So, for those of you who might not know the Fest in Gainesville is this weekend. This will be my third year attending and I cannot wait. It's like an early Christmas for punk kids all around the world. To celebrate I am going to try and get some interviews with bands and maybe talk to some people on the street. I'd like to keep a daily log of my three days spent at the Fest as well. This is what my schedule for the Fest looks like in case anyone wants to come and say "Hi."
Friday
Laura Steveson: 6:10-6:40 (CMC)
Margurdergrind: 6:50-7:20 (Common Grounds)
Arms Aloft: 7:40-8:10 (Durty Nellys)
Failures Union: 8:00-8:30 (Kickstand)
Hard Girls: 8:50-9:20 (kickstand)
Matt Kurz: 9:30-10:00 (CMC)
Spanish Gamble: 10:30-11:00 (1982)
The Venue the rest of the night
Saturday
Banner Pilot: 2:50-3:20 (CG)
Dear Landlord: 3:40-4:10 (CG)
AJJ: 4:40-5:10 (CMC)
Measure: 5:20-5:50 (CG)
Kevin Seconds: 7:00-7:30 (CMC)
Religious as Fuck: 7:30-8:00 (1982)
WATU: 9:40-? (Rion Ballroom)
In Defence: 10:00-10:30 (1982)
Common Grounds the rest of the night
Sunday
Broadway Calls: 2:00-2:30 (The Venue)
OWTH: 2:50-3:20 (The Venue)
Radon: 4:50-5:30 (The Venue)
Teenage Cool Kids: 6:10-6:40 (George’s)
American Cheeseburger: 8:00-8:30(Market Street Pub)
Kickstand the rest of the night
If you want more information, please check out the Fest website.
www.thefestfl.com
See ya at the Fest!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Review: Hard Girls-Hello EP
Dear Hard Girls,
Hey guys, Timmy here I just wanted to let you know that you should have put this EP out at the beginning of the summer.
Love, me.
That pretty much sums up how I feel about the latest release from San Jose's Hard Girls. If you are unaware of Hard Girls they are a super group (sort of) featuring Max and Morgan of Pteradon and Mike from Shinobu. They also provide a backing band for Jesse Michaels' new project Classics of Love.
Each member is talented in their own right and have something to bring to the table with their instrument of choice. Max is one of the best current drummers out there, though he plays nothing overtly complicated he is dynamic in his own way. Morgan's bass lines are smooth and run perfectly with Mike's Pavement/Modest Mouse inspired guitar work. Unlike Shinobu, Mike lays off the distortion and feedback and lets the guitar ring beautifully.
As far as vocals go, both Morgan and Mike share them in most of the songs. Morgan has a desperate approach to his vocal delivery, like that breathe will be his last. You can tell he studies in the school of No Idea, where as Mike uses his typically soothing vocals that make Shinobu so enjoyable. This kind of vocal dynamic in punk rock seems rather cliche in a scene full of bands like the Lawrence Arms, Hot Water Music, and Alkaline Trio, but there's no doubt that Hard Girls are attempting to form their own niche.
That niche could be found in the lyrics. To put it simply, Hard Girls is Shinobu , but more fun? I don't know how else to say it, but instead of introspective tales of devils in the woods and Communist Russia, Hard Girls just wanna have fun. Nowhere can that be found then in the last track on the EP, "Beach Party", which reminds me of those late summer nights when you would go out to the beach with some friends just because there was nothing better to do. That is the overall feeling of this EP and this sudden fall weather is ruining the great vibe I get from this release, but that's O.K. there is always next summer.
All-in-all Hello is a great effort and makes me yearn for a full length in the near future. That seems rather unlikely when you consider all the other projects these guys have going on at once, but one can dream right? For now, I will enjoy this EP and the four songs on a split they put out last year. Together they make a full length, so that's good enough I guess. I can't wait to see these guys live at the Fest and to hear more!
P.S. You can check out the video for "Beach Party" below this post.
P.S.S. You can download this EP and other great releases at:
www.quoteunquoterecords.com
Hey guys, Timmy here I just wanted to let you know that you should have put this EP out at the beginning of the summer.
Love, me.
That pretty much sums up how I feel about the latest release from San Jose's Hard Girls. If you are unaware of Hard Girls they are a super group (sort of) featuring Max and Morgan of Pteradon and Mike from Shinobu. They also provide a backing band for Jesse Michaels' new project Classics of Love.
Each member is talented in their own right and have something to bring to the table with their instrument of choice. Max is one of the best current drummers out there, though he plays nothing overtly complicated he is dynamic in his own way. Morgan's bass lines are smooth and run perfectly with Mike's Pavement/Modest Mouse inspired guitar work. Unlike Shinobu, Mike lays off the distortion and feedback and lets the guitar ring beautifully.
As far as vocals go, both Morgan and Mike share them in most of the songs. Morgan has a desperate approach to his vocal delivery, like that breathe will be his last. You can tell he studies in the school of No Idea, where as Mike uses his typically soothing vocals that make Shinobu so enjoyable. This kind of vocal dynamic in punk rock seems rather cliche in a scene full of bands like the Lawrence Arms, Hot Water Music, and Alkaline Trio, but there's no doubt that Hard Girls are attempting to form their own niche.
That niche could be found in the lyrics. To put it simply, Hard Girls is Shinobu , but more fun? I don't know how else to say it, but instead of introspective tales of devils in the woods and Communist Russia, Hard Girls just wanna have fun. Nowhere can that be found then in the last track on the EP, "Beach Party", which reminds me of those late summer nights when you would go out to the beach with some friends just because there was nothing better to do. That is the overall feeling of this EP and this sudden fall weather is ruining the great vibe I get from this release, but that's O.K. there is always next summer.
All-in-all Hello is a great effort and makes me yearn for a full length in the near future. That seems rather unlikely when you consider all the other projects these guys have going on at once, but one can dream right? For now, I will enjoy this EP and the four songs on a split they put out last year. Together they make a full length, so that's good enough I guess. I can't wait to see these guys live at the Fest and to hear more!
P.S. You can check out the video for "Beach Party" below this post.
P.S.S. You can download this EP and other great releases at:
www.quoteunquoterecords.com
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hard Girls-Beach Party music video
Awesome band, awesome song, and my friend Jose is in the video. Enjoy, I want to review this EP very soon. Stay tuned.
Review: Bomb the Music Industry!-Scrambles
Every now and then an artist comes along who you think can do no wrong. Ian Mackaye comes to mind with all his successful projects (minus Pailhead). Mackaye’s credibility goes beyond just his music talent though; most of it comes to his total dedication to Do-It-Yourself ethic of this ever growing community that we know as “punk.” Jeff Rosenstock of Bomb the Music Industry seems to be well on his way to becoming a modern Ian Mackaye if he already is not one. Those of course, are some big shoes to fill, but Rosenstock’s career is full of Mackayeisms.
Mackayeism No.1: Large moderately successful independent label that is changing the idea of how artists can distribute their music.
Mackayeism No.2: An amazing, moderately successful band that is already influencing several up and coming artists.
And last and not least Mackayeism No.3: Respect in the underground DIY community.
Mackayeism No.4 would be the latest release from Bomb the Music Industry, Scrambles, which applies to Ian Mackaye’s inability to release any terrible piece of music. Scrambles had some very large expectations to fill after the phenomenal Get Warmer, the last full length effort from Bomb the Music Industry and like Get Warmer, the first track on Scrambles; “Cold Chillin’ Cold Chillin’” is not all that good, much like “Jobs Schmobs” the first track on Get Warmer. It is a decent song, but with the odd distorted vocals in the beginning, the song seems to lack that punch an opening track should have. That is all right, because as soon as that song is out of the way you get a fabulous one-two punch of “Stuff That I Like” and “It Shits!” two of the albums best tracks. I guess one could consider these songs “singles” if that we were in the music business. Both songs have a BTMI signature which is the one line in the song that will be stuck in your head for days on end. In “Stuff That I Like” there is super catchy line within the verse that goes “Your fuckin’ cocaine party is fuckin’ freakin’ me out”, which will be stuck in your head as soon as you hear it and in “It Shits!” there is another catchy line that goes “Pass out on opposite ends of a couch, of a couch, of a couch, of a couch.” That will run over and over in your mind, even as you sleep (perhaps on a couch?) “It Shits!” also features a cameo by Kepi Ghoulie in which he delivers one of the catchiest verses in the entire song. Three cheers for awesome Asian Man Records artist collaborations!
After both of the singles comes what Rosenstock had promised before the album was released, some seriously rockin’ piano jams. “Fresh Attitude, Young Body”, “Wednesday Night Drink Ball” and “25!” are all Andrew WK inspired piano outings that all seem to link together all rather nicely. They all bring the level of epic to this record up about 10 notches. With its montage-like feel “Fresh Attitude, Young Body” swirls with pianos, synthesizers and a driving drum beat that makes you forget just how depressing the song lyrics are. Same goes for “Wednesday Night Drink Ball”, which is a slower tune mourning nights spent drinking all alone. “25!” speeds up the pace with a tale of feeling like you’ll never grow up and face adult responsibilities. Really, when you break it down all three of these songs are all rather depressing, but are so epic you feel like you can conquer your problems (or at least Jeff Rosenstock can).
From here on, Scrambles kind of hits a mediocre spot. “2,500,000” is another slow depressing song that questions internet celebrity, but isn’t as epic as you’d think. “Gang of Four Meets the Stooges (But Boring)” and “9/11 Fever!!!” are songs that could have probably been b-sides for this record. The first one is about a really bad experience the band had on a stop on tour with an unnamed band at a house show that took all the money made at the door. The second seems like it would have fit in more on the split with O Pioneers!!!, because it’s the only “political” song on the album and just does not seem to fit, but it does lead into one of the hardest songs to learn all the words too that Rosenstock has ever penned, “(Shut) Up the Punx!!!” This song is a total tongue twister. With Rosenstocks incoherent rapid delivery vocals, it makes me wonder how some people learn all the words to his songs. The song itself has all the best elements of a BTMI song though: featuring horns, an actual ska beat and crazy synthesizers all over the place. Plus, he’s dissing all those punk kids who ruin hotel parties.
Although an awesome song title “Can I Pay My Rent In Fun?” lacks any punch you’d expect from a BTMI song, but that’s all right because it ends rather quickly and you get to the two shining moments on the entire album “Saddr Weirdr” and “Sort of Like Being Pumped.” Despite everyone’s complaints of the original “Saddr Weirdr” demo being so much better than the album version, this song is perfect. The chorus, the verses, the instrumentation, and the lyrics are all perfect. If this album only came with 13 versions of this song, I would be content. Following in the tradition of awesome epic closing tracks “Sort of Like Being Pumped” follows through flawlessly. It too, like most of the album, has a rather depressing feel to it, but ends on an uplifting tone. The only slight problem with the song with some listeners might be the constant repetition of “I saw” over and over till the end of the song. Other than that, I have no complaints.
Scrambles has solidified itself as a contender for my top 10 of 2009 and will probably grace many lists with its presence. It is in a long line of solid releases from Mr. Rosenstock, who has not seemed to have lost any steam and hopefully we can see more great releases in the future while on his way to obtaining the utlitmate Mackayeism: Punk rock immortality. It’s a fact, look it up.
www.quoteunquoterecords.com
Mackayeism No.1: Large moderately successful independent label that is changing the idea of how artists can distribute their music.
Mackayeism No.2: An amazing, moderately successful band that is already influencing several up and coming artists.
And last and not least Mackayeism No.3: Respect in the underground DIY community.
Mackayeism No.4 would be the latest release from Bomb the Music Industry, Scrambles, which applies to Ian Mackaye’s inability to release any terrible piece of music. Scrambles had some very large expectations to fill after the phenomenal Get Warmer, the last full length effort from Bomb the Music Industry and like Get Warmer, the first track on Scrambles; “Cold Chillin’ Cold Chillin’” is not all that good, much like “Jobs Schmobs” the first track on Get Warmer. It is a decent song, but with the odd distorted vocals in the beginning, the song seems to lack that punch an opening track should have. That is all right, because as soon as that song is out of the way you get a fabulous one-two punch of “Stuff That I Like” and “It Shits!” two of the albums best tracks. I guess one could consider these songs “singles” if that we were in the music business. Both songs have a BTMI signature which is the one line in the song that will be stuck in your head for days on end. In “Stuff That I Like” there is super catchy line within the verse that goes “Your fuckin’ cocaine party is fuckin’ freakin’ me out”, which will be stuck in your head as soon as you hear it and in “It Shits!” there is another catchy line that goes “Pass out on opposite ends of a couch, of a couch, of a couch, of a couch.” That will run over and over in your mind, even as you sleep (perhaps on a couch?) “It Shits!” also features a cameo by Kepi Ghoulie in which he delivers one of the catchiest verses in the entire song. Three cheers for awesome Asian Man Records artist collaborations!
After both of the singles comes what Rosenstock had promised before the album was released, some seriously rockin’ piano jams. “Fresh Attitude, Young Body”, “Wednesday Night Drink Ball” and “25!” are all Andrew WK inspired piano outings that all seem to link together all rather nicely. They all bring the level of epic to this record up about 10 notches. With its montage-like feel “Fresh Attitude, Young Body” swirls with pianos, synthesizers and a driving drum beat that makes you forget just how depressing the song lyrics are. Same goes for “Wednesday Night Drink Ball”, which is a slower tune mourning nights spent drinking all alone. “25!” speeds up the pace with a tale of feeling like you’ll never grow up and face adult responsibilities. Really, when you break it down all three of these songs are all rather depressing, but are so epic you feel like you can conquer your problems (or at least Jeff Rosenstock can).
From here on, Scrambles kind of hits a mediocre spot. “2,500,000” is another slow depressing song that questions internet celebrity, but isn’t as epic as you’d think. “Gang of Four Meets the Stooges (But Boring)” and “9/11 Fever!!!” are songs that could have probably been b-sides for this record. The first one is about a really bad experience the band had on a stop on tour with an unnamed band at a house show that took all the money made at the door. The second seems like it would have fit in more on the split with O Pioneers!!!, because it’s the only “political” song on the album and just does not seem to fit, but it does lead into one of the hardest songs to learn all the words too that Rosenstock has ever penned, “(Shut) Up the Punx!!!” This song is a total tongue twister. With Rosenstocks incoherent rapid delivery vocals, it makes me wonder how some people learn all the words to his songs. The song itself has all the best elements of a BTMI song though: featuring horns, an actual ska beat and crazy synthesizers all over the place. Plus, he’s dissing all those punk kids who ruin hotel parties.
Although an awesome song title “Can I Pay My Rent In Fun?” lacks any punch you’d expect from a BTMI song, but that’s all right because it ends rather quickly and you get to the two shining moments on the entire album “Saddr Weirdr” and “Sort of Like Being Pumped.” Despite everyone’s complaints of the original “Saddr Weirdr” demo being so much better than the album version, this song is perfect. The chorus, the verses, the instrumentation, and the lyrics are all perfect. If this album only came with 13 versions of this song, I would be content. Following in the tradition of awesome epic closing tracks “Sort of Like Being Pumped” follows through flawlessly. It too, like most of the album, has a rather depressing feel to it, but ends on an uplifting tone. The only slight problem with the song with some listeners might be the constant repetition of “I saw” over and over till the end of the song. Other than that, I have no complaints.
Scrambles has solidified itself as a contender for my top 10 of 2009 and will probably grace many lists with its presence. It is in a long line of solid releases from Mr. Rosenstock, who has not seemed to have lost any steam and hopefully we can see more great releases in the future while on his way to obtaining the utlitmate Mackayeism: Punk rock immortality. It’s a fact, look it up.
www.quoteunquoterecords.com
Monday, October 12, 2009
Review: Classics of Love-Walking in Shadows
Before this review, I will issue a warning to anyone hoping and dreaming that Jesse Michaels will return to his Operation Ivy roots, because his new project Classics of Love sounds nothing like the latter. Now that that issue is out of the way, I can focus on the review at hand.
It’s true, Classics of Love sounds nothing like Operation Ivy, and in fact it is much more reminiscent of Common Rider, Michael’s last band. Except this time, there seems to be no ska influence on the overall sound of the band. Just imagine all the more punk sounding songs on This is Unity Music and you have a decent idea of what the Classics of Love sound like. The comparison seems rather fair when you consider that and the split with Against All Authority were the last releases from Common Rider. Each had more of a punk rock sound opposed to say, Last Wave Rockers. Part of the departure from the ska-punk sound could be because this time around Michaels recruited a straight forward punk band Hard Girls from San Jose to serve as his backing band. (You might recognize the guitar player and vocalist of Hard Girls as Mike from the band Shinobu.) The term “backing band” sounds wrong to use to describe them though, because the band is not Jesse Michaels and the Hard Girls, Classics of Love is indeed its own entity.
As far as the music goes, it’s very melodic punk rock played at what seems a perfect tempo. It’s never too fast or too slow, but still holds your attention. For a band that has only been around for less than a year, they sound incredibly tight. I am sure the fact that Hard Girls have been playing longer together helps them remain tight and obviously Michaels knows what he wrote to begin with. The only song that sounds slightly ska influenced would be the last and title track “Walking in Shadows”, which features that signature Eastern sounding bass line that you can find in many Common Rider songs.
Besides upsetting all those rude boys out there, the real disappointment, for me at least is the lack of Michaels’ signature vocal delivery. Anyone who follows Michaels’ career knows exactly what I am talking about. For those who don’t know, ever since Operation Ivy, Michaels has been known to recite his lyrics like he is rapping. It is not evident on every song, but you can find perfect examples of it throughout his career. With Classics of Love though, he seems to focus more on just singing his lyrics. It works though. There is great melody within the songs that make them great for sing-a-longs and no one can get tongue tied with his quick rhymes. The lyrics are not ultra metaphoric or poetic so they won’t go over any typical punk’s head, but they are still thoughtful and what you would expect from a wordsmith as talented as Michaels.
All in all, Walking in Shadows is a great debut which was released by Asian Man Records, so you know its quality material. It fits very well with the feeling of summer time and hopefully they will get up and tour more nationally over the summer. I mean, the least they could do is play the Fest in October down in Gainesville, because I for one would love to hear these songs live and I am sure all the other devoted Jesse Michaels fans are just as eager.
www.asianmanrecords.com
www.myspace.com/classicsofloveband
It’s true, Classics of Love sounds nothing like Operation Ivy, and in fact it is much more reminiscent of Common Rider, Michael’s last band. Except this time, there seems to be no ska influence on the overall sound of the band. Just imagine all the more punk sounding songs on This is Unity Music and you have a decent idea of what the Classics of Love sound like. The comparison seems rather fair when you consider that and the split with Against All Authority were the last releases from Common Rider. Each had more of a punk rock sound opposed to say, Last Wave Rockers. Part of the departure from the ska-punk sound could be because this time around Michaels recruited a straight forward punk band Hard Girls from San Jose to serve as his backing band. (You might recognize the guitar player and vocalist of Hard Girls as Mike from the band Shinobu.) The term “backing band” sounds wrong to use to describe them though, because the band is not Jesse Michaels and the Hard Girls, Classics of Love is indeed its own entity.
As far as the music goes, it’s very melodic punk rock played at what seems a perfect tempo. It’s never too fast or too slow, but still holds your attention. For a band that has only been around for less than a year, they sound incredibly tight. I am sure the fact that Hard Girls have been playing longer together helps them remain tight and obviously Michaels knows what he wrote to begin with. The only song that sounds slightly ska influenced would be the last and title track “Walking in Shadows”, which features that signature Eastern sounding bass line that you can find in many Common Rider songs.
Besides upsetting all those rude boys out there, the real disappointment, for me at least is the lack of Michaels’ signature vocal delivery. Anyone who follows Michaels’ career knows exactly what I am talking about. For those who don’t know, ever since Operation Ivy, Michaels has been known to recite his lyrics like he is rapping. It is not evident on every song, but you can find perfect examples of it throughout his career. With Classics of Love though, he seems to focus more on just singing his lyrics. It works though. There is great melody within the songs that make them great for sing-a-longs and no one can get tongue tied with his quick rhymes. The lyrics are not ultra metaphoric or poetic so they won’t go over any typical punk’s head, but they are still thoughtful and what you would expect from a wordsmith as talented as Michaels.
All in all, Walking in Shadows is a great debut which was released by Asian Man Records, so you know its quality material. It fits very well with the feeling of summer time and hopefully they will get up and tour more nationally over the summer. I mean, the least they could do is play the Fest in October down in Gainesville, because I for one would love to hear these songs live and I am sure all the other devoted Jesse Michaels fans are just as eager.
www.asianmanrecords.com
www.myspace.com/classicsofloveband
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Second old interview
This second interview, is an old one way back from last spring with a fellow Mitch Clem Forum member from the Great White North.
Believe it or not, Canada has a rich punk rock history. With legends like DOA coming from up north during the early 1980s to the critically acclaimed Fucked Up, Canada has nothing to prove to the rest of the punk rock community. The Knife Party, are one of those bands full of Canadian punk tradition. Borrowing from bands like the Dwarves and the Stooges the Knife Party are a Canuck force to be reckoned with. I sat down with their drummer Eric Bourque, a member of the same punk rock message board as me and asked him all about being a band from Canada and my obscure attempts at trying to make a connection to the Ergs!
Me: What is it like being a band from Canada?
Eric: Probably the same as being a band from America, except you have to move your gear in -40C weather and sometimes up to 35cm of snow. The parka is punk rock in Canada out of necessity.
Me: Is it harder to try and get shows in the states and do you think it's better to cross the border to get your name out there?
Eric: Yeah it’s kinda rough. We’re still a pretty new band, so we haven’t put a ton of effort in, but other bands from around here have had some hard tours in the States. Some of the biggest punk bands in Canada are almost unknown across the border. The Replacements, Ripcordz, Forgotten Rebels, D.O.A… They get minimum name droppage at best. Even some of the all-time great New Brunswick bands (past and present) don’t get a lot of exposure West of Quebec. It’s never really been a concern to us, though. We’ve got a really strong (albeit small) punk scene here, but it’s more than enough for Knife Party to be content with. We’ll be trying for a little touring from here through to Ontario next year sometime, but in the meantime we’re working out kinks in the live show.
Me: Your lyrics seem rather aggressive and slightly sarcastic, who writes them?
Eric: I wrote all the lyrics for the first demo (Just Like You, Only Better) and Danny Whoremoan wrote a few tracks off the upcoming EP we’re working on. Half the songs are sarcastic and the other half are about movies and video games. I write what I know, which is mainly pop culture and shitty people, so I guess that reflects in the music. I was a little younger and going through a stressful period of my life when the first half of the demo was written. All the songs were written over the course of a year and all reflect my moods. At first, I didn’t write so much about being angry, as much as aggressively disappointed in people in general. It came to a head in Clusterfuck, which is admittedly a little harsh, and then I just gave up on making sense of people’s actions and just got ridiculous with the song writing. That’s when Just Like You, Killdorado, River City and Death By Dialogue were written. Killdorado’s about a friend’s overreaction to noisy kids at a restaurant, Death By Dialogue is about a guy I worked with who had the same fight every night with his lady, Mutated Street Beatniks is about Mike Allred’s Madman comic, and River City Ransom is about how awesome River City Ransom is.
Me: I know that River City Ransom is a video game, do you guys play a lot of them and why write a song about that game?
Eric: River City Ransom, along with Galaga (which I have a tattoo of on the back of my neck) were my favorite games as a kid. River City Ransom was the first game I could wrap my head around as a kid and kinda relate to. It’s a virtually generic storyline now (save the girl) but it was my first time playing a game with that story that didn’t confuse the shit out of me like Super Mario Bros. did (Mushrooms, duck-turtles, Goombas? The fuck?). Plus, I love that your little dude got better at stuff over time, what with the experience points and move upgrades and stuff. It was just awesome. We were messing around the in the jam room one day just talking about old games and the song just wrote itself.
Me: Any Ergs connection?
Eric: Ah, okay. Great song, but no connection. I don't think that song has anything to do with the game. I think River City is just a catchy thing to say.
Me: Also, I was just reading some of the lyrics and thought maybe people who take some the lyrics as "women" hating. I don't think you are chavunist though, I listen to the Dwarves so I guess I'm unmoved by it?
Eric: Dwarves rock. My other band covers Back Seat Of My Car. Most people don't understand a word Danny is saying, so we've been safe on that front.
Me: Many of the songs seem to deal with kids who are perhaps "posers" or "poseurs" in the punk rock scene are there several kids like this in your local scene?
Eric: Nah, not really. I never really liked the term poseur anyway. No one was born into a pair of bondage pants and a leather jacket. We all dressed like douches at one point or another. Calling someone a poseur just screams insecure. The only theme in our songs close to that is of liars. Punk Rock Fairytale in particular, is about moving to town from wherever and just talking shit and dropping names thinking you’ll impress me. Yeah, you know Jeff Rosenstock? Cool, I hear he’s nice. I like his musi- Oh yeah, that song’s about you, eh? Uh huh, uh huh…Even if it’s true, I’m tuned out by the ninth anecdote. Not sure why it irks me, it just does.
Me: Do you guys ever get pegged as a chavunist band? Or does that kind of go with the garage rock style?
Eric: Not that I know of. We get pegged as a ska band a lot because we wear matching black suits and pink ties, but it’s hard to call a band that sings about video games and comic books chauvinist. What do you think? Do we come off that way?
Me: That is funny about the ska thing, because that would happen to my old band, but only because we had someone who played trumpet...on one song that was far from ska.
Eric: We've had walk outs once people saw us. The other night at a club, some guy asked if I was going to "rat him out" for smoking in the bathroom. I couldn't understand why I would and his explanation was I was wearing a suit, therefore "could not be trusted". Ah...punx...At least the ladies like the suits.
Honestly, the suit thing was an idea brought up on day one of being a band and as our sound progressed and our set list grew, I found it became more important to follow through on it. We didn't want to draw any similarities to other bands in and around Moncton in terms of sound—and that essentially went hand-in-hand with our look, too. I'm not saying that everyone in Moncton looks the same and blah blah blah blurghity blah whatever… We just didn't want to be lumped in as another run-of-the-mill punk rock band, so we thought the best way to stand out onstage was take our style polar-opposite. Instead of dressing homeless, we dressed corporate and classy, but added the pink ties for that touch of sass. Also, because it made our bass player uncomfortable to wear pink. Another benefit was it made us more recognizable. It creates a band image. The Ramones, unfortunately, beat us to the best look by a few years and I was doing a lot of reading on the history of the suit at the time and said fuck it. I really like suits, so let's wear them. Now we're the "guys that wear the sissy little pink ties."
Me: What exactly is "Tainthammer" about?
Eric: Ah, "TAINTHAMMER." The most feared move in MMA history! We like writing over the top hardcore songs from time-to-time, like KILLDORADO on the first demo. We wanted to do another one and a buddy of mine had recently moved to Montreal to take up MMA training professionally, so we decided to write him some theme music. Tainthammer actually came from a deleted scene on the Human Giant – Season 1 DVD. We’re big Human Giant fans and the Tainthammer was a bit of a running joke for awhile. Like anything awesome, we jumped at the chance to turn it into a song. Stay tuned for Jason Vorhees: Cockblock on the next release.
Me: Recently your record was reviewed by Razorcake, how did that feel seeing that?
Eric: It has been an adjustment. People don’t look at us the same way. We’re by and far the most respected and renowned band from New Brunswick in the past 30 years now. We get a lot of calls from people who claim we used to hang out with, but it’s hard to keep remember everyone once you’ve become the only band to shatter the Punk Rock Glass Ceiling so many have tried and failed to even reach. Actually, nothing’s changed at all. We haven’t sold a single fucking demo and I’m pretty sure we didn’t even make it to the actual printed magazine. So it’s just sitting there on the World Wide Web for anyone to read and forget about. Maybe We did thank Craven for the kind words. Clearly, he likes bad music as much as we do.
Me: Did you feel like you accomplished something?
Eric: We make minimalist rock & roll music with a front man you either love or hate instantly (but you should really get to know). We’re gaining an O.K. following and we’ve played with some fantastic bands and met some really great people we’d never have had the chance to meet as a result of Knife Party. For something we started out of fun, and never expected to take off at all, the fact we’re still enjoying it and getting the odd free beer ticket is plenty.
Me: Where and how did you record the record?
Eric: Just Like You, Only Better was mixed and recorded by Kyle McDonald at Cabin Studios here in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. He could probably tell you more, but it definitely involved microphones and some fancy computer editing. He’s also part of SuperBob Records, who are currently distributing our demo.
Me: Was it self financed?
Eric: One hundred percent independently financed. We cut, printed and folded every cd insert ourselves and all the art was commissioned locally (Ian Doucett drew the back and insides of the cd and Ian “Legasee” MacMillan designed the front logo). We paid ½ with money we’d made playing shows and the rest out of our pocket.
Me: Are you thinking about perhaps sending it to some larger independent labels?
Eric: We’ve sent it around for reviews, mostly. We’re not against signing, in fact we’d sell out in a heartbeat, but no dice as of yet.
If you'd like to look at some fine young men in suits, be sure to check out their website www.knifeparty.ca which just directs you to their Myspace. Go pick up some issues of Razorcake too.
Believe it or not, Canada has a rich punk rock history. With legends like DOA coming from up north during the early 1980s to the critically acclaimed Fucked Up, Canada has nothing to prove to the rest of the punk rock community. The Knife Party, are one of those bands full of Canadian punk tradition. Borrowing from bands like the Dwarves and the Stooges the Knife Party are a Canuck force to be reckoned with. I sat down with their drummer Eric Bourque, a member of the same punk rock message board as me and asked him all about being a band from Canada and my obscure attempts at trying to make a connection to the Ergs!
Me: What is it like being a band from Canada?
Eric: Probably the same as being a band from America, except you have to move your gear in -40C weather and sometimes up to 35cm of snow. The parka is punk rock in Canada out of necessity.
Me: Is it harder to try and get shows in the states and do you think it's better to cross the border to get your name out there?
Eric: Yeah it’s kinda rough. We’re still a pretty new band, so we haven’t put a ton of effort in, but other bands from around here have had some hard tours in the States. Some of the biggest punk bands in Canada are almost unknown across the border. The Replacements, Ripcordz, Forgotten Rebels, D.O.A… They get minimum name droppage at best. Even some of the all-time great New Brunswick bands (past and present) don’t get a lot of exposure West of Quebec. It’s never really been a concern to us, though. We’ve got a really strong (albeit small) punk scene here, but it’s more than enough for Knife Party to be content with. We’ll be trying for a little touring from here through to Ontario next year sometime, but in the meantime we’re working out kinks in the live show.
Me: Your lyrics seem rather aggressive and slightly sarcastic, who writes them?
Eric: I wrote all the lyrics for the first demo (Just Like You, Only Better) and Danny Whoremoan wrote a few tracks off the upcoming EP we’re working on. Half the songs are sarcastic and the other half are about movies and video games. I write what I know, which is mainly pop culture and shitty people, so I guess that reflects in the music. I was a little younger and going through a stressful period of my life when the first half of the demo was written. All the songs were written over the course of a year and all reflect my moods. At first, I didn’t write so much about being angry, as much as aggressively disappointed in people in general. It came to a head in Clusterfuck, which is admittedly a little harsh, and then I just gave up on making sense of people’s actions and just got ridiculous with the song writing. That’s when Just Like You, Killdorado, River City and Death By Dialogue were written. Killdorado’s about a friend’s overreaction to noisy kids at a restaurant, Death By Dialogue is about a guy I worked with who had the same fight every night with his lady, Mutated Street Beatniks is about Mike Allred’s Madman comic, and River City Ransom is about how awesome River City Ransom is.
Me: I know that River City Ransom is a video game, do you guys play a lot of them and why write a song about that game?
Eric: River City Ransom, along with Galaga (which I have a tattoo of on the back of my neck) were my favorite games as a kid. River City Ransom was the first game I could wrap my head around as a kid and kinda relate to. It’s a virtually generic storyline now (save the girl) but it was my first time playing a game with that story that didn’t confuse the shit out of me like Super Mario Bros. did (Mushrooms, duck-turtles, Goombas? The fuck?). Plus, I love that your little dude got better at stuff over time, what with the experience points and move upgrades and stuff. It was just awesome. We were messing around the in the jam room one day just talking about old games and the song just wrote itself.
Me: Any Ergs connection?
Eric: Ah, okay. Great song, but no connection. I don't think that song has anything to do with the game. I think River City is just a catchy thing to say.
Me: Also, I was just reading some of the lyrics and thought maybe people who take some the lyrics as "women" hating. I don't think you are chavunist though, I listen to the Dwarves so I guess I'm unmoved by it?
Eric: Dwarves rock. My other band covers Back Seat Of My Car. Most people don't understand a word Danny is saying, so we've been safe on that front.
Me: Many of the songs seem to deal with kids who are perhaps "posers" or "poseurs" in the punk rock scene are there several kids like this in your local scene?
Eric: Nah, not really. I never really liked the term poseur anyway. No one was born into a pair of bondage pants and a leather jacket. We all dressed like douches at one point or another. Calling someone a poseur just screams insecure. The only theme in our songs close to that is of liars. Punk Rock Fairytale in particular, is about moving to town from wherever and just talking shit and dropping names thinking you’ll impress me. Yeah, you know Jeff Rosenstock? Cool, I hear he’s nice. I like his musi- Oh yeah, that song’s about you, eh? Uh huh, uh huh…Even if it’s true, I’m tuned out by the ninth anecdote. Not sure why it irks me, it just does.
Me: Do you guys ever get pegged as a chavunist band? Or does that kind of go with the garage rock style?
Eric: Not that I know of. We get pegged as a ska band a lot because we wear matching black suits and pink ties, but it’s hard to call a band that sings about video games and comic books chauvinist. What do you think? Do we come off that way?
Me: That is funny about the ska thing, because that would happen to my old band, but only because we had someone who played trumpet...on one song that was far from ska.
Eric: We've had walk outs once people saw us. The other night at a club, some guy asked if I was going to "rat him out" for smoking in the bathroom. I couldn't understand why I would and his explanation was I was wearing a suit, therefore "could not be trusted". Ah...punx...At least the ladies like the suits.
Honestly, the suit thing was an idea brought up on day one of being a band and as our sound progressed and our set list grew, I found it became more important to follow through on it. We didn't want to draw any similarities to other bands in and around Moncton in terms of sound—and that essentially went hand-in-hand with our look, too. I'm not saying that everyone in Moncton looks the same and blah blah blah blurghity blah whatever… We just didn't want to be lumped in as another run-of-the-mill punk rock band, so we thought the best way to stand out onstage was take our style polar-opposite. Instead of dressing homeless, we dressed corporate and classy, but added the pink ties for that touch of sass. Also, because it made our bass player uncomfortable to wear pink. Another benefit was it made us more recognizable. It creates a band image. The Ramones, unfortunately, beat us to the best look by a few years and I was doing a lot of reading on the history of the suit at the time and said fuck it. I really like suits, so let's wear them. Now we're the "guys that wear the sissy little pink ties."
Me: What exactly is "Tainthammer" about?
Eric: Ah, "TAINTHAMMER." The most feared move in MMA history! We like writing over the top hardcore songs from time-to-time, like KILLDORADO on the first demo. We wanted to do another one and a buddy of mine had recently moved to Montreal to take up MMA training professionally, so we decided to write him some theme music. Tainthammer actually came from a deleted scene on the Human Giant – Season 1 DVD. We’re big Human Giant fans and the Tainthammer was a bit of a running joke for awhile. Like anything awesome, we jumped at the chance to turn it into a song. Stay tuned for Jason Vorhees: Cockblock on the next release.
Me: Recently your record was reviewed by Razorcake, how did that feel seeing that?
Eric: It has been an adjustment. People don’t look at us the same way. We’re by and far the most respected and renowned band from New Brunswick in the past 30 years now. We get a lot of calls from people who claim we used to hang out with, but it’s hard to keep remember everyone once you’ve become the only band to shatter the Punk Rock Glass Ceiling so many have tried and failed to even reach. Actually, nothing’s changed at all. We haven’t sold a single fucking demo and I’m pretty sure we didn’t even make it to the actual printed magazine. So it’s just sitting there on the World Wide Web for anyone to read and forget about. Maybe We did thank Craven for the kind words. Clearly, he likes bad music as much as we do.
Me: Did you feel like you accomplished something?
Eric: We make minimalist rock & roll music with a front man you either love or hate instantly (but you should really get to know). We’re gaining an O.K. following and we’ve played with some fantastic bands and met some really great people we’d never have had the chance to meet as a result of Knife Party. For something we started out of fun, and never expected to take off at all, the fact we’re still enjoying it and getting the odd free beer ticket is plenty.
Me: Where and how did you record the record?
Eric: Just Like You, Only Better was mixed and recorded by Kyle McDonald at Cabin Studios here in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. He could probably tell you more, but it definitely involved microphones and some fancy computer editing. He’s also part of SuperBob Records, who are currently distributing our demo.
Me: Was it self financed?
Eric: One hundred percent independently financed. We cut, printed and folded every cd insert ourselves and all the art was commissioned locally (Ian Doucett drew the back and insides of the cd and Ian “Legasee” MacMillan designed the front logo). We paid ½ with money we’d made playing shows and the rest out of our pocket.
Me: Are you thinking about perhaps sending it to some larger independent labels?
Eric: We’ve sent it around for reviews, mostly. We’re not against signing, in fact we’d sell out in a heartbeat, but no dice as of yet.
If you'd like to look at some fine young men in suits, be sure to check out their website www.knifeparty.ca which just directs you to their Myspace. Go pick up some issues of Razorcake too.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Woahs vs. the Hoes Vol. 3: Thugs in Love
A long time ago I made a playlist of hip hop vs. pop punk. This is the third in the series, the theme is love.
1. The Ergs!-Most Violent Rap Group
2. MC Chris-Fuckin' Up My Christmas
3. Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet-Got My Number
4. Scapegoat Wax-Aisle 10 (Hello Allison)
5. Mr. T Experience-I Fell For You
6. Jay-Z and Danger Mouse-Change Clothes
7. blink-182-Josie
8. Sage Francis-Broken Wings
9. Screeching Weasel-Love
10. Slug and Murs-Another Knight
11. Fifteen-Liberation II
12. Atmosphere-Lift Her Pull Her
13. Alkaline Trio-This Could Be Love
14. Eminem-Kim
1. The Ergs!-Most Violent Rap Group
2. MC Chris-Fuckin' Up My Christmas
3. Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet-Got My Number
4. Scapegoat Wax-Aisle 10 (Hello Allison)
5. Mr. T Experience-I Fell For You
6. Jay-Z and Danger Mouse-Change Clothes
7. blink-182-Josie
8. Sage Francis-Broken Wings
9. Screeching Weasel-Love
10. Slug and Murs-Another Knight
11. Fifteen-Liberation II
12. Atmosphere-Lift Her Pull Her
13. Alkaline Trio-This Could Be Love
14. Eminem-Kim
Hello
This would be the first post. I am not entirely new to this, but I will try and keep this updated as much as possible. My first few posts will be older material, then newer material will come in as I work on it. The first thing I want to post is an interview I did almost two years ago in the summer.
During the summer of 2007 I began booking shows with a few touring bands here and there. When I heard that Matt Wixson, former keyboard player for the Flaming Tsunamis was going on a solo acoustic tour, I booked him a show here in Orlando immediately. The show was not all that successful, but he ended up spending two days at my place and I felt the need to sit down and pick his brain on certain subjects near and dear to his heart. You can tell by some of the questions just how dated this interview is, but I enjoy it nonetheless and I hope you do to. If you like it, there are more to come. Enjoy!
During the summer of 2007 I began booking shows with a few touring bands here and there. When I heard that Matt Wixson, former keyboard player for the Flaming Tsunamis was going on a solo acoustic tour, I booked him a show here in Orlando immediately. The show was not all that successful, but he ended up spending two days at my place and I felt the need to sit down and pick his brain on certain subjects near and dear to his heart. You can tell by some of the questions just how dated this interview is, but I enjoy it nonetheless and I hope you do to. If you like it, there are more to come. Enjoy!
As Fox News would say “Some people say” that ska is dead. In fact, there’s an entire tour that has been going on for quite some time that has claimed that ska is dead. However, Matt Wixson does not believe this or at least he didn’t get the memo. In all honesty, Matt Wixson has taken the barely breathing genre of ska-punk, added some folk roots, and elevated it to a classic roots rock reggae sound. He hasn’t completely left ska, but rather jumping ship before the 4th wave hits. After spending two days sleeping on my couch and putting a show on for him I sat down on a beautiful Orlando Tuesday morning and discussed the possible reemergence of ska music in the mainstream, Dennis Kucinich’s alien sightings, and the highly “controversial” free edge philosophy.
Me: So, Matt with your new free digital release Best Intentions you tried a more reggae/dub sound, how did this come about?
Matt: It wasn’t conscious; it’s basically music I like to listen too. I wrote one song and eventually I had an entire album.
Me: What about the hidden track “C.R.E.A.M” or rather “Checkers ruin everything around me”? In it you seem to attack the current trend of young bands coming up being more influenced by bands like Catch 22 and Reel Big Fish, instead of traditional ska and reggae.
Matt: Yes, first let it be known that I enjoy both Catch 22 and Reel Big Fish, but I faced a perfect example of what frustrates me not too long ago. There was this band I was playing with and they all had on the “ska uniform” with checkers and black t-shirts and did a cover of “Keasbey Nights”. Then on top of that they did Big D’s cover of “Little Bitch”.
Me: As opposed to the Specials version?
Matt: Yes, which I’m sure they had no idea that the Specials originally did the song.
Me: Wow, now last night we were discussing the “4th wave”, tell me a little bit about this supposed 4th wave of ska.
Matt: Well, recently a new movie is in the works called “Lock n Roll Forever” and it highlights this all girl Japanese ska band called Oreskaband, which translates to “we’re a ska band”. The catch is though that it’s being produced by the same people who did “High School Musical”, so it’s guaranteed to be huge. That and the new Aquabats T.V. show could possibly bring about the 4th wave, but make it more kid focused. This is bad for artists who take the genre rather seriously, like me.
Me: What about bands like Bomb the Music Industry and the Flaming Tsunamis, are they the next step in ska?
Matt: I’d consider bands like those including Fatter Than Albert and even the Blue Meanies to be considered progressive ska bands who are taking the genre and making it fresh and interesting. That’s kind of how my other project Babylon Party Machine came about.
Me: Ah yes, tell me about BPM.
Matt: Basically, I was listening to Tokyo Ska Paradise and Rick Johnson and thought it would be cool to mix techno/dance music with ska and reggae. Since ska was traditionally dance music, it just seemed to make sense.
Me: Now, if anyone knows anything about your music you are rather politically outspoken and a Dennis Kucinich supporter, tell me do you think he really was visited by aliens?
Matt: Honestly, if he said it he can’t be lying. Really though, I truly supported his views. He was consistent in his views. Like his peace coalition which goes hand in hand with him being vegan.
Me: Another “long shot” candidate was the internet phenom Ron Paul, do you have some thoughts on him as well?
Matt: As a libertarian, he has some controversial yet interesting views. The most intriguing thing though, was the amount of visibility he was able to garner despite his controversial views on certain issues. At the same time though, he was very confusing in his policy.
Me: What about Barack Obama?
Matt: Though he is very mainstream, he has some great ideas, though I’m still not sure on how I will vote.
Me: How about running mates? I’ve heard about Bill Richardson.
Matt: Hilary Clinton seems the most obvious choice, but
Me: Despite his mainstream appeal do you think people will base their vote solely on his name and Muslim heritage?
Matt: Oh, definitely. It’s sad to think that there are still close minded people out there in 2008, but I’m more than positive it will happen. What makes it funnier is he isn’t even Muslim, he’s a Christian.
Me: I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it, but have you seen the recent cover of the New Yorker?
Matt: No, I haven’t
Me: Well, it has Obama and his wife dressed up like Islamic terrorists in the white house with an American flag in the fire place and a picture of Osama bin Laden over the mantle.
Matt: (Laughs).
Me: Judging from your reaction, do you see this as just satirical or is it pushing the envelope to slightly offensive?
Matt: No, I think they are just being satirical and exploiting that image that several people truly believe and how they perceive Obama, which is ridiculous.
Me: This is just a personal concern of mine, but perhaps you share the same fear. Do you fear for Barack Obama’s safety if he were to become president?
Matt: I never really thought about it, but I think there is a small possibly. It’s terribly pessimistic, but not far from the truth.
Me: I think the Curious George t-shirt guy has it out for him.
Matt: (Laughs) Yes, even though I’m not sure if he knew he was really being racist.
Me: He is from
Matt: That’s true.
Me: Now Matt, with most of your releases you seem to take a strong stance against Christianity or at least religious fundamentalism, what are your thoughts exactly on an issue like religion?
Matt: Well, first I’m not Atheist, but rather more Agnostic or rather I’m not sure about the existence of God or a God. Religion is a tough subject, because it always seems to do more harm then good and generally perpetuates ignorance.
Me: Like Mormons and Christian hardcore?
Matt: Exactly, Christian hardcore is even worse because it seems to be easier to get into, way too safe.
Me: Final thoughts on religion?
Matt: It just feels like people can’t just know.
Me: Another controversial subject you have written songs about and even an entire concept EP about is your “Free Edge” philosophy. As someone who is straight edge, but has a good sense of humor I can always appreciate parody on any level of what seems to be almost a disheartening fad. How did this idea come about exactly?
Matt: Originally, it started as a joke while I was on tour with straight edge people and buying beer was not economically possible. So I came up with the idea of only drinking when it’s free, so you have free edge.
Me: Do you get any flack from hardliners or people who don’t think you’re being very funny?
Matt: Well, obviously drinking and drugs are not healthy and I’m a strong believer in alcohol in moderation, but I also don’t think its okay to go around beating up smokers and drinkers. Some times straight edge appears as a sort of cult with strict guidelines and need for rules. Basically, people defined by what they don’t do. The guidelines of free edge are more of suggestions. I mean it real helps when you’re broke.
Me: What do your straight edge friends think?
Matt: Well, my mom gets mad at me because younger kids are taking my example. I don’t see much harm in underage drinking though, as long as it’s in a safe environment.
Me: How about marijuana?
Matt: I would like to see it legalized. I mean, I’m not a pothead, but if we could tax it, we could make a large profit. In the end it all comes down to making a responsible society.
Me: That’s pretty much all the questions I have, thanks Matt.
Matt: You are very welcome!
For more info on Matt Wixson, be sure to check out his Myspace at www.myspace.com/mattwixson. There you will find free releases and funny videos about dead '90s alternative band front men.
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