Planes mistaken for stars

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.TRUEPUNK.com
| with Gared.

Hi there, Gared!
How are you doing?

I’m doing good my friend, I’m currently waiting to head out on a North
American tour with our friends in HOT WATER MUSIC.

Can you introduce
yourself and the members of Planes Mistaken For Stars and a story
of how you got together?

Once upon a time
in the cold, bitter, and rusted region of Il. {Peoria} GARED guitar/vox/lryics
MATT guitar/screams MIKEYakaMONGO drums/kingbeard and a young fella
names AARON bass/college banded together to fight the adult crash
with all of the passion our big hearts could muster, later AARON realised
that he could not commit to further adventures and was replaced by
the mighty JAMIE on the thunderbroom. JAMIE stayed in fighting form
for five years until he felt it was time for a rest, ENTER CHUCK aka
UNCLE CHARLIE on BASS he currently holds the rhythm down. And quite
handsomly so if I may add.

Your new record
"Up In Them Guts" just came out a few months ago. How would
you introduce it?

I would say Up In Them Guts is a logical addition to the PLANES catalouge.
It seems we have drifted into a bit darker much better recorded territory
with the current L.P. I will say that while we are all very pleased
with our newest creation and we really do look foward to writing the
next one.

You come from
Denver, Colorado. How is the music scene over there? How do you judge
Colorado from this point of view and do you have any particular friends
( bands, labels…) in your town? I know a lot of bands come from
over there, lately I saw bands like The Gamits and Fear Before The
March Of Flames.

It really seems that we are gone more often than not so it is really
hard to gauge what is shaking in DENVER. We are proud of most all
of the bands from our adopted hometown. Some bands we love are LOVE
ME DESTROYER,VAUX, FRIENDS FOREVER, SUBURBAN HOME{the record label},
GHOST BUFFILLO, and RED CLOUD in particular.

Where did you
get the name Planes Mistaken For Stars from? I think it is the best
name ever.

Thanx. I was bummed I wished on a star it blinked, I proceeded to
be even more bummed, then I started a band. Boohoo poor emo little
me.

You released
your latest record "Up In Them Guts" on No Idea Records.
How do you judge the new CD, what do you think of it ( is it your
best record ever ), how is it musically and lyrically and will your
old fans be happy with the new stuff?

I most definatly believe it is our best effort to date but I think
what it really has done is create a spring board aimed in the direction
we are headed for the next record. I really would like to think all
of our old fans dig it, but you can’t win them all you know.

Do you consider
yourself an indie or hardcore band at all? What do you think of the
Emo hardcore scene of nowadays? Today there is everything in the scene
I noticed: from the metallic screaming dudes, to the indie rock shy
guys, to the straightedge hardcore kids. It’s very full and different.

I think genres and buzzwords are trite meaningless and boring at this
point. If anything I would say we are an honest rock band with no
bullshit involved. And while that doesn’t help sell tons of records
at least we can sleep at night knowing we never tried to sell people
something that doesnt exist. Look at all the bullshit fads going on
in the current state of "underground" music.

I know you
have been together since the first 90’s. You saw the underground/independent
music scene in its evolution; do you think it changed a lot?

The underground
has always had its weak points and now what with 90% really just be
a facade it most definatly has more than ever. I will just say we
should all just take the positive aspects of the past and use them
as a blueprint to forge ahead far past all of the current bullshit
trends.

You released
your older records on Deep Elm, now you’re on No Idea. How did you
decide to change record label? Do you think you found better distribution,
promotion, etc, with the folks at No Idea?
NO IDEA is great and we are proud to have been accepted into there
fold!

What is the
meaning of "Up In Them Guts"? Is the record a concept album
or something like that?
It’s conceptual in that it represents close to three years of thoughts,
mistakes, heartbreaks, deceptions, births, deaths, etc. All of the
songs and lyrics in particular really strike a nerve within all of
us involved. And while all of the content is true it most definatly
was not the easiest matter to tackle knowing that it would be on display
for anyone who wished to listen. We can onlky hope that these songs
speak to some of you and make us all feel a little less alone. UP
IN THEM GUTS represents the potental for ugliness and or beauty in
all of us.

I think some
of your songs are quite political: may you tell us what your songs
deal with in general, and what are the tunes you like the most to
play live?
While some are a bit more obviously political {ie} PIGS most have
more to do with personal politics and steer from rhetoric as often
as possiable. Since we are not rich or college educated sometimes
the bulk of political change on a mass level seems impossiably out
of reach. that is not to say we do not try, it just sometimes seems
harder than others. I think it is almost more important to work within
your reach at a level of community and really try to bring to light
new ideas and plans for change at a grassroots level. Our politics
essentially boil down to examining and bettering your understandings
of your being and of those around you first and formost.

Have you already
toured to support the new disc? Any funny stories ? I know you just
finished a tour with Dillinger Escape Plan, The Bronx, Decahedron,
The Daughters. Are you excited?
The DEP tour went well. We are excited to be touring with other bands
like HOT WATER MUSIC, CONVERGE, GLASS and ASHES, and many more within
the next twelve months.

How would you
describe Planes Mistaken For Stars to a person that have never heard
of you?
Honest, dirgy, heavy, blue eyed soul.

What are some
of the bands that you guys in the band regularely listen to?
MARVIN GAYE, the REPLACEMENTS, BLACK FLAG/SABBATH, NEIL YOUNG, NAKED
RAYGUN, AFGHAN WHIGS, FUNKADELIC, T-REX, THIN LIZZY, HAWKWIND.

What is you
opinion on downloading music from the internet?
I think it is a mixed blessing, i think it is funny that it has the
major labels shitting in there pants but it also bums me out that
people abuse the technology by ripping off the artists who recieve
little to no income for there efforts.

In November
you will have the presidential election. Some punk rockers as Fat
Mike started their own Punkvoter thing to tell kids to go cast their
vote. Will you be casting yours? And what about this punk thing like
Punkvoter? Do you think it is a good idea for youngsters who listen
to music but do not know a lot about politics?

As I said before
sometimes change does seem out of reach, but I applaud people like
FAT MIKE and MIKE PARK for doing there best to fight apathy at the
polls and try to bring forth a changing of the gaurd. If it were up
to me this bi partisan bullshit would be wiped out so common poor
people like ourselves would get a shot at running this country as
opposed to the fucking rich clowns that are holding the world hostage
currently.

What are some
of the bands that you appreciate in today’s music scene? Any new names
you want the world to know?
CURSIVE, CONVERGE, HWM, GLASS AND ASHES, LOVE ME DESTROYER, READ YELLOW,
AGAINST ME!, and far to many more to list.

Have you got
any major plans for the winter?
We will be touring shitloads, look for us headlining in the UK come
JAN and w/ CONVERGE for all of EUROPE in MARCH 2005.

Any final comments?

VOTE! and have cold beer and whisky for us when we come thru.