I talked with 2 guys of the band, Chris (drummer) - he likes barbecue sauce - and with Spencer, the bass player. These guys are really nice, and they gave me more reasons to like Junction18.

Carlo - Can you give us a brief presentation of what Junction18 is? How did you meet, how old are you, how did you start?
Junction18 - I’d say that Junction 18 is a group of five outstanding young men that love to make music. We met in school growing up and became friends and started the band after we realized we were creative people who loved music.
My name is Chris and I am 19, Jeff is also 19. Scott, Spencer, and Andy are all 20 years young. I guess we started out by playing NOFX and Jawbreaker covers at junior high talent shows. We started the band our sophomore year of high school with Ryan our old guitarist. We just kept writing songs and playing shows and that got us to today.

Carlo - How is the scene of the place you come from?
Junction18 - The scene here is ok, but it could be a lot better. There is never room for new bands. It’s always the same bands playing together and that sort of forms little cliques. People have always asked us to play, and people come out to our shows, so we have been supported. I think it would just be nice to see more bands get fair shots.

Carlo - How did you join the Fearless Records team?
Junction18 - Chad, the guitarist from New Found Glory, recommended us to Fearless when they asked him if he knew of any good, unsigned bands. We sent them our songs and they liked them enough to want to put out our record.

Carlo - Someone compared you to A New Found Glory. Do you like them?
Junction18 - Yes, we love those guys. We love their music and them as people. You could never meet guys as nice and down to earth as them. They have helped us out so much and I’m sure that we’re not the only ones that they’ve helped out.

Carlo - Which bands influenced you most?
Junction18 - Hmmmmmm, that’s sort of tough. Each member of the band contributes to song writing, and we all kind of have distinct tastes. I think the bands we’d have in common though would be Lifetime, All/ Descendents, and Weezer.

Carlo - Are you on tour right now?
Junction18 - No, as much as we wish we were, we are not on tour at the moment. We should be hitting the road in two to three months though.

Carlo - How would you describe one of your shows?
Junction18 - Well, since the record came out, we haven’t played out a lot. I’d hope one of our shows would just be a fun time. You know, with people singing with us and stuff.

Carlo - Is “This Vicious Cycle” your first full-length CD?
Junction18 - Yes, this is our very first full-length cd, there are some crummy demos in circulation still though, if you see one burn it.

Carlo - I think your album is recorded very well. How long did it take to write it all and to record, I mean, how long have you been working on it?
Junction18 - That album took us a good amount of time to do, we all took school off and really focused on the writing, all together those songs took about 4 months to write. The recording was almost the same too, we recorded it at a studio in MA then fearless picked us up and we had it re-mixed by the fantastic Mr.Cameron Webb, that was done out in California on the other side of the country.

Carlo - Your lyrics are mostly about love, emotions, and life stories; there are some bands that instead sing only about politics; what do you think of politics? Would you sing about it? What do you think of what happened in the USA with this election thing…
Junction18 - Well, we’re not really a band that would choose to sing about politics, don’t get us wrong, we are socially conscious, we choose to put more personal experiences in our music and lyrics though. As for the election thing, we weren’t happy with either of the candidates in the first place and now this whole re-count thing is just kind of embarrassing.

Carlo - Sorry if I ask you this, but what does the “vicious cycle” represent? I have a small idea but I dunno really…
Junction18 - Last year for everyone in the band was really stressful and at times it just seemed like we had no luck at all, bad things just kept on happening to all of us, and we kind of based the vicious cycle thing on the fact that we all had such a long streak of getting fucked over for reasons we didn’t know. Then we thought a bike would look cool on the cover.

Carlo - Are you gonna take some participation on some compilations? If so, which ones?
Junction18 - We’re really not sure of what comps we’ll be on, but if someone asks us we’ll probably do it.

Carlo - Inevitable question ( ..sorry ): I saw you can download your whole new record from Napster, cuz there are about all the 11 songs? What do you think of that?
Are you angry, happy, proud, or just don’t care?
Junction18 - Honestly, I really don’t care that people are getting our songs off Napster, I’m excited. I know that most of those people already have our CD and probably are using Napster to get people interested in us. Napster has been a huge help for me if I want to hear a band that I have never heard before, and if I like the songs I get I will always buy the CD, it’s all good

Carlo - Ok guys, I really thank you for having found the time for this interview! Good luck and kick ass!!!
Junction18 - Thanks for the interview, rock on!!!

Thanks to Chris and Spencer, the whole band Junction18, and Fearless Records for letting me put up this.

Acceptance is a fieve piece rock band from the Washington State. After releasing some EP’s on Rocketstar Recordings and on The Militia Group, the band moved on to a major label and is ready to release their new album next year. We sat down and talked with Christian about all the things going on around the world of Acceptanced, even tough he did not tell us a lot about their next full record. Some things must be kept secrect for odd contractual reasons

Hi there! How are you doing?
Fantastically well thank you.

Can you introduce yourself and the members of Acceptance and a story of how you got together?
Hello, my name is Christian. If I recall, the story of Acceptance goes something like this: Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived two friends, a young troubadour named Jason and a handsome minstrel named Kaylan, who traveled the lands singing of knights, chivalry, and courtly love. They were lonely travelers and longed for companions. They roamed the magical realms far and wide in search of like hearted individuals to make merry music, sing, and recite poetry. In there quest they came across many a talented artiste, but none were worthy of their cause. Until one day they came across an evil dragon who was preparing to feast upon three helpless young men. Jason and Kaylan acted quickly singing a down tempo, very catchy, pop ballad that lulled the ferocious dragon into a deep sleep. They quickly freed the ill fated trio who expressed their gratitude and introduced themselves as Christian, Ryan, and Nick. Fate would have it that these young men were very talented musicians who were also in search of like hearted individuals to make merry music, sing, and recite poetry. Both parties, having finally found the companions they had longed for, rejoiced and lived happily ever after.

You come from Washington State. How is the music scene over there?
The music scene in Washington is incredible and teeming with amazing bands, a bustling metropolis of talented musicians.Where did you get the name Acceptance from?
The name Acceptance comes from when we first started we really sucked and friends and family alike told us that we should quit whilst we still had our dignity. So the name has to do with us coming to terms with and ACCEPTING the fact that we suck and we’re never gonna make it.

Do you consider yourself an indie or emo band at all?
We don’t really consider ourselves much of anything at all. We’re just a rock band, we play loud music and sing about stuff we think is important, however you want to categorize that is up to you.

You released stuff on Rocketstar and then an EP on The Militia Group. Now you’re getting ready for your major label debut LP. What makes you change labels so fast?
Well, when you really look back at the 5 year Acceptance time line, it really hasn’t happened that fast. The Rocketstar EP came out in like 1999/2000. The Militia Group EP came out 2003, ad our LP comes out in 2005, boy how time flies.

What made you go away from the Militia Group?
The Militia Group is a great label and do a good job doing what they do. But some major labels came a knockin’ and it was time for us to start rockin’ in another direction.

Your new record will come out next year on major label Columbia: is there already an official release date? How will you name your new record?
I’m sorry, but that is all classified information. I can say the the record will come out sometime after the new year.

Speaking of your upcoming album, have you already written all of the songs? When do you think to record it? Could you describe us the songs, how they sound and what they deal with? Will you still play catchy emo melodies as on your previous stuff?
The record has been written, recorded, and is finished. The songs on the record are simply a progression from the EP. We have all matured and changed as people, as well as musicians. The songs reflect this change. I wouldn’t say that it is much different than the EP except that the songs are more mature and there is much more of a dynamic on this new record.

Who produced your new album?
Aaron Sprinkle produced and J.R. Mcneely mixed. The dynamic duo of doom who worked on our last EP

I know that your new cd will be artworked by Asterik Studio: I think they’re doing an amazing work, very beautiful cd packages. I liked the latest from Scarlet, Zao, Underoath. How did you decide to work with Don and Ryan Clark ?
The Clark brothers and the other Asterik personnel are the best at what they do, we always want the best for our band. They are also from Seattle and so are we and we think that is neat.

I think on your previous albums you had a sound that was very reminiscent of emo and rock pop music, while with your growing up on your latest EP I heard more rock’n'roll and less “emo”. Do you agree? Where do you get your inspiration from?
I most definitely concur. Every member of the band is different and is into different styles of music. What I get inspiration from is probably much different from what inspires the other members of the band. I think that is what allows us to create unique music together, cuz were all coming from different places.

How would you describe Acceptance to a person that have never heard of you?
Sugar and spice and everything nice/Big Rock Money

On “Black Lines To Battlefields” you had awesome songs like “Seeing Is Believeing” and “Permanent”: is there any chance you will include them in your new album?
Prolly not, the new songs are better.

I read somewhere that the guys in Acceptance are all Christians. Is this true? if so, do you consider your band a Christian band? What’s up with the “we’re Christian but not a Chritsian band”?
Yes we are all Christians, no we do not consider ourselves a Christian band. If we were all Buddhists would we then be considered a Buddhist band? What if we didn’t believe in anything would we then describe ourselves as an atheist band? I don’t see why Christians have sit in the corner and wear their beliefs as some kind of dunces hat. Bad Religion sings alot about politics and imbalances in our country do they describe themselves as a Democrat band?

What are some of the bands that you guys in the band regularely listen to?
Its an ever changing thing for each member of the band, and I’m not about to speculate what the other dudes are into right now, but my tastes are very eclectic and range from Enya to Every Time I Die and everything in between.

In August you started touring with Gatsbys American Dream and The Snake The Cross The Crown: where will you play and what do you expect from this tour? Are you on good terms with the two other bands, tell the truth now?
This tour starts in Seattle and goes all across the US. You can check our website for exact places and dates. We expect to have a good time, make some great memories, and get back in the swing of being on the road. We are good friends with Gatsby’s American Dream and have been playing with them in the Seattle scene for years. So overall its gonna be pretty sweet to say the least.

Have you got some major plans for the winter? What will you do when you end the August touring?
I believe the plan is to tour for the rest of the year, take a break for the holidays, and then tour all of next year. Basically we will be on tour for the rest of our lives. After our current tour with Gatsby’s and The Snake I believe we are going out on another US tour with our friends in Dead Poetic.

Any final comments?
Drugs are bad okay.

While on tour in Italy with Millencolin and Anti Flag, I got the chance to go see the show and interview the Donots. I talked for more that half an nour with Ingo, the singer, a very nice and funny guy, who made me love Donots even more. Guido, the guitar player, the guy on the cover of “Pocketrock”, is the funniest guy Ihave ever met. He did not take part in the interview really, but he gave us some names of his favourite bands ever. I encourage everybody to go check out the Donots, this band put up the best and most energic show I ever saw!!! They are also on the second Truepunk.com compilation called “Empty Hearts, Broken Bottles.”

Interview by Carlo Gironi (carlo@staff.truepunk.com) with Ingo.

The new album from The Donots is called “Got The Noise” and will come out at the end of June. However on June 1st, you can pick up the band’s new single “We’ve Got The Noise.” We talked with Ingo, lead singer of the band, and he told us a lot of things about their new songs to the Donots future plans. Enjoy reading.

Hi Ingo!! How are you doing?
Thanks! We’re doing just great – yesterday we played the first open air festival of the year with the likes of International Noise Conspiracy and Strike Anywhere and we definitely had a blast!

Your new album is named “Got The Noise” and will be out in June in Germany. I haven’t heard it yet, so, how would you describe it? How are the new songs, what do they deal with and what is the general feeling of the record?
We’ve recorded the whole album in a live situation which means the other guys were playing altogether all the time and we sort of looked for the magic moments rather than 100% perfection. Basically we tried to capture our live energy on the recordings so we went into the studio without thinking too much about the recording process itself. The new record has definitely got more balls and less brains compared to e.g. the last album “Amplify The Good Times”. I guess, we’re a lot more focused on the new record when it comes to song-writing and sound wise we kept everything a little rougher which lives up a lot more to what our band is really all about.

Why did you call it “Got The Noise” - are you ready to make some noise?
You bet we are… Wembley Arena, scream for me!!! Hahaha!

Is it different in any way compared to your older albums “Pocketrock” and “Amplify The Good Times”? I think the first was more pop punk, while the second was more rock’n'roll: what should we expect from this new album?
I guess, if you’re into the older records then you’ll definitely feel comfortable and at home listening to the new one but then again you might also be surprised what else we have in store. Certainly there are the typical Donots-hooklines and tiny power pop anthems on the record but there’s a lot more energy involved this time around. Some of the songs on “Got The Noise” are the fastest and most aggressive songs we’ve ever written (for example a song called “Disappear”). On the contrary there’s also a song called “Good-bye Routine” for instance which is acoustic guitar driven and very singer/songwriter influenced (we’ve been listening to the Weakerthans, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and Elliott Smith a lot recently). When it comes to melodies I sense a tiny 80s wavepop influence on “Got The Noise” which gives the typical Donots-trademarks sort of a vintage edge that we all like a lot…

On your previous disc “Amplify The Good Times” you had a song “The Up Song” where you sung with the guys in Midtown; then you did a song with Anti Flag. Do we get some special guests on this new record?
Yup, once again there’s good friends of ours involved in the recordings. Our buddies in 3 Colours Red from the UK added some great guest-vocals and played guitars on a rock´n´roll-song called “Knowledge” and Jason Perry from A did some awesome vocals on a track called “Alright Now.” They’re all such talented and nice people and we’re very honoured to have them on the record…

For “Amplify…” you worked with some famous dude who also worked with Guano Apes, which maybe is the most known German rock band out here. Did you still work with him for this new album? Also, I know you worked with some guy named Fabio Trentini. Can you tell us more?
Well, Fabio Trentini actually is the guy who produced the Guano Apes and our last two albums. And yes, he’s been producing “Got The Noise” as well – he’s a great musician, has got fantastic ideas and most important: he’s one of our best friends. He is Italian and plays bass in the German crossover-rock band “H-Blockx”. We involved a new engineer, though, because we wanted another “pair of fresh ears” coming from a different musical background. The guy who did it this time around is called JEM and he’s more a fan of indie-rock bands such as the Pixies, the Rapture and stuff. And finally – the guy who co-produced my vocals is once again Jeff Collier – a very cool guy from the states.

How long did it take to write and when did you record the new CD? It looks like you write songs very easily, as you released a lot of records in just a few years. Some bands take ages to release a record, while I think you’re quite fast, which is super cool for fans like me. What’s your secret?
Basically we just go into the rehearsal room and start jamming on new riffs whenever we’re at home and not on tour. We’re a very democratic band so everybody has his say when it comes to writing new material. We try to reduce every song to the max which means we don’t “waste” all of our riffs on just one song. We’d rather keep the song and its riff structure simple.
Last September we took a complete time out from playing live in order to concentrate on the new record because we wanted to go back into the studio by the end of the year. I guess we’re working a lot better and focused when we’ve got a time schedule set up already (at least that is true for me and writing the lyrics and melody lines). We’re just happy that after ten years of being in this band we’re still creative together. It’s a great feeling!

For a record, some bands enter the studio and record something like 30 or even 40 songs and then they choose just 12 or 14 songs to put on the record. How is it for you? did you record a lot of songs or you already knew which were the songs that had to go on the final CD?
This time around we recorded some 20 songs altogether but we’re not gonna put them all on the album. I think it’s a cool thing to have a big variety of songs you can choose from in order to make the album as perfect as possible. There’s gonna be 13 songs on the album since we want to keep it tight and compact. My favourite records always give me the feeling that there’s at least one song missing on the album so I play the record over and over again. If there’s too many songs on the album it’s more of a challenge to listen to the whole album rather then enjoying every minute of it.

Have you already performed live some of the new songs? If so, how was the reaction of the crowd? Speaking of performing songs, what are the songs you like to play the best? From the point of view of the crowd, I love “Rollercoaster” and “Get Going” so much…
Thanks a lot! Well, we’re starting to add some new songs by now and so far the reaction of the crowd was always quite cool. I can’t wait to finally release the new album and go on tour again so the kids already know the new songs. I sort of like all of our songs live a lot – at the moment I totally dig playing “Watch You Fall” and “Saccharine Smile”…

Sometime ago there was your video for “Saccharine Smile” on the TV, the song was awesome and the whole idea of the video was fantastic. I remember there were you playing for money in a peepshow stripper girl type situation. Was it fun to make that video? And how had that idea for this video? That was genius!
Thank you! Good to hear you liked the video. I guess Alex came up with the idea of having us play on a spinning platform in sort of a striptease situation. It’s a lot of fun but also weird to shoot a video since you’re playback-performing the song all day and jump around like crazy although you’re not really playing the song…

I know you toured Japan and had a lot of success over there - how is Japan to you? I mean, I heard crazy stories about Japanese kids and also grown up people. For example, I heard that kids jump all around the “rock stars” to take pictures, and during the shows, these kids make a lot of noise during the songs, while during the moments of pause, between a song and another one, they are all silent and stuff. How was your experience in Japan?
Japan is the best place to tour in the whole wide world. The kids are so enthusiastic and they’re really dedicated fans. Everybody in Japan is just so nice and peaceful. Respect is a big issue in the country and once you’ve been there you realize how badly behaved European people are. We’ve been there twice and the feedback we got is just incredible. We’ve sold so many albums over there and the tours have been amazing. It’s weird – they even have songs of ours in every karaoke machine… We’re going back to Japan this year for sure. I can’t wait… (Oh, by the way – everything you mentioned above is absolutely true.)

You have a lot of success in Germany, and in Europe you are very well known, and so in Japan I guess. While what about the United States? If I don’t go wrong, you never released a CD over there? Don’t you wish to go there and make some noise for the American kids?
We’d love to tour the US but apart from a show in New York on the CMJ music fair we’ve never been to the states. We’re pretty realistic about doing America: It’s such a big continent and if you really want to get a foot into the door you’ll have to tour there at least for half a year (which then again is half a year of not earning any money in Europe whatsoever – and the band is not only our hobby but also our job so we have to tour over here to pay our rents). Epitaph and a couple of other labels were sort of interested in putting us out but we didn’t sign any deal over there yet. It would be very helpful to get to play a big support tour in the states (e.g. New Found Glory or something) but unless that happens for us we’re definitely concentrating on Europe and Japan more…

What about the German music scene? I know there are a lot of bands, but I think you’re just the best. I know bands like The Beatsteaks, Terrorgruppe, Skin Of Tears and Waterdown among others, but I think they are a bit slow and not very original. How do you see the music scene in Germany? Are you as big as Guano Apes over there?
I think there are many great bands in Germany. All the bands you mentioned are really really cool plus there’s just so many more that should deserve a lot more attention in the rest of Europe, e.g. Muff Potter (sort of Germany’s Jawbreaker – singing in German), Kettcar (very cool mixture of singer/songwriter stuff and electronic parts), Pale (Jimmy Eat World meets The Jam), Everest or the December Peals (compared to Saves The Day), Flyswatter, One Man And His Droid (very talented Fireside-esque band), The Vaders (Germany’s Rancid) or Force Of Change (positive Old School Hardcore). We’ve got a section on our website www.donots.com which is dedicated to talented newcomer bands. It’s called “Amplified” and we offer bands that we like the chance to post MP3s, live dates, info and bio about their band on our site. Also I try to book those bands on to our tours in Germany as local supports every night.
We’re not as big as the Guano Apes. They’re like super huge over here. We’re doing really really well in Germany but we’re still not like big time millionaires or something…

I know you had a song called “Whatever Happened to the 80’s” on “Pocketrock”; and you also released a cover album of 80’s songs. Why do you like those years so much? Did they mean a lot to you?
There’s been some really good parts about 80s music and some really cheesy ones. We like the wavepop-stuff like New Order or The Cure a lot, Billy Idol and Madonna were really cool - but stuff like Modern Talking is just annoying. 80s metal is a very nice thing then again – Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer, Twisted Sister, Running Wild – need I say more? We put out a cover record of metal songs that we really like. One can say that the 80s had quite an influence on our band and if you listen closely you can defineatly hear it every now and then.

The times I saw your live shows you finished the concerts with the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” - what about heavy metal? Is it something like your “secret” pleasure? What are some heavy metal bands you listen to? Do you listen also to modern heavy metal acts like In Flames, The Haunted and the likes?
Well, for the most part I listen to older metal stuff. The two most recent metal albums I bought and really like are Anthrax “We’ve Come For You All” and the Probot record. Also I still totally dig Pantera. Metal has been a big influence to me and Metallica is still one of my all time favourite bands.

Lately it looks like this is the moment of so-called “nu emo” music: lots of new young bands that play emo music like New Found Glory and The Ataris are coming out and the thing is not very funny. What’s the trend in Germany? How do you see the European punk/hardcore scene? Do you consider a part of any scene or you just don’t care?
Basically we’re playing for everybody and I would not want to limit us to just one scene. There’s so many nice people in the punk/hardcore scene but also so many narrow-minded, self-centered idiots. We’re just trying to do our own thing and follow our hearts and I don’t think we need a title like “punk” for that necessarily. We’re just five kids that like to play rock music. We’ve never followed any trend or fashion in the last ten years and that’s the way it should be. If you’re getting influenced by bands like The Ataris and New Found Glory then there’s nothing wrong with that – I like their music. But you shouldn’t try and just copy those bands – you should develop your own trademarks in the end and don’t rely on shallow words like “emo”…

The first time I saw you, you were playing with Millencolin and Anti Flag in Europe; then last year you played at the Deconstruction Tour (but I couldn’t come too see you - sorry ). What are the best memories you have of Italy and the Italian crowd and when will you be back?
We love playing in Europe a lot. The kids are really nice and the shows were a lot of fun, be it in front of 20 people or in front of some 4000 kids. Places like Italy rocks and we’re gonna come back on tour for sure. Big promise. Thanks to all the kids that attended our shows! Please check back on our website www.donots.com regularly for tour dates etc.

What are some of the latest records you listened to or, if you haven’t heard to new music, what are some bands/records you like to listen to regularly?
Here’s my playlist at the moment:
The Police – Best Of
Alkaline Trio/One Man Army - Split
Johnny Cash – Unearthed Box Set
The Jealous Sound – Kill Them With Kindness
The Living End – Roll On
The Descendents – Cool To Be You
Solea – s/t
Maxeen – s/t
The Clash – London Calling
Sophia – new one
One Man And His Droid – Party People
Muff Potter – Heute Wird Gewonnen, Bitte!
New Order – Get Ready
And many many more…

Speaking of future plans, can you tell us what you are going to do to promote the new record? Touring, music videos, radio singles? I know you already have a single…
We’ve just shot a new video to the first single “We Got The Noise” which is on rotation in Germany already. The single will be released on the 1st of June over here and the album will come out in the end of June. At the moment I’m doing quite a lot of interviews and we’re heating up for the open air season. We will be playing festivals like Rock Am Ring this summer and our European club tour should be starting in the middle of September. Hopefully we’ll get to tour Italy a lot then…

Any final comments for our readers?
Yeah – thanks a lot for reading the interview and thanks for all the support we got from you! If you like to find out more about us please check out our website and please listen to our new record “Got The Noise”! We hope to see you in Italy sometime soon…

Thank you so very much for taking the time for this interview!!
Thanks for the interview! Take good care!

Hot Water Music was a post-hardcore band from Gainesville, Florida. The members of the band are Chuck Ragan, singer and guitar, Chris Wollard, singer and guitar, Jason Black, bass guitar, and George Rebelo, drums.

Interview by Daniel Mitchell | daniel@staff.truepunk.com | and Jonathan Gill | jon@staff.truepunk.com | with Jason Black.

How do you describe your music to the novice music fan?
Well, while most people consider us to be emo or scremo or finding nemo or whatever the hell you want to call it, we like to think of ourselves as a rock band. Honestly, when it comes down to it, that’s what we are, when you consider music outside of punk/rock. We’re definitely not a jazz band, you know?

Regarding your latest album, The New What Next, of what are you most proud?
The quality of the album, from beginning to end. Its by far the best record we’ve ever recorded and definitely the best songs we’ve ever written we’re very excited about it and plan on ramming in down everyone in the worlds throat for the next year.

In terms of time spent recording, how does TNWN compare to your other releases?
It was about the usual, which for us is 6-7 weeks. The difference
with the recording of TNWN versus our other records is that we actually
didn’t have any plans afterwards, so we weren’t on a strict time
schedule, which made the experience as a whole much more relaxed.

The production is pretty slick on TNWN; was this intentional?
Well, we didn’t intentially make it slick, but we are very happy with the way it sounds.

What part does Brian McTernan play in shaping your songs in the studio (how hands on is he in telling you, do this again, this sucks, etc.)? - JG
Brian is very hands on with us, which is why we work with him. Writing songs becomes such an unobjective process that we find it very useful to have someone come in and sift through what we’ve come up with and help us improve upon it.

This is your third album for Epitaph; how do you respond to critics who complain that moving to Epitaph was “selling out?”
By telling them that I’m as broke as I’ve always been.

Your live show is legendary for its energy, emotion, and overall fun
had by all; what motivates you to keep rockin’ out at full throttle
during long stints on the road?
Well, that’s hard to answer. Its different at each show, but our overall theory is that if you have to be on the road, you may as well give it your all.

Does Chuck still drink wine by the lake? How has the recovery
process been and what sort of therapy went down? Truthfully how many
times were you afraid and confused about the future (in relation to the
accident)? This might be a hard question, but if Chuck could not play
anymore would HWM continue on, would you want to, would he want you to? - JG Well, we haven’t been back to that particular lake since “the incident,” so its pretty safe to say that Chuck hasn’t put himself in too much danger on that front. We were definitely worried about his recovery, but first as a person and second as a member of the band. If
Chuck couldn’t play again, we’d either have to be a 5 piece band or none at all. We don’t replace people.

Where you guys actually considering breaking up before the show that
became Live at the Hardback? If so, why? If not, aren’t rumors stupid!?
We actually did break up for a few months before that show. Mainly due to overtoruing and not knowing our limits as a band and as individuals. Rumors are still stupid.

Forever and Counting is one of the greatest records in the history of
the world; any thoughts?
TNWN is exponentially better. Ha.

“Minno” gives me goose bumps every single time I listen to it; it is my favorite HWM song, too. Can you tell me about the person who was the subject of “Minno?”
He was a friend of our, a recovering addict who had started to turn his life around, started a family, and basically looked like he was getting things together. Sadly, it would seem he felt differently.

Are you guys able to play shows in VFWs and firehouses still, or is that not possible anymore?
We’ll play anywhere.

Robert Smith of The Cure used to shave his head because he didn’t want to be known for his big, crazy hair; did you guys and your beards get to this point, thus the disappearance of them, or are the beards simply a by-product of being on the road and not shaving? I’m curious, because long ago, my friends and I referred to you guys as ” hot water beards” or simply “the beards,” and this is no longer possible.
Well, 3 of us have beards as we speak, so its really a day to day thing

If you had to rank your top 3 favorite HWM albums, what would they be?
TNWN, Caution, Flight

Do you have a favorite song that you like to play live?
Right now its “The End of the LineK

I know you guys aren’t into G. W. Bush, but don’t you think that the
next four years could provide excellent motivation for a lot of bands to
make some great records (consider how many classic albums came out from
1980-1988, i.e. reaction to a previous Republican stronghold)?
You’d like to think so, but judging by the shit that’s been passed
off as punk rock over the last 4 years, you never can tell.

You guys are supporters of PETA; are all of you vegetarian/ vegan?
While we all support PETA, none of us are vegan or vegetarian.

Speaking as a longtime fan, your music has meant an immeasurable
amount of joy to me. I have spent many hours of my life soaking in your
records, and they have been a source of solace to me in troubling times.
It is truly an honor that I get to ask you guys these questions! I mean
these words in complete sincerity.
Thanks so much for doing the interview and for the support over the years!

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.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes need no introduction. They are not a band, they are a super band,they do play cover songs of other non-punk artists…the band features Fat Mike from NOFX on bass, Spike Slawson from the Swingin’ Utters on vocals, Joey Cape from Lagwagon on guitar, Dave Raun from Lagwagon on drums and on the other guitar Chris Schiflett from No Use For A Name…oh, I forgot, he plays in Foo Fighters now…I taked with Chris Shiflet ( or “Jake Jackson”, call him how you want) about some Me First & the Gimme Gimmes stuff. Their latest album “Blow In The Wind” is out, it has 13 songs and it is their best record so far. Read on to learn more about this band…

Carlo:So, “Blow In The Wind” is your third full-length record… how do you feel about this ? Think this is the best one ( I do ) ?

Chris:I’m very happy with this record. I think we all are.

Carlo:By the way, which songs did you cover ? From the sixties ? Why?

Chris:Sixties hits lend themselves really well to punk rock.

Carlo:You covered songs from the sixtes, from the seventees and from movies…have you already an idea on what you will cover next ?I know this is a weird question…

Chris:I can’t give away our secrets. It would screw up the surprise.

Carlo:Who of the members come up with the idea of what songs or artists covering ? And what about the arrangments ? Who “decides” them ?

Chris:Fatty and Joey come up with the songs and we all sit down and figure ‘em out and arrange ‘em.

Carlo: About the covers of your CD’s ( not the songs, the covers), there are all photos of you in some weird poses… am especially thinking of “Are A Drag”…who comes up with the idea of the picture ( or the artwork) in general?

Chris:You should see the unreleased X-rated photos that we did. They’re very sensual.

Carlo:In 1999 you released “Elton”, “Garf” and “In Your Barcalounger”; in 1997 you released “Paul”, “Diamond”, and “Barry”; in this year you are releasing “Shannon” … do your fans have to expect some other 7 inches from you this year ?

Chris:I think so. Fatty would know best.

Carlo:Kung Fu, Hopeless, Byo, Honest Dons, Fat, Epitaph, Alternative Tentacles,Lookout!…the next labels on which you are gunna put out a new seven inch ?

Chris:Same answer as above… Fatty would know best.

Carlo:When will you release the famous set box of all the seven inches you ever released ? I ask you this because there is around this voice and who better than you can tell us ?

Chris:Probably not for a few more years. We have to let the legend grow.

Carlo:Chris, you are still in the band and play for Foo Fighters too now,have you still time to practice? Are you a Foo too?

Chris:I still have time for the Gimmes cuz we don’t ever practice unless we’re doing shows or recording (which is very rare). Yes, I am a Foo too.

Carlo: Are you planning to go on tour ? apart the Warped …

Chris:The band is definitely doing the Warped Tour but I’ll probably be recording with the Foo’s.

Carlo: What did you tour apart from the USA ?I heard about Japan … will you ever come to Europe ?

Chris:We’ve never been to Japan but we did go to Hawaii for a week. That was great. We also did a four day tour of Europe (Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, London) in 1998.

Carlo: In your new record there is the cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blow In The Wind” … how did you come put with Bob Dylan ?

Chris:He’s really quite famous so we’d all heard of him.

Carlo: Apart from playing in Me First & The Gimme Gimmes you all do different stuff, like playing in other bands … do you consider Me First And The Gimme Gimmes as a kind of side-project or do you take it seriously ?

Chris:We’re hoping that the Gimmes will grow from being our side project to being our full time rock and roll adventure.

Carlo:Who was the first guy who came out with the idea pf playing covers and of the Me First ?

Chris:That would be Mr. Joey Cape.

Carlo:Which is your favourite pastime? Drinking, bowling, golf…what else?

Chris:That pretty much covers it.

Carlo:Will you be featured on the Fat Club seven inches ?May you tell me some other bands on the Fat Club?

Chris:I don’t know. I’m in the dark on this one.

Carlo:Have you got some supertitious sign before playing live ?

Chris:We all pray together.

Carlo:Last question: which is the favourite quote of each member of Me First And The Gimme Gimmes ?

Chris:”Smoke up Johnny!”

Carlo:Alright, I thank you for your time for this interview , see you next time and rock on!!!

Chris:Thank you!

Antifreeze is the latest band to have signed to Kung Fu Records and their release “Four Letter Word” is the latest release from the label. I had the chance to ask some questions to the band about them, their new album, their favourite music, and some other things too, so , here what they said…

1.Antifreeze: why this name ? Do you like fire or do you hate ice?

Neither. Actually the name doesn’t mean anything specific. Jon and Derek
just thought it sounded cool when they started the band. After that the name
just stuck.

2. How did you get involved with the guys from the Ataris and Kung Fu ?

The short story is we saw the Ataris and gave them a demo. The Ataris put in
a good word for us. Later we met Joe Escalante and everybody at Kung Fu
while on tour in California. They signed us an hour after the meeting.

3. How old are you and where do you come from ?

Tim is the oldest at 23. Then it goes Mason 22, Derek 21, and Jon 20. We
are all from Appleton, WI.

4. How is the punk scene in your town and in WI in general ?

Well, we are always impressed with our turnout in our town with a population
of only 67,000. The scene in WI is actually pretty good for the small amount
of people that live here.

5. What are your musical influences?

That could be a long answer but some of the major ones are: Weezer, Blink
182, Green Day, and The Ataris.

6. What are you listening to right now ? I am listening to your record…

All four of us listen to different things. We all have different tastes in
music and it makes our own songwriting more diverse.

7. In your song “Bunkruptcy” you talk about the money you spend for a
girl…did this thing happen really to one of you ? By the way, if I were in
the same situation, have you got some advice for me , to stop spending money
without losing the girl ?

Actually the song is about the emotional price you pay for falling in love
with somebody. The stuff about money is a metaphor. As for advice… we’re
the last guys you should ask for advice about relationships.

8. In general, the lyrics of your songs, are about something that happened
really to you ? I am thinking of “Is He Your Boyfriend?” or even “Cyber
Sweetie”…

Our songs are about things that happen in our lives. Sometimes the songs are
not about a specific event that happened, but the stories are used to convey
our feelings nonetheless. “Cyber Sweetie” is about an online relationship
that Jon had, but “Is He…” is more of a fictional event.

9. Will you tour or are you touring right now ? I heard you should tour with
The Ataris …

Right now we are about to start touring alone. We would love to tour with
the Ataris but they’re pretty busy guys. We haven’t had any tour offers yet,
but we’re not going to sit and wait for the perfect tour. We just want to
get on the road and meet our fans.

10. With which bands would you like touring ?

Anybody who will take us. Honestly.

11. This is your first record…did you find it difficult to record and that
stuff?

Yes and no. Everything didn’t go exactly as planned. It took a little
longer then we had thought to record the record. But in the end it all came
together and we’re very happy with the result.

12. The title “Four Letter Words”…what does it refer to ? I mean, you wrote
some songs as “Love”, “Hate”, “Care” on the cover …but there are also some
bad worse with 4 letters, like “S*it”…why did you chose this title…

We were comparing those words “love, care, feel…” to the dirty ones…
sometimes love can be a dirty word too.

13. By the way, why is the cover almost all black ? Don’t you think there is
a kind of opposition with being antifreeze ?

We wanted it to be black because the title and subject matter isn’t very
happy. The cover really wouldn’t have gone with the subject matter if the
cover was yellow with polka dots.

14. One last thing before I go: have you got a favourite quote and something
to sya to the kids out there ?

We don’t have a quote, but we’d like to thank all of our fans for their
support. We are constantly amazed by the reactions we get from our fans.
It’s still weird to think that we even have fans. It’s really a great
feeling to write a piece of music that is special to you, and then have other
people enjoy what you’ve created.

15. Thanks a whole lot - hope to see you soon at the show … bye…

No problem. We’re always happy to answer questions!