When thinking of a punk band, people always see the mohawks, the tattoo’s, the spikes and never the brain. With Bombshell Rocks it is different. “From Here And On” is their new album and it shows how the band is far more clever than a few in the punk rock world. They play catchy melodic punk rock with infectious riffs and intense lyrics. We talked to Marten as the band was promoting the album that is just coming out, to ask him some stuff on his band, who is one of the youngest on the Burning Heart Records roster. 

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.truepunk.com | with Marten.

Can you introduce yourself ?
I’m Marten and I sing in Bombshell Rocks ! 

Do you call from Sweden ? How are you doing ?
Yeah , I am in Sweden right now . I’m fine, thanks!

Your new album “From Here and On” is coming out these days; do you consider it your best album yet?
Yes, we definitely think this is the best stuff we ever released. It has the best songs we ever wrote and it’s also different from our previous works. We’re very happy with this album, we worked on it a lot and we enjoy all of the songs.

I think the new album is more rock or anyway more punk than the previous ones - do you agree ?
“From Here And On” is different, yes, because it streeses all of our influences. ” Street Art Gallery” and “City Rats and Alleycats” were done when we were younger, they were different. The new album shows all of our music, it shows us, our influences and the music of Bombshell Rocks. On the new CD you will be able to hear all of our inluences, it shows what Bombshell Rocks really are, from punk rock stuff like Genertion X and hardcore of Bad Religion to rock stuff like Rolling Stones. I think “From Here And On” is definitely more melodic.

For the new album you worked almost by yourself, talking of the production, while on the previous CD’s you had worked with Mathias Färm from Millencolin ? How was to work with him as a producer and why did you decide to produce the new album by yourself ?
Working with Mathias was great, he is a great frind of ours. For the new album we wanted to do something new, explore something different and we wanted to feel it more “ours”, so we changed producer and studio, we wanted to record in a new stufio. This is why Richard and Crippe, our two guitar players, took care of a good part of the production, also if it’s not true we worked alone, because we co-worked with Eskil Lovestrom. 

What does the title of the album stand for ?
“From Here And On” is a way to say that right now we are here, trying to do something different from what we did in the past, and we are trying to move on. We’re coming!

The cover art of the album is a picture of yourselves - how did you decide to put it as a cover ?
We had a lot of pictures to use as a cover, a lot on the way of our previous records, but we all thought those pics were not good, so we kept it simple: a picture of ours. It’s very punk rock, it reminds me of the Ramones. The picture we used was taken from a promo shot…

I think the cover looks very well .
Really ? Well thanks. We never know if people like the band on the cover, it’s always strange …

Talking of the lyrics of “From here And On”, what do they deal with ?
Lyrically we talk about everything we see. We take inspirations from everything that surround us. We sing about love, hate, unity and other things.

So you don’t consider yourself as a politcal street punk band, as someone said ?
No, we definitely are not street punk and we are not political. We’d rather sing about personal expiriences, from what we see on TV, to what we live, to what we see with our friends, and stuff. We do not like to sing about politcal things and do not like bands who preach. It’s hard to keep your music interesting when all you do is preaching about political issues.

You will start touring in a short time on the “Heart Attack Tour”, with Burning Heart bands Raised Fist, The Peepshows and Division Of Laura Lee. How do you feel ?
We’re very excited. We are looking forward to starting touring with these bands. They are all great band and I think it’s gonna be a very positive expirience, because all we four bands have different crowds. Like, Raised Fist has hardcore kids who like them, Division Of Laura Lee are more rock, as the Peepshows, we are punk rock, so there will be a lot of kids who like these bands and we will be able to play in front of fans of other bands, it’s cool.

Have you ever toured with these bands before?
No, we never toured with them. We know them, we’re friends with some of them and we’re all on the same record label but we never got the chance to share the stage with any of them.

Burning Hear Records has been singing new bands that are more rock’n'roll than their old bands, like Peepshows, Division Of Laura Lee and now they will release and album from Turbonegro. Do you like this direction taken by the label?
Oh yes, I like it. I mean, punk rock is not a matter of just music, it’s more a matter of attitude, and all of the bands on BHR have a punk rock attitude. And then I love rock’n'roll bands!

You’re on Burning Heart, which is a very big label - how does it feel to be with them?
We feel very lucky and pleased to work with them. We’re very friends with all of the people who work there and I think in Europe there is not another punk label that work as hard as Burning Heart. They do all they can do to support their bands and this is a very good thing.

Your records will also be released in the USA through Epitaph.
Yes, we hope that also the American crowd will enjoy our music. We played in the USA and it is a very nice place.

I know you have been touring in the USA with Millencolin, how was that ?
It was a very good expirience, we had lot of fun and learned lot of new things, and then we saw a lot of new places. Then Larzon, the drummer from Millencolin, had to fly back to Sweden because he brokw his arm and our drummer took his place.

Do you think there is a difference from the USA and Europe ? I don’t know, places, crowds, whatever ?
I think that the USA are someway different from Europe, but I guess the people are the same. I mean, they all love punk rock music.

I heard you had plans to release two split records. One with the american punkrock band Anti-Flag and one with the swedish rockabilly band, The Go-getters. Did you then release them ?
Well let’s say that these tow splits are more … projects. We would like to do them, there is nothing official by now.We were actually thinking of releasing split seven inches and not real CD’s. We’ll see.

Anti Flag just released a split with Bouncing Souls. Have you heard it ?
No, unluckily I haven’t. I like Anti Flag, we toured with them in the United States, they are very nice guys.

Is Bombshell Rocks your one and only job or do you do some other things in your life ?
Well I personally work in a tattoo shop ( Marten has a really great colletion of tattooes on his arms ), while Thomas, our drum player, and Richard, our guitarist, have a recording studio and they will soon start to produce new bands.

I think they won’t have problems then, in Sweden you have a lot of bands.
Yeah, luckily there are a lot of bands here that play punk rock and also rock music.

How do you see the rock music and the punk rock one in Europe ? Do you think it is still underground ?
I really don’t know. I think punk rock is an underground music and it will always be this way. Anyway I think it is a good time for rock music, it’s good to see bands that work hard to get heard.

There are also a lot of kids that go to shows, I mean, I saw a lot of very young teenager girls and boys at the Millencolin shows.
Yes, it’s true, it’s a positive thing.
 
One question I do to all of the bands I interview: is there some albums or bands you are listening to right now ?
I haven’t bought many records lately… I am listening to bands like Tiger Army and Rocket From The Crypt. I totally dig their music.

Final comments ?
Just come and see us play if we play near you, come say hi to us after the show. Thanks for this interview.

Mustard Plug tells all about the turbulent ska scene, the stresses of continuous touring and why all they ever wanted was zombies and small bikes. 
 

By: Melinda Dalton | melinda@staff.truepunk.com

Truepunk: You guys just finished your tour in Japan with Nicotine. What was the crowd reaction like over there?
Mustard Plug: It’s super awesome. It’s pretty much the same as over here…except in between songs. They’re all completely silent.

Truepunk: Do you find it strange having 1000 kids who don’t speak the same language as you singing along to all your songs?
Mustard Plug: I’d say initially it’s kind of weird, but in the end it’s just a bunch of kids coming out to have a good time

TruePunk: I know you guys have toured with Nicotine before, but how was this tour arranged?
Mustard Plug: They were doing a few Warped dates and I think they were going to record some songs or something. It just happened that they were going to be here and we needed to make-up some dates [ from a previously cancelled tour], so it just worked out awesome. We didn’t really have to say goodbye for too long from Japan

TruePunk: Do you find the ska scene in Canada a more difficult scene to “win over”?
Mustard Plug: I think it varies depending on where we play in Canada. I mean London [Ontario] has never been really great for us, but in Quebec they go crazy. Toronto is a different story; one tour we’ll do really well and another will be not so good.

TruePunk: The whole “MTV Ska-Wave” is on the decline and Moon Ska Records recently went out of business. Do you think that the ska popularity in general is lessening?
Mustard Plug: It’s just like every other form of music: it has it’s high and low points. I mean punk died a couple years ago didn’t it? Now, at least in some form, it’s gaining again. The big backlash against ska happened about eight months to a year ago and now half the bands have broken up or quit. Recently we played some of our biggest shows in Chicago and Detroit. It’s still really good for the bands that have survived. Kids come to the shows now because they like the band, not just because it’s a ska band.

TruePunk: Do you find it’s handicapped you at all that kids need to recognize a band before they’ll pay their money to see them preform?
Mustard Plug: Yeah for sure. You used to be able to just write “Ska” on the flyer and kids would show up. When we used to tour in the US, each time there would be six new ska bands who ages would range from 16-18 years old. Now there’s very few, if any, young ska bands just popping up. But when we first started playing ska it was a lot smaller than it is now.

TruePunk: A lot of the ska bands that started on smaller labels have moved up to larger ones. Do you have any plans to go that way or are you happy on Hopeless Records?
Mustard Plug: We’re definitely staying on Hopeless. Even the bands that moved on to the bigger labels were dropped after ska wasn’t “MTV popular” anymore. We’re just happy that Hopeless still like us! Look at Less Than Jake…they’re one of the biggest ska bands right now and Capitol just didn’t know what to do with them.

TruePunk: You guys have been touring for a long time now. Do you find it’s a lot easier now to just pick up everything and go on tour or do you still encounter the same stresses?
Mustard Plug: Well we exchanged some stresses for different stresses. I mean we don’t have to worry about if the show is really happening or not anymore, but there will always be other dumb things. The only real stress we have right now is crossing the boarder.

TruePunk: Do you still find excitement in touring?
Mustard Plug: I think we’re mostly happy with touring. I mean everything has it’s ups and downs. We still enjoying playing shows and meeting all the kids.

TruePunk: You’ve played sno-jams and you’ve supported a lot of tours and you’ve headlined many of your own tours. What would you say is your favorite type of tour to play?
Mustard Plug: We like the package tours, like sno-jam, because you get to hang out with a whole bunch of different bands and different people. Keeps it exciting.

TruePunk: My friend Justin here wants to know why you don’t play western Canada
Mustard Plug: Because it’s really far away!

TruePunk: Japan is also really far away!
Mustard Plug: That’s a good point, but we don’t have to drive to Japan!

TruePunk: Pray for Mojo has been out for about two years now. Are you planning a new album?
Mustard Plug: We’re trying to but we’ve never been very good at writing while we’re on tour. We’re barely a home writing band! We’re probably about half way done writing for a new record.

TruePunk: Are you planning a break in the touring to finish writing?
Mustard Plug: I don’t think we’ll tour too much until we have another CD out

TruePunk: I know you guys have two videos. Do you think you’d make another one?
Mustard Plug: I think that kinda goes hand in hand with a new album. We’d definitely do it again though, but I think we’ll try to do it ourselves next time, just have a friend directing and editing. Both of our videos have been done in California when we were on tour. They’re kinda funny for us to watch because we’re not from anywhere close to California. The only thing we ever wanted in our videos was small bikes and zombies. We come up with these ideas and they kinda get taken away from us. When we’re on tour and we’re doing a video we only have one day to film the whole thing. It’s weird in California too where there’s film people everywhere. They all have their own ideas because they want to get into directing or whatever. They definitely have their own opinions of what should happen and they aren’t really concerned with what a ska band from Michigan wants.

TruePunk: Do you find that the touring experience has influenced how you write music?
Mustard Plug: I think some of the bands we’ve played with have influenced us. I think we probably write songs based on a live show maybe not touring in general. When we write songs we’re usually more concerned with how it’s going to sound live rather than how it will sound on the album.

TruePunk: Thanks a lot for your time guys! Good luck with all your future plans!

A normal guy, a little over six feet tall, walked by me wearing a light brown jacket. He was unloading some equipment out of the back of a white van. His bleached hair was starting to grow out and his natural brown hair was beginning to show. Then he turned around. It was Jesse Michaels, you know, that singer guy from Op Ivy? He’s not dead after all. What do you say to a man who has inspired your entire teenage life yet you were only in 1st grade when the inspiration began?

Done by Sean Boggs
Photos by Leah Boeringa and Sean Boggs

I said hello. Then introduced myself. After catching his breath and gathering his thoughts, he realized that we had an interview scheduled with each other. Jesse was here, at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon as part of the Plea for Peace tour. The Plea for Peace tour is about making people aware of issues such as depression and suicide. If you want more information, go to www.takeactiontour.com His band, Common Rider, was scheduled to perform. Common Rider consists of Jesse on the mic and Mass Giorgini and Dan Lumley holding down the rhythm. You may have heard of those two guys, they were both in Screeching Weasel and Squirtgun to name a few bands. After he finished unloading his equipment, Jesse, my photographer Leah, and I headed downstairs to a small pub.

Well, where else do I begin?
We missed you Jesse, welcome back.

Sean - So, Jesse, how does it feel to finally be on tour again?
Jesse Michaels- It feels good. It varies from day to day, but, overall, the
feeling is good. I think everybody in the band is enjoying it.

S - But you’re havin’ fun though, right?
JM - Yeah, yeah. I am just a little exhausted because I just got out of the
car and I haven’t quite decompressed yet. In general, it’s hard work, but,
yeah, it is a lot of fun.

S - Can you remember the last time that you were in Oregon?
JM - Yeah. Hey, I just want a…is this a brewpub or something?
Waiter - It is.
JM - Great, can you recommend a strong beer that is not as stout?
Waiter - Uh, the IPA is very good.
JM - I’ll take the IPA. I’ll take a pint of that. Okay, I am sorry.

S - It’s cool. So, when was the last time that you were in Oregon?
JM - About six months ago with a friend. Why were we out here? Oh, we were
just doing a road trip or something, just hanging out, went to a few shows.
We have a lot of friends out here. Everybody from Berkeley has friends out
here because over the last seven years there has been this massive
immigration to Oregon because it’s cheaper and yet still relatively hip, I
think that is the appeal of it.

Leah - Would you ever consider moving up here?
JM - I would, except for the fact that there is too much rain for me – I get
slightly depressed.

S - It was actually raining here for the last few days, you picked a good
one. It is almost 60 degrees right now – it’s actually hot.

JM - Wow. Cool. Well, it is almost always raining here, I guess I caught a
window.<

S - What do you think of Portland other than the rain? Ever walked around
town?
JM - Yeah, I like Portland, it is very industrial. But it has its problems,
there is a lot of alcoholism in Portland. Cool town though, I have always
liked it up here.

S - What do you think that you bring to the Suicide Prevention table as part
of this year’s Plea for Peace tour?<
JM - Well, I think, if anything, we bring to this particular tour,
continuity from the previous tours. Plea for Peace tours, for a long time,
were very, very – they sort of grew out of the whole ska/punk thing, because
of Asian Man Records involvement. Now, we don’t really stick to that genre,
but we have roots in it. Just because of, well, I have been linked with that
genre for obvious reasons, and so, in a way, we are brining the spirit of
the past tours, though we weren’t on them.

S - What do you want to walk away feeling after this tour is over with?
JM - We are happy to be playing and we love to rock out and stuff, but when
you look back at things, you usually think in terms of the more altruistic
element of what you have done. I hope that, when we are done with this, we
can say that we played good music, we had a good time, but also, we did
something that was an act of service to people, to our fans, or the kids who
come to the shows. Something that actually could have enriched lives, if
that doesn’t sound too high-handed.

S - What is next for Common Rider?
JM - Well, first we will probably take a break. I am gonna try to write more
stuff. We have to make a decision about what we are going to do next. We
haven’t really figured it out, so far this band – oh, this beer is really
strong, so far this band – tastes like a .7 or a 7 or something. Whew. This band primarily moves from one project to the next. Um, we will plan
something; we’ll do it, and then decide the next thing after that. And we
are still in the process of doing things.
Although, we have tentative plans to do very short tours of the UK and
Japan, with Plea for Peace.

S - Oh, you are gonna take the show overseas?
JM - Yeah, but it is gonna be much smaller, like we would be headlining, if
that is imaginable. But, with a couple local bands from wherever we went. I
think that is correct, but I am not sure. That is what we are hoping to do.

L - Do you guys get any response from those people overseas?
JM - Who knows? People may be completely indifferent or there could – I
would imagine it would be much like here, where you’ll get 80 to a 100 kids
who are really into it, a handful more that catch on and a certain
percentage who are like, huh, what the fuck is this?
S - How do you take criticism?
JM - (Long pause) It depends. I haven’t encountered too much of it, but,
when I do, I take it well. I don’t invite it. I am not the kind of person
who enjoys and seeks out criticism. I am pretty secure in my mission in life
and with what I am doing, and I generally don’t cater too much to other
people’s feelings, although I pay attention to them. I do okay with it.

S - 1989 – what music did you listen to back then?

JM - Well, ’89 I can remember very well because that was a period in my life
when I was the most excited about music. Public Enemy was huge, Stiff Little
Fingers, The Buzzcocks, The Clash of course, local East Bay punk bands like
Crimpshine, Neurosis, the early stuff, a lot of hip-hop, Boogie Down
Productions, and a lot of dancehall type reggae, which was in its first wave
back then, stuff like Yellowman.

S - Ever get into the whole grunge scene?
JM - You know, when Nirvana came out, I have to admit, sort of a guilty
pleasure, I was just as blown away by them as everybody else. So I was
really into them. Never really found any of the other bands interesting. I
thought Nirvana was a really, really exceptional band. From the very first
time I heard them, I was pretty blown away. I didn’t think it was much more
than a heavy rock band, I didn’t think it was anything particularly new, but
I though they totally rocked from the beginning.

S - Where were you on September 11th?
JM - September 11th, I was in a recording studio in Lafayette, Indiana, we
were working on the new Common Rider album, and actually Mass called me that
morning and told me what was going on. And, he was all worked up about it,
he’s like, ‘we’re under attack,’ so, totally freaked me out. But, one interesting point about that, was the day before we had recorded
the song Cool This Madness Down for the record and in the song their was
this entire verse that had an extended metaphor about someone working on a
large tower, which sorta represented, you know, a consumerist society, and
every night the person would get done building the tower it would crumble to
the ground. And I am sure you remember the big hoopla after that happened,
everybody was running around changing and taking songs off records and stuff
and I did the same thing. I took that verse out of the song cuz I didn’t
want that verse to be misconstrued as a reference to September 11th. Just kind of a weird, interesting story, it’s like a total coincidence.

L - Did you take it out entirely or just change the words?
JM - Well, I changed it. I changed the words.

S - Did that day inspire any other songs that weren’t recorded yet?
JM - You know, part of my feeling about that event, I don’t mean to downplay
it, is that this is the kind of thing most people in the world live with
every day. So, when it happened here, I don’t consider myself a highly
political person, and I have over the years, had enough of a political
consciousness to know that this is the reality that most people live with
all of the time. So, when it happened here, I was like, ‘okay, this is a
terrible, terrible thing,’ but it’s not something that is out of the blue.
It is not something that is so unpredictable, or so weird. So, in a way, it
had an impact on me, but it didn’t change my view a hundred percent, because
I have always been sort of aware of this kind of thing going on anyway.

S - Big subject change: I hear you love movies.
JM - I do, I love movies.

S - Have you seen any movies recently that have been amazing?
JM - Ah, yes, this is a good question; I like to talk about movies. A recent
movie that I have seen that was good was this amazing movie, people should
try to see this, its called, the Believer, and the Believer is about a
Hasidic Jewish guy who becomes a Nazi skinhead. It sounds crazy, and it is
crazy, but its really, really smart.
The guy is out of his mind.
It is just about his life and the cool thing about this movie is they never
really explain why he is doing it, it’s just about this incredibly
conflicted person.
That was really good. What else have I seen? You know, I love movies, but
most of the ones that I see I don’t think are that good. Its always tough
sorting them out.

S - What are some terrible movies then?
JM - I hated Shallow Grave, that movie made me angry. And I hated Happiness.
I generally hate movies that use extreme violence or gratuitous shock value
in place of having a heart. For example: movies that combine extremely
sadistic violence with humor I find offensive.

L - You’re not a fan of Tarantino then?

JM - Yeah, like, okay, my take on him, these are dangerous questions, I’ll
sit here and run my mouth…

L - Good.
S - That is the point.
JM -…my take on that guy is he is so smart and he is so good that he is
going to make good movies no matter what. However, that element of his
movies where he combines humor and extreme sadism I think is gimmicky and
cheap, and I hate that element of his movies. But, anyone who could watch
Pulp Fiction and say that it doesn’t haven anything good about it is just
crazy. I mean, it’s just so smart and has so many cool homage’s to things
that people who care about movies like, that you can’t entirely hate it.

S - Do your parents ever comment about your days back in Op Ivy?
JM - Not really. You know, Op Ivy wasn’t big when it was around, so the
whole phenomenon has happened afterwards. Both my parents are involved with
academics, so, their main comment has been, oh, this or that student has
come up to them and they told the student that they were related to me, and
the student freaks out. Their main exposure has been on that level. And they
think it’s funny, just like I do.

S - Did you keep any souvenirs along the way?
JM - I didn’t, I have a, you know how some people obsessively collect
things, I obsessively get rid of things. So, I don’t have that much old Op
Ivy stuff.

S - So do you regret anything then?
JM - No, no regrets. I never regret getting rid of things.

S - Do you have any siblings or ever been married?
JM - Yeah, I have a brother and a sister, a younger sister who is named
Louisa and an older brother named Ethan.

S - What is the most extravagant item in your house?
JM - I live very modestly, I’m almost monk-like in some ways. I mean, I
don’t have that much stuff. The most extravagant item in my house might be
my guitar because I do have a guitar that was custom made for me.

S - The GPC?
JM - Yeah, so I would say my guitar and maybe my computer, but my most
people’s standards, that is not very extravagant.
S - Favorite foods?
JM - I’m not a vegetarian, and I like filet minion which is sort of a guilty
pleasure because I have vegetarian leanings. I eat that once in a while, but
generally speaking I like to eat vegetarian things. I really like pasta. I
really like bread with olive oil and garlic and I like salads.

S - Are you a sports fan?
JM - I am really into basketball.
S - Do you like the Lakers, because they are our enemies up here in
Portland?
JM - No, I can’t stand the fucking Lakers. I hate the Lakers. Hate them. And
I hate Phil Jackson. I think that they would have won regardless, but it
bothers me the calls they get sometimes. Any team that Phil Jackson is
coaching gets crazy calls all night long.

S - What teams do you like?
JM - I like Detroit because of Ben Wallace. I really like, uh, for some
reason I can’t remember, I am totally brain farting, uh, the team that Jason
Kidd plays for…

S - The Nets.
JM - …yeah, them, because Jason is an old Berkeley boy, you know, we love
that guy. Oh, I like Sacramento a lot - Bibby. Those guys are great.

S - You haven’t been following the baseball playoffs?
JM - No, I am not a big baseball fan. I mean, I respect it, it’s kind of the
American sport, and I see the beauty and the science of it, but I have just
never taken the time to get into it.

S - There is a lyric in Conscious Burning where you say, ‘When I step down
they’ll retire my mic forever, hang it next to jersey 23 at the United
Center.’ Cannot help but wonder if you are comparing yourself to Michael
Jordan?

JM - Well, (laughs) well, this wasn’t something that I normally do in a
lyric, but the song was supposed to be like a rap or a dancehall reggae
battle motif, so I certainly wasn’t literally comparing myself to him.

S - What are your favorite songs from both Op Ivy and Common Rider?
JM - My favorite songs from Op Ivy are probably Sound System, Take Warning,
the Crowd, pretty much the hits. And from Common Rider I really like
Castaways and I really like, what is that called, Midnight Passenger off the
new one.

S - Are both of those on the set list tonight?
JM - Yes.

S - Good. I love Midnight Passenger.
JM - Right on.

S - Are there any songs that you have recorded that you aren’t happy with?
JM - (Laughing) Yeah, I ton of them. Actually, I never listen to our shit,
most of it I find hard to listen to, even the ones I like. So there is a lot
of stuff that I am not a big fan of, but at the same time I don’t want to
talk a shit about it because I know other people like it, which I am
grateful for.

S - Okay, well, we are both 19, which is the same age you were in Op Ivy, so
do you have any words of wisdom for us so that we can make it to our
thirties?
JM - Yes, yes, the main thing for 19-year-olds out there to remember is that
the early twenties through the mid-twenties are a period of incredible
mental anguish so you have to remember that it is temporary and it goes
away. And as long as you get through it, you are on the winning side.

S - How did the deaths of both Joey and Dee Dee affect you?
JM - Well, I was very sad, I wouldn’t say very sad, I didn’t know them, but
I certainly felt sad.
I think one thing that is sort of sad about the Ramones is that if you think
about the millions and millions of dollars that have been made in punk rock
in the last fifteen years and you think about the fact that they basically
invented it, especially pop-type punk. I mean, they were really the
inventors, and I think that they never quite got their due. Although they
are a respected band and in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so, it just made
me realize that, wow, I hope at some point those guys get what has been
coming to them all along, the surviving members.

S - You brought up the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, do you think that Op Ivy
will ever be considered?
JM - I don’t think so, you know, as big as Op Ivy was and as lucky as we
were, there is still a massive discrepancy between what gets acknowledged in
the mainstream and what is acknowledged by fans. You really have to be
plugged into the machine, to a certain extent, and if this sounds bitter,
it’s not, I am nothing but grateful for everything that has happened with Op
Ivy. But it’s true that unless you are sort of plugged into the industry
slash media slash corporate machine type of aspect of music, in some ways,
you go unrecognized.

S - If you had to walk across the street right now to that record store and
buy two CD’s, which two would you buy?
JM - Oh, wow, that is a tough one. I might check out that new Queens of the
Stone Age, cuz everybody is talking about them.

S - They are playing at the Crystal tomorrow I think.
JM - Yeah, they are following us by a couple of days. At a couple of the
shows our guys have gone over and seen them. I haven’t checked them out. So,
Queens of the Stone Age is one that I have been meaning to get and maybe a
Creation record, I have been wanting to listen to Creation lately.

S - Is there anything else that you would like to say?
JM - Just thanks to all of the people who checked us out and come to the
shows.

S - We are done.
JM - Cool, that was a great interview. You have really original questions.

S - Oh, I have read most of your interviews and the interviewer always asks
the same five damn questions: What have you been up to? Do you talk to Tim?
And it is like, well, I know the answers, why do I want to ask them?
JM - Yeah, I answer those questions about four times a night. That and the
reunion question too. ‘Are you gonna do a reunion tour?’
S - Is Tim here?
L - Can I have his phone number?
JM - (Laughing real hard) Where’s Tim?

FOLLOW UP TO THE INTERVIEW - 11/18/02 - Jesse likes us, he really does, our lives are complete. The Mavs are rocking this year!

Well, the tour is over, ready to do another one?
-Hell no I’m gonna chill for a while..

Anything happen along the way that was interesting?
-Met hundreds of great people. Meeting all the people at the shows was truly
inspiring and reminded me that there is still a tremendous amount of
kindness and intelligence in the world, in spite of everything. Found out
that we shouldn’t open for huge emo bands (Thursday)- they are great, and
couldn’t be nicer, more genuine people; but their fans could care less about
Common Rider. some of the shows were really tough. My two favorite moments
of the entire tour were: Swimming in the pacific in San Diego and then
swimming in the Atlantic at night in Florida- sublime, spiritual moments
that gave me strength for the whole
rest of the trip.

Any plans with Common Rider right now, or just getting some sleep?
I would like to do some music that is really raw, built from the live
experience. Then play shows and record it. Common Rider has functioned thus
far as a studio band that plays live which is the reverse of how to properly write songs. the correct method is that the studio should
capture the live essence, not the other way around. Live and learn. The main
thing is keep going and have fun.

Are the overseas Plea for Peace tours still a possibility?
Yes, but farther in the future than previously planned.

Looks like Jason Kidd has learned to shoot over the summer, what are your
basketball predictions, if any?
Jason Kidd sets up plays. Hence, he’s one of a very few players in history
to lead the nba in assists three years in a row. Add to this his ppg
average, which would be respectable even for a forward, and you have one of the best players in the league..should John Entwhistle have
learned to play guitar solos? However, of course its nice to see him busting
a few heads, as long as he doesn’t start trying to carry the Nets rather than support them..(yawn) Now that I’ve bored everybody, my
prediction is I’ll be watching way fewer games than I’d like because I can’t
afford cable-

Movie question: VHS or DVD?
-Usually technological advances are a mixed bag, but VCRs have always been
slow, clunky and tempermental so I say DVDs all the way. Plus when you’re
watching “The Big Lewbowski” you can fast forward past those unbearably pretentious dream imagery sequences which slow down the whole
fucking movie.

Music question: 7″ or CD? -7″ if you are playing songs for other people, CD if you are listening to
them yourself.

And finally, are you gonna do a reunion tour and do you ever talk to Tim,
Matt and Dave?
-Ha ha ha. Couldn’t resist eh?

One of the latest bands to come out on Nitro Records, Lost City Angels show us how it can sound easy to mix elements of pop punk influenced music with street punk rock’n'roll: someone said they sound as a mix of Good Charlotte and Social Distorion. Maybe it is true (Jon thinks it’s not), but the thing you know for sure is that Lost City Angels has an “S/t” album out that is filled with nice nice Bostonian songs.

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.truepunk.com | with Adam Shaw.

You’re a new band - can you sum up how you meet and started playing in the same band ?

It’s really a tale of what we call “storybook fate”. How we came together is pretty weird. We were all in points of our lives that were going nowhere…fast. I was abusing myself night after night partying, not giving a shit about my life. Drew was working a dead end job, and playing on the side with the Ducky Boys. Ron was saying good bye to his first band and looking to do something with his life that would harness his emotions and creativity (he’d write otherwise). Duggan wasn’t about to leave his couch or his hometown, and he was failing out of college.  Nick was leaving a band he worked his ass off in. And somehow we all ended up in bedroom where my drums were set up playing songs. How we actually came together was the oddest part. Drew and Duggan were playing on the side together, and were looking for a drummer. I was persueded by a friend to go “hang out” with them while they played. Which ultimately placed my ass behind a drum set again after I pretty much gave up playing drums. We started playing together and decided to find a rhythm guitar player. I was really good friends with the Bruisers and they had broken up, and my friend Scott Viera came to my work to say what’s up, and Duggan and Drew just so happened to be there. We sat and drank some beers, and by a bar tab of $55.00, Scott was in the band. We needed a lead singer, and Spring Heeled Jack broke up a couple months before. Everyone knew Ron would make a great front man, and we got his number and just called him to see if he was interested. I knew him from seeing him a number of times and getting totally shit faced together, and he vagelt remembered that. A day later he came up and we were playing shows two weeks later…scary. Skip to a year later, we start getting busy and Scott had already done the touring thing with the Bruisers, and met a great girl and settled down. So in comes Nick Bacon to switch the line-up around and our skills. He wqas in a band called the Pilfers and was just an amazing player, so he was our man. And thus concludes the second question….

Where do you get your name from ?

We got our name while Drew, Ron and myself walked down Centre St. in Boston, to the package store. Drew wrote a song that was absoulutely a peice of shit called “Lost City Angels” (which later became “Another Beaten Soul”). We said hey fuck the song, let’s call ourselves Lost City Angels.

How did you sign to Nitro Records ?

We signed to Nitro Records by sending naked pictures of the A&R department to other labels, to sort of blackmail them. Instead they wound up getting some pix of us and threatened to send them to our lady friends, with the headline “Herpes..ever heard of them?”. They won the battle so we signed.

You come from Boston - how is the punk/hardcore music scene over there? From the outside, it looks very big and healthy.

The punk and hardcore scene in Boston is great. Since Boston is the “Hub”, there are so many different walks of life that live in or come to this town. To see and explore, and to tell their stories. It makes for some great sonmgwriting

Your “S/t” album is your first record , right ? Did you ever record anything before ?

The self titled release on Nitro is our first full length, but we do have a 3 song demo, that got us signed to Nitro, on our website. We only have a few left though so they are rare.

How would you describe the sound of Lost City Angels ?

We get this question all the time…and to describe our sound is really hard. I was told by a lady that we were “a bunch of old souls in kids bodies playing the devils music after he’d been shit on by his girlfriend and kicked out of rehab”. Does that help? Told you I couldn’t do it easily.

What do you consider your influences ? Someone say you sound like The Clash+The Buzzcocks+AFI+Social Distortion .

We all have very diverse influences in our musical likings. I am a huge A.F.I fan, Duggan loves NOFX and Rancid, Drew is all 77 punk rock and roll, Nick is all MC5, and Ron is all Cured out, and loves Refused. Our favorite bands may leak out into our music.

I know you played with Social Distortion - how was that ? Did you talk to Mike Ness ? How he is ?

Touring with Social Distortion is amazing, they are our #1 favortite band collectively. Mike Ness is one of the best men in the world, he has done so much for this band we owe them our lives.

What do the lyrics of your new CD talk about ? Are they serious or also funny ? Do you talk about real life expiriences ?

The lyrics on our cd are us. They are our everyday lives. Death, addiction, lusts, friends, betrayal. and skeletons in our closets. We write it as wee see it. We know how to laugh too…hard.

Have you got some thing funny that happened to you on tour and do you want to say it ?

Yes we do have something funny that happened on tour, and no we don’t want to tell you about it.

Are you going to tour to support the new CD? If so, where and with whom ?

As a matter of fact we are going on tour to promote the cd. With Flogging Molly and Andrew W.K, with Sahara Hotnights and Allister splitting the tour.

Your CD could be downloaded under mp3 format from the Nitro Records website- like Divit’s . What do you think of this kind of promotion and the whole mp3 thing ? Do you download mp3s ?

We think stealing music is great, download all you want. Just tell your friends to buy our record “for the artwork”. And yes we do collect mp3’s!

You album was produced by Nate Albert, ex- MIghty Mighty Bosstones . How was to work with him ? Did you chose him or it was him that came and told you “guys, I want to produce your album”? What happend ?

Nate was great to work with, he really is a close friend of the band’s, we think he is one great happy bastard. He actually approached us to produce, and we actually shit our pants.

What’s in your cd-player right now ? Are there any new bands/albums you like ?

In my cd player right now is the new Kings of Nuthin record on Disaster records, Alkaline / Hot Water split on Jade Tree, and Bombshell Rocks on Burning Heart.

Final Comments ?

Come see us!!! Buy our record (or steal it) learn the songs and join the pigpile infront of the stage, and leave your problems behind.

Thanks so much for your time - good luck for your cd and have fun!
Thanks for everything Carlo, we’ll see you soon!

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHORITY ZERO Authority Zero is a band that has a lot of things going on lately: “A Passage In Time” is their new album on Lava/Atlantic, and the band is supporting it on the Punk-O-Rama tour with the likes of Guttermouth and Gob among others. In a moment of pause, we at Truepunk.com got the chance to talk to Jim, drum player for the band, who showed us what Authority Zero is about and what are their plans: to play music for the rest of their life.

Interview by Carlo Gironi |carlo@staff.truepunk.com| with Jim

Hi Jim! how are you doing ? Good, thanks.

For the people who do not know Authority Zero very well, can you sum up a short story of how you met, started playing and became what you are today ?w
thats is a long story and since I dont tell it very well I will leave it to Bill and Jason to answer. Where do you come from and how is the music scene from the place you’re from ?  
We are from Mesa Az and the scene is Fantastic. We have a great friendship with allot of the bands in the scene that we have developed over the years. Bands like Redfield, No Gimmick and Bullet Train to Moscow,are just 3 of to many bands to list.
 

Why did you call your band with this name ? Does “Authority Zero” refer to something in particular?
The origin of the name came from a bank teller machine and well I’m sure Bill will cover this question with detail for you.

Is “A Passage In Time” your first album ? If  not, how many albums did you release before and on what record labels?
This is not our first.  We have released 2 besides this one.  First we put out “Live Your Life” an indie release we recorded in one day (20 hours to be exact) that record gave us the feeling of accomplishment.  It was our first and after we got done recording it all we wanted to do was promote it, and then start on another one.  Our second record was not released till 2 years after that.  That record was called “Patches in time”,  it was supposed to be “A Passage in Time” but the demand for the new record was high we decided to release 6 of the tracks and call it an “EP” then naming it “Patches” a piece of the full thing to come.  That record lead us to #1 sales at a local record chain and a record contract where we could release the full length album that is out now.
 

How did you get to sign to Lava/Atlantic Records ? How does it feel to be  on a major label ?
Signing came from tons of shopping. And for all the scary things I’ve heard about majors I have to say they are treating us better than I have ever imagined.  Everything that they can do to help us further our devotion for this band, they do.  Its almost like having your family stand behind you and do nothing but focus on how to make your life and situation better.

Do you think there is any difference from  being on a major label or on an indie?
Not really but I wouldnt know cause I’ve never been on an indie.

Your new album “A Passage In Time” came out not too long ago - how do you feel about this one ? Do you think it is your  best CD ever?
I definately think its our best CD yet, but defineatly not yet.  We have many more tricks up our sleave.
 
Some songs on the new CD were written long time ago, like “Superbitch”, “Mesatown”, “La Surf” and “Good Old Days” - why  did you decide to put them on the new album ?
We simply think they are great tracks we all enjoy playing them and feel that we should not throw them out.
 
How did you come to write the new songs ? Is there anyone in the band who write lyrics+music or do you do everything together ? 
I would have to say its more of a group effort.  Jason and Bill will normally come up with a structure and then we will all play around with it till we have a foundation to work with then its just,  “add the finishing touches”.
 
What do the lyrics of Authority Zero sound like ? As far as I heard, you talk about personal expiriences and some kind of “social” issue as well - how do you see it , what do you sing about ?
Ask jason………?
 
How was to produce the new album ? Were you worried to do a good job?
Yes and no.  We were conserened with the sound yes but we where confident none the less.
 
Are you worried about the major label thing and the sell-out thing ? Some people say that bands on major labels are in it for the money and stuff ; what about Authority Zero ? 
Promotion is the key here.  Geting your band out to as many people as you can is what every muscian is drived to do.  The only time I concider people a sellout is when they start to change there music and vision just to better there carrier.  When in  the end it is worse for them.
 
Your sound is described as a cross of The Offspring, Pennywise, Sublime and so on - do you agree? What are your main influences and what do you think of these three bands I just mentioned ?
The bands you mentioned are awsome and I take all that was said as a compliment.  We have looked up to those bands for years. To say that we sound like them I would have to say no only because all of those bands have established a sound that i personally don’t believe anyone will ever duplicate.
 
On “A Passage In Time” you easily mix melodic hardcore elements with pop-punk, ska-core and even some surf rock music , as on “La Surf” ? How did  you manage to do this ? Is it because everyone in the band has its own favorite bands?
Whatever sounds wrong we try our hardest to pull off. If people think that we cant laydown a track that slams hardcore punk into reggae we do it.  I think we enjoy taking the so called “impossible” and making it possible.
 
How would you describe your music and your shows to a person that never heard of Authority Zero ?
“We are a ver ecclectic band with tons of energy you just have to see it for your self.”
 
Talking of tours, have you already started touring to support the new CD? If so, where and with whom ?
Our first tour was with Slightly Stoopid and was I have to say fun as hell.  Then we went on to play with Madcap and H20 and other blast of a trip. And now we are on the Punk O Rama tour (dream come true) sharing the stage with 1208 and Guttermouth. Have you got some plans to tour also in  Europe and maybe Japan ?
Not yet but we all dream and talk about how cool it would be all the time.
 
Talking of plans, what are your future plans?
To play music for the rest of our lives.
 
Question I do to every band : have you got some CD’s or bands playing in your stereo right now? What are you listening to these days?
Right at this point in time while typing I’m listening to Mazzy Star. Final Comments ?
span Thanks to everyone that is helping us out on our journey. Thanks to all the fans you have been the best.