Prior to Big John’s recent home town show at The Bourbon, we had a chat about his risque entourage, rockabilly, his plans for 2010 and more.  Gig review and huge, high quality photoset in Renegade Rock Review Vol. 25.  Our green room conversation, below.

Weasel: After several weeks in the US, you’re now back home.  Welcome back.  Any notable tales from the road during your visit down south?

John: Everyone asks me that when I come back and there’s so many dates.  Some of the horror stories and the horrific drives.  Like, playing in a hurricane in Florida: We were onstage

Photo credit: Kris "Photo Gopher" Mayor

and actually, they’d tarped all the monitors.  We were outside and waiting for the “eye” to come over so we could do our set.  We were watching the water rise because it rained, like, I thought Vancouver rain a lot but holy shit. DeLand, Florida.  That’s where they made The Creature From The Black Lagoon. [laughs]  There’s always good people that we meet.  We toured with Reverend Dead Eye, who was awesome.   He did a one man band, sort of gospel kind of thing.  A one band band from hell… [laughs]

Weasel: Although you’ll be frequenting many places throughout B.C soon, can you please tell us more about the Pin Up Bizarre Kustom Kulture Show tomorrow, in Silverdale?

John: Yeah, I think it’s the second year they’ve been doing it.  They’re expecting a lot of cars; I think about a thousand or more.  It sounds like it’s going to be a real fun time.  It’s a one day event.  A lot of bands from Washington we played with, they got Three Bad Jacks from California playin’ with us.  It’s pretty much a west coast kind of situation.  A lot of pretty pin-ups. [laughs]

Weasel: In regards to the traveling burlesque part of your show: Do you ever have issues in certain states, countries or areas of the world with such a risqué part of your entourage?

John: Yeah, in Huntington Beach this year they wouldn’t allow the girls to dance; they said it was against their liquor license.  Although that’s Orange County and we did the show in two other places in Orange County so… They also tried to shut us down in Bismark, North Dakota.  They actually had the show cancelled and moved.  We had it moved outside city limits and they were getting political pressure.  The venue we played in eventually got shut down.  It does happen.  North Dakota’s pretty bad.  We’ve done all ages shows here.  We’ve done it on the island at The Big Time Out, we’ve done it in Holland.  We played this thing called the Kids and Billies festival.  It was last June and all these kids and their families…it was a family thing, right? [laughs]  We did the show and then the announcer came out after we were done, and we were one of the headliners, one of the last two bands.  He came out and grabbed the mic and said “Every one young kid needs to see more tits!” [laughs] It’s true, they were just there.

Weasel: Being “Gretsch” endorsed obviously accounts for a huge part of your sound, but are there other guitars used in your live set or on your most recent release, Bangtown?

John: No, I don’t think so.  Well, I have some old Kays, some acoustics and stuff.  I have a National-Dobro and I (also) play banjo on it (Bangtown).  So yeah, I used a bunch of different guitars on it but as far as electric guitar I’ve got about five or six Gretch’s and they’re all…some of them are from the 50’s and some of them are new and all have different tones.  It’s kinda just what I’m comfortable playing, you know?  I don’t really need to play a Les Paul or anything. [laughs]

Photo credit: Kris "Photo Gopher" Mayor

Weasel: I’m unsure of your awareness or concern with this subject but I’m curious what a rockabilly musician’s take is, on the scene itself.   What I mean by this is how the rockabilly scene in particular seems to be known for its share of elitism and conformity—which some may argue is the antithesis of rock or punk rock culture.  Do you recognize what I’m referring to and do you have any thoughts on the matter?

John: [laughs] Yeah, most of the “rockabillies” won’t come and see us play.  Some do, like the open-minded people do but for a lot of people—they only like their stuff traditional and if it’s not traditional they’re not interested.  And you gotta give them the credit—they’re allowed to like what they like, right?  But in Europe they call us “punk-blues”.   I know there’s a rockabilly element to what we do but it’s not rockabilly enough for the “rockabillies.” [laughs] So, I don’t know if that helps (you).

Weasel: Yeah, that’s what I was going for there.  2009 saw the release of Bangtown, along with your longest Canadian tour to date.  What does the remainder of 2010 hold in store for you and your crew?

John: 2010 is going to be… We’ve got area shows, regional shows all summer.  So, that’s Washington, B.C and Alberta.  And then September, October and November through December is one long tour.  We start in the U.S for a month and then we do seven or eight weeks in Europe and then the remaining two weeks in Canada with Intergalatic Cowboy.

Weasel: Great.  Thank you very much, John.

John: Thank you, man.

Visit Big John and The Voodoo Dolls online:  – bigjohnbates.com / myspace.com/bigjohnbatesandthevoodoodollz

Interview with Little Miss Risk of The Voodoo Dolls

These boys rolled in town last Friday at The Media Club and tore the room a new one.  Their latest album Cavalcade is out now and it’s one of the best album’s I’ve heard all year.  Here’s our pre-show gab.

Weasel: Cavalcade, your third full-length effort drops this coming Tuesday, April 13^th, 2010.

Chris: That’s us.

Weasel: I understand there were a lot of studio hours this time, presumably far more than previous efforts.

Scott: We did it in strange blocks, I guess.  [Acknowledged by Chris]  We were doing it when we were off of tours and we were touring quite frequently.  Every time we could throw together and go into the studio—that just built up over a year, I guess.

Chris: I would not recommend recording that way to any band, ever.  It kind of sucks.  Obviously it’s great when you’re done with it, you know?  You’re super proud of it, like this record, we are very proud of it but it’s pretty stressful to do it that way.  You kind of have your two mind frames going: being in the studio while being creative, and then you have the mind-set of “oh, I’m about to go on tour for a month or two”, then after that we’re going to go back into to the studio.  It’s kind of crazy but it worked out in the end.

[We were then interrupted by an undesirable, haggard-type who appreciated Scott’s Misfits back patch.  It was explained that we were doing an interview and he asked “Do you want to know me, man?  I’m a good singer and I play the drums.”]

Weasel: The album leaked but in a rather comical, cryptic fashion.  The word is that the band was behind that.

Chris & Scott: [Laughs] Did you hear it??

Weasel: The tunes?

Scott: The fake leak, or whatever.

Weasel: No, I read about it.

Scott: See, I think that’s more artistic than what we did on the record, so…

Chris: For sure.

Scott: To be completely honest, we’re prouder of that…

Chris: We definitely knew it was going to happen.  Everything leaks these days, it’s inevitable.  We don’t really have a problem with it because you can’t control it, so why get upset about it?   But yeah, our drummer Paul put together this fake record.  It’s pretty hilarious.  It’s like the first 10 or 15 seconds of the song or after the first vocal line of the song; it just cuts into some weird stuff.

Scott: Like, for example: a Take That song, dogs barking.

Chris: Meows, woofs.  What else is there?  Some awful…

Scott: Dave Chappelle stand-up mixed with some weird Russian guy singing “Let It Be.”

Chris: Yeah, yeah.  That was pretty rad.

Scott: Yeah, just really, really strange things.  We had to get our mind in a certain “way” [Laughs] We get high and then do this stuff.

Photo credit: Tarah "Resident Rat" Hogue

Chris: [Laughs] It worked out pretty well, though.  We have some friends that are torrent sharers so we gave it to them and they all put it up.  They were forwarding us some replies from people.  This one guy—our friend from Nebraska—wrote, when he posted it was “The drummer just dropped this off at my house.”

Weasel: Yeah, I saw that. [Laughs]

Chris: Yeah, which he did.  It was pretty funny reading some of these responses.  People were super pissed that they couldn’t download it, for free.

Weasel: I saw that; there were a lot of comments.  I looked again today.  Of the few places I looked, that [version] was the only one.

Chris: Again, we know it’s going to happen, we just figured…  Like, Paul had a blast doin’ it and he’s so proud of it and we’re pretty proud of it too—the fake record.  It was just a fun thing to do to try and combat [file sharing] as much as we could.  We knew it was going to happen anyway, so whatever.

[The nearby patron who already interrupted us, shouted “Van Halen rules!,” ensuring we all heard it and all had quite the laugh]

Scott: Fuck yeah, they do!

Weasel: The transition from your early material to the later years heard the band’s overall sound change a fair bit.  What new elements does Cavalcade bring to the table?

Chris: Uh… I don’t know.  There’s some heavier songs and some softer songs.  It’s kinda like we went not to the extremes but went a little further on each end.  We never really set out to write songs a certain way.  It’s really cheesy to say but they kinda just happen the way they do.   I’d say we’ve achieved a pretty eclectic mix of songs.

Scott: We all listen to a very eclectic mix of music as whole.

Chris: Yeah, we definitely do.

Scott: Sitting in the van you’ll hear a whole bunch of different music so you can tell that we all have different influences and we all tie them together.  And what comes out of that is the new record.  We’re all really proud of it.

Weasel: Great.  Looking at the track listing I noticed a song called “Carry The Banner” and personally the title reminded me immediately of the Pinhead Gunpowder album of the same name.

[Laughs from Chris and Scott]

Scott: You know what?  We were gonna call our record that!

Chris: And then we found out about that.  Because we never really ever got into that band.  Or, at least I personally never got into ‘em.  Nothing against them, I just never really listened to their stuff.   Who did we hear that from?  Dillinger Four?  We had Dillinger Four sing on a song when they rode to Toronto to tour.  They’re all buddies with those guys.  And, I think that’s who told us.  We were so bummed at first because we were so stoked on calling the record that.

Scott: Then we were gonna call the record Thriller but then he died.

Chris: And then we were gonna call it Friller and just make the cover us in puffy shirts.

Scott: We were just dwelling on the type of titles that had been used before. [Chris laughs].  Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band came up once.  I don’t know, I think Cavalcade’s good.

Chris: The Flatliners Comes Alive.  That was another one.

Weasel: That would have been rad.

Chris: [Laughs] Yeah, we were bummed when we found that out, for sure.  But for a song title, it doesn’t matter so we were still stoked on that.  That song in particular is deeply rooted in the theory that punk bands are basically homeless people.

Scott: Especially when you tour nine months out of the year, like we do.

Chris: Like we do every year.  Also the fact now that the times we live in are pretty reminiscent of the great depression.  Kind of all that rolled into one weird theory.

Scott: Explain what “carry the banner” meant back then.

Chris: Oh yeah, so “carry the banner” was something that homeless folks would say when they had nowhere safe to sleep at night.  If they couldn’t find a safe spot, they’d ride on a train or just sleep on the street somewhere.  And they would say “I’m gonna go carry the banner tonight” meaning they were gonna try to get out of being murdered or locked up for a vagrant charge while sleeping outside in the street.  Hobo slang. [Laughs]

Weasel: Liam from Cancer Bats lends some vocal duties on the record.  Any other collaborations we can anticipate hearing?

Chris: There’s way too many, man.

Scott: Nuno, from A Wilhelm Scream sings on a track.  We had the Dillinger Four boys come in and sing on a track.  He had a lot of good friends from Toronto…the dudes from Hostage Life came down and sing on some songs, Junior Battles.

Chris: Permanent Bastards—another Toronto band.  They just did all the gang vocals.  And the Cancer Bats just did all the gang vocals with us too, so we had a bunch of people come in and do those.  The original idea was to get Nuno—‘cause he has his own verse and was the original idea—then we got lucky with a bunch of friends’ bands that are from Toronto being home while we were recording.  Like Cancer Bats are usually on tour but they were home so they came in to do some gang vocals.  Dillinger Four rolled through Toronto which is really rare to happen, especially from them to come to Toronto, never mind anywhere.  We got really lucky and it just ended up being all these people.

Scott: We just had to feed them a lot of booze then they would come and sing on our record. [Laughs] Except for Liam, he just wanted pop.

Chris: Liam just wanted to jump around and be stoked—PMA, you know?

Scott: I think he needed pop, too.

Chris: Yeah, some soda pop.

Weasel: I did hear that track with Nuno on it and I wasn’t sure if it was him or not.  That’s a kickin’ song.

Chris: It’s funny because a lot of people we’ve talked to are like “he’s on that song?” and we’re like “yeah dude, he’s got such a distinct voice” but I guess we all have raspy voices, so to some… I don’t know.  I was surprised to hear that.  But yeah, that was awesome dude.  He was the only guy that wasn’t in the studio with us.  He was in Bedford, Massachusetts and Trevor from Wilhelm recorded it and we just sent him a ProTools track or whatever.  It worked really awesome though.  We’re so stoked to have all those guys on the record.

Weasel: No doubt, absolutely.  Besides the aforementioned act, what are some other Canadian acts (punk or not) that you guys are listening to or feel that we all should?

Chris: There’s this band, The Snips from Welland, near Niagara Falls—amazing.  They’ve been some of our really close friends for a long time.  We put out a split with them last summer on Paper and Plastic [Records].  They just put out a new EP, they’re recording on a new record and it’s incredible.  It’s hard to explain.  It’s just like “rock n’ roll,” really, I guess with some punk in there and some other stuff in there, as well.  They’re awesome, dude.  Really awesome.

Scott: I think we all listen to Junior Battles, Carpenter—a wicked band that I’m sure you guys know of.

Chris: Propagandhi—a little band from Winnipeg.  I don’t know if you know ‘em; they’re pretty cool.

Scott: Rush.

Chris: Alanis Morrissette.

Scott: Nah, she’s not cool.   I’m trying to think of other up-and-coming Canadian bands.

Chris: A band called Cavaliers and The Expos.  These are all Toronto-based bands.  Living With Lions from Vancouver.  There’s a lot of good Canadian bands.  We always discover new, rad local bands when we’re in Canada.  We tour at home very seldom which is weird so it’s cool to learn about all these new, awesome bands because there’s a lot of them.

Scott: The thing that sucks is that I’ll forget names but I’ll remember faces.  I’ll look at the flyer for the band I think I don’t know any of them but when I go see ‘em I’m like “these guys fuckin’ rule!”  Can I curse on your…?

Weasel: Yeah, absolutely

Scott: Fuck, yeah!

Weasel: Before you guys set out for Europe and the Warped Tour you are making a trek across the country with Broadway Calls and Cobra Skulls, starting your first Canadian date, tonight, here in Vancouver.  That sounds like quite the quality, as far as variety in the bands, each night.

Scott: We’ve been lucky enough to tour with these bands and you ask around Canada and no one really knows them that well, to the point that they should because they’re both amazing bands.

Chris: Awesome, awesome bands.

Weasel: Yeah, Cobra Skulls are one of my favorite bands.

Scott: Yeah, such a good band and they just signed to Fat too.

Chris: They’re our bands collective favorite bands for sure.  They’re incredible.

Scott: We just had this opportunity to bring up bands we like and think that everyone else will like, so we jumped on it, so here we are.

Chris: It’s a cool mix because we’re all punk bands but at the same time we all are a bit different, right?

Weasel: Yeah, that’s what I noticed about that line-up.

Chris: It’s cool to go to a show where all the bands are total punk rock bands but I have a better time when it’s kind of a mix.

Scott: Yeah, you’ll like to go to a rockabilly show where all the bands…

Weasel: Are a dime-a-dozen…

Scott: Yeah, like it’s cool when a band jumps on and they’re rockabilly band or a psychobilly band or a pop-punk band…

Chris: It’s the same thing, like when we started out.  We would play and every single show was like seven ska bands.  Literally every single show we’d play.  It was cool then, but now…

Scott: I don’t think it was really cool then. [Laughs]  It was tolerable then.

Chris: But once you start playing longer and longer—not like we’ve been around forever but I mean this is our eighth or ninth year as a band and it’s just fun to mix it up, ya know?  And, we’re all buddies so it works out great.

Scott: We like to keep it fresh.

Weasel: Right on, thanks for the chat.

Chris and Scott: Thank you.

Weasel: Good luck tonight, the rest of the tour as well with Tuesday’s release.

The Flatliners “Monumental” (Altpress.com exclusive)

Stream the entire, incredible record, here, right now.

…Weasel Was Here

After arranging an email interview via Warner Bros. with Against Me!, I was later fortunate enough able to change course and sit down with Andrew Seward—their bass player.  A self proclaimed “East Coast Eagle” and WestCoast Weasel took our seats in the upper balcony of Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver on March 2, 2010 to talk about upcoming material, Punk Rock Bowling and more.

Weasel: The Olympics just wrapped up and had emotions running high in town.  We had protestors who were rather organized—though slightly destructive.

Andrew: I read that, yeah.

Weasel: At the same time we had upcoming rock bands playing the free Olympic pavilion circuit, showing their support.  In regards to the protest, do you currently feel there is a time and place for such a revolt?

Andrew: Yeah, I’d say so.  People pick their own battles, you know what I mean?  I don’t know enough about why they were protesting the Olympics.  I don’t want to come across like a dipshit, so… Everything has its time and place.  I think if people feel strongly about something; I think they should do it non-violently.  But then sometimes I don’t know.  I don’t know if I was going down a Ghandi road there.  Sometimes I guess it’s justified.  It’s weird.  I guess it comes down to where nothing in this world is black and white—it’s grey, you know?

Weasel: Yeah, I get what you’re saying—absolutely.  There are grey areas—especially when it comes to things like that.  Moreover, when it comes to musicians—do you believe that they have a responsibility to either associate or disassociate themselves from certain gigs and does Against Me!?

Andrew: Once again I’d say it’s a case-by-case basis.  I definitely think musicians have a responsibility to associate or disassociate themselves from Nazis (for example) or hate mongers—definitely that.  But hopefully all humans would do that (not just bands/musicians).  I definitely think music has a huge power and a huge impact on people and it has on me profoundly.  But also in the same instance—I don’t think it’s like a duty of musicians to be like “I’m gonna change the world with these barre chords and these lyrics!”  If it ends up

Photo credit: AtomicSherbert (http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicsherbert0)

going that way and something positive happens then that’s great but I honestly don’t know about people sitting down and writing a song and being like “I’m so awesome—this is going to change the world.”  I also love informative music but I hate preachy music; there is a difference.  I don’t like people getting on stage telling you what to think or believe…preaching, but I do like bands who get up there and are whip smart and informative.  There is a difference—that’s what I’m trying to get at.

Weasel: Yeah, I would agree.  Would you say some of those sentiments would be adressed in the new song “I Was A Teenage Anarchist?”

Andrew: Well, hearing Tom—our lyricist—explain it (would be one thing) but I guess it goes back to what I said before; everything’s not black and white—it’s grey and it’s kind of an anti-authoritarian stance.  A lot of people, when they’re telling you (or us) “you shouldn’t think that / you should do this” and all of that; they either a) don’t know what they’re talking about or b) trying to be the king or queen of the scene, in a way or c) a mixture of both.  I would say the song is pretty much about that.  You’re supposed to have this personal freedom and then some people are telling you that “no, you can’t do this or you can’t do that.”  But all of these (responses) are open to interpretation.

Weasel: Of course.  Can you elaborate on what White Crosses refers to?

Andrew: White Crosses actually refers to this church lawn in St. Augustine, Florida.  It used to be the oldest city in America but now they’ve found another city.  It’s where Ponts de Leon went and found the fountain of youth in there.  It’s probably 70 miles from Gainesville on the Atlantic coast.  Tom was living there, right in the neigbourhood where this church had 4000 white crosses on it that were symbolizing every abortion that happens in America a day.  Everywhere.  This is huge lawn we’re talking about with 4000 crosses and pictures of babies.  It’s just a disgusting eye sore.

Photo credit: Sirlanx (http://s718.photobucket.com/home/SirIanx)

Weasel: Yeah…absolutely.

Andrew: And if you read the lyrics it’s very visual imagery of going through that town.  If you ever go there, listen to the song and you could visualize it.

Weasel: So, obviously a completely different vibe with the imagery chosen for the album cover (of the same title) then?  (Andrew agrees)  No association to the subject matter whatsoever?

Andrew: Well… I don’t know actually.  It was done by our friend Steak Mountain whose worked with us forever—a really good artist.  His name’s Chris Morris (laughing).  He always wants to be called Steak Mountain but it’s not hard to figure out his real name.  I think him and Tom just like working together.  They put up with each other in a good way.

Weasel: It’s great to see you take a break from your arena run with Alexisonfire and Billy Talent.

Andrew: It hasn’t even started yet.  It starts tomorrow.  We don’t even know how it’s going to be yet.

Weasel: Okay…fair enough. (chagrined concering the mistake)  I’ve seen the band in both types of settings.

Andrew: You look familiar by the way.  Have we met?

Weasel: No.  You also look familiar but then again I’ve seen your music videos.

Andrew: Or we’re both just being really polite.  Anyways…

Weasel: What’s your take or preference on either setting?

Andrew: This isn’t a political answer:  I completely love both because our band is very lucky in the fact that we can play—we played in Seattle yesterday and the show before that was in Berlin, Germany at the Ramones museum and we played a free acoustic show and the place was probably…I mean, you could probably fit about 60 people in it and it was tight.  We’ve always had the luck of playing super small places.  I mean this place (Rickshaw Theatre, capacity of 1000) is huge and then going on tour with Foo Fighters and playing arenas like that.  And for musicians, for us and for the people it’s fucking great because it’s such a roller coaster of different things and we’re never stagant.  I think that’s the thing with our band.  We’re never stagnant.  We’re always doing something different and making it better.  Variety—as my mother would say—is the spice of life.

Weasel: While New Wave offered a fresh production value and style; the use of acoustic guitars (previously an Against Me! staple) was not heard as much.  Can we expect some of this flavor to return on White Crosses?

Andrew: Yeah, there’s definitely some acoustic guitars.  There’s this super slow song called “Ache With Me.”  Super slow.  It’s great—I love it.  It’s one of my favorite songs.  And there’s acoustics even on the electric songs because acoustics have this great percussive quality of the strum to it and it just fills out the song.  So (laughing) I’m so bad about how I answer questions in such a roundabout way and tell like three different things before I get to the question. (laughing)  The answer is yes.

Weasel: Well, I appreciate the elaboration.

Andrew: It’d be a pretty boring interview if I just said “no”, “yes”

Weasel: “yep”, “check it out”

Andrew: “of course”, “I don’t know”

Weasel: “sure”—that type of thing (both agreeing and laughing)  Against Me! spent years on indie labels before releasing New Wave with Sire.  However, last year The Original Cowboy was released on Fat Wreck Chords, showcasing the band’s raw, demo form. (acknowledged and agreed)  I imagine it must be nice to maintain an amicable relationship with past business partners…

Andrew: Absolutely.  I mean, we’re friends with No Idea (Records).  I went to Var’s (Thelin, label co-founder) and Gen’s kid’s birthday party three and a half weeks ago and they live five blocks from me.  Stuff like that.  And, I haven’t seen Mike (of Fat Wreck Chords) in a while but it’s not from a lack of trying.  I just haven’t been in San Francisco.  I mean, everything’s cool.

Weasel: Yeah, it seems to me like you have the best of both worlds in that sense.

Andrew: Yeah, we try not to be dicks (laughing)

Weasel: Any thoughts on the merits of either scenario—small or larger label?

Andrew: With a major label we have more resources.  Ya know, we flew over to Germany and London and there were people there from Warner Bros. who setup interviews and stuff and made it fun and worth while for us to go there.  They setup those acoustic shows.  It’s resources.  You never really hear bands say that and actually—they might come up with some bullshit answer like “Ya know.. there’s no difference.”  No, there’s a huge a fucking difference.  It’s a major label.  The big difference is there’s just more people at your disposal, there to help you.  I still don’t see anything wrong with that.  I never did.

Weasel: Neither do I.  I understand you’ll be joining some of that previous crew this summer for the Punk Rock Bowling tournament in Vegas?

Andrew: Yeah, that just got confirmed a while ago.

Weasel: Fans are now allowed to attend for the first time?

Andrew: Yeah, yeah.  I didn’t actually know that until a couple of days ago.  Because, we played punk rock bowling… not played it—we bowled it maybe—shit—seven years ago?  I saw it…what is it a two day or a three festival?

Weasel: I’m not sure.  I was about to ask you.

Andrew: Well yeah, it’s like a real festival which is cool.

Weasel: And the bands are playing both bowling and music, right?

Andrew: Yes

Weasel: And fans can play bowling or they can spectate the entire thing?

Andrew: You know what?  I don’t know but it would be cool if there was a fan tournament—or rather—a non-band tournament and a band tournament and they went head to head for the title.  Punk rock bowling’s a little fucked up because they have this handicap system where if you’re actually good you’re probably not going to win.  If you’re handicapped and played the year before—they give you this crazy handicap and you can’t fuckin’…(win).  That’s just my beef with the actual bowling scorage.

Weasel: (laughing) Speaking of goofing around within your circle of musician friends.  I recall Fletcher (from Pennywise) hosting a satellite radio show (Andrew laughs) where he claimed that while partying one night, one or more members of Against Me! were advising him (and the likes of Pennywise, NOFX, Bad Religion, etc) to step down and make way for the newer wave of punk rock bands.  He alleged that he then bagged one of you guys—setting you in line.  Care to comment or clear that one up?

Andrew: He said what exactly?  I think I know what he’s talking about.

Weasel: He alleged that AM was basically telling him that the “dinosaur” punk rock bands should basically step down and make way for the current or newer era of punk bands.

Andrew: (laughing) Right.  I will completely disagree with that statement.  I don’t think anyone ever said that.  I think what the real story is that we were all hanging out at Eric Melvin’s (of NOFX) house in Los Angeles.

Weasel: Yes, that was it.

Andrew: Everyone was drunk and probably on multiple things.  This was a long time ago.

Weasel: He was mentioning all of the above.

Andrew: Yeah, and he got into a fight with James—our guitar player and punched him.  It was friendly but not friendly.  I mean.. we’ve seen Fletcher and Randy and all the other Pennywise guys.  I’m sure it wasn’t…

Weasel: Yeah, I’m sure it was all in good fun; I was just curious.

Andrew: Yeah, it was all good fun but my take on the matter is:  I was pretty fucked up, so maybe James did say something like that but I don’t think he did.  (laughing)  It’s funny he said that.  I’ve never heard that—that’s good.

Weasel: In regards to new music:  anything currently on heavy rotation in your world?

Andrew: I love the new Baroness record.  It’s called the blue record.  Have you ever heard of them?

Weasel: Heard of but haven’t heard the record.

Andrew: Great kind of—not even metal and I don’t even like the word prog either.  How about—just check ‘em out?  They’re from Savanna, Georgia and I listen to that record way too much actually.  We (also) just bought this CD in the UK—this old band called Dr. Feelgood.  Not the Motley Crue record but they’re called Dr. Feelgood.  They have this guitar player and he’s name’s Wilco Johnson—I believe—and look it up on the Internet or somethin’ and look how this guy plays guitar.  He plays with his hands but (the way) he plays rhythm and lead.  I know this isn’t Guitar Player magazine but Dr. Feelgood and the player’s Wilco Johnson.  An old 70’s blues rock—almost so gruff that it’s like punk before there was anything remotely punk rock.

Weasel: Best of luck the release of the new album, as well as the rest of the tour.

Andrew: Thank you sir.

Weasel: We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Andrew: Absolutely.

“I Was A Teenage Anarchist” live

“Punk Rock Bowling 2009″ video

Visit Against Me! online:  againstme.net / myspace.com/againstme

In this very special edition of Informant Inquisition we present “Weasel vs. Weasel”, an in-depth interview with Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel (the original weasel). Ben and I recently caught up via email, since we were unable to sit down at New City Suburbs in Edmonton after their sold-out gig on December 11, 2009. My show review can be read in Renegade Rock Review Vol: 11.

WestCoast Weasel: I opted out on a Christmas visit back to my hometown in Edmonton this year, to come a couple weeks early to see you guys play my favorite bar, New City Suburbs. I’m curious, why Edmonton, AB?
Ben Weasel: New City made an offer and we needed a gig.

WestCoast Weasel: We apologize for the asshole that continued to spit on you, mid-set. Though, overall how was your experience in Edmonton? I can’t imagine you and your crew have hit too many stops with such extreme winter temperatures…
Ben Weasel: It was terrific. I’d love to come back sometime – ideally in the summer next time. But the owners and staff at New City were fantastic and most of the fans were great. We all had a blast playing there.

WestCoast Weasel: Is the plan to continue doing one-off shows for as long as it seems to work or is a tour in consideration?
Ben Weasel: We’re not going to tour. We’ll keep doing one-offs for as long as people want to see us play.

WestCoast Weasel: I understand the idea of writing/recording hasn’t been ruled out if the demand is there. How do you gauge such a demand and have any plans developed at this point?
Ben Weasel: It’s hard to say. I just listen to what the fans say to gauge demand. If they want a record I’ll try to make it happen. I’m going to do some writing and demoing in March. I don’t have any plans beyond that for the songs. I’d love to do an album but the songs have to be great and we have to be able to have a reasonable recording budget. I don’t know if we’ll end up with an album’s worth of great songs and I don’t know if Recess or anybody else will be willing to give us the kind of budget we’ll need. I haven’t even thought much about a budget let alone discussed it with a label.

WestCoast Weasel: If not, I imagine a live album / video of the classics would surely be successful. What are your thoughts on such a project?
Ben Weasel: We might record some of the shows this year. Probably not video though. People always offer to do it and never follow through. It’s been that way for years. A video for our band doesn’t make a lot of sense anyway. The production values for our shows are pretty much zero. We don’t have our own sound man or lighting person. The only money you see on the stage is what the guys in the band are getting paid.

WestCoast Weasel: Growing up, did you embrace the line-up changes and the later and/or reformed years of your favorite bands, like some of us are with Screeching Weasel? The Ramones for example…
Ben Weasel: It depends on the situation. I never liked Brian Johnson in AC/DC. I still refer to him as the new guy. But I never really cared much who was in Motorhead other than Lemmy. Brian Robertson was great on Another Perfect Day. I thought Richie was the best Ramones drummer. He was a great fit. I never saw the Ramones with CJ but he did a good job on the records. It all depends on how the new people fit in. Screeching Weasel had our share of people who didn’t fit in over the years, starting with our first lineup.

WestCoast Weasel: Although it’s been widely documented as to why you no longer have a business partner ship with original member Jughead—was there ever any consideration for others previous guys such as Dan Panic or Dan Lumley?
Ben Weasel: Panic lives in California and we haven’t talked in years. Nice guy but maintaining a working relationship with him was a chore. I like Lumley but he lives 5 hours away and has a day job. He’s a good guy and a really good drummer. I spoke with him about working with the Riverdales when we re-formed but the logistics were too difficult. He’d just gotten a new job and it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway, him living as far away as he does.

WestCoast Weasel: Your entire catalogue was re-released within the last few years on Asian Man Records, but has very recently been pulled and moved over to Recess Records. Can you elaborate on the decision to make such a change and what fans can expect from the new business relationship?
Ben Weasel: Mike Park’s a good guy and I wish him well, but it became the wrong situation for me and my bands. I was very uncomfortable working with the people he employs and there were a lot of business issues. A lot of things came to a head at once.

Todd at Recess has been a fan for a long time. He seems willing to put money into the records and promote them properly. Mike told me from day one he wasn’t willing to do that. He was always up front about it. And that was okay for a few years. But with the bands getting back together, and the other issues, it was a no-brainer. It was time to move on.

WestCoast Weasel: Despite not having any current releases (other than reissues, which are pirated nonetheless), what is your take on file sharing and/or YouTube bootlegging of the live shows?
Ben Weasel: Illegal file-sharing hurts working bands. Hobby bands, and bands that are just starting out often say it helps them. I assume that’s true. But it hurts working bands. It doesn’t hurt big, bad labels. It doesn’t hurt the industry. It hurts the bands, and the bands it hurts the most are the ones that aren’t all over the radio and MTV. I’ve talked about this stuff ad nauseum for about 7 years now. When this started, file sharing proponents insisted that down the road this would benefit working bands. Nothing of the sort has happened. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s funny – file sharing proponents these days point to the success of bands who have gained an audience via Internet exposure as proof that file sharing benefits bands. If that’s true, why do all those bands, virtually without exception, sign with major labels as soon as they get that exposure? If file sharing is so good for them why don’t they keep giving their stuff away for free? Because it doesn’t work, that’s why. You can’t pay your bills when you give your music away. You can’t even pay for the recordings. It’s common sense.

As for YouTube, I wish people wouldn’t put stuff up there but I don’t have the time or financial resources to get it taken down. My primary objection is that the quality is so poor. It’s really appalling. You can’t remotely get the feel for what our shows are like by watching a crappy video somebody in the crowd shot on their cell phone and posted on YouTube. The quality is so terrible that it makes us look bad.

WestCoast Weasel: You’ve referred to periods of Screeching Weasel “when you drank.” Since I’m currently in the sobriety process myself I’m curious if this implies that you quit completely at some point or just not as heavy now that you’ve matured? Any insight or solidification of its importance or value to you would be intriguing.
Ben Weasel: I never had a major problem with it but there were times early on when it negatively affected my performances so in 1991 I stopped drinking while I was working. By the mid-90s I’d grown out of the need to get drunk. I’ll have a drink or two every now and then but that’s it. I’m just not interested anymore. I get bored easily and being drunk is pretty much always the same.

WestCoast Weasel: You’re now a father and I understand your children have been baptized. Has your stance on religion/faith changed over the years or was it the faith/myth side of “Science of Myth” that you leaned more towards even back when you wrote that song?
Ben Weasel: Both, I think. I’ve been interested in religion as far back as I can remember. I’ve also always been looking for truth and what is genuine in the world. That’s exactly why I don’t have a lot of friends in punk. I’m not interested in social cliques or trying to be cool. I want something real, and most of what gets served up in punk rock is phonier than a three dollar bill.

In 1991 I was much more of a “spiritual, but not religious” type of guy, even though I had no real spiritual life myself. I was never an atheist. Atheism seemed severe and joyless. But I didn’t believe anything in particular, and didn’t really think that much about religion. The song “Science of Myth” was written mainly to address the anti-religion cliches in punk at the time, but also because I was genuinely interested in religion.

In the mid-nineties I started practicing meditation and reading about religion, especially Buddhism. Eventually I became a Buddhist, and several years after that I ended up in the Catholic Church. I don’t have time right now to go into the details of how and why. Like I said, I had always been interested in religion, and I’d always been searching for truth.

WestCoast Weasel: Outside of the band are there any current solo projects or books that you’re working on?
Ben Weasel: I’d like to have a six months off from everything to finish my writing. I started a novella in 2008 but I just can’t find time to finish it. I don’t see myself writing much of anything any time soon.

WestCoast Weasel: Thank you for your time. We hope to see you in Vancouver sometime. It’s very appreciated.

Visit Screeching Weasel online: http://myspace.com/screechingweasel

Screeching Weasel – Supermarket Fantasy

Screeching Weasel – My Brain Hurts

Ben Weasel – Got My Number

After being recently star-struck by Northcote, a singer/songwriter folk project by Matt Goud (Means, The Emerson Letters) during his performance at The Media Club, I approached him for a few words regarding his influences, the new project, and his plan here in Vancouver.  A few lines of worthy bystander praise were included as an introduction.

Bystander #1: I thoroughly enjoyed your show.  It was a first for me.  I love your writing.

Bystander #2: It was awesome.  Fucking awesome!

Matt: Thanks, I appreciate that.

Bystander #2: I was told “You have to see this,” and I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” but it was awesome.  I’m going to post some video I stole.  (Matt laughs)  It was the encore…

Bystander #1: Yeah, what fuck was that encore?!  That was incredible.

Weasel: “Blind” by Face to Face.  I couldn’t believe it when you busted that out.

Matt: Yeah, I saw you right up front with the Propagandhi shirt on—that’s cool.

Weasel: Cool.  I’d never really heard you before, other than a few MySpace tracks but I was so blown away to the point that I had to get an interview, so I’m glad that you’re taking a few moments of your time to speak to me.  What is the name of your hometown?

Matt: Carlisle, Saskatchewan.  It’s about a thousand people or something like that.  It’s in the south-east corner.

Weasel: How would Northcote differ from your previous projects?  Obviously Means was a hardcore project and then Emerson Letters was mellow along the same lines as this?

Matt: Yeah, well I was doing records on the side of Means just for fun and I released one. (The Emerson Letters – See This Through)  I felt that with Means disbanding—that was huge part of my life.  I did that since high school.  So that ended, I had experience with touring and I felt like a new start so I went with Northcote, which seemed to fit the best.

Weasel: The new album Borrowed Chords, Tired Eyes—where was it recorded?

Matt: In Regina.  There’s this yoga studio and in the back of it was kind of a studio.  The guy’s done some great bluegrass records, some pop records and stuff.  He’s just starting so I went there for a couple of weeks and we recorded 18 songs, picked half of them and a year later or whatever…finally got it together.

Weasel: Obviously some influences would include Hot Water Music, The Gaslight Anthem and Face to Face judging by the cover tunes heard earlier, which by the way were amazing.  I came hoping to hear Trusty Chords (Hot Water Music), but when you busted out The 59’ Sound (The Gaslight Anthem)—with Gaslight being one of my favorite bands—I was just as stoked, but you ended up doing both, only to close with Blind (Face to Face)—a favorite song growing up.  That was awesome. (agreed by nearby patron)

Matt: Thanks so much.

Weasel: Are there any other influences that you’d note?

Matt: Punk rock/hardcore growing up and it is still a big part of what I learn and shit.  My favorite hardcore band is probably Good Riddance.  My philosophies come from a lot of different areas.  I was raised Christian and (though) I love Good Riddance.  I take the most, probably from that band.  The vegetarian (influence) and that.  Now, doing singer/songwriter, Neil Young is kind of like the big guy.  I don’t have all of his records of whatever but as far as people that I think have an interesting career would be Neil Young.

Weasel: Have you heard any of the singer/songwriter material from Brian Fallon (The Gaslight Anthem) or Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music) [who both released a split 7” Gospel Songs together in 2009]?

Matt: I don’t know the Gaslight Anthem one but I went and saw Chuck in Seattle a month ago.  It was very good.  I think with my project, punk rock has always been— the energy of punk rock—I always wanted to be in what I do.  But, that was awesome.  I got star-struck a little seeing him.  It was great.

Weasel: You mentioned that you’re living in Van for a few months, or you’ve been here for a few months?

Matt: Yeah, I’m just living here ‘till Christmas but I’ve been here since the summer.  With this record coming out I wanted to try, as much as I could swing it (to expose the material abroad).  I work at a furniture store but I’m hoping to go to Toronto for a bit, but I mean Vancouver’s probably my favorite place.  I’ll probably end up here at some point but I’m just kinda playin’ gigs around, learning, getting experience to help my songwriting, meeting people and shit like that.

Weasel: Cool.  I understand you’re coming back to The Media Club for an art show.  Can you tell me more about that?

Matt: Yeah, a couple friends of mine are doing an art show and I’m doin’ the music for it.  The one person is doing photography and the other is doing artwork.  That’s about all I know about it.

Weasel: That’s on the 14th right?  Great, I’ll see you there.  Thanks for your time.

Matt: Thanks

…Weasel Was Here

Check out the free art show on December 14, 2009 with paintings by Tyler Schwindt, photography by Mark Cohene, and music by Northcote and My Friend John.  8pm @ The Media Club, Vancouver, B.C.
Visit Northcote online: http://www.myspace.com/northcotemusic

It had been some time since I anticipated a show for months, like I did for the recent performance at The Red Room, Vancouver, BC. 

Isotopes, the local baseball clubbing punk rock brats opened the show, before hometown heroes, the Tranzmitors, took to the stage.  Dressed in black, they unleashed their poppy, energetic Jam-styled tunes leaving me unsure how to feel about blatantly impersonating the Brits.  Teenage Bottlerocket took to the stage and delivered their standard mix of Kody’s enjoyable, though nasally vocals and Ray’s painfully annoying “oh, oh, ohs” and “whoa, whoa, whoas,” but it was the band before them that I was looking forward to the most. 

I was anticipating Cobras Skulls (one of my favorite groups of recent memory) and their politically charged set.  Despite some problems with the vocal levels, the thrilling delivery of “I Want Bigger Cobra Skulls”, “H.D.U.I”, “Cobra Skulls Jukebox”, “Rebel Fate”, “Cobra Skullafornia”, and “Back To the Youth,” among others, more than satisfied.   

Prior to the show, I sat with Devin and Adam of Cobra Skulls for a chat about their latest album American Rubicon and threw in nostalgic, school-boy like tales of past punk rock shows.

Weasel: Welcome to Vancouver.  Have you been here before?
Devin: Thanks.  I’ve been here when I was younger.  I guess it must have been like 10 years ago or something.  I went on a cruise and it ended here in Vancouver.  It was like Anchorage, all through the Glacier Bay stuff, and I was just here for a day.

Weasel: How has the response been thus far with the tour, in support of Teenage Bottlerocket?
Devin: Great…awesome.  It’s been our favorite tour, I think.  It’s been really fun and we have a good time with the guys.  We get along well with them, which makes the tour a lot easier when the band’s nice to hang out with.  Toby from Red Scare’s been on the tour most of the way.  We were with Lawrence Arms for a week or nine days and that was awesome.  We were on the west coast, in California and everything’s been great.  Better responses.  Constantly more people that know us.  Yeah, it’s been great.

Weasel:  Great job with American Rubicon.  I feel that songs such as “Back To the Youth” and “One Day I’ll Never” are some of the band’s best work.
Devin: Why, thanks.

Weasel: Personally, I feel a strong connection to “One Day I’ll Never”.  Was a decision made to offer a more personal offering overall with the new album, as opposed to a more political backbone heard on Sitting Army?
Devin: Right, I see what you’re saying.  No, I don’t think so.  There’s maybe less songs with religious connotations on it.  I think it’s probably just as political as Sitting Army in respect to… (interrupted by Adam Beck [guitarist and background vocals] who sits down and we do our introductions) Yeah there are songs like “One Day I’ll Never” and more intimate, personal songs on the new album but there’s also like seventeen songs on the new album as opposed to fourteen, or a little more but I think there’s still quite a bit of political stuff on there.  I mean, I don’t set out and go “I’m gonna write a political song or anything.  I just write what I care about and that’s what I care about. 
Weasel: It just flows naturally.
Devin: Yeah, for instance, on the new album a lot of the songs deal with the relationship between our military spending we do in our country and like our economic issues and our environment issues and I think they’re definitely directly related.  It’s a concern of mine.

Weasel: “Back To the Youth” acts as an ode to the youth who act as main support for most touring musicians within your genre.  (agrees)  How do you feel the level of enthusiasm and support rates with kids of today versus kids when you went to shows?
Devin: It’s hard to say.  I feel there might have been more people going to shows when I was a kid but we played with Youth Brigade a little while ago, for example and seeing video footage of Youth Brigade shows back in the 80’s compared to the show we played with them a year ago.   I was talking to Mark, I’m like “Wasn’t the scene better back in the 80’s or do people just say that and it’s just nostalgic?” and he’s like “Well, you know, I think it was better, yeah, sure it was better but you know it was probably also better back in the 1950s when Elvis was playing shows and stuff.”  So I don’t know what to say about the progression of music and really the culture of music.  I think that people get too caught up in videos and MTV and the web so a lot of people get too much out of that instead of going out and experiencing something real.  I guess people are happy with what they get out of their computer so, I don’t know.

Weasel:  Any notable favorite shows either of you saw as a youth, or any you were unable to see but wish that you had?
Devin: Well, my favorite show that I can remember that I went to when I was a little kid, when I was like 16, it was probably NOFX and Swinging Utters at this roller rink in Moral Bay in California.
Adam: That was a good show.  I was there.
Devin:  It was an awesome show.  That was probably my favorite show. 
Weasel: Yeah, I saw both of those bands together.  Put on a good show for sure.
Adam: Yeah, that was a memorable show.  Every show growing up was memorable.  Really.  When you’re a kid, going to shows is the coolest thing in the world.
Devin: That Less Than Jake show with… Frenzal Rhomb (said by both of them in unison).  That was awesome.
Adam: …and Limp dude.  Limp played that show.
Devin: …and I got stepped on by huge dudes at that show, in the pit.
Adam: That’s right!
Devin: The pit for Frenzal Rhomb was way crazier than when Less Than Jake played, I’m pretty sure.
Adam: That—that was a long time ago.
Weasel: I saw Limp with Less Than Jake and Good Riddance when I was in high school and it was awesome.
Devin: Oh cool.  And then Good Riddance.  That was a good show too, in Ventura.
Adam: Good Riddance and No Use For A Name.  Awesome show.
Devin: …and Mad Caddies
Adam: …and The Caddies, that’s right!
Weasel: Yeah, I saw a show that tour too in Edmonton.
Adam: Those are the bands from our time.  Those were the bands that were doin’ it. 
Devin: The thing is, a lot of those bands are from California, Central Coast and we’re from San Luis Obispo, Adam and I.  All those bands were really big where we were from.  Those were the shows we went to.
Adam: It’s what we did.

Weasel: Some strong, catchy tracks containing Spanish lyrics were heard on Sitting Army.  Were you immersed in the language growing up, and what brought the decision for English only on American Rubicon?
Devin: There is a song on the new album that has one verse in Spanish and a chorus so it has Spanish on “Thicker Than Water.”  I’m half Argentinean.  My Dad’s from Argentina and I frequented visiting my family in Buenos Aires in Argentina.  I haven’t been totally immersed in Spanish my whole life but it has been a second language to me.  There’s two songs on Sitting Army.  There’s one about Che Guevara t-shirts.  I just decided to do it in Spanish because I thought it was topical and I didn’t set out to just go “Oh I’m gonna write a song in Spanish because that would be fun.”
Adam: If you listen to that song, you’d be like “Oh yeah, that makes sense.”
Devin: On the song, on American Rubicon, “Thicker Than Water” I’m talking about… kind of my parents and when I talk about my Dad it just made sense.  The other song on Sitting Army that has Spanish on it, “Use Your Cobra Skulls” is about world unity and I just wanted to use Spanish as the language for that, right before the chorus and that.
Adam: It’s a great song.  We never play that song.  We should play that song. 
Devin: Learn it dude.
Adam: I know it.  Tell Chad (drummer) to learn it.
Devin: …tell Chad to learn it and we’ll play it.

Weasel: Are there any specific plans for Cobra Skulls as we enter the New Year?
Devin: No, we’re gonna go on break for a few months and probably do three weeks or a month in March, but until March we’re doing nothing.  Just going on break.  We’ve been on tour for five months.  We’re gonna spend some time off and work and write, and do whatever.

Weasel: Is there anything further you would like to say or address?
Adam: I got nothin’.
Devin: I’m pretty stoked to be in Vancouver.  Thank you for having us in your beautiful city.
Adam: I like Vancouver.  I agree.
Weasel: Right on, thanks guys.

Back To The Youth (live)

Cobra Skulls – Hasta Los Cobra Skulls Siempre! (live)

Visit these bands online:
Cobra Skulls
Isotopes
The Tranzmitors
Teenage Bottlerocket

Lycis courtesy of LyricWiki.

Propagandhi was one of the first bands that solidified my love for punk rock music around 13 years ago, and the first band (for myself) to perpetuate any sort of radical awareness or left wing thinking.  They are a band whose opinions I’ve often thought about when it came to many day-to-day experiences over the years, I imagine due to the level of respect I have for them.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Todd “The Rod” Kowalski (vocals/bass) before their show in Vancouver.

Weasel: I too was prairie born and raised, but couldn’t be happier to be here in Vancouver, today, talking to you.  Either in past or present, have you visited any notable vegetarian or vegan restaurants here, in town?

Todd: The one that just closed, it was there on Pender but it’s gone.  I’ve been to Bo Kong before, that’s good.  Tonight we’ll probably go to Gorilla something or other…like a vegan raw maybe?  Yeah, those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Weasel: Foundation’s really good.

Todd: Yeah, I’ve been there and I liked it.

Weasel: I understand efforts were made to avoid the use of Ticketmaster for all shows on this tour.  Is this the first time you’ve curbed the use of them and their bullshit practices?

Todd: We’ve tried before and it’s frustrating because lots of people nowadays, like…it’s a different time.  People hear about shows through checking Ticketmaster.  It’s kind of not good for us, you know?  It kind of sucks that every band uses Ticketmaster.  It’s like we’re always the odd man out being the only one, you know?  We’re the only ones using post consumer recycled paper so we pay out the ass for it.  Bands all want to use sweatshop shirts, so we end up paying triple for that.  Everyone wants to use Ticketmaster so we pay for people to use alternate sources.  In Calgary, in the last four days they’ve used Ticketmaster to finish it off.  We tried our best to do it..

Weasel: Yeah, I saw it listed on their site and I was kind of curious about that, but at the time it claimed there were no tickets available, but I imagine that’s maybe because it’s sold out…

Todd: Oh, well that would be nice but I’m unsure what the case is.

Weasel: Any issues with venues that are partial to Ticketmaster ticketing?

Todd: No, it’ s more promoters than venues I think.  I could see a promoter being scared about it, for sort of good reason.

Weasel: You played two nights in Edmonton, one was all ages and the other wasn’t.  Was that the plan from the word go, or was it split like that after a second show was added?

Todd: It was like that from the word go.  They just asked us if that’s the way we wanted to do it and we thought that way we at least get to walk around Edmonton and kinda have a day off.  It should have been one show really… for the fun value.

Weasel: Do you find the crowd response to be different based on age and/or alcohol consumption, in such a scenario?

Todd: Usually if people are drinking they get a little bit loosened up, which to me just shows they’re not true thrashers.  You know what I mean? (acknowledged and agreed)  If you’re ready to go, you’re ready to go.  I don’t respect that, but it’s the truth.

Weasel: In a couple of weeks you’re co-headlining a show with Sacrifice, a thrash metal band you love and that’s displayed clearly in the liner notes for “Bangers Embrace.”  How did this come about, and what are some other bands you may also like to share a similar opportunity with?

Todd: Well, that came about because we’ve been fans since we were kids.  Even when I was 15 I traveled to see Sacrifice and Razor.  So, yeah, just over the years by talking to them or whatever… We found out that one of the guitar players liked us too.  So it was kind of mutual.  They liked us and we were stoked on that.  He came out to one of our shows and we kept in touch and eventually… this is happening.  And the other bands I guess I would like to play with in some way would be Voivod and Razor.  When I think of two, that’s who it would be.

Weasel: In my opinion, it’s clear that Supporting Caste has a more dynamic feel to it than the previous couple records (Todd agrees), and does have elements more akin to the style of Less Talk, More Rock as hinted prior to the release.  What drove the change or slight return to form in regards to the writing style on this record?

Todd: I’ve kind of always not liked the idea of it being thought of as being a return to Less Talk, More Rock.  I always like to think forward.  That’s Chris talking, not me or us.  I like to try and move ahead or whatever.  That’s about it…just making songs..  Like, I guess in some way he was thinking about that but for me Less Talk’s not where I want to head.  I want to head forward and I think he does too.. I don’t know, that doesn’t mean to much to me.  Not that record, but the idea…

Weasel: I understand.  Now, although I’m a big fan of your first couple of albums, I certainly love Supporting Caste.  It’s my favorite since you joined the band.

Todd: Yeah, me too.

Weasel: According to my editor and close friend in Edmonton, he mentioned that you didn’t share lead vocal duties at all on Sunday evening…

Todd: Oh yeah.  I hurt my voice recording in November, so I haven’t sang anything since November.  I can sing normal type of singing but I can’t sing the way that I like, which is heard in my songs.

Weasel: Right, like in “Night Letters”… (Todd acknowledges) That song is amazing.  One of my favorite Propagandhi songs of all time.

Todd: Oh wow, cool.  Thanks.

Weasel: Did you ever get any sort of response from Ron McLean, Don Cherry or CBC in regards to the lyrics in “Dear Coaches Corner”? (lyrics in new window/tab here – courtesy of Lyric Wiki)

Todd: Not that I know of no, I don’t know if people like that pay attention to punk bands or whatever but it doesn’t matter because it’s the idea more than them as personalities, you know?  Like Don Cherry or Ron McLean’s actual personalities or who they are, are kind of irrelevant as long as the idea of the song comes across.  For me anyway…

Weasel: Now, I’ve always been curious about your interest in professional hockey.  Do you, or the other band members ever find yourself at odds being a spectator to a billion dollar industry with heavy corporate interest, comprised of multi-millionaire athletes and a sport that condones violence?

Todd: Oh yeah, well… I would.  I don’t like hockey at all so… like there’s a reason why.  Something about it I just don’t like.  You know what I mean? (I agree)  I’d go play it or watch my uncles play… Jord plays..  I don’t know if it’s so much the sport condoning violence being so much the problem.  It’s more the money and the corporations.  It’s a sport and people are playing it and that’s fine.  The fighting’s lame but whatever, I don’t care really.  But I do find that all the army (influence/involvement) and everything… Like myself, I’ve done Brazilian jujitsu for years and years.  That is fighting but to me, it’s now changed so much with shows like the Ultimate Fighter where everyone’s just a fucking asshole and the army’s there.  It used to be just competitive fighting for fun, you know? People are trying techniques and I don’t need spirituality or something like that to be a part of it, I’m not saying that.  I’m saying it’s become so much less interesting now that it’s a real crazy professional sport it’s sucking dollars and ripping off people.  It’s the same as hockey and once things get like that I can’t stand it.  I don’t watch any of that shit anymore, it sucks.

Weasel: Yeah, fair enough.  I read an interview circa Potemkin City Limits where Chris voiced rather distressing thoughts about writing/recording an album.  His words, and I know they’re not yours, were “I imagine I’d rather stick an entire bag of pre-owned ben wah balls in my mouth than think about going through the nightmare of making another record at all right now.” (Todd laughs)  I’m wondering if you can speak on his behalf or yours, either way, has this sentiment towards writing/recording albums changed in recent years?

Todd: I think it was more the recording than the writing for that.  We were in pretty good spirits until the recording came.  It totally bummed us out.  It took us a good while to get back on track.  Maybe a year or two to gather our thoughts.  It was just depressing to have something unfold that none of you can really… Like, I think it’s okay the way it turned out but to have it unfold not as your imaginations are all trying to make it unfold is kind of disappointing.  Like, not being able to get over hurdles because your mind is maybe thinking further than your abilities or something…  I don’t know what it was but we came out of it pretty good and got back on track.

Weasel: Well, that’s good to hear.  Now that Supporting Caste has been out for about 7 months, how has the experience been with Smallman, and working with a new label/distributor for the first time in 16 years or for the first time since you’ve been in the band?

Todd: Yeah, Smallman’s great.  We can clearly see that they’re trying harder than Fat was and they’re close to us.  I mean in vicinity, in Winnipeg.  So yeah, it’s been way better.

Weasel: Great.  Is there anything else you’d like to add or say to anyone out there?

Todd: Maybe I’ll just say, check out CongoPost.com.  See what’s going on in the Congo. It’s their big paper…big website.

Weasel: Well thank you very much for your time.

Todd: Yeah thanks.  I appreciate it a lot.

…Weasel Was Here

Full video of Don Cherry heard in the introduction of “Dear Coaches Corner.”  From the 3:00 timestamp to the end, you can see what a true fucking asshole he really is.

Chris Hannah (the lead singer/guitarist of Propagandhi) recently did an interview with veganfreakradio.com elaborating on “Dear Coaches Corner”. He said he took his 6 year old niece to a hockey game and they had an intermission to pay honor to the troops, and the soldiers literally rappelled down from the rafters of the arena. His niece asked him why they had guns, and he took her and walked out on the game. You can download/listen to the whole interview here.

Other video interviews:

We’re Not Worried

Punk Empire Montreal

A Wilhelm Scream just finished their Canadian tour last week, so I went down to Seattle to ask both Brian and Nick some questions regarding it, the upcoming EP and more.  Both Brian and Nick can be heard playing bass and drums respectively on their latest release (2007’s Career Suicide) and are now touring the United States.  Here’s what they had to say:

Weasel: So you guys just finished a Canadian tour? (both confirm)  Edmonton, A.B’s my hometown and I currently live in Vancouver, B.C.  Myself and people up there are curious how the tour went for you guys?

Nick: It was good

Brian: Yeah, a lot of kids at the shows and we’ve always done pretty good in Canada and it’s interesting to see, when we come back, the shows seem to get better and better each time

Weasel: Are there any notable shows or experiences?

Brian: Ummm… I don’t know… they were all great.  Like, I was really stoked on the Toronto show because I live just outside of Toronto.  ‘Saw a lot of friends…a lot of old friends and hung out with them and just had a good time.  I hung out with the singer of my old band, and I barely get to see those people anymore, so that was notable for me.

Nick: Last night in Vancouver was pretty fun.  A bigger turnout than I expected.  We walked around this crazy bum town, like the worst part of Vancouver.

Brian: East Hastings

Weasel: Yeah, it’s a pretty seedy area for sure.

Brian and Nick: Yeah

Nick: I’d never seen so many cracky, homeless people in one area, in my whole life.

Weasel: Yeah, it’s really bad up there.

Brian: It’s funny because the rest of Vancouver, other than that area is absolutely beautiful (Nick laughs and nods in agreement)

As I arrived to the Gaslight Anthem show w/ Frank Turner, The Loved Ones and Murder By Death on 09/24/09, in Vancouver, B.C., I noticed a familiar face behind the merchandise table.  It was Frank Turner, the folk rock, Xtra Mile/Epitaph recording artist, selling what was left of his merchandise that made it across the border.  He agreed to do an interview later on in the evening.  I couldn’t help but feel like “the enemy” from Almost Famous as I fumbled around with pages from a notepad (digital from here on in…), jotting down our discussion.  Frank was a great sport and I’m very honoured that he is the first of many to be interviewed for our Informant Inquisition series.

Weasel: Poetry of The Deed is your third release, correct?

Frank: Yes

Weasel: What new things can fans expect with this release?

Frank: The main difference is that it was recorded with a live band, where previous releases I pretty much recorded everything alone.  Because of how great they (the band) are, I felt I should use the resources available to me.  I wrote the songs the same way, but were recorded differently.

Weasel: Now that you have a distribution deal with Epitaph records, are you getting the push you feel the album deserves?

Frank: Ha! I don’t like to use the word “deserve” as it can be presumptuous.  Epitaph is a great label and they “get me” and what I’m doing.  It’s been a positive experience, so yeah, I’m happy about it.

Weasel: I’m surprised that with the resurgence of vinyl, that Poetry of The Deed wasn’t pressed in such a format…

Frank: It will be.  It’s being pressed at the moment.  Personally, I wasn’t ever a big vinyl guy but all releases are being produced.  I recently approved vinyl artwork via email, so it’s getting done.

Weasel: Can you tell me more about your previous efforts, in other bands, and are releases available?

Frank: I played in a whole ton of hardcore bands, that were mostly awful.  My last band, “Million Dead”, that I have tattooed on my arm (Frank shows me his “Million Dead” tattoo on his left arm) put out two albums that I’m proud of so you can probably get them.  It’s a part of my life that’s in the past, and something I don’t really want to spend too much time talking about.

Weasel: Who are your main influences not that you play folk rock?

Frank: Springsteen’s a really big one.  Have you ever heard of a band called “The Levellers?”

Weasel: No, I haven’t.

Frank: They were huge in the 90’s, in the UK but I guess they may not have broke into North America.  Somewhere between Springsteen and The Levellers is where you’ll find me.

Weasel: I saw your interview/performance at CNN.com (shown below).  How did that come about? Can you describe the experience?

Frank: Peter, the CNN music guy’s really into it, a fan.  He asked and I wasn’t going to say no.  It’s kinda weird because it was recorded in a room a quarter of the size of this. Performing with one or two other people in the room, so not too exciting but it gets out to a lot of people.

Weasel: Well thank you very much for your time Frank.

Frank: No problem

- Weasel Was Here