Within Punk Zine issue 15 by withinpunkzine

KOI MUSIC FEST 2015

MARTIN BRODA

27 38

“TALKS ABOUT HIS LATEST PROJECT “CURSES”

ZACH QUINN/ PEARS

JOEY CAPE TALKS ABOUT HIS LATEST SOLO RELEASE “STITCH PUPPY”

PATTY O’LANTERN BRUTAL YOUTH FRONTMAN ON “BOTTOMING OUT”

MUSIC REVIEWS

EDITOR

Jason Bolduc

COPY EDITOR Naomi Kelly

PHOTOGRAPHERS Jason Bolduc Jim Smith Mike Marshall

COLUMNISTS

THE TOWER

Hamilton's Anarchist Social Centre 281 Cannon St. E Hamilton, ON L8L 2B4 Hours: Sundays 11am-5pm* Mondays 2-6pm* Thursdays 12-5pm* http://the-tower.ca/

Jason Bolduc Jim Smith Juana Luck Mike Mccarthy

REVIEWS Mike Mccarthy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mike Magee/Stomp Records Melanie Racette / Stomp Records Melanie Kaye PR Sacha Miller/Erin Caroll/ AB Co. PR Epitaph Records Kieth Marlowe Photography/Night Birds Piston Head/Brutal Brewing My Fingers My Brain Reords Paper and Plastick Records

JAKE LUHRS AUGUST BURNS RED / PHOTOMIKE MARSHALL

TOM MAY MEZINGERS PHOTO MIKE MARSHALL

CENTRE FRAME / DOWNTOWN MAIN ST KITCHENER

TOP RIGHT FRAME /AUGUST BURNS RED SIGNING TOP LEFT FRAME / CROWD @ CIVILIAN PRINTING MAIN

KOI MUSIC FEST 2015 WRITTEN BY JASON BOLDUC KOI Music Festival is the brain child of Curt and Cory Crossman. The brothers from Kitchener, ON have been organizing concerts for well over a decade. Both Curt and Cory played in bands over the years with many of their performances taking place at community centers, legions, halls and underground clubs. After running their first concert at the ripe age of 15 (Cory) and 17 (Curt) the brothers helped revitalize the underground music scene in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Since that first concert they have put on hundreds of all ages and licensed shows in the KW area, bringing through many large national and international touring acts. They have always seen promoting shows as more than just a business but an opportunity to engage a community and form a scene of artists and musicians. KOI was the logical next step in both community building and promoting music. KOI is a festival that puts a strong emphasis on local independent acts, and is set up in a way that showcases these acts to a broader audience. Combine this large local presence with major touring acts and you have the recipe for a very sustainable and successful event. The purpose of the festival is, and has always been, to put the Kitchener-Waterloo area on the national music map. The city has loads of undiscovered and under-appreciated talents, so KOI is a way for the Crossman brothers to showcase their city while offering exposure for the local bands that have helped them create this vibrant music scene.With the help of the iconic Toronto PR Firm AB Co. KOI manages to gain more attention and a smoother operation between logistics and band promotion through aquiring bigger bands while on tour. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sixth anniversary is yet to date one of their biggest with well known acts like AUGUST BURNS RED and TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET with tour mates PEARS and even THE MEZINGERS. Also included where some STOMP RECORDS bands THE CREEPSHOW and THE BRAINS.

KOI spans the course of a weekend with wrapping up acoustic sets on the Sunday and always features on promoting local talent and smaller bands that are emerging on the scene. The Main Stages HEFFNER SCION and CIVILIAN PRINTING were the endorsing partners alongside with the T.D Stage and TICKETSCENE Stage inside Capers and EXCLAIM Stage inside Wax Night CLub. The main alcohol sponsors for the festival as with many festivals was PABST and SEAGRAMS which both had intimate smaller stages inside an emptied out commercial store front that was either slated for demolition or renovation as there was inadequate lighting and reminiscent of that oldschool punk booking atmoshpere. There were intimate acoustic acts at the corner street stages and a postive reception from the crowd and locals that help support this festival. All of the bands mentioned were exceptional at coming together despite some schedule conflicts. The one thing mentionable that stood out over other Festivals was the KOI MUSIC FEST APP. It an interactive multimedia app showing times and locations of each band along with a brief history and updated time notifications and schedule changes and was a brillant piece to complete the experience for either journalists or attendee.

CORY AND CURT CROSSMAN / KOI MUSIC FEST FOUNDERS

MARTIN BRODA ON HIS LATEST PROJECT “CURSES”

INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN BORDA /CURSES BY PHONE

SEPTEMBER 18,2015 COURTESY OF

SACHA MILLER/ERIN CAROLL AB Co. / PUBLICITY

Up and coming rock group Curses announce their debut EP The Bridge on October 16th. The Toronto based four-piece have quickly gained momentum with their recent singles “Until My Heart Stops” and “Back To Your Love,” and are excited to share even more new music in the coming weeks. Formed less than a year ago, Curses is led by Martin Broda, best known as singer/bassist of the electro-metalcore group Abandon All Ships, and includes Michael Farina, Daniel Ennis, and Michael Ferreira. The upcoming 5-track EP showcases their high energy and ever so fun personalities. States drummer Michael Farnia, “There’s quite a bit of diversity to it while maintaining a MARTIN BRODA common thread. We weren’t afraid to push ourselves outside of whatever predetermined parameters we set for ourselves from the inception of the band. This EP is going to be a fair representation of who we are and where we’re going musically.” The latest single “Until My Heart Stops” showcases a catchy hook and is the perfect summer romance anthem. This single is just a preview of what fans can expect from the group. In support of the upcoming EP, the band will embark on a North

American tour alongside Jesse Lawson that will kick off with an EP Release show October 9th at Adelaide Hall in Toronto. This will follow an appearance at Kitchener’s KOI Music Festival, where Curses will play alongside August Burns Red, Hawthorne Heights, and more, from September 25th-27th. See below for the full list of dates.

J.B: Hey brothers and sisters I am sitting here talking with Martin Broda and we are talking about his new project “Curses” and they are releasing their first E.P titled “The Bridge”. How’s it going my friend? MARTIN: Ah it’s going really great actually we just got the final masters back a couple of days ago I believe and will be pressing the E.P within the next couple of days so we’re getting ready for the tour that’s coming up in the fall in October. It’s going really well we took it in two parts we basically recorded the first two songs about four or five months ago or maybe less. And from there we decided we wanted to release an E.P so we wrote three more songs and headed back into the studio about two months ago and finished those up and here we are today. J.B: And the working title “The Bridge” Martin: Yeah exactly J.B: What’s the meaning to the title? MARTIN: Ah “The Bridge” we were actually contemplating on a names for quite a while and I don’t know it just sparked me one night and I was thinking about the symbols behind the bridge. You know we are all kind of trying to build these bridges and in our life to make sure to get where we to get to. And I think we can all relate to “The Bridge” and every member in the band because we all want to succeed in this project and we all want to get to that successful place in this band and hopefully we get there. J.B: It is also a different project that what you guys came out of (Abandon All Ships) and what you were used to? MARTIN: Exactly! And it all ties into that also we all come from heavi

er style music backgrounds and we are sort of well not over and done with it but we kind of want to pursue a different kind of music. We all kind of like that mainstream kind of pop/rock-ish kind of sounding vibe but nobody’s ever followed through with it and now they are so we are definitely going to take advantage of it as much as we can. J.B: So “The Bridge” releases officially on October 16th coming up but your release party is slated in Toronto for October 9th? MARTIN: Yeah exactly we are releasing on October 16th but we will be giving away a copy to everyone that attends our release show which is a good deal, so anyone that buys a ticket pre show gets an E.P at the door which is a pretty good deal for ten bucks you can’t go wrong. J.B: Are you pressing vinyl for the E.P also? MARTIN: We will be yes maybe not for the release but maybe for the next month after maybe towards Christmas. I have never personally done vinyl and I’ve always wanted to do it and I’m pretty stoked I’ve actually got a record player and I’m starting up my collection as we speak you know. So to see my project on vinyl is super surreal. J.B: Anything special on it perhaps maybe some weird color or artwork for those collectors out there? MARTIN: Yeah I was thinking about maybe putting a special bonus track on it, or just make it just super weird and limited run so it’s special you know maybe like only press about a hundred. Or maybe that extra song or maybe a poster and just something different you know to give that something extra back.

J.B: Yeah like ashes! I’ve heard you can press people’s ashes into vinyl on their favorite tracks now! MARTIN: What! Ashes? Really? Wow that’s I don’t know but Wow! I don’t know how I feel about that but that’s kind of cool. J.B: The tour you are on is with with Jesse Lawson? MARTIN: Yeah exactly we are on tour with Jesse Lawson on October 9th through till October to the 29th I do believe. It’s basically a Southern Ontario tour and little a bit into Quebec in Quebec City and then goes down the East Coast into the states. So we are not hitting the West Coast on this run unfortunately but hopefully maybe on a future tour maybe if it comes into play. Super stoked that we launched this E.P and we are already on this North American tour and couldn’t have been happier. Jesse is an old friend of mine and he used to play in “Sleeping with Sirens” and I randomly shot this idea to him of the tour over text to him and was like “Hey what are the chances you want to go on tour in the fall”? And he was like that would be a great idea. And literally within the hour we got our management talking back and forth and setting it up and everything is going well. J.B: So KOI MUSIC FEST that’s pretty exciting? MARTIN: Ah this will be our first festival that we’ve ever played so we are super excited we are playing only like four shows up until KOI FEST which is actually kind of weird before a big show, but we are super fortunate to be playing it so. We are playing at 8.45 at Bobby O’ Brien’s in Kitchener so I’m really excited to be playing that because there are a lot of great acts playing. A couple of friends of mine ”August Burns Red” and “I see Stars” definitely going to say hi to them and it’s coming up so we definitely need to start practicing and getting ready for that and getting the stuff together. J.B: Coming back to the E.P you guys had your first single “Back to your Love” and most recently your latest video “Until My Heart Stops”? MARTIN: Yeah! They are both on the E.P it will be the only two singles that are released before the E.P and we have had a lot of great feedback being in a band I was expecting negative feedback and I’m not used to the positive feedback on it that we have been getting. You know it’s always 50/50 if people are going to like you or not and I’m super stoked its going over really well. J.B: Your awesome bearded drummer is looking like he’s definitely throwing heart into the drum through on “Back to your love”? MARTIN: (Laughing) we have the Moustache! And the Bearded Guy! J.B: For a moment there he had to take a little breather!

MARTIN: (Laughing) He’s a funny guy for sure! J.B: So was it recorded at a Home Studio? MARTIN: We recorded with Anton DeLost at Lost Recordings he’s a local producer out of Ontario and he’s done a couple good projects and Joe our manager connected us up with him and I checked it out and I loved it so. Honestly from day one it’s been super natural and it’s no stress he knows what to do and if you do a bad take he will tell it your face and he will be blunt and then ask can you do it better? And he definitely achieves perfection and I like that because I’m a perfectionist so we will definitely work with him in the future on that. When you hear the E.P you will definitely hear it and like what he does and that’s for sure he’s awesome at it.

“You know we are all kind of trying to build these bridges and in our life to make sure to get where we to get to” J.B: So after the E.P it’s usually a sophomore Studio and plans in the future on that? MARTIN: Yeah after the E.P and the tour and maybe in a year we were talking about maybe a full album. We are still developing our music and our writing, I don’t know if you can tell from the songs we did release it’s not a certain sound we write what we want to and go from there and whatever comes out. And that’s the cool thing we just let it out and go with it and whatever comes out is cool even if it was like a hip hop record or whatever we are just getting it out and going with it and if it’s heavier than that’s cool too. Hopefully when the full length album comes out people will like it and I’m excited for this process. J.B: Hopeful tour mates in the future? MARTIN: Actually one of the bands we are friends with that is upcoming is “Pears” and those guys are amazing. I don’t know if you‘ve heard

of them but they are awesome and they do our shirts for us so that is great also. J.B: What do you think of the scene now? MARTIN: I think it’s great now I think the kids are being more open minded to music now and are not expecting that certain sound or formula you know or following this sort of style, back in the day it used to be this and that and now they are appreciating it for what is and that is the way it should be. I really got to get back out there and start connecting again and what I loved when I was on tour was just talking to fans you know and get to know them and what they like you know. J.B: We always end with a famous quote or a famous book - anything come to mind? MARTIN: Ah man that’s a good question? (Laughing) J.B: Yeah that’s my hallmark I always catch people off guard on that! (Laughing) MARTIN: I’m stealing this joke from a friend who’s a girl and I have to use this one “You win some, you get some”! J.B: Last words? MARTIN: Yeah KOI FEST/Kitchener September 26, o n the Bobby O’ Brien stage and the Tour starts October 9th to the October 29th and the E.P dropping October 16th make sure to check those dates.

ZACH QUINN TALKS ABOUT THE MEANING OF

INTERVIEW WITH ZACH QUINN /PEARS @LEE’S PALACE

SEPTEMBER 26,2015 COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR J.B: Hey Brothers and Sisters I’m sitting here with Zach Quinn of the legendary band PEARS! ZACH: Hello! Hello! Hello! Audio okay well I look like shit if anyone is wondering! J.B: Yet again another fantastic set back to back from KOI Music Fest to this one at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. You always bring that high energy stage presence just like the old hardcore days. ZACH: Thank you! I say to myself all the time “Why more people don’t do it?” But it was kind of an easy thing to figure out but every time it feels like I’m going to die! (Laughing) Like every day for twenty minutes it’s the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done! J.B: I mean the energy and the aggression of expression through forceful application it seems you’re trying to tell the stage where to go! Making that message loud and clear! You ever screw yourself up or twist an ankle or something? ZACH: Yeah I fucked myself up a couple of times! There was this time in San Diego and I jumped with my knee locked and I kind of went backwards a little bit you know and just enough to know “man, it hurt”. I slept with it elevated on luggage bag that night you know! And limped for a couple of shows and then was back. Coming back to the question though yeah my ankles hurt my knees hurt my back hurts definitely you know. J.B: You guys are taking that old-school approach, right down to the stencil font... ZACH: Yeah the FEAR logo you mean? J.B: Yeah! So the name PEARS where did you come up with the name? ZACH: The name PEARS? Ah man that’s just drugs! I was tripping on mushrooms for like a week like A LOT! And I had a really bad or I should say a really good trip! And I decided that Bananas are really beautiful and pure and represent everything beautiful and pure and then I had a bad trip and Pears are kind of gross man! It’s like the worst

ZACH QUINN / PHOTO MIKE MARSHALL

fruit right! They taste like sand right? You’re looking at me with an incredulous look on your face? You like pears? God they suck! NAOMI “No they’re awesome and in season right now! J.B: Is that a Freudian slip for the tour? (Laughing) J.B: Ah you guys did come up previously from your last project “The Lollies”? ZACH: AH Yeah! J.B: And that could have went either way, you could have stuck with the Pop Punk but chose the Hardcore sound and went with it

and it exploded and caught on like wildfire. Everywhere I go it’s ‘have you heard PEARS’? Even during a MASKED INTRUDER interview it was all about Hardcore and PEARS and they gave you a plug on the interview. ZACH: Yeah I love those guys! J.B: So “Go to Prison” is that sort of a Freudian slip going on in there? Some sort of metaphorical meaning behind it like breaking from solitude or confinement of the mind? ZACH: Ah it’s prison you know! We are talking about “birth” we are talking about the prison of perspective. You know, I feel locked inside my own head! I mean I want out but the only way out is... J.B: Through expression! ZACH: DEATH! NAOMI: The final out! ZACH: I mean it sucks, I wish I could see everything at once in every direction! I want to feel everything at once but instead I’m locked in this hunk of meat.

J.B: You guys obviously have that old school heavy influence with remnants of FLAG, NEGATIVE APPROACH, THE STOOGES, ROLLINS BAND and even some of “Go to Prison” reminds me of some AVAIL, so what was the influences you had there? ZACH: Well there’s all sorts of stuff in there I mean the album was so premature for us because we wrote it and recorded it really quick. And then the live show kind of developed later and I feel that after the record the music evolved with the live show you know. And I mean the record specifically - I was listening to “Can I Say” by “Dag Nasty” so much and I think BRIAN PRETUS / PHOTO MIKE MARSHALL there’s a lot there you know. I really listened to it and I was like, man I really want to play stuff like that you know! I want to write stuff that feels that way and that was my end of it and Brian was listening to tons of “OFF” and those two things were really big! J.B: Talking about stage presence and live shows you toured with Blag Dhalia and The Dwarves did they wear off on you a bit? ZACH: We know we did a short run of shows “They really are great “they are not overrated god they are so nice and so awesome you know! I can’t really say anything bad about Blag! J.B: Well his addiction to candy that is? ZACH: Ha! (Laughing) yeah that is true he loves candy! J.B: Gunner Records? ZACH: Ah man Gunner Records I don’t remember how got we got hooked up with him I think it was through “Red City Radio” we did a tour with them that Gunner booked and all that and one hooked up us up with the other. You know he really helped us out he was so positive and really went that extra way for us! And there’s a lot of people that

ALEX TALBOT/PHOTO MIKE MARSHALL

we couldn’t have done this without and Gunner is one of them! And obviously the other is Ryan Young and he gave us an audience right out of the gate! J.B: Well you know “Off with Their Heads” right! ZACH: Yeah exactly! We like skipped two years of playing with nobody you know what I mean immediately he was like “Hey Check out this band” and everyone listened! J.B: I was going to ask that question actually. I know you got noticed through him and the show with “Off with their Heads” and do you think things would have been differ-

“You know, I feel locked inside my own head I want out!” ent if you didn’t do that show? It could have gone the other way right? ZACH: Well it happened because we opened up in New Orleans and I think if we haven’t played that show we were a band for about three months and we were on the fence and we were like “I don’t know if I’m ready to play that show” and we just said fuck it let’s go for it and we screwed up songs and we were totally unprepared for it and I had the lyric book up there on stage! But we did it anyways and got through it and got noticed and Ryan was like fuck it I’m fronting the cash for the vinyl and the dudes a “Saint” God I love him! J.B: Well I guess it didn’t help since it was “Mardi Gras” no pressure there right? ZACH: Yeah it was Mardi Gras day (Laughing) J.B: So “Breakfast” you did a video for that has that old-school Rollins darkness to it so what gave the inspiration for it? ZACH: Ah “Breakfast” we wanted to do something dark for it so we

went to my Grandparents house and took out a bunch of creepy stuff and basically built a Nightmare set around it! It actually tuned out really fun there was all sorts of things that we blew it and tried like water refraction and stuff but that didn’t pull off. Like lights shining through water and it didn’t fucking work (Laughing) the guy who shoots our video though is fucking brilliant Michael Moises! Awesome guy actually and we took him over to Europe to film a Documentary about a band that doesn’t know how to be a band! (Laughing) ah yeah it’s pretty cool! J.B: Any release date on that said documentary? ZACH: Ah I think he’s coming with us to a few more countries first to take some more stuff and then release it, he’s still got a few things in the works still. J.B: Any working title yet on that? ZACH: We joked about calling it “Go to Europe” but I don’t think that will stick. J.B: Talking about grandparents, what’s up with the doily on “Letter’s to Memaw”? ZACH: Ah actually Memaw and Pepa are my grandparents and the “Letters” is actually a title that was around back in the day of “The Lollies” and we always wanted to use it and an ex-girlfriend of mine designed the logo and had an idea that it should be a doily and happened that the PEARS “Go to Prison” logo fit in the centre of it perfectly and who ever designs the art work over at Fat made it happen and I sent to my ex saying “Check this Out” and she said ‘That’s exactly how I thought of it”! J.B: Hey what’s with changing drummers so many times? ZACH: Ah you know we’ve been through some and probably a few more! Ah Jarret’s almost done you know he’s getting tapped out and exhausted but it’s cool we will carry on probably a few more you know we have already been through three. I know I think it takes time and this is how I’ve been putting it, it takes time with a band and lineup changes over the course of years but we have done five years in one year if that makes sense. We have done six months of extensive touring of the last twelve signed with Fat; recorded a full length; released a 7 inch and recorded a full length that will be out in February all in the span of nineteen months and I think we have the right lineup now. J.B: How does it feel to be part of the Fat Family? ZACH: The word family is for REAL! I shit you not! I mean people say things but I thought, whatever! But then we met them all and it’s crazy

we inherited all these friends. And not to mention be dropped in the Fat Wreck Chords tour was like being in a dream and a nightmare at all the same time all rolled into one. And you know how I am supposed to act when chicken wants to have a talk about alcoholism and Joey Cape is like two feet behind me! And it’s like so bizarre and like two years ago I was delivering sandwiches and I never thought I would be here doing this! Like EVER! J.B: Well that’s the way it goes! Where the hell are we here? ‘Judy is a Punk’ cover anything else you’re thinking of doing as a cover? ZACH: Ah man we talked about “Suspect Device” we talked about doing a couple of Stooges and Sex Pistols. We want to cover the entirety of “Nevermind” at a show and opening up with “Smells like Teen Spirit” Yeah! It’s a fucking classic! J.B: So “You’re boring” “Victim” And coming into the intensity of “Forever sad” lyrical content what’s the creative process there? ZACH: Ah ‘Forever Sad’ was the first one we wrote and lyrics is a nightmare! Sometimes they fall out but Forever Sad that was an ordeal I didn’t sit at a desk over the span of twelve hours I would sit down for about ten minutes write some shit and then scratch it out and come and do the same thing. J.B: That would explain the intensity? ZACH: Yeah sometimes I just come and do the old (Fast writing gesture) ‘blah blah blah’ and there it is, right? Like “Framework” is written that way! But “Forever Sad” was intense I guess. Sometimes depending on the mood I like I will like songs better but there’s something about the immediacy of work and sometimes it just comes out and it just happens and there’s something about slaving over something it’s a different product. J.B: We always end with a famous book or a famous quote that inspired your life anything come to mind? ZACH: Famous book? Hmm I know there’s the guy that wrote Dilbert that wrote this hypothetical thought experiment called “God’s Debris” and the book is about the only challenge to an omnipotent being would to be to destroy itself. So an all-powerful being could and couldn’t do that because it’s a paradox so what god destroying himself is was the Big Bang! And slowly now we are all coming back together as an all knowing, all powerful force with mass communication - that we can send a thought from one end of the world to the other in moments is truly god like.

JOEY CAPE

WITHIN PUNK ZINE INTERVIEW WITH

JOEY CAPE

BY PHONE

SEPTEMBER 14 ,2015 COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR Hey it’s JB from Within Punk Zine, sitting here talking with the legendary Joey Cape, how’s it going? JOEY: Good! (Rain in the background) J.B: So last time I caught up with you, we were at Pouzza Fest and you were talking about your crazy schedule and we were standing there in the rain and mentioned that the rain in Japanese culture purifies the soul so that’s always a good thing…How do you find the scheduling, any conflict with Stitch Puppy coming out? JOEY: It’s ok now, I think at the time I was torn with Lagwagon and touring in-between plus I was working on the album and I think I had two other things going on in my life, so it was a bit crazy at that time. I felt like every other day I was on a plane or having to be somewhere and things have calmed down quite a bit. I’m touring a lot now, I’m on tour right now actually, but it’s more relaxed, it’s just touring. J.B: Yeah you have the Lagwagon tour behind you with the Fat Wreck 24th year tour

JOEY CAPE / PHOTO J.B

“There’s a metaphor there for how we all gain wisdom to try and stitch ourselves back together”.

that just went by, which was amazing by the way. JOEY: Yeah that was great! We have a bunch of tours coming up, we usually do a couple of years of touring when we put a record out. I’m pretty much on tour until Christmas, but for somebody who has toured, it’s not a big issue for me. I’ve been doing it so long, it’s almost when I’m most relaxed is when I’m on tour. When you have to be on stage for sound check and then do a show, that’s about as easy as any job there was you know? J.B: Yeah! You mentioned that the reason you like to record in a week is so you don’t go back to it, you don’t play around with it too much. Is that how you approached Stitch Puppy? JOEY: Definitely. I had been doing all these one week records and they were more like sessions than actual records. And I just got really attached to the idea and when I updated my house I got rid of any ability to tune vocals and it’s more about the performance than it’s about a math equation and I really like that so I tried to give it a shot with the Stitch Puppy thing and tried to do more live stuff and do full takes of vocals and things like that and I just try to keep it really raw and I didn’t do a lot of editing, I let a lot of things fly against my judgement. Which was tough to do but there’s a benefit to that. J.B: You did mention the one week records, which is unusual because this time you’re not self-releasing, you were released through

Fat. JOEY: I think originally there was some plan that the thing I was gearing up for I was writing was just going to be a one week record and I had mixed feeling about it, I thought it was too soon because I’m trying to establish a session label for people that I want to introduce to others

and doing my own record on it just seemed a little premature, maybe a few years down the road. So I ended up recording some covers and I just made that record free and that seemed like a better idea. Not to mention I hadn’t had a record with them for about five years, so it seemed better to release a record with Fat that way. J.B: So the character of Stitch Puppy, you describe him as your daughter’s Victorian doll? JOEY: She made it for me with my wife a couple of years ago when she was about 8 or 9 years old and it’s sort of based on the idea of a Victorian mourning doll and it came out of her mind, she has this amazing ability to lack inhibition and they are able to do all these creative things and they paint or whatever they do and I just brought it with me, it’s just an amazing doll, it means so much to me and when I look at it, it’s so inspiring. It’s good to have some sort of muse, somewhat of a conceptual center that you use to write for a record and I used it as a muse for the album. I probably read into it a little more than I could have but that doll is my favourite possession. The name is the thing, it’s got stitches for eyes and the mouth and it looks like it’s dead but it also has this look of wisdom and suffering and it looks like it’s been through a lot and yet he’s holding these flowers, this guy that’s stood up by something, life in general…and the name “Stitch Puppy” is so good,

BRIAN WAHLSTROM/ P

there’s a metaphor there for how we all gain wisdom to try and stitch ourselves back together. J.B: On the last one, ‘Doesn’t Play With Others’, you started that journey, it sounds kind of very like Stitch Puppy carries on with “Who’ve We Become” with the lyrics on that one …’everyone finds someone, maybe I’ve found you…’ and then in Stitch Puppy I found it to be that same type of carrying on almost like an emotional score and then it comes in really bright at the end with “Moral Compass” so is that the way you planned it? JOEY: Well I don’t know that I had a plan, I’m not great at being calculated. There was more of a plan when we were doing Lagwagon ‘Hang’

PHOTO J.B

we spent a lot of time thinking about what we wanted to do. I just wrote the songs and recorded them almost immediately, with the exception fo a couple songs. I just wanted to do something different, I didn’t want to be bashful about doing things that I like to do musically with songs in the past that I thought well that’s sounds like something I would do. Songs on the album in particular, for example….ohh I can’t remember the name of my own songs right now!... J.B: Me the Witness? JOEY: No, well that one’s a little tricky, but that’s still kind of very me I think. The third song on the record is called Gone Baby Gone. First of all, I steered pretty clear of putting the word ‘baby’ in any song that I write and that song sounds more like a Midwest song, which is something I love and I’ve written a lot of songs that sound like that but never really recorded – so I was like, if it comes out of me I’m just going to record it and not think about it and just see what happens. And if there were any plans that was it, just to not worry about things, just make a record. J.B: I describe it as an emotional journey from despair to hope and it’s going to touch base with a lot of people that feel that way. Right off the start with ‘Me the Witness’ and then right into the upbeat track ‘Life is strange’. Did you write is more of a piano score, the way it flows like a pianist’s

“There’s something about dimension and hearing tones that I think lead to a more interesting composition”

track? JOEY: Yeah I’ve been playing with Brian Walhstrom now for years, it’s definitely had an effect on the music. Brian and I have been writing partners, we worked on his record together and he on this record and playing with a piano player for a long time has opened up my songwriting because there’s something about dimension and hearing tones that

I think lead to a more interesting composition. J.B: And then you have the heavy cello and mandolin work from Selena Chang. JOEY: She plays in Brian Walstrom’s band, I met her through him and we hit it off right away and in the past I had a friend named Angus Kirk play cello and I thought it might be nice to change it up, I really like Selena and I asked her and she did it. But she’s from the tech industry, I think that pretty much absorbs her life, she‘s successful there and a really amazing musician. J.B: You also have duets with Chris Creswell ‘Spill my guts’. JOEY: Yeah that was fun, he was just blasting through San Francisco and he needed a place to stay and I said sure, can you sing on my record and he was into it which was awesome and we played together a lot, that guy is just so talented and so good it was just great to have him on the record. And then Yotam from Useless ID were in town and I asked them to come by and sing a little bit and lucky me they both did it. JB: And then you have the major track ‘Moral Compass’. JOEY: Yeah I play the mandolin on that, I’m not much of a mandolin player, I sort of go by sound and figure out what sounds good, but I’ve played mandolin on a few of my records and I’m sure my friends that are actual mandolin players would be ashamed of my playing but I manage to hit the notes. J.B: On ‘Life is strange’, when I listen to it, it has that Tori Amos feel. Not too many people like Tori Amos but she’s… JOEY: I was a big fan! I say was because I haven’t listened to her in a long time but you make me want to, yeah I was a big fan, I used to go see her when I could. I was super into the records that I had, she’s absolutely incredible, just amazing. I’ve never heard that before, so thank you. J.B: And the video is good too. Is that Erin Burkett that you walk by on the road? JOEY: Yep it is. I had an idea for a video and got a friend to help me and we did it in two days. We were about halfway through shooting and both of us are friends with Erin and we decided to get her for a cameo and it was perfect because she played the part. And yeah she did it well looking disgusted by me! J.B: Talking about the makeup and the costumes of Stitch is there any plans of actually doing that on tour because that would be awesome? JOEY: Nah! It’s all just all inspired by the doll that my daughter made

me which was a bit of a muse for the record and I just like the contrast I thought it would be fun to dress up as the Stitch Puppy Doll for the album cover. And when I was in the make up for the first time which was for that photo shoot I thought boy I wish I could just stay in this and make the videos, but you know that really didn’t work out and then I still had the stuff and then I got a couple of my buddies to play some instruments to kind of mimic what was being played on the record and just be in the video and it was fun. I mean it took a couple of days and you know no pressure I think we shot it in the order that it is you know. We were just taking shots and I was putting them into my computer into the timeline and ya it was a quick fun little project and the stop motion stuff I did with my daughter which was also fun. J.B: Sweet she did an awesome job that’s for sure. I also noticed “Stitch” is reading a John Irving book? JOEY: Oh ya ! I was reading “A Prayer for Owen Meany” (1989) which is kind of funny you know because I have this verse in the song that I kind of wrote about my father who has some serious dementia and problems in the later parts of his life here. And that song was inspired by that as well and so this part where we were talking about the kind of mundane things that you kind of do in a house that you don’t belong and he’s very old you know so imagine his house you know and at one point I kind of said something about reading or painting and I didn’t want to be completely literal but I couldn’t pass an opportunity to hold one of my favorite books in my hands so (Laughing). You know I’m a fan of his work and that particular book really strikes deep with me it’s one of my favorites. J.B: So the One Week Records Tour is coming up and you did that dual interview with K.J Jansen on “The Punk Site” that was pretty fantastic also? JOEY: Thanks! J.B: But you did lose Laura Mardon off the tour over the border issues with the work visa? JOEY: Yeah Laura Mardon, very sad, we lost Laura it’s a shame. We had a petition for her basically to come and work for me with the work visa thing you know and there’s a bunch of ways that you can do that but at the end of the day it is the U.S you know and you have to get permission from them for the work visa and there was no problem with Canada immigration at all though. But they’re really just gouging really, the whole process took so long that by that time we were asked for more money to start a new process which was really too late

because it was like a week ago. And it was just too late and to start again knowing we would spend a whole lot more money to get denied. So you know we are going to do a tour in Australia where she lives and do a tour in Europe and share together and we have some other plans so it’s not a complete heart break but I definitely was upset because she’s really amazing and she’s one of the people I do One Week Records with. I did one with her and she’s one of those people I first saw her perform we did this contest well I wouldn’t call it a contest but people submitted ideas on You Tube and everywhere Brian and I went on tour we would pick somebody from their home town to come up on stage during the set you know. And about three quarters through the highlight of the set we would bring a local up and you know her or him is amazing check them out. And it turned out to be a really good idea and really fun and you know in their hometown maybe they would get heard or whatever but it gave them a more of an audience to show what they can do. And when we played with her in her hometown in Australia and she started to sing it was just wow! And she does that thing you know when she sings and ya! I pretty sure people will strike fear not getting to see her on this tour and that makes me excited and down the road you know it’s a learning experience maybe next time we will just sneak her in (Laughing). You know it’s a lot of border crossings and crossing in general and there’s tension there and I’ve seen you know people get pulled out of vans and sent to an airport in Toronto with their own bags and on their own dime you know and that’s something we just didn’t want to risk with Australia it was just too far away. J.B: But then you still got K.J Jansen! JOEY: Yeah that’s right! J.B: I asked him at the Bovine how he felt about the upcoming tour he said scared because it brings you out front as a true lyricist and it’s just yourself and you don’t have a band to fall back on right? JOEY: That’s true! But K.J on his own is such an amazing lyricist and songwriter in general and I love his songs you know. And his guys have always been super cool about him doing his thing beside ChixDiggit you know. And they even had that more acoustic vibe at that time so I think it totally works and I think K.J is going to be totally amazing. And even after the shows he’s the type of guy that you want to hang out you know and for me that’s just a win right! But I think that’s he’s going to be great. J.B: So that post Lifer for Fat that you are my friend? JOEY: (Laughing) Thanks I wrote that song about when you’re passionate about something regardless of what it gives back to you, not that I would give up music but it’s about passion and if you do it you do it for life you

know! And that’s pretty much it and I like people like that you know I like when people follow their passion even its momentary. It’s something that I’m still drawn to and that Fat Wreck Chords song basically is what it’s about and the people that mean something to me you know and I hope it’s the same feeling back you know (Laughing) but really it’s cool that they feel that way also but I think it was also a mean consciousness to promote that record also but then I realized after you know that we decided to do it that most means are really negative (Laughing) and we were like at this Fat workshop you know so what songs do you like and “I was like I don’t like any of them they’re so mean” (Laughing) they should be called “Means”. J.B: So we always end with a famous book or quote that inspired your life what do you got for me today? JOEY: “Oh sure put me on the spot huh” I’ve got nothing my mind is drawing a blank! God I can never think of anything! I’m so tired I’ve slept about 2 hours in about 24 hours because we are getting ready for the tour. We actually driving up to Portland and are out in front of a Walmart or someplace like that picking up some stuff and I couldn’t tell you where we are I think California but it just looks like any other Suburbia just like in any town or any other place ( Laughing) but parking lots is where it’s at! J.B: But Portland up through the West Coast and then across Canada then back down through the central States and then back up the East coast and then back down and across again ending in San Fran? JOEY: Yeah we decided to do a tour this time around and get it more polished and end on a refreshed note so it’s wraping up in San Francisco. J.B: Check the One Week Records Tour Dates for a date near you!

AVAILABLE NOW AT

www.fatwreck.com

PATTY O’LANTERN

WITHIN PUNK ZINE INTERVIEW WITH

PATTY O’LANTERN BY EMAIL

SEPTEMBER 28 ,2015 COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR TAKEN PREVIOUSLY FROM POUZZAFEST J.B: So how do you like playing Pouzzafest? PAATY:We’re really excited to be part of Pouzza each time they invite us to take part, it’s an incredible thing they’ve been doing the last 5 years. It’s an awesome opportunity to hang out with old friends you don’t get to see often enough and to make new ones. J.B: So you guys have the new 7 inch out on Paper and Plastick Records “ Bottoming Out” how is that one? PATTY: Yeah, we’re really excited about it, and really pumped to have it come out on P+P, it’s 5 songs and it came out in February. J.B: What’s like being on a different Label especially one founded with members of Less Than Jake? PATTY: Vinny has been awesome to work with, we are really happy to be part of a roster that boasts so many incredible bands. We feel really lucky and honored to have Vinny and P+P repping us. J.B: You had your previous release “ Stay Honest” on My Fingers My Brain Records and Get Party Records do you feel there’s a faster progression from “Stay Honest” to “Bottoming Out”? PATTY: I’m not sure if it’s faster, though it’s possible that it is, it’s for sure a little tougher sounding and that was deliberate. We wanted Bottoming Out to be more on the “hardcore” side of our particular style of music. J.B: The cover art of “Bottoming Out” are some kids standing on a beach watching houses float what does the cover mean that inspired that concept? PATTY: It’s actually a photograph of from Newfoundland reset-

tlement. People literally floated their houses out of their hometowns and into larger centers like St. John’s. They weren’t given much of a choice really, the government of the time decided to shut the towns down, so anyone who wanted to stay would be doing so without any essential services or assistance from the government. A lot of communities died and disappeared during those times. J.B: You guys have the message of Hardcore GREG PHOTO J.B and I kind of thought of that on the cover of the previous release “Stay Honest” with the lone guy one top of the pile and all the rest trying to get to him, but in defiance he stays strong and prevails. J.B: You moved here from Newfoundland a couple of years back and do you feel inspired what has happened to the job and industry out in Newfoundland in your lyrical content? PATTY: Yeah we moved here 5 years ago. Our lyrical content doesn’t really touch on the job market down home, sometimes there are songs that touch on Newfoundland in one way or another, but generally speaking they are more personal experiences than anything. J.B: What was it like growing in those type of environments did form who you are today? PATTY: I definitely think it played a large part in who we turned out to be. Newfoundlanders are some tough motherfuckers, past generations have seen a lot of hardship in terms of resettlement,

PATTY O’LANTERN / PHOTO J.B

major shifts in industry and job losses, often being the butt of the joke on a national scale, and have more or less weathered it all with a smile and eyes on a brighter future. That spirit is the sentiment behind the EP title, that when you’re at your lowest point that’s the best time to start looking up. They say that more and more fisheries and traditional jobs are gone and surpassed only to the global supply of offshore drilling how do PHOTO J.B you feel that corporations have that much influence? It’s much like anywhere, money speaks volumes, small businesses and independents get squashed in the wake. J.B: The tracks “ War on Youth” and “Smear Campaign” do you feel the political landscape today is screwed up? PATTY: I think the political landscape is made up of hairdos and soundbites. There’s no substance and we like it that way. J.B: Some say there’s a resurgence in Hardcore others believe it never went away in the first place, but there are some many subgenres and infusions into it now that it seems hard to classify what it is any more. Do you feel the Hardcore scene is still strong and the message is getting out still? PATTY:I think it’s still strong it’s just different. The message is still there if you’re looking for it, but there’s a lot of noise to cut through now in order to find it. The subgenre thing has gotten out of control.

J.B: You use to have a female drummer and now the lineup has changed whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the current lineup? PATTY: Now we have 4 cis hetero white dudes. The one thing hardcore needs way less of.

“MUTINY AT MUSCLE BEACH” AVAILABLE NOW www.fatwreck.com

FAT MUSIC VOL.8:

“GOING NOWHERE FAT” AVAILABLE NOW @

www.fatwreck.com

LOS KUNGFU MONKEYS “RUDEBOY ROCKERS” AVAILABLE NOW @

“TURN ME INSIDE OUT” AVAILABLE NOW @

“HOME”

AVAILABLE NOW ON

JOEY CAPE “STICH PUPPY”

AVAILABLE NOW

“A DEEP EMOTIONAL RIVETING COLLECTION OF PERSONAL MEANING AND PERSPECTIVE” Joey Cape is back again with his latest release ‘Stitch Puppy” only this time it will be released on Fat Wreck Chords in entirety instead of the one song a month approach. Stich Puppy is a ten track score that journeys through personal perspective of dishonesty, choices, discissions and strength to power through the complexties of what we call life. Joey’s no stranger to striking deep in the emotional lyrcial context that relates to everyday struggles and bonding with harmonical rifts and vocal ranges he takes us through an emotional passage that we can all relate to at some point in our lives. Long time partner Brian Whalstrom is just as much a focal point on this release as is Joey carrying scales and depth as a pianist reminiscent of some Tori Amos work. Stitch Puppy also has Cello and tamborine work in tracks giving it a well defined composed piece of artistry that does not disappoint, either leaving you in tears or showing direction and encouragement to find the way to happiness. From the starting track of “Me the witness” a song about facing the truth even though it’s something hard to face has soft chords and gentle harmonics carrying through. “This Life is Strange” is more composed with fast upbeat power strokes with hard down strokes with an eight bit piano scale drawing to the focal point. On “Spill my guts” Joey is joined in a vocal duo that goes back in forth in a third person perspective that narrates the meaning of the lyrical content with a soft tamborine carrying the mood with a powerful vocal range in the end. Every person is no stranger to late nights and hardships that follow from long departures and distances and “St Mary’s” is one of those meaningful well written songs about the consequences that may come from separation and the will to give to carry despite situations. The most powerfull track “Broken” which has the deepest touching emotional range with Joey’s heart shining through with strong piano key strokes that carry the greatest depth worthy of any theatre production. The main song that will be promoted is “Moral Compass” which relates to life’s direction and advice to find the guidance that lies within us all and keep us pointing true north by our values and morals that can never be taken away.

“ A WELL DEFINED COMPOSED EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE FOR THE HEART”

NIGHT BIRDS

MUTINY AT MUSCLE BEACH

AVAILABLE NOW

“SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW SOMETHING GOING TO MOVE YOU” Okay so if you ever listen to that raw eighties crust attitude punk rock that was the foundation of everything to come, you find yourself desperately awaiting something that would instantly bring you back to that emotional release. Well that moment is here with the Night Birds third full length release Mutiny at Muscle Beach. Even picking it up and looking at the cover art you know these guys look like they’re going to tear something apart with the black and white silhouetted moon in the back with the sleep deprived maniac look staring boldly right at you. This album has that oldschool pitched, anger fueled vocals complimented by fast four and four with simple but effective chords that are reminiscent of a surf sound in parts. The first track “I’m Wired” leads off right from where the Night Birds left off with “Born to Die in Suburbia” and dives right in. The album flows with some organs on “Life is Not Amusement to me” an added sound clip from “The Big Lebowski” and the catchy more defined track of “The Golden Age of T.V” with a sound clip from an old T.V British show it seems. The main title track “Mutiny on Muscle Beach” and some of the other tracks sound very Adolescents like with the exception of “Off The Grid” which has that familiar Joey Ramone count in and a backing vocal and sound similar to that of some Ben Weasel work off “My Brain Hurts”. Right into “King Kong” which is more of a pop-y type of tongue in cheek catch. Then it comes into what shines through as the roots and the foundation, that classic surf instrumental with Miskatonic Stomp, an homage to the scene that started it all. Finally they end it with the track that I keep playing over and over on the “Going Nowhere Fat” comp “Left in the Middle” which has that catchy beat and drawn out lyrics and chorus that will resonate inside your head - a definitive sound that is the Night Birds.

“ ANGST AS BEST DESCRIBED THROUGH EMOTION AND POWER”

NEW

NOISE https://fliesonyou.bandcamp.com/

https://overdosesupport.bandcamp.com/

UPCOMING RELEASES

AGAINST ME “23 Live Sex Acts”

TOTAL TREBLE SEPTEMBER 04,2015

JOEY CAPE “STITCH PUPPY”

FAT WRECK CHORDS SEPTEMBER 04,2015

PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED “WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW”

FAT WRECK CHORDS SEPTEMBER 04,2015

PEARS

“LETTERS TO MENAW”

FATWRECK CHORDS SEPTEMBER 18,2015

HELLBOUND HEPCATS “TURN ME INSIDE OUT”

STOMP RECORDS SEPTEMBER 25,2015

NIGHT BIRDS

“MUTINY AT MUSCLE BEACH”

FATWRECK CHORDS OCTOBER 2,2015

H2O

“USE YOUR VOICE”

BRIDGE NINE RECORDS OCTOBER 9,2015