TWELVE GAUGE RECORDS

by Jason Walsh


“Jack Osborne had a label and I figured if that asswipe could have one, so could I.”

This is the driving inspiration that led Jihad Rabah to start up his label, Twelve Gauge Records back in 2004. A few months after inception, Rabah released the fledgling company’s debut, the “heavy Heavy Low Low/Courtside Seats” EP. The journey continued from there. A Cypress native who relocated to the States discovered his passion for hard and heavy musicat a young age.

“When I was about ten years old my brother brought home a mix tape that had tracks from Metallica‘s ‘...And Justice For All’ on one side and Iron Maiden’s ‘Fear Of The Dark’ on the other,“ Rabah said. “This tape was played over and over and lead to my interest in aggressive music and as a kid, I began downloading so much cheesy metal albums. When I moved to the States my brothers friend had given me a bunch of MP3 links to bands like Poison The Well, Crestfallen, Pg. 99, which led to my interest in taking things a step further.”

Based out of San Jose, Twelve Gauge Records has dropped twenty releases, on both CD and vinyl format, building an impressive roster of not only California bands, but a few from other locales in the country. One such example is Black Teeth from Peoria, Illinois.

“Jihad from Twelve Gauge got a hold of us after hearing some tracks,” guitarist Nate Woiwode said. “I have no idea how he noticed us or anything because for the most part he only puts out California bands. He's doing a 7" for this band Hell & Reason from the Northwest right now too. Justin (Closed Casket) and Jihad (Twelve Gauge) are behind us 100%. They're both completely legit guys. I can't stand people that are straight to business, those types come across as total fucking boners. Justin and Jihad have both become friends. I'll call almost daily just to shoot the shit with and exchange stupid stories and stuff. Jihad and Justin totally get behind us when we need records or shirts or whatever when we're out on the road.”

Hell & Reason are an aggressive, hard-hitting fusion of hardcore and metal from the Portland and Seattle areas of the Northwest. Their guitarist Jason said coming to Twelve Gauge Records was just the natural option.

“My friend Ben Paulsen played in Set it Straight and so I was always hearing about Jihad and stuff at the label,” he said. “They had a great experience and success on Twelve Gauge, so when it came time to find a label, Twelve Gauge was an immediate option in my head. Jihad is easily the best person I could imagine working with. He constantly asks us ‘what we need’ and is always on the same page as us. Luckily, when our van broke down on tour, we had enough money to pay the bill. But Jihad was there asking us if it was going to be cool and asking what he could do. He doesn't just put out records. He befriends you and constantly gives you as many resources as you need to function beyond selling records.”

This personal commitment to the label’s bands is a reoccurring sentiment echoed by many of the groups under Twelve Gauge. Guitarist Jay McNeilly from Sabretooth Zombie felt lucky to be working with a guy who has such a passion for not only the music but the musicians as well.

“Jihad is one of the good dudes out there,” he said. “And its been like he is more of a 6th member of the band, rather then the head of a label. We had always heard good things from bands he had worked with, and what’s really amazing about Jihad is that he puts out what he loves: genuine people trying to make good music.”

Now coming into his fifth year of operation, Rabah continues to search out new groups to join the Twelve Gauge crew. He said that the deciding factor for putting bands on the label is pretty easy.

“The most important thing for me is to find bands that have good attitudes, are hardworking, and can get along well with me. When it comes to the genre, my past twenty releases have all been hardcore, metal, or punk, but this can easily change as my taste in music broadens. Twelve Gauge Records is a mix tape that will never be finished. My bands keep me going with this. They are some of the best people I've ever worked with and are some of my best friends. They drive me to keep up my label and keep putting out their records. It works out for the both of us. I am very inspired by my bands and have a great deal of respect for them.”

This diversity in styles has kept Twelve Gauge’s soundtrack fresh and new. The current lineup of active artists includes Sabertooth Zombie, Purple Mercy, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Black Teeth and Hell & Reason. Past releases has included joints from Set it Straight, Where Eagles Dare, Hoods, Molotov Soulution, and Countdown. Rabah says his approach with each outfit varies.

“Each one brings something new to the table which keeps me excited to be putting records out. I love the diversity on the label and between all the bands. Sabertooth Zombie is a non-stop, music-making machine, and are some of the funnest dudes to hang out with. Purple Mercy and I relate on a different level, a much higher level (ha). Heavy Heavy Low Low are my best friends and have been controversial since day one which excites me. Black Teeth and Hell and Reason are my two newest and youngest bands, both with tons of motivation and drive. Check them all out.”

Lastly, when asked why should people check out Twelve Gauge Records: “You don't have to listen to any of the bands on my label, but if you don't, you are missing out.”

First Blood

FIRST BLOOD
by Jason Walsh

The mutation of hardcore punk into metalcore has been a continous cycle since bands like Hatebreed paved the way so many years ago. Nowadays there are literally hundreds of bands that sound like them, look like them, and it has become hard to distinguish between them. However, the upstarts in FIRST BLOOD from the Bay Area have found their own unique voice and sound, and proven that they stand as one of the best of the lot when it comes to the brutal assault that is the fusion of metal and hardcore styles.

Founding member Carl Schwartz, former bass player of TERROR, fronts the outfit with a seasoned group of musicians who came from bands like SWORN VENGEANCE, ALCATRAZ, EMBRACE THE END, and SET YOUR GOALS. Started as an outlet for fun and good times, and now through several shifts in the lineup, the band has finally gelled into a lean, mean, destructive machine that will have kids flying, fists pumping, circle pits exploding, and throats strained after maddening choruses. Having toured Europe, and the States several times now, on their first Trustkill Records release, “Killafornia,” the guys from San Francisco are trying to complete their sophomore album, when they aren’t on the road, which according to Carl, is most of the time.

I had a chance to talk with him about the band and the new record, their unique opportunity touring Europe with AGNOSTIC FRONT, as well as the uncertain state of the world and how it unfortunately provides a source for material.

JW: How did First Blood come about? What made you decide to form this band?

CARL: Well, I moved to California probably about ten years ago and I met a bunch of dudes that were into hardcore music and metal, stuff like that. We had been playing in different bands at the time and each of our bands, they kind of split off and dudes went their own ways. It was basically just a bunch of friends from a whole bunch of bands and people we knew in the Bay area and we just got together and wanted to start a heavy band kind of like what we’re doing. That’s pretty much the gist of it, y’know, being in the same place at the same time.

JW: So a group of you guys who had been doing other things but decided you wanted to do something a little bit different?

CARL: Yeah, we’ve kind of been in bands where we were putting in a lot of time and nothing was really happening. We were kind of getting stressed out about it so we just wanted to start another band that was just fun. You know, we had no plans on touring or even playing outside of California really at all, at the time. Just to do a fun band that wasn’t really that much stress.

JW: Making that decision, looking back on it now, you think you made the right choice there?

CARL: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I think putting it together and what’s happened over the past few years is definitely something we don’t regret. Totally worth it. We’ve been able to see a lot of things and go a bunch of places. Yeah, definitely worth it, y’know.

JW: So the direction the band is going, you guys are doing pretty good. You put out “Killafornia,” which was a great record, you got a new record coming out soon. The one thing I wanted to talk about was I saw you did a European tour with Agnostic Front. Man, what was that like?

CARL: Dude, that was awesome. I remember the day I got the email from the agency out there I knew that was booking tours. They had an opportunity and they were looking for a band and we had a record (“Killafornia”) coming out and the label was going to support the tour. When I got that call, it was like one of those things when you were a kid, and these New York hardcore legends, y’know these guys you look up to, and all of a sudden you get a chance to play with them and chill with them for a month and just basically play music with them every day. It was awesome. It was totally awesome.

JW: And that’s got to be one of the more incredible parts of the experience. Not only are you hitting the road with these guys that are old enough to be your parents in some cases, but to be able to travel to Europe and see all these places that probably most of you haven’t been to before.

CARL: Yeah, it’s a trip. You know these guys have been doing it forever. These guys have been a band for what, 25-30 years? One thing I’ll never forget about those guys, I mean, a lot of the bands we tour with are really good with us, but I mean they definitely stick out. All the dudes like Roger (Miret) and Vinnie (Stigma) and the Gallo brothers and Joey (James), all those dudes, y’know, you hear it a lot, like people being down to earth and stuff like that but they were always asking if we’re taken care of and everything’s alright, was there enough to eat at the club, and stuff like that. They always look out for you, man, it’s like the stuff we’ll never forget. Any chance we get to tour with them again, we pretty much jump on. It’s a good time and those dudes actually go out of their way and make sure everything is good with you, like every day. They take care of the band they bring out with them. That’s like a really bbig thing about them.

JW: Kind of reinstills that whole philosophy of the “hardcore family” and how they take care of their own.

CARL: Yeah, definitely. Definitely.

JW: And you guys just did a West Coast tour with those guys. How did that go? Was it fun seeing those guys again?

CARL: Yeah, yeah, it was awesome. It’s amazing to think how we hadn’t seen a lot of those guys since we did that first tour with them in 2006 in the summertime and here it is the wintertime in 2008. It made you realize like how fast the time went. It felt like we were in Europe again, basically, being with the same dudes, everybody knew each other again. It was just a trip and make you think how quick the time passed. Man, it was just like the first time. It was awesome to play with them again and to be able to do it in California, in some of the cities where we have a lot of friends. It was awesome. It was totally awesome.

JW: It was bringing them out to your neck of the woods to play a home game in your backyard.

CARL: Yeah, kind of I guess, you know, just like being in places you’re used to being around a lot, y’know, on the West Coast and all of a sudden you’re doing it with dudes that are not only from the East Coast but we were sharing a tour with them on the other side of the world. It makes you think no matter where you’re going, everything’s going to be good with those guys.

JW: What do have going on this year? I know you have a new record coming out. Are you going to be hitting the road?

CARL: Yeah, for sure, I mean right now, we’ve been kind of in and out sporadically, because we’re still trying to write this record, finish it up, and get it out pretty soon. We’re getting people hitting us up on different tours, so we’re doing shows here and there. You know once you’ve been on the road for a while, you get antsy when you’ve been sitting home for a while. It’s hard trying to balance it out and being able to sit down and write some music, get studio time, and take care of all that stuff. As soon as we get it done and recorded, we’re going to be out on the road again, trying to set up tours, and just get out and get back overseas again and do as much as we can. Sometimes you have to just get out of town and just do it and do what you love doing.

JW: Tell me about the new record. How do you like how it’s going so far?

CARL: It has its ups and downs. We started writing it actually right after we were touring with Agnostic Front the first time and that was like a couple years ago. From that time until now, we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs as far as wanting to challenge ourselves or wanting to just do stuff that’s fun. I feel we’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves to try and just do what we normally do and maybe try to push it. It’s been a challenge but I think the songs we got together after all this time, we’re finally putting together material that we’re happy with and we’re going to be excited to play live. It gets to the point where you play the same songs over and over again, you got to bring something new to the table. You got to do something new that’s not only exciting for you but that kids will get into, say some more things and make an impression. You know, put an effort and you’re putting something into this music, might as well make a mark with it and say something meaningful and help kids turn their heads and maybe think about something new and change their mind a little bit and make them think about something they don’t normally think about every day. Things are going pretty good and we’re probably putting together stuff that’s gonna roll out pretty soon. We’re just waiting for all that stuff to come together. The label is still with us, Trustkill is still going to put it out, and they’ve been pushing us real good to get it done, get in the studio and buckle down. It’s good that after all this time we still got people pushing us and helping us along the way.

JW: With the way things are going right now, obviously there’s not a lack of content lyrically to write about. I mean there’s a lot going on in the world right now, things aren’t looking too bright, and I’m sure that’s really fed into what you’re doing as far as songwriting.

CARL: Oh yeah. Absolutely. You know when we started the band it was too have fun and go off and have energy, and you think about on a small dance floor, that’s really just a tiny fraction of what goes on in the world at all. Now, it’s all around you. You can’t avoid it. You keep thinking about the economy or you think about war, you think about inequality. You think about all that stuff. It’s kind of hard to shake it. At the same time, you got to find a balance between complaining about what’s wrong versus trying to come up with solutions, or highlighting what’s happening that you think is actually going in a positive direction. You know, because complaining about stuff that’s wrong gets you nowhere. That was the funk I got myself in, especially in the past year with all the stuff that goes through my head. When you’re in a hardcore band, it makes you just want to write music and be aggressive and complain about all the things that are going bad. But where do you get when you do that? Sure, it’s good to release it all but this time has helped me to sit back and think about, y’know, we acknowledge all the things that are going down and going wrong in our minds. What can we do or what do we see that is happening that gives you hope that things might be changing for the better. It’s a balance you’ve got to try and reach. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that everything’s all right, because it’s not, but you’ve got to find out what’s going good and roll with it. It’s tough. Everyone is feeling it somewhere, with the economy and jobs. You see it everywhere. Ghost town malls, people don’t come out to shop no more, small business owners, they’re struggling. People are just trying to make it and keep going by. Definitely not a shortage of anything to think about, so that’s where we’re going as far as writing.

Dirty Devil Apparel

DIRTY DEVIL APPAREL
by Jason Walsh

Sometimes just being in a band, or two bands isn’t enough. Sometimes artists search for other ways to channel their creative outlets; whether visual art, physical activity, writing, filmmaking, or tearing apart a V-8 engine.

In the case of Roger Miret, there are several outlets. The frontman of Agnostic Front for nearly three decades has his side project, The Disasters, as well as his car club, The Rumblers, which has helped feed his passion for classic cars and motorcycles. However, Miret hasn’t stopped there.

A few years ago, the seeds were planted for developing an apparel company that not only spoke to his hardcore history that began on the streets of the Lower East Side in New York City in the early 80s, but also to his passion for “old-school” vehicles. Dirty Devil Apparel was born. I had the chance to speak with Miret about his thriving new endeavor as a clothing line entrepreneur and also learned and exciting new development in the continuing legacy that is Agnostic Front.


JW: What got you inspired to do this?

MIRET: The sheer full inspiration behind Dirty Devil is my lifestyle. The actual line is a reflection of my whole career and everything with music, with cars, with bikes. I’ve been involved within the scene for many years, and in being involved within the scene, going out to shows, and checking out different apparels and stuff, I started thinking about what I would like to do apparel-wise and what I feel is missing. I have really cool new designs working with my partner, Todd Huber, on art and layout and stuff like that and then bringing it to the home of Lucky 13, everything fell into place.

JW: When did you first start doing this? When did this come to fruition?

MIRET: We’re two-and-a-half years into full operation. We’ve been going back and forth through ideas now for I think four years. The first year and six months it was just ideas and then we brought in this whole operation in 2007.

JW: As far as the designs and artwork, is it you and your partner Todd or do you have other people helping you out with that?

MIRET: Well Todd does some of the art. He does a lot of the layout and the concepts and ideas are solely mine, and I verify with Todd and he figures out which artist we’d like to work with for the actual concepts and ideas and then we pitch them at few different artists. We had Chris Martin working with us for a while and he also went on to work with Jesse James for a while, but now he’s not with Jesse James and he’s doing freelance again. We’ve had a couple different artists. We had Horace Palami from Spain working with us, Larry Garcia, and we had Craig Holloway do one piece. I have quite a few different artists and Todd has been doing some of the better selling pieces.

JW: And it’s not just t-shirts and sweatshirts? You’ve got a whole line of stuff outside of that?

MIRET: Yeah, it’s full out apparel. It’s t-shirts, and there is some hoodies, and then we have shorts, we have pants, belt buckles, wallets, belts. We have some baby stuff, we have women’s shirts. We have cardigans for girls and jackets for both boys and girls. It’s a full line. If you go to the website, you’ll be able to some of the stuff.

JW: Yeah, I was looking at the catalog and you even have “onesies” for little kids.

MIRET: Yeah. I have a little 22-month-old daughter right now and I’m expecting my first son, my little baby boy in about eight weeks, so I had to design some cool stuff for them to rock around when I go to shows (laughs).

JW: Yeah, you’re going to be needing a lot of those.

MIRET: Haha…yeah.

JW: So have you enjoyed doing this, you know being kind of outside of music, outside of your enthusiasm for cars and motorcycles. Has it kind of been a fun project?

MIRET: Yeah, it’s a fun project. Anything that involves that type of creativity or any kind of hands-on stuff, I love doing. You know, I love creating. I’ve been loving creating and inspiring people and stuff like that. That’s part of everything I love to do and I like to see a finished product and like you said, everything works hand in hand, you know, it works with my hardcore rock ‘n roll type of lifestyle and also with my Rumblers car club, which I founded twelve years ago. You know ever since I was a little boy, working in my dad’s garage, everything just comes hand in hand, you know. I’m a certified Harley Davidson technician too. I’ve worked alongside some of the great people like Indian Larry, Von Hines, English Don, you know the early Psycho Cycle and all that stuff crew. It’s all cool and everything’s coming together which is cool.

JW: What’s thee feedback you’ve been getting from people, not only from within the hardcore scene, but at car shows, bike shows, things of that nature?

MIRET: I’ve been getting positive feedback. The actual brand is doing well even in a declining, struggling market. We’re still hanging in there and above water which is great. The feedback is great, when I go to my own shows and I’m playing with Agnostic Front, I see people out there wearing Dirty Devil clothing of some sort. I also see it when I go to car shows and it feels good. I go to different stores, here a local store in Arizona called Go Cat Go, and they carry it. It’s pretty much in a lot of places and people are opening up to it, which is really cool. Hot Topic just took on an 800 piece trial order which is really cool and all I can do is hope for the best because it’s something I believe in and I feel good about.

JW: How does that make you feel knowing you can go to the mall and actually see some of your clothes in a store there?

MIRET: Well, um…I don’t know yet (laughs). I haven’t experienced that, you know. The way Hot Topic works is that they just put it in selected stores here and there. They’ve already done a run on the East Coast with Dirty Devil, but this is just a bigger run they’re doing now. But you know, I’ve had Agnostic Front shirts here and there, at different Hot Topics and stuff. You know the truth of the matter is that it feels good to see that and there’s a demand and people are searching and looking for it. The website has it. But it feels good. I feel like I’m accomplishing something.

JW: Very cool. I have one last, non-clothing related questions I wanted to ask you? I read you got a new drummer for Agnostic Front. Tell me about that.

MIRET: Well our new drummer is not anybody new to the scene. He’s a veteran and I don’t know if you’re familiar with band called Leeway.

JW: Oh yeah…

MIRET: Another great band from the 80s, having to do with the direct New York crossover hardcore type of stuff that was going on. So Pokey (Mo) is a veteran playing drums for us. I have yet to rehearse with him or even play with him because I don’t live in New York, and I will be on stage with him Wednesday (last April) and I expect nothing but the best from him. He’s a pro, a really great drummer, and the guys have been working with him, so I’m excited.

http://www.dirtydevilapparel.com/

HENRY ROLLINS

THE MANY WORLDS OF HENRY ROLLINS
by Jason K. Walsh

Henry Rollins is a multi-faceted entertainer who never seems to take a break or slow down. The former Black Flag and Rollins Band front man has come a long way from his early DC days in the underground hardcore scene. Musician, writer, film actor, radio DJ, talk-show host, and this summer will begin a new chapter in his resume of achievements, when he takes his first role on a television drama. Rollins joins the cast of “Sons of Anarchy” alongside Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, and Katey Sagal. The FX series focuses on the trials and tribulations of an outlaw motorcycle gang trying to keep the peace in their small town of Harmony. The show is the brainchild of Kurt Sutter, the mastermind behind “The Shield,“ and will start shooting its second season this summer.

Prior to shooting, Rollins decided to do a quick East Coast stretch, performing his patented fast-talking, spoken-word stylings. Last year saw him traveling all over the country on his “Recountdown Tour.“ I had a chance to talk to Henry about the tour, his radio show, and the new series, but I’ll tell you, it’s top secret so he didn’t give anything away.

JW: So how are things going for you in this new year? What have you been up to?

ROLLINS: I spent the beginning of the year in Mali. I went to a music festival there called the Desert Festival. It’s held in Essakane. Since then, we have been getting two books of mine ready for release this year. The first one just came out and the other one will come out later in the year. I am getting ready to start work in a TV series called “Sons Of Anarchy,” that will take up a lot of the summer.

JW: How did you get involved with the TV show and had you seen it prior?

ROLLINS: Kurt Sutter, the writer asked me if I wanted a part and I said yes. I was very well aware of the show, as well as “The Shield,” his other show.

JW: Is this the first TV drama you've been involved with and why did you decide to do it?

ROLLINS: First TV drama and I reckon life is short so you should try and do stuff.

JW: I read you can’t say much about the storyline or character you’ll be playing. What can you say?

ROLLINS: He's an extremely bad person.

JW: Following the summer, any future plans for the remainder of the year?

ROLLINS: As soon as “Sons Of Anarchy” wraps in late September, I will be out in the world traveling into next year. I have some plans that I think are very interesting but don’t want to talk about any of it until it’s booked. I will be out and about until January I think. If all goes according to plan, I should end up in Africa in mid-January and go from there to England and start the next tour, which should go about 12 to 15 months.

JW: What made you decide to do this stretch of spoken word shows in May and June?

ROLLINS: I wanted to get some shows happening when I wasn’t working on the TV show and that was the time the production could cut me loose so we went for the dates.

JW: What is it about these spoken word engagements that keeps you interested? Is it the storytelling, the art, and/or just feeding off an audience and their reaction?

ROLLINS: All of that, certainly. I think it’s a great way to communicate and express. I just finished a 208 show tour but am glad for the shows I have this summer. I don’t have many so I am happy for the few I’ve got. This TV thing will take a good bit of time.

JW: Is there something special about returning to the East Coast for you? Do you get excited about coming back and do you find time to look up old friends while here?

ROLLINS: It’s always great to be on the East Coast for me. I won’t have any time to do anything but the shows and then back to the airport this time around though. I wish there was more time, but perhaps later in the year I can get out there and not have to hurry. I am usually busy enough in LA to be distracted from that fact that I’m in LA. I get a lot done here although I have never felt all that “at home” here. It’s not a big deal as like I said, I am all about the work and one of the reasons I can get a lot done here is that I feel more like I am on location than anything else.

JW: Following these dates, you head to Sweden for the Peace & Love festival and Belgium for Rock Werchter. What are those all about?

ROLLINS: They are festivals that I am doing. They were booked before I got the TV stuff happening. There are about six shows on that run. It will be a fairly sleepless week.

JW: I saw your doing some hits for KCRW internet public radio station. How did you get hooked up with this and what's it all about?

ROLLINS: I have a weekly show, 6-8 pm Saturday nights. The station I was at for many years, Indie 103 went down and KCRW called and asked if I wanted to work there and I said sure. It’s been great. It’s the station I started learning about radio many years ago so it’s great to be back there. I am live on the radio. It’s not an internet only station. It’s NPR for southern California. You can find my past shows archived on the site but it’s a very live thing.

JW: Do you enjoy DJ-ing, and is this just another way to extend yourself as an artist?

ROLLINS: I like playing records for people and turning them onto cool music.

JW: Lastly, following likely one of the most historic elections in our nations, how do you feel about the results and the future? Also, how do you feel about Americans coming out in record numbers to have their voices heard?

ROLLINS: I think America made an interesting decision. I am not happy about all the bailouts and the whole “too big to fail” thing. I don’t like the idea of upping the ante in Afghanistan. I think no good will come of more troop strength in that region. The Russians lost mightily there as did may others. As they say, it’s where empires go to die. I think it’s great that Americans are finding their voice. The more people voting the better. It’s their country so it’s about time more people got involved with their future.

www.21361.com

TSOL

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF FREE DOWNLOADS

TSOL’s Jack Grisham talks about the new record designed to help those in need
True Sounds of Liberty emerged from Orange County in 1979 as part of the birth of the California punk scene. Along with bands like Black Flag, Social Distortion, and the Circle Jerks, TSOL was an influential group, essential in the development of the new, exciting music that was rising from the West Coast underground. Remembered for their early political messages in songs like, “World War III,” “Abolish Government,” and “Superficial Love,” they gained larger recognition after their appearance in Penelope Spheeris’s cult classic, “Suburbia.”

Jack Grisham was the band’s front man from inception, but after several shaky years left the band, which then transformed into a surf-goth-punk formula for the albums “Change Today” and “Revenge.” Influenced by the glam-metal debauchery of the lates 80s, “Hit and Run” was released and put the final nail in the coffin of an outfit that had isolated itself from its punk roots in favor of hairspray and spandex. The pain would be over soon as the band would cease to exist.
1991 saw a reunion of the original lineup with Grisham, and they released a live record on Triple X records, and then nearly a decade later, three more releases on Nitro Records: Anticop 7-inch, Dissappear LP, and Divided We Stand LP. This marked the return of the band’s classic Southern California punk sound, now a bit older and wiser. Grisham had also transformed his life of decadence and abuse, to become a personal recovery assistant, helping others with drug and alcohol dependency problems.

This year, the band, in conjunction with the Hurley clothing company, released a new album which can be downloaded for free through the Hurley website (www.hurley.com/tsol).

So why would a band release a free record? Grisham’s hopes are that fans will take a moment to check out the charities on the website and make a donation in exchange for receiving the free record. The organizations included on the site are Midnight Mission, the Orangewood Foundation, the O.C. Food Band, the Surfrider Foundation, and the SPCA.

I had the opportunity to talk with Grisham about the new release, and as the conversation varied from recording to the old days of punk to politics, the singular theme throughout is that all his efforts in life now are giving back for all that he has taken over the years.

JW: So what do you have going on this year?

JACK: We just did a record. So you know the record business is shit. It’s screwed up. It’s a mess. Especially for guys like us, because, yeah, we’ve been around for a while and our name is established, but we don’t sell like a lot of records and we don’t make a lot of money. We make enough records to just keep going and have fun in doing it. So basically the music business is just screwed up so it’s trying to find a way to use it to our advantage. What we did was we went out and we got a clothing company, Hurley, to sponsor us doing a record. They didn’t give us a lot of money. What they did was they paid for the record, they flew our guys out, because one of our guys lives in Nevada and the other one lives in Iowa. They flew them out and covered our bills for two weeks, so we got two weeks to make a record. So, we make a record and then we just give it away for free. We never see any money from them anyway. Normally it’s all tied up in record companies and just a mess. So what we did is make the record, give it away for free, and if you go the Hurley page (http://www.hurley.com/tsol/) there’s a list of my charities, people I try to support, and I put them on the download page with a video of me saying, “Hey kids, look you guys basically get a free record so if you can throw a dollar to our friends, do it.” It has a link to all our charities on there. So it’s kind of like, the clothing company is stoked because they put their name on something. We’re stoked because we get to make the record. The kids get a free record. Our charities get money, even if they throw them a buck or two, it’s great.

JW: And this is the one, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of the Free Download.”

JACK: (laughs) Yeah…haha..It’s a brand new record and it’s actually a great record. I’ve had people who have heard it and they are saying I can’t believe you’re giving this away. I’ve known Bob Hurley for years and I know Nike is the parent company, and people will say their human rights are shit for Nike and that kind of crap, but the guys at Hurley have been really good for the communities around here, a lot of high school programs and stuff. So, I didn’t have a problem teaming up with them and the way I look at it, especially the way things are now, if kids can get money and a place to sleep, get a fucking meal, get taken care of, it’s like I don’t give a shit where the money comes from.

JW: No, that totally sounds like an awesome endeavor. You know some kids will go there and go, “Ahh…I got a free record and I didn’t give anything,” but a lot of people will go there in the like mindset of the punk rock community and be like, “what’s a dollar?”

JACK: Exactly and some people are like, “Well, why would these guys who are supposedly anarchists or whatever hooking up with a corporation?” I could sit back and say “fuck you, we’re not going to do that” and then kids at the Orangewood Children’s Home and the Midnight Mission, then those people aren’t getting served. You see what I’m saying? So, it’s actually kind of hardcore socialism. You know what I mean. It’s like do this, do this, do this, we give this, and then everybody is scratching each other’s back.

JW: And we’re in a different age than when you guys started this back in the 80s. Coming into 2009, we have got to find ways to make Corporate America work for us in a way that we can help the causes that benefit us and the people that need to be helped out.

JACK: Exactly. You’re totally right. It’s really easy being idealistic when you got a warm place to sleep and food in your belly. But some of these things, like the Orangewood Children’s Home, it’s for kids. It’s basically an orphanage. I mean that’s what goes on there. It’s like those kids don’t give a shit, you know, they want a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk. I mean they wouldn’t care if Bush was paying for it. They wouldn’t give a shit. They want a warm place to sleep, man. You go down to Midnight Mission, five or ten dollars feeds twenty guys.

JW: Politics don’t come into the equation when you’re talking about breakfast.

JACK: Not at all. Not at all. And, the people that complain are people that “have.” Guaranteed.

JW: Exactly. People bitch about higher taxes and this and that, but the point is, we have to look out for our brothers and sisters, and that’s kind of what drew us to the punk subculture in the beginning.

JACK: Right, exactly, well, at least that’s what I believe and that’s what I was taught. So, that’s what we’re doing, and so far it’s already worked. Some of those people have already got a good amount of money so far, so it’s a success.

JW: So when did this post?

JACK: It’s already up. We actually did live video so people were able to watch us record the whole record. It was live-streaming video up while we were in the studio and you could watch us arguing and shit. I mean it was basically streaming video from start to finish. It was cool. I would be getting emails from kids in Brazil, Finland, Japan, Alaska, you know, all over the place. I was getting emails saying, “Hey, take it easy on the bass player, he’s getting ready to snap.”

JW: That’s awesome.

JACK: (laughs) It was pretty funny. “Jack, you’re an asshole.” Just all that kind of shit.

JW: It’s kind of like the film crews after they shoot the scenes for the movie and they go back and watch the rough cut, but your viewers of the rough cut are your fans.

JACK: The whole thing was rough cut. Even when we were doing vocals, which if you’re like a vocalist, that’s a bitch and a fucking nightmare, man. There’s like no music. When you’re doing the vocals, they’re not hearing any music, just hearing you go “yeah…woah..yeah,” just hearing it with nothing.

JW: (sarcastically) I’m sure you got a lot of positive comments about that then?

JACK: The kids were stoked about the record. I’d say out of ten songs, there’s probably six that are really good, which is good for a record of ten songs. You can’t expect every song on a record to be great.

JW: So you’re pretty happy with the output from the session?

JACK: Yeah, especially because from start to finish, I’m talking starting with zero songs, not even an idea for a song, we got together, wrote a record, recorded it, and released it. Witihin two weeks. Plus, we did it live so everyone could watch.

JW: And that’s the introspective that fans don’t get to see, the creative process from beginning to end. They see the final product after it’s been mixed and mastered.

JACK: Right, and it sounds all nice and everything. What they got over the air was completely raw, uncut, listening to it right then.

JW: So now that this is out there and available for the kids and the fans, what’s the future for you guys this year? Are you going to do some tours, some local tours? What’s the plan?

JACK: Well, we’re getting ready to do a little, quick tour but we just do it for fun. We do it because we like playing with each other. We’ve been playing together for, shit, thirty years so it’s fun to get together but we all have families so we only go a week or two at a time.

JW: It’s not like load up into the bus and go cross country?

JACK: Yeah, I won’t do it. Like my daughter gets bummed and I’m pretty involved in the community here, so they don’t like it either. There’s a lot of people that count on me here. I do a lot of work with alcoholics and addicts, so they like me to be here. When I’m gone on tour, I’m not helping people.

JW: Tell me a little about that. Your day job now seems to come with great responsibility.

JACK: It’s a lot more personal. I mean I take 3000 calls a month on my phone. It’s like…I fucked around a lot of people. You know what I mean. I was a real prick. A lot of people said, “Oh, he was nice. He was a gentleman” and yeah, when I wanted to be I could be very nice and very kind and very giving, as long as it suited my needs. As long as I felt like it, but the minute I was crossed I turned into a real bastard. I did a lot of stuff based on “self,” so I have a lot of paying back to do. It’s not enough for me to just stop fucking people around. It’s like I have to pay back for what I’ve done and so that’s really more important to me now than selling records and being on tour.

JW: Talk about that. What was it like back in the day when you guys were doing this and you were not as comfortable in your skin as you seemingly are now?

JACK: Well, I mean it was fun (laughs). When I got into punk rock, it wasn’t for any noble causes. I was just basically a troublemaking fuck is what it is, and the music was a background for me being a basically total selfish “do-what-I-want” bastard. The only thing we did that I get upset about is we didn’t do a lot of punk-against-punk kind of violence. We figured, “Hey, this is our family” and everything I did was towards people that were against us, if that makes any sense. There were a lot of bands in the scene that I have trouble with, man, because people respect some of these guys and back then they didn’t do anything as far as I was concerned to be respected. Like, they’re real divisive, not family.

JW: And that’s what the punk scene was supposed to be about. Being united.

JACK: That’s what we thought. When I got into punk rock, I used to stop people in the street and ask them what they were into, if I’d see someone with colored hair or something. If I saw someone with dyed hair I’d say, “Hey, who do you like? What bands do you like? What are you into?” I was stoked. Stoked to see them. Then little by little it got to the point where it got real divisive. I was like, “We’re East Coast. You’re West Coast. We’re this. You’re that.” It was a real drag. It really got to be bad news and a lot of these bands, like the Bad Brains, there’s one of them. Musically, I respect those guys, great stuff musically, but some of their views were fucked. They were basically more close-minded than a lot of the people that we were supposed to be going against. I mean all that stuff that happened with the Big Boys down in Texas, you know no one mentions that anymore. The gay bashing that they did on Biscuits, the singer from the Big Boys. It was a drag, man. For people inside our own family to be treating others in our family that way, I had a problem with a lot of that.

JW: And that just isn’t unity.

JACK: I like them, you know what I’m saying. I think their music is great. We played some great shows with them. But when people look back nowadays and they speak with reverence about some of these people, it’s like, “Hey, let’s get a real handle on this. This wasn’t as great as you think it was.” When people start talking about Henry (Rollins- SOA/Black Flag) and Ian (MacKaye-Minor Threat/Fugazi) and what a great guy Ian was, I mean Ian was shit to us. When TSOL went back to play on the East Coast, Henry and Ian got together like a couple of little chicks and they basically started all this, “Oh, the skinheads in DC are going to kill TSOL,” because we had long hair and we drank and we do whatever and they were bummed on us. I mean we went back to DC with that going on and no one talks about that. That’s not mentioned. Let’s just skip all that, skip all that petty bullshit that was happening and let’s forget it. I’m all for forgetting it, but let’s also remember that it happened. Let’s really realize that these people weren’t saints you’re talking about and I don’t mean to sound bitter but it’s like I just don’t like people portraying them like such great guys when that wasn’t the case.

JW: And from what you’re saying, that goes against the whole principle of what punk rock was all about. It was about the outcasts, finding a place that felt like home, and if you can’t go into somebody else’s home and feel welcome, then what are we doing?

JACK: Exactly, and there was a lot of that really going on and I have guys coming up to me and really admiring me for being an asshole. I’m like, “Kid, you’re mistaken.” They want to hear war stories. They want to hear about me fucking people around and that’s what they like. Interview has taken a wrong turn (laughs).

JW: No, no I think that’s important for people who read this. A lot of people that will be reading this are guys like me and you that are older and have been in this for a while or the young kids who are trying to get a sense of the history and heritage of where this started and what really happened. Aside from issues within the band, did a lot of this, the tension you’re talking about, have anything to do with why you left the band.

JACK: Well, a lot of it had to do with the fact that it wasn’t fun anymore.

JW: And that’s the most important thing I’d think?

JACK: Right, exactly. It got to the point where there were some real rock star trips going on where it was like, “Dude, you’re a fucking punk! Stop it, man!” The guys were getting real rock star-ish and against what we’re supposed to be doing. Does that make sense?

JW: It totally makes sense. In the early 80s, punk rock was what it was. It was punk rock, it was from the streets, everybody was doing their own thing. As time went on, labels were catching wind of it and started signing hardcore bands and took the fun out and a lot of the bands’ output suffered, because they started putting out shit.

JACK: But even back in the day, even when people were putting out shit, it didn’t matter. I mean when they were shitty bands, because the attitude of being a family and just having fun and jumping up on stage and like, “Hey, let’s make a band” and it was like “You, me him, and who are you dude? Can you play drums? Get up here.” Just making a band and screwing around and having fun, all that got lost. All that fun got lost. Then it turned into something where, “Hey, we’re making money off this” and even later on when punk rock supposedly broke or whatever with the Offspring and Green Day and all that, then it got to the point where it was a total joke. It was like, “are you fucking kidding me with the way you guys are acting?” I had a band one time, they called me. I was playing a show and they wanted to come see me play, right. So they called up and they wanted to come down, “but can you get us through the back because we don’t want to walk through the crowd,” and I’m like, “Fuck, don’t come down. Fuck You. No.” I was just shocked with that.

JW: They were afraid they might get dirty?

JACK: Yeah, or whatever it was? Just all that kind of stuff. I mean I don’t want to sound like this. My life is great, I mean I have an unbelievably great life. I have a lot of fun and I respect a lot of people. This is just little crap that happens that we talk about sometimes.

JW: And the thing I was getting at was not that what the bands were putting out wasn’t quality, but the mindset was “we’re getting paid for this now and it doesn’t matter, we’re going to put out what the labels want to hear.”

JACK: Right. Like I played with some bands that you would say, “Oh my god, I can’t believe you played with that band.” Musically, I didn’t like what they were doing. I didn’t like it. I didn’t respect it. However, the guys in the band were so unbelievably nice. Just great and kind and no kind of attitude. I mean a couple of these bands were Top 10 bands, but the guys in the band were just nice, man. I mean it was just fun and that’s what I miss. I miss that family kind of fun, this isn’t really a business, let’s have a good time.

JW: Just getting together and playing, regardless of what you’re playing, the style, the kind of music, just getting together with people of like minds and interest and playing music. That’s the experience.

JACK: And that’s really what it’s about, and not tripping, just having a good time.

JW: Yeah. Band practice rules.

JACK: (laughs) Yeah, and see I like doing that too. Like people trip on TSOL sometimes. We don’t soundcheck, we don’t show up for soundcheck, we don’t practice, sometimes we don’t even see each other until we end up on stage. We just do it for fun. It’s like let’s just go out and have a good time.

JW: And that’s what it’s all about. That’s what it was always supposed to be about.

JACK: Yeah.

JW: And maybe that’s the lesson to everybody else. Remember, at the end of the day, we’re all doing this for a good time.

JACK: Right, and now the cool thing about it is sometimes we get the opportunity where we can pay back for how we’ve treated people. Like we take guys on the road with us, that are hurting, like guys that are maybe fresh out of rehab. We’ll take them on tour with us to just basically kind of show the, “Hey, you can have a good time here. You know, it’s O.K. Come with us. We’ll show you fun.” And now, we get to give back to some of these charities by what we’re doing.

JW: That’s an important thing to you?

JACK: Yeah…yeah, that’s all of it. I mean there is nothing else more important than that. Our whole problem as a society is that we’re selfish fucks. I mean that’s the bottom line. There’s no way around it. Everything that’s wrong with the United States or in the world today is because people make decisions based on self. Look at our politics, look at the country, look at what we’re in. I hate to say it but Malcolm X said it when Kennedy got shot. He said, “You’re chickens have come home to roost. “ This is what you guys get. This is what your society’s bred. This is what you do. This is how you turn people out. This is what you make your people. You are getting exactly what you deserve. You can look at the way people look at America these days. I mean basically think about it. Just think about what these guys have done. They basically have said, “I’m going to do this regardless of who it hurts. I don’t care about you, you, you. I’m going to make these cars. I’m going to make this move. I’m going to attack these guys.” With no thought, it’s like “Hey, what’s good for us is good for us. Everyone else can just fuck off,” and that’s basically why we’re in the position we’re in now. It all comes down to selfishness. You look at the whole mortgage system. All of that. It’s all because of selfishness.

JW: And we’re in a rough spot. It’s all going to rely on self reliance from here on in.

JACK: But, we’re in a rough spot because of our own making. We put ourselves in this position. We have done this to ourselves. No one is out to get us. We have done this.

JW: I think that pushes towards the idea that we need to unite to fix this, to make this no longer an issue where we can point the finger saying, “It’s this guy. It’s that country. It’s those people.” Like I said, back to self reliance. We have to take care of this on our own because we can’t rely on anyone else to fix our problems.

JACK: Yes, to look at ourselves and realize what the problem is, is that we are the problem and all that change is going to start with us. Just thinking of other people, realizing that there’s more people in this world than just us. I mean a lot of people don’t realize how much the Guantanamo Bay thing has really hurt us in the eyes of the world. I have a lot of friends who live in other countries and one of my friends from Australia was so bummed that we were holding those guys like that because he even said, “We look to you guys. We look to America as someone with principles,” and to see that just devastated a lot of people. I felt really bad for this guy. When he said that, it was almost like someone that I screwed around saying, “How could you do this to me?” That’s what it felt like when he said that. I was so taken back that that was something that was so important to him.

JW: We’re people in this country and we’re not the ones pulling the strings. I mean, you did not put those people in Guantanamo Bay. I didn’t put those people there. Our government did this. Granted, we elected them, but with all that’s been going on we’ve seen the masses have not agreed with the policies that our government has been doing?

JACK: Right, but they haven’t been really willing to do much about it either.

JW: What do you think we could do to change it?

JACK: I don’t think you saw the kind of protesting you saw in the 60s.

JW: This is true.

JACK: I mean you didn’t see that. You know my father was in the military but my sister and my older brother were hardcore hippies. I mean I used to read stuff about what to do in a riot when I was a kid.

JW: So Dad was pulling into port and brother and sister were out there protesting him?

JACK: Yeah, I mean it was that kind of shit. You know my sister would bring home these yuppie handbooks. Stand in the middle of a crowd, throw bottles. I mean just like craziness (laughs). But I mean you didn’t see that large scale protest like that going on.

JW: In a lot of ways, a lot of Americans are like sheep. They follow and when the get angry, they complain, and they don’t do anything and keep walking.

JACK: Right, and that’s why for me it’s like, “What can I do here at home? What can I do close by? How can I make this easier on the people around me?” That’s really been my goal. That’s it. It’s like, “O.K., let’s start here. Let’s do this. Let’s do whatever I can do within reason. Plus, let’s do whatever I can do to help others.” And that’s kind of what the goal was with this record.

Madball Continues to Infiltrate the System

MADBALL CONTINUES TO INFILTRATE THE SYSTEM

interview by Jason Walsh

In the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, a young Cuban kid grew up around some of the most influential musicians in the city’s hardcore scene. At an early age, older brother Roger Miret took the younger Freddy Cricien on tour with his band Agnostic Front, and before he was even ten-years old, he was singing songs on stage during their set. Madball was a side project formed by Miret and AF guitarist Vinnie Stigma for Cricien in 1989, and from there the rest is NYHC history.

Now, twenty years later, an older and wiser Cricien has taken what he has learned on the road and in the streets and diversified the roles he plays within the scene, from producing to managing bands like Wisdom in Chains and Death Before Dishonor, to forming Black N Blue Productions with cohort “Cousin Joe” Cammarata. He has also recently started his own clothing line (FAMILIA) but at the end of the day, Madball remains the top priority.

The band released “Infiltrate the System,” their seventh studio full-length which was received with great response, and are working on new material for their followup, when they are not touring. I had a chance to talk to Cricien about being the busiest guy in the New York hardcore community and something of great importance to him. Family.

JW: So what do you have going on this year?

FREDDY: Oh man, many things. We’re in the process of starting to write the new album. We’re trying to get it out by this year so we’re trying to scramble. You know, we’re not just going to put out any old record. We’ve got a lot of stuff. Everybody’s been writing stuff for some time now so it’s a matter of compiling everything and getting it out. I guess that’s one of the priorities this year and aside from that, just a lot of touring as usual, y’know.

JW: Right. With this new record, you guys just started writing a little bit but haven’t hit the studio or anything like that?

FREDDY: No, I mean we’ve got a lot of material floating around but we’re not in the studio recording just yet.

JW: Any idea when you might get there or is it more or less, when you’re ready to go, you’ll hit the studio?

FREDDY: Yeah, it’s probably going to be when we’re ready to go, we’ll hit the studio. I mean once we’re ready to go, it should go pretty smoothly, hopefully. It’s just a matter of getting to the point where we’re ready. I mean it’s hard too, because we’re also touring a lot. We’re not touring all year round. I like to split up our tours a little more but we’re still pretty busy, y’know.

JW: Last year, at the Black N Blue Bowl, Rigg Ross announced he was leaving the band and you guys brought in Mackie Jayson (Cro-Mags). Now is Mackie still with you guys or did you guys get a new drummer?

FREDDY: We got a new drummer. Mackie helped us out. Rigg, y’know, we’re all still friends, but he had some personal stuff he wanted to handle. We went ahead and let him do that. Mackie was just our boy and he was there at the right time and just helped us out. We weren’t sure if he would be a permanent thing or not, y’know, on both sides. We just kind of went with it. Turns out it ended up not being a permanent thing just because he got really busy with the Cro-Mags stuff and it started conflicting with Madball schedule and that wasn’t really working for us. We decided to just find someone that could be a little bit more dedicated to just our thing.

JW: So who’s this new guy?

FREDDY: We got Ben (Dussault) from Throwdown. He was the Throwdown drummer for the last four or five years and his background is basically he’s a hardcore dude from Canada, you know what I mean, and he’s a solid drummer. He’s got chops and he also understands the history of our band, where we come from, and where we’re trying to go and all that. He’s just a really good fit, we tried him out, and it’s been working out so far.

JW: So he’s fallen into the Madball family pretty easily?

FREDDY: Yeah, yeah. I mean Throwdown was a little bit more of a crossover type situation, musically speaking, but out of all those guys, not trying to dis anyone, but he was like the hardcore dude out of that camp, you know what I mean? So, it kind of worked. He grew up listening to New York hardcore and it kind of fell right into place.

JW: Do you have any touring coming up with the band any time soon or are you gearing up for the Black N Blue Bowl in May?

FREDDY: Uhhh, both (laughs). I’m gearing up for the Black N Blue Bowl as we speak and I also have some scattered stuff with Madball. A one off in Belgium coming up and then we come back and we have a Canada run, then the Black N Blue Bowl, and then I have stuff after that. The way Madball tours these days, the tours are smaller, or shorter rather, but we still cover a lot of ground throughout the year, y’know.

JW: Does that make it a little bit easier to do it like that as opposed to doing long tours?

FREDDY: Yes, that’s definitely a conscious thing on my part. It makes life easier, it makes home life easier, and it makes it still exciting when we go out there and do it. I mean we could be on tour every day of the year if we wanted to, which I guess is a cool thing. Not every band is in that position and it’s a cool thing that we have that option. I’d rather not be on tour every day of the year. I’d rather do a few weeks out of every month or a month here, you know what I mean? That’s just the way I prefer it and the guys don’t have a problem with it so that’s how we do it.

JW: Does that help rejuvenate the band? You do these short stretches, you come home, you get a new burst of energy before you hit the road again. I mean, does that kind of help you guys?

FREDDY: Yeah, definitely man. You regroup and then when you come and do it, like I said before, it’s that much more exciting when you go back out there. You’re not burnt out and you haven’t been on the road for your third month.

JW: So, tell me about the BNB Bowl at the end of May this year. I saw the lineup. It looks like it’s going to be kick ass.

FREDDY: Yeah, it’s shaping up to be a pretty cool lineup, man. It’s hard. Every year it gets harder because bands are touring more and more and it’s hard to lockdown a good lineup during that time of year.

JW: It’s got to be hard to get so many good quality bands together all at the same time.

FREDDY: That’s exactly what I’m saying. Exactly what I’m saying. It’s not an easy task (laughs). Whether it be younger bands or older bands, everybody’s out there these days, you know what I mean, so it’s a hard task but I think we’re going to manage again this year. We have tons of bands: Earth Crisis, Bold, Crown of Thornz, Murphy’s Law…a bunch of bands. Tons. A couple younger bands. We’re going to officially announce it in the next few days and hopefully it’s going to be another great time. So far, knock on wood, every event has been great, turnout-wise and just show-wise, y’know, just everything. They’ve been peaceful, fun, and that’s what we’re in it for, y’know.

JW: Aside from the music and all that, you’re a busy man. You got this clothing line you’re doing. You’re managing and producing a couple bands like Wisdom in Chains and Death Before Dishonor.

FREDDY: I’m doing all kinds of shit, man (laughs).

JW: Tell me about all that stuff you’re involved with.

FREDDY: In this day and age, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. As I’ve gotten older and more involved in this world, and on the business side and the creative side, I’ve come to realize, Madball will always be a priority for me, but I also have other things and other interests, on the business side of things and even creatively. You know I’ve got a hiphop project. I’ve always been a big fan of hiphop since I was a little kid. I’ve always been involved in that culture so I’m finally dropping my hiphop record. And yeah, I manage a few bands and the management thing just kind of came from me managing Madball and just kind of spiraled into helping out a few other bands. I got to produce an Agnostic Front record last year. I’m pretty excited about that actually and I can’t complain really at this point. I’m just trying to build on everything, but Madball has been the catalyst for it all, y’know.

JW: And that’s the thing. To do a band is one thing, but to be able to branch off and do these different things. Is it rewarding for you, not just talking about making money and all that, but to be able to spread it out like that.

FREDDY: It’s definitely not financial just yet (laughs). I mean I get by, don’t get me wrong. I pay my rent. I take care of my family and I pay my bills and all that but I’m not in the lap of luxury, you know what I’m saying. The reward is more so just the fact that I was never a one-dimensional type of individual anyways and to be able to do these other things, to be given the opportunity to do these other things, that’s where the reward is for me personally. Then, of course, financially things get better then that’s great as well, because we can all use that. First and foremost, the clothing line was something I’ve been twirling around for a while. People were saying, “Everybody’s got a clothing line. You might as well do one too.” That’s almost the reason why I didn’t want to do one. I had an idea to do one, you know my clothing line is called FAMILIA, and to kind of bring my Latin roots and that aspect into my clothing, you know, not just a hardcore clothing line or hiphop clothing line. More something touching my Latin roots and that was the way to express that side. Relatives of mine are on my shirts, you know what I mean? The first shirt I put out is a shirt of my uncle in the 60s in Cuba. It’s very family related.

JW: You’re family’s got to be pretty proud that you would include them in something you’re doing creatively. They’ve got to think that’s pretty cool.

FREDDY: Yeah, without a doubt. I mean I’ve always been about family. Before the music and after the fact, family will always be there for you. I’ve always been big on family. I talk about it in my lyrics with Madball and it’s an important thing. Whether it’s dysfunctional or not or whatever, family can be your blood relatives or people you’ve grown up with that are like your brothers and sisters. I’m very big on family and they’re psyched about it and so am I.

JW: Last question, what can the kids and fans and family expect from Madball in 2009.

FREDDY: What can they expect? Brutality…hahaha. That’s what they can expect. No, I mean we’re going to bring it how we always bring it. When I do Madball, I want it to be as authentic as possible and as hard as possible and still fresh because we’re a band that, y’know with 2009, marks twenty years that we exist as a band. That’s a good thing and it’s also can be a negative. People could be like, “Well, do they still got it? What are they going to bring to the table?” We like proving to everyone, that not only do we still have it, but we can bring something refreshing to the table in being in the game this long. We’re like fine wine. We’re all getting better as we get older. Hopefully, we can give them something better than the last. That’s what we go for…better than the last.

SHAMROCK FEST 2009

Shamrock Fest 2009
by Jason Walsh
photos by Jez Beasley

The skies seemed clear on the pilgrimage north along I-95, and the hopes were that the forecasted downpour expected for the day in DC would prove to be wrong. As those familiar sites came into view, the Pentagon, Washington Monument, the U.S. Capitol, it seemed that the sun would burn itself out of the dismal gray that blanketed the city. Fans began to roll in at 1pm and the two opening acts started on opposite ends of the parking lot at RFK, throwing down their blend of traditional Irish Rock, before audiences could even find them.

“Yeah, I don’t know why they had it so spread out this year,” Mike Ayres of Charm City Saints said. “They told us gates opened at 12:30, but we didn’t see people coming in until one. We actually stalled ‘til about ten after just so some people could get in.”

Regardless of a packed audience, the boys from Baltimore continued on with their street punk influenced take, entertaining those who found their way to the stage.

“It is a great chance to play in front of people that might not normally come and check us out at a punk rock club like the Ottobar or Sidebar Tavern. Plus, it is one hell of a good time. Good music, lots of free beer. What more could you ask for?”

On the other end of the lot, the Gobshites from Massachusetts were also on hand with their unique style of tearing up traditional Irish standards or covering classics like Black Flag and the Ramones in an unexpected way. The nine-piece from Foxboro came a long ways for their first appearance at the Shamrock Fest.

“We’re psyched to do it because we wanted to do it for a long time,” Peter Walsh of the Gobshites said. “Our fiddle player played in Charm City Saints before and he played it, and we have friends in the Pubcrawlers, who played the last couple years and every time it happened, it was coinciding with South Boston’s parade, which we’re doing tomorrow. We couldn’t line it up and this year, it worked out, the stars aligned, and we found Jesus under the biggest star and got to play.”

Walsh, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the band, said this style of fusing hard, aggressive rock with the elements of Celtic music has always been one that has spoken to him.

“What I like about it is it’s so fucking honest,” he said. “Even like punk rock, which it never should have happened to, it matters about how old you are and how pretty you are, and it never should have been that way and it wasn’t until marketing got their hooks into it. What I like about this is that it’s almost a badge of honor to have lived through some shit and play this type of music. It’s the party, it’s the fun, it’s reality, if that’s your upbringing and the cool part is you don’t have to have the upbringing to enjoy it but that’s what attracted me to it. It’s just real.”

Returning for a second year was Cutthroat Shamrock from the foothills of Tennesee’s Smoky Mountains. Plundering with their blend of bluegrass and punk with pirate and Irish tendencies, the guys from down South were excited to be back, even as the skies began to drop the predicted rain.

“The crowd accepted easily even though the weather wasn’t as great as last year,” vocalist Derek McRotten said. “We feature Celtic influence in our music and we like to be known for that. A festival like Shamrock Fest draws a crowd expecting that genre and we were happy to give it to them.”

However not every entertainer on the bill of more than forty bands and DJs were playing Irish tunes. The Aggrolites and Dub Trio made their way to the Capital this year, dropping old school ska and dub beats. Fellow label mates from Savannah, Georgia, Passafire also came along for the ride. Keyboardist Adam Willis is a local who grew up in Alexandria, coming frequently to RFK in his youth for Redskins games.

“It is a hometown gig so I’m psyched,” he said. “As soon as we heard about it, we were like ‘we got to get on it.’ It seems like there is a lot of different kind of bands and it is, of course, a St. Patty’s celebration, but I feel like there’s a lot of different bands that are here doing unique sounds and styles, so we were just excited to get on board and share the stage with some bands we really like.”

It was also a home game for DC’s Scythian, who have played the festival every year and are renowned in the District for their energetic stage show. Danylo Fedoryka said that the steady stream from above and chill in the air did not discourage Shamrockers from having a good time.

“Every festival’s nightmare is having a cold, rainy day,” Fedoryka said. “They had the perfect headliner for this type of day, Flogging Molly, whose fans are diehard and who’d scoff at people who’d stay home ‘cause of a little inclement weather. Numbers were down a bit from last year, but the people who were there really wanted to be there and made the most of it.”

Promoters estimated 30,000 waterlogged patrons were in attendance this year and from the looks across the crowds that continued to grow throughout the day, not a sad face could be found. Fedoryka continued that this is the power of the Irish inspired sounds.

“Most people can identify with Celtic music,” he said. “Maybe since much of America was built on the backs of Irish immigrants, or maybe because it’s inherently catchy. Either way, the music lends itself to clapping your hands, jumping up and down, and letting loose.”

Fans descended on RFK from all over the country, but none may have come as far as foreign exchange student, Lenka Hemczeova. She is from Slovakia, studying English in Petersburg, Virginia, and coming to an event like the Shamrock Fest was an eye-opening experience.

“I loved it,” she said. “It was awesome. I enjoyed seeing how different kinds of people are and how they act. It was something different and it doesn’t matter how it looks outside, because if you like the kind of music and you enjoy it, it’s awesome.”

The Pubcrawlers may have not come the furthest distance, but they likely came from the coldest. Hailing from Portland, Maine, the eight-piece delivered a frothing audience what they call “the perfect soundtrack to a rowdy, drunken night out.” Fiddler Emily Freeman was happy to take part in the mayhem.

“It’s a really awesome feeling,” she said. “Just the fact that that amount of people are having such an awesome time and it doesn’t matter that the weather is kind of shitty like today. It’s a fine Irish day.”

Pubcrawlers drummer Andy Hercock agreed that a festival this large that caters to this style of music is a dream for a band like theirs.

“It’s more fun than we can possibly tell you. This is the biggest crowd we play for every year. The crowd is ridiculously receptive. They’re all extremely friendly.
They seem to love what we do and we love the energy from the crowd. It’s just a great time. We look forward to it every year.”

The brothers from Chicago’s South Side finally made their first appearance at the Shamrock Fest this year. Flatfoot 56 has carved a niche in Celtic street rock and did not fail in setting the crowd off. Vocalist and guitarist Tobin Bawinkel said the audience did not disappoint him either.

“They’re nuts,” he said. “It was a blast. We were kind of excited to see what to expect and when we got here it was raining, people beat the snot out of each other, and had a good time so the party atmosphere is still here.”

Bawinkel says the legacy of this ever-evolving style of music with Gaelic roots speaks to people worldwide, regardless of their background, heritage, or creed, and in these uncertain times, the messages translate fluidly.

“When people are struggling, music is something that always kind of has historically been something that encourages people a lot,” he said. “For me personally, one of the things that makes it so attractive to people is that it’s a music born out of a history of persecution and difficulty and whenever people have to deal with difficulty, they tend to make the best music because they’re singing about what they’re going through. Celtic music, inherently, is from people that are being oppressed but are trying to look for joy just in life and finding joy in the little things. That really speaks volumes to people that are just looking to have a good time and put off what the world has cast upon them and just put their head down and have fun while dancing.”

The last performance of the night was Flogging Molly, and as the rain continued to fall, barricades began to crumble, and the PA intermittently turned off, the folks who had gathered continued to sing along as the innovators from Los Angeles took the stage.

“We did it two years ago and that was a lot of fun,” guitarist Dennis Casey said. “It’s always funny to see people dressed in green and getting loaded. It’s kind of like nothing really changes much for us, but it’s great playing big festivals. I love doing it.”

Flogging Molly made the stop as part of their Green 17 tour, and after a short break, will be heading to Japan. Casey is proud that the music they do is appreciated by a legion of fans across the country and that a festival like the Shamrock Fest can showcase their patent sound.

“I think they’re great, especially for a band like ours,” he said. “There’s something to say for Irish and Celtic heritage and culture, because it’s so alive and vibrant in America. The fact that people like to celebrate their heritage and have events like this is really special and it’s great that they try to keep it all alive and celebrate their Celtic roots.”

An interview with heidiminx

Thank You was all it took…
An interview with heidiminx
by Jason K. Walsh
“In fact, punk rock means exemplary manners to your fellow human being.” – Joe Strummer

What can one person do to make a difference? In the age of change, that is the mindset that Americans hopefully strive towards, as the economy plummets, jobs disappear, and hope seems to be evaporating before our eyes. We look to our leaders to make a difference, when the solutions lie within us all. We are the ones who can bring about change. We are the ones who can make a difference.
I had the opportunity to talk with heidiminx about her personal journey to bring change to the lives of people who have been suffering for decades. She has recently returned to Dharamasala, India for a second time as a volunteer at the Tibet Hope Center, a refugee community where many now call home after fleeing the political oppression that drove them from their own nation.
Growing up on the streets of Baltimore, heidiminx found punk, Oi, and hardcore at an early age. She relocated to New York City and found family amongst the New York Hardcore underground community and has become an important part of the success of Black N Blue Productions with partners in crime, Joe Cammarata and Madball’s Freddy Cricien. She started Built on Respect as her way of furthering her ability to bring change through education and good, old fashioned humanity.
JW: First question. How did you get into volunteering?
heidiminx: Several years ago when I had just moved up to New York and started doing some different corporate PR, I was actually working with a Playboy account and actually had a personal publicist that told me about a woman named Susan Scott Krabacher, who was a playmate who started her own non-profit called the Mercy and Sharing Foundation and she started orphanages and schools in Haiti. The Peace Corps would not take her because she did not have a college education and she just went and started on her own. I called her up and said, “Hey, I work with Playboy and it sounds like what you are doing is really cool. How can I be involved?” Then she said, “Well, we are doing a press tour later this year and we’re taking thirty journalists over to Haiti and if you could help me that would be wonderful.” I rolled up my sleeves and said, “Hell yeah.” In my early twenties, I was on a lot of different boards for different charities and things like that and it wasn’t really doing it for me. It was nice and we sat there and made some fundraisers and got a bunch of people together and everyone sat around and patted themselves on the back and it was so further removed from the actual cause that it bored me to tears. So after having gone over to Haiti, I’m not one to sit still so, you know, the idea of a vacation in Hawaii is fairly repugnant. My dad’s a travel writer and I’ve been traveling since I was a little kid, and I wanted to go to India, so I decided the best way to do it was doing a volunteer vacation and that’s what I did. I hooked up with one particular group called Cross Cultural Solutions and I went over and I decided specifically that Dharamasala, you know because of me being Buddhist and that’s where the Dalai Lama and the entire Tibetan government in exile is, that that’s where I wanted to go. I went over and I spent my mornings, you know about four hours each morning, working within the Indian community, helping, you know with their assessment of my skills, teaching English and computers to some rural students who lived in Dharamasala, and then I started to spend my afternoons up in Mcleod Ganj, which is the Tibetan enclave of Dharamasala and I tripped upon a little community organization called the Hope Center. It was run by two early twenties Tibetan refugees and they put together such a compelling community program. It takes a lot for someone to really truly inspire me and they truly inspired me. The last day that I was there I made the determination and promised that I’d be back and I don’t renig on my word. So, I came back home and figured out how to use my voice and to work with my friends and to inspire other people.
JW: So, you’re going to be over there for three months. What kind of things are you going to be doing over there?
heidiminx: There’s a lot of different things. Every day I like to participate in the conversation classes where different tourists come through town and the students and refugees of that community are there. It’s basically conversational English classes, where they can tell their stories and exciting them through conversational English. They have other programs. Once a month, they work with one of the old-age homes and they bring different volunteers and students in to interact with some of the older residents and do tea parties. They do a “Clean up the Town” project. One of the main things I am concentrating on is “Stories of Our Students,” they call it the S.O.S. project. Over the past two years, the Hope Center has been collecting stories of what it took for the different students to be able to leave different regions of Tibet and come in through Nepal and into Delhi, then in Dehli back into Dharamasala. Basically, it’s what their stories were that made them leave their country, to get an education or to get a spiritual leader. These have already been collected in a series of one-to-two pages and I want to use them as a basis for English lessons and then work with the Center’s director to set up some online stores and probably self-publish that book through the Center and make it something that could be a sustainable form of income. I’ve also been working with Michael Distelkamp, who owns Convoy Films and produced the Black N Blue Bowl DVD. He’s been very inspired by what I’ve been doing and he and I are actually pursuing a grant right now to see if he can come over to India and we can make a Built on Respect documentary.
JW: What was it about your first experience over there that inspired you to decide that you wanted to return? What was it about the people there?
heidiminx: My students said “thank you.” It was that simple. The last day I was there, you know I didn’t want to make a big deal out of leaving and I think in this world today, “please” and “thank you” are hardly overrated. They’re kind of rare gems and people forget to say it so often. There were students that day saw me taking pictures and all of a sudden I hear yelling in Tibetan and forty, fifty people are surrounding me, and Kusang goes and gets me a “khata,” which is a Tibetan scarf that you would give in thanks and respect to somebody. He puts it on my neck and we take this group picture and the next thing I know the students that I hadn’t even taught were just all filing past and saying just thank you so much for helping make a difference and we really appreciate what it is you’ve done for us in this small community center. It was so heartfelt that I knew that in barely the two weeks I spent there, if that was the impact and response that if I really dedicated and worked hard that that could be exponentially increased. So, I made the decision that day to go back over and do whatever I could. I’ve got a very, very, very good group of friends around me and wonderful people that I do business with. Many of them are in bands and they’re amazing people and they’ve inspired other people worldwide through their music. Everybody from Al Barr from the Dropkick Murphys to Randy from Pennywise to Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Jasta) to Pete and Lou Koller from Sick of it All and Freddy with Madball, and even Joe (Cammarata) with Black N Blue, and the Street Dogs. They’ve all banded together to help me get a message out there and tape PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) and rasie awareness for what I’m doing.
JW: Was that flight back pretty tough for you? Did you not want to leave?
heidiminx: I knew that I was coming back. I’ve lived in so many different cities, so many different countries, New York is my home. But, New York is also what I call my home base. There’s always phone, there’s always internet as long as I’m surrounded by good people at home, I can be anywhere. So, I knew that I’d be coming back and I was looking forward to coming back and seeing my friends and in fact the hardest thing for me was the first week when I came back, just walking down the street and looking at the newsstands and seeing Lindsay Lohan’s lack of underwear on the front of US Weekly or hearing people complain about the most mundane things. “My text message didn’t go through.” Wow, you’re fortunate enough to have a cell phone? You know? It’s kind of the old adage, “mo’ money, mo’ problems,” if that’s even an adage. I came back home and just some of the things, it was really hard for me, some of the things I heard people crying and complaining about were so inconsequential in the grander scheme that I pretty much just spent my first month back telling all my friends what I saw and what I heard and what I learned. The more that I talked, the more of an understanding that they had. Some of my friends weren’t aware that it’s against the law to fly a Tibetan flag. That if you call Tibet from India, the Chinese government monitors your phone calls. Could you imagine the uproar if you knew all of your phone calls were being listened in on by the U.S. government, never mind the Patriot Act? If you were told you can’t fly the American flag, and oh, by the way, we don’t speak English anymore in this country. Here’s your new language. We’d be beside ourselves. So that was just some of the stuff that I spent the first couple of weeks, even still, just in parting, I’m trying to share the stories and make people understand.
JW: Obviously, you feel very connected to these people. What did you take away from the experience you did have with them? As far as for people who might read this, what kind of people are they compared to your everyday American, if there is such a thing?
heidiminx: I think one thing is while America might consider itself “one nation, under God,” be that Christianity, be that Judaic, the Tibetan people as a whole are Buddhists and I think one of the most important things is the practice of “ahimsa,” which means nonviolence. The Tibetans as a whole have met their oppression not with violence. They’ve not taken the “eye for an eye” stance. They’ve tried to understand and even people that I’ve met who have been through the worst and most horrible situations are very happy and very light of mind and they don’t hate the people who have oppressed them. They just try to gain understanding. I think as a whole that’s a lesson the rest of the world needs to learn. There’s no mother in this world that says I’m having a child because I hope to God one day he dies at war. No one, yet our world is still full of war and hate. As a whole, the Tibetans have been through so many horrible things and they can still be very likeminded and all they all they ask for is patience and justice and they do it with an open mind and a very honest heart. I really think the rest of the world could stand to learn from them.
JW: And that leads me into my next question…maybe you have learned a lot from these people?
heidiminx: I had already been studying Buddhism. My teacher is Tibetan and he fled Tibet in 1972. He changed my life through what he’s taught his students and what his students have imparted to me, which is part of the reason I’m so attracted to it. Studying Buddhism and being in America is drastically different than studying Buddhism and being amongst a Buddhist community. You know it just really helped give me a visual and cultural understanding that these practices can work and can make for a very happy group of people.
JW: Very cool. Now tell me about the $1 drive. How can people help out?
heidiminx: I mean honestly right now, we’re in a recession. So many of my friends work really hard for their money. Within three or four weeks of building the Built on Respect website, we had I think over 178,000 hits to the site. At first I thought, if I’m doing this maybe I can try and find some corporate sponsors that want to underwrite the charity work I’m doing. Maybe they’ll write checks and at the end of the day, corporate America is a wonderful scapegoat as a letdown. I realized that if individuals, just one on one, were shown, hey, if you can donate a dollar, I’m taking a computer over with me and I’m blogging every day and I’m taking video and I’m showing you what I’m doing with it and this is how far it goes. If people want to be a part of it, they can. I don’t know many people that can’t afford one dollar or a pound or a euro or a lira. Even one ruppee. I really decided to focus in on this as a DIY campaign because I’m doing it DIY style.
JW: Tell me a little about how people can log on and follow you along as you take this journey over there.
heidiminx: If people come to Bulitonrespect.com, I have my own blog on that website, that I’ll be doing text updates. I’ll be doing some video updates and picture updates on there. I’m going to be blogging pretty much every day to make it a very interactive process. On some days, it might be a recap of what was done. Another day, it might be a fun video with me and one of my students, with them teaching me to cook something traditional vegetarian Tibetan.
JW: What would you say to people who read this and become inspired as well by the example you’re setting doing some positive stuff like this, helping your fellow man? How would you encourage folks to take up the reigns and try and find something like this for themselves?
heidiminx: First of all, I’d be very flattered if I’m inspiring anybody. That’s really awesome. If somebody wants to do something, I’ve got a list of ways people can help what I’m doing. If they go to Dosomething.org and try to start a project or even if it’s just smiling at somebody walking down the street, you know, pay it forward. There’s a hundred things you can do a day and frankly, smiling or just saying “please” and “thank you” is the first and most important thing. The only limits that any person has are the ones that they’ve set for themselves and if you break those down, there’s absolutely nothing that can stop you and you can do whatever you want. If you have that option that’s the ultimate freedom, especially if you’re here in the States you have a lot more freedom than everybody else in the world. Don’t take it for granted, exercise it, and share it.

CHEETAH CHROME

by Jason Walsh
In the mid 70s, a band emerged in Cleveland, Ohio, that would later transform into one of the most influential American punk outfits. Rocket from the Tombs, though short lived, morphed into the band Frankenstein, and after encouragement from Joey Ramone, relocated to New York City, where they finally became the legendary Dead Boys. “Young, Snotty, and Loud” and “We Have Come for Your Children” remain classic records in the annals of the seventies underground era, as well as the band’s renown anthem, “Sonic Reducer.” Fronted by Stiv Bators, the band included Jimmy Zero, Jeff Magnum, Johnny Blitz, and a fellow named Gene O’ Connor on lead guitar, better known as Cheetah Chrome.
Cheetah is one of the most iconic and prolific guitarists in the history of American Punk Rock and throughout the years, has continued to remain an active musician, reforming Rocket from the Tombs as well as his own solo and studio work, and has dropped in on numerous sessions with bands from all over the place.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Cheetah about the future of Rocket from the Tombs as well as other projects which includes Joan Jett’s Blackhearts, and most importantly to him, balancing it all out with a family.
JW: So what do you got going on this year?
CHEETAH: Starting off I’m going to do some recording with Rocket from the Tombs. We’re going to be working on that, got the whole big gang, David Thomas, Richard Lloyd, and then I’ll be releasing some new material of my own that I recorded over the past year, and then I’ll be doing some shows here and there, some with the Blackhearts, some without, some with Rocket.
JW: Where you going to be recording the Rocket from the Tombs stuff?
CHEETAH: At Suma studio which is out in Painesville, Ohio. It’s where we’ve always done our stuff with the Black Keys, just did their new record. It’s got quite a history actually, done the James Gang and Grand Funk.
JW: So this is going to be a new record of new material?
CHEETAH: Yeah, well, we don’t know if it’s going to be a record yet or what because with the internet and all that we’ve been doing some stuff where it’s just downloading online but they do it with an MP3 with a real high quality. We’re thinking we might do something like that, but we haven’t decided on that yet. Just want to get it out.
JW: I got you, and in a case like that, there’s less production you have to worry about in getting the records out. You put it up there and “boom,” it’s available.
CHEETAH: Yeah, well, you know, it’s like the fact that MP3s right now, the way they’re done on ITunes and all that, they’re pretty crappy really. The files are small, you know, and it sounds like you’re getting a good deal but you’re not. They don‘t sound as good as vinyl, they don’t sound as good as CD, and if you do it and make it a bigger file, it’s the same quality. You don’t lose anything. So, we’re thinking about doing it that way.
JW: So are you thinking about hitting the road at all or are you just going to go in the studio and do some recording?
CHEETAH: Well, we always like to do that. We got a whole bunch of songs that are new. We’re only going to go in and do a few right now. I would guess we’ll probably want to do some touring this year. We’ve picked the last couple of years where, you know, not many gigs at all in 2006. In 2007 and 2008 we were pretty much all doing other projects, so I guess this year we’ll get together a bit more and hopefully do at least a week on the East Coast, a week on the West Coast.
JW: Very cool. So, tell me about the solo stuff you’re working on right now.
CHEETAH: Well I’ve just been, you know, I’ve got a studio in my basement and I’ve been working on various things over the years, like different demo tapes and stuff. The result of it came out really good, so it’s kind of like “The Basement Tapes,” you know, where just different things I’ve done over the years that I like, I want to stick them out. Some of them I’ll fix them up and some of them I’ll just leave them like they are.
JW: Are you still playing out the solo stuff? I see you have some different dates this year.
CHEETAH: Yeah, you know New York is a tricky market. I usually go up to Toronto a lot, up by the Midwest and all that. The East Coast is the hardest because I live in Nashville and if I use a band, I usually use a local band. In New York, I’ll use either the Black Angels, and now I’ve been using the Blackhearts for some shows. In Toronto, I use this band, The Screwed, and out on the West Coast I would use Sweet Justice. I’ll fly into town a couple days ahead of time, we rehearse a few days, and do some nice long rehearsals so it’s not like a complete mess. Nashville being centrally located, it’s either I got to fly out there or they got to fly here. I figured we start, you know there’s a lot of expenses involved in getting started and right now New York just doesn’t have any clubs, and the ones that they do have don’t want to pay you anything, you know. They are all just offering you door deals and it feels like the 80s again. I actually had an offer where they were like “you can run the club and you can sell tickets.” I was like, wait a minute, that’s like freakin’ Gildersleeves or something.
JW: 80s mentality in a 2009 economy.
CHEETAH: Yeah, like no, I didn’t play for years because of that. I mean, New York, I didn’t play from 1996 to 2003 for exactly the same reason. Then, as soon as there were clubs around that wanted to pay you at least, you know, give you a guarantee, “yeah…ok,” then I played in New York a lot. Then slowly they all moved out to Brooklyn and now they’re all claiming poverty. So, I don’t know, it’s the same old bar business it’s always been out there.
JW: How long have you been out of the city now?
CHEETAH: Oh god, since ’96 I guess.
JW: So you’ve been gone for quite a while and you’ve been in Nashville all that time?
CHEETAH: Yeah.
JW: And that’s a great city for musicians, not just Country. There’s so much going on down there.
CHEETAH: Oh yeah and I just love it because it’s very low key, and like you said, there’s musicians all over the place. You got guys from Cinderella down here, Jack White lives down here, guys from English bands are here, you know. If you want to go out and hang out, you’ve got a very, very good crowd to hang out with. I don’t really play here. I have my little thing I do in my basement and all that, and I play all the time, but as far as playing a show, I haven’t played here in two years. Even national acts coming through don’t draw in Nashville and that’s the only sad thing about it, because everybody and their brother is a musician and everybody’s too cool to go see somebody else play (laughs).
JW: Who’s going to go pay $50 to go see a band play some big venue when they can just go up the road and go see all their friends in a bar?
CHEETAH: Exactly, and the bar bands here, the competition’s pretty strong, especially in country music. Rock ‘n roll, there’s only a couple clubs but there’s quite a thriving rock ‘n roll scene going on here. I haven’t been part of it in a while. Last time I was out and saw some bands they were good. There’s a band called the Pink Spiders that are from down here that’s real good and there’s this band Paramore that just went platinum I guess.
JW: It sounds like you’re going to be pretty busy, you got a lot of stuff on your plate, but at the same time, you’re not straining yourself out too much.
CHEETAH: Well, that’s the thing, I got a kid that’s going to be four in March and right now, he’s my priority, so you know, I’m going to be 54 and I don’t like jumping in the van and going out for six weeks. That’s like ridiculous. I don’t have to do it. I just do gigs that are worth doing. Periodically, you hit markets that you like, have fun, pay the rent, and that’s all you got to do.
JW: Is it weird having different bands that you hook up with in different cities? Are you doing the same material, or are you doing different stuff with different bands when you go do this, or do they kind of know what you have in mind when you head to say, Toronto or out West.
CHEETAH: No, I’ll send them a CD and usually they’re all pretty well familiar with the Dead Boys stuff, so I just name the songs and they learn those. The new stuff and the solo stuff, I send them a CD a couple months ahead of time and they can rehearse it a bit on their own and I usually try to get in three or four nights ahead of time so we actually have some good rehearsal time. It’s not like a “wham-bam” thing. We do at least two nights rehearsal.
JW: Get everything nailed down and play the shows. But you know, each different venue, you look over and you got different guys playing the same stuff. Is that kind of weird though?
CHEETAH: No, because we’re all friends, you know what I mean, it’s all guys I know. I mean I hooked up with the Blackhearts, like friggin’ Thommy Price, I’ve known him forever. The Black Angels, I’ve done many gigs with them, same with The Screwed. It’s all people I know well and I know I can trust them. It’s not like Chuck Berry coming to town and hiring musicians, you know (laughs).
JW: Right, right. So what keeps you still doing this? Do you still have a love for this, a passion for this, or is it just a job for you?
CHEETAH: Oh, I love it. I mean, I love to play and I do it every day pretty much now. I’ll at least go down and play my guitar for an hour, sometimes two, or I’ll get in and mix something. There’s always something to be done. I just really enjoy it, it’s very kind of therapeutic for me, and playing live I enjoy a lot. It’s kind of becomes a pain in the butt when you got all the family involved now. I am kind of sick of the travelling, but at the same time I take my family with me more now when I play out. So like when I go to Canada, I’ll take them with me, or New York or something like that. So it’s nice, I get to hang out and my son gets to come see me play. He’s pretty interested in music and all now too.
JW: You said he’s 4?
CHEETAH: Yeah, he’s going to be 4.
JW: Does he get what’s going on?
CHEETAH: Oh yeah, yeah. Big Beatles fan right now. He heard the Beatles, I was listening to Sgt. Pepper’s for some reason, I guess I was trying to study a bass sound or something like that, and he was like, “Dad, what’s this music?” and I was like, The Beatles. “Play another one, play another one!” and next thing you know, I was like, “oh, I got more Beatles stuff.” I started playing it for him and now he knows all the words. Now, I’m trying to get him into the Stones (laughs). He likes a few Ozzy things too.
JW: And at the end of the day, going home is the best thing, huh?
CHEETAH: Oh yeah. I’m lucky and I’m very glad I’m able to share it with my family. It’s fun to be able to get out on the road and all that, but like I’ve done that for years and years and years, so now it’s just nice to be part of the family life, you know.