On Company Time: The Collected Interviews 2000-2009

On Company Time

The Collected Interviews 2000-2009

Written & Edited by Adam Sever

CONTENTS 08 09

Introduction Interviews 2000-2009

two thousand 11 The Hippos two thousand one 15 Evaline 20 xDEVASTATORx 23 Nehemiah two thousand two 29 Flipsyde 34 Sparta 41 Askeleton 45 The Crush 52 Signal To Trust 61 Song of Zarathustra 64 The Book of Dead Names 66 Joan of Arc two thousand three 73 Cave In 78 Statistics 81 Paint It Black 85 These Arms Are Snakes 90 Hey Mercedes 94 Strike Anywhere 98 Maritime 102 The Lawrence Arms two thousand four 107 Challenger 113 Despistado 116 Sparta two thousand five 121 The Nein 126 Chariots 129 Say Hi to Your Mom 133 Bound Stems 137 The American Analog Set 143 The City on Film 146 Lovitt Records 150 Crooked Fingers 152 The Loved Ones

two thousand six 157 Young Widows 160 Russian Circles 165 The North Atlantic 170 Heavens 172 Maps and Atlases 175 The Love of Everything 178 The Grey 182 Modern-Radio Record Label two thousand seven 187 The Narrator 192 Baby Teeth 196 Nurses 199 Schedule Two 202 Maritime 207 Mustard Plug 210 Mannequin Men 213 Look Mexico 218 Norman Brannon 224 Georgie James two thousand eight 229 The Evening Rig 233 Haram 236 Collections of Colonies of Bees 243 Mitch Clem 248 Polar Bear Club 252 Tim Kinsella 259 Richard Minino 264 Auxes two thousand nine 271 Tigers Jaw 275 La Dispute 281 Pomegranates 285 Now, Now Every Children 290 Snowing 295 Algernon Cadwallader 298 Virgins 302 Banner Pilot 306 Eric Grubbs 310 Four Letter Lie 316 Owen 321 Empire! Empire!

(I Was a Lonely Estate)

CONTENTS 327

Sixes 2005-2009

Bands 329 These Arms Are Snakes 330 Del Cielo 331 Paint it Black 332 Strike Anywhere 333 Dr. Dog 334 Des Ark Publicists 337 Riot Act Media 339 Nasty Little Man 340 Solid PR 342 Girlie Action 343 Tag Team Media 344 Big Hassle Record Labels 345 Saddle Creek 346 Jade Tree 347 Asian Man Records 348 Slowdance 349 Kill Rock Stars 350 Lujo Records Photographers 351 Will Hough 352 Megan Holmes 353 Mark Dawursk 354 Dan Monick 355 Robin Laananen 356 Adam Bubolz Magazine Editors 357 The New Scheme 359 Chord Magazine 360 Venus 361 Copper Press 362 Wonka Vision 364 Razorcake 366 The Big Takeover

Bands 369 All Smiles 370 The 1900s 371 The Narrator 372 Titles 373 Del Ray 375 The Valley Arena Recording Engineers 377 Larry Crane 379 Bruce Templeton 380 Graeme Gibson 381 Matt Bayles 382 Jesse Cannon 384 Neil Weir 385 Jonathan Kreinik Bands - Fest 7 388 Off With Their Heads 389 Cloak/Dagger 390 Lemuira 391 Young Widows 392 Paint it Black 393 The Brokedowns Bands - DIY Releases 394 Slingshot Dakota 396 Lipona 397 Shark Speed 399 Only Thieves 400 The Cold Beat 401 Lanterns 403 405 417 419 422

Appendix Selected Discography Photography Credits Interviews by Issue Acknowledgements

INTERVIEWS two thousand

2000//The Hippos

THE HIPPOS Danny Rukasin Tell us a brief history of how The Hippos started, and the idea behind the name?

Well, Ariel and James started the band 5 years ago, and we all kind of joined in different ways. The name is after Ariel’s imaginary friend, The Dangerous Hippo, that used to protect him when he went fishing.

What are some of the bands musical influences and how do they relate to the album Heads Are Gonna Roll.

Well, we have a lot of influences, but some a re The Beatles, The Police, They Might Be Giants, and Elvis Costello.

Is the hidden song on TheHippos.com, “1999”, going to be your next CD? No, actually we recorded that hoping for it to be on Heads Are Gonna Roll, but it didn’t make the cut, so we put it up for you guys to enjoy.

What was it like playing the Fox Family Show The Hi-Fi Room?

It was very interesting! We got there at like 8:00 a.m., then we don’t even have to set up our own shit, it’s all done for us. They had food for us and everything. It’s weird being treated like that. Anyway, then we go to rehearse and there are 50 kids, 35 of which are normal fans or just kids they have as audience every time, and then there are about 15 kids who are paid dancers to liven up the place. So we start playing and immediately these kids start dancing and I say to myself, “American Bandstand?” It was very fun though.

What would you be doing if you weren’t rock stars?

Well, considering were not rock stars yet, we would be doing what were doing right now.

00:11:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

What’s the best thing about being in a band? The Worst?

Best, we get to travel around the country and see so many people. Worst, being away from our family and friends.

What is the hidden song at the end of Forget The World called?

It’s ca lled “Skate Song”. It’s a recording of one of the first songs we ever wrote, on a four track tape demo from 5 years ago!

What are you doing now? Are you on tour or in betw een shows?

Now we are going back to basics, and writing songs to record the new album. We hope to have it out in spring of next year. So look out!

What was the best tour you’ve been on?

Each tour has its own flair, but the Bloodhound Gang/Goldfinger tour was really exciting, and this past Warped Tour was extra fun as well. We like touring with fun bands that aren’t too cool for school!

If you could choose 5 other bands to go on tour with what bands would they be?

No Doubt, Smashmouth (again!), Bloodhound Gang (again!), Unwritten Law, and The Impossibles (again!).

If you could create your own episode of The Simpson’s, what would happen?

Uh, I have no idea. I guess it would have us in it somehow, but I don’t really have a story for you.

What do you think of Fred Durst?

He’s funny looking.

00:12:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand one

2001//Evaline

EVALINE Justin Schaude // Jon Swinehart Who does what in the band?

Justin: I play guitar and I sing.

Jon: Tell them your name.

Justin: Oh, I’m Justin.

Jon: I’m Jon; I play guitar.

Jon: (in a muffled voice) I’m Tim; I play the drums.

Justin: (in a macho voice) I’m Mike; I play the bass.

Jon: Oh, I’m backup vocals too. He ( Justin) lets me do backup because I like to.

Justin: He’s good at it. Our voices are different and it’s beautiful.

Jon: I sing in my falsetto voice. You (to Justin) have such a girlie voice; I have to compensate.

What was it like playing at First Ave.?

Justin: It was fun.

Jon: It was crazy.

Justin: Yeah, it was pretty crazy. It was our first show.

Jon: I was disappointed with the set.

Justin: Yeah.

Jon: I’m kind of a perfectionist, I suppose, when it comes to that kind of stuff.

Justin: Yeah, I think it was hard for me and Jon because we put a lot into it. We’ve only been together for two months and it was our first show and at First Ave. You can’t expect too much really.

Jon: In retrospect, it was really cool, but like from the point we got done with our set until three days afterwards, I sat at my house; it was weird.

Justin: I’m still sick from that show. It’s been like three weeks and I still feel like crap.

00:15:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

How was the food at Pizza Lucé?

Jon: I really liked it. They were out of all the good pizza, so I had to go with what ever was there; there was 2 kinds there, and one had mushrooms, which I hate mushrooms, so I got the other kind. It was really good, but it was kind of spicy; I ate two pieces of that.

Justin: Pizza was good for me too.

Jon: The pizza was the best part of the show.

Justin: As soon as we were done, that was the best. Then we became depressed.

Jon: The pizza made me depressed I’d have to say.

What kind of music do you play?

Justin: I don’t know.

Jon: I don’t know how to classify it.

Justin: I guess you can just say indie rock because that can go into a wide variety of things.

Jon: Or vagina rock; I coin that term myself and you’re free to use it. I don’t know.

As far as right now we’re still trying to develop a distinct sound. And as far as other bands that we sound like, I don’t want to say that we sound like anyone because that’s kind of lame.

00:16:00

2001//Evaline

Justin: Yeah, it is kind of lame because I don’t think we do. I think we have certain things that maybe sound like somebody, but not really.

Jon: Were not a direct rip off of anyone.

Justin: I would say, if anybody, No Doubt and Milli Vanilli.

Jon: That’s not true man. Our earlier stuff maybe, but the stuff we played at the show was a little No Doubt mixed with a little...

Justin: Kriss Kross!

Jon: We’re 25% No Doubt, 65% Kriss Kross, and 10% Isley Brothers.

What did you think of the other bands at First Ave.?

Justin: I don’t want to say that I didn’t like any of them, except for Mumaker. Not to be mean about it, but I didn’t respect what they were tying to go for. They weren’t trying to do anything different. It just gave me a headache I guess. That’s just what I think. I wasn’t really bothered by any other bands. I think Linus put on a good set. I think they deserved to get first place.

Jon: I agree.

This is for Justin. What’s with the roller coaster game?

Justin: (laughing) It’s all about the roller coaster game. That’s where I get my inspiration. It’s were I found myself really.

Jon: It’s getting late, I have to do my laundry. And get directions to Florida.

Justin: Anyway, lets go onto the next question.

What do you guys plan on doing next?

Jon: Last practice, we sat around and made a bunch of goals for the next year. We’d like to cut some kind of CD, not cut it as much as record it.

Justin: Yeah, we kind of want to do it before we start doing shows again. We dropped a song, but we want to write three more songs. We’re kind of picky with the songs so it takes a while; Jon’s pretty picky. And then we’re going to cut a CD and then start playing more shows.

Jon: And try to sell at least some merch and get a band fund.

Justin: That’s what we want to do. Make a band fund and pay our manager 5%.

Jon: 5%!

How did you guys meet?

Justin: I met Jon at church; we went on this one retreat and, uh, we went to Wisconsin with a bunch of other guys.

Jon: We went to Madison, Wisconsin.

Justin: And we were sitting out on the deck one day and we were...

Jon: Some guy offered us beer!

Justin: Oh yeah, he did!

Jon: (imitating the man) Do you guys want a beer man? Were getting ripped.

Justin: But I was like No, that’s cool. Anyway, I was like, yeah, we should be in a band sometime. And then Jon said yeah, that’d be sweet. Then we talked about it, but we didn’t pursue it for a while.

00:17:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Jon: Yeah we did. We used to get together all the time and try to write songs. But it was just a waste of time basically. If you remember correctly (to Justin), most of the winter it was just you and me sitting around and I’d have to drag my amp and my electric guitar over here and we wrote some really dumb songs that we don’t do now.

Justin: Yeah, Mike I’ve known from other friends, mutual friends I met at a show a long time ago. And Timmy, he goes to our school and I know him from a friend too.

Jon: I met Tim when he came over here one time and we jammed. And I met Mike when he showed up for band practice.

Justin: It was pretty fun. That’s how it all happened.

Jon: That’s how it all goes down.

Explain the story of how you got to play at First Ave.?

Jon: It was our third practice maybe, and Justin was like lets record it, lets record it.

Justin: So I could hear what it sounded like.

Jon: We recorded three songs, one of which we didn’t play at the show. Our bassist, Mike, for quite a while would not show up for practice, for what ever reason: I forgot, I was tired, my homework was sick. So anyway, we recorded without a bassist on some ghetto recording boom box. When my guitar became distorted, it compressed it so it was really quiet; I remember that much. It was a very poor recording and we sent it in the day before it was due.

Justin: It was meant to be. I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw the tape in my back seat. It was like “send me to Radio K”.

Jon: Yeah, and they had six bands picked already and they were like we need one more band. So at random they reached into a hat and pulled out our tape and they were like these guys can play and they will lose.

Justin: Nah, there were more than 30 bands that turned in tapes and they picked seven high school bands. We were one of them and it was pretty cool.

What are your music influences?

Justin: Everyone in the band has a lot of different music influences.

Jon: I can’t speak for Tim; I don’t think he has musical influence. Uh, Mike is all over the board. He likes punk, hardcore, thrash, metal.

Justin: And emo.

00:18:00

2001//Evaline

Jon: I have a lot. I don’t like punk music, not to offend anybody who does. My influences are Pedro the Lion, Death Cab for Cutie, and The Promise Ring. I’m into the slower stuff.

Justin: I like some fast stuff. I like some punk, emo, and indie; just a wide variety of stuff. Jimmy Eat World and Death Cab for Cutie, The Get Up Kids, Pedro the Lion, Jets to Brazil, The Promise Ring, and Weezer.

Jon: All those and more. The Pixies and Radiohead.

If you could tour with any other bands who would it be?

Jon: We made a list. Our goal in the next year is to open for somebody if they came through town. I would love to open for Pedro because I respect them a lot and I think it would be cool to play with them. And Death Cab also because I like them a lot.

Justin: I would love to play with Promise Ring, Death Cab, Jimmy Eat World, or Pedro.

Jon: Destiny’s Child!

Justin: I’m a survivor. Marvin Gaye, God rest his sole, I’d love to tour with him.

Any thank yous?

Justin: Thank you to our new managers Adam and Chris.

Jon: Thank you for what?

Justin: Nothing really. And Nickie for recording this interview. And Makayla; you’re precious, you’re a button.

Jon: A button? I’ve never heard that expression. You’re a button.

Justin: As cute as a button.

Jon: You’re a sewing machine. You’re a box of marbles.

Justin: Alright, were done.

Jon: And cut.

00:19:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand two

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

SPARTA Tony Hajjar So, how the tour going?

The tour has been going great. It’s been one of those tours that you start and you’re absolutely freaked out of your mind, cause you’re obviously the unknown band and the opener and just all these little factors and it turns out to be just amazing. The first day all the crew from stage managers to lighting to sound people treated us really, really nice. A lot of times you don’t get that. We’ve been really lucky to experience a lot of nice people and stuff so it’s been a very, very easy process. We get on stage, everything’s great for us. They try to take their time and make things as good as they can. It’s been tremendously awesome playing with two really good bands and we’re having a great time.

How did you guys get on this tour?

I think Rivers Coumo called our booking agent.

Really?

I think that’s how it worked out, and so it was kind of a nice honor and so then here we are. We were in Europe actually and my manager called me and asked me, so of course, it’s like the perfect tour to be on. Weezer is one of our favorite bands, especially me and Paul, we grew up on them since 1994, and it’s a great honor and it’s fun every night to see them play. So, that’s how we got on it, and we’re just really lucky to be here.

I was looking at the tour dates and they’re kind of spread out, like a couple a days between shows. What do you guys do between the two dates?

You know that’s been really hard for us, I mean because obviously we’re not used to tours this big and we’re the kind of band that like to play if we can every single night 00:34:00

2002//Sparta

so we get into a groove. That’s been really tough and it was one of those things like a play decision originally, it was kind of like, should we play every single day and even when the dates were off should we play our own shows. The only reason we didn’t do that is because we know how much we’d be touring in the near future and we decided to take this tour really easy. We know that we’re going to be working really hard, but we haven’t really been doing much, like yesterday, since it was such a long drive, we did half the drive to Kansas City and we spent the day in Kansas City in a hotel room, kicked back and watched TV. We went to watch a movie and we left about 2:30 in the morning. We got here around 9 o’clock in the morning.

Do you guys have a full-length coming out soon?

Yes, we have a full-length coming out August 13th and we’re really excited. To have a full-length out is always a good thing. We have an EP out right now, and we only play three of the songs on the EP. It’s hard for a lot people to recognize what were playing, especially on shows like this when you’re playing to massive people that have no idea who you are. It’s kind of neat, you go out there and try to earn your respect and the crowd has been really, really nice and really supportive. I think the people that don’t like us, they just stay quiet and the people that do like us, say nice things.

It’s just been a really peaceful kind of tour, I’m sure we'll have some crazy nights after I say this, but it’s been great. We’re excited to have the full-length to come out, so all the people can know those songs too.

Are you guys going to do another tour for the full-length then?

Of course, we’re kind of planning our future right now. We know after this tour, we’re going to go to Europe for Reading, a big festival, and do a few festivals and come back home. Then right now, we’re planning what we’re going to do after and most likely our own US tour. Which we’re really excited about. It’ll be nice to play an hour.

On this tour, we play 30 minutes every night, you’re in and out. It’ll be nice to play a little bit longer.

At the point when you decided you wanted to be a musician, if you thought maybe this isn’t for me, what do you think you’d be doing right now?

I would be, if I ever decided that, I would be a chemist, I would be an organic chemist.

I got a degree in Organic Chemistry and Math. I remember my senior year of college, I made the decision to either play in a band or get a really high paying job, and I decided to be in a band. I’ve never regretted that decision since. That’s what I’d be doing.

How did you get into music?

One of the first times I really remember I was getting into music was my cousins, my two cousins which I’m very close to nowadays. They had a record playing, and it was Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of OZ and I just heard it and the aggression and heaviness.

I guess I loved it, and it kind of changed my world that day. I was like, wow this is cool and I kind of forgot about it and then I heard a record by Mötley Crüe called Shout the Devil, and the aggression of that record and the power of that record made 00:35:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

me really want to play music. I remember being a kid and just air drumming all the time. Then after that, it was a few years later in 1986, I heard Master of Puppets by Metallica and obviously I was a metal kid. That record made it for sure that I wanted to play music for the rest of my life. Even though I was a little kid and I hadn’t even touched a drum yet or touched an instrument yet. I just knew I wanted to do that, so that’s one of the first things that got me into music.

To my understanding there is also a side stage with this tour?

Yes, for other dates.

Do you guys think it’s weird being on the main bill and not on the side stage with the lesser known bands?

Uh, I don’t know actually. I mean, we’ll take anything. I mean we would’ve played on the small stage, we would’ve played on the big stage. We’re the kind of people that will take the responsibility of playing on the main stage, we enjoy it. We welcome the challenge of that kind of thing, so any where they put us we would’ve taken it. It wasn’t about being on the main stage or being on the small stage and it was just even more of an honor that Weezer and Rivers offered us the main stage. It’s awesome.

00:36:00

2002//Sparta

What do you guys do when you’re not touring or playing music?

I think we spend our breaks mostly apart, you know, and enjoying our friends apart from the band, it’s not in a bad respect, it’s about giving each other space. Then when you’re together, you’re together forever. I spend a lot of my time, one of my biggest passions now is, besides drumming and playing music, is producing bands. I started doing that and recording bands and stuff, so I’ve been producing little people that I think are really good. It’s never like rock bands, it’s literally singer/songwriter types. I did a song with this amazing jazz singer and just stuff like that. I want to learn to record bands. I’m not any good yet, but I’m just learning, and I take what ever I learn very seriously, so I’m just trying my best to get really good at that. Also, I spend a lot of time just trying to relax, my personality is very unrelaxing. I like to be working the whole time, that’s why having a lot of days off back to back, is really hard cause it’s like what do you do, you’re twiddling your thumbs, but yeah it’s what I try. I just kind of kick back and give each other space and try to enjoy things apart from this life.

This life is incredible and we’ve been really lucky doing it and at the same time it’s nice to see the other side and just relax at home and do nothing.

Do you guys all live in Texas then?

Everybody in the band on stage lives in El Paso, except me, I live in Los Angeles.

I live in Hollywood.

Is this your first time in Minnesota?

No, been to Minnesota a million times, probably like 5 or 6 times.

Have you been here in the winter?

Yes I have, um my God (laughs) it was amazing!

I wouldn’t mind going to Texas one day, to check it out.

You should, I mean traveling is an amazing thing, we’ve got really lucky to travel as much as we do. There’s nothing more out there that teaches you more about your self and more about life and than traveling.

I know one year I drove to Florida with some friends and then later that summer went to Oregon, and it’s a good experience being out on the road.

Yeah, absolutely, it just teaches you a lot of lessons and sometimes you don’t know how or why, but when you finish the trip or what ever you realize, wow, I’m a different person and a lot of the times for a better way, you become a better person.

Are you happier playing in Sparta than you were playing in At The Drive-In? I can’t speak for the whole band, but I can speak for myself, and I've got to say I've never ever been happier than I am at this point. I really, really haven’t. I’m happier, I’m happier as a musician, I’m happier as a person, it’s just kind of like, you know, you grow up a lot, you start music at whatever the age and I think as you grow older and travel more, you learn more about your instrument, you learn about how to play in a band and you learn more about how to communicate in a certain situation. I think as 00:37:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

it gets further and further, you knowing more makes it easier and makes it a better situation, and I’d have to say I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

Do you feel your fan base with At the Drive-In has followed you to Sparta?

Oh I’m sure, if you think that doesn’t happen then you’re fooling yourself. Our shows when we were touring by ourselves, they weren’t the greatest. They weren’t huge shows, but they were really good for what we expected, so obviously people are coming because of what we did in the past. We respect that and we love that, we’re proud of what we did in the past. What the great part about music is, that when you play your first song that night, when those people are seeing you, they’ll immediately know if they will like you or not like you. So that’s the beautiful part about music, you try your best, you show them your new stuff and you gain and lose fans and that’s the awesome part. We’re lucky enough that we have that precursor, to actually bring people in, but our work in the past did that, and we understand that happens and we appreciate that too. We never want to alienate anybody, I mean that’s the last thing that we’d ever do. We love our fans, we respect our fans. A lot of them we’ve become friends with and it’s about community. It’s not about band and audience, it’s about band and audience making one thing, and I think we’ve done a really good job so far, trying to make it a family affair more than anything.

Describe your song writing process? What goes into making one song?

The way it works, there’s different situations like we all write the music, we all write the lyrics. I’ll give you a situation, Jim could come in with a guitar line, and I could come in with a sequencer line, electronic, or a drum beat or what ever the case and we build from there and it’s kind of; suppose I brought in a full song, it would never stay the same, we’re one of those bands that critic, critic, critic. Then we’ll make it a Sparta song instead of just Jim’s song or Paul’s song or Tony’s song or Matt’s song. I’ll start a song immediately after it gets entered into the room. The lyrics are like, when we started working on the record originally, the way we did lyrics, we had done a whole bunch of demoing of music in El Paso, then we flew to L.A. and on my home little studio, we did all the vocals at my house. The way we did it is like, you hum out ideas on keyboards, guitars or humming out you know, and then you kind of work on it. We would just write any kind of lyrics at that point to fit the melodies so we could remember the melodies and we would track that and it was just a lot of like, OK try this, OK then try that, try this, so that was really cool. It was a really band community process.

Are the lyrics about personal things or just lines that you’ve written down.

I think there’s a little bit of both. I think there’s some songs on the record, and the EP that express our feelings of growing up or being in a certain situation and then there’s some songs that are literally lines from different pieces or different passages that hook up together in a song. So it’s a little bit of both. It just depends on what fits the song and what we feel could fit the song.

00:38:00

2002//Sparta

What do you think is the ultimate goal of Sparta, like 10 years from now, like a Grammy or whatever?

I don’t think we’ve ever, we’re not the kind of people that ever had goals for ourselves.

When we decided to do this band, after months and months off, going OK lets start a band, OK and who do I want to play with, and all of sudden you turn out playing with three people that you’ve been playing with a long time. It’s one of those things, where if you make goals for yourself, like if you’re like “I wanna get signed or I wanna do this,” then you’re going to ruin your self or “I wanna be in a big band.” We’ve never ever done that and that’s what I love about the people I play with because it’s about, lets go in and write some songs that we like, and if other people like them then we’ll be in a very, very lucky situation. The goal has always been to write music that we’re comfortable with and we think is good, and then everything else is a plus. I mean look how lucky we are, I mean, you and I are sitting right here in this beautiful catered room, and we played a show in front of I don’t know how many thousands of people, but we’re in a very lucky situation. So all of this is positive and were very, very lucky to be here.

It seems like every member of the band has a different ethnic background?

Yeah.

Have you guys ever done any anti-racism shows?

See I don’t, we’ve never, I mean we try. It’s been really hard for us to do benefits in general, but we’ve never done anti-racism shows. But we are doing, July 14th, we’re not playing on the Weezer tour, which will be in Toronto that day, and were flying to El Paso to do a benefit show, that had been planned prior to the Weezer tour, and we didn’t want to cancel it. It’s about the only, it’s raising money for the only rape crisis center, in Juarez, Mexico, which is our sister city in El Paso, TX and it’s the thing that we want to do. It’s a very, very terrible situation in Juarez, about women being killed that work in these marketadoras, these factories and stuff. Obviously we’re involved in that with At The Drive-in, with the song “Invalid Litter Dept” and we’re continuing to try to help this project cause we really, really feel something strongly about it. So were flying down to do that show and then flying back to join the Weezer tour. I think it’s going to be a great thing, we luckily got Ozomatli to play that show also. So we’re really excited to see that, and they’re into projects in that respect. If we have the chance we could possibly fit it in, we have tried our best to do benefits as much as possible, for good causes, because you know, when you’re in a position, like way bigger than us, I think your responsibility should be trying to have some kind of purpose. I mean it doesn’t have to be a political purpose or what ever the case, it just has to be, I think it’s always good to have a purpose and when you can, whether it’s financial or if it’s just you showing up and playing a show for free. If that’s going to help some kind of person that can never have any kind of aid, or any kind of respect, then you should do it. Hopefully we get to do more of these in the future.

00:39:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Are any of the members of the band married and have kids?

Uh, Jim’s married but no kids, most of us have girlfriends and stuff.

Is it hard being away from girlfriends and family members while on tour?

Yeah, I mean of course, it’s one of those things like if it’s your best friend, or if it’s your girlfriend/wife/fiance or what ever the case, it makes you sad. Because you do miss people, but at the same time you have one of the greatest “jobs” in the world and you’ve got to kind of learn to even things out. Then, when you are free and home you try to balance it out by spending your time on break, and enjoying your loved one, or your relatives or what ever the case. I think you have to, it’s a lot of balance and a lot of compromise and I think we’re trying to do our best to compromise as much as possible in our living situation and our band situation.

That’s basically it, if there’s anything you want to talk about?

Oh no, thank you for doing the interview I appreciate it.

00:40:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand three

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

HEY MERCEDES Bob Nanna How long did it take to write and record Loses Control?

We wrote the bulk of it (probably about 7 songs) over the course of two weeks in a remote cabin in a far northern Wisconsin town called Spread Eagle. The other 5 were scattered before and after our retreat. As for lyrics, they were pretty much morphed around until the minute I laid them down. The recording process took a full month in Cambridge. All in all, I’d put the total time frame at about a year.

Does Hey Mercedes lose control on this album?

Yes, definitely.

The name of the album suggests that Hey Mercedes isn’t in control of what happens to them anymore, can you explain the origin of the name and what it means?

It’s meant to have a few meanings actually. You can take it your way to mean that we no longer have any say in whatever happens. You can think about it in terms of trying to hang onto a speeding train or something. Or you can just take it as saying, on this album, we’re pulling out all of the stops free of restraint. Personally I lean towards door number 3, but it’s nice to have a title that has some depth.

What did you do differently with Loses Control, that you didn’t do with Everynight Fire Works?

There were a few things. Creatively, I tried writing a few songs all at once, meaning vocal melody & accompaniment together in the traditional sense. This is in contrast to the “write a cool guitar line and then try and lay a vocal melody over it” old way (although that was incorporated as well). Secondly, with Mike in the band, we’ve been able to really explore the realms of recording processes. He owned and operated a studio in Cleveland, so when he joined and moved to Milwaukee, he brought 00:90:00

2003//Hey Mercedes

his equipment, and more importantly, his know-how. Hence, we found ourselves recording demos at various stages in songwriting. Lastly, we did a whole week of pre-production, as opposed to 4 hours with Everynight Fire Works. We actually set up in a practice space with the producers and talked about our songs. Surprisingly we didn’t change a whole lot, just tweaked some stuff here and there.

What kind of setting did you write the songs for Loses Control and did that setting have any effect on how the songs were written or recorded?

In a remote house set into a hill on a lake in October. I can’t say that it made the music any more remote or cabin-feverish, but I think it did help to channel and streamline the process. Sort of like a call to arms, now is the time!

How did you guys get involved with the AMP Video Brawl?

To be honest, I really don’t know. We’ve toured with “AMP” bands before (Piebald, Mock Orange) and we also now have a personal posse looking out for us, so one day we got the call. I hope we win because we’ve never done a video... and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.

If you win, what song will you do a video for?

To be honest, I really don’t know. We’d like to have a few different opinions on what should be the “single”. I have my opinion, but we’ll just wait and see what happens in the long run.

00:91:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

How is it working with Vagrant?

It’s been really great. Luckily, we’re friends with everyone there, so when something needs to get done or when we ask for help in any way, it doesn’t feel like a whine session. Likewise, they never put any restrictions on us creatively, which is the perfect situation.

You are touring this August in support for Loses Control, after the release are there any plans of playing overseas?

Well, Loses Control doesn’t come out until October 7th, so we plan on touring up until and through then. If we’re lucky, we’ll be on the road through the end of the year. Our record will be released in Europe, etc, in January or February, so at that time, we’ll be looking to get over there. Japan & Australia, too.

How important is touring to Hey Mercedes?

It’s seriously the most important part of being in a band for us... along with the most rewarding. Personally, I hate recording and I don’t necessarily enjoy hanging out at home twiddling the thumbs. I prefer the proactive life! Get out there, play the music, see the sites, meet the locals, and have fun.

Being in a band you obviously get to travel a lot, where have been your favorite places to play and favorite places to sightsee?

Wow, so many. Braid was fortunate enough to get to Europe twice, so I’m very eager to get out there with Hey Mercedes. I really loved the bigger cities; Berlin, Paris, London, Dublin.

When touring, what do you do when you’re in between shows?

A lot of stuff together surprisingly. We love bowling... and socially drinking... and going to game shows!

I saw some pictures of you with the Price is Right name tags, did you get to appear on the show.

Well, we were there, but we didn’t get called up by Rod. I think they fancied us as a bunch of rowdies. Really we were just big fans anxious to spin that big wheel.

You’ve worked with J. Robbins on the last two Hey Mercedes releases, did he produce Loses Control, and what is it like working with him?

It’s great working with J. He’s a great friend and knows exactly how to get the best out of you and your equipment. This time, we worked with Paul Kolderie & Sean Slade at Camp Street in Cambridge. We wanted to try something different, something new and exciting, and we’re so psyched with the results.

Have you been more cautious about doing splits, 7”, and compilations since playing as Braid?

Yes, but surprisingly, it doesn’t come up as much as it used to. Maybe we put out the word well.

00:92:00

2003//Hey Mercedes

How many songs did you write for Loses Control? What are you going to do with the extra songs, if any?

Total, there were 17. We arrived at the studio with 15 and it was whittled down to 13 that actually made it to tape. That extra song will probably be on a Vagrant comp.

The other songs we hope to record in the spring for an EP. Where there any kind of musical or personal influences that help shape the way Loses Control sounds?

Mike brought in such an amazing pure rock sound and it adds so much to the way we wrote this album. As far as personally, we’ve all been jobless and poor for the past few months, so I’m sure some of that frustration seeps into the lyrics!

What is planned for the future of Hey Mercedes?

Lots of touring and writing. Lots of bowling.

00:93:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand four

2004//Challenger

CHALLENGER Al Burian // Jessica Hopper AL BURIAN How did Challenger start?

The band started sort of spontaneously. Dave Laney was working on recording some fast punk songs on his own, and it was pretty natural for me to add a guitar track or a bass track here and there. Eventually, we were collaborating on a project which seemed like it was different enough from Milemarker to warrant being its own thing.

We made a demo, sent the recording to Jade Tree, they liked it, so it all took off pretty easily, without having to think it through too much.

What bands/music influenced the way Challenger would sound?

Dave was listening to a lot of 80’s SST stuff, and a lot of early hardcore, Agent Orange, Bad Brains. He came up with a lot of basic song structures and then I’d usually try to come up with something to add that went in the opposite direction of wherever he was going. We’d throw ideas back and forth until we felt like we’d gotten to where the songs had a weird quality of their own, not to say it’s uncategorizable music, it’s pretty clearly “upbeat punk rock”, but hopefully it’s not specifically derivative of anything in particular.

How long did it take to write and record Give People What They Want In Lethal Doses?

We wrote the songs over spring and summer of 2003, got Remis (the drummer on the record) playing with us in early summer, recorded in August 2003. We recorded in Lincoln, Nebraska, at Presto! Recording Studio, which was a great experience. The recording took a little over two weeks.

00:107:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

How do the sounds of Challenger and Milemarker compare, and do you think fans of Milemarker will automatically enjoy Challenger?

Milemarker tries to confound expectations, so when we have the sense that people have us pigeon-holed as one thing we try to shift towards something else. I think of Milemarker as a pretty experimental, open-ended band. Challenger has the opposite approach, in a way, it’s very structured and oriented toward working in the three minute rock song format. I really don’t know whether people who like Milemarker will “automatically” like Challenger. To me, they sound pretty different, but I’ve had other people say, yeah, it’s you and Dave, just playing a little faster. So I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.

For some reason, whenever I hear the song “Input the Output”, it reminds me of skateboarding in the mid 90’s. Is there any song that when you hear it, it reminds you of a certain period in your life?

Sure, of course. I think a neat thing about records is the idea of it in a literal sense as a “record,” meaning that it encapsulates some period of time for you. You connect to angry music at times when you feel angry, or a love song at some time when you’re in love, and then later on you’ve got this soundtrack to how you felt. Sometimes you’ll hear stuff you used to listen to and think, “Man this music is insane, I can’t believe this spoke to me, I was really pissed,” and sometimes you’ll feel like “I still relate to this exactly, I haven’t changed too much,” and that’s a cool feeling, because it gives your life continuity. I wasn’t skating in the mid 90’s, but I take your association as a compliment, because I imagine (or, I guess, hope) you mean that the song reminds you of the energy of those times, and makes you feel still connected to that part of yourself. I think it’s really cool when music can do that.

00:108:00

2004//Challenger

I can easily relate to he song “Unemployment”, because I have been unemployed for the last 5 months. Was this song written from personal experiences of being unemployed?

I have been unemployed or marginally employed for most of my adult life, though I would never try to pass myself off as some kind of blue-collar poster-child or unlucky working stiff. I’m basically a slacker, I have made the conscious choice to pursue the things that have meaning for me and give me happiness over financial security, steady job, etc. The song, on a personal level, is about realizing the repercussions of that decision: I don’t have a trust fund or a rich family to fall back on, so deciding to engage in “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (that’s the American dream, right?) essentially means deciding to be poor. On a broader level, I hope people can relate to it (statistically, it should have an audience of millions who can relate) more generally, just the sentiment that everyone deserves to be happy doing what they do, to not only have work, but have work which means something to them.

The title of your full-length is Give People What They Want In Lethal Doses. What do you want people to get out of this album?

It’s not an overtly political album, but the general theme is excess and people’s obsession with instant gratification. We were hoping the record would “give people what they want” on first impression, that it would be musically accessible and deal with themes that are easy to relate to, almost clichés. But that on further listens, you might get more of the “lethal dose” aspect, for instance, realize that a song which might on the surface seem about a relationship is actually about the way we relate in a broader sense, about people’s unhealthy reaction to loneliness, or the destruction of intimacy when people objectify each other. A lot of the songs deal with drugs and substance abuse as well, not trying to make a moral yes/no statement, but more thinking about how easy it is to substitute the quick fix for real feelings. Living in a country where 8% of the population consumes 25% of the resources of the world, and then suffers from obesity, illness, and body image disorders, we have to ask ourselves, are we really happy getting whatever we want whenever we want it?

Will you be touring in support of the new album?

Yeah, we’re going to tour the US in March-April and hopefully Europe in May-June.

What’s next after the tour, will you be working on a new Milemarker album or taking a break?

We haven’t really planned that far in advance. There has been talk of recording a Milemarker album, and we do have a few new songs, but so far it’s in the abstract stage. For now we’re thinking about the current thing, which is the Challenger record coming out. We try to do things one step at a time.

00:109:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Both you and Dave are known for your zines, Burn Collector and Media Reader.

What do you feel is the importance of zines and what are some zines you think every one should check out?

I work at a store in Chicago that stocks tons of zines and so it is really hard for me to point to any one zine that everyone should read. There’s sort of something for everyone out there, I think. That’s kind of the beauty of it, cheap reproduction technology combined with freedom of press equals increased exchange of ideas, which is more important than ever now. Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, has a new book out, and he devotes a chapter to the importance of “the pamphlet” in the history of the United States. The federalist papers were basically zines. People tend to think of their small exertions as not having much impact, but there are plenty of examples where something very modest has impacted people far out of proportion with its circulation or initial sphere of influence. In some ways, maybe the web has taken over for the printed pamphlet, but I do think there is still something powerful about an actual physical object, the inherent idea that someone cared enough to make X number of physical copies, fold and staple them, get them out into the world to be read and passed on.

00:110:00

2004//Challenger

How did you get into making zines and what have you learned in the process of making them?

I got into it because I saw people doing it, and it seemed like an easy way to communicate something about yourself to people. I started out making them just to hand out at shows, so that even if you didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone you wanted to, you’d still have some sort of interaction, maybe start a conversation which would continue in correspondence. I’m kind of surprised to find myself still doing it years later, and getting so much response from it. I try not to take it too seriously.

People sometimes refer to me as a “writer” but I feel like, hey, I’m just a guy who makes zines. At the same time, I know people who really want nothing more than to be a writer, and spend years getting rejection letters from publishers and literary magazines and becoming embittered by the whole process. This makes me feel kind of guilty, because I feel like I’m enjoying phenomenal success compared to my relatively small effort. I get letters all the time from people who seem to have been effected by something I wrote, and have even been told I’m someone’s “favorite writer” once or twice, which seems totally crazy to me. But, it goes to show, I think, that you have to just get it out there, in whatever format, without worrying about the legitimacy or how it looks on your resumé. With zines, and with bands, I stand by the DIY principle, not as a matter of ideology, but as a matter of a matter of practicality.

For anyone that doesn’t know, what are each of your zines about, and where can we purchase them?

Dave’s Media Reader is a political/cultural criticism magazine that generally consists of articles, interviews and political graphics. Most issues are free. My Burn Collector is a personal zine which is basically me rambling about whatever is going on with me at the time. We both make and contribute to other magazines as well, and our stuff can be found at stickfiguredistro.com. Otherwise, you can get stuff direct or reach our band at challengermusic.com.

JESSICA HOPPER How do the fans in Japan compare to the fans in the U.S.?

About the same, marginal familiarity with us.

Did you bring all your gear on the plane?

Guitars. We backlined everything. That’s standard in Japan. Clubs have equipment for the bands to use.

Are there Japanese bands the could be big in the U.S. or any bands that really impressed you?

Nissen non Mondai, three women, from Tokyo, who were really frenetic and primalist.

Kind of a kin to Turing Machine or This Heat.

00:111:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Do you think it would be easier being a band in Japan or the U.S.?

U.S. by a long shot. In Japan, from what I understood, you rent practice space by the hour, use equipment there, or in the club. It’s harder to get around, not many people have cars or drive.

What kinds of things did you do when not playing shows?

Slept in the van, wandered around exhausted and wide-eyed, ate things with squid in them.

For being such a new band, how did you get the chance to go to Japan?

Denali broke up, and that opened up their slot.

Was there anything you learned about Japan during your stay there?

I think to say I learned much about Japan, or its people would be presumptuous, or at least terribly American of me, to feign understanding simply by observation. The things I learned are debatable, other than experiential things, like Sushi in the 7-11 is better than at home in Chicago and it costs about 2 dollars. That people are very hospitable, that we were hosted graciously. That the temples are beautiful and the freeways are epicly frightful.

What kind of experiences did you take away from this trip?

Immense culture shock. I handled Japan the worst out of the whole band, really.

00:112:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand five

2005//Say Hi To Your Mom

SAY HI TO YOUR MOM Eric Elbogen You write all the music by yourself, alone, but you play with a full band when touring. Do the people who play with you ever have a hard time learning the guitar, drum, or keyboard parts they need to play?

Well, I’ve auditioned many people who can’t get the songs right. It’s a long, complicated process every time I need to go through auditions. There’s a bare minimum musical fluency level though for someone to make the cut. After I unleash my too-purist inner control freak on them in rehearsal (once they have made that cut), they usually get it right. Sometimes it takes a few shows to work out all of the kinks, but like James Brown does, I charge them for every bad note. How do you think I’ve been able to afford to put out the records myself? I end up playing to the musicians strengths too, choosing songs for the set that work right with what each player is capable of.

Do you ever have problems where your music isn’t played how it should sound?

The nature of a live performance means some of songs must change dramatically, from an arrangement standpoint. In the studio, I can play twenty guitar tracks on a given song, to help shape dynamics. When you only have two or three melodic instruments on stage, you don’t have that luxury. What eventually happens is that we use the records as demos and attempt to make the songs more exciting when we play them live. That’s kind of backward, I know, but that’s just how things have ended up working. If we spent this time on the songs before we recorded them, the records would sound entirely different. That said, there are some songs we play now that, in my opinion, are far superior in their live incarnations, but vice versa too. I’ve never really been comfortable performing “Lets Talk About Spaceships” or “Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks,” from Numbers & Mumbles, but they are two of my favorite Say Hi songs in their recorded forms. We’re still in the process of fine tuning the stuff from Ferocious Mopes for the live show. Ok, now I feel like I’m rambling.

00:129:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

How do you write songs? Do you start with a guitar part, then add drums or do you write music based on the lyrics?

I never write lyrics first. They always come well into the process, sometimes just before I record the vocals. I’ll spend months on songs just singing a melody, without any coherent words. Some songs start with guitar parts, some with bass or piano.

Many songs, especially these days, start with a scratch drum part I’ll program in Reason and I’ll write the rest of the song around that.

After reading your lyrics, they seem like answers to questions people ask you. Like if I asked you what kind of ghost you would be, you could respond with the song “I Think I’ll be a Good Ghost,” and it would make perfect sense. What inspires you to write the lyrics you do?

It took me a long time to figure out what I was comfortable writing songs about, and in what manner I wanted to convey things thematically. I started writing songs in (wait, how old am I?) 1989 and am absolutely ashamed and embarrassed about the records I made until I started Say Hi. Deciding not to take things too seriously was a big step. Once I did that, lyrics started flowing like spiked punch on prom night.

Even though it creeps in every now and then, I try to avoid pure, emotional gush. I’d rather write about the mundane or science fiction. Whether or not people get something human out of a song about robots is up to them. I will say that everything I write about is fiction, something far more exciting than real life experiences. Too many songwriters think people are interested in hearing about their own loves and troubles. Maybe some people are. I’m certainly not.

00:130:00

2005//Say Hi To Your Mom

You started Euphobia records to release your own records and you’ve done quite well since then, do you think other people should do the same to get their music heard?

Well thanks. Success is all relative. I’m quite happy with the way things have panned out. The Say Hi phenomenon keeps getting bigger and bigger, which I’m glad to see.

I think though, that if I were on certain record labels I would have sold five times as many records and have been given more opportunities to tour with bigger bands. The flip side of course is that I can make and release the records I want, when I want and that I don’t have to split record sale profits with a label, which makes it easier to pay the bills.

I always try to talk other bands into releasing their own records, but most musicians are intent on waiting for the magic record deal that will change their lives forever. I see it all the time in New York, where a band will play the same venues over and over again and actually get a following, but never a deal. Or they’ll get a deal from the wrong label and fall through the cracks and not get the attention and marketing they deserve.

I suppose I just don’t like to wait. Every time I finish a record, I solicit labels for about two weeks before I make the decision to put it out myself. It takes some credit card debt to put out a record, but it’s really not that hard to do.

If you stayed in California and started Say Hi To Your Mom there, do you think that the sound would be the same as it is now?

Probably not. It took leaving the comfortable womb of LA for me to realize that I was unhappy with what I was doing creatively. Then it took another year of figuring out what kind of music I wanted to make. That year was filled with the frantic chaos of New York City and its colorful, caffeinated architecture, culture and nighttime. A year of that will change anybody. It makes you tougher, but it is also the most stimulating place in the world. Everyone’s an artist here. And a good one too. It makes you want to work harder to compete with the curve.

Do you think where you are geographically influences the way music sounds or how lyrics are written?

As I said before, I think being in this city changed the way I do things. But that doesn’t mean I’m writing exclusively about subways, the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. So no, I imagine if I spent a few years here and then moved back to California, I’d be writing the same records. Perhaps “Pop Music Of The Future”, also from Numbers, would mention the 101 instead of the L-train, but that’s about it.

The first two Say Hi records were made using a PC computer that you built. Did you use the same computer to record Ferocious Mopes?

I did. Some of the drums were recorded at a proper studio this time. But those recordings were then chopped up and re-processed and programmed at my home 00:131:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

studio. All the guitar, bass, synths and vocals were done on the computer, in my bedroom. Just like the last two records.

In most photos I’ve seen of you, your face is either half seen or hidden behind an object. Do you not like having your picture taken, or do you just not want to be recognized?

It’s not that I don’t like to have my picture taken, it’s that I don’t like to look at pictures of myself. Besides, I think music is always better if you’re not thinking about what the people making it look like. It’s better if someone can just appreciate the recording for what it is, devoid of any connection to the real world.

From some of the pages (faq, press) I’ve read on the Say Hi website, they have all been hilarious. Do you consider yourself a funny guy?

Aside from a work ethic, I like to not take any of it too seriously. People often laugh, whether they’re doing it at me or with me I don’t know. My few attempts at stand-up as between-song stage banter have been pretty bleak though, I’ll tell you that much.

00:132:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand six

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

HEAVENS Matt Skiba // Josiah Steinbrick You and Josiah have known each other for quite some time. When did you two meet and when did you begin working on this project?

Matt: We met in Chicago about 5 years ago at a show. Joe was in town recording a record and mutual friends introduced us. I was living in SF and moved to LA in 2003. Joe and his wife were renting a house in Hollywood and needed a roommate. I moved in with them and shortly thereafter we began writing songs together.

You two funded this project your selves. Was it costly? Was there anything that you did to keep the cost to a minimum?

Josiah: We did the album at our friend’s studio. This gave us time to work on it at all hours and at a generously discounted price. We borrowed money from Matt’s friend Mike Park to fund all the initial costs.

Is there any difference when writing lyrics for Heavens compared to writing lyrics for Alkaline Trio?

Matt: Until recently, I would do most of the Alkaline Trio writing on my own where with Heavens, I wrote almost entirely to someone else’s ideas. That’s been the biggest difference and the thing that has made this project fun and new for me.

How long did it take to write and record Patent Pending? Were the 11 songs for Patent Pending the only ones written?

Matt: The record was written and recorded over the span of 2.5 years. We worked on it when we could and thanks to Ben Lovett we were able to make our schedules work. As for the songs, those are it. Everything we wrote together we recorded. There were some initial song ideas that never came to fruition, but for the most part you’re hearing everything.

00:170:00

2006//Heavens

How was the writing and recording process compared to doing an Alkaline Trio album?

Matt: Doing the Heavens record was quite different because we didn’t allocate time frames for writing or recording. The entire operation came together over a long stretch of time. We were in no rush because we didn’t have a deadline. With a Trio record we usually create deadlines for ourselves.

I’d assume that with every Alkaline Trio album you do, you want the new one to outdo the previous one. With Heavens, did you feel less pressure, since there are no previous recordings to outdo?

Matt: Yes. Heavens was really fun and easy for me. Alkaline Trio’s creative process has been a bit more complicated. Although Trio records are a ton of fun to create, it’s not always easy.

You have a long-standing relationship with Vagrant Records. Why did you approach Epitaph to release the Heavens album?

Matt: We had initially agreed to do the record with Vagrant. We went in there and struck a deal, but when the lawyers got to talking, the deal seemed to change and get way more complex than we wanted. Brett Gurewitz is a friend and someone I have a lot of respect for as a businessman and an artist. He was very enthusiastic about the prospect of putting out the Heavens record on Epitaph and made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. Great label with great people, what more can you ask for?

Will you be touring in support of Patent Pending? Will you be bringing a full band or will it just be you two?

Josiah: Yes, we play our first show in England on the 15th of October. We have a few more UK dates, then we do the West Coast and the Northeast into Chicago. We have four other people joining us for the live show.

00:171:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand seven

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

MARITIME Dan Didier How long did you spend writing and recording Heresy and the Hotel Choir?

Well, the writing process for Heresy started when Justin first joined the band, which was January 2006. Two of the songs, however, were started a little before that, with Eric, but for the most part all of the songs started then. We, the Vehicles was released in May of 06 domestically, so we had a lot of time dedicated to rehearsing those songs and touring. The bulk of the writing was done in late autumn 06 and winter/spring of 07. We then recorded Heresy at the end of April 2007 for two weeks at a studio in Milwaukee.

00:202:00

2007//Maritime

How was working with Stuart Sikes different than working with Kristian Riley on We, The Vehicles and J. Robbins on Glass Floor?

All of the producers we have worked with have been great and they each have their own separate “special something” that they bring to the recording process. J. can get you whatever sounds you need and works super hard to get them right. Kristian is an idea man and has a great ear. Stuart is the culmination of the two. He has a great ear and can get amazing sounds in a short amount of time.

Can you explain the title of the album? What kinds of things influenced Heresy and the Hotel Choir ?

Heresy and the Hotel Choir was the hardest title to pick of all the records I’ve been on.

It started as All the Maids in the Hotel Choir and through the process of elimination and a lot of conversation became what it is. Usually the title of the record comes really early in the process, but for some reason we didn’t decide on the name until way late in the game.

With your first two releases, Adios EP and Glass Floor, there wasn’t a whole lot of press about them before their releases. Are you surprised by the amount of press Heresy and the Hotel Choir has gotten so far?

Sure. I am totally surprised. No one can predict what happens once a record is done and out of your hands. So, it’s nice to see and hear people taking an interest in it. I hope this record does well.

With all the labels issues you had with releasing We, the Vehicles, how does it feel to have things go more smoothly with the release of Heresy and the Hotel Choir?

It feels incredibly good. We have a really great relationship with the Flameshovel guys.

Maritime has gone through a lot in its short existence from things like label issues, having band mates live far away, which made it hard to tour or practice, and the joys and responsibilities of becoming parents. Was there ever a time where you thought that Maritime wasn’t going to work out and you should call it quits?

I think that everyday and I am shocked that we are still giving it a go. We have a lot of things stacked against us and we are always in a state of constant flux with all of these new responsibilities we have. All you can do is take things as they come and when one of us cannot handle it, well, we’ll stop doing it.

Now that you’ve been doing Maritime for a few years and built up a following, how does playing in Maritime compare to playing in The Promise Ring in its heyday?

Well, in the Promise Ring’s heyday I didn’t have to work. Granted I was on tour for huge chunks of time, but when I was home I knew I didn’t have to worry about working to get the bills paid. Now, I work full-time. Playing in Maritime is a lot more enjoyable for me than in the Promise Ring. I don’t know why. There is a lot less pressure with Maritime. In the Promise Ring, we were always looked at as these media darlings and there was a lot of hype for a little bit that I felt that all that attention hurt our live shows. We never played well when we needed to. Maritime is 00:203:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

a pretty consistent live band and I am always pleasantly surprised every time we tour with the turn out. Maybe because I am just a pessimist and that I don’t believe that lightning will strike twice.

With any new album of importance these days, it seems that it will eventually be leaked to the internet before the album’s release date, which has happened with Heresy and the Hotel Choir. How do you feel about people hearing and sharing your album before it’s been officially released?

This is something you can’t control, really. I just hope that all the people who download our record illegally come to one of our shows and buys a t-shirt.

You stated in an interview that Vermont’s Living Together is the only album that you can stand listening to now. How does Heresy and the Hotel Choir compare musically to previous Vermont and Promise Ring albums?

I know it is early yet, but I feel like I could listen to Heresy in the same way I listen to Living Together. The time spent creating it was such a pleasure. The record is a step up from the previous stuff, for sure. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t want it to get released.

00:204:00

2007//Maritime

Do you think you’ve grown musically since The Promise Ring days?

Musically I don’t think I have grown all that much since the Promise Ring days.

What I have done is become smarter with my musical decisions. I’m certainly not any more talented than I was, but now I know more of what I like.

Were the twelve songs that appear on Heresy and the Hotel Choir the only ones written for the album? Will there be any B-sides released with import versions of the album?

Yep. That’s it. We did record two cover songs for extra tracks that will go on the Japanese version of our record. One is a Snailhouse cover and the other is a Hot Chip cover. They will be released domestically as a 7” that will come in the vinyl version of Heresy.

With the new solidified line-up, are you writing more songs than before and will future releases come at a more frequent pace?

We’ll see. One thing that will happen is that we will work at a consistent pace. We generally get together once or twice a week to work on new songs, rehearse songs, do interviews, talk tours, hang out, etc. This might generate quicker releases, but who knows?

What kind of touring do you have planned in support of Heresy and the Hotel Choir?

Is it difficult to balance everyone’s family schedules to go out on tour?

Yes, it is extremely difficult. Now, instead of just working around 4 peoples schedules we have to work around 12. Us, our children, and our significant others. We have agreed on a schedule of not leaving for more than two weeks at a time. The idea of just “hitting the open road” doesn’t work for us anymore because the touring that we do end up doing has to be selective, well planned, and ultimately worthwhile.

You recently did a second session at the Daytrotter studio. When will that be out?

What songs did you record for it?

That session will be out sometime near the release. We did “Guns”, “Holes”, “For Science”, and “Pearl”.

You’ve had the songs “I Used to be a Singer” and “Future is Wired” available to download on your website for a while. Are those the final versions of those songs? Do you have any plans to revamp those songs?

Funny that you mention that. “I Used..” was the demo for “Protein and Poison”.

So, that song has already been reworked.

“Future is Wired” is the final version. We did that for a UK magazine. It might be fun to rework that one for our live shows with Justin and Dan coming up with completely new parts. Might be worth looking into.

00:205:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Fans who grew up listening to The Promise Ring and Maritime are there or are getting to that age where they will soon be having children, what fatherly advice or tips can you give for soon to be parents?

There isn’t anything I could say that would differ from the advice given by their families or friends. But, it is fun talking to fans that have children to swap horror stories, product advice, etc.

When your kids get older, there will come a time when they find out that you played in a widely popular indie band that toured the world, and that a lot of people know who you are, how are you going to explain that to them?

I never thought about that. I don’t know. It’s funny; I just had an image flash in my mind of me and my children sitting around a camp fire while I tell them about the “good ol’ days”.

You are an avid photographer and had a photo expo in Europe a few years ago, are there any plans to do any photo expos in the U.S.?

I have shown my work at a few places in the US, but I look at it as more of a hobby than anything else. My full-time job, that I mentioned before, is a video and sound editor for a Milwaukee design firm, so that fulfills a lot the desire to be creative outside of music.

Is there any chance of new Vermont material, another collaboration with Mark Mallman, or solo Davey von Bohlen shows in the future?

There is talk of Vermont doing a Daytrotter session. We’ll see about that. Vermont probably won’t work with Mark again, because I would be shocked if we will release another record at all. Davey plays out once in a while.

00:206:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand eight

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

TIM KINSELLA Joan of Arc // Make Believe // Owls For the recording of Boo Human, you had a sign up sheet for people to come in whenever to record parts to songs. Were the songs mostly finished by that point and everyone added something to them or were the songs in a basic form and then constructed fully during recording?

When the sessions began I had about 20 songs completed as my guitar parts and vocals. There was a big schedule / chart on the wall to keep track of who was showing up when and what songs to prioritize putting together with that group of people.

There were basically two shifts each day - noon to 6pm and 7pm into the wee hours.

So once everyone arrived I would play them all the couple potential songs we could work on and they would choose what was sounding more interesting to them and then we would proceed to arrange it together and then eventually start recording takes and listening back and talking through our options. It was an entirely democratic process between all present. My only advantage was seeing the big picture more so than everyone else, so things did change a bit as we progressed, because after a few days we were aware of what we already had done and had developed some ideas how that might be put together which then helped nudge us toward some more prepositional approaches to the remaining songs.

You mentioned that you had around 60 to 70 songs on your computer prior to working on Boo Human? How did you go about selecting the ones that made onto Boo Human?

Maybe it’s because I don’t eat meat or maybe it’s a testosterone thing, but I am constitutionally severely indecisive. So in creative endeavors, I sometimes know that I have to be a hardass and not look back on decisions. I spent a day listening through everything - none of which I should mention sounds even remotely familiar to me because I record these, stick them in their appropriate folders and never listen to 00:252:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

them again until a year or whenever later I start putting something together. So I make a first pass and put everything in one of 3 folders - Yes, No, and Maybe. If there were 60 songs, then it would’ve been something like 3 yes, 25 No and 32 maybes. Then the next week when I sit down to sort things out, I only have 32 maybes to really worry about. At this point I start re-learning how to play them and sitting with them each a bit to figure out what kind of possibilities exist.

Many of the lyrics on Boo Human seem directed at one person. What was the main influence behind these lyrics?

One person.

You said in an interview that “finding the right collaborators is the single most important aspect of any creative venture” and a number of people collaborated with you on Boo Human. How do you decide which people should play what? Do you know everyone’s musical strengths and weaknesses?

Well these are really mostly just my friends and people I have seen play many times in different contexts. One of the primary distinctions when charting out the schedule was Josh could be there 3 afternoons and no nights and Sam could be there 3 nights and no afternoons - so I figured out which songs seemed more like Josh bassline songs and which were more Sam bassline songs.

You and Sam have worked together in different bands for a long time, what makes it easy to work with him? The same question applies for Chris Strong. You’ve worked with him on a number of projects including the Orchard Vale film?

Well, those are two people I adore and have some deep world views in common with, but I would never say I have too easy of a time collaborating with either. The only person involved in this record I have a harder time collaborating with would be my brother, the only person I’ve been playing with as long as Sam. We all bicker and get snide and impatient with each other sometimes, but I think by this point there is a deep trust established between all of us. In the case of Joan of arc, I know if I have provoked the genesis of some form it will only improve in their hands. In Make Believe, Sam trusts me to be part of the small committee throwing out suggestions on how to warp and twist the structures to their most effective ends.

Members of your family have been involved with many different projects like playing with your brother and cousin in bands and your uncle in Orchard Vale. What’s it like having that kind of support from your family?

That question has a bit of a sad-orphan ring to it. My musical abilities could not begin to compare to the talents of both Mike and Nate. They both have deeply intuitive and technically developed talents I would be envious of if I weren’t instead proud of each of them and of course directly a direct beneficiary of those talents. And I think it’s vital to collaborate with people you can trust, you will emerge from battle from, so maybe you know you can push family a little harder and they still have to be around?

But that’s not so much of an issue anymore really since we now all spend one week a year in any kind of intensely concentrative collaboration. And my uncle is just a really 00:254:00

2008//Tim Kinsella

smart and funny and compassionate guy, so maybe it was already having worked with Mike and Nate so much that made it make sense to me to approach him. I knew he would be great and that we have a deep trust that he’d do his best for me and I wouldn’t make a fool of him and so it’s simple.

With so much time and effort put into Make Believe, was it a difficult decision to leave the band?

Sure, I mean it wasn’t a spontaneous or rash decision and as funny as this must sound from someone who has been doing this one band for 12 or 13 years, I like expiration dates and finality on things. Can is one of my favorite bands, but I don’t want to hear anything from the second 2/3 of their career. But then again Captain Beefheart made Doc at the Radar Station at the end of his career, so I digress. But I just mean, listening to my gut is everything to me. And I have always felt like I’d be content walking away entirely from any kind of public-music-life at any time and my life would not diminish in quality in any way.

How long were you out of Make Believe and what made you want to come back?

Are you back to stay?

I returned just to finish the record that was mostly done when I split. Figured if they weren’t going to press on without me then we may as well wrap it up neatly and end as we began. We have all learned to live with ambiguity as Make Believe. It’s not the kind of thing any of us are really able to prioritize as we once did. Sam got more of a real job type job, I’m going back to school in the fall, Nate now lives a couple hours away. We’re going to be just like a local band that plays at the corner bar to their friends for awhile and keep it that simple if we continue as a band at all.

What will be Make Believe’s function now, is the band going to tour in support of Going to the Bone Church?

We’ve tried coordinating shows, but even finding a weekend in common is a process that makes me want to pull my hair out. Probably nothing will happen for a long while, if at all, except of course by saying that I probably just guaranteed a world tour will be set up later this afternoon.

00:255:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

At what point in your early years did you first get into music?

In 77, when I was 3 years old, Love Gun and Kiss Alive 2 both came out and that was it for me. I had thought Destroyer the year before was cool, but it didn’t really connect with me like these two records did. I spent most of 1977 - 1979 in Kiss make-up and listening to those same 6 sides of vinyl all day every day. I didn’t really even speak unless it was to sing “God of Thunder”. At 8 years old my cousin gave me two tapes - Dirty Deeds and Back in Black and that was the first non-Kiss music I really got into.

What do you enjoy about making music that keeps you doing it?

I went to the aquarium the other day and it was so funny and heavy looking at all these little under water people in their little worlds they couldn’t see beyond and watching all their small hierarchies play out. Man I loved it. Also, “people-watching” is a reductive term for how much I appreciate just watching people walk around each with their own gait. And I don’t mean this to sound aloof or judgmental at all and I in fact mean quite the opposite. I know this love for the common man may make me sound like a scoundrel, but I really so often just feel so much in love with the world. I know I have a bit of a reputation as a sour-puss and being difficult or whatever, but I trust whole-heartedly any of my friends, of which I have many which mean everything to me, would back me up in this claim of my love for humans in general. I’m telling you all this just to say I love people’s mannerisms when they speak and seeing the physical support or contradictions of their language. I loved watching the little fish language ripple about between them or take shape in the patterns they swam around each other. And playing music is a language between my friends and I in which we can share with each other ideas and feelings no other language would be able to carry between us. And then once this poetic truth is sort of roughly defined between us (cause it can never be completely fixed) and we each know which corner is our personal responsibility and how that relates to the others, then we together project it towards other people. But all of this must be done from a place of love within us. And I know, I hit people with mic stands at shows and I playfully posture and wrap things in theory, but there is never a sense of detachment. All of it exists only as loving with whatever means we can.

Which one of your musical projects has been most rewarding for you?

No one more than any other.

Music is obviously an interest for you, what other things are you interested in?

Oh geez, I feel as engaged in the world as I can imagine being, but I guess that’s true of anyone who is not depressed. What I mean is, everything is mysterious to me every day and this enriches me deeply. Music is not really even something I think of as being of interest to me. I don’t think about music or think about songs unless confronting them in some material form at that moment. I think of this cartoon-world and I think everything is funny and there is so much terror, but very little of it is coming from anywhere the people talking about it say it’s coming from and even that is funny. My best friend Paul and my wife Amy, my Gramma, all the closest relationships of my life 00:256:00

2008//Tim Kinsella

are primarily based on humor. That’s what’s important to me. I am just interested in life and what the fuck is it and what the fuck am I in this whatever it is? And sometimes music happens as a celebration of this engagement and the joy and wonder of it all.

Do you think people have a preconceived notion, before meeting you in person, of who you are from reviews that they’ve read and the music you’ve released?

I think that was probably more true some years ago when Pitchfork was more pointed at me and I was villainized a bit more. I get uncomfortable when anyone thinks they know me at all because they know the records. The records are representative of some editing choices we’ve made in the past, but not necessarily representative of what we consciously want or mean to say. I don’t know what any of any of it means removed from the sum bulk of it. So I don’t feel too accountable for any specific phrases, which are probably mostly true in some inverse ratio to however cleverly they’re stated. But you know, I don’t know. How could I? I am not other people, so I would hate to suppose what this abstract other people may think, especially in regards to my self.

Throughout your career, there have been a few mishaps you’ve made along the way when submitting albums to labels, like the album titles of the Cap’n Jazz anthology and So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness and forgetting to send in the art for Eventually, All at Once. Has there been any other sort of mishaps that have happened with any of your other releases?

Oh, that’s funny that you know those stories. Uh, I mean yeah. All the time. A margin of error is certainly worked into our creative process by this point. We are certainly a bumbling bunch and I specifically am exceedingly clumsy and literally catch myself with my head in the clouds a couple times a week and sometimes even when driving, and smoking weed every waking minute for about a decade didn’t help. But the best example of this kind of thing is when Make Believe went to Japan with Owen last year. Mike made these hundreds of Owen t-shirts he paid to have shipped over there.

Mistake #1 - people in Japan get enough of Japanese characters and prefer English on their t-shirts. Mistake #2 - Owen was translated phonetically since it doesn’t necessarily have any literal meaning. And unfortunately that phonetically translates to “Party King” (which no Japanese person would look at and think of as reading “Owen” but would only read as “Party King” and mistake #3 - Just to top it all off, the shirt was accidentally written in Chinese characters. So he sold 2 or 3 shirts in 10 shows and then had to pay again to ship them all back home and the Japanese people that came to the shows were left entirely confused as to why Owen brought no shirts of his own to sell, but instead brought Chinese “Party King” t-shirts.

00:257:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

On the track “Depths of Field” from Field Recordings of Dreams, you recite a 36-minute piece of literature. Was that done in one take? What piece are you reading and why did you decide on that piece? There are a few stumbles in your speech during that recording, why did you decide to leave them in and not re-record those parts?

Oh no, that couldn’t have been one take. I read that piece because that was the piece I had written and it was as long as it was because that’s how long it took to read. My wife had gone out of town for work one weekend shortly after my dad had passed away and I had no obligations and that’s what came out. It’s funny, whenever she would have to leave town I always thought I’d be going wild and closing the 4 a.m. bars every night and going out on the town, but without exception, she’d leave town and I’d turn off my phone and close the curtains and be in silence for days at a time. I don’t know why I left the stumbles in my reading in there. Maybe out of laziness after having to read something so long? I don’t think I ever listened to it all the way through after doing the couple quick obvious edits I had to do, so maybe I was unaware of the stumbles? I don’t remember.

Now that you’ve completed Orchard Vale, are you writing any other scripts to be made into films?

I’ve written two others and started working toward making one of them, but I had some distractions last fall that halted all progress with that and haven’t spent 5 minutes on any movie ambitions in at least 6 months.

What kind of freedom does being a bartender give you? Do you think you could ever work a 9 to 5, 40 hours a week cubicle job?

Lots of money for short hours. And starting work at 10 or 11 at night seems like you have the day off. And it’s a social thing too, lots of my friends hang out there, so I hang out while at work so I don’t feel as drawn to doing so the rest of the time and can work on things or be alone or walk around or whatever. Walking around is in fact super-important to me and I feel like the crazy old lady of the neighborhood. I walk around and my mind wanders and occasionally I stop and chat with whoever I run into and it’s nice. I know so many people in my neighborhood and feel so at home and connected to many of these people and the Rainbo largely functions like a cafeteria for the dorm of the neighborhood. And I work about 15 hours a week and make what I made working 30 some hours a week at my last job. It’s been 8.5 years now, so I’m pretty burnt out on running around like a maniac to serve drunk people, but it spoils you. Makes working another job seem like a pretty raw deal. But this phase of my life is winding down. I’m going on tour all summer then starting school and maybe TAing, so who knows.

Is there anything in music that you want to accomplish before your done playing it?

Nope.

00:258:00

INTERVIEWS two thousand nine

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

SNOWING John Galm // Ross Brazuk // Nate Dionne Snowing features ex-members of Street Smart Cyclist and Boy Problems, what happened with SSC and Boy Problems that got you to where you are now?

Ross: SSC sort of just fizzled out. We tried to forge ahead after John quit, but that, plus nearly all of our equipment getting stolen out of our van in North Carolina took the wind out of our sails. At some point during the summer after that happened, Nate and I sort of decided simultaneously that it was probably better to just lay it to rest so we could do other things. Those other things ended up being Snowing. We decided who was handling what instrument, and picked up JR, who I grew up with, and off we went.

00:290:00

2009//Snowing

Are there any big differences playing as Snowing as opposed to playing with SSC and Boy Problems?

Nate: I’d say there’s definitely a lot more communication and responsibility. As far as writing goes, we try to structure things a lot more, focusing more on the song as a whole as opposed to just how certain parts sound by themselves.

Ross: Totally agree with Nate, Snowing is a whole lot less dysfunctional in general.

We tend to get things done pretty efficiently, which is encouraging.

As regarded as Street Smart Cyclist was, has having ex-members of that band helped get the word out about Snowing better?

John: Absolutely. SSC had a lot of internet hype. Being ex-SSC was definitely fundamental in anyone giving a damn about us. We don’t mind. We’re all proud of what we did in that band.

Ross: I think it definitely helped, but I definitely didn’t want to announce it at every opportunity. This is a new band, and as proud as I am of what we did in SSC, I want it to speak for itself. I’m glad we got to at least let people who were into our old bands know that we were doing something else, and they could check it out if they were so inclined.

I read that you like The Promise Ring more than anything any Kinsella has done, are the “Buh da da da da’s” in the song “Sam Rudich” a nod to The Promise Ring’s song “Why Did We Ever Meet” which has a similar part?

John: No, it’s actually a nod to Latterman, not in the particular part, but just in the sense that growing up in the LV, we saw Latterman a lot after No Matter Where We Go..! came out. Since then, sing along parts have always been a must.

Ross: I think that Kinsella remark was sort of a snap reaction to a comment about us just ripping off Kinsella bands. I do like the Promise Ring more than Cap’n Jazz, or Owls, etc..., but with that said, Braid is my favorite band. Please accuse me of harmless Bob Nanna worship instead.

Do you think people are quick to label bands as Cap’n Jazz copycats just by what they sound like?

Nate: Yeah, people are way too quick to do that. To some degree, I think it invalidates a lot about a band, and that kind of sucks, but what are you going to do?

Ross: I definitely think that. It’s totally hard to shed that comparison, too. I don’t really listen to Cap’n Jazz at all anymore, as great as they are. So it’s sort of frustrating to me.

What are Snowing’s main musical influences?

John: The Boss. Our friends bands.

Ross: Totally the Boss. Also Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Braid, At the Drive-In, June of 44, Latterman, shitty pop punk, blah blah blah. Just stuff I like.

00:291:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

What is the music scene like in Lehigh Valley, PA? John: The scene is sneaky as shit. One month you’ll swear it’s dead, and then you’ll go to a packed basement show where every person there is stoked and singing along to every band and you remember why you love it here. The only real problem with the scene is that the youth tends to flock to places like Philly and NYC, which isn’t a terrible thing, but it puts a strain on how incredible the LV really could be.

Ross: John pretty much nailed it. I grew up going to shows with the best people. The younger kids are really awesome too. I love the Valley.

What are some other bands from the area that everyone should listen to?

John: Yo Man, Go! is a band again, so I’m saying Yo Man, Go! Ross: Other than Yo Man, Go!...Slingshot Dakota (Tom is from the Valley), Pissed Jeans (although they moved to Philly). Pop-punk legends Digger and Weston were from the Valley. Should of probably listed them as influences too.

Snowing is currently unsigned, are you looking for a label?

John: No. Anything we need to do right now, we can do ourselves. If someone else wants to be involved, that is incredible, but we’d rather establish a trusting relationship with someone helping pay for a record than someone we are forced to trust through the means of our signatures on a document.

Ross: Not at all. Like John said, we can do this stuff ourselves. It’s what we’ve grown accustomed too, and become comfortable with. I’m not sure how quick I’d be to entrust anyone but the 4 of us with anything involving the band.

Is being signed to a label as important now as it was in the past?

John: I don’t think so. Insert the same “because of the internet” answer that every band gives for this answer. It’s typical, but it’s true.

Ross: I think it’s approaching zero importance. I think there’s a huge paradigm shift for the “music industry” on the horizon, in that it just won’t exist. At least not as we know it. I’m pretty into it, but I hope that vinyl survives, so the smaller, independent labels can keep doing what they’re doing, without becoming glorified digital download websites for their bands.

You released the Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit EP online for free, why are you releasing it as a 7”? Are the songs the same or are you re-recording them?

John: Having a physical copy of something you enjoy is important. I think that it is still a sentiment that most people in the punk/hardcore/emo community still understand and hold true, so just because people downloaded the mp3s doesn’t mean they won’t want a physical document of it.

Ross: Exact same songs. We just wanted anyone who wanted our songs to have them.

We also realize that there are a lot of people (ourselves included) that like to own physical copies of music they like. Vinyl is the best medium to own music on if you ask me. The CD is going to be completely gone in a few years. Every time I walk into a bigger store that sells music, the CD section seems to have shrunk from the last time I’d been there. I feel like most music is going to be released either on-line, on vinyl, or a mixture of the two.

00:292:00

2009//Snowing

Since you released the EP online for free, what are your thoughts on file sharing?

John: I do it often and I think it’s a useful tool for discovering new bands. The sooner you discover a band, the sooner you support them by going to their shows, buying their records/merch, and letting them crash on your floor.

Ross: I discover tons of bands via file-sharing. I’m totally cool with it. That being said, I’m in a band that is giving their songs away, and I’m not looking to make this a career or some shit. I think “music industry” people think file-sharing is a huge problem, but I think the problem lies in the complete crap being released by major labels especially these days. I’m not trying to pay 14 bucks for 2 good songs, and 8 hunks of crap.

You are releasing a limited cassette tape on your tour this summer, what made you decide to use the cassette tape format instead of vinyl or CD? John: Tapes are aesthetically pleasing to me. They just coincide so well with the limited resources that the punk/indie rock community are supposed to have. They come off as a bit exclusive today, yes, but the reverting to such a dumb format kind of brings a new charm to it, especially in an age where everything becomes more and more digitized. I love buying tapes from bands because you know you are getting something special, something very specific to that tape. CD-Rs don’t carry the same sort of appeal, and 7”s just take too much time and money to produce. Tapes are the great equalizer.

Ross: We definitely didn’t have the financial resources to put out a tour 7” on top of the other 7”, but we wanted something a little more legit than some sketchy CD-R’s we burned the day before we left for tour. Tapes are cool anyway, right?

00:293:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Any word on what the super special surprise is for Side B? John: It’s a bummer Bruce Springsteen cover. We love The Boss.

For those not on the tour route, how can they get ahold of one of those tapes?

John: After tour, any tapes not sold will be for sale online, and all three songs will be available for free.

Ross: If we have any left after tour, I’m sure you’ll be able to get a hold of one when we get back. Maybe we’ll give them to distros so we don’t personally fuck up anyone’s internet orders. We’ll most likely post the songs for free at some point as well.

You have a tour planned for July, are you doing any other touring this summer?

Any plans for a full-length?

John: We just hope to play a lot of shows and continue to grow as a band. As far as a full-length goes, we’re already writing for it, but it probably won’t be recorded/available until 2010.

Ross: I think that July tour will be it for the summer, but I would think we’ll be planning something for the fall or winter. Maybe we’ll do a weekend jaunt or two before then. We would love to do a full-length. We talk about it from time to time, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. It’s definitely something we are planning on doing though.

00:294:00

SIXES

two thousand five - two thousand nine

2005//SIXES - Bands

BANDS

These Arms Are Snakes // Del Cielo // Paint it Black Strike Anywhere // Dr. Dog // Des Ark These Arms Are Snakes - Ryan Frederiksen At what point in your life did you decide being a musician was what you wanted to do?

It was never a conscious decision on my part to be a musician. It was something that happened that I fell in love with and kept doing.

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

Every job is a tie until I started doing graphic design and even some of those are absolutely terrible.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

I would be doing graphic design and not worrying about paying rent.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I would rather win the lottery so I could continue playing music with no regard for making money from it.

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to 5 desk job?

It’s been a while since I’ve done so, but I think it’s possible. It’s just a different state of mind.

Who do you owe your success to?

Success? I wouldn’t call it success, but I definitely owe where I am at to all the people involved with this band. From the rest of the boys in the band to Jade Tree, David Lewis, Susanne Dawursk and of course everyone that likes our band and bought our record. Thank you.

00:329:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Del Cielo - Katy Otto At what point in your life did you decide being a musician was what you wanted to do?

I started playing drums at age 17 literally right after going to Lollapolooza and watching Patty Schemel play drums with Hole. I had never seen a woman play drums like that before and was totally and completely enthralled. I started taking lessons, and in a few months started my first band. I was hooked.

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

Cashier at Mr. Chicken ‘n Ribs. I am vegan. This was in high school and miserable.

I was just vegetarian at the time but still. Ugh. What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

I do other things besides my band that I might focus on more, such as freelance writing and travel, but there isn’t anything I would say I am missing out on because of my band.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I’d love to win the lottery! I run a small record label, Exotic Fever, and I would like to be able to have tons of money to support the rad artists on it!

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to 5 desk job?

Hehe. I do! I am a grantwriter at a national youth violence prevention nonprofit based in DC called The Empower Program www.empowerprogram.org.

Who do you owe your success to?

My mama. She is the single most loving, energetic person I have ever met!

00:330:00

2005//SIXES - Bands

Paint it Black - Andy Nelson At what point in your life did you decide being a musician was what you wanted to do?

I think I was a freshman in high school. I had been going to shows and buying records for a couple of years as a fan of the music, but once I started becoming aware of how amazing and vibrant the DIY scene in Philadelphia was, mainly thanks to shows at the First Unitarian Church and Stalag 13, I knew I had to get involved.

And I have been ever since.

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

I worked in a fried foods joint for about fifteen minutes. Hard up for cash, I accepted a friend’s offer of hooking me up with a relatively stress-free position slinging chicken fingers and wings, but when I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the stink of the friers out of my clothes, shoes and hair, I stopped showing up. They could have paid me a hundred dollars an hour and I doubt it’d have been worth it.

Thus ended my career in the service industry, hopefully forever.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

Probably trying to start one. Or maybe working as a nightclub singer, radiantly going on with my decadent show, even in the face of a second Bush presidency, and holding my many admirers at enough of a distance that I might keep from having to bother with genuinely deep emotions.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

How about both?

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to 5 desk job?

I’ve done it a couple times. It’s only as bad as the job itself is. Some of the more creativity-based ones were amazing, barely even like working at all; however some of the ones felt like being in prison. For now I’m content to stay out of that world so I’m more free to tour, help out with R5 Productions’ shows and pursue my modeling career.

00:331:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Strike Anywhere - Matt Sherwood At what point in your life did you decide being a musician was what you wanted to do?

I’ve never actually decided this actively. I am a dedicated half-assed dilettante who has studied music most of his life. Starting a band seemed like a reasonable thing to do, but I never expected it to be my main occupation.

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

Fixing classic arcade machines for this complete dick who would challenge me whenever I tried to get paid.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

I think I would start one of those ‘car title’ loan places. That or a credit card company. Maybe both.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I would like to win the lottery and devote all of my time to learning interesting things and making stuff.

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to 5 desk job?

Nope. But I can work an 80-hour-a-week, all-over-the-world, very taxing and glamourous job. Turning this band into a successful business has been the most stressful and sweat-inducing thing I have ever done in my working life, and I’m not even doing it alone.

Who do you owe your success to?

Everyone who works with us through our label, our booking agent, our publicist, David Lewis, everyone in the distribution chain who has said a kind word encouraging buyers to pick up our CDs, and everyone who has ever spent a dollar/euro/kroner/whatever on us. Also, the other bands who taught us how to operate: Avail and Hot Water Music.

00:332:00

2005//SIXES - Bands

Dr. Dog - Andrew Jones At what point in your life did you decide being a musician was what you wanted to do?

The other guys probably decided by middle school, but it took me a little longer.

I didn’t start playing guitar until my first year of college. But I would say sometime in the next year or so I’ll be ready to make the leap of referring to myself as a musician.

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

Actually I’ve kind of liked every job I’ve ever had, I just get really tired and hungry after an hour or two so I want to leave. I was a dishwasher at University of Delaware when I was in high school, which seems like it would be terrible, but about 15 people who I was friends with got jobs in the same dining hall and we mutinied and pretty much had the run of the place for the next two years. So that was awesome.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

I’m actually a law school graduate, so I guess I would be expected to do something with that.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I think I can speak for all members of Dr. Dog in saying that we would rather win the lottery than not win the lottery.

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to 5 desk job?

I would like to imagine that I could, but I’m not really that interested in finding out.

I have mastered living on very small amounts of money just to avoid those type of situations. I do admire a finely crafted desk though.

Who do you owe your success to?

Our band has been dealt a series of insanely lucky breaks, from being asked to open for My Morning Jacket, to being featured in the New York Times, to having an amazing manager appear out of nowhere to help us out. But more abstractly, we owe our sense of musical success to people like The Beatles, David Bowie, Neil Young, Brian Ferry, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Pavement, Sonic Youth, The Kinks, Nirvana, Sam Cooke, The Clash, R. Stevie Moore, Otis Redding, Brian Eno, Talking Heads, and about a million others. Also, Philadelphia has been very good to us.

00:333:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Des Ark - Tim Herzog At what point in your life did you decide being a musician was what you wanted to do?

If I had to pick a point in my youth where I decided that I wanted to be a rocker it would be the summer before my senior year of high school. I was 16 I think, and was playing guitar and singing in this noise punk band called the geEk Aggression. I’m from a medium sized city in upstate NY called Syracuse and in the early 90’s there was a huge local hardcore scene. As a really young kid we would skate all week and go to The Lost Horizon for their Hardcore Matinee’s. It was a full days worth of the craziest hardcore bands for like 3 or 4 bucks. Through that I got into bands like Youth of Today, Quicksand, Fugazi, Split Lip and Op Ivy as well as some of the killer local bands like Earth Crisis, Infusion and Framework. I don’t know if it was my age or the just overall standoff-ish attitude of the scene but I didn’t feel like I could be out there doing what those bands were doing. Around 1990 or 1991 this shift happened in the local hardcore scene and all these skateboard kids started going Vegan X-Edge and all of a sudden the scene got even more suffocating. You’d go to the same Sunday shows you had been going to and if you didn’t have huge X’s Sharpie’d to your hands you were scum. I tried to stick around for a while but it just didn’t feel right. A year or two later I met the guys in the band geEk Aggression and started playing guitar with them. Through those guys I got introduced to the greats – Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Scratch Acid, and Ramones.

We used to practice almost every day, just getting stoned and making the loudest most angry noise our little bodies could. Once we started playing shows it all started to make sense. At that point I began meeting people, older guys who were in their mid 20’s still rocking out. The two people that made the biggest difference in my young rocker-dom were Rob Walsh from the scariest band in Syracuse, SpamHammer and Lee Waters, the drummer of Sonic Whirlpool, who is still the most rock motherfuckers I have ever met. It was actually those guys that got me to Chapel Hill, the rest is history…or something like that…

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

I sold vacuum cleaners door to door for Kirby Vacuum. I had to wear nice shirts and a tie. They would sing songs like “Gimme a K. I. R. B. Y. Whats it Spell? KIRBY! What do we sell? KIRBY! What do we make? !!MONEY!!” I think I lasted 4 days. I would ride my bike to work and get there all sweaty and have to ‘freshen up’ in the gas station bathroom near the shop, get in a van with a group of hopefuls and knock on doors. It was the utmost in humiliation.

A very close second was going door to door collecting money for NCPIRG. They had a killer help wanted add “Earn $300-$500 a week working for the environment”.

I lasted a little longer there, maybe 3 weeks. I hated interrupting stranger’s lives to ask for money and would usually just sit under trees and read pretending to be working.

Needless to say I really sucked at it and I think I only made my weekly minimum one week and that was cause one of the managers felt sorry for me and gave me one of 00:334:00

2005//SIXES - Bands

his donations. They would bring us out in groups, drop us off in a neighborhood and leave not to return until late in the evening. We would go all over Chapel Hill and Durham. One day they dropped me off in one of the low income ‘ghettos’ of Durham. I got out of the car and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t do it. I absolutely would not subject these poor people to the spiel I was taught. Our country had cut out very definite areas of low priced housing, keeping the poor legally segregated by the only thing more powerful than laws, money. Yeah sure, segregation is against the laws held upon us by the US Government, but not the laws of economics.

I decided that instead of asking for money I was just going to spread the information, one thing that doesn’t flow freely in these parts of the country. I went door to door and instead of giving my “please help us out and give generously” spiel, I told them the facts and as an experiment collected signatures. I think I made it to 4 houses before I was approached by two men, one very large and one small, both drunk. The little one asked me for some change while the big one made his way around to my side and before I knew it he gave me a bear hug, picked me up and the little one rummaged through my wallet and took what little money I had, thus concluding my stint as an environmental activist.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

Probably getting a lot more sleep, having a lot more money and looking for people to play in a band with.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I would love to win the lottery, but only because it would enable me to be able to do more financially for the punk community. Even if I, out of the blue, got a lot of money I would never stop “working”. I would just be able to “work” in different ways.

Instead of being a productive tool making money for something or someone else in exchange for a living wage, I would be working towards helping other people make a living wage through their art in a way that doesn’t compromise what they are doing by commodification for a mainstream demographic.

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to 5 desk job?

I do work a 40 hour a week job right now, actually it’s usually more than 40 hours a week but my desk is a work bench and my paper work is carving hunks of wood into beautiful guitars. I think the whole desk job thing really comes down to what your options are. I don’t ever believe I’ll be in a band that will afford me to not have to work for someone else in some capacity.

If my options were flipping burgers in a place that gave me a hard time for taking time off for tour, wouldn’t let me call in sick and paid me like an indentured servant or enter data into some computer or design circuit boards on AutoCAD while sitting at a desk in a place that gave me paid vacation and sick days. Well, then you better believe I’d work a desk job. But for now I am lucky enough to make my money with the toil of my hands. Weather it be crafting wood into guitars or building bikes. At least I am producing something I love, even if it does make someone else rich.

00:335:00

On Company Time//The Collected Interviews

Who do you owe your success to?

I guess the success I have is only possible because of a network of amazing people all over the world that are willing to live a life that is a little harder, do a little more work and get paid only in knowing they are part of something that totally kicks ass. I owe the fact that there are punk clubs and collective show spaces to bands like the Minutemen and Black Flag who were willing to all pile into one van and drive all over the U.S. and play in any shithole bar that would have them. I owe the fact that kids under 18 can come to see shows at clubs to bands like Minor Threat and Fugazi who would only play shows if all ages could come. I owe the fact that there are labels like Bifocal Media and Lovitt Records to all the amazing bands that have been playing subversive music in a subversive way and doing it with the help of small local labels that put out music because they love it and telling the major record labels and the Clear Channel controlled mega radio stations to fuck off. And I guess more than anything else I owe it to MTV, Rolling Stone and Atlantic records for making the most watered down, unoriginal and uninspiring shitbag of a music industry that will continue to turn an ever growing handful of kids away from the mainstream garbage that is shoved down their throats and make them search out truth and meaning in art. Without that music industry true DIY punk would cease to exist.

00:336:00