Bill Raid

Best of 2009

2009-12-19T16:53:00.012-06:00

It's that time of year again, where I sit around for far too long and think about my favorite music of the year. Every single year I hear/read people saying things like "Oh nothing good came out this year" or "I can't make a list because nothing inspired me," crap like that. I bought less new music this year than years past (not having the most steady job in the world will do that to you) yet I still had to narrow down my initial LP list from the 30s down to its current 15, same with the EPs/7"s. If you think nothing good happened this year, it's your fault. So here we go.

LPs

1. Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans (Sub Pop)
If 2008 was the year of great anticipation and ultimately crushing disappointment (anticipating college graduation followed by the actual aftermath), 2009 was the year of apathy and shrugged shoulders, as summed up perfectly by the repeated mantra of "False Jesii Pt 2." "I don't bother/I don't bother" the line goes. This is life? Ok, I guess. Repeat ad nauseum. Lyrically and musically crushing, I can't believe that I used to write Pissed Jeans off.

2. Baroness - Blue Record (Relapse)
I shouldn't like this band nearly as much as I do but I just can't help it. Listening to any one song on this record out of context is not only awkward, it's fucking dumb. Every interlude, every tossed off guitar lick, every quasi-deep lyric has a place. When they rolled through town last month Reggie's was packed when the first opening band played. They're going to be rock stars soon and I couldn't be happier for them.

3. Wasted Time - Futility (Grave Mistake)
Remember all that apathy I was talking about with Pissed Jeans? For the 17 minutes that I listen to this LP all that apathy disappears, replaced by a boiling rage so intense that I want to go out and punch the first person I encounter in the head, steal their car and crash it straight through the front doors of the nearest bank. This album defines hardcore circa 2009.

4. No Slogan - Aversion Therapy (Residue)
For a small period of time I took No Slogan for granted, as weird as that may seem. They seemed to play every third show I went to, always played a solid set of mostly newer tunes, did their thing. After finally getting my hands on the full length, never again. Usually when people use the term "Chicago Punk" they limit their references to the big hitters like Raygun and Pegboy when they should be including No Slogan's arsenal of big riffs and woahs.

5. Desino Final - Atrapados (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Somehow the remaining Invasion members managed to simultaneously strip their sound down and increase the innate claustrophobia of the vocals. I'm going on record that I have had at least one confirmed hellish nightmare with Atrapados as the soundtrack.

6. Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another (4AD)
Initially I wasn't that impressed with this album, but I kept feeling compelled to go back and listen. If I could somehow calculate the amount of time certain songs ended up stuck in my head then "Lapsed Catholics," "You Need Satan More Than He Needs You" and "Land of my Formers" would dominate 2009.

7. Punch - Punch (625 Thrash)
My tastes normally don't veer toward the general 625 catalogue, or fastcore or whatever inane microgenre name it has. That said, this album rules and actually makes an album with such a high number of breakdowns tolerable. Most paint scraping female vocals since Erika Daking of F-Minus.

8. Social Circkle - City Shock (No Way)
Being a super fan of Social Circkle actually ended up hurting this album's final numerical placement. How's that possible? Well from listening to the March 2008 Sessions cassette and their original 2006 demo religiously, I already had half the LP basically memorized for well over a year before it arrived on my doorstep. Kind of a bummer but the new tunes mix right in with the old ones for an LP that should make even the most jaded of old farts take notice.

9. Sacred Shock - You're Not With Us (Residue)
Restraintcore? What? There's a quality about this record that I still can't quite get my head wrapped around nine months later. Don't get me wrong it's hardcore punk rock but there's a restrained, almost subdued nature to it that differentiates Sacred Shock from the field of mindless thrashers. None of this is probably making much sense but keep that in mind on your next listen and you should get it.

10. Kylesa - Static Tensions (Prosthetic)
I might be the only person that can honestly say that Pitchfork turned me onto Kylesa. Sure I'd known them, heard stuff in the background at parties or whatever but never really gave a dedicated listen until Pitchfork hosted a stream of this LP. By the time the two drum intro of "Scapegoat" ended with a massive guitar riff I knew I was hooked. I've explored the back catalog a bit now but nothing touches this. True crossover without a single galloping palm muted riff.

11. Flipper - Love (MVD Audio)
By virtue of not sucking, this album gets on the list. Seriously. I love Flipper more than any so called "sane" man should so I feared the worst, especially when the first songs went up on myspace. Luckily in context they make sense and this album, while not an all time classic, does signify that there's still juice left in the old Flipper formula.

12. Converge - Axe to Fall (Epitaph)
For 11 songs and 30 minutes my head explodes from the manic, monstrous, mega riffs contained in this record. Even without Jacob Bannon's vocals I'd play the hell out of this. On my first listen to "Dark Horse" and "Axe To Fall" my jaw honestly dropped. Unfortunately the last two songs, which total 12 minutes, bore the living shit out of me.

13. Cult Ritual - LP (Youth Attack) & 14. Propagandhi - Supporting Caste (G7 Welcoming Committee/Smallman)
This is the tale of two LPs that didn't hold up well over time at all. I listened to both of them like crazy on first release and almost never after about a month. They're not bad records by any means but I just got too wrapped up initially to really listen too much later on. Oh well.

15. CoCoComa - Things Are Not Alright (Goner)
Sharing the same slot as Drunkdriver last year, I became obsessed with this album last week and only realized I really liked the band about a week before that. CoCoComa have been on the periphery of my interests for a few years but I never bothered to investigate. Luckily a clip of them "performing" on Chic-A-Go-Go came to my attention and next thing I know I'm listening to this LP twice a day for a week and a half right near putting this list together. I'll quote myself from last year's list "Time will tell if this is a smart or stupid choice driven by temporary infatuation."

Honorable Mentions
Mika Miko - We Be Xuxa (PPM). Government Warning - Paranoid Mess (Grave Mistake/No Way). Limp Wrist - one sided 12" (Limp Wrist). Marked Men - Ghosts (Dirtnap). Mi Ami - Watersports (Quarterstick).

Click here to listen to one song each from the top 15, courtesy of 8tracks.com. Everyone should use it.

EPs/7"s (no particular order or real write up because I'm kind of lazy)

No Age - Losing Feeling (Sub Pop)

Deep Sleep - Paranoid Futures (Grave Mistake)

Condominium - Barricades (Fashionable Idiots)

The Methadones - Gary Glitter (It's Alive)

Drunkdriver - Fire Sale (Fashionable Idiots)

Obliteration - This Is Tomorrow (Nita/Disposable)

Logic Problem - No Center (Grave Mistake)

Slices - Slices (Home Invasion)

Loser Life - Life Number 2 (Rock Bottom)

Disnihil - Future Cancers (Lifeline)

Classics of Love - Walking in Shadows (Asian Man)

Smart Cops - Smart Cops (Sorry State)

Crow - Flock of Beast (Prank)

Warcry - Nausea (Warcry)

Humanoids - Year of the Snake (Rock Bottom)

Best LP of 2008 That I Didn't Get Until 2009

Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours (Goner) & Nobunny - Love Visions (1-2-3-4 Go!)
Nobunny dominated the late winter/spring and Eddy Current Suppression Ring dominated the late summer/fall. Picking between the two is just about impossible so I'll officially call it a tie. I can't wait for both of them to release new stuff in 2010.

Best Singles Collection

Deep Sleep - Three Things At Once (Grave Mistake)
2009 was a weak year for singles collections. Off the top of my head and even after a little digging I can't really come up with too many good ones. Luckily there's this little compact disc, tracing Deep Sleep's trek from an above average hardcore band to a mind meltingly good technical pop punk monster.

Reissue of the Year

Death - ...For The Whole World To See (Drag City)
Clive Davis, I'm going to gouge your eyes out for making this sit unreleased for 34 years. Seriously, fuck you.

Demos of the Year

Manipulation

Raw Nerve

Neurons

So yeah, that's it for now. In a year I know I'll look back and this and see something I missed or placed too high but that's the joy of this, the snapshot effect.

Live on, Chuck Biscuits

2009-10-29T11:58:00.008-05:00

I'm just as bad as everybody else that fell for the hoax.

I'm totally taking the easy way out for this non-memorial post by dumping lots of YouTube links. Luckily Chuck was well documented with just about every band he spent time with. Punknews puts him being born in 1965 which means he was 12 when he started drumming with D.O.A. Fuck me, I thought I was cool learning to butcher Metallica songs on guitar at that age and this guy was drumming in D.O.A.!

D.O.A. - World War III

Black Flag - What Can You Believe/Slip It In 1982

Circle Jerks - Live @ RockPalast (one of the best videos on all of youtube)

Danzig - Am I Demon 1988

Run DMC - Mary, Mary (no seriously, Chuck did the drum tracks)

Social Distortion - Don't Drag Me Down/Untitled, 1997

Chuck Biscuits Cerealogy

Report Suspicious Activity/Baroness/Coliseum - November 15, 2008.

2009-10-29T10:31:00.001-05:00

I uploaded these almost a year ago to my photobucket account but can't remember why I stopped short of actually posting them; laziness I guess. The all ages show was Baroness/Coliseum and Minsk with the late show being the mini-Articles of Faith reunion (covered here), Report Suspicious Activity and Pegboy at the Beat Kitchen. So here are the pictures I guess. Also, everybody pick up the new Baroness LP because it's fucking stellar

Minsk

Coliseum

Baroness

Report Suspicious Activity

Record reviews

2009-10-26T15:45:00.001-05:00

I have a bunch of free time on my hands so I started writing record reviews again. These were all submitted to Punknews.org and so far the Drunkdriver one has been posted. We'll see about the others.

Raw Nerve – Teens In Heat 7” – Video Disease Records

Raw Nerve is the new successors to the Sex/Vid and Cult Ritual throne of ultra-hyped hardcore. Raw Nerve shares the “mysterious” aesthetic, the whole “immediate collector bait” shtick in regards to printing records and a general sound; noisy hardcore with huge Void and general Mark McCoy inflections.

“Stay Staid” (the lone holdover from their demo) and “You Live” make up the A-side. It’s 1:30 of chaotic hardcore where unless you’re giving the music your full attention you won’t notice the different songs. The b-side’s title track is actually the strongest of the four tunes, what with having a couple different parts (slow intro, buried vocals, thrash part, slow part that’s not a breakdown per se, etc) that don’t sound arbitrarily forced together. Though I’ve never enjoyed X-Ray Spex all that much themselves, the ending cover of “I’m A Cliché” is pretty goddamn fun, not a word you’d normally associate with this sort of thing.

Video Disease made up 300 copies of the record and all were sold over the course of one weekend in early October. Already these fuckers are fetching $40 on Ebay, if you can believe that. Do some investigating in distros to pay the intended price or go blog searching. Despite the inane amount of hype given, Raw Nerve delivers musically. The upcoming LP on Youth Attack (naturally) should be a doozy.

Drunkdriver – Fire Sale 7” – Fashionable Idiots

Though few probably expected it, the band Wives ended up spawning two of the more exciting rock bands around in 2009 in the form of No Age and Drunkdriver. While No Age’s progression has led them to indie rock stardom with softened noise and tight tunes, Drunkdriver decided to go the complete opposite direction, almost daring listeners to make it through full records. If you’ve watched blown out cell phone videos on YouTube you might recognize the trademark Drunkdriver sound, except they do it with just drums, guitar and vocals.

The A-side of Drunkdriver’s most recent single contains their most blatantly punkish song yet, “Fire Sale.” The barely two minute track pummels the listener with a repetitive four chord riff, pounding drums and up front yowls. As the song races on the volume of the music subtly increases until the end, by which time every new cymbal crash comes within striking distance of breaking an ear drum.

The b-side “It Never Happened” slows the approach down to a crawl, doubling the length of the title track whilst lurching forward with sporadic drumming and eye shaking feedback. Michael Berdan’s anguished vocals move into the spotlight for this song until the last 45 seconds, which could possibly be classified as grind if only you could hear individual instruments in the swirl of noise.

Since this is 2009 and vinyl is all the rage again, let’s speak of the packaging for a bit. The plain black record comes encased in a plain gray cardboard sleeve with an obviously photo copied sheet of paper glued on, both sides identical save for the song title; it’s ugly packaging for ugly music for ugly people. Perfect.

Crow – Flock of Beast 7” – Prank

Alright, as much as I claim to love just about all Japanese hardcore, early Crow records have always been weak areas for me. The only records from Crow I’m familiar with are their stellar 2005 LP Bloody Tear and their brand new 7”, Flock of Beast. The Crow that I know is a crusty metallic monster and the new EP doesn’t disappoint if you’re looking for more of that sort of thing. This EP has crossover appeal written all over it; it’s for the punks (not punx), thrashers, maybe even some noise fans and traditional metalheads.

Even though I haven’t heard Ride The Lightning in probably twelve years the mid-tempo, palm muted gallops of “Flock of Beast I” are bringing me straight back to my pre-teen Rock 103.5 FM (what’s up Chicago heshers!) days. Guitarist Tomy clocks in with some pretty wicked solo breaks and, fuck, there’s even a clean interlude that if you can believe it in a punk band in 2009, isn’t a complete Tragedy rip off. Of course you still get Crow’s inimitable vocals, which to borrow an old cliché, separate the old Japanese men from the wacky thrash hat wearing boys. The song is moody, suitably epic and actually pretty catchy in its own right.

Putting it lightly the b-side “Flock of Beast II” is a mindfuck. The intro practically demands leg drumming, steering wheel drumming or whatever-other-hard-surface-you-happen-to-be-near drumming. Soon the sinister descending riff that forms the early backbone of the tune comes into the foreground; “What a bitchin’, relatively simple thrash tune” you begin thinking to yourself. However, the exact instant before one gets comfortably into the rhythm enough to head bang Crow begins to fuck with you.

First you’ll observe the slightly muffled guitar solo in the background. After that you’ll notice the drumming pace picks up, ever so slightly at first until it becomes a flailing mess. Then swirls of guttural moans come into play and before you even know it “Flock of Beast II” has devolved into a virtual noise collage. Cue feedback drone, song ends, needle stops spinning and clicks off, right? Not this time friends, as the entire cycle repeats itself one more time, except this time the guttural moans never leave. Even though you’ve heard these parts before, the anticipation of the switches still leaves you guessing at what the hell is really going on. Only after a handful of listens will the structure of the tune come into full focus.

Chalk up another winner for Prank.

The Methadones – Gary Glitter b/w Over The Moon & I Believe b/w Exit 17 – It’s Alive Records/Underground Communiqué.

In late 2009 the members of The Methadones have become involved with so many other projects that I guess we’re lucky to get these four songs out of them. By my count the combined active family tree (let’s not even get into broken up bands of the past) includes at least six other bands. Luckily before everything went completely crazy they completed these four songs, split between two records and two record labels.

Despite coming from the same recording session, the two records feature wholly distinct personalities. If you’re the English major type that reads into every minute detail, even the record label names can give you clues. No, seriously!

“Gary Glitter” b/w “Over The Moon” came first, via It’s Alive Records. It makes sense that this one comes out on the label with “Alive” in the title as it features two energetic pop-punk rave ups. “Gary Glitter” was co-written by guitarist Mike Byrne and I’m willing to put down at least five bucks that the song emanated from one of his legendarily bad jokes. “Over The Moon” sounds like a never before recorded power-pop classic (along the lines of the 2006 re-workings from 21^st Century Power Pop Riot); lots of fat drunk guys will be singing along to this at future Meths shows.

“I Believe” b/w “Exit 17” is the melancholy one, from Underground Communiqué. Get it, it’s under, it’s down, all that type of thing? See, I told you it would make sense! “I Believe” is a full band version of formerly “Dan Schafer + acoustic guitar” tune off of This Won’t Hurt. The same glum feeling hangs over the song, with Dan giving one of his most restrained vocal performances on record. The addition of the full band honestly doesn’t add too much to the song though, as they just follow along with what we already knew from 2007. “Exit 17” shifts back to the acoustic realm, yet allows flourishes of drums and electric guitar bits to fill out the sound. However, coming straight after” I Believe” it sounds a bit like a re-tread and not very memorable.

Overall the two records compliment each other nicely when taken as a package but individually the edge goes to “Gary Glitter.” 7/10, then 4/10 leads to a solid 6/10.

Don Bolles (The Germs) Interview (June 2009)

2009-07-02T14:20:00.004-05:00

Well this one was a surprise to everyone involved. As I mention in the interview itself I was sitting around and my boss asked if I was going to the Germs show that night at Reggie's. I said probably, then he asked if I wanted to interview the band. Within about an hour I was on the phone with Don. With the minimal preparation time for the interview and hellish conditions (my tiny ass bedroom with all the windows closed and fans off in the middle of a 95 degree day) I think the interview came out pretty well. Full disclosure - I didn't end up making it to the show out of pure lethargy and cheapness. I felt kind of bad but oh well. I'm writing a feature around this, obviously. Call me a superfan but I'm excited to hear the new/old material.

Bill: Hello?

Don: Hey, it’s Don, what’s happening?

Bill Molloy: Hey Don how are you?

Don Bolles: I’m alright how are you doing?

Bill: I’m not doing too bad; thanks for taking the call and doing the interview.

Don: Suuuuure. I mean there’s not much else to do; just sleeping on the bus you know?

Bill: (chuckle) Yeah I was looking at the tour dates and it’s a real tour, not just a press push or something.

Don: Right.

Bill: How’s it going so far?

Don: Oh it’s been great, the shows keep getting better. They’ve all been good.

Bill: Now the movie’s been out for about a year now to the general public so you’ve had some time to live with it. What are your feelings on it now?

Don: Uhhhh, well, (pause) I don’t know, it got us our singer. (long pause)

Bill: Are people still giving you shit about Shane singing in the band?

Don: Until they see it. (laugh)

Bill: Ha. Yeah I have to admit I was one of the skeptical ones then I saw you a couple years ago and it blew my mind.

Don: Yeah that’s what it’s usually like. We’re glad that people care that much The Germs as a thing, you know? They want to help save it from ourselves. That said, it’s cool that this thing is that important to them. We wouldn’t do anything lame. We weren’t even thinking of doing any more shows or getting back together or anything close to that until that stupid movie, but when we were showing the movie Germs how to play we ended up playing together in a rehearsal studio for the first time, really playing Germs songs for the first time since 1980. And it was really great.

Bill: What are your thoughts on the fact that this incarnation of the band has been around just about as long as the first one? I know…

Don: We’ve actually been together longer.

Bill: It is now?

Don: Yeah Shane’s been our singer longer than the other singer time wise.

Bill: (chuckle) Well how do you feel about that?

Don: It’s fine you know. All the shows we did with Darby were basically instrumental musical shows with some vague performance art. (laugh) There wasn’t a whole lot of singing into the mic going on all the time, which was pretty frustrating.

Bill: Yeah, christ, especially with all the old footage I’ve seen…

Don: Yeah Shane does a really good job and it’s not like he has to write those lyrics, they’re already in place.

Bill: Mhmm.

Don: So right now we have the real, the real killer package going on. Shane’s a little better at delivering those lyrics than the other guy was.

Bill: (chuckle) Slight bit. I know you guys probably get this all the time, but do you know anything about the status of The Decline of Western Civilization? The DVD’s been in limbo for quite awhile now.

Don: Oh I don’t know. Supposedly it’s going to get a release but I don’t know what Penelope Spheeris is thinking. I don’t know, it’s weird. I had a friend that used to sell bootleg copies at swap meets and she’d come around and give him shit. She’d come around, and I mean he’d only sell one or two a year but she didn’t like that.

Bill: Well that’s how I got my copy, a bootlegged version.

Don: Yeah it’s weird.

Bill: Now you guys were inducted into Hollywood Rock Walk last year?

Don: Yeah that was pretty funny.

Bill: (laughing) How did that end up coming about?

Don: Oooooh, I don’t even know. (pause) But it did! They had the mayor go down and congratulate us for causing trouble and chaos. The same city that wouldn’t let us play suddenly is giving us a proclamation.

Bill: Slight revisionist history.

Don: It’s sort of like Martin Luther King Boulevard popping up everywhere after they assassinated him.

Bill: Ha! Are there any recordings from the old days sitting in a vault? I know your songs from the Tooth And Nail comp LP haven’t been reissued at all.

Don: Well the Tooth and Nail songs were done better other places. I mean those Tooth and Nail recordings are all right, I mean considering they were done on an 8-track.

Bill: It’s fun to listen to the alternate versions.

Don: Yeah they’re not so bad. Not the best but… (pause)

Bill: Anything else like that, stuff that maybe you guys have thought about putting out?

Don: Well we’re going to record new stuff and we’re doing a whole boxed set of all the show recordings that we have.

Bill: Oh wow. Do you have any more information about that? I haven’t heard anything about that at all.

Don: Yeah, it’s going to be called Lest We Forget: The Sounds of The Germs.

Bill: Oh that sounds awesome.

Don: Yeah it’s pretty cool. It’ll be kind of like that Sounds of the Third Reich record that I have from the 50s.

Bill: (hearty chuckle)

Don: It has a great cover too. We’re sort of ripping off the cover idea.

Bill: Do you have any prospective release date for it?

Don: Not too late, probably next year. We’re going to start working on it when we get back. We’re going to put some new shows in it too; some of the new ones sound really good.

Bill: Yeah some of the videos on youtube are pretty killer.

Don: Well they’re better than the old ones.

Bill: Yeah. At one point I paid $15 for a bootleg tape of that Live at the Whiskey show. Probably should’ve just saved my money on that one.

Don: Yeah you should have. But you know that was a weird recording, that video. You can hear Darby a little bit more than you can hear the music on that because it was off the board. And I don’t know, it just, it wasn’t really that bad, from the era. They shot it pretty cool and you couldn’t tell that he was completely off time.

Bill: Well it definitely wasn’t the worst of some stuff I’ve seen.

Don: Yeah that’s what they’re all like, as far as video goes. It wasn’t like it is now where you have everyone with their fucking cell phones taking a video. Back then to get a video tape together it took a lot of doing. It wasn’t as ubiquitous a thing as it got later.

Bill: Well just before you mentioned new material…

Don: Well it’s actually new old material, so it’s still Darby and Pat compositions. Like with all the Germicide stuff, we’re doing a lot of things from that like “Victim” and “Wild Baby” and “Get A Grip.” We re-wrote some of those songs to make them be kind of how they were supposed to be back when no one could play.

Bill: You’re all slightly more competent now.

Don: Yeah, we’re sort of GI-ifying all the Germicide songs.

Bill: That sounds kind of awesome.

Don: And we’re re-doing those Cruising songs too, making them not suck and be too long. We’re messing around with the arrangements. Jack Nitzsche wanted them to all be twice as long for that stupid movie for some reason, then they didn’t even use any of them! Just “Lion’s Share” which was just the same.

Bill: Yeah that’s the only normal one.

Don: Yeah that’s the only one that’s the right length.

Bill: Have you started on this project yet with the recordings?

Don: Well we’ve re-done the songs, re-arranged them and playing them live.

Bill: Ok. Now last time Is aw you guys a couple years ago, it’s been killing me I can’t remember the name of the song but it’s what you guys ended with. It was some sort of unreleased song.

Don: Oh yeah it was a Darby Crash Band song “Out of Time.”

Bill: THAT’S what it was. Will that be included?

Don: Oh yeah we’re doing that one. Yeah we’ve got a few more that we’re probably going to get to also. There’s a song called “Golden Boy” that Celebrity Skin used to do that The Dickies did a version of I guess.

Bill: That sounds pretty cool.

Don: Yeah. Oh woah.

Bill: What was that?

Don: What’d you say?

Bill: I’m sorry?

Don: Oh I just got a text message on this guy’s phone. No big deal.

Bill: Ah, alright. So how much of your every day life is consumed by Germs related activities at this point?

Don: My every day life?

Bill: Yeah, a normal day.

Don: Well a normal day, sit around on the bus until we get somewhere then we sit around at a bar unless the air conditioning doesn’t work.

Bill: Not too much exploring around?

Don: Yeah sometimes. I lose some t-shirts at every show.

Bill: Well it’s what you’ve got to do.

Don: I got this really cool t-shirt at a truck stop where, you know that Shepherd Fairy Obama “Hope” thing?

Bill: Yeah.

Don: It was that expect instead of Obama it was Jesus. Then it said “Jesus is our only HOPE.”

Bill: Oh no.

Don: Yeah, fuck. I lost that last night unfortunately. Where did we play? Oh yeah, Minneapolis.

Bill: Well when you get back down in the Southern dates you can probably pick up another copy.

Don: Well we see a lot of stuff from the same company that makes it so I might find it at another truck stop around, at one of these truck stops I’ll find one. I mean we need to stop at truck stops anyway to get diesel fuel.

Bill: Recently the Circle Jerks recorded a version of “The Slave” and they said it’s for a new tribute record. Do you know anything about that?

Don: No I try not to pay too much attention to bands that nobody cared for!

Bill: (hearty chuckle)

Don: I mean they’re nice guys you know but we never really liked their band that much. Which is too bad because they’re big Germs fans, I wish I could like their band more! I like Keith and I like some of those other fuckin’ people. Hold on I’m getting another phone call. Eh, who cares they can call back. So anyway.

Bill: So you don’t know anything about anything upcoming? Because I know there was one back in the 90s.

Don: Yeah that one was pretty cool. Didn’t really get anywhere or do anything because the company that put it out went under right away so it just disappeared.

Bill: A couple years ago you had the soap incident.

Don: Oh yeah.

Bill: Is that all cleared up now?

Don: Yeah they dropped the charged when they figured out it was soap. (chuckle) They sent it to the real crime lab, you know? They figured out “Oh, this is soap.” It was just Newport Beach cops.

Bill: Every time I go back and look at that crime report, when I was looking up stuff to ask about today, I can’t believe that actually happened. That actually ended coming up the most, almost as much as the movie.

Don: Yeah. Dr. Bronner experienced an enormous spike in sales and made me friends with the CEO David Bronner. He went on the news and did a Q & A thing and was wearing a Germs shirt. It was pretty cool. At one point they sort of handed me ten grand.

Bill: Become a paid celebrity endorser!

Don: Yeah it’ll get you a lot of soap. Like when I went to their factory to visit everyone the employees were freaking out and everyone was crazy and jumping up and down and going (imitates screaming female) “This is insane!” because they were freaking out about the amount of orders they were getting because I said it gave me the complexion of a fifteen year old girl. (laughter). A loooot of people started buying that soap, it’s weird a lot of people tell me that’s what turned them onto that soap. I’ve been using that shit for years you know? Since the 70s.

Bill: So after the initial hassle it ended up working out alright.

Don: Yeah I was in jail for four days.

Bill: Oh shit.

Don: Yeah it was kind of annoying obviously.

Bill: Are you active in any other bands or any other musical projects right now outside of The Germs?

Don: Yeah I have a really great band actually called Fancy Space People where I play guitar, doing some singing and write a lot of the stuff. This girl Nora from The Centimeters is also in it; she sings. Then we get other people to play other stuff. I actually play most of the stuff on the recording.

Bill: Now with this incarnation of The Germs, how much longer do you foresee this going on?

Don: Gosh I don’t even know. You know if we can do it now there’s no telling how long, when you’re our age. We can keep going until we’re 400 as long as we keep on time.

Bill: Well I’m all out of questions, do you have any last words or parting thoughts?

Don: Well where are you, where are you coming from?

Bill: I’m actually in Chicago.

Don: Oh is that where this is happening?

Bill: Yeah.

Don: Yeah our tour manager just handed me the phone and didn’t tell me anything else.

Bill: Yeah I was a little confused too, I got the number from Stormy, so I called Jerry and asked if it was cool if I do an interview with the band at the show, then he responded with “Oh yeah that’d be great to do it now, we’re on the bus!” so I responded “ok I guess, let me run home to get my tape recorder and call you back.”

Don: So this isn’t going out live on the radio or anything like that right?”

Bill: No no no, definitely not. Just straight into my crappy old Radioshack tape recorder then I’ll have to transcribe for online.

Don: Well you’re in Chicago, people like us in Chicago, that’s where were the biggest except for LA.

Bill: Really? That’s kind of funny.

Don: Yeah it’s really weird. Chicago’s always been a place that loves my bands. Celebrity Skin they were really into and The Germs they really like. With Celebrity Skin we were big in LA, San Francisco and Chicago. It was pretty weird. The Germs, you know, we’ve been doing ok all over the place but Chicago’s kind of… they always seem to like us a little more than everywhere else, I don’t know why.

Bill: Well yeah last time you were here a couple years ago you ended up playing two shows.

Don: Yeah, and we would’ve done more if we could.

Bill: Alright cool, thanks for your time, I guess I’ll see you later tonight.

Don: Well yeah I’ll see ya! Make sure to get there early because that’s when it happens apparently.

Bill: Yeah it’s an all ages show tonight.

Don: Yeah that’s our base. It’s like that’s the main portion of our audience, it’s young people, like fifteen. It’s pretty awesome.

Bill: Well that’s when I first heard GI and just thought “Holy shit, what is this!?!”

Don: One of the ladies at the t-shirt company that makes some of our merch put it pretty well; she said “Every generation of fifteen year olds discovers The Germs.” And the shows seem to bear that out. I can’t say I’m upset by it.

Bill: Definitely not, it’s people coming to shows.

Don: It’s good to play for people on our emotional maturity level.

Bill: (cackle) Spiritual age ends up about the same!

Don: Yup! Thanks so much for taking the time to help propagate our madness.

Bill: Definitely. I was just sitting around at the office and my boss asked if I was going to the show so I said “yeah probably” then he responded with “how’d you feel about doing an interview with them?” “Well yeah that’d be pretty cool!” Then within an hour of that idea gestating I was on the phone with you.

Don: Oh yeah. Well Fancy Space People are pretty cool man, wait until you hear it. Everybody fuckin’ digs it. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a band where everybody digs it. It’s kind of nice. We’re going to finish up some of our recordings when I get back. Paul Roessler from The Screamers is going to be on it.

Bill: Oh that’s really cool.

Don: Yeah he’s engineering, I’m producing, then I play almost everything. It’s coming along pretty good.

Bill: Do you still keep in contact with a lot of people that were back in the original scene at all?

Don: Sure. There’s (can’t understand the name), there’s Paul Roessler, there are some other people too. I see those guys all the time. Yeah you run into everybody; if they’re still alive. We’re seeing a lot of people on the tour too which is a lot of fun.

Bill: All the expatriates.

Don: Yeah. Yeah it’s been pretty fun. Well wait, what kind of music do we do with the Fancy Space People? It’s kind of heroic bitter rockers, kind of arena-psych-folk.

Bill: (chuckle) Slightly different than The Germs.

Don: Oh yeah, it’s different. It’s a, it’s high quality though, like The Germs. I think it’s funny that The Germs are the last thing standing, you know? It’s pretty hilarious.

Bill: Well considering what it started as.

Don: Well it had a lot of depth to it that a lot of others didn’t have. The difference between our album and a lot of that other stuff is that you can listen to it now and it sounds cool. It didn’t age as badly as some of the shit, because it’s fucking good. It’s a good sounding record. Yeah this tour is good, the shows have totally kicked ass, crowds have been great. It’s pretty fun even if our bus seems to have the troubles of Job!

Bill: (hearty chuckle) As long as it putters in.

Don: It’s still getting us around though. Our trailer is covered in oil that blew out of the engine, crap like that. It should make it though. Hopefully we’ll see you tonight.

Bill: Yeah definitely. If I see you around I’ll introduce myself.

Don: Ok, see you in a little bit then.

Bill: Alright cool, thanks Don!

Don: Take care.

Dave Smalley (Down By Law, Dag Nasty, DYS, All) Interview (June 2009)

2009-06-30T14:44:00.005-05:00

(Photo by me, August 2003)
You guys don't know just how much of a treat this was. Dave is such a legend in punk rock circles and also one of the nicest, most down to earth people I've had the pleasure of knowing. I'll quit before my gushing gets too out of hand, but Dave is seriously the best. I might just run this as a slightly edited down Q & A because I don't think I can make what he said any better.

Bill: Down By Law just completed a tour of South America. How did that end up coming about? Before the tour and the warm up show in Florida how long had it been since DBL played any shows?

Dave: It was really a great time. We had played twice in South America, in 1999 and 2000, and really loved the people we met there, and the shows, and the countries and cities. There's a special connection between Brazil and Argentina and DBL. A good friend of ours, Andre from Nitrominds (a really cool band in Brazil) got a promoter down there who was anxious to bring the band back to get in touch with us, and everything came together.

It had been a while -- several years -- since DBL had done a proper tour, although we'd done a couple of one-off festivals in the interim. To be honest, it's pretty hard to coordinate everything, so tours are fairly rare at this point. But, it's kind of cool that when DBL tours now, it's a special thing, and hopefully people will be excited to see it.

Bill: Is the rhythm section used on the South American tour the permanent lineup from now on? Off the top of your head, is it possible to do a total count of ex-members of Down By Law?

Dave: Oh man, that's funny as hell. Off the top of my head ... no, no way. Can't do it. I will say that I've been really blessed to work with some amazing musicians over the years, and I value them as friends and artists. You know, bands are tough to stay in -- that's why most of them, even the uberhuge bands on major labels -- don't stay together. But it's great to have the opportunity to be creative and make music together, for whatever amount of time it ends up being. I kind of view every player in DBL as a permanent part of the family. For the current lineup, I hope so -- we played pretty damned tight every night, and that feeling of being a musical fist that I love so much -- that feeling was there. Kevin and Jack played on the newest DBL songs, one of which is "Bullets," which might be one of the best DBL songs. So we'll see how everyone is feeling when we do the next thing, which right now is apparently recording in the early fall.

Bill: I recently read online that you’re working on a new record to be released on Jailhouse Records. Can you give any more information or possibly even a timeframe for its release? How did you get hooked up with Jailhouse initially? Will the new album’s title be smashed into one word?

Dave: Ha! I don't know about the smashed part -- someone posted that DBL's best records have been longonewordtitles (punkrockacademyfightsong and windwardtidesandwaywardsails). I'm not so sure -- I think "All Scratched Up!" is one of the band's stronger albums, and there's a lot of folks who love "Blue" or the first one too-- but it is funny that two of our albums had that kind of title.

For the timeframe, etc., I am not really sure. I hope we will be recording in the late summer/early fall, and then that it would be released in the late fall, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

Bill: Jailhouse Records has recently undertaken several big re-issue projects with the back catalogues of Moral Crux and the Pink Lincolns. Has the idea of re-issuing the OOP Epitaph albums been tossed around at all?

Dave: Yeah, I've seen that's happening, and I think it's really really cool that they're doing that. I don't know about it for DBL, to be honest. I think some of those records would be great to have out there again. There might have been some discussion of that by Jailhouse, I think, but I defer to Sam. He's been talking more with the label about all the details. But if Epitaph were to be so kind as to let us do it, and someone wanted to re-release some of them, I would be stoked. What's really amazing is how many kids still know the songs -- on the South America tour, they were singing along to all of them, even the early ones.

Bill: It seemed for awhile that every few months while record shopping I’d come across another Down By Law 7” from the 90s that I didn’t know existed; I’m pretty sure by now I have at least five or six scattered around a couple boxes of 7”s. On top of that, during the compilation boom of the 90s DBL seemed to be all over the place on those as well. Have you ever thought of doing a collection of those singles and compilation appearances?

Dave: Not until you just asked that question. But now that you did, I think that's a great idea. Make it happen Bill.

Unfortunately I don't even have most of them anymore, because I always gave my copies to fans who couldn't find them after the initial run was all sold. And, I don't always know how to find everyone who ran those wonderful indie labels either. But it would be really a unique capturing of some rare Down By Law material. I still love our singles that we did that covered "Revolver" by Mission of Burma, and "Get Up Stand Up" by Bob Marley -- with guest vocals by the amazing Pete Stahl (Scream). Also always liked our cover of "What's so funny bout peace love and understanding" by Elvis Costello, on "Before You Were Punk." So yeah, it would be really cool. I'd even love it if you or someone could put a compilation of that stuff together that we could post a link to it on the MySpace or Facebook pages.

Bill: During the last decade or so Down By Law has been working at a much slower pace than the first eight or nine years of its existence. During down times how often do you find yourself picking up your guitar, whether just to casually strum or to write new songs?

Dave: Great question. The honest answer is no, or at least, not nearly enough. I do record some songs here and there, and am often writing lyrics and/or a particular chorus or song title or random verses. But at this point in my career, I tend to be an objective-oriented guy about stuff like that -- if I know we're going to be recording in a few months, then I'll start taking choruses and verse lyrics that I've jotted down over the past X amount of months, or songs and segments I've recorded here just with the guitar, and start trying to mold them into completed songs.

The other thing is that Sam is really the main music writer at this point. He's one of the best songwriters in America, really. So when I hear we're going to record, I just wait for the sweetness from Sam -- he sends me the music and I then am inspired to come up with vocal melodies and lyrics. Of course I'll always write songs too, and love it, but getting stuff from Sam -- well, as a singer, it's like Christmas morning -- you never know exactly what you're going to get but you're excited, and pretty sure it's going to be awesome.

Bill: It’s been over six years since the latest Down By Law LP’s release; since then the music industry has seen the rise of legal, pay MP3 websites and an intense resurgence in vinyl sales, yet many record labels (even ones as venerable and long-standing as Touch and Go) still struggle to make ends meet. As a veteran musician that’s been out of the record making scene for a while, what’s your take on the plight of the modern day record label?

Dave: That's a really tough one. I'm an old-school guy. As you noted, we've done so many compilations and singles, not to mention full length albums. So I'm a huge supporter of vinyl, of indie labels, of college radio stations -- I talk about some of that stuff in Down By Law lyrics, among other places, songs like True Music, for instance. And most bands, or most good ones anyway, make an album as a complete work of art -- meant to be listened to as a whole, ideally. But the downside is, I don't know how to fight the tide. I mean, it's understandable why the pay-per-song thing is so strong -- if someone just wants one or two songs by a group, they can get it. I think one misses the bigger artistic picture that way, but one also saves money.

And bands can now release things much easier themselves, though without the clout and marketing ability of a label. So the market has changed, and I pray indie labels and labels in general can ride the wave and figure out new ways to stay afloat and thrive.

As others have noted, I still remember the days of when labels had a "sound," and you just bought it because it was on Dischord or X-Claim or Epitaph or Cruz or Touch and Go or whatever. I'd love to see those kinds of emotional attachments to labels come back for people. I do think there will always be labels, though, because ultimately most musicians would rather have someone else deal with all the headaches of marketing and distribution.

Bill: Your stints in bands had a reputation of being relatively short. Now almost twenty years later, the lifespan of Down By Law is much longer than your time with DYS, Dag Nasty and All combined. Why do you think Down By Law has survived for so long?

Dave: I don't know, really. I think part of it is age, and just realizing when you have something special and knowing it's worth holding onto -- when I was in those other bands, I was a young pup, and probably didn't think abut the consequences of quitting. With Down By Law, I had enough perspective to realize this was a pretty special band, and I didn't want to lose that. I didn't have that perspective before. You know, everyone has what-if questions in life, and certainly one of mine would be what if I'd stayed in any of those earlier bands. But I'm just so grateful to have been a part of all them, from DYS to Dag Nasty to All and Down By Law, and to have played with the musicians I've been able to play with, and go all over the place and make music that has mattered to a lot of really sincere, wonderful people. I think people know me well enough to know that I'm not just saying it when I say that every fan, all over the world, that I've met, and the ones I never have met, all mean a lot to me. There's a bond through music that no one can ever take away from us, and that's what has kept me going all these years.

Bill: Did anything ever come of the Sharpshooters after posting those demo songs online? To my ear they sounded way more fleshed out and promising than the full length.

Dave: Thanks. I think so too. Unfortunately, everyone got distracted by life -- Keith moved to Nevada, our lead guitar player got married, etc. But since it was a mostly a project band, that's OK.

Bill: Have you been playing any solo acoustic shows lately?

Dave: Not enough. There's some talk of me going to Europe for a couple of weeks to do some solo shows, and if that happens, it would be great. There is a huge delight for me, and hopefully the audience, in those shows -- just getting to be more intimate with the audience, telling the stories behind the songs, and also of course being able to do songs from all the different bands, and those beloved traditional Irish songs. I am supposed to do a solo show sometime this summer as a benefit for a fomer co-worker who is now sick with cancer. So when I know the details on that, I'll post it.

Bill: How involved were you in the upcoming Slapshot documentary?

Dave: Well, not in the filming part at all -- I was sent a rough cut by the director, who wanted me to narrate it. I ended up writing a chunk of the narration, as well as reading it, and it was really a cool process. Of course I've known the members of that band, or at least the original lineup, for many years, and to me, that Boston Crew feeling has never gone away -- I'm happy to do whatever I can for my brothers. So when Ian McFarland asked me to do it, I called up Don Zientara, at Inner Ear, and he and director got the details arranged, and I went up there and tracked it. Had a blast. The film is really good. It doesn't hide the warts that every band has. But it also gives you a good sense of what it's like in a band, how friendships form and then are sometimes, sadly, broken. And it's a good documentation of how Slapshot carried the torch for Boston Hardcore after SSD, DYS, etc. had broken up.

Bill: Do you still work as an editor for a local newspaper? The past couple years have seen a parallel develop between the music and print journalism worlds, wherein computers and digital technology have overtaken traditional distribution of the product and information. What do you think of the current state of print journalism and do you have any predictions or inclinations of what might happen next?

Dave: Very good analogy. And like with the labels question, I think it's a tough one. Newspapers are in somewhat of a better situation, because millions of people still love to read the newspaper every day. There is no comparison/substitute (in my mind, at least) between sitting at your computer skimming a news site, versus sitting on the couch with the newspaper, reading all the sections, holding it in your hand -- that's a wonderful, tangible advantage newspapers will always have. And of course the industry is adapting -- papers are getting better Web sites, online editions of the printed pages, etc. But no doubt about it, like labels, newspapers need to learn to ride the wave or they'll end up drowned in it. There are some innovative ideas and efforts going on, but I don't think the final verdict will be known for some time to come. But I will say that I think newspapers are a vital part of a healthy, informed citizenry.

Bill: Bonn Scott or Brian Johnson?

Dave: Bonn was a huge influence on me, and an unmatchable, brilliant singer. But, Brian Johnson is still an outstanding front man, and probably the only guy who could have kept AC/DC going after Bonn died.

Bill: Ozzy or Dio?

Dave: Depends. Ozzy's first two solo records were excellent. But then again, so was some of the Dio stuff...Dio is simply one of the best hard rock/metal singers ever. And he still sounds amazing - went to see Heaven and Hell last summer and it was fantastic. As for Sabbath itself, I'll call it a tie.

That's the problem with singer comparisons, be it for punk bands or other genres -- sometimes there can be two good singers, where you can enjoy and appreciate both for their respective contributions. I like chocolate and strawberry ice cream -- do I have to pick one?

Bill: Roth or Hagar?

Dave: Come on.

Bill: Bob Mould or Grant Hart?

Dave: Love both of them.

Bill: Bruce Loose or Will Shatter?

Dave: Oh man.

Bill: Red Sox or Nationals?

Dave: Red Sox. Love Beckett, Buchholz, Ortiz, etc., and equally important, love the tradition. And, I'd be kicked out of the house if I answered any differently.

Bill: Tastes great or less filling?

Dave: You know, I think if you're drinking beer, drink it for the taste, and don't think about the calories, just enjoy. Go Guinness or go home, you know? It's like Coca Cola -- drink the real thing. Why gag on Diet Coke, which tastes like bad cough syrup mixed with urine, when you can enjoy the Real Thing (tm)?

Bill: Deep Dish or Thin Crust?

Dave: Deep. I'm a fan of the pan.

Bill: Repo Man or Suburbia?

Dave: Repo Man. I blame society.

Bill: Three way guitar duel: Stephen Egerton vs. Brian Baker vs. Sam Williams. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Dave: You're talking three brilliant players and three friends. No way am I answering that one. However, it would be one hell of a battle.

Bill: Shawn Brown or Peter Cortner?

Dave: Love all their contributions to music, and to Dag Nasty in particular.

Bill: Scott Reynolds or Chad Price?

Dave: Love all their contributions to music, and to ALL in particular.

Bill: Continuing to listen to Rush or getting paid two million dollars no-strings-attached to never hear Geddy Lee’s voice again?

Dave: As someone who has to pay for college tuition, I'll take the money, Regis. I've got the lovely voice of the mighty Geddy Lee imprinted in my heart. I don't need to hear it in order to hear it.

Bill: Any last words or parting thoughts?

Dave: Just thanks to you for the interview, and for all you do for music, and thanks to all who've suffered through my rambling here. God bless ya, son.

BONUS CONTENT!

August 2003, right before entering my senior year of high school. Look at that fucking nerd.

Marc Ruvolo (Johann's Face, No Empathy, Das Kapital) Interview (June 2009)

2009-06-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

What we have here is an interview with Marc Ruvolo of the infamous Johann's Face record label, the Lucky Gator Loft, No Empathy, The Traitors, Das Kapital and dozens of other awesome things. I've been a quite a few shows at Marc's space and never left unsatisfied. Hell, the man's been doing this whole "punk rock" thing since well before I was born and is still more passionate and involved than people my age. This guy seriously rules.

Bill Molloy: Alright, for those not in the know, state your name and what exactly you do.

Marc Ruvolo: Marc Ruvolo, owner Johann's Face Records, sang and/or played guitar in No Empathy, Traitors, Das Kapital and a host of other bands.

Bill: How and when did you end up first getting exposed to punk rock?

Marc: I started buying strange looking records in 1981, blindly stumbling on punk rock and fell in love.

Bill: What inspired you to start up Johann’s Face?

Marc: I needed an outlet to release records for mine and my friends bands. I had worked for Roadkill Records and Cargo Distribution and I wanted give it a shot using Dischord and Touch and Go as role models.

Bill: Which release do you estimate is your best selling one? Is there anything that in hindsight you regret putting out?

Marc: Smoking Popes "Get Fired" was my best seller. I don't regret any of the records I have put out, but it does suck when a band breaks up right after the record comes out.

Bill: Do you have any special plans for when Johann’s Face hits its 100th release?

Marc: Still trying to figure that one out. I'd like it to be special. Any ideas?

Bill: As a label owner what is your take on the increasing popularity of digital downloads and vinyl releases over the last few years? What do you see on the horizon for small DIY labels?

Marc: I love digital downloads. People seem willing to download tons of stuff that they wouldn't mailorder in a physical form. I blame alcohol. People will always want new music so DIY labels will always be
around. It's the major label/corporate model of label that is going the way of the dinosaur.

Bill: Why did No Empathy break up back in 1997?

Marc: It had been thirteen years running, and we were all going in different directions.

Bill: Did you remain in contact with all of the other members of No Empathy throughout the years?

Marc: For the most part, we'd see each other off and on.

Bill: Was the impeding 20th anniversary the only reason for the reunion?

Marc: Yes, but we all felt it was time, too. Our drummer, Kurt, had also recently moved back to Chicago after being away for seven years. The stars were aligned and ready to get drunk.

Bill: Was there always a plan to do the secret show at Lucky Gator before the “official” show? Where did the code-name Midnight Bacon come from?

Marc: Yes, we wanted to do a warm-up show before the Abbey and we were practicing at Lucky Gator. It was almost better than the real show. Midnight Bacon was just a name I came up with that I thought was funny. We also all love bacon. Lots.

Bill: What exactly is the status of No Empathy beyond the two recent shows? Do you foresee any conflicts with your duties in Das Kapital?

Marc: We agreed to get together and play once every year or two. We had a lot of fun doing the reunion. Das Kapital is my main focus, so there won't be any problems.

Bill: The Half Assed Chicago compilation LP recently came out; from the idea first coming about until its actual date how much time passed? Were there any bands that you would’ve liked to have worked with but couldn’t end up getting on there?

Marc: It took about a year to get it all together because I wanted unreleased tracks. I wanted Canadian Rifle and No Slogan to be on it, but they couldn't do it for various reasons.

Bill: Running a DIY show space in Chicago is notoriously difficult, yet you’ve been doing it in various locations for over 15 years. What’s the biggest challenge going along with this endeavor? Does it get more difficult to open your living space to strangers as you get older?

Marc: The biggest challenge is not letting the 1% of the crowd that are jerks and out to, for whatever reason, wreck what you're doing, get to you and make you stop. It's important to have an alternative to the various club/rock establishment venue so that young bands can be taught that making music is about fun first and money second.

Bill: Recently word has gone around that you have been evicted from the Lucky Gator Loft; is this true? Will the loft rise again in a new location and still do shows?

Marc: We've already moved to a new space a few doors down on Milwaukee. We always take a break in the summer cause it's just too hot to do shows. I'm sure we'll start up again in the fall. Maybe sooner.

Bill: You’re at an age where it seems that most people either drop completely out of punk rock or relegate it to a background role, yet you are still more active in the scene than many people half your age. Have there been any times where you got so frustrated that you almost gave it up? What inspires you to keep slogging it out after so many years?

Marc: I'm a lifer. I can't see myself doing anything else, and even though I get to feeling burned out sometimes, there's always somewhere new and fun and stupid to go to right around the corner. I love new beginnings. Also, I've jettisoned any delusions of rock stardom that so many musicians (even punk rock ones) seem to let poison their enjoyment of being involved long-term. I'm grateful for the few people that are into what I do, plus I've made thousands amazing friends.

Bill: Any last words or parting thoughts?

Marc: Come check us out at www.johannsface.com.
Support DIY labels and showspaces.
Start a band, it's one of the most rewarding things you can do!!

Jake Kolatis (The Casualties) Interview (July 2008)

2009-05-14T14:29:00.007-05:00

(Photo courtesy of JayWestPhotography.com)

Welcome to the second and final installment of "Awkward Interviews That Were Going To Be Published As Straight Q & A's Because I Didn't Feel Like I Could Write A Story Around Them." This is with Jake Kolatis, better known as Jake Casualty. He's a nice guy, as are all of the guys in the band actually, but as you can see I wasn't exactly the best person to be interviewing them. This reads pretty close to some 14 year old kid putting together his first cut and paste zine (although now I guess it would be photoshopped zine?) rather than someone who has actual journalism experience. Oh well, live and learn. This is being posted for two reasons: 1) Get my name in on those sweet "The Casualties Interview" google returns! 2) For everyone to laugh at me.

Jake: Hello

Bill: Hey Jake, this is Bill Molloy, I talked to you yesterday.

Jake: Yeah, how ya doing?

Bill: I'm not too bad, how are you?

Jake: Good.

Bill: I was wondering, do you have some time to do the interview?

Jake: Absolutely.

Bill: Alright, cool. So The Casualties have been around for almost twenty years now, are there any special plans for when that comes up?

Jake: Nah, we don't even really care about shit like that. I hate it. I feel so jaded with bands that are like "yeah we've been around for twenty years" and really they've only been around for a couple of years back in the 80s and got back together now. And I don't really want to be an old band that everybody thinks is getting back together for a fucking reunion.

Bill: So you don't want to dwell on the fact that you've been around?

Jake: Yeah. You know, live for today.

Bill: Cool. Now since you have been around for so long, and it always seems to me like you're on the road, have you ever hit a fatigue point where you're like "Fuck this, I'm done."

Jake: Yeah, a lot more lately than before because it's harder as you get older. People's lives get a little more complicated, things like that. Jorge has a kid now and I have a tattoo shop now. It definitely gets harder especially when the shows don't go as planned, stuff like that. You definitely do get fatigued, there are those bad days where you're like "what the fuck are we doing any more?" you know? But then the next day might totally erase that because it's so awesome. Those feelings are definitely there sometimes.

Bill: Is there any major label interest in The Casualties?

Jake: When we first started doing Warped Tour a lot of labels got in touch with us through Side One, but thing was that I feel... we weren't really going to change our sound, we weren't going to get softer to appease more people. So I think it kind of went in the direction of them thinking "well they're not really going to change their sound." And we talked to a couple of labels but we didn't really feel comfortable with it. We just want to put out records, we don't want to be in debt to a label and owe a label a record. When we make a record with Side One they just put it out, it doesn't matter. They won't make us change it, they won't shelf a record.

Bill: Well they have such a diverse lineup of bands on there that sound nothing like each other.

Jake: Yeah. With major labels they can take our record and just shelf it; they're in a position to do that. So that kind of sucks, we never want to deal with that kind of shit. When we work really hard on a record and a label's like "No, we're not going to put this out" we're pretty much burnt, there's nothing we can do at that point.

Bill: You guys played Riot Fest last year, how was it?

Jake: Oh it was awesome, it was one of the best Chicago shows we've ever had.

Bill: Are you excited to be doing it again?

Jake: I think it's going to be even better this time.

Bill: Have you seen the lineup for this year at all?

Jake: I haven't yet. Ron (Martinez, Casualties booking agent) was telling me about it and it sounded good from what I can remember but that was a few months ago so I don't even remember.

Bill: It's pretty stacked this year, the initial announcement is out and there's going to be more stuff announced next week.

Jake: What are some of the bands?

Bill: The Bosstones are playing, TSOL is coming in, DOA, ALL, Teenage Bottlerocket, Paint it Black, Municipal Waste and some others.

Jake: Oh cool.

Bill: It's a good diverse lineup; it'll be interesting to see all the fans of all the different bands meshing.

Jake: Is it in the same place?

Bill: Yeah, the big show is in the same place, it's at the Congress Theater again.

Jake: That's great, I love that place.

Bill: The Casualties seem to be a gateway band for younger kids that are getting into punk rock. Do you see a lot of your old fans sticking around or is it a constant influx of new kids?

Jake: We're starting to see some older people now, and when I say older I mean our age group, but usually it is a solid influx of new kids. A lot of the kids that... I mean we're not a flavor of the month band that'll be here today and gone tomorrow. There are a lot of trendy punk bands that'll be really hot in Maximum Rocknroll for a minute and people will like them but then be onto the new thing. We never want to be that so we never will be that. I feel that with that it there is a constant influx of kids. Our fans are from seventeen to twenty five? Well no, maybe even younger dude, maybe like even fourteen or fifteen, you know? I don't mind being a gateway band at all; I've heard that a couple times lately. For people getting into punk, if we're like what The Exploited and GBH were to me then so be it; I'm totally comfortable with that.

Bill: So do you feed off of the younger audiences?

Jake: Yeah yeah, it's way more fun. Once you see people getting into your band and the know the lyrics and you see a circle pit happen you totally feed off of that, I mean I know I do. It's the kind of thing where it totally brings the energy level of the show up. I mean we'll give it our all no matter what but if people are into it, it makes it even better for us.

Bill: The band just put out a DVD recently, right? Was that the last major release?

Jake: It was a live album/DVD.

Bill: Are you working on any new material as of right now?

Jake: Right now no. I mean we're writing a new record but there's nothing solidly done yet. We're just writing right now, we don't even have any demos right now. Well we have little scratch demos but we wouldn't send those to anyone.

Bill: After re-doing vocals for On The Front Line in Spanish, has the band ever thought about doing an album of all new material in Spanish?

Jake: It'd be cool, but I don't know if it's necessarily... It'd be cool but I don't know. If we do that then we alienate a lot of people and I don't want to do that. I'd rather do an EP or throw some Spanish songs on a record, that way it's something for everybody, you know? I don't want it to be like "Well this one is just for this type of person."

Bill: Well I was wondering about that because I've seen in the last couple years, maybe this is just a Midwest thing, but lots of younger bands are singing just in Spanish, their native language, kind of taking it back.

Jake: I've noticed that too, I've definitely noticed it too. It's really cool.

Bill: Were you involved with PunkVoter at all in the 2004 election?

Jake: Well I wasn't, but I voted. We weren't directly involved, but do I think it's awesome? Yeah!

Bill: Does the band have any plans to do anything special for the 2008 election?

Jake: Not really. I vote, and I'm going to go with Obama, but I don't see anything that we're going to do. I feel kind of bummed because we did all that stuff, especially NOFX being the head of all that, but I just feel like it didn't do anything. I mean everybody in the country was voting but somehow Bush still won. It's fucking unbelievable.

Bill: Completely disheartening.

Jake: Yeah, just doing stuff every night, telling people from the stage to vote and trying to change what was happening, and it just sucked.

Bill: How do you feel about explicitly politically active bands versus the more nihilistic "fuck everything" types?

Jake: I think you have to find a balance; you've got to find a middle ground where punk can have substance but also be very fun and very angry. That's what I feel it's supposed to be. All aspects to me are important. I'll listen to a wide array of music, and that's the beauty of punk is that you don’t' just get roped into one thing.

Bill: Well that's all the stuff I really had prepared, do you have any last words or parting comments?

Jake: Not really man, we'll just see you guys in Chicago.

Bill: Alright cool, looking forward to it.

Jake: Thanks for the interview I really appreciate it.

Bill: And thank you for your time, talk to you later.

Jake: Alright, see ya man.

Dave Kirchgessner (Mustard Plug) Interview (September 2008)

2009-05-14T14:22:00.002-05:00

This week's theme on the blog is "Awkward Interviews That Were Going To Be Published As Straight Q & A's Because I Didn't Feel Like I Could Write A Story Around Them." First is an email interview with Dave Kirchgessner from Mustard Plug. This was obviously done over email and resulted in some good stuff but I just honestly don't know enough to make it a compelling Q & A let alone a feature story. Sorry.

Bill: There was a longer than usual wait between Yellow #5 and In Black and White. Was there a particular reason for that?

Dave: In between albums, we went through some big line up changes with a new drummer and bass player. It takes time to find new people and teach the new guys the old material. Also as time goes on we just get a bit lazier about songwriting. I hate to admit but I think it’s true. Also we get a lot pickier about the songs that make it onto the album so we ditch a lot of songs and work harder on the ones we keep.

Bill: Who conceptualized the artwork for In Black and White?

Dave: For this album, we hired an outside photographer/art director for it. It was this local guy who we liked and was really excited about doing it. We worked together with him, basically giving him a rough idea of what we liked and let him run with it. It was actually really fun to have someone outside of the band who was really talented put his spin on it. It helps keep things fresh.

Bill: Are you working on any new material at this point?

Dave: Yeah, we’re finally working on new material. For pretty much the first year that the album was out we didn’t even bother working on new stuff, we just focused on getting the album out there. Now we’re just starting to come up with new stuff.

Bill: Over the years you guys have dealt with a ton of lineup changes, and on top of that you’ve been getting older obviously, but there hasn’t seemed to have been a decline in band activity. What would you attribute that to?

Dave: As we get older it gets a lot more challenging to keep up the same level of band activity. The older we get, the more outside responsibilities come up, such as families and jobs and stuff. But we try to keep the ball rolling and keep doing new things. I think the key is to take things at a reasonable pace. We’re not doing tours where we go out for 6 weeks and hit the entire U.S. We’re more likely to go out for 10 days and hit one region of the U.S. It makes it difficult to hit geographically distant places like Texas or the Pacific Northwest, but we try to hit the east and west coast at least once a year and the Midwest twice a year.

Bill: Whose idea was it to release a greatest hits record?

Dave: It was mine actually. It was released at a time when we were having a hard time getting our cd’s in stores. Our last album, “Yellow #5” hadn’t sold that well and stores didn’t really know which of our back catalog to order, so that usually meant none of them. Most stores, especially ones like Best Buy or whatever wouldn’t bother to stock 5 back catalog cds of a band that isn’t exactly selling like Justin Timberlake. So, the best of album made it easy for them to at least stock one Mustard Plug album. The other thing is, with new fans, they don’t really know which one of albums to buy so we made it really simple for them.

Bill: Are there any special plans for the band’s 20th anniversary?

Dave: I think I’d like to do something similar to what we did on the 10th, where we get a bunch of the old guys together to play a show and do a lot of old stuff. Maybe record it this time. We still have to make it to 20!.

Bill: It’s been ten years since the big revival of ska in mainstream circles. Looking back on it from a safe distance do you have any thoughts?

Dave: Yeah, it’s really sad how the mainstream media built it up to a non-sustainable level and let it crash twice as hard. It seemed to ruin a lot of really good bands. I think it’s just really tough for bands to weather going from an underground phenomenon to the point where people are telling you that you’re going to be a big rock star and then kind of treating you like you’re a 10 day old package of hamburger that someone left on the counter too long. I think it also really hurt the unique culture and community of ska music. It really diluted the culture and dismantled the networks. Everything goes in cycles though, and there’s a lot of kids now that are into it that were so young in 1997 that they don’t really even remember that. Those are the kids that are going to build the next wave.

Bill: Mustard Plug played Riot Fest back in 2006 when the lineup was more heavily tilted towards ska. This year the lineup is much more diverse, with more garage and even some thrash metal thrown in. How do you think the crowd will react to Mustard Plug, and do you see the group as ambassadors of the genre?

Dave: I was wondering how we’d be received until I found out that the Bosstones were on the bill. After finding that out I realized that there will be enough fans of the ska-punk, where I’m sure we’ll be received ok. I’m actually really looking forward to playing with such a diverse group of bands. That’s one of the things I really like about Riotfest. I never really feel like we have to represent any genre. I just see us as ambassadors of Mustard Plug.

Bill: Care to explain what happened with the 2002 Warped Tour?

Dave: Part of me doesn’t even really know. The jist of it is, we were playing the Kevin Say’s stage, which at that point was more of a riser underneath a small tent. The sounds guys that had been running that stage for the week we were on, were basically being jerks to us that whole week. The last day was Detroit where we have a huge crowd. The sounds guys are used to no one really paying attention to the Kevin Says stage, so when 600 kids showed up in front of it to see us they basically freaked out. They kept telling us they’d cut the sound if kids danced which is basically an impossibility. Finally after our third song they cut the sound for good. We were playing the Beer Song and just kept singing and chanting acapella. By that time the security had showed up along with one of Kevin Lyman former assistants and nobody was pleased with the situation.

Bill: When did you play a show with Weird Al and how did that end up happening? Is he really as frighteningly nice as he seems?

Dave: That was sometime in the early 90’s I think. Maybe 1994 or something. He very rarely has an opening bands but we begged the promoter to let us on the bill. He then showed up to one of our shows in Austin a few years after that. It was really cool. I could hardly believe he remembered us. He really is a sincerely nice guy. I have nothing but respect for Weird Al.

Bill: What are some of your favorite up and coming bands?

Dave: I’m probably not the guy to ask this since I haven’t heard much new stuff lately, but I’m pretty psyched that there is a new crop of ska based bands that are getting out and touring. Bands like Deal’s Gone Bad, The Green Room Rockers, We Are the Union, Royal City Riot, Fatter than Albert, etc. It’s good to see a new generation take shape.

Bill: As one of the pioneers of bad ska puns, what is the worst one you’ve ever seen?

Dave: There was a band called Skagina. That was pretty bad. There is a new one from Cleveland called Mein Skamf. That one is bad on so many levels I can’t go into it. At this point in the game they’re all pretty painful. I guess you gotta keep in mind that in 1992, with the exception of the Skatilites there really weren’t that many ska puns. So naming our cassette “Skapocalypse Now” seemed marginally original. We just didn’t realize how cheesy and overdone the ska pun thing would become over the next 15 years. Hindsight is 20/20.

Bill: Any last words or thoughts?

Dave: We had an amazing time last time we played Riotfest and I’m really looking forward to doing it again. I never thought I’d have another chance to play and hangout with ALL or the Bosstones, so it’s pretty amazing to be able to do it with both on one show.

Joe Shanahan (Metro and Double Door) Interview (April 2009)

2009-05-05T15:33:00.004-05:00

(Photo from TimeOutChicago.com)

Oddly enough I was actually kind of nervous in the lead up to doing this interview. The Metro is one of the longest running and most well known "clubs" in the country and Joe is an extremely well known and respected man around town (except by Steve Albini, of course). Though my tastes have veered away from what they're booking a lot of nowadays it'd take me both hands and probably a foot to count the amount of amazing shows I've seen there. After a little initial phone tag we finally got started up and ended with a lot of material to write a pretty good piece for the site. Thanks Joe!

Bill: Can you explain what exactly your role is in the Metro and Double Door?

Joe: Well let’s see. At Metro I am the proprietor and I’m involved with the running of the business as well as well as the booking aspects of the shows. I mean I would say the owner but I kind of feel like I’m in the trenches.

Bill: Not an absentee landlord type set up.

Joe: Ha, no! I come to work every day at 10 AM, leave at 6 PM, go home; a lot of times come back for the show, that type of thing. At Double Door I’m a partner in a partnership there with a couple other like minded music fans and music business colleagues.

Bill: How did you initially get involved in the live music business or the industry in general?

Joe: I don’t know if I’m actually in the industry (chuckle) but I just had friends that were in bands and either I helped them promote a show in college and in other aspects of things in the early 80s. There were a lot of bands I was friends where I’d go to support them at local clubs and as I began to realize that I liked to promote concerts or events I invited some of them to join me. It’s about as simple as it can be.

Bill: Now you’re involved in running two nationally well known clubs; do you see a distinction between what you do at the Double Door and at the Metro?

Joe: (Pause) Well the two are very distinctly different. I look at Double Door and I think it’s one of the cooler, well equipped clubs in Chicago; good sound, good lights, good stage. That has more of a bar sort of atmosphere, and then Metro is sort of the “venue,” more of a “venue” or “concert hall” type presentation. There are differences but there are similarities because they’re both clubs, and I think one of the best things about live music is that, you know, seeing things at Double Door sized room or a Metro sized room is really the proper way to see live music. Going much larger there seems to be a disconnect possibly in the intimacy between the fans and the band. Yeah, and even though I’ve seen great shows at the Vic, the Riv and the Aragon my mind always wanders back to when I first saw the band. Oh, first time I saw Kings of Leon was at Double Door, first time I saw Smashing Pumpkins was at Metro. So those kinds of ideas.

Bill: You’ve been doing this for well over 25 years now; what do you think is the greatest shift that you’ve noticed since when you started?

Joe: The greatest shit? (chuckle)

Bill: (hearty chuckle)

Joe: Well there are a lot of shits in our business! Ha, no, I suppose the biggest shift, certainly you have to consider it to be the internet. You have to consider that at one time we would put tickets at Wax Trax and Reckless and all these little record stores around town to sell tickets for our events with flyers and posters and handbills. You know, sort of guerilla street team type things, where now a band has a website or a Myspace page or Facebook page or something. You put a show on sale and 70 percent of the tickets sell online.

Bill: Yeah

Joe: We’ll still get some walkups and we’ll sell some at the box office, but it has to be that. Information and the quickness of finding out about a show or a band coming to your market, coming to your club, your venues, your neighborhood; it has to be that seismic shift. It’s not small, it’s massive. And it’s good, I think it helps everybody.

Bill: Would you also say that’s one of the biggest adjustments you’ve made since then, embracing the internet and embracing technology?

Joe: (pause) Embracing?

Bill: Yeah, using it. And you know, you’ll hang on to handing out fliers and posters and such.

Joe: Well I think that’s still an important part of what we do, and that goes back to the individual kind of promoting a band. And I still think that word of mouth, whether it be word of mouth, whether it be internet, texting or email, I still find out about bands from people telling me something about a band. I’ll see somebody and say “Have you heard of St. Vincent?” or “Have you heard Other Lives?” or other bands that are under the radar at this point but probably won’t be for long. You know, people talk about the bands that they like and they’ll tell someone like me that is also a music fan their favorites. I think that that’s still the most important way of finding out about music.

Bill: Last summer (2008) you were a very big opponent of the Chicago Promoter’s Ordinance. Can you give a little bit of information about it for people that might not know what exactly is was, and have you gotten any new status updates about it?

Joe: I don’t know much about where it sits right now but I do think that it was taken off the table because of the amount of (pause) the overall positioning of venues and established promoters. You know, back in 1982 when I did my first show at Metro I didn’t have the money to afford insurance or to afford a licensing fee; I went under the insurance and licensing fee of the venue that was currently here. So I (pause)I can understand what the city is trying to do, I understand the regulations that they’re trying to create. That sort of rogue, and illegal, sort of activity would not be focused towards live music venues and/or clubs. Because that’s a big another difference, the difference between a club trying to do something cultural like a band or a DJ, and then someone just trying to fill up their Tuesday night by doing some kind of drink special and getting someone to email all their friends to come and have a liquor lobotomy.

Bill: Ha!

Joe: That’s the dangerous side of it, you know what I mean?

Bill: Yeah, yeah.

Joe: I get that, I understand that and why it might need to be regulated. But it comes down to the facilities and comes down to the level of the law. There are liquor licenses and venues licenses and if people would play by the rules that are currently established, there’s no need to have the young hip hop promoter or the young rock promoter or the young dance promoter going through hoops and going through licensing and getting all these regulations to satisfy something that’s, you know (pause) it would just impede creativity and impede the ability to find new bands and new music for a great city. It’s just the wrong way to be going about it.

Bill: Yeah that’s mostly what I got from reading about the ordinance last summer, they just didn’t really seem to understand what they were doing and I’m glad someone who knows…

Joe: But it’s a reaction to something kind of negative, in regards to E2, people died. And a promoter got greedy and rammed his club full of people. He didn’t adhere to the letter of the law. But should the guy who does the jam bands like the Silver Wrappers or the Riot Fest people or whoever be lumped into that? Because I don’t necessarily think that’s the same kind of thing. I think some might say there’s a fine line between the two but I don’t think so. I think it’s a sidewalk, I think it’s a whole street. If you’re promoting concerts, if you’re promoting live musical presentations it’s a very different set of parameters. You have to deal with, you have to promote and you have to work with people who own venues who are basically on the hook for it. So I love this aspect of it, some day the mayor’s really hot to do the Olympics, and I think we should do it, I think it’d be great to have the Olympics in Chicago. But what happens when the Parisian promoter calls me and says “Hey I want to do an event” and I have to say “Oh, I can’t do it, you have to be a licensed promoter here in Chicago, you’ve got to go through the city and get your license, get an insurance policy.” So what happens there? We’re going to try to do something really cool with, you know, maybe Gogol Bordello, some European band or something? (starting to get frustrated) I find it… you know what I’m saying?

Bill: Yeah totally.

Joe: It would impede the business, it would impede commerce, and that’s not what we should be doing at this time with the economy.

Bill: Ha, yeah especially right now.

Joe: We should be just like “Come on! Bring it on! Who wants to come to Chicago and promote concerts or events with the well run facilities that are here!”

Bill: Now you mentioned the economy in your previous answer; have you noticed an effect from the economy on attendance at your shows?

Joe: You know, everyone’s been affected by it; it’d be silly not to notice it, all business have been affected. With Metro and Double Door, with both of them we’ve always been very cognizant of the fact that ticket prices really are controlled by what bands and what bands need to earn to come to Chicago. We need to keep those ticket prices in line; we have to keep the ticket prices in line with what the venues normally charge. For instance, it’d be unlikely to see a $40 ticket at Metro.

Bill: Yeah, I’ve never paid anywhere close to that much for a show there.

Joe: Yeah but at House of Blues, $40 is kind of normal, they have them there. It’d also be kind of out of line if you saw $25 at Double Door; it’s $10-$15 there, you know what I mean? It’s $10-$20 here at Metro. I think you have to be cognizant of the fact that that’s what the business model is based on, which is people supporting local, as well as regional and national music on those price points. Drink prices tool you don’t want to be too out line with your beer prices or your cocktail prices. You need to be aware of those as well.

Bill: If they’re too expensive no one’s going to buy them.

Joe: Yeah, it’s important. We have definitely looked at that. (pause) Yeah, we’re affected and we fight the fight every day to make sure that it stays in line.

Bill: Within the last ten years or so there’s been a lot of talk about how record labels, especially major labels, are kind of… I don’t want to say dying out, but are hurting. How’s the live section of the music industry faring in this sort of technological time?

Joe: (pause) What was that?

Bill: How’s, um, concert promoting and… well let me re-phrase that. There’s been a lot of stuff going around about labels hurting from MP3 technology and such. Have you felt any negative effects from it, has that hurt you at all?

Joe: Ha, run that by me again I’m trying to get my head around it.

Bill: Well for example Touch and Go just shut down, so it’s not exactly the best time to be in the “music industry.” How are Metro and Double Door faring in this type of climate?

Joe: Remember, independent bands, independent clubs, independent promoters work in a network of independence. I’m not reliant on major labels and major tours for all the things we do at Metro and Double Door. Otherwise we’d just be showcase rooms. The local and regional music communities support these facilities, whether or not it’s the first time we’ve looked at a band from Saddle Creek and they weren’t that far to drive to Chicago. Like The Faint were looking to play Chicago; that’s a good example. They played I think at the Fireside the first time I saw them, a smaller venue. Next time through it was something where we were like “talk to the band, talk to the manager, talk to the label. You know this could be a good opportunity for us to do something.” I wouldn’t say the first time through we were selling two or three shows out. It’s a building process. I think that whether it’s a band from Milwaukee or a band from St. Louis or a band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, like Other Lives. We’re in the building… we’re a rung on the ladder. We’re part of that building process. So that’s why I try to stay away from words like “music industry” or “business” or that kind of stuff because we kind of haven’t changed in twenty five years in that it’s a network of people who are like minded; independent bands, independent labels and independent promoters. I think that’s an important thing to keep alive and I think it’s an important thing that everybody reveres and wants to take care of.

Bill: Yeah.

Joe: Like just the fact of what’s going on with Mike and Riot Fest and Metro. This is great that this is happening. This is a smart organization working with another smart organization to create something that is really wonderful. I don’t know if it would happen in another market but it happens in Chicago because this is a very healthy community for that. I think it’s also because of the fact that there are so many independent labels. It’s crushing that Touch and Go is not what it was, but I mean Cory did it for a long, long time.

Bill: Almost 30 years.

Joe: Yeah! (exasperated gasp) I mean my hat is off to this guy. I think running a club is probably easier than running a record label. (chuckle)

Bill: You only have to deal with the bands for one night!

Joe: Record labels, you’re married to them! And that’s ok, we’re kind of married to them too.

Bill: It’s an open marriage.

Joe: (chuckle) It is an open marriage.

Bill: One of the more curious things I’ve noticed about Metro and Double Door is that if you look back to when you opened the Metro in 1982 Wrigleyville was kind of a dead zone and when you think back to Wicker Park in the 80s and early 90s, there’s been a ton of changing in those neighborhoods. Has there ever been any pressure on you to sell the property or threats of being kicked out because of eminent domain laws, things like that?

Joe: (pause) Oh boy. You just sent a shiver down my spine

Bill: Ha, I apologize!

Joe: When you think about it, we’re really fortunate in that our neighbors know what we do; I mean one of my neighbors is the Chicago Cubs, the big ballpark up here. Back when we started I don’t think the Cubs were drawing 10,000 people per game. Probably when you think about it, with 80 home games who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people were coming at that time. Now what is it, I think it’s in the millions.

Bill: Over two easily.

Joe: This is definitely an area that was aggressively working towards a better quality of life for so many reasons. I do think that at the end of the day (pause). Eminent domain? It’s a very interesting sort of concept. I don’t see that; Clark Street is a major thoroughfare. I think we’d hard pressed to see that ever happen. Maybe if something was really to change with Wrigley that might be a sign of it, but I highly doubt that. At least until the banks start lending money again. (chuckle)

Bill: And who knows when that’ll be. As one of the more experienced people around, do you have any predictions or inclinations about what you think is going to happen next?

Joe: Well I can tell you what I don’t want to happen next! I don’t want Live Nation and Ticketmaster to become one company.

Bill: You and me both.

Joe: I think that is going to be so bad for the consumer. But in the same breath Ticketmaster and Live Nation, they’re businesses from the top down. With Metro and E-Ticks, it’s business from the bottom up. It’s what they say, it’s the stuff that’s done in the trenches here. That’s why I come to work here every day, that’s why the buyers come to work every day, that’s why Edie and Laurie at Double Door go to work every day. There’s a reason for it. That’s their job, but we don’t have the Rolling Stones or U2 or Bon Jovi to sweep millions and millions of dollars into our hands. We’re working on the Presets! We’re working on the reunion of Rights of the Accused, you know! (chuckle)

Bill: Ha, just a slightly different scale.

Joe: I think maybe this is what it comes down to. I can tell that you’re a music fan.

Bill: Yes I am.

Joe: I’m a music fan too. Commodifying music, that’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t want to see music become completely commodified or commercialized, whether it be through television ads or radio ads or whatever else, you know. I think there’s a lot of great independent music and a lot of great independent bands that we should be working with. And we’re going to go for that.

Bill: How much longer do you see yourself doing this for?

Joe: Uhm, that’s a good question, I don’t know! Can’t answer that. I suppose when it’s not fun or not rewarding.

Bill: Hopefully that’s not too soon.

Joe: No.

Bill: Earlier you were mentioning a couple bands, and I like to think I keep my ear to the ground and pay attention to everything but you were throwing out a couple names earlier I hadn’t heard of that I’ll have to check out once I stop the recorder.

Joe: Yeah and that’s what the whole thing is, this whole great word of mouth. We’re working to keep that alive. It’s very like minded people are we’re very fortunate to be in that position.

Bill: Well I’m all out of questions, do you have any last words or thoughts you’d like to add?

Joe: You know, again, just from the day that someone traded a tape with you to now when we’re sending MP3s around the internet together, music has got its own life, its own language. No one’s a gatekeeper; we’re all just fans.

Bill: Cool, thanks a ton for your time and for taking my call.

Joe: Absolutely!

Bill: I’ll shoot you over an email when we get the feature up and running.

Joe: Ok well thanks so much Bill.

Bill: Alright take care.

Joe: Bye.

Dr. Strange (of the label and record store) Interview (April 2009)

2009-04-30T13:16:00.005-05:00

What we have in front of us right now is an email chat with none other than a mysterious man also named Bill, but better known as Dr. Strange. I'm writing up a piece on him right now but here's the straight e-mail dope.

Alright, for those who may not know, who are you and what exactly do you do?

I'm "Doc" of Dr. Strange Records and I run a mail order and "real" Record Store speculating in RARE and out of print punk records, CDs, t-shirts, boots, Fred Perrys, etc... If it's "punk" (or related) we have it! I also run a Label. The mail order was first (started in 1988) followed a year later by the label (100+ releases) and the record store has been open to the public for 11 years.

You ran a mail order distro along with your record label for many years before starting up the brick and mortar store. What inspired you to take the plunge into a physical location? Can you give a brief history of your shop?

Well, I always thought it would be "cool" to have a record store. I started the mail order out of my apartment and then moved it to my house. It was really just a combination of luck (finding a place) and necessity (running out of space) that made me open a store. Having 3-4 employees show up daily at my house got tiresome real fast. Plus I was newly married so I knew it wouldn't work. Opening the store was a lot of work but a lot of fun too. It took 4 months of hard work (mostly by my good buddy who can do it all). We had to paint, new floor, new signs etc... We barely had it opened in time for the grand opening. We were up until 3 of 4:00 in the morning putting the front doors in the day before!

Are the label and record store completely separate or do you draw from a community pot?

It was at first. I'd keep the Label and mail order separate but that has changed over the past few years. It's all the same.

At what point did you first become aware of MP3 technology? Also at what point did you notice it starting to affect your sales and revenue flow at the shop?

Because of the record store and people the "walk-ins" I found out REAL FAST! My first awareness of technology affecting me was when a group of kids would walk into the store and one would pick up a cd and then his buddy would tell him, "Don't worry about getting it. I have it and will burn you a copy.”

Has the economic situation had a noticeable effect on your shop? I know from personal experience that I’ve had to slash almost my entire record buying budget over the last year and it’s slowly but surely killing me; I’m sure that I’m not the only one with a similar story. You’ve been in the business for long enough to probably have a good sense about these types of things; do you have any inclinations or predictions of what’s coming next for non-big box record stores?

Oh yeah, of course. This Recession was not the first "hit" for record stores. It was the third. First was cd burning, second was downloading and then the Recession. It's a huge reason why so many stores have gone under. I have seen this day coming (decrease in sales due to technology) so several years ago I made a plan to sell more clothing and other items you can't "burn", copy or download. Selling shoes, Fred Perrys, belts, t-shirts etc has helped but it's still rough out there. I've seen a huge difference in sales trust me. I just need to be a little (a LOT) smarter when making decisions that pertain to the store.

What is your take on the current resurgence in popularity of vinyl, both as the head of a label and a record store? Are you worried that people have become so concerned about the color of the wax and ultra-limited pressings that they only see records as collector’s items and not a musical format? Has the resurgence caused any headaches on your end trying to get new releases out because of a back up at the pressing plant?

Good question. Well as I said early, technology has hurt us but it has also helped us. (which I didn't expect). Because of new technology you can now buy a turntable that is automatically set up to plus into your computer so you can download to you iPod or whatever. So that has helped with vinyl sales for sure. CD Sales are a lot slower (hey, that's fine with me, vinyl RULES!). I do hate what I call the "Trophy Hunter" mentality usually found on ebay. You know, those fucking morons that spend way to much on a rare record just so they can say they have it and rub it in their friends faces. I guarantee most of those idiots don't even listen to the record they spent so much on. I don't have a problem spending money on a record that you honestly want. I just cannot stand those that buy it as a "collectible" item and nothing else. Fuck you Poseur!

I never noticed before a couple days ago that you also run a distro for punk clothing (bondage pants, etc). When did that start up and why?

Yeah, it's been a couple years. Just another way of trying to sell something else that people cannot copy.

Is the store big enough for bands to do in-stores? If so, who have you brought in and have the appearances made a difference in your sales?

Yeah, it's about 2300 square feet. We have had bands play like: Casualties (10 years ago), several Dr. Strange bands, Ed Colver (world famous punk rock photographer) and more do in-stores. I plan on more. Once again in an effort to help bring people in. It IS a major headache but it's worth it (so far).

You recently released a limited LP to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the record label. What exactly is on the LP and do you have any other plans to celebrate?

No, I think just the LP is good enough. I didn't want to make that big of a deal out of it. Maybe for the 30th? Here's a listing of all the bands on it. I basically just made a cool comp using Dr. Strange bands: dsr-100 v/a lp “Dr. Strange 20^th Anniversary lp” Only 300 made, picture disc, with bands spanning 20 years of Dr. Strange Records: Manson Youth, Rhythm Collision, The Bollweevils, The Freeze, Whatever, The Marshes, Mad Parade, Government Issue, The Skulls, Threats, Chiefs, Black Market Baby, Texas Thieves and 999. Strictly limited to 300 copies! Mastered by Tom Lyle of Government Issue w/ big booklet, discography photos and more.

I’ve talked to some other record store workers/owners and they’ve all mentioned traveling abroad to bring in some stock for their shop. Have you ever done this and has it been worth the trip? What’s the one record you found in an out of the way place that forced a double take to make sure it was real?

Sure, my wife and I used to make regular trips to the U.K. years ago just for that reason. We’ve been to Sweden as well. Basically ANYWHERE we go I'm always on the hunt for records. It hasn't been as necessary lately because so many people e-mail me from all over with lists or people come into the store. I think the best/coolest store (now longer in business by the way) was Beano's outside of London. Three stories of records!

While doing some research online I came across you speaking at the upcoming Los Angeles Punk Con. Can you give any details about what it will entail and what your role in it is? Do you foresee this becoming an annual thing?

Really? That's news to me. I do plan on going there for sure but Mike (putting it on) hasn't asked me to speak. I don't think I would to tell you the truth. The thought of Public Speaking does NOT sound fun to me!

What sells better at your store, the older classics or new releases? Over the years which album do you estimate you’ve sold the most of at the store to impressionable young minds?

Easy. The best selling has to be one of MY all time fav's: The Adolescents cd/lp "s/t". It's a GREAT release and a must have. Also, Circle Jerks "Group Sex" and Suicidal Tendencies "s/t". It's great because these releases sell to people of all ages. Why? Because they ruled back then and STILL rule!

Within the last couple years the label of Dr. Strange has taken to working more with older bands, either on re-releases or on new material after a long break; was that an intentional shift?

Yes, for sure. I decided to work with bands that were/are my favorites that have a similar mind set as I do. You know, these older bands (most of) are no longer together and don't tour. They just want their music out there to be heard. It's less stressful for sure.

What newer bands have you excited about punk rock these days?

The first band to come to mind is Government Warning from Maine? Back east somewhere. (ed note - Richmond, VA, and they do fucking rule) Great early 80's style hardcore. It's not that they're doing anything original or new, it's just that they do it REALLY well and with a lot of energy. But the truth is, for the most part, I'm still listening to the same stuff I did in high school!

Any last words or thoughts you’d like to add?

Yes, as I always do in interviews I want to give a very sincere "thank you" to everyone who has ever bought anything from my mail order, label or record store. Without those people I wouldn't have the best "job" in the world! If you want more info on me or want to e-mail to say "hey" check the site:

www.RAREPUNK.com

Last Chinese Telephones show. Borg Ward, 2/26/2009

2009-02-27T15:29:00.009-06:00

Over the last year or so the amount of road trips that I'm supposed to take have been piling up to an obnoxious number. I took care of one last night by heading up the fine city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the last Chinese Telephones show. They've broken up before and frankly, even though they seem pretty dead set that it's over, I'd be surprised if they actually stay broken up this time but since the lovely gentlemen of Pigs on Ice were opening and I hadn't hung out in Milwaukee for over a year I figured what the hell, I'll go.

Whenever I travel into the great state of Wisconsin something invariably goes wrong. Whether it's a car breaking down in the middle of nowhere, a hippie snoring so loud that he keeps everyone in the house awake, traffic problems forcing the band I'm traveling with to miss their slot or heat in the house we're staying at being broken, Wisconsin and I have a complicated history. Luckily for me the thing that went wrong this time was relatively minor and early on in the day. By now I should know better, but I assumed that going two stops on the blue line would not take over a half an hour and I'd have plenty of time to hop on the Metra train to the south suburbs to meet up with my ride. WELL I'LL BE DAMNED, IT DID TAKE OVER 30 MINUTES! I would've been better off walking. I missed the 1:30 train and had to kill an hour in the Metra station at LaSalle. Oh well.

After the CTA debacle everything transit was smooth sailing for awhile. The always gracious Kevin was to be our escort to Milwaukee, but before the real journey could begin we had to head out to Palatine to pick up the other members of our travel company, the J's known as Jerry, Jason and Jen. It was cold and rainy but that wasn't dampening our spirits as we crossed the Illinois/Wisconsin border and drove past the never-gets-old-novelty of the "Bong Recreation Area" sign and the mystery known as the Mars Cheese Castle. We had plenty of time before the show had to start so finally, after years of waiting and ridiculous expectations, we pulled off the road and entered into the promised land of the Mars Cheese Castle.

Tiny Jerry in amongst the fog.

So we get in there right before closing time and I'm honestly overwhelmed by the amount of cheese I'm surrounded by. Rows upon rows upon rows of varieties that haven't even come to me in my wildest dreams. Then to my delight there's a little sandwich counter and a novelty store in the back. Being the smug asshole that I am I had to get a grilled cheese; I couldn't keep the shit eating grin off my face as I place the order and waited. Holy hell was it good.

Jen and Jason trying the samples at the front.

Oh novelty bumpers sticks, how I've missed you.

Pictures like this are why the term "FIBs" exists.

In the fifteen minutes we were in the Cheese Castle the weather went from not great to terrible. The fog overpowered the feeble lights of the car and the rain picked up speed, making navigation of the back-roads around the Cheese Castle a white knuckled drive. At one point we weren't 100% sure if we were going the wrong way on a one way road but we survived. Within a half hour we're in the city and putzing around inside the Borg Ward. Standard punk time was in effect so we had plenty of time on our hands to explore. I call my friends Brian and Katie to ask what's cool to do. They point out that there's a gas station a block down and that's it. We were already in said gas station.

I should've bought the water gun, damnit. Marveling at the local candies soon turns tedious (but seriously, a BBQ watermelon sucker? Sounds gross) so we hop back in the car to putz around some more. Eventually happening upon a liquor store I accomplish the second thing on my list of "Things to Do in Wisconsin" by picking up a case of Blatz and some Schlitz Malt Liquor, both fine delicacies that aren't available to those of us south of the border.

Isn't it beautiful?

As a dedicated Schlitz fan, let's just say this was my Christmas.

Jerry the cop breaks a law. This is totally going to bite you in the ass when you want to run Palatine with an iron fist.

We head back towards the Borg Ward and kill some time in the car until Brian calls at 6:45 to tell me the show was operating only on semi-punk time and the first band had already finished up. Hmm, alright. We walk in right before some band plays and I can't remember for the life of me what they're called; the only thing I remember is that I was told they're ex-members of the Modern Machines, a band I never really dug that much and that the new one was pretty boring too.

I was really impressed with the Borg Ward as a whole. The front is an art gallery and behind a divider is the show space. For you Chicagoans, it reminds me a lot of what The Humility Gallery (RIP) had. The back room had more than enough space for a decent sized turn out and if you weren't too into the band, just head back to the front and chat; hell, they even had chairs set up so you could sit down! Whether you were discreetly drinking a Pabst from a glove and getting semi-rowdy or chowing down on Subway party sub looking at the murals, you were having a blast. I give The Borg Ward a pretty big thumbs up.

So back to the show. Possible Fathers came up next and played what seemed to me to be a 12 minute at the most set, with at least three of those minutes taken up by instrument switching. They veered between traditional punk and slightly more oddly timed stuff. Either way I liked the music and the absurdity of the instrument switching.

Coming up next was the in-imitable Pigs on Ice. Last time I saw these guys was a complete disaster of a show. A Sunday night bar show to four non-paying customers with cheese metal bands and equipment problems. They hated it, I loved the train wreck aspect of it. As is to be expected, seeing them in their own town and in a much better environment meant they played a much better set. Also since the last show they've added a full time lights person, so if you will, imagine a snuff film of Scratch Acid, the Butthole Surfers and Shoot it Up having a knife fight. You kind of get the idea. I deduct one level of awesomeness because they packed up their stuff and left before I got a chance to pick up the split cassette with Possible Fathers, which was part of the reason I decided to drive up there. So Eff You, Pigs on Ice, you beautiful bastards.

Penultimately came Ohio's The Dopamines, a strictly formulaic three chord pop punk band in the Weasel/Ramonescore vein. Don't read that last sentence as an insult though, because if you know me you know I eat that stuff up, especially at shows. I enjoyed the brief set quite a bit and will most likely check them out again next time they pull through town.

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about pre-announced last shows. On one hand it's great to know that you get one more chance to see the band and lose your mind, but the lead up and the aftermath of said last show just leaves me bummed out, whereas an abrupt break-up announcement is painful but brief; "Like a band aid, RIGHT OFF" to quote Jerry Seinfeld. Either way, it was time for Milwaukee and the whole world to say goodbye to the Chinese Telephones again. Doubling as a release show for their CD collection of out of print vinyl releases, they delved pretty deep back into the catalog to play some songs I'd never had the pleasure of seeing live. The crowd was actually quite a bit smaller than I was expecting considering it was a home town show but those that actually showed up got decently rowdy and into the show; lord knows I did my fair share of shouting and fist pumping. R.I.P. Chinese Telephones, you'll be missed. Probably see you again in a few years when Razorcake throws a million dollars your way for the stadium reunion tour.

Set List - stolen by Mr. Jerry
Tell Me Tell Me
Better Than The Next
I Think I Can Breathe Now

It's Starting Again
Smiling
Game Of Pricks (Guided By Voices cover)

Those Hot Milwaukee Nights
Stay Around
Live Like This

Back To You Again
Basement Child Super Rock Fun, Go!
I Can't Be Right

-Encore-
Crying In The Chapel
This Time Next Year

Video of "Live Like This" and "Back To You Again" with crappy sound. I apologize in advance for my impulsive grammar nazi-ness.

Here are the last two songs EVAR from the Chinese Telephones, "Crying in the Chapel" and my personal favorite "This Time Next Year."

After the show I finally met fellow Daghouser Dan Celebrity and just as expected he's a stand up individual. Thanks a million for the 7"! The drive home was smooth sailing, completely devoid of the fog, rain and wind that plagued us on the drive up. Overall I can't think of a better way to have spent my Thursday night.

Darius Koski (Swingin' Utters) Interview (January 2009)

2009-02-02T17:15:00.006-06:00

By the time this tour rolls through Chicago it will have been five and a half years since the last time I saw the Swingin' Utters. Damn. Obviously an email interview but it gets the job done.

Bill Molloy: First off, just out of curiosity, what is the current count of side projects emanating from members of the Swingin’ Utters? My last count had it around nine or so but I’m pretty sure I’m missing some.

Darius Koski: Here's a little breakdown... There are 6 at the moment (7 if you count the Utters), but I think it was around 8 or so a while ago... It's kind of convoluted and incestuous, but we're a San Francisco band, and that's just how we do it out here...

Darius: Filthy Thieving Bastards, Re-Volts

Jack: Dead To Me, Re-Volts

Spike: Filthy Thieving Bastards, Gimme Gimmes, Re-Volts

Johnny: Druglords of the Avenues, Filthy Thieving Bastards

Greg: Viva Hate

Bill: I’ve read different reports on when the band actually formed, but based on the several dates I’ve seen thrown around you guys have passed your 20th anniversary as a band within the last year or two. Was there any sort of celebration for it? I’d seen something online about Kevin Wickersham coming back and playing a show or two, was that true/related to the anniversary?

Darius: Kevin just filled in for a show that Spike couldn't make... which was fun, and the first time we'd played on a stage with him in 12 years, I think. It would have been nice to have some sort of celebration, but I've always thought it was kind of tricky to nail down exactly when we started. Greg, Kevin, Johnny and Aric Mckenna started Johnny Peebucks and the Swingin' Utters in '88. From '88-90 they were a cover band that played mostly parties and a few small shows. I joined in '90, Aric left soon thereafter, and we started writing originals pretty immediately, and playing more shows. Our first release was, I think in '91, maybe '92... We had 2 singles and a 9-song 10-inch before our first full length, which was in '95... so, I don't know, I guess it's been twenty years... It's pretty much been the same band for that whole time. Kind of. I don't know, see what I mean?

Bill: What was the impetus behind the recent b-sides collection? Is there anything missing from the compilation that you know of?

Darius: I've been wanting to compile all this stuff and release it for several years now. We recorded a lot of stuff from '90-'95, before our first full length release, and since then there have been songs on 7-inch singles and compilations that most people haven't heard-- a lot of them didn't make the record we were recording at the time, but I think a bunch of them should have... There are also some really badly recorded (like, recorded on a ghetto blaster at a practice session) songs that have never been released, mostly because they're just not good songs. I've saved everything over the years (like all those cassette recordings of our practices.... YAWN). There are also plenty of different versions of previously released songs--we released several of these on Hatest Grits, but we didn't want to release them all, because really it gets a little redundant. We tried to pick versions that really were different in some real way, no just "different" versions because they were from another recording session... It wouldn't have been all that interesting, believe me. So, I think there's always gonna be some stuff that people won't here, but I think it's, uh... for the better.

Bill: Darius, in an interview with AMP Magazine a few years ago, maybe late 2005, during the promo period for the last two Filthy Thieving Bastards records you mentioned that you don’t really listen too much punk rock any more. Was that in reaction to preparing and promoting the folksier project, and now that the Utters seem to be getting more active have you been delving more into punk again? Are there any younger bands out there that you’ve gotten into lately?

Darius: I almost regret saying that, because it sounds like I just don't like punk rock anymore, which would make my being involved in the Swingin' Utters kind of silly... but really I don't listen to a whole lot of punk rock, mostly because I'm so fucking judgmental of music in general, and there just aren't a lot of (new) punk rock bands I like all that much. I like the Spits, and I like a bunch of songs by the Soviettes. There's a band out of Sacramento called Boats! that are pretty cool... I don't know, I'm not really obsessing over any new punk band at the moment, but that's probably because I don't really go out that much, and the only bands I really see are either my friends' bands that come to town, or bands that are playing with one of my projects.

Bill: During the downtime of the last few years how active have the Utters been?

Darius: We play every few months, really just long weekends. We never really completely stopped playing live for more than, I don't know, maybe we went for a 10 month stretch or something. I mean, when you're not making records, you're just not an active band, are you? But we've basically covered the west coast--mostly northern and southern California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona... not much, which is frustrating because I REALLY miss touring... but we were just in Texas a couple of months ago for the first time in several years, and it was great.

Bill: Dead Flowers, Bottles Bluegrass and Bones seemed to be noticeably faster and harder than your previous albums. Was this a reaction to the forming of the Filthy Thieving Bastards and having a different outlet for some of the softer material?

Darius: I pretty purposely wrote harder songs for that record, because it just felt like that's what we needed to do. I don't really know why, it just seemed like it was actually a different direction for us or something. I mean, there's only so much "experimentation" that you can do when you're a punk rock band. There was the hard stuff, like Elation or No Pariah, but then If You Want Me To and Shadows and Lies were really soft, really mellow. I like that contrast, and that's what I've always gone for, as far as the songs I've written for the band. We all have really eclectic tastes in music--we all listen to just about every genre. I don't care if it's traditional Greek music, big band, rap, soundtracks or Throbbing Gristle--if I like it, I like it. I like listening to music. Filthy Thieving Bastards has made it a lot easier, though. I write a lot of country/folk/pop/mellow kind of stuff--way more than I write punk rock--but in the last few years I know which songs are Utters songs and which songs are FTB songs.

Bill: How do you decide what band your songs go to? Is the writing process different for each band?

Darius: I generally consider FTB to be my "country" band, or kind of also my "pop" band, as in more or a 60's, Kinks kind of pop. Johnny writes punk stuff for that band as well, but I just refuse to write any punk for that band, because I don't really think of it as that kind of band at all--but Johnny writes pretty much in every genre for that band, which I love. He's really raised the bar, as far as songwriting goes for the Filthy Thieving Bastards. I haven't written much for the Re-Volts. That's got a bit of a more specific post-punk kinda vibe to it, I think. I don't know, it can get a little confusing I guess.

Bill: How long exactly has Jack been with the band? Has the dynamic changed with getting someone a bit younger?

Darius: Jack's been with us since either late '03 or early '04.... and I think we sound better than we ever have. I know that sounds like something some asshole rock star or professional athlete would say, but it's true. He's an old friend of ours, he's an awesome rhythm player, has a beautiful voice, and we all just adore the guy to death... oh and HA! I always thought he was a lot younger than us as well, but I'm only 6 months older than him.

Bill: How involved is the band with the upcoming tribute record on Red Scare Records? What was your initial reaction when Toby pitched the idea? Is there any information you can confirm about the status of it?

Darius: I'm not all that involved in it. I've been asked to be more involved, but that feels a little weird and self-important to me. I have no idea what the status is, as far as when it's coming out or anything. It's really flattering.

Bill: Are there plans for any new Utters releases in the near future?

Darius: I'm hoping that we'll be in the studio in May, for a new full length on Fat.... but who knows if it's gonna happen in May, so I'd say you can expect a new record somewhere between fall '09-early spring '10.

Bill: It’s been over five years since the band last hit the Midwest; has it been that long for the East Coast as well? Do you have any hopes or expectations for this upcoming tour after such an absence?

Darius: I'm just really excited. We're going to be touring more regularly again, finally. I really just want to be a real band again, that releases records and goes on tours--so as long as the Utters exist as a band, we'll be doing what we're supposed to do--touring and recording. Maybe not as much as a lot of other bands do, but as much as we can--we've got jobs and kids, etc. so it's not as easy for us, but we're all into it and we're all ready.

Bill: Now that Bush is finally out of office, will Spike have to retire the “Fuck Bu$h” stickers on his bass? On a more serious note, the Utters have always been extremely outspoken advocates of the working class. Are you optimistic about the incoming administration’s ability to deal with this economic crisis or are we already too far down?

Darius: I've got stickers on my guitars as well! I think we should take blow dryers to them and retire them. Be done with that piece of shit, finally... What a fucking stain on our country's history. I'm as optimistic as a reasonable person can be about Obama. I like the guy, but I only trust politicians so much. Either he's for real (like, a real person), or he's just another great politician like Clinton or Kennedy--which isn't always a great thing to be, as far as I'm concerned. I like to think somebody like MLK was for real, you know... and everybody's got this wish that Obama is gonna be that guy... As far as the economy, I can't really say I'm very educated about economics, but... recessions always end, don't they? I'm not sure it's going to be Obama that digs us out, but I'm sure things will get better, economically at least, in the next couple of years. In all other areas, I think the future is pretty bleak and kind of terrifying, what with the environment, and people hating us and all, but that's another discussion entirely...

Bill: Any last words or thoughts?

Darius: Fuck Bush?

Mike McColgan (Street Dogs) Interview (January 2009)

2009-02-02T17:02:00.006-06:00

Something tells me this guy has done some interviews before.

Bill Molloy: Hello?

Mike McColgan: Hey Bill this is Mike McColgan how are you?

Bill: I’m not too bad. Do you have time to do the interview now?

Mike: Yeah absolutely.

Bill: Alright. So the new record was your first on Hellcat and I always kind of wondered, Brass Tacks was your own label but under DRT?

Mike: Yeah, we still control the rights to that imprint. So it’s likely in the future that we’ll re-visit putting out artists and putting out releases but right now we’re just tied up with promoting State of Grace and getting ready to tour the US and Canada and Japan and Europe so we’ve got a full plate but down the line that’s something we’ll re-visit.

Bill: I was always kind of curious about that. A lot of bands seem to be doing the opposite of what you’re doing, leaving established labels and starting up their own stuff. So State of Grace has been out for about six or seven months now, so you’ve had some time to live with it and have done some touring on it already, how does it compare when you’re playing the songs live to the older ones that your fans know better now?

Mike: I think songs like “Kevin J. O’Toole,” songs like “Mean Fist,” songs like “Free” (pause) and even when we play the cover that was on State of Grace, “Into The Valley,” those get big responses from the crwd and it feels like the more we tour the more the songs become well known, you know, like “Not Without a Purpose” or “Back to the World” or “Savin Hill” or “Fighter.” They start to carve out their own niche when you present them to fans and give it time to permeate. And when you play it live as opposed to when it’s on a record it always takes on a different manifestation, there’s always a different vibe and I think people lock into our stuff more when we play it live than they would if they just listened to it sterile at home or in a car.

Bill: With the new record, at least what I got from listening to it, it definitely seemed a little more scaled back on the pace; it seemed much more of a traditional rock record. Was that an intentional thing?

Mike: I think… (pause) Any time you make a record, creatively, the outside influences influence you directly or indirectly. You know, with Savin Hill, Back to the World, Fading American Dream and State of Grace, each release is a window into where we were at the time we made it, with what we’re listening to and what we’re feeling. I don’t think it was a conscious decision of “well let’s slow it down and go for a big arena rock record” or anything like that. That never came up. I think what we just did was we just worked on the songs we had and we tried to make ‘em sound as good as possible. The thing with us, our mantra has always been to say, play and do whatever we want, you know what I mean, and not be afraid of the outcome. I mean if we’re going to be true to music and true to making records and doing it on our own terms that’s how you have to operate. You can’t play it safe and say “well we have to move at this clip tempo-wise to keep the kids happy or to keep our listeners happy.” You have to please yourself first creatively and it has to mean something to you legitimately or it’s not going to resonate or translate when you play it live. It’ll be contrived and distant. You have to be honest about it and present the songs win, lose, die or draw. I’m not concerned if we… if we were to succeed or again if we fail miserably I’m happy with either. I’m happy with either. To be as far along as we are now, to have four records and be on Hellcat and to have done all we’ve done, it’s gone beyond our expectations.

Bill: Yeah because when you started off it sort of a project type deal, play a couple shows and see what came from it?

Mike: Yeah, we had real humble expectations. “Well let’s play, play local shows and maybe record.” When we did that it took on a life of its own, and there was more of a demand for us than we had anticipated when we started so we kind of got swept up in it and I don’t think I have any regrets about that. I’m happy about all that we’ve done, all the tours we’ve been on and going from doing it half-way to all the way, 100%, you know. This band is a full time endeavor now, and it has been for quite some time actually, since September 2004. I mean, I’m just eternally grateful for being able to make records and being able to play live and do what I’m doing. Touring with the bands we have, doing the Warped Tour, being on Hellcat Records and having the opportunities we have, it blows my mind every day.

Bill: Since we’re getting back into the older days of the band, at what point did you notice that your audiences became an actual Street Dogs crowd instead of the curiosity seekers that knew you from Dropkick and the other guys from previous bands?

Mike: I’d say around when we released Fading American Dream in ’06 and we went on the road on our own, then I could see that there was a Street Dogs crowd. There were even kids who didn’t know that I had sang for DKM before and would come up to me at the merch table and say “You guys sound a lot like the Bouncing Souls or DKM.”

Bill: (hearty chuckle)

Mike: I don’t feel beholden to let the kids know I was in another band or “this is my pedigree.” I feel more comfortable with people finding that our on their own, you know what I mean? Because even though on stage I’m a ham and very gregarious and out-going, when I talk to the fans I’m not a grandstander or an ego driven guy. I don’t like saying “this is what I’ve done.” I even cringe a little bit when I read or bio and see all that stuff written about it, but it’s our story. It is my story and it is what I’ve been through but I don’t want to ever bee construed as a guy who’s full of himself. I try to stay right, keep my feet on the ground, just do the best I can. But to get back to your question, yeah it was around ’06 that I started to realize that we did have an audience and it was exclusive to us. I’ve seen it on the Warped tour this summer and the follow up tour, the State of Grace fall tour in the US. Even in Europe when we went with Flogging Molly I could see our people coming out too. I’m grateful for it.

Bill: It’s kind of funny that say that time period because I remember the first couple times I’d seen the band it was a good show, great always, but in Fall of ’06 on that Bouncing Souls tour is when you started playing at least one Dropkick song. I can’t remember for the life of me what it is but I know there was one.

Mike: I think it was either “Road of the Righteous” or “Get Up.”

Bill: That’s it, it was “Get Up.”

Mike: When we were rehearsing for that tour I just thought for fun “let’s kick a couple of them around” and we ended up doing it on The Gold Tour. I think once we’d completed The Gold Tour I felt comfortable walking away from doing that because we had a pretty deep arsenal of songs on our own.

Bill: Yeah by that time you had three records already.

Mike: I just wanted to present those to people, things of that nature. I don’t really get much of that anymore. I mean when we first started I got a lot of that but now I don’t get that any more at all, which is kind of shocking because I had expected that to continue at least on some small level, but it really hasn’t. And the Bouncing Souls, you want to talk about an institution or a band that does things on their own terms, they were coming up on their twentieth anniversary. Those are the greatest guys and truest guys in this genre, or in this business, period. They’ve been nothing but friends and a great positive example to us.

Bill: Yeah I’ve worked a couple shows with them and they’re always super nice, really helpful.

Mike: They really are an amazing band and great people. We were very, very grateful for the opportunity they gave us in ’06 to be on that tour. It was a really big tour for us.

Bill: It definitely was. In Chicago you played The Metro, and before you were playing at the old Bottom Lounge and the Irish Heritage Center then all of a sudden you’re playing in a place that holds one thousand people.

Mike: Last time we were in Chicago we played Reggie’s Rock Club with Flatfoot 56, that was a great show. Chicago’s almost, I mean Boston’s where we’re originally from and that’ll always be home, but Chicago’s like a surrogate home. It’s an amazing city, you’re lucky to live there.

Bill: Yeah it’s a pretty awesome scene, there are always at least one or two shows every week. I’m low on money so I can’t go most of them.

Mike: Common problem these days.

Bill: Now obviously you started in Boston, but was it just you that moved to LA, are the rest of the guys still in there?

Mike: Actually I’m in Los Angeles and… it’s a funny story. I’m in Los Angeles, our drummer Paul is in Los Angeles and the other guys are in Texas. Johnny moved to Texas because his wife and her family live there. You know we have a pretty rigorous touring schedule every year. We’re clocking in at about an average of eight months out of twelve ever year. My wife is from Los Angeles, his wife is from Houston. We just wanted to be considerate of their needs and how difficult it is when we’re out on the road and away. That kind of precipitated my move over here and his move to Houston. I mean that’s where we’re all living right now but at the end of the day we started in a little club in Somerville, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. In our minds, our hearts, our souls and our spirit that’s our home. It’s where it all started so that’s what we feel comfortable saying, that we’re from Boston, because that’s where it all started and you can hear it in the music and how we present ourselves. As the sports fanatics that we are that’s where we choose to keep it.

Bill: Has the geographical distance made the writing process more difficult?

Mike: Well generally when we go to make a record, we’ll allot a certain amount of time, usually about a month, for writing, demoing, pre-production. Then on the heels of that we’ll go into tracking in the studio which takes about the same amount of time. I think what we plan on doing with our next release, we’re looking at January or February of 2010 to do our next release on Hellcat, start up the next release cycle. Until then we’ll just promote State of Grace, go all over the world for that. That’s how we do our records, get together for that time to work on songs, whether it’s in Los Angeles or Houston or even if we travel to Boston. Maybe find a little place in Cambridge. We find a way to make it work. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. When people are in all the way for a project they make it work, you know? There are a lot of bands that are spread out in where they live.

Bill: With this upcoming tour, the Crooked Drunken Sons tour, on the promo poster it’s billed as the first annual. Are there any grand ambitions to make this a yearly thing?

Mike: (pause) Um… (pause). I wouldn’t like, I’d like to see it go more than one year. We have the Swingin’ Utters headlining shows with us and to have Shot Baker there it’s a dream come true. I mean, that’s a bill that I would pray for and then it happens. It might go beyond on year. If it does, it does. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. It’d be nice to be able to go every year around this time and take some bands you love out on the road, have some big shows and get people their money’s worth, you know?

Bill: You’ve been doing work with OxFam lately. Care to explain how that came about and what exactly you do?

Mike: Well I bumped into some of their representatives at the Shamrock Fest several years ago. Basically what they’re trying to do is help impoverished people, people hit by a natural disaster, trying to empower people to grow food, empower them to be educated, help people get the inoculations and shots they need to stay healthy. I don’t think they have a political agenda; they just want to help people, so that appealed to me. That appealed to all the guys in the group. We put them out on front street because, we just… there are kids out at shows and they want to make a difference, they want to do something. They’ll tell you stories about their lives and they want to help out. We feel like OxFam gives a chance to people to maybe donate a little bit or volunteer. I feel like it’s a positive thing, for change, for one person at a time. It’s pretty wide sweeping. So that’s why we got involved. It’s just the right thing to do to help people and reach out to the less fortunate.

Bill: Is the food drive for the upcoming tour going through OxFam?

Mike: Well basically what we want to do when we go out on the Crooked, Drunken Sons tour is collect canned goods, find local food banks in the cities we’re playing and just hand the food over to them to get to people that are homeless. I think generally speaking in most cities, food banks and homeless shelters and places like that, when they distribute food, not only can they locate canned goods but they can find who to hand them over to. As far as fire department relief funds, we think what we want to do is split up the dates to alternate canned goods and donations to fire relief agencies. I think what will most likely happen is that people will contribute to both so each city will get something to the right agencies.

Bill: Now when you were talking about why you worked with OxFam earlier that it’s not very political. Now going back you’ve said things like that for awhile, I know on the first record you had “Don’t Preach To Me” about celebrities talking about politics. But within the last couple years, the Street Dogs have gotten huge and within certain circles you are a celebrity. How do you deal with that?

Mike: You know it’s funny because the last… (pause) In our way of thinking in the band we definitely don’t think we’re huge. We’re not you know, selling millions of records or showing up on TV or radio or anything like that. So we feel like we’re still grassroots, accessible, organic, not on a bus, know what I mean? So in our way of thinking we aren’t so huge. And even if we did, if that happens, the big thing with us is that we want to stay accessible to the people that come and see us. Whether that’s just talking at a show, in the club, at the merch table or afterwards, because without for fans you’re zero, you’re nothing. They sustain you, maintains you and allows you to do what you’re doing so there’s a big level of gratitude on our part, towards that. I think what I mean to say is that when I talk to them, there is debate and discussion over certain things. When we express things through song or our website, our myspace, our facebook, whatever, we’re not trying to indoctrinate people. We’re not trying to say “if you don’t think like us, you’re wrong.” We firmly believe in freedom of speech and freedom of choice. And I stress that when I talk to people when I’m at shows or even in interviews. We’re not heavy handed or self righteous or raging from a bull pulpit. That’s not our style at all. The weirdest thing about standing up on stage, it’s definitely going to bring you under some scrutiny or under the spotlight sometimes, but I don’t think I would ever tell people “you gotta think like me” or “you gotta get this or you’re wrong.” That’s certainly not how we conduct ourselves. We want to write about what’s inside of us, what compels us, what alienates us, what makes us happy, what makes us sad or glad. So that’s how we’ve always liked it. I think when I wrote the song “Don’t Preach To Me” I felt that in certain instances there are celebrities, actors, actresses, even big sporting figures that express their views and got a little too self righteous, got a little too full of themselves and made it into “this way or the highway.” In a democracy and freedom, the first amendment always gives space for people to have different opinions and different beliefs. That’s what the whole system’s based on anyway as far as our government.

Bill: Alright, I just have one more written down question and it’s not even a real question actually. What are the top five worst things about the Yankees?

Mike: (chuckle) Top five worst things about the Yankees. I’d say number five, A Rod. Number four, Derek Jeter. Number three, Jason Giambi.

Bill: Cheater.

Mike: Two, Brian Cashman. And number one, George Steinbrenner.

Bill: Yeah, you got pretty much what I would’ve said. Any last words, thoughts, questions or anything?

Mike: No, just thanks for the interview and hopefully this year coming up we can play Riot Fest. We talked to the Bosstones about it and they said it was great. They love Chicago just like we do so it’d be fun to play there again.

Bill: Yeah I’m kind of bummed you guys aren’t able to play the Chicago date on this tour with the Utters, but it happens.

Mike: I think what we may do potentially is in the summer go out with The Aggrolites and swing through Chicago, maybe even do two nights in a smaller venue. Generally every time we go through there, and I’m not just kissing your ass because you’re giving me an interview, we genuinely love the city. It’s the type of city where there’s so much stuff and it’d be great to live.

Bill: Alright, cool. Thanks for your time.

Mike: Alright Bill, take care man.

Bill: You too. Bye.