephones etc. Single of Skate Korpse was the third release of the series.

Author: ihatepunk
Interview in Russian

Bouncing Souls - Sing Along With Your Heart

2009-06-15T15:52:00.028+03:00

Music + heart = Bouncing Souls
I do still have smile on my face every time I listen to “True Believers”, I do still like to wake up with “The Gold Song”, I do still like to walk with “Gone” and to sing with “Kids And Heroes”. I do still believe to them. I do… Think the only reason to that is they are still true, in every song, in every word. They still remember what it is like to play music with all the love and sincerity you’ve got in your heart.
Thank you, The Bouncing Souls!

Let's start with introducing. Please, tell some words about yourself and the other members of the band

This is Greg and I sing. I'm a lover and soul searcher and a life liver. doing my best to live every moment the best I know how. All of the BS guys are amazing creative passionate people living life and learning as best they can too.

Tell 3 things, that characterize the band in the best way.

Family, Positive, Depth

Some cliché question, but where does the name of the band comes and whose idea was that? And also, did you have any other variants of the name of the band except the Bouncing Souls?

The name of the band popped out of Bryan's (the bass player's) mouth when he looked down at his Doc Marten boots and saws the tag that said, "With Bouncing Souls". We thought that sounded better than "The Manic Doritos" or the "Cool Ranchers".

What are the latest events about the Bouncing souls? What interesting happens with the band at the moment or may be something interesting in your personal lives?

We have spent the past 3 or 4 months writing and recording new songs to our new release. The BS 20 Year Anniversary!!! We will be celebrating the anniversary by releasing one song on the first of each month as a digital download and four seven inches throughout the year. We will also be touring the world.. but not too much touring.

You guys have been together as a band for more than 20 years. As I know, there was only one change in your line-up for the whole this time. Is there any secret how to play together for so long?

There are so many things that have to go together but the first thing has to be a commitment to the creative parts of each other. For us we are all creators in the whole project of the band which makes everyone fell passionate about it. This has been the fuel that has kept us going in the tough times. So if that agreement is made between musicians and its real, they might have a good.

When you started as a band, could you imagine you'd be playing together for so long and growing into a world known band? Did you have such an ambitions that time? Oh, and what was the attitude of your parents to your decision to start a musician careers?

We would think about all those things but it seemed so far away and unattainable in so many ways.. so we just took one step at a time and enjoyed everything that came as best as we could. We did have big ambitions and we followed them with all our hearts. Our parents were pretty supportive. They didn't think it would go anywhere so when it started to take off they really enjoyed the surprise.

At the moment, there are so many good songs that the band has… Mmm... Is it hard for you to create a playlist? And how do you usually solve this problem now? Do you have any songs, that you play for sure at every gig?

There are a few we play almost every night...but in general its great to have a lot of songs. It enables us to paint a different picture every night. Its like a new mix tape. We’ve been playing 3 night in Asbury Park New Jersey after Christmas and the sets looked like they were a lot of fun. We’ve been playing new stuff and stuff that we barely ever played.

I’m more than sure, that all of your songs are more than important for you, but are there any special ones for every of you? I mean, those ones, that make some special memories and feelings?

One of our new ones.. It's called "Airport Security" is special to me at the moment for a few reasons. I was able to capture a whole lot of emotion and express it with a sense of humor and even with a little political twist to it. Its really satisfying when you can successfully infuse a lot of depth into a song.

If to compare what the Bouncing Souls was in the beginning and what it is now, what are the main changes?

We have grown up I think it a lot of good ways. We have learned from our experience and that has made life and music more enjoyable for all of us. Those things are different but our love is still the same.

Has the process of songwriting changed comparing to the early years of the band?

We have gotten better at it I think. We work better together and we enjoy the process a lot more. We are all on the same page more than we use to be. We work to make the song great instead of trying to make our individual parts good. That is really important for everyone to do if you are writing songs with people.

When creating this or that song what is the main measure for you – how do the fans will react on it, or your own feelings? I mean, do you have such a, so to say, scare, like the fans would not understand and not support you by providing something new?

There's is an intuitive path that guides us through the process. That intuition usually knows best so the trick is not to fight against it. Its really that simple. The hard part is taking "yourself" out of the process. That allows inspiration to flow in a free way. Its not so easy to always wonder what people will think but we have to do our best to stay true to that intuition even if our minds our telling us its not good or what ever its trying to tell us.

What each of you is afraid of?

Thats a good question. I think I'm scared of not living life to its fullest in each moment.
I've spent a lot of time living in my mind and missing out on life. If I live life everyday completely I have nothing to be afraid of. I'm not afraid of dying anymore. I'm not afraid of being crippled although I wouldn't like it.

If you weren’t musicians, whom would you be?

Probably Dead

You can compare, what the american (world?) punk music scene was when you started and nowadays. What do you think, does it move in the right direction? And if you could change something, what would it be?

The internet change so much its a whole new world. Everything is always moving in the right direction always. We are all experiencing all the time and learning as we go. We perceive some things as good and some as bad but in the end we are always learning.

As I know, you, Greg, have a solo project. Please, tell some words about it. When did the decision to start it come? And is it just a thing for you, just to fill free time from the BS? Or do you have any big plans about it?

No big plans at the moment but I enjoy recording different things all the time. I have been recording some cover songs lately which has been fun.

Do the other members of the band have side projects?

Everybody does some different things when the opportunities arise. Recording..and playing with friends we do know and then. Pete and Michael a Cure cover band for a little while with Frank from My Chemical Romance and some other friends.

Please, tell some words about Chunksaah Records. What is the conception of it? And how can you describe the main aim of it? Are the members of the band involved in the work of the label?

We started the label to put out our music and it has evolved to put out a lot of different music. Kate runs the day to day business with Zak and we all make decisions about what goes on with the label.

I think that's all. Thank you so much, Greg! Any last words?

That was a looong interview. Whew. Thanks for all the enthusiasm and support!!

Much Love
Greg

http://www.bouncingsouls.com/
www.myspace.com/bouncingsouls

Author: Rommi
Interview in Russian

The Mighty Regis - Little Mighty Irish Spirit In The USA

2009-06-11T13:42:00.026+03:00

You know, the time I’ve met the biography of The Mighty Regis, the first and the only thing I wanted to do that moment was just to go and check their music…. Hm… That’s what I’ve done! And now I’m in love with those Irish misfits! Just check it out:

Young Gavin McLoud had the idea to form a band with some of the best musicians in all of Ireland...it didn't quite work out that way. So instead he asked the help of his friend Ronnie McDonald, a local music teacher and the nicest of people. The fellas then found a drummer when Gavin's schoolyard chum Gabby Byrne was released from prison, having been mistaken for an IRA soldier. Next came the search for the perfect frontman. Gavin looked and looked and finally had no other choice then to ask his half brother Francis "Franky" McNorman. A failed soccer player, Franky doesn't like his brother and doesn't like to sing, but not having any other football teams in Ireland to get kicked off of Franky reluctantly joined. While touring through the Dingle Peninsula after about a year together, they picked up a hitchhiking rabbinical student named Paddy McRib. Convinced that a life dedicated to music and making people happy would be more pleasin' to the Lord, young Paddy traded his yalmulka and tallit set for a used accordion and never looked back. The final pieces were added when Franky heard the voice of an angel during Mass one fateful Sunday, and the lovely Ryan O'Neill was brought on board. Finally, the band's biggest fan, Darby, an orphan boy who couldn't even afford a last name, filled a void at bass, and hopes his real parents will one day come to a gig.

Got those feeling as well? Hope so!) The next moment I was writing the interview request to those guys. And oh magic! Less than in an hour I’ve got the answers from the vocalist Franky McNorman.So, here we go!

Francis: I will answer as best I can on behalf of The Mighty Regis.

Rommi: First of all, please, tell something about the Mighty Regis as a band. How long does the band exist? what does the name mean? And is there any conception of the band?Please, tell also some words about yourself and the other members.

F: We are a bunch of Irish misfits to be sure. We also just love to play music and shows together. Our band has gone through some changes as of late. Of the original 5 members of TMR only 3 remain. We added a new bass player in Darby. He came on to replace Jackie Collins. We have a new drummer in Gabby, who replaced George Glooney and we added the lovely Ms. Ryan O'Neill to class up our outfit a bit. We play Irish Folk/ Punk Rock but are influenced by all types of music. From Hip Hop to Ska to Jazz and blue. Some of our favorite bands are Beastie Boys, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Flogging Molly, The Pogues, The Grateful Dead, NOFX, The Dave Matthews Band and A Tribe Called Quest. At the end of the day we are trying to put our own take on Irish punk out there and know we get to where we want to be.

R: As I know you started in Ireland, but then moved to the USA. What was the reason of it? Did states become like a new home for you?

F: We are all now living here in Los Angeles, CA. It been good. It's very different from where we come from but it has been a grand time to be sure. Though we miss our homes now and again. Doesn't everyone? We came to the USA because we wanted to give it ago. I love this country! It gets a run down by folks around the world and that is really fucked up. The people here are great and have alot to be proud of. I miss Ireland but America is truly grand.

R: Is band the only thing you are doing in your lives, or you also do have any jobs?

F: As the band gets more work we cut down on time at other jobs but as of now we all do some other gigs to help pay the bills. Everything from computer work to bartending to teaching. It's not what we want to be doing but it keeps us from going hungry...which is good.

R: What instruments should "Irish folk punk rock" include as a musical genre? I mean, is there any special instruments, without which this style of music is impossible?

F: I think you can play Irish punk with any instruments but you can't beat the old mandolin and fiddle not to mention the accordion to make that great Celtic sound. We are lucky to have Gavin and Paddy. They put so much heart into their mandolin and accordion. We also have Ryan on tin whistle and accoustic guitar, so we have the items to help our sound get that Irish touch.

R: Is mandolin a national Irish instrument? And please, tell some words about Gavin's abilities in playing this instrument.

F: Gavin put this outfit together. He is a brilliant music man. He writes so much music and his mandlin playing leads the charge. He works himself to the bone and sometimes runs on no sleep. Without him we wouldn't be where we are.

R: Which bands can you compare the sound of the Mighty Regis with? And how can you define the style of music you are playing?

F: We have been compared to The Pogues and Floging Molly which is amazing to hear. They are just brilliant bands to be sure. Our live show as been likened to That of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Which is where we take the Mighty in our name. I'm a huge fan, always have been). We love the grand complements but we our trying to be what those bands are and that's unique. We want to be different and put our own take out there. some many Irish bands are trying to be Flogging Molly and there can only be one.

R: What are the main themes for your songs and where do they come from?

F: I write most of the lyrics. I like to write all sorts. Serious heart-felt, stories and sometimes to have a laugh. I think that sets us apart too. Ya can't always be political or sad. There is MORE TO LIFE than that! We love to laugh at ourselves. It beats the bloody hell out of bashing presidents and hating people. Live your life and let others live theirs. We are all people and that's good by me.

R: How did you get to Molly Malones? And please, tell about it as a place and as a label also. How often do you have concerts at Molly Malones?

F: We had heard of Flogging Molly when we got to the states and when we moved to LA we went to see the pub they started in. We got a gig there and the next thing ya know we were a rsident band like they were. It a great place and we love playing there every Thursday night. Recently the Booker (JT Tinsley) started up an on-line label and signed us. We are on with some great acts. They released our first record "Co. Sligo".

R: Are you still on Molly Malones Music?

"Another Nickel For Pope"

F: We just released our 2nd album called "Another Nickel For The Pope". It's not on Molly Malones Music. We went it alone this time to see how we could do on our own. We are very proud of the record. It's our first with the new line up. Please grab it if you can and let us know what ya think. It has a bit of everything we do.

R: What are your relations with the other Irish bands? Do you have something like support for each other?

F: We are friendly with some other Irish bands. Recently with played with The Filthy Thieving Bastards and Spider Stacy of The Pogues. That was amazing! It's great to talk with and listen to some of those that influence us. We are also lucky to be friendly with bands that don't play Irish music because they inform our sound too. There are so many great punk bands in L.A.

R: What are your plans for future? Do you have any ambitions to become a world well known band, like, Flogging Molly, for example?

F: Again, we don't want to be Flogging Molly. They are the only ones that should do that. So many Irish Punk bands try to get to the next level by looking to imitate Flogging Molly. It's fucking bollocks! we want to raise to the type of success they have to be sure but we'd rather be influenced by them them be them. They are so great and to try to do what they do so well would be a waste of time. we'd rather just be TMR and see where the chips fall.

R: Think, thats all. Thank you for the interview. Good luck to TMR! I believe in you!

F: Thanks for the interview. I hope I was able to give ya some answers about TMR. We are giving it all we got to become the biggest band we can be. I think that's the secret to getting there. Worry about yourself, say what you feel and enjoy the ride. We hope to be in the Ukraine to play for you sometime soon. Thanks so much again.
CHEERS, SLAINTE' and GOD BLESS!
The Lads and Lady of

THE MIGHTY REGIS

http://www.themightyregis.com/
www.myspace.com/themightyregis

Author: Rommi
Interview in Russian

Bomb The Music Industry! - Beard Of Defiance

2009-06-10T15:49:00.064+03:00

"Remember, doing things yourself is fun and usually cheaper!"

Perhaps, these words are the best to describe an attitude of Bomb! According to Jeff Rosenstock, the founder and the only constant member of the project, “Bomb the Music Industry! is a collective of musicians moreso than a band”. He calls the fact of the creating of that “collective” (seriously or jokingly) just a drunk idea. Though that idea was put into life as 5 magnificent albums full of hopeless optimism, sarcasm, childlike naivety and some unusual energy that will make you listen to those creations of Jeff Rosenstock’s fevered brain on and on and on. Despite the name of the “band”, Jeff is not a terrorist, he doesn’t call to radical actions and sings not about politics, but about the ordinary trifles of life: from outpouring of anger with his job / unemployment, loneliness, daily troubles and insomnia to how awesome it is to drink beer in a shower, sleep till noon, grow a beard and not to care about all the bosses and glamorous beard-haters. How cool it would be, if any problem could be solved just by blowing on it! Bomb The Music Industry! is a cry from the heart of romantic dreamer against dullness and daily routine, boredom and humdrum, excessive seriousness, insincerity and pretence expressed as a delightful mix of punk, ska and electronic music. “Quit scramblin' to fit into a failing system, GO OWN YOUR LIFE!!!!”
But the name for collective wasn’t chosen just for a cause and indicates Jeff’s attitude to making money of selling cds and merch. That’s why all the albums were recorded by Rosenstock to his MacBook either in his bedroom, or in the bathroom, or at some friend’s place or somewhere else and are spread in Internet and at the shows (don’t forget to bring an empty cd to the next Bomb’s gig). No merch available! That’s why in order to get a t-shirt with the logo you’ll have to do it yourself or to bring a blank tee to the show where someone will share a stencil. Did I mention that the line-up’s inconstant to say the least of it? Anyone can learn parts, come to the show with an instrument and play with the “band” (don’t forget to let guys know about it before the show starts). In addition Jeff runs tiny but very proud label Quote Unquote Records – the first donation based label, where all releases are available for free download.
So here we go! I had to wait much for an answer, but what I got was much more than enough.

P.S. This interview is already one year old. For that time Bomb The Music Industry! released the fifth album “Scrambles” and a compilation of covers and unreleased stuff called "Others! Others! (Vol. 1 2005 - 2008)".

Hey, Jeff! Thanx for finding time to reply my questions. First of all I'll ask you to make something like a little introduction to Bomb The Music Industry! for unfamiliar with the band people.

Bomb the Music Industry! is a group comprised of a few dozen individuals all across the United States, but we're currently mostly living in Brooklyn or Long Island. We play music that is pretty fast and annoying and has too many parts to discern what's going on sometimes. When we play live there is a good chance that we're going to try covering a 311 song, and there's also a good chance that there will be no band, just me and a computer. We try to keep things open ended so everyone can go on living their lives and enjoy playing music when they have a chance. Except for me as I have no life.

What music, literature, movies, arts etc. influenced you most of all? Do you have something like a source of inspiration?

It sounds cliche, but Fugazi were definitely the hugest influence on this band, as they operated outside of the mainstream music industry, did everything on their own, always did it their way and never compromised that. All the while they managed to be very successful, and now they're legendary. That's pretty inspiring to go against the grain. Also, I really liked seeing how They Might Be Giants and Against Me! could evolve from being a one or two person act to being full grown bands, and when I was starting this out in my bedroom and eventually decided to play shows with or without a band, looking up to bands like that made me feel like what I was doing wasn't COMPLETE bullshit.

Let's talk a bit about creation of new songs. How, where and in what circumstances does it usually happen?

Jeff Rosenstock

Sometimes it all happens at once, and sometimes it takes forever to kinda figure out how things should go but it always starts out with picking up a guitar, or sitting down at a piano or synthesizer and playing something and being like "hey! this should be a song!" Then if it's a good song, I'll start sequencing it and it'll write itself, and if it's an annoying song I'll pick all the parts apart and be pissed off that I just can't finish writing!

Can you remember all the instruments you'd involved in your music? Do you wanna use more?

I always wanna use more instruments... I guess I'm not a good enough songwriter to keep writing songs on guitars and have them sound different! I got a baritone guitar recently and have been writing a bit on that which has made the new record I'm working on have some slower and dirgier jams and also some weirder chords. But just having a midi controller and a handful of computer programs kinda gives me the opportunity to play with a million different kinds of sounds while writing. The hardest part on Get Warmer was trying to find real instruments to match those sounds, like "fuck it! who's got a violin! a timpani! a mandolin! a harp!"

Does mixing of genres and experiments with music attract people to Bomb The Music Industry! or push away kids from what you're doing? What kind of people does your audience mainly consist of?

You know, whenever we get described in any kind of mainstream publication it's always as a "punk/ska" band so I don't really know if all too many people are cognizant of the fact that we do all this other stuff too. At the same time, people have already started to describe our NEXT record as "a huge departure" and "influenced by indie rock" when it hasn't even been recorded yet and it pretty much stays along the lines of the last two! So I don't know, I think people kinda make their minds up about what a band sounds like before listening to them, at least my band. I hope that people like that we mish-mash a bunch of stuff, I know I like it when bands to that and keep shit interesting. I have no idea what our audience consists of though... hopefully uniformly nice people!

I don't know why, but I'm absolutely sure you have lots of weird stories about what happened to you while touring, recording etc. Can you tell any, please?

We were just on tour with Less Than Jake for a few days and one night we were drinking and talking about shirts and not making shirts and whatever, and somehow it got to the point of escalating dares that ended in both of us agreeing that on our last night of the tour, they would not be playing their encore, instead we would be playing their encore as Goldfinger. The only rule was that we were not allowed to practice any of the songs we would be playing, or even listen to them. Now, usually this would just be a drunken idea and forgotten about but I guess since both of our bands are dumb, sure enough we ended up doing it at this huge place in Richmond, way bigger than anywhere we'd ever played in town. So we got on stage during their encore, they introduced us and we planned to pretend to be too drunk to play our instruments or set anything up. They seemed pretty nervous that we were gonna not just be bad, but so bad that we weren't even playing. After about five minutes of us saying absolutely nothing and pretending to be too drunk to do anything, we started "Miles Away" without saying anything at all and all these kids start freaking out as if we're actually Goldfinger. I'd say that was probably the most surreal moment of my music playing career, also probably because we were all wearing fake moustaches and I was wearing only cutoffs and had "FAT DICKS" written all over my sweaty swarthy torso.

A few words about Quote Unquote. How did you get the idea of starting a donation based label and what pushed you to do that? Did you start it alone or someone helped you with that? What was the purpose of its creation?

Well, Bomb the Music Industry! started as a way to give people music without asking them for pretty much anything in return and by giving away free music, a lot of people heard of us and started coming to our shows to the point where we could book tours and people would come. So it was like "wow, this is great!" and we would have a donation bucket at shows and people would always throw in. So Rick Johnson and I were touring together and the second or third show was with my friend Matt who was a one man band... we'd never seen him play before really, and I think this was his first show. So he plays these AMAZING songs at our show and we flipped out and said "shit, let's take Matt on tour," we took him out and asked everyone to put him on the shows and people were super receptive. So I decided to try putting out Matt's record the same way as mine, and put up some donation links to hopefully cover recording costs and such. After that the label just kinda grew very slowly with friends' releases and it's continuing pretty much the same.

Do you at least get back money that you invest in keeping label alive, recording/releasing albums etc?

Quote Unquote definitely pays for itself because the overhead is so damn low. It's also paid for a few bands to record and Bomb donations have paid my rent or van repairs once or twice when I was just too busy working on all this to work a real job enough. The profit is not nearly as grandiose as it has been for bigger artists who have recently been adapting the same method, but that's not really the point. I think what's more important is that we're creating a little family where it is clear that we are all into people hearing our music more than we are into making shit for people to buy.

Who are all those bands and one man bands on Quote Unquote: your friends or just guys who asked you to help with promotion? How did they get signed on the label?

Matt Kurz

To be honest, almost everyone who is on Quote Unquote had been a dear friend for years and years before we started working together. I met Rick Johnson and Ian Graham (who later went on to be in Cheap Girls) pretty early on in Bomb the Music Industry! days and we just hit it off, Matt Kurz One was the reason the label started, I had known Jeff Tobias of Pegasuses for a while and they were doing something similar in Athens at the time so we figured why not do it together, I met Chris from Chotto Ghetto when he was working for Plea For Peace about five years ago and I was happy that he was finally in a good band, We Versus the Shark have been close friends forever and were the first band we ever toured with and the only band we toured with a lot of times, and my friend Katie rode down to Fest with us this past year and had the Cheeky EP with her and I was just like "holy shit! this is the best! i need to put this out!" The only band who I didn't know beforehand was the Riot Before, and I saw them in a basement in Richmond while I was moving

Rick Johnson

down to Georgia and just getting the label really going and they blew me away. We eventually met and decided to work together. We've gotten a bunch of e-mails from people who want us to do all this promotion bullshit with them but we ignore those bands or fuck with them. Fuck 'em. Mostly if bands want us to listen to stuff that they're doing so we can work together, I just tell them exactly how I do what I do and tell them to give it a shot themselves. I'm on tour so much and constantly hearing new bands so much that it seems like it would fuck up the relationship we all have with each other to work with a band without knowing them real well first.

How much time does it take to play in Bomb The Music Industry!, Pegasuses-XL and run Quote Unquote Records? Do you have other occupations, bands? Have you ever thought of leaving it all and starting a "normal" (boring:)) life?

My life is extremely boring! There is often a lot of working at office jobs, food service jobs, commuting, working 12-hour days coming home, making dinner for me and my girlfriend and falling asleep watching movies. I try to keep music as a secondary thing in my life as much as I possibly can, because I don't want to make something I love that much a stressful thing. So whenever Bomb is taking up so much time that I can't really maintain the relationships in my life or pay my bills, we kinda lay off of touring for a little bit. Sometimes I have to do that or I don't have enough left to make my part in Pegasuses fun and important, and there have been times when keeping it all together with Pegasuses Team Georgia has been tough and they've gone and made their noise without me. The problem I have is that music will NEVER be secondary to anything in my life, I'm always thinking about songs, always writing music in my head, always thinking about playing and interesting and new ways to approach things. If I completely give in to all that, I'd be starving in a gutter somewhere or a total douchebag rock star touring the world 12 months out of the year talking about how my shit doesn't stink. So basically, it takes up just about all my time, but it would do the same even if I had no bands so I'm very thankful I have that outlet, I would go insane without it. But I'm still a bit wary about making the most important thing in my life have anything to do with how I pay my rent. Rent and bills is something that the world kinda makes you do, where music is something that my body and brain make me do.
All that aside, Quote Unquote is very very very easy and does not take up much of my time at all. There's simply not all that much to do, it's just been so exciting to start a tiny little snowball and watch it keep growing. I think all the bands on the label agree that we're not into shoving what we do in people's faces, so I feel like as long as there's the internet and net neutrality, Quote Unquote will keep happening.

Bomb The Music Industry! has over 1.2 mln plays on last.fm and over 600.000 plays on myspace.com without being promoted by mass-media, right? What do you think is the cause of this outstanding popularity?

Well, my first thought is "is that a lot?" I don't really know how many plays bands get, it probably doesn't sound true but we really really don't pay attention to this kinda stuff. I think we have a lot of music that we make available on the internet, so maybe it's more visible on the internet because of that? I have no idea! It does make me smile that people pay for shit like this, and that bands pay for myspace hits and last.fm plays and stuff like that to give the illusion that they're bigger bands and all we really do is enjoy music and release it when it's made and we get the same result. I hope that maybe that helps a few people who are thinking "well, should I be more like Cute is What We Aim For or The Minutemen" realize that jamming econo ain't so bad. One thing I am sure of though is that it does not translate to money, or even people really coming to the shows.

I know that now Bomb The Music Industry! plays at shows with the full line-up and "Get Warmer" was recorded by a "real band". If so what's the current line-up? Will you record your following albums in a studio or in the good old way: in a bedroom (bathroom) on MacBook?

Sean

We're going on tour with Less Than Jake in a few days and I'm not even sure who's coming on that tour! Mike Costa from ASOB has been playing drums with us for the last year and a half and it looks like he's gonna keep doing it, John DeDomenici has been playing bass on a lot of the tours we've been on since Get Warmer, Neil Callaghan has been playing keyboards, Chris Candy, Sean McCabe and Matt from Shinobu have been holding down horns, Laura Stevenson has been making a comeback on the keyboards, Tom Malinowski has been playing guitar since the end of last year, Rick Johnson still does a tour now and then on the bass and when we play in Michigan there's two basses sometimes... so I guess some mixture of those people is the current line-up?

The next record is gonna have live drums, but like Get Warmer, I'm gonna record most of the instruments myself. I think Tom is gonna give me a hand with making it not sound like shit, and Mike's gonna play drums, John probably playing bass. Despite what a lot of people have misunderstood, Get Warmer was recorded pretty similarly to the other ones, except the wonderful Joel Hatstat had a couple of nicer mics and some good pre-amps. I still recorded a bunch of parts in my house - my bathroom, bedroom and tiny practice room in Georgia. This time, I think we're gonna do drums in a real studio again and then get a practice space in Queens, put all of our equipment in there and make some loud noises. Then we'll go to Georgia to record piano parts and then hopefully not get a shitty mastering job done again.

How did Bomb The Music Industry! get signed on Asian Man Records? Does it prevent your way of spreading music absolutely for free?

I had kinda known Mike through a mutual friend or two, and I got his e-mail address so I asked him. I talked to him on the phone and it was really really really awkward, at least for me, I was crazy nervous. He was actually super into us continuing to release the records for free, and I think that was part of what was appealing to him about Bomb the Music Industry! in the first place so that was nice. I would have had to sadly turn down putting something out with my favorite label of all time, and I was kinda ready to do it to so I guess it was reaffirming to my life that I was willing to say "no" to something that has been a goal since I was little because I believe in what I do. That should help me pay rent this month.

What are the things that Bomb The Music Industry! and you personally will never do in no circumstances?

I don't like to say "never" because we don't really have a map for what we're doing ya know? I see no reason to ever sign to a major label, but if say Epic offered us a ten million dollar signing bonus on top of everything else, it would be pretty selfish to our friends and families to not take it after all the shit they deal with... even to our fans because that would allow us the means to play completely free shows wherever the hell we wanted to, donate money to good charities, etc. Also, we'd probably end up breaking up within a year and just have millions of dollars. That won't ever happen I'm sure, but, I mean, everyone REALLY does have their price. Ours is particularly high though... we like doing things the way we do them and I think it helps it to grow naturally. It's like the spraypainting shirts thing... we never had any plans to sell shirts and people still think that's completely crazy, but as the band grows the people who are coming to the show for the first time to see us have their blank shirts, the people who have already seen us already have their shirts made, and the people who come next time will have their blank shirts ready. With that said, I'm pretty sure we're gonna steer clear of the racist, sexist, homophobic thing... that shit's for fucking assholes.

Is it difficult to book a tour by yourself in USA? Have you ever thought of touring another countries? Any definite plans about it?

It is getting a lot more difficult to book a tour across the USA that you won't go completely broke because of. We started touring right when gas started getting a little more pricey, and the more people we would bring to shows (and therefore the more money we would get) the higher gas would be, and eventually cancel out the money we were making. The whole country is so fucking big, and the drives are so long especially when you get out west. Getting shows isn't too tough, we have had a really great underground ska scene for the past decade, and in the past couple of years there have been so many amazing punk houses opening up and every town always has one or two really awesome bands that are really honest, and we've been fortunate enough to kinda come up at the same time as them so we get to play together. We do really wanna tour other countries, but thinking about plane tickets makes my head explode kinda.

What is your favourite 8bit videogame? =)

Yoshi's Cookie is the most underrated game of all time. The one player mode is alright, but the two player mode has provided me years and years and years and years and years of fun. You can get it on the Wii now which is awesome cause my friend lost her copy of it and I hadn't played it for a while. Other than that, I think Bubble Bobble is probably the best one player game, but then again you can't REALLY beat it unless you have two players.

Excuse me for such an intimate question, but how often do you shave? :) I noticed that i see only bearded men while looking through the photos of Bomb! Can a man play in Bomb unless he has a beard?

I don't shave very often because I choose looking like an asshole over looking like I'm six years old. However, there are a few baby faces in bomb, they are generally the ones that girls talk to. To further illustrate that our beards are not a sign of masculinity, we do have some ladies in the band who do not have beards but occasionally wear fake moustaches. We only dabble in hilarious facial hair.

How will the music of Bomb The Music Industry! sound in 10, 20, 30 years? Will you play the same crazy mix of ska, punk, hardcore, electronic music or can it become anything else?

I have no idea. I guess I'm always trying to do two things that are exactly the opposite of each other: make intricate arrangements with non-traditional instruments and make every song as concise and small as possible. And all of that while trying to write pop songs that anyone could listen to and go "hey, that's good." That's why the sound is all over the map, probably... most of my friends don't really like punk rock or my music so I figured if I can make something that is good enough that my friends would like it as well as me, that'd be awesome 'cause they'll be more likely to buy me drinks when we go out and I'm broke cause i just got back from tour. I'm pretty sure my friends still don't like it, but I think that striving for something like pushes you to try a lot more things instead of saying "I'm gonna make a punk record and try to appeal to punk rock kids and sell them some shit." Yeah? No?

What's the most important thing for you in punk rock?

The most important thing for me in punk rock is the idea that no one is in charge, and you get to make up your own rules - its open-endedness I guess. I really don't like when people are militant about their ideas (left or right), because I feel like this is truly a counter-culture where we can be presented with a lot of awesome choices and actually decide on our own how to be an individual. For me that involves being a vegetarian, being positive and not being sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic... just trying to be open to where other people are coming from. I think those are important things about punk rock that are often pretty absent from our culture.

Thanx for the interview very much! I hope to see you on the show in Ukraine as soon as possible and to have an awesome time and wish you more amazing albums and tours with friendly people. Good luck!

Thanks, man! Sorry it took so long to get back to ya, these were some serious questionzzz!!!

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All the albums of Bomb The Music Industry! are free to download at:

http://www.bombthemusicindustry.com/
http://www.quoteunquoterecords.com/
www.myspace.com/bombthemusicindustry

Discography:

2005 Album Minus Band
2005 To Leave Or Die In Long Island
2006 President's Day [7 inch] - Split with The Rick Johnson Rock And Roll Machine
2006 Goodbye Cool World
2007 Get Warmer
2007 Split with O Pioneers! [10 inch]
2009 Scrambles
2009 Others! Others! (Vol. 1 2005 - 2008)

Author: ihatepunk
Date: July 2008 г.

Interview in Russian