CHELSEA - The Loner (Captain Oi!)
March Top 10
SQUALORA - Sugar Coated Submission (Wantage USA)
BAD CHOPPER CD - Why (Acme)
DEMON’S CLAWS - Little Things (Radio 81 / P Trash)
BILLYBONES - All Excess (Dr. Strange)
SCREWED UP FLYER - Today (Self-Released)
LIMB FROM LIMB - Old Fools (No Options)
TOYOTAS - (The Girl on) Channel 2 (Radio 81 / P Trash)
FUCK THIS - Die in the Dirt (Punks Before Profit$)
BORN BAD - Kill the Punks (Fashionable Idiots)
VICIOUS CYCLE - Nothing Special (Radio 81 / P Trash)
GAUZE - Track 4 (XXX Records)
HERESY – Never Healed (Speed State)
GRB - Compra Y Venta (Tralla)
CCM - Terminal Fun (Schizophrenic)
BGK - Rules (Alternative Tentacles)
PROTES BENGT - Smal Anal (Swedish Punk Classics)
HHH - Borracho (625 Productions)
ANXIETY ALERT - Well Deserved Death Stare (B.B.S.)
EPISODE - Side 1 song 2 (Sewercide)
CONQUEST FOR DEATH - No safe Words for Life (Give & Take)
BORED TO DEATH - No Friend (Sorry State)
AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER - Resurrect the Vampire (Tsunami)
CORBETA CORBATA - It’s Better Not to Know (Collective)
THE YOUTHS - Alone and Smiling (Criminal I.Q.)
HOMOSTUPIDS - Mr. Penis doing Mrs. Pussy (Radio 81 / P Trash)
FORCED MARCH - For the Dying (Self-Released)
CONDOMINIUM - Let’s Die (Self-Released)
WE’RE FUCKED - Y.F.F. (BBS Records)
TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM - He Always Wanted to be on TV (Sir Punkly)
SKULLFACE AND OTHERS - I Like Fastcore (Self-Released)
NATION OF FINKS - Love Hardcore Hate You (Kangaroo)
SPAZZ - Raging Hate, Fear & Flower Power Violence (Sound Pollution)
CHARLES BRONSON - Just Like All the Rest (625 Productions)
MERKIT - Can’t Get Right (Punks Before Profit$)
CROSS LAWS - Joke’s On Me (Sorry State)
C.O.C. - Nothing’s Gonna Change (Toxic Shock)
NEON CHRIST - The Death They’ll Give You (F-King)
KOROVA - Clockwork (Victimized)
KORO - Society Girl (Sorry State)
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - Memories of Tomorrow (Frontier)
Demo Feature
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Stavrogin (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Mr. McGloob (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Limp Generation (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Cunt (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Schadenfreude (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Nope (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Bull Tits (Self-Released)
URINARY TRACT INFECTION - A Fish (Self-Released)
THE BLOODREDS - Big Distraction (Loud Blaring Punk)
THE ROGUE NATIONS - Recruiters of Death (Suicide Watch)
ANTIBODIES - Plan B (Choking Hazard)
THE SPEARS - Bullet Proof (Choking Hazard)
C.P.C. GANGBANGS - Waves of Hate (Radio 81 / P Trash)
THE JURY - Can’t Fight the Feeling (Loud Blaring Punk)
SEX/VID - Tania (DOM America)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Top 10 – March 2008
Top 10 – March 2008
1. VICIOUS CYCLE “Neon Electric” ep (Radio 81)
2. BORN BAD “Moron Music” ep (Fashionable Idiots)
3. FUCK THIS / STATE split ep (Punks Before Profit$)
4. TOYOTAS “Run Down Cities” ep (Radio 81)
5. LIMB FROM LIMB “Death. Famine. Plague” CD (No Options)
6. SCREWED UP FLYER demo CD (Self-Released)
7. BILLYBONES “We’re Selfish” ep (Dr. Strange)
8. DEMON’S CLAWS s/t 12” (Radio 81)
9. BAD CHOPPER s/t CD (Acme)
10. SQUALORA “And So They Died Miserably Ever After” LP (Wantage USA)
Label Info:
* RADIO 81 c/o Simon Perusse / 2 - 1675 Boul. St-Joseph Est / Montreal, QC / H2J 1N1 / www.radio81records.com
* FASHIONABLE IDIOTS – P.O. Box 580131 / Minneapolis, MN / 55458 / USA / www.fashionableidiots.com
* PUNKS BEFORE PROFITS – P.O. Box 1148 / Grand Rapids, MI / 49501 / USA / www.punksbeforeprofits.com
* NO OPTIONS – P.O. Box 22285 / Oakland, CA / 94623 / USA / www.nooptionsrecords.com
* SCREWED UP FLYER – www.myspace.com/screwedupflyer
* DR. STRANGE – P.O. Box 1058 / Alta Loma, CA / 91701 / USA / www.drstrange.com
* ACME – P.O. Box 441 / Dracut, MA / 01826 / USA / www.acmerecords.net
* WANTAGE USA – P.O. Box 8681 / Missoula, MT / 59807 / USA / www.wantageusa.com
1. VICIOUS CYCLE “Neon Electric” ep (Radio 81)
2. BORN BAD “Moron Music” ep (Fashionable Idiots)
3. FUCK THIS / STATE split ep (Punks Before Profit$)
4. TOYOTAS “Run Down Cities” ep (Radio 81)
5. LIMB FROM LIMB “Death. Famine. Plague” CD (No Options)
6. SCREWED UP FLYER demo CD (Self-Released)
7. BILLYBONES “We’re Selfish” ep (Dr. Strange)
8. DEMON’S CLAWS s/t 12” (Radio 81)
9. BAD CHOPPER s/t CD (Acme)
10. SQUALORA “And So They Died Miserably Ever After” LP (Wantage USA)
Label Info:
* RADIO 81 c/o Simon Perusse / 2 - 1675 Boul. St-Joseph Est / Montreal, QC / H2J 1N1 / www.radio81records.com
* FASHIONABLE IDIOTS – P.O. Box 580131 / Minneapolis, MN / 55458 / USA / www.fashionableidiots.com
* PUNKS BEFORE PROFITS – P.O. Box 1148 / Grand Rapids, MI / 49501 / USA / www.punksbeforeprofits.com
* NO OPTIONS – P.O. Box 22285 / Oakland, CA / 94623 / USA / www.nooptionsrecords.com
* SCREWED UP FLYER – www.myspace.com/screwedupflyer
* DR. STRANGE – P.O. Box 1058 / Alta Loma, CA / 91701 / USA / www.drstrange.com
* ACME – P.O. Box 441 / Dracut, MA / 01826 / USA / www.acmerecords.net
* WANTAGE USA – P.O. Box 8681 / Missoula, MT / 59807 / USA / www.wantageusa.com
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Interview: Career Suicide
Okay it’s been six years and a couple of months, I suppose. You guys were partially to blame, especially you Martin, for getting Studio 3 up and running. It was your suggestion to bring HAYMAKER here, downstairs. Do you remember this?
Martin (M): It was?
Yeah it was.
M: Oh. Pat on my back.
Both CAREER SUICIDE and FUCKED UP were the early guinea pigs for the Studio 3 sessions. Catch us up on six years...
Jonah (J): A few tours, half a dozen records, and a whole lot of maturity.
That’s the Reader’s Digest version. Okay.
J: You can tell the difference between then and now.
Facial Hair?
J: No, no I mean just the sound. It’s still loud and fast but it’s just different now, you know?
M: How tired of life Jonah sounds. Completely unanimated. (laughter)
J: This used to be lit fluorescently. It was a really harsh environment and you had to act a certain way, with the way the CIUT studio looked. Now it’s lit with a mahogany desk lamp that looks like it came from the library of congress.
M: Where is Unkie Doug when you need him?
J: Yeah really.
And Jonah had made a CAREER SUICIDE shirt special for the last session.
J: Yeah. Apparently I was supposed to wear it again. I would have. I’ve been looking for an excuse to wear that shirt since 2002.
I thought you were going to break it out.
J: Stephe it was you that I promised I’d wear it.
Yeah, ‘cause I was talking to you about it.
M: When we were supposed to play here two months ago and we didn’t show up.
There it is.
M: There it is.
Dave (D): You can see that out in radio land?
J: CAREER SUICIDE has always been a band with faces for radio...clothes for radio.
M: You should have seen Jonah today.
J: Yeah my new thing now is belly ‘T’s’
I heard you talking about that earlier. Okay tell us about the line-up changes I think Martin and Jonah remain the constants. Initially you started up with Noah on bass and Eric on Drums. I think Noah played the first session right?
M: Yeah he did.
And Eric was on drums.
M: But Jonah and I, as you know, are not original members of CAREER SUICIDE so there are no original members.
You guys are the only members that remain constant.
M: No, ‘cause when the band started there was a CAREER SUICIDE show in Toronto that neither Jonah nor I were part of the band for.
Is that right?
M: Yeah I lived in Vancouver and Jonah was, I don’t know what he was doing.
J: I was in the arctic.
Who was in the band at that point?
M: Marc Pesci, Mark Garrett, Noah Gadke was the singer.
Okay.
J: Mark Garrett of TEEN CRUD / BUSH LEAGUE. Mark Pesci of Mark Pesci and Eric Smith was playing drums.
M: So, Mark Garrett was not in the band.
And it lives on... with no original members.
M: Somehow.
J: I may have overused this metaphor but it’s like when a dog has such bad plaque that all the teeth should have fallen out but the teeth are held in place anyway by the bad plaque. That’s like what CAREER SUICIDE is. Martin and I being the plaque.
Okay, so take us through the line-up changes. Who has been in the band since?
M: Oh my god. You got three hours? (laughter)
We do. No, not really but..but there’s been a few, no?
M: I think we’ve had twenty... we counted how many drummers we’ve had. We had. No, you know we’ve gone through the line-up changes, as of three years ago we were at or near twenty.
Twenty drummers?
M: Err..and bass players.
J: You have to...That depends how sensitive your filter is for ‘having a drummer’ like more than one show? More than one song?
Okay.
J: So if you count all the people that have been in the band for like a few bars...
Okay so who are some of the mainstays that were in the band?
J: Eric, Jesse Parker.
M: Noah Gadke.
J: Oh we’re doing just drummers? Eric Smith our first drummer was the mainstay. He was on our first LP he was on the first session, although he never did a tour with us.
M: He did Europe! He re-joined us for Europe.
J: Sorry. That’s a pretty important tour.
That’s Okay.
M: Jonah’s had a few cannolis tonight so he’s a little slow. He had an Italian Easter dinner.
J: Eric was with us in Europe, an important tour because that was the first record that we had out. Really, it was on that tour and also that was the first time we got…
That was the Ugly Pop release right?
J: No that was the Kangaroo single that came out at that time. It was a trio of things like three records that were recorded almost a year apart. The Ugly Pop 12” which was recorded in 2002, the Kangaroo single which was recorded in very early 2003 and the “SARS” single all coincided for that tour.
M: We didn’t have the “SARS” EP on that tour.
J: Didn’t we?
M: No.
No, that one came out later didn’t it?
J: It was an important time.
M: Jonah has lived a hard life for the last six years. Lots of drugs, lots of drinking.
J: You kids don’t know shit.
M: Brain cells are a little gone, just bear with him.
J: Well Eric left the band. We got a new drummer who played with us for a couple of years and we had a new bass player.
M: If Miller were here he’d interrupt Jonah right now and say it’s completely irrelevant. The final and forever line-up of the band is here right now; Matt Miller on bass, Dave Brown on drums, Jonah Falco on guitar and this guy on vocals.
Okay, how did Matt and Dave come to join the band?
M: Well let’s let Dave tell the story of how he joined the band.
Let’s tell the story.
D: Actually I ended up joining the band through coming here, to the radio show. I was here one night and I was being very bitter and jaded and I mentioned to Andy from THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE that I was thinking about moving back to the Maritimes. My six months I had spent in Toronto were not exactly all that I had hoped for. The rays of sunshine had clouded over and I wasn’t doing anything. I didn’t really have a good job. I wasn’t playing in any bands and he happened to mention that CAREER SUICIDE were looking for a drummer or were you know, in need of somebody, a mainstay I guess you could say. Anyways I sent off an e-mail to Jonah who at the time was a regular DJ at the show here... or a regular host. We sent a couple of e-mails back and forth and at first it was sort of “Yeah, I don’t really know we’ll keep you in mind” and I get another e-mail back and it’s like: “Yeah, well ... Maybe, maybe we can have you do you know the occasional Toronto show” and then it was like “Hey yeah, do you want to come out and practice with us and stuff and everything...?” and it just went from there. We practiced and it turned out to be pretty good so the rest is history.
And how long ago was that?
D: It was three years ago. A little over three years so.
Okay, and how did Matt join the band.
J: Matt came from a dream, really.
A dream?
M: Matt Miller is a guy I’ve known since I lived out in Vancouver for a year, back in ’98.
Is he from Vancouver or was he just..?
M: No he’s from I think he was born in Manitoba, grew up in Sault Ste Marie. He was a Weedman out in Vancouver. He did landscaping. The first time I met him was at a supermarket and he was playing Frisbee with a pie.
And you knew he had to be in the band.
M: Yeah, and long story short I became friends with him when I lived out there for a year. I moved back there right before CAREER SUICIDE really got started for half a year and Miller and I started a band out there called EMO DESTROYER and he moved to Ottawa.
Was he always into punk or did you get him into punk?
M: No, no, he was. I’m not really sure what the story is of how he got into punk but he was really into SNFU.
J: He used to have a three foot tall green Mohawk.
M: He did and he had braided OFFSPRING hair back in the nineties.
J: Leopard print shorts.
M: I mean anyone who’s seen us live in the last few years knows what Miller looks like, definitely. Hopefully laughing right now...
J: His wilder years are behind him, fashion-wise.
M: And yeah, this weekend actually he gave up his World Trade centre sneakers.
World Trade Centre sneakers?
M: Oh yeah he’s got these awesome Jamaican coloured red, green, yellow and white sneakers that I don’t know where he got them on tour.
J: He got them at Adrift.
M: Oh, he got them at Adrift. Yeah, yeah and they’ve got this stencil of the World Trade Centre.
J: It’s not a stencil, it’s a full photo.
M: However it’s been applied to the leather, it’s beautiful and they weigh two kilos each. Anyways so, he moved to Ottawa. We were between bass players and I knew he would enjoy it as much as we would enjoy being in the band with him and even though it’s been a little bit rough having a bass player that lives five hours away, I think there is, in all seriousness, a really amazing chemistry between all of us in the band and so...even though it can be frustrating sometimes that we’re not always available to play local shows and do all the things we want to...when we go on the road it’s just non-stop laughing.
Even today when you guys were setting up it seemed like it was just jokes you know. It’s good. I mean that atmosphere. You know, being on tour is grating, especially at the best of times right? And I can see how you guys alleviate that by….
M: ...being idiots.
J: Well there’s no pressure so.
D: It helps musically too like Miller’s given me some pointers on the drums over the years which I’ve taken to heart. He’s got a few signature moves that he shared with me to make the band that much better.
He seems like a well-rounded musician you know, the way he was even picking up the guitar there.
D: Oh yeah.
So yeah, what are some of the obstacles though? Having a guy in another city. It’s got to be kind of frustrating. Let’s talk about the frustrating side of it.
J: Well I mean, we’ve been a band for a long time and part of that reason is we haven’t used up all our life, sort of in one go. I mean having Miller far way has forced us, in a way, to spread things apart greatly whether it’s recordings or shows or practicing. Its changed things that way you know. We may have been more ...well not necessarily more productive, we may have been too productive if we’d been in the same place at the same time. Everybody, Dave and I get together and practice and get easily excitable about a few songs and if Miller were here we might be playing a show every week and this way it allows us to take our time a little bit ... on the positive side. Sometimes it’s for better, sometimes it’s for worse but all in all it gives us a certain amount of breathing room for the band.
D: We don’t exactly blow our load.
All at once. Makes sense.
J: Plus I mean, everybody gets busy and it’s like, you can just blame it on the guy who lives in another city. If you can’t do the stuff.
M: Yeah, it’s a great way to get out of shows you don’t want to play.
D: Miller’s a great scapegoat.
J: We’re just not ready, he just can’t make it.
Very good. Okay we attempted to try and do this release thing. Let’s start again, the releases that you’ve had out, because at the beginning I think when you first started there was only a demo tape or, maybe not even.
M: Oh the first session we did? Yeah that was our first proper recording in any sort of studio. Like the demo we recorded in our drummer’s basement in like, 15 minutes.
So take us through a discography of CAREER SUICIDE.
J: Chronologically, like, release wise or recording wise?
Recording wise because I think it’s probably easier.
J: The demo and then...
That was in 2001?
J: 2001. Then my solo record..
No, it couldn’t have been in 2001 ‘cause you guys recorded in 2002. The summer probably, right?
J: No, we recorded in October or November of 2001.
M: Let’s not be technical, just go through the list.
J: The demo was first.
D: There were two demos, weren’t there?
J: Demo was first. We recorded for the Ugly Pop record. The Ugly Pop record took a long time to come out so we released a second demo, which was songs from the Ugly Pop record. Before the Ugly Pop record was actually released, came the 7” on Kangaroo records followed then by the “SARS” 7” and then the long awaited Ugly Pop LP came after that, so our second and third record came out and then our first record came out.
In different orders?
J: In different orders. So, I mean, I don’t know how much of a conscious direction the band was taking other than we sat down and were like oh yeah, you know it’s gonna go this way and this way. Step 2, step 3 then step 1. After that, came the JED WHITEY split, which was broken loaded by Simon again. He found JED WHITEY, pulled out the record and it had a cheeseburger and the thick 7” on the cover plugged into a super fuzz distortion pedal timed perfect. Right up our alley. Let’s work together.
M: What was Brandon from DIRECT CONTROL’s review of that record?
J: He scratched off the JED WHITEY side, drew a dick on person’s hand on the cover and vowed never to listen to their side. Obviously he’s not going to listen to it again. After JED WHITEY came the “Signals” record, which was a single on Slasher followed by “Invisible Eyes” which coincided with our tour of Japan. Yannick of Feral Ward helped set up that tour with us and...
He released something, didn’t he?
J: Yeah, he released “Invisible Eyes”, coincided with our tour of Japan was ‘cause we managed to play shows in the States with FORWARD which is sort of how we got our foot in the door with going over there. “Invisible Eyes”.
So you met FORWARD here before going over there?
M: We almost didn’t. The border guards didn’t want to let us in.
Oh yeah?
M: But yeah, but we made it and we played three shows with them in the States. The first we barely made it on time because we got held up at the border.
Was it out west or...?
M: Philadelphia was our first show and we played in this like biker/motorcycle repair garage. It was like a hot humid July day. It was so sweaty. We played. It was us UPSTAB, FORWARD and somebody else.
J: CLOCKCLEANER and PAINT IT BLACK.
M: CLOCKCLEANER yeah, it was so much fun. And they stayed with our friend Gabby in his wife’s house in Philadelphia and it was the first time we ever met Alana, his wife. We all slept on the floor and the guys from FORWARD, they all slept in their own room. We walk in there and they’re all perfectly folded up like you’d expect to see somebody in a coffin. Each of them laying with their heads on their leather jackets, like, snoring away and then as soon as they woke up they all started shaving their eyebrows and Mohawks and...
Getting ready...
M: Exactly.
Wow.
M: But back to the discography...
J: That was like love at first sight for us and FORWARD, we’ve been on two tours with them since through Japan so, many happy hellos to them.
And they’ve taught you some Japanese, I understand, right?
J: Well the last one they taught us, they kept on, it wasn’t even them, it was these other guys in VIVISICK. They kept telling us to say the word “monko” before we went on.
D: “Monko”. That’s what it was. I couldn’t remember that.
J: We asked FORWARD what it meant, and they smiled and they held their fingers and their thumbs into a triangle and raised it above their heads and said “In the sky...” so we chanted and chanted, and I think a North American living in Japan came over and told us that we just told the crowd to lick pussy.
(laughter)
J: So, alright. Lick pussy Tokyo. After “Invisible Eyes” there was almost a couple of years, where that was right when Jesse stopped being our drummer. Right when Dave joined the band and we were getting him pulled into the fold and prior we had plans to do a recording for a full length with our friend from Virginia and did so. And that pretty much brings us up to date. After that it’s been pretty much show after show and there hasn’t been a release.
Well, there’s been a couple of anthologies right, like collections of the stuff and there’s been “Attempted Suicide”.
J: Right, that’s the LP that I’m referring to “Attempted Suicide” and actually, it would be a good time to announce we got a new record that’s going to come out.
Oh really?
J: Yeah, it’s about time. We got four new songs.
A 7”?
J: We’ll see.
M: Last I heard, it was going to be a 7” or a double 7” but maybe Jonah’s re-negotiated that contract.
D: Double single.
And who’s going to put that out?
J: We don’t know yet. It’s top secret.
Right.
M: Big surprise. It’s going to blow your mind.
You mentioned something about Brandon, he was in the band for a little while wasn’t he?
J: He actually played with us on and off. Brandon we met on the first tour of the States and, stayed with him and became friends.
Was he playing bass or drums?
J: No, no he played drums with us. He played second guitar with us a few times too. If there’s one thing CAREER SUICIDE has a problem with, aside from having a central line up, its’ like letting anybody else play at the same time. There’s been more than one fifth member I think...every now and then.
Okay. Um, I wanted to ask you about tours. Where have you been? I think you’ve been almost everywhere, haven’t you?
M: We’ve been to Europe twice, all over the States, Japan twice...
Okay, and where did you go first? Did you go to Europe first or?
M: Europe was the first tour in 2003.
And that was signed by Kangaroo?
M: Yes.
J: Didn’t we do the States before that?
M: Yeah, yeah...I guess we did a mini tour of the U.S. first.
...and that was with FORWARD?
M: No, no that was long before that. That was when we barely had a demo out. It was just sort of on a whim. Somebody asked us when we were coming to California and we were like California? Nobody even asks us to play in Toronto and we were like “Hey, maybe we should go on tour” and we did.
So did you go out West?
M: Yeah, we’ve been out West but not on that tour. First tour was just like the Mid-West.
Like Chicago and that?
M: Chicago and St. Louis.
St. Louis?
M: We went as far East as Boston on that one, I think.
That’s a pretty big range, yeah?
M: Yeah a lot of driving.
I would think yeah...Kansas City is far, or St. Louis is far. Missouri.
M: Misery in Missouri.
When was that in 2002?
M: Something like that 2002.
Where did you go next?
M: Then it was Europe. I mean keep in mind when CAREER SUICIDE goes on tour it’s not like a regular band where we’re going on the road for three months. When we go on the road it’s often for a weekend or a longer one would be ten days and I don’t think we’ve ever been on a tour that’s longer than two weeks. So, I mean, both times we’ve gone to Japan it’s been like ten days. Europe, two weeks each time.
You were telling me that you went to like Northern Europe, like Scandinavia and Denmark I think?
M: Yeah, the first time we went on tour the furthest North we went was Copenhagen and then the last European tour in 2006...
But you didn’t stay in the Peninsula then. You went to Copenhagen and then you came to the continent or something?
M:Well I mean it’s still on the continent but then after Copenhagen the next show is probably somewhere in Germany and then the last time we played three shows in Sweden.
J: Basically, we’ve been lucky enough on every tour to have gone somewhere we hadn’t gone the previous time and we would happily and successfully return to the places we have been. There was one summer where we played in Pittsburgh more times than a band from Pittsburgh would have played Pittsburgh and since then we just haven’t gone back. It’s been like three years.
D: My first show with the band was in Pittsburgh, and we’ve not gone back there since.
M: We’re going back there this June or July or whenever Ian Dickson’s birthday is.
D: Hopefully so.
What about memorable places. What was most memorable? Pick a memorable place that you played.
M: Los Angeles.
Tell us about it.
M: Los Angeles?
Yeah, what happened?
M: It was the first West Coast tour that we ever did and we were playing with CUT THE SHIT and THE RITES and the show just sort of came together. I can’t remember what the story was but it came together in some sort of bizarre way in which all three bands were on tour, all three bands needed a show and it just got brought together so they had no idea who should headline what the order should be? So we ended up doing it by coin toss. We ended up playing second I think, right after some band from Buffalo, SKATECORPS. Anyways I guess it might have been the first show of the tour?
J: Yeah, the very first.
M: So we’d never been to California before. It was like 2004 or 2005 and we had no idea what to expect and we had a really good reaction. We had a great time, played our set, we got off, the crowd were totally into it. We got off and CUT THE SHIT played. They got an okay reaction. THE RITES played, they got an okay reaction. They all seemed pretty excited to be playing last and as soon as their set was over, everybody kept cheering and chanting, so they probably thought they needed to play an encore. But as it turned out, what everyone was chanting was CAREER SUICIDE, CAREER SUICIDE, CAREER SUICIDE.
Oh wow.
M: So they brought us back up on stage and made us play again, and it was totally embarrassing.
J: We played a FANG cover and one of our own songs.
A FANG cover?
M: Yeah and the place just went insane and I still have the scar to prove it because, it was so hot that I took my shirt off and Jonah hit me in the back and blood was pouring out of my back and then I got a sunburn the next day on Laguna Beach so that sort of sealed the wound. Cauterized it.
M: Oh yeah, like Rambo.
Jonah, what was your most memorable show?
J: I’m going to shoot it over to Dave for now because he had this one on the tip of his tongue.
D: Definitely. On the last European tour we started things off in Amsterdam and we ended things off...
Does this involve transvestite bars?
D: Oddly enough, it doesn’t.
J: It involves that other thing that Holland is famous for.
Pot?
D: Nazis!
Nazis???
D: One! Two! Three! Four!
What happened?
D: So we were in Utrecht. It was the last show of the tour. We were playing at a space that was not only used as a show space but also a bar and a practice space and we showed up and it turned out there was a group of fascists, or Nazis, or what have you that were practicing at the space. Four or five really large gentleman and we were inside just like sort of hanging out and some of the guys from SEEIN’ RED came up to us and were like “Just so you know, there are some Fascists here” and apparently something had happened the day before. Apparently a Nazi rally or something like that.
M: Well, it was insane though ‘cause there were, I don’t know maybe like, five or six of the skinheads and there were at least 200 people at this show and they were completely un-intimidated. They didn’t give a shit. There were five of them and 200 of us but...
D: Yeah, the guys from SEEIN RED regardless, they sort of warned us that there were some Fascists there and things were not really that happy.
M: We were scared.
J: I should also add though, there was a Nazi rally and the anti-fascists had broken it up so, these guys were looking for revenge and the SEEIN RED roadie comes up to us and says: “Yah, I just want to let you know that these guys they came here tonight actually specifically to fuck with you guys, because we broke up their rally. They came to screw with you so keep on a look out”.
D: Essentially that sets the stage. So we get up on stage and we go into a couple of songs and everything is going well and, I didn’t really notice it because I’m behind the kit and the next thing I know Jonah just stops playing and Noah stops playing and I look out and there’s this huge sea of people going everywhere. Just this way and that. It turns out the Nazis had charged their way through the door and just started beating the shit out of everybody. Somebody just smashed a chair over a friend’s head. Throwing pint glasses. There’s people bleeding and stuff like that. So they just came in. They did their thing and just bolted out of there. A lot of people were really upset about this but there wasn’t really anything done about it so a couple of guys who were there were like “Kick them out, kick them out, we have to fight the fascists”.
M: That was me.
D: No offence to the people there, but typical Dutch apathy. Everyone was like... “meh, fuck whatever, let them tire themselves out”.
J: Everyone is just standing around and these guys are wielding bats and chains.
D: Yeah, it’s like five guys versus this whole crowd of people and the Nazis are just like “What are you going to do about it?” and everybody’s just sort of standing around. Nobody’s really doing anything, but it cuts in the middle of our set and after a bunch of shouting, the Nazis, I don’t know if anybody kicked them out or if they just left.
J: I’m sure they were like “ah, you guys have had enough. We’ll go home. Sorry, our bad”.
D: After everything had happened we just went in and finished the rest of our set, but by the end of it, at the end of the night when everything was said and done, we were getting ready to leave and a couple of people came up to us and they were very concerned that there were a whole bunch of the fascists waiting outside to beat the shit out of us and that we shouldn’t go out to our van because there were fascists waiting in every dark corner and they were going to jump out and destroy us and mutilate us beyond recognition.
J: So consider like, the five of us and the people we were with. The crew of Dutch roadies run out of the place like that scene in Gallipoli where they all go over the top at the end. So like screaming running through the parking lot getting in this van, expecting...everybody’s shouting and screaming and running around in circles and we stop and look around the parking lot which is completely empty in the most perfectly silent calm night with clear skies and they weren’t waiting for us but..
So it’s a bit anti-climatic at the end.
J: Well I mean, who’s to say they weren’t right? Who’s to say we didn’t take them all on with our bare hands.
Still, it’s interesting to have a riot going on, or a near riot during your set.
D: You’ll be happy to know though Stephe, after our set though we did go in search of the transsexuals, so it does have a happy ending.
J: Especially for junior.
Was Henk with you?
D: Henk our fearless leader.
M: Well, you know what? Considering the crowd of people that we hang out with in Amsterdam, chances are that the reason those Nazis were probably after us is because Henk probably told them that we were from Israel or something. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. I never saw a poster, but that’s probably what it said CAREER SUICIDE from Africa and Israel, come get some.
Here’s the bait.
D: That was, I think, the first major tour that I went on with CAREER SUICIDE so lots of things have happened before and since then but that was definitely one of the stories that stands out for me.
Jonah? Have you had time to...
J: Last night. Lee’s Palace, March 22nd 2008.
Every night’s a highlight.
J: A nervous but excited CAREER SUICIDE takes the stage for the first time since November. I flip that volume switch on and blacked out and woke up at the end of the set. It was the best night of my life.
D: He was fucking living man. He was living.
J: Every time we went to Japan, which is more than most bands can say, I can most sincerely say was a fantastic experience.
M: Jonah says that in a humble way.
No, I know he’s not bragging.
J: A little bit. I’m a little bit bragging.
But it was exciting right? It was something different.
J: It was great. Japan has a super rich and super unique history of the kind of music we play and we don’t exactly tune into that sound in what we play. I mean we all listen to it and we know about it but ...
Was it going to Japan or was it the bands that you played with?
J: It was a number of things right. I mean first of all, because we were friends with FORWARD we were plugged into a really real and really old scene that has like a lot of. I mean considering punk music right, has a lot of famous people still hanging around I mean the average age is much older and the amount of history, the amount of bands that has been produced over the years between the people we met and ...
Did you get introduced to a lot of those people?
M: There’s a reason why we don’t have our pinkie fingers anymore Stephe.
D: The great thing about the Japanese punk scene is that all the people that were in these bands in the eighties are all still involved. They’re all still in bands.
M: Or dead.
Or dead, yeah.
D: So there’s that aspect and second of all, not a lot of people get to go to Japan.
No, for sure.
J: On the back of you know, Martin didn’t get to go, we brought someone else. Eric sang.
D: We brought out Uncle Dougie.
J: It was the same time that “SARS” came out. We went to Japan and Eric sang and Martin stayed home because he quit to move to Ottawa to play bass in TRIPOD THE DOG.
M: That’s right.
J: Not a lot of people get to go to this country in the first place. Very far away.
And expensive, yeah.
J: And everybody thinks that Japan is like the most exotic wild place in the world and that it’s where you go to get your mind blown and we get to go for free a couple times and, not only that, but we don’t have to experience it at like a TGIFridays with the rest of the Western tourists it’s like we’re hanging out with people that most tourists wouldn’t even meet. It was very impacting and it sounds a little cheesy, but I took a lot from hanging out with those people and seeing them play their instruments and their attitudes to how they approach playing in a band period. So I really appreciate having been able to have gone there and that’s been a very lasting memory for me.
M: And your recent weight loss.
J: My recent weight loss.
D: Ah yes!
M: He was reminded on the second trip to Japan.(laughter)
J: There’s nothing to incur weight loss like humiliation en mass or being noticed.
What happened?
J: Because, the first time we went to Japan I was a little nervous.
Does this involve baby ‘T’s or?
J: Well, eventually. We went and we had a great tour. It was like a real surprise. We had a great tour and then when we went back, a little more confident than I should have been and I came in and I had my leather jacket on that I wore the first tour and I’m feeling pretty good. I had longer hair. Feeling a little cocky and the first thing everyone said was not “great to see you, or great show” it was “hmmm, you’ve put on weight. You look like Pig Champion”. And every city, the only observation was like “you got fat, like really fat”.
Wow.
M: We were staying at Ishiya, the singer of FORWARD’s house and his girlfriend or wife or whatever, she had taken photos on the first tour and she took photos at our Tokyo show the second tour around and she’s showing me and she’s like “Oh, look at photos from before, when Jonah was young” ...one year before.(laughter)
One year, wow.
M: And for anyone who doesn’t know, Jonah’s 25 now.
J: Like I said, a whole lot of maturity. You can age a lot in a year.
I’m sure.
J: There you go.
So, ah, who were some of the bands then, and people that you met?
D: Chelsea.
J: Chelsea from DEATHSIDE and PAINTBOX. We got to sort of spend the night hanging out with him. That was a pretty big deal. Ishiya and Souichi from FORWARD. Ishiya was of course in DEATHSIDE. Souichi was in GOURAN and INSANE YOUTH. The bass player of FORWARD was in SYSTEMATIC DEATH. The guys from the SLOW MOTIONS who were all in EVANCE and I think someone from the SLOW MOTIONS played in the line-up for THE STALIN. Guys from LIP CREAM, guys from OTTO, a guy from THE CUMS, from THE EXECUTE, and other bands like I’m sure WORLD BURNS TO DEATH can have like a better roster of cool people they met. We never met the guys from JUDGEMENT and we never played with CROW and we never played with ZOUO or whatever but...
It’s enough to make your head spin there...
D: We played a show in Hamamatsu and the bass player from G.I.S.M. was dancing, front of the stage for our entire set.
Wow, that’s crazy.
J: He was also wearing raver beads and had glow sticks in his mouth and he doesn’t look much different than he did then...
M: And he was at the rockabilly party afterwards.
J: That’s right hanging out with WARHEAD who came to hang out in Hamamatsu.
M: We had a dance party with WARHEAD.Swing dancing with the guys from WARHEAD.
J: The names may or may not mean a lot to you but if you listen to the music, it’s a nice thing and it’s nice to be able to at least have been privy to that context of music which is storied and fetishized over here. It’s nice to have been there.
J: We’re fucking pretty important, hands down.
M: Yeah, why not.
I don’t know, but you’ve been to quite a few places and I was wondering if you could share a few stories with us. That’s pretty much what I’m getting at.
M: This one time we played in Sudbury at a dance studio.
D: That was a killer show. We were top of our game.
M: This other time...
Do you want to do some lowlights?
J: Way too many.
M: We played at CIUT this morning, Sunday afternoon.
... and they didn’t even have an engineer.
M: Don’t worry about it.
D: Don’t need ‘em. Engineers not punk.
M: Wouldn’t happen in Japan, let me tell you.
Okay I want to ask you about, there’s this Youtube video going around with “Recipe for Disaster”, tell us about that. What is that?
M: There’s this guy, it’s actually kinda...one night I couldn’t fall asleep and, somebody sent me this link to, I don’t really read blogs but somebody told me about this blog called Torontoist? And I happened to see Mike Long’s name who’s a guy that’s known from shows forever. For probably like the last 10 or 12 years and I clicked on it and it turned out his mom bought him a MacBook Pro or something and he makes a video of himself everyday dancing to some song in his I-tunes library with a video camera that’s built into the screen. Anyways, it was three in the morning and I was just like. I got to e-mail him and see what’s up with this and as a postscript wrote “When are you going to do a CAREER SUICIDE video” and he wrote me back like five minutes later and he’s just like “Aw, I love you guys like I’d love to do it, I’ll have it done tomorrow” and sure enough, the next day, there it was on Youtube.
It looks like it’s in a restaurant or something.
M: Yeah, I think that because it’s ‘Recipe for Disaster’. He did it in a kitchen. That’s the theme or...
But does he work in a kitchen or?
M: By the way, just before we move on. My father who is incredibly critical of absolutely everything I’ve ever done or do or will ever do in my life…one of the only compliments he sort of paid me in my entire life is somehow he found that video and he’s like..
“Recipe for Disaster” ?
M: Yeah, and he’s like “That guy has really cool shoes”. (laughter)
They do stand out.
M: Yeah.
I think they fit in with the cover of this.
M: They do.
With the cover of this…
M: Artistic genius.
J: It’s a rare colour…red.
D: Obviously he hasn’t seen Millers old kicks.
M: No.
No, no. Okay I wanted to ask you if there are any stories behind any of the songs on “Attempted Suicide”.
M: No.
None?
M: None.
Okay. “Saving Face”, what’s that about?
M: “Saving Face”. Stephe let’s hear your interpretation. I mean I know the thing is ask us that golden question.
The Golden question?
J: The Stephe question.
No.
J: What’s our favorite song.
Do you want to answer that question?
J: No. Of course not.
See, the thing is I might have asked it when we originally did this interview right. But back then there wasn’t releases, and there’s a lot of stuff now.
J: We should mention that this is the first record we’ve ever done that had lyrics in it. So it’s actually a viable question. At this point, if any of us have read the lyrics.
M: I don’t know them.
D: I’ve glanced at them.
M: See the nice thing about being in charge, and I know I’ve said this a bunch of times but it relates to today as well. The nice thing about being in charge of all the artwork for the records, I put all the artwork not that everyone else doesn’t have influence but I do all the layouts so I cut whatever I want so it’s been really easy for me to cut the lyrics out much the same way as today when I was both blessed and cursed with the opportunity to edit the radio session together. I got the opportunity to cut out whatever songs I fucked up so, that’s why “Bored, Bored, Bored” didn’t make it on to the recording.
Which you did record this afternoon.
M: Right, so basically Jonah twisted my arm and I can’t remember what he held over my head but “This time,” he said “you have to print the lyrics to this record.” So… I actually had to work a little bit more on them.
D: Now everybody knows.
So now that they’re in there, tell us about “Saving Face”.
M: I haven’t read them since.
Yeah, but you wrote them.
M: Yeah but did you listen to the radio session today, I don’t remember any of the words. It’s all *blahmlah*… gibberish.
I’m not asking for a line by line analysis but generally, what’s the song about?
M: You know I’m not even joking. I have no recollection.
J: Actually, I think I was going to, if you had asked me what my favorite song from a lyrical standpoint was I was actually going to say “Saving Face”.
Okay let’s. Sure, answer that question.
J: I was going to say “Saving Face”.
Why? Why do you like it?
J: It’s about two sides to your own decisions, I think. It’s about you react one way and someone takes it another way, you know. You think your making an important evaluative and educated choice but maybe it just looks like you’re saving your own ass.
M: Face.
J: Your face. “Saving Face”… is the name of the song.
Much of your lyrics are like that, they have more than one meaning…Is that the case?
M: Okay seriously yes. My personal preference in listening to music, especially from a lyrical perspective. I really like music or lyrics that are a little bit open ended or open to interpretation so the song can mean one thing to one person and something else to someone else.
Which is why people don’t want to talk about them in some cases right? But they do give us clues into some of the original intentions or the meanings. It gives people direction right? So that’s why.
J: I agree with that and as much as CAREER SUICIDE, this is going to sound funny because it’s going to sound like a criticism, but as much as CAREER SUICIDE is a band that doesn’t have any direction, not stylistically in the ‘go nowhere’ sense. I mean there’s not anything that you can tangibly associate CAREER SUICIDE with other than style. Like musical style so that’s part of the reason why I wanted to have lyrics printed. At least you can associate another part of the experience of listening to music with the band.
And I pull meaning from some of the lyrics. I think you’re a good writer and I’m curious to know what some of the songs are really about. Because I’m sitting here wondering, what are they about. Anyways, do you have a favorite song from a lyrical standpoint, Martin?
M: You know I’m going to answer it in a roundabout way. I have a song from a lyrical perspective that I enjoy singing the most.
Okay, what’s that?
M: “The Last Say” and that maybe the most blunt song on there too so it kinda flies in the face of what I just said. So from a listener perspective it’s probably the song I would like lyrically the least but I don’t know. For some reason it’s really straight forward and I really like it.
What’s it about?
M: That one in a way could be the title track for the record. I mean that’s the one song that is actually about suicide and attempting suicide.
J: Metaphorically or literally?
M: Literally, quite literally yes. Read the lyrics it’ll blow your mind now that you know what it’s about.
J: To speak to the same, the other side of the whole like no dimension no direction kinda, it’s also kinda imposing for a band to force you to only experience their music and a lot of people would reach for the lyrics as much as they would reach for the music or reach more for the lyrics then they would the music so in this case, what we’ve been doing for the past six years is strictly imposing what our thoughts on how what our punk band should sound on everybody and, people react one way or they react the other way. So there’s two sides to that coin, as there is with all the other coins in the world.
Not imposing though, I think people are inspired. I wouldn’t say imposing.
M: Well inspired by the not knowing.
No, I think you guys write good music and people love it and then they want to be like you in some ways. I mean there’s countless bands who I’ve had come in here who cite CAREER SUICIDE as an influence. Countless.
J: Oh, that’s great to hear.
There are loads of bands from all kinds of places that I’ve had come in here and, you know when the questions come up about influences, CAREER SUICIDE come up. Often.
J: I see that our imposition worked.
I don’t think that you’re imposing anything. I think you’re playing music you like.
J: No, I agree. I mean it’s not conscious. It’s not a philosophical in anyway but it’s just, coincidental that if you want to pick apart lyrics versus no lyrics it’s like kind of totalitarian, in a way. It’s like no you can’t have the words, here’s music and music only. I actually think that the music over matter kinda resonated a lot with what’s happening in hardcore right now. Not to say that we are substance less.
In fact I think I would argue the exact opposite but I think with the ambiguity that you’re talking about Martin it does give a lot of people the ability to agree with some of the things that you’re saying like “Oh yeah that”. Like they can apply it to their own life without having that sort of imposition that Jonah is talking about, right? So, the ambiguity allows people to be able to apply it to their life and just sort of take hold of the song and just really get into it. It becomes part of you, right? And I don’t think it’s by design. I’m not saying it’s by design. I don’t think you guys are you know… but you do capture what people go through.
M: Well let’s be honest I mean and they’ll be differing opinions about this but punk rock is an emotional style of music you know. It’s not necessarily an intellectual kind of music. Not that intelligent people can’t play and be interested in punk but I mean you even look at bands like the CLASH. They were a political band but they’re a headline band. They’re not a band that necessarily understood deeply any issues the way that a subject matter expert would, but still they evoked that emotion, and that’s why it was powerful and I think that at least I’d like to hope that we do a good job with that and I do a decent job with that with the lyrics. That even though I may not be very specific about what subject I’m singing about or that there’s an exact topic about it. It does evoke an emotion, or whatever my emotion is on whatever it means to me comes through and whoever’s listening to it can interpret that and they can take the song to mean whatever the hell they want but that emotion is being conveyed. I just got a text message from Mark Rodenhizer begging us to stop talking about this so.
J: Okay.
D: Thank you Mark, thank you. *pffft * that’s for you buddy.
Dave do you have a favourite song from a lyrical standpoint.
D: Actually I do have, from the lyrics that I know. I do have a favourite song from a lyrical standpoint and it just happens to be “The Last Say”. But I will say that the reason why I am choosing that song is because A) it stuck with me and B) also because it stood out because after reading all of Martin’s lyrics, though I think all the lyrics on the “Attempted Suicide” album are really good. They’re not exactly you know straight forward hardcore lyrics. That’s the one that sort of sticks with me and I remember just because it’s so straightforward. I think it carries a really good message with it. Because of that, you know, we were talking about how some lyrics might not, you know, they’re open for interpretation and everything. I think the message with that is the most straightforward and I think maybe that’s why it sort of stuck with my memory. And also, I just like the way it’s worded and everything like that.
J: Can I just say that for a band that has not had lyrics printed for six years who the hell would have thought we’d be talking about our lyrics on the air for more than five seconds.
Okay, Well I do want to..
M: *laughter* Next question.
No, I want to…it’s a related question I want to play word association with you, Martin.
J: Alright.
Because I mean, the way that “The Last Say”, you say is about suicide so tell me, just one word answers…ah… “You Got Caught”.
M: Hot Dog.
Hot Dog? Okay…Hot Dog?
M: Hot Dog. Sorry that was two words, my fault. Pizza.
Food? Junk Food?
M: Sure.
No…But in seriousness, what is it about, what is it about? You Got Caught, Hot Dog?
M: You’re saying word association.
Roughly, give me a little bit more than that little of a clue, I don’t get it.
M: Spicy Italian sausauge with relish mustard saurkraut.
D: Masturbation.
What is it about?
M: What song?
“You Got Caught”.
D: “You Got Caught”.
M: Getting caught.
D: Masturbation.
Masturbation?
D: It’s about when…
M: Dave, you know I confided this to you on tour. I was drunk. I asked you not to tell anybody.
D: It was when our dear friend Brandon Ferrel was caught spanking it by his parents.
And that became a song that you wrote about?
M: That’s correct, yes.
“Blink”.
M: Slurpee.
Slurpee?
M: Slurpee.
Is it all going to be junk food?
M: Cherry slurpee.
What is it about?
M: Seven Eleven
What is it about?
D: Emus?
Emus?
D: Sure, …I think.
Is this word association of the absurd ?
M: I don’t know, it’s your game. I asked if there’s a psychologist in the house.
D: We’re just going on with the program Stephe.
J: Wait, I just heard a beep. What does Mark say about this ?
“Out of the Fray”.
M: Mark says my favourite song is “Quarantine” because it’s geographical and funny and mildly racist.
D: Thank you Mark for that input on the subject. Maybe we should start talking about pizza.
M: I think you’ve reached our seriousness quota.
Okay because we started off talking about “Recipe for Disaster” does that have a context to it?
M: Gourmet Salami.
D: Schwartz’s.
No no but when I think of that I think of the UNION OF URANUS record, “Disaster by Design”.
M: No offense to any members of UNION OF URANUS but, definitely not an influence.
No, but what’s it about?
M: “Recipe for Disaster” ?
Is it something that happened in the scene, is it something that happened?
M: You know what, I have a vague recollection of writing that song.
J: It sounds pretty cautionary to me…
D: It’s about when Farkas got kicked out of cooking school.
(laughter) Okay.
M: I wish.
D: Master of the culinary arts.
Okay I’m going to move on Dave, you started a label called Sewercide.
D: I did!
What have you released to date?
D: Well, technically it’s only one. There’s a friend’s band from Nova Scotia called CRIMINAL INTENT. They’re still an active band though they’re sort of going through some troubles with getting out and touring and getting out of the Maritimes but ...
They are playing in Winnipeg at the Rip It Up fest?
D: They are not playing in Winnipeg anymore.
Okay, I’ll cross that off.
D: And the tour that they had planned to go out to Winnipeg and back has been cancelled for the time being. The main reason I started the label was because being from Nova Scotia and growing up in the punk scene or lack thereof. I’m very in touch with what’s going on there in terms of underground punk and hardcore music.
So you have some connection to this EPISODE release right ?
D: Yes.
Are they from there?
D: EPISODE are not. EPISODE are actually from Memphis I believe.
M: Close.
D: Close? Nashville?
Yeah.
D: Nashville. Oh yeah? Right on. Same fucking thing.
They’re going to be adopted by the Maritimes soon.
D: Yeah, yeah, the reason why I started it is because I’m very close to what’s going on there in the past couple of years. There hasn’t been much to ...
So are you going to be putting out more stuff from out there?
D: Yes, I have a record coming out with a band from my home town actually. It’s going to be a two song single by a band called GENETIC ANGRY and ah, they’re a bunch of kids.
Yeah, we did a demo feature with them.
D: They’re a bunch of really cool kids. They’re not really going with anything that’s really hip or in. They’re just sort of playing music that they like. It’s a bunch of kids that listen to a lot of like BLACK SABBATH and they cite BLACK SABBATH and SOA influences so that should give you an idea.
A little bit about…
D: I want to just start doing these records because finally there was some bands that were coming out and I just thought here’s a couple of groups that exist and these are young people that don’t really have the means to put out a record themselves and it’s not really, it’s sort an effort to get them out there to get them to go on the road and tour but also just to document some of this on vinyl.
The same reasons why most people start up labels, right?
D: Exactly, but in the Maritimes it’s sort of a different story. There’s no records stores. There’s not a lot of kids that have turntables.
There’s no record pressing plants near there.
D: Yeah it’s just so, it’s much different from a lot of other places.
How did the EPISODE ep come together?
D: The EPISODE ep was kind of a one off deal. The EPISODE ep was released by the band. A few people contacted them about doing a future release.
Go ahead.
D: Farkas?
M: *lip smacking* Oh sorry.
D: Farkas?
It relates to the band because it’s extracurricular punk activities. I’m I just trying to figure out how else you guys are involved in the scene.
D: Okay, second pressing.
M: We don’t share any of the money that we make on tour with Dave so he has to subsidize himself in some way.
D: I have to make it some other way, but unfortunately selling punk records by unknown bands that nobody really…
What are the song titles on this record? I can’t figure it out.
D: EPISODE ? I don’t know.
You don’t know either?
D: I don’t know. It’s just Song 1, Song 2, Song 3, Song 4.
Okay. Jonah are you still playing in 15 bands?
J: No, I cut it down. It’s just two or three now.
Okay, who are you playing in now. Go ahead.
J: FUCKED UP, this band, and I’m doing another project called MAD MEN and it’s just a hardcore band.
Were you doing PINK EYE?
J: Oh yeah, PINK EYE but it’s a little dormant now.
Okay, nothing else?
J: Nothing really on the go. I’ve been recording. I’m starting to learn how to record.
M: Come on, what about your accordion playing for Pinecone?
J: I’ve appeared on some recordings.
When Italy wins the World Cup, like that’s ever going to happen.
J: That’s a big day. I was in New York City when they won. You know how many people were out on the streets in little Italy? None.
Are you serious?
J: Hardly anybody. There was like two flags.
Really???! Wow. Not here.
J: I was watching it in a French bar. There was one other Italian. He wore a pink shirt and a straw hat. Really obnoxious. He was going to get beat up.
You couldn’t walk in my neighborhood.
J: Why not.
It was insane with people.
J: Oh yeah probably well.
I missed your accordion playing, after all this time.
J: No one ever would miss that.
After all this time of “I’ll break out the accordion when they win”.
J: Actually for you I would. Estonia is also an accordion nation.
The other world cup story I remember is you talking about swimming at Joe Piccinini community centre and the World Cup was going on and Germany was playing and the lifeguard wanted to kick you out of the pool because…
J: It’s another case of hard life on the street.
And it was the only time you could use the slide because it wasn’t busy ‘cause most of the other people were off, out in the streets.
J: I think by slides you mean Food Stamps.
And you were like “This is great. I want to go down the slide” anyway.
J: Yeah world cup is a great time of year. It’s exciting for the nation that wins. “Combatte Vincci”.
Martin? What else are you doing outside of the band? Or is the band just it? LIBERACHI?
M: Oh no. I’ve got my solo project. Like we said Jonah Falco plays accordion and…
And French horn.
M: No, no, no just accordion and we’ve got a violinist now.
D: Don’t forget about our two-piece.
M: Oh yes and I also have a two-piece with Dave Brown it’s upside down guitar heavy metal, Drop D tuned, heavy mosh.
D: Demo coming soon, check it out.
M: In terms of upcoming stuff we...
Yeah let’s get to that because you do have some plans right?
M: Yes, yes. We played a new song tonight, or that we recorded earlier from the live session “Cherry Beach”.
Yeah, what’s that ? Is that about anything in particular?
M: Well CAREER SUICIDE is a very topical band, of course…
Of course, but Cherry Beach has a history right? With the cops taking homosexuals down there and beating the shit out of them and leaving them for dead.
M: Could be what the song is about. See the song is called Cherry Beach but the chorus is “I took a fairy to Cherry Beach”. Now does that mean that you took a ferry boat to Cherry Beach or did I take a fairy to Cherry Beach? You be the judge.
That’s one of the other histories of Cherry Beach…
D: Read between the lines. It’s all in there.
M: Just figure it out.
Oh that’s why you have everybody singing “I took a fairy”.
M: Yeah but did we take a boat or did we take a fairy? Who knows? Anyways so it’s a song we’ve been talking about writing for years. Finally got it done. And it’s going to be the title track on the next EP.
I can’t wait to see the artwork for that.
M: Just you wait, we’ll see if there are any clues in there.
J: It’s probably going to be red, white, and black like the rest of ‘em.
Yeah.
M: But Schizophrenic is doing a compilation that’s coming out which is in tribute to the “Yes L.A.” compilation and we were really drunk in October and he asked us if we’d do it and if we’d ever heard THE EYES cover of “Disneyland” and of course we had and Jonah and I got all excited and said you know, of course, we’ll do a cover.
J: It’s THE EYES actual song, so it’s not a cover.
M: We got Jonah’s dad to record a piano. Jonah’s dad is a professional pianist.
Yeah he is.
M: And he’s playing on his grand piano. He played a rendition that was our bedtrack. He played a rendition of THE EYES “Disneyland”. We recorded everything and he’s on top of it so we’re going to debut that tonight.
Oh wow.
M: Exclusive.
J: I think it’d be a good time to cue it, right now.
Almost.
J: Almost.
What other covers do you do?
M: Covers? Oh we’ve done so many over the years.
Yeah, I’m sure.
D: Too Legit to Quit.
J: Okay I think we should. There’s a long list of covers. The worst, most hugest failure covers.
Go ahead.
J: “Motorbreath” by METALLICA.
M: But a valiant effort.
You guys kept on talking about that this afternoon.
J: Did we?
A little bit.
J: Oh yeah. What else was a failure of a cover? Well this could be categorized in the lowlights too. We played an entire set of covers in a basement in Mineapolis. We did “Pay to Cum”, “Aint No Feeble Bastard”, the CIRCLE JERKS and maybe one other song. Someone’s comment about our set that night was “Fuck you for making me waste fifteen minutes of my life. You don’t even have the decency to come to my town and give me something worthwhile to sit through. That was insulting…”
Wow.
J: Affront to any sensibility. I had about music, go to hell I can’t believe you wasted my life.
That’s an odd reaction. I’m sure that’s the exception.
M: No that’s the usual response we get everywhere we go.
No. I’m sure it’s not.
D: That’s quite common.
J: I mean doing covers is pretty fun given the right circumstance, you know.
Yeah, for sure especially for the band and the crowd, as well.
M: After the first Japanese tour we got back to town and drove eight hours to Chicago and played Chicago Fest and the last song we played in that set was “I Just Want Some Skank” by the CIRCLE JERKS and that was perhaps the most fun cover, as far as I’m concerned. There was like 800 people in the room and three quarters of the room went nuts and stormed the stage while we were playing and just piled on top of us, tossing us around like ragdolls. It was amazing.
Wow. Oh okay. So tours ... because we don’t have much time now, you were talking about going away.
J: We’ve got some dates coming up in the States in May. We are going to Norway in June.
M: Going to the UK in August.
D: Spain.
Are you just going to Norway?
J: Yeah. We’re on a fest with BAD MANNERS and ENSLAVED co-headlining with those guys.
BAD MANNERS?
J: Yeah, that’s right.
BAD MANNERS? The ska band…
J: That’s the one.
Crazy. He’s in the Guiness Book of World Records for eating the most amount of Big Macs in one sitting.
D: What ?
J: That Michilen man guy?
Yeah, Fatty Buster Blood Vessel, the singer.
D: Jesus…
Yeah.
M: Well Jonah’s going to take him up on that…Don’t challenge him to an eating contest, my friend…
J: I will not challenge him to an eating contest.
I know you’re good but…
J: No I’m not. I’m bad.
D: That’s why we’re taking Mark Rodenhizer with us. We’re going to fucking beat him down.
Your secret weapon.
J: We’re not taking Mark Rodenhizer with us.
The record that you’re doing is going to be coming out soon?
J: It should come out to coincide with wherever we go in the summer whenever we go in August to the UK it’s just a matter of getting it on tape.
Okay so, this is one of those songs right?
J: What is this?
M: No this song is coming out on a Schizophrenic compilation that’s coming out in the near future. It’s a cover of THE EYES “Disneyland”.
Oh, okay this is the Schizophrenic song. Well I think that brings us to the end of the show thank you for indulging me with my stupid questions.
A big thanks to Leah Archambault who transcribed all of this.
Martin (M): It was?
Yeah it was.
M: Oh. Pat on my back.
Both CAREER SUICIDE and FUCKED UP were the early guinea pigs for the Studio 3 sessions. Catch us up on six years...
Jonah (J): A few tours, half a dozen records, and a whole lot of maturity.
That’s the Reader’s Digest version. Okay.
J: You can tell the difference between then and now.
Facial Hair?
J: No, no I mean just the sound. It’s still loud and fast but it’s just different now, you know?
M: How tired of life Jonah sounds. Completely unanimated. (laughter)
J: This used to be lit fluorescently. It was a really harsh environment and you had to act a certain way, with the way the CIUT studio looked. Now it’s lit with a mahogany desk lamp that looks like it came from the library of congress.
M: Where is Unkie Doug when you need him?
J: Yeah really.
And Jonah had made a CAREER SUICIDE shirt special for the last session.
J: Yeah. Apparently I was supposed to wear it again. I would have. I’ve been looking for an excuse to wear that shirt since 2002.
I thought you were going to break it out.
J: Stephe it was you that I promised I’d wear it.
Yeah, ‘cause I was talking to you about it.
M: When we were supposed to play here two months ago and we didn’t show up.
There it is.
M: There it is.
Dave (D): You can see that out in radio land?
J: CAREER SUICIDE has always been a band with faces for radio...clothes for radio.
M: You should have seen Jonah today.
J: Yeah my new thing now is belly ‘T’s’
I heard you talking about that earlier. Okay tell us about the line-up changes I think Martin and Jonah remain the constants. Initially you started up with Noah on bass and Eric on Drums. I think Noah played the first session right?
M: Yeah he did.
And Eric was on drums.
M: But Jonah and I, as you know, are not original members of CAREER SUICIDE so there are no original members.
You guys are the only members that remain constant.
M: No, ‘cause when the band started there was a CAREER SUICIDE show in Toronto that neither Jonah nor I were part of the band for.
Is that right?
M: Yeah I lived in Vancouver and Jonah was, I don’t know what he was doing.
J: I was in the arctic.
Who was in the band at that point?
M: Marc Pesci, Mark Garrett, Noah Gadke was the singer.
Okay.
J: Mark Garrett of TEEN CRUD / BUSH LEAGUE. Mark Pesci of Mark Pesci and Eric Smith was playing drums.
M: So, Mark Garrett was not in the band.
And it lives on... with no original members.
M: Somehow.
J: I may have overused this metaphor but it’s like when a dog has such bad plaque that all the teeth should have fallen out but the teeth are held in place anyway by the bad plaque. That’s like what CAREER SUICIDE is. Martin and I being the plaque.
Okay, so take us through the line-up changes. Who has been in the band since?
M: Oh my god. You got three hours? (laughter)
We do. No, not really but..but there’s been a few, no?
M: I think we’ve had twenty... we counted how many drummers we’ve had. We had. No, you know we’ve gone through the line-up changes, as of three years ago we were at or near twenty.
Twenty drummers?
M: Err..and bass players.
J: You have to...That depends how sensitive your filter is for ‘having a drummer’ like more than one show? More than one song?
Okay.
J: So if you count all the people that have been in the band for like a few bars...
Okay so who are some of the mainstays that were in the band?
J: Eric, Jesse Parker.
M: Noah Gadke.
J: Oh we’re doing just drummers? Eric Smith our first drummer was the mainstay. He was on our first LP he was on the first session, although he never did a tour with us.
M: He did Europe! He re-joined us for Europe.
J: Sorry. That’s a pretty important tour.
That’s Okay.
M: Jonah’s had a few cannolis tonight so he’s a little slow. He had an Italian Easter dinner.
J: Eric was with us in Europe, an important tour because that was the first record that we had out. Really, it was on that tour and also that was the first time we got…
That was the Ugly Pop release right?
J: No that was the Kangaroo single that came out at that time. It was a trio of things like three records that were recorded almost a year apart. The Ugly Pop 12” which was recorded in 2002, the Kangaroo single which was recorded in very early 2003 and the “SARS” single all coincided for that tour.
M: We didn’t have the “SARS” EP on that tour.
J: Didn’t we?
M: No.
No, that one came out later didn’t it?
J: It was an important time.
M: Jonah has lived a hard life for the last six years. Lots of drugs, lots of drinking.
J: You kids don’t know shit.
M: Brain cells are a little gone, just bear with him.
J: Well Eric left the band. We got a new drummer who played with us for a couple of years and we had a new bass player.
M: If Miller were here he’d interrupt Jonah right now and say it’s completely irrelevant. The final and forever line-up of the band is here right now; Matt Miller on bass, Dave Brown on drums, Jonah Falco on guitar and this guy on vocals.
Okay, how did Matt and Dave come to join the band?
M: Well let’s let Dave tell the story of how he joined the band.
Let’s tell the story.
D: Actually I ended up joining the band through coming here, to the radio show. I was here one night and I was being very bitter and jaded and I mentioned to Andy from THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE that I was thinking about moving back to the Maritimes. My six months I had spent in Toronto were not exactly all that I had hoped for. The rays of sunshine had clouded over and I wasn’t doing anything. I didn’t really have a good job. I wasn’t playing in any bands and he happened to mention that CAREER SUICIDE were looking for a drummer or were you know, in need of somebody, a mainstay I guess you could say. Anyways I sent off an e-mail to Jonah who at the time was a regular DJ at the show here... or a regular host. We sent a couple of e-mails back and forth and at first it was sort of “Yeah, I don’t really know we’ll keep you in mind” and I get another e-mail back and it’s like: “Yeah, well ... Maybe, maybe we can have you do you know the occasional Toronto show” and then it was like “Hey yeah, do you want to come out and practice with us and stuff and everything...?” and it just went from there. We practiced and it turned out to be pretty good so the rest is history.
And how long ago was that?
D: It was three years ago. A little over three years so.
Okay, and how did Matt join the band.
J: Matt came from a dream, really.
A dream?
M: Matt Miller is a guy I’ve known since I lived out in Vancouver for a year, back in ’98.
Is he from Vancouver or was he just..?
M: No he’s from I think he was born in Manitoba, grew up in Sault Ste Marie. He was a Weedman out in Vancouver. He did landscaping. The first time I met him was at a supermarket and he was playing Frisbee with a pie.
And you knew he had to be in the band.
M: Yeah, and long story short I became friends with him when I lived out there for a year. I moved back there right before CAREER SUICIDE really got started for half a year and Miller and I started a band out there called EMO DESTROYER and he moved to Ottawa.
Was he always into punk or did you get him into punk?
M: No, no, he was. I’m not really sure what the story is of how he got into punk but he was really into SNFU.
J: He used to have a three foot tall green Mohawk.
M: He did and he had braided OFFSPRING hair back in the nineties.
J: Leopard print shorts.
M: I mean anyone who’s seen us live in the last few years knows what Miller looks like, definitely. Hopefully laughing right now...
J: His wilder years are behind him, fashion-wise.
M: And yeah, this weekend actually he gave up his World Trade centre sneakers.
World Trade Centre sneakers?
M: Oh yeah he’s got these awesome Jamaican coloured red, green, yellow and white sneakers that I don’t know where he got them on tour.
J: He got them at Adrift.
M: Oh, he got them at Adrift. Yeah, yeah and they’ve got this stencil of the World Trade Centre.
J: It’s not a stencil, it’s a full photo.
M: However it’s been applied to the leather, it’s beautiful and they weigh two kilos each. Anyways so, he moved to Ottawa. We were between bass players and I knew he would enjoy it as much as we would enjoy being in the band with him and even though it’s been a little bit rough having a bass player that lives five hours away, I think there is, in all seriousness, a really amazing chemistry between all of us in the band and so...even though it can be frustrating sometimes that we’re not always available to play local shows and do all the things we want to...when we go on the road it’s just non-stop laughing.
Even today when you guys were setting up it seemed like it was just jokes you know. It’s good. I mean that atmosphere. You know, being on tour is grating, especially at the best of times right? And I can see how you guys alleviate that by….
M: ...being idiots.
J: Well there’s no pressure so.
D: It helps musically too like Miller’s given me some pointers on the drums over the years which I’ve taken to heart. He’s got a few signature moves that he shared with me to make the band that much better.
He seems like a well-rounded musician you know, the way he was even picking up the guitar there.
D: Oh yeah.
So yeah, what are some of the obstacles though? Having a guy in another city. It’s got to be kind of frustrating. Let’s talk about the frustrating side of it.
J: Well I mean, we’ve been a band for a long time and part of that reason is we haven’t used up all our life, sort of in one go. I mean having Miller far way has forced us, in a way, to spread things apart greatly whether it’s recordings or shows or practicing. Its changed things that way you know. We may have been more ...well not necessarily more productive, we may have been too productive if we’d been in the same place at the same time. Everybody, Dave and I get together and practice and get easily excitable about a few songs and if Miller were here we might be playing a show every week and this way it allows us to take our time a little bit ... on the positive side. Sometimes it’s for better, sometimes it’s for worse but all in all it gives us a certain amount of breathing room for the band.
D: We don’t exactly blow our load.
All at once. Makes sense.
J: Plus I mean, everybody gets busy and it’s like, you can just blame it on the guy who lives in another city. If you can’t do the stuff.
M: Yeah, it’s a great way to get out of shows you don’t want to play.
D: Miller’s a great scapegoat.
J: We’re just not ready, he just can’t make it.
Very good. Okay we attempted to try and do this release thing. Let’s start again, the releases that you’ve had out, because at the beginning I think when you first started there was only a demo tape or, maybe not even.
M: Oh the first session we did? Yeah that was our first proper recording in any sort of studio. Like the demo we recorded in our drummer’s basement in like, 15 minutes.
So take us through a discography of CAREER SUICIDE.
J: Chronologically, like, release wise or recording wise?
Recording wise because I think it’s probably easier.
J: The demo and then...
That was in 2001?
J: 2001. Then my solo record..
No, it couldn’t have been in 2001 ‘cause you guys recorded in 2002. The summer probably, right?
J: No, we recorded in October or November of 2001.
M: Let’s not be technical, just go through the list.
J: The demo was first.
D: There were two demos, weren’t there?
J: Demo was first. We recorded for the Ugly Pop record. The Ugly Pop record took a long time to come out so we released a second demo, which was songs from the Ugly Pop record. Before the Ugly Pop record was actually released, came the 7” on Kangaroo records followed then by the “SARS” 7” and then the long awaited Ugly Pop LP came after that, so our second and third record came out and then our first record came out.
In different orders?
J: In different orders. So, I mean, I don’t know how much of a conscious direction the band was taking other than we sat down and were like oh yeah, you know it’s gonna go this way and this way. Step 2, step 3 then step 1. After that, came the JED WHITEY split, which was broken loaded by Simon again. He found JED WHITEY, pulled out the record and it had a cheeseburger and the thick 7” on the cover plugged into a super fuzz distortion pedal timed perfect. Right up our alley. Let’s work together.
M: What was Brandon from DIRECT CONTROL’s review of that record?
J: He scratched off the JED WHITEY side, drew a dick on person’s hand on the cover and vowed never to listen to their side. Obviously he’s not going to listen to it again. After JED WHITEY came the “Signals” record, which was a single on Slasher followed by “Invisible Eyes” which coincided with our tour of Japan. Yannick of Feral Ward helped set up that tour with us and...
He released something, didn’t he?
J: Yeah, he released “Invisible Eyes”, coincided with our tour of Japan was ‘cause we managed to play shows in the States with FORWARD which is sort of how we got our foot in the door with going over there. “Invisible Eyes”.
So you met FORWARD here before going over there?
M: We almost didn’t. The border guards didn’t want to let us in.
Oh yeah?
M: But yeah, but we made it and we played three shows with them in the States. The first we barely made it on time because we got held up at the border.
Was it out west or...?
M: Philadelphia was our first show and we played in this like biker/motorcycle repair garage. It was like a hot humid July day. It was so sweaty. We played. It was us UPSTAB, FORWARD and somebody else.
J: CLOCKCLEANER and PAINT IT BLACK.
M: CLOCKCLEANER yeah, it was so much fun. And they stayed with our friend Gabby in his wife’s house in Philadelphia and it was the first time we ever met Alana, his wife. We all slept on the floor and the guys from FORWARD, they all slept in their own room. We walk in there and they’re all perfectly folded up like you’d expect to see somebody in a coffin. Each of them laying with their heads on their leather jackets, like, snoring away and then as soon as they woke up they all started shaving their eyebrows and Mohawks and...
Getting ready...
M: Exactly.
Wow.
M: But back to the discography...
J: That was like love at first sight for us and FORWARD, we’ve been on two tours with them since through Japan so, many happy hellos to them.
And they’ve taught you some Japanese, I understand, right?
J: Well the last one they taught us, they kept on, it wasn’t even them, it was these other guys in VIVISICK. They kept telling us to say the word “monko” before we went on.
D: “Monko”. That’s what it was. I couldn’t remember that.
J: We asked FORWARD what it meant, and they smiled and they held their fingers and their thumbs into a triangle and raised it above their heads and said “In the sky...” so we chanted and chanted, and I think a North American living in Japan came over and told us that we just told the crowd to lick pussy.
(laughter)
J: So, alright. Lick pussy Tokyo. After “Invisible Eyes” there was almost a couple of years, where that was right when Jesse stopped being our drummer. Right when Dave joined the band and we were getting him pulled into the fold and prior we had plans to do a recording for a full length with our friend from Virginia and did so. And that pretty much brings us up to date. After that it’s been pretty much show after show and there hasn’t been a release.
Well, there’s been a couple of anthologies right, like collections of the stuff and there’s been “Attempted Suicide”.
J: Right, that’s the LP that I’m referring to “Attempted Suicide” and actually, it would be a good time to announce we got a new record that’s going to come out.
Oh really?
J: Yeah, it’s about time. We got four new songs.
A 7”?
J: We’ll see.
M: Last I heard, it was going to be a 7” or a double 7” but maybe Jonah’s re-negotiated that contract.
D: Double single.
And who’s going to put that out?
J: We don’t know yet. It’s top secret.
Right.
M: Big surprise. It’s going to blow your mind.
You mentioned something about Brandon, he was in the band for a little while wasn’t he?
J: He actually played with us on and off. Brandon we met on the first tour of the States and, stayed with him and became friends.
Was he playing bass or drums?
J: No, no he played drums with us. He played second guitar with us a few times too. If there’s one thing CAREER SUICIDE has a problem with, aside from having a central line up, its’ like letting anybody else play at the same time. There’s been more than one fifth member I think...every now and then.
Okay. Um, I wanted to ask you about tours. Where have you been? I think you’ve been almost everywhere, haven’t you?
M: We’ve been to Europe twice, all over the States, Japan twice...
Okay, and where did you go first? Did you go to Europe first or?
M: Europe was the first tour in 2003.
And that was signed by Kangaroo?
M: Yes.
J: Didn’t we do the States before that?
M: Yeah, yeah...I guess we did a mini tour of the U.S. first.
...and that was with FORWARD?
M: No, no that was long before that. That was when we barely had a demo out. It was just sort of on a whim. Somebody asked us when we were coming to California and we were like California? Nobody even asks us to play in Toronto and we were like “Hey, maybe we should go on tour” and we did.
So did you go out West?
M: Yeah, we’ve been out West but not on that tour. First tour was just like the Mid-West.
Like Chicago and that?
M: Chicago and St. Louis.
St. Louis?
M: We went as far East as Boston on that one, I think.
That’s a pretty big range, yeah?
M: Yeah a lot of driving.
I would think yeah...Kansas City is far, or St. Louis is far. Missouri.
M: Misery in Missouri.
When was that in 2002?
M: Something like that 2002.
Where did you go next?
M: Then it was Europe. I mean keep in mind when CAREER SUICIDE goes on tour it’s not like a regular band where we’re going on the road for three months. When we go on the road it’s often for a weekend or a longer one would be ten days and I don’t think we’ve ever been on a tour that’s longer than two weeks. So, I mean, both times we’ve gone to Japan it’s been like ten days. Europe, two weeks each time.
You were telling me that you went to like Northern Europe, like Scandinavia and Denmark I think?
M: Yeah, the first time we went on tour the furthest North we went was Copenhagen and then the last European tour in 2006...
But you didn’t stay in the Peninsula then. You went to Copenhagen and then you came to the continent or something?
M:Well I mean it’s still on the continent but then after Copenhagen the next show is probably somewhere in Germany and then the last time we played three shows in Sweden.
J: Basically, we’ve been lucky enough on every tour to have gone somewhere we hadn’t gone the previous time and we would happily and successfully return to the places we have been. There was one summer where we played in Pittsburgh more times than a band from Pittsburgh would have played Pittsburgh and since then we just haven’t gone back. It’s been like three years.
D: My first show with the band was in Pittsburgh, and we’ve not gone back there since.
M: We’re going back there this June or July or whenever Ian Dickson’s birthday is.
D: Hopefully so.
What about memorable places. What was most memorable? Pick a memorable place that you played.
M: Los Angeles.
Tell us about it.
M: Los Angeles?
Yeah, what happened?
M: It was the first West Coast tour that we ever did and we were playing with CUT THE SHIT and THE RITES and the show just sort of came together. I can’t remember what the story was but it came together in some sort of bizarre way in which all three bands were on tour, all three bands needed a show and it just got brought together so they had no idea who should headline what the order should be? So we ended up doing it by coin toss. We ended up playing second I think, right after some band from Buffalo, SKATECORPS. Anyways I guess it might have been the first show of the tour?
J: Yeah, the very first.
M: So we’d never been to California before. It was like 2004 or 2005 and we had no idea what to expect and we had a really good reaction. We had a great time, played our set, we got off, the crowd were totally into it. We got off and CUT THE SHIT played. They got an okay reaction. THE RITES played, they got an okay reaction. They all seemed pretty excited to be playing last and as soon as their set was over, everybody kept cheering and chanting, so they probably thought they needed to play an encore. But as it turned out, what everyone was chanting was CAREER SUICIDE, CAREER SUICIDE, CAREER SUICIDE.
Oh wow.
M: So they brought us back up on stage and made us play again, and it was totally embarrassing.
J: We played a FANG cover and one of our own songs.
A FANG cover?
M: Yeah and the place just went insane and I still have the scar to prove it because, it was so hot that I took my shirt off and Jonah hit me in the back and blood was pouring out of my back and then I got a sunburn the next day on Laguna Beach so that sort of sealed the wound. Cauterized it.
M: Oh yeah, like Rambo.
Jonah, what was your most memorable show?
J: I’m going to shoot it over to Dave for now because he had this one on the tip of his tongue.
D: Definitely. On the last European tour we started things off in Amsterdam and we ended things off...
Does this involve transvestite bars?
D: Oddly enough, it doesn’t.
J: It involves that other thing that Holland is famous for.
Pot?
D: Nazis!
Nazis???
D: One! Two! Three! Four!
What happened?
D: So we were in Utrecht. It was the last show of the tour. We were playing at a space that was not only used as a show space but also a bar and a practice space and we showed up and it turned out there was a group of fascists, or Nazis, or what have you that were practicing at the space. Four or five really large gentleman and we were inside just like sort of hanging out and some of the guys from SEEIN’ RED came up to us and were like “Just so you know, there are some Fascists here” and apparently something had happened the day before. Apparently a Nazi rally or something like that.
M: Well, it was insane though ‘cause there were, I don’t know maybe like, five or six of the skinheads and there were at least 200 people at this show and they were completely un-intimidated. They didn’t give a shit. There were five of them and 200 of us but...
D: Yeah, the guys from SEEIN RED regardless, they sort of warned us that there were some Fascists there and things were not really that happy.
M: We were scared.
J: I should also add though, there was a Nazi rally and the anti-fascists had broken it up so, these guys were looking for revenge and the SEEIN RED roadie comes up to us and says: “Yah, I just want to let you know that these guys they came here tonight actually specifically to fuck with you guys, because we broke up their rally. They came to screw with you so keep on a look out”.
D: Essentially that sets the stage. So we get up on stage and we go into a couple of songs and everything is going well and, I didn’t really notice it because I’m behind the kit and the next thing I know Jonah just stops playing and Noah stops playing and I look out and there’s this huge sea of people going everywhere. Just this way and that. It turns out the Nazis had charged their way through the door and just started beating the shit out of everybody. Somebody just smashed a chair over a friend’s head. Throwing pint glasses. There’s people bleeding and stuff like that. So they just came in. They did their thing and just bolted out of there. A lot of people were really upset about this but there wasn’t really anything done about it so a couple of guys who were there were like “Kick them out, kick them out, we have to fight the fascists”.
M: That was me.
D: No offence to the people there, but typical Dutch apathy. Everyone was like... “meh, fuck whatever, let them tire themselves out”.
J: Everyone is just standing around and these guys are wielding bats and chains.
D: Yeah, it’s like five guys versus this whole crowd of people and the Nazis are just like “What are you going to do about it?” and everybody’s just sort of standing around. Nobody’s really doing anything, but it cuts in the middle of our set and after a bunch of shouting, the Nazis, I don’t know if anybody kicked them out or if they just left.
J: I’m sure they were like “ah, you guys have had enough. We’ll go home. Sorry, our bad”.
D: After everything had happened we just went in and finished the rest of our set, but by the end of it, at the end of the night when everything was said and done, we were getting ready to leave and a couple of people came up to us and they were very concerned that there were a whole bunch of the fascists waiting outside to beat the shit out of us and that we shouldn’t go out to our van because there were fascists waiting in every dark corner and they were going to jump out and destroy us and mutilate us beyond recognition.
J: So consider like, the five of us and the people we were with. The crew of Dutch roadies run out of the place like that scene in Gallipoli where they all go over the top at the end. So like screaming running through the parking lot getting in this van, expecting...everybody’s shouting and screaming and running around in circles and we stop and look around the parking lot which is completely empty in the most perfectly silent calm night with clear skies and they weren’t waiting for us but..
So it’s a bit anti-climatic at the end.
J: Well I mean, who’s to say they weren’t right? Who’s to say we didn’t take them all on with our bare hands.
Still, it’s interesting to have a riot going on, or a near riot during your set.
D: You’ll be happy to know though Stephe, after our set though we did go in search of the transsexuals, so it does have a happy ending.
J: Especially for junior.
Was Henk with you?
D: Henk our fearless leader.
M: Well, you know what? Considering the crowd of people that we hang out with in Amsterdam, chances are that the reason those Nazis were probably after us is because Henk probably told them that we were from Israel or something. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. I never saw a poster, but that’s probably what it said CAREER SUICIDE from Africa and Israel, come get some.
Here’s the bait.
D: That was, I think, the first major tour that I went on with CAREER SUICIDE so lots of things have happened before and since then but that was definitely one of the stories that stands out for me.
Jonah? Have you had time to...
J: Last night. Lee’s Palace, March 22nd 2008.
Every night’s a highlight.
J: A nervous but excited CAREER SUICIDE takes the stage for the first time since November. I flip that volume switch on and blacked out and woke up at the end of the set. It was the best night of my life.
D: He was fucking living man. He was living.
J: Every time we went to Japan, which is more than most bands can say, I can most sincerely say was a fantastic experience.
M: Jonah says that in a humble way.
No, I know he’s not bragging.
J: A little bit. I’m a little bit bragging.
But it was exciting right? It was something different.
J: It was great. Japan has a super rich and super unique history of the kind of music we play and we don’t exactly tune into that sound in what we play. I mean we all listen to it and we know about it but ...
Was it going to Japan or was it the bands that you played with?
J: It was a number of things right. I mean first of all, because we were friends with FORWARD we were plugged into a really real and really old scene that has like a lot of. I mean considering punk music right, has a lot of famous people still hanging around I mean the average age is much older and the amount of history, the amount of bands that has been produced over the years between the people we met and ...
Did you get introduced to a lot of those people?
M: There’s a reason why we don’t have our pinkie fingers anymore Stephe.
D: The great thing about the Japanese punk scene is that all the people that were in these bands in the eighties are all still involved. They’re all still in bands.
M: Or dead.
Or dead, yeah.
D: So there’s that aspect and second of all, not a lot of people get to go to Japan.
No, for sure.
J: On the back of you know, Martin didn’t get to go, we brought someone else. Eric sang.
D: We brought out Uncle Dougie.
J: It was the same time that “SARS” came out. We went to Japan and Eric sang and Martin stayed home because he quit to move to Ottawa to play bass in TRIPOD THE DOG.
M: That’s right.
J: Not a lot of people get to go to this country in the first place. Very far away.
And expensive, yeah.
J: And everybody thinks that Japan is like the most exotic wild place in the world and that it’s where you go to get your mind blown and we get to go for free a couple times and, not only that, but we don’t have to experience it at like a TGIFridays with the rest of the Western tourists it’s like we’re hanging out with people that most tourists wouldn’t even meet. It was very impacting and it sounds a little cheesy, but I took a lot from hanging out with those people and seeing them play their instruments and their attitudes to how they approach playing in a band period. So I really appreciate having been able to have gone there and that’s been a very lasting memory for me.
M: And your recent weight loss.
J: My recent weight loss.
D: Ah yes!
M: He was reminded on the second trip to Japan.(laughter)
J: There’s nothing to incur weight loss like humiliation en mass or being noticed.
What happened?
J: Because, the first time we went to Japan I was a little nervous.
Does this involve baby ‘T’s or?
J: Well, eventually. We went and we had a great tour. It was like a real surprise. We had a great tour and then when we went back, a little more confident than I should have been and I came in and I had my leather jacket on that I wore the first tour and I’m feeling pretty good. I had longer hair. Feeling a little cocky and the first thing everyone said was not “great to see you, or great show” it was “hmmm, you’ve put on weight. You look like Pig Champion”. And every city, the only observation was like “you got fat, like really fat”.
Wow.
M: We were staying at Ishiya, the singer of FORWARD’s house and his girlfriend or wife or whatever, she had taken photos on the first tour and she took photos at our Tokyo show the second tour around and she’s showing me and she’s like “Oh, look at photos from before, when Jonah was young” ...one year before.(laughter)
One year, wow.
M: And for anyone who doesn’t know, Jonah’s 25 now.
J: Like I said, a whole lot of maturity. You can age a lot in a year.
I’m sure.
J: There you go.
So, ah, who were some of the bands then, and people that you met?
D: Chelsea.
J: Chelsea from DEATHSIDE and PAINTBOX. We got to sort of spend the night hanging out with him. That was a pretty big deal. Ishiya and Souichi from FORWARD. Ishiya was of course in DEATHSIDE. Souichi was in GOURAN and INSANE YOUTH. The bass player of FORWARD was in SYSTEMATIC DEATH. The guys from the SLOW MOTIONS who were all in EVANCE and I think someone from the SLOW MOTIONS played in the line-up for THE STALIN. Guys from LIP CREAM, guys from OTTO, a guy from THE CUMS, from THE EXECUTE, and other bands like I’m sure WORLD BURNS TO DEATH can have like a better roster of cool people they met. We never met the guys from JUDGEMENT and we never played with CROW and we never played with ZOUO or whatever but...
It’s enough to make your head spin there...
D: We played a show in Hamamatsu and the bass player from G.I.S.M. was dancing, front of the stage for our entire set.
Wow, that’s crazy.
J: He was also wearing raver beads and had glow sticks in his mouth and he doesn’t look much different than he did then...
M: And he was at the rockabilly party afterwards.
J: That’s right hanging out with WARHEAD who came to hang out in Hamamatsu.
M: We had a dance party with WARHEAD.Swing dancing with the guys from WARHEAD.
J: The names may or may not mean a lot to you but if you listen to the music, it’s a nice thing and it’s nice to be able to at least have been privy to that context of music which is storied and fetishized over here. It’s nice to have been there.
J: We’re fucking pretty important, hands down.
M: Yeah, why not.
I don’t know, but you’ve been to quite a few places and I was wondering if you could share a few stories with us. That’s pretty much what I’m getting at.
M: This one time we played in Sudbury at a dance studio.
D: That was a killer show. We were top of our game.
M: This other time...
Do you want to do some lowlights?
J: Way too many.
M: We played at CIUT this morning, Sunday afternoon.
... and they didn’t even have an engineer.
M: Don’t worry about it.
D: Don’t need ‘em. Engineers not punk.
M: Wouldn’t happen in Japan, let me tell you.
Okay I want to ask you about, there’s this Youtube video going around with “Recipe for Disaster”, tell us about that. What is that?
M: There’s this guy, it’s actually kinda...one night I couldn’t fall asleep and, somebody sent me this link to, I don’t really read blogs but somebody told me about this blog called Torontoist? And I happened to see Mike Long’s name who’s a guy that’s known from shows forever. For probably like the last 10 or 12 years and I clicked on it and it turned out his mom bought him a MacBook Pro or something and he makes a video of himself everyday dancing to some song in his I-tunes library with a video camera that’s built into the screen. Anyways, it was three in the morning and I was just like. I got to e-mail him and see what’s up with this and as a postscript wrote “When are you going to do a CAREER SUICIDE video” and he wrote me back like five minutes later and he’s just like “Aw, I love you guys like I’d love to do it, I’ll have it done tomorrow” and sure enough, the next day, there it was on Youtube.
It looks like it’s in a restaurant or something.
M: Yeah, I think that because it’s ‘Recipe for Disaster’. He did it in a kitchen. That’s the theme or...
But does he work in a kitchen or?
M: By the way, just before we move on. My father who is incredibly critical of absolutely everything I’ve ever done or do or will ever do in my life…one of the only compliments he sort of paid me in my entire life is somehow he found that video and he’s like..
“Recipe for Disaster” ?
M: Yeah, and he’s like “That guy has really cool shoes”. (laughter)
They do stand out.
M: Yeah.
I think they fit in with the cover of this.
M: They do.
With the cover of this…
M: Artistic genius.
J: It’s a rare colour…red.
D: Obviously he hasn’t seen Millers old kicks.
M: No.
No, no. Okay I wanted to ask you if there are any stories behind any of the songs on “Attempted Suicide”.
M: No.
None?
M: None.
Okay. “Saving Face”, what’s that about?
M: “Saving Face”. Stephe let’s hear your interpretation. I mean I know the thing is ask us that golden question.
The Golden question?
J: The Stephe question.
No.
J: What’s our favorite song.
Do you want to answer that question?
J: No. Of course not.
See, the thing is I might have asked it when we originally did this interview right. But back then there wasn’t releases, and there’s a lot of stuff now.
J: We should mention that this is the first record we’ve ever done that had lyrics in it. So it’s actually a viable question. At this point, if any of us have read the lyrics.
M: I don’t know them.
D: I’ve glanced at them.
M: See the nice thing about being in charge, and I know I’ve said this a bunch of times but it relates to today as well. The nice thing about being in charge of all the artwork for the records, I put all the artwork not that everyone else doesn’t have influence but I do all the layouts so I cut whatever I want so it’s been really easy for me to cut the lyrics out much the same way as today when I was both blessed and cursed with the opportunity to edit the radio session together. I got the opportunity to cut out whatever songs I fucked up so, that’s why “Bored, Bored, Bored” didn’t make it on to the recording.
Which you did record this afternoon.
M: Right, so basically Jonah twisted my arm and I can’t remember what he held over my head but “This time,” he said “you have to print the lyrics to this record.” So… I actually had to work a little bit more on them.
D: Now everybody knows.
So now that they’re in there, tell us about “Saving Face”.
M: I haven’t read them since.
Yeah, but you wrote them.
M: Yeah but did you listen to the radio session today, I don’t remember any of the words. It’s all *blahmlah*… gibberish.
I’m not asking for a line by line analysis but generally, what’s the song about?
M: You know I’m not even joking. I have no recollection.
J: Actually, I think I was going to, if you had asked me what my favorite song from a lyrical standpoint was I was actually going to say “Saving Face”.
Okay let’s. Sure, answer that question.
J: I was going to say “Saving Face”.
Why? Why do you like it?
J: It’s about two sides to your own decisions, I think. It’s about you react one way and someone takes it another way, you know. You think your making an important evaluative and educated choice but maybe it just looks like you’re saving your own ass.
M: Face.
J: Your face. “Saving Face”… is the name of the song.
Much of your lyrics are like that, they have more than one meaning…Is that the case?
M: Okay seriously yes. My personal preference in listening to music, especially from a lyrical perspective. I really like music or lyrics that are a little bit open ended or open to interpretation so the song can mean one thing to one person and something else to someone else.
Which is why people don’t want to talk about them in some cases right? But they do give us clues into some of the original intentions or the meanings. It gives people direction right? So that’s why.
J: I agree with that and as much as CAREER SUICIDE, this is going to sound funny because it’s going to sound like a criticism, but as much as CAREER SUICIDE is a band that doesn’t have any direction, not stylistically in the ‘go nowhere’ sense. I mean there’s not anything that you can tangibly associate CAREER SUICIDE with other than style. Like musical style so that’s part of the reason why I wanted to have lyrics printed. At least you can associate another part of the experience of listening to music with the band.
And I pull meaning from some of the lyrics. I think you’re a good writer and I’m curious to know what some of the songs are really about. Because I’m sitting here wondering, what are they about. Anyways, do you have a favorite song from a lyrical standpoint, Martin?
M: You know I’m going to answer it in a roundabout way. I have a song from a lyrical perspective that I enjoy singing the most.
Okay, what’s that?
M: “The Last Say” and that maybe the most blunt song on there too so it kinda flies in the face of what I just said. So from a listener perspective it’s probably the song I would like lyrically the least but I don’t know. For some reason it’s really straight forward and I really like it.
What’s it about?
M: That one in a way could be the title track for the record. I mean that’s the one song that is actually about suicide and attempting suicide.
J: Metaphorically or literally?
M: Literally, quite literally yes. Read the lyrics it’ll blow your mind now that you know what it’s about.
J: To speak to the same, the other side of the whole like no dimension no direction kinda, it’s also kinda imposing for a band to force you to only experience their music and a lot of people would reach for the lyrics as much as they would reach for the music or reach more for the lyrics then they would the music so in this case, what we’ve been doing for the past six years is strictly imposing what our thoughts on how what our punk band should sound on everybody and, people react one way or they react the other way. So there’s two sides to that coin, as there is with all the other coins in the world.
Not imposing though, I think people are inspired. I wouldn’t say imposing.
M: Well inspired by the not knowing.
No, I think you guys write good music and people love it and then they want to be like you in some ways. I mean there’s countless bands who I’ve had come in here who cite CAREER SUICIDE as an influence. Countless.
J: Oh, that’s great to hear.
There are loads of bands from all kinds of places that I’ve had come in here and, you know when the questions come up about influences, CAREER SUICIDE come up. Often.
J: I see that our imposition worked.
I don’t think that you’re imposing anything. I think you’re playing music you like.
J: No, I agree. I mean it’s not conscious. It’s not a philosophical in anyway but it’s just, coincidental that if you want to pick apart lyrics versus no lyrics it’s like kind of totalitarian, in a way. It’s like no you can’t have the words, here’s music and music only. I actually think that the music over matter kinda resonated a lot with what’s happening in hardcore right now. Not to say that we are substance less.
In fact I think I would argue the exact opposite but I think with the ambiguity that you’re talking about Martin it does give a lot of people the ability to agree with some of the things that you’re saying like “Oh yeah that”. Like they can apply it to their own life without having that sort of imposition that Jonah is talking about, right? So, the ambiguity allows people to be able to apply it to their life and just sort of take hold of the song and just really get into it. It becomes part of you, right? And I don’t think it’s by design. I’m not saying it’s by design. I don’t think you guys are you know… but you do capture what people go through.
M: Well let’s be honest I mean and they’ll be differing opinions about this but punk rock is an emotional style of music you know. It’s not necessarily an intellectual kind of music. Not that intelligent people can’t play and be interested in punk but I mean you even look at bands like the CLASH. They were a political band but they’re a headline band. They’re not a band that necessarily understood deeply any issues the way that a subject matter expert would, but still they evoked that emotion, and that’s why it was powerful and I think that at least I’d like to hope that we do a good job with that and I do a decent job with that with the lyrics. That even though I may not be very specific about what subject I’m singing about or that there’s an exact topic about it. It does evoke an emotion, or whatever my emotion is on whatever it means to me comes through and whoever’s listening to it can interpret that and they can take the song to mean whatever the hell they want but that emotion is being conveyed. I just got a text message from Mark Rodenhizer begging us to stop talking about this so.
J: Okay.
D: Thank you Mark, thank you. *pffft * that’s for you buddy.
Dave do you have a favourite song from a lyrical standpoint.
D: Actually I do have, from the lyrics that I know. I do have a favourite song from a lyrical standpoint and it just happens to be “The Last Say”. But I will say that the reason why I am choosing that song is because A) it stuck with me and B) also because it stood out because after reading all of Martin’s lyrics, though I think all the lyrics on the “Attempted Suicide” album are really good. They’re not exactly you know straight forward hardcore lyrics. That’s the one that sort of sticks with me and I remember just because it’s so straightforward. I think it carries a really good message with it. Because of that, you know, we were talking about how some lyrics might not, you know, they’re open for interpretation and everything. I think the message with that is the most straightforward and I think maybe that’s why it sort of stuck with my memory. And also, I just like the way it’s worded and everything like that.
J: Can I just say that for a band that has not had lyrics printed for six years who the hell would have thought we’d be talking about our lyrics on the air for more than five seconds.
Okay, Well I do want to..
M: *laughter* Next question.
No, I want to…it’s a related question I want to play word association with you, Martin.
J: Alright.
Because I mean, the way that “The Last Say”, you say is about suicide so tell me, just one word answers…ah… “You Got Caught”.
M: Hot Dog.
Hot Dog? Okay…Hot Dog?
M: Hot Dog. Sorry that was two words, my fault. Pizza.
Food? Junk Food?
M: Sure.
No…But in seriousness, what is it about, what is it about? You Got Caught, Hot Dog?
M: You’re saying word association.
Roughly, give me a little bit more than that little of a clue, I don’t get it.
M: Spicy Italian sausauge with relish mustard saurkraut.
D: Masturbation.
What is it about?
M: What song?
“You Got Caught”.
D: “You Got Caught”.
M: Getting caught.
D: Masturbation.
Masturbation?
D: It’s about when…
M: Dave, you know I confided this to you on tour. I was drunk. I asked you not to tell anybody.
D: It was when our dear friend Brandon Ferrel was caught spanking it by his parents.
And that became a song that you wrote about?
M: That’s correct, yes.
“Blink”.
M: Slurpee.
Slurpee?
M: Slurpee.
Is it all going to be junk food?
M: Cherry slurpee.
What is it about?
M: Seven Eleven
What is it about?
D: Emus?
Emus?
D: Sure, …I think.
Is this word association of the absurd ?
M: I don’t know, it’s your game. I asked if there’s a psychologist in the house.
D: We’re just going on with the program Stephe.
J: Wait, I just heard a beep. What does Mark say about this ?
“Out of the Fray”.
M: Mark says my favourite song is “Quarantine” because it’s geographical and funny and mildly racist.
D: Thank you Mark for that input on the subject. Maybe we should start talking about pizza.
M: I think you’ve reached our seriousness quota.
Okay because we started off talking about “Recipe for Disaster” does that have a context to it?
M: Gourmet Salami.
D: Schwartz’s.
No no but when I think of that I think of the UNION OF URANUS record, “Disaster by Design”.
M: No offense to any members of UNION OF URANUS but, definitely not an influence.
No, but what’s it about?
M: “Recipe for Disaster” ?
Is it something that happened in the scene, is it something that happened?
M: You know what, I have a vague recollection of writing that song.
J: It sounds pretty cautionary to me…
D: It’s about when Farkas got kicked out of cooking school.
(laughter) Okay.
M: I wish.
D: Master of the culinary arts.
Okay I’m going to move on Dave, you started a label called Sewercide.
D: I did!
What have you released to date?
D: Well, technically it’s only one. There’s a friend’s band from Nova Scotia called CRIMINAL INTENT. They’re still an active band though they’re sort of going through some troubles with getting out and touring and getting out of the Maritimes but ...
They are playing in Winnipeg at the Rip It Up fest?
D: They are not playing in Winnipeg anymore.
Okay, I’ll cross that off.
D: And the tour that they had planned to go out to Winnipeg and back has been cancelled for the time being. The main reason I started the label was because being from Nova Scotia and growing up in the punk scene or lack thereof. I’m very in touch with what’s going on there in terms of underground punk and hardcore music.
So you have some connection to this EPISODE release right ?
D: Yes.
Are they from there?
D: EPISODE are not. EPISODE are actually from Memphis I believe.
M: Close.
D: Close? Nashville?
Yeah.
D: Nashville. Oh yeah? Right on. Same fucking thing.
They’re going to be adopted by the Maritimes soon.
D: Yeah, yeah, the reason why I started it is because I’m very close to what’s going on there in the past couple of years. There hasn’t been much to ...
So are you going to be putting out more stuff from out there?
D: Yes, I have a record coming out with a band from my home town actually. It’s going to be a two song single by a band called GENETIC ANGRY and ah, they’re a bunch of kids.
Yeah, we did a demo feature with them.
D: They’re a bunch of really cool kids. They’re not really going with anything that’s really hip or in. They’re just sort of playing music that they like. It’s a bunch of kids that listen to a lot of like BLACK SABBATH and they cite BLACK SABBATH and SOA influences so that should give you an idea.
A little bit about…
D: I want to just start doing these records because finally there was some bands that were coming out and I just thought here’s a couple of groups that exist and these are young people that don’t really have the means to put out a record themselves and it’s not really, it’s sort an effort to get them out there to get them to go on the road and tour but also just to document some of this on vinyl.
The same reasons why most people start up labels, right?
D: Exactly, but in the Maritimes it’s sort of a different story. There’s no records stores. There’s not a lot of kids that have turntables.
There’s no record pressing plants near there.
D: Yeah it’s just so, it’s much different from a lot of other places.
How did the EPISODE ep come together?
D: The EPISODE ep was kind of a one off deal. The EPISODE ep was released by the band. A few people contacted them about doing a future release.
Go ahead.
D: Farkas?
M: *lip smacking* Oh sorry.
D: Farkas?
It relates to the band because it’s extracurricular punk activities. I’m I just trying to figure out how else you guys are involved in the scene.
D: Okay, second pressing.
M: We don’t share any of the money that we make on tour with Dave so he has to subsidize himself in some way.
D: I have to make it some other way, but unfortunately selling punk records by unknown bands that nobody really…
What are the song titles on this record? I can’t figure it out.
D: EPISODE ? I don’t know.
You don’t know either?
D: I don’t know. It’s just Song 1, Song 2, Song 3, Song 4.
Okay. Jonah are you still playing in 15 bands?
J: No, I cut it down. It’s just two or three now.
Okay, who are you playing in now. Go ahead.
J: FUCKED UP, this band, and I’m doing another project called MAD MEN and it’s just a hardcore band.
Were you doing PINK EYE?
J: Oh yeah, PINK EYE but it’s a little dormant now.
Okay, nothing else?
J: Nothing really on the go. I’ve been recording. I’m starting to learn how to record.
M: Come on, what about your accordion playing for Pinecone?
J: I’ve appeared on some recordings.
When Italy wins the World Cup, like that’s ever going to happen.
J: That’s a big day. I was in New York City when they won. You know how many people were out on the streets in little Italy? None.
Are you serious?
J: Hardly anybody. There was like two flags.
Really???! Wow. Not here.
J: I was watching it in a French bar. There was one other Italian. He wore a pink shirt and a straw hat. Really obnoxious. He was going to get beat up.
You couldn’t walk in my neighborhood.
J: Why not.
It was insane with people.
J: Oh yeah probably well.
I missed your accordion playing, after all this time.
J: No one ever would miss that.
After all this time of “I’ll break out the accordion when they win”.
J: Actually for you I would. Estonia is also an accordion nation.
The other world cup story I remember is you talking about swimming at Joe Piccinini community centre and the World Cup was going on and Germany was playing and the lifeguard wanted to kick you out of the pool because…
J: It’s another case of hard life on the street.
And it was the only time you could use the slide because it wasn’t busy ‘cause most of the other people were off, out in the streets.
J: I think by slides you mean Food Stamps.
And you were like “This is great. I want to go down the slide” anyway.
J: Yeah world cup is a great time of year. It’s exciting for the nation that wins. “Combatte Vincci”.
Martin? What else are you doing outside of the band? Or is the band just it? LIBERACHI?
M: Oh no. I’ve got my solo project. Like we said Jonah Falco plays accordion and…
And French horn.
M: No, no, no just accordion and we’ve got a violinist now.
D: Don’t forget about our two-piece.
M: Oh yes and I also have a two-piece with Dave Brown it’s upside down guitar heavy metal, Drop D tuned, heavy mosh.
D: Demo coming soon, check it out.
M: In terms of upcoming stuff we...
Yeah let’s get to that because you do have some plans right?
M: Yes, yes. We played a new song tonight, or that we recorded earlier from the live session “Cherry Beach”.
Yeah, what’s that ? Is that about anything in particular?
M: Well CAREER SUICIDE is a very topical band, of course…
Of course, but Cherry Beach has a history right? With the cops taking homosexuals down there and beating the shit out of them and leaving them for dead.
M: Could be what the song is about. See the song is called Cherry Beach but the chorus is “I took a fairy to Cherry Beach”. Now does that mean that you took a ferry boat to Cherry Beach or did I take a fairy to Cherry Beach? You be the judge.
That’s one of the other histories of Cherry Beach…
D: Read between the lines. It’s all in there.
M: Just figure it out.
Oh that’s why you have everybody singing “I took a fairy”.
M: Yeah but did we take a boat or did we take a fairy? Who knows? Anyways so it’s a song we’ve been talking about writing for years. Finally got it done. And it’s going to be the title track on the next EP.
I can’t wait to see the artwork for that.
M: Just you wait, we’ll see if there are any clues in there.
J: It’s probably going to be red, white, and black like the rest of ‘em.
Yeah.
M: But Schizophrenic is doing a compilation that’s coming out which is in tribute to the “Yes L.A.” compilation and we were really drunk in October and he asked us if we’d do it and if we’d ever heard THE EYES cover of “Disneyland” and of course we had and Jonah and I got all excited and said you know, of course, we’ll do a cover.
J: It’s THE EYES actual song, so it’s not a cover.
M: We got Jonah’s dad to record a piano. Jonah’s dad is a professional pianist.
Yeah he is.
M: And he’s playing on his grand piano. He played a rendition that was our bedtrack. He played a rendition of THE EYES “Disneyland”. We recorded everything and he’s on top of it so we’re going to debut that tonight.
Oh wow.
M: Exclusive.
J: I think it’d be a good time to cue it, right now.
Almost.
J: Almost.
What other covers do you do?
M: Covers? Oh we’ve done so many over the years.
Yeah, I’m sure.
D: Too Legit to Quit.
J: Okay I think we should. There’s a long list of covers. The worst, most hugest failure covers.
Go ahead.
J: “Motorbreath” by METALLICA.
M: But a valiant effort.
You guys kept on talking about that this afternoon.
J: Did we?
A little bit.
J: Oh yeah. What else was a failure of a cover? Well this could be categorized in the lowlights too. We played an entire set of covers in a basement in Mineapolis. We did “Pay to Cum”, “Aint No Feeble Bastard”, the CIRCLE JERKS and maybe one other song. Someone’s comment about our set that night was “Fuck you for making me waste fifteen minutes of my life. You don’t even have the decency to come to my town and give me something worthwhile to sit through. That was insulting…”
Wow.
J: Affront to any sensibility. I had about music, go to hell I can’t believe you wasted my life.
That’s an odd reaction. I’m sure that’s the exception.
M: No that’s the usual response we get everywhere we go.
No. I’m sure it’s not.
D: That’s quite common.
J: I mean doing covers is pretty fun given the right circumstance, you know.
Yeah, for sure especially for the band and the crowd, as well.
M: After the first Japanese tour we got back to town and drove eight hours to Chicago and played Chicago Fest and the last song we played in that set was “I Just Want Some Skank” by the CIRCLE JERKS and that was perhaps the most fun cover, as far as I’m concerned. There was like 800 people in the room and three quarters of the room went nuts and stormed the stage while we were playing and just piled on top of us, tossing us around like ragdolls. It was amazing.
Wow. Oh okay. So tours ... because we don’t have much time now, you were talking about going away.
J: We’ve got some dates coming up in the States in May. We are going to Norway in June.
M: Going to the UK in August.
D: Spain.
Are you just going to Norway?
J: Yeah. We’re on a fest with BAD MANNERS and ENSLAVED co-headlining with those guys.
BAD MANNERS?
J: Yeah, that’s right.
BAD MANNERS? The ska band…
J: That’s the one.
Crazy. He’s in the Guiness Book of World Records for eating the most amount of Big Macs in one sitting.
D: What ?
J: That Michilen man guy?
Yeah, Fatty Buster Blood Vessel, the singer.
D: Jesus…
Yeah.
M: Well Jonah’s going to take him up on that…Don’t challenge him to an eating contest, my friend…
J: I will not challenge him to an eating contest.
I know you’re good but…
J: No I’m not. I’m bad.
D: That’s why we’re taking Mark Rodenhizer with us. We’re going to fucking beat him down.
Your secret weapon.
J: We’re not taking Mark Rodenhizer with us.
The record that you’re doing is going to be coming out soon?
J: It should come out to coincide with wherever we go in the summer whenever we go in August to the UK it’s just a matter of getting it on tape.
Okay so, this is one of those songs right?
J: What is this?
M: No this song is coming out on a Schizophrenic compilation that’s coming out in the near future. It’s a cover of THE EYES “Disneyland”.
Oh, okay this is the Schizophrenic song. Well I think that brings us to the end of the show thank you for indulging me with my stupid questions.
A big thanks to Leah Archambault who transcribed all of this.
Radio: Sunday, March 23, 2008
CAREER SUICIDE - Fan the Flame (Deranged)
BLOWBACK - One Words (HG Fact)
AKUTARE - Inject Blues (Schizophrenic)
NIGHTBRINGER - Bitter Fare (Self-Released)
DOG SOLDIER - Thickest Fray (HG Fact)
DISCHARGE - The Final Blood Bath (Captain Oi)
DISTRESS - Last day of the Human Race (Self-Released)
VIIMEINEN KOLONNA - Perusaisteja (Kamaset Levyt)
KIELTOLAKI – Vitun Lampaat (Moo Cow)
VAARINKASITYS – Tunyeita ja Tuoksuja (Kamaset Levyt)
AARITILA – Tahtilippu poittakaa (MRR)
SOTATILA – Standardit (Kamaset Levyt)
VALSE TRISTE – Myrkyn Kylvaja (if society)
YHTEISKUNNAN TSTAVAT ? – Kuoleman Pommit (Kamaset Levyt)
Studio 3 session
CAREER SUICIDE - Quarantined (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Saving Face (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Impact (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Cherry Beach (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Recipe for Disaster (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Play the Part (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Attempted Suicide / The Last Say / Out of the Fray (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Interview (CIUT)
CAREER SUICIDE - Disneyland (Unreleased)
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
IRON LUNG - Pigs Hands / stone Hands / Future Corpses / Sexless/no Sex (Prank)
DOG SOLDIER - Devil’s Masquerade (HG Fact)
FRAMTID - Land of Devastation (Hate)
GAUZE - Track 2 (Self-Released)
BLOWBACK - No Pain (HG Fact)
RAMMER - Obliteration WWIV (Unrest)
KOROVA - Degrassi Fight Music (Victimized)
KORO - Koro (Sorry State)
CAREER SUICIDE - Recipe for Disaster (Deranged)
THE FREEZE - No one’s coming Home (Schizophrenic)
VICIOUS CYCLE - Brain Damaged (Radio 81)
THE SKITZOS – Watch out ! (Longshot)
THIS SHIP WILL BURN - The man With No face (Fall of the West)
SPY MASTER - Acceptance (Too Circle)
RESTARTS - Cluster Bombs (Self-Released)
ANGELS, SAINTS & HEROES - Save Me, Forgive Me, Fuck You (Unreleased)
THE BILLYBONES - All Excess (Dr. Strange)
ORDER - Donki (HG Fact)
999 - the System (Dr. Strange)
SPECTRES - Message from Above (Whisper in Darkness)
HELLSHOCK - Welcome to the Void (Crimes Against Humanity)
LEGION666 - Broken Vows (Schizophrenic)
WOLFBRIGADE - Sad Attempt (MCR)
VICTIMS - Who the Fuck are we (Havoc)
CURSED - THE Hands Will Abide (Goodfellow)
LIVING DARKNESS - Waking Nightmares (High Anxiety)
CCSS - One Lie (Radio 81)
RELIGIOUS AS FUCK - Why Go Out (Self-Released)
BORN/DEAD - Anamnesis (Prank)
PULLING TEETH - Rains (A389)
THE NOW DENIAL - the Fat cat (Too Circle)
SEE YOU IN HELL - Helpness (Too Circle)
GERM ATTAK - Lifestyle Anarchism (MCR Company)
INSTANT ASSHOLE - Fight to Fight (Tank Crimes)
Demo Feature
BAD SKIN - Make Your Own Way (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - Commute (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - We’re Dogs (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - Pin Drops (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - Junkies (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - The Choice (Self-Released)
ANXIETY ATTACK - If It Bleeds It is (B.B.S.)
ALERT! ALERT! - Bored to Death (B.B.S.)
THE CREEPY ALIENS - Ode to Odinism (B.B.S.)
CRAP CORPS - Put Your Mean Face On (B.B.S.)
THE BLACKOUTS - Junkies (B.B.S.)
THE SKATE-O-MASOCHISTS - The Choice (B.B.S.)
WHEN GOOD ROBOTS GO BAD - Up the Muppet Punks (B.B.S.)
THE HAMBURGLARS - Killing Spree (B.B.S.)
OI POLLOI - Stop Vivisection Now (Overground)
DOG SOLDIER - Devil’s Masquerade (HG Fact)
FRAMTID - Land of Devastation (Hate)
GAUZE - Track 2 (Self-Released)
BLOWBACK - No Pain (HG Fact)
RAMMER - Obliteration WWIV (Unrest)
KOROVA - Degrassi Fight Music (Victimized)
KORO - Koro (Sorry State)
CAREER SUICIDE - Recipe for Disaster (Deranged)
THE FREEZE - No one’s coming Home (Schizophrenic)
VICIOUS CYCLE - Brain Damaged (Radio 81)
THE SKITZOS – Watch out ! (Longshot)
THIS SHIP WILL BURN - The man With No face (Fall of the West)
SPY MASTER - Acceptance (Too Circle)
RESTARTS - Cluster Bombs (Self-Released)
ANGELS, SAINTS & HEROES - Save Me, Forgive Me, Fuck You (Unreleased)
THE BILLYBONES - All Excess (Dr. Strange)
ORDER - Donki (HG Fact)
999 - the System (Dr. Strange)
SPECTRES - Message from Above (Whisper in Darkness)
HELLSHOCK - Welcome to the Void (Crimes Against Humanity)
LEGION666 - Broken Vows (Schizophrenic)
WOLFBRIGADE - Sad Attempt (MCR)
VICTIMS - Who the Fuck are we (Havoc)
CURSED - THE Hands Will Abide (Goodfellow)
LIVING DARKNESS - Waking Nightmares (High Anxiety)
CCSS - One Lie (Radio 81)
RELIGIOUS AS FUCK - Why Go Out (Self-Released)
BORN/DEAD - Anamnesis (Prank)
PULLING TEETH - Rains (A389)
THE NOW DENIAL - the Fat cat (Too Circle)
SEE YOU IN HELL - Helpness (Too Circle)
GERM ATTAK - Lifestyle Anarchism (MCR Company)
INSTANT ASSHOLE - Fight to Fight (Tank Crimes)
Demo Feature
BAD SKIN - Make Your Own Way (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - Commute (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - We’re Dogs (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - Pin Drops (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - Junkies (Self-Released)
BAD SKIN - The Choice (Self-Released)
ANXIETY ATTACK - If It Bleeds It is (B.B.S.)
ALERT! ALERT! - Bored to Death (B.B.S.)
THE CREEPY ALIENS - Ode to Odinism (B.B.S.)
CRAP CORPS - Put Your Mean Face On (B.B.S.)
THE BLACKOUTS - Junkies (B.B.S.)
THE SKATE-O-MASOCHISTS - The Choice (B.B.S.)
WHEN GOOD ROBOTS GO BAD - Up the Muppet Punks (B.B.S.)
THE HAMBURGLARS - Killing Spree (B.B.S.)
OI POLLOI - Stop Vivisection Now (Overground)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Vicious Cycle "Neon Electric" ep
1. Hail the Bouncer
2. Neon Electric
3. Nothing Special
4. Stepping Back
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
DIRTY CHINESE THIEVES - Put Me Down (Self-Released)
EVAPORATORS - Float Plane (Mint)
FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS - Rat’s cage (Dead Beat)
FORBIDDEN TIGERS - White Red White (Dead Beat)
THE DAILY VOID - Insect (Dead Beat)
AKUTARE - City Boy (Schizophrenic)
LEGION666 - No Virtues are extolled (Schizophrenic)
UNKIND - Kauneudin Perikuva (Combat Rock Industries)
ENDSTAND - Counting On You (Combat Rock Industries)
BOMBENALARM - Never Coming Home (No Options)
NIGHTMARE - Light the Darkness (HG Fact)
KOVER - Wax Lyrical (Rubber Factory
BAD CHOPPER - Why (Acme)
COCK SPARRER - Did You Have a Nice Life Without Me ? (Captain Oi!)
FOUR LETTER WORD - Dead Industrial Atmosphere (Rubber Factory)
ATROZ - Sick Boy (Red Star)
GEWAPEND BETON - The World is two Buckets of Shit (Dirty Faces)
BLUE VOMIT - Non sopporto (S.O.A.)
CRITICAL PICNIC - Bob Saget was a War hero (Smokin’ Barrel)
FORBIDDEN TIGERS - Black Hole Control (Dead Beat)
OUT WITH A BANG - Fagophobe (Fashionable Idiots)
DIRTY AND THE DERELICTS - I Got Drunk and Quit My Job (Vancouver’s Punk as Fuck)
DEAD HOOKERS - Dead Man’s Eyes (Dead Beat)
DIE ANGST - Endlichkeit (Thought Crime)
KYKLOOPPIEN SUKUPUUTTO - Pintakosketusta Vailla (Hate)
CONDOMINIUM - Elevators (Self-Released)
CIDER - Fair Warning (Non Commercial)
ANXIETY ATTACK - Fine Art (B.B.S. Records)
MASSGRAV - Mordare (Regurgitated Semen Records)
THE TANGLED LINES - I Won’t Be Hard (Refuse)
BEYOND PINK – Walking Bajamaja (Emancypunx)
WE’RE FUCKED – Take a Number (B.B.S.)
BORED TO DEATH – Can’t Laugh (Sorry State)
ALERT! ALERT! – Lose Blood (Cassette Kill)
BORN BAD – Society Bullshit (Fashionable Idiots)
EPISODE – Punxploitation (Sewercide)
Demo Feature
AURYN - The Reward of Oblivion (Self-Released)
AURYN - Ungdomshuset (Self-Released)
AURYN - Silphion’s Spell (Self-Released)
AURYN - The Untamed Sun (Self-Released)
DEMON’S CLAW - Blood from the Beating (Radio 81)
EVAPORATORS - Float Plane (Mint)
FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS - Rat’s cage (Dead Beat)
FORBIDDEN TIGERS - White Red White (Dead Beat)
THE DAILY VOID - Insect (Dead Beat)
AKUTARE - City Boy (Schizophrenic)
LEGION666 - No Virtues are extolled (Schizophrenic)
UNKIND - Kauneudin Perikuva (Combat Rock Industries)
ENDSTAND - Counting On You (Combat Rock Industries)
BOMBENALARM - Never Coming Home (No Options)
NIGHTMARE - Light the Darkness (HG Fact)
KOVER - Wax Lyrical (Rubber Factory
BAD CHOPPER - Why (Acme)
COCK SPARRER - Did You Have a Nice Life Without Me ? (Captain Oi!)
FOUR LETTER WORD - Dead Industrial Atmosphere (Rubber Factory)
ATROZ - Sick Boy (Red Star)
GEWAPEND BETON - The World is two Buckets of Shit (Dirty Faces)
BLUE VOMIT - Non sopporto (S.O.A.)
CRITICAL PICNIC - Bob Saget was a War hero (Smokin’ Barrel)
FORBIDDEN TIGERS - Black Hole Control (Dead Beat)
OUT WITH A BANG - Fagophobe (Fashionable Idiots)
DIRTY AND THE DERELICTS - I Got Drunk and Quit My Job (Vancouver’s Punk as Fuck)
DEAD HOOKERS - Dead Man’s Eyes (Dead Beat)
DIE ANGST - Endlichkeit (Thought Crime)
KYKLOOPPIEN SUKUPUUTTO - Pintakosketusta Vailla (Hate)
CONDOMINIUM - Elevators (Self-Released)
CIDER - Fair Warning (Non Commercial)
ANXIETY ATTACK - Fine Art (B.B.S. Records)
MASSGRAV - Mordare (Regurgitated Semen Records)
THE TANGLED LINES - I Won’t Be Hard (Refuse)
BEYOND PINK – Walking Bajamaja (Emancypunx)
WE’RE FUCKED – Take a Number (B.B.S.)
BORED TO DEATH – Can’t Laugh (Sorry State)
ALERT! ALERT! – Lose Blood (Cassette Kill)
BORN BAD – Society Bullshit (Fashionable Idiots)
EPISODE – Punxploitation (Sewercide)
Demo Feature
AURYN - The Reward of Oblivion (Self-Released)
AURYN - Ungdomshuset (Self-Released)
AURYN - Silphion’s Spell (Self-Released)
AURYN - The Untamed Sun (Self-Released)
DEMON’S CLAW - Blood from the Beating (Radio 81)
Monday, March 3, 2008
Various Artists "Vancouver's Punk as Fuck" CD
The songs on here are:
1. The Excessives - Anti-Socialist
2. Hong Kong Blonde - Into the Darkness
3. Dirty and the Derelicts - I Got Drunk and Quit My Job
4. The Remedials - the Binge Tour
5. Ovary Action - U.S.A.
6. Boxfiller - Broken Circle
7. Mr. Plow - My Boy's got Rickets
8. China Creeps - Kitchen Knife
9. Execution 66 - Society Sux
10. Jones Bones - Number 6
11. System Shit - Parental Advisory
12. Creeping Hand - Yokosuka
13. Likely Rads - Teenage Sex Party
14. Neo Nasties - I've Got Problems
15. Savasana - Let's get Raid
16. Alcoholic White Trash - Punk Rock Jihad
17. The Piss Ups - Apocalypse
18. Raised by Apes - Armed Forces
19. East Side Death Squad - Ashes to Ashes
20. The Pogs - Johnny
21. Clear the Barn - Jolly
22. Cambridge - Jewel Case Mafia
23. Aging Youth Gang - I Got Something to Say
24. Strict District - No Matter
25. Waste of Race - Total Control
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Interview: The Corporation
Okay we’re here with THE CORPORATION, introduce yourself guys and tell us what you do in the band.
David (D): I’m David Corporation and I play guitar and sing.
Ian (I): I’m Ian Incorporated and I play the bass and do some vocals too.
Derrick (De): I’m Demented Derrick and I just beat the shit out of my drums.
Okay, how long has the CORPORATION been around for?
D: We’ve been around since June 2006 and so, how it all started was sort of ah…we’ve been in previous bands, ah, and Ian and Derrick here had been in a band called the SHITKICKERS and I had been in a band called LOW FREQUENCY and we used to play you know ah, back in like 2004 whatever, we met each other at a show… like, you know those crappy supernova shows? The one good thing that came out of it was that I met these guys and so both our bands…
De: We had a loving friendship after that.
D: Yeah (laughter) and both our bands kinda fizzled off at the same point, so Ian here came to me and just said like maybe we should start something together, you know.
De: And now we have this.
D: Yeah and so he just said like yeah, you know Ian came to me and we just ah, you know we wrote a few songs and then we just said who would be the best drummer and we just like, Ian was like let’s go back, let’s go to Derrick. Something friendly, something familiar.
I: ‘Cause the thing was we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we knew we were going to play a lot of songs from the SHITKICKERS and I was like well Derrick knows pretty much like all those songs.
De: I’m that special.
I: There was this guy Steve, Steve Heretick and ah the problem with him was like he had another band going so we were like, go with the old guy use some old songs so.
D: Not to mention Derrick had hit almost all the toms man, you know, that’s rare, so...
Do you still do a lot of SHITKICKER songs?
I: Yeah we still do. We play like songs like “She” or “Coffee”, ah “My Choice”.
D: This new one that we just finished recording, “Toxic World”.
I: Yeah “Toxic World” is like an ancient song we just brought that back out. I mean the way I look at it, you know, I just wrote those songs. Those songs have a lot of meaning behind them a lot of positive energy in them and I just want to keep these songs, you know.
Was there a different, I guess you decided to really start as the CORPORATION was there a change in song writing and ideas or? Did you guys have a discussion about like, what you wanted to do?
I: Right off the top man.
So, what was the idea behind the band?
I: We were just like, we wanted to make a band that’s like just totally makes fun of corporations and just totally, like totally, like bring ‘em down and really just a ska-core band, like really hardcore punk and like ska and just rip into corporations. I don’t know if you want to add to that?
D: Yeah obviously you know, it changed you know, but they had been in a band together. I hadn’t. This is my first time playing with them but whenever you add new people you change the dynamics.
Sure.
D: But like, When Ian came to me you know ah, ‘cause I sort of looked up to the SHITKICKERS or like they, you know my band wasn’t really that good but ah, they were definitely. I liked what they were doing so when Ian came to me I was just sort of like, what do you want and he was just saying let’s go more that ska core route. Let’s put more ska into it but keep it like hardcore punk, you know.
De: Yeah, Ian always had a thing for trying to implement ska with punk.
Yeah.
De: He tried it back with the SHITKICKERS.
Yes.
De: But it works a lot better with this band. Way more.
D: Yeah and it was just the focus was just going to be you know sort of that political satire, like, let’s talk about corporations…
De: Well we sort of joke around about it.
D: Yeah have fun with it, but we talk about serious issues and we get actual, like, good facts out there to people and raise awareness about stuff and so, have fun but be serious and sort of give it your all.
You were talking a bit about your musical influences like ska, can you tell me a bit about who you consider influences on the band?
I: DEAD KENNEDYS right here man. Jello Biafra is like huge influence on me like to… like that satire that’s where I get it from like I love how he would joke around songs like pull my strings and stuff like that. Such joke around sarcasm I love that and that was really inspirational for me. And then like, as far as ska goes I was really, very influenced by the SPECIALS like a lot of two tone stuff, so that’s for me I don’t know for you guys.
De: Ha, way too much.
That’s okay, go ahead.
De: The list is way too big.
Well I’m curious to know what makes you guys tick so, feel free to just mention a few things that you…
De: Well, for me it was a lot of metal back in the day so, like I was big into SLIPKNOT and...
D: I remember when I met this guy. He had a huge CASUALTIES backpatch.
De: Yeah I was a huge CASUALTIES fan as well but ah, I also loved a lot of the UK ah, punk like EXPLOITED, well the EXPLOITED are more Scotch, but like the DAMNED, SEX PISTOLS everything man, everything from the 70s and on.
I: All I can remember is like we’re like playing like “come on Derrick play the skate punk” and he’s like, “I don’t like skate punk man, it’s Street punk man, steet punk!”
De: Give me a break, I was 16 at the time!
I: Whatever, it’s the same frigging beat man.
D: For me it was a lot of just the ah, I like a lot of American hardcore from the eighties, like actually I’d say one of my biggest influences is HÜSKER DÜ and I was listening to them on the way down is “Zen Arcade”, I think that’s the best album of all time, personally.
It’s a great record.
D: Yeah and MINOR THREAT and BLACK FLAG a lot when it comes to the punk stuff and when it comes to ska at the time you know. The SPECIALS grew on me more as I was in this band with Ian and I have to admit I wasn’t into ska but I didn’t know…not necessarily. I knew a lot about it, like I always like to research things but I didn’t really listen to it a lot but lately like it’s been a lot more like, I’ve been listening more to like DESMOND DECKER, PRINCE BUSTER, the SKATELITES and ah, actually BOB MARLEY and stuff and ah… like a lot more than the new stuff that maybe fans haven’t heard yet is influencing at least my guitar work and so a lot of I’d say very punk driven but in back, you know, in us is still that ska roots.
De: We try to keep that root.
I: And you can hear in our sound that we’re influenced by CHOCKING VICTIM and LEFTOVER CRACK and OPERATION IVY.
I was going to ask about that.
D: The usuals.
I: It’s just we don’t like to go ahead and say that because a lot of people that don’t know you better will be like, ah you’re just a rip off.
Well the thing is, although it may seem obvious, you didn’t mention it and I was thinking that’s peculiar that you didn’t mention something like that.
D: See to be honest, I own all those records but if you asked me the last time I put it on, like me myself.
I: Months ago.
D: I haven’t put it in for, like years but I’ll be in a car with someone and they’ll be like do you have that CD and I’ll be like, yeah I do and I still like listening to it, but to me, like, that’s not what’s really influencing me anymore. I feel like I’m past that, you know…
Although it was one of those, “Energy” was one of those records that just, you know, changed the face of punk at one point right?
D: No it did, and it’s true because..I mean..
That whole Gilman Street scene that grew out of that, it put the spotlight on that Gilman Street scene that was, like, under-sung.
D: You talk to anyone though it’s just like: punk, ska aside, like whatever side you want to say you’re on on, you know everyone seemed to like them. Their favourite songs you know, just always quote some lyrics and stuff, it’s true it was a very important record.
It was yeah. Okay I’m going to ask you just about the punk side now, if you had to limit your record collection of five punk releases what would they be collectively as a band so you need to put your heads together for this.
D: Well, I’ll take one and then we can agree on two, how about that?
I: Hold on a second.
D: Okay so we’ll start ...
I: “Out Come The Wolves”, man, that record is sick by RANCID. It’s one of my favourite records.
D: (laughter) Are you serious???!!!
I: Yeah man.
D: Oh god, if you were stranded on a dessert island man??!
I: Buddy!
De: I’d use that for fire wood.
I: Every single song on that album kicks ass man. Every single song man. There’s not one song that people won’t fucking cover like “Every Day”. That song, that album is just like jam packed.
D: But for the pure fact that you’re getting nineteen songs too.
I: It’s insane, and every song is good man.
D: You take another album and you might only get eleven, so that one will last you longer.
I: That album was extremely influential for my bass playing, for sure.
D: I already threw out “Zen Arcade” by HÜSKER DÜ and I don’t think these guys will agree with me so much, but definitely me.
I: Eh, whatever you can get one fifth of the vote.
D: Okay good.
De: I can’t pick.
You can’t pick?
De: I can’t pick. It’s too hard!
This shouldn’t be hard, you should just say.
D: You know what, I could list you five right now.
De: Out of my head?
Don’t think.
I: See you’re thinking now, look what you did!
D: Okay I’m going to put out BAD BRAINS “Rock for Light” because I’d say maybe the first self titled but it was just faster on “Rock for Light” and you got more songs.
I: I’m going to say DEAD KENNEDY’s “In God We Trust” if that is the album that I’m thinking of ...
“In God We Trust?”
I: If that’s the one with all the pure fast songs on it…
Yes, that’s it.
I: That is it. That album kills. That’s wicked.
De: You know what it would be for me? It’d be the Punk-core sampler from 2000 that really drove me into punk actually. I snagged it off one of my buddies. I saw it in his basement. Saw the cover and I was like, that looks cool, I’m going to borrow this. Never gave it back.
Yeah.
I: One thing is we actually did a cover…
De: Played it to the ground…
You know, what’s interesting is, no one has ever picked a comp before and I’d have to say that, like one of the first comps I ever listened to was probably “Welcome to 1984” which was an MRR comp that had so many…and it makes sense that you would pick a comp because there’s so many.
De: It’s got so much on it
I: You know what’s also good man those…
De: You know, granted it was a street punk one, it’s got CLIT 45 on it and LOWER CLASS BRATS, A GLOBAL THREAT.
I: The original Hellcat samplers like “Give ‘Em the Boot” I and II, those ones are wicked man, they got me into…that’s what got me started on CHOKING VICTIM and stuff like that and then VOODOO GLOW SKULLS man, kick ass.
VOODOO GLOW SKULLS, I forgot about that...
I: That’s what got me into that, for sure those albums man, they’re really...
D: I’m gonna be a bit more nostalgic and we actually covered a song “Mannequin” by WIRE and I’d say “Pink Flag”.
Okay I’m going to cut you off because you’ve already reached your limit.
D: Cool.
I: We talk too much.
No, no, I want to ask you about the name of the band, where does the name come from “ Is it like based on the movie, “the Corporation” ?
I: I have to say that I did um actually take some influence from that it was just like...
De: We were just kinda sitting in my basement thinking of names...
D: Yeah well originally you guys had NASH and I’m like that’s that Wal-mart skateboard brand…
I: Yeah well, the reason why NASH was more to it than that, it was because it was the four possible ways to die: NATURAL, ACCIDENTAL, SUICIDE, and HOMICIDE and I thought that would be a cool idea for a band and then...
D: That’s a rare fact you’ll find about this band.
I: Yeah for sure, you’re not going to get that anywhere else.
De: Now everyone knows.
I: And then all of a sudden I was like, a cool name that would be good for a ska band and it’s just like really simple, like one of those names that someone says all the time and they’re like something that’s like simple.
De: You can’t simplify it any more.
I: Just a really simple name and also really insulting name too to corporations. It’s like an insult. We dress up like business guys like with blood on us and shit.
Yeah, it makes me think of that DEAD KENNEDYS picture where they have the ties and the dollars signs on their shirts.
I: Yeah that fucking, than, that’s a wicked picture man.
But does anybody criticize you for like, stealing the idea from the movie?
I: I don’t care, I just don’t care man. You know? Whatever, man.
D: I’m actually surprised with how few people have actually mentioned anything about that movie like…It’s a Canadian film too so I’m surprised by that a lot ...
Well, maybe that’s part of the reason why, because it’s a Canadian film so it’s not that well known. Also it’s got a political agenda. The movie is long because it’s dense with stuff that they’ve got to cover about the entity, ‘the Corporation’ right, um but ah, I think it’s a difficult movie, in some ways, to watch because, you know, it’s not a, you know, in the junk information generation of ...
I: My girlfriend fell asleep (laughter) when we were watching it.
My point exactly.
I: I loved it man my eyes were opened. I was watching it. I couldn’t get my face off the screen. I wanted more man. It was just awesome.
I have to agree with you. I’ve seen the movie a million times already, well not a million, but I’ve seen it at least four or five times and...
De: I can’t say I’ve watched it yet (laughter). I haven’t seen it yet.
D: You need to, that’s pretty bad.
I: Another big thing that was interesting from that movie was ah, like there the whole thing about corporations not having to take responsibility because ah, it becomes a person of its’ own so it’s like instead of saying some guy owns a business, a corporation is its’ own person and I thought that was an interesting thing and I wanted to roll with that in a way too that like, we’re like, we’re this entity you know...so I don’t know, I found that interesting.
D: It’s very much how we deal with our band too like it’s not like this is, like it’s almost like the band is like its’ own person, like you take the three of us and you put us together but it is like...
De: Well we are a business too, right?
D: Well yeah, yeah. The other thing too is..
De: I guess if you look at it that way, I mean you get paid for gigs, it’s a business right? You’re entertaining.
I: I don’t know man, I wouldn’t say that we we’re making very much money man. I wouldn’t be playing with this kinda crappy gear...
De: Well, definitely not those giant four bass drums and 8000 cymbals.
I’m not really sure you could be accused of like, you know, basically destroying the world or fucking over people everywhere.
I: Actually we kinda kid around that we’re going to actually this is 100% serious, all the money that we are earning we are going to build a giant Deathstar to blow up the world so, that what I want to say we’re just like every other corporation. We’re going to take out the world, and we’re going to do it. It’s going to cost us a quadrillion dollars but we’re on the way slowly.
D: Yeah, like we’re going to test that on Alderon first but ah, once that’s proven successful, Earth will be next.
I: So with your help we can destroy the Earth together!
Okay what are some of the things you sing about?
D: Ah well.
I: Sex. Sex and violence, free TV porn.
Is it all about Corporations? I mean, there is a song about Coca Cola on a recent CD...
D: There is a song about Coca Cola and actually, we felt like it was so strong lyrically that the first time we didn’t do it justice, we re-did it on a split, that we did with BEYOND DECAY. But uhm it’s not all about corporations you know like the thing was for me I listen to ANTI-FLAG and they’re great but like well, ah...there music’s kinda gone down but the message...
I: (singing) “One trillion dollars, could buy a lot of things. One trillion dollars...” (laughter)
D: But like the thing was, It seemed like too much though you know like for the message like very rarely did they actually have a joke song or care to take it back a bit and so, like, we will have some joke songs. We will have some fun songs. It’s never lame like BLINK182 joking around, like ‘go fuck a dog’ or something like that.
De: I touched grampa’s penis the other night.
D: Yeah like it is a strong focus though on CORPORATION’s or just more like stuff like we said that song one is about pollution, which I guess corporations have a big part of contributing to pollution but you know like songs like “Channel 39” is just a song about tv porn. You know like that rare thing back in the day before the internet.
I: You wait for the nipple shot.
D: You wait that half hour for that one nipple.
I: I would tape in man cause you see it for the one second that one titty would come out.
De: Wait for the boob.
I: You better catch that that’s maybe just one of the night man, you know like. Before everyone was all like Ohh, ohhh...wait..noh...ahhh ohh, wait, wait ahhh there it is yay. I was sitting with my buddy Steve man I was sleeping over at his house like years and years ago and uh I couldn’t even believe it was on T.V. like, I’d never seen it on TV before. I thought you had to like pay for this and then. I don’t know, we just recently...
De: I think what’s worse is, you know when you’re younger and you’d watch the like, scrambled porn on the real high channels? And you get the perfect audio but it’s all like static.
D: Then you find out it was the surgery channel and you’re like, oh damn!
De: I just whacked off to someone’s open heart surgery that was a long...oh.
I think in some ways though you’d expect a balanced approach you know some fun as well as some serious stuff.
I: We didn’t just want to put it in people’s faces you know.
At least with a band that would be doing some ska I mean it seems like, you know ‘cause ska is like actually kinda this (fun music in some ways?)
I: Ska man is like that.
Of course, I don’t disagree you know. Things like “Pressure Drop” they talk about economic system collapsing and things like that.
I: That’s an awesome song man. That’s one of my favourite songs.
I agree but in the same token it is considered with you know...
De: You can dance to it.
I: Yeah we like that aspect too. It’s like a good groove like, we throw a bit of reggae in there. It’s really chill like the thing is too, we’re not trying to sound like mediocre or nothing but the like it’s good to see a lot of kids like ska better than our punk stuff, but we still play our punk stuff. We still stay true to it because that’s just what we love. We love being that band. We’ll show up to a ska show and there’ll be a lot of ska bands like STOP DROP AND SKANK and they’re amazing at what they do. I mean they do their ska thing but then it’s like we always come there and bring that punk element always.
D: It’s good to have that diversity you know I mean we can fit into a punk show we can fit into a ska show and ...
De: I don’t like idolizing ourselves actually.
Well I’m going to ask you, I want to go back to the lyric stuff what is your favourite song from a lyrical standpoint and why?
D: I would have to say from a lyrical standpoint it is “Coca Cola” because that was the first time I, like ‘cause like whoever sings the song writes the lyrics...
I: Except for “Bibles for Cambodia” which was written by me because I couldn’t sing it ‘cause it’s pretty hard to sing and play that song so...I failed, I suck!
D: But from a lyrical standpoint “Coca Cola” that was the first time I actually tried to really focus on you know like one, like one corporation and kinda one thought and one cause ‘cause and it came out really well and since then I’ve been able to do that. Like, it’s all been, like this one song that we have called “Charon doesn’t have change for a million dollar bills” on the new album “The Corporation Strikes Back” but that’s one that’s kind of more diverse. It talks about corporations in general, but “Coca Cola” that song is the first time I tried to target one specific corporation and really tried to raise awareness.
Okay, what about the rest of you?
I: Ah, “Guantanamo Bay” is my favourite song ‘cause like it is just really disgusting to me like the kinda things that went on down there and not only that it’s just kinda funny that they’ve got like bowling alleys and like a McDonalds and all this and yet there’s like all these people suffering and not even getting a chance at trial, and, like, if they do it’s just like guilty. Do you know what I mean? That kind of thing is just totally disgusting you know. I wrote this song as a joke cause there actually is a website you can go to where you can go to a US Navy base you can go to trips to Guantanamo Bay in the U.S. and it’s like “Come to Guantanamo Bay”, “we’ve got bowling alleys the nicest, warmest beaches”, and like and I just thought it was disgusting ‘cause it’s like all this crap is going on there man it’s like so to me I wrote it like a joke song like, just like you know like, well read the lyrics for yourself.
Well the US is using the ‘War on Terror’ as a way of kidnapping people and bringing them to this place to torture them.
I: For sure man. So I wrote this song as like a vacation song like trying to like come on down to Guantanamo Bay we’re going to have a good time kinda thing and like you know.
Yeah, like “Holiday in Cambodia”.
I: (laughter) Hey, yeah it’s not a rip-off, don’t call it that. It’s inspiration.
I’m just saying.
De: Cheap shot, cheap shot.
I: In a way you know what? Like I said man I’m not going to lie, Jello is a very huge influence of mine.
Hey, his stuff is still pertinent.
De: I just play drums, I never hear what they sing.
There’s nothing that you, that stood out for you?
De: Like, I like a lot of their songs.
I: Except he does “1, 2, 3, 4!”
De: Yeah, on “Guantanimo Bay”.
I: That’s it, that’s his vocals on that one.
D: I have to say that lyrically another one though, “Invasion of the Wal-Martians”. That was another early song from us and Ian wrote those lyrics I just thought they were clever and funny and it’s that whole political satire thing again coming at you, but if you read those lyrics it’s just, it’s really funny but it really does make you think like wow you know, Wal-Mart is sort of like these alien invaders coming in and they just keep spreading and taking over.
Did you hear that they tried to set up a Wal-Mart really close to one of the Mayan ruins?
D: No, I heard about that too.
Because there’s not a Wal-Mart within like, I don’t know, 50 miles of it. That’s their rationalization.
D: Someone told me they’re actually is one at the pyramids, you can visit there, there’s actually a McDonalds which I thought was. Yeah you just saw uh, king tut and now you can get your Big Mac.
I: Best part about Cuba man is you don’t have that crap. I went there not too long ago and down there I went down there and they don’t have any of that. It’s so nice to get away from Wal Mart, Coca Cola, McDonalds and it’s just like, yeah I mean, they have there own set of problems but, it is nice to get away from corporations.
De: I think “Toxic World” and holiday in...er, not holiday “Bibles for Cambodia” the two that I’d choose from, lyrically.
Yeah. Who are some of the bands you play with locally.
De: Too many.
I: Uhm, we’ve played with the VILETONES, the TOASTERS we’ve played with the CREEP SHOW.
De: That’s not locally!
I: Well, I mean we played those shows locally.
It’s okay, it’s okay
De: It’s like KEEPING SIX, JOHNSTONES, FLATLINERS.
D: Mainly though, THE FLATLINERS.
I: We play a lot with like...Yeah, like they said KEEPING SIX, JOHNSTONES, FLATLINERS I mean...
D: CEREMONIAL SNIPS, THE EXPOS...
I: We just played with HOSTAGE LIFE.
D: We do, we seem to be doing a lot especially sorta in the Mississauga area with the big man himself in STOP DROP AND SKANK and so you know, we’re getting to be good, good friends with them.
I: Shout out to ORGANIZED CHAOS...I hope they’re listening.
D: They’re good friends of ours, you know.
I: Yeah those guys. I love those guys to death man, they’re amazing. I don’t know, who else really we played with...oh...THE BRAINS from Quebec I don’t know ...
D: One cool thing was BROWN BRIGADE.
I: Yeah, BROWN BRIGADE! Those guys are actually... man he did the right thing and left SUM 41 ‘cause that band is wicked man, they’re playing like IRON MAIDEN.
D: He is fucking serious about his metal man.
I: But he’s amazing man.
D: He’s like the coolest guy ever he just came out to our car and just started, he was like “Do you need a hand with gear?” brought it into the club for us.
I: Yeah, that was cool man.
De: He’s nice. He’s awesome nice. Really nice guy.
I: MAXIMUM RNR we will be playing with so ah, there. That’s going to be a good show, that’s coming up this month.
Okay, How many releases do you have out?
De: Three currently.
I: We got three.
Okay, ah, are they all self released ?
I: Self released, recorded we do all the art. Derrick does all the art.
De: Yeah, I usually do all the art. Our very first album we used to hand-press ourselves just print it out, burn it.
D: He made the first 100 copies by hand...
Okay what is the first release?
D: The first?
De: “New Pope”.
And when did it come out?
D: It came out in December 2006.
Okay, and is it still available?
I: Yeah you can still buy it. Actually that’s not true. Currently it’s out of stock. There’s only one copy left out of the 200 so...if you want it really badly ah, you’re going to have to come to Niagara Falls this weekend ‘cause we’re going to sell it there for sure.
D: Like we said, the first 100 were made by hand and that just got really tedious and so we ended up having to send them away to get it made but in terms of... like it’s as DIY as possible.
De: They also had a habit of getting caught in people’s CD players...
I: Yeah ‘cause it’s like the label that was like really sticky it happened to me too man, I put it in, I like busted my girlfriend’s like CD player...
D: You know what though? Yeah, we did it on purpose because then people can’t get them out and they have to listen to it...
I: Yeah, you have to listen to it over and over again.
That would be clever.
D: But in terms of being DIY, we recorded it ourselves like we said Derrick here would draw the artwork you know. We would compile the liner notes together and you know, we got it made by hand as much as possible.
Let me ask you about the recording then. Was it recorded like in a practice space or something like that?
De: Yeah, in my basement.
I: Uhm, the multitude of...the very first album was actually only recorded with like three mics...like that was it.
De: Was it three? I thought we had like two?
I: You know what, I think at one point maybe we only had two...
De: We did the drums with one hanging from the rafters...
I: One hanging from the roof and one shoved in his kick drum, and then there was like the bass guitar...
De: It actually worked out...
I: Yeah, you know what? There was only two mics and then there was just the bass and, afterwards we did everything else and it was really, that was before I knew what I was doing so...I mean.
De: We were still in school then.
How did it turn out?
I: You gotta see for yourself...I think it turned out pretty good considering man. We didn’t know what we were doing you know...
D: I think the results speak for themselves, like for the time, I mean, like we said we were a band in June 2006. It was out December 2006 and you know for what it was just sorta. It’s nine songs. We call it an album but I guess it’s technically an EP like it’s not ten songs. It’s less than half an hour.
Well nine songs is still...
D: But for what it was it was good, the songs speak for themselves. I mean to us it was always.
De: Technicalities.
You know what? The first MDC record was under fourteen minutes. The first CIRCLE JERKS record was under twenty.
D: Oh the CIRCLE JERKS oh I love how, I got the CD, double play and it’s still like 30 minutes...
Anyways, so, time is not an indication.
De: I agree.
I: But ah, the second album we lucked out right because my buddy Linton, we went to school with him and we just recorded the drums and everything in his house and that was cool and I think it sounds really good and at that point I was like sure, I knew a little bit more about what I was doing and then the third album is like well the second one was more of a split. It wasn’t an album but....
De: The third was in my basement.
I: Third one, we did the drums and bass in Derrick’s basement and ah we did guitar in my kitchen in my parents house.
D: Yeah, clean guitars in the kitchen and distorted guitars in your room.
I: And then we did vocals in my bedroom and then also we had the JOHNSTONES come over and they did like their trumpets right in my bedroom. It was jokes ‘cause you know like when they play live they like take off their shirts and everything and they like did that too in my bedroom. It was getting pretty sweaty in there.(laughter)
De: Yo, A lot of girls would love to have those two guys in their rooms with their shirts off so... (laughter)
I: I bet a lot of girls are jealous out there, I had Julian and Renee, half naked in my room and they were drinking beers so I mean.
D: We were getting them drunk but you know they had a rush so.
De: I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t take advantage of them.
I: You know what? Those are the two coolest guys from that band, for sure.
D: I have to say, they came by, they it was for a song called “Dead at the age of 18” on our new album...
I: I love those guys.
D: We sent it to them. All the music was done and we told them, hey, you know, feel free you got four bars, do what you want. They wrote their parts. They came down. They drove all the way. I mean we gave them gas money but I mean they pretty much like, they just did it for free. They just did it to be nice guys. And they did a great job, and ah, really cool guys right from the beginning they were really excited about it, and you know they kept coming to us like “oh are you ready?”, like “oh what do you want?” You know it was great we didn’t really have to bug them. They were all for it.
I: I mean considering the dudes are like travelling with like HEDLEY and all these huge bands like for them to just come over and do that for us. I mean take time out of there day, we were even late too from getting this microphone...(laughter) which we did take the microphone back saying it was broke didn’t we?
D: No.
I: Or did we wimp out? I think we wimped out...
D: You wimped out I would have done it.
I: Whatever, whatever, whatever.
D: But no, the thing I remember about that day though is that they got there early and uh, Julian calls me up and he’s like, is this your house?
Curse of having a conscience...
D: Because the neighbour, his neighbour was like some old woman and apparently she was yelling at them cause they were like...
I: No, it wasn’t my neighbour man, it was my mom’s friend.
D: Oh okay, but just kinda like...
I: And she’s telling them off like, “nice hair !” like making fun of them and shit. It was like my mom’s friend.
D: Not only did they have to wait for us, they got made fun of and we’re like, oh shit.
I: But yeah not cool, for sure.
What are the band’s future plans?
De: Keep going ‘till we’re dead.
I: Ah, world domination with the Deathstar?
We’ve already covered that.
I: Realistic wise, I guess.
De: Realistically?
Are you going to be touring or recording soon?
I: Well, we were supposed to tour in Quebec, but that got canned but we sold out in Montreal and Quebec City. But that’s going to happen again man we’re going with our good buddies the ROCK ONS another amazing band. We just love those guys. We’re going to do that in May hopefully and we’re sorta thinking about going across Canada but that probably won’t happen this year maybe it’s probably more like probably next year...
D: That’s more of a pipe dream.
De: Pretty much go as far as we can get, simply.
I: We’re going to just keep playing our crap and hopefully someone out there likes it and we’ll just keep playing it...
De: I’m in for like Tokyo and Australia, but that’s like the big picture.
D: The one thing I can say about the band though is that since it started it was like we were shot out of a cannon. It was immediate and we constantly do shows. We’ve never taken a break. We took one, well when we couldn’t get shows that one weekend, but like one time we took like a week off when he went to Cuba but besides that it’s been constant shows and it’s just been...
I: He holds that against me you know.
D: I do not.
It almost sounds like it.
I: We’ve played over...we’ve only been together for only like a year and we’ve done , I would say in between 100 and 150 shows.
D: It’s actually, it’s actually we’re at 122 was yesterday was our 122nd show.
I: That’s pretty close.
D: But you know what I mean, pushing as far as possible so, you know, we’ve been doing a lot around Southern Ontario and we feel like maybe we’ve saturated that a bit so we will be spreading but it’s kind of like pushing it as far...
I: Sneak into the States illegally.
D: But it’s just going as far as possible, and I mean its’ constant releases, like, it’s been a year and a half and we have three releases.
When did the latest release come out?
D: Ah it was October 20th.
De: Oh yeah, I was thinking December...
Have you been writing new stuff since then?
D: Yeah, actually we have a new song that we recorded, it’s called “Money Machine” and hopefully we’re gonna get it on a split or a comp or something.
De: I think we should just pump out another album, personally.
I: We recorded it with our buddy ‘Hot Carl’ from Uxbridge.
D: Bridge Promotions.
I: Yeah, Bridge Promotions, like he recorded that and he’s recording “Toxic World” and those will be on our new album that we’re gonna be releasing in the fall, for sure.
Okay, how can people get in touch with the band?
D: We have a Myspace, ah it’s http://www.myspace.com/corporationskaband and you can catch us there. All our information is up there and there you can find our individual emails if you even want. We will respond to you, any comments or messages people send we respond to every single one. All our info: Shows, CD releases, merch, anything. We make blogs after every show just to let people know, like if they couldn’t make it to the show, what happened anything crazy happened, good, bad whatever so if you didn’t make it to the show you know what you saw and we give shout outs to the bands and the people that were there and...
That’s good, that’s good.
D: All our main information can be found there.
And I also appreciate that you put your e-mail addresses up there because a lot of people don’t so you kinda have to be part of the Myspace thing...
De: I find it sometimes a little annoying but I don’t mind at the same time.
I: I like it though cause if a fan, a lot of the time it’s like, some people just want to talk to you more personally as opposed to your whole Myspace, you know like maybe they got something to say to you directly or just want to talk to you because they liked you in the band not... I think it’s cool you know a lot of people just add me and it’s cool you know I like talking to them yeah if you want to add me...
De: I’m lonely.
I: It’s a pain in the ass when I’m checking e-mail and you just get bands asking to add you, so.
Well thanks very much for playing today.
I: Thanks a lot for having us.
And good luck with things.
D: No, good luck to you.
I: We love you.
Good luck to us all.
David (D): I’m David Corporation and I play guitar and sing.
Ian (I): I’m Ian Incorporated and I play the bass and do some vocals too.
Derrick (De): I’m Demented Derrick and I just beat the shit out of my drums.
Okay, how long has the CORPORATION been around for?
D: We’ve been around since June 2006 and so, how it all started was sort of ah…we’ve been in previous bands, ah, and Ian and Derrick here had been in a band called the SHITKICKERS and I had been in a band called LOW FREQUENCY and we used to play you know ah, back in like 2004 whatever, we met each other at a show… like, you know those crappy supernova shows? The one good thing that came out of it was that I met these guys and so both our bands…
De: We had a loving friendship after that.
D: Yeah (laughter) and both our bands kinda fizzled off at the same point, so Ian here came to me and just said like maybe we should start something together, you know.
De: And now we have this.
D: Yeah and so he just said like yeah, you know Ian came to me and we just ah, you know we wrote a few songs and then we just said who would be the best drummer and we just like, Ian was like let’s go back, let’s go to Derrick. Something friendly, something familiar.
I: ‘Cause the thing was we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we knew we were going to play a lot of songs from the SHITKICKERS and I was like well Derrick knows pretty much like all those songs.
De: I’m that special.
I: There was this guy Steve, Steve Heretick and ah the problem with him was like he had another band going so we were like, go with the old guy use some old songs so.
D: Not to mention Derrick had hit almost all the toms man, you know, that’s rare, so...
Do you still do a lot of SHITKICKER songs?
I: Yeah we still do. We play like songs like “She” or “Coffee”, ah “My Choice”.
D: This new one that we just finished recording, “Toxic World”.
I: Yeah “Toxic World” is like an ancient song we just brought that back out. I mean the way I look at it, you know, I just wrote those songs. Those songs have a lot of meaning behind them a lot of positive energy in them and I just want to keep these songs, you know.
Was there a different, I guess you decided to really start as the CORPORATION was there a change in song writing and ideas or? Did you guys have a discussion about like, what you wanted to do?
I: Right off the top man.
So, what was the idea behind the band?
I: We were just like, we wanted to make a band that’s like just totally makes fun of corporations and just totally, like totally, like bring ‘em down and really just a ska-core band, like really hardcore punk and like ska and just rip into corporations. I don’t know if you want to add to that?
D: Yeah obviously you know, it changed you know, but they had been in a band together. I hadn’t. This is my first time playing with them but whenever you add new people you change the dynamics.
Sure.
D: But like, When Ian came to me you know ah, ‘cause I sort of looked up to the SHITKICKERS or like they, you know my band wasn’t really that good but ah, they were definitely. I liked what they were doing so when Ian came to me I was just sort of like, what do you want and he was just saying let’s go more that ska core route. Let’s put more ska into it but keep it like hardcore punk, you know.
De: Yeah, Ian always had a thing for trying to implement ska with punk.
Yeah.
De: He tried it back with the SHITKICKERS.
Yes.
De: But it works a lot better with this band. Way more.
D: Yeah and it was just the focus was just going to be you know sort of that political satire, like, let’s talk about corporations…
De: Well we sort of joke around about it.
D: Yeah have fun with it, but we talk about serious issues and we get actual, like, good facts out there to people and raise awareness about stuff and so, have fun but be serious and sort of give it your all.
You were talking a bit about your musical influences like ska, can you tell me a bit about who you consider influences on the band?
I: DEAD KENNEDYS right here man. Jello Biafra is like huge influence on me like to… like that satire that’s where I get it from like I love how he would joke around songs like pull my strings and stuff like that. Such joke around sarcasm I love that and that was really inspirational for me. And then like, as far as ska goes I was really, very influenced by the SPECIALS like a lot of two tone stuff, so that’s for me I don’t know for you guys.
De: Ha, way too much.
That’s okay, go ahead.
De: The list is way too big.
Well I’m curious to know what makes you guys tick so, feel free to just mention a few things that you…
De: Well, for me it was a lot of metal back in the day so, like I was big into SLIPKNOT and...
D: I remember when I met this guy. He had a huge CASUALTIES backpatch.
De: Yeah I was a huge CASUALTIES fan as well but ah, I also loved a lot of the UK ah, punk like EXPLOITED, well the EXPLOITED are more Scotch, but like the DAMNED, SEX PISTOLS everything man, everything from the 70s and on.
I: All I can remember is like we’re like playing like “come on Derrick play the skate punk” and he’s like, “I don’t like skate punk man, it’s Street punk man, steet punk!”
De: Give me a break, I was 16 at the time!
I: Whatever, it’s the same frigging beat man.
D: For me it was a lot of just the ah, I like a lot of American hardcore from the eighties, like actually I’d say one of my biggest influences is HÜSKER DÜ and I was listening to them on the way down is “Zen Arcade”, I think that’s the best album of all time, personally.
It’s a great record.
D: Yeah and MINOR THREAT and BLACK FLAG a lot when it comes to the punk stuff and when it comes to ska at the time you know. The SPECIALS grew on me more as I was in this band with Ian and I have to admit I wasn’t into ska but I didn’t know…not necessarily. I knew a lot about it, like I always like to research things but I didn’t really listen to it a lot but lately like it’s been a lot more like, I’ve been listening more to like DESMOND DECKER, PRINCE BUSTER, the SKATELITES and ah, actually BOB MARLEY and stuff and ah… like a lot more than the new stuff that maybe fans haven’t heard yet is influencing at least my guitar work and so a lot of I’d say very punk driven but in back, you know, in us is still that ska roots.
De: We try to keep that root.
I: And you can hear in our sound that we’re influenced by CHOCKING VICTIM and LEFTOVER CRACK and OPERATION IVY.
I was going to ask about that.
D: The usuals.
I: It’s just we don’t like to go ahead and say that because a lot of people that don’t know you better will be like, ah you’re just a rip off.
Well the thing is, although it may seem obvious, you didn’t mention it and I was thinking that’s peculiar that you didn’t mention something like that.
D: See to be honest, I own all those records but if you asked me the last time I put it on, like me myself.
I: Months ago.
D: I haven’t put it in for, like years but I’ll be in a car with someone and they’ll be like do you have that CD and I’ll be like, yeah I do and I still like listening to it, but to me, like, that’s not what’s really influencing me anymore. I feel like I’m past that, you know…
Although it was one of those, “Energy” was one of those records that just, you know, changed the face of punk at one point right?
D: No it did, and it’s true because..I mean..
That whole Gilman Street scene that grew out of that, it put the spotlight on that Gilman Street scene that was, like, under-sung.
D: You talk to anyone though it’s just like: punk, ska aside, like whatever side you want to say you’re on on, you know everyone seemed to like them. Their favourite songs you know, just always quote some lyrics and stuff, it’s true it was a very important record.
It was yeah. Okay I’m going to ask you just about the punk side now, if you had to limit your record collection of five punk releases what would they be collectively as a band so you need to put your heads together for this.
D: Well, I’ll take one and then we can agree on two, how about that?
I: Hold on a second.
D: Okay so we’ll start ...
I: “Out Come The Wolves”, man, that record is sick by RANCID. It’s one of my favourite records.
D: (laughter) Are you serious???!!!
I: Yeah man.
D: Oh god, if you were stranded on a dessert island man??!
I: Buddy!
De: I’d use that for fire wood.
I: Every single song on that album kicks ass man. Every single song man. There’s not one song that people won’t fucking cover like “Every Day”. That song, that album is just like jam packed.
D: But for the pure fact that you’re getting nineteen songs too.
I: It’s insane, and every song is good man.
D: You take another album and you might only get eleven, so that one will last you longer.
I: That album was extremely influential for my bass playing, for sure.
D: I already threw out “Zen Arcade” by HÜSKER DÜ and I don’t think these guys will agree with me so much, but definitely me.
I: Eh, whatever you can get one fifth of the vote.
D: Okay good.
De: I can’t pick.
You can’t pick?
De: I can’t pick. It’s too hard!
This shouldn’t be hard, you should just say.
D: You know what, I could list you five right now.
De: Out of my head?
Don’t think.
I: See you’re thinking now, look what you did!
D: Okay I’m going to put out BAD BRAINS “Rock for Light” because I’d say maybe the first self titled but it was just faster on “Rock for Light” and you got more songs.
I: I’m going to say DEAD KENNEDY’s “In God We Trust” if that is the album that I’m thinking of ...
“In God We Trust?”
I: If that’s the one with all the pure fast songs on it…
Yes, that’s it.
I: That is it. That album kills. That’s wicked.
De: You know what it would be for me? It’d be the Punk-core sampler from 2000 that really drove me into punk actually. I snagged it off one of my buddies. I saw it in his basement. Saw the cover and I was like, that looks cool, I’m going to borrow this. Never gave it back.
Yeah.
I: One thing is we actually did a cover…
De: Played it to the ground…
You know, what’s interesting is, no one has ever picked a comp before and I’d have to say that, like one of the first comps I ever listened to was probably “Welcome to 1984” which was an MRR comp that had so many…and it makes sense that you would pick a comp because there’s so many.
De: It’s got so much on it
I: You know what’s also good man those…
De: You know, granted it was a street punk one, it’s got CLIT 45 on it and LOWER CLASS BRATS, A GLOBAL THREAT.
I: The original Hellcat samplers like “Give ‘Em the Boot” I and II, those ones are wicked man, they got me into…that’s what got me started on CHOKING VICTIM and stuff like that and then VOODOO GLOW SKULLS man, kick ass.
VOODOO GLOW SKULLS, I forgot about that...
I: That’s what got me into that, for sure those albums man, they’re really...
D: I’m gonna be a bit more nostalgic and we actually covered a song “Mannequin” by WIRE and I’d say “Pink Flag”.
Okay I’m going to cut you off because you’ve already reached your limit.
D: Cool.
I: We talk too much.
No, no, I want to ask you about the name of the band, where does the name come from “ Is it like based on the movie, “the Corporation” ?
I: I have to say that I did um actually take some influence from that it was just like...
De: We were just kinda sitting in my basement thinking of names...
D: Yeah well originally you guys had NASH and I’m like that’s that Wal-mart skateboard brand…
I: Yeah well, the reason why NASH was more to it than that, it was because it was the four possible ways to die: NATURAL, ACCIDENTAL, SUICIDE, and HOMICIDE and I thought that would be a cool idea for a band and then...
D: That’s a rare fact you’ll find about this band.
I: Yeah for sure, you’re not going to get that anywhere else.
De: Now everyone knows.
I: And then all of a sudden I was like, a cool name that would be good for a ska band and it’s just like really simple, like one of those names that someone says all the time and they’re like something that’s like simple.
De: You can’t simplify it any more.
I: Just a really simple name and also really insulting name too to corporations. It’s like an insult. We dress up like business guys like with blood on us and shit.
Yeah, it makes me think of that DEAD KENNEDYS picture where they have the ties and the dollars signs on their shirts.
I: Yeah that fucking, than, that’s a wicked picture man.
But does anybody criticize you for like, stealing the idea from the movie?
I: I don’t care, I just don’t care man. You know? Whatever, man.
D: I’m actually surprised with how few people have actually mentioned anything about that movie like…It’s a Canadian film too so I’m surprised by that a lot ...
Well, maybe that’s part of the reason why, because it’s a Canadian film so it’s not that well known. Also it’s got a political agenda. The movie is long because it’s dense with stuff that they’ve got to cover about the entity, ‘the Corporation’ right, um but ah, I think it’s a difficult movie, in some ways, to watch because, you know, it’s not a, you know, in the junk information generation of ...
I: My girlfriend fell asleep (laughter) when we were watching it.
My point exactly.
I: I loved it man my eyes were opened. I was watching it. I couldn’t get my face off the screen. I wanted more man. It was just awesome.
I have to agree with you. I’ve seen the movie a million times already, well not a million, but I’ve seen it at least four or five times and...
De: I can’t say I’ve watched it yet (laughter). I haven’t seen it yet.
D: You need to, that’s pretty bad.
I: Another big thing that was interesting from that movie was ah, like there the whole thing about corporations not having to take responsibility because ah, it becomes a person of its’ own so it’s like instead of saying some guy owns a business, a corporation is its’ own person and I thought that was an interesting thing and I wanted to roll with that in a way too that like, we’re like, we’re this entity you know...so I don’t know, I found that interesting.
D: It’s very much how we deal with our band too like it’s not like this is, like it’s almost like the band is like its’ own person, like you take the three of us and you put us together but it is like...
De: Well we are a business too, right?
D: Well yeah, yeah. The other thing too is..
De: I guess if you look at it that way, I mean you get paid for gigs, it’s a business right? You’re entertaining.
I: I don’t know man, I wouldn’t say that we we’re making very much money man. I wouldn’t be playing with this kinda crappy gear...
De: Well, definitely not those giant four bass drums and 8000 cymbals.
I’m not really sure you could be accused of like, you know, basically destroying the world or fucking over people everywhere.
I: Actually we kinda kid around that we’re going to actually this is 100% serious, all the money that we are earning we are going to build a giant Deathstar to blow up the world so, that what I want to say we’re just like every other corporation. We’re going to take out the world, and we’re going to do it. It’s going to cost us a quadrillion dollars but we’re on the way slowly.
D: Yeah, like we’re going to test that on Alderon first but ah, once that’s proven successful, Earth will be next.
I: So with your help we can destroy the Earth together!
Okay what are some of the things you sing about?
D: Ah well.
I: Sex. Sex and violence, free TV porn.
Is it all about Corporations? I mean, there is a song about Coca Cola on a recent CD...
D: There is a song about Coca Cola and actually, we felt like it was so strong lyrically that the first time we didn’t do it justice, we re-did it on a split, that we did with BEYOND DECAY. But uhm it’s not all about corporations you know like the thing was for me I listen to ANTI-FLAG and they’re great but like well, ah...there music’s kinda gone down but the message...
I: (singing) “One trillion dollars, could buy a lot of things. One trillion dollars...” (laughter)
D: But like the thing was, It seemed like too much though you know like for the message like very rarely did they actually have a joke song or care to take it back a bit and so, like, we will have some joke songs. We will have some fun songs. It’s never lame like BLINK182 joking around, like ‘go fuck a dog’ or something like that.
De: I touched grampa’s penis the other night.
D: Yeah like it is a strong focus though on CORPORATION’s or just more like stuff like we said that song one is about pollution, which I guess corporations have a big part of contributing to pollution but you know like songs like “Channel 39” is just a song about tv porn. You know like that rare thing back in the day before the internet.
I: You wait for the nipple shot.
D: You wait that half hour for that one nipple.
I: I would tape in man cause you see it for the one second that one titty would come out.
De: Wait for the boob.
I: You better catch that that’s maybe just one of the night man, you know like. Before everyone was all like Ohh, ohhh...wait..noh...ahhh ohh, wait, wait ahhh there it is yay. I was sitting with my buddy Steve man I was sleeping over at his house like years and years ago and uh I couldn’t even believe it was on T.V. like, I’d never seen it on TV before. I thought you had to like pay for this and then. I don’t know, we just recently...
De: I think what’s worse is, you know when you’re younger and you’d watch the like, scrambled porn on the real high channels? And you get the perfect audio but it’s all like static.
D: Then you find out it was the surgery channel and you’re like, oh damn!
De: I just whacked off to someone’s open heart surgery that was a long...oh.
I think in some ways though you’d expect a balanced approach you know some fun as well as some serious stuff.
I: We didn’t just want to put it in people’s faces you know.
At least with a band that would be doing some ska I mean it seems like, you know ‘cause ska is like actually kinda this (fun music in some ways?)
I: Ska man is like that.
Of course, I don’t disagree you know. Things like “Pressure Drop” they talk about economic system collapsing and things like that.
I: That’s an awesome song man. That’s one of my favourite songs.
I agree but in the same token it is considered with you know...
De: You can dance to it.
I: Yeah we like that aspect too. It’s like a good groove like, we throw a bit of reggae in there. It’s really chill like the thing is too, we’re not trying to sound like mediocre or nothing but the like it’s good to see a lot of kids like ska better than our punk stuff, but we still play our punk stuff. We still stay true to it because that’s just what we love. We love being that band. We’ll show up to a ska show and there’ll be a lot of ska bands like STOP DROP AND SKANK and they’re amazing at what they do. I mean they do their ska thing but then it’s like we always come there and bring that punk element always.
D: It’s good to have that diversity you know I mean we can fit into a punk show we can fit into a ska show and ...
De: I don’t like idolizing ourselves actually.
Well I’m going to ask you, I want to go back to the lyric stuff what is your favourite song from a lyrical standpoint and why?
D: I would have to say from a lyrical standpoint it is “Coca Cola” because that was the first time I, like ‘cause like whoever sings the song writes the lyrics...
I: Except for “Bibles for Cambodia” which was written by me because I couldn’t sing it ‘cause it’s pretty hard to sing and play that song so...I failed, I suck!
D: But from a lyrical standpoint “Coca Cola” that was the first time I actually tried to really focus on you know like one, like one corporation and kinda one thought and one cause ‘cause and it came out really well and since then I’ve been able to do that. Like, it’s all been, like this one song that we have called “Charon doesn’t have change for a million dollar bills” on the new album “The Corporation Strikes Back” but that’s one that’s kind of more diverse. It talks about corporations in general, but “Coca Cola” that song is the first time I tried to target one specific corporation and really tried to raise awareness.
Okay, what about the rest of you?
I: Ah, “Guantanamo Bay” is my favourite song ‘cause like it is just really disgusting to me like the kinda things that went on down there and not only that it’s just kinda funny that they’ve got like bowling alleys and like a McDonalds and all this and yet there’s like all these people suffering and not even getting a chance at trial, and, like, if they do it’s just like guilty. Do you know what I mean? That kind of thing is just totally disgusting you know. I wrote this song as a joke cause there actually is a website you can go to where you can go to a US Navy base you can go to trips to Guantanamo Bay in the U.S. and it’s like “Come to Guantanamo Bay”, “we’ve got bowling alleys the nicest, warmest beaches”, and like and I just thought it was disgusting ‘cause it’s like all this crap is going on there man it’s like so to me I wrote it like a joke song like, just like you know like, well read the lyrics for yourself.
Well the US is using the ‘War on Terror’ as a way of kidnapping people and bringing them to this place to torture them.
I: For sure man. So I wrote this song as like a vacation song like trying to like come on down to Guantanamo Bay we’re going to have a good time kinda thing and like you know.
Yeah, like “Holiday in Cambodia”.
I: (laughter) Hey, yeah it’s not a rip-off, don’t call it that. It’s inspiration.
I’m just saying.
De: Cheap shot, cheap shot.
I: In a way you know what? Like I said man I’m not going to lie, Jello is a very huge influence of mine.
Hey, his stuff is still pertinent.
De: I just play drums, I never hear what they sing.
There’s nothing that you, that stood out for you?
De: Like, I like a lot of their songs.
I: Except he does “1, 2, 3, 4!”
De: Yeah, on “Guantanimo Bay”.
I: That’s it, that’s his vocals on that one.
D: I have to say that lyrically another one though, “Invasion of the Wal-Martians”. That was another early song from us and Ian wrote those lyrics I just thought they were clever and funny and it’s that whole political satire thing again coming at you, but if you read those lyrics it’s just, it’s really funny but it really does make you think like wow you know, Wal-Mart is sort of like these alien invaders coming in and they just keep spreading and taking over.
Did you hear that they tried to set up a Wal-Mart really close to one of the Mayan ruins?
D: No, I heard about that too.
Because there’s not a Wal-Mart within like, I don’t know, 50 miles of it. That’s their rationalization.
D: Someone told me they’re actually is one at the pyramids, you can visit there, there’s actually a McDonalds which I thought was. Yeah you just saw uh, king tut and now you can get your Big Mac.
I: Best part about Cuba man is you don’t have that crap. I went there not too long ago and down there I went down there and they don’t have any of that. It’s so nice to get away from Wal Mart, Coca Cola, McDonalds and it’s just like, yeah I mean, they have there own set of problems but, it is nice to get away from corporations.
De: I think “Toxic World” and holiday in...er, not holiday “Bibles for Cambodia” the two that I’d choose from, lyrically.
Yeah. Who are some of the bands you play with locally.
De: Too many.
I: Uhm, we’ve played with the VILETONES, the TOASTERS we’ve played with the CREEP SHOW.
De: That’s not locally!
I: Well, I mean we played those shows locally.
It’s okay, it’s okay
De: It’s like KEEPING SIX, JOHNSTONES, FLATLINERS.
D: Mainly though, THE FLATLINERS.
I: We play a lot with like...Yeah, like they said KEEPING SIX, JOHNSTONES, FLATLINERS I mean...
D: CEREMONIAL SNIPS, THE EXPOS...
I: We just played with HOSTAGE LIFE.
D: We do, we seem to be doing a lot especially sorta in the Mississauga area with the big man himself in STOP DROP AND SKANK and so you know, we’re getting to be good, good friends with them.
I: Shout out to ORGANIZED CHAOS...I hope they’re listening.
D: They’re good friends of ours, you know.
I: Yeah those guys. I love those guys to death man, they’re amazing. I don’t know, who else really we played with...oh...THE BRAINS from Quebec I don’t know ...
D: One cool thing was BROWN BRIGADE.
I: Yeah, BROWN BRIGADE! Those guys are actually... man he did the right thing and left SUM 41 ‘cause that band is wicked man, they’re playing like IRON MAIDEN.
D: He is fucking serious about his metal man.
I: But he’s amazing man.
D: He’s like the coolest guy ever he just came out to our car and just started, he was like “Do you need a hand with gear?” brought it into the club for us.
I: Yeah, that was cool man.
De: He’s nice. He’s awesome nice. Really nice guy.
I: MAXIMUM RNR we will be playing with so ah, there. That’s going to be a good show, that’s coming up this month.
Okay, How many releases do you have out?
De: Three currently.
I: We got three.
Okay, ah, are they all self released ?
I: Self released, recorded we do all the art. Derrick does all the art.
De: Yeah, I usually do all the art. Our very first album we used to hand-press ourselves just print it out, burn it.
D: He made the first 100 copies by hand...
Okay what is the first release?
D: The first?
De: “New Pope”.
And when did it come out?
D: It came out in December 2006.
Okay, and is it still available?
I: Yeah you can still buy it. Actually that’s not true. Currently it’s out of stock. There’s only one copy left out of the 200 so...if you want it really badly ah, you’re going to have to come to Niagara Falls this weekend ‘cause we’re going to sell it there for sure.
D: Like we said, the first 100 were made by hand and that just got really tedious and so we ended up having to send them away to get it made but in terms of... like it’s as DIY as possible.
De: They also had a habit of getting caught in people’s CD players...
I: Yeah ‘cause it’s like the label that was like really sticky it happened to me too man, I put it in, I like busted my girlfriend’s like CD player...
D: You know what though? Yeah, we did it on purpose because then people can’t get them out and they have to listen to it...
I: Yeah, you have to listen to it over and over again.
That would be clever.
D: But in terms of being DIY, we recorded it ourselves like we said Derrick here would draw the artwork you know. We would compile the liner notes together and you know, we got it made by hand as much as possible.
Let me ask you about the recording then. Was it recorded like in a practice space or something like that?
De: Yeah, in my basement.
I: Uhm, the multitude of...the very first album was actually only recorded with like three mics...like that was it.
De: Was it three? I thought we had like two?
I: You know what, I think at one point maybe we only had two...
De: We did the drums with one hanging from the rafters...
I: One hanging from the roof and one shoved in his kick drum, and then there was like the bass guitar...
De: It actually worked out...
I: Yeah, you know what? There was only two mics and then there was just the bass and, afterwards we did everything else and it was really, that was before I knew what I was doing so...I mean.
De: We were still in school then.
How did it turn out?
I: You gotta see for yourself...I think it turned out pretty good considering man. We didn’t know what we were doing you know...
D: I think the results speak for themselves, like for the time, I mean, like we said we were a band in June 2006. It was out December 2006 and you know for what it was just sorta. It’s nine songs. We call it an album but I guess it’s technically an EP like it’s not ten songs. It’s less than half an hour.
Well nine songs is still...
D: But for what it was it was good, the songs speak for themselves. I mean to us it was always.
De: Technicalities.
You know what? The first MDC record was under fourteen minutes. The first CIRCLE JERKS record was under twenty.
D: Oh the CIRCLE JERKS oh I love how, I got the CD, double play and it’s still like 30 minutes...
Anyways, so, time is not an indication.
De: I agree.
I: But ah, the second album we lucked out right because my buddy Linton, we went to school with him and we just recorded the drums and everything in his house and that was cool and I think it sounds really good and at that point I was like sure, I knew a little bit more about what I was doing and then the third album is like well the second one was more of a split. It wasn’t an album but....
De: The third was in my basement.
I: Third one, we did the drums and bass in Derrick’s basement and ah we did guitar in my kitchen in my parents house.
D: Yeah, clean guitars in the kitchen and distorted guitars in your room.
I: And then we did vocals in my bedroom and then also we had the JOHNSTONES come over and they did like their trumpets right in my bedroom. It was jokes ‘cause you know like when they play live they like take off their shirts and everything and they like did that too in my bedroom. It was getting pretty sweaty in there.(laughter)
De: Yo, A lot of girls would love to have those two guys in their rooms with their shirts off so... (laughter)
I: I bet a lot of girls are jealous out there, I had Julian and Renee, half naked in my room and they were drinking beers so I mean.
D: We were getting them drunk but you know they had a rush so.
De: I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t take advantage of them.
I: You know what? Those are the two coolest guys from that band, for sure.
D: I have to say, they came by, they it was for a song called “Dead at the age of 18” on our new album...
I: I love those guys.
D: We sent it to them. All the music was done and we told them, hey, you know, feel free you got four bars, do what you want. They wrote their parts. They came down. They drove all the way. I mean we gave them gas money but I mean they pretty much like, they just did it for free. They just did it to be nice guys. And they did a great job, and ah, really cool guys right from the beginning they were really excited about it, and you know they kept coming to us like “oh are you ready?”, like “oh what do you want?” You know it was great we didn’t really have to bug them. They were all for it.
I: I mean considering the dudes are like travelling with like HEDLEY and all these huge bands like for them to just come over and do that for us. I mean take time out of there day, we were even late too from getting this microphone...(laughter) which we did take the microphone back saying it was broke didn’t we?
D: No.
I: Or did we wimp out? I think we wimped out...
D: You wimped out I would have done it.
I: Whatever, whatever, whatever.
D: But no, the thing I remember about that day though is that they got there early and uh, Julian calls me up and he’s like, is this your house?
Curse of having a conscience...
D: Because the neighbour, his neighbour was like some old woman and apparently she was yelling at them cause they were like...
I: No, it wasn’t my neighbour man, it was my mom’s friend.
D: Oh okay, but just kinda like...
I: And she’s telling them off like, “nice hair !” like making fun of them and shit. It was like my mom’s friend.
D: Not only did they have to wait for us, they got made fun of and we’re like, oh shit.
I: But yeah not cool, for sure.
What are the band’s future plans?
De: Keep going ‘till we’re dead.
I: Ah, world domination with the Deathstar?
We’ve already covered that.
I: Realistic wise, I guess.
De: Realistically?
Are you going to be touring or recording soon?
I: Well, we were supposed to tour in Quebec, but that got canned but we sold out in Montreal and Quebec City. But that’s going to happen again man we’re going with our good buddies the ROCK ONS another amazing band. We just love those guys. We’re going to do that in May hopefully and we’re sorta thinking about going across Canada but that probably won’t happen this year maybe it’s probably more like probably next year...
D: That’s more of a pipe dream.
De: Pretty much go as far as we can get, simply.
I: We’re going to just keep playing our crap and hopefully someone out there likes it and we’ll just keep playing it...
De: I’m in for like Tokyo and Australia, but that’s like the big picture.
D: The one thing I can say about the band though is that since it started it was like we were shot out of a cannon. It was immediate and we constantly do shows. We’ve never taken a break. We took one, well when we couldn’t get shows that one weekend, but like one time we took like a week off when he went to Cuba but besides that it’s been constant shows and it’s just been...
I: He holds that against me you know.
D: I do not.
It almost sounds like it.
I: We’ve played over...we’ve only been together for only like a year and we’ve done , I would say in between 100 and 150 shows.
D: It’s actually, it’s actually we’re at 122 was yesterday was our 122nd show.
I: That’s pretty close.
D: But you know what I mean, pushing as far as possible so, you know, we’ve been doing a lot around Southern Ontario and we feel like maybe we’ve saturated that a bit so we will be spreading but it’s kind of like pushing it as far...
I: Sneak into the States illegally.
D: But it’s just going as far as possible, and I mean its’ constant releases, like, it’s been a year and a half and we have three releases.
When did the latest release come out?
D: Ah it was October 20th.
De: Oh yeah, I was thinking December...
Have you been writing new stuff since then?
D: Yeah, actually we have a new song that we recorded, it’s called “Money Machine” and hopefully we’re gonna get it on a split or a comp or something.
De: I think we should just pump out another album, personally.
I: We recorded it with our buddy ‘Hot Carl’ from Uxbridge.
D: Bridge Promotions.
I: Yeah, Bridge Promotions, like he recorded that and he’s recording “Toxic World” and those will be on our new album that we’re gonna be releasing in the fall, for sure.
Okay, how can people get in touch with the band?
D: We have a Myspace, ah it’s http://www.myspace.com/corporationskaband and you can catch us there. All our information is up there and there you can find our individual emails if you even want. We will respond to you, any comments or messages people send we respond to every single one. All our info: Shows, CD releases, merch, anything. We make blogs after every show just to let people know, like if they couldn’t make it to the show, what happened anything crazy happened, good, bad whatever so if you didn’t make it to the show you know what you saw and we give shout outs to the bands and the people that were there and...
That’s good, that’s good.
D: All our main information can be found there.
And I also appreciate that you put your e-mail addresses up there because a lot of people don’t so you kinda have to be part of the Myspace thing...
De: I find it sometimes a little annoying but I don’t mind at the same time.
I: I like it though cause if a fan, a lot of the time it’s like, some people just want to talk to you more personally as opposed to your whole Myspace, you know like maybe they got something to say to you directly or just want to talk to you because they liked you in the band not... I think it’s cool you know a lot of people just add me and it’s cool you know I like talking to them yeah if you want to add me...
De: I’m lonely.
I: It’s a pain in the ass when I’m checking e-mail and you just get bands asking to add you, so.
Well thanks very much for playing today.
I: Thanks a lot for having us.
And good luck with things.
D: No, good luck to you.
I: We love you.
Good luck to us all.
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