Philly’s Armalite has recently blessed us all with a new 7”, Humongous after a five-year break. A bit of an all-star group, Armalite combines the best of all four members’ worlds to create a sound unlike any other. Punknews intervieeer Stephanie Thornton recently had a few questions for drummer Jeffrey Ziga. Jeffrey questions the term “supergroup”, praises Philly’s scene, and is reluctant to scope out reviews of the new release for a slightly awkward but hilarious reason – read on to find it!

So you guys are a supergroup from Philly. Philly has been an awesome hub for punk music. What makes you proudest to claim Philly as your hometown?

Well if we could start for a minute and talk about the use of the term “supergroup”. My biggest claim to fame is this band, Armalite. People often cite that I was in Affirmative Action Jackson but I am willing to bet that none of those people have ever seen that particular band or could accurately describe it. And if they had, maybe they would re-think their use of that previously mentioned term.

Philadelphia is great and has a wonderful thriving tradition of diy music ever since before I cared about it and will hopefully exist far beyond my ability to participate in it. So I’m proud of that. Many of us have basements in our homes, so punk things breed in those places.

In 2009 you stirred up some online fans with a fake Obama protest song that you eventually had to explain as a joke. You listed the reasons for the joke including that the song was written only a few hours after his inauguration and that this song was publicized by Armalite’s personal publicist. Since then, what thoughts have you developed about politics in our country and would that ever truly be a theme in Armalite’s songs?

The more important theme here is: troublemaking. Starting trouble is, as far as I can tell, one of the best parts about punk culture. So an online hoax is just one manifestation of that. For a more involved and snooze-worthy discussion of politics, interview one of the other members of this band. They will give you earnest answers and I appreciate them for that.

What type of lyrical themes do you all tend to stick with and what would you say they are on the new album?

Adam and Mike write all the lyrics. I read them later on after they’re recorded, around the time that they’re being sent to the printshop for the insert, so there’s a lot of trust going on there. I think they are both smart and well spoken. They sing about a variety of topics both in the political and personal spheres. Mostly I think the lyrics are great, except that song “Metastic!”. I think Adam outsourced that one to Sam, his son.

By the way, congratulations on the new album, Humongous. How do you feel about the way it turned out and the response so far?

It’s a 3-song 7” and I think it is great. I have no idea what the response has been to it as a release. I haven’t trolled any messageboards to see what people are saying about it. I also haven’t googled the search terms “humungous 7 inch” because, well, just because.

Armalite has a super unique, recognizable sound. With five years in between albums, how would you describe the progression of your sound between the self titled and Humongous?

Here’s the secret to Armalite’s sound: sort of mid-west-y power guitar punk + DC noodle guitar punk + the greatest punk drumming in the world + atom and mike’s vocals. That progression has been a straight line right on through both releases.

Your music is released super sporadically. I know you are all in other projects, and Dan Yemin is a child psychologist and a father. What other grown-up jobs and responsibilities do you all maintain and where is Armalite on your priorities list?

Actually, no. It’s not sporadic. We release our music regularly, at five-year intervals. That being said, Adam is a teacher and father of two; Mike lives 2800 miles away and is a Scuba diving instructor; and, as you mentioned, Dan Yemin has a psychology practice and is the father of one. I started an ice cream company called Little Baby’s Ice Cream and we are based out of the Philadelphia area.

(Note: interview hijacked by interviewee here, that’s what I get for sometimes opting for e-mail interviews): Oh really? That’s SUPER interesting!

Yeah, and I’d totally love to keep talking about it, but enough about me but you can post it on your site if you want (http://www.littlebabysicecream.com)

I heard Atom quit Atom and his Package because being on stage alone was too awkward. Is this true and how does he like the group dynamic that Armalite offers?

That’s an interesting theory, that he got lonely. Maybe he just got tired of having to do all the work himself. I mean, he can’t blame anything on a machine, but if a band sounds crappy, he can always just point at someone else and blame them! Is it true? Probably not.

You played the Fest this year. How was that?

It felt like summer in October. Should I recount all the zany things I did? I’m not going to. What we do is secret. But I do hope to be back next year in some capacity.

What is next for Armalite?

A long inactive period.

Chicago’s The Bomb, of Jeff Pezzati fame, have been keeping it fairly low-key the past couple years due to a lot of work in other musical projects.  Still they managed to satisfy Bomb fans with some newly released material through No Idea records, The Challenger  11”.  Earlier this year they finished aUK tour, in which Jeff got a live Morrisey overdose and worked on his Scottish accent, before their mini-tour and Fest date last October .  While various outside musical projects keep them busy, we can still expect more from The Bomb.  Jeff Pezzati was kind enough to discuss a lot with punknews interviewer Stephanie Thornton including recent tours, songwriting, the Fest, and what pisses Dan Yemin off.

Congratulations on the new album.  What did you all get up to for those two years in between?

Well it sure doesn’t seem like 2 years have gone by….. I’ve been part of the homeless problem for the past year at least – switching between living in Florida and Chicago. Naked Raygun played a few more shows during that time and released 3 – 7” singles. That kept me pretty busy…. And I got to see Morrisey twice and we toured England and Scotland and I spent a coupla weeks in Ireland after that and I was involved (grounded in the Icelandic natural disaster of that volcano thing). And I got 16 ½ hours of sleep too.  Oh yea – I learned how to make a nice ‘snakebite’ the Irish way….cheers.

Your new album, The Challenger, came out about a month ago.  How do you feel the response been so far?

I haven’t heard much feedback at all except from other band members, who all love it. It has one side (in the vinyl version) of studio tracks and the other side is recorded ‘live’ in the studio,…. ya know with everyone playing at the same time….. we did that side inLondonwhilst on tour.

While Speed is Everything took a slower turn compared to previous releases, I feel it really saw The Bomb breakthrough into a more unique sound of your own.  How would you say your sound has evolved further on The Challenger?

Well the song writing has remained essentially the same as the last 2 albums.  That is Jeff Dean writing all the music and I write the vocal melody and lyrics. Additionally Mike Soucy (drummer) wrote half of ‘The Challenger” lyrics and came up with the name. Jeff Dean did some lyric work on ‘Man Atlanta’.  Our sound – to me – remains the same as always…… we have the freedom to expand our sound to the furthest reaches of the world, nay the universe itself.

What influenced your decision when choosing the alternate songs to re-record for The Challenger?

If you’re talking about the ‘live in the studio tracks’ then we kind of took some of our favorites from each of the albums…… if you’re talking about the four studio tracks – then that was all we had that was new at the time.

J Robbins produced both Indecision and Speed is Everything, and now he’s got guest vocals on the new record.  What is it that keeps The Bomb and J. Robbins so tightly bonded?

Secretly we have the same mom. Also I think that him and Jeff Dean went to different high schools together.  Jay Robbins does our music justice. It turns out like we picture it.

You have guest vocals by Vic Bondi and J. Robbins on the new album; this continues the guest vocals trend that you set on Speed is Everything.  Of course Jeff has appeared as a guest on others’ albums as well.  What do enjoy most about doing and receiving guest vocals?

When you’re brought in to do guest vocal spots the pressure is off of you because let’s face it… if it sucks they won’t use it and if the song stinks- well you didn’t write it after-all, now did you. And when you have a guest vocalist you should make sure that the singer can perform the part that you want them to sing. One of the most pleasant surprises was when we asked Elizabeth Elmore (Sarge) to sing the Naked Raygun song – Trio. She nailed it on the first take and we had to have her sing it again a couple of times just because we felt bad that she drove all that way for one take. She’s that good. The same with Dan Yemin (Paint It Black, etc.)  on Speed is Everything LP. The song Integrity needed a screamer part and Dan drove for 3 hours to get to the studio inBaltimore to do it. When he got there he said to me ‘You know, I can’t sing.’ And I replied ‘I know, I wrote this part for you. All you have to do is scream.’ He also did the entire song on the first pass and we had HIM sing it again too. When asked what got him in the pissed-off sounding mood that perfectly fit the part he simply said, ‘I just thought of Reagan.’

Your lyrics seem to consistently have an insightful, personal tone.  What kind of lyrical theme have you all traditionally held up and how does that compare to the new album?  

Let’s just say that I have a lot of personal issues I’m working through. The last zillion songs that I wrote are an attempt at helping me find an outlet for some of them.

Whether or not you mind, The Bomb can’t shake Naked Raygun comparisons.  What steps do you take, if any, to avoid those comparisons while recording?  

No one sounds or plays guitar like Jeff Dean. His style is as unique as it gets. So the guitar work in each of the bands is very different. Jeff writes a lot of dissident, crashing chords (and non-chords) and Bill Stephens keeps it meticulously flawless sounding and primarily straight major and minor chords. Recording-wise both bands go for all out – mike-it-six-times-on-3-tracks for the hugest sound possible.

You all played the Fest again this year.  You’ve actually been on the Fest line-up a couple times.  Throughout the years of attending and playing The Fest, how do you feel it has grown and changed and what keeps you coming back whether it’s to play or just to attend?

The Fest is great because its only punk bands and because of that everyone who attends is geared up to play, listen to and watch punk music for 3 days. There are no surprises and we’ve all made friends of a lot of the other band members – it’s always good to see them again.
What other musical projects are you each involved in?

Jeff Dean works as a recording guru at Million Yen studio inChicago. He just did a Vic Bondi recording and an Amusement Parks on Fire solo project. He also is in a bunch of bands, – Explode and Make-up, All Eyes West, Noise by Numbers, and Four Star Alarm. Mike Soucy plays with Dan Schaeffer and the Cheats,

And Pete no longer plays with the defunct Methadones but is filling in on bass for Naked Raygun while Pierre Kezdy convalesces. Pete also plays in the band Neutron Bombs who sound like a very good English 2^nd wave punk band. I have been threatening to record and release a solo album of songs that after you hear it all you will be able to say (in a Scottish accent) is ‘Ya doosent have to cry aboooot it.’

With a fresh new album under your belt, what is next for The Bomb in the short term and what kind of long term goals do you have?

To keep doing what we do until we don’t feel that it needs to be done any more.

As someone who has overplayed Into Lake Griffy, it’s hard to be blown away by the new Good Luck album, Without Hesitation. That is not, however, to deny the explosiveness of this album; new backtracking listeners will easily be doubly blown away. Into Lake Griffy is an A-plus album and therefore tricky to follow. Since we were all left in a difficult position as eagerly expecting fans, Without Hesitation is a major sigh of relief. Good Luck hasn’t exactly brought anything surprising or new to the table, and in this rare occasion that is meant admiringly rather than unimpressed or insulting. Good Luck continues to preserve their spot at a creative intersection of pop-punk, folk-punk, indie, and metaly guitar riffs.
In comparison to Into Lake Griffy, the first couple tracks, “All Good People” and “Our Mess, Our Mark”, are a bit watered down – slower and smoothed over – conjuring a grungier Dinosaur Jr. feel at times.
The whole album might be considered diluted in comparison the debut, but Good Luck allowed room for that. Upon hitting track three, “The Others”, the album powers through quick-paced, loud, and poppy. Still present are the noodly guitars, high-pitched harmonizing, upbeat and poppy riffs, and fairly unconventional punk instrumentation (clarinet, piano). They’ve taken it a step further on this album with the addition of a euphonium (google it) on tracks two and seven, and the help of two more musicians – Justin Hubler(piano) and Toby Foster(euphonium) . Throughout the album lyrics remain honest, personal, fun, relatable and spirit-lifting.
As a band with one of the most unique sounds out there, that undoubtedly realized how hard their debut would be to follow, Good Luck has taken what they created and sprinted.

http://www.praguepost.com/night-and-day/stage/7681-uk-subs-perpetual-punk.html

What’s the key to longevity in the music business? A healthy dose of punk, according to UK Subs bassist Alvin Gibbs.

These British punk pioneers have been performing and recording since 1976, and show no signs of stopping. Their latest album – their 23rd – was released earlier this year to widely positive reviews. Work in Progress coincides with UK Subs’ tradition of ordering their album titles alphabetically. Once they get to “Z,” they plan to start over. But even with such a scheme for guidance, it’s no easy task to keep a band going for three decades. Gibbs tells The Prague Post UK Subs simply want to continue.

“Necessity, the love of playing music, the understanding that we are very privileged to be able to travel and live the life we do,” have been the band’s motivations, he says.

Along with The Damned and the Sex Pistols, UK Subs helped establish punk rock in Britain, earning seven consecutive UK top 30 hits between 1979 and 1981. The band is also credited with paving the way for the more outlandish sub-genre of “street punk.” Gibbs says that times have changed, and today’s punk bands “cannot achieve the same impact as The Ramones or the Sex Pistols did when they emerged back in the halcyon days of punk.”

“Seeing The Ramones play in London in 1976 changed the course of my life. Due to that experience, I’m the person I’ve become today,” he says. “For me, it wasn’t just about the bands in the 1970s but also about the atmosphere of the times, the excitement of seeing a new and direct form of rock music being conceived.”

UK Subs’ longevity sets them apart from other legendary punk bands like The Clash, who stayed together from 1976 to 1986, and the Sex Pistols, who lasted only three years, from 1975 to 1978. Believing that “being a musician really can be a great way to spend a life,” as Gibbs says, UK Subs have literally taken punk rock around the world.

The band has performed throughout Europe, South America, North America, Australia and Japan, and not just the major cities. UK Subs make it a point to perform at venues off the beaten track. In 1983, for example, the band toured Poland for two weeks, becoming “the first punk band to play behind the Iron Curtain,” Gibbs says.

“Our last gig [in 1983] in Warsaw saw us playing in front of 20,000 people in a massive ice-hockey stadium. Martial law had been lifted in order to let us play, but as soon we left the country, it was reinstated. We must have been perceived as some kind of decadent threat to the moral fiber of Poland’s youth,” he says.

UK Subs comes to the Czech Republic on a European tour that will continue through the summer. The band will play shows in Prague, České Budějovice and Olomouc. With such an intense tour schedule – kept up for more than 30 years – how does the band keep from burning out?

“Nothing actually stops us from becoming exhausted. You really need to conserve all your energy for the shows,” Gibbs says. “We seem to be able somehow to connect to people via our music and the performance energy we put into our shows.”

Awkward, but not terrible.  I’m a rusty in-person interviewer these days!  Enjoy.

With 20 years under their belt, Samiam have recently released their rarities collection <i>Orphan Works</i> on No Idea.  The album contains outtakes, B-sides, and live recordings  from the <i>Clumsy</i> and <You are Freaking Me Out</i> years.  The band recently finished a handful of dates in central Europe supported by The Casting Oout and A Death in the Family.   Stephanie Thornton sat down with the guys after their show in Prague early in their tour last month.  They discussed the differentiation of audiences world-wide, the secrets to keeping a band together for two decades, closing The Fest ’09, and anagrams. <br/><br/>

<b>How is the tour going so far? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei Loobkoff:  It’s been really, extremely fun, I would say.  Wouldn’t you say? <br/><br/>

Sean Kennerly:  I would agree, yeah, it’s been one of our best tours so far, I mean it’s just beginning, but we’ve had a lot of fun shows.  <br/><br/>

Sergei:  Like seven shows in, it’s always gonna seem pretty fun . . . catch us on that 164^th and see how we’re liking it.  <br/><br/>

<b> <b><i>Laughs</i> Yeah, so you’ve been supported by The Casting Out and A Death in the Family, I know you’ve at least toured with ADITF before; how are you all getting along? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Oh, super good.  Did you see that DITF played a little song with Jason in their little encore? <br/><br/>

<b>No, actually I got here after that</b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Well DITF took us to Australia last year, so we’re like old friends now, and The Casting Out guys are really nice.  You, know we share all the same equipment and we’re all just hanging out – a bunch of dudes. <br/><br/>

<b>Right.  So, what about touring Europe have you been looking forward to most and what sort of differences do you notice between American and European audiences? </b><br/><br/>

Sean:  Those are two really distinct questions. <br/><br/>

Sergei:  Maybe you should get two different guys to answer them…<br/><br/>

<b>Ok, I could’ve probably set them apart.  Ok so, what about touring Europe have you been looking forward to most? </b><br/><br/>

Sean:  Well it’s funny ‘cause it’s usually super fun to go to Berlin, and we played there, and that was probably, only for technical and logistical reasons one of our worst shows.  And here, we showed up here and we were like, ‘aw man, we gotta play one of these little dumpy college bar things or whatever, and it was actually the best show, energy-wise, it was really fun and the crowd was really great. <br/><br/>

Sergei:  It’s definitely proved that you don’t have to play in front of a giant group of people with a giant PA.  It’s just the energy from like 300 people all flippin’ out.  Cuz in Berlin, there were four or five hundred people – a lot more people.  <br/><br/>

<b>But the energy wasn’t there. </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  The energy was actually there, but it wasn’t like tonight where people were trying to break each other’s arms <br/><br/>

<b>Yeah, a little more intense.  So do you notice many differences between the American and the European audiences? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:   I would say that New Brunswick, New Jersey must be a Czech audience.  <br/><br/>

Sean:  They’re so drunk<br/><br/>

Sergei:  Seriously…I can differentiate because we go to like Japan, and South America and Europe and America, I can differentiate between cities, but you can’t say certain countries are different..you know? <br/><br/>

<b>Yeah. </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  And also it’s different nights – when the magic is in the air. <br/><br/>

Sean:  We’ve had shows in Berlin that are like this, when everyone is stage diving and floating around.  You never know how much alcohol is gonna go through people’s systems and make them do things that they’ll regret in the morning<br/><br/>

<b>So would you say you have a favorite place to play in Europe, after your many visits to the continent? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Well I would say our best shows are usually in Munster and Cologne, like biggest, which I guess, as we were saying isn’t necessarily the best.  We’ve had some really fun ones here, you know?  But there’s two different questions in that one two because it’s what’s the place you want to be at, and what’s the place you want to play a show at?  You can be in a rad-ass place, and people don’t give a shit about your band.  Like, on tour you sorta go, ‘oh, I want to be in a place where people like my band’, but then there’s places where it’s hella fun to hang out.  But we love most places in Europe because every time we come everyone is like, ‘Yay!,’ and they’re nice , and there’s more cheese and bread than we could ever ask for. <br/><br/>

<b>Oh, definitely.  The pastries are really good here, too.  </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Yeah. Well, I dunno.  It’s just really hard to single places out.  <br/><br/>

<b>Yeah.  Alright, so the rarities collection <i>(Orphan Works</i>) came out last month.  How do you feel about the response so far? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Well we don’t really gauge the response because they take it home and listen to it, so.  If we had like a little robot with a little camera on it, so we could sneak it into people’s homes and see their reactions, and they go, ‘This sucks!’ <br/><br/>

Sean: It’s also different because we’ve already played the songs, it’s not like they’re new, like we have a new album coming out or anything.  I mean, we’ve already played most of these songs.  <br/><br/>

<b>Alright, so with the recent release of the rarities and a self-proclaimed tendency to romanticize Samiam’s past, what is the likelihood that you’ll be taking inspiration from your older material on newer work? </b><br/><br/>

Sean:  I think at this point in time,  we’ve sort of reached this phase where we don’t  – we’re sort of working on new material, but we’ve reached a point where we don’t really have to think about what era we’re drawing from or whatever.  We can just do whatever we want.  Maybe it’s good or maybe It’s terrible, but we’re not really confined to, ‘Oh, we have to do the old thing’ or ‘We have to reinvent ourselves…’ <br/><br/>

Sergei: but like, you formulated that question for us, so do you think there’s a big distinction between old and new Samiam? <br/><br/>

<b>Oh, no, no I’m just wondering what the mindset is . . . </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Oh, no.  We don’t think about nothin’.  <br/><br/>

<b> (Laughs)</b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  The better answer is like ‘I dunno . . . we’re just gonna put some songs together.. <br/><br/>

<b>We do what we want. </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Yeah. <br/><br/>

<b>Ok, cool. Cool.  So   When can fans expect new material? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  We have fans? <br/><br/>

<b>I think so. </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Oh, I thought drunk people just happened to show up at the same time we were playing . . . uh, no one can expect anything.  We don’t know.  Real soon – how’s that sound?  <br/><br/>

Sean:  Hopefully. <br/><br/>

Sergei:  In all seriousness, we are a rag-tag group.  The fact that we’ve been around for 20 years means that we go on tour and a lot of people come and see us, but we’re basically a garage band, you know? In every way.  We’re not serious enough about it to have anything planned, as much as maybe we’d like to.  It’s complicated, we don’t live in the same city. <br/><br/> 

Sean:  We’ve also been playing with our new drummer, Charlie Walker – it’s been really fun.  (points to Charlie) He changes things – he makes it reinvigorating.  <br/><br/>

<b>Right, so you’ve been on a handful of labels in your time, and <i>Orphan Works</i> is the first one out on No Idea, what inspired the switch to No Idea and how have they been treating you so far? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Well we played the Fest last year, you know?  And I’ve known Var for about a century.  We were talking to him and he came out with the idea to get those two records – <i>Clumsy</i> and <i>You are Freaking Me Out</i> – to re-release them.  That’s why we did this <i>Orphan Works</i> record.  We just wanted to get it out and try to spark some interest in this old band of weirdos, you know?  It’s not like we signed to No Idea – they’re not that kind of label or anything.  It’s really neat to be on a label with a bunch of guys that we’re all friends with.  <br/><br/>

<b>You guys closed the Fest last year – how was that? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  It was an insane show because our bass player didn’t make it so we had to teach two guys how to play our songs – to go stand out in front of a couple thousand people and play, and that was really nerve-wracking.  Then we played the show and it was packed and people were jumping around and it was very gratifying.  But the whole entire time I couldn’t relax because I thought at any second it was going to fall apart – the bass player’s gonna go ‘I don’t remember this anymore!’, you know?  So it was one of those ‘Hold your breath – it’s gonna be over soon – I hope it turns out – I can’t believe it’s still going good! – wow it’s not fucking up completely!’ and then it ended, and we went ‘whew! That went real super well!’  But honestly, I wasn’t feeling loosey-goosey like tonight, I was really worried.  <br/><br/>

Sean:  I think in some ways though that show was sort of a pivotal show especially with the energy of the band coming back because we were sort of like, ‘what? What? Are we gonna keep doing this?’ or whatever and there were so many people that were so enthusiastic about it and we thought it was awesome.  It was really great. <br/><br/>

Sergei:  ‘Cause the Fest is just like a little group of people from around the country that might – at least for our band – a group of people that wouldn’t normally see us ‘cause we don’t normally tour.  There’s people from Chicago, and people from wherever…<br/><br/>

<b>Yeah there was a big international crowd there, as well</b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  So it was a real monster trying to wrap ourselves around not having our bass player and then to do it.  It came out really great.  We all – well everyone except our bass player was there – all walked away from it saying ‘Wow, that was really neat.’ ‘Cause you know the band that played right before us – it was like half as full, and to be really honest I was going ‘Holy shit we’re the last band of the whole festival – 150 bands and we’re the last band.  I guess Sunday night everyone wants to take their plane back or drive home’.  So the band right before us played and it was half full so I was going, ‘Oh, shit.  I guess this whole trip was a giant disaster’.    And you know, I face my amp when I tune, and after we did the sound check, I turned, and I was like ‘Holy shit, this room is packed!’.    So then when the show went off, I personally felt like ‘Yeah, the whole 19 years of doing this shit wasn’t a complete waste of time!’ <br/><br/>

<b><i>Laughs</i>  Right, yeah.  Yeah, so speaking of that, you guys have been together for over two decades, what have been some of your most proud accomplishments? </b><br/><br/>

Sergei:  I think that being an old fart and not being fat right now and being able to not pass out after running around playing the songs and having the people  in the audience, no matter if it is like 200 people that really love it…Like, – you get a band that’s on the radio in 1994, like we were.  A band way more popular in 1994, and they haven’t made anything in 10 years – put them in a little club in Prague, and how many people will come?  No one.  And then you get a little garage band kinda, a little punk band – quote unquote punk band, whatever we are – and we come here, and everywhere we play – we played eight shows – every show we played has been packed.  People love our stupid songs and it’s like, wow, we’re like total failures in the music industry, but we’re actually really successful as humans. <br/><br/>

Sean:  Plus he smoked a really killer joint earlier so…<br/><br/>

Sergei:  So that might have something to do with what Sergei says.  <br/><br/>

<b><i>Laughs</i>  Right.  So do you have any goals right now as a band beside the whole ‘we do what we want’ kinda thing?  </b><br><br>

Sergei:  I really honestly think we don’t have any goals.   We have a goal to make a record right now, but we have very modest goals as far as exceeding what we’ve done in the past.  As far as like, oh, it’d be nicer if 800 people came, but only 400 people came…I don’t think we’re that hung up on it.  <br/><br/>

Sean: Pretty much just having fun.  We get to have fun now.  It’s not about making money off of it.  It’s just fun to play the shows. <br/><br/>

<b>Yeah, yeah.  So most punk bands don’t make it for this long – what do you think has set Samiam apart and kept you all going? </b><br/><br/>

Sean:  We’re very forgetful . . . we get along pretty well.  We’ve been friends for a long time, and we also put up walls so we don’t really have to emotionally interact.  <br/><br/>

<i>All laugh</i><br/><br/>

Sergei:  Yeah I think the text messaging and IMing have really kept this band tight . . . when is a band that’s a serious band that puts out records every year, every other year, and tours 10 months out of the year, and really puts their lives into their band – their entire lives – anything they can fail at- monetarily or relationship-wise, and they take breaks and it’s monumental – they get mad at each other and stuff.  But the fact that we reverted in 2000 back to a garage band, and I think that keeps us together in this mentality that it’s not for anything except for fun.  It’s kept the band together, but it hasn’t kept people from leaving.  We’ve had a couple drummers in the last 10 years and a couple bass players, you know?  I think after your 25 and you’re playing music, to keep a group of five people together, unified while they’re fucking up other things in their lives . . . I think one thing that keeps us together is this willingness- as horrible as it sounds – to lose a member that we’ve been with and toured with for years, Johnny – our last drummer.  We have enough interest and love of doing what we do to actually continue and go on even without him.  Other bands do it because they make money,  they’re like ‘I can’t leave this, I’ve got a mortgage payment’ and stuff .  Well, we can’t pay our mortgage on our band, so we’re actually pretty much doing it because we love it.  <br/><br/>

<b>One last just for fun question –  Considering your name can form a few different anagrams…between “I am Sam” and “Miasma”, which one do you like better?  Or is there another one that I haven’t thought of? </b><br><br>

Sergei:  Well if anyone is gonna answer this question humorously and also truthfully, it’s Sean. <br/><br/>

<b>Oh good, well I’m glad you’re here! </b><br><br>

Sean:  We had the 10,000 person facebook Samiam anagram contest – there were no other anagrams other than “Miasma”, but one guy submitted the anagram from “Storm Clouds” of, I can’t remember exactly, something like “Old Crumbs”  . . . anyway, that was the best one.   Anyway, there are no other anagrams. <br/><br/>

Sergei:  Or we’re not intelligent enough to find them.  <br/><br/>

<b>Yeah and which one did you prefer from those two? If you had to change your band name-</b><br/><br/>

Sean:  Wait there was two of them? <br/><br/>

Sergei: “Sam I am” and “Miasma” <br/><br/>

<b>No, between “I am Sam” and “Miasma” </b><br/><br/>

Sean:  Oh, “miasma” is way better! <br/><br/>

Sergei:  Well I like “I am Sam,” but there was that movie, and that movie was really offensive…<br/><br/>

<b>Oh, yeah!</b><br/><br/>

Sean:  But I liked the title of our first little thing,<i> I am</i>.  Samiam –<i> I am</i>.  <br/><br/>

Sergei:  That was a tricky little number we pulled. <br/><br/>

After just wrapping up a tour of the U.S., End of a Year continues to celebrate their latest release on Deathwish, You are Beneath Me.  Heavily influenced by the Revolution Summer in DC, EOAY continues to offer something a little different in the world of modern hardcore.  As a fresh band on Deathwish, vocalist Patrick Kindlon has nothing but positive things to say about their new label since they allow EOAY to be weird, as he puts it. He also shared some thoughts with Stephanie Thornton about the response to the new album, lyrical inspiration, poking holes in Cruel Hand’s condoms, and receiving criticism from Gnarls Barkey fans.

How has the response been for the new album, You are Beneath Me and how does it compare to what you expected to hear?
People seem to like it, more so than we thought they would. The response to the first track has been a little overwhelming. We didn’t expect that at all. We thought that would be the alienating track that cuts half the listenership. <br><br>

How do you feel about the evolution of End of a Year’s sound up to this point and do you feel you all made conscious decisions to head in any different musical directions while recording You are Beneath Me?
I would have liked to have started our career sounding awesome, but whenever that thought enters my head, I think of the scene in Billy Madison where he gives a speech at his grade school graduation and he acknowledges that some people may think it’s pathetic that he’s just now graduating but “it was hard for me, so get off my back!” These things take time, I guess, man.

The album title is also the title of your tour blog from your recent US tour – What was the inspiration behind the titles and does it reflect any theme on the album?
Unofficial blog. We’ll call that one the unauthorized blog. Drunk roadie blog. The title of the album came from this notion of the ultimate dismissal. Once you assert something is beneath you and mean it, the thing loses meaning altogether. I’m interest in everything. I went to the manga store today and bought some freaky Japanese giant mecha shit, just because I realized I know nothing about it. I want to know about everything. I’ll read raver magazines. I’ve been to a Phish show. I follow the news in Africa. Just because the world is interesting and I want to know things. So if I actually think something is beneath my notice, it’s a pretty strong dismissal.

Album reviews have praised your lyrical skills.  What do you find as lyrical inspiration and what topics do you explore on this album?
That’s a weird trip, the praise the lyrics are getting. I’m grateful that people connect with the lyrics or just appreciate them, but I’ve got a long way to go. Right now they do what punk lyrics are supposed to do- they express where I’m at. But eventually I’d like to express those same ideas in a legitimately eloquent way. Right now it’s like talking to someone on the bus. You get a slice of their deal and maybe something pops out that sticks with you, but it’s not the same as sitting with someone and really hearing their life story. Whenever I write lyrics I like I go and listen to “Whole of the Moon” by the Waterboys or “Dress Sexy at My Funeral” by Smog and I feel challenged. I can’t touch that shit.

On this record I devoted a lot of time to boring life talk. What I mean by that is some people only want to sing about the most severe shit they can imagine. They’re thinking about Burma when they sing. I’m thinking about my electric bill. I’m not saying it’s not serious to me, but my life isn’t running from my car to my house in a zigzag because snipers are on me. My life is struggling to live like a normal first world dude.

How much exploration have you done with lyrics throughout your releases?
I used to go for big concepts, but for the past few years I’ve just written about where I was at at that exact second. Typically I wait until I read something about someone else that touches on how I feel, because sometimes you can’t see your own problems. You’re too close to it. But we’re all real quick to recognize other people’s problems. So now when I see that, I think about how it’s similar to my life and suddenly a song is done.

You recently finished up a tour of the US and the tour journal features the band expressing disdain for a lot of the country.  What aspects of our country does End of a Year despise the most and how do they correlate with the scenes you encountered and shows you played along the way?
Everyone in this country can joke about the other parts of the country and the stereotypes that we all have about each other, but when it comes down to it, we all assume people think like we think.  When you go on tour, you’re reminded that’s not the case. At all. And to a very large degree, I’m excited by that. But there’s a limit. It’s easy to get burnt out on how dumb people can be. The cute factor dies and all you’re left with is some turd you’re trying desperately not to condescend out of respect for him as a human. What I’m saying is, we all love these archetypes until we can’t escape them. One racist marine who thinks Ragu is high-end Italian food is a fascinating novelty. Being stranded in a 2,000mile stretch of land with only those people is not nearly as charming.

A common motif I’ve noticed in your online postings is to have a sense of humor, and not to be so uptight – this attitude shines through in the craigslist classified ads posted in each city during your spring tour – whose idea was this and what other pranks do you tend to do while touring?
I think that was my idea to actually go through with it, but I’m sure everyone had a hand in that. We’re not a prank-heavy band. Ask people who tour with us- we’re not “fun” we’re just funny. So we’re not diving into 4ft pools while shooting roman candles. We suck balls at that sort of fun. But if we’re sitting around long enough we’ll typically make each other laugh with some shit like finding MMMMMF sexual experiences on craigslist. If we’re fun at all, we’re quiet nerd fun. We’re not particularly good at pranks, but every time we tour with Cruel Hand we make sure to put holes in their condoms.

Are there any tour plans in the work right now?  What is End of a Year up to at the moment as you bask in the glow of the release of your new album?
I think we’re going out again for a short stint in the fall. Maybe go to some of these fests. We love fests. As fans of music we sort of hate them, but as a band they’re fun as hell. You play and then wander around. You don’t actually have to be anywhere. That’s relaxing. We’re recording again. I’ve got to finish vocals on one 7” then we start in on another. We’ve got some plans for the winter that will start to really close in on what I want from this whole band experience. We’ve gotten to do some of the weird shit we’ve wanted to do, but some of the plans this winter will push that commitment to weird shit to the next level. <br><br>

You signed to Deathwish last year.  How have they been treating you so far?
They let us be weird. I can’t really ask much more of a label than that. I call them up once a week and pitch them an idea for a record and they never say “no.” They may say, “you’re giving us ulcers, WHY do you want Roger Clemens to sing on your record? Is it really necessary?” But never “no.”

A recent post on your blog addresses giving and receiving criticism as far as music, success, and how it relates to goals.  Whose criticism are you most likely to value?  Does it often have an effect on what End of a Year chooses to do?
I do my best not to dismiss criticism right out the gate. Some people create that brick wall and insulate their feelings shitting on anyone who criticizes them. I can understand in certain situations. A few records ago, someone gave us a poor review so I click on his profile on the site. His favorite record of the year was Gnarls Barkley. What am I supposed to do for that dude? He shouldn’t be allowed to listen to music, nevermind review it. So it’s easy to just outright dismiss that bit of criticism. But I try not to do that, because even a broken clock is right twice a day. If Hitler told you to brush your teeth would you not do it because he told you to and he’s a shithead? So you’ve gotta at least hear people out. Sometimes they may be right for the wrong reasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re right. Like if some shithead criticizes my voice, it’s easy for me to deflect it and say, “oh, that dude must not come from a punk background, he doesn’t get it.” But instead of doing that, maybe it’s worthwhile to hear it out and reflect on it. Is this dude really a clueless idiot with no understanding of subculture? Probably. But that doesn’t change the fact that my voice is really bad.

What sort of goals do you hold for End of a Year at this point?

I’d like to make music well into my “adult” years. Punk music kicks you out after awhile. I read people on messageboards shit talk people involved in punk music by saying, “dude is practically 30!” As if age is an insult or the dude has less of a right to be there. But that seems to be the way it is. A lot of similarities between hardcore and hip hop. Both fear age. They either want to see you perform only your old material or they want you to disappear entirely so they can pretend they rediscovered you and talk about it on a messageboard. So eventually we’ll be ushered out of the thing we’ve been around for a long minute doing and I don’t know where that will put us. But that’s the great thing about being a band that has never gotten big- who we sell to has never been a concern. We’ll never have a “classic” period that people get hung up on. We’re always making things you can like or not.

My goal is to pursue every weird opportunity and collaboration available to us. I want records of ours that people don’t like, but they stick with us until the next one because they know we’re good and they don’t have to like our entire catalog. I want an actual life in music. I almost said career, but career has a certain connotation for some people. I’m talking about actually expressing yourself as an adult. Something not everyone gets. Ever meet those people who are done? They put down their instrument with no intent of ever picking it up again. I’m looking for the opposite of that. I want to keep expressing myself until I’ve made something I feel can’t be topped. Since that may not happen in this lifetime, I keep it moving towards the next.

Summer in the Czech Republic brings heat, ticks and music festivals of all sorts. Typically, festival organizers scramble to put the best names in their lineup, jack up ticket prices and spread the word – though not always. Fluff Fest has the crucial lineup at a very reasonable price, but is intentionally slacking on the promotional front.

“We don’t do any press for the festival,” says organizer “Big Tomáš” via e-mail. “I know it’s weird, but that’s the way it is. We just do what we like, and we don’t seek a major audience.”

While refusing media attention is 100 percent punk, an event this good can’t stay under wraps. It features an international lineup headlined by 26 major names in hardcore, including Municipal Waste, Vitamin X, No Turning Back, Cruel Hand and Ruiner. Bands are coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France and Austria. Along with the music, there’s a weekend’s supply of vegan food and nonmusical events such as film viewings and a zine reading room.

This will be the last opportunity to see Ruiner. After six years of touring and three full-length albums, the American band is calling it quits with one last romp through Europe and a farewell show or two in the States. Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Ruiner plays fast-paced, melodic hardcore in the vein of Have Heart, Sinking Ships and Another Breath (also appearing at this year’s Fluff Fest). The band has played several times in Prague.

“We are very excited to come back,” vocalist Rob Sullivan says via e-mail. “We have always enjoyed ourselves there. Big Tomáš is an amazing man.”

While noting that festival appearances “are rather annoying for the bands and usually a hassle,” Sullivan says the invitation to play at Fluff Fest was special. “We appreciate the gesture and the show of respect it means for us to headline.”

Since their first East Coast tour in the United States six years ago, Ruiner has crisscrossed four continents, establishing themselves as important players in the international hardcore scene. “I’d say the amount of touring we’ve done is a great accomplishment for us,” Sullivan says. “We’ve been able to see the world, and for that we will always look back at Ruiner as a great part of all of our lives.” He names Australia as one of his favorite places to play, adding, “It’s tragic we won’t be heading back.”

In general, audiences overseas have shown Ruiner a lot of love. “It really comes down to appreciation,” Sullivan says. “Obviously, it’s easier for U.S. kids to see us. When we play abroad, we’re treated a bit better.”

The current tour will take them not only to the Czech Republic but Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, as well. “I am excited we will get to head further east in Europe, to some countries we’ve never been,” Sullivan says. “It should be rather interesting and different, I’m sure.”

His advice to audiences as Ruiner makes its way across Europe: “Have a good time and don’t take everything I say seriously.”

Other bands worth catching at Fluff Fest include Municipal Waste from the United States, whose skate-punk thrash is heaven for any headbanger; Holland’s No Turning Back, who have been providing heavy mosh soundtracks for 13 years; and Vitamin X, who play experienced Dutch thrash reminiscent of the ’80s style.

The newcomers deserve a listen, too, especially Comadre, from California, who offer catchy and aggressive punk that will keep you moving.

Since Fluff Fest’s debut in 2000, it has recruited more significant names for its lineup every year. The organizers are equally thoughtful about how they stage the festival, encouraging concertgoers to leave their dogs at home and clean up after themselves.

There’s a free campground, a public pool with showers close by and, if you’re not into roughing it, nearby hotels. So bring some fresh underwear, a toothbrush and, most importantly, earplugs.

Find the article here.

Firewater, a punk, folk and world music band from Brooklyn, NewYork, is continually testing an idealistic assumption.

“Most people – not some governments, maybe, but ordinary people – will always choose peace over war, friendship over enmity and free expression over silence,” says frontman and guitarist Tod A. “I want to test that assumption.”

A 2005 road test resulted in Firewater’s sixth album, The Golden Hour. Starting in Delhi, Tod traveled through India and into Pakistan, recording with an array of musicians he met along the way.

“Being a musician is rarely an easy life anywhere, but it’s particularly challenging in the parts of the world in which I was traveling,” he says. “But all the musicians I met were enthusiastic about collaborating with a foreigner. While they weren’t big fans of the American government, in general they seemed to be quite fond of Americans. Like me, most people didn’t feel their government really represented them. We bonded on that.”

Which inspired Tod to dream even grander dreams: “Wouldn’t it be great to see Israelis and Palestinians playing together? Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots? Iranians and Americans?”

Tod’s interest in world music was initially inspired by a box of old records he ran across in a Russian junk shop on the lower East Side of New York. Formerly the front man of the band Cop Shoot Cop, he decided to combine his love of punk rock with the newfound inspiration of East European Gypsy and klezmer music – long before bands like Gogol Bordello and Beirut were working the same turf.

On Firewater’s first release, Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the Fire (1996, Jetset Records), Tod’s punk roots shone through with his raspy voice and angsty lyrics, but the melodies were clearly Gypsy – and klezmer – inspired. The follow-up albums (The Ponzi Scheme, Psychopharmacology, The Man on the Burning Tightrope and Songs We Should Have Written) increasingly earned praise for having a unique and somewhat dark sound, and songs dealing with heavy topics such as religion, often in a light-hearted fashion.

The Golden Hour (2008, Bloodshot Records) features musicians from five different countries. “I was a little surprised myself how well the record came out,” Tod says, a sentiment echoed in the media. “I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but thankfully the reviews were very positive. The record got quite a bit of attention from the press and more outward-looking radio stations.”

Still, he’s looking forward to touring in Europe. “World music is still a ghetto in America; there’s very little support for it,” he says. “That’s slowly changing, but European audiences can be more open-minded.”

Firewater will be playing a good amount from The Golden Hour on this tour, along with some old favorites. Backing Tod will be Igal Foni on drums, Ravinder Sanhu on dhol and percussion, Reut Regev on trombone, Adam Scheflan on bass and Jaro Milko on guitar.

Beyond this tour, Tod is looking forward to resuming his travels through western Asia and the Mideast. “I really want to finish the road trip I initially set out to do, and maybe go a bit further,” he says. “This time I plan to start in Afghanistan and end in Palestine.”

He will be accompanied for part of the journey by Canadian filmmaker Andrew Coppin, who will document the trip. “Coppin’s film will follow the journey from Kabul through Iran, Kurdistan, Turkey, Greece, Palestine and Israel,” Tod says. “Traveling overland on all forms of local transportation and staying in low-budget accommodations should ensure lots of local flavor. The cast of characters will include everyone from well-known musical performers to local street musicians to whoever we meet along the way.”

The ultimate goal is to “continue to tour around the world, meet interesting people, taste delicious food and live life – while it lasts.”

For now, the 12-city tour of Europe will keep the band busy. Asked what he’s looking forward to, Tod says, “Italy for the coffee, Spain for the swimming and [the Czech Republic] for the pilsner!”

This was finally posted on punknews.org

So you were playing shows throughout Europe over the summer, how were those tours and did you have a particular place you preferred playing in Europe?

We mostly just like going over there because it’s really wild to jump from one sort of cultural style to another. I think the fun of touring Europe is being somewhere new everyday or every couple days. You go to Italy which is such a culture of food and a certain attitude and a look to the land. Then you go to Germany and it’s completely different in every way and there’s something exciting about getting to jump between these various cultures that we love. We had a great time and then we toured Greece about a month and a half ago which is gorgeous. We played in front of Mount Olympus and we played in Athens in view of the Acropolis. It’s just crazy to find yourself in this sort of foundation of Western civilization while you’re playing a rock show.

That’s got to be pretty breathtaking . . .

Yeah it’s just crazy. I think when we started our band there was no thought we’d ever find ourselves in Greece because of the band. You hope that you’ll get to travel to see the world… you’re sort of thinking of travel as sort of a generic thing, and then you realize how many opportunities you have to see crazy stuff. I mean this summer we played Italy and we were taking a ferry to the island of Sardinia and on the way we stopped at Pisa and saw the leaning Tower of Pisa. You know, it’s like “What?! Alright!”

How is the tour with Gaslight Anthem going? Is this your first tour together?

Yeah, this is their first bug headlining tour. They were going to come out with us a year ago when they were starting to get some buzz, so they wanted to be the second band, but we had already confirmed a band. So we went with another option and we were like, “Oh we’ll just go with them next time,” and then when the next time rolled around they were asking us.

Oh man, that’s wild.

Yeah, so it’s been a good tour. The shows have been really big. And you know it’s always incredible to play a big room that sounds great. We’ve been able to play places we wouldn’t normally have been able to do on another tour.

Cool. So, how do American audiences compare to the ones you had in Europe?

It’s funny, in some ways it’s more complicated and in some ways it’s even similar than I would’ve expected. For one, American audiences sing along more. They speak English better (laughs). It’s so simple, but even if they are rowdy, or super into the show, or really respectful in Europe, you don’t get the amount of singing along. I love that about American shows – they’re always a little crazier. But even when you go to Europe, their attentiveness is incredible. We’ve played shows that were a 20 song set, and they want us to come on for an encore, and we’ll do that – we’ll do two songs. And then they want us to come on for another one, and we’ll do two songs. And then they’ll just keep clapping and they won’t stop clapping to the point where we’re standing there saying, “Do we know any more songs?” Then we’ll be like, “Alright this is the last song we know how to play.” And that’s kind of hilarious. Obviously they do an excellent job of stroking our egos… its fun. It’s interesting to compare because when we’re in Europe we’ll be the only band – there’ll be like one band opening for us instead of like a whole tour package.

Yeah they want more out of one band. So, Gaslight’s style is pretty different from Murder by Death. Are you all fans of Gaslight Anthem?

We weren’t as familiar beforehand. We had just heard a little bit. But yeah, we have come to be, certainly. I guess it’s different. There are certain songs that make more sense to their audience. They have a really upbeat, nostalgic sound. We have a much darker thing… some upbeat songs, but more downers and slower instrumentals. We have been testing out the material and seeing what people respond to. Trying stuff that’s really different from what they do, trying stuff that’s more similar. We’ve been experimenting over the course of two months what we should do, and how people will respond to each style.

Yeah, I was going to ask about that. This tour has a pretty varied line-up featuring Gaslight Anthem, Murder by Death, The Measure (SA), and the Loved Ones. So, what advantages can you find in such a diverse tour and are there any disadvantages?

This tour has changed a lot. There have been different openers. The Measure has only played one show so far… and before that it was Broadway Calls which is a punk band from Portland. Before that it was Frank Turner from England… and we have the Loved Ones who are like smarter, older dudes playing rock ‘n’ roll punk… they’d all get the audience into a excited frenzy, and then we’d play and maybe depress them a little bit.

Yeah (laughs)

We’ll do our drinking song thing, but we’ve had a great response. And then Gaslight will come up and obviously it’s their tour… It’s kind of nice with the diverse tour because then we can meet bands that we never would’ve met. We never would’ve played with any of these bands if we were headlining a tour because it’s just a tour of a different circle. It’s definitely more of a punk tour than we usually play. It’s been cool to kind of branch out.

Yeah I was going to ask a question about that. You guys are praised for having a unique style that incorporates a cello and an electronic keyboard. What type of fans are you able to draw with that style? Do you feel you can kind of steer people in a different direction from what they’re typically used to?

That’s kind of the idea. That’s what we’ve done since we started playing as a national touring band. We would just take tours, just take whatever the best option was, and sometimes we’d just take the only option. So we’ve just played for a huge variety of fans. We’ve played with metal bands, we’ve played with indie bands, we’ve played with artsy bands, goth, emo, punk, stoner, rockabilly, we’ve done it all. It’s been our angle – you go up there and you play for these people and you try to win them over no matter what their genre is.

It’s been an advantage for our career, since we’re sort of a unique band, we do go up there and people are surprised, people who have never heard of us. They’re surprised by the sound, and you can see them and they’re either like, “Eh, whatever” or they’re like, “Wow, this is unique, I like this”. We’ve actually won a lot of our fans by playing in front of other acts. It’s really helped us. But then again, you don’t have an identity in the same way. Like, if you’re a young punk band and you’re going out with an older punk band you know that fans are going to respond really well to you. It’s an identity that they’ve already committed themselves to.

Yeah, totally. You kind of touched on another question I was going to ask just for fun. People are quick to judge a band by their name rather than reading a review or listening to myspace tracks for a few seconds. I’ve seen a lot of hilarious assumptions made about Murder by Death’s style. Just for fun, are you more annoyed or amused at these assumptions?

These days we’ve been playing for over nine years together. We’re not really worried about that anymore because we have a pretty good thing going and I guess at this point it’s so easy to go online and in 30 seconds you’d know that we’re not a death metal band or something.

(Laughs) Right.

It’s pretty clear with the fact that we have a cello and the way that we sing . . .so it’s kind of one of those things where I’m not like annoyed or amused. I’m just kind of like, “Yep.” It’s just part of the deal . . .

So getting back to the tour, although it seems to be rarely updated, I enjoy the food blog on your website, especially Sarah’s most recent haiku about a feta wrap. What was the inspiration behind turning your tour blog into a food blog?

It’s just that when you tour as much as we do, you eat every meal at a restaurant. And so, the idea is that Sarah and I especially are both really into food. It was before we were in a band; we both come from families that love to cook for fun, you know? So when you are eating out at every meal, it becomes an important part of your day in that it’s an opportunity to sort of escape from the idea of being on the road – to go out and have a good meal. It can totally change your mood . . . I started going out and I’m like “Man, that meal was awesome!” We just went to some random restaurants that were some of the closest ones to the club and they turn out to be really good. I finally decided I needed to start writing them down. Then I realized, I could just write a review about each of these meals… and people liked it. People responded to it and thought it was fun. A lot of people these days are really into going out and trying new restaurants. It’s been a fun thing to write about, and it gives you something to do on the road.

And Sarah’s doing an anti-food blog. For all the worst meals of the tour she writes a haiku.

Yeah, that’s the one I read. I think that’s a pretty creative idea.

Yeah, we’re doing that for fun, just to make ourselves feel a little better about the awful meals we had.

So tell us a little about the book soundtrack for Finch. How did you get involved with that?

The author, Jeff Vandermeer, reached out to us. He said “I’m a big fan. I’ve got this new book coming out in November. I listened to your records pretty much the whole time I was writing it, so I would love if it makes any sense at all, for you to write a soundtrack. I would include it with the special edition copies of the book.” We read that e-mail and our publicist got back to us and said “This guy is for real. He’s got a lot of fans and he’s got a whole lot of science fiction awards…” So we wrote back saying “It’s such a weird idea, that we like it, we really like it. So send us a copy of the book, and if we like it we’ll move forward.” So we all read the book and we thought it was really cool. So we went into the studio – we rarely have time to do stuff like this, but it happened to work out. We went into the studio in August and we took five days and we wrote music to go with the scenes of the book. We wrote like it was going with a movie almost, and we scored those scenes. It’s all instrumental, and we got to experiment and try something we had never done before – to write to a book, and also to do an all instrumental release. It was really fun. It just worked. We just wrote and wrote and recorded. It’s just something totally new for us.

It seems like something totally new in general. I had never heard of something like this before.

Right, neither had we. That’s what we thought was cool.

Your lyrics tend to be honest and heavy. Who are some of your favorite lyricists, what do you admire in lyrics, and how do you incorporate that into Murder by Death?

I like unique lyrics. My favorite thing to do is to write about stuff in a different way. I try to stray from love songs because it’s such a traditional material and there are so many people that have an entire career of like relationship songs. I jut didn’t want to get sucked into that world of sort of repeating yourself. I mean some people do it so well. That’s just not where we saw ourselves when we were writing material. We were trying to get it to more of a fictional approach, which is a weird idea and we totally just write about weird subjects. Who Will Survive… is about a devil getting shot in a bar fight, and it’s a whole album based around the idea of revenge and it’s sort of a fun story that you can kind of immerse yourself in. We always would try to make the music fit the lyrics. So we kind of look at the lyrics and we’re like, “How do we communicate this musically?” and that’s kind of just the aim of the band is to kind of unite the words with the music in a way that’s much more thought about than a lot of acts do. I think we really wanted to make sure that it’s not just words over music. They exist together and really function off of each other. That’s been a major step in writing. We’re going to go home and do a lot of writing a recording in about a week. I’ve got all the songs and melodies done, but what we really need to do is set it to music.

So do you think the upcoming album will have a theme to it as well?

I didn’t want to do a concept record the way we have done in the past because I didn’t want to repeat my self and I knew the guys would probably enjoy something different from a writing perspective. This album has some themes, but it’s not about one thing. I wanted to have more isolated tracks. That’s creatively what sounded more fun.

I wanted to ask about the evolution of your sound overall. When you look back on the four full lengths and the latest project with Finch, what are your thoughts on Murder by Death’s musical progression over the last nine years from Like the Exorcist, but More Breakdancing to Red of Tooth and Claw?

The main thing about the band to us is to try and keep it interesting. We wanted each album to feel different and also fit under the banner of Murder By Death. We wanted to sort of create a world of Murder by Death, but yet make each album have its own thing. Our first album we were just trying to figure out what sort of band we wanted to be. Our second album was like an accidental concept record that told a story. Our third album, we were trying to make it like a book of short stories where each song just had a certain feel. On our fourth album the idea was to do a linear story but a very consistent rock record. We wanted it to be more of a rock record than our past records. And so the Finch record is totally different. It’s funny because at times we try to make homages to kind of older styles or songs. I think in some ways the Finch record, which is the latest thing we’ve done, starts out like a full release. I think at moments on it, fans of our first release will identify with it most, more so than our more modern fans. That’s something I saw – that musical tendencies that we had on our older records were coming up as we were working on that, which is pretty fun. We were kind of able to bring back some old style. The whole thing with us has been kind of moving forward while occasionally making nods to the past.

I’ve heard a few people compare your voice to Johnny Cash. Did he play into your major influences at all or Murder by Death’s influences in general and what other artists have had a profound impact on Murder by Death?

Yeah I’ve been getting that one a lot. Probably thousands of times. It’s one of those ones where I feel people naturally when they hear something that want to find a frame of reference. They say “What is this like, what does this remind me of? Ok, this.” And that’s great. I think I like Johnny Cash just as much as anybody, but I don’t really listen to him a lot or anything. I certainly didn’t mean to sound like him or something (laughs). It’s a very big compliment to be compared to someone that is one of the major recording artists of the last century. For me though, the singer that I always wanted to be about to sing like, that I really like, is Eric Burdon of The Animals. His style, where he sings like a very low part and then he kind of yells. It’s sort of ballsy shout-singing. That really attracted me as a style, and that’s been something that I’ve been enjoying. I love the idea of a very dynamic song vocally. It’s just so much more fun to sing that way than to do a flat, straight forward song. I love dynamics with singing.