Street Dogs Interview

Street Dogs

Interview with Mike McColgan and Johnny Rioux on Feb 11, 2008 by

By: Amy Meyer

Our own Amy Meyer got a chance to chat with some of the members of the Street Dogs on their tour with Tiger Army when they swung through Chicago. Check out what the guys had to say.

Since you're pretty stylistically different than the band you're currently touring with, Tiger Army, how would you say the fans react to your music?

Johnny Rioux: It's been good, what's happening is a lot of our fans have been showing up too. Our fans help newer fans, they're familiar with our show and the newer kids follow their lead. We put 150% into our shows and when new people hear us, the feedback is really good.

Mike McColgan: It's no different opening with anybody. People pay hard earned money and take time out of their life to come to the show and we don't take that for granted.

JR: It is exciting to play for new crowds.

How do you think growing up in Boston affected your music since there seems to be such an active music scene there?

JR: Geographically? Certainly we haven't got a lot of the Irish folk (opposed to some other Boston based bands). Our influences are more worldly; we grew up on the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. We grew out and translated our influences topically and stylistically.

MM: We are a band that pride ourselves on being very open-minded. We have diverse interests and there are different bands that find a way into shaping our sound and we fuse life experiences into our music. There is no way to pigeonhole Boston punk rock into being limited to all things Boston.

Why did you decide to release the record as a 2-part with a DVD?

JR: We split the release where half were just the album and the other half were both. We really wanted to give our complied footage and wanted to be truthful in showing the writing and recording process. There is arguing, it's not all fun, rock and roll, and partying; we wanted to show a day in the life of the Street Dogs.

MM: We wanted to encompass shows, the creative process, and a Monday inside touring, the long hours, and explosive nature of a life performance. It is an unscripted look into what we do.

JR: As far as the fans, we never want to be rock and roll stars, we want to be the people's band. As five guys on stage, our experience is not fully encompassed up on stage. Mike Clash was accessible to fans, and those are the ethics we have before the show or in the crowd. We want to talk to fans and have actual discussions. We want to be accessible and we are grateful. Without the people we would have nothing and no records would be made. We stay grounded because being in a band isn't a right, it's a privilege.

What made you decide to leave your firefighting career and go back to music? (McColgan was the original singer for the Dropkick Murphys, served as a firefighter, and now fronts the Street Dogs)

MM: Johnny and I both missed the creative process of making music. We had a record release in Boston and naturally had a real interest in being in a band. We released another album, Back to the World, and went for it. Making music is what we always go back to, it's an amazing thing.

JR: There's a lot of things kids don't realize, being a musician means you're poor. There's no 401K, no retirement plan, but Mike's calling to be a singer is a big fucking deal, especially in Boston where people are in-demand to work.

MM: A lot of guys on the job (firefighters) didn't believe I was leaving the force to go back to music. I don't know how to explain it, but this is the right thing for me, and the stage confirms that it is a gift, it keeps us going on.

Are there any hard feelings between you and the Murphys?

MM: They came off a little apprehensive at first. We invited them to a show and it seemed to break the ice. Both groups have mutual respect for each other, but we're two different bands. They're fully Celtic punk; we have no bag pipes or mandolins. The bands are different and do get along. So there certainly isn't any hard feelings, there never has been.

JR: Although the press wanted to pin us against each other badly

MM: None of that stuff (in the press) ever existed; maybe someday the groups will even play together.

Youth Brigade Interview

Youth Brigade

Interview with Shawn Stern on Apr 3, 2008 by

By: Amy Meyer

Interview with owner of BYO records and guitarist/lead vocals for Youth Brigade, Shawn Stern. Interview done on 11/18/07 at the second day of Riot Fest in Chicago, IL.

You guys have been playing for a long time, what would you say is the biggest difference from when you first started playing shows to now?

Shawn Stern: There's a lot more money involved now than there was then. In those days you just did it for fun; I mean we still do it for fun, but we never really thought we would be able to get paid, travel, and tour all over the world, so that's a pretty good thing you can do now. In those days we just sort of figured it out and made it up as we went along.

So you've been all around the world, huh? Anywhere you haven't made it to that you'd like to play?

SS: We've been all over the Western world. We haven't been to too many exotic places, but I mean we toured Europe for the first time in '84 and played Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, the UK, Poland, and Yugoslavia, which is no longer Yugoslavia; that was before the wall came down so that was pretty interesting back in '84. We've been all over Europe; we haven't made it to South America, Australia...NOFX are actually the ones pioneering right now, they're out in Israel and South Africa, all over Asia, Volusia, Indonesia, and I think Vietnam and China; it's crazy and I think that would be fun to do.

Would you say there was a time period where the band reached a peak in the best audience participation and reaction at the shows? Does the reaction of the fans rely more on location or time based on your experience?

SS: There's a whole new generation of kids that have been discovering us for the last ten or fifteen years. We sort of broke up for awhile in the late 80's, so we got back together in I believe '91 and there was a whole new generation of kids. People show up [to the shows] like, "Oh, I used to see you in the 80's and now I'm bringing my son or daughter." It's weird, but it's cool. I think for us, small clubs where people can jump up on stage and sing along is the best. Big shows like this are fun, but I just don't like barricades and being separated from the crowd because it's kind of silly.

What made you decide to start BYO records?

SS: We just do things out of necessity; we needed to put a record out so we started a record company. If we needed to play a show, we just did the promotion and played a show. That's just how things go with us.

Didn't you pass up signing some big names like Sublime and The Offspring?

SS: We had opportunities early on to work with some bands and didn't for numerous reasons. I think with Sublime it was that we were just starting to do stuff again and I love those guys, I love their music, and I knew they all had potential, but they were also not together shall we say. I really did not want to deal with that. My criteria for putting out a record is I have to like it, believe in a band and what they say, but I also have to be able to believe that I can help them and if I don't think I can help them than I'm not going to waste their time or mine.

What is the hardest part of running a record label? Is it easier now that you don't tour as much as you used to?

SS: Honestly I'd rather be touring and playing music than running a record label. I think the hardest part is unfortunately, and I hate to generalize, but most musicians are really not the most intelligent people when it comes to business. No matter what you tell them they say sure, sure I understand. We always say look, watch another state of mind and it'll give you another idea of what you need to do if you want to be successful as a musician. You need to tour, deal with the shit that is going to happen inevitably on the road and they say, no problem no, problem, where's my tour bus, where's the audience? They don't understand that they need to go out and work at it. Unfortunately, some people think that putting a record out on a label that has a reputation of putting out records that do well, that means that you're automatically a big rock star and that is not the case.

So why don't you tour as much as you used to, just because you've been a band so long and toured for so many years?

SS: Well, I mean it's a combination of things, but my brother Mark has a daughter, so he can't go out on the road for long periods of time. We've just been busy with other stuff, running the label of course, and we need to make a record. Touring is a lot of work. I enjoy it, but it is a lot of work.

There's a different line up now, how many times have there been member changes?

SS: Mainly it's been the three of us; me, and my brothers Mark and Adam. Adam is not with us now because he has a really, really good job doing CGI for movies. If you saw that movie Pan's Labyrinth, he made the fairies. It's understandable that he's working his ass off making a lot of money and doesn't have time to go out on the road. We got Joey (bass) just a few months ago to fill in and he's doing a really good job. He plays in a band called Blue Collar Special.

How would you compare the punk scene today from when you started the band?

SS: Its apples and oranges, in those days it was something that was brand new and we were figuring it out as we went along. We had no idea what it was going to become or what it was supposed to be, we just made it up. Now, the punk scene has been going strong for over thirty years. There are a lot of really good things in the sense that you've got the internet and a lot of ways for people to make music that you did not have before. It's really inexpensive to record or play music today. The digital revolution is a great thing in some ways, but it's also a really shitty thing in some ways. It used to be that you played in a band in high school in your garage; you would play some parties, maybe get some shows, and eventually, if you weren't good enough and didn't have the stamina to survive...it was a lot of work to get out there. You had to work with the label; you couldn't just put it out on your own. It cost a fair amount of money to make a record which was not a great thing in the sense that maybe there was a great band, but maybe they had no business sense, there was no one talking them up, and they never got to put a record out; they just dissolved in their garage and no one ever heard about them, but at the same time that weeded out a lot of the crappy bands. Now, everyone can make a record, tour, and with MTV, the internet, Myspace, itunes, and everything anybody can put their music up there, which is great for people who were really good and never got outside of the garage, but the majority of those people aren't very good, they don't really need to be out there. There's a lot of mediocre music.

Not to mention pro tools can make any band sound a lot better than they really are.

SS: You could do that. It's funny because when we would tour in Germany and Japan, they'd always have the best equipment and technically they could play really well, but they just didn't have soul. Germans couldn't write songs, there are a few bands that are good. I don't know...there's too much mediocrity. Just because you can pick up a guitar and learn how to play and write a song doesn't mean that you're necessarily good when all you do is write songs that sound like everybody else. You're just a band that's derived from some of the other bands. Who cares? Then you have this electronic shit which is guys that sit around smoking bong hits and playing videogames and now they can start pressing keys on a little fucking Casio keyboard making what they call music. I don't think its music, I think its crap. Do I sound bitter? Do I sound cynical? What? Yeah, so there's just too much of that shit. There's a band like this band called 311, I'll use them as an example; I think they're a horrible, crappy band. These bands can just go and play a little college circuit. You can get regional bands that are only known in that little three state area, it used to be they were just a cover band and now they can make their own record and get a crowd and some of them actually get famous and its just ugh, so sad. Just a commentary on the whole society, people just accept this crap, I mean look at our government. People accept that and it's just crap, crap.

Okay onto a more cheery topic, what's the story with punk rock bowling?

SS: We like to throw parties and we figured we might as well throw a party for all of our friends. We've been throwing parties since we were kids because we used to deal drugs and figured out, what a better way to sell our drugs than to have a party and sell our drugs at the party? So we've been doing that for many, many years and then we realized early on don't throw a party at your house. Find some kid who says, hey I want to have a party, my parents are going out of town, and I'm not really in with the in crowd and I want to get in with the in crowd. Alright, lock everything that's valuable up, they would never listen to us you know. Lock all the valuables up, no it will be fine, no it won't lock them up, and then the house would get trashed. We were just really good from an early age of throwing parties so we said let's throw a party in Vegas. Bowling is just an excuse to go out and get wasted and have a good time.

Do you ever practice like, "oh man, BYO is going to kick everyone's ass this year?!"

SS: We won on the first year and two years ago. André, who has been on our team since the beginning, it was his idea to do bowling. He used work with us and ran a zine out of Alston, MASS I think it was back in the early ‘80s. He ended up moving to California in the early ‘90s and worked for BYO for awhile. He's a great bowler, a 200 average bowler and he's way too serious about it. He's the one who said Fat records has got this bowling league up there, we should do that here. We did it for 6 weeks in Santa Monica, of course my brother Mark and I, the wheels were turning, we said this is great we should do a tournament in Vegas. Hell yeah, party in Vegas! So it just became that and it was really André who got the wheels rolling and he is our anchor on the team, we make play offs every year because of him. We had this intern Diego and he got on the team because he was an okay bowler, then he started going with Andre and got on the league, practiced and now that guy is fucking great too. I am the weak link on the team, I suck. Epitaph won they beat us by one pin last year in the playoffs, but we should of won. That was their fourth win, it would have been our third and we would have tied them, but we have to get them this year. I just have to curve my drinking out there and that's a hard thing to do.

Do you have anything big in-store for 2007?

SS: It's the 25 year anniversary for BYO, which we started in July of '82. We're doing a box set. We made a DVD with this guy Jeff and Ryan, who did the Bouncing Souls' DVD; it's an almost hour and a half video about the history of the label, band, and there's going to be a couple CDs of bands covering BYO songs. There's also a book because you know digital downloading is killing the music industry.

Could you see yourself coming out with another album?

SS: Yeah, I could see it. I have to write some songs. Me and my brother Mark have been doing some ridiculous construction on our houses for the last year because we were smart and bought when it was cheap maybe 12 years ago. I'm by the beach, so I'm probably going to have to get rid of my house before the sea starts rising, actually I have to get rid of it when people start realizing they don't want to live by the beach anymore because it will start losing its value.

When do you think it'll take for you to stop playing shows?

SS: Um, I don't know? A heart attack.

So you'll just keep playing forever

SS: I don't know. Chuck Berry is. Shit, Chuck Berry, if Chuck Berry can do it, I can do it, right? Fuck, Chuck Berry rolls into the Hootenanny (festival in California) a few years ago in his Cadillac; drives up, the guys got to be in his mid to late 70s, drives into the backstage and sits in his car. People are like, "Chuck Berry," knocking on his window, he's just sitting there. The promoter walks up and says, "Mr. Berry," he rolls the window down and the guy says, "we have a trailer for you over there, you want to come up?," rolls the window back up. Comes out on stage, doesn't have a band, just says have a back up band there for me, gets up on stage, yells out the song, starts playing the song, and half way through switches the song. The whole set he would do that shit, just fucking crazy. Just rolls up in a Cadillac with some chicks, bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken on the dash, just fucking nuts, nuts, nuts. He sits in the Cadillac before he has to go on, engine and air condition on. Yeah, I don't know if I'll do that, but maybe! I'll just roll in with a fucking bottle of Patron and get wasted. I guess what will make me stop is when it will stop being fun, when kids don't give a shit anymore. If people still want to see us, we'll keep doing it, if they lose interest than yeah.... I'm not going to do it anymore.

When was the last time you did a headlining tour?

SS: Yeah, we just fly, it's fucking easier. Just find some band in that town to tour with, use their gear, just roll in with your guitars; it's fucking easy. Last time was 2003 with the Utters; that year we did the East Coast back to LA, then we went to Europe. In the late fall we went up the West Coast into Canada, thru the Midwest, to the East Coast, and back through the middle of the country. That was pretty big.

This is kind of my staple last question, for anyone who has never heard Youth Brigade, what one thing do you want them to know about your band?

SS: We have something to say.

No Use For A Name Interview

No Use For A Name

Interview with Tony Sly and Matt Riddle on May 13, 2008 by

By: William Jones

Here is a band that really needs no introduction...or name. Known affectionately by most fans as NUFAN, No Use for a Name has been tearing it up with its San Jose brand of melodic punk for more than 20 years. The band's high-energy live show puts many a younger band to shame, and Tony Sly is still writing some of the best lyrics (both heartfelt and sarcastic) in punk rock.

Last year, the band commemorated its two-decade milestone with All the Best Songs, a "hits" compilation that went above and beyond what these scorned album breaks usually offer. And that release was no sign of a band that's slowing. NUFAN jumped right back into the studio, for the first time with producer Bill Stevenson (though Best Songs was remastered at The Blasting Room), to record the quartet's latest and most sarcastically titled effort, The Feel Good Record of the Year.

Tony Sly and Matt Riddle took some time during the Fat Tour to discuss the new album, the history of NUFAN, Cake Boy, a professional wrestler, internet videos and anthropology.

To start, how has the Fat Tour with NOFX been going?

Matt Riddle: It's great! You've got to figure. We're out with some friends of ours. We went out with The Flatliners for a little bit last year and that was a lot of fun. NOFX-we've known those guys for 20 years now or something. So, it's been awesome. We've had a great time for sure.

After numerous albums with Ryan Greene, why did NUFAN decide to shift gears and record with Bill Stevenson for The Feel Good Record of the Year?

MR: We just definitely needed a change of pace. It got to the point that when we were doing records we already knew what they were going to sound like when they were done. We definitely needed a breath of fresh air here somehow. So, out of nowhere, Bill, he wanted to do it, and we knew some friends of ours had already worked with him and said it was just amazing. So, we said, "You know what? Let's give it a shot." It was the best experience it could have been. We had the best time making this record, no matter what.

Thematically, how do you think Feel Good compares to previous NUFAN work?

MR: I think, especially on the last record, we kind of got a little lost. Again, it goes back to working with Ryan, and you kind of get stuck in a certain zone. This time we approached it in a completely different way. We started looking back on what made us who we were and all that. We kind of found that again and it made it so much fun. We had a great time in there, and we're really happy with it. It seems to be getting really good reviews too, so we're happy about that.

In one of the studio updates, the band posted a suggestion list for album names. How did you finally arrive at The Feel Good Album of the Year?

Tony Sly: You know what? It was one of the ones on the board. It was kind of a process of elimination just back and forth with the label, asking them what they thought. It was one of the earlier names for sure. When you're a band and you're picking album titles, you tend to get out of hand with a lot of them, to the point where your sense of humor is so ridiculous because you've been in the studio for a month that no one is ever going to understand it-everything becomes an inside joke. You're like, "isn't this great?" And you tell the label and they're like, "No, it's not." That happens a lot.

MR: If you have to explain to people what it means it's no good.

TS: I told somebody the album title and they were like, "Oh, does that mean the lyrics in it are real soft or something?" No, it's sarcasm. It's obvious sarcasm, I think.

MR: We should have put "sarcasm" in quotes next to the title.

TS: I wanted to.

MR: These are the people we're dealing with nowadays. [Laughs]

What was the writing process like this time around? After 20 years, do you guys have this down to some sort of science?

TS: It was cool. It was really fun just writing again. A couple of the songs were things that had been lying around for awhile, like that song "The Trumpet Player" on there. That's just been sitting around since 2002. It was fun writing though. Everything was coming out like it was going to have so much variety on it, and then by the end it became a full-blown effort to make it that way.

After 20 years, what keeps you guys going? Do you ever get the Danny Glover/Lethal Weapon feeling of "We're getting too old for this shit"?

TS: Yeah, but there's always the sequel. Or you bring in some comic relief like Joe Pesci. Dave's our Joe Pesci, I guess. [Laughs] Though it's been like nine years in the band. Okay! You're right! We're done after this album. Cool? [Laughs] I'm just kidding.

But seriously, is there ever a been-there-done-that feeling?

TS: Yeah, but it's the greatest job in the world. How could you have the been-there-done-that attitude? As soon as I get the been-there-done-that attitude I kick myself in the ass. Not literally, but I just kick myself in the ass and say, "Wake up, dude, cause you're really lucky." One out of 10 million, or 10,000, or something like that...

MR: ...one out of 10, nowadays, to be in a band...

TS: ...unless you have a Myspace account. Then you can be in a band and be as big as you want...

MR: ...Myspace and a good cell phone and you're good to go...

TS: ...shit songs, red hair and tights pants...

MR: ...and ProTools...

TS: ...Bingo! Shit songs, a good hair line and tight pants...

MR: ...you're stoked. (And ProTools).

TS: That conversation's like five years old though.

What kind of music influenced the band 20 years ago and what are you listening to now?

TS: I still listen to the same music I listened to 20 years ago, sadly enough.

MR: Yeah, me too.

TS: He was listening to Rudimentary Peni yesterday, and I don't really like them. And I realized all that stuff is nostalgic to the person that listened to it...only. He and Fat Mike were like, "Listen how rad this is." It was just [makes static noises] and I was just like, "No." [Laughs]

MR: But it was a time, you know? It's like watching Star Wars again. I remember what I was doing that moment. Listen to it again and it gives you a rad feeling. That's why you listen to the same stuff.

TS: Yeah, especially melodic stuff like Bad Religion-their old albums. I can always go back to those. They're old mainstays.

MR: It's great when you listen to a song or watch a movie, but for us it takes you to a time. You remember what was going on the first time you heard that record. Nowadays, that'll never happen. You'll go, "That was a catchy little tune," and that's all you're going to know about it. Back then it really meant something when you bought a record.

You guys released a "best songs" compilation last year. A lot of people tend to scoff at the greatest hits-type albums. Was there any reluctance on your end to do it?

TS: Yeah, because it's the lame thing to do between records. "Hey! We're still around but you've got to hold on, so here's a bunch of songs you've already heard. You should buy it for the same price that you've already bought ‘em before." That's lame. So what we decided to do is that 24-page booklet with an explanation of each song instead of lyrics-make it worth somebody's while if they want to buy it. And the disclaimer is, "Don't buy it if you don't want to buy it," but a lot of people did, so that's good.

MR: I wanted to call it iTunes Setlist.

TS: He did want to call it iTunes Setlist, because now, if you have all our records, you just make your own playlist, and you can make up your own cover art on Photoshop.

Was it cool for you guys, though, doing the booklet and getting to revisit some of the last 20 years?

MR: Yeah, I had a blast writing some of that stuff.

TS: Just digging up some of the old pictures and stuff. I had to go get some of the reels and some of the tape was stuck together from being in my garage. You're not supposed to put them in heat. They remastered it at The Blasting Room, which is where we did the album, so it was kind of cool that it came out so good. So it's remastered, 24-page booklet, 26 songs, 2 unreleased songs, so we thought it was kind of worth it for $8.

What do you guys think you'd be doing right now if you had never been part of this band?

MR: I'd probably be an anthropologist. That's what I started studying in college before I quit doing it and started touring. I was loving it, too. I thought, "Oh, this is what I'm going to do."

TS: I probably would have given up on music awhile ago. [Laughs] I think I was headed down the path of being a bum when I was 19. I would have been one of those guys that lives with his parents until he's 37. Then they would have been like, "That's enough," and I'm homeless, looking for beach towels, playing guitar on the street...

So it would come back to music anyways?

TS: Yeah, on Venice Beach, though, with the cymbals between my knees. One-man band.

Do you have plans for any more solo and/or acoustic work?

TS: On Venice Beach [laughs]. But seriously, yeah. I have a bunch of songs that are just lying around, so why not put them out at some point. The thing is for me, though, No Use for a Name keeps me so busy I don't really have time for a side project.

How did the silly update videos get started?

MR: I don't know. I learned how to use iMovie. I'm like, "This is funny. I can move this here. Check this out, guys." And I started making these movies. It's a blast.

How did the "Push it to the Limit" skits get started?

TS: I remembered the montage-which is the worst montage of all time-from Scarface. When he's coming up as being the greatest coke dealer of all time, that song is playing. And it's got him walking down, he's got a cigar, and he's showing people his tiger that he's got caged up and that song is playing.

MR: And it's the worst 80s-sounding song ever...so we had to use it. And we've been using it every time. We play it as an intro when we come out and nobody knows what the fuck it is.

TS: It's from the montage from Scarface, which, looking back, is one of the worst movies ever it turns out.

Have you ever been confused for pro-wrestler Tortuous Tony Sly?

TS: I have heard of him before.

MR: You have?

TS: I've heard about that because I've Google searched my name before and he comes up. That's weird that you said that, because it's been awhile.

MR: And you didn't change your name to that? That's crazy.

How close is the way roadies are treated in Cake Boy to reality on a NUFAN tour?

TS: It depends how new they are.

MR: We treat them a lot worse than that. How do you get treated?

Roadie: Like shit.

TS: Where you guys staying tonight?

Roadie: The Sheridan.

MR: There it is. There's your answer.

Where is your favorite place to play in the world?

MR: Japan, I think. It's my favorite country because it's a giant Disneyland. You walk around and go, "Look at the shiny lights and the weird people and everything is crazy." "It's a Small World" all the time for me, on acid.

TS: Um...you can't answer that, because it's not fair to other countries, or other cities, but it's definitely Belgium. Actually, I like clubs better, so I'm going to go with Spain, Madrid, South America, Argentina, Buenos Ares. It's Buenos Ares-currently my favorite city in the world to play.

Do you have a favorite place to eat on tour?

TS: Camp Washington Chili in Cincinnati, but we didn't get to go there yesterday because of the snowstorm.

MR: In Japan, there's a little restaurant...

TS: ...it's a place the promoter took us, and it's called the shabi-shabu style food. It's kind of like the Melting Pot thing with a boiling pot that you put the vegetables in then you dip it in your sauce.

MR: It's fucking amazing.

How do you feel about the changes in the punk scene? It seems you guys are the torchbearers of a skate-punk/melodic punk genre that not many bands are picking up nowadays...

TS: I know what you mean. For us, we've seen a lot of different changes in music throughout the years. The skate thing-it's something we never realized, being torchbearers or whatever. We just keep doing our own thing, or what we think is our own thing, because I guess it is. I don't know how I feel about that, but it's cool to still be doing it. We're fortunate.

How do you feel the album turned out?

MR: I can say I'm happier with this album than I've been in a long time. Even though everyone says Making Friends was your best album, or Hard Rock Bottom, every time we get done there's always this feeling of "God, we could have done it better. We could have done this better or that better." But with this one, there's no way, we don't feel that. We listen to it now and go, "That's exactly what we were hoping for." That's rad. That's great. I don't want to say, "Even if no one likes it, it's my favorite record." I hope everybody loves it, because it's good. We're really happy with it.

Subhumans Interview (1985)

The Religious Wars 7'' EP by the Subhumans remains one of my favoutite records from the 80's.
I did this interview with Dick in August 1985, so obviously this doesn't necessarily represent him or me in 2003. Please bear in mind that I was only 14 when I wrote the questions.

- Why do you use SS-s in your logo?
- It's not SS as a 'logo', that's rediculous! It's just coincidence, we didn't think of it like that - we're obviously not nazis.

- Tell us about Spiderleg and Bluurgh records..
- Spiderleg was Flux's label, and Bluurgh is ours (more info on info sheet).

- What do you think about Crass?
- They done a lot for punk, inspired loads of people to be more aware & positive & alternative, and have helped loads of bands get started.

- What about Oi?
- Bollox!
- Did you ever play at the Belfast Anarchy Centre?
- No they split years ago, we didn't know they existed for a long time!

- Do you vote?
- No round here it's all Conservative bastards so to vote for any other party (same old shit anyhow) is a waste of time cos no-one else does.

- Favourite bands?
- Stooges, Anti-Sect, Minor Threat.

- What was your tour of Sweden like compared to England?
- Better sound, better venues, people just as friendly, less political & social awareness, more money around from the state - it was a really good tour, one of the best!

SUBHUMANS

- What's the english punk scene like today?
- Loads of new bands/zines/tape & record labels, putting punk back with the punks and away from the media - it's more underground now - and more people are involved, and are more constructive.

- Is it easy to get gigs?
- Not really, it's just that we don't get as many as we need to cos a lot of clubs here stopped putting on punk gigs - most of our gigs are put on by punks hiring out a hall or something.

- What's your best record?
- Evolution EP

- For how long have you been vegetarians?
- 2 1/2 years.

- Is it hard being a vegetarian in the UK?
- At first yes, but it soon gets really easy to avoid meat - I couldn't eat meat now! It's down to a state of mind, it's natural not to eat meat.

- What's your view on homosexuals?
- It's their choise, and everyone should have the freedom to choose.

- Ever had any contact with the Canadian Subhumans?
- Not much...

- Your attitude to drugs?
- Cannabis sometimes, nothing heavier - and alcohol!

- Do you like Irish Coffea?
- I do.

- Why did you pick the name Subhumans?
- Why not? Well mainly cos Bruce's old band was the Stupid Humans, so we kept the 'humans' bit and put 'Sub' in front of it - people think punks are 'subhumans' but we ain't!

DISORDER GAZETTE #2
Interview originally published in my
fanzine Disorder Gazette #2 1985.
- What's more important - words or music?
- Both are equally important, the music is to entertain people, the lyrics to get the ideas across.

- Do you watch TV?
- No it's fucking awful - only things I watch are the news, and comedy programmes - the rest is brain control - (so is the news, but I'd hate there to be a war on and not find out about it!)

- Anything else?
- Yes, next LP Worlds Apart out in October - soon after an LP with our 1st 4 EP's on it, cos obviously it's hard to get our 7'' records in Europe so we put 'em on 1 12'' LP to make it easier and cheaper. Good luch with the fanzine, could you send one to us when it's out please? Cheers!

Devotchkas Interviews

The DEVOTCHKAS are from New York and play great UK82/Oi! Punk. They've got some records out - see Discography on bottom of this page. The band was formed in 1996. 'Devotchka' is russian for 'woman'. They're Stephanie - Vocals, Mande - Guitar, Alaine - Bass and Gabrielle - Drums. Pictures taken from their first 7'' and the two websites (links below). Interview done in March 2001. DEVOTCHKAS ALAINE OF THE DEVOTCHKAS You're in your early 20's, right? How long have you been into Punk and have you been in any other bands before the Devotchkas? Didn't I see some of you on the cover of a Krays album or something? Gabrielle: Yeah, we are all in our early twenties. Mande, Alaine and Gabrielle all played in bands previous to the Devotchkas (the Auxiliary, the Manix, and the Epitomies respectively). Mande and Stephanie are on the cover of the first Krays album, but it was just part of a collage. It wasn't because they were in the band. Alaine: I think we all got into punk at around the ages 13-15. We play punk because thats the music that we love. Stephanie and I are on The Krays album, the picture was taken at a Krays show we were at, and just thrown onto the collage. You've changed your line up since the first ep, haven't you? Why? Gabrielle: Line up for the first EP had Jon as the drummer. However, Jon was never really a permanent member of the band (he also had the Krays going on). The Devotchkas were still looking for a serious drummer. That's where Gabrielle came into the picture. Alaine: Jon just offered to fill in untill we found a permanent drummer. He had alot of projects going on for himself - the krays, and then he joined the casualties (who tour alot) - so then we went through 2 additional drummers, to Jon, until we found Gabrielle. Being an all-girl band, do you think that's been working for or against you, or does it really matter to people at all? Gabrielle: I think there are ways that it works against you in the scene. You get a lot of attention for just being girls and not enough for what you actually do. Alaine: Being an all girl band, you're viewed as some sort of novelty. thats not what we set out to do, but maybe we can inspire more girls to get involved so that if there are more girls involved, it wont be as weird and it wont be looked at as some sort of frill. DEVOTCHKAS DEVOTCHKAS What do you really think of the new Crust scene, and their version of 'feminism', 'anarchy', etc (I noticed the 'big fuck off to Crusty Hippies' on the first ep)? Gabrielle: I think we're cool with what other people's beliefs and ideals are as long as those are not pushed on us and we are not criticized for not having the same ones. That was directed towards people who talk shit just cuz we don't think the same way they do. Alaine: That was basicially directed to some crusties who summer camp in new york and automaticially assume they have the right to critisize, just because their parents wire them money to live a lifestyle that they choose. We have no problems with views different than our own...just as long as those views are not shoved down our throats. Everyone has a right to think the way they want. There's not much politics in your lyrics, is that deliberate, like 'leave it out of the music' or? Gabrielle: I think we try to sing about every day life and real life stuff instead of being really politically charged. Alaine: We do have our own opinions on political issues and subjects, but we do write more about social issues because that is what we are directly affected or inspired by. When I played your ep some girls I know objected to the 'Damaged Goods' lyrics. Can't say I have a problem with the words, but on the other hand, I can't really see a problem in some girl wanting to fuck a lot of guys, either. I don't think it makes her a whore. Wanna make some comments about the song? Gabrielle: I think the song was really trying to reflect on girls in the scene who sexully exploit themselves and end up looking like fools and risking their health. We just think it's dumb to try to climb the social ladder that way and we see a lot of girls making that attempt. Girls think that by latching onto a scenester boyfriend, they'll end up looking cool. But there are better ways to participate in the scene. There aren't enough girls trying to get involved in bands and participate in that way. Alaine: We do not give respect to girls who are in the scene for the sole purpose of spreading her legs for guys in bands... and that is the view that the song reflects. The song was written in specific about a certain girl in the scene in New York city, but many people can relate to it, because there is at least one damaged good to each scene. As Gabrielle said, there are better ways to be involved, than to exploit yourself by being a hole for a guy to put his dick in. DEVOTCHKAS DISCOGRAPHY: DEVOTCHKAS I know you did some live vocals for Vice Squad when Beki had lost her voice, did you know her before that and what do you think about their new stuff? I guess she's been a bit of an inspiration for you? Gabrielle: We played a few gigs with Vice Squad on their US tour and in Europe. The band was really cool to us and we had a lot of respect for Beki. I think it was fun for us to hang out with someone who's been around for so long and been a part of a band like that. Alaine: We were really excited to get to play shows with them. They have been an inspiration to us. We are looking foward to playing with them again. What's the best and the worst thing that happened to you as a band? Gabrielle: I would say the highlight has definitely been our European tour. Having that opportunity was amazing and it was really cool to see other parts of the world. Alaine: I can't say we have had anything terrible happen to us worth mentioning, but the best thing so far has been our tour. We had a great time and met a lot of great people. How's the New York scene now, any good bands or places? Or is it still full of rap-metal crap? Alaine: The only venue in Manhattan that does punk shows right now is CBGB's. There is still alot of rap-metal. There's a good new band called Treason, from the Bronx. I would like to see them get some tours and releases, because they're amazing. I know New York is a hard place to get started in as a band, theres a bit of a monoply when it comes to shows. Any news, like an LP or a european tour? Gabrielle: We are touring Europe this summer (June and July 2001) and we hope to have a new LP out before we leave for tour. Alaine: Yea, we are scrambling to get out an LP before we leave for tour in june of this year. For our european dates, go to: One-Sided Society.